Marta! Marta!

Contents:

• Marta! Marta!
• - Chapter 1: Marta! Marta!
• - Chapter 2: Two Men Named Saul
• - Chapter 3: Learning How to Rest
• Bonus Article: Where You Stand is Where You Sit
• return to home page

other books by baruch...

Yeshuah had some very good friends who lived in Beit-ani, a small town just outside of Jerusalem, at the foot of the Mount of Olives. They consisted of a brother and two sisters, namely, Lazar, Marta and Miriam. Everyone who was conscientious about what they believed, made the journey to Jerusalem about twice or three times a year. Many of them had friends with whom they stayed. Likewise, Yeshuah stayed at his friend's home.

It was a great privilege, indeed, to have one as renowned as Yeshuah stopping over all the time. After all, it's not everyone who has the chance to entertain the one who is believed to be the Messiah of Israel, and every time he came to Jerusalem! Marta took this privilege very seriously. In fact, she out did herself every time he came. Even the special delicacies that had been put away for Shabbat, or for one of the great feasts (yom tov), were brought out whenever Yeshuah arrived. She always said, "We really must go out of our way to make him feel welcome, because who knows? Are there not many people better than us in Jerusalem? Would he not go to lodge with them if he tires of our company?" Lazar and Miriam agreed.

Miriam always tried to be helpful, but she was more the sentimental impractical type. At times, she'd work hard, but if she were left to herself, the house would soon be declared a disaster area by the high priest! Then, tell me, who would ever stop in for a visit? It was just as well she had such an able sister as Marta around to tell her what to do. At least Marta thought so.

There was something about Yeshuah that made Miriam feel good about herself. Around him, she just felt -- let's say -- free! At ease!

Marta was a different basket of fish. Always scolding! Oi! Veh! Miriam! Why can't you do this right! Miriam! You forgot to do that! Miriam! How many times have I told you...!

Today, Yeshuah was back, sitting in his usual seat, and once again, Miriam felt good about herself. There were a number of Yeshuah's pupils there as well, sitting around on cushions on the floor, as well as a few others who came along. Yeshuah was once again making his remarks about this and that -- you know, such ordinary sounding things, but things you would never even have thought of, but as soon as he said them, you just knew they were true! Something inside always said, "It's about time someone said that!" Then he was illustrating them with the most imaginative stories!

This time, Miriam felt like sitting right there, plop, in the middle, listening to Yeshuah with her chin resting on both hands. To tell you the truth, she'd always felt like doing that, but there was always 101 things to do in the kitchen. This time, she felt so good about it that that's exactly what she did. Did her conscience bother her in the least? Let me tell you! As soon as she sat down there in the middle, she clean forgot that the house even had a kitchen attached! She even forgot that it's not proper for a lady to sit in the middle of a group of men. -- Well, she only intended to sit for a little while, and go back to the kitchen. But the stories! The little titbits of such wisdom! It's not only that! The love that radiated from the man. If she didn't understand a single word he said, she'd just sit and bask in that love! But it was the love that made the words so understandable!

Well, to make a long story short, she just sat, and sat, and sat, and -- well, now we're making a short story long again!

And Marta? Well! It just so happened that she had received such short notice of Yeshuah's arrival, and who would have expected it? It wasn't even a yom tov! The neighbour's boy just happened to run by the house announcing that Yeshuah was coming in by the road that winds around the mountain, and you should have seen the state of the house! Well, it's a good thing they had some preserved meats put away for Shabbat, or there wouldn't have been anything in the house worth looking at! And -- why, where's that Miriam? Just sitting there doing nothing! We've got 101 things to do, and she's sitting there, listening to story after story! Doesn't she know that if it weren't for the hard work Marta was doing there would be no Yeshuah to sit and listen to all afternoon? Who ran around and straightened the main room that Miriam left in such a mess? If Yeshuah had seen it earlier? Why! He'd have made an excuse, and gone on to find someone else's house to lodge in! Now, who's going to stir the soup while Marta punched the dough down and patted it into small pieces? Who's going to go in and pick up the cups? Who's going to chop the onions? Who's going to ...? That's it! She had to go in and say something.

That's just what she did. She went right in to the main room, and gave them all a piece of her mind. Messiah or not, she told him! Was she going to let Miriam be the cause of him going away and never coming back? Marta could do that just as well herself! Well, look at him! At least he could chase her into the kitchen! Honestly! He just allows her to sit there, looking into his eyes like a stupid fool, when he knows there's so much work to do!

So she told them.

And what was his reaction? He looked at Marta as though she had just mistaken a porcupine for one of the cushions!

"Marta! Marta!" he said. "Look at you! You're all worked up over so many things! Who told you you had to hold a first class reception? Only one thing is important, and Miriam has found it! Miriam has chosen the best part, and no one can take it away from her."

One does have to admire Marta for her industriousness, and her determination to see everything done the way it should be. She shines as an example of human excellence. Such a wonderful example she is, that much of the Christian world has followed her.

With all the work that is left to be done, who can afford not to go at it with the vigour of Marta? Not so? Then tell me, who's going to reach the multitudes of unreached people? Why! There are whole people-groups that still have to have the scriptures translated into their language! There are whole nations that are totally unresponsive to the traditional methods of evangelism! We need strategy! We need people! We need training! Who's going to mobilise the lay people? Who's going to teach the Word? Lay hands on the sick? Well! Let's get with it!

So we're getting with it (some of us)! You must give us credit for that at least! Some of us have come up with this strategy, some of us with that.

Some of us proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom, and lay hands on the sick, and some of us with another strategy say, "No! You're producing over-dependent church members! You need to disciple them!"

So we disciple them and teach them to carry their crosses, and some others of us say, "No! You have to teach them to walk the victorious life!"

So we teach them the victorious life and yet others of us say "No! You're producing materialistic Christians! You must teach them to suffer!"

Then some more of us come and say, "We must have intercessory prayer groups and do strategic level warfare!" Others of us come along and say, "No! Paul didn't do strategic level warfare. Just go where the Spirit tells you to go!"

Some more of us come along and say, "Hey! You're doing it all wrong! We must go to the Jew first, and then the Gentile!" Yet others of us yell back, "No! God is finished with the Jews!"

So we tell the Jews to become gentiles first and then convert them, and then some one else rushes in and says, "Wait! I have a revelation! God has shown me the perfect method! It's right here in the Bible! My! You all have a lot to unlearn!"

So we unlearn everything we learned so far, and study the revelation that is very obviously the plan of God because it's so plainly laid out in the scriptures right under our very noses, and become the people of the Word. Oh! If only everyone would receive the revelation we have instead of proclaiming the kingdom, carrying their crosses, walking the victorious life, suffering, doing strategic level warfare, going where the Spirit tells them, going to the Jews first, forgetting the Jews -- why! If they'd only read their Bibles! It looks like we're the only ones who will get the job done! But oh! So much work to do! Well, why can't they become like us so we can get the world evangelised faster instead of just sitting around and ...

Church! Church! Look at you! You're all worked up over so many things! Who told you you had to strive to achieve perfection? Only one thing is important. Miriam has chosen the best part.

One thing about the best part is that it takes everything into account, but you only have to concentrate on one thing. What is the best part? It's sitting at Yeshuah's feet. It's entering into Christ, and by Him, entering into the Holy of Holies -- into the inner sanctuary.

But that's what we've been teaching! We've been striving to make everyone understand that very truth!

Yes, we have been teaching it. We've been so busy teaching it we haven't had the time to do it! A pupil is not above his master, but everyone who's been through the whole course, he will become as his master (Luke 6:40). He'll learn how to teach it wonderfully and eloquently just like his master, and not do it! If the master will do it, the pupil will do it. They only learn to say what you say, but they do what you do.

You can tell if you've really been doing it or not. If you say, "But I know that already. I've got it together in that area already! Let's move on to more mature things!" That means you haven't been doing it. God's love is so deep you can't get it all down like that. You just keep going deeper and deeper and deeper. And if that's what you've really been doing, you won't be so inclined to want to move on to other things. Whatever else there is to move on to, it's in the direction of deeper into His love.

Paul said, "I want to hear nothing from you but Jesus Christ, and Him crucified." That is the basis of everything we think and do. That is the basis of all our work for Him. When we are in our crucified Messiah, we work with him, not for him. We are dead to everything else, and alive to Him. Any other way puts us under the law, or in legalism.

But what about the strategies, you ask? What about the visions from on high, given to us from the Holy One?

They are like the law. The law was meant to be obeyed by faith -- the faith of Abraham (now many of the points of the Law have been fulfilled by Yeshuah, so all we need is the faith of Abraham without having to perform those particular points). Instead of walking in the faith of their father Abraham, and keeping the law as their guide to success, as God told Joshua it was for, many people put themselves under the law. We are not under the law but under grace. Under the law, means in legalistic bondage to the law for its own sake. Never in the Old Testament did God command His people to be in legalistic bondage like that. It's always been by faith. Even the rabbis will tell you that.

Many people follow their visions and strategies as though they were under them. They are in legalistic bondage to them. Of course, they see the needs. Their vision helps them see the needs just as the law helps us see sin in our lives. The revelations they have received, help them see the importance of doing certain things, and refraining from certain things. The only thing is, we are not supposed to be under our unique revelations. We are not to be under our visions and strategies; we are called to be under grace!

What then, shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! (Rom 6:15)

Shall we simply disregard the visions and strategies and the revelations the Lord has given us, and deliberately violate His commands because we are not under law but under grace? No!

Yeshuah's answer to certain rabbis who seemed to be overly emphatic on certain points of the law was, "These you ought to have done, and not left the other undone"(Matt 23:23).

So what do we do? Find that place Miriam found, at the feet of Yeshuah. Enter into the holy of Holies by a new and living way -- by the body of Yeshuah (Heb 10:19,20). Begin to sit, and bow in his presence in worship. Wait before His throne, and you will find grace to help carry out your vision, and implement the revelation he's given you (Heb 4:16). But the important thing is Him, not the revelation or the vision. It's Him and you. Him and me.

I had to learn that God doesn't love "Baruch the church planter" or "Baruch the prolific writer." God doesn't even love "Baruch with this or that calling," or "Baruch with oh-so-much-potential." Actually, He doesn't even love "Baruch!" That's just the name I put in these crazy books, and use when it's unwise to introduce myself by the name in my passport (you know, like "Brother Andrew" does -- doesn't that sound cloak-and-daggerly?). Who does God love? He loves just me by myself, and calls me by my real name. He's crazy about me! And He's crazy about you!

I used to receive a lot from certain Bible teachers. I found that their messages answered a lot of questions, and did things for me I had been looking for, for a long time. Then, I began to seek more of their teaching, and study it more deeply, until I chose to listen only to this particular group of Bible teachers. I'd hear other teachers, but I'd take them with a grain of salt. I'd always be on guard for errors, or things that disagreed with my kind of teachers. Sometimes, if the others taught something that my favourite teachers hadn't spoken on yet, I'd keep it "on hold" until I heard what they had to say.

Then, I began to realise that other Bible teachers love the Lord just as much as "my" Bible teachers. Then, I began to realise that that sincere love for the Lord is more important. I haven't actually rejected what my old favourites taught. I still don't disagree with them on any major points (I won't tell you who they are just in case you do disagree with them). However, I no longer consider myself a follower of them, or in their "camp." What I believe now, I believe simply because I see it in the Bible. If someone feels they have a word of correction for me, then I'm no longer under pressure to defend a whole movement. It's just him, me, the Holy Spirit and an open Bible. I'm just as much a part of that person who disagrees with me, as I am of those with whom I share a common insight. It is vitally important that we in the Body of Christ realise this.

Before, I was sectarian in my attitude. Now, I realise that even the most accurate and scriptural teaching, taken in a sectarian attitude, is more dangerous than slightly erroneous teaching, taught in pure love and acceptance of the whole body of Christ. I didn't say the latter isn't dangerous, but at least that is more open to correction. The other falls under the definition of "heresy." A heresy, by it's most basic definition, is simply something that causes division. It's not the teaching that causes division, but how we take it. We've sometimes said that it's those who refuse the new revelation that cause the division, but sometimes it's the way we present it.

We need to go back into the inner sanctuary, and find out who we are in Christ. Who we are in Christ isn't because we teach accurate doctrine. It's because we are purchased by His blood -- the same blood that is able to cover our inaccuracies! It's not even according to how well we understand being purchased by His blood. We're his, just because He loved us and purchased us.

When we worship in His presence, we are like lovers. Lovers love nothing more than to be in one another's arms, and say, "I love you." They find different ways of saying it.

In His presence, we say "I love you. I belong to you. Everything I have, I lay at your feet. I present my whole body a living sacrifice, and I lift my voice and offer the sacrifice of my lips. I open myself up to receive from you."

When we learn to receive, we can open ourselves up for His love to go into areas that have been previously untouched. Rooms of our heart are opened up and He moves in. That's where inner healing takes place.

You don't always have to sit with a counsellor for hours and hours in order to receive inner healing. If you learn to worship in His presence, and receive of His love, that love brings healing, and casts out all fear.

You don't always have to sit with a counsellor, but sometimes you need a rebuke. Paul told Timothy, "reprove, rebuke and exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine." If your identity is based on something other than being in Him, and that "something" is filling the place His love ought to be, then often the only way to dislodge it is a good stern rebuke. That's like a smack on the bottom. A child who has an attitude problem, when smacked on the bottom a few times, releases the attitude very quickly, and is soon back in the embrace of the parent who smacked him, receiving parental love. He had to be smacked first before he could receive love, because love, and the attitude problem couldn't occupy the same place at the same time. One had to go.

Too often, the child isn't smacked as he should be, and the attitude problem stays. When the child grows up, it takes a stern rebuke from God to dislodge what has now become a stronghold in the person's life, before God's love can touch him. If they don't respond to rebuke, God has other ways; but the object is to get God's love into there.

If you're wondering what a rebuke is like, then read the accompanying article, Where You Stand is Where You Sit. There may be one there for you!

Once God's love has entered new areas it hasn't entered before, you come away with a new release. Things that were so important before, now take second place. The fact that one person is Jewish and the other a gentile, isn't so important, because "In Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek." (Gal 3:28) The fact that one is a man and another is a woman isn't important, because "In Christ...there is neither male nor female." Social standing, or nationality isn't important anymore, because "In Christ there is neither ... barbarian or sythian, slave or free ...etc." (Col 3:11) I think we can add to that, "Apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, teacher, Baptist, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, Protestant, Pentecostal, Charismatic, non-Charismatic, anti-Charismatic, Word of Faith, Word of doubt, Messianic Jew, Messianic goy, replacement, pre-trib, mid-trib, post-trib, post-mil, a-mil, kingdom now, kingdom then-and-later, kingdom sort-of-now-but-definitely-later, pre-lactarian, post-lactarian (whether one pours the milk into the teacup before the tea, or after)...etc." Any strategies and visions and revelations I haven't mentioned can also be added to the list.

Why lump so many things together? What can "male or female" possibly have to do with "post trib" or "prophet?" The same as it has to do with "Jew or Gentile, slave or free." All of these designations can be (and many are) very relevant to our day to day experience. Many of them have been placed by the Holy Spirit into our lives. But they are not a part of our inner sanctuary experience.

The reason the Body of Christ is so crazy and mixed up is because we have failed to make the distinction. We've treated all the outward gifts and callings and other distinctions as though they were part of our inner sanctuary experience. As a result, we've received them as pretexts to divide ourselves from the rest of the body. We've developed a "we - they" mentality. "We believe this way -- they haven't seen the light yet." "We do it this way -- they do it all wrong." "We are on the cutting edge!" "God is pleased with us -- not with them."

In the body of Christ there is no "they"; we're all "us."

Those who won't even receive the message in this book are also "us." Even our forefathers were "us." Some of our forefathers who understood certain new revelations and were therefore persecuted were "us." Those of our forefathers who didn't understand the new revelations and persecuted the ones who did, were also "us." Even those of our forefathers who persecuted the Jews for not becoming gentiles were also "us." Instead of distancing ourselves, we must repent on our forefathers' behalf.

Because we are all "us," those of "us" who have received more revelation than others cannot afford to gloat. We cannot afford to say, "Oh! We know better!" Those who don't "know better," are also "us." Let's stop being haughty towards one another, and instead, repent on one another's behalf. Let's those of "us" who know anything about God's love, and life in the inner sanctuary, weep and mourn for those of "us" who don't. We can't afford to leave one another behind. Messiah isn't returning for a mass of individuals, but for a body.

By being like Marta, we become at best, a mass of individuals trying to work for a common cause each in our own way. That is good, but not good enough. Because of that, we've become crazy and mixed up. Messiah is coming for a bride without spot and wrinkle, not a "crazy mixed up kid." Only by taking the place of Miriam, at the feet of Yeshuah, and basking in His love, and worshipping in the inner sanctuary by Yeshuah's flesh, can we attain to the unity that is based on our position in Him, not on our individual blessings. Then, we'll be the bride Messiah desires.
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Yeshuah was on everyone's mind. He had practically showed up out of nowhere shouting, "The time is here! The kingdom of God has come! Repent and believe this good news!"

"The k-kingdom of God?" everyone echoed. "Does this mean ... no it couldn't ... maybe it does ... that -- Messiah has come?"

Someone else said, "Before we get so excited, let's just wait and see what this man does."

So they waited and saw, and sure enough; Yeshuah began healing sick people, giving sight to the blind, raising the dead, cleansing lepers, and all sorts of things.

If his announcement that the kingdom had arrived got everyone's attention, the miracles kept it. Once he knew he had everyone's attention, Yeshuah began teaching about the kingdom of God.

Those three things right there sum up Yeshuah's earthly ministry up until the cross. He announced the kingdom of God; he proved it by performing miracles; and then he taught about the kingdom of God.

If you ask around today, "Who was this Yeshuah anyway?" some people will say he was a "good teacher," or a "great social reformer." They miss the whole point. You have to understand Yeshuah's message against the background of the times he lived in. Of course he taught, and as a teacher, he was good. But just because one can teach doesn't mean one is a teacher by trade! Teachers in those days just didn't attract the following Yeshuah did. Not even secular historians think so anymore. It wasn't his teaching that made him stand out, but rather, his bold announcements, and what he did to back them up. He proclaimed himself as Messiah, and he announced the kingdom of God.

Messiah means "one who is anointed." "Anoint" is an old English word for putting oil on the head or body. So literally, messiah could mean someone who has too much grease in his hair. But in our context, it means one who has the Holy Spirit's grace on him for a special function, because the Holy Spirit's grace was usually imparted by pouring oil on the head.

The prophet Shemuel poured oil on Saul's head, so as to anoint him as king, so in that sense, King Saul was a messiah. King David was also anointed, and he became a foreshadow of the Messiah that was to come.

In the context of Messiah (with a capital M) whom the prophets said would be the ultimate successor to King David, it means one who is anointed to be God's special chosen King.

With a king, of course, comes a kingdom. And not just any kingdom, mind you. This kingdom will be the kingdom to end all kingdoms! It will be the establishing of God's rule over the whole earth. In short, all our troubles will be over.

That is exactly what everyone immediately understood when Yeshuah began announcing the kingdom of God. They knew it was time, and they were expecting it to happen very soon. With the troubles they were experiencing, it was about time! So when Yeshuah began proclaiming it, their attention was riveted.

Well, one day Yeshuah called a special meeting so as to explain some dynamics regarding this new kingdom. They had it outside on a mountain not far from Lake Kinneret.

What he said, though, wasn't quite what everyone was expecting.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven."

What? A kingdom of poor people?

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."

What do you mean, "mourn?" If the kingdom is here, we should be happy!

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."

The meek? And not the conquerors?

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled."

And so on.

Like everyone else, these people wanted to wriggle into a comfortable spot and stay there.

I'm afraid that is also our tendency. Now days, when someone recites the last several lines of the above, we usually smile, and say, "Oh, that's nice. You've memorised the beatitudes!" and go right on making ourselves comfortable. We don't even hear what Yeshuah was saying. These lines have become as meaningless as the word "beatitude" which has otherwise fallen completely out of use in the English language, so that I don't even know what it means!

What Yeshuah was saying, was that to see the kingdom of God planted on the earth will take much more than just sitting around minding our own business. It takes a realisation that we need so much more grace than we presently have. It takes weeping and mourning for the state the world is in. It takes people who assume others are better than themselves. It takes intense hunger and thirst for more of God. In other words, it takes a life of constant repentance, and seeking for more intimacy with God in the inner sanctuary.

When he said, "The kingdom of God has come," he didn't follow that by saying, "Go for it and have a good time." He said, "Repent!" Now, he was saying, "Weep and mourn, humble yourselves, hunger and thirst and crave what God has for you!"

So, what does that have to do with us today? Are we not living in the dispensation of grace?

Of course, God has dispensed grace to us, but it's grace to see the kingdom of God come in its fullness.

But instead of immediately establishing the kingdom of God in his day, for all to see, Yeshuah first explained that the kingdom of God is as a seed. So many of his teachings and parables majored on this one fact. "The kingdom of God is like a seed..." "The kingdom of God is like a sower who sows seed..." "Faith as a mustard seed..." etc. etc.

Then, he planted himself as that seed. Ever since then, the kingdom of God has been gradually reproducing itself, taking root and spreading her branches through out the whole world. We are now in the age of seeing the kingdom of God break through into this world.

It is not a time for sitting pretty, and assuming that everything is fine and dandy. It takes the same life of repentance, and of hungering and thirsting for more of God now, as it did when Yeshuah first preached it.

It's never been any different! Look at every revival in the history of the church. They all began because people were hungry and repentant. They all came to an end -- not because God thought it was time for them to end, but because people stopped hungering.

The trouble with us is, we like to get comfortable. Mind you, it's not bad to be comfortable. It's what often happens to us when we get comfortable.

To illustrate this, I will quote once more from Uncle Baruch's Slightly Paraphrased Version (not yet in print):

The great prophet, Shemuel summed up King Saul's early life by saying, "When you were small in your own eyes, did God not make you king over all Israel?"

Back when Saul was "small in his own eyes," he was working on his pop's farm. His pop was rather well off, although perhaps not as rich as certain others they could name. They did own a few slaves though, and they owned a herd of donkeys.

One day, the donkeys went out to graze, and they didn't come home! Saul's pop said, "Oh dear me! Where could those donkeys be?"

They searched all over the pasture, and they were just nowhere to be found!

Had they been stolen? Had they wandered off somewhere?

Pop called Saul, and said, "Well, Saul-boy, I'm just worried silly about those donkeys! Why don't you take Moshe with you, and go out and look for them."

Saul-boy said, "Okay Pop!" and off he went.

So, they looked and they looked. They went on to the next village and looked some more.

They saw someone walking along, and they asked, "Sir, have you seen a herd of donkeys come this way? They had a brand on their rump that looks like -- like... here, I'll draw it for you."

"No, I haven't seen any donkeys with a brand like that."

So, they went on to the next village. They asked someone there, "Have you seen a herd of donkeys? They have a brand on their rump that looks like -- like... here, I'll draw it for you."

"No, I haven't seen any donkeys like that."

They kept going from one village to the next, and asking everyone they met. At night, they slept under the stars, and in the morning they kept looking.

Where could those donkeys have got to?

Finally, Saul-boy said to the servant, "Well shucks Moshe! We just ain't get'n nowhere! We'd better just head back home before Pop starts worrying about me!"

Moshe said, "Wait, Saul-boy! In this next village there's a prophet. Maybe he'll tell us where to find those donkeys."

Saul said, "A prophet?! Why! That would be real dag burnin' cool if a prophet would tell us where those donkeys went! But -- but what will we give him for a fee? I've clean run out of the money Pop gave us."

"I've got some extra money right here," said Moshe.

"Well! Atta-boy Moshe! Let's go!"

Well, it just so happened that the prophet was none other than Shemuel himself. And God had been speaking to Shemuel. In fact, He had been speaking to him about Saul. But He wasn't speaking to him about any donkeys! God had something slightly bigger in mind than finding those donkeys. In fact, God had told him the day before he was coming, so he had already prepared a big feast.

But why, you ask, should anyone prepare a feast for the likes of Saul-boy? Well, it just so happened that Shemuel was looking for someone to anoint as king, and God had just got through telling Shemuel that Saul was his man.

Saul and Moshe came into the town looking for the prophet. They walked up to the first man they saw, and asked, "Say there, kind fellow. Tell us where can we find the prophet?"

That first man they saw, it so happened, was the prophet. Saul was talking to him in one ear, but God was saying in the other one, "This is your man."

Shemuel said to him, "I'm the prophet, and we've been expecting you. Go on right now to the city square, and take your seat. All the elders of the city are waiting for you."

"Either he's mistaken me for someone else or else we've found the village lunatic instead!" thought Saul.

"Oh, and don't worry about the donkeys. They've been found already."

Saul-boy's eyes got as big as saucers when he heard that. He just walked on with Shemuel in a daze and sat himself down next to Shemuel.

The next morning, Shemuel anointed Saul with a horn full of oil, and gave him a long list of instructions. "

The first one you meet," he said, "will tell you, 'Come on home, Saul-boy, your Pop has found the donkeys, and now he's worried about you!' Then, you'll meet some people going up to make a sacrifice at the Mountain of God. They'll give you some bread to eat, and some wine to drink. Then you'll meet some prophets singing. You go with them, and you'll become like another man. After that, just do what seems to be the right thing to do. But remember, when it comes time to go to Gilgal, you wait there a week, and I will come and perform a sacrifice."

Everything up to the part about meeting the prophets happened on that day. He began prophesying, and became like another man, because the Holy Spirit was on him. Some of the folks from close by who knew him said, "That's Saul-boy! Don't tell me our Saul-boy's a prophet!"

That became like a clich?. After that, every time someone did something totally out of character, they'd say, "Don't tell me Saul-boy's a prophet!"

The other two things on the list of instructions happened a bit later. In the mean time, Shemuel called a national meeting. After all, you can't just set someone up as king without a few formalities. He had to seek the Lord just one more time for confirmation. He used a method a bit like drawing names out of a hat, or drawing straws to find out which tribe of Israel the new king should come from. The tribe of Benjamin was picked. Then they did it again to find out which family it was. Saul's family was picked, and then finally Saul's name came up.

But where was Saul-boy?

When he heard that they were going to pick which tribe, he thought, "Oh good! maybe it won't be me after all!"

When Benjamin was picked, he slunk just a bit into the crowd.

Then, his family was picked, he slunk even further to the back of the crowd.

Then, his own name was picked, and he ran like anything and dove in behind all the people's baggage!

Everyone started looking for Saul, and just couldn't find him anywhere! They even had to seek the Lord again just to find out where he was! The Word of the Lord came, "He's hiding among the baggage."

Finally, they found him, and they declared him as the king, and everyone went home.

The next thing on the list of instructions Shemuel had given Saul was, just do what seems to be the right thing to do.

Well, what is a king supposed to do? A king has to eat like everyone else! To eat, you have to work on the farm! Otherwise, the crops won't grow, and if the crops won't grow, there's nothing to eat!

So that's what he did. He went home and started working on the farm, and ploughing the fields. He was still small in his own eyes, even if he was a king.

Another village not far away had some trouble with some gangsters. They came and camped outside the village and looked like they were about to cause some trouble. The elders of the village went out and said, "We're too small to fight back. What do you want from us?"

The gangsters said, we'll leave you alone if you each gouge out your right eye and give it to us.

That was a bit much to ask, even if they weren't in a position to refuse. They said, "Can you wait until next week?"

In the mean time, they sent a messenger out to see if anyone would come to help them against these baddies.

Just then, Saul-boy was still ploughing in the fields, and the messenger showed up in the village with the news.

"These terrible gangsters are outside our village, and they say if we don't gouge our right eyes they'll overrun our village!"

Everyone heard the news and began crying and weeping.

"Not again! Why they're always doing this to us! Our villages are without defence! And look at us! We're so disorganised that we can't do anything about it! What can we do? Oh God! You've got to help us!"

If there was ever a time that the people saw their own insufficiency, it was then. They were mourning and weeping before God. There's something about that kind of mourning that somehow gets God's attention. Mind you, it's not the pitiful type of mourning that likes people to feel sorry for one's self, but the type where one knows one is at the end of the rope, and that there is no help but from God. That's when you're really "small in your own eyes."

God heard, and the answer was actually not that far away.

Saul-boy had just finished ploughing, and was leading his oxen home, when he heard the weeping and carrying on in the village. He thought to himself, "I reckon I'd better go and see what all that commotion is all about."

He went and asked, and someone said, "That village over there -- some gangsters are going to overrun the village unless they gouge out their right eyes and give them to them."

When Saul-boy heard that, something happened on the inside of him. He was angry -- angry with the raiding bands that were always bullying their defenceless villages, and angry with his own people for never being quite organised enough to do something about it. Besides that, he was full of something that was about to make him burst. He knew there was only one thing to do. He couldn't say why, but he was more sure of that one thing than he had ever been sure of anything in his life. He opened his mouth, and spoke. It was like a dam bursting.

He boldly sent people around to all the tribes of Israel to command all the able bodied men to follow him.

Whatever it was that made him speak so boldly, was also on the people who heard the message, because they all grabbed their sickles, scythes and pitchforks and came in behind Saul.

In those days, they didn't even have swords and spears and such because the Philistines wouldn't let them have blacksmiths. They had to go to the Philistines just to have their sickles repaired! That's how small the people had become in their own eyes.

In God's Spirit, though, they were big.

Saul-boy was small in his own eyes, but in God's Spirit, he was the king.

Saul and his army fought off the bullying band of gangsters, and came home in victory. Now, no one doubted that Saul was their king. Some people stayed on as his permanent army. Others became servants. They built him a palace so he could live like a king. Another farm boy named 'lil Abner became his top general.

Soon, it began to hit Saul-boy that he was the king.

"I'm not just a farm boy any more, I'm the king!" he thought. "I'm going to start acting like I'm a king."

So, he started acting like a king. It felt rather good!

The very next time someone burst in the front door without wiping his feet, or closing the door behind him, saying, "Yo, Saul-boy...!" Saul cut him off.

He said, "When are you going to learn to show some respect? Don't ever call me 'Saul-boy'. From now on, it's 'Your Majesty King Saul.' The next one who calls me 'boy' will have his head cut off."

'Lil Abner said, "That's right. And don't ever call me ''lil Abner' any more either. It's Supreme Commander, Field Marshal, General Abner."

So, that was that.

The next item on the things-to-do list was to deal with the Philistines. However, that also involved the last of the commands Shemuel gave to Saul. Before he could deal with the Philistines, Saul had to go to Gilgal and wait for Shemuel for a week, so that Shemuel could perform a sacrifice.

So, King Saul and his army went to Gilgal and waited. Meanwhile, the Philistines were advancing.

Word kept coming that Philistines had advanced so far, and now they had reach such-and-such a village, and drawing ever closer.

Saul started getting nervous.

The people started getting nervous.

One week finally went by, but Shemuel was nowhere to be seen.

Supreme Commander Field marshal General Abner came to Saul and said, "You've got to do something. The people are getting nervous."

King Saul just looked as calm as he could and said, "Our instructions were to wait."

Then he stood there in the same position as though nothing phased him.

As soon as he had spoken, it sort of occurred to him, "Whose instructions?"

"Shemuel's instructions to me of course," he reminded himself.

"But I'm the king! Shemuel is just a prophet!" he thought again. "Who gives the instructions anyway? The prophet or the king?"

He just stood there gazing at the horizon, thinking it all over.

"After all, the king has to show himself strong. He has to win his people's respect. If the Philistines get the edge on us because I was waiting around for some prophet, what kind of king would I be then?"

Finally he said, almost out loud, "After all, I'm the king around here. Not Shemuel."

"Okay boys," he shouted. "Prepare the sacrifice."

So they prepared the sacrifice, and King Saul offered it up himself.

Just as he was finished, who do you think showed up but Shemuel! Believe me, he wasn't very happy.

"You've disobeyed God's command!" he said.

"But - but - but the Philistines were getting close and the people were getting nervous! And ..."

"If you had only obeyed God's command, the kingdom would have been established to you this day."

So it wasn't a matter of who was king. It wasn't Shemuel's commands after all, but God's! Yet Saul just kept trying to make excuses and justifying himself.

After that, things went down hill. He even failed another chance to prove his obedience to God and still he was making excuses. That's when Shemuel said, "When you were small in your own eyes, did God not make you king over his people?"

Unfortunately, Saul wasn't small in his own eyes anymore. He had become far too big -- too big to be the kind of king God was looking for.

So, what did God do? He found another king somewhere else.

This time, he found someone who was not only small in his own eyes, but in everyone else's eyes as well. In fact, he was still just a boy.

We know of this boy as David. We also remember that God said of him that he was a man after God's own heart.

Mind you, he made mistakes. In fact, he made the type of mistakes that no democratically elected leader of our day could ever hope to live down. Nor, for that matter, the pastor of any large mega-church.

The things King Saul did to forfeit his anointing, no one today would even care to look at twice. No reporter in his right mind would even bother to fax such seeming trivia to his editorial office. Now David! His sins would have been front page material on every rag in Fleet Street, and probably Financial Times and Wall Street Journal as well! Yet, he went down in history as one of the two greatest kings of all time.

And how did he survive the terrible scandals and cover-ups to end up so great? He did something that meant much more than the magnitude of his scandal. He remained small in his own eyes. He did that by maintaining a continuous attitude of repentance, and a consciousness that without God's strength, he didn't have what it takes to be a king. Just read his Psalms. He was always hungry for more of God!

The second greatest king of all time was his son, King Solomon. He knew from the start that the object wasn't to simply wriggle into a comfortable position and sit pretty. When God asked him what he wanted most, he knew that to do what God had called him to do definitely required wisdom. What he had wasn't enough! His secret to success was that he knew that!

By this time you're remembering that the title of this chapter said "Two men named Saul." So far, we've only described one, and it's already time to close the chapter! After all, it's bad style to just keep rambling on and on and ... well --

So, quickly. There is an "Old Testament Saul," and a "New Testament Saul." As we saw, the "Old Testament Saul" started out "small in his own eyes," but ended up rather bloated out of proportion. The "New Testament Saul", on the other hand, started out big in his own eyes.

The "New Testament Saul," of course is none other than the one we know as "Saul of Tarsus," and later as "Apostle Paul." He had a lot of distinctions to his name. He studied under one of the greatest rabbis of his time, and distinguished himself for his zeal and his defence of what he thought was the truth. Had he gone on like that, he would have, no doubt, been quoted in the Talmud. The Pirke Avot would have said, "Hillel said, 'Be of the disciples of Aaron, a lover of peace, and a pursuer of peace; one who loves mankind, and seeks to bring them near to the Torah'; and 'If not now, when?" . . . Gamaliel received the Torah from Hillel. He said, 'Procure thyself an instructor, and avoid the possibility of ever being in doubt'; and, 'Do not accustom thyself to give tithes by conjecture' . . . Saul of Tarsus received from Gamaliel. He said, 'A little wine for thine stomach's sake'; and, 'I buffet my body'; and, 'Eat, drink and be merrye -- tomorrow we'll diet.'"

As we all know now, God stopped him in his tracks before it got to that. The last three lines of the above never made it into the Talmud.

But even after that, he was quite a high achiever. He started many churches in the then un-reached parts of Macedonia. Greece and Asia-minor, he wrote epistles that later became canonised as scripture, he performed miracles, he became "most wanted man" by the Jerusalem Sanhedrin, and later by the Roman Government, yet, this is all he had to say about all that:

"Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:13,14).

No matter what he did, Rabbi Saul forgot all about it. Well, maybe he didn't forget it, but he acted as though he weren't counting it as one of his accomplishments. He started each day as though he'd done nothing for the Lord. He had started out big, but now, he knew how to stay scaled down.

Actually, he was holding out for something much bigger than the cheap thrill that comes from a sense of accomplishment. What he was hungering and thirsting for was the ultimate thrill of the resurrection! For that, he had to die to everything else.

That's why he said, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).

Not only did Saul consider himself as never having accomplished anything, but he didn't even consider himself sufficient for anything! If he did anything, there was nothing to be proud of, because it wasn't him! It was Yeshuah! Saul wasn't only "small in his own eyes" -- he was dead in his own eyes!

Going on that basis, Saul -- the New Testament one that is -- discovered the full truth of the "beatitudes". By assuming oneself as having no sufficiency, by hungering only for God, seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness, mourning and travelling as in child-birth for it, and assuming one's self as dead, one finds one has inherited the whole earth. The kingdom of God is yours! Things you weren't even looking for land in your lap. But in the end, that doesn't mean all that much to you. After all, you've already found what you were looking for: more intimacy with him -- that is, you've found it but you're still going for more -- and more -- and more -- and ...

That is exactly what Yeshuah was trying to tell everyone. That is the whole cause-effect dynamic of the kingdom he came to usher in. Once we realise that, and begin hungering and thirsting for it with all we have, not trying to establish ourselves in a comfortable spot or even attain self-sufficiency, but throwing ourselves constantly on His all-sufficiency, living in constant repentance and dying to ourselves; then the kingdom of God will begin to break forth into our world.

Then, we can hope to see the "kingdom to end all kingdoms" and see God's rule establish over this whole earth, with King Messiah at the lead.

Then, all our troubles will be over.
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First of all, is Sabbath on Saturday or Sunday? Was Eric Liddel (of Chariots of Fire fame) right, or are the Seventh Day Adventists? Or is it a combination of Saturday being Shabbat, and Sunday being the "Lord's day?" Or maybe we should just ignore it because after all, we aren't under the law, but under grace? If that is so, does that mean, then, that we can ignore all the other commandments? Well, of course, if we walk in the spirit, we won't tend to do anything seriously wrong anyway! So, then, does that mean we are now allowed to tell our parents off for not walking in the spirit, without worrying about the technical hitch of having dis-honoured them?

As to the question of what to do with the one day a week, I am pleased to announce that I have no intention of answering that in this chapter! However, the writer of Hebrews supplies us with a Jewish style argument that places the issue on a more fundamental sphere, thus pointing us in the right direction. Hebrews 4:4-11 says:

...He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: "And God rested on the seventh day from all His works": and again in this place: "They shall not enter My rest." Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, again He designates a certain day, saying in David, "Today," after such a long time, as it has been said: "Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts." For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.

The phrase, "...God rested on the seventh day from all His works," is from Exodus 20:11 -- the very commandment we are talking about. The other phrase, "They shall not enter My rest," is from Psalm 95:7-11. By quoting these two passages together, the writer of Hebrews is using one passage to help define the terminology in the other. Psalm 95:7 is saying that rest is a state one can be in seven days a week. It was supposedly the state the children of Israel were to find themselves in as soon as they passed into the promised land. According to the writer of Hebrews, the emphasis on the word "today" meant that they did not come into that rest in the full sense of the word.

What the psalmist was saying was in effect, "Today, if you hear His voice, don't miss your chance to enter into the rest."

The writer of Hebrews is saying, "Today? You mean Joshua didn't lead us into the rest? That obviously means that it can only come with hearing and obeying God's voice, and mixing it with faith (Heb 4:2)!"

Not only that, but by pin-pointing this use of the word, "rest" as being the very word used in the forth commandment, we now see that we haven't fully obeyed that commandment until we do in fact hear the Word, mix it with faith and obey it!

The forth commandment, quoted in its fullness implies that one who has entered the rest, or Shabbat, has ceased from his work just as God has ceased from His.

So what is this rest? It's a cessation of labour. What labour? What a lot of us are apparently doing, because by not taking the Word by faith and obeying it, we're failing to enter into it.

The ultimate rest, of course, is when Messiah returns and gathers us all up, and reigns as King Messiah. We do need to take heed to receive the Word of God and mix it with faith and not be as the five foolish virgins.

In doing so, however, we find that the Word, as we receive it and apply it brings us into a state of rest as we move on towards that ultimate date.

So, we've just got through talking about ourselves, in the last chapter, and our tendency to try to wriggle into a comfortable spot and sit pretty on our perches. We saw how that is anything but what Yeshuah had in mind for us. Now, we're talking about resting! Has Uncle Baruch become hopelessly confused by all his circular reasoning?

Let me answer that by saying that there is a right way, and a wrong way to contradict yourself. The right way is when an apparent contradiction actually ends up helping to define the context in which the original statement ought to be understood.

I'm afraid we often miss this truth. We are so used to following our bi-polar logic that we can't comprehend how two statements, such as the following examples, can both be right. Let's say we have one man saying, "Too many bakers spoil the dough." Another says, "Many hands make light work." Usually, we look at it with the following horizontal line:

A good example of this type of thinking was the cold war mentality, with Communism being on one side, and Capitalistic Democracy on the other, or again the "moderate" view, which wasn't trusted by either extreme. In some circles, if you came up with a bright idea, all someone had to say was, "but that's what the 'commies' believe!" Your idea was automatically invalid. No matter how wise the suggestion, if the "pinko commies" went by it, it must be wrong. This was not limited to the cold war of course. The liberal and conservative extremes of any political system still argue this way. Those in control use it to keep people from being attracted to alternative ideas. The popular media often supports this type of logic. Now, any slip of the tongue can have you branded as "politically incorrect!"

Unfortunately, this kind of thinking keeps us one sided, and unable to benefit from input from sources that could have otherwise have been of benefit to us. We always assume that because one party is right in an argument, the other party must therefore be wrong; or that because one party is wrong, the other must therefore be right! Anyone who has ever raised children knows that certainly isn't true!

The only thing it's really good for is arm-chair marriage counselling. That's where you only have to listen to one side of an argument before you realise that the one speaking to you is obviously in the right, and the other side is hopelessly wrong! It all depends on whose friend you happen to be or who you speak to first!

An alternative way of looking at the question is the following diagram:

You notice two lines. Line AB which represents "Too many bakers spoil the dough," and line XY which represents "Many hands make light work." Notice that this diagram doesn't treat the two sayings as equal and opposite, as the horizontal diagram did. However, if you want, you can still go to the extreme in either direction even at the expense of the other. On the other hand, you can stop where the two lines intersect and go no further. Where the lines intersect may well be the perfect balance that proves the truth of both sayings. We have that point marked as ABXY.

What does point ABXY indicate? It says, "Everyone stop trying to be the chief baker and just lend a hand!" Now, doesn't that make better sense than just taking the truth of one saying and ignoring the other? Now you won't spoil the dough at all, because not everyone is trying to be the chief baker and use their own special recipe, and the job will get done faster, because everyone is lending a hand. Now the only problem is whose recipe to use!

So, what does this have to do with us? In the last chapter, we emphasised that our role as believers is not to try to wriggle into a comfortable spot where we can sit pretty, but rather to hunger and thirst, and live a life of repentance. Now, in this chapter, we are pointing out the message of Hebrews 4, which speaks of a rest for the people of God. In some people's minds, these two ideas would seem to contradict each other.

So, let's plot the lines and determine what point ABXY indicates. There's no need to learn a mathematical formula. Just use your head.

What point ABXY says is, if you read the last chapter, and you are running yourself ragged trying to mortify yourself and produce hunger pains, or you're on a guilt trip over the comfortable position you're already in, something is wrong.

Some churches try so hard to maintain a revival atmosphere, and try every method they learned in at the last prayer seminar to induce hunger that they wear themselves and their congregations out!

There's nothing, really, you can do to create spiritual hunger, so if that is what you're trying to do, then of course, you'll tire yourself out. Especially if you feel under pressure to try to make it happen, or if you feel you need to prove to the other churches in your community that your church is in revival!

If you don't want more of God, you can't make yourself want more. Only the Holy Spirit can do that.

However, if you want to want more of Him, that's a good start. You can develop a taste for more of him by spending more time in the inner sanctuary. When you know what something tastes like, you can begin to develop an appetite for it. Hearing a good sermon on revival, or a book on the inner sanctuary, like this one, can also initiate a hunger -- as long as it's anointed by the Holy Spirit. Read a good book or an article on the "Toronto blessing." I have one you can read on the "Yangon blessing!" (Go ahead and write to me. I promise, I won't put you on my mailing list!) Read it, and ask yourself, "Do I really want to miss out on what God is doing?

Even if you're starting out with a wrong motive, God can deal with you and make it right. I don't guarantee that, but that is what has happened in many cases, so it's better to go for it than not to. Nor can I guarantee that His dealings won't hurt just a little bit. But relax, and dig in, and find out what there is to enjoy!

Really, once you understand it, being at rest and being humble and hungry go together perfectly.

Remember Saul-boy, when he came home from ploughing? He was still small in his own eyes, and he didn't think he had all the makings of a king. In fact, in the natural, he didn't have the makings of a king! Yet, in God's Spirit, he was the king, and in God's strength, he did what a king was supposed to do! He didn't have to worry about whether he was doing the right thing or not. God's Spirit had that all taken care of. He just had to rest in God's ability, while keeping in mind that he could never do it in his own natural strength. As long as he just kept hungering for more of God's strength, he was the perfect king. Unfortunately, he didn't keep it up. He became satisfied with his own ability and his current level of obedience.

Had he prayed like David, "Teach me your ways, Oh Lord ... search my heart and see if there is any wicked way in me," God would have shown him his ways and taught him to be more obedient. David could rest in the fact that God would show him things like that when he asked, and that once he obeyed, everything would be all right.

So, we're really talking about the same thing in both chapters. The secret to rest is the same as the secret to humility. I Peter 5:6,7 tells us that:

Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, and He will lift you up, casting all your care on Him, for He cares for you.

So, how do you humble yourself? By casting your care on Him!

It's that easy? But what do cares have to do with pride?

First, what is pride? Pride is caring what other people think about you. Pride is caring about your appearance as a self sufficient person who can hold his head high. Pride is caring about our success because if we aren't successful in what we're doing, we won't look good. We care about being right! We care about our self-image, whereas humility is acknowledging that we have no basis for any self-image but in Christ.

So what do we do?

Cast the care of our self-image, and our appearance and what others think of us on Him. Once we have no more cares, we can rest.

We must humble ourselves, and repent, and hunger for more of Him, because nothing that is in us is sufficient to see us through. However, we can rest in Him, because He is sufficient.

Resting is a wonderful position to be in. We're no longer under pressure to succeed just to look good. Now, we can whole heartedly pray for the First Baptist Church and say, "Lord, bless the Baptists, and give them a greater out-pouring than we've got!" (If you happen to be Baptist, use the name "Assembly's of God" instead). You can now pray, "Lord, bless that other church that split off from ours (or that church we split from), and help them to grow larger than we are!"

I said that so that you will know whether you need to apply this message or not. If you can whole heartedly pray the above prayers, then you are ready to be hit with full scale revival. If you can't just yet, don't worry too much. Just dig into Him, learn from him in the inner sanctuary, and develop that hunger for more of what He has. It also wouldn't hurt to repent of any bad attitudes, and let Him deal with them. Before long, you'll be able to pray heaps of blessings on your worst enemies, in or outside of the Body of Christ.

It's such a relief to not be under pressure to make sure your project succeeds. When it's all in His hands, He is the one responsible for that -- not you. When your only desire is to glorify God, and to obey him; and then your project fails miserably, or your support organisation collapses, that just means God has another place for you. It wasn't your project anyway!

At least, let's hope it wasn't!

If it was, maybe that's why you got hurt when it failed. Now, pick up the pieces -- of your life, not the project -- and give them to God. Cast the care of your future on Him. Begin to hunger after what God has. Find out what God's program is for where you are, or where you're supposed to be. Don't be bothered by what you will gain out of it, but go all out to be close to Him, and to see His kingdom established.

Really, when we talk about humbling ourselves in this way (by casting our cares on him), we're really talking about becoming single minded as opposed to being double minded. The accompanying article, Where You Stand is Where You Sit goes into more detail about the double and single mind. True rest is the state of being single-minded. All you really want is more of God. That is all you hunger for. You only want to see God's kingdom established on this earth. It doesn't matter how it happens, who gets to do what, who does the anointing flow through, or how many people find out that you had a part in it.

That is exactly what the writer of Hebrews was trying to get at, because he doesn't stop with the passage we quoted above. He goes on in verses 11-16 to say:

Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathise with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

What this is saying, is, "If you don't know how to rest, the Word of God will take care of that."

It's the Word of God mixed with faith that will bring us into the rest. Why? Because the Word of God is about everything that has to do with you! God knows you better than you even know yourself, and He's written all about you in His Word! The Word of God will even tell you what your real motives are. I know that very well.

Do you want to know how I know it? Really? You don't mind a long story? Okay, I'll tell you:

Once upon a time, your Uncle Baruch got involved in derivatives trading. You know, that same kind of investment trading that brought down Barrings Bank, and bankrupted Orange County, California. Yes, your own Uncle Baruch was into that too -- not with the same amounts of money, mind you. In time, of course, it could have involved the same amounts of money, had all the right decisions been made at just the right time.

It's really a very quick way to become either very very rich, or very very poor. Of course, I was trying to become very very rich. I thought that I had a good chance of succeeding, because I thought I was listening to the Holy Spirit telling me which direction the prices were going to go.

Dennis and Rita Bennet once said, "If you have the Word without the Spirit, you'll dry up; if you have the Spirit without the Word, you'll blow up; but if you have the Word and the Spirit, you'll grow up."

I suppose that I was in more danger of "blowing up" than "drying up." However, I did like to read the Bible.

One day, I was sitting at the brokerage office waiting for the numbers to move on the Reuters monitor, and I was reading in II Chronicles 25 where Amaziah, the King of Judah had hired some mercenary troops from the Northern kingdom of Israel. A prophet came to him and said he must not let them go with him into battle, because God wasn't with Israel. Amaziah had already paid out a large sum of money to hire these troops, so he said, "What shall I do about the hundred talents that I gave them?" The man of God said, "The Lord is able to give you much more than this."

Something told me that this was a direct word for me. What did it mean? How can it be for me? Was I supposed to stop trading just like that? Especially when the Lord seems to be telling me how the prices will go? Well, I just flipped to a different passage and read there instead.

Now, I was in I Kings 22, where King Jehoshaphat was visiting with his dear friend, King Ahab.

King Ahab had come up with a bright idea. "Why don't we go and recover Ramoth Gilead from the Syrians?"

King Jehoshaphat wanted to seek the Lord before making such a big decision. So, King Ahab called a prophetic conference.

Such a great conference he called! It certainly wasn't one you would want to miss! All the famous prophets were there. 400 of them! Well, Elisha must have been away somewhere, and one other prophet, Micaiah -- well, his invitation must have got "lost in the mail."

However, among the prophets that did show up was Zedekiah, who was good at using visual aids. He had a pair of horns especially made for the occasion, out of iron. He'd put them on his head and charge like a wild bull back and forth across the platform shouting, "With this you will go-o-o-o-ore the Syrians! With this you will go-o-o-o-o-ore the Syrians!"

The other prophets went wild! They yelled, "Yeah brother! Amen brother! One more time brother!"

"With this you will go-o-o-o-o-ore the Syrians!"

"Do it again!" yelled King Ahab.

"With this you will go-o-o-o-o-o-ore the Syrians! With this you will go-o-o-o-o-o-ore the Syrians!"

Then, he stood, panting in middle of the stage, with that wild look in his eyes -- a look that could only come from the fire that was inside -- shouting in a hoarse voice, "...until they are destro-o-o-oyed!"

The applause was deafening! Every man in the crowd was on his feet.

Why, after such an anointed sermon as that, who could doubt that God had fore-ordained that King Ahab and King Jehoshaphat were to gore the Syrians until they were destroyed?

Was Jehoshaphat satisfied? Well, he seemed to enjoy the sermon. Afterwards, though, something just didn't sit right. He asked King Ahab, "Isn't there just one more prophet somewhere we should be hearing?"

Ahab said, "Well, there's Micaiah, but -- well he's not good for a meeting like this."

"Why?"

"His messages aren't positive."

"I'd kind of like to hear him."

"C'mon! He'll throw cold water all over the meeting!"

"Well -- I'd still like to hear him."

"Okay, if you insist. But I'm telling you..."

The next day, they brought Micaiah. The one who went to fetch him said, "Now Micaiah, there's a real spirit of unity there. Don't you go throwing water on it with any of your off-beat ideas!"

Micaiah just said, "Whatever the Lord gives me, I'll speak."

Well, back at the conference, Zedekiah had been asked, by popular demand, to give his "horns" sermon again. He had charged like a bull back and forth across the stage until he was thoroughly pooped!

Now, he was just standing there to one side on the edge of the stage shouting, "Amen!" as other prophets were saying, "Go up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper, for the Lord will deliver it into the king's hand!"

That's about the time Micaiah arrive. He was ushered immediately to the platform, and he stood there, before both of the kings.

Ahab turned to Jehoshaphat, and said, "This is him."

Micaiah opened his mouth, and said, "Go up for the Lord has delivered it into your hands."

However, there was just a slight mocking tone in his voice.

Ahab said, "C'mon Micaiah! This is a prophetic conference. Can you be serious for a change?"

"Okay," said Micaiah, "I'll be serious for a change. I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. And the Lord said, 'These have no master. Let each return to his house in peace."

Ahab turned to Jehoshaphat and said, "See? He's always like this. Negative! That's why I don't invite him to meetings like this."

Micaiah continued, "I saw the Lord with all the hosts of heaven. The Lord said, 'Who will persuade Ahab to go up, so that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead?' Some said this, and some said that. Then, a spirit came forward, and said, 'I will persuade him.' 'How?' the Lord said. 'I will go and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' The Lord said, 'You shall persuade him, and also prevail. Go out and do so.' So, as you can see, all of your prophets are speaking with that lying spirit!"

Do you want to know how to throw cold water on a meeting? Do you want to know how to make every single delegate in a conference absolutely furious with you?

Well, the prince of preachers, the one with the horns, came and slapped him to the ground, and said, "Since when did God just start talking to you and ignoring the rest of us!"

Jehoshaphat agreed that this was indeed going a bit far. Finally, he agreed to go with King Ahab to Ramoth Gilead.

It almost cost him his life. It did cost King Ahab his life. Micaiah was right, and the 400 prophets were speaking with a lying spirit (mind you, I have nothing against prophetic conferences. Just remember, prophets can be wrong sometimes, especially if they're going with the "spirit" without much of the Word).

So, your Uncle Baruch was reading this, and do you think he saw the light?

Maybe he was like King Jehoshaphat. He started to see the light, but then he closed his eyes again. He thought he enjoyed the fantasy better. As it was, he ended up very very poor, and deep deep in debt (he eventually got out of debt, thank God). I'm glad he didn't end up like King Ahab, who ended up dead, or else he wouldn't be sitting in front of this little notebook computer writing you this story!

But that's how the Word of God plunged like a two edged sword directly into the dividing of your Uncle Baruch's soul and spirit, and exposed the motives that were causing me to try to hang on in the investment markets, when I should have come out. He exposed a greedy fantasy, like King Ahab had.

We've talked a lot in this book about fantasies. A fantasy is thinking one thing is so when there's a good reason you ought to know better. King Saul developed a fantasy. Marta lived in a fantasy. Sectarianism is a fantasy. One fantasy is that of thinking you are in the inner sanctuary, and having intimacy with God, and at the same time, harbouring unforgiveness or bitterness towards someone, or towards a group. I John 4:20 says, if you say, "I love God," and hate your brother, you are living in a fantasy. You're like a child talking to an imaginary friend. Maybe your imaginary friend approves of keeping separated from the rest of the Body of Christ, but God certainly doesn't.

Before we can really enjoy God's rest, our fantasies need to be exposed and sent away to fantasy land. When we deal in the things of God, we're dealing with the real thing. Not with fantasies. That is why John went on to say in the verse we just referred to, "...he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?"

You can tell whether you are really communing with the invisible God in the inner sanctuary, or if you're just off somewhere with your imaginary friend, by how it affects your visible relationships in the real world.

The real world is where things really happen. What you sow, you will eventually reap. Causes have their effect, and effects have a cause. Even miracles happen only because the spiritual dynamics are right. Not because you wished they would happen, or wished that your problem would just go away.

That is exactly why it was very necessary for Yeshuah to come, and be born as a physical man, and then plant himself as a seed before the miracle of resurrection could be released. It had to really happen. A nice story about someone living an exemplary life, and demonstrating the noble virtues would never do it. He had to really die, because sin was a real problem that had to be dealt with in a real way. No magic wands or nice allegories would do it.

Some Bible scholars talk about the "Jesus of faith," and the "Jesus of history." They insinuate that the things we believe Jesus did, maybe didn't really happen, and therefore comprise the "Jesus of faith." They spend their time trying to determine just who was the "Jesus of history."

What they do, is miss-use the terminology. Whatever does not comprise the "Jesus of history" should be termed the "Jesus of fantasy." To really be faith it has to be what really happened.

Only a Jesus who really died, and rose again from the dead, and actually conquered death and wiped out sin forever, can be Lord. If it didn't really happen, then why are we wasting our time? Uncle Baruch can make more money writing science fiction!

Praise the Lord! It did really happen! Our faith is solid! Hebrews 11:1 says it's a substance.

Faith is for building, but not for building castles in the clouds. If you try to lay a brick on a cloud, it will just fall right through. You have to build on solid ground. The Word of God is the only suitable foundation for our faith. That is our only real gage of what's real and what isn't.

So, before one can come into the rest God has, one has to get rid of the fantasy. That is called repentance. You cannot expect miracles to break into your fantasy world unless you repent of your fantasy. Many people have tried to move directly from their fantasy into God's supernatural power. Instead of God, they meet their imaginary friend!

To repent is to acknowledge that you have been violating the cause-effect dynamics of the real world. That means to come out of your fantasy, and realise things the way they are and acknowledge the mess you've made of them. Then, you make a solid decision to go all the way with God.

Things will not be turned around just by positive thinking. That is fantasy again. It takes the power of God through Yeshuah to turn it around. It takes faith in something Yeshuah really did 2000 years ago. It takes acknowledging the sin that created the situation in the first place, and receiving His mercy.

In Yeshuah, we are in the position to receive that mercy. The last verse of the passage we've been looking at says:

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

That's the theme of this book! Coming into the inner sanctuary! Sitting at Yeshuah's feet like Miriam!

If you follow any Biblical theme to it's source, you end up in the inner sanctuary. The whole object of the Bible is God's plan of reconciliation -- bringing man back to Himself in the inner sanctuary, the place of intimacy with Him. As simplistic as it sounds, the key to all our problems is in the inner sanctuary.

And yet we seem to be engrossed in everything but intimacy with Him!

Like Marta, we are running around with our fantasies of working for the Lord that keep us from working with Him -- our fantasies that keep us from fellowship with fellow members of Christ's body. We carefully maintain our fantasies so we can sit pretty on our perches with the confident feeling that we are "right." I wonder if, as a result, we occasionally mistake our imaginary friend for the Creator of the universe?

Is this really what we want?

Marta! Marta! Put that ladle down! Stop being so worked up over so many things! Come in and take your rest in the inner sanctuary!

Your sister Miriam has found the important place. That's a place of hungering for more of Yeshuah! Come on! Forget about your distinctive, and join her at Yeshuah's feet. Repent of your fantasising, and realise that what you want is really right here at Yeshuah's feet. Just hunger for that, and take your long needed rest.
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Too often, our opinions are formed, not by honestly observing the facts, but rather, by what seems better for us. As much as we like to think otherwise, I'm afraid we do this without realising it. In this chapter, I would like to look at seven reasons why many of us hold the opinions we do.

There are, of course, more reasons than that. In fact, one reason, which I have not included in the seven is: many people simply believe what they've been taught, or what's been proven to them beyond a reasonable doubt. There are, in fact, many people who love the Lord with all their heart, and do not fall into any of the seven categories I am about to list, and yet hold opposing beliefs to one another.

Ah good, you say. He's left the back door open in case the kitchen gets too hot.

True, the kitchen may become hot in this chapter, and yes, the back door has been left open a little bit, but only for ventilation. But you needn't be in such a hurry to exit.

In other words, don't automatically assume you are one of those I referred to three paragraphs ago.

Also, I am not referring to major points of doctrine such as the Trinity, or the virgin birth, resurrection, or inspiration of scripture. It is true that some of these mind sets can drive us off in that direction as well. That's when they become deadly! However, here, I'm dealing with how they affect us on the minor issues such as whether the charismatic gifts are valid today, and if so, which ones; the timing of the rapture; whether it's possible to lose one's salvation after believing; Word of Faith; Messianic Judaism; replacement theology; etc. etc.

It is not the holding of opposing beliefs on these minor issues that causes disunity in the body of Christ. It's opposing beliefs held in any one of the following seven attitudes (and perhaps others not listed), that bring division.

1. The need to be right.

This is probably the biggest reason. We like to believe that what we presently know and believe, is the sum of knowledge and rightness. We like to look at ourselves, and say, "Well, I'm actually doing pretty good!" We like the feeling that we're "sitting pretty on our perch."

Where this leads to problems, is, if I'm "sitting pretty on my perch," the biggest disservice you can do to me is to succeed in proving to me that I'm wrong on some point or another. Then, I've got problems! Now, I have to wriggle and wriggle until I can once again sit pretty on my perch.

Whatever other of the following six categories I'm in, I've at least compensated for my fears by adjusting my world view (scripturally of course) to make myself feel like "I'm okay." That was until you came along and ruined it all by pointing out this irrefutable argument that makes my position not so pretty!

Besides that, I've lost an argument, and I don't like loosing arguments! I'm supposed to be uncle around here, and teach you but here you are teaching me and now I've got a self image problem.

In the second chapter of this book, we addressed the question of whether perches are biblical or not. I think we made it quite clear that they were precluded by Yeshuah's kingdom requirements of being poor in spirit, mourning, meekness and hunger for righteousness (Matt 5:1-5).

2. Sectarianism.

This is the attitude that says (or thinks), "Our group believes this way." It's almost like the problem we just discussed, except it's more in the collective sense. Not only do we like to "sit pretty on our perch", but we also like to "flock together."

In chapter one of Marta Marta, I described my own experience with sectarianism, so I'll be brief here.

There is something in all of us that desires to belong. That is also the same thing that makes us form cliques, and often (but not always) that is coupled with hero worship for those personalities in leadership over our particular clique.

Believing a certain way can be the mark of belonging to the group. That is often so to the extent that in the Church, we find ourselves guarding the distinctive beliefs of our particular group even more closely than we do, those foundational principals that belong to the whole Body of Christ.

That need for belonging can only be truly satisfied by entering into the inner sanctuary, and finding our place in Christ before the Father. Once we know we belong to Him, the next thing we realise is that we belong to His body. Not just one small group within His body.

By repenting of sectarianism, and receiving the revelation of who we really are in the Body, we are then free to believe what we do, simply because it's in the Word of God.

3. Double mindedness.

This is a very subtle problem, and easy to overlook. Yet, it can lead to a shipwrecked life.

Any desires or hopes that we maintain which keep us from unreserved obedience to His will make for a double mind. We love the Lord, and want to walk in His ways and receive God's best, yet we continue to entertain a desire which is not pure. There may not be anything ethically wrong with what we desire, but if we are unwilling to release any hope of fulfilling it in exchange for more of His glory, we are double minded.

While we refuse to admit it to ourselves, we love Jesus and ____. In our heart, we know that one day, if we were faced with a choice between Jesus and ____, we could buckle under and choose ____ at the expense of Jesus (don't write in the blanks). Those who have a problem of double mindedness, usually have a very hard time in the Christian life. For them, it's a difficult uphill battle. That goes for almost everyone with one exception:

There is a popular doctrine that is very attractive to double minded Christians. I am not saying that everyone who believes this doctrine is double minded. I don't even intend to state which is the correct possition, but I'll say this to those who believe it's incorrect so you won't be tempted to cheer me on as though I' arguing your position: Many single minded Christians who love God with all their hearts also believe this way.

For the rest of you, the back door is open, and the kitchen is about to become even hotter, but don't you walk out. You need a good sauna.

I am speaking of the doctrine of "once-saved-always-saved," or "eternal security." To the double minded believer, it is their insurance against back-sliding.

Some double minded believers are prevented from adopting this doctrine only by their sectarianism! They, of all people are most miserable. Their life is beset by an unclean desire which the devil can and will use to utmost advantage whenever the timing is just right. He has them blackmailed! If they're not bound by sectarianism, perhaps they are complacent, thinking that that time will never come. But many who have joined the "eternal security" camp feel they can afford to fling caution to the wind, and go on living life as they please.

So, you ask, can a believer end up in hell? Where do you draw the line?

I'll tell you. Look once more at the book cover. Look at that crazy picture of Marta emerging from a hot kitchen. Now, you tell me. Does this look like a book on the great doctrines of the Church? And you're expecting your poor Uncle Baruch to tell you where to draw the line? Then let me ask you a question. How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? Greater minds than yours or mine have searched the scriptures, and still haven't come to an agreement.

If you think it's easier to determine where the line is drawn than to cleanse yourself of a double mind, then we'll meet in heaven, and you can tell me where the line was. Or if I don't see you, I'll assume that you found there was a line somewhere, and I'll have one less question to ask before the throne.

With a single mind, the Christian life is ever so much less complicated. Obedience is so simple. There is nothing but good to be gained from every step with Him, because we've already died to everything that can possibly hurt us.

And there's no fear of possibly going to hell. Of course! Who wants to go there? What is there to do along the way? Who is there to visit? So why do we need directions how to get there?

Okay, then. How does one come by a single mind? James is the prime textbook for single mindedness. Chapter 4:6-10 tells you how:

. . .But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

This is one of the few verses in the Bible that tells us to weep instead of being joyful. That's because joy is for those who have hope. For the double minded there is very little hope, unless they cleanse themselves of their double mind (hope of what -- I'll leave that to our church's doctrine).

To humble yourself is to go before the Father in the inner sanctuary, and to acknowledge that He is your only hope. Repent of having allowed something else come in the way of a pure relationship with Him. However, repentance won't do you any good unless you follow it up with some tough decisions. That's where the weeping comes in, because getting rid of those desires that have meant so much to you hurts!

In fact, what you are really doing, is dying. You're allowing your old life and your desires to die with Yeshuah on the cross. Only by seeing yourself dead in Him, can you receive of His resurrection life. But you must consider all your old desires as though they actually were dead.

This isn't just a remedy for getting you out of a double minded rut, but it should be your constant daily position. That's what we've been talking about this whole book long.

Stay in the inner sanctuary until He becomes bigger than all those things you have released. Allow His grace to overflow you, just as it say's "He gives grace to the humble." Grace isn't just some vague concept of not being deserving of whatever it is we're getting. It is a vital force! It will empower you to live in victory over your old desires.

As you go your way, keep reflecting on the fact that you are dead in Christ, and the life you now live, you live by the Son of God, who gave himself for you. Everything about this new life is many times better than anything you've died to. Allow His grace, from the inner sanctuary to touch all of those areas where you thought you needed that other stuff.

Now, you'll find your life in the Spirit so much simpler. You can now accept the plain meaning of any Scripture passage in the Bible without feeling uncomfortable. In fact, every new insight will bring joy, and release.

Needless to say, the preceding few paragraphs wasn't just for people who believe in "once-saved-always-saved." In fact, as I said not all who believe "once-saved-always-saved" are in the same rut as the double minded. Contrary to what many of the opposite opinion believe, not all "once-saved-always-saved" people are smug in the notion that they can sin just when they please. Many of them love the Lord too much to do that. And contrary to what many "once-saved-always-saved" people think, not all of those who believe you can loose your salvation, are in constant fear of ending up in Hell. Many are too confident of God's love to give in to such fear as that.

Speaking of fear...

4. Fear.

Some fear is the result of double mindedness. That should have been dealt with in the last section. There are some other types of fear that we'll cover here.

One of these is the fear that results from simply being unaware of God's intentions. It is a fear for one's physical safety, or fear of the unknown, which on a more practical level, causes many people to be attracted towards the position that the church will be automatically raptured at the beginning of the Great Tribulation.

The Great Tribulation, by all accounts, sounds like a scary time. It's not our purpose here to discuss the doctrine itself, but to deal with the unhealthy fear that would keep people from even considering any alternative doctrine or honestly examining the scripture to see if their position is in fact supported by the Word of God.

Having lived in a society in which there have been no major wars, nor threats to the basic freedoms for the last hundred or so years, where one can expect to support a family and see one's children through school and rest assured that one's grandchildren will enjoy the same luxuries, it's only natural that people would want that protective insulation preserved at all costs. The thought of having to pack up and run for one's life every now and then, or otherwise abruptly change one's lifestyle at some future date, is admittedly a disturbing thought. It was into this kind of atmosphere that the idea of a pre-tribulation secret rapture of the church was introduced in mid-nineteenth century England, and later introduced to North America.

However, we must understand two things. First, it is not God's top priority to keep such an insulated social system intact indefinitely. Secondly, it needn't take something like the Great Tribulation or the anti-christ to bring such a system to an abrupt end. The more serious minded economists -- those without vested political interests -- will tell you that the system is already falling apart by the seams.

Even during the history of the present "dispensation" there have been times when believing in Jesus carried an automatic death sentence. Today, in Saudi Arabia, an Arab can be be-headed simply for becoming a Christian. Expatriate Filipino labourers aren't even allowed to hold Bible studies for fellow Filipino believers. This is in a country that was considered one of the "good guys" during the Gulf war! What is there, then, to prevent Western Europe and North America from suddenly turning nasty?

For the believer, there is no need to fear any future scenario. If you are afraid of it being one way, and are crossing your fingers hoping it's the other way, you need to spend time in the inner sanctuary. God's grace will be sufficient to see us through any future possibilities, as the following quotation from The Shepherd of Hermas shows. This was a vision given to a Christian slave probably during the early part of the second century:

. . . I was going into the country by the Campanian Way . . . As I gave glory and thanksgiving to Him, there answered me as it were the sound of a voice. "Don't be of a doubtful mind, Hermas."

I began to question in myself and to say, "How can I be of doubtful mind, seeing that I am so firmly founded by the Lord, and have seen glorious things?"

I went on a little, brethren, and what did I see? -- a cloud of dust rising as it were to heaven, and I began to say within myself, "Can it be that cattle are coming, and raising a cloud of dust?" for it was just about a stade from me. As the cloud of dust became greater and greater, I suspected that it was something supernatural.

Then the sun shone out a little, and what did I see? -- a huge beast like some sea-monster, and from its mouth fiery locusts issued forth. And the beast was about a hundred feet in length, and its head was as it were of pottery. And I began to weep, and to entreat the Lord that He would rescue me from it. And I remembered the word which I had heard, "Don't be of a doubtful mind, Hermas."

Therefore, brethren, having put on the faith of the Lord and having called to mind the mighty works that He had taught me, I took courage and gave myself up to the beast. Now the beast was coming on with such a rush, that it might have ruined a city. I came near it, and, huge monster as it was, it stretched itself on the ground, and merely put forth its tongue, and didn't stir at all until I had passed by it...

Now after I had passed the beast, and had gone forward about thirty feet, and there, a virgin met me, arrayed as if she were going forth from a bride-chamber, all in white and with white sandals, veiled up to her forehead, and her head-covering consisted of a turban, and her hair was white. I knew from the former visions that she was the Church, and I became more cheerful.

She saluted me, saying, "Good morrow, my good man."

I saluted her in turn, "Lady, good morrow."

She asked me, "Did nothing meet you?"

I said to her, "Lady, such a huge beast, that could have destroyed whole peoples: but, by the power of the Lord and by His great mercy, I escaped it."

"You escaped it well," she said, "because you cast your care on God, and opened your heart to the Lord, believing that you can be saved by nothing else but by His great and glorious Name. Therefore the Lord sent His angel, who is over the beasts, whose name is Sergi, and shut its mouth, so that it would not hurt you. You have escaped a great tribulation by reason of your faith; and because, though you saw so huge a beast, you did not doubt in your mind. Therefore, go and declare to the elect of the Lord His mighty works, and tell them that this beast is a type of the great tribulation which is to come. If therefore you prepare yourselves beforehand, and repent and turn to the Lord with your whole heart, you shall be able to escape it...

Whether or not this is speaking of the Great Tribulation, or simply a period of persecution that was soon to follow during the second century is anyone's interpretation. Whatever we are to go through before the very end comes, there is no need to fear if we have prepared ourselves in the inner sanctuary. God's grace will be sufficient, supernaturally!

God knows that many of us aren't ready yet, but He is the one who's getting us ready. He is the Lord of the harvest, and at the same time, He is our good shepherd. He has your way uniquely mapped out for you so that as you spend time with Him in the inner sanctuary, all things will work together for good, and for your strengthening.

There are other aspects of fear should be treated here, which may affect how one stands on some of the other doctrines. Many believers have to some extent been "brow beaten" spiritually, perhaps by a leader or someone over them in authority such as a parent. A lot of emphasis was on "measuring up" spiritually, "or face God's judgement." Other contributing factors could be faulty parenting during early childhood, which I will not go into, because there are other books that deal with this much better than we can here.

The result is that they have a fear that if it at all depended on their own faithfulness to God, or even their ability to flow in God's grace, they'd fail miserably. This fear is only heightened when an evangelist speaks on the Christian's duty to witness to others. Pressure to do their duty keeps them from being able to enjoy being in Christ. Therefore, they often find in "eternal security" a haven of rest (Even then, they may still fear the "judgement seat of Christ" where rewards are handed out to believers, or that they may miss the "first rapture" before the tribulation, and have to go up in a "second load" -- or however many "loads" one believes in).

If my "paraphrase" in the first chapter of Marta Marta is correct, it's a feeling akin to Miriam's before she began to sit at the feet of Yeshuah. The more pressure Marta put on her to achieve, the less she was actually able to achieve.

I also identify with this. I have been in working situations where I was under pressure to achieve. One in particular was a fast food restaurant. I was naturally slow, and made many blunders, such as putting a slice of onion onto a hamburger, when the order slip before me had the "O" crossed out (or was the "O" circled -- I forget which). The manager would always get on my case and yell at me for getting it wrong. Sometimes he would stand behind me looking over my shoulder, using his words as though they were a whip on my back. I was always in fear of being fired from that job.

Then, I found another job doing work on somebody's house. I gave the boss the one week's notice that was required. Then, suddenly, I wasn't afraid of loosing my job any more. The pressure disappeared, and my performance shot way up!

The boss made the comment, "Hey! It's too bad you're leaving us! You've improved so much!" I didn't have the nerve to tell him that it was because of the pressure he put me under that my performance was so poor (That was a long long time ago when we were both much younger, so it's not such a nasty thing to write about in a book. I say that because if he reads this, he'll probably recognise the situation -- Hi Henry!).

That is one of the dynamics of the inner sanctuary. That's what happened to Miriam at Yeshuah's feet. Once we become confident in the Father's love for us, and confident that we don't have to achieve in order to "win" His approval, we can enjoy being in Him. Then, our ministry will be the natural fruit of our relationship instead of our relationship being conditional on our performance.

There is as such a thing as trying so hard to bear fruit that you can't bear fruit. It's like a tree with constipation! Some Christians only start to bear fruit once they finally give up, and become honest with God, and say "I just can't go on!" God says, "Good. I've been waiting for you to say that. Now, come on into the inner sanctuary."

Another fear that keeps one locked into a denominational doctrine or creed, is that of getting into something strange, and possibly occultic or heretical. Sometimes there's a fear of a transference of spirits, or loonieness of some sort. The teachers of the Word we have become familiar with -- especially the ones who have already gone on to their reward (and no longer in danger of going off themselves), and also ones who have proved themselves in our experience, become our trusted foundation. They are our solid rock. All other ground is feared to be sinking sand.

It's true that we shouldn't be swept this way and that by every wind of doctrine. On the other hand, where one danger exists, there is also usually an equal and opposite danger. Fear of being in danger of one thing will often drive us into the opposite extreme. It's like a narrow road with a ditch on either side. By concentrating on the ditch on one side, we fail to notice the ditch on the other side.

In this case, fear of getting into some unknown wild heresy keeps many in a rigid distrustful attitude, and they therefore miss what God is bringing to pass for their own time. They cut themselves off from fellowship from the rest of Christ's body. This does not please God. On the other hand, fear of rigidity and sectarianism can drive many into a heresy.

The secret is not to look at either ditch, but straight down the road. It's the road that leads us into the inner sanctuary.

It is, of course, vitally important to test every spirit to see if it's from God. I Corinthians 12 and I John 4 both give us guidelines on this. Paul said, "I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (1Cor 2:2 NKJV). Yeshuah also said in answer to John, who had seen someone apparently acting in competition, "Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side" (Luke 9:50 NKJV). Finally, Yeshuah said, "By their fruit you'll know them (Matt 7:15-20).

Any test that shows Yeshuah glorified in the way the scripture says he is to be glorified (in His Lordship and His atonement) and bares the fruit of drawing people into deeper love for Him, and shows the fruit of the spirit in people's lives; is a positive initial test as to whether we can safely involve ourselves in fellowship. How scriptural they are in other issues is, more often than not, a matter of one's point of view, but once our inner sanctuary experience is established, these differences will take care of themselves.

We have not been dealing directly with these beliefs themselves; only with the inadequate reasons for holding tenaciously to any given belief. Nothing I have said so far is to be construed as meaning that a particular belief is right or wrong. That is to be decided on the strength of scripture, rightly divided, which you'll be able to do so much more efficiently once freed from these seven blockages.

So far, we looked at sectarianism and the need to be "right", which motivate people to cling to what they presently believe, or the doctrine of their group of which they feel a part. This can include any belief ranging from Word of Faith, to Messianic Judaism, to Assemblies of God, to some anti-charismatic stance, or anti-one-of-the-others. No doctrine is inherently immune from sectarianism, however accurate or scriptural.

Double-mindedness and fear seem especially tailored to "eternal security" and "pre-trib rapture" respectively, although it's possible that other doctrines could be latched on to for the same reasons.

Now we'll look at a mindset that may put us in opposition to all of the above.

5. Adventurous independent spirit.

The adventurous independent spirit is usually the first to spot the sectarians, the "perch sitters", the fearful and the doubleminded. The sad things is, he's also the last to spot these tendencies inside himself.

This attitude shows itself when a person makes the assumption that just because one group or another is sectarian, their teaching and practice must therefore be wrong. So they dissociate themselves from that group. In doing so, they simply create their own clique.

For the same reason, one may also reject the "eternal security" or the "pre-trib rapture" stance.

To the fearful believer who says, "But I don't want to go through the great tribulation," this mind set can be heard answering something like, "Oh yes you will go through the great tribulation ha ha ha!"

To the self assured believer in eternal security, who says, "I've got insurance against back-sliding," he would, in a cocky tone of voice, answer, "No insurance against Hell brother!"

To put it simply, this attitude is that of a tightrope walker who insists on not using a safety-net. He thinks that Christianity is only for tough minded individuals like himself. He needs to hear the warning in I Corinthians 10:12, . . . Let him who thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall.

The only basis for standing is on Christ, and in the strength of His power gained from time spent in the Holy of Holies. Yes, we need faith to go forward with what He has for us, but we also need trust that as we do, He will keep us and catch us when we fall.

The indipendent advernerous spirit thinks his way is the answer to sectarianism, doublemindedness and fear. However, it doesn't solve the problem at all. It only adds strife, which compounds the problem. That's why church splits only breed more church splits.

Some may accept a new teaching or revelation that actually originated from the Holy Spirit, but their reason for receiving it is their independent spirit. This destroys any potential good the Holy Spirit could have brought through that teaching, because their own attitude alienates those in the Body of Christ who could have otherwise benefited. The independent spirit then opens them up to an imbalance, and they take the new truth to an extreme, which even further alienates the rest of the Body.

But, you say, doesn't the Bible say, "By their fruits you shall know them?" Doesn't that mean if the fruit is bad, the doctrine is off?

Those words were spoken by Jesus both in Matthew 7:15-20 and 12:33-37. In the first instance, He was speaking of false prophets, which is indeed a good reason to examine the teaching of those with a haughty attitude (the spirit of independence can blind them to the possibility that the new revelation is not from God at all, but a spirit of error). The second instance, however, is not regarding rightness or wrongness of the teaching, but the source of idle words. I'm afraid there are more of us than just the false prophets who must heed this warning. In all of these instances where Jesus spoke of fruit, He was addressing the Jews in general, and often the Pharisees, whose doctrines were basically sound. It was the condition of their heart He was addressing, not their doctrine.

We do indeed know them by their fruit, but not necessarily whether their doctrine is correct or not. Sometimes it warns us of rebellion, or a spirit of strife.

I have found that the spirit of strife can transfer itself to new situations even through casual contact, unless it is decisively dealt with. We can only break the sectarian and independent spirit by repentance, confessing our sin of strife to God and to one another, dealing aggressively with the spirit, and then accepting one another in love.

We need our brothers and sisters in Christ. Even the sectarian ones. Even those who don't believe our way.

Now, we will look at two sides of one more issue, that of whether Israel has a place in God's plan of the ages -- well, of course, not at the issue itself, but at the reasons people have of believing one way or another.

6. Insecurity.

Not psychological insecurity, but rather, that of wondering whether we could possibly be relegated to second class citizens in God's Kingdom should the Jews still be called as God's chosen people.

This fear is the result of mistaking outer ministry with our inner sanctuary position. In the inner sanctuary, there is no Jew or Greek or male or female etc. (Gal 3:28). Our position in the inner sanctuary is the most important. It is vital that we know our position in the inner sanctuary before even considering what gift God has called us to, or what our role is as a man or a woman. If we understood the value of our place in Christ, and the depth of His love for us, all arguments over this and all the other issues listed above would sound like meaningless chatter, just as they do in God's ears. If the Jews are called as a race, it is for a practical function unrelated to the degree of God's love for them or us, just as the calling of an apostle, or a prophet, or one moving in the gift of helps, or one called to rescue a puppy. Everyone, regardless of who they are, must find their place in the inner sanctuary before they can move in their calling.

7. Sentimentalism.

There are some who have become infatuated with anything Jewish. Their homes are full of Jewish emblems and souvenirs from their numerous trips to the Holy Land. To them, the Israeli government is always right, and they secretly wish the Palestinians would all pack up and move to the Fiji islands. Some even verge on believing that all Jews will go to heaven without being born again.

It is this group that makes it easy for those in category 6 above to believe they must certainly be right after all.

In this case, "love for Israel" has become a romantic crutch. It is not wrong to love Israel, and to obey the scriptural commands to "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem," but the true kind of love must begin in the inner sanctuary. Any other kind of love but that which results from our close intimacy with Him, is just undependable. As soon as you find out from bitter experience that not all Jews are loveable teddy-bears, it will simply go sour, and you will have joined the ranks of category 6 above.

This can also be the cause for missjudgement in other areas as well, such as the new missionary -- or potential missionary on a short term mission -- who hasn't got over the "honneymoon" stage of his involvement with the new culture yet; or the charismatic protestant who has newly discovered charismatic Catholics, or vice versa. In any case, it can lead to extream belief or course of action.

There are many more reasons for believing whatever we believe, that I haven't listed. Space (and writer's inspiration) doesn't allow us to deal with all of these. Some are trapped, because their income depends on the sales of their books on the subject. Perhaps the only way out for them may be the shaking of the financial world (I'm not saying a profit is a bad thing, mind you. It's one good way of putting food on the table).

Ironically, one of the biggest reasons why others don't come over to our viewpoint, is because we put them off ourselves, through any of the seven reasons I have listed. Actions speak louder than words, or to put it a different way, attitudes argue more convincingly than logic. After all, they say, how can such a sectarian group be right? Or, how can this doctrine, held in such haughty independence (or emotionalism, or fear, or double mindedness, or pride) be from God? That's a very good question once you think about it. That's why many sincerely love the Lord with all their heart, and are actually open to the Truth, and yet refuse to believe as we do. That's also why many unbelievers refuse to accept Messiah.

I am convinced that all of us holding the different positions on all the issues I have listed above, could easily flow together in unity, if only we simply believe what we do based solely on the Bible, and not because of any of the mind sets we've discussed.

Why do I say all this? I am not what you would call an old man, but I have been around long enough to see many people who -- to give them the benefit of the doubt -- love the Lord equally, and have a genuine desire to be in God's plan; arguing for a lifetime over the various positions I've mentioned; and still not succeed in convincing one another. When you really look at it honestly and objectively, they've all got good points. It seems that the Lord hasn't seen fit to give any one person the grace to be one hundred percent right.

So, am I saying that it's not possible to be one hundred percent right? Of course not! I believe it is possible. Some day I might even become one hundred percent right! But if anyone has become one hundred percent right, I'm sure it will be quite a while before the rest of us find out about it, because they are presently too busy trying to tell everyone that there is something that is far more important: that is our relationship with one another in the body of Christ.

That is so important, that we really can't afford to let any of the above seven attitudes, or any of our differences of opinion on the various issues we've mentioned, to separate us.

We need to discover one another. We discover one another in the inner sanctuary, in our intimacy with Him. Then, we can actually begin enjoying one another and our differences! Then, we'll have our minds free to get on with what's really important, and just what exactly it was Yeshuah had in mind in the first place.
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