God’s beacons

A call to stay alert so as not to stray from our sincere faithfulness to Christ.

Gonzalo Sepúlveda

"And Jesus, after he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And behold a voice came from heaven, saying:. This is my beloved Son, in whom I have pleasure ... While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them and a voice came from the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I have pleasure; listen to him" (Matthew 3:16-17; Matt. 17:5).

Many people came to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. Then our Lord Jesus Christ came also, who had no sin from which to repent. Many were baptized on that day, but the only voice that came from heaven was reserved for Him.

Many prophets foretold the coming of the Lord. John the Baptist said, "This is the Lamb of God." But now a more powerful voice is heard: God Himself, with all His authority, says, "This is my beloved Son" so that the attention of all men is set on the One in whom the Father is well pleased.

God is saying, "Whatever he does, it will be according to my good pleasure; everything he says will be my voice; whatever He does will be my work. I'm with him. If someone is looking for me, they will have to come through Him. If someone wants to please Me, they will have to be right with Him. " The Father was presenting His Son before all mankind.

In Matthew chapter 17, the scene is more intimate. Our Lord Jesus Christ had taken Peter, James and John, and had gone with them to a mountain. At that time, a voice from a cloud was once again heard: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I take pleasure; listen to Him. "

But let's notice one thing: the voice is not for the crowd. This time, God is silencing Peter. The Lord's servants who carry out the work of the ministry must know from experience that neither their voice nor their opinion, nor even their best intentions, are worth anything in such service.

When God silences Peter, in fact, he is shutting up all of us. It is as if the Lord would say: "My servants, silence! Listen first to Him who is the Alpha and the Omega, the Word of God."

The seven "I am"s

Now, let's listen to the Son (John 6:35). "Jesus said to them, I am ...". The Son says, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. " Have we come to the Lord? Has He satisfied our hunger? We are witnesses that this word is true!

In John 7: 37-38, the Lord says, "Whoever believes in me, as the scripture says, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." Do we know about this? From the day that the Lord became real in our hearts, a stream of living water began to flow, and the dryness of the desert ended. We have gathered here to hear the Lord's voice. He says: 'I am', and what He says is true.

"Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world; Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life "(John 8:12). Thank the Lord, the darkness was left behind; we who walk in Christ understand each other, because in His light, we have fellowship. He who doesn’t follow or has deviated from Christ, is in darkness, and with him there is no mutual understanding. But the Father told us that we should listen to the Son. The Son speaks to us, satisfies us and enlightens us.

Let’s continue, listening to the Lord, "Truly, truly, I say to you: I am the gate for the sheep ... I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly" (John 10: 7, 9-10). We have found in the Son this abundant life; and to get into it, the Lord Himself is the gate.

He says, "I am the good shepherd." The sheep hear him, know him and follow him. We need to hear the Lord always, we need Christ to speak to us continually (2 Corinthians 13: 3), because the sheep will hear His voice and will recognize Him. If our speech is not Christ, if He is not filling our hearts, then we should not be surprised if someone walks away. His sheep only attend to His voice.

Why have we remained together all these years? I think it has been the beautiful work of the Lord. We have learned to recognize the voice of the Lord without getting caught up in the human instrument.

Let us hear: John 11:25: "I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he dies, yet shall he live. " What a tremendous commotion there will be in creation when the dead in Christ break out of their tombs at the voice of the Lord, for He is the resurrection and the life. Beloved, didn’t we used to be amongst the multitude of the dead? We were all dead in trespasses and sins, but we heard His voice, and passed from death to life. And many who are presently in death will come to life, if they hear Christ in us.

"I am the way and the truth and the life; No one comes to the Father but through me "(John 14: 6). The Lord is the way. If there is something that is essential for getting from one point to another, it is a way. If something is going to happen in the days ahead, if we are to reach a goal, then Christ himself is our way. There is no other way, we will not follow a particular doctrinal emphasis - we will follow Christ. We will not follow a particular man, but only the One who is the way and who leads us in perfect communion with the Father.

The last of the 'I am's, is in John 15: 5: "I am the vine, you are the branches; He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without me you can do nothing. " This lesson we learn sooner or later. The moment we start to depart from the Lord, we encounter failure, for without Him we can do nothing; but whoever remains in Him cannot remain sterile. He who abides in the Lord will mature and grow; something more of Christ’s life will be manifested in him.

The beacons

Both the direct words of God the Father, and the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, are true beacons. When a ship has left port, it follows a certain route; but at night, when it approaches the coast, and even more, as it approaches its destination, it needs the beacons. If these beacons are not lit, or if they are not taken into account, the boat can sink.

The apostle Paul says: "The night is far spent" (Romans 13:12.). As a church, as a testimony of God in the world, we are sailing in the middle of a dark night. It is easy to deviate from the route; if this happens, our boat could lose direction and capsize.

In reality, it is very easy to slip away. Hebrews 2: 1 solemnly warns about this, and Galatians 5: 4 expresses it in dramatic fashion. It is easier than we can imagine. The tendency to backslide is a big human weakness. We may be falling away without realizing it.

But there is a beacon that has been lit up: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." His voice remains as effective today as it was back then. God continues: 'I take no delight in any movement or religious emphasis, or in diverse spiritual manifestations, I will only have pleasure in my Son. "

That is the beacon that has been lit up. If we go past that beacon, we are slipping away and our ship may sink. The Father says, "This is My Son," and the Lord says: 'I am'. "I am the bread ... the light ... the way, the truth, the life ... I am the resurrection and the life ... the gate ... the good shepherd ... the true vine." There is no human need that cannot be met by this great "I am" that is Jesus Christ our Lord.

We are called to live in Christ, and Christ should be our message. On one occasion, the apostle Paul was told: "Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent" (Acts 18: 9). On the other hand, Peter, on that occasion when he was talking on the mountain, was made to keep silent. What a difference!

It’s because Peter was preoccupied with the booths, with the monuments. He was being led away from the central issue ... and he was an intimate disciple! He was a servant, but his focus or emphasis wasn’t the right one. He slid away from the Lord, and had to be kept silent. Thank God, later Peter moved on to a fruitful life.

It is common to hear Paul say, "I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified" (1 Cor. 2: 2). At another point he said, "you seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, who is not weak toward you, but mighty ..." (2 Cor. 13: 3). He spoke of a Christ who was powerful in him - Christ speaking through him.

He also said: "Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ" (2 Corinthians 2:14.). How well focused! How well he took into account God’s beacons and didn’t deviate to the right or left. If we are pleasing God, it is not because we follow a particular leader, but because our triumph is in Christ.

Then he says, "For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ ..."; this is the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ. We have been called to this, because Christ is our life and our message. God allows us to be completely permeated by this truth. "This is my beloved Son, in whom I take pleasure" The Lord does not take pleasure in you or in me; here the cross of Christ intervenes, putting us to one side, so that as Christ lives and speaks in us, His aroma becomes manifest in this world.

If we only taught these seven "I am"s in John's Gospel, we would still have an abundance to fill us and rejoice in in the Lord. Our message is Christ, our theme is Christ, our gateway is Christ. We are called to remain in Him. How blesséd are the beacons of God, set forth so that we do not go astray!

Another beacon

The other big warning light we have is from Laodicea (Revelation 3:14). We should tremble when we think of Laodicea. Laodicea has its own voice. "Because you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing; and you do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked."

We are not just starting off. Many of us have been several decades in the way of the Lord and we need the warning beacons that speak to us of the danger. These are the beacons of God which shine out to us through the Scriptures, and that trace out for us the precise path that we need so as to arrive safely at the harbour, to our destination of pleasing the Lord’s heart. What a great loss it would be to start well and end badly!

We must recognize the great significance of Laodicea, because they were brothers who were once living in the reality of Philadelphia. And, after a few years walking on this road or sailing on this ship of God, we have learned that all those who currently find themselves in the condition of Laodicea, were once in the reality of Philadelphia.

The brothers from Laodicea made a mistake - they thought they had it all. Externally and doctrinally they may be correct. They believe in the unity of the church, they believe in the lordship of Christ, and maintain the truths of the kingdom of God. They believe in the absolute sufficiency of the blood of the Lamb. However, there is a problem in their heart; They feel that they are great, that they are self-sufficient. The Lord's voice is no longer heard, but they have their own voice: "You say ...". May the Lord forbid that, despite having a glorious calling, the smell that we give off is the smell of Laodicea. That's the other beacon; this beacon tells us: 'Danger; not this way!', so that we do not stray into an external orthodoxy while there is no inward reality.

May the Lord deliver us from 'lecturing' even more so when we haven’t been asked to. We need to realize that our wordiness is tiring. May the Lord deliver us from answering questions that have not been asked in an effort to merely display knowledge.

We are not at the starting point, we are not searching for the way that is pleasing to the Lord. We believe the Lord wants a body, not human organizations. We believe that Jesus is the head of this body, and that in every town and in every nation the Spirit of God is calling His people to come out of religious systems; and with neither name nor structure nor leadership pyramid, we should come together as one, united around the Lord's table, sharing the precious life of Jesus Christ, in corporate life, the fellowship of the saints, all serving the Lord joyfully.

But, beloved, the life of the body is the life of Christ; the corporate life is the life of Christ manifested in us. Let me put it this way: the life that produces life is the life of Christ. Your life and my life don’t produce life; we could, however, produce death. The mere knowledge of things does not give us the reality of those things; it's just dead language.

I want to plead with you brothers, when we use the word 'reality' let it be with clarity and in full consciousness of what we’re saying. It has to be more than just words. The reality is Christ, Christ actually in you and in me, the hope of glory. So that, when we say something, somehow Christ is there.

Why is it that with some brothers we don’t have a mutual understanding? If you examine us doctrinally, we believe the same thing. What a paradox. What pain there must be in the Lord’s heart. But if, believing the same thing, we still do not have real spiritual fellowship, let it be clear to us: someone did not give heed to the beacons; someone, somehow, retained only the language; Christ ceased to be their everything. And God is saying in a loud voice: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

Is Christ in what we do? If so, God is there. If He is, then, there is life, there is joy and happiness at being together. How healthy it is to be visited by a brother who brings us more of Christ! What boundless fellowship! What pain at saying goodbye! Because all our fellowship and conversation was centered on the blessed Person who lives and reigns forever and ever. Hallelujah, brothers! The Father wants us full of Christ.

A beacon on the road

Galatians 2: 1-2 tells us of an intimate meeting between Paul, Peter, James and John in Jerusalem where Paul discussed the gospel he preached. After hearing his account, they asked him to do something: "They only asked us to remember the poor; which I was also eager to do "(10).

It is as if he had said, ‘You are okay doctrinally, Paul but we’re going to put a beacon on your way. There’s something that will regulate you: the treatment that you give to the poor '. Let's use the word 'poor' in the broadest sense: the little ones, those who do not have much knowledge, the weaker ones.

"Remember the poor." Brothers, that speaks to us of humility, of a heart broken before the Lord. Not a proud heart. If you are humble when you're in front of a brother who is older than you, but, in the absence of someone to regulate your behavior, you treat the little ones harshly, then Christ is no longer there; you become a legalistic man, and the Spirit of the Lord is grieved.

Let us finish this message by considering two of the seven things the Lord hates in Proverbs 6: 16-19: "... haughty eyes." Anyone who deviates from Christ will show the pride in his soul. Christ is not in a proud man; the Spirit of Christ isn’t there. Christ is humble. "Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart."

The other is "... and he that sows discord among brothers." God hates haughty eyes, and the one who sows discord among brothers. We are called to unite the body of Christ, not to separate brothers and sisters; to love one another, and to display the precious life of the Lord.

The Lord is everything. We have a great facility to be led astray in subtle ways. To backslide towards lifeless formalism is very easy for a careless Christian. The Lord deliver us!

The only antidote to this is a devotion to the blessed person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Every day we say: "Lord, I need you; without you I am nothing. Only in You can I do everything. Lord, you are everything; I am nothing. If I am an expert in something, it is in causing problems. I’m an expert in producing tension in the midst of fellowship and speaking in such a way that the listeners get tired. "

May the Lord allow us to realize this in due time, because if Christ is speaking, it would be a pleasure to hear a servant talk for hours. If we are receiving Christ's life, Hallelujah! He has all the time available. But if it is just a man who is speaking, God deliver us!

If we are not soaked with Christ, the restoration of the church might seem like an external thing, another form, or another wave. Our only glory, our only joy is Christ. Without Christ, we would be a mere religion, and the Lord would vomit us out of His mouth. Let us tremble before this!

It would be healthy for each one of us to ask himself: What is coming out of me? What impression am I causing? Am I appearing, with all my knowledge on display, or is Christ appearing? Do I show up with my charisma, my gifts, my own personality, or is Christ being manifested?

Brother, if you are on show, even the best part of you, there will be death in the house of the Lord. But we are here to minister the life of Christ. Let us ask ourselves every day, constantly humbled in the presence of the Lord, "Father, how much of your Son has been formed in me? In all these years of walking with you, how much of Christ has been formed in me, that pleases your heart, and can be a blessing to the saints? ".

That's the only thing that has true value. Everything else could merely be human sympathies.

Synthesis of a message shared at the 3rd International Conference, 2006.