Chapter 4
Scripture Reading: Jer. 32:8b-9, 15, 25; 2 Tim. 2:21-22; 4:7; 2 Cor. 4:7-8
We thank God for His work in us through His word. The most important thing God is doing in the entire universe is working Himself into us, conforming us to the image of His Son Jesus Christ and saturating us with the Holy Spirit to make us useful vessels for His glory. With God as the Potter and the church as the Potter's house, we are being worked on. We are on the wheel, in God's move, so that we might become vessels of honor, sanctified and useful in the hands of the One who possesses us. We have to thank the Lord that we are the object of this work. Do not look at yourself or at the other saints as hopeless cases. Jeremiah 18 tells us that God is very given to His work. He is not standing aloof merely observing us. Rather, He is working with determination in you and in all of His children. In order for Him to finish His work, the only thing we need to do is be willing and humble ourselves. We simply need to allow Him to work in us. Are you willing?
In order for us to be purified from the condition of dishonor we may be in, we must let God work in us. To do this, the first thing we must do is solve the problem of our sins. As we have seen, the way to deal with sins is by confessing them when they are exposed in our fellowship with God. We must be sincere and transparent in our confession, hiding nothing. For instance, it is very helpful to confess your sins out loud, even though you only hear your own voice. If you do this, it will be harder to fall again into the same sins. Also, through confession your conscience will become more sensitive and at the same time, stronger. When Satan comes to accuse you, saying that you are not worthy of God and thus cannot go to the meetings, don't accept it. Satan's intention in doing this is to cut off the spiritual supply you would receive, either in the meetings or in fellowship with the saints. Declare to the enemy that, although you have committed a sin, you have already confessed it and the blood of Jesus has cleansed you of it. Do not forsake the Lord, the meetings, or the saints. Satan's goal in accusing you is to separate you from the saints. Remember: you do not need to give Satan any explanation. Simply turn to the Lord and deal with your sins by confessing them. Our confession and declaration are not based on our own righteousness. They are based on God's righteousness which He operated in Christ, who shed His blood to fully cleanse us.
We also need to be purified from the influence of the world. Many Christians are not aware of the influence the world has on them. They allow the world to come into their life little by little and do not realize that this interrupts their fellowship with God. If we are not watchful, even the church life can be influenced by the world. For example, today, in contrast to years ago, homosexuality is viewed as being normal. Some people are admired and even accepted as such by Christians. Many now accept homosexuality as something normal.
The standard that we Christians should follow is not that of the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's, or of 2000, because the standards change with the "age" of the world. The standard we must follow and which can be applied at any time and in any place, is the word of God.
What is normal according to the standard of the Bible? We are the normal ones! You have to see this! Don't be influenced by the world, which says that you are "out-of-date." Those in the world are the ones that are literally "out" of all reality. The appearance of the world will pass away, but the word of God remains forever. When we touch God, it is like pushing a button that takes the color away from the world and leaves it black and white, with no enjoyment and no attraction for us. The world, with all of its deceiving appearance and falsehood, loses its attraction when we enjoy the sincere and genuine love that is found only in Jesus.
We see an example of this in the lives of Moses and Paul. They were very cultured and highly trained. However, the training they received was only useful to God after they had passed through the process of death and resurrection. Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He preferred to be with the people of God. He rejected being the prince of Egypt, which typifies the world of our living, because he preferred to share the reproach of Christ. He saw that it was greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. He became a great instrument in the hands of God in relation to Israel (Heb. 11:24-27). Paul, whose life was to be envied among the religious people and leaders of that time, considered all that he possessed as loss, of no value, because of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:4-8). As a result, his life and ministry were greatly used by God for the building up of the church. The "brilliant future" the world offered these two men lost its glamour because they had a strong experience and a real encounter with the Lord.
In order for you to be useful in the Lord's hands as Moses and Paul were, you not only need to be trained humanly, you also need to turn your heart to God. You may pray, "Lord, I don't want to study in just any way. I want to study in the best possible way. I want to be one of the best in whatever I do. But I don't want to do it for myself. Lord Jesus, I want to give my studies to You. Lord, use this for Your purpose and keep me so that nothing will usurp Your place in me." It is fundamental to know what our goal in life is. Many young people become useless to the Lord because they take their studies or their professional accomplishments as their goal. Once you take the Lord and the church as your main goal, God will have a way to use you, either in your studies or in a big company. Never let other things take you away from your goal.
In order for God to use us we need to be worked on inwardly. Firstly, we need to be purified of all our wrongdoings. In order for us to be filled with the Holy Spirit, we need to be emptied of everything that is against God. Being purified inwardly prepares the way for the Holy Spirit to fill us. As a vessel in the Potter's house, our main function is to be filled with God Himself. Ephesians 5:18 says, "And do not be drunk with wine," the wine of the world, "in which is dissoluteness, but be filled in spirit." The more we are filled with the Spirit, the more we will overflow with the Spirit. The more we have of the Spirit, the more anointed we will be. Then, whenever we are talking to someone, whether preaching the gospel or having an informal conversation, we will feel comfortably "anointed" in our speaking. This is the overflow of the Spirit. By being filled inwardly with the Holy Spirit, we will be able to experience all that Jesus has accomplished. When we disobey the teaching of the anointing, we feel an inward displeasure. The purpose of the teaching of the anointing is to give us more of God's life. Many times we do not have a clear answer about what we should do. However, the anointing gives us a sweet, inward indication of what pleases God and what does not please Him. Its function is to lead us to know God more and to know His heart. It also causes us to be more intimate with God. We should be sensitive to the anointing of the Holy Spirit within us.
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