Chapter 16 - The Hiddenness of the Devout Life
Mat 6:16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
Mat 6:17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
Mat 6:18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
Bonhoeffer - 'The flesh resists this daily humiliation, first by a frontal attack, and later by hiding itself under the words of the spirit (i.e. in the name of "evangelical liberty"). We claim liberty from all legal compulsion, from self-martyrdom and mortification, and play this off against the proper evangelical use of discipline and asceticism; we thus excuse our self-indulgence and irregularity in prayer, in meditation and in our bodily life. But the contrast between our behavior and the word of Jesus is all too painfully evident. We forget that discipleship means estrangement from the world, and we forget the real joy and freedom which are the outcome of a devout rule of life. As soon as a Christian recognizes that he has failed in his service, that his readiness has become feeble, and that he has sinned against another's life and become guilty of another's guilt, that all his joy in God has vanished and that his capacity for prayer has quite gone, it is high time for him to launch an assault upon the flesh, and prepare for better service by fasting and prayer (Luke 2:37; 4:2: Mark 9:29; 1 Cor. 7:5)
Luk 2:37 And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
Luk 4:2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.
Mar 9:29 And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
1Co 7:5 Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.
*******
My thoughts-
Fasting and prayer- go hand in hand.
Bonhoeffer is DEAD ON! Reread what he wrote.
'The flesh RESISTS this daily humiliation.' TRUTH.
'We thus EXCUSE our self-indulgence and irregularity in prayer, in mediation, and in our bodily life.' TRUTH.
We do! We excuse ourselves constantly! All the time we are trying to live to the flesh while being God's, but we CAN'T live to the flesh! We just...can't.
Bonhoeffer speaks the plain truth here-
'We forget that discipleship means estrangement from the world, and we forget the real joy and freedom which are the outcome of a devout rule of life.'
Remember this--
1Jn 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
1Jn 4:5 They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.
1Jn 4:6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
They are of the WORLD.
We are of GOD.
You cannot be of the world and be of God.
1Jn 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
1Jn_2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Jas_4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
So WHY do we choose to forget that we need to be estranged from the world?
And WHY aren't we estranged from the world?
WHY are we friends with the world?
Why do we FORGET there is joy, a special joy, and yes, a freedom, in living the life that Christ calls us to, a life of SELF DENIAL, NOT SELF INDULGENCE.
Prayer and fasting.
Loving NOT the world, but loving GOD.
TRUTH-
1Jn 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
1Jn 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
Truth.
By the grace of God may WE live in His truth, in Him, and not in and of this world!
Please LORD, SAVE US from this world!
Mat 6:16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
Mat 6:17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
Mat 6:18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
Bonhoeffer - 'The flesh resists this daily humiliation, first by a frontal attack, and later by hiding itself under the words of the spirit (i.e. in the name of "evangelical liberty"). We claim liberty from all legal compulsion, from self-martyrdom and mortification, and play this off against the proper evangelical use of discipline and asceticism; we thus excuse our self-indulgence and irregularity in prayer, in meditation and in our bodily life. But the contrast between our behavior and the word of Jesus is all too painfully evident. We forget that discipleship means estrangement from the world, and we forget the real joy and freedom which are the outcome of a devout rule of life. As soon as a Christian recognizes that he has failed in his service, that his readiness has become feeble, and that he has sinned against another's life and become guilty of another's guilt, that all his joy in God has vanished and that his capacity for prayer has quite gone, it is high time for him to launch an assault upon the flesh, and prepare for better service by fasting and prayer (Luke 2:37; 4:2: Mark 9:29; 1 Cor. 7:5)
Luk 2:37 And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
Luk 4:2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.
Mar 9:29 And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
1Co 7:5 Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.
*******
My thoughts-
Fasting and prayer- go hand in hand.
Bonhoeffer is DEAD ON! Reread what he wrote.
'The flesh RESISTS this daily humiliation.' TRUTH.
'We thus EXCUSE our self-indulgence and irregularity in prayer, in mediation, and in our bodily life.' TRUTH.
We do! We excuse ourselves constantly! All the time we are trying to live to the flesh while being God's, but we CAN'T live to the flesh! We just...can't.
Bonhoeffer speaks the plain truth here-
'We forget that discipleship means estrangement from the world, and we forget the real joy and freedom which are the outcome of a devout rule of life.'
Remember this--
1Jn 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
1Jn 4:5 They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.
1Jn 4:6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
They are of the WORLD.
We are of GOD.
You cannot be of the world and be of God.
1Jn 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
1Jn_2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Jas_4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
So WHY do we choose to forget that we need to be estranged from the world?
And WHY aren't we estranged from the world?
WHY are we friends with the world?
Why do we FORGET there is joy, a special joy, and yes, a freedom, in living the life that Christ calls us to, a life of SELF DENIAL, NOT SELF INDULGENCE.
Prayer and fasting.
Loving NOT the world, but loving GOD.
TRUTH-
1Jn 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
1Jn 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
Truth.
By the grace of God may WE live in His truth, in Him, and not in and of this world!
Please LORD, SAVE US from this world!
No comments:
Post a Comment