The human temple is a marvelous, living machine. The human mind is a powerhouse of potential. But, it is scary to see the place where an undisciplined mind or life will finish its train wreck. The potential for greatness has a perfect balance in its capacity for disaster. All of these possibilities of living are decided in the conference center of the human will. The great capacity of the human brain is at the choice of our will. You can use your mind if you will and, once the will is set, the die is cast.

A sharp shooter is the result of a disciplined will. This individual has set their mind to train and harness themselves until shooting is more instinct than aim. The entire human body becomes tuned into the process. It’s a matter of disciplining the total person for the mastery of that skill. This is equally true of the world of art, the world of communication, the skills of a great physician, or a master athlete. There is no possibility of greatness until there is the presence of discipline. The human will must be harnessed and set for the dream.

God’s kingdom needs men and women that will discipline themselves to Christ with the same abandonment we see given to worldly goals. Read what Apostle Paul said by the Holy Ghost to the believers at Corinth, “And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway” (I Corinthians 9:25-27). The picture of discipline in that Christian mastery is breathtaking.

The Holy Spirit is speaking the language of self-control and selflessness towards the Christian life.“Striveth for the mastery” are words of passion to a soul that can dream. The dream here is of surrender and devotion to Jesus Christ and the incorruptible crown that a saint of God can obtain. The key words are “temperate in all things” or self-control. No one can discipline your heart and mind but you. Incarcerated prisoners can be forced to be disciplined through fear and intimidation; but, after a few hours on the street, they are wild again.

King Saul was heads and shoulders above his fellowmen. The Father chose him to be the first king of His people, Israel. When he was anointed, another Spirit came on him and He began to prophecy. Greatness was in his future because the Father had a plan for him. “And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day” (I Samuel 10:9). But King Saul had a core problem. He could not discipline himself under the prophet of God. “And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever” (I Samuel 13:13).

The Bible never hid the failures of many potential success stories. The elder son of Adam and Eve followed in the path of his mother and refused to offer a Biblical sacrifice and became a vagabond. Esau, the elder son of Isaac, was crass and wild. Today, his heirs are the Islamic terrorists. David, who became a “man after God’s own heart,” brought shame on his life that never ended, even in his greatness. Judas Iscariot could have had his name on one of the foundations of New Jerusalem, but “by transgressions fell” (Acts 1:25). Every failure was the result of an undisciplined life. They never lacked in opportunity but they lacked self-control.

When I was saved in 1952, there was great pulpit mastery all over America. I can recall pulpiteers that fed my soul with powerful preaching that set my course to love the Word of God and to master its truths. The greatest drought in America and the church world is the absence of fearless preachers that can storm the gates of Hell. Some of these formerly great men are still alive but have become wimpy and frivolous. Instead of scaring the world, they are now scared by the world. Instead of longing for the mastery of a powerful anointing, they are pursuing the gold and silver of a “Name It, Claim It” gospel. They are train wrecks.

But, all is not lost. The human soul and mind can still be so surrendered and disciplined that Christ can be revealed to this lost generation. Your temple is a marvelous, living machine. Jesus Christ is challenging the present saints to “eat His flesh and drink His blood” until Christ is formed in your life. This is a depth that only the selfless and self-controlled can experience. If you are wild and a law unto yourself, you are close to being a castaway. Your train wreck is right down the sad road of self. The Holy Ghost is calling out to the humble souls that want the dreams of our Master. Believe me, there is no joy like the joy of our whole life being attuned to the deep life of Christ. Like the sharpshooter, when our temple is all surrendered and disciplined, the whole life is disciplined in the love of His will.

Joseph R. Chambers

jrc@pawcreek.org

The Son of God saw the sadness and gloom that gripped His disciples when He said He was leaving them. They were overwhelmed with the sense of disappointment and helplessness. As He felt their pain, He spoke some of His most powerful words. “But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” (St. John 16:5-8) His purpose in life was to die and His death was going to produce more than just a sacrifice for sin; it was going to guarantee that His Spirit would come to men to affect everything His death accomplished.

His dying would have done no good if there was no plan to supernaturally craft all of Himself and His redemption into all of us who would believe. The Holy Spirit has been appointed by the Father to the office of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Spirit is His eternal name, but the title Holy Ghost is His office to absolutely represent another, even the Son of the Living God. The translators of Scripture in the King James Bible saw this great truth and translated “Holy Spirit” to “Holy Ghost” in each instance where His office of representing Jesus Christ was evident. The work of the Spirit is the “Artistry of His Cross” in redemption and newness of life. He takes the old, sinful, and debauched human life and crafts the new man of grace and redemption. The Comforter has come and His work is breathtakingly beautiful.

One of the eternal truths of the Bible is the helplessness of human flesh. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8) Sin has robbed man of His expressions of likeness to God. Man’s spirit is bound in death and physical helplessness. He may pant after God and seek Him in many ways and in much religious action, but until the Holy Ghost finds the open door to his heart it is all in vain. Jesus said, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him.” (John 6:44a) Humility is not a pious face but a broken heart before God. Until man is willing to accept the complete defeat of himself, even his search for God, and declare absolute surrender to God’s sovereign mercy, there is no salvation. We do not chase and find God, He reveals Himself as we follow Him.

Jesus knew what was in man. He said great things to express this fact. “But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.” (St. John 2:24-25) Three chapters of Saint John were almost exclusively given to declare the gift of the Holy Ghost and His unfailing value to His saints. The Holy Spirit is a person possessing every attribute of the Godhead and He was sent to perfect in the body of the church, every value of redemption. The church world is so full of flesh and human activity, void of the spiritual manifestations of God, that it is all a laughing stock to Satan and his hordes. Our Father and our Lord is calling us out of this malaise back to His Book.

Almost everything we connect to the work of the Holy Ghost has to do with emotions when His real activity is in the human spirit and human soul. The Holy Ghost indwells the saints to craft Christ into every aspect of our being. Jesus Christ said, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (St. John 14:26-27) It is when Christ sanctifies our life, spirit, soul and body, that beauty replaces carnality and flesh and even our faces reflect the deep work occurring inside. The Divine artistry of this redemptive work is Heavenly. Apostle Paul said it perfectly, “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

The Scripture speaks much of our relationship to this deep work of the Holy Ghost. The Bible says that we are “sealed by the Spirit.” We are warned not to “grieve the Spirit” or “resist the Spirit.” In Thessalonica, Paul wrote, “Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.” (1 Thessalonians 5:19-24) Paul said, “…Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.” (Romans 8:9b) He also said, “In whom all the building (our temple) fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:21-22)

The redemptive process of our Lord Jesus Christ is beautiful. The Holy Spirit was sent by the Father to craft into His body, the church, the very image of Jesus Christ. The saints were called “Christians” at Antioch because this spiritual activity was glaring and life-changing. The world trembles when the Eternal Son has been recreated in the saints. The Holy Spirit has come to do the “Artistry of Calvary” in the lives of the redeemed.

Joseph R. Chambers
jrc@pawcreek.org