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Wood in the Carpenter’s Shop
Presenter: Larry Kirkpatrick
Location: Mentone SDA Church, CA, USA
Delivery: 2008-06-28 21:54Z
Publication: LastGenerationTheology.org 2008-06-28 21:54Z
Type: Sermon
URL: http://www.lastgenerationtheology.org/lgt/doc/1ant/kirl-wood.php
[NOTE: The material that follows will be more readily understandable if you peruse the accompanying chart. Download [[English]] or [[Spanish]].]
Jesus was a carpenter. He worked at reshaping wood and making more valuable objects out of it. If we are His, then we too are like wood in His carpenter shop>.
Consider with me then a little chart that we are sending around to you right now. It helps us pinpoint the work that Jesus would do in His people.
You see four squares, one in each corner. These represent starting places and destinations.
You see three squares in the middle which have to do with our decision-making process while journeying from the beginning to the close of our experience. Let’s start with the corner boxes.
Original Perfection
Original Perfection is what Adam started out with. Ellen White describes it as follows:
Man was originally endowed with noble powers and a well-balanced mind. He was perfect in his being, and in harmony with God. His thoughts were pure, his aims holy (Steps to Christ, p. 17).
That is, as God made man, he was perfectly equipped to live and grow and advance in righteousness. God gave him the necessary faculties to govern himself aright.
DHO
In spite of his endowment, Adam sinned. When he disobeyed, his nature was changed in its deep levels. We often call this the fallen nature. But since people often mean very different things when they use this term, it can be helpful to choose another, more neutral, descriptive term. We can call this the DHO, or Disordered Human Organism.
When Adam sinned, his well-balanced mind was imbalanced. His harmony with God was turned to disharmony. His natural purity of thought and nobleness of spirit was impacted. Now, his own flesh would clamor at him, urge upon him a sense of necessity of self-indulgence. Not only Adam but our predecessors and ourselves have, for 6,000 years been born with this defective nature. Every generation it worsens. Again, Ellen White put it like this:
Through disobedience, his powers were perverted, and selfishness took the place of love. His nature became so weakened through transgression that it was impossible for him, in his own strength, to resist the power of evil (Steps to Christ, p. 17).
And this:
For four thousand years the race had been decreasing in physical strength, in mental power, and in moral worth; and Christ took upon Him the infirmities of degenerate humanity (The Desire of Ages, p. 117).
And this:
But against these principles [positive moral qualities that remain in man even after the Fall] there is struggling an antagonistic power. The result of the eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil is manifest in every man’s experience. There is in his nature a bent to evil, a force which, unaided, he cannot resist. To withstand this force, to attain that ideal which in his inmost soul he accepts as alone worthy, he can find help in but one power. That power is Christ. Co-operation with that power is man’s greatest need (Education, p. 29).
So you see, we all have a DHO, and so did Jesus. Our humanity is perverted, our nature is weakened, we each experience an antagonistic force, not just exercised by demons, but inside of us, internal to us. There is within our DHO a bent to evil, a predisposition to self-indulgence. The means for successfully addressing this situation is by cooperation with Christ.
Christlike
The upper right box says “Christlike” and “sealed.” The goal of the gospel is to return us to man’s original perfection, but even more, to bring us past the insecurity of inexperience and immaturity, and to prepare us to live, unselfishly, for eternity. Since God will never remove our ability to freely choose, He is laboring to equip us to face our long future as His children in an informed situation. Our goal now is to become Christlike, to be sealed, made secure from each and every temptation that Satan can throw at us. As the Scripture says,
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth (Romans 10:19).
Satanic
The lower right box says “Satanic.” This is the other possible landing place for you and I. We shall either be made holy and Christlike, or unholy and Satan-like. In that case, we choose to cleave to the clamor, to join ourselves to the self-indulgent bias already present in our DHO or fallen nature. The end result is that you let Satan craft a character like His own in you. There is more than one carpenter at work! His end-product is a demon-like character.
OK. So are we clear on these beginnings and destinations? Because the main thing we want to talk about today is the middle three boxes, which have to do with whether we become Christlike or Satanlike. Nothing could be more relevant than our gaining a better understanding of this in particular.
Three Center Boxes
The three center boxes all have to do with our decisions, and our decisions all have to do with where we are headed. Start here with the middle box, Non-Rebellious decisions.
Non-Rebellious
Non-Rebellious decisions are intentional. That is, the person who makes the decision intends to do something. All actions are intentional; something stands behind every human act. But then we have two kinds of non-rebellious decisions, he intelligent and the unintelligent.
By “intelligent” here we do not mean smart choices, we just mean choices which are made with a thoughtful awareness of the likely outcome and how it will impact oneself and others.
A two-year old boy takes away his younger sister’s drink cup. Was that an intentional act? Yes. But what was the intention? Was it to take away something belonging to another, to steal, or, was it to get a drink? A two-year old boy isn’t processing very much about others yet. He has no motivation to deprive his younger sister of nourishment. But he is thirsty, so he takes the cup.
His is an intentional but unintelligent decision. That is, it is a decision made to obtain the cup and its contents but it is not thought through, it is not intended to deprive young sister. There is no malice in the act, no evil, perhaps little, if any, developed selfishness. The decision does impact others negatively, but it is not a rebellious kind of decision.
Now, another scenario. Two-year old boy wants daddy time and sees little sister coming. He decides to keep daddy all to himself and positions himself between daddy and little sister, actively seeking to prevent her from getting some daddy space. Here, you probably have jealousy. The choice of the little boy is both intentional and intelligent. That is, he has weighed, (only primitively, to be sure) the situation and selfishly wants daddy just for himself right then. He knows it will deny daddy space to little sister. And he chooses to try to get his way in the situation.
Although his choice is both intentional and intelligent, still we must place it in the non-rebellious category. Why? Because the moral judgments of two-year olds are so primitive and ill-formed that they have little to do with deep-seated heart rebellion. If the child was able to understand much more fully the moral implications of his behavior, then he would be morally culpable. He is not able to. He does not realize that his poor choice sets more toward the satanic than the heavenly. It is not sin. Young children are innocent; they are not morally responsible in a way to make their actions sin.
Lest it be doubted that children are without sin, hear this counsel from Ellen White to one with a retarded child:
In regard to the case of A, you see him as he now is and deplore his simplicity. He is without the consciousness of sin. The grace of God will remove all this hereditary, transmitted imbecility, and he will have an inheritance among the saints in light. To you the Lord has given reason. A is a child as far as the capacity of reason is concerned; but he has the submission and obedience of a child. You are a responsible member of the family. You have been redeemed by the blood of the only begotten Son of God. He gave His life for you. He bore the penalty of sin and transgression for every son and daughter of Adam that they should not perish if they believe in Him, but have everlasting life (Manuscript Releases, vol. 8, p. 210).
Rebellious
Now let’s move to rebellious choices. The first quality of a rebellious choice, like the others, is that it is intentional. Satan’s rebellion against God was intentional. He may not have known the full measure of where the trends of his thinking was taking him but it was no less intentional when he chose rebellion.
The second aspect of a rebellious choice is that it is intelligently made. That is, it is made with pre-meditation, with awareness that it is a choice that does not comport with God’s will. Such choices are choices to sin.
Righteous
The top box stands for righteous choices. In order to be righteous, they must have some degree of intentionality. They are also intelligently made choices. That is, these are choices made with a conscious intention of seeking to do what is right. Such decisions help a person toward ever more unselfishness, more Christlikeness.
Do we doubt that we can change? Then hear this:
We may keep so near to God that in every unexpected trial our thoughts will turn to Him as naturally as the flower turns to the sun (Steps to Christ, pp. 99, 100).
Here it is again, with more context, from another source:
Although there may be a tainted, corrupted atmosphere around us, we need not breathe its miasma, but may live in the pure atmosphere of heaven. We may close every door to impure imaginings and unholy thoughts by lifting the soul into the presence of God through sincere prayer. Those whose hearts are open to receive the support and blessing of God, will walk in a holier atmosphere than that of earth, and will have constant communion with God. But those who reserve their thoughts of God, their earnest soul longings for purity and grace, for certain times, and places, and occasions, will be overcome by temptation. The thoughts will be impure, the promptings of the natural heart will be fulfilled, and the man will be worsted in the conflict; for he will be drawn away of his own lust and enticed. The injunction of the Saviour is, ‘Pray without ceasing.’ The heart is to be continually going out in desire for the presence and grace of Jesus, that the soul may have divine enlightenment and heavenly wisdom.
We need to have more distinct views of Jesus, and a fuller comprehension of the value of eternal realities. The beauty of holiness is to fill the hearts of God’s people, and that this may be accomplished, we should seek for divine disclosures of heavenly things. Brethren, we should pray in all places, and under all circumstances. Our petitions may be only broken ejaculations, or they may be but secret thoughts of the heart, but whatever we have opportunity for, let the soul be drawn out and upward, that God may grant us a breath of his heavenly atmosphere. Let the spirit groan after God, and mingle faith with fervent desire. We should encourage gratitude and praise, and always be found warring against every unholy impulse, crushing out of the soul every unclean lust. This is the warfare that must be accomplished. We may keep so near to God that in every unexpected trial our thoughts may turn to God as naturally as the flower turns to the sun. The sunflower keeps its face sunward. If it is turned from the light, it will twist itself on the stem, until it lifts up its petals to the bright beams of the sun. So let everyone who has given his heart to God, turn to the Sun of Righteousness, and eagerly look up to receive the bright beams of the glory that shine in the face of Jesus. Thus we may educate the soul to press its way out of the corrupted moral atmosphere of the world, of sin and selfishness, into the atmosphere that is divine and health-giving (Signs of the Times, December 16, 1889).
Our mental discipline must be constant, and the results will be much more precious than can be hoped or dreamed. We, in cooperation with God, are educating our souls for eternity.
Further Observations
You will notice that most decisions of adult persons are either rebellious or righteous. There can be non-rebellious choices too, choices that go wrong or demonstrate very poor judgment but which were never intended at any point as the situation developed to be choices for ill. Of course, when one becomes aware that their unpremeditated poor choices have led them to the precipice of sin, they need to immediately reverse course. A situation that develops from being non-rebellious at the first may become a real moral test at some point, and when the moral questions involved become apparent, it is time to reassess the situation and take God’s line in it.
The character is formed on the basis of all these choices: rebellious, non-rebellious, and righteous. The character is formed either as we surrender to God and cooperate with Jesus as He does His carpenter work in us, or, as we surrender to the internal clamors of our DHO and join our character to the bent to evil that is within us.
Now, some thoughts about our choices. Job understood something that we also need understand:
The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger (Job 17:9).
Likewise, David writes
His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins (Proverbs 5:22).
The principle is the same in both cases. By doing righteousness, one increases in doing righteousness; one becomes ever more inclined to do righteousness. By doing wickedness one becomes ever more inclined to do wickedness. Ultimately, God has given us opportunity, we may say, that each may choose his own fate. Paul offers the same idea thus:
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not (Galatians 6:7-9).
If we sow to the flesh, we will reap corruption. If we sow to the spirit, we will reap life. If we do right, we will more easily do right, if we do evil, we will more easily do evil. Thus, every choice is weighted with eternity.
Conclusion
Now we have arrived at the bottom line in today’s message: Think before you act. Think carefully. Your action will be intentional, of course. It always is. But your action then will be intelligent, pre-meditated, careful, informed.
Now someone is saying or thinking, “Pastor, why did you not speak to us of justification, sanctification, glorification, assurance of salvation, and so on?” The answer, dear heart, is that the form of this presentation was chosen intentionally. It is well sometimes to cut through the terminology that we are all so used to, and try to see with fresh eyes and hear with opened ears again.
Or someone is saying, “Very well, but pastor, please tell us how to be converted.” I say again, if you were listening closely, then you just heard that. Use your power of choice. You will use it; use it for righteousness. As you use it, decision by decision, you are choosing good or evil, Christ or Satan, the seal or the mark.
The Carpenter is in His shop>. He is working. His shop> has moved to the Most Holy Place of the Heavenly Sanctuary. We must enter in with Him.
M. L. Andreasen put it thus in his commentary on the Book of Hebrews:
And when His work was done, He presented Himself before God for acceptance. The body given Him of God; the body in which He conquered temptation and gained complete victory; the body in which He suffered and died; the body that could not be holden of death; the body in which He rose triumphantly; the body cleansed and purified from every defilement; the temple body which He would raise up in three days; the body in which was fulfilled all that the services for more than a thousand years had pre-figured; the cleansed, holy, sanctified, consecrated body in which God’s ideal for man was at last realized—this body Christ presents before the Father, and the Father accepts it, and through it He gains entrance. The Father stands justified, the law is honored, justice and mercy have kissed each other, and heaven rings with praises. Christ has gained access to God by a new and living way: He has gained access ‘through . . . his flesh.’
This ‘new and living way’ is the way of obedience, as contrasted with the way of sacrifices and offerings. Christ abolished these, and established the will of God. ‘Lo, I come,’ He says, ‘to do thy will, O God.’ Verse 9. And God’s will He does, and does it so perfectly that His life restores free access to God. Now no mere blood of dead animals was to be used. Life, the perfect life of Christ, takes its place.
This new way is a living way, the way of life, the way of perfect obedience. This way Christ consecrated for us, and we may enter in with Him, in the power of that life, in His blood and by virtue of it, always remembering that the blood is the life, and entering in virtue of His blood is entering in virtue of His life. He entered through—by means of—the flesh, the body which had been given Him and in which He worked out salvation for us, and presented Himself before God holy and spotless. We enter in virtue of His blood. He has shown us the way; He has walked the way and consecrated it for us to follow. (M. L. Andreasen, The Book of Hebrews, pp. 443, 444).
There is no better summary for us. We journey from beginnings to destinations. Although hindered by a DHO and by the deformity of character rising from rebellious choices we have made, we choose, action by action, to become different people. We move ever upward in victory, to a Christlike, sealed character. Our pathway there is consecrated by the footsteps of the Carpenter. May our thoughts be such that Jesus is pleased with the perfection of the finished, cooperative product. LGT
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