By
Arthur J Licursi
Have
you ever wondered why the church today is so pitiful in its expression of
the Lord’s life? Why is it that so few seem to have genuinely given
their life to the Lord to be their all? Many seem to want the world and
the Lord at the same time.
I
believe the answer is this. Whatever the problem may be, if you’re not
aware that you are needy, you likely will not take the remedy, or even
appreciate the remedy when it is offered. We receive only according to the
level of our recognizing our neediness. If we think we are doing fine and
have no need, then we will not receive.
If
we only perceive that our need is to plan for eternity and we desire to go
to heaven, then we will receive salvation that is by believing in Jesus
Christ; but this is only salvation from perdition (judgment). Sadly, I
believe this is what has stunted the Christian church that we see today.
Not preaching the Pauline gospel of the indwelling life of Christ
is the core of what is missing.
Col.
1:25-28a Whereof I am made a minister, according to the
dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of
God; 26Even
the mystery (secret gospel) which hath been
hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his
saints: 27To
whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery (secret
gospel) among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of
glory: 28Whom we preach…
Paul
here in v27b and 28a clearly says he preached not Christ, but rather, Christ
in the believer, as the believer’s hope to have the glorious
expression of Christ’s very life. Paul clearly preached an exchanged
life – our life, for Christ’s life.
To
not preach Christ in the believer as the believer’s new life may reduce
the number of so-called conversions, but those who do receive salvation
according to the Pauline gospel will be those who know they are needy and
desire the Lord to be their new life.
Sadly,
an easy believism has permeated the so-called gospel preaching for the
past 50 years or so in
America
, as a kind of neo-evangelicalism. Only if one comes to recognize that
they are needy and helpless in their self-effort to be at all righteous,
as God is righteous, will they then receive Christ as their indwelling
righteous life, to be their new Christ-self, in place of their old
independent self.
Norman
Grubb spoke this along these same lines.
“Now
the law of the Spiritual life is that we never have a greater need than to
have a sense of our need. According to our need, so will be our God-given
supply. According to our hunger and thirst, we will be filled.
Thus,
only insofar as we see our need can we receive the supply. And so we know
how Moses royally, gloriously, daringly flung everything in this world
away except himself, to follow Christ. Hebrews 11:26 Esteeming the
reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in
Egypt
: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. He didn’t know
that he needed to fling himself away; he didn’t even realize that he had
been relying upon himself. Thus he had to go through that forty years of
disillusionment on the backside of the wilderness.
I
often wonder why these great men didn’t become atheists. Perhaps it is
surprising that we didn’t either because of the terrible stripping that
we have to have after our dedication. When we follow Jesus, that is leave
all and follow Jesus, down we go - bang, bang, bang, down to the bottom.
The old mystic who said, “The only way to heaven is through hell,”
spoke the truth. He’s perfectly right. It is in hell that we leave our
wretched 1ittle old self; but then we rise up to heavenly life upon this
earth. We leave the old things where they belong.”
