AUSTRALIAN BIBLE CHURCH    October 21, 2007

A CONTINUATION OF THE THRUST AND BASE OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
OF AUSTRALIA ON BIBLICAL LINES …

WHO INCREASES JOY IN THE LORD ? THE MEEK!

  II   Mark 10:41-45

"You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles
lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.
Yet it shall not be so among you;
but whoever desires to become great among you
shall be your servant,
and whoever of you desires to be first shall be servant of all,
for even the Son of Man did not come to be served,
but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." 

I The Lords who lord it, unlovely lords,
the authoritarians who are barbarians

To exercise dominion and subdue others to oneself may be benign, but this or no, it is a mastery which, with authority, holds the lives of others in its hand. It is accountable to itself. YOU will not be so, said the Lord. If you are interested in the kingdom of heaven, where love is the atmosphere, truth is the sunshine and peace is the soil, then you do not AIM to have mastery over others, for this is for the Lord. Nor do you invent religious mastery, as if a priest, for he too is not the Lord. Even to the elders (I Peter 5), Peter, who classed himself as "also an elder" said that they should not act as "being lords over those entrusted" to them, but "be examples to the flock" under the eye of the Chief Shepherd who demands account.

Lordliness is NEVER in place in mere mankind: rule ? authority ? discipline ? yes, perhaps, but certainly not the arrogance of flesh, the blatancy of mere power or the authoritarian face which quickly becomes fiasco as its hypocritical blusters are contrasted with the weakness of the flesh underlying.

Playing the 'lord' is a cultural 'thing' whether it, the royalty, the regime, the commissariat be wrought this way or that in its weedy flower. On the contrary, it is a supra-cultural reality that when it comes to SPIRITUAL living on the part of SPIRITUAL people, in the kingdom of heaven, all that is OUT! It is barbaric, and those who love it become ethical barbarians, the grace of the race sacrificed to pomp, pretension, pride or some combination of these or worse things.  It is for those who never learned the nature of man, of God and of duty.

In a word, from Christ we hear this: "It shall not be so among you!"

II Greatness is not grandeur but goodness in action consistently

If you look for greatness, be a servant, convey service, HELP. If you consider the place of primacy, right and superiority for yourself, consider well, for anything worthy of thought in this arena means to "be the  servant of all". Great is the word ? Then much and multiple service is the thing to be wrought. Greatness is neither pomp nor parade, in the kingdom of heaven (how much of either did Christ, who IS the king show ?). It is doing the work of God by His power in His Spirit so that He is glorified and what has been GIVEN to you to do is done in meek reliability, fearless dependability and resourceful trust.

This does not mean subservience to culture, or failing to use your wits to expose evil  - just consider the conduct of the prophets (as in I Kings 22:25-28, 18:17-18), and of Christ Himself - Matthew 23 - in this! On the contrary, it means honouring God with a reverential regard that does not bend to the winds of favour any more than the boles of great trees, planted by the river, bend to the tempest (Psalm 1).

But where is pride if you have to 'serve' the lowly, many of whom are precisely those needing it! These are contraries, just as is the kingdom of heaven contrary to the kingdoms of this world. That is what makes it so heartening when in Revelation 11:15, we read this after the rapture of the saints to heaven, pending His return to this earth with them (Revelation 19):

"The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ,
and He shall reign forever and ever."

It has a fitting feeling as does the word of II Peter 3:

"... the heavens will pass away with a great noise,
and the elements will melt with fervent heat,
both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up."

How delightful to bid adieu to those works of injustice, grasping, grabbing, illicit gain, extortion, seduction, stealing, bombast, blasting, boasting, basting of others in the hot fat of the fires of incandescent lust for money, prestige, power, idols, and to know that there is no carry-over as in Russia, when Communists tended simply to graduate as the new rich in the day of  Yeltsin. That was befouled, being simply more of this world; but there is no transition from THIS world to the kingdom of heaven! They are stark opposites in spirit. Good enough that its works are to be burnt up! Even the bon-fire would have no beneficent glow!

James makes the same clear, that blighting and righting are very different, serviceability and seduction for gain are opposites. Hear him in Ch. 2:

"Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him ? But you have dishonoured the poor man.
Do not the rich oppress you, and drag you into the courts ?
Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called ?"

He goes on to exhort them not to give special honour and pride of place in the church meeting to the rich, but to be even and equitable in all things. It is not rich regalia where the heart is clad in spiritual rags, which is to be impactive. On the contrary, it is poverty of spirit and richness of serviceability FOR THE LORD, in His savoured presence (I Peter 1:5-8); and this is governed not least by His COMMANDMENTS, His joy in which is clearly seen in John 15:7, 14:21-23.

Riches do not constitute evil or sin; but the thrust of power in this world, whether in lordliness or riches is towards gratification not of God but of man; and the people who, like Abraham are both rich and godly, do not use riches to enjoy themselves but to fulfil the will and purpose of God, the riches being mere means. Then, not governing man but being guided by grace, these riches leave their stables of dirt and can be used to build bright things for the Lord.

III The Criterion is Christ, who did not serve to be sovereign, but
to meet need AS sovereign, meekness His crown and beauty His spirit.

Just as the criterion of greatness, of spirituality, is acute personal service in the name and presence, in the power and under the direction of God, so Christ Himself SERVED as saviour (scarcely a place of any recognition at all! for whips and lashings upon Himself, these were the wonders of esteem granted Him), and in so doing gave His riches to redeem (II Cor. 8:9). Indeed,  His entire wardrobe of righteousness was expended to meet the fires of pure perfection beyond reproach, as He stood for us who believe in stark sanctity; and bearing sin, He donated His own righteousness (Romans 5:17, Isaiah 61:10).

What then of someone who, seeing that if you want to be first, what you do is become the servant of all, decides to be indispensable (as we saw one Communist lady almost literally fight to be),  careering before the eyes of all as most useful and most helpful, sacrificial maybe and skilled in performance in much... Would anyone USE this, in order to be first ? what of THAT MOTIVE ? It is certainly not the motif of the opera, that is the works, of Christ! It is transparently the precise opposite of being rich, becoming poor that we through His poverty might become rich!

It seems that some are so busy counting up all the special ways of getting MAXIMAL REWARD when they get to heaven, carefully doing this and avoiding that, like someone keeping the conditions of an insurance policy with zeal for the better payout, that their grasping egotism comes out as merely displaced, not debunked! Are they crucified with Christ ? Far from it, this belies such a hope, being concerned not with crucifixion of what is evil in desire and motive, but with its implementation with rat-savviness!

Is not God a SPIRIT! Is not a spirit of self-elevation and desire for recognition in office and place and superiority exactly the lust of the flesh, the pride of life which John condemns (I John 2:16)!

Is God love so that those who love Him can love themselves and go through all their routines with this in mind: the best spiritual real estate and recognition in heaven! This clammy canniness is far from Paul's prescription:

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

Is this then,  this circuitous desire for personal eminence or pre-eminence, it is the nearest approach as a sinner one can make to the One who 'loved me and gave Himself for me' ? Is this not rather loving oneself and doing what one must, out of ambition, so giving one's pains for one's future, where one may regale oneself in ambitions fulfilled for oneself ? and that ? It is merely a sanitised selfishness, a sublimated lordliness, a deferred self-definition in distinction. There is enough of that in hell, without raising it by illicit devices and spurious spirituality to the kingdom of heaven, where the Master Himself did the opposite! The meek are not would-be masters; and so were James and John rebuked at the direction of their request (Mark 10:35-45).

God forbid that self-serving or scheming should ever distort the love of God in His Church! It is not merely Romanism with its ludicrous and hypocritical EXTREME of self-elevation on the part of Popes, some of whom have made statements of paranoid proportions concerning God's need to heed them, and their exaltation! (cf. SMR pp. 911ff.). He who exalts himself, whether pope or other, MUST be humbled. Why ? It is because it is the word of God that this shall be so (Matthew 23:12)! Neither loveliness nor love are like that! Brazen bombast and subtle ambition are alike: they love themselves and whether or not they show it, they know it!

Was  He who ruled all, made all, who geared Himself toward all that some might be found through a gift so profound it sufficed for any as for all, though spurned by some, ever seen to act in such a manner ? Indeed, did He Himself seek glamour or did He rather act from the riches of the glory within, in order that love should be sated, mercy replete and many pardoned!

Did He not give HIMSELF as a ransom, not to be regaled with merit, but to be murdered with malice, so becoming sin's atonement!  He was not in receipt mode but in redemption model, so that He might regale by the gift of His own eternal life to others than Himself! His office was to heal, not be healed; to help, not be helped, and if in anything He was helped, it was help in the helping, as when women ministered to Him.

What lessons to royalty are here and what blushes for the self-serving are found in the king who appeals to all, though some cannot abide His grace, seeking rather violence, vileness, venom, acclaim and hatred, as if disease were their quest, and a vacuum of character their wont!

He, for the joy that was set before Him ... says Hebrews 12. There is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents ... said Christ (Luke 15:7). The joy of the Lord shall be your strength, says Nehemiah 8:10. "I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you," said Jesus (John 16:22).

"So the ransomed of the Lord will return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness; sorrow and sighing shall flee away," says the Lord in Isaiah 51. "Rejoice evermore," says Paul in I Thessalonians 5.

Again, "the Lord is my strength and song, He also has become my salvation. Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation," again says Isaiah, in 12:3.

What of the Psalmist ? this ...

"Oh, send out Your light and Your truth!
Let them lead me; let them bring me to Your holy hill
And to Your tabernacle. 
Then I will go to the altar of God,
To God my exceeding joy; and on the harp I will praise You,
 O God, my God" (43:3).

This joy is endemic, driven like the wind, wandering artless like the lamb. It keeps counsel in Christ and with Him as host, it is not broken when embattled. Thus in Psalm 84:5-6, we find this fund of joy.

"Blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of Weeping,
They make it a spring;
The rain also covers it with pools.
They go from strength to strength;
  Each one appears before God in Zion."

Thus does joy become strength, sorrow find no ultimate lodging place, and Peter tells of it even in persecution, that normative experience in Christ, in I Peter 1, in this manner.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and
that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
who are kept by the power of God
through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be,
you have been grieved by various trials,
that the genuineness of your faith,
being much more precious than gold that perishes,
though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor,
and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
whom having not seen you love.
Though now you do not see Him, yet believing,
you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,
receiving the end of your faith - the salvation of your souls."

Again, he says this (I Peter 4:12-13), with which we close today: 

"Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial
which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened
to you: But rejoice, that just as you are partakers of Christ’s sufferings;
so  when His glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy."