We know that His first requirement is that we love Him with all of our heart and soul, all of our mind and strength (Deuteronomy 6:5). This we purpose to do. All the problems of religious Babylon, of Laodicean lukewarmness, come because they give God less than the full intensity of love.
How intensely does Christ love us?
We read in Ephesians 5:25 that husbands should love their wives as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for her. He wanted to present her to Himself, a Church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle. He ever lives to make intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25).
Regardless of all the things that have happened in the course of the whole universe, century after century, the entire focus of human history has been for Christ to present the Bride to Himself.
The book of Revelation speaks of the two great women: the Bride who makes herself ready and mystery Babylon—the great harlot.
What is the difference between what Christ is doing with the Bride and what Babylon is doing?
Babylon weaves people around herself and demands their devotion, literally making slaves of them.
How, then, is that different from the discipleship that Christ is demanding of us?
Many people in God’s restored New Testament churches are working hard, with little or no financial payment and without any personal reward, as they struggle along to produce a facility or a project that God wants.
What is the difference, then, between what God asks us to do and what Babylon asks her people to do? It is not found so much in the actual performance; it is in the motivation.
We are told in I Corinthians 12:31a: But earnestly desire the greater gifts. How can we earnestly desire a gift of the Holy Spirit and yet so thoroughly condemn ambition?
When a man ambitiously seeks his place and his ministry, he is being personally motivated without dedication to the Lord.
This personal motivation can even carry over into a marriage or any other relationship. When someone says, “I want to be fulfilled,” he may mean that he is not getting what he wants out of a relationship; perhaps he is not receiving the attention he wants. He could be as guilty of the wrong motivation as is mystery Babylon, the mother of harlots.
What is the difference between love and lust?
It may not be found in the intensity of the desire, but in the fact that love has an intense dedication to it, whereas lust does not; it has only the intense desire.
What is the difference between a harlot and a pure young bride who is very much in love?
As far as the relationship is concerned, the difference is found in the dedication. A bride may intensely desire her husband, and this is proper and right if her dedication is right.
However, when a male or a female has that same intense desire, but without commitment, then God calls it lust.
Do you think that people who commit adultery have a real desire for each other? Evidently they do. In fact, it could become so intense that they are almost “driven up the wall” over it.
What is the difference, then, between this desire and that which a Christian couple can have? It is found in the commitment, in the dedication.
The difference between love and lust illustrates the difference between the programming and ambition of Babylon and the discipleship that God is bringing forth in us now. Dedication is the key.
If your dedication and your love for Christ equal your desire, you have a combination that God always smiles upon.
For what purpose do you desire the gifts and a ministry? Why do you want to have a part in the prayer and intercession? Why do you want to be effective? Begin to analyze your own motivation. Is it because you have a deep burden to see the Kingdom of God and His glory come forth, or is it really for your own benefit?
Intensity has never been condemned by God. He never lays a prohibition on wholeheartedness, whether it be a spiritual desire, a soulish desire, or a physical desire. He does not condemn it per se, because He created it.
He created us as we are. He created us with a capacity for a great deal of intensity. However, Satan tries to take this normal, natural drive and desire—even our seeking after God—and separate it from total commitment and dedication to the Lord. When that has been accomplished, God condemns it.
In chapters 12, 13, and 14 of I Corinthians, Paul wrote about the gifts and ministries of the Holy Spirit. He tells us, … desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. I Corinthians 14:1.… since you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek to abound for the edification of the church. I Corinthians 14:12.
There is nothing wrong with desiring earnestly to speak in tongues or to prophesy, if there is the commitment to love with it. But if you do not have that dedication to love, you will just be another part of the great whore Babylon.
Tongues could even be condemned in some instances, for Paul tells us, “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not love, I am as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal” (I Corinthians 13:1).
We cannot condemn the drive to move in God unless it is coupled with a wrong motivation, and then we do condemn it. Then it must stop until the heart is right before the Lord.
Prophecy is just fine, but when men have such gifts without dedication, they become false prophets.
Why is Balaam called one of the greatest false prophets of all time? Why does Jude warn us about the error of Balaam? (Jude 11.) Didn’t Balaam have a good ministry? Did he prophesy anything wrong? Of course not.
Then what caused him to become listed as a false prophet? It was because he was lacking in dedication. He had the intense desire to be a prophet, but he did not have the right motivation—love. He wanted the money.
It is not wrong to desire spiritual gifts. In fact, we should desire them more earnestly and be more intense in our drive to acquire them. Want them, but be sure that your motivation and your dedication are just as intense as your desire for these gifts from God. Then you will be a dedicated disciple who labors more abundantly than they all. The intensity of your dedication justifies the intensity of your actions.
Colossians 1:29 is a familiar verse, but let us apply it now in the context of this message. Paul wrote, And for this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.
In effect, Paul had turned loose the effectiveness of the indwelling Christ within him—that anointing of the Holy Spirit—and he was striving earnestly to fulfill it. What was his motivation? Was it to excel over his brethren? No, for in the previous verse he wrote, And we proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ.
He had the motivation and the drive to present every man perfect in Christ. And with that motivation he demanded that he move effectively in God. He demanded that there would be a striving according to the mighty power of the Spirit through his life. You cannot bring too much of God into the picture. You cannot strive too much. You cannot earnestly desire too much. It is all within the scope of God’s Word, and He will bless it.
There is no danger of our becoming too intense in our intercession. However, if it is just sound and fury, if it is exhibitionism, with nothing more to it, then God will condemn it and blow on it and it will stop.
But if our motivation and our drive for the Kingdom are as perfect as the violence of our spirit in its eruption, then God will smile on it and bless it. Barriers will be blasted loose; impasses will vanish.
There can never be too much focus on what we are striving to see God do and on our desire to move in Him. We cannot want it too much, unless we want it without corresponding dedication.
Do you want a gift? Paul said, “If a man earnestly desires the ministry of a bishop, he desires a good work” (I Timothy 3:1). That is not ambition.
Ambition is found when there is not the dedication and the burden, that humble submission of your spirit to the Lord.
Paul wrote of this in Philippians 1:27–30. Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ; so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; in no way alarmed by your opponents—which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God. For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me.
The Philippians were involved in the same conflict as the apostle Paul, because they had the same dedication he had. He encouraged them, “Stand fast. You will not become casualties in this war, even though you are experiencing the same battle in yourselves that you saw in me and heard was in me.”
Anyone can make it. You become a casualty only if you violently go after the devil without having the deep dedication to the Lord. The devil will knock you down every time, and you will be likened to the sons of Sceva. They said, “This formula ought to work. We adjure you by Jesus, whom Paul preaches, that you come out.” The demon replied, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know. I am well acquainted with their dedication. I am well acquainted with the deep, pure motivation of their hearts. But who are you?” (Acts 19:13–16.)
In I Corinthians 13:3 Paul wrote, “I could give my body to be burned, but it will profit me nothing if I do not have love.” Nothing will be real in your life unless the dedication to the Lord and the motivation behind it are pure. That is what makes it work.
We read in the Word about the disciples performing miracles, but mingled in those stories are also the accounts where the place where they had gathered was shaken, and they spoke the Word of God with boldness (Acts 4:31).
They said, “We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. O Lord, glorify Your name” (Acts 4:20). They did not pray, “Lord, vindicate us.” Their prayer was that Christ would be exalted, that He would be glorified. The anointing upon them was based upon their deep motivation, their deep dedication to the Lord.
As long as we have something to prove, we will prove nothing. But when we only want to glorify the Lord with proper dedication and motivation, our words will never fall to the ground, nor will our efforts ever fail.
Read again the stories of the men of faith—those men of whom the world was not worthy—and be amazed at the works which they did. But also notice the motivation that they had. Wouldn’t you like to see your efforts work just as effectively?
Hebrews 11:2 tells us that by their faith, the men of old gained approval. Verse 3 continues: By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. We must have that great faith.
The reason that the Christian world has not moved in the exploits, the signs and wonders, and the greater works is because the ingredient of dedication was missing.
It is true that the Lord has promised, “Ask what you will and it shall be done unto you.” But that promise also contains the condition, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you” (John 15:7). When there is that clinging to the Lord, it will work.
We are not turning to an introspection of ourselves when we say, “Let’s take another look. Before we approach the great problems and impasses, let us be sure that we can say, ‘Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. It is all Yours. We are Yours. We want to glorify You.’ ”
That kind of total surrender in our own heart to the Lord Jesus Christ will result in a total defeat of the satanic powers when we voice His name. Then when we say, “In the name of Jesus, come out” the demons must obey.
The demons know that they have to respond to the truth of what that name is to you. If that name is not everything to you, it does not have to be anything to them when you voice it.
The experience of the sons of Sceva illustrates this truth. When we love Him and totally bow to that name, when His glory is the only thing we desire, then we will be as intense and as effective as the Word tells us to be, and we will walk in the exploits and the signs and wonders.
This is a pure principle of the Kingdom. We will see the impasses broken before us when we have totally submitted to the Lord, and we have had Him wash away all of those fleshly ambitions which color our efforts.
How many times have you prayed earnestly for something—which according to the Word was within the scope of God’s will for you to have—only to have the Lord make you lay it on the altar? Your desire for it was great and that desire was not wrong, nor was the objective wrong; but your dedication to walk in it was not right.
There was nothing apparently wrong when Simon the magician (Acts 8) came to the apostles and said, “Here is some money. Now lay your hands on me and give me that gift so that I can lay hands on people and have them receive the Holy Spirit.”
Technically, all the various components were right. Simon wanted to give the apostles some money. Wasn’t that marvelous? He wanted to receive a special gift from the apostles. He wanted to lay hands on people so that they might receive the Holy Spirit. Wasn’t that commendable?
Yet Peter looked at him and said, “Your money perish with you. Your heart is not right; you are in the gall of bitterness” (Acts 8:20–23). He saw what was in the man, and what was in him made everything that he wanted—no matter how legitimate and scriptural it was—a filthy thing in the sight of God. This account illustrates the difference between the Bride of Christ and the whore.
If you were to weigh the heart of a citizen of religious Babylon, you might find that he desires to move in the things of God just as much as you do. He hears a word that may be letter-perfect and very acceptable to the orthodox, because it offends no one. It probably presents good sound truths before the world. What, then, is wrong with it? Why is it different from the Kingdom message?
No matter how exact and orthodox it is, it will never have life; it will never be a Living Word, because of the motivation of the men who speak it.
If their motivation were to see Christ glorified, they would not be seeking their own personal glory and financial security. Unless the Word first lives in a man, it will not live through his lips.
Let us voice the prayer of David, “Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me” (Psalm 139:23–24).
If there is something lacking in our hearts which causes us to be ineffective, let us take steps to see it corrected. Out with the things of the flesh that would defile us! Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God (II Corinthians 7:1).
God has promised to walk among us, to move through us, and to speak through us; and we yearn for that, not with improper ambition, but with the intense desire that is normal and right and scriptural.
We cannot desire it too much. We cannot dedicate ourselves too much to the plan of God that is coming forth for His glory alone. As inevitably as day follows night, we are going to break through when we come before the Lord with the motivation that is acceptable in His sight. We will then see the power of God released. This is the season for it. This will be the day of exploits, the day of effectiveness, the day when Christ will be glorified in His many-membered Body.
Every time the Lord speaks, He does a little more to bring forth a purified priesthood that can stand and worship Him. He refines all the sons of Levi, that they may offer an acceptable offering in purity, as in the days of old (Malachi 3:3–4).
All of God’s dealings upon us have been necessary. Otherwise we probably would have been destroyed if we had had the revelation of the restored Church with its gifts and ministries and had begun to move in those gifts without first experiencing that deep work of the cross to purify our hearts before the face of the Lord.
Paul exhorts us in Romans 12:1: “I beseech you by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice.” If we do that, then each one will move in the gift that God has for him and he will move effectively.
We are not peddlers of the Word of God. We are the Word of God coming forth. We are becoming the epistles, read and known of all men. When they see us, may they not see the impurities that would cause them to turn away. Let them find only the refinement—in motivation and in dedication to the Lord.