Category: Narrow Way

Narrow Way  with Steve Phillips The Weak Christ

 He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God   –   2 Corinthians 13:4

From the midst of blinding radiance in unapproachable light in an instant to the blackness of Mary’s womb came the Weak Christ. For 9 months no sound of Seraphim, no chanted refrain of Living Creatures’ “Holy, Holy, Holy” reached His ears. Streets of gold did not meet His eye in Bethlehem’s manger.

Helpless Babe, hunted and hated by world powers, was bundled and rushed by anxious parents as a fugitive into a foreign land. 12 legions of angels did not attend Him along the sands of Egypt’s Nile.

Fear prompted nervous parents to carry Him far away to despised Nazareth during formative years. Manna from heaven did not settle with the dew there. No pampering was the portion of the Weak Christ.

“The Child continued to grow and become strong, becoming full of wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him” –Luke 2:40. The Omniscient One apprehended by stages. The Omnipresent One trekked on dust from place to place. The Omnipotent One sweat and gasped in His new found environment.

“After He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. And the tempter came” –Matthew 4:2,3. The Creator and Supplier of all good things for His creatures, Himself hungered. 40 days without food made a Weak Christ. And the tempter took advantage of His state to assail, without success.

“Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well and said: ‘Give Me a drink’” –John 4:6,7. Fatigue and depletion of fluid drain the physique of strength, and thus our God sat in the sun.

“The boat was being swamped with the water, but Jesus Himself was asleep” –Matthew 8:24. Exhaustion was the recurring portion of the Master of wind and waves. Sleep is sweet for the Weak Christ.

“Consider Him who has endured such hostility of contradiction of sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and faint in your souls” –Hebrews 12:3. Jesus, the Lord, did grow weary and faint in His body, truly, but not to abandonment in discouragement. Though distressed, He prevailed.

“‘Now My soul is troubled; and what shall I say, Father, save Me from this hour”? But for this purpose I came to this hour. “Father, glorify Your Name!”’” –John 12:27,28.

Men despise those who rise no higher than performing the will of others, as being spineless dependent servants. But this was Christ’s greatest glory. “The Son can do nothing from Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father do; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner” –John 5:19. There is no self-assertive authentication in Christ, no forcing of Self-will.

“I can do nothing on My own initiative” –John 5:30. “”I did not speak of Myself, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak” –John 12:49.

Behold the Weak Christ in the garden, surrounded by furious Pharisees, flickering torches, and flashing steel. “When He said to them, ‘I Am,’ they drew back and fell to the ground” –John 18:6. Behold the power in the Weak Christ. Saying so again, “they bound Him” –John 18:12. He is in control, not they.

The formula of heaven for greatness is Low, lower, and then lowest = highest. Behold, Weak Christ.

“Though He existed in the form of God, He did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied Himself by taking on the form of a slave, and coming in the likeness of men.

“And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death on a cross! Therefore, God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the Name which is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus, every knee should bow” –Philippians 2:6-9.

And now, this Weak Christ, the despised little Lamb, reigns. “And I saw in the midst of the throne, a little Lamb standing, as if slain” –Revelation 5:6. And this little Lamb now instills terror.

“They said to the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the wrath of the little Lamb’” –Revelation 6:16. Yes, “He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God.”

Weak Christ, Little Lamb, Power of God. His power is perfected in weakness -2 Corinthians 12:9.

 

 

 

Narrow Way with Steve Phillips  One is Two

 One is Two. It sounds funny, yet is profoundly true. Though one, husband and wife both have their distinct and respective roles. The world clamors for equality without distinction. God says One is Two.

Man is the lover, leader, and laborer. His role is to lead by love. Example and truth are his tools to accomplish this task. Humble serving and speaking the truth in love are Christ-like leadership.

Brute force and domineering tyranny are all that sinful men of the world have to lead with. They shout and herd and beat their women as if they were goats and donkeys. But it is not so with the Christian.

“Husbands love your wives and be gentle: do not be harsh and bitter against them” –Colossians 3:19. That is how the godly Christian man is to lead: by love, not by arrogant might.

Man is the laborer. God placed Adam in the garden to “cultivate, work, and guard it” –Genesis 2:15. He works to supply the needs of the home. That is his responsibility, not hers [1 Timothy 5:8].

Man is the lover, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her. And Christ loves and gives Himself without interruption until eternity’s everlasting day. Husbands are to love in this same way.

Though the husband is the head of the wife, man is not king over women. Erase that from your mind. Ruling over a wife is not the expression of godliness in a Christian marriage. Hear God’s Word:

“You will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you” –Genesis 3:16. It was judgment upon waywardness, not the pattern of godliness. Eve had abandoned her proper sphere and role.

She acted independently from her husband by taking the forbidden fruit. She took the initiative, became the leader, and expected him to follow her path. Roles were reversed and sin entered the world.

Since then throughout the cultures of the world, women have been subjugated, abused, beaten, and despised by harsh and cruel men. Only Christ and His teaching has elevated women from that misery.

The standard for the Christian man with his wife is that of Christ Himself in relation to His church. Love, devotion, self-sacrifice, and tender care are the Christian husband’s new norm, for that is what Christ does. It is only the NT that has raised her to the status of a fellow-heir of the grace of life.

But to batter and belittle is nothing more than wickedness. Do you think this shows that you are a man of strength? You are deluded: true manliness is shown in self-control, not in anger and assault.

Christ does none of those things with His church. He doesn’t rage and rant, strike and slander, or beat and batter. He doesn’t. You cannot be like Christ if you do. Your testimony is ruined and scattered.

If you cannot learn to deny self even in your own home with the cherished wife of your bosom, you cannot deny self anywhere: for the home is where we live and express our Christianity on a daily basis.

If you cannot live as a Christian there, repentance is what you need, love is what you lack, and seeking forgiveness from wife and children must be sought: that is, if you truly wish to be Christian.

The basic roles of the One who is Two are these: What he obtains by his labor outside, she prepares inside. What he secures, she distributes. What is brought to the home in its raw state, she transforms to useful blessing for the good of all. The home is her most significant sphere of God-given influence and dominion: a division of labor and roles. One is Two.

“Man goes forth to his work and to his labor until evening” –Psalm 104:23. “Encourage the young women to be workers at home, raise children, and manage a household” –Titus 2:4,5; 1 Timothy 5:14.

She is a helper [Genesis 2:18]. Helpers, by definition, are not initiators nor take the prominent role. They are not the leaders, but support. Helpers rarely appear in the public eye.

He leads and directs, she responds. He has prominence, she, retirement. The man influences his world, the woman, her home. She was designed for this. And for this, godly self-denial is required.

But this is not the extent of her help. Beyond attending to the daily needs of husband and home, she is to contribute to the decisions and direction of the home, because the man needs help in this way also.

Her perspective is of great value and should not be ignored or considered as of little worth. She contributes insight that the man may be unaware of. She senses things that he may lightly pass over. Men, listen well to your God-given helper, for God created her for this purpose!

And after she has contributed her input, she is content to trust God with her husband’s final decision. And she helps him as she would herself, even if a wrong decision is made that resulted in difficulty for them both. Any sensible man will appreciate her perspective and contribution when One is Two.

 

Narrow Way  with Steve Phillips Two are One

 Marriage establishes a testimony to God, angels, and to all mankind. It is why God created marriage: to have a tangible expression of His glory evident to all spiritually intelligent creatures.

The husband is to show the character of God, in a similar way that God is a Father within His own family. As well, he portrays Christ as the devoted and loving Bridegroom of His bride, the church. The wife shows the respectful submission of the church to Christ by devoted affection to her husband.

And harmoniously together, man and wife both display the Holy Spirit as the source of all things good and virtuous in the life, with that godly fruit which comes only from Him. That is God’s design.

We are specifically told of the purpose for which God created the woman. “Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone’” –Genesis 2:18. Alone, no expression of God as Father to His family could happen. If no bride was taken from Adam’s body, no testimony of Christ and His church would ever be had. And the fruit of the Spirit can only be seen if there is someone else to relate to.

The Lord resolved the peril of being alone, both for the sake of Adam and for the sake of establishing a testimony to Himself as the Triune God. “I will make him a helper suitable for him” –Genesis 2:18.

Here is help provided, both for testimony and for Adam. She is a helper, apart from which, neither Adam nor the testimony would be satisfied. And the woman as helper is the perfect solution to both.

This woman/helper is: Suitable – NASB, NIV, Just Right – NLT, Comparable – NKJV, Meet – KJV, His Counterpart – Darby, Corresponding To – Literal Hebrew Meaning and NASB Margin, Suitable Companion – GNB, and Fit For – RSV, ESV.

She perfectly solved the problem of being alone. His deficiency was complemented by her sufficiency. Eve was just right as his counterpart to fill his lack. Apart from her, there would be no one to love and to reciprocate that love. No family could ever come into being. The expression of the full spectrum of fruitful virtue would have been dwarfed.

She was thus formed, both as his body and his bride. As being fashioned from his body, she is one in life, dignity, and essential constitution as he. United as his bride, she became the bearer of the image of God to following generations by giving birth to children also in that same image.

Her body fashioned from Adam’s rib shows her partaking of the same substance. Being presented as a bride demonstrates a deep oneness though distinct in personality and role. Taken from near his heart and finding a place at his side under his loving protecting arm, this is God’s design: The Two are One.

Adam laid down his life for his bride. Through his deep sleep, life came forth from him that resulted in this glorious corresponding bride. She is truly “bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh, for she was taken out of man” –Genesis 2:23. And so Christ and His bride, the church, have a testimony established upon earth. It is what marriage is designed to be. It is profoundly the reason for why we marry.

Expressing obedience to God in loving companionship and fruitful virtues produced by the Holy Spirit is the purpose. Testimony to a Trinity of love: to partake of a oneness of harmonious delight is why we marry. Setting forth the blessed union of Christ and His church is our high calling.

The woman was not created to be ruled over and dominated by the man. She is a co-regent having equal dominion over all the lower animal kingdom. She, as well as he, rules in her appointed sphere.

“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over all creatures that move on the earth’” –Genesis 1:26.

Man as well as woman is to have dominion and rule over all the earth; but she is not part of the animal kingdom to be ruled. No, they are co-regents, co-heirs, and co-partakers of the grace of life.

“God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it: Rule” –Genesis 1:27,28.

Three times the word “them” is used: equal in essence, life, dignity, responsibility, dominion, and constitution as made in the image and likeness of God. Animals and creeping things are to be ruled, not women. How could she be? That is not possible when the Two are One.

 

Narrow Way  with Steve Phillips Humility

 Humility is the fount of all virtue, the spring of continuing grace, and fullness of life itself. Humility flourishes in the dust: it is from whence we arose, what we are, and what awaits this mortal flesh.

“All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble” -1 Peter 5:5. Grace is the portion of the humble; pride prevents that.

The self-reliant, conceited, and wise according to the flesh receive nothing from the God of grace. They are left on their own. But Humility is the gateway to the reception of grace; hence is virtue’s fount.

Humility, that fearful distrust of Self, opens the reservoirs of heaven to flow into a heart thus open. Pride barricades that flow. Self-sufficiency is a delusion, for Self is not sufficient. Relying on one’s own resources cancels grace to the heart. Only Humility taps into that supernatural flow from heaven.

Self-occupation and Humility are not roommates. When thoughts of Christ and the welfare of others occupy the heart, Humility is at home there. Disdain doesn’t dissuade Humility, for lowliness is his home.

A profound realization accompanies the humble; every good thing possessed is attributable to Christ, and not Self. “For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? If you indeed did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” -1 Corinthians 4:7. Good questions.

At the end of the day, the exalted and the common, the enriched and impoverished, and the high-minded and the simple all die and are buried. Worms in the grave do their work without respect of persons.

Only the humble will reach heaven, for God is opposed to the proud. Pride is resisted as the enemy that it is by the Lord setting Himself in military array against it. Humility is your only safe haven.

“Others” is the watchword of the lowly. “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind in Humility, let each esteem others as more important than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others” –Philippians 2:3,4.

And where can such lowliness be attained and learned? From the Lowly Lord Himself. Jesus invites all weary and proud and self-centered to come to Himself. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and lowly and humble of heart, and you shall find rest for your souls” –Matthew 11:29.

And thus yoked to Christ, we discover that there is no station too lowly for Humility to occupy. Did not the Lord Jesus lay aside His regal privilege and recognition? Did He not come, not in majestic acclaim, but rather to be laid in a manger? Did He not then reside in the Nazareth bush village and not in a palace?

Humility is content to grasp a broom as well as a scepter: both alike are things of nothing in his eyes. For a humble soul is not concerned with either exaltation or abasement. Humility focuses on Christ and others. Witness Paul and his bosom companion, Humility, gather bundles of brushwood for the fire.

Though shipwrecked, soaking, and shivering, nevertheless, others were his concern, not Self. “Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire” -Acts 28:3. This is the work of Humility. When the interests of Christ and the good of others fill the moments of the day, Humility is at work.

Do not shrink from the censure of men; humiliation bears its fruit when borne in meekness. By this often unwelcome messenger, humiliation must crush all thoughts of grandeur. When we ourselves can confess that “I am nothing” -2 Corinthians 12:11, and do not bristle when others say so, humility is ours.

Humility welcomes the censure that fine tunes his course, though buffeting blasts deliver the rebuff. The humble agree that Self must be battered and bruised, and are not offended when he is; he’s the enemy.

No pointing finger is attached to the hand of Humility. Failures are borne in meekness, not by conjuring accusations to shift blame away from Self onto others and circumstances. Humility attributes virtue to Christ and faults to Self.

Humility does not trumpet his presence; his fragrance has already done so. The humble are recognized by lowly self-abandonment, not by acclaim. It is Haman who recounts his glories, not Humility. “Haman boasted to them of the glory of his riches, where the king had magnified him, and promoted him above the princes” –Esther 5:11. “But Haman rushed home, mourning, with his head covered” –Esther 6:12. “They hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai” –Esther 7:10.

“Whoever exalts himself will be humbled” –Luke 14:11. Humility is the fount of all virtue.

 

 

 

Narrow Way  with Steve Phillips Retching Rhema

 Rhema is retched regularly from the throats of goats. You are blessed but you are begging. It is well and you weep. You are the head though you are the tail. Today is the day of your divine destiny and days of destitution continue. By force, by fire is actually by farce, by liar. Retching Rhema – all.

The text for this pervasive delusion is twisted, serpent-like, from 2 Corinthians 3:6: “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” And thus the written Word of God remains unknown and thrown aside for their concocted “living” Rhema Word of faith. The flesh lusts after this imagined direct visitation from on high.

But it is actually an intruding invasion from the pit below. God has not spoken to these imposters.

“Then the Lord said to me, ‘The prophets are prophesying lies in My Name. I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a false vision, divination,  worthless things; they speak foolishness made up in their own hearts’” -Jeremiah 14:14.

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into worthlessness; they speak a vision of their own imagination, not from the mouth of the Lord. They keep saying to those who despise Me, “The Lord has said, you will have peace.”

“‘But who has stood in the council of the Lord, that he should see and hear His Word? Who has given heed to His Word and listened? I did not send these prophets, but they ran. I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in My council, then they would have proclaimed My Words to My people, and would have turned them back from their evil ways” –Jeremiah 23:16-18,21,22.

Fake prophets retch their positive “Word of Faith” Rhema of abounding well-being. “This is what the Lord says: ‘You false prophets are leading My people astray!’ When they have something to bite with their teeth, they cry, ‘Peace!’ But against him who puts nothing in their mouths they declare holy war. ‘You priests teach God’s Law for a price; you prophets won’t prophesy unless you are paid:’ and yet they all claim the Lord is with them. ‘No harm will come to us: is not the Lord in our midst?’” –Micah 3:5,11.

They are all liars like Zedekiah. “How did the Spirit of the Lord pass from me to you?” -1 Kings 22:24. The Spirit never was with him. And so Micaiah the true messenger of God is abused, struck, and thrown into prison as the 400 Retchers of Rhema spew their vomit while gorging greedy bellies.

And yet Zedekiah’s question did not go unanswered. “The Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets” -1 Kings 22:23. And there we have the source of Retching Rhema.

Rhema as a “Word of Faith” is a gross delusion and distortion of the written Word of God. See the biblical difference between Rhema and Logos in John 12:48: “He who rejects Me and does not receive My Words [Rhema], has one who judges him; the Word [Logos] I spoke is what will judge him at the last day.” Rhema essentially refers to the specific statements of Christ: individual verses. Logos basically refers to the composite totality of Christ’s Word. That is the distinction. This cancels Retching Rhema.

The letter of the Law kills, not because it’s evil, but because we are. “The Law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good; sin produced death in me through what is good” -Romans 7:12,13. “The letter kills but the Spirit gives life” simply is contrasting the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. The Law cannot save but rather condemns: “Cursed is everyone who does not keep all things written in the Law to do them” -Galatians 3:10. The Law cannot impart life –Galatians 3:21.

Its function was to point to and lead to Christ –Galatians 3:24. “It is the Spirit who gives life, the flesh profits nothing; the Words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” –John 6:63. And being born of the Spirit, “the requirement of the law will be fulfilled in us” –Romans 8:2-4.

In the largest interdenominational seminary in Nigeria, I asked the assembled students and staff and faculty this question: How many of you have read the entire Bible at least once? Of the 200 assembled, 19% raised their hands, and the vast majority of them have been in “ministry” for years, Retching Rhema.

These deceiving peddlers of the “Word of Faith” throw the written Word of God into the refuse heap while belching their bile and vile substitutes invented daily from their own wretched retching hearts. The Word of God is abandoned, the flock is starving, while Retching Rhema reigns.

 

 

 

Narrow Way  with Steve Phillips Word of the Word

 The written Word of God was no pious prop to Jesus, the living Word of God. The Bible is not an accessory to lend credence to a clever charade. God does not dupe bigoted religious minds with legends to convince them to follow His wishes. It is not a means to an end: an ultimately disposable irrelevancy.

If the written Word has no lasting and final significance, then neither does the living Word, Christ Jesus Himself. Beware how you handle the Bible: what you reject or think lightly of in it, directly impacts the veracity and reality of the Word of the Word, both its testimony to Christ and Christ’s about it.

Observe, if the narrative of Jonah and the great fish is an adapted fable in order to convey a moral lesson, then it is actually a falsehood employed to lead to godliness: a means to an end. The modern church vomits the book of Jonah out of the Bible as the fish reportedly vomited Jonah out on dry land.

But what difference does it make whether that actually happened or not? We get the point that God can rescue people from problems. But, is that the point? Jesus said, “As Jonah was 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of the huge fish, so will the Son of Man be 3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the earth” –Matthew 12:40. Note it well, Jesus spoke of this event as actual historical reality: not as religious myth.

If Jonah is fake, so is Christ. If Jonah was not “resurrected,” neither was the Lord Jesus.

If the Bible reports a superstition regarding a worldwide flood in Noah’s day, then Christ’s second

coming is also religious fiction. “For the coming of the son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. Until the day that Noah entered the ark, they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be” –Matthew 24:37-39. Fake flood? Cancelled 2nd coming.

Jesus speaks of “the creation which God created” –Mark 13:19, not about the “natural” process of evolution. If the Genesis account is fabricated, then Jesus’ own Word is invalidated. He’s a deceiver.

If people were not actually saved from the deadly poison coursing through their veins by looking at the bronze serpent in Moses’ day [Numbers 21:5-9], then neither will any be saved by Christ. For Jesus said, “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life” –John 3:14,15. No actual serpent? No salvation.

It was Christ who said: “On the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just the same in the day that the Son of Man is revealed” –Luke 17:29,30. If that was not real for Sodom, neither will there be any coming judgment to worry about.

But in the Word of the Word, Jesus does not present fiction as actual, myth as history, or error as truth. He is not a deceiver and neither is His written Word, the Scriptures. Both speak truth with integrity.

And so, if we imagine that the Bible contains error, mistakes, fabrications, and fables, we must say the same about Christ: for He refers to all of these things as truth, real events, and historical. And if man-made falsehood is found in the mouth of Christ as if it were actually the Word of God, He is a monster.

Jesus then is the world’s greatest scammer, a liar of gigantic proportions. Does Christ the Truth employ untruth to arrive at truth? Of course not! If so, He and everything He says is a sham, a fraud.

But He is not. “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word. He who does not love Me, does not keep My Words; and the Word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me” –John 14:23,24.

Do they contain error? No! Do they relate to Jesus’ oral teaching alone? No! If there is no reliable Word of the Word, how can anyone be charged to keep and obey His Word since there is no way to know what that is? Apart from the written Word, “believers” can adjust themselves to whatever oral tradition they like and consider that as “keeping” Christ’s Word: and no one could prove otherwise!

Yet when tempted by the adversary Satan, Jesus resorted to, not only a single reference to the Word of God, but its entirety in defeating that foe. “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on EVERY Word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” –Matthew 4:4. How could a fable from men counteract Satan?

If the written Word contains error, how could this overcome the father of lies himself? Why would Jesus cite a religious legend [the manna] as resisting a lie from this more sinister source? Impossible.

Jesus the living Word and the written Word are both “living and powerful” –Hebrews 4:12. “The Words that I have spoken to you, they are spirit and they are life” –John 6:63.

“Forever, Your Word is settled in heaven” –Psalm 119:89. “The sum of Your Word is TRUTH, and every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting” –Psalm 119:160. This is the Word of the Word.

 

Narrow Way  with Steve Phillips Fragrance

 Fragrance can be heard in silence and seen in darkness. It cannot be erased. It permeates to the breath of friend and foe alike. None can arrest and quarantine its presence. Today, Fragrance is what is lacking in our boisterous, abrasive, and over-amplified religion of glamour and outlandish claims.

Of Christ it is witnessed that “He will not quarrel or cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets” –Matthew 12:19. Raucous rancor was not Christ’s means of making His presence known. Beleaguering the ears of men by accosting noise is not how He drew men to Himself and won hearts.

No, Fragrance is what moved mothers to bring delighted little children to come and be gathered into His arms. Fragrance attracts and does not repel, elicits admiration not aversion.

No one needs to command you to appreciate Fragrance or school you on how to ascertain its delights. It has its own inimitable winsomeness; perfume and putrefaction are not mistaken in their scent.

It was so with Christ. He was appreciated by all: all, that is, except the malicious ministers who could sense nothing beyond their own malodorousness. Their own stench prevented them from drawing near and delighting in the Anointed of God, though His anointing had a pleasant perfume like no other.

“Take for yourself the finest of spices: flowing myrrh, fragrant cinnamon and cane and cassia. You shall make of these a holy anointing oil, a perfume mixture, the work of a perfumer” –Exodus 30:23-25.

And so it was said of Jesus: “The Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners; to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord; to console all who mourn, giving them beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a spirit of heaviness” –Isaiah 61:1-3.

Nothing is repulsive in that holy anointing; what a powerful compelling attraction there is in Christ’s Fragrance! “The common people were hearing Him gladly” –Mark 12:37. Do you delight in Him?

“Christ loved you and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” –Ephesians 5:2. Nothing and no one is more pleasing to God than the Lord Jesus. He has fully satisfied His Father and all in the courts of heaven. His Fragrance permeates that place as the holy atmosphere breathed there.

And when we also savor His perfection, and this Anointed Jesus abides in us, God is pleased as well. “God manifests through us the sweet Fragrance of the knowledge of Christ in every place. For we are a Fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one, an odor from death to death, to the other a Fragrance from life to life” -2 Corinthians 2:14-16.

What exudes from your life? Is there an unmistakable lingering sensation of having encountered something of the holy anointing of Jesus carried about as you move among men? Some will sense Christ and be repulsed: they love foul odors and perish in their stench. Others inhale exhilarating life in Christ.

“And who is adequate, sufficient for these things?” -2 Corinthians 2:16. No one. Flesh is not Fragrance. Christ in you is the hope of glory, is our life, and the well-pleasing Fragrance unto God.

We do have something, however, within each one of us: something of inestimable value that alone can release this aroma of the ages. It is your alabaster vial of costly ointment, of precious perfume.

The vessel is not the value, as comely or crude as it may be. The contents are what is of worth. Mary of Bethany has shown us the way for the Fragrance to be released. She “came to Him with an alabaster vial of very costly fragrant oil and poured it on His head, and anointed the feet of Jesus, wiping them with her hair” –Matthew 26:7; John 12:3. Pour out your most precious possession upon Christ.

That is your heart. It is contained within your earthy vessel, your body. No one will wrench it from your hand. Coercion, flattery, or threats cannot empty that content. You must choose. You hold the key.

How much is this Anointed Jesus worth to you? What is the only fitting expression you can bring to demonstrate that incalculable value of Him to God, to angels, to spinning galaxies, to saved souls?

Bring Him your heart. It’s all you possess of worth to Him and also to you. But the vial must be broken if the Fragrance will waft abroad, if that contained aroma will arise to heaven and delight a Father.

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise” –Psalm 51:17. Men may mock and misguided disciples deride; don’t mind them. This is for God.

And this will be your memorial: “And the house was filled with the Fragrance” –John 12:3.

 

 

Narrow Way  with Steve Phillips Come

 Passive observers are not followers. They recline on padded sofas with remote control devices, clicking whatever they fancy to come to them. But they do not move, lost as they are in their lethargy.

True Christians are not static and stagnant. They have arisen and Come, for they have realized that they are not where they ought to be. “Come,” if heeded, necessitates movement: departing from one locale to arrive at another. And there, one will see and hear things otherwise unknown while lounging in sloth.

“Come and follow Me!” –Matthew 19:21 regularly reechoes from the lips of Christ to all would-be disciples. Arise you must, for Christ is moving along a narrow way and His followers are just that: followers. They must trek upon His path and move in concert with Him if they will arrive safely at last.

But following requires sober reflection and not emotional froth. “I will follow You wherever You go!” –Luke 9:57 spills from the lips of multitudes of effervescent enthusiasts. But where is it He is going?

He is not traveling to a land of entitlement, luxury, and ease. No, His narrow way is roughhewn. No soft haven awaits the journey’s end. Foxes and birds are better suited than He. He is going to a cross.

Come! In the fervency of self-confidence the heart hastily gushes that where Christ traverses, I as well will go! Yet how far shall you walk with pierced feet? Christ must ascend Golgotha’s skull: and you?

Forsaken, scorned by foe and friend is His path: the lash and thorn, a cross, the grave. Choose His way?

“If anyone wishes to Come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me!” -Luke 9:23. Mocking, humiliation, and disdain await you if you Come. A burning pit and gnawing worm await you if you do not. Which will it be? Will you arise or recline? Christ is moving: Come!

Should you choose to abandon Self and embrace the Lord Jesus, you will not move alone; you will become linked to Christ. “Come unto Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly of heart and you shall find rest for your souls” –Matthew 11:28,29. But reflect soberly before you bend your neck to that yoke.

For that yoke is a double-yoke; you and Christ are now joined. Where He goes, you go. You do not determine that. His steps you must tread without veering to the right of left. He does only the will of His Father and now you must do the same. There is no turning back once your neck is harnessed.

But the advantage is that you will find rest for your soul. That commodity is available nowhere else. And as you walk side by side, you learn Christ. And what you learn is meekness, for that is what He is.

Meekness is that disposition of heart that takes all as from a Father’s hand without complaint or refusal: even the evils permitted to encounter you by the design of wicked men. It is the opposite of lawless self-assertion. That will be your life-long lesson should you Come. But you will not face these alone: No.

You are yoked to Christ; what assails you, assails Him. He provides the grace and power to endure the contradiction of sinners mounted against you. “My yoke is easy, and My burden is light” –Matthew 11:30. Even trials are easy and light because He carries the load and bears the brunt. You simply walk.

And in the parched wasteland of this drought stricken desert-world, there is a blessed oasis awaiting all who Come. “Jesus cried out, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him Come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, “From His innermost being will flow rivers of living water:’”” –John 7:37,38.

Living water flows from Christ to everyone who Comes. He is the unfailing source of continual sustaining refreshment as the relentless rays of this world’s scorching blaze beat upon sweating brows.

And to all who long to know Him, to dwell with Him, to repose in His house, the invitation abides: “Come and see!” –John 1:39. Yes, the Lord Jesus welcomes seekers, sincere souls who long to arise and follow. He invites all such to join Him, to know Him, and to love Him. His heart and house are open.

“The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let the one who is thirsty Come; let the one who wishes it, take the water of life free of charge” –Revelation 22:17.

“Come, you blessed of My Father; inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” –Matthew 25:34. But, “you are unwilling to Come to Me so that you may have life” –John 5:40.

 

 

 

Narrow Way  with Steve Phillips Word Worth

Radio stations charge an average of N16 per word during a 30 minute program. That’s about N100 for every 7 words you speak. How much is your Word Worth? If you were to be charged for every word that proceeded from your mouth, would that change the way you speak? Of what value are your words?

God evaluates words by their quality weight: we by their quantity and volume. The Lord pointedly asked Job: “Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?” –Job 38:2. Word Worth.

We can speak only from that which fills our hearts. A shallow man who knows little but what he has scavenged from the smoldering rubbish heaps of this world, can only speak worthless words. A man who is only an echo of what has entered his ear, can never speak with convicting weight; he has no weight.

And so his words multiply to no profit and his life passes with a wearisome repeating audio script that no one wishes to listen to again. “In the multitude of words, sin is not lacking” –Proverbs 10:19.

“Words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious, but the lips of a fool swallow him up. The words of his mouth begin with folly, and the end of his mouth is wicked madness. Yet the fool multiplies words” –Ecclesiastes 10:12-14. “A fool’s mouth is his ruin, and his lips are the snare of his soul” –Proverbs 18:7.

What fills the heart, fills the mouth: spewing forth through loose lips. When the inner man is not restrained, neither will that untamed tongue. Vanity embraced is vanity expressed. Word Worth.

“The tongue is a little member of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. The tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity that defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. No one can tame the tongue; it is an unruly evil and full of deadly poison” –James 3:5-8.

The tongue, while railing and boasting of great things, takes refuge behind the teeth should attempts be made to silence it. Curling lips expose bared teeth. Beware then when speaking in the hearing of a fool, lest he turn and tear you to pieces.

Man is endowed with two eyes, two ears, and one mouth; wise he is who engages them in that same proportion. Only he who thus receives wisdom through eye and ear can speak forth Words of Worth.

But discretion is driven out by lips that utter every impulse. An ever-active tongue hears nothing but itself, and so the tongue that never rests has little of worth to be heard. No Word Worth there. A landslide of lips buries many thing, but not the folly of its origin. Sealed lips quarantine the tongue.

Open lips reveal that “a fool has no delight in understanding, but only in revealing his own heart” –Prov.18:2. But “he who has knowledge, spares his words” –Proverbs 17:27. That is Word Worth.

Beware of a two-tongued man: A scorpion’s barb is affixed to each. “A lying tongue hates those it crushes and a flattering mouth works ruin” –Proverbs 26:28. A snake smiles but shows no teeth: thus is flattering hypocrisy. “There is nothing reliable in what they say: they flatter with the tongue” –Psalm 5:9.

“May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that speaks proud things. Our lips are our own! Who is lord over us?” –Psalm 12:3,4. In a fool, the energy supplied to the tongue surpasses that given to propriety. And so “their tongue parades through the earth” –Psalm 73:9. Vacuous noise: no Word Worth.

“He who guards his mouth and his tongue, guards his soul from troubles” –Proverbs 21:23. Yet how is that possible when the tongue is a wretched unruly wild thing no one can tame? By prayer.

“Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips” –Psalm 141:3. Then, by God’s Word. “By the Word of Your lips I have kept from the paths of the destroyer” –Psalm 17:4.

“Take words with you and return to the Lord” –Hosea 14:2. Words of Worth, not of emptiness.

Beware: “Every careless, idle, unfruitful, useless word that men shall speak, they will give account of in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” –Matthew 12:36,37. Studied words with restraint are more potent than a tongue’s torrent.

“Let the Word of Christ richly dwell within you with all wisdom” –Colossians 3:16. Only therein will your inner man be transformed, your mind renewed, and tongue tamed. What is your Word Worth?

 

 

 

Narrow Way  with Steve Phillips Restituting Ruins

 You see them often, wretched waifs of absentee fathers who beget and abandon, father and forsake. Some hawk pure water in daily desperation. Others are market rats, aimlessly roving about as petty thieves. These pitiable impoverished young souls are the unwilling victims of Restituting Ruins.

Their mothers have been cast out of their pleasant dwellings as corrupting chattel, as defiling blights to their now “enlightened” husbands. Enlightenment there was none. Rather, they came under the spell of a handcrafted christ, a deity of delusion. That compassionless monster requires Ruins of Restitution.

The stern edict of this heartless and uncompromising tyrant is this: Polygamous men, drive away your junior wives or salvation will never be yours; otherwise you will perish. No hope of heaven awaits you who don’t forsake these adulterous women vainly imagined to be wives: so decrees Restituting Ruins.

Restitution is an evil man-made doctrine, nowhere taught in the Scriptures, and void of a single example of it ever being done throughout its pages. By it families are fractured, children accursed, and wives are flung into destitution by the ravaging requirements of this reigning Regent: Restituting Ruins.

Let us establish two facts: Polygamy is sin against God and should not be done. Restitution is sin against God and should not be done. Both are sins; both are a violations of God’s revelation in His Word.

Restitution did not originate from the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The language of the Scriptures are plain: God calls the second or more women taken in marriage wives, not adulterous partners. This is where the handcrafted deity of Restitution and his followers go astray.

Without controversy, one woman for one man and that for life is the pattern for marriage from the beginning. “A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” – Genesis 2:24. Christ reaffirms this as the standard of marriage for all in Matthew 19:4,5. Paul reiterates the same, quoting Genesis 2:24 in Ephesians 5:31. Moses, Christ, and Paul all agree.

God has never approved of polygamy; neither has He ever approved of adultery. Neither has He ever approved of Restituting Ruins. The standards for all have been unchanging since the beginning.

Here’s the summary of this error of Restituting Ruins: [1] God only recognizes the first wife as being a true wife. [2] Any other women taken as wives are not wives at all, but only adulterous partners. [3] Adulterers will not enter heaven. [4] Therefore, junior wives must be divorced and sent away or a man will never be able to be forgiven and enter heaven. That is the essence of this hateful erroneous doctrine.

But it is wrong on all accounts. The inspired language of the Scriptures cancels the false assumptions of points 1 and 2. God says consistently that the second or more women taken in marriage are wives, not adulterous partners. Deuteronomy 21:15 clearly states: “If a man has two wives…” The Holy Spirit here conveys the reality, though not the approval, of polygamy. The man had 2 wives.

Jacob had 4 wives [Genesis 29:21-28; 30:4,9]: that is God’s description, not man’s. Of the man after God’s own heart, God says: “David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem” -2 Samuel 5:13. Solomon had “700 wives and 300 concubines” -1 Kings 11:1,3. “Gideon had many wives” –Judges 8:30. This is the inspired language of the Word of God; they were wives, not adulterous partners.

Hannah was one of two wives. Yet she was a holy woman who loved God, trusting in the Lord’s salvation [1 Samuel 2:1,2]. The Lord heard her prayer for a child, she conceived, and Samuel was born.

Since they are wives, it is not possible for their own husbands to commit adultery with them. A man can only commit adultery with someone who is not his wife, but never with his own wife.

Exodus 21:10: “If a man marries another wife, he must not neglect the rights of the first wife to food, clothing, and sexual intimacy.” Clearly here, Restituting Ruins is a man-made delusion.

Point 3: Adulterers will not enter heaven. That is true. But Abraham, Jacob, Caleb, Gideon, David, Solomon, and many others had more than one wife and were not adulterers. But these men are in heaven and not hell. Polygamy did not exclude them from eternal life. Hebrews 11 testifies to their saving faith.

Point 4: Neither did any of them participate in Restituting Ruins: not even Abraham. He did not “Restitute” Hagar. She was sent away because of God establishing His covenant with Isaac, not to “save” Abraham. Galatians 4 makes this very clear. Abraham had other women as wives and concubines besides Hagar during Sarah’s lifetime and afterwards [Genesis 25:5,6]. Let us abandon these Restituting Ruins.