Revival's Golden Key (6 page)

The Law should be esteemed by the Church because of its wonderful preparatory work in preparing a sinner’s heart for grace. In Joshua 3:14-17, God opened the Jordan River when the feet of the priests, who were carrying the
ark of the covenant
, touched its waters. Do you remember what the ark contained? It was the two tablets of God’s Law. Do you think that God would have opened the waters for the priests if they had complained that the two stone tablets were too heavy, and tipped them into the dirt to make their load lighter? Yet that is what many in the contemporary Church have done. The Law is the embodiment of this gospel we carry, but many have “neglected the weightier matters of the Law” and counted them as worthless. They have emptied the ark of the gospel, stripping it of its power.

J. C. Ryle said of God’s Law, “But never, never let us
despise
it. It is the symptom of an ignorant ministry, and unhealthy state of religion, when the Law is reckoned unimportant. The true Christian delights in God’s Law (Romans 7:22).”

The Ten Commandments are like the ten camels that carried Abraham’s servant in search of a bride for his only begotten son, Isaac (Genesis 24:10-20). When he arrived at the city of
Nahor
, he had his ten camels kneel down outside the city before the well at the time the women go out to draw water. The servant prayed that the bride-to-be would be evidenced by the fact that she would have consideration for the camels. When

Rebekah saw the camels, she
ran
to the well to get water for them.

God the Father sent His Servant the Holy Spirit to search for a bride for His only begotten Son. He has chosen the Ten Commandments to carry this special message from His Lord.

While we may not be able to clearly distinguish the Bride of Christ from the rest of this world, the Holy Spirit knows that the primary reason she draws water from the Well of Salvation is to satisfy the ten thirsting camels of a holy and just Law. The true convert comes to the Savior simply to satisfy the demands of a holy Law.

“It is the symptom of an ignorant ministry, and unhealthy state of religion, when the Law is reckoned unimportant.”

The espoused virgin has respect for the Commandments of God. She is not a worker of lawlessness. Like Paul, she delights in the Law, and says with the psalmist, “I will run in the way of
Your
commandments”

(Psalm 119:32).

The Law is like Aaron’s rod that budded (Numbers 17). It looks like hard and dead wood, but from it issues the life of the gospel. If you are not sure if the use of the Law is right, incorporate it into your tabernacle of witness and see if it buds.

When fiery serpents were sent among Israel, they caused the Israelites to admit they had sinned. The serpents also caused them to look up to a bronze serpent that Moses had placed on a pole. That was the means of their salvation. Those who had been bitten and were doomed to die could look at the bronze serpent and live (Numbers 21:6-9). In John 3:14, Jesus specifically cited this Old Testament passage in reference to salvation from sin. The Ten Commandments are like ten biting serpents that carry with them the venomous curse of the Law. It drives sinners to look to the One lifted up on a cross. It was the Law of Moses that put Jesus on the cross. The Messiah became a curse for us, and re-deemed us from the curse of the Law.

The Old Testament said of the Messiah that He would “magnify the Law, and make it
honorable
” (Isaiah 42:21, KJV). The religious leaders had
dishotv
ored
the Law, twisting it so that it was of no effect. By their tradition, they had rendered God’s Law ineffectual (Matthew 15:6). They even hindered others from entering God’s kingdom. This is what Jesus said to them: “Woe to you lawyers!
For you have taken away the key of knowledge.
You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered” (Luke 11:52).

The lawyers were professing experts in God’s Law. But because they didn’t use the “key of knowledge” to bring sinners to the Savior, they hindered its work.

Run to the Border

It must have been incredible to have been alive when Jesus walked on this earth. Sometimes the crowds were so vast that He was forced out into open spaces, or had to minister from a boat pushed out from the shore. On one of these occasions when multitudes crowded Him, there was a woman who had suffered with bleeding for many years. She approached Him from behind, touched the border of His garment, and was immediately healed (Luke 8:43-48).

The world could offer her nothing. She had spent all her resources on medical bills, and rather than getting better, she grew worse. Her life’s blood was draining from her body and there was little she could do about it. According to the Law she had become un-clean (Leviticus 15:25), so she had nothing to lose by pushing through the crowd to touch this Man from Nazareth. But she wasn’t the only one who pressed in on Him to touch the border of His garment:

Wherever He entered, into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that they might just touch the border of His garment. And as many as touched Him were made well (Mark 6:56).

What was so special about the border? One answer could be that those who wanted to touch the border of the garment of Jesus needed to stoop low to do so, signifying the humility needed before we can approach the Savior. Grace is for the humble.

However, if we look at Numbers 15:38-40, we see that the border had great significance because it was there to remind the children of Israel of God’s Commandments, and consequently to keep them from idolatry.

This helpless woman reached out her trembling hand and felt the hem of His garment touch her fingers. Suddenly, power flowed through her body. But it was something greater than mere power. It was
virtue.
She was
healed
in more than the normal sense of the word.

This story depicts the conversion of the true believer. Our life’s blood was draining from our futile being.

The Law convinced us that we were without God, with-out hope, and without righteousness. We were outcasts, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. It was the Ten Commandments that showed us that our garments were spotted with the filth of the flesh.

Our only hope was to humbly reach out to the fine linen garments of Jesus Christ, and pray that somehow He could help us. Suddenly, power flowed from His body.
Power
to conquer sin, and
virtue
to cleanse us from every transgression.
We were purged from the stain of the filth of the flesh... cleansed, sanctified, washed,
pu-rified
... made
virgins, as though we had never defiled ourselves through sin in the first place.
Like Ruth, we couldn’t meet our Redeemer face-to-face unless we were washed, anointed, and wearing our “best garment.”

We are freely given this virtue in the gospel. The Church was made into a Virtuous Woman by the grace of almighty God. This is why I think the virtuous woman described in Proverbs chapter 31 is a vivid picture of the Bride of Christ. Hidden within her virtues are the works of the true believer.

Discerning the Difference

God’s Law prepares the heart of the sinner for the good news of the gospel. Without this preparatory work, his heart is hardened and he therefore becomes a candidate for a false conversion. Now and then we can catch a glimpse of the difference between the true and false converts. In 1 Kings 3:16-28 we read the famous naira-
tive
of two women, both claiming to be the mother of one child. Solomon, in his wisdom, commanded that the baby be cut in half and thus revealed the true mother.

Both of these women dwelt in the same house. The true and false converts dwell together in the house of the Lord. Each of them called Solomon “lord.” Both the true and false convert call Jesus “Lord,” and it therefore takes the
wisdom
of Solomon to discern between the true and false convert. What was it that showed Solomon the real mother? It was that the true mother revealed true love. She would rather lose her child than see him cut in two with a sword.

Here is how to tell the true convert from the false. The spurious convert will reveal himself by dividing the Body of Christ in two with some pet doctrine, rather than backing down in humility. He will cut a body of believers in half because of a particular interpretation of Scripture. He lacks the wisdom that is peaceable and open to reason. In contrast, the true convert will strive to keep the unity of the body. He will not even put meat to his mouth if it causes his brother to stumble, let alone push a personal interpretation and cause division.

More often than not, though, the false convert isn’t clearly evident. Like the twins in the womb of Tamar, one has a scarlet thread bound around his hand (Genesis 38:27
,28
). We may not be able to see who
has the scarlet thread of the Blood of Christ
bound around his hand, but God can. He knows those who are His. It is the Blood that separates the true from the false.

There are, however, many people who seem to stand as testimonies of modern preaching. They more than likely came into the Church under the message of those who do not use the Law as a schoolmaster to bring sinners to Christ. All that these people heard was that Jesus died on the cross for their sins, and that they would never find true peace until they found peace with God. They were told that they needed to trust Jesus Christ. If you are wondering how to reconcile this teaching with that fact, stay with me for the next chapter.

CHAPTER 6

THE KEY WAS IN THE FOLDING

T
hose who preach grace alone look to the many thousands who have remained in fellowship as clear evidence to justify the presentation of a gospel which makes no reference to the Law.

During a great war, there was a man who invented a parachute that was one hundred percent trustworthy. It made no difference whether the user was large or small; it opened
every
time and got him safely to the ground. The key was in the way it was folded. Every part of the parachute had to be carefully and painstakingly placed in certain positions, following the instructions given by the manufacturer. True, it was somewhat arduous, but it was well worth the effort. It had the effect of ensuring that the life of every precious human being who trusted the parachute would be preserved.

Many years after the war began, a group of young men known as “
fast'folders
” entered the packing room. These men so influenced the workers with their new fast and easy method of folding that soon they all completely ignored the instruction book given by the manufacturer. Production increased greatly and everyone rejoiced that so much time and effort had been saved.

However, as time passed it slowly became evident that something was radically wrong. In fact, a small group of investigators who went to where the parachutes were being used found to their horror that
of every ten who jumped using the new method, nine tragically fell to their deaths!

The horrible sight of so many mangled and rotting bodies strewn all over the ground sickened them. These weren’t just faceless customers. These were husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters—cherished human beings who plunged to a needless and terrifying death.