Reading:
1 Corinthians 1:18 to 2:2.
"For
the preaching of the cross is to them that perish
foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power
of God. For it is written, "I will destroy the
wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the
understanding of the prudent." Where is the
wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this
world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this
world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world
by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews
require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: but we
preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock,
and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are
called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God,
and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of
God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is
stronger than men. For ye see your calling,
brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not
many mighty, not many noble, are called: but God hath
chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the
wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to
confound the things which are mighty; and base things of
the world, and things which are despised, hath God
chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought
things that are: That no flesh should glory in His
presence. But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, Who of
God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and
sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is
written, "He that glorieth, let him glory in the
Lord."
And
I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency
of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony
of God. For I determined not to know any thing among
you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified."
In
all His dealings with us God has His particular starting
point. He will not deviate or change from this
starting point. Whenever men have attempted to bring God
to their starting point, they have always had to
recognize that God insists on His starting point.
We
must recognize something of particular importance, that
our progress in spiritual life is completely dependent
upon this special starting point. Many have
discovered this to their cost. They have embarked on
many things with every good intention and devoted much
time and effort to them, which they have then had to
completely undo. They have had to unlearn
much. However, that which they considered loss
worked to their advantage. Had they not returned to
God’s starting point, they would have been stunted
throughout their whole life, and remained inhibited
people unfit to bring forth that which God had determined
for them.
God’s
starting point for us is related to the fact that we must
surrender to Him completely. Even though at the
beginning we will not know all that this involves,
nevertheless it is essential that we take up a position
in which we can to some extent say: I do not know
what my complete surrender to God involves; into what
depths He will bring me; but I am ready for it. May
God’s will be done in my life.
With
such an attitude as this, a living fellowship with God
will open for us upon which all else depends. We can
call this starting point ‘new birth’. Whatever
we call it, the main thing is that we have entered into a
real living relationship with God, a completely new life:
where it is no longer us, but in truth all from God.
We
have two examples in the Word of God. In the Second
Book of Kings, chapter 5:1–11, we are introduced to
Naaman.
“Now
Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a
great man with his master, and honourable, because by him
the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a
mighty man in valour, but he was a leper. And the
Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away
captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she
waited on Naaman’s wife. And she said unto her
mistress, “Would God my lord were with the prophet
that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his
leprosy.” And one went in, and told his lord,
saying, “Thus and thus said the maid that is of the
land of Israel.” And the king of Syria said,
“Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king
of Israel.” And he departed, and took with him
ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of
gold, and ten changes of raiment. And he brought the
letter to the king of Israel, saying, “Now when this
letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent
Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him
of his leprosy.” And it came to pass, when the
king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his
clothes, and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make
alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man
of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see
how he seeketh a quarrel against me.” And it
was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the
king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the
king, saying, “Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes?
let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a
prophet in Israel.”
So
Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and
stood at the door of the house of Elisha. And Elisha
sent a messenger unto him, saying, “Go and wash in
Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to
thee, and thou shalt be clean.” But Naaman was
wroth, and went away, and said, ‘Behold, I thought,
He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the
name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the
place, and recover the leper.’”
So
we are introduced to Naaman. We see an eminent
man. He is powerful and highly honoured, but—a
leper. One day, he stands before the house of
Elisha. The king of Syria sends a messenger to inform
Elisha of his arrival. Elisha, however, does not
take any notice of the position of this great army
leader, but simply sends a messenger to tell him, "Go
and wash in the river Jordan seven times.” Humanly
speaking, Naaman’s anger is understandable. Had
he come all this way simply to be dismissed in this
manner? Were not the waters of his own country
better than the miserable Jordan? Elisha had not
even had the decency to come out and greet him
personally. That would have been the very least he
could have expected. In anger Naaman turns away; by
no means is he ready to follow these instructions.
Naaman
expected that God should have begun at his own starting
point. God ought to have recognized who Naaman was.
Naaman’s intention was to make an impression on the
prophet and therefore upon God. With this in mind he
had brought with him camels loaded down with valuable
goods. They all counted for nothing. Elisha did not
take the slightest notice of these things. “Go
and wash in Jordan seven times.” That sounded too
humiliating. Did a Naaman have to endure such
treatment?
But
wait—let us remember that the whole question here is
connected with the question of fellowship with God.
It concerns our fellowship with God. Either Naaman
goes the way of God, where he is no more anything, or he
must give up everything. God begins with us there where
we recognize and accept our nothingness, that is, God
begins with us at the Cross. The starting point for
all the blessings in Christ remains the Cross of the
Crucified.
What
applied to Naaman also applied to Nicodemus. John
3:1-8 says:
“There
was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of
the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto
Him, “Rabbi, we know that Thou art a teacher come
from God: for no man can do these miracles that Thou
doest, except God be with Him.” Jesus answered
and said unto him, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of
God.” Nicodemus saith unto Him, “How can a
man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time
into his mother’s womb, and be born?”
Jesus answered, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he
cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is
born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee,
Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where
it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst
not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is
every one that is born of the Spirit.’”
We
can think of Naaman as a man of the world; on the other
hand, Nicodemus represents the so-called religious
people. But with God, none of this matters at
all. Even our religion, our piety, our strivings:
all are meaningless. God takes no notice of any of
these things. Whether we seek healing from leprosy,
an illustration of extreme poverty in the midst of great
wealth, or whether we have other desires, recognition of
our public position—God brings both to the same
starting point. Whether the one must dip himself
seven times in the Jordan as a sign that a complete death
to one’s own self must take place, or whether it is
said of the other, “Except a man be born
again”—in both cases it is the same: the
starting point of God with us is the end of all that we
are in and of ourselves.
This
is as valid for the ‘religious’ person as it is
for the ‘man of the world’. There is no
such thing as a second-hand knowledge of God. God
cannot be ‘studied’. All true knowledge of
God is a personal, immediate, living experience of
Him. All else is so-called theology, our own
thoughts about God, philosophy.
Has
it become clear from what we have been saying that God
can make no use of that which we are of
ourselves? We may have travelled on a long, perhaps
‘pious’ road; but God cannot use that. God
begins with us at the Cross. Living fellowship with
God is only for those who are born of God. Naaman did not
know God. In the case of Nicodemus, we cannot say
this. Nevertheless, Nicodemus had no more life from
God than Naaman.
This
presents us with some serious questions. It presents
us with the question: am I born again? Have I
experienced resurrection? Is my relationship with
God based on personal experience? Do I know what it
means to be dead and buried? Or is this all simply
knowledge? Are these ‘truths’ that I have
accepted without having experienced them and stood
in their full reality?
If
we want to act according to the rights of God, then it is
of utmost importance to begin at that point at which the
rights of God have their highest confirmation, at the
Cross of Calvary, where only one thing remains for us: to
give God His rights in continually relinquishing all of
‘our’ rights.
In
the seventh chapter of Mark, and the fifteenth chapter of
Matthew, we find the report of the Syrophenician woman.
Here too we are faced with the same starting point for
all the blessings of God.
God
Himself had drawn a line between Jews and Gentiles.
Israel was by right heir of the blessing. The
Gentiles lived outside the promises. In the case of
the Syrophenician woman, we see something different.
While Israel insisted upon the blessing of God as being a
matter of course, she seeks it. The blessing she
seeks is for her a matter of life and death. At the
same time, she has no right to it. The Jews were
proud of their race. They were the people.
What could be lacking in them? They were not aware
of any particular need. Everything for them was
ordered by tradition. Traditional, yes, but no
longer spiritual. And because for them the blessing
had become a matter of tradition, they no longer had any
longing for it in their hearts. With them there was
no yearning, no expectation, no stretching out to receive
it. “They that are whole have no need of a
physician” (Matt. 9:12). But their health
was only in their imagination. They did not know
that they were blind—or how blind they were.
Therefore Jesus goes way over the boundary to that place
where He comes into contact with people who have
recognized their need.
But
then they need to be brought to the starting point that
enables God to bless them, to bless them in truth and in
fulness. Matthew fifteen, and verses 22-28 says:
“And,
behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same
coasts, and cried unto Him, saying, “Have mercy on
me, O Lord, Thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously
vexed with a devil.” But He answered her not a
word. And His disciples came and besought Him,
saying, “Send her away; for she crieth after
us.” But He answered and said, “I am not
sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of
Israel.” Then came she and worshipped Him, saying,
“Lord, help me.” But He answered and
said, “It is not meet to take the children’s
bread, and to cast it to dogs.” And she said,
“Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which
fall from their masters’ table.” Then
Jesus answered and said unto her, “O woman, great is
thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt.”
And her daughter was made whole from that very
hour.”
The
woman pleads: “Have mercy on me, O Lord.”
He pushes her aside. Why? Because He has to
bring her to a certain point. He must test
her. Would she be insulted? This may well have
been possible. But then she would have had to return
home without a blessing. So she remains insistent.
“I
was not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of
Israel.” In other words, “You do not
belong to those who come into question. I am not
sent to you.”
But
she remains insistent, saying, “Lord, help
me.”
The
Lord takes yet a further step. “It is not
meet to take the children’s bread and cast it to the
dogs.”
Now
let us think for a moment. If the Lord were to speak
like that to us, what would we do? Would we not turn
our backs on Him? Would we not be extremely
offended, turn away convinced that He did not want to
help us, that He had no sympathy towards us?
Ah,
the Lord is putting this woman to the test. However,
she does not walk away offended. She seeks the
blessing. She does not rest until she has it.
She persists until the blessing of God breaks through
that particular dispensation and comes to the Gentiles.
“It
is true, Lord,” she says. “I am not
appealing to anything of right. I know that I have
no right. I am only a dog, but even dogs eat of the
crumbs that fall from their masters’ table!”
Then
it happened! The victory is there!
“O
woman, great is thy faith: be it done unto thee even as
thou wilt.”
Do
we now see what it all comes down to? The starting point
of all blessings is there where it enters our
consciousness that we have no valid rights, no valid
claims; that before the Lord we are nothing other than
beggars.
How
different is this than the attitude of Naaman! He
thinks first and foremost that he possesses rights, that
he can expect his elevated position to be
recognized. The woman, however, says to herself,
“If I despite everything, am still to receive the
blessing, then this can only happen in one way, that He
gives it to me by His grace.”
Let
us remember that the sequence of events in this story
serves a higher purpose.
We
have already said that Israel had refused Him, that they
felt no need of the blessing that the Lord wanted to give
them. For this reason Jesus went beyond the
boundary. For this reason He turned to the
Gentiles. The blessing of God is only for those who
seek it. But even then nothing will happen until God
has come to His starting point. Whether we are
speaking of Naaman, Nicodemus, the Syrophenician woman,
or ourselves—God’s starting point is there
where our own self has come to an end.
All
the blessings of God flow from the Cross. God
must empty us. God must bring us to the place where
He can trust us. This will not happen until we
despair of ourselves. Nothing could be more dangerous
than to place spiritual blessings into carnal
hands. Many become proud and self-confident because
God has blessed them, because God has given them
understanding.
The
foundation of all blessings is the Cross. If we want
to stand in true fellowship with God, then it is only
possible on the grounds of the Cross, only possible where
all our own strength has come to an end, where we are
completely dependent upon Him.
Be
assured that God will put us to the test as to whether
this is so. We remind ourselves of Elijah and
Elisha; of how Elijah attempted to deter Elisha from
accompanying him on his final journey. Elisha
persevered. Elisha went with him right to the
end. But as they passed through the Jordan, Elijah
said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for thee,
before I am taken from thee.” Had he
allowed himself to be shaken off, all blessings would
have been lost.
The
same is true for us. There is no other way to
receive the fulness of God in Christ. In no other
way does the Lord come to His right with us without us
first returning to the starting point of God, there where
our old man was crucified with Him—and only when we
are prepared to take the position of being crucified with
Him will we receive the blessing whatever the cost.
This means, however, at the cost of our own life.
May
the Lord bring us to that place, where we can say from
the heart: Whatever the cost, I will go with You
right to the end.