What Manner of Spirit Are You?
Luke 9:51-56
And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he
steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, And sent messengers before his
face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready
for him. And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would
go to Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said,
Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume
them, even as Elias (Elijah) did? But he turned, and rebuked
them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are
of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them.
And they went to another village.
When God allowed Israel (the northern Kingdom) to be conquered, most of the people (the ten tribes that comprised Israel) were carried away to Assyria. The Assyrians then repopulated the land with people from other nations and cultures.
2Kings 17:24
And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava,
and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria
instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the
cities thereof.
These new residents of the land encountered troubles which they attributed to their failure to placate the local god.
2Kings 17:26
Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which thou hast
removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of
the land: therefore he hath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them,
because they know not the manner of the God of the land.
The King decided that they should send an
Israelite priest back to teach the new residents the religious customs and
practices of the Jews.
2Kings 17:27-28
Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Carry thither one of the priests
whom ye brought from thence; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach
them the manner of the God of the land. Then one of the priests whom they had
carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they
should fear the LORD.
Even though the priest taught them how they should fear the Lord, they did not separate from their idols and foreign Gods. Along with their new Hebrew rituals they continued in their own religious practices.
1Kings 17:29
Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the
high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein
they dwelt.
From this hodgepodge of religions came the
people known as the Samaritans.
During the time of
the return from Babylonian captivity, it was the forefathers of the Samaritans
who offered to help rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem
Ezra 4:2-3
Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto
them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice
unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither.
But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel,
said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God;
but we ourselves together will build unto the LORD God of Israel, as king Cyrus
the king of Persia hath commanded us.
When Zerubbabel refused them they turned
around and made trouble for them.
Ezra 4:4-5
Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and
troubled them in building. And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate
their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of
Darius king of Persia.
In Jesus day the Jews hated the Samaritans. They looked down their noses at them and did not consider them worthy of fellowship. This is one of the reasons James and John wanted to curse that Samaritan village. But Jesus never cursed anyone nor did he allow his disciples to do so.
Many similarities may be drawn today between
those who are the true remnant of God, the ekklesia, the called out ones, and
those who are still a part of the mixed multitude of the visible worldly church.
Just like the Samaritans, those among the mixed multitude believe they worship
the same God we worship. They hold to many of the superficial forms and rituals
of worship as do the remnant. They have a form of Godliness but in the end they
deny the power thereof.
Many people today, like the Samaritans are seeking God through a mixture of
truth and error. Some of them could even be described as having a zeal for God
that is not according to righteousness, just as Paul described the Jews in
Romans 10. The majority it seems are attempting to establish their own
righteousness and in so doing they fail to submit to the righteousness of God in
Christ.
Prior to the encounter with the Samaritans recorded in Luke 9, Jesus had another
encounter with a group of Samaritans that had a much different result. At
first, the woman was surprised that Jesus would even speak to her.
John 4:9
Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew,
askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings
with the Samaritans.
We see too that the disciples were astonished that Jesus would speak to a Samaritan woman.
John 4:27
And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman:
yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her?
After their conversation, the woman went back to the Samaritan city to tell everyone about Jesus.
John 4:39-42
And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the
woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did. So when the Samaritans
were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he
abode there two days. And many
more believed because of his own word. And said unto the woman, Now we
believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard [him] ourselves, and know
that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.
Jesus showed no animosity toward the Samaritans. On the contrary He revealed Himself to them as Messiah, and many of them believed. The disciples apparently failed to grasp this truth.
Sometimes it is easy for us to have the same
attitude towards our brothers and sister lost in apostasy that the Jews had
toward the Samaritans. When they reject our words our flesh wants to rise up and
condemn them, curse them and pronounce judgment on them. When we perceive this
attitude rising up within us we should know that this is not the Spirit of God.
It is another spirit.
When Jesus sent the disciples out to minister in the cities and towns of Israel,
what instructions did He give toward those towns that failed to receive
their testimony?
Luke 9:5
And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the
very dust from your feet for a testimony against them.
He did not say to curse that city. He did not say to call down fire from heaven upon them. He said simply to shake the dust from your feet and move on. There was no need to curse them because their rejection of the truth was curse enough.
Luke 10:12
But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than
for that city. Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the
mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they
had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it shall be
more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment, than for you. And thou,
Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell. He that
heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that
despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.
Those who rejected the words of the disciples
were rejecting the words of Jesus and ultimately the word of God the Father.
Those words which they reject will judge them in the end.
John 12:48
He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the
word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
Jesus confronted false teachers. He stood firm in the truth. He contended with
the religious leaders of His day but he never cursed them or pronounced judgment
on them. Jesus called us to walk in the same manner in which He walked.
John 20:21
Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me,
even so send I you.
After this, Jesus said something that, on the surface seems quite astonishing.
John 20:22-23
And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye
the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and
whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.
If you are like me you probably do not want to receive what our Lord was saying here. Is He actually giving us authority to forgive sin? I don't want that level of responsibility do you? This is truly a hard saying and most religious people want to skip over it and not even think about the implications. It's really not so hard though when you consider what Jesus had already taught about forgiveness.
Mat 18:21
Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me,
and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee,
Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
OK, now I get it! If we are walking as Christ
walked we will have a virtually unlimited capacity to forgive sin, both real
sins and perceived sins. (Many times what we claim to be a sin against us is
really just an offense to our flesh, rather than an actual sin). And
if we need another reason to forgive we must remember that it is in our own self
interest to do so.
Mark 11:26
But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive
your trespasses.
So we see that not only are we prohibited from cursing others we are even required (and empowered by the Spirit) to forgive them. When we are able to do this we are manifesting the true character and nature of Christ in our flesh. This is the fruit that God is looking for in us.
Those who pronounce curses and judgments against others are manifesting another type of fruit. It is the fruit of self righteousness. It is the fruit of idolatry, the idolatry of self. It is the fruit of the natural man walking in the carnality of his own wicked heart
Rom 8:12-13.
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do
mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
When we make the choice by faith to forgive rather than curse we put to death
the deeds of the flesh. It is our carnal nature that desires revenge upon
our enemies and upon those we perceive to be the enemies of God. You will never
walk in true life if you do not crucify that old carnal nature.
Jesus said that in the last days the love of many would wax cold. I can't help but think we are seeing the beginnings of this among professing Christians who like to go around pronouncing curses on those who disagree with them. This phenomenon has become quite widespread in recent years. Even some who are rightly standing against the apostasy and false revivals have been swept up into thinking they are some sort of modern day Elijah given power to call down fire from heaven upon their perceived enemies. Those who engage in this type of so called spiritual warfare do not know what manner of spirit they ought to be.
Brothers and sisters this ought not be so. I
urge you by the Spirit of God to put that old nature to death so that you might
live. God's grace is available to us and empowers us to forgive even when
(especially when) our flesh wants to pronounce a curse. If you really desire
to be a true son of the Living God there is no other way.
Mat 5:44
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to
them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute
you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven:
for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on
the just and on the unjust.
Steve Lumbley 2008
www.apostasywatch.com
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