The Pots and Pans of Zion
Filed under Scripture on December 9th, 2008 by Bryan Purtle
“In that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, ‘HOLY TO THE LORD.’ And the cooking pots in the Lord’s house will be like the bowls before the altar. Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the Lord of hosts; and all who sacrifice will come and take of them and boil in them. And there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts in that day.” -Zech. 14.20-21
I believe that this rather obscure passage at the close of Zechariah’s prophecy is charged with more meaning and significance than most of us have been able to recognize. I wonder how many believers in our day have really considered it.
Out of those who have spent time in Zechariah, many have seen these two verses as an unfitting finale to the drama, cataclysm, and splendor of this magnificent book. Indeed, when the Lord began to highlight these verses to my heart some time ago, I was amazed to see that I too had flown through them over the years without giving them ample attention.
We need a newfound consciousness of how “pregnant” each passage of Scripture is. We are too often flying through the Words of God, and that is not the way to approach the holy things which have been given from Heaven. This little inconspicuous passage is one such “holy thing”, and it needs to be approached with “rejoicing and trembling.” (Ps. 2.11)
David Baron (1855-1926), a Jewish believer in Jesus and a remarkable theologian, gave us these words in his masterpiece on Zechariah:
In the last two verses we reach the glorious goal and climax of vision and prophecy. God’s original purpose in the calling and election of Israel- ‘Ye shall be unto Me a Kingdom of priests, an holy nation’- shall at last be realized; the aim and purpose of the whole law,- namely, that His people might learn the meaning of holiness and become holy because Jehovah their God is holy; but to which, so long as they were in bondage to the law, they could not attain, shall at last be fulfilled when they are brought into a condition of grace, and when God shall put His law into their inward parts and write it on their hearts.
Then the world shall witness for the first time the glorious spectacle of a whole nation, and every individual member of it, wholly consecrated to Jehovah, and an earthly capital which shall truly answer to its name, ‘The Holy City,’ because it shall in many ways be the earthly counterpart and reflection of the glory of the New Jerusalem, which will come down out of heaven from God. (Baron, Zechariah: A Commentary On His Visions & Prophecies; pp. 530-531)
This whole statement from Baron is fascinating, but my heart is hung up on the first sentence:
“In the last two verses we reach the glorious goal and climax of vision and prophecy.”
The “glorious goal and climax of vision and prophecy”? What is it about the “bells of the horses” being inscribed, the cooking pots in the Lord’s house, and the other cooking pots in Jerusalem and Judah that causes the prophet to take notice?
I have said that when we think about that which is holy we are not likely to think upon utensils and accessories from a kitchen. When asked, “What constitutes the ‘holy things’?”, we may respond in reference to the realities of fasting and prayer, the wonders of the Scriptures, or the calling of the saints to bring light to the nations through witness. But bells on horses? Pots and pans? What is the prophet communicating here? How can mere pots and pans evoke a sense of the holiness of God?!
Perhaps our rapid-fire association of everything holy with religious practices, even God-given practices, is a statement that we have not yet come to realize the glory that lies in the most subtle, unexpected, and seemingly unspiritual of places. Jerusalem, at the end of the age, is the picture of a people, a land, and all that is within them coming into the high and glorious plane of consecration unto the living God.
AN IMMEDIATE HARVEST OR A LIFELONG CONSECRATION?
Any believer with a jealousy for bearing fruit would rejoice in the receiving of a notable harvest. A brother with a heart for evangelism would surely jump at the opportunity to preach to a crowd of 10,000 souls who were all wanting to hear about the Gospel. A sister with a vision for calling the church to fasting and prayer would surely be thrilled if she was asked to lead one of the major events of our day, when thousands were gathered to fast and cry out for revival. A brother with a heart for intensive study in theology would certainly see it as a gift from heaven if 5,000 volumes were dropped into his office with no charge to his account. Any believer who is hungry to see the power of God demonstrated in the earth would not wince when receiving a word that through his hands would come thousands of miracles and healings.
All of us value the receiving of a “harvest” in whatever form that takes. But there is something about this passage in Zechariah 14 that raises a question about the potential unreality of our consecration to the Lord, and it has everything to do with how we are viewing those things in our lives that appear to be mundane, common, or even unspiritual.
Years ago, when speaking about true consecration unto God, Amy Carmichael wrote that the believer who abides in true holiness “cleanses in brightness all that he touches.” There is a crucial revelation in this. The believer who comes into a union with God that produces a living holiness affects that which he touches, even down to the most practical and common of issues. Whether laying hands on a sick child for healing, or filling the sink with soap water to do the dishes for his wife, everything has become holy. Whether lifting his hands to worship the Lord during a fast, or changing the diaper of his baby in the middle of the night, everything has become holy. Whether proclaiming the Word in a large gathering of the saints, or helping his child with homework, everything has become holy. He “cleanses in brightness all that he touches.” Indeed, to him, the pots and the pans have even become holy, for he has learned to abide in the presence of Christ. He has recognized the light of the Son of God in the “land” of his life. Everything is charged with the weight of glory, and the light of His countenance.
Zechariah 12 through 14 comprises one of the most intense eschatological portions in all of the Scriptures. In it we stumble upon glimpses into the battle for Jerusalem, the time of Jacob’s trouble, the judgment of the nations, the salvation of the remnant of Israel, the return of Christ, and the glories of the millennial Kingdom and the New Jerusalem. It is a concentrated revelation, in three short chapters, of many of the things that will transpire at the end of this age. It’s absolutely riveting to meditate on. Have you considered it?
Yet this shocking, almost pulsating passage of Scripture is capped off by a few verses speaking of the consecration of bells on horses, pots in the house of the Lord, and pots in the homes of Judah’s residents. Baron says these verses are the “glorious goal and climax of vision and prophecy” themselves. Not merely the climax of Zechariah’s book, but the climax of vision and prophecy altogether! One could easily make such a statement in reference to Isaiah 2’s Mountain or the resurrection of the dry bones of Israel in Ezekiel 37, but pots and pans as the “goal and climax”?
What makes the pots and pans holy? This passage of Scripture raises questions regarding our modern understanding of holiness. If “holy” is not merely a word we use during worship times, and if “holiness” does not only mean that we refrain from certain movies and styles of dress, what constitutes holiness? This is certainly not a statement of license for those who wish to live morally compromised lives. God has called us to righteousness in all things. There should be no question on that.
What then is holiness? It is the ultimate condition of separateness from the spirit of this age. To be holy is to be infused with the life of God. To be holy is to be purified throughout by the fire of God. To be holy is to be a God-conscious person, free from the falsities and delusions of the world, for “the form of this world is passing away.” To be holy is to be immersed in the heart and wisdom of God Himself. True holiness has rarely been realized and walked in among the saints in our generation, and it has everything to do with the lack of an awareness of the presence of God in the “common” places of our lives. We are skilled in the art of spiritual performance before fellow believers, but novices in the abiding life. Friends, it ought not be this way.
In Jerusalem, during the millennial reign of Christ, anyone who visits the home of a Jewish family is going to be shocked and delighted by the surprise of an entirely different atmosphere. According to this passage, not only are the pots “in the House of Lord” considered valuable and of especial value, but every “cooking pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to the Lord of hosts.”
At the end of the age, the wisdom of men will be turned on its head. Swords will be beaten into plowshares. Nations will study war no more. The last will be the first and the greatest will be the servant of all. The menial tasks of working and plowing will be transfigured as the bells on the horses are inscribed with the phrase, “HOLY UNTO THE LORD.” The pots in the kitchens of Jewish residents will act like a match, striking a spiritual fire in the hearts of all those who visit Jerusalem. There will be an overwhelming consciousness in all of Judah that every person within their borders, and every possession that they have been given has become “HOLY UNTO THE LORD.”
What a glorious picture! What a culture shock! What a distinction from the manner in which we typically view our brothers and sisters, our spouses and children, our possessions, our occupations, and our so-called menial tasks. We are accustomed to flinging open the proverbial kitchen cabinets, banging and clanking until we find the pot that will best and most conveniently serve our immediate purposes. We often treat other people, even our own family members, with such carelessness and irreverence that one may wonder whether or not we have realized the light and presence of Christ at all. But the saints to whom the “pots and pans” have become holy will emit a heavenly fragrance, a holy value, a Divine disposition, and out of their souls “will flow rivers of living water.”
Our propensity to find value in position, status, or some mode of religious performance is a statement that we have not yet come into this glory. Yet the Lord desires to bring us into it, for this kind of seeing would enable us to engage His heart in communion and worship in the midst of all surroundings. He longs to abide with us, and He will go to great lengths to teach us to live a life that is “hidden with Christ in God”.
What makes the bells and the pots and pans of Zion holy? The pots and pans have become holy because of the presence of Christ in the land, and the fact that its inhabitants are walking in a consciousness of His reality. These pots and pans will not be special because of their brand name or the uniqueness of their design. They will be called holy because they will be permeated with the light of the Son of God who reigns from the holy hill of Zion. He will have planted His feet “on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east,” “and the Lord will be king over all the earth.” (14.4, 9)
The “luminaries will dwindle” (14.6) in comparison to the sending forth of His light and presence in the land. To be in Jerusalem during the millennial reign of Christ is to find yourself in a land and among a people that have been consecrated through and through as “HOLY UNTO THE LORD.” You will be surrounded on every side by a sense of the holiness of God Himself, and the remarkable thing is that the “kind intention” of the Father is to bring us, a mostly Gentile Church, into a walk and consciousness NOW that is not unlike the experience of one who will visit Zion at the end of the age.
Karl Barth, arguably the most well known theologian of the 20th century, was famous for three simple words:
“God is other!”
“Other than what?” you ask. We need not give further description. He’s simply “other.” There is no god like Him, and every man falls short of His glory and beauty. Everything that He is transcends the best of what we’ve seen in the earth. His righteousness is brighter than our best moral attempts. His humility is not like our self-conscious attempts at meekness. His love is utterly selfless. He’s holy. He’s other.
So many of our ministerial activities are still marked by human striving, dependence upon technology, and are more predictable and subjective than they are alive with Divine Glory. Most of us stumble in unbelief over the mundaneness of all that has been set before us in the reality of life. But the saints in our generation who recognize and value the presence of Christ, even in the midst of the menial tasks in their “land” will express a heavenly wisdom that will move Israel to jealousy and constitute an apostolic witness to the nations.
The souls who lay hold of the grace to still their hearts in awe before the abiding Christ, consecrating as “holy” even the “pots and pans” in their lives, are the ones who will drink deeply of His own nature, becoming a house in which He makes His habitation by the Spirit. They will not be dominated by the spirit of this age. The powers and influences of lust, pride, fear, rage, and self-absorption will have no pull on their hearts.
“And there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts in that day.”
A Canaanite is not merely an ethnic or nationalistic term in this context. It can also be translated “merchant” or “trader,” and it represents those souls who bring something to the House of the Lord that is not in keeping with His holiness and government. In that Day, the whole nation will be immersed in the Spirit without measure, and the very nature of God Himself will be released in power. It will emanate effortlessly from the elders of Israel and from the smallest of the children. The warm glow of the Ancient of Days Himself will rest on the land. “Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of lights…” (Is. 26.19)
The Lord is after the same reality in the Church. He is jealous to have for Himself a people who have recognized and loved His presence in the land, who are not willing to allow anything to come into the house of the Lord that is not in keeping with His wisdom, love, and holiness. He is after a people who are consecrated to Him in the inner-most parts. They will not be religious play-actors. They will not be self-conscious spiritual performers. They will be utterly God-conscious. They will abide in the light of His countenance. To them, even the pots and the pans have become holy.
Their lives will be a glory unto God. They will be called “other”.
“HOLY UNTO THE LORD.”
Can you believe that this is your own high privilege as a child of God?
Tags: David Baron, Dwelling in the Presence of God, holiness, Zechariah
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Bryan,
How is it that whenever I read your words, my pride is hurt and my spirit is encouraged in equal parts! The idea of us radiating that much of His divine presence is staggering!
One (minor) point I’d like to discuss from your article, since it reminded me of something I’ve been pondering as of late. You said:
Do you think it’s possible to both separate ourselves from this world and change this world for God’s glory? Or has an emphasis on separation resulted in a silencing of our voice?
I’ve been thinking of how it could be that the homosexual activists have been so successful at changing the country, while the evangelical church, which vastly outnumbers them, has continually given ground without much of a fight? I was wondering if since the church has mainly said to separate from the world, that we have given up the state of the world for those that care about it more? While the homosexual activists have sought to change society (since, after all, this world is all they’re living for… for the most part), they have been more affective in influencing it?
If this is the case, and we believe it to be a negative thing God does not endorse, what is the true God-breathed separation from this world? And how did the church end up getting it so wrong?
I think that true holiness or separateness is still a rare thing in the church. On the one hand, you could say, the call to holiness is still on the back-burner in the minds of most ministries. In many cases, the Gospel has been so diluted and the mode of “ministry” so programmatic and man-centered that the reality of God has been all but removed from the equation.
Where separation/holiness has been emphasized, it is often charged by a self-righteous, exclusivist disposition. Here you sometimes find souls who are entirely out of touch with their own culture, creating a kind of religious subculture, a utopian pipe-dream which has little interaction with unbelievers and even less real penetrating witness.
In point of fact, true “God-breathed separation from this world” would produce in the Church a demonstrable connection with the “world to come”, and would add a dimension of power, authority, and reality to our witness in the earth. So then, as you quoted, the holiness that is needed is a “separateness from the SPIRIT of this age”, which is to say, it’s a reality that God establishes in the inner-man.
It is not akin to the Amish phenomenon (though there are things we could learn from them), or even much that came out of the holiness movements of the late 19th century. It’s not primarily external, though it will certainly affect our actions. It is the emergence of a God-conscious people that we are in desperate need of. In the last analysis, we do not merely need to hear the “voices” of all evangelical believers against a certain issue. The world needs to hear the voice of God Himself, and that can only come through a people who are truly separate. If we are not abiding in the holiness mentioned above, we will only be able to sound off as a “resounding gong or a clanging symbol.”
While I appreciate (and have even participated in) much of the activism against false ideologies and demonic agendas, it is only as the Church comes into true holiness that she will have the grace to unseat the powers that rule over the hearts of men.
In all candor, the statistics seem obvious that the majority of American believers are just as caught up with the American dream, just as entertained by Hollywood’s glowing lights, and just as much touched by fear, anxiety, and immorality as those who do not claim to be believers. I think, as Dr. Brown has pointed out over the years, that homosexuals have been more effective in their agenda because they actually practice homosexuality. In other words, they are pressing an agenda that has themes which they live out in reality. The “separateness” that we are invited into is a literal deliverance from the spirit of this age- its fear, its carnality, its arrogance, its self-consciousness, its superiority complexes, its religiosity, its blandishments and bondages- and the more and more we come into that reality in God, there is no doubt that His voice will be heard through us.
The prophets and apostles of old, the missionaries and revivalists of past generations, the saints in every nation in our day who are bearing an authentic witness are all testimonies to this reality. They are impacting their worlds, suffering opposition and often great persecution, but their lives are caught up in God, separate, holy, and other.
So then, this holiness is not something outwardly affected, nor is it a self-conscious attempt at looking or appearing a certain way. It is the natural byproduct of real God-consciousness. The “pots and pans of Zion”, again, are not significant because of their external qualities or brand names, but because the Light of Christ shines upon them. They are resident in the land where He has become the King. So should the Church be in every generation; abiding in the Kingdom, “fixing our eyes on Jesus”, and letting our Light shine into the darkness for the salvation of many, and the hastening of His great Day.
So it is my contention that the greatest ill is not the silence of modern believers, but followers of Jesus who are not conscious of the presence of Christ, not aware that “the form of this world is passing away”, and not anticipating the coming of His Kingdom. To abide in His love and power, to come into the requirements and privileges of sonship and witness, and to long for the “Olam Habba,” the age to come; these are the glories of separateness. The more and more we come into these great realities, the more and more our voices will be heard, and the world will never be the same.
Do you think it’s possible to both separate ourselves from this world and change this world for God’s glory? Or has an emphasis on separation resulted in a silencing of our voice?
I believe that true separateness will change this world for God’s glory in major ways in the present, and ultimately and entirely at the end of the age.
It is only the emphasis on false ideas of separation that has silenced the voice of the church. True holiness will will call us out, purge our hearts and lips, and send us into the earth as witnesses.
“Do you think it’s possible to both separate ourselves from this world and change this world for God’s glory? Or has an emphasis on separation resulted in a silencing of our voice?”
This should’ve been in quotes in the last post.
Bryan,
Excellent points. Going further with your idea of God calling us out, purging us, and sending us into the earth as His witnesses, I would venture to say that people can be deceived on both ends. As you have pointed out, groups can think they’re being holy by only living within their own delusional Christian subculture, which is untested by the fires of both God and unbelieving men. (BTW, I would also point out that this is where many of the “flaky” charismatic stuff is bred and cultivated.) I wonder if groups can also be deluded by thinking they can change the world, without ever having been authentically “called out”, “purged”, and then “sent” by God, and thus either will eventually be conformed to the world’s likeness out of sympathy and weariness, or give unto the world a man-made gospel, rather than a heaven-made one.
Of course I haven’t even gotten into how theology has bred these mindsets (end-times paradigms, platonic and gnostic doctrines, etc…). I do believe, as Ravenhill said, that the Church is a sleeping giant, and need only be awoken to who she is for vast positive change to come within the Church and in society. I wonder if the root cause of her deep sleep can be uncovered and dealt with?
I believe you’re on target, brother.
I think the root cause of the Church’s deep sleep is summed up in Jeremiah 2:
My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken me,
the spring of living water,
and have dug their own cisterns,
broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
We desperately need God Himself to be the center of our lives, theologies, and ministries. Surely the wake-up call is coming.
Also, you said:
and:
How do you think us changing the present world outside of the church relates to our expectation for the coming kingdom? There is a mentality that I’ve seen, in which believers consciously or unconsciously believe “well, the world is evil, and it’s all coming to an end anyway, so I will separate myself from it and keep myself pure, but there’s no need to, if you will, ‘polish a sinking ship’ “. While, for instance, the homosexual activists have sought to change the present world into their image, believing subconsciously or consciously, that the world is getting progressively better, and injustices and the such should be done away with.
Thanks for the dialogue! I’m working through these issues, and find discussion at this stage quite valuable.
I wonder if this will happen via an earthen vessel’s proclamations (think Finney or Wesley), or as a grassroots corporate cry from the saints? And then, how to sustain it once it is planted?
I think the essence of Holiness, is the heart of Psalm 24:9,
A one-mindedness in seeking Him - This is a really interesting topic. Nice work.
Marc
“How do you think us changing the present world outside of the church relates to our expectation for the coming kingdom? There is a mentality that I’ve seen, in which believers consciously or unconsciously believe “well, the world is evil, and it’s all coming to an end anyway, so I will separate myself from it and keep myself pure, but there’s no need to, if you will, ‘polish a sinking ship’ “. While, for instance, the homosexual activists have sought to change the present world into their image, believing subconsciously or consciously, that the world is getting progressively better, and injustices and the such should be done away with.”
I too have seen this mentality over the years. The question I ask folks whose end-time views produce a fatalistic view goes something like this, “Do you believe your eschatological awareness is more Biblical than Paul’s or Jesus’? Do you believe you have more insight than Paul or Jesus regarding the end of the age? Do you believe your obedience transcends that of the early apostles?” Of course, I’ve yet to meet the believer who says “yes” to those questions.
My simple response is, “Then if they- who along with the prophets of the OT gave us the eschatological Gospel- labored in prayer and witness for the transformation of society, wept and prayed for the fullness of God in Israel and the church, traversed entire nations to spread the message, died as martyrs to extend the word of the cross, how can we sit back and claim that it’s all going downhill and there is no hope?” In other words, they are the ones who said “the form of this world is passing away”, “a time of distress is coming like we’ve never seen in history”, “there will be a man of sin and a falling away”, “Christ will return in flaming fire taking vengeance on them who know not God”, but they didn’t have a mentality that said, “It’s all going downhill, so let’s hide out until it’s over. Instead, they proclaimed the Gospel of the Kingdom: The cross, the resurrection, repentance and forgiveness, the return of Christ and its nearness,”righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come”, the approaching establishment of His rule in the earth, etc.
The error is in unbiblical eschatological conclusions, and in the inability to stomach the seeming contradiction of a coming time of distress that is coupled simultaneously with a great time of harvest and glory unto Christ. A true eschatology does not serve the hokey purpose of creating time-charts and fulfilling the curiosities of interested adherents. A true eschatology fills the people of God with sobriety- in light of the coming judgment of the nations and the great distress which faces Israel and the church- and great hope- in light of the fact that Jesus Himself really is going to return to the earth to set it aright, to “let justice roll like mighty waters, and righteousness like and ever-flowing stream”! As George Ladd used to point out, “The blessed hope is not a pre-tribulation rapture, it’s the appearance and irreversible presence of the Man Christ Jesus on the earth.” That was the hope of the early church, and it needs to be recovered in our day.
How then does this apply to real life? Consider this thought from Gordon Fee:
“The visitation of God through the Spirit establishes believers as a thoroughly eschatological people, who live the life of the future in the present as they await the consummation.
At a recent coffee hour with students in the Regent College atrium, one student asked, ‘If you were to return to the pastoral ministry, what would you do [meaning, How would you go about it? What would you emphasize?]?’ My answer was immediate: ‘No matter how long it might take, I would set about with a single passion to help a local body of believers recapture the New Testament church’s understanding of itself as an eschatological community.’” (Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God; P. 49, Hendrickson)
He goes on to explain what that means to him, which in short is this: Paul and the early believers saw the coming of the Spirit into their lives as the beginning of the end, the deposit, the initial breaking in of a Kingdom that would in the end arrive in full. This means that they recognized the world and its systems as being in the process of decay, but the Kingdom of God and it’s presence in the earth was on the increase through the work of the Spirit in the lives of believers. Indeed, even (or perhaps especially) in the sufferings and martyrdoms of the saints the light of the Kingdom was breaking into the earth with increase and force. This also meant that every issue in life was to be seen from a whole new vantage point, that the light and glory of the future Kingdom was positively rising in the earth as the people of God believed on Christ, surrendered to Him, and extended themselves in bearing witness to the resurrection. I find Fee’s answer to be radically intriguing, don’t you?
I think you could make a case that the phenomena of replacement theology, self-centered ministry, competition amongst movements, materialism and greed in the church, lightness and frivolity, hopelessness and depression, can all be linked to an inadequate revelation of God and a neglect in prayerful study of the nature and reality of His coming Kingdom. There is a lack of sobriety, and a lack of hope in much of the church, but the apostles and prophets carried both realities. This has everything to do with their intimate knowledge of God, and the eschatological nature of their Gospel. The apostles knew that Judgment was coming, and that salvation was intensely available, so they sought to see the spread of Gospel with a passion beyond what we’ve commonly known.
May it be restored in our day.
“I wonder if this will happen via an earthen vessel’s proclamations (think Finney or Wesley), or as a grassroots corporate cry from the saints? And then, how to sustain it once it is planted?”
I think it will come through a combination of many factors. Finney’s and Wesley’s, a corporate cry from the saints, the shaking of governments, nations, and nature itself, etc.
The sustaining is a greater mystery, though I have reflected on this for over a decade. I have my own hunches along these lines, but of course the Lord knows.
Foundational leaders (Eph. 4.11) being raised up in the church will play a crucial role, a right relatedness among the saints will be of necessity, and there are many other factors to consider. We can be sure that in the last analysis God will have His people, and He will be glorified in the earth.
May we be a part of that great host, and may we be used by the Lord to bring many souls into it as well!
One last side note, Marcus.
Paul’s expectation of eternal reward was intimately intertwined with the coming Kingdom as well. As you know, he even spoke of looking forward to the day when he stood before the Lord, knowing that a reward had been laid up for him. So, without striving in a self-righteous way, his consciousness of the coming Kingdom intensified his present Gospel labors. His holy incentive for sacrifice and ultimate surrender was in the coming reality of the Judgment seat. There he would finally see the Lord face to face, and receive the reward of his labors. That kind of a view changes everything.
Marc,
Interesting. So you believe that seeking God with all your heart is holiness? How different from emphasizing external rules that is. But did Jesus not say that the law is summed up in “love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself”?
Here’s a question though… what does “a one-mindedness in seeking Him” look like in your life?
Thanks Bryan! I’m going to chew on what you’ve said here, along with that which the Lord has been showing me on this topic through the years, and put together some thoughts on the subject. I am convinced that the coming Jesus people will bring forth the Kingdom of God in our present world BECAUSE OF an eschatological expectation, rather than IN SPITE OF it.
I’m with you 1000% on that Marcus.
:o)
Marcus,
That certainly is the question. I guess it’s the same as one-mindedness in anything natural. A personal application for me, is that I am currently seeking an agent for my novel. If I were to receive one rejection and then give up, I would be of a split-mind, but I have decided to throw my effort into finding an agent… one-mindedness in this would be not stopping until I find one. I may have to re-write my book or even write a new one, but setting this as my aim in that area of my life shows one-mindedness.
Equally, a one-mindedness in the things of God is a lifestyle of prayer and self-examination - If God is Holy, then anything which is not Godly in our lives must go. This is painful. A rending of the heart from the things of the world is necessary.
Marc