Considering the Apostle Thomas in Chennai

With our PFC missions trip less than ten days away, I am praying for what and who we will see and the great things the Lord will do all around us.

I will be traveling with Greg Von Tobel, Don Szolomayer, and Scott Minter on February 16-March 1 to Lucknow and Chennai, India.  

This short-term global encounter will focus heavily on conferences to pastors and new prison volunteers.  We are also planning on visiting three prisons.

Lucknow, population 4.6 million, is known as a seat of Shi'ism and the epitome of Shia culture in India. It is famous for Muharram and associated azadari movement. Chennai, population 8 million, is predominantly Brahmin.

Most sites recognize a Christian presence across India of 2 to 3% facing multiple levels of persecution as Hindus and other sects seek to win back those who were converted to Christ.

Basilica of St. Thomas in Chennai

The Apostles Thomas and Bartholomew appear to have carried out a missionary outreach together around southern India, near Chennai.  We are planning to visit the Basilica of St. Thomas where he is buried.  I am not sure how we will see it or what my reaction will be.

How seriously did the apostles take Christ's command to "make disciples of all nations," from Matthew 28:19-20?

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”   ~Acts 1:8

In my prior studies on the apostles, I focused on their martyrdom experiences.  They took the Great Commission very seriously.  They obeyed.  By the power of the Holy Spirit, they made disciples of all nations.

Historians Hippolytus and Eusebius record that Thomas was an active missionary, and that he met his fate in India.  He preached to the Parthians, Medes, Persians, Hyrcanians, Bactrians, and Margians, and was thrust through in the four members of his body with a pine spear at Calamene, (Chennai) India, and was buried there.

The power of the Spirit to get beyond ourselves
Most of us are complex, and may be similar to Thomas.  He had dark, doubting side.  He also had a faith-declaring, and disciple-making sides.  The Holy Spirit rested on him and filled him.  The Lord used him as a missionary to reach a part of the international stage for the Kingdom God.  He obeyed the Great Commission, despite whatever weaknesses he possessed.

There are so many reasons to stay home to keep what we believe private.  Some struggle to share saving truth with a neighbor or co-worker.  Even if a friend asks, you and I might wilt under dark moments of pessimism.  Like Thomas, the power of God changes everything.  The Lord let him get up close and touch Him.

Thomas had a dark side
In John 11, Thomas showed a dark side to Jesus after He prepared to to go Bethany to raise Lazarus from the dead.  Jesus wanted to build their faith.  Mary and Martha told them about the death of Lazarus. The disciples warned Jesus about the Jews who tried to stone Him before. 


Then Jesus therefore said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”  
~John 11:14-16 ESV

Thomas was fearful really bad things would happen if they went back to Judea.  If Jesus was stoned to death, this time, he and all the disciples might die, as well.  They were all about to see  one of the greatest miracles in the entire Bible.  Christ was taking action to deepen their faith.  Fear gripped the heart of Thomas.  He saw the hard, worst side of his journey with Christ.  His pessimism showed itself again.

Thomas had a doubting side
We remember the account of Christ's post-resurrection appearances in John's gospel.  When Jesus first appeared to the disciples, Thomas was not present.  Jesus knew what Thomas had said and He set out to build his faith for the work he would do.

My Lord and my God!

"Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 

Thomas had a declaring side
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”"     ~John 20:19-29 ESV

Thomas had a disciple-making side
In Acts 1 and 2, we find Thomas remained with the apostles after the ascension of Christ as they awaited for the promised work of the Holy Spirit.  He was together with the apostles when the Holy Spirit rested and filled them.  Those present reported the apostles declared in their own tongues the mighty works of God, Acts 2:1-12.

Thomas walks off the New Testament stage but historians report he was an obedient worker to take the message of eternal life around the world. A version of the gospel not in the Canon of Scripture is attributed to him, as well. 

As noted in several sites, Thomas is traditionally believed to have sailed to India in 52 AD to spread the Christian faith among the Jews, the Jewish diaspora present in Kerala at the time. He is supposed to have landed at the ancient port of Muziris (which became extinct in 1341 AD due to a massive flood which realigned the coasts) near Kodungalloor. 

Basilica burial site of Thomas in Chennai

He traveled to Palayoor (near present-day Guruvayoor), a Hindu priestly community. He left Palayoor in AD 52 for the southern part of what is now Kerala State, where he established the Ezharappallikal, or "Seven and Half Churches". 

These churches are at Kodungallur, Kollam, Niranam (Niranam Jerusalem Marthoma Church), Nilackal (Chayal), Kokkamangalam, Kottakkayal (Paravoor), Palayoor (Chattukulangara) and Thiruvithancode Arappally – the half church.^{[citation needed]}

"It was to a land of dark people he was sent, to clothe them by Baptism in white robes. His grateful dawn dispelled India's painful darkness. It was his mission to espouse India to the One-Begotten. The merchant is blessed for having so great a treasure. Edessathus became the blessed city by possessing the greatest pearl India could yield. Thomas works miracles in India, and at Edessa Thomas is destined to baptize peoples perverse and steeped in darkness, and that in the land of India." – Hymns of St. Ephraem, edited by Lamy (Ephr. Hymni et Sermones, IV).

So, how serious are you and I about obeying the Great Commission?  Are you a Thomas?  You might have a pessimistic, dark, and doubting side.  A personal encounter with Jesus can change everything.  The filling of the Spirit can change everything.  Our obedience and heart to be changed could get us beyond ourselves to be used for His Kingdom in astounding ways.  The Lord may choose to use you in your neighbor, on your job, or somehow across the world.

Forays into self-control

I was embarrassed over my defensive reaction and loss of self-control.  What just happened?  I was stunned by my reaction.  Taking a personal time-out after being disrupted over very little with a co-worker in Christ, I retreated into a nearby restroom.

It appeared like I stormed off.  In solitude, I took a moment to breathe and pray and then... didn't want to return to the group I abandoned moments before.  I became aware the Lord  was walking with me through another journey into personal holiness with His emphasis on self-control.


Preparing for Lucknow and Chennai

Lucknow noted and Chennai on the SE coast

God's university in self-control and holiness will be taken to another level with a Prisoners for Christ team from February 16-March 1 to Lucknow and Chennai, India short-term global encounter missions trip. My financial support is nearly all in and I am making preparations for the trip.

I will be overseeing the finances using Excel for the trip shadowed by President Greg Von Tobel, as part of my servant-leadership team training. 

Greg also asked me to encourage one of our team in his support-raising.  I am taking steps toward increasing my own ongoing monthly support-raising.  Lessons I deliver for my global encounter India co-worker directly apply to my self-control to be active in these things.

Relearning self-control  

When I was a middle school teacher, we often talked about helping students work through failures in impulse control.  These lessons needed reteaching because previous teaching needed improvement or the learners were not mastering the concepts.  The teaching and learning connection lights were not on.

Helped out of a slough of  weak self-control

In my ongoing journey, how am I pursuing holiness on a daily basis?  Is real holiness or even progress in holiness possible? Do I get discouraged by my fores into John Bunyan's "slough of desponds," so I functionally give up?  

Sloughs are hard places of discouragement involving traipsing through mucky stuff often involving folks we care a lot about.   Getting back to the Lord's right path may be just feet and moments away. It feels like I can't get where I am supposed to be without help from others.

The basis for an ongoing foray in victory is our assured position in Jesus Christ.  As believers, we are "in Christ." In Gregory Frizzell's powerful book, "Returning to holiness--a personal and church-wide journey to revival," he writes on this vital understanding. 

We are saved by Christ not just to take us to heaven but to indwell and empower His children in His Kingdom here on earth, in our daily journey.  The same God that spoke John 3:16 also spoke Romans 6--


“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." ~John 3:16 ESV



"We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin." 
~Romans 6:6 ESV

"For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace."  ~Romans 6:14 ESV

"In fact, these verses can become your personal declaration of independence over the power and dominion of sin.  When Christ died for your sins, He not only removed the penalty of sin but also the power. By the Holy Spirit, this same risen Christ now indwells every saved person.

"The Christian life is not you trying to grit your teeth  and somehow live for Him, it's learning to let Him live through you!  We do this through a moment by moment faith in His indwelling life and power," the author concluded.

Gaining self-control in the Spirit
In my disruption,  I experienced a breakdown in self-control. This was an impulse control struggle and recovery.  Thank Him for recoveries and gracious people.  The Lord gave me peace to go right back to my team and carry-on. Later, I sought forgiveness from the one I sinned against.


Paul preached to Felix and his wife Drusilla, openly living together in an adulterous relationship, in Acts 24:25 "on righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come."  Felix was guilty and didn't want to hear it. Paul also listed self-control as a fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. Peter encourages adding self-control to knowledge in 2 Peter 1:6. 


Self-control is a work of the Holy Spirit.  It is a God-given strength over my flesh and attacks of the adversary.  I don't do what my body tells me to do if it negatively impacts the reputation of our Lord, others around us, and us.  My flesh is not in control, reigning, or a master over us in Christ.  We are not powerless over the flesh because we are in Christ Jesus and His Spirit indwells us. The Greek word for self-control maintains getting a grip on one's self and one's passions. In the Spirit, I protect myself with His power.

In Proverbs, Solomon pictured self-control:
"Like a city that is broken into and without walls Is a man who has no control over his spirit."    ~Proverbs 25-28

City states were walled for protection from marauders. No wall meant no protection. No self control by analogy means one is wide open to attack from marauders in the flesh, world, and the devil.  People lacking self-control are easy victims when attacked by strong desires and impulses. 

Here are some awesome quotes on self-control to close:

• It is impossible to be a follower of Jesus without giving diligent attention in our lives to the grace of self-control. There is a form of self-control that says 'yes' to what we should do as well as that which says 'no' to what we shouldn't do. ~Jerry Bridges

• The beginning of self-mastery is to be mastered by Christ, to yield to his lordship. True spiritual self-discipline holds believers in bounds but never in bonds; its effect is to enlarge, expand and liberate. ~D. G. Kehl

• The man who disciplines himself stands out and has the mark of greatness upon him. ~D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Semper Gumby

Flexibility on our short-term missions trips is increasingly required as we travel and serve.  I am in the middle of a trip to New Dehli and Dehradun, India and Kathmandu, Nepal from October 31 to November 13.

We are seeking to provide evangelism services in various prisons and to present conferences on building up prison ministries among nationals. I am appreciating every member of our team and our PFC hosting missionaries and pastors.

Our PFC team is Greg and Rhonda Von Tobel, Jamie Neault, Steve Lamken, and me. 

                         Always flexible
We are adopting a Marine Corps slogan, "Semper Gumby," which means always flexible. While guests in another culture, we must genuinely honor and respect their ways.  The first thing we deal with is how nationals deal with time commitments.  We try to be on-time.  Other cultures not so much.  There were numerous flex challenges.

We faced restrictions entering prisons to provide worship services. 

In Dehradun, our team met with the superintendent in his office.  From the outset, he multi-tasked on steroids and deflected our requests to enter inside the facility--we were not getting inside.  Eventually, he allowed a shortened service for 30 inmates and staff.

On Monday, our area representative even arranged to have a select group of politicians and respected officials participate with us attempting to persuade the superintendent. When we arrived, the officer informed us he had orders to not allow us even past the gate. When the officials arrived, they were ushered in an met for close to an hour with the superintendent. They tried but the result was the same.  The American foreigner missionaries did not go in.

In both occasions, our nationals were allowed in and presented services for 225 inmates and staff with positive results. 
                    
                           Massive population

You should see the wall-to-wall people in India, approximately 1.24 billion.  China has 1.43 billion... New Dehli has 18 million, 9 million id abject poverty...Dehradun (pronounced "doon") has 10 million, doubled in 10 years. 

In contrast.... 

Metro Seattle is 616 thousand

Everett-Olympia I-5 corridor is 3.5 million
New York is 8.24 million
Los Angeles is 3.8 million

US is 313 million

The people walk, mostly ride on motorcycles, honk, take bigger taxis, honk to tell you where they are and what they are doing, and forever cutting in front of one another. There are cars for some.  Did I mention they honk more? They drive on the left, all this in warp speed everywhere.  The roads are good but woefully inadequate for the still-growing population.

The physical atmosphere is smokey because they burn trash or let it sit in piles along the road. We witnessed some trash pick-up service. The god-like cows and roaming dogs eat the trash.  In the cities, the dogs do not appear dangerous but are not taken care of.  There are a few pet dogs and fewer cats. Occasionally, we saw monkeys and pigs roaming.

                            Stages of closed

India appears to be developing into a closed and intolerant atmosphere even in policies and laws toward Christian missions.  There are consistent stories of physical persecution during open air preaching. The religious culture is at least 80% Hindu, then Buddhist, and Muslim. Nationals report the Christian presence is greater than the 3% documented but is in pockets with huge areas unreached. 

The culture is polar rich and in staggering poverty. 

Field exaggerations

In one week, I am headed for India and Nepal with four others as part of Prisoners for Christ on a two-week missions trip.  

We've had several team meetings, rereading the orientation manual, and recalling my last trip to Rwanda and Burundi.

Now, it's "go-time."

We leave on October 31 and return on November 13 with ten days of active ministry on the ground.  


 Our theme theme is "The great light shines in deep darkness," from Isaiah 9:2.

The actual locations for this trip are New Dehli and Dehra Dun, northern India and Kathmandu, Nepal.  From those headquarters, we will be traveling daily to various prisons and conference settings. 
 
I remain amazed at God's just incredible favor as my support finances for this short-term missions trip are fully in. Everybody will laugh as one of the rules is bald guys like me wear baseball hats.  Since that's my normal way, I just make a pick from my collection.


                   Everything is exaggerated on the field 
The one lesson the Lord continues to remind me of from my past trip is dying to myself around selfishness and unmet expectations.  Well, I had that under control, I thought.  I am mature, I told myself.

I didn't have my unmet expectations under control.  

Emotions, fears, stresses, and multiple other anxieties came right to the surface on my last trip.  It was a big struggle as I got tired and started talking.  A couple of times, it got really uncomfortable.  I complained openly about conditions, the roads, and the food when I got tired.  

I was entrenched, during those unguarded and raw moments, in a sense of entitlement within our team.  Things were not going like we had outlined.  Others heard very clearly my gossip and complaints about the group leader through paper-thin walls.  

                                          Five "TIBET" purposes 

Train and equip the national saints who are currently involved doing prison prison ministry.

Introduce the PFC umbrella and possibly raise up a PFC missionary partner.

Bless the national saints with encouragement and resources, and provide aid and assistance to the prisons.

Evangelize by conducting evangelistic church services inside the national prisons.

Teach the church how to recruit additional volunteers and to assist them in presenting the concept to other churches.

                                   Conference instruction topics

In conference settings, I am scheduled to present sessions on working with the staff at the institution, the PFC code of conduct, and working with local churches to recruit volunteers.

In working with the staff at the institutions, I will focus on the key to the longevity of the ministry, each staff member is our mission field, the staff are keepers of the front door, and bad attitudes toward staff is a poor witness and lead to damaging problems.

The PFC code of conduct establishes excellent reputations.  We need to be aware if we don't respect the institutional rules, we will be kicked out  and no one will hear the gospel.  We maintain genuine integrity and respect the designated rules.  

No contraband items are to be given or taken from inmates unless approved by the hosting chaplain prior to admittance.  Violation of contraband policy is punishable by fine and imprisonment.  

Our clearly defined mission must remain to share Jesus Christ so we guard against inmates playing on our sympathy to manipulate and control.  We guard against  inquiries about reasons for the inmate's incarceration.  We keep our word and know the limits of our ministry so we do not promise what we are unable to follow through on.

In working with local churches to recruit volunteers, I focus on our service as non-denominational so we work with Protestant churches.  Growing the ministry involves inviting others.  Multiple church participation outgrows any one church and encourages others to join in.

Illusions of control

Controlling people are often being controlled by others.  Then, they control other people more.  They all become entangled in victim lifestyle.  Chronic victims do not choose to take steps toward healing.

Control and being controlled is not about others. You and I are in some ways controlled and controlling others.  It may not be dysfunctional, however.

We could be in dangerous places in relationships that matter a great deal to others and us.


 Do I find myself controlling my need to feel hurt with draining behaviors and emotions? Victims relish disorder and discomfort so they never believe they are safe.  

Let me get more personal, here.  Do you and I somehow get energy from our illusion of control?

               Unmanageable places in my experience

The first foundational block in 12-step recovery program journeys toward healing is recognizing details of unmanageable cycles that are entirely too big for me to fix. 

I can't make whatever "this" unmanageable and overwhelming mountain go away. I can't control this.

Addicted people play manipulation games with those close to them in tangled webs of selfishness. It's a twisted and warped reality. In this game world, personal responsibility is virtually lost.  The victim does not choose to free themselves from these games that don't care for the welfare of others.  Everything is about them and their need to be in control.

One way prideful and controlling behaviors surface is in conversations in my own experience.  That is, for myself. Recently in a conversation with several others in a long trip, I was very uncomfortable what I saw the others doing.  I was wiggling in my seat.  Wow, they are bad.

                              My need to be in control
Then, with both barrels, I recognized I am every bit and more of a controlling person.  I was still wiggling but it was about me. I clearly realized these habitual behaviors:

First, I need to have the last word.

Second, I need to be right.

Third, I need to win the argument.

Fourth, I am not a caring listener.

Fifth, I am not respecting the other person's ideas and feelings.

                           Breaking through illusions 
Because I must apparently feel superior to others, I work at gaining an illusion of control.  This is a very real need to feel respected for my knowledge.

"I am experienced," I say.  "I know about this.  I read books and went to great classes, lots of them." 

Paul wrote: "Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear." ~Ephesians 4:29

Paul again, "...And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness..." ~2 Timothy 2:23-25 

 Jesus stated, “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye."  ~Matthew 7:1-5  

I am a very empathetic listener.  I know that.  It is real.  There are times when my guard is down and I am simply not listening. It just might not be in my head, at all.  When I am in this "need to be right" mentality, I am interrupting.  I am rude.

I know these "need to be right" experiences are more than I am remembering.

The controlling person that needs the most transforming is me.  That is the Lord's chosen business for me.  I need to take care of my own business, here.  

 How about you?

Killing sin in God's love

                               
"Sin will not only be striving, acting, rebelling, troubling, disquieting, but if let along" Puritan John Owen wrote, "if not continually mortified, it will bring forth great, cursed, scandalous, soul-destroying sins...It is our duty to be “perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1); to be “growing in grace” every day (1 Peter 2:2, 2 Peter 3:18); to be “renewing out inward man day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16).

John Owen

"Let not that man think he makes any progress in holiness." Owen said, "who does not walk over the bellies of his lusts. He who does not kill sin in this way takes no steps towards his journey’s end.

"He who finds no opposition from it, and who does not set himself in every particular to its mortification is at peace with and is not dying to it.  Be killing sin or it will be killing you," Owen concluded.


                         

                   God's love in forgiveness
In every step our striving, God loves us through and through.  He stands with us and empowers us to kill sin. Larry actively battles consequences of a complex web of sins as an inmate at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent.  We meet twice a week, usually Monday and Friday. Occasionally, he is cast down in depression.  Thankfully, he doesn't stay there.  We looked at Psalm 130.

Psalm 130 

3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?

4 But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.

7 O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love,

and with him is plentiful redemption.

8 And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

Larry and I meditated together on God's faithful forgiving love.  This song of ascents affirms if the LORD charges us with our rebellious iniquities against him, none could stand before Him.  He is forgiving.  As a result, we bow down in awed worship, in reverence because of His astounding covenant mercy.

God's character is marked by steadfast love and plentiful, or abundant forgiveness.  In the original Hebrew, this hesed is steadfast love combining His forever faithful grace, mercy, kindness, and forgiveness.

                          Twisted accusations
Larry's thoughts play like an active DVD as he sits in his cell and lives day-to-day in his unit since December of 2011. With his legal process in motion, he held his hand six inches from his face, sharing a sense of an accusing lion staring "in his face."

Together, we called out the lion. What are you hearing?  See those accusations for what they are. They are accusations based on what he doesn't know and driven by fear. Separate fact from deceiving accusatory attacks at your very soul.  Who is leveling these attacks?  What is the Lord saying?  Consider the source of what is being said very carefully, with godly discernment.

Here are the accusations: 

"First, my life will never be the same.  I lost my church ministries, friends, and jobs I loved so much.  I was serving in awesome places I loved.  All that is gone.  

Second, my friends deserted me.  We spent time together.  It was so good.  Since I entered jail, the church pastoral staff never even contacted me.  There have been no visits from them.  To them, it is like I don't exist.

Third, my path is really hard.  When I am released, I will go to work, attend required meetings, and go back home.  That is it.  I have my family and that is wonderful.  For the next five years, I am locked into this life. 

Fourth, my guilt is overwhelming. I feel great remorse and guilt for what I did.  I know God has forgiven me.  I repented.  I dug a deep hole.  I feel like I am in a dark place I will never get out of.  I feel dirty.  I know I am clean in Jesus and that he forgives me."

He won't go back to the places and other circumstances where he engaged in very destructive things while, yes, he was serving in places he really enjoyed.  Critical parts of his life were a disheveled mess.  He can choose to not go back there. He trusts his lawyer.  He trusts God, prays, and reads and studies the Scriptures.  His different life will be a good thing.

A few people outside his family visited him, two he did not expect who were tremendous encouragements.  A few from the church he attended write letters but clearly are guarded, at least for now. Pastoral staff have not contacted him.

There are two very strong mentors he calls regularly and who are standing with him through the entire ordeal.  His family visits him weekly and he calls them.  Many inmates get no visits while they are incarcerated. 

His journey will be restricted.  Many fail in the way assigned to him.  Until he is engaged in the new path, he doesn't know what the "hard path" looks like.  It will be hard.  God is providing a very strong support system.  Some things will be harder than he knows, now.

The consequences of a litany of charges are real.  Jail is real.  In context, now, God's love and forgiveness shines brightly. He requires solid counseling and support around whatever the next phase of his life is.  We looked at several critical passages--Zechariah 3:1-9 and Revelation 12:9-14


                        Brands plucked from the fire

Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. 

And the LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, O Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?” 

Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. 

And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” 

And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” 

And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” 

So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD was standing by.             ~Zechariah 3:1-5 

Larry's lion accuser is Satan, here.  Joshua the high priest here represents you and me who are in Christ Jesus standing before this angel. This taking off very real sin and putting on new vestments and even a turban on our heads is the work of God for every believer.  

Joshua was clothed with filthy garments.  Sin isn't make believe. Joshua, Larry, you and me are filthy dirty before God.  The removal of these garments represent the taking away of iniquities.  Joshua didn't put on these clean garments.  Those standing before the angel, presumably other angels, put them on him. This is Larry, for sure.  Believers are "brands plucked from the fire."  Glory to God.  Larry, you and me, are "plucked from the fire" of destruction and the eternal wages of sin which is separation from God. 

brands in fire

Joshua was also given a clean turban representing renewed and transformed thinking.  Our very thinking is changed through the working of God.  Why do we have new garments and a clean turban?  Because the Lord Jesus ordered it for us.  Our sins are forever removed and we are changed by the authority of Jesus Christ.

And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”  ~Revelation 12:10-12 

                               Miraculous great exchange

Larry's accuser is again our arch-enemy, Satan.  So, we are battling sometimes waves of daily sin and the evil attacks and accusations of the devil.  We conquer by the blood of the Lamb, the once for all, finished work of Christ--died, buried, risen, and ascended, and now seated at the right hand of God. 

This is referred to as "the great exchange."  Christ died and took our sins upon Himself on the cross.  All our sins, forever, past, present, and future are placed on Jesus on the cross.  In return, He covered and clothed us with His righteousness. When the Father looks at us, now, He doesn't see our guilt and filthy garments but miraculously He dwells on the righteousness of Jesus.

We also conquer by the word of our testimony, the Good News Gospel of salvation.  Satan exercises great wrath against all these things because, we are told, he knows his time is short. 

 

Dangers in "let go and let God"

What is “let-go-and-let-God” theology? It’s called Keswick theology, and it’s one of the most significant strands of second-blessing theology. It assumes that Christians experience two “blessings.”

 The first, noted Dr. Andrew Naselli, is getting “saved,” and the second is "getting serious."  He is research manager for D.A. Carson, administrator of Themelios, and an adjunct faculty member at several schools. He is author of Let Go and Let God? A Survey and Analysis of Keswick Theology.   Naselli notes the change taught by "let go and let God" is dramatic:

• from a defeated to a victorious
• from a lower to a higher
• from a shallow to a deeper
• from a fruitless to a more abundant
• from being “carnal” to being “spiritual”
• from merely having Jesus as your Savior to making Jesus your Master

Sounds really useful, doesn't it?  This line of theology emphasizes people experience this second blessing through surrender and faith, so, “Let go and let God, very appealing because Christians struggle with sin and want to be victorious in that struggle now.

                          Historical perspective
Keswick theology offers a quick fix, and its shortcut to instant victory appeals to genuine longings for holiness. Keswick (pronounced KE H-zick) is a small town in the scenic Lake District of northwest England. Since 1875, it has hosted a week-long meeting in July for the Keswick Convention. The movement’s first generation (about 1875– 1920) epitomized what we still call “Keswick theology” today.

People who influenced Keswick theology include John Wesley, Charles Finney, and Hannah Whitall Smith. Significant proponents of Keswick theology include Evan H. Hopkins (Keswick’s formative theologian), H. Moule (Keswick’s scholar and best theologian), F. B. Meyer (Keswick’s international ambassador), Andrew Murray (Keswick’s foremost devotional author), J. Hudson Taylor and Amy Carmichael (Keswick’s foremost missionaries), Frances Havergal (Keswick’s hymnist), and W. H. Griffith Thomas, and Robert C. McQuilkin (leaders of the victorious life movement).

People who were influenced by Keswick theology include leaders of the Christian and Missionary Alliance (A. B. Simpson), Moody Bible Institute (D. L. Moody and R. A. Torrey), and Dallas Seminary (Lewis Chafer and Charles Ryrie).

Beginning in the 1920s, the Keswick Convention’s view of sanctification began to shift from the view promoted by the leaders of the early convention. William Scroggie (1877– 1958) led that transformation to a view of sanctification closer to the Reformed view. The official Keswick Convention that now hosts the annual Keswick conferences holds a Reformed view of sanctification and invites speakers who are confessionally reformed.

Perhaps, its most famous proponent of "let go and let God" is Oswald Chambers. In "My utmost for His highest," a devotional I have greatly enjoyed over the years, wrote:

Oswald Chambers

"God does not give us overcoming life: He gives us life as we overcome. The strain is the strength. If there is no strain, there is no strength. Are you asking God to give you life and liberty and joy? 

"God never gives strength for tomorrow, or for the next hour, but only for the strain of the minute The temptation is to face difficulties from a common-sense standpoint. The saint is hilarious when he is crushed with difficulties because the thing is so ludicrously impossible to anyone but God."  

"'I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.'" ~John 16:33

So, what is the big problem?    How should we respond?

                       Not biblically sound
"Let go and let God" Keswick theology, however, is not biblically sound. If that is so, then there are big problems worth considering carefully.  Here are tendencies:

1. Creates two categories of Christians--fundamental, linchpin issue.
2. Portrays a shallow and incomplete view of sin in the Christian life.
3. Promotes passivity, not activity.
4. Views the Christian’s free will as autonomously starting and stopping sanctification.
5. Establishes superficial formulas for instantaneous sanctification.
6. Develops disillusionment and frustration for the “have-nots.”
7. Misinterprets personal experiences.

You can tell that Keswick theology has influenced people when you hear a Christian “testimony” like this: “I was saved when I was eight years old, and I surrendered to Christ when I was seventeen.” 

They infer, "I was saved...and now, really saved and surrendered. I've really got it, now."

There are two tiers or levels of genuine Christianity, according to "let go and let God."

levels of Christians

First tier 
“Saved,”so Jesus became their Savior and they became a Christian. 

Second tier 
By “surrendered,” so they gave full control of their lives to Jesus as their Master, yielded to do whatever He wanted them to do, and “dedicated” themselves through surrender and faith. 

"We shouldn’t determine our view of sanctification by counting up who we perceive to be the most holy Christians and seeing which view has the most. Scripture, and Scripture alone, must determine our view of sanctification," Naselli reminds us.

---

J.I. Packer recounts his walk into "let go and let God"

"I was converted – that is, I came to the Lord Jesus Christ in a decisive commitment, needing and seeking God’s pardon and acceptance, conscious of Christ’s redeeming love for me and his personal call to me – in my first university term, a little more than half a century ago. 

The group nurturing me was heavily pietistic in style, and left me in no doubt that the most important thing for me as a Christian was the quality of my walk with God: in which, of course, they were entirely right. 

                     Elitist spirituality

J.I. Packer

They were also, however, somewhat elitist in spirit, holding that only Bible-believing evangelicals could say anything worth hearing about the Christian life, and the leaders encouraged the rest of us to assume that anyone thought sound enough to address the group on this theme was sure to be good. 

I listened with great expectation and excitement to the preachers and teachers whom the group brought in week by week, not doubting that they were the top devotional instructors in Britain, perhaps in the world. 

And I came a "cropper."  (a person who cultivates or harvests)

Whether what I thought I heard was what was really being said may be left an open question, but it seemed to me that what I was being told was this: 

There are two sorts of Christians, first-class and second-class, ‘spiritual’ and ‘carnal’ (a distinction drawn from the King James rendering of 1 Cor. 3:1-3). 

The former know sustained peace and joy, constant inner confidence, and regular victory over temptation and sin, in a way that the latter do not. Those who hope to be of use to God must become ‘spiritual’ in the stated sense. 

As a lonely, nervy, adolescent introvert whose new-found assurance had not changed his temperament overnight, I had to conclude that I was not ‘spiritual’ yet. But I wanted to be useful to God. 

             Supposed deeper spirituality

So what was I to do?  ‘Let go, and let God’  There is a secret, I was told, of rising from carnality to spirituality, a secret mirrored in the maxim: Let go, and let God. 

I vividly recall a radiant clergyman in an Oxford pulpit enforcing this. The secret had to do with being Spirit-filled. The Spirit-filled person, it was said, is taken out of the second half of Romans 7, understood (misunderstood, I would now maintain) as an analysis of constant moral defeat through self-reliance, into Romans 8, where he walks confidently in the Spirit and is not so defeated. 

The way to be Spirit-filled, so I gathered, was as follows:

First, one must deny self. 

Did not Jesus require self-denial from his disciples as in Luke 9:23?

Yes, but clearly what he meant was the negating of carnal self — that is to say self-will, self-assertion, self-centeredness and self-worship, the Adamic syndrome in human nature, the egocentric behavior pattern, rooted in anti-God aspirations and attitudes, for which the common name is original sin. 

What I seemed to be hearing, however, was a call to deny personal self, so that I could be taken over by Jesus Christ in such a way that my present experience of thinking and willing would become something different, an experience of Christ himself living in me, animating me, and doing the thinking and willing for me. 

Put like that, it sounds more like the formula of demon-possession than the ministry of the indwelling Christ according to the New Testament. But in those days I knew nothing about demon-possession,and what I have just put into words seemed to be the plain meaning of ‘I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me’ from Galatians 2:20 as expounded by the approved speakers. 

We used to sing this chorus:

O to be saved from myself, dear Lord,
O to be lost in Thee;
O that it may be no more I
But Christ who lives in me!

Whatever its author may have meant, I sang it wholeheartedly in the sense spelled out above.

The rest of the secret was bound up in the double-barreled phrase "consecration and faith." 

Consecration meant total self-surrender, laying one’s all on the altar, handing over every part of one’s life to the lordship of Jesus. Through consecration one would be emptied of self, and the empty vessel would then automatically be filled with the Spirit so that Christ’s power within one would be ready for use. 

With consecration was to go faith, which was explained as looking to the indwelling Christ moment by moment, not only to do one’s thinking and choosing in and for one, but also to do one’s fighting and resisting of temptation. 

Rather then meet temptation directly (which would be fighting in one’s own strength), one should hand it over to Christ to deal with, and look to him to banish it. Such was the consecration-and-faith technique as I understood it – heap powerful magic, as I took it to be, the precious secret of what was called victorious living.

                  Scraped for complete consecration

 I scraped my inside, figuratively speaking, to ensure that my consecration was complete, and labored to ‘let go and let God’ when temptation made its presence felt. 

Henry Ironside

At that time I did not know that Harry Ironside, sometime pastor of Moody Memorial Church, Chicago, once drove himself into a full-scale mental breakdown through trying to get into the higher life as I was trying to get into it; and I would not have dared to conclude, as I have concluded since, that this higher life as described is a will-o’-the-wisp, an unreality that no one has ever laid hold of at all, and that those who testify to their experience in these terms really, if unwittingly, distort what has happened to them. 


                      
                          
                           Technique was not working

All I knew was that the expected experience was not coming. 

The technique was not working. 

Why not? Well, since the teaching declared that everything depends on consecration being total, the fault had to lie in me. So I must scrape my inside again to find whatever maggots of unconsecrated self-hood still lurked there. I became fairly frantic.

And then (thank God) the group was given an old clergyman’s library, and in it was an uncut set of Owen, and I cut the pages of volume VI more or less at random, and read Owen on mortification – and God used what the old Puritan had written three centuries before to sort me out."
~J. I. Packer, in his introduction to John Owen’s The Mortification of Sin

So, what do we do with all this?  
How to I respond to my real sin?

Be killing sin...or sin will be killing you!


So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.  ~Romans 8:12-17 ESV)

Dane Ortlund

"I am a sinner. I sin," Dane Ortlund said. "Not just in the past but in the present. But in Christ I’m not a sinner but cleansed, whole. And as I step out into my day in soul-calm because of that free gift of cleansing, I find that actually, strangely, startlingly—I begin to live out practically what I already am positionally.

"I delight to love others. It takes effort and requires the sobering of suffering. But love cannot help but be kindled by gospel rest.

How can you possibly stiff-arm this? Repent of your small thoughts of God’s love, your resistance to swallowing Christ’s atoning work whole. Repent and let Him love you."