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The Daily Word of Righteousness
The Knowledge of the Lord, #9
And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. (Deuteronomy 8:2,3)
It appears to be assumed in numerous Christian churches that there is no spiritual counterpart of the wilderness wandering of the Israelites. The idea seems to be that we sprinkle the blood of Jesus on our personality while we are in Egypt, in the world, and immediately we are ready for Heaven, for the land of promise (as we understand the land of promise).
However, such is not at all the case. If we are to learn of God, if we have been called to rule in His Kingdom, we must experience the school of the wilderness. It is in the wilderness of life that we learn the knowledge of the holy One of Israel.
When we come home to be with the Lord, and forever after, we are to remember the lessons we learned while enduring the battles and anguish of life on earth in a sinful body. We have been taught these lessons because one day we will be in a place of great responsibility.
Satan was created a perfect being in the hand of Christ. But Satan fell through pride. Christ is calling us to the highest throne in God's creation. He is making sure that we will be humble of heart and keep all of God's commandments.
The Lord God has led us through the problems and pains of life in order to humble us. We must come to realize we are worms in God's sight. Until we do, we cannot be trusted with the powers of the age to come.
The Lord God has led us through anguish and tests of all kinds to see what is in our heart, whether or not we will keep His commandments.
Doesn't God know what is in our heart? Yes, He does. But it is our actions that God judges. We are judged according to what we do in our body.
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. (II Corinthians 5:10)
"According to that he hath done."
Many of us might prefer that God would judge us according to our intentions, but this is not what takes place. Our actions prove what is in us. God and we learn what is in us when we are in the fire of pain, dread, and perplexity.
The current overemphasis on imputed righteousness has caused a withdrawal from reality in the churches. The Christian churches no longer are lamps of righteousness. The light of the testimony has been extinguished by sin and self-seeking.
Only the good works of the saints can serve as the light of the world.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)
To be continued.