Haven And Earth

Camel Through the Eye of a Needle

Matthew 19:23-24 -- Camel Through the Eye of a Needle:

The most common interpretation of this parable is that which says that the eye of the needle meant a low gate in the wall of Jerusalem, where a loaded camel coming up after the large gates were closed would have to be unloaded and made to kneel down to go through on his knees, then he reloaded and continued his journey. Here are eight objections to this interpretation.

1. A needle's-eye gate in the wall of Jerusalem is not scriptural.

2. The Greek word used by Matthew and Mark indicates to sew or puncture, and by Luke a surgeon's needle. (Vincent)

3. If there had been such a gate and such a practice the disciples would not have been amazed at Jesus saying what He did.

4. They would not have asked in astonishment, "Who then can be saved?"

5. It would have been possible for man to do this.

6. It would not have required a miracle.

7. There would have been no change in the nature of the camel going through.

8. There would have been no change in his load. But if Jesus were talking about the eye of a sewing needle then all these objections disappear.

Think! No one gets through the strait gate of repentance and the new birth without the miracle-working God performing a supernatural work. Born of the Spirit! A new creation! Ye are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. All the humanistic activities and influences and pressures exerted on burdened sinners by well-meaning and zealous and sometimes good people will not put one through the needle's-eye gate of the new birth. Godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation. There is no salvation without repentance, no repentance without godly sorrow for sin, no godly sorrow without the personal presence and work of the Holy Spirit on the heart and mind. Let's say there is a small door or gate in the wall of Jerusalem. Bring up your loaded camel, groaning under his load. Smelly, cantankerous, sometimes so mean he will break a man's neck with one bite of his teeth. Unload him, take him through the gate on his knees, load him back up and go on. There is no change. He still groans under his load; he is still an unclean animal. He still smells like a camel, looks like a camel, walks like a camel, because he is a camel. More about the change of nature necessary on the parable of the sheep. But take a sword and hew that camel down so small he can go through the eye of a sewing needle and he will never be the same again. He will not bear that old load again. You say, "But that is impossible." That is exactly what Jesus said. But it is not impossible with God. I greatly fear that thousands of people are being deceived by answering a few easy questions and being pronounced Christians when they are the same old sinner with the same old load.

Matthew 19:23-24 -- Camel Through the Eye of a Needle:

1. A needle's-eye gate in the wall of Jerusalem is not scriptural.

2. The Greek word used by Matthew and Mark indicates to sew or puncture, and by Luke a surgeon's needle. (Vincent)

3. If there had been such a gate and such a practice the disciples would not have been amazed at Jesus saying what He did.

4. They would not have asked in astonishment, "Who then can be saved?"

5. It would have been possible for man to do this.

6. It would not have required a miracle.

7. There would have been no change in the nature of the camel going through.

8. There would have been no change in his load. But if Jesus were talking about the eye of a sewing needle then all these objections disappear.

"God called unto him and he said, Here am I". Exodus 3:4

When God speaks, many of us are like men in a fog, we give no answer. Moses' reply revealed that he was somewhere. Readiness means a right relationship to God and a knowledge of where we are at present. We are so busy telling God where we would like to go. The man or woman who is ready for God and His work is the one who carries off the prize when the summons comes. We wait with the idea of some great opportunity, something sensational, and when it comes we are quick to cry - "Here am I." Whenever Jesus Christ is in the ascendant, we are there, but we are not ready for an obscure duty.

Readiness for God means that we are ready to do the tiniest little thing or the great big thing, it makes no difference. We have no choice in what we want to do, whatever God's programme may be we are there, ready. When any duty presents itself we hear God's voice as Our Lord heard His Father's voice, and we are ready for it with all the alertness of our love for Him. Jesus Christ expects to do with us as His Father did with Him. He can put us where He likes, in pleasant duties or in mean duties, because the union is that of the Father and Himself. "That they may be one, even as We are one."

Let's be ready for the sudden surprise visits of God. A ready person never needs to get ready. Think of the time we waste trying to get ready when God has called! The burning bush is a symbol of everything that surrounds the ready soul, it is ablaze with the presence of God.

Rest 'n Reflect

"Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30

It seems like whenever we're in a hurry and running late, we hit nothing but red lights. Although they are annoying, when we're trying to get to work, or running late for an appointment, these red lights are there for our protection.

Perhaps we need these stop lights throughout our day! Overwork and busy schedules need to be "interrupted" with time for rest and reflection. Without it, we become seriously sick with stress. "Our necks are under persecution: we labor, and have no rest" (Lamentations 5:5). In his day, Jeremiah also prayed for the suffering. In our day, we are also suffering from the lack of rest and proper reflection we need in our lives.

There are two ways of making it through our busy life. One way is to stop thinking and keep pressing on. The other way is to STOP and THINK! Many people choose to live the first way. They fill every hour with incessant activity. They dare not be alone. There is no quiet reflection time in their lives. And . . . they have no clue as to where they are going next!

The second way, to STOP and THINK, is to contemplate what life is all about and to what end we are living for. For instance, the "Sabbath" literally means, "Stop doing what you are doing!" Rest ~ rest in the Lord! "It is a sign . . . for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed" (Exodus 32:17).

Won't you accept Jesus' great invitation today . . . every day? Get alone, be quiet, and listen for God to speak to you. Make time to be alone with Him, for He is the One who furnishes you with every thing in life! "The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing" (Zephaniah 3:17). May God grant you the "rest" you need to get back in His presence!

Vineyard Laborers Working for a Penny

Vineyard Laborers Working For a Penny [ Selected ] Matthew 20:1-16 -- Vineyard Laborers Working For a Penny... Some have wondered why the parable of the talents reveals just exactly proportionate rewards to the faithful service rendered according to ability, but here everyone received alike.

One has to do with breadth of service, and one with length -- one with rewards above life, and one with basic life itself. But when we remember that Jesus is talking also about the relationship of the Jews and Gentiles it takes on even deeper significance. The Jews or Israelites who "had been first" in the mind of God since His covenant with Abraham, "are going" into eclipse after the destruction of Jerusalem and the Gentile nations "are going" to be evangelized and as a result of that evangelization shall prosper. But while it is true that the Jewish church went "into eclipse" and the Gentiles came "to the forefront", it does not mean that Israel has been rejected and God has no further use for "her" (the Jews).

"Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid, but rather through their fall salvation is come to the Gentiles. If the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world what shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead?" (Rom., chap. 11) I am quite amazed when I hear men who profess to love Jesus and the Word take the statement of the blind Jews at the crucifixion "His blood be on us and on our children" to mean that this was God's judgment. Far from it; this is what a few unbelieving Jews said. And it happened to them and their children also. But a few hours later, Jesus prays, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." Great and marvelous things are spoken of the restoration of Israel. The Old Testament prophets spoke about it far more than they did about His first coming. Read the prophets and understand why they puzzled over, "What and what manner of times the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow." And this glory was not just the Gentile age, but the glory of the time when Christ would take the throne of David, to order it and to establish it, in judgment and justice henceforth even forever." So that even though the "first" (Israel) shall be last and the "last" (Gentiles) shall be first, yet Israel shall not be left out. Though "last", they are still "coming in".

In conclusion, after the gospel dispensation had fully arrived, there "is no Jew"...there "is no Gentile". Now, it "is whosoever will" may "come in"!

The Light that Fails

"We all with open face beholding . . . the glory of the Lord." (2 Corinthians 3:18)

A servant of God must stand so much alone that he never knows he is alone. In the first phases of Christian life disheartenments come, people who used to be lights flicker out, and those who used to stand with us pass away. We have to get so used to it that we never know we are standing alone. "All men forsook me . . notwithstanding the Lord stood with me" (2 Tim. 4:16-17). We must build our faith, not on the fading light, but on the light that never fails. When "big" men go we are sad, until we see that they are meant to go, the one thing that remains is looking in the face of God for ourselves.

Allow nothing to keep you from looking God sternly in the face about yourself and about your doctrine, and every time you preach see that you look God in the face about things first, then the glory will remain all through. A Christian worker is one who perpetually looks in the face of God and then goes forth to talk to people. The characteristic of the ministry of Christ is that of unconscious glory that abides. "Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him."

We are never called on to parade our doubts or to express the hidden ecstasies of our life with God. The secret of the worker's life is that he keeps in tune with God all the time.

The Worship of the Work

"Labourers together with God." (1 Corinthians 3:9)

Beware of any work for God which enables you to evade concentration on Him. A great many Christian workers worship their work. The one concern of a worker should be concentration on God, and this will mean that all the other margins of life, mental, moral and spiritual, are free with the freedom of a child, a worshipping child, not a wayward child. A worker without this solemn dominant note of concentration on God is apt to get his work on his neck; there is no margin of body, mind or spirit free, consequently he becomes spent out and crushed. There is no freedom, no delight in life; nerves, mind and heart are so crushingly burdened that God's blessing cannot rest. But the other side is just as true - when once the concentration is on God, all the margins of life are free and under the dominance of God alone. There is no responsibility on you for the work; the only responsibility you have is to keep in living constant touch with God, and to see that you allow nothing to hinder your co-operation with Him. The freedom after sanctification is the freedom of a child, the things that used to keep the life pinned down are gone. But be careful to remember that you are freed for one thing only - to be absolutely devoted to your co-Worker.

We have no right to judge where we should be put, or to have preconceived notions as to what God is fitting us for. God engineers everything; wherever He puts us our one great aim is to pour out a whole-hearted devotion to Him in that particular work. "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might."

"I Can't Afford it!"

We frequently hear the expression, "I can't afford it," but it generally pertains to money matters. Let us now apply it to spiritual values.

I can't afford to neglect secret prayer; for here is where I take on strength and am fortified against sudden and subtle attacks from men and devils.

I can't afford to hear or speak evil; for, if I only realized it, I am stepping down to a lower plane and doing a greater injury to myself than to the other party.

I can't afford to write a cutting letter; for the more I fight my own battles, the less God will defend me. If I want the job, He will step aside and give it to me, but in the end I will be the loser.

I can't afford to lend my eyes or ears to an unseemly thing; for, years later, Satan may take delight in recalling it by flaunting the thing before the soul's vision, even while I am in the attitude of prayer.

I can't afford to give less than I ought; for, though it eases the conscience, my soul is shriveled and I limit God in working miracles. "The liberal soul shall be made fat; and he that watereth shall be watered also himself."

I can't afford to think an ignoble thought; for, though it he unknown, yet the harboring of the same may so weaken the power of resistance as to lead to something more serious. Rule thy thoughts lest they rule and ruin thee.

I can't afford to get out of Divine order and go here or there at my own choosing; for the unlikely place may be God's place, and the small crowd may be the crowd in which a mighty minister or missionary may be in the making.

I can't afford to trifle with the first suggestion to do evil. I am as innocent as an angel, though my attention (as in the case of Eve or Joseph) may be called to a thing. But if I dare to do as did David or Judas, consider it for a moment, then Sin lieth at the door, Oh, that man could see that a fleeting, earthly profit or pleasure is not worthy to be compared with the lasting peace of mind, where there is no reaction or remorse.

I can't afford to waste precious time; for idleness leads to lecherous living. Had David been at the forefront of the battle he would not have sinned, But he "tarried at Jerusalem," ate big dinners, "arose from off his bed," and, "saw a beautiful woman" -- enough to ruin any man. This was what ruined Sodom. "Pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty and committed abomination before me; therefore I took them away as I saw good."

I can't afford to become distant, or pull off in spirit from any of my brethren, yea, even from opposers, for this may give place to pride and thus hinder us from being a blessing to each other. I must not allow myself to think or speak of their faults as being greater than mine, If they feel it their duty to reprove or contradict me, and I take it well, this will only enlarge and enrich me, so that in the end I will be the winner. What a pity then if on my deathbed I find that I defended my position to my own hurt.

Good Lord, save me from an exalted opinion of myself!

Instant In Season

"Be instant in season, out of season."
(2 Timothy 4:2)

Many of us suffer from the morbid tendency to be instant "out of season." The season does not refer to time, but to us - "Be instant in season, out of season," whether we feel like it or not. If we do only what we feel inclined to do, some of us would do nothing for ever and ever. There are unemployables in the spiritual domain, spiritually decrepit people, who refuse to do anything unless they are supernaturally inspired. The proof that we are rightly related to God is that we do our best whether we feel inspired or not.

One of the great snares of the Christian worker is to make a fetish of his rare moments. When the Spirit of God gives you a time of inspiration and insight, you say - "Now I will always be like this for God." No, you will not, God will take care you are not. Those times are the gift of God entirely. You cannot give them to yourself when you choose. If you say you will only be at your best, you become an intolerable drag on God; you will never do anything unless God keeps you consciously inspired. If you make a god of your best moments, you will find that God will fade out of your life and never come back until you do the duty that lies nearest, and have learned not to make a fetish of your rare moments.

Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
(Philippians 4: 5)
He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.
(Proverbs 26: 28)

I've been meditating recently on an idea expressed in Philippians--'moderation'-- and how it can apply to our lives. So many times people seem to blow hot or cold. There is no happy median. They are either elated and walking on air or in a deep depression. They are either flaming mad or all sweetness and light. Acquaintences may be, from day to day are, depending on the circumstances, either bosom buddies or their most desperate enemies. They are either in the thralls of enthusiasm over or vehemently opposing some idea. These folks cannot allow anyone to dwell in peace but must constantly stir the waters of equanimity because in their own heart of hearts they are filled with conflict and disquiet. They are very difficult individuals to live with, constantly keeping things in conflict and chaos. The child of God cannot live in such constant chaos and still be an effective withness for an omnipotent Lord. The world perceives God as the self-proclaimed Christian represents Him. If that person is subject to exaggerated swings of emotion, God is perceived as equally unreliant and changeable. Thus Paul says let your moderation be known to everyone.

Among sinners, this is an uneasy and unpopular way to live; among the people of God it should not even be an option. As examples of Christ we must weigh our words and our attitudes to consider how best to be a witness of the Power of the Holy Spirit within our lives. Paul encourages Titus and Timothy both on the demeanor of the people of God. ( Titus 2:2 ) [ Teach ] That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. 2Urge the older men to be temperate, venerable (serious), sensible, self-controlled, and sound in the faith, in the love, and in the steadfastness and patience of Christ. ( amplified ) ( I Timothy 3:11) 11Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things. 11 [The] women likewise must be worthy of respect and serious, not gossipers, but temperate and self-controlled, thoroughly trustworthy in all things. ( amplified) We have used the word 'temperance' to mean controlling our alcoholic intake so much that we have neglected the more applicable meaning. A careful consideration of the words of these texts will lead us to see that the apostle is not warning against drunkeness, but is teaching a manner of character that is balanced and moderate. As God's children we are to comport ourselves seriously, steadfastly demonstrating the patience and love of Christ in all things. This is difficult to do if we allow ourselves to continue in out old ways of 'hot and cold'.

This is a difficult thing for many of us. A hair trigger temper ran in my father's family. A word of 'sass,' an attitude of ridicule, an animal that tore down the fence--many things would result in an immediate tantrum of anger and recrimination and often physical retaliation. And I inherited it in all its fire. I remember chasing my brother and a neighbor boy around and around the house with a broom because they sprayed me with water ad I lay in the sun reading peacefully. If I could have caught them I intended to do them serious harm.

As I began living for the Lord, He soon showed me that this was something that I would have to control. He began to apply the words of James to this female as well as the male: (James 1:19) Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: I won't claim that it was easy, but by the grace of God I did learn to be swift to hear, but I learned to hold my tongue and more importantly to control my wrath. I learned the hard way that I could not have an effective witness after I had spoken angry and cutting words to a friend or displayed a nasty temper to an employee.

Paul speaks in one place of behaving in a certain way that our 'prayers be not hindered'. Allowing our emotions unfettered rein stands squarely in the way of our prayers being effective. In the instance of anger, we are quick to revert to the old "be angry and sin not" as an excuse to go ahead and let it all fly. But if we look at the surrounding context we find that this instruction is sandwiched tightly between verses teaching self control and self direction. It is not allowing us to slam the neighbor and then say a mickey-mouse prayer at bedtime so the sun won't "go down on our wrath." It is not shouting glory one moment and bemoaning our horrible 'fate' the next. It is not being a bosom buddy to your neighbor one day and a berating him bitterly the next. The Lord wants us to be moderate, sensible, self-controlled and a living example for the life of Christ within us. Let us be strong, fortified in the Lord of Hosts, with walls of self control, holding our day to day emotions in check.

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