[Awoken]

Originally Posted by aron

Because of sin we are continually at peril. The beautiful woman of Revelation 17:4 and 18:7 said, "I sit a queen". Of course she was a beautiful woman, and she did sit a queen. But because of sin she was unaware of the abominations. She only saw the gilded cup and the robes. Because of sin, she only saw the gilt, and missed the guilt (a pun, yes)

Or how about the word of the Lord to the Laodicean church in Revelation 3 -

17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.

This really sums up, I believe, a lot of the problem in the "Lord's Recovery"... the gross self-reflection and belief that the richest doctrines, the highest speakings, the most sanctified believers all belong to us. Well, the Lord says it ain't so, bub. This is actually what started bothering me and caused me to realize I needed to leave the LCs. I couldn't get the picture of Moses in front of the burning bush out of my head, and God telling him - "take off your sandals, you're on holy ground" - oh, wow, I've stumbled on the presence of God, I need to take off my shoes and humble myself because I'm about to stand in His presence and need to make sure I'm not disrespecting Him.

And the image of the river flowing out of the temple in Ezekiel 47 - which keeps getting BIGGER AND BIGGER - and Ezekiel, being led out further and further by the Lord/Spirit, who when the river got so big he couldn't stand in it, asked him, "Son of man, have you seen THIS?" Not a piddly little puddle of doctrinal "superiority". No, a giant river, too big to take in, too big for a man or a denomination to claim, and everything that it touched it healed, but all the swamps (the places that were cut off, the places where there was no flow and connection to the source) - were given over to salt. Dead.

Edit: By the way, I have it on good authority that at the last conference he ever gave, Witness Lee repented publicly of his attitude towards Christianity and calling other churches "degraded" for so many years. Somehow, however, that never made it into the Living Stream canon.

Originally Posted by Sons to Glory!

So yes, fallen man thinks of himself too high. But perhaps regenerated ones think of themselves too low . . . (e.g., 1 Peter 2:9, Eph 2:10)

In a sense, perhaps true. This morning I read Psalm 27 - David saying "of who shall I be afraid?" - realizing I need more boldness in Christ. There are times I've come across situations where I should have acted with confidence in Christ and instead shrank back, which is something necessary to repent of, so I have been asking God - put a backbone in me, Lord, give me a spirit of boldness and confidence in You, not of pride, but not a spirit of fear. One time I was with my wife in a city, visiting, and some lady began cursing at me randomly in a parking lot - I didn't even look at her, she just started cursing at me, vitriolic and evil stuff that was clearly the result of a demon possession. I think in retrospect I should have cast out that demon in the name of Jesus and prayed for her right then and there. But I wanted to get my wife out of there, probably not a terrible idea, and then we did pray for her. But I can't help but thinking - perhaps I should have had more confidence in Christ. The Lord says that in the last days he will be doing miracles through His people.

Esther 4:14: For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"

However, StG, I have a feeling we really can't aim too low in terms of humbling ourselves. "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."