Twelve

The apostle Paul was being taken by a Roman Centurion from Ceasarea to Rome, a journey which was to be mainly made by sea. When they were about to leave “Fairs Havens” Paul warned those in charge that they were entering the season of the year when it was most dangerous to travel on such small boats across the Mediterranean. Paul spoke from personal experience as he had already been ship wrecked on a previous voyage. But his warnings were not taken seriously, as those in charge decided to proceed.

It was not long after they had left port that they were caught in a most dangerous storm, and it appeared as though the boat and everyone on board would be lost. “All hope that we would be saved was finally given up”(Acts 27: 20).

At that point Paul gathered all of the people who were on the boat to assure them that they would all be saved. He shared with them the fact that he had received this assurance in the Word of God brought to him by an angel, “Do not be afraid Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you.”(verse 24).

Then Paul shared this vital word of testimony, “I believe God that it will be just as it was told me”(verse 25). Right at this point when it appeared as though the storm was at its worst, when all reason for all hope had been lost: “I believe God!” I refuse to believe the evidence of this raging storm. I refuse to collapse in hopeless despair. I refuse to identify with the attitude of utterly hopeless panic that fills every other heart at this time. “I believe God!”

The Word of God to Paul at that moment complimented an earlier Word of strong assurance which the Lord had given to His servant, “Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome”(Acts 23: 11). Paul knew that he was going to reach Rome, God had told him so. He knew that nothing could change that fact. Not even the wildest storm that ever raged across that ocean as it thrashed at that fragile boat. Nothing! Paul knew! God had given His Word, that settled the issue completely. God would deliver Paul to Rome.

“I believe God!” “So it was that they all escaped safely to land!”(Acts 27: 44). There they lit a fire to warm themselves. “But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand”(Acts 28: 3). Everyone who saw that viper hanging from Paul's hand, before he shook it off into the fire, expected Paul to die as the result of that viper attack. Everyone, except Paul! “I believe God!” There was no viper, no storm, no ship wreck, nothing could ever negate the Word of God: Paul “must bear witness at Rome!”

It is in Paul's own attitude that we see demonstrated the crucial truth about which he writes to the Corinthians, especially as it relates to God's plan to shine “in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ”(2 Corinthians 4: 6). And that we do “have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us”(verse 7).

We have spent a considerable amount of time focusing on various issues that relate to this glorious expression of the perfect will of God for every Christian. Therefore it is possible that there are some who have read these studies with mild curiosity, or only the slightest of real interest in this theme. But they have no strong sense that they ought to look more carefully at the Word of God, as it has been presented in these studies, with the personal motivation to actually seek to experience all that God is revealing to us in His Word.

It is for this reason that at this time we want to stay with Paul's comments in 2 Corinthians 4, especially for the benefit of those who have not yet come to see how the call to Christian perfection as it has been presented can ever be possible for them personally.

“And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, I believed and therefore I spoke, we also believe and therefore speak” (verse 13).

“We have the same spirit of faith.” Paul was writing to some who shared “the same spirit of faith;” but it is sadly true to say that this is not the actual experience of large numbers of Christians today. Rather it would seem that the majority live in a clouded atmosphere of doubt and uncertainty. They hear Paul say, “I believe God!” and then they take into account the wild ferocity of the storm that is lashing the boat, and they cannot bring themselves to believe. They may hope, in some vague way, that somehow things will work out. But they have no real confidence.

The Christian who can humbly testify, “we have the same spirit of faith,” has his attention totally fixed on his commitment to continue to behold the glory of the Lord above all else. They have learned that the more that they maintain that consistent focus the more they are learning from the Lord Jesus, and the stronger the spirit of faith becomes.

That Christian has realized that the first priority of his life is to always please the Lord Jesus in everything, so that in each and every one of his responses to whatever happens the Lord Jesus is glorified. This is the spirit of faith that Paul is writing about. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11: 6).

It is those Christians, and only those Christians, who can stand with Paul on the deck of the boat as the entire vessel is being so wildly shaken by the ferocity of the storm, and they humbly yet confidently state, Yes, God has spoken, and, “I believe God!”

There are those Christians who look at all of the promises and assurances of the Word of God concerning His perfect will for their lives. And they then look at the many failures of their past, as well as at the constant threat of severe storms of opposition and difficulty which they may have to face, and they too respond, ”I believe God!” My faith is in His Word. His promise to me will stand no matter how wild the storms may become.

The issue with Paul was always the glory of the character of the Lord whom he served. He knew the Lord Jesus and His unquestioned integrity. He knew that the Lord Jesus never made a promise that He did not intent to keep, and which He had every resource that was necessary for Him to be able to keep that promise. Do we really, personally know the Lord Jesus like that?

“I believed therefore I spoke!' As Paul stood on the deck of that boat being driven along by that wild storm, He knew that he had heard God speak to him, he believed the Word that God had spoken to Him, and he announced to everyone his total confidence in the Word which God had spoken. This is an equally vital part of the same spirit of faith. Yet this vital part of the same spirit of faith is most often lacking in Christian circles today. Our statements about all that is involved in Christian holiness need to be as strong and as bold as Paul's statement was. This includes all aspects of what God says to us in His Word about His call to us to press on to perfection.

“Knowing!” “Know Thy certainty of promise, and have made it mine.” Knowing that ever promise made by the Lord, which we have considered as we have made our way through these studies, is absolutely sure and irrevocable! Yes, Heaven and earth may pass away, But His Word will never pass away! He guarantees it. But, do we believe it?

Knowing that as we share the resurrection life of the Lord Jesus, it is so “that we may present every man perfect in Christ” (Colossians 1: 28). That does no mean that there will be degrees, or different levels, of being perfect in Christ, with some obviously being more perfect than the majority of Christians.

One of the greatest hindrances to believers actually experiencing what it means to be Transfigured Christians is confronted at this point: there are far too many who take it for granted that there will be a relatively small number of “spiritual giants,” while the rest of us are inevitably to be included in the far greater number who can never hope to attain to that rare status.

There are two reasons for this problem. The first is the widespread ignorance of all that God has said, and is still saying, to us on this very issue that is so vital. Consequently, it is only quite a small minority who can stand with Paul and, on this issue say, “I believe God, that it will be just as it was told me.”

God “will raise me up with Jesus.” - and by His grace I will be fully privileged to share in all that His resurrection life involves as He lives in me by faith. I will be fully privileged to behold His glory, and as I do so the Holy Spirit will transfigure me into the same image from glory to glory! “I believe God!”

Yes! I am only an earthen vessel, having been made such by God to contain the most glorious treasure. And I know that as I totally focus on total identification with the Lord Jesus, God, by His Holy Spirit, will make this earthen vessel completely transparent so that others will see the glory of the treasure: “the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

God does everything He can to inspire us to respond to His Word of promise by saying, “I believe God, that it shall be just as He told me.”

“For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God” (verse 15).

To confirm all that we have been emphasizing, God says to each and every Christian, “All thing are for your sakes.” I believe God, do you? Do you believe that every single promise He makes that relates to living as Transfigured Christians is made by God for your sake.

Do we really believe that, as we look at other Christians, no matter who or what they are, it is our great privilege and responsibility to remind them that God is saying to them, all these things are for your sakes?

God does mean exactly what He says. He expects His redeemed people to confidently take up Paul's strong testimony, “I believe God, that it will be just as it was told me!” And not only in my own life but in the life and experience of every other person that we work with as we share the Word of God with them.

“That grace, having spread through the many.” Not the few! But “the many!” And the more the better! “May cause thanksgiving to abound to God!”

Paul's testimony, “I believe God that it will be just as it was told me,” along with the glorious confirmation of his faith, did inevitably cause much thanksgiving and praise to abound to the glory of God.

Take this thrilling message of God's will that all His people be Transfigured Christians, and spread it far and wide. And as Christians respond to the challenge and inspiration of God's Word to them, focused by the confident testimony of those who take God at His Word, then, great thanksgiving will flow to God. The opposite is also true. To hold back a strong and confident testimony to our faith in the Word of God will inevitably and severely limit the thanksgiving that should be abounding to the glory of God.

“Beholding His glory” we learn from Him. Those who do lose heart, and sadly there are many of them, have failed to keep the Lord Jesus as their sole focus. In allowing their attention to be distracted, they had permitted the idea to creep into their thinking that the Christian life should be less demanding. “They bid me choose an easier path, And seek a lighter cross!” But such a possibility is only a delusion.

We turn our focus back to the Lord Jesus. “Who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He become the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” (Hebrews 5: 7 - 10).

“Learn from Me!” “For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe”(1 Timothy 4: 10). “We trust in the Living God,” and therefore we know that there is no other way to go. His way is best and guarantees the best result. “Therefore we do not lose heart.”

“Even though our outward man is perishing.” As we continue to look to the Lord Jesus, desiring to be transfigured into His image and likeness, we recognize that this statement must be taken very seriously: “Our outward man is perishing!”

These words are not to be taken in the way in which many people see them, as being merely symbolic. There are a great many people who come to statements like this in the Word of God, and their automatic response is to claim that they are to be taken symbolically rather than literally.

In this way they then claim that they are accepting them, even though they are not honoring the true cost involved. They make a resolve to serve somewhat more sacrificially, or be willing to give a little more time, or money, or effort; and so they are meeting the “inner challenge” of the Word. That is an empty claim, seeking an easier road!

The Lord Jesus set His eyes steadfastly to go to Jerusalem. But, was this only a symbolic journey to express empty platitudes? Or did He really embrace the fact that He would be despised and rejected by men? When He said that one of His own would betray Him, another would deny Him, and the rest would desert Him, was He using loose expressions to emphasize the difficulty He might face, though He knew that the price would not be that high? Or, did He know that all this was really going to happen?

When He spoke of being falsely accused, abused, scourged, and then taken out and crucified, was all this just the extreme use of colorful language to attempt to impress His disciples that they might face some difficulties along the way? Or, did He really know that He would actually be falsely accused, abuse, scourged, and then taken out and crucified on that hill called Golgotha?

How can any Christian who is motivated by the strongest desire to behold the glory of the Lord Jesus so as to be able to reveal that glory ever be deluded into thinking that everything about the suffering of the Lord Jesus is to be taken literally, but, when it comes to “our outward man perishing” that can be interpreted figuratively?

Remember, “our outward man perishing,” is an integral part of “always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus.” To reduce one of these statement to being figurative and you automatically reduce the other to being figurative. And in that process you rob both of them of their vital significance.

“Our outward man perishing.” That fact is an integral, and crucial, part of God's perfect plan for His true people. It is just as important to take this literally as to look at the actual physical death of the Lord Jesus on the cross as a literal fact. It is for this reason that we respond to this verse by consistently testifying, “I believe God that it will be just as it was told me.”

It is in this fact that we see another aspect of the awesome danger of attempting to make one aspect of God's Word more palatable to our human desires by making it symbolic, for that effort automatically effects other aspects of God's truth. Is the renewal of our inward man figurative or literal? Was the resurrection of the Lord Jesus figurative or literal? The renewal of the inward man is the personal experience of the resurrection life and power of the Lord Jesus. He assures us. “Because I live you shall live also.”

“ I believe God that it will be just as it was told me.” The Christian who has his focus fixed on the glory of the Lord Jesus has no doubts about this issue.

They may not be able to explain in detail all that the Holy Spirit is doing for them, in them, and to them, but they know that He fills them, and as He does so He strengthens them with might in their inner man. He does all this to make vitally and personally real the fact that the Lord Jesus continues to live in their hearts by faith.

It is that Christian who knows in the most wonderful and inspiring way that as the result of this vital, ongoing relationship, the inward man is actually being renewed day by day. It confirms to them that this renewal which they continue to experience is the actual personal, resurrection life of the Lord Jesus as He lives out His life more and more in them. “That the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body” (verse 10).

It is real, not merely symbolic or figurative. “I believe God that it will be just as it was told me!” “We have the same spirit of faith.” Is it not time that we boldly come out in strong assurance and confidence to state this truth? “I believed, therefore I spoke.” Until we do come out boldly and proclaim with bold confidence this Word of the Lord, the message will remain muted and hidden from those to whom God calls us to present it.

“Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (verse 17).

Beholding His glory, our driving motivation will be to attempt to clearly see all of these issues in exactly the same way that the Lord Jesus sees them.

It was Paul who wrote the words of verse seventeen. Paul who had written about the many pressures on every side, the perplexities, the persecution, to the point of being “struck down.” And we remember that in his own experience how extreme so much of his actual suffering was. But here Paul describes all of these as “light afflictions!” Yet he was stoned, beaten with whips and with rods on several different occasions. He was imprisoned, as well as scourged! “Light afflictions!”

Why did Paul call of these experiences “light afflictions”? Because he knew that in the full light of spiritual and eternal reality that was, and still is, the only way to describe them.

That is the way the Lord Jesus describes them. Yes, He prayed in great agony as He laid prostrate on the ground in the Garden of Gethsemane. And there He saw all that He had to go through from the eternal perspective, and in that light He submitted to His Father's will: “Not my will by yours be done!” And He would calmly state, “The cup which My Father has given to Me, will I not drink it?”(see Matthew 26: 36 - 42).

Seeing everything that was involved from His Father's perspective He willingly endure the cross. He actually despised the shame as not being worthy of concern! “Light affliction!”

It is “light affliction” when it is seen in the light of all that God is accomplishing through it. The cross “endured” brought atonement and salvation to the world! Because He died, because He was obedient to death, millions from every nation and tribe will live forever to honor and glorify God, and His Son, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment,” and then it will be gone, remaining only as a memory! - “is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory!” The Holy Spirit is taking that temporary and small difficulty, and using it in the most dramatic way in us and for us. He is using it to accomplish the thrilling plan and purpose of God: to “shine in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

The earthen vessel, having been made totally transparent by the Holy Spirit so that the glory of the treasure contained in the vessel can be clearly seen by all those who so desperately need to see it. And this is but the beginning of that “far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” that God's Word assures us is “working for us!”

We have no idea when, where, and how the Holy Spirit will continue to take this dynamic process on to continue to expand and develop it. That is His ministry, and He will not fail to carry out His ministry We can only praise God for it, and continue to surrender ourselves fully to the Holy Spirit to allow Him to do everything He knows is the will of God for us.

The range of the vision of so many Christians today is so totally limited to what they believe they need to see and explain, and in so many cases they depend on the ideas and opinions of other people for that. Such Christians have “spiritual tunnel-vision,” that focuses almost exclusively on the immediate situation and circumstances that they find themselves in, on how things appear to impact on themselves, and on their own lives, here and now.

The Transfigured Christian has had his spiritual eyes fully opened by the Holy Spirit, so that he has come to see and know what the Lord Jesus meant when He told the disciples that He had food to eat which they did not know about. The Transfigured Christian does see the immediate circumstances, but his thought is not how these things impact on him.

Beyond the immediate circumstance they see the presence and involvement of their Lord as He is actively working to bring about the perfect will of God in those very circumstances. They are confident that He is in control, so they listen to His Word, learn from Him, and thus are able to confidently give testimony: “I believe God that it will be just as it was told me!”

Yes, they do see the evidence of “the outward man perishing.” But that part of what they see is incidental to the central reality of all that they see. “The outward man perishing” is identified as a witness to a much more vital reality. It is a witness to the fact that the Transfigured Christian is privileged to, in the perfect will of God, “always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus,” for a most glorious purpose: “that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our body!” They see the full picture of the glory of the revealed will of God: The life of Jesus being made manifest through us!

“If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set you mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3: 1 - 3).

Learn to take God at His Word so that, by the Holy Spirit's enabling, you can learn to continue to soar through the glories of the spiritual, eternal heavens. Or, if it would make you more content, stay just where you are scratching in the dust of the earth with those chicken who have not learned to fly by faith.

Each one of us personally decides for ourselves whether or not that is the strong and clear stand that we will take. For each one who does make the commitment to unreservedly take that stand, the Holy Spirit immediately provides the resources so that we will begin to soar in the glorious heavens of God's perfect will. We will personally experience more and more of the incredible glory of the life of total and utter identification with the Lord Jesus which results in us becoming transfigured into His image and likeness