 even think that having more faith would be a good thing, right? But in fact what is not so often seen here, and may well shock us, is that the context reveals that the request is actually from the proprium and, as we shall see, has evil rather than good as its underlying intent. So let’s now move on and see how this is so.
The Word teaches that we can’t avoid the arising of offences. This is because the external man or natural mind is utterly opposed to the internal man or spiritual mind. This word “offences” in the Greek relates to the idea of a trigger that sets off ‘a trap’ or ‘snare’. The loves of self and the world are constantly at work within our natural thoughts and affections looking to trap or render ineffective the Lord’s teaching. There are many triggers that set off attitudes of self justification and self righteous patterns of thinking and most of these can be traced back to our sense of being offended when we don’t get what we feel we deserve. This is just how it is with the natural man. So offences will come, as the scripture declares. We will, if we are genuinely looking to live a spiritual life, be confronted with those attitudes we harbour that stand opposed to the things of heaven, it is as the Lord said unavoidable. In fact these offences must come because our salvation depends upon our being able to see them so that we can repent of them. This is what is taught in verses 1 to 4.
This is directed towards the external man in its states of opposition to the heavenly life. There is a period in the spiritual life where it almost seems as though it would have been better not to know what the Word teaches as to what is good and true. This is because such knowledge reveals the very things that have us bound up and brings into stark relief just how far short we fall from the life of heaven. Truths make us aware that these offences are rooted in something we actually have a strong affection for; that sense of ourselves that has been built up over the course of our life with the loves of self and the world as its foundation. What is described here as “the little ones” or what “is little” are the things of heaven, which are little when compared to the things of self in this state of the external man or natural mind. The imagery here is wonderful in that it shows us that we need to come to see that all that the external or natural man holds dear is a millstone around our neck so far as the spiritual life is concerned. It is a snare to our being able to receive even a little of the life of heaven.
When this statement is seen in terms of the inner life its spiritual meaning is somewhat different from the literal meaning of the words. Who is this “brother” that “sins against you”? Spiritually a brother corresponds to the good of charity. Now as far as the inner life is concerned charity is the operation of the Lord as goodness working through truths to bring about our salvation. Now it may seem odd to us to suggest that the brother that sins against us is actually goodness from the Lord, after all we would generally regard ourselves as open to, and affirmative of the things of heaven. But without exception everyone’s natural man is opposed to what is of heaven and what is from the Lord in us seeks to make us aware of the things we are attached to that stand opposed to the things of heaven.
This word, rebuke, is an interesting word in the Greek. The term rebuke in English means to chastise. It’s a term that involves the idea of correction and in the Greek it has the added emphasis in meaning on the idea, weighing something up or assessing its value, so as to attribute honour to something in accordance with its true value. So spiritually the meaning of rebuking doesn’t mean to tell someone off but to give careful consideration to a thing before acting. We need to be aware that our natural state in terms of our first response to something from the Word where it challenges our established natural states of life is to reject it, and we do this without even thinking about it simply because it doesn’t fit in with how we think things should be. What this is saying here is that when we are challenged, rather than running with our natural response we need to hold off and take stock. The question we need to ask is, “Is this prompt that I find offensive to what I want, or to how I see things from a heavenly source?” If in our reassessment we find that it is and attribute to it the value its worth demands then repentance has occurred. Repentance means to turn around ones thinking. What would have normally been rejected is now accepted, repentance has occurred, and something of heaven is released into our life. The offence it prompted in our natural man to begin with no longer has a hold on us, it’s forgiven or remitted, because we are able to see from the truths that are with us that the prompt is of heaven and seeks only our good, despite the challenges it might make to our established natural mind sets or patterns of behaviour.
Verse 4 teaches that this process occurs many times over before a real lasting shift can occur in us. It has to do with having to forgive our brother as many times as he asks us to do so. The strongholds of our minds don’t take kindly to being challenged but we are to persevere and as many times as we are offended and come to see that our offence is misplaced, that it is in fact the Lord who works in us for our salvation, so we forgive or release the apparent trespass against our sensibilities. “It is impossible for offences not to come…” Here we are instructed in how to respond when they do come, and we are to do what the Word instructs us is our duty.
This brings us to the apostles’ request of the Lord to increase their faith. This seems such a “good” thing to ask for. But by faith here is meant knowledge. And this is the crux of the issue. What is effectively being said here is “give us more knowledge, we don’t need this challenge to forgive our brother over and over”. Getting more knowledge about spiritual things is preferable to the challenging task of examining our life through applying truths to the life of our thoughts and affections as our spiritual practise. This is the atypical response of the natural man to the Word. The apostles in asking the Lord to increase their faith are seeking to avoid the need to do what the Lord is teaching them. They haven’t heard what is being said and as such reflect our own tendency to substitute doing what the Word teaches with getting more knowledge about it and then convincing ourselves that this is what is important and that knowledge by itself confers some spiritual benefit.
The obvious meaning here is that you don’t need a lot of knowledge to see the power of the Lord operating in your life. The mustard seed is the smallest of seeds, tiny in size, a little thing of heaven, and the black mulberry or sycamine is a substantial tree with an incredibly deep and robust root structure and corresponds to the falsities rooted in the loves of self and the world. The contrast is clear, the little ones of heaven can uproot the deep seated evils of the natural man if we don’t allow our initial response to the offence they cause our natural man to ensnare them through self justifications and reasonings that support evil loves and so render the “little of heaven” powerless in our life. The order set down by the Lord to have evils removed from our life is to act on what we know for no other reason than it’s the right thing to do.
The whole of the spiritual life is contained in these two verses. The servant or natural mind when in the proper order of its life serves the spiritual mind through plowing and tending sheep. Plowing is the process of preparing the ground for the reception of seed, spiritually it is the process of self examination by which evils can be removed and truths can be implanted. Tending sheep is taking care of tender spiritually orientated affections through nurturing good from the Lord or Word in one’s life.
When things are onerous or difficult the natural man wants to receive something for its effort in return. And if our sense of self is bound up in that level of life then we will be looking for some reward or benefit and if it doesn’t come will be inclined to give up due to there being no perceivable benefit to our selves. Engaging with the Word with a view to applying it to the life of our mind is something the natural man will not do unless compelled to do so. In fact the natural man will do everything it can to avoid any form of self examination because there is no natural reward for this life activity. It wants its natural appetites fed with food and supplied with drink but a spiritually focused life can’t provide what the natural man craves. It wants to be lord when its true role is that of a servant and the Lord points out that in the proper order of things a servant is not entitled to any recompense for doing its duty or performing its proper function.
This passage teaches us that it is incumbent on all to do what the Word asks of them, which is simply to live from their understanding of truth without looking to any personal benefit or a desired outcome, to simply do what’s required because the Lord or Word commands it. For the spiritually minded spiritual work is its own reward.
STEP 2. I suggest a simple salad of your favorite greens, tomatoes, and cucumbers, with a light creamy dressing. collard greens Put it in between two halves of a pillowy, fluffy roll. mashed potatoes If you’re looking for a real Louisiana experience, serving cornbread with your red beans and