THE RULE OF A RIGHT SPIRIT SCRIPTURES
"Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head." Psalm 141:5a,b.
"It is necessary that the offense comes, but woe to him by whom the offense comes" Words of Jesus. Matthew 18:7
"Count it all joy..." Sermon on the mount. Matt. 5 "Until 70 times 7." Matthew 18:22 Bitterness = "Take care, lest any root of bitterness springing up, defile many." Eph.4:31 & Hebrews 12:15.
Always forgive everyone for everything. Matt. 6.
"If we walk in the light as He is in the light..." I John 1:7.
"Forgive us our debts, even as we forgive our debtors." The Lord's Prayer. Matthew 6
"For if you will not forgive your brother his trespass against you, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you your trespasses." (First verse following the Lord's Prayer.) Matt.6:15. (jb)
"I will avenge their disobedience, when your obedience is made full." New Testament. II Corinthians 10:6.
"LET THE RIGHTEOUS SMITE ME" or THE RULE OF A RIGHT SPIRIT
The Scriptures are very clear about the fact that we are always responsible before God to obtain and maintain a right spirit, or heart attitude. This is a Kingdom Rule that applies first, last and always. For if we have a wrong spirit or heart attitude - then we're wrong Wrong WRONG, no matter how right we are! First let us establish the fact that it is both necessary, and possible to obtain and maintain a right spirit and heart attitude! (See our presentation of "The King's Greatest Secret!")
Someone has said that "it is better to be wrong with a right spirit than to be right with a wrong spirit". And, of course, it is better still to be right with a right spirit! But the beautiful thing is, that when our hearts are right, then the Holy Spirit can lead us into all the truth.
MY DAUGHTER'S HERESY!
One day, one of my darling daughters very innocently said some rank heresy. She said, "Nobody's Perfect!" I replied very sweetly, "Who told you that lie?" Then I gently went on to share the command of Christ in Matthew 5, "Be ye therefore perfect, EVEN AS your Father which is in heaven is perfect"! I then went on to explain to her how God has made it possible for us.
It is not only possible, but NECESSARY for us to keep a right spirit If it is not possible, then we need to change all those Scriptures about "All things are possible to him that believeth"! (Mark 9:23) and "I can do all things through Christ"!!! to read "some things" or "many things" or "most things" or "a few things"!!! To quote an old friend, "I refuse to let my (or my daughter's) faith, no matter how little, be limited by your unbelief, no matter how great!!!"
The same thing applies to the saying, "I'm only human" or "They're only human." Bible says that those of us who are in Christ are SUPER HUMAN!!!In II Peter 1:4, God says that we are "Become partakers of The Divine Nature." and again in I Peter 2:9 God says, "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light"!!!
One of the biggest lies the enemy has ever told us, and that we have too often come to believe as truth, is the lie that we cannot keep a right mind consistently! God says we can (and must) keep a right spirt! So we need to decide who we are going to believe! In I Corinthians 10: 13, the Lord says, "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not let you to be tempted above what you are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."
Suppose I were to ask you if you are an idolater or an idol worshipper. I'm sure that you have no little idols that you bow down to and worship, yet THE WORST IDOLATRY OF ALL IS THAT IDOLATRY THAT EXALTS A PROBLEM TO A PLACE GREATER THAN GOD'S ABILITY TO SOLVE!!!
If it were not possible to keep a right spirit, then to that extent, we could blame God Himself for our wrong spirit. In fact, THE REVELATION OF THE POSSIBILITY AND THE NECESSITY OF CONSISTENT RIGHTEOUSNESS, PROVIDES THE TRUE BASIS OF REPENTANCE!!! In other words, IT IS IMPOSSffiLE FOR GOD TO FORGIVE WHAT I AM MAKING AN EXCUSE FOR!!! That is to say, as long as I am excusing, I am not repenting. A lady spent about 45 minutes one time telling me about only some of her husband's faults. I said to her, "Dear one, I believe the total solution to the problem would be for you to assume 100% of the responsibility." I had not yet mentioned the fact that he was to take the same medicine! For you see, a relationship must not be fifty-fifty but one hundred-one hundred. Remember how the prophets often “Vicarious repentance", that is, they would identify themselves with the sin of the people for whom they were interceding, as though it were their own. So must we.
THE KING'S GREATEST SECRET!
Here, we refer you to the secrets we shared earlier about the life and death importance of knowing Knowing KNOWING the revelation about Christ actually Being our Life!!! Like a course in school, we haven't graduated from spiritual kindergarten until we KNOW this secret in a practical way. We will go on from this point assuming you know that Secret. If you don't, please go back and get the reality of it within your heart and guts before you continue!!! For this is necessary to the obtaining and maintaining a right spirit.
SWEET REVENGE
"VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," saith the Lord."! (Ro.12:19).
Here, we would like to tell you how to "get back at" your enemy! The Bible and the Lord Jesus tells us how to get sweet revenge! And while some may think we are doing "heresy" at this point, we are asking that you be patient with us for just a minute for perspective. Thanks.
"Kill 'em with kindness" and "slay them with love," as the sayings go. The Scripture puts it this way, "Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head." Romans 12:20. We have counselled with many people who have been crippled with bitterness and resentment that we have been able to help; and this is part of the counsel that we give. We don't tell them to not wish for vengeance. We simply tell them that if they want revenge, that God is the Great Avenger who is in the business of "paying back", of vengeance, of settling accounts! And since this is the case, we encourage the dear ones to simply turn it all over to Him, give it to Him, let the Great Avenger, the Lord Jesus Christ do it !!!
But before we leave this subject of revenge, please consider the above quoted Scripture in context: "Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another."
"Bless them which curse you: bless, and curse not" "Recompense to no man evil for eviL" "If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men." "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, 'Vengeance is Mine; I will repay', saith the Lord." "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." Romans 12: verses 1O,14,17a,18,19 & 21.
PITY, NOT ENVY
Actually, your enemy, (or your friend), who is persecuting the Christ in someone else is more to be pitied than to be resented. (Note the teaching about the yardstick). Would you like to fall into the hands of the God of Vengeance? Not me! Therefore, with godly fear and trembling, we work out our salvation, knowing that: IT SHALL BE ACCREDITED TO OUR ACCOUNT, AS HAVING BEEN DONE TO CHRIST, THE WAY WE HAVE RELATED TO EVEN THE LEAST OF THOSE WHO ARE DOING THE WILL OF GOD!!! (Matthew 25.)
For, if Christ is your Life, and is Lord within your life, and you are doing God's will for your life, then when they persecute you, they are, in fact, persecuting the Christ!
HIDDEN CURSE IN THE LORD'S PRAYER???
"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." (a direct quotation from the Lord's Prayer! And here are the very next verses immediately following the Lord's Prayer: "For IF ye forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you:" "But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." (Matt.6:15) In other words, every time we pray the Lord's Prayer, we are in fact praying, "Lord, I want You to be just exactly as forgiving toward me as I am toward everyone else."!!! You are praying "Lord, if I'm unforgiving toward anyone, I don't want You to forgive me either!" "Then said He unto His disciples, 'It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come!" "It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones." Luke 17. Then Matthew picks up the story in Matthew 18: "Then came Peter to Him, (Jesus) and said, 'Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, (in one day Lk.17), and I forgive him? Till seven times?' " "Jesus saith unto him, 'I say not unto thee, "Until seven times": but, "Until seventy times seven."”
This thought is reflected again in Matthew 18:23-35 where the story is told of a master who had two slaves, the first of which owed him a very great amount of money. He pleaded with the master not to send him to jail for non payment and was in fact tentatively excused for the whole amount. He then
immediately proceeded to send his fellow slave to prison for his non-payment of just a few pennies. When his master found out about this injustice, he reinstated the former indebtedness, and said to him, "Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth (teed off), and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise SHALL MY HEAVENLY FATHER DO ALSO UNTO YOU, IF YE FROM YOUR HEARTS FORGIVE NOT EVERY ONE HIS BROTHER THEIR TRESPASSES."! A good Kingdom Principle to follow is: "ALWAYS FORGIVE EVERYONE FOR EVERYTHING!!!"
HOW TO HANDLE GOSSIP ABOUT YOURSELF
Joey and I were at a television studio one day where we got a chance to talk with Louis L' Amour. On that same show, a question was discussed as to what we should do if we happen to walk into a room where we can't help overhearing untrue gossip about ourselves. One answer given by someone was that we should slink away in shame and humiliation. (My friend just heard this, and said, "No cotton pickin' way!") Another thought was that one should go on in pretending nothing happened. The official answer of etiquette given was that one should walk up to the situation, announce that you had overheard the conversation, and that you felt that it was rude, crude and untrue of the people to have acted as they did, then simply to turn and quickly leave, leaving the gossipers with the problem. What would you do?
Our suggestion would be for you to (of course) be led by the Holy Spirit in this and every situation, but there are additional guidelines given in Scripture for times like this. Our counsel is that you first of all, pray, to make sure you are in the Spirit, right with God, ask for wisdom, (Jas.1 :5) then praise the Lord and rejoice in Him. (Phi1.4:4) Then go to the people and ask them if what you heard was correct. It may not have been, you know, as they could have been practicing a play, or otherwise using a name applying to someone else, or were repeating what someone else may have said or some other misunderstanding. So, the first thing in the conversation is to get the facts straight. If they were gossiping about you, ask them gently to repent and forgive them if they do, every day 70 x 7. If they don't repent, bless them in the Name of the Lord, perhaps think of something good to do for them, forgive them from your heart, and prepare to weep for them and pray for them when God Himself begins to take vengeance upon them for their cannibalism.
Next, if the person is a Christian, we recommend that you find a neutral third party, and some one they will respect, and go with that other party to the person who offended you, and appeal to them. Then, if they don't listen to reason, take the matter to the group of church people to which they belong. If they won't listen to reason then, practice spiritual quarantine, turn the person over to Yahweh God and let The Almighty deal with them.
Sometimes the way to obtain and/or maintain/retain a right spirit is to follow God's formula for rightly relating. For example, God says in I John 1:7, "But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all (not most, but all) sin." But notice how so many of us so much of the time get this one turned around backwards. We say, "Well, FIRST I'll get a right spirit, then PERHAPS I'll have fellowship, then MAYBE finally I'll walk in the light with my brother (or sister), and talk with him about the offense, but probably not." Sometimes the way to get (or keep) a right spirit is to go to our brother and "walk in the light" and get it out into the open where it can be looked at for what it really is! Most of the time this act alone will clear everything up. Like an old friend once said, "Communication dispels deception." Many times it does.
ANOTHER SECRET
Please keep this perspective in mind. The eyes of The Lord are looking for those who will qualify to sit on His throne with Him. But He will not prostitute His Glory and unlimited Power and wealth on the unqualified. So, He is in the process of qualifying us. Here is a theory that I have. I believe that in the ages to come, the "Overcomers" will travel from place to place in space with the speed of thought, ruling over galaxies of gold!!! And that, as Arthur E. Bloomfield says, "The earth will serve as a seed planet to populate the Universe!" Moses was disqualified from entering into the Promised Land because he got a wrong spirit, and so will we be disqualified, if we don't learn to keep our's right.
Father God, once again I repent for every time I have sinned against my brother or sister in Christ - when I murdered or maimed them with my mouth. And I forgive everyone for everything. I repent for every time I have had a wrong attitude. I know that You can live Your Life through me. Please, now and always - be my Righteousness. Love others through me. Help me always rightly relate to others. In Jesus Name. Amen.
CONCLUSION
In brief, although this principle is shared in detail in the presentation of the King's Greatest Secret, the way to be perfect is to reckon, or consider, our self to have been crucified, dead, buried, resurrected, ascended, glorified and reigning with CHRIST NOW LIVING IN US AS OUR LIFE!!!
CHAPTER 7 - REVEIW
1. Is it possible to always keep a right spirit?
2. Which is better, to be wrong with a right spirit or to be right with a wrong spirit?
3. What is better still?
4. Complete the statement: "I refuse to let my faith, no matter how small, be limited by _________.
5. What is perhaps the worst idolatry of all?
6. In this lesson, what provides perhaps the best basis of repentance?
7. In this chapter, what is one thing that it is impossible for God to forgive?
8. In our relating to others in the body of Christ, what is better than a 50-50 relationship?
9. What is meant by "vicarious repentance"?
10. Briefly, what is "The King's Greatest Secret"?
11. What is the best way of getting revenge?
12. What is "the hidden curse" in the Lord's Prayer?
13. At least how many times must we be willing to forgive our brother or sister each and every day?
14. Complete the thought, "Communication dispels.
15. What does it mean to "walk in the light" with our brother?
16. Why was Moses disqualified from entering the Promised Land?
17. Complete the theory thought, "The 'Overcomers' will travel from place to place _________. "