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- please click on the blog link above to comment on any of these materials - The Scab of Unbelief - W.E. Smith
Dear friends, precious to our Lord and Shepherd and King... To walk by faith is everything, and yet it is that which is least amenable to this old man who lives persistently by his will, desires and worldly wisdom (all entering his being through the eyes primarily). Notice here what Robert Govett has written about this -
As the Lord, through His Spirit in the Word, reveals His treasures to us (especially those related to our heavenly inheritance as adopted sons and co-heirs in His Kingdom), He expects us to be perfectly obedient to that truth, wherever that obedience might lead. As the Lord forewarned all those contemplating allegiance to Him - "Count the Cost!"
...for the costs are high - rejection, hardship, false accusations, sacrifice, loneliness, the forsaking of all that people of the world take for granted, the waiting indefinitely for a home and a place where you truly belong.
If we however, are disobedient to that which our Lord and Teacher reveals to us, this scab of unbelief will fester and thicken upon our hearts. He will no doubt persist with us for a time, as He is ever gracious and longsuffering with His students. But if this pattern of unfaithfulness and disobedience persists, this dullness of hearing and hardness of heart will develop into what well may be an irreversible condition of blindness and unprofitableness, such that He no longer reveals His treasures to us at all. This happened to the children of Israel, and it can happen to twice-born followers of the Lord's Anointed as well! How pitiful and tragic! At that point, although birthed spiritually from above, at a most precious cost (in the blood of His Beloved Son) to Himself, we are (or become over time) good for nothing. Our salvation (the regeneration to life of the spirit within us making it at once possible to receive spiritual food) has thereby become cheapened and wasted. We have become what the scripture refers to as a vessel of dishonor and vomit for the spittle -
Dear ones, please let the enormity of all of this settle deep into your hearts for as long as it takes. These are His own He is referring to here, so please do not be deceived into thinking that these are the lost. Here the Prince of Peace is actually spewing from His mouth those to whom He gave His precious and perfect blood to redeem. Astounding and terrifying!
Now it was said of the children of Israel after being brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand, that they failed to understand the Lord's wonders wrought on their behalf -
After this it is revealed that they actually forgot these very wonders, but before this they failed to comprehend what the Lord was doing in saving and redeeming them. I considered this prayerfully for some time and I believe the Lord was impressing on me how vitally important it is that I comprehend (as the Spirit leads me) what my spiritual birth means in the larger context of His Glorious Purpose in Christ and His Kingdom. To be saved or born again is indeed a marvelous and mighty thing dear saints, no less a miracle than when the Creator brought forth Adam from the dust and breathed life into him, or the Lord delivered Israel mightily out of the land of death, through the sea. Yet, we also, as His elect in this age can fail to understand the Lord's ultimate and age-lasting intent in showing forth His life-giving power on our behalf. For Adam, it was that he would exercise dominion over that which the Lord God had restored, in consort with the queen that was to come from his very body. For the nation of Israel, it was that they, as His First Born Son would first meet Him in the wilderness, become a holy and enlightened people, then subsequently inherit the earthly and heavenly promises given to Abraham, and ultimately be a light of salvation and blessing to the gentiles. And for us, it is precisely the same, that we might rule and reign, from the heavens, over the dominions of the earth, with our King on His Eternal Throne, in all holiness, justice and wisdom, for a thousand years. And so to first understand what is involved and at stake is everything isn't it? Then to trust Him and obey Him and follow Him as he leads us the long way home to the promised inheritance by One greater than Moses is essential. The lessons preserved for us are more than clear for those with eyes to see them, and a heart to receive them. Oh that we would learn such lessons from former times and people; that there is in fact no good (none whatsoever) in ourselves; that, quite apart from how enlightened or fit to rule we think we are, there is no light in our eyes, and that to think we can attain the prize without first being trained and tested and brought to holiness and wisdom, is a delusion straight from the serpent. Indeed, this is the first lie isn't it - that we can exercise the intended dominion without the requisite wisdom of God (fruit of the tree of life) to do so. To reign over God's domain, apart from Himself - His blessing and provision, such that He receives no glory whatsoever? This is preposterous! For we were born anew solely that we might display His pre-eminent glory among those who have no knowledge of Him and His ways!
Fellow saints and brethren in the Lord, I must follow Him and be faithful to Him wherever that leads, and to be perfectly honest at this point, I am not sure where or what this is. Yet He who authored my faith (when I was born in Him) will also finish (or perfect) it as His coming. I believe this with all my heart and mind and spirit! It is truly all I have to hold fast to! And yet it is enough to be sure.
But oh that He would enlighten my eyes, and help my unbelief, and bring me further into the wisdom of His Kingdom, into the mature knowledge of His Word, into a more perfect and complete understanding of the riches of His grace in Christ Jesus! Oh that I would enter deeper into His fullness, that will one day fill all things! That I would trust him completely and absolutely and without equivocation! For it is not He or His Word that is untrustworthy and faithless but I! I have failed Him many, many, many times, but it is impossible for Him to fail me! Impossible dear ones -
Please pray for me my friends, and all of His little ones who hear His voice from outside the door of this Laodicean age, that we would hear Him and follow Him, whatever the cost; that we would be found faithful at His Coming, that we would follow Him alone as the Way and Truth and Life, through this wilderness onward to perfection, maturity and glory! All is by faith! All we have and need is to be found faithful to His Word (Read all of Psalm 119 - on your knees preferably). Though everything seen and all evidences known may contradict His Word and His Promises, we must grip tightly to all that He has "breathed" into the world, lest this scab of unbelief leads us away from Him and we die in this wilderness, not having received the promised inheritance. The threat is real and tangible, and the many in this generation will (tragically) fall away. But let it not be said of us, that we did not endure to the end, that we did not keep the word of His patience with steadfastness, that we failed to overcome, that we did not trust the good report of the land out ahead of us, and the Lord's ability to establish us therein.
Oh Gracious and Loving Father, Lord of all Life and Glory - Please complete that mighty work which you began in us, and lead us to the ultimate purpose for our being created anew in Your Beloved Son - to reign with Him in His Kingdom such that You alone might receive all the Glory Father! Help us Lord to walk by faith alone, and to abide by every word which you have breathed into this world. Teach us and feed us with your glorious and precious scriptures Lord, and lead us in all things by your Most Holy Spirit. In patience correct us, and help us to lay down all and anything that is revealed to be false or incomplete, regardless of the price to be paid - the approval of men, church membership, security in this world, job and salary, even family and friends - whatever the cost, however high Oh Lord, help us to be willing to pay it in faith and love to everything you have commanded us. Thank you Father that all of your promises are AMEN, and that your word will not and cannot ever fall to the ground; that everything that we have set our hopes on will be fulfilled. Lead us home to the place you have prepared for us dear Lord, such that we might serve you and love you forever! In Jesus Precious Name. Amen Note: for my readers who are not familiar with the writings of Robert Govett, I encourage you to visit the web site of Schoettle Publishing, and review the many offerings there. His books are rare, so this is the best place to get started. You will not be disappointed my friends. I dare say, that in in my most humble opinion, there has not been a servant of the Lord since Paul the Apostle who has so fully brought forth the whole counsel of God, past present and future. (WES)
Please pray for us here at Living-Walk, that we would watch and see the Master at work, and understand what He would have us be and do. Your friend and servant in Christ Jesus, Wayne |
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