Explain Something to Me

9 January 2011

Dear Phyllis,

 

The other day I had a minor argument with the Lord. It wasn’t really an argument, but as I was reading His Word I ran across a subject that I flat didn’t understand. What I read didn’t make a lick of sense. I told the Lord, “That is ridiculous. That can’t be true.” Realizing that there is a strong possibility that the Lord may be correct, and I may be mistaken, I repeated a request that I have made many times over the years. “Lord Jesus, would You please explain this to me?” No, He hasn’t told me what that means yet, but I was reminded of many times I have encountered that problem over the years; and the amazing graciousness of the Lord in opening my eyes to see wondrous things written in His Word.

I have told you several times, that this is one of the best periods of my life. Spiritual truth has never been more exciting. Jesus has never been more real. I have never been more blessed and thrilled in knowing the Lord than I am right now. I feel like I have just been saved six months. One of the things that has come into clear focus is an answer to a request I made 19 years ago, asking Jesus to explain something to me.

When my life came to an end 20 years ago I was plunged into darkness like I thought was impossible for a Christian to experience. EVERYTTHNG went sideways! It seemed like I was on the wrong side of the fence with God. I was praying desperately, and it seemed the Lord’s response to my prayers were the dead opposite of what I had asked. The more I prayed the worse thing got.

When I hit the jolly bottom I was reminded of a decision I had made 30 years previously. As I very young missionary, I heard Joe Carroll preach a tremendous message on Psalm 27:4. “ONE THING have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; to BEHOLD THE BEAUTY OF THE LORD, and to enquire in His temple.” Joe pointed out that this was the secrete of David’s life. This was the thing that made him so outstanding. David was an incredibly gifted man with a wide array of amazing talents; ranging from being an outstanding musician, to being a warier, and the greatest king Israel ever had. But David shared he was never interested in majoring on any of these gifts. He really only wanted ONE THING, and he said that was what he was seeking. I had chosen Ps. 27:4 as my life verse, and made that the goal of my life also. I had preached on that subject several times. But when I hit the bottom the Lord clearly spoke to me, “You have been talking about that verse for 30 years, but you have never practiced it. You have never actually sought what you were talking about.” That was a surprising revelation.

 I decided, “Alright, I am going to stop praying for my family and for a solution to my problems; and only seek on thing.” The next morning I got up very early, got a cup of coffee, and sat down before the Lord to have devotions. I said, “Lord, I am not going to pray about a thing. I am just going to sit here for two hours gazing on You and be filled with Your beauty.” I did that for a month and didn’t see a cotton picking thing. Man howdy, did that raise some serious questions!

 The first question was, Are you supposed to see anything? The second question was, What are you supposed to see? The third one was, How do you see it? And lastly, If you don’t see anything – WHY? The answer to these questions became the focus of a very serious discussion I was having with the Lord every morning. That was 19 years ago. Today I know the answers.

To answer my questions, the Lord began at the last one and worked forward. The answer to my last question – Why don’t I see anything? – the reason was simple. Poor eyesight. Fortunately, Jesus said He had some medicine for sale that would help that problem (Rev. 3:18). I said, “Lord Jesus, if You have something to help my eyesight You can put me down as a customer. How much is the medicine?” The Lord replied the price to pay for this medicine was TIME. If I wanted ot see better I was going to have to pay the price of time – waiting on God.

The answer to the next question – how do you see? – was surprising. In former years, when I had preached on this text, I told the audience. “When you pray, just picture in your mind Jesus sitting on the Throne.” Wrong! There is a vast difference between imagination and revelation. When you try to imagine, you shut the door to the Holy Spirit making it impossible for Him to give revelation.

 Over the years I have found this to be very important spiritual law. I have found the mind to be an enemy to spiritual revelation. The mind is not the master of spiritual truth. The Holy Spirit must be the master. As long as the mind refuses to accept truth that it cannot understand, there is no way the Holy Spirit can explain that to us. But if we say, “I don’t understand this, but I accept that this is true exactly the way You have written it.”; that is the first step to revelation. In beholding the beauty of the Lord there is a fundamental difference between imagining the scene and the beauty of the Lord as revealed to us by the Holy Spirit.

 When I can to the question, “What are you supposed to see?”; the Lord explained a major thing to me. This has been a significant step forward in my approach to spiritual truth. Spiritual things are internal – not external. Somehow I thought the beauty of the Lord was something external. Todd Bentley says he has had many celestial visitations. Like Paul, he has been caught up to the third heaven and seen things in heaven several times. He has seen Jesus sitting on the Throne. He said Jesus is handsome. He has a massive chest and huge arms. Really??? This sounds radically different than what John saw when he was taken up to heaven to see things to come (Rev. 4:1; 5:6). John didn’t see Jesus as a handsome being with long wavy blond hair, but the Lamb that had been slain.

To answer my questions, the Lord took me to the basic question – What is the beauty of the Lord? When I got the answer to that, my search was over. The beauty of the Lord is not something external but HIS CHARACTER. Unquestionably this is what makes Jesus beautiful – His character. This is the true beauty of anyone. Some of the most gorgeous females in Hollywood are some of the ugliest persons in America. And some of the most homely people I have met are the most beautiful Christians. Jesus was never more beautiful than when He was hanging on the Cross.

Gomen nasai (I’m sorry). I know I have told you all this before. Some of my stories are so boring, you soon forget them. I can tell them two or three times and each time it is liked the first time. But this fundamental principle that spiritual things are internal – something of the heart – is a subject that has increasing been accentuated to me. In the OT the worshipers brought sheep and goats to a physical altar to be sacrificed. But the day has now come when the true worshipers worship God in the spirit and in truth. It is not what we are on the outside, but what we are on the inside that counts.

I have found in exegesis, scriptural interpretation, if I associate the verb with the noun, often that makes things clear. That is: eyes – seeing, ears – hearing, teeth – eating, lips – speaking, feet – walking, etc. The noun is the external thing, but the verb is the spiritual action. The Bible is not given to change our outward appearance but to change our heart. It is the heart that is important.

When the Bible says, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings” (Isa. 52:7); it certainly doesn’t mean that the feet have painted toe nails. We talk about the beauty of helping hands. We talk about broad shoulders to carry a load; a man with a backbone to take a strong stand, etc. The action is the outward expression of the heart. That is why connecting the verb with the noun has helped me understand many things in the Bible.

Spiritual truth is clearly something internal. It is the heart that is beautiful, not a 45 inch chest. As I have read and reread the four gospels telling the story of Jesus many times, I have been overwhelmed at His character. His humility, His utter obedience to the Father to do only the will of God; His forgiveness for the wayward; His wrath against the wicked. Oh my goodness, the more I see of His character the more I am overcome with His beauty.

Phillip said, “Lord show us the Father and it will suffice us.” Jesus replied, “Have I been with you so long a time and thou hast not known Me. He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.” (Jn.14:8,9). His character was the very Person of God. A 14 year old boy asked me at a Bible study one night, “Mr. Cook, what is God like?” I didn’t know how to answer him that night, but I do now. Look at Jesus. That is what God is like.

Psalm 27:4 is even a more important verse to me now. Nineteen years ago I didn’t know how to behold the beauty of the Lord, but since then He has shown me a large number of things. And perhaps someday He will explain the things to me that I don’t understand today.

It is wonderful, wonderful, wonderful knowing the Lord;

                                                                                            bill