“Things Which Are Not Seen” – Part 1

While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Cor. 4:18

There is a big problem in the church today. The church does not see. It is blind in the Spirit. It does not see “the things which are not seen”. In fact, the church understands only the things that are seen; and it often scoffs at the things that are not seen…

A while ago, a friend of mine was preaching in our church and he said, “There is no worse impairment than the disability to see.”

He was talking about seeing in the Spirit.

Let us read 2 Kings 4:8-10.

8 And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread. 9 And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. 10 Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.”

Notice,

“… an holy man of God”.

I just love that. That is what a true prophet of God ought to be. Holy. Not unholy.

Today we have prophets who are anything but holy. And they are not just unholy; they are sinning big time, to the extent that they are being arrested! They are being arrested for charges ranging from rape, to money laundering and everything in between. That includes your favorite prophet from down south. And please save me the nonsense that these fellows’ arrests are “persecution for the gospel’s sake”.

But notice here that Elisha was a holy man of God.

How, pray, do we prove that Elisha was a holy man of God? Is it because this woman said so?

The answer is yes. And why, pray, should we believe her testimony? It is on account of her character. The character of the Shunammite woman allows us the privilege to believe anything this woman said. When she says that Elisha was a holy man of God we believe that is what he was.

I love the story of Elisha and the Shunammite woman. It is one of the most beautiful stories in the Bible. It is the story of a pure, holy, loving relationship between a man and woman who were not husband and wife.

I love the way the Bible portrays this woman.

“a great woman”.

It was not the husband who was great. It was the woman. The Swahili Bible says that she was “a woman of position”. She was a noblewoman. But notice also how submissive this great woman was to her husband. When she decided that something needed to be done for the man of God, she beseeched her husband.

“Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.”

I just love that. You see, with God character is everything. The Bible says of our spiritual mother, Sarah:

“Even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord…” (1 Pet.3:6)

And for this reason she is the mother of all who believe.

“… whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.”

The humble spirit of both Sarah and this Shunammite woman is something every woman should emulate.

It is this same quality that makes us (and God) to believe the Shunammite when she says that Elisha was a holy man of God.

[Today’s ‘prophets’…]

Grace Through Humility

7 And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them. 8 When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him; 9 And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room. 10 But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them of them that sit at meat with thee. 11 For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Lk. 14:7-11

It could hardly be supposed that Jesus here  was talking about a mere wedding, or that He was setting out the seating protocol at weddings for people to follow; so what is this all about?

Jesus was talking about the Kingdom of God! Notice that Jesus’s words here are a parable (v.7). Which means it is a teaching; a teaching for the Church. And Jesus’s message here was simple: when you come into the Kingdom of God, take the back-est seat possible. Desire to be the lowest person in God’s Kingdom.

Who do you think Jesus is referring to as “he that bade thee and him”? Who is the “he” here?

That “he” is God. Far from talking about a wedding in the natural, the Lord was talking about the totality of the Christian life. He was referring to the attitude that a Christian believer needs to have in his relationship with God; the attitude that the Church needs to carry in their hearts as children of God. It is this attitude that will cause God to raise us up.

Notice verses 8 and 9.

“8 When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him; 9 And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.

In ministry especially, men are tempted to take “the highest room”. We want to be recognized! But the only person who counts is the “more honourable man”. And, pray, who is the “more honourable man” Jesus is talking of here?

We may not know this man. John the Baptist told the Jews,

“26… there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; 27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.”

The Jews thought John was the greatest.

This is a wake-up call to preachers. Leave off all those high-sounding titles and desire to become common servants of Christ. Above all, do not despise others, for you never know who is coming after you.

Thank God, John knew.

The “more honourable man”  is the man whom God alone acknowledges. It is not the man who thinks of himself as honorable, or he who advertises himself. Ought that not make us want to become smaller still in our own estimation of ourselves?

Desiring to be a nothing in the Kingdom of God is an attitude of heart. All our proclamations to the contrary, this is one of the hardest things for us to do as children of God. And the reason for this is because the flesh is involved. The heart of man is naturally puffed up.

The flesh works in tandem with the devil, who tried to take the position of God. It is written of the devil in Isaiah 14: 12-15:

“12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which did weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”

But God answered Lucifer and said,

“Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.”

Thank God for He controls everything. He looks upon the lowly heart, and uplifts them. He causes the poor (in spirit) to become rich.

The Psalmist, David, had a lot to write concerning the poor. In Psalm 69:29, David wrote:

“But I am poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.”

David was not talking of material lack; the sorrow he refers to here is the sorrow of a man who seeks after the righteousness of God. Here he echoes the attitude of a broken man. That man, the Bible says, God will set “up on high”.

In Psalm 113:7-8 he writes also,

“7 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill, 8 That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people.”

That scripture is talking about the “poor” and “needy” in spirit. God will always consider the humble in heart, and He will do something about it. But God will never consider the man who carries pride of any form in his heart.

During the charismatic era, I never really knew what this Psalm meant. Since I was poor materially, I thought it was referring to my natural state. But when we become children of God, God has better things for us. He desires to give the eternal things, which are spiritual, not the the material things, which are temporal. It is true He will also bless us with the material things if He so desires. But that is not where His heart is.

But the central point is that God gives the good things of the Spirit to the humble in heart.

Humility cannot be found in our hearts if we have not crucified the flesh. That is why the entirety of our Christian life revolves around the revelation of the cross in our hearts. The work of the cross is to crucify our flesh, for it is the flesh that desires to

“in the highest room”

But Paul writes in Galatians 5:24:

“And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.”

So what happens when God raises us “out of the dust” and lifts us “out of the dunghill” in the Spirit? Do we become rich materially, or wise and strong in the flesh?

As we already noted, the answer is no. On the contrary, it simply means that God enriches us with His grace. We become carriers of the grace of God. We become men and women who carry in us the crucified and resurrected life of Christ. It is for this reason that the Apostle Paul wrote,

“But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.”

Despising Shame

1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us rub with patience the race that is set before us, 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Heb. 12:1-2

So many things here. But today I just want to address one thing here. But just before I do that, did you notice that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses? They are listed in Hebrews chapter 11. These are men and women who made it. By the grace of God they saw the reward in the Spirit and surrendered their lives that they might receive it.

But today I want to talk about ‘despising the shame’. The Bible says this was what Jesus did.

At first it did not catch my eye. I never understood what shame Jesus despised. Then, slowly, the Lord taught me.

Have you ever had situations in your life where you were shamed? I mean raw, ordinary shame. I would be surprised if you said “No”.

However well set we are, somewhere in life we all will have situations where we will be put to some form of shame. I can recall many times in my life where I have been shamed. Being shamed was the single most difficult spiritual trial in my life. Probably because it began since childhood…

Anyways, long into my salvation, I still reacted against being shamed. I never realized that our Lord Jesus Christ was also shamed. Then, one day, the Lord opened my eyes. I saw clearly that what I was fighting against was the same thing that the Lord despised. Shame. Our Lord not only endured the cross, He despised shame.

Wow! I had never seen it that way. The ordinary situations that we think are unconnected with the gospel. For me, a simple thing like my wife saying something to me in front of people which I considered offensive or ‘disrepectful’ (and she is a pro at that because she never really minds speaking the truth to whoever she needs to speak it to); something like that could start a conflagration that would have all heaven ceasing every activity to wonder at with open mouths.

But one day I heard the voice of the Lord speak to me. It was very clear. I was all alone when the Lord led me to that scripture. He asked me, “Is the word ‘shame’ there or is it not.”

I said, “It is there.”

The Lord said, “How come you behave as if you have never seen it?”

I said, “As a matter of fact, Lord, I had never seen it. This is my very first time to see it.”

He said, “This is exactly what that scripture is talking about. You must despise shame. Shame of every kind. That is what the cross is for.”

I had never heard anything so clearly. And I knew, just hearing that in my spirit, that I had taken one of the biggest steps in my spiritual walk. That I could despise shame! I had never thought I should.

Ever since that day, I know I not only should despise shame; but I can, too. I am not always able to; in fact, I fail often. But I realize I can laugh at shame. And whenever I manage to do so, what sweet victory!

So many situations rise up to shame me. But the realization that this was the very thing that my Lord Jesus despised gives me the strength to do the same.

What say you? Don’t you think we ought to despise shame? Shame of every kind? There are so many versions of shame, but we ought to despise every kind of shame.

But we cannot do that without the revelation of the cross in our hearts. Without that revelation, we will fight for our pride and rights.

While this applies to every believer, yet I cannot help thinking about many of today’s preachers in this respect. Those who have no revelation of the cross. Many today are so big they are bigger than God Himself. Today’s apostles, prophets, pastors, evangelists and whoever. The self-proclaimed ones. I cannot help thinking about them. They have a long way to go… down.

I don’t know about you. But me, I want to welcome and rejoice at any and every opportunity that rises for me to be shamed. It’s the only road we have as believers.

Giving For A Spiritual Reward

10 But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity.

11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

14 Notwithstanding ye have well done, that ye did communicate with my affliction.

15 Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only.

16 For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity.

17 Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.

18 But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God.

19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Phil. 4:10-19

I love Paul’s singularly spiritual focus. The Bible says:

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1)

The Apostle Paul had true faith. He did not see things that are seen, but rather, things that are unseen. He did not touch or talk of the substance of things that are seen but, rather, things that are hoped for!

In our key scripture, notice he talks of

“fruit that may abound to your account.”

The sole reason that Paul rejoices over the Philippians giving is for the fruit that would abound to their account. So, what is the fruit, and what is the account? The fruit is no doubt spiritual fruit, and the account is a heavenly one. Jesus told the rich young ruler:

“If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.” (Mat. 19:21)

Jesus did not talk of this world, nor of any hope in this world. He talked consistently about His Father’s heavenly Kingdom. When Paul, therefore, who was a follower of Jesus talks of “fruit” and “account” he is referring to these things in the Spirit.

On the contrary, when we are walking in the flesh, we think of and refer to these things in the natural. We think in terms of money, houses, lands,  jobs, promotion, marriage, children and all the other natural blessings that we can receive from God. And this is what the church is filled with today. Preachers are directing God’s people to these things instead of to the spiritual things. We serve God to receive natural rewards! Today, giving in church is all tied to receiving in the natural! But the Apostle Paul writes:

“If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” (1 Cor. 15:19)!

If all we can see are the things of this world, the church cannot be said to be pleasing God because the Bible says that we can only please God when we are walking in faith and, as we just saw,

“…faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Faith sees in the Spirit; the flesh does not. When we are spiritual, like Paul was, we can see and direct God’s people to a spiritual reward. Here in this world, we can see (in the Spirit) the grace that will be ours as a result of giving of our lives; and beyond that, we can have hope of a heavenly reward.

[When we see in the Spirit, it means we can see beyond the curve of time, literally]

Our True Family

46 While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.

47 Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.

48 But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?

49 And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!

50 For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother. Mat. 12:46-50

This is a tough one. It is a very, very tough one. In a sense, probably the toughest of all of Jesus’s lessons.

In a nutshell, there can be no emotional attachments in God’s Kingdom, only spiritual ones. There could be no greater emotional attachment than the familial one; and here Jesus discards it. We are to seek after spiritual relationships. The Bible says that God is Spirit. There can therefore be no other relationships acceptable to Him other than a spiritual one.

The church may not be perfect, but it is the Body of Jesus Christ! And where else, aside from this congregation of mostly imperfect men and women can we grow to know the will of our Father in heaven? No, there is nowhere else. Our brothers and sisters in Christ are our true family.

Yes, Peter still had a sword hidden in his inner robe, and we can imagine his thoughts were not so peaceful nor holy. Equally fierce and furious were James and John, who also harbored Napoleonic thoughts of conquering the world.

But, incredibly, Jesus  elevated these people above his earthly brothers, sisters and mother. He called them His family!

There are people who will value their flesh and blood kin over members of the Body of Christ. There are others who approve of people for various other reasons other than purely spiritual ones. But that attests to their inability to see in the Spirit. For when we see in the Spirit, we realize how truly valuable brethren in Christ are and how high our relating to them towers above earthly relationships, however close; and however weak our brethren in Christ may be.

It is best – before it gets too late and we come to realize the vanity of it all – that we as God’s children align ourselves fully with the church and stop appeasing other relationships, however important they might appear. There is a price to pay there; but, again, the gospel is all about paying the price.

God will give us grace and it is not as if we will stop loving our kith and kin in the flesh. Jesus Himself no doubt thought constantly and prayed for His family, a fact that is born out in John 19:25-27:

“25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! 27 Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.”

But, right to the very end, as we see here, Jesus’s thoughts about his mother and siblings were spiritual, not otherwise. His love for them was not emotional, but spiritual. In the end, through Jesus’s pursuit of only the spiritual, they, too, came to an understanding of the treasure that is God’s Kingdom. In the end, He bequeathed to them the true riches, heavenly ones.

[Powerful clip. Please go to “Settings”, click “Subtitles” for the English subtitles to appear]

‘Unfriending’ God

14 And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.

15 And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. Lk. 16:14-15

I am pretty sure that when we get to heaven, there are many, many things that will surprise and probably shock us. I wouldn’t be surprised if some people were to faint right off and have to be resurrected twice – if that option is there. If you don’t read the Bible carefully while you are down here on earth, it is a given that you could find yourself in a very regrettable position when you get to heaven.

People will be shocked, but it is not because the Lord did not inform or warn us of these things. It is because we have hard hearts, and the revelation of God cannot penetrate our spiritual consciousness.

When they read Jesus’ words in the above scripture, for example, many believers, upon reading these words, think that Jesus was referring to the world. They therefore waste the precious opportunity to look into their own state and instead point fingers at the world. But the church, of which Jesus is the Head, has absolutely no business with the world except to preach it the Good News of salvation. We cannot talk of the world in church. A preacher cannot, for example, waste a whole sermon talking about the great king of pop, Jacko the Wacko in church and claim he is preaching the gospel. He could mention the man in passing, but the king of pop could never become the subject of a church sermon.

Jesus could not, therefore, have been addressing the world when He spoke these words. Jesus was addressing the church. Indeed, we find that here He was addressing the Pharisees, who were the bona fide ‘church’ of that time. It is in this regard that we need to understand also that the Bible is a spiritual Book, and it is written to spiritual people – believers, the church. The Bible is not written to the world for the Bible is scripted in spiritual language, and the world does not understand spiritual language. That is why even a born-again believer, if he does not have a spiritual mindset, cannot understand the Bible. By spiritual mindset I mean the desire, thirst or hunger for the things of the Spirit. There are believers, for example, who seek for material gain in the Bible. Such people cannot understand the spiritual gist of the Bible.

Having therefore established that Jesus was addressing these words to the church, it is imperative that the church WAKE UP!! What is going on in church today is shocking beyond belief. Today the church is nurturing the most obnoxious strain of people on earth!

Who are these people? They are the worldly-minded preachers. The church is coddling and holding in high esteem men (and women) who preach and live any kinds of gospels other than the true gospel of Jesus Christ, the gospel of the cross.

Today the most vociferous, the most televised, and the most revered preachers today are men whose lives are not desirable to the Lord. Most are lovers of money. And they are lovers of many other things that are not of God. But when men justify themselves before men, it is easy for men who have no revelation to follow them.

What does it mean to “justify yourselves before men”?

A preacher who has no revelation of the cross of Jesus Christ in his heart cannot preach the true gospel of Jesus Christ. On the contrary, he will preach a gospel in which he justifies his own ways. The Pharisees, for example, were lovers of money, and they preached things that justified their covetousness. They went to the extent of teaching that whatever financial help one should have given to his parents, he could put into the church coffers instead – and that he would be “blessed”.

That is what the Bible means by “justify yourselves before men”. It means that men preach whatever justifies their own lusts.

In our country I heard of a preacher whose ‘ministry’ is to “comfort” widows. He “comforts” widows by sleeping with them. But he uses scripture to carry out his diabolical ‘ministry’.

But where the gospel of the cross of Jesus Christ is preached, such people will never be allowed to see the light of day. There is simply no place for them in the true church! The gospel of the cross reveals and confronts the evil in our hearts. The preacher who has the revelation of the cross in his heart is the only person who can usher people into the Kingdom of God.

The Pharisees had just heard Jesus say, “Ye cannot serve God and mammon”; and because they loved money, the Bible says they “derided”, or mocked, Jesus.

One of the truest signs that you are a man or woman who is not going to heaven is when you find yourself deriding the message of the cross of Jesus Christ. How do you ‘deride’ Jesus, or His message? It is when you find yourself being a ‘fan’ or follower of a gospel other than the gospel of the cross. It is when you cannot deny yourself. The message of the cross is the true message of the road to eternal life. It is the message that the apostles preached, and it is the message of which God commissioned the Apostle Paul to write more than half the New Testament about. It is also the message that righteous men and women throughout the ages have suffered terribly on account of.

Finally, Jesus declared:

“… for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.”

What does that mean? Lacking the capacity to deny himself, a preacher who does not take up his cross and follow Christ will bring up a doctrine that will draw people to him in order that he might gain in the flesh. He might be seeking after fame, or financial gain. There are many things that a preacher in the flesh could be seeking after.

Jesus’ words here are a shot across the bows, so to speak. Such a preacher cannot please God. God hates preachers who would draw men to themselves. If we are to please God, it can only be if we are to follow Christ’s doctrine as laid out in Matthew 16:24:

“If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”

He who teaches and lives such doctrine is the true friend of God.

[Below: Here, no doubt, the writer meant “No love, no stress”! In Tanzania, as probably in other countries, truck drivers write out their frustrations on the back of their trucks]

God and the Heart of Man

Better a little that is done from the heart than much that is not done from the heart. God loves things that are done from the heart. God is a person of the heart. In fact, the Bible says that God looks upon the heart. By the heart I mean that inner desire and joy that can only be born of God. Whatever we do from this kind of heart is very precious in the sight of God.

Not only that, but these are the things that are of true value to us and to our fellow humans. They are the things that make an impact in people’s lives. They are the things that bring about real change.

A nation, for example, whose leader leads the nation from his heart, that nation will prosper because it is built on a strong foundation. Our nation’s founding father, “Mwalimu” Julius Nyerere, built this nation on a strong foundation of unity. The great sense of internal peace that we enjoy in Tanzania today is a result of “Mwalimu”’s heart. He led this nation from the heart, and we are enjoying the fruits of his heart.

On the contrary, a nation that is not led from the heart cannot prosper. A nation that is led by the clout of money, charisma and other external bases will slowly deteriorate and perish. Much of the time, where money and power are involved, there is no heart. One of the greatest weaknesses of the natural man is the inability to conquer power and money.

I believe that is why God did not commit His Kingdom to the rich and powerful men and women of this world. The Bible tells us that God committed His calling to the poor, the downtrodden and the foolish of this world. Literally.

“26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27 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; 28 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: 29 That no flesh should glory in his presence. 30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: 31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord” (1 Cor. 1:26-31).

In the developed world, I hear there are people who are so rich that when they enter a shop and need to make some purchases, no one else is allowed in. They are allowed to shop privately. Such people may be rich, but theirs is a sorry form of richness for it is selfish and temporal. What a joy would it be for them to discover the true riches of serving God and their fellow man with their wealth!

In the church also, money and power corrupt men’s hearts. They fill them with pride and they cannot give God the glory. They take up the glory instead. On the contrary, a weak and poor man will quickly and easily give God the glory.

The true gospel of Jesus Christ, the gospel of the cross, however, gives us all the opportunity to allow God to deal with the flesh in order that we might serve God from the heart. Both the poor and the rich can benefit from this gospel. Both can learn to serve God from the heart, and not to trust in uncertain riches. No wonder Paul says in Galatians 3:28:

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”

What does it mean to be a Jew as we read in the above scripture? Apart from the literal meaning of the Jew (an Israelite), there is the connotation of a ‘Jew’ being a believer who knows many things about God or who deems himself close to God. But you could be a Jew in either sense of the word and not serve God from the heart. If you do not serve God from the heart, your knowledge or perceived closeness to God will neither endear you to God nor will it bear any fruit in the Spirit.

A true believer ought therefore be a person of the heart. If we do things to please men, that is hypocrisy. In our relationships, for example, we ought to be clear and not fear or despise others. God hates both these things – fear and despising of others – for He is a righteous God. In any case, nothing that we do to please men is born of God.  There are many things that we as believers do, believing that they are spiritual, but which are not. They are not spiritual because we do them with an eye to pleasing men. Such things are not born of God. Moreover, they are temporal and superficial.

(A strong and lasting structure must be born of the heart)