christianity is today to Christ as Judaism is/was to being Jew before [in the face of] the Lord. The Lord never spoke with denigration of a Jew, but of the vain and useless, even oppositional, traditions and practices that had both accrued and multiplied to true faith by men’s craftiness abetted by a corrupter.. Jesus the Christ never distanced Himself from the meaning of [a] Jew, nor being one:
We know what we do worship for salvation is of the Jews.
But keenly He saw/sees the difference between a man such as Abraham, who was called out and obeyed, and those who only used that man for their own standing. The faith of Abraham is never denigrated but extolled even to contradiction of such presumed standing:
Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.
For unless or until Christ is made plain in sight by faith, all men do, and must, take their stand on things only natural by which to exalt themselves. Jesus again being so bold as to say:
And do not think to say within your selves ‘We have Abraham to our father, for I tell you of these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham’
No, the natural, and even natural decendency that mean so much to man as to place trust in it, is as nothing to God, unless He be inclined to make more of it. The keeping of a remnant is always and alone in the purview of God; and not given to any establishment by natural identity, nor gained by either decendency nor observational practice(s). For to support itself religion must devolve into such vain practices for establishment; whereby even its descent into corruption is both seen and made known by them:
For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death: But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.
Such is also decried and described in such practice as this:
Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?
And men can never both see what sanctification is, or whom the Sanctifier Himself is, apart from the revelation of Christ himself. And God forbid (by all plea for mercy) that any man, even such a man writing be so as to so easily make himself a fool by any self exaltation attendant to revelation, (or allowing it) mistaking that it itself is a form of endorsement unless he be made able to see the Giver of such.
And yes, men can indeed come to form temples and and even idols withing themselves in regards to such matters…and thence promote and provoke to all defilement even those who may be persuaded to receive them. Think justification by faith as an example, and those who would thence take a name to themselves for self exalting in all wrong thinking that by such self identity endorses, or establishes them. “We” follow Luther, and we shall make that plain, by name. A mere thing one can give another that too plainly speaks of estate, but not of such as is imagined.
For before God it does not mean what men may either presume nor intend. God knows to whom such revelation is/was given, but if men do not likewise hear the continuing caution of the Spirit, they too will even idolize their revelation(s). And many religions have, and continue to spring up, around such. Yes there is a continuing pressing on required lest we mistake anything given us for such “arrival”. So even Paul would say (in all understanding of this)
Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Yet who would have said, or even today might say: “I have outstripped Paul”? Or, “I stand upon his shoulders and now see farther!” And again, God forbid even I be seen as exalting Paul (which is too easily done) but rather that one must first come to such seeing…(and understanding) that nothing shown ever itself is equal to the Shower of it, no matter how sublime such may appear! For even our brother on Patmos, carried away in all vision and ecstasies of Jesus the Christ’s revelation found himself tempted to fall and worship before one (in such vision) but had to be reproved:
And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
My only testimony in any or all of this is only to the faithfulness of the Lord in rebukes and chastenings (even scourgings); even knowing that now, were I to make too much of them, I would also, and no less be betraying an idolatry, forsaking His wounds for the exaltation (even by mention) of my own having been wounded. But unless a disciple or disciples does know something of these, even these places and occurences, we are speaking to only children. But we would also be no more than children (and rebellious ones perhaps, even at that) were we to make too much, or really, anything at all of such in our conversation(s). We would merely be forming our own fellowship around another name “the those who have experienced the Lord’s discipline”. God forbid!
Paul understood both the folly and the attendant embarrasment at being pressed (by many obstinate and easily misled children) to do so.
Are they ministers of Christ?—I speak as a fool—I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness— besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?
Yet adding:
If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity.
And later in next chapter sums up such excursion:
I have become a fool in boasting; you have compelled me.
We needs be careful in such pressing even to any demand (by attitude or obstinacy) we press to the Lord’s sufferings on our behalf, for the Spirit will make plain in such demand or attitude a revelation of matters so far beyond us that ougth to be to our glory…but will be made apparent to our shame. The Lord will minister his sufferings (and has) in mercy to us and for us, but if we be obstinate, the Spirit is not ashamed to make a “dump of them” upon us at such time as we are not yet prepared to them and our undoing will be made very plain to us by them, in even our ill equipping to them. Yet, even so, such can drive to repentance for relief by acknowledging our presumption(s). God forbid we forget this:
These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.
And of a great boaster I have known, and if any doubt to the veracity of this, how that God may let one go on in great folly assuming His silence as either approval or endorsement, such a man can speak of such a day(s) when God “speaks up” to set things aright before him, and before whom no presumption stands…except to utter shaming. Yes, I know such a man, even all too well. And what may yet remain to him (for even saying “all too well” may be a boast) for God’s shaming of presumption, he does not know. But he is being convinced God does know, and as only God does know.
And God has faithful ministers yet in the earth, a remnant, who are able to speak to this man’s folly as need be.
A blessed one all too easily reminded such a man once (may once be enough…but only God knows how deeply such salubrious medication is taken!) and it yet speaks of such liberty that such a man can barely let it go when even wandering off into all manner of folly thinking he may hold “a” key as seeming sole proprietor while yet fearing in doing so he may also be entering only more presumption. For God’s speaking always remains so intensely personal and precisely targeted that to a man it is easily presumed to be exclusive.
Don’t worry, you are not that important.
A blessed one reminded such a man. And he is far more delighted to find relief of worry than to seek to rather embrace how self important he may naturally grasp at. And some have learned this, and are learning this, and will learn this. For God may indeed, and according to His will raise up a man of all importance…and even has, unless we be not of the faith. But He alone is necessity to all, even if any other be so blessed to have words of extolling delivered to him by such faith. speak. We needn’t worry; we will never be, nor are in heavenly places, confused for Him. But if while yet in these tents we sense even some elevation, God is faithful. He is not ashamed to reveal what none other in any “other” tent except that of the Son of His love…could bear.
And Christ does not tabernacle “in christianity”, but only where He so chooses and is not forced nor force-able to either adhere, nor be an adherent to anything other than the name of His Father.
Sometimes I fear lest I only be adding to further confusion.
But then comes:
Don’t worry, you are not that important.
It is embraceable, only because He is embraceable.
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