Stressful troubles, how?

Preamble: Recently, my distant friend, Ps Prentis put up 2 articles, back to back, touching on Psalm 91:14-15, and 1 Pet 5:6-7, on his blog, “Created to give Glory”.  As these talked about troubles, stresses, and worrying, and about God’s presence with us, and His protection and deliverance, I want to put up the 2 comments (combined, with some rearrangements) I put up on Ps Prentis’ blog, on the subject. Ps 91 is a very significant psalm, and it has the very beautiful promises commonly on the lips of believers all over. I have previously put up an entry on the entire Ps 91; you can read it here: Ps 91 – Secret to our well-being.

Speak it, preach it
Yes, speak about this one; preach it, Ps 91 verses 14-15.

Ps 91 is a very beautiful psalm, also commonly known as the Protection Psalm. Readers should go read it; you will see the promises frequently on the lips of believers found there.

How do we get there – dwelling in the shelter of the Most High?
The Psalm opens with "Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty." After that, the beautiful promises of God are given.

But what many of us fail to tell people, or maybe we ourselves, do NOT know, is how one gets to dwell in the shelter of the Most High.

Is that a physical place? Where is the shelter of the Most High? How do we get there?

It doesn’t work?
In fact, many believers are disappointed, for often what they read in Scripture, like the beautiful promises of protection in this Psalm 91, they do NOT seem to come through for them. After a while, they give up, and conclude we cannot take the Word at its face value! Part of the blame lies with us, we don't properly tell people that many of these promises have conditions attached to them.

I am NOT saying if we do NOT fulfill the conditions attached, we will NEVER be able to receive the promises; I am NOT saying that. What I am saying is that if God puts condition(s) to His promise, it is NOT unreasonable of Him to expect you and I, to fulfill it/them.

Verses 14-15 – the key
The key to Ps 91's promises is in verses 14-15. Where is the shelter of the Most High? How do you get there? Is it a physical place? No, it is NOT a physical place. You and I get there by loving God.

When we get into trouble, it is NOT that God does NOT want to come and get us out of our trouble; He can easily do that. It is He can always do that, but the question is, do we know what is the point/lesson that can be learned from our scenario.

Getting into troubles
How do we commonly get into trouble? We disobey God or some commands of God. For example, God's Word said NOT to steal, but you did it. Or God's Word said that we are to seek first His Kingdom and righteousness, and then what we need, they would be added to us, but you don't want to follow that, instead you decided to put all your time and attention to your career, even if it would take a toll on your health or family. God can come and help you out, but will you learn the lesson therein?

Some people when they are in trouble, all they want and care about, is how are you, God, going to get me out of this? God can get them out, but they would get into trouble again and again. "But God is patient-what!" Hello, it is you have to grow; it is NOT God has to grow in patience! God's desire is for all of us to grow.

Back to square one if you don’t know how to love God
So, I have said, you got to love God; that is the key to availing yourselves to the protection promises of God, there, in Ps 91. But if you don't know how to love God, you are back to square one - where you don't know how to dwell in the shelter of the Most High?

Is it that obvious, how we are to love God? No, I don't think so. Make a guess, now. No, don't say, we are to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength! That still does NOT say how?

What Jesus said
Jesus did say how - Obey His commands. Short and sharp, but pastors are NOT preaching it, no wonder people are NOT knowing it. It is repeated many times in the writings of the Apostle John. Two verses that I like, on this, are John 14:15 and John 14:21a.

How can you get to dwell in the shelter of the Most High? Love Him. How to love Him? Obey His commands. How do we say, people commonly get into trouble? They did NOT obey God's commands. See, God can get you out of your trouble, but if you continue NOT to obey His commands, you are just NOT loving Him, and you continue to get into trouble.

Hello, NOT God does, and then you give Him some love!
Then, there are those who would like to have God's protection all the time. Anything wrong with that? No, I like that too. But then, how do we love God? Some people do this, "This Sunday, I will go to church, and sing a few thanksgiving songs to God, since I have had relief from my trouble. God has indeed helped me," But then, the week following that, they don't go anymore. You know, how bad this attitude is. I tell you what you are in effect, doing: You are holding out that God is the one needing teaching or growing; in fact, you are saying in His face, "God, if and when you help me, I will give you praise! God, you do first, then I give you love!” What audacity is that!

We need to love God for who He is and we are to worship Him in the like of the 3 friends of Daniel who were thrown in the furnace by the King Nebu. You can read the full story in Daniel 3. This is what the threesome said:

17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up. ” (Daniel 3:17-18)

That is loving God; NOT you (God) do, and then I reciprocate.

Two other ingredients
Ps Prentis mentioned 2 other ingredients for getting help from God in your time of trouble. They are that you are to identify with God, and you are to call out to God. They are mentioned in verses 14 & 15 of Ps 91. They can be regarded as being part and parcel of loving God, but we can take it out and explicitly point it out to people; and I will elaborate on them a little bit more.

NOT one-time, but continual acknowledgment
Actually, when you gave your life over to Jesus, when you entered into salvation, you are identified with Jesus, or to use the words in verse 14, you have acknowledged Jesus. But the problem with many of us, is that we soon “go on to do our own things”, and so, in the process we have failed to follow through with our commitment to be in continual acknowledgment of Him. Now, if you think you only need to do that, once, at the point of your entry into salvation, and can then just do what you like, without change in your life or lifestyle, you have been taught under erroneous core theology of the Christian faith (to me, that is being legalistic/legalism). Don’t let false teachers fool you, how you live shows if you are acknowledging Him; you go legalism or legalistic with God, you cannot win your case.

The correct way ….vs the wrong way
When you are already a believer, acknowledgment of Him means you live according to His prescription (how you live), and when you are off, you have to acknowledge that, you are off, and you need to turn back, and resume the way of life prescribed by God (no lie, no steal, and so on…). Yes, that means you confess you have strayed; you repent, and you turn to God for forgiveness. Yes, acknowledge Him again, with a humble and contrite heart. Don’t listen to teaching that tells you the only thing you need to do, is to tell the Devil off, by telling the Devil that you are still righteous. Who do you need to acknowledge, the Devil or God? Look, who is going to see you to Heaven, the Devil or God? What we need to address foremost, is our issue with God, NOT you don’t have to come before God, just tell the Devil off. I am NOT saying there is anything wrong with telling the Devil off, per se, but it is that we have to foremost, address our issue with God.

Taking God for granted
The common sense that we have to call out to God, to some people, it turns out to be NOT that common! Please, you cannot insist this, “He is God-what, He knows everything-what, He knows even before I ask, then I don’t need to tell Him-what!” You will be surprised that many believers do this to God. Yes, God, as well as the angels He assigned, watch over you, and without you knowing, help you a lot; but you cannot take Him for granted. Yah, you are taking Him for granted; you don’t even be bothered to talk to Him about your problem. You don’t want to dialogue with your loved ones, like your spouse, and then you expect him/her to anticipate, and act just in the nick of time to take care of things. Oh! You don’t do that to your loved ones, your spouse, but you will do that to God! Isn’t He your most loved one, ahead of your spouse!

“He doesn’t hear me!”
If you have been loving your God, and say, you strayed or did a wrong or sin, and then you acknowledged Him again, and you called out to Him, would He NOT answer you? Verse 15 said He would. Some people have this attitude: “I don’t think He hears me, please pray for me to God.” I will pray for people who need prayer. I don’t credit myself as a righteous man, that my prayer avails much, but if you trust that my prayer can help, I will help. But people do need to examine themselves. Do I ask others to pray for me? Sure I do. But I also pray myself. If I ask people to pray for me for a matter, I must have or be prepared to pray to God myself concerning the matter. You have to ask yourself, why you won’t call out to God on the matter.

He always hears, but may NOT listen to you!
God hears it when a believer prays, like He hears it, when a doorbell rings! That is the minimum; in other words, God always hears. The Hebrew word is “Shama”, which can mean “hear”, like hear a doorbell ringing, on the one end, or “listen” or listen to give efficacy, tending on the other end. Does God hear you? God hears you, alright; but He may NOT listen to you.

Stubbornly wicked believers, sorry, you cannot expect God to listen to you, as in, do as you want! Of course, NOT; in fact, in the extreme scenario, He may NOT hear you, but that, I believe, is NOT before He already warned you (exception to God always hearing you).

How you look at it, and how God looks at it
What some people want to do, is that they don’t want to re-acknowledge God, but they want God to listen. If you don’t want to re-acknowledge (from the heart, like what has been explained above), God hears, but He may NOT listen, meaning He may NOT give efficacy to your request. For God, what is more important is you get back right with Him. To us, God looks always tarrying, but to God, He is eager to pounce on the moment of change He wants to see.

Sometimes, He does NOT give you what you want, but answers you differently, for He knows best how to mould you or direct you, for our own good (old fashion, but true!).

No, it is NOT you won’t have any trouble
When you love Him, including obeying His commands, when you acknowledge Him (NOT just at the time of your salvation, but continually acknowledging Him, and if you stumble, you re-acknowledge Him), and you call on Him, in humility and with a contrite heart, He will answer you. In verse 15, it clearly said there, that IN YOUR TROUBLE, He will be with you (See, God never say, you will have NO trouble in your Christian life or when you are dwelling in the shelter of the Most High or when you are loving your God). In other words, in your journey on earth, God journeys with you. And He will rescue/deliver you, protect you and even honor you. Herein, are the keys to a good Christian life. What more do you ask – God walks with you (think Enoch), rescues/delivers you, protects you and even honors you. Yes, some trouble; what to do, you and I, are still in the world; but they ought NOT be stressFULL, when you are dwelling in the shelter of the Most High.

The 2nd text – it ought NOT be stressful
1 Pet 5:6-7 – 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Although different texts (Ps 91:14-15 and 1 Pet 5:6-7) were being referred to, all the same, the theme was that, our obedience from our love is absolutely essential.

Ok, some of us can be in trouble, but NOT stressed (or NOT much). This is because you trust that God is with you in your trouble - yes, as said in Psalm 91:14-15. For all others, trouble means stress; because you worry, and you worry because you have no confidence that God is going to help you through.

And yes, one can be stressed even before he gets into trouble. This is because he already started to worry even before trouble hits.

Either you have NOT obeyed or you lack godly wisdom
In either case, it (trouble/stress/worry) is usually, as correctly pointed out, because you have NOT obeyed God or His Word. Or at times, you just do NOT know what to do, or you lack godly wisdom to handle the situation.

Why do you NOT want to obey?
Why do you NOT want to obey God or His word, which would account for the much worrying, stresses or troubles? To me, no matter how you look at it, it always come back to, either you refuse to be holy as God is holy, or you refuse to love God (Of course, I will NOT argue with you, if you only state it as solely because you refuse to be holy as God is holy, because the two are related, too).

These links you must know and understand
The laws or commands of God, His righteousness and justice are the demands of His holiness. They are the outworking from the holiness and wisdom of God. When we refuse to obey, we are refusing to acknowledge the demands of holiness, or we can say, we are refusing to be holy as God is holy.

When we refuse to obey, we can also be said as NOT loving God, for Jesus said those who love Him, obey His commands (John 14:15) and those who obey His commands are those who love Him (John 14:21a).

What about lack of godly wisdom?
If we say, "But we do NOT know what to do, we lack wisdom-what; that is why we did this or did NOT do that", Scripture indicated to us, that is also NOT excusable! Scripture said, "He who lacks wisdom, let him ask, and God will give to all without undeserved reproach, generously." (James 1:5).

But I don’t get!
Some might protest, "But I ask-what; I don't get! James 1:5 cannot be relied upon!" No, there is the "without undeserved reproach" in James 1:5. What is that? Think, how does Scripture say, concerning how wisdom is to come.

The fear of the Lord – the special meaning
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom or godly wisdom. The "fear of the Lord" was given a special meaning in the Word. The fear of the Lord, in the Book of Proverbs, is said to be to hate what God hates, evil. What is the opposite of evil or wickedness? Holy or holiness. So what does it mean? It means if you don't embrace holiness, you don't get wisdom. If you want godly wisdom, embrace holiness wholeheartedly.

The given provisio of James 1:5
Now, we come back to the "without undeserved reproach" in the giving of wisdom by God, as said in James 1:5. The interpretation for James 1:5 becomes, "If you lack wisdom, and you ask, God will give it generously to you (all of you) provided you are embracing holiness wholeheartedly. If you are impure, you are NOT without undeserved reproach. Actually, it is very true that it is NOT that one does NOT know what to do; it is that he is of impure heart or intent, and so, he chooses NOT, according to that, which the godly wisdom of God would prescribe. (Additionally, in vv6-8 of James 1, the one who asks must believe and NOT doubt).

Humility is embracing God is holy and awesome
Concerning the humility in the text, 1 Pet 5:6-7, it is a good word to open up to such subjects as obedience, which Ps Prentis did, and such other subjects as pride of Man, and holiness and awesomeness of God. To humble ourselves before God means we are acknowledging we are low (humilis – Latin word) and God is high, meaning we are NOT better than God. When God is better, we are NOT, what does it mean? It simply calls for us to listen to the better one, God; and when you are listening to God, what are you doing, you are obeying Him. To humble before God necessarily mean you have to obey Him; Ps Prentis said it rightly.

One can look from the angle of goodness. Jesus said, when the young rich man called Him good teacher, “Why you call me good (teacher)! Only God is good. There you have it – we are low in good, God is absolute good, or holy. To be humble before God is to acknowledge that God is good, absolute good or holy, and we are NOT. That which comes from absolute good or holy can only be wisdom; and so, to humble before God necessarily mean you have to obey Him, for He has the all wisdom. When we recognize the holiness and wisdom of God, we realize the awesomeness of God (of course, the might of God comes in, too); and we should have no room for self-pride before God.

When we embrace God is holy and awesome, and thus humbled, we cannot, but love Him, and we obey Him.

Want less stress or stressful troubles?
You want to have less stress or worry NOT, catch it - catch that God is holy, that God is wisdom, that God is awesome, and God is righteous, and God loves you unto righteousness. When you are obeying Him, you are loving Him (John 14:21a), and when you humble yourself before Him, you are acknowledging Him, and when you ask, including wisdom for your scenario, Psalm 91:14-15 tell us that you will NOT be disappointed; for there, God promises rescue, deliverance, protection, presence, and even honor. Yes, honor; 1 Pet 5:6 put it as ‘He may lift you up in due time’.

God loves you
I just said Psalm 91:14-15 tell us that we will NOT be disappointed, but what is the overall picture painted by the 2 verses? God loves and cares for you. That is what 1 Pet 5:7 said, God cares for you, and so, you can cast your anxiety to Him.

You need to remain in His love, but how?
By now, you should have known that the main key to Psalm 91 is loving God. Remember now, all of these, “so good promises of God”, they are requiring you to love God - love Him back, that He has first loved you.

Jesus said, in John 15:9-10, 9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.

YOU AND I NEED TO LOVE GOD BY OBEYING HIS COMMANDS, TO REMAIN IN HIS LOVE. This is NOT my words, but Jesus’.

Please REJECT the teaching that tells you, you have just to bask in grace, chuck the laws (commands), and don’t have to do anything, or can do anything with just the need to tell the devil off!

The secret to our well-being is love God; and one key way to love God is to obey His commands. Do it, and you will have lesser (NOT nil) troubles, and possibly nil stressful trouble.


Anthony Chia, high.expressions – Lord, this is a recipe for the well-being of your children. May you bless the above reading, for it is your desire that your children be well. May they receive your prescriptions for their lives. Amen.

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Hide NOT under filthy rags

PART I

As I write, this article turns out to be a 2-parts series. Part I has come to be more or less, a teaching, although articles I put under my blog heading of “Concerning my `little ministry’” should generally be testimonial or journal in nature. This part, centered around “That we sin, no excuse for NOT working”, is of itself NOT devoid of link with the “little ministry”, as you shall see. Part II of this article will be both reflective and journaling.

Journaling is good
More than 3 months have passed since I last wrote about my little ministry; the last article being, “Lord, what are you saying in these?” I have just re-read that article, and it is indeed good for me to go over the things the Lord had done through me, my thoughts and promises to the Lord. Christians should do some kind of journaling, so that they do NOT go through life forgetful of the workings of the Lord for them and through them, and their words given to their Lord. How many of us already forgotten this year’s resolution we made at the start of the year concerning our walk with the Lord? It is through the re-read that I have just done, of the last article, that I remember that I pledged to be abandoned to the Lord this year.

We are soldiers and servants of God
As Christians, are we clear that when we gave of our lives to the Lord, Jesus Christ, we are all enlisted into the army of God, and are part of the wider spiritual war that has been going on? We are all soldiers of the Lord; but are you functioning as a soldier? Or are you a MIA (missing in action)? Or have you mutinied? Or are you just adopting the layback attitude, and always saying, “Lord, NOT me, send him, and him, and him; just do NOT send me!”?

That we sin, no excuse for not working
Be careful NOT to adopt the attitude of saying, “But my works are like filthy rags to the Lord, and so, I should stop doing them. Anthony Chia (or any other) is different, what he does pleases the Lord, let him do it.” Yes, there is a verse in the Bible that mentioned works (NIV) being filthy rags, but we have to understand what God was driving at, there.

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; (Isaiah 64:6a, NIV). No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and made us waste away because of our sins. (Isaiah 64:7, NIV)

During his time, Isaiah said, no one called on God’s name or strived to lay hold of God (so sad, a state), for God had hidden His face from them. The people were wasting away because of their sins. This was a time period when the people of God sinned greatly before God (see Isaiah 1:2-4), so much so, that God “put His presence far” from the people of God. God would turn away His face when the people prayed to Him; He would NOT even listen to them! – see Isaiah 1:15 {God DID hear, but did NOT listen to them – there is a difference between the two}.

The Israelites then had become like one who was unclean (like a leprous person, greatly feared and ostracized) and all their righteous acts (including good works) were like filthy rags.

First view – before salvation, unrighteous, therefore filthy rags
There are 2 ways of viewing the scenario painted by Isaiah. One is that before salvation, we are all unrighteous, and so, any good works are also unrighteous, all are like filthy rags.

Generally speaking, it is of course, right to say if one is unrighteous, nothing truly righteous can come from him. The use of leprous person as an analogy was meant to portray the pervasiveness of the “unclean-ness” of the unrighteous person. Or in terms of a rag, if the rag is already filthy, how can it be used to make clean the surface it passes over! (Actually, the KJV used “all our righteousness are as filthy rags”, and NOT “our righteous acts are like filthy rags”).

If one subscribes to this rendering, then in his view, he may think that if one has become a believer, he is righteous, and so his acts are righteous, and therefore, his good works will NOT be filthy rags. If one looks at the matter like that, no believer can hide behind the filthy rags excuse, and NOT work for the Lord (Of course, “work” here does NOT mean one has to go into full-time work for the Lord). But I do NOT like this view (that it necessarily was referring to “before salvation”, and perfection was assumed upon born-again), for it implied that I, a believer, can NEVER be unrighteous, even if I disregarded the Word of God.

2nd view – we sin, we become unclean, filthy
The 2nd way of viewing is that Isaiah was NOT directly correlating the matter to salvation; all he was saying was that when we are in sins, and have become unclean, all our righteousness are like filthy rags. In fact, the KJV rendering of the verse has NO acts in it:

But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags; (Isaiah 64:6a, KJV)

This view is superior for a number of reasons: One, the Isaiah 64 passage was NOT on righteous ACTS/WORKS of the Israelites {Now, there are those who believe the olden use of righteousness in the KJ version meant righteous acts; nevertheless, it is the heart-condition that God looks at, acts are just observable manifestations thereof [Mat 15:8, Isaiah 29:13a, Mark 7:20-23]}. Two, Old Testament (OT) scriptures did NOT generally painted the picture that all of the righteous acts of all OT people (including the likes of Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Isaiah, David, etc) were filthy rags, despite Jesus was NOT yet manifest in their time to grant them salvation. Three, in the New Testament (NT) we read of this, in the Book of Acts, in Acts 10:31, Cornelius, a non-believer, a Gentile, but one who was devout and God-fearing who prayed and made much gifts to the poor, his prayers were heard by God, and his gifts were remembered by God. God sent the Apostle Peter to his house and he and his household were saved as a result. Cornelius’ good works were before his salvation, and God weighed them in.

Fear of God, an important key
You have to consider for yourselves, what Jesus said in Mark 7:20-23, whether He was only saying them as applicable to non-believers or it was generally applicable to all men (NOT just unsaved), when his disciples asked concerning the “clean and unclean” parable He gave, in answering the Pharisees and Sadducees. In Mark 7:20-23, we read this:

20 He {Jesus} went on: “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ 21 For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’”

I believe Jesus was referring to ALL men, and reality bears up to that. Many believers, and that is including myself, are NOT of totally pure hearts, and it got nothing to do (almost all the time) with whether or NOT they were born again “properly” or NOT. It is a matter of our fear of the Lord or lack of it, despite us being already born again.

I believe, apart from whether or NOT one is saved, God does look at whether or NOT, one is fearing Him. In a nutshell, if one is fearing God, one takes care to subscribe to 1 Pet 1:16 (or Lev 19:2) –

For it is written, “Be holy because I am holy.”

In elaboration, David who taught on the fear of God in Ps 34, said to note the followings, on our part:

1. Keep our tongue from evil, and our lips from speaking lies (Ps 34:13).
2. Turn from evil and do good (Ps 34:14a).
3. Seek peace, and pursue it (v14b). {The peace here should be interpreted in the context of the verse of turning from evil and doing good. The Jews then, relied on the Law, but today, we, Christians, have the Word, and laws written in our hearts}.

Those interested, can read my exposition of Ps 34 here: Ps 34 – I will teach you the fear of the LORD. It is interesting that David gave the last verse of that psalm (Ps 34:22a) as this, remember now that David’s era was before Jesus’ 1st coming:

The LORD redeems his servants;

In that article on Ps 34, I said that David did NOT “out of the blue” switch to another group of people, when he was talking about the righteous (Ah! Anyone in OT ever righteous? – more, in next para.). In fact, I believe he was, by verse 22, saying that only the righteous were the true servants of God. In other words, righteous ones of God do NOT contribute nothing, do NOT do nothing, of no fruit acceptable to the LORD – righteous ones bear fruits, and so, are the servants of the LORD. What did the verse (v22) said about what the LORD would do for his servants? Yes, He would redeem His servants. So, don’t you think we should be servants of the Lord, even if you have entered into the redemptive works of the Lord, for full redemption is yet to come?

As to the argument, if salvation was NOT being pointed to, could OT children be able to serve God in any acceptable manner? I submit to you that we need to understand there are 2 dimensions of righteousness; One, being the passive or imputed righteousness, and the other, the active righteousness. The OT children of God, Israelites then, they did NOT have the passive or imputed righteousness (of Jesus), but they were expected to have the active righteousness, although too many failed God too miserably. Those interested on an exposition on the righteousness of OT people, can read my separate article - Anyone in OT ever righteous since Jesus was not yet manifest then? In the article, I stressed that, it was whether or NOT one was in agreement with God and flowed with Him that mattered, in considering whether or NOT one was righteous. This was the case for the OT people, for they, IN THEIR TIME, had NOT the means (Christ Jesus) to “buy” them out.

Conclusion on Isaiah 64:6a
It is really NOT necessary to say that “the filthy rag” condition in Isaiah 64:6a was referring to the fallen state of men (from Original sin), although we can apply a similar analogy to the fallen state of men. The Isaiah’s scenario could stand (and I believe it is the correct position to take), as giving us a picture that, the Israelites then had so greatly sinned, that God described their condition (due to their doings, NOT as inherited) as filthy rags, nothing to do with the Original sin, as such. Isaiah made it very clear, in verse 7 (Isaiah 64:7), that God hid His face from them, and “made them waste away” because of THEIR sins. In other words, the Israelites then sinned and they did NOT address their sins, and had NOT yet receive the forgiveness from God (please, forgiveness did NOT always have to do with Jesus; He was NOT yet made manifest then). Throughout the OT, we read that God used men and women (with Original sin unaddressed; none had his Original sin addressed) (Abraham, Moses, Isaiah, David, and many ordinary men and women), and they served God. Yes, the thrust of those few verses of Isaiah 64 was that people of God then had sinned greatly and were NOT repentant.

Salvation a MUST, but works is part thereof
Sure, salvation through Jesus is a MUST for all, who want to have eternal life, but serving the Lord is part of that salvation, and one cannot say that he is saved, but He is saved, NOT to serve the Lord or to do good works. Ephesians 2:10 (KJV) said this: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” The Apostle James posed you this question: “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?”(James 2:14) You are redeemed, imputed righteousness, NOT to just bask in grace, but to be servant and soldier of the Lord.

I sin and therefore, NOT righteous, so I cannot serve, right? Wrong. Even the OT people of God could be forgiven by God and served Him, why can’t you and I repent and ask to be forgiven by God and serve Him? Isn’t it just a lame excuse to say that since I sin, I am unrighteous, a filthy rag, and so, my service or works cannot be acceptable to God, and so, why bother? Be careful now, if we are NOT forgiven, as we would like to claim (to avoid serving), how are we to get to Heaven? We cannot say we are forgiven (enough) to go to Heaven, but we are NOT, for works! We cannot argue we are righteous enough to go to Heaven and at the same time argue that we are NOT, to work for God! Ah! Do NOT be nonchalant about going to Heaven. If you love God, you should want to get to Heaven. Do you NOT know that you pain the heart of God that you want to “perish” in Hell?

Can God say our works are like filthy rags?
Sure, God indeed can; we have read that He did just that, in Isaiah 64:6, and like I implied, filthy rags can be applied to believers, like you and I. When God said it to me, an individual, it is one thing, but when it is said that God said it to a church, it is a BIG thing, especially if it is said that ALL the works of a church are like filthy rags. Such a word of prophecy is either NOT from God or the church concerned had become like the leprous person.

There are really only 2 options for such a church, one, to note that the prophecy was mis-delivered by the “prophet”, or two, go do “soul-searching” before God. Even as an individual needs to journal his walk with the Lord, the church must maintain a journal of sort, and it is the church leadership’s responsibility to review such a record of what God had been doing for the church, through the church (through her many ministries), saying to the church, and what the church had done for the Lord, and her words or promises given to the Lord, to access the credibility of such a prophecy is from the Lord.

In assessing the credibility, the leadership should take into account, if the church has been committing grave sins (idolatry, sexual impropriety, injustices, oppression, stumbling people, dishonesty), for a start, in regard to her clergymen; has been doing things without going before the Lord to see if they were in line with the wishes of the Lord. A point to note is that one of the redemptive works of the Lord is “works redemption”, and so, generally speaking, the lack of works is more prevalent than God’s complaining about too much works from His people. Of course, of the many things we do, the pertinent question is whether we regarded them unto the Lord (Romans 14:6); if they were NOT, they counted NOT.

Are you doing your own things? Are you doing sinful things? All of them, you camouflage under the guise of works of the Lord? Unless, it is really bad, I do NOT think that God would say to a church that ALL her works are like filthy rags. It is more likely that God will specify particular areas or sets of works rather than ALL works. The basis of my saying that, is that, I believe in a God who primarily wants to encourage his children towards the right direction (and to do good works, is in the right direction), and it is inconsistent with that spirit of encouragement and the redemptive works of our Lord, to, on a blanket basis, thumb down ALL good works, unless indeed the leaven has worked too pervasively through the “bread”. If the church has indeed reached this stage, then she better be on her knees, day and night, pleading for mercy and restoration from the Lord.

Why this subject
The reason I wrote at some length on the above subject is because such a word of prophecy had been released against a church, and I was present in the church. It set me to think, to consider, and to assess, for I am part of that church (member only). It would be a shame if the church leadership does NOT take a serious view of that word of prophecy, but I am NOT here saying that she does NOT. Because of what I do in church, I count myself as being covered in the prophecy; and on my own part I must assess the truth of the prophecy, especially against sets of words released in past few years concerning the church, and that which I believed the Lord had impressed upon me concerning the church for the last few years. I have to ask myself if what I have been doing in church, a filthy rag to God. Then I think about what went through the minds of the few thousand members of the congregation on hearing or knowing about the prophecy. Many of them were serving, one way or another; did they just brush it off? No, they could NOT do that, for 1 Thess 5:19-22 said this:

19 Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; 20 do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21 Test everything. Hold on to the good. 22 Avoid every kind of evil.

For those who did NOT (brush it off), how have their hearts sunk? The Lord was purportedly said, to have despised their good works. While I do NOT agree with the interpretation of 1 Cor 14:3-4 to mean New Testament prophecies cannot admonish or rebuke, the word released that “all the works of the church are like filthy rags” surely did NOT edify, rather it was so discouraging, unless the church has indeed become leprous.

Harvest is plentiful, workers are few
On the contrary, the more universal lack in the current age was the desire of fellow believers to engage in good works for the Lord (The harvest is plentiful but the labors are few, is always true; with greater world population, greater is the labor required).

One reason, the lie of good works pleases God NOT
There are a number of reasons for scarcity of workers, but I will only touch on one; and that is, that we think we can please God NOT, with good works.

I am NOT talking about those who think that God is already pleased with us, and nothing we do can please Him any more than He already is; this category of believers encourage just basking in grace, and they have to answer to God themselves.

I am referring to believers who feel we can please God NOT, with good works, because we feel we are NOT “fit” enough. Just look at how God grants salvation to people, all kinds of people; how God enlisted people into His army (you are enlisted the moment you are born again), all kinds of people. Do you think God is trying to fight the massive spiritual war with a few elite marksmen? I do NOT believe the word of God tells us that if you are NOT that sharp shooter, you are NOT to join in the battle. Sure, if you are a lousy shooter, you may NOT want to be a sniper, but maybe you have brute strength, and you can dig a few trenches; then go dig trenches in the battle. Sure, if it is war, we just cannot do our own things, but I am NOT saying you are to do your own things; in fact, you can’t, in war, you and I have to obey the Commander of Host. There is a place for snipers and there is a place for trench diggers.

But we are talking about a spiritual warfare and godly matters, sins or sinfulness matter, right? Yes, but who does NOT sin at all? If the Lord, now, says, “Those who did NOT sin and will NOT sin, come with me to the battlefront”, do you think any can step forward? The Lord knows, but it does NOT means He is saying it is ok to sin. But He nevertheless enlists His people to be His soldiers. Jesus is NOT going to have any active soldiers if everyone hides behind or under a filthy rag. At the same time, as we serve, we adopt this attitude in 1 Cor 10:31 (KJV) – “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” We go into active service, and in our service, we do all to the glory of God. We try NOT to sin, and we try NOT to shame God, but to glorify Him; but we can only try (make the choice and effort in it), we are NOT the Commander of Host, He is. We may fail to glorify God in our trying, but we sure are NOT glorifying God without trying.

My take, He uses them as He cleans them
Sure, wisdom must be called into play in execution, but it is my belief that all believers can serve; the sick can serve (it is wrong teaching that the sick should NOT pray for another sick, mind you there are believers believing that!), the afflicted can serve, the ones with struggles can serve, the poor can serve, and so can the rich, all can serve, and should serve. Few know my affliction, and I serve in my affliction, and the Lord sustains. In this era of the Lord’s favor, God is cleaning filthy rags, NOT discarding them; He can clean them, and He uses them as He cleans them. The question is only one of whether or NOT you are willing to make the choice and effort in it. [Added 1 June 2011: I am NOT saying that we should all just ignore the need to be holy or be complacent that we have a holy God. In fact, we need to cleanse ourselves of ignoble to serve God - Please read my separate article, "You must choose to cleanse yourself from ignoble"]


Anthony Chia, high.expressions - And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds {works} (Heb 10:24). For Jesus has given himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works (Titus 2:14).

[Added 05 July 2012: For part II, go here: Hide NOT under filthy rags Part II]

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