Originally Posted by aron
John 10:22-39 Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?” “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”
Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods”’? If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be set aside— what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.
There are some interesting thoughts embedded here, and I will note two of them. First, "I and the Father are one", which was completely misinterpreted by the opposing Jews, and probably by many readers subsequently as well. Jesus is one with the Father, just as the Roman Centurion in Luke 7 is one with Caesar. Jesus is completely subservient to the Father. Jesus' will is completely subsumed by the Father's will. "I come to do Thy will; behold in the roll of the book it is written concerning Me".
The rest of us have failed; yes we've seen the glory, but shortly thereafter we also attempted to impose our own will within that of the divine. We are still, in a word, disobedient. We may get fooled, in so doing, because we are partly obedient, but to God we are still impure. And the disease of the tree of Knowledge is that we can see, in part: we can see the problems, and the failure of others but we miss our own. Witness Lee probably believed strongly in his message, and in his work. He arguably got up earlier each morning, and worked harder, than many of us. But he was blind to the imposition of self, both personal, and cultural/societal into the will of God. He ignored the pernicious effects of merchanizing, of manipulating others, of lack of balance and accountability.
But when the Angel of the Lord spoke with Moses, JHWH Himself spoke. Why? Because the Angel was one with the Father JHWH of hosts. When the Angel spoke with Hagar she said, "You are the God who sees me", because through the obedient Angel God saw Hagar, and heard her cry there in the desert. These are indeed the "eyes of God, running to an fro throughout the earth". When Gabriel stood before Mary, and spoke, God spoke to Mary through the messenger. Gabriel did not distort the message: it came through purely. Gabriel's speaking was God's speaking. The Angel of the Lord could say, "I and the Father are one". So could Gabriel, there before Mary and Zechariah, in Luke's gospel account. We cannot. But we see Jesus, who came to earth, like us, and yet was one with the Father in Heaven. Jesus is the unique heavenly ladder, the unique Gate of Heaven, the unique abode of the Father God on earth. We fail, but in our failure we can acknowledge God's Christ. We see Him and are risen to our feet, to follow by faith.
God's eyes run to and fro throughout the earth, and not a sparrow falls but the Father doesn't know. But our eyes are clouded by our soul's will, by our volition, our intention, our purpose. My definition of intention here, is "a desired goal". In the divine kingdom, we are ruined by desire. James wrote, "You want but you do not have." Jesus wanted nothing, but the Father's house. Jesus said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God", and He showed us, fully. The psalmist wrote, "One thing have I desired of JHWH, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of JHWH all the days of my life"... Elsewhere the psalmist wrote "JHWH delights in those who fear Him/those who put their hope in His unfailing love." Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior, the Chosen Vessel, the King of Israel, was the One who fulfilled God's plan. And so God said, "This is the One in whom I delight." Jesus sought God's kingdom, God's will, God's delight, and so He WAS God's delight. The life of Jesus therefore shows us the way home to our Father God in heaven. "Our Father God, in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done here on earth, just as it is in heaven... etc".
People like Lee, and Jonathan Cahn (discussed on another thread) are not true charlatans, but rather have introduced their own will, or volition, into the process of following God. They are partly obedient, and they do want to declare the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, but they also want book sales and conference centers and the message gets distorted. So Lee got his name read in the halls of Congress, and Cahn got breakfast with the President of the U.S. They got honor and influence in this age; as Jesus said, "You have your reward." But there is another, the heavenly reward.
But Jesus is the Messenger (Angel) who is also the Message (Word of God). Jesus is the one.
The second thought from this part of John 10: "You are Gods". The Psalm that Jesus referenced continues, and says, "...but you will die like men". It's about disobedience: these angels, the sons of God, who disobeyed, were cast into Tartarus. They were once immortal as gods, but they ultimately died like men. They disobeyed, transgressed the divine boundaries (cf Gen 6, Jude v. 6, Rev. 12:4 &c) and became mortal. So the Psalm warns not to insinuate your will into God's command. I believe that is what Witness Lee referenced when he asked the Shanghai elders, "How did you feel when you removed Nee from your midst?" Their emotional investment in Nee's system (with Nee as uber-apostle) exposed their fallen human souls, and Lee used it against them.
I was once fully invested, body soul and spirit, into Nee & Lee's organization-building and ministry-uplifting scheme. And I felt it, too, when it got exposed, and died for me. But this has also happened since, because it's natural for us to impose our volition: we see something wrong (the proverbial splinter) and then get angry, or frightened, and are provoked into reaction (the proverbial beam). But our fear makes us weak, and also corrupt: Moses could only strike down an Egyptian. God buried Pharoah and the whole Egyptian army under the sea.
"Wait on the LORD/Be of good courage/Wait, I say, on the LORD."
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