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Therefore it is essential that our boldness be balanced with a watchfulness, an alertness; yes, even within the fellowship and work of the Christian church.
to God's own word to us –
"Watch out that no one deceives you"
"Be careful," Jesus warned them. "Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod."
"Watch out for the teachers of the Law [the Bible]. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted in the marketplaces"
"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves."
"...watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them"
"Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
"Watch your life and doctrine closely! Persevere in them, because if you do you will save both yourself and your hearers."
"So watch yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him"
"Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted."
"Be on guard for yourselves and all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers"
"Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of man"
"Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully."
example.
His bold confidence in the Christians of Achaia was beautiful. But it was carefully not presumptuous. He balanced his confidence with alertness, an on-guard attitude that was prepared against the dangers of human nature (2 Cor.9:1-6).
He wrote:
His bold confidence in the Christians of Achaia was beautiful. But it was carefully not presumptuous. He balanced his confidence with alertness, an on-guard attitude that was prepared against the dangers of human nature (2 Cor.9:1-6).
He wrote:
"For
if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we; not
to say anything about you; would be ashamed of having been so
confident. So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to
visit you in advance and finish the arrangements for the generous
gift you had promised." |
Living in 'Christendom'
has sometimes blunted our senses in this regard. Our world is not
made up of friends we do not know! This does not mean that we should withdraw
into a ghetto-mentality of 'us-and-them'. It does mean however, that while
sharing in our Lord's love toward this lost world we must stay alert
to the intrinsic hostility of its nature. Christ's arrest highlights this,
and He tried to awaken His disciples to this responsibility as they walked together toward Gethsemane.
En route Jesus
warns His disciples that He will be treated as a criminal ('transgressor'
Lk.22:35-38). This would put them at risk as His accomplices. He therefore
reminds them of how previously all their personal needs had been supplied
by those who had benefited from their ministry when He had sent them out
preaching (as reported Mat.10:9-10). But now, in contrast, they must
provide for their own personal needs, to the extent of even arming themselves
against mob violence. (Read the reference).
To us this simply means
that we are ourselves directly responsible for being prepared against
the dangers and difficulties of our life circumstances. We are therefore
not to allow ourselves to become victims of lawlessness.
If it is for our faith in Christ that we suffer - then that is our glory,
for which honour we praise God! But, we are never to
accept being victims of circumstance. Remember: Jesus warned that all
will die as victims of circumstance unless there is repentance; an ongoing
turning-away from our own ways (Lk.13:1-5).
Remember that 'shrewd
manager' in Jesus' parable? He had learned to be a 'serpent' by the pressure
of his problem - his impending unemployment. Likewise, the apostles also,
because of the impending night arrest of Christ were to be ready to protect
themselves from the possible excess of violence during the arrest, and
their personal needs while in hiding. Although Christ's instruction left
them little time, the apostles did have two swords among them. Jesus responded
that this was sufficient. He knew what they had had with them at the Last
Supper, but, as He often did, Jesus used the challenge of the imminent
circumstance of His arrest to drive this lesson home, for them and for
us.
of His lesson
on being prepared, Jesus instructed His disciples to prioritise
their options. He commanded –
"if
you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one"
The relative priority
of a sword over a cloak in the disciple's situation at that time simply
meant that their physical survival was more important than their comfort
during the Spring night. This significance of Christ's teaching should
have obvious to the disciples, but when boldness is presumptuous (as Peter's
boldness tended to be) vigilance or watchfulness is not always awake.
Today, some complain
that the disciples must have misunderstood Jesus, for He would never have
condoned the violence, even defensive violence, that would be associated
with owning a sword. In other words, Peter's violence toward Malchus in
Gethsemane and Christ's intervention and rebuke are evidence of the wrongness
in general of a Christian using a weapon. This view errs by ignoring both
the literary and historical context.
The context of Christ's
words about buying a sword relate to His previous instructions, literal
instructions, about money on their preaching mission (a public support
which they could now not rely on). There is no way that
these words can be made allegorical or symbolic without doing violence
to the literary context of holy Scripture. In addition, the historical
context of the event shows a sleep-befuddled Peter presumptuously acting
without authority; trying to rescue Jesus rather than obey Him. This does
warn us against vigilante actions, but Christ was no pacifist. He bracket
His public ministry between two violent clearings of the Temple courts
of money changers and animal sellers, in which He specially made a whip
to cause pain for the enforcement of His instructions.
very sincere believers
have felt that it would be better, after all, to simply trust the Lord
for one's survival in this world. True! There is absolutely no hope without
trust in God's protection. But trust is not a substitute
for obedience.
Obedience is the outward evidence of genuine trust. For instance, Jesus commanded his disciples –
"if they persecute you in one city flee to the next"
flee when the option is available, is not faith or confidence in God, it is disobedience to the Lord.
No one
was more entitled to God's protection than Jesus, yet He took the trouble
to hide Himself from His enemies when it was not God's time for Him to
die (Jn.8:59). Faith is therefore not passivity that
resigns to circumstance in the expectation of being rescued by God. Nor
is it bravado that takes authority into its own hands, as Peter well-meaningly
did. Both are sins of presumption.
| • | in our relationship to God |
| • | in our personal industriousness |
| • | in our personal life-style and |
| • | in our financial management |
for God really has provided far more than we appreciate!
NEXT
3. -- DO NOT TRUST |
4. -- LIVE TRANSPARENTLY |
