Seeking the Spirit of the Kingdom, chapter eight
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Important messages
Has anyone suggested
selflessness as the evidence of a Spirit-filled life? Should it not be? To be
filled with the Holy Spirit, certainly means to be emptied of self. The eighth
and final chapter of this book considers one of the most beautiful stories in
the entire Bible. Its beauty lies in the spirit of the main character. Did I
say main character? He certainly isn’t seeking that position; in fact, he would
turn our attention towards others, who play a part in this account… to Isaac,
to Abraham, or to Rebekah. He is only on a mission for his master. Open your heart and learn from a slave the
meaning of being wholly under the control of the Holy Spirit. Does his example
evoke a cry from your heart to be like him?
CHAPTER 8
CHARACTERISTICS OF A
SPIRIT-CONTROLLED LIFE
AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE ETERNAL PLAN
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| The final and perhaps best chapter |
The word genesis means
beginning or origin. The book of Genesis takes us to the
beginning of everything that we know. There begins a revelation of the
personality of God and His eternal purposes. It speaks of creation and we can
see in it the first steps in the development of the plan for which the universe
was created. We begin to enter into the book and we discover Abraham, a man who
only existed for the Kingdom of God. God’s specific purposes for Abraham in His
Kingdom were two: First, Abraham was to be a patriarch of a nation that God was
raising up, through which He would manifest Himself to the entire earth. The
second reason was that he would be the father of all that would come near to
God by faith.
Genesis 24 relates a story
that occurs as Abraham’s life was coming to an end. Sarah, his wife, had died
and Abraham begins to think about the next generation and how the divine plan
would unfold. It is obvious that his son, Isaac, would have to be married and
have a son, who would carry the seed that God had promised. Therefore, Abraham
sent his slave to Mesopotamia, where Abraham had his roots and where his
relatives still lived, to seek a bride for Isaac.
Many Bible students have seen
in this true story the eternal plan of God in allegorical form. It is very
important that we also are clearly aware of that exact plan, in order that our
feet may be directed towards the same goal. In few words, this is its content:
God the Father sends the Holy Spirit into the world, searching for a bride for
His eternal Son. As a dowry, the Son died in order to purchase her
(Symbolically, Isaac was sacrificed in chapter 22.) and the day will come, when
He will take this bride to heaven and there will occur the celebration of a
wedding that will surpass all other celebrations. Afterwards, He will return to
earth with her and they will reign together for a thousand years, as king and
queen. Each Christian should keep this little scheme deeply recorded in his
mind and in his heart, as the central point of his thoughts and activities. He
should be completely involved in this plan of the Kingdom of God.
In the allegory, the servant
of Abraham represents the Holy Spirit and His principal purpose on Earth. We
considered how He identified with the apostles in the book of Acts. Today, He
continues to identify with the servants of God, who live according to the same
purpose and demonstrate the same characteristics of the divine Person, who
fills their beings. The fruits of their lives manifest the personality of the
One who makes his dwelling place in them and takes control of their bodies,
souls and spirits. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23).
Now, I would like that we would observe the characteristics and purposes of a
life filled with the Holy Spirit, as it functions for the glory of God.
We know by other passages
that the name of this servant is Eliezer, but in this chapter he is anonymous.
The fruit of the Spirit is meekness and everything He does is towards the purpose
of the Father and the well-being of the Son. The servant received no personal
benefit for his service and efforts. He would not be richer or more famous,
when his work was done. When Isaac was born, this man lost all the inheritance,
which was to be his, but he shows no resentment. On the contrary, he now
dedicates his life to serving the son. I don’t know where in the Bible we can
find a better representation of the One, who did not come to this world to
speak of Himself, but to glorify the Son.
The first instruction that
Abraham gave his servant was negative: “You shall not take a wife for my son
from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live” (verse 3). We give
a lot of advice to young Christians about the danger of being unequally yoked
with unbelievers and surely Abraham also was preoccupied with the same thing.
Throughout their history, God warned His people not to join with the Canaanite
women. He did not want His seed to be corrupted. The servant was not to look for
a bride for Isaac in a haphazard or common way, but by the only means that
would bring glory to God. Similarly, any servant of God should take care not to
compromise with the world in fulfilling the commission that Jesus has given him
to make disciples among all nations. The Christian who is motivated by the
flesh will utilize any method or system that comes into his mind, but the
person full of the Spirit will submit Himself to His direction. Before we begin
to function in the Kingdom of God, we must have it very clear, as to who will
be the source of our guidance.
After receiving this
instruction, the servant asked the same question that any of us might ask: “Suppose
the woman is not willing to follow me to this land; should I take your son back
to the land from where you came?” (verse 5). Once more, the response is
negative. It was precisely that land, from which God had told Abraham to leave,
in order to lead him to the land, where he now lived (verses 6-7). Because he
obeyed, the son is now in the center of the will of God and he was not to take
one step backward. God never retreats in His plans or gives place to sentiments
or human comfort. The girl, just as Abraham in the beginning, must leave her
house and her relatives to become involved with Isaac in the plan of God. There
could be no compromise in this marriage. In the same way, we must never take
one step backward, in spite of difficulties and complications that come our
way.
We will see how God is
preparing hearts for the fulfillment of His will (verse 7b). The servant will
not choose a girl by chance. The work does not begin when he enters
Mesopotamia, but the Angel of the Lord has gone before him. He, simply, must
enter into the eternal work, conceived before the foundation of the world. The sovereignty
of God continues to be the principal factor in His work and is not limited to
human mentality.
COOPERATING WITH THE DIVINE PLAN
With this guidance, the
servant comes to the land of Abraham’s parentage and waits by the well outside
the city of Nahor. How many times in the Bible does a well come into play in
God’s stories? Four come immediately to mind, this being the first. Jacob, in
the next generation, came to this same land and beside the well, he found
Rachel. Jacob removed a stone from the well, so her flock could drink. Moses,
fleeing from Pharaoh, came to Midian and defended seven sisters, who were
shepherdesses, by a well. Of course, we have the well-known story, in which
God, who had become man, weary with His journey, sat by a well and met the
Samaritan woman.
As Jesus, sitting by the well
in Samaria so many years later, this man did not immediately go into the city.
The importance of his mission did not make him aggressive or bold. The fruit of
the Spirit is meekness, patience and temperance. He waited outside, knowing
that God had the situation under control.
What did he do in the
meantime? He recognized the need for God to move in the situation, so he prayed
(verse 12). In the Old Testament or in the New, the manifestation of the presence
of God is for the person or the group that goes to prayer. There is no
exception. If a work does not result as a product of prayer, you can know that
it will be extremely corrupted with humanism.
Study the prayer well and see
that it had to do completely with the well-being and the purpose of God in his
masters. There was no petition for a personal plan and, of course, his prayer
was answered for that reason. He did not have many girls in mind, in order to
choose among them. It was directed towards one girl alone and he asked that she
be worthy to take part in that plan, to which God was calling her. He prayed
that she should be a servant, willing to do much more than what she was asked
to do. “May it be that the girl to whom I say, ‘Please let down your jar so
that I may drink’ and who answers, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels also’ –
may she be the one whom You have appointed for Your servant Isaac; and by this
I will know that You have shown lovingkindness to my master” (verse 14).
By the prophet Isaiah, God
demonstrated his willingness to answer those who pray as this man did: “Before
they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear (Is.
65:24). Before the servant pronounced the first syllable, God was in the city
moving Rebecca and before he finished his prayer, she was before him. “Before
he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah… came out with her jar on her
shoulder” (verse 15).
How willing this girl was! I
imagine that it was no small job to water 10 camels, thirsty from their
journey, “until they have finished drinking (verse 19). How many times
did she have to lower her jar into the well to draw water? No one asked her to
do it, but she did it from the heart. When we see this happening in people, we
know that we are dealing with hearts prepared by God.
The servant watched
wonderingly, while the girl did exactly all that he had asked in prayer. What
was his reaction? “Then the man bowed low and worshiped the Lord” (verse
26). He was one, whom the Father always is searching for – a true worshiper. He
was a man full of the Holy Spirit, who existed only for the glory of God. He
was the kind of person, of which Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman, “The
true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people
the Father seeks to be His worshipers” (John 4:23). God longs for more than
simple believers and even for something more than disciples; above all, He is
searching for worshipers. Are we like this servant? Do we know how to worship?
Without a doubt, we know something about praise, but it seems to me that A. W.
Tozer was right when he said, “Worship is the lost jewel of the church.”
Are we looking for
worshipers? Paul was: “If all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an ungifted man
enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all; the secrets of
his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God,
declaring that God is certainly among you” (1 Cor. 14:24-25). We should not
be satisfied because those who visit our gatherings sing, pray or lift their
hands. This is no indication of the presence of God among us. We can only know
that God is truly among us, when an unbeliever enters and his sins, of which no
one knows, are exposed in the light. He comes under two strong convictions.
First, he is a filthy sinner and second, he should not be in this place or, at
least, he should not be on his feet. As a result, he falls to worship in the
presence of a holy and fearful God.
This happens through members
of the body of Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit, manifesting supernatural
gifts. In this case, the unbeliever is convinced and judged of his sins by all
those who exercise the gift of prophecy. The evidence of the presence of
the Lord in that place is overwhelming, converting the unbeliever in a
worshiper, surrendered at the feet of bronze (see Rev. 2:18). He gives glory to
the majestic Son of Man.
Whenever we see worship in
the Bible, we find people prostrate. Leonard Ravenhill told his experience of
praying with A. W. Tozer. On one occasion, Tozer said to him, “Len, others can
pray as they wish, but you and I will worship on our faces.” Tozer bought a
small carpet, more or less the size of his body, and there, with a handkerchief
between his nose and the carpet so as not to breathe dust, he spent hours in
the presence of God, many times without pronouncing a word. Worship is too
profound to express with words. Of course, there is no value in adopting the
physical position, if the reality of worship is not in our hearts. But for
Tozer, it was.
Raymond McAfee was one, who
often prayed with Tozer. He said that sometimes Tozer worshiped prostrate and
other times prayed kneeling before a chair. McAfee described one special
moment: “Tozer knelt by his chair, took off his glasses and laid them on the
chair. Resting on his bent ankles, he clasped his hands together, raised his
face with his eyes closed and began: ‘O God, we are before Thee.’ With that
there came a rush of God’s presence that filled the room. We both worshiped in
silent ecstasy and wonder and adoration. I’ve never forgotten that moment, and
I don’t want to forget it.”
The man, who is full of the
Holy Spirit and lives for the glory of another, is guided while he walks: “The
Lord has guided me in the way” (verse 27). It is not difficult to walk in
the will of God, when there is such an attitude of surrender in the will of a
servant. Solomon, in the wisdom of the Lord, instructs us with words that have
been the theme for many a fruitful life: “Trust in the Lord with all your
heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge
Him, and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord and turn away from evil” (Prov. 3:5-7). In this servant, we
see those words put into practice.
In the midst of the beauty
that we have been observing, we must notice something dirty and smelly from
someone, who is not a worshiper and does not seek the glory of God, but what he
can get from the situation. When Laban saw his sister enter and “saw the
ring and the bracelets on his sister’s wrists… he went to the man… and he said,
‘Come in, blessed of the Lord!” (verse 30, 31). May God deliver us from
such a one and from such a disposition! In the first volume of this theme, we
looked at Balaam and now, we have a similar case. Balaam was one, who
recognized the sovereignty of the word of God, but at the same time, loved the
recompense of wickedness.
Laban, along with his father,
also recognized that God had spoken. “The matter comes from the Lord; so we cannot
speak to you bad or good” (verse 50). When God speaks, He does not require
our opinion, as to whether we approve or not. If God has spoken, we need to put
a period at the end of His sentence, because there is nothing left to be said.
Now, we will take a good look
at some examples to illustrate the central theme of these three volumes, “Seek
the Kingdom of God”, to see how it works out in practical form. When the
servant entered into the house, his hosts put food before him, but “he said,
‘I will not eat until I have told my business” (verse 33). The priority,
before all else, is to pay attention first to the business of the King of the
Kingdom of God. In this slave, we have an example of someone, who was totally
consistent in everything that he did. The consequences were eternal; as long as
Isaac had no wife, the seed could not be passed on. Any interruption in the
succession of the ancestors of Christ signified that He could not be born. The
responsibility on the shoulders of this man could not be heavier.
When the servant saw that the
father and brother of the girl did not offer any resistance, he could
contemplate again the powerful work of God in this case. Probably the greatest
miracles from God occur in the heart of the human being, where the most
hardened substance in the universe is softened. If we could understand the
depth of hardness, deceit and rebellion that lie in the heart, then we could
appreciate the greatness of the work that breaks it. The servant was conscious
of the Lord moving in these people and could not stay on his feet. Imagine it!
In their presence, “when Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed himself
to the ground before the Lord” (verse 26) once again.
The mother and brother only
asked one favor and, humanly speaking, it seemed reasonable. They wanted to say
goodbye to the girl in a way that such a drastic separation deserved. It was a
time when all transportation was by foot or beast and the distance was great.
Such a separation in their family, as the will of God required for Rebecca,
surely meant that they would never see her again. The Bible, at least, does not
mention that they ever reunited. For that reason, they asked for ten more days,
in which Rebecca could stay with them.
The servant responded, “Do
not delay me, since the Lord has prospered my way. Send me away that I may go
to my master” (verse 56). The family’s petition, you see, logical as it may
seem, did not take into account the worthiness of the King of Kings and the
respect due Him. The intention of the slave was to obey immediately. If an
earthly head of state gives an order, he expects that it will be carried out at
that moment. How much more should it be done for the supreme Ruler of the
universe. Any delay is time spent in disobedience. The servant, representing a
life filled with the Holy Spirit, does not hesitate to obey.
God has outlined His plan and
He Himself has seen to all the preparation. It is sure and irrevocable, but from
us He expects, not a favorable opinion, as we have said before, but an “amen”.
He awaits a “Yes, Lord, so be it in me!” When the angel announced to Mary those
unique purposes, so costly for her life, he stayed until he heard her “amen”,
before terminating the visit. She responded, “‘Behold the bondslave of the
Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.’ And the angel departed from
her” (Luke 1:38). As in Mary, God had done a wonderful preparatory work in
Rebecca. She was willing to leave her family and all that she knew, to live in
a totally unfamiliar ambience far away. She surrenders to the eternal will of
God and said simply and definitely, “I will go” (verse 58). Here is a
perfect demonstration of the theme of the three volumes, which we are
considering. Here we began in the introduction before the first volume and here
is where we will end.
Coming from different times
in history, we have often heard reliable and mature men in the faith say that
there is a great and essential need, which is rarely met. It is for people, who
know to set apart time to meditate. There are few that have the priorities of
life in the correct order, as do the personalities in this story. Fulfilling
his part, we now see Isaac, recognizing the value of being alone with God,
meditating in a field. “Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward
evening” (verse 63).
The Holy Spirit has left us
this testimony in Scripture, so that we can understand that the one who
meditates is not wasting time. His meditations led to reality: “He lifted up
his eyes and looked, and behold, camels were coming.” Isaac was seeking the
Kingdom of God and the one, who would join with him to bring about the purposes
of the Kingdom, at that moment, entered the scene on a camel.
Those, who bring most
blessing to earth, are the ones who focus their thoughts on heavenly things.
Only these learn the secrets that God imparts to those that turn aside from the
activities and voices of the age. They want to learn the ancient truth that the
world cannot teach them. They long, most of all, to identify with the Holy
Spirit and, by His fullness, function for the glory of God in Christ Jesus.
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