The Seventh Epistle.
DATELINE: Sunday, December 10, 2000.
Look Beyond the Flesh.
By Rev. James R. Bingham
Special to corndancer.com
Posted from Memphis, Tennessee
Luke 24:44-45
44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures.
What we are faced with, today, is the desire of a dying mentality, the worldview, to be recognized and validated. First of all, God Bless you for giving an ear to this faith-responsive epistle.
Much of what we are about today is trying to become part of a new world. I don't want to take the romanticism from our quest. Indeed, every movement -- and this is a movement -- has a certain amount of romanticism attached to it. The romanticism makes it attractive, worthwhile. It infuses us with dreams, aspirations, hopes, and a determination to transform the present conditions of a world that no longer satisfies the needs of the people into a world that mirrors the ultimate hopes and perfected dreams of the people.
Where there is no beauty, we create beauty. Where there is no peace, we strive to accomplish peace. We are very much involved in the creation of our world.
A Desire to Be
Recognized and Validated.
To be recognized and validated: Is that want we really want? Are we like the drunk or vagrant, who hangs on the street corner, seeking the profane reward of the world's disdain? The vagrant lurks on the street until a pretty girl comes along. He knows he hasn't a snowball's chance in a hot furnace to win a date with her, but he yells out, "hey baby" or "let me pop those stockings" or "hey uptown girl, do you want a real downtown man?"
The woman continues walking. Maybe she is offended. To the vagrant, her offense (or her fear) doesn't matter. All he wants is a crumb from her psyche. Acknowledge me, he begs. Say something, anything! In the instance when she does, he is recognized. His existence is validated.
Well, along that line, from the well of the worldview, I lift the ladle of romanticism and tell you that this pungent and foul old world has yelled out to us, "The Bride of Christ! Hear me: The Bride of Christ!" We have turned and replied, "You are disgusting!" Even though we despise this evil world, we recognize it, validate it, and give credence to its existence.
An old gospel song says it this way, it says,
"One day when heaven was filled with His praises,
one day when sin was as bad as could be,
that's when Jesus came down to be born of a virgin.
He dwelt among men."
My point is he came to set free those who were in captivity to sin.
The People Were Enslaved
By a System Contrary to Righteousness.
Jesus saw that people were subdued and enslaved by a system contrary to righteousness. The hand of God had been lifted away from the people; the system was groomed in sin. People were sick and tired of being taxed unfairly. They were sick and tired of dictatorial rule. They were sick and tired of being forced to live in poverty. They were just plain old tired of being sick and tired.
Then Jesus said to them,
John 12:25
He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
Like so much of the scripture, that paradoxical truth from the mouth of our Lord -- love it and lose it, hate it and keep it -- could be confusing if you are not listening with the right ear. Ponder what it might be, what it truly is that the Lord wants us to keep and what he wants us to lose.
A Phoenician woman came to Jesus and said, "Master, help me." Jesus, who was tired at the time, told her, I didn't come for you.
Matthew 15:25-26
25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.
I envision a table graced with loaves of bread. I see the woman, standing there beside the table, gazing at the bread. But wasn't Jesus walking? What's this talk about a table?
Questions to Ponder and Probe.
What, then, was Jesus talking about? Why would he choose such a moment to declare favoritism? Was he indeed heedless to the needs of the woman, who obviously wanted her existence to be validated?
Ponder those questions. Go with me, now, into scripture that you may see beyond the surface of my discourse.
Jesus is saying in Luke, look at verse 44, "These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me."
Reflect on the words of the prophets, on the pronouncement of Moses, on the lyric melody of the psalms. Well, throughout Jesus' sojourn on the earth, it was found that the people knew the words of scripture, but not the meaning of scripture. They didn't understand it.
You see in verse 44 that Jesus began with Moses and continued to the Psalms. Scripture tells us that because of the people's disbelief, a veil had been placed over their face. Is that right? When Moses came down from the mountain, his face shown so bright that a veil was placed over his face to allow the people to look upon him. He removed the veil when he went to talk to God, Exodus 32.
Yet later, Paul declares in II Corinthians that a veil was over the face of the people since Moses' time (3:14). This is the veil that blinded their minds: For until this day remaineth the same Vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which Vail is done away in Christ.
A Brilliant Flash of Truth.
Here we go. "Which Vail is done away in Christ." This tells us that by recognizing and validating Christ, something, a kind of blindness, is removed from our spiritual eyes. Suddenly, we see a brilliant flash of truth that reveals what is really being portrayed beyond what we first thought, that which was previously hidden.
In the Age when Jesus was sent by his Father to die for the redemption of man, mental slavery had engulfed the children of God, who sought in vain to remain faithful to the Mosaic Law.
Jesus traveled the lengths of the rocky road to a hill called Calvary and there he died for those who were and are blinded by the sins of the world. At the moment of his death, something miraculous happened. The Vail of the temple was rent in two. That Vail, the worldly cloth of spiritual blindness, the barrier which separated the people from the Holy of Holies, was torn in two, in an instant, by the all-powerful hand of God. Yes, by God. It was rent from top to bottom. It was disposed from on high. Think about it!
The tearing of the veil was a physical demonstration of our next verse. After Jesus died and returned, scripture says, he opened their understanding that they may know the word of God. They had an understanding of the surface of things; their eyes moved over the physical pages of the scriptures, the dying words on the page, but they needed God to open their understanding so they could know the truth and meaning of the scriptures. They needed God to breathe life back into the Word! He brings from the superficial high to the brink of nothingness. Then, we can see. He does it from top to bottom.
Peace, Love, Beauty.
He blessed them so they could see beyond the flesh, beyond the physical. He gave them power to be as He is. What? He is able to look beyond our faults and see what we truly desire. Peace, love, beauty.
He saw that we no longer wanted to live under the rule of evil. Isn't that true for you? He saw that we no longer wanted to live in a kind of world where people down us for trying to have more than a morsel of bread. Don't we? He saw that we no longer wanted to suffer a life where the declaration of our faith brought more and more oppression and degradation. Right?
True to the words of the prophets, Jesus' death provided an opening for reprieve from bondage to sin. He said with my death, my martyrdom, the physical thing has been done, the flesh has been overcome. The sins of this world have been overcome. There is but one enemy left standing. And that is death itself. You can't overcome death unless your heart is right. Then your shout shall be, "Death, where is thy sting. Grave, O grave, where is thy victory?"
He said, Now I will open your hearts and minds to see as I see.
It is time to understand what this new thing, this radical movement, this spiritual revolution is all about. He said, When I spoke of bread, I was not speaking of the loaves you eat with your mouth. He offered a clue: "Man should not live by bread alone, but by every word.…" He said, I wasn't talking about your holding on to a life of sin and disgust, I was talking about a life eternal that blossoms and grows according to the Word. I wasn't talking about a Vail that covered your physical face, but a Vail that blinded your hearts. Now, by the power of the almighty God, I open your hearts, I open your minds, I give you power to be called the sons of God.
The Right and the Duty
To Institute New Government.
The founding fathers of the United States of America said this best in the Declaration of Independence.
"--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."
Let us, then, take back from the devil what he has stolen from us. We need not be ashamed, nor afraid to plunge into battle, to respond to the call. The call is to claim that which we truly want. He, our God, our champion and our protector, knows that we are covered in sin, but he has looked beyond it all to give us a victory over sin, poverty, depression, loneliness, despair, self-doubt, and defeat.
The victory is already given to us. Declare it. Declare your victory over sin and death. Declare it with the same bold voice as princely David did when he stood up to engage the giant Goliath. "The battle is the Lord's!" Declare it and win.
And finally, here is a mystery. Though you battle towards victory, the realization of the victory, its sweet taste, can only be realized by removing the vail. What, then, removes the vail? Look into your hearts. Open your hearts. Someone is standing on the outside waiting to come in and sup with you. Let Him in. Let Him in!! Let Him in!!!
Give God Some Praise!
EDITOR'S NOTE: Rev. Bingham
can be reached by E-mail at
jamesrbingham@juno.com.
His phone number in Memphis is
901.785.5691.