Weekly Thoughts

6/2/07 – Processes of Growth

Hi all,

I'm so glad the Lord knows this life in Christ is a process, because there are times I get so disgusted with myself I'd kick myself out of heaven if I was in charge - ever feel like that?

Yet right at the start of his ministry Jesus was kind enough to teach on the processes of growth, though it's been misunderstood for ages. He starts at not even being born again and walks a person to the point of being willing to lay down their life for God in such an eloquent way we stumble over the profound simplicity and wisdom of his words. I'm talking about the Beatitudes.

Matthew chapter 5 starts out with Jesus walking away from the multitudes by heading into the mountains. He wanted to teach the disciples privately as they were going to be charged with the task of raising God's children from the new birth and shepherding them into maturity.

Matthew covers what we think is the whole "Sermon on the Mount", taking all of chapters 5, 6, and 7 to transcribe what Jesus said. It starts in chapter 5 and verse 1 as a private teaching between Jesus and his disciples, but ended with the acknowledgement that at least some of the multitude had found him: "And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his teaching." (7:28)

But right at the start, when it's just Jesus and his core group alone in the mountain, he shares about the processes of spiritual growth.

Watch the process unfold in Matthew 5: 3-16:

5:3  "And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

What is a person who is poor in spirit? They are not born again. They are poor in spirit. Why are they blessed? Because the kingdom has been given to them.

Before you knew the Lord you didn't know the kingdom had been given to you - you didn't know you were so blessed! We have to change the way we look at people who don't know God - they are blessed and don't know it! The kingdom has been given to them, and they are unaware.

So a person goes from not being born again - poor in spirit - to having the kingdom of heaven given to them.

5:4  "Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted."

Why are the poor in spirit who've now found heaven has been given them mourning? Because repentance is the first word of salvation. They are seeing what they've been missing, the years lost, the mistakes made, the regrets now keenly felt. They mourn.

But does the Lord leave them repenting and in mourning? No, they are comforted. Who is the Comforter? "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things..." (John 14: 26)

The process is to go from poor in spirit to discovering the kingdom of heaven has been given to us. We mourn and repent - but then we receive the Holy Spirit who comforts us!

5:5  "Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth."

Meekness is humility and teachability. Moses was the meekest man on earth in his day (Numbers 12:3), and that statement was made when his sister Miriam and brother Aaron rebuked him - he was humble, teachable, willing to be wrong.

A person who has been through mourning and repentance, and then found the comforting ministry of the Holy Spirit, is a supremely teachable person. Meek, lowly, eager to acknowledge he knows nothing, eager to learn, in fact ravenous to learn of this new life in Christ.

And so it is that Jesus says "they shall inherit the earth". The word for 'earth' is not the word used to describe the world's system and way of doing things (Kosmos), but rather ge (ghay), which means soil or a particular region of the earth. In other words, Jesus is saying they start to inherit the land around them once they start learning.

In modern language we would say they start reclaiming ground lost to the enemy when they were poor in spirit, for learning anew how things should have been done, and then being given the chance to do them correctly, is one of the greatest privileges of redemption. We start to inherit our land, our ground for Christ.

5:6  "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst for righteousness; for they shall be filled."

The meek person begins learning, for remember what Jesus said of the ministry of the Comforter in John 14:26: "...the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, he will teach you all things..."

As the Holy Spirit teaches us we start to inherit our land, our territory, this time through God's ways and timing, and it builds for us a hunger for rightness in every area, for "rightness" is exactly what 'righteousness' means.

As we learn we hunger, we thirst, we simply must have rightness in our lives. Our land must be put right! It's not a matter of merely regaining territory lost when we were poor in spirit, we hunger for rightness in every area of our lives and will not rest until this hunger and thirst are quenched!

And so it is that Jesus promises "they shall be filled". How wonderful that as we hunger and thirst for God, equating rightness in our lives as equal to food and drink, He fills us! Ask and you will have, knock and it will be opened to you, seek and you will find!

5:7  "Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy."

Now a strange thing happens when rightness is manifest in our lives. That rightness works tender mercy in our hearts towards others. To those we wrong, we apologize and make right as we hunger and thirst for rightness. Those who wronged us we forgive, for we were once where they are.

We begin exhibiting mercy towards others at this point. Up until now the focus has been on us and our growth and our hunger and our comfort and our poor spirit. But for the first time Jesus states there will come a time in our growth when He will ask us to turn outward, not of our effort, but merely as a natural response from the miracle happening in our life, mercy flows out of us towards others.

And notice what happens; both on earth and from heaven, "they shall (in turn) receive mercy."

What we sow in others reaps the same mercy back, and the Father is pleased. As we forgive those who trespass against us, we ask and receive mercy for our own trespasses.

5:8  "Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God."

The word pure does not refer to ceremonial pureness, but rather that of the wash that used to be soiled but has now been washed clean. Jesus is painting the picture of a person who, at this stage of their growth in him, has washed all the dirty laundry of their lives.

These qualities are not accomplished in successive order marking off each quality as a checklist before moving on to the next, but rather each quality is to be in us all mixing and stirring around at the same time. One leads to the next, yes, but each one is interdependent on the vitality of the one before. A person cannot receive the Comfort and teaching of the Holy Spirit unless they remain meek and teachable throughout their life. A person cannot be fully aware of the awesome truth that the Father has given us his whole kingdom unless he remains cognizant of the fact he was once poor in spirit!

They shall see God. God the Father is so pure only pureness can gaze upon him. Life corresponds and answers to Life - and even a little death in us causes us to draw back from gazing upon the Most High. The word "see" means "with open eyes" - Isn't that what we want, to see God with open eyes? Thus the more we grow in Him, the more we see and learn and know of Him, the more we discover we have more to learn. The more I know, the more I realize that I don't know anything. I see God in all things, every event, every circumstance; I see God with open eyes weaving his higher purpose and connecting it all back to him.

5:9  "Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children of God."

This is not making peace like the United Nations. The Bible answers the Bible: "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself...Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beg you by us; we pray you in Christ's stead, be reconciled (at peace) to God." (II Corinthians 5:20)

At this stage of maturity, still looking outward to others, this person wants to be a peacemaker, an ambassador for God - We pray you, be reconciled to God! Make peace with God, for he has made peace with you through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus! The message of the angel's at Jesus' birth burns in our hearts - Peace on Earth, God has good will towards men!

This is the peace maker Jesus was talking about, a person who is eager to see people make peace with God, for he has made peace with them. This person goes to the poor in spirit and tells them they are blessed, the whole kingdom of heaven has been given to them - be reconciled to God therefore!

Alas! What happens when we extend mercy and try to be that peacemaker?

5:10-12    "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men shall revile you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad; for great is your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you."

Yes - we've gone from being poor in spirit to the stunning revelation the kingdom has been given to us, all the way to being willing to have people speak evil of us for Christ's sake! What a process of growth it has been, and persecution is a result of maturity it seems.

But wait, there's more. Lest we be tempted to fall back from reaching out to others, Jesus makes his point of the peacemakers again, using different examples:

5:13-16    "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has lost it's flavor how can it be made salty again? It's good for nothing but to be thrown out into the pathways to be trodden under foot of men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and then put it under a bushel basket, but on a candle stick; and it gives light to the whole house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."

Our good works - our lifestyle, our heart for others, our investment in the lives of others - is the place the Beatitudes have brought us. Jesus describes people whose life in him is so vibrant and alive they are willing to risk persecution just for the chance that some may receive the Gift.

From the start, once we learn the whole of the kingdom has been given to us, we must begin applying the Word to our thoughts and think new thoughts. We must apply God's Word to our actions, and do new things. New patterns, new thoughts, new habits.

To what end? Yes that we may see God. Yes that we may inherit our part of the earth. But also yes that we may give mercy. Yes that we may become peacemakers. Yes that we may be spoken evil of and persecuted. Yes that we may be salt and light to those around us.

Jesus gave this teaching in a private session to his disciples before the multitudes found where he was. He wanted to outline for them the pattern of growth that would occur in their lives, and also in those whose lives they would touch. My brief outline doesn't do it justice nor capture the depth of that day on the mountain, yet my heart burns with the deep truths hidden within the simplicity of his teaching.

Yes, this life is a process, and the Father and Lord Jesus know it. I'm so glad the Lord laid out a sketch of growth in him, for no matter where I am in life, I can marvel in the goodness of the Father's plan. For any mistake, any immaturity on my part, there is an answer and provision. I receive such comfort in this.

I'm so glad for Ephesians 2:7, which says of why the Father brought salvation: "That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." (Amen)

 

Further along in the process...

Some thoughts this day,
John Fenn
www.ifaithhome.org