SPIRITUAL FRAUD ROSS SMITH 280122
ALL REFERENCES FROM AMPLIFIED VERSION UNLESS NOTED
The statement brought to our attention of late, “To profess something and not do it is dishonest”, it is put more strenuously by the apostle John in 1 John 2:4
1 John 2:4 Whoever says, I know Him [I perceive, recognise, understand, and am acquainted with Him] but fails to keep and obey His commandments (teachings) is a liar, and the Truth [of the Gospel] is not in him.
The epistle was not addressed to any particular church or period, but for the whole Christian community, even down to us today.
The imperative for “CONFORMITY” is not some truth just revealed, but a long-standing truth, ignored. The first six verses of this chapter should be a regular “Prescribed reading.”
I am sure of one thing; we are being coerced to grow from “learning to read” to that level of “reading to learn.” This is part of the reason the Word of God has not been “Alive and Active” because when it was read, the reader did not consciously take in each phrase with an inquiring mind but read it just as text.
The salient point the Lord was trying to make to us yesterday has become just a bookmark today; we pick up from where we left off without “carefully analysing”. The Word of God is not a novel, not just interesting reading; it is the very essence of our life. It shows in the way we minister, but it also shows in the way that we behave. A LIFE LIVED IN THE LIGHT LEAVES NO ROOM FOR REPROACH.
John 6:63 It is the Spirit Who gives life [He is the Life-giver]; the flesh conveys no benefit whatever [there is no profit in it]. The words (truths) that I have been speaking to you are spirit and life.
The practice of some men to bring a study that has been plagiarised, pilfered, or pre-recorded is true “Spiritual Fraud” because it does not carry the Spirit John speaks of; there has been no “virtue and knowledge returned” as occurs when the message is alive from “Reading to Learn.”
“Learning to Read” is not just about words; it is about content” the quarrying and extracting, that insight into the “authors intended meaning.” Once we begin to “Learn to read”, we might not get past a phrase or even just a few verses, and such a passage is 1 John 2:1 – six.
If we just look at the introduction, John says in paraphrase, “I’m writing to you about your conformity.” How do I come to that conclusion? John explains as he precedes that to “violate God’s law” is to dismiss our need to conform, and spells out again in paraphrase, “Jesus conformed, and it included his every purpose thought and action.”
Then John gives us a rather sharp nudge; he says we need to check on our conformity on a daily basis, in verse 3 and what is his criteria? “And this is how we may discern daily, by experience”, and it includes a significant undertaking, that is, to put into practice today what we “Profess”; otherwise, we are liars, John’s words not mine.
It requires that we 1 Bear in mind
2 Observe
3 Practice
- BEAR IN MIND. This is to remember and consider something when
(A) making a decision,
(B) before taking action (TFD)
this is a pedestrian explanation of Proverbs 3:6, but Proverbs adds a little more emphasis by adding “recognise” before the “acknowledge”. Our lack of “recognition” or “awareness” of God at work “in all our ways” defines as to what our CONFORMITY requires, so we fail to “acknowledge” the event, trial, task, pleasure, instruction, reproof et cetera and consequently stagger off on detours, AKA “distractions” from the “direct, straight and plain paths.” These detours require “Fiery Ordeals” to prompt our transition from “PRETENDER TO PROTAGONIST. Blink, and you may miss it!!!
Why do we do this? we have some inherent “Nomadic” characteristics that incline us to look for a “more scenic route”, one with fewer guardrails and more green pastures, less responsibility and more “recess.” The scenic route, however, takes longer to reach our destination. If we reflect like John says, “discern (or learn) daily by experience”, we will find today’s “scenic road” experiences were only pretty, but not productive, not much on the way of “CONFORMITY”, just fleeting glimpses of our destiny instead of the “perceive, recognise and understand.”
Even those three words are progressive, for “perception” is “awareness”, recognition is acknowledgement, and understanding is the experience of the days refining process.
Psalm 143:8 is an excellent principle to “BEAR IN MIND.”
Psalm 143:8 Cause me to hear Your loving-kindness in the morning, for on You do I lean and in You do I trust. Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk, for I lift up my inner self to You.
We can, with gay abandon, cite this prayer the Psalmist made but as soon as the Lord begins to “CAUSE”, we begin to “complain.” We are not keen to hear what he has to say if we don’t meet with him in the morning, and we often object strenuously when he points out or “CAUSES” our walk to be different to the one who would choose. A simple example of a “SPIRITUAL FRAUD.”
Concentrated in this one verse are instructions we have been prompted to obey over an extended period. Firstly, it is necessary to make the Lord our refuge early in the morning before we start our day. If we “PROFESS” to love the Lord, then we will forsake our bed to meet with the Lord. Secondly, and well known, is that if we love the law of the Lord by applying it meticulously, then there will be no offence.
IF WE ARE OFFENDED, WE OFFEND THE LORD BECAUSE WE DO NOT ACCEPT THE PRECEPTS THAT PRESERVE US FROM “SPIRITUAL FRAUD”; WE OFFER “LIP SERVICE”, NOT “LIFE SERVICE.”
Isaiah 29:13 And the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips but remove their hearts and minds far from Me, and their fear and reverence for Me are a commandment of men that is learned by repetition [without any thought as to the meaning],
Secondly, Proverbs 3:6 refers to Father directing and making straight our parts, and the Psalmist adds to this direction by requiring the elevation of “my inner self”, that is, my heart, my motives, not just my mouth.
- OBSERVE “OBSERVE” carries different meanings to different people, to one it means to stand back and watch what is happening, and we now know this as “In attendance but not involved”, like the 50 sons of the prophets watching Elijah and Elisha, or Peter who “followed afar off”. but then to another, “OBSERVE” is a much more active term, the dictionary says, “to conform one’s action or practice to something, to comply with”, and so it becomes acutely relevant to our experience.
Jesus, when instructing His disciples in their role, made it clear in Matthew, where the word “OBSERVE” from the Greek means, “to attend to carefully, take care of, to guard: to watch carefully especially with attention to details or behavior for the purpose of arriving at a judgment.” In our case, the attainment of “CONFORMITY” not just in word, but in “Purpose, thought and action.”
Matthew 28:20 (A) Teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you all the days (perpetually, uniformly, and on every occasion), to the [very] close and consummation of the age. Amen (so let it be).
“CONFORMITY” is no new thing, for the Israelites required it after coming out of Egypt. The principle of “RIGHTEOUSNESS”, which has been demanded of us for some decades as I recall, was also a hallmark of those who would observe God’s precepts.
Deuteronomy 6:25 And it will be accounted as righteousness (conformity to God’s will in word, thought, and action) for us if we are watchful (KJV uses the word “OBSERVE” in place of “watchful) to do all this commandment before the Lord our God, as He has commanded us.
- PRACTICE our exploration into “Spiritual Fraud” would not be complete unless we heed the instructions, bear fruit, and progressively demonstrate the nature of Christ. This skill and ability demands our moment by moment practise, not just an isolated exercise but a developing lifestyle.
You may ask why it is a “developing lifestyle” well, we only need to go back a couple of verses in 1 John to find the answer.
1 John 3:16 By this we come to know (progressively to recognise, to perceive, to understand) the [essential] love: that He laid down His [own] life for us; and we ought to lay [our] lives down for [those who are our] brothers [in Him].
Even the apostle Paul adhered rigidly to his motives and ambition to develop that “progressive” transformation so that there was no possibility of his actions being betrayed by his speech and incurring reproach. In making this statement, he made in Philippians 3, and you can be sure that his critics and combatants would seize upon his pledge to try and wring every ounce of advantage they could to contradict and condemn Paul.
Philippians 3:10 For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognising and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly],
1 John 3:18 Little children, let us not love [merely] in speech but in deed and in truth (in practice and in sincerity).
The requirement “In deed and truth” carries the sense of pragmatism, that is, the practical application of ideas and ideals resulting in “EXPERIENCE” first followed by evidence.
UNTESTED FACTS CAN RESULT IN MISLEADING ACTS
ANYTHING LESS THAN THIS CONSTITUTES “SPIRITUAL FRAUD.”
Where anything dilutes or distracts our commitment to the Lord, attracts undue attention, or emerges as a preference, it must be addressed so that the priority we embrace aligns with God’s Word.
Luke 10:27 And he replied, You must love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.
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Ross Smith 