You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.

Matthew 23:26

But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith (1 Timothy 1:5).  Once we have purified our souls by obeying the truth unto the point where we can love for real, we should love each other fervently, as we ought to (1 Peter 1:22).

This is the point of the Gospel.  This is the work of the cross and the path of life.  If your gospel is not aimed at producing this life here and now, a life that is demonstrated by a visible, recognizable love (John 13:35), that does not tolerate sin so much to eat with an immoral brother (1 Corinthians 5:11), what are you living?

Jesus said his yoke was easy and His burden was light (Matthew 11:30).  In walking out this Christian life, have you met many that have said that said that the further they went on the easier it was?  Have you found someone in ministry that didn’t feel the burden and weight of continual promotion in the Spirit?

What Jesus said, however, was that, lived the right way, with the right intent, with the right heart, you will get there perfectly.  He said, it is not a strain to live in the place of continual abiding.

What is difficult, however, is to constantly go back and forth, from one world to another.  To continue to waver between two opinions.  To think the thoughts of the Spirit one moment and then live by your flesh the next.  What is difficult is to try to live by the Spirit and continually get offended, bitter, jealous, or anything other than love.

When it comes down to it, the problem is not the other things in your life, it is the things within your heart, and the lack of faith to see God as provider.

Jesus said in Luke 6:48 that the man who heard and obeyed was like the man who dug deep down to the rock, and built his house upon that rock.  He is sufficient to build a house upon.  He is big enough to hold you up.  He is strong enough to support you.  Your emotions roll too and fro.  Your own thoughts are not stable.  So long as you build upon something else, so long as you have things in your heart that still cause offense, still cause fear, still cause bitterness, still cause pain, you are not on the rock.

You love Jesus, you follow Him, but if your life is not described by Matthew 5:3-11, you are not there yet!  If your pursuit of the power of the Spirit is not primarily characterized by a love for His glory and a love for others, it is fleshly, carnal, and, though it is done in His name, God hates that part of it (Matthew 7:21-23).  You may have a genuine faith, but you are still a babe in Christ.

You see, Jesus’ verdict to the world was this, that light has come into the world, but men loved darkness rather than the light (John 3:19).  It is what we do not want to show that stops us.  It is the fear and doubt in our heart that keeps us from the breakthrough of the Kingdom we want, but so long as we are unwilling to admit that we are eat up with unbelief, we will make only menial progress towards the throne.

Jesus said that if we clean the inside of the cup, the outside would be clean as well.  Another way to look at this is the four types of soils.  There are those who do not receive at all, there are those who have too many rocks and hardened places to stick with it, there are those who are not separated from the world, and then there are those who produce fruit.  And, those who produce fruit are 30, 60, or 100-fold.

If we are receptive, diligent, and separated in our pursuit, we should produce fruit.  Yet, where is the increase?

When Peter walked on water, and sank, Jesus asked Him a question.  He said, “Peter, why did you doubt?”  The doubt was obvious, but Jesus wanted Peter to look deeper into his own thoughts.  One could postulate the storms and the other people who had been lost on that little lake, the Sea of Galilee.  One could think of a lot of different thoughts that could have gone through Peter’s head.  But, perhaps, some of the root of the issue simply lay in self-preservation.  Peter, somewhere on the inside, wanted to protect Peter.  His zealot-ism, perhaps, even, stemmed from the same self-preservation.  Whether this was the case or not, it was self-preservation that ultimately led to his denial of the Lord the night of His crucifixion.

What are the things that control us, way down deep?  What is it that manipulates our spirits and keeps us from the intimacy, the flow of the anointing, the power of the Gospel?  There is something.

Jesus said,

 Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you.

Luke 11:36 NIV

It is the Spirit of truth that comes in and illuminates our innermost being.  It is His tender mercy and grace that lets us see what we’re full of.  We are not there, but by His grace, we will be.  By His ability, we can.

This is the point of the Gospel.  The gate is small and the way is narrow.  It matter why you do what you do.  God is after the heart.  If He has that, He has all that you are (2 Corinthians 12:14).

According to the presentation of the Gospel, if we allow that sword of truth to penetrate us deeply, revealing what is hidden and remove it from us, we will be free.  And, freedom doesn’t take any effort to maintain, so long as we walk in it, in the light of the Truth, Jesus Christ.