Sermon: Silence – Part 2
by Chris Cumming
In
part one of this sermon
we explored Psalm 46:10. Let us read that verse again.
Psalm 46:10
Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I
will be exalted in the earth.
I then asked the following questions.
So what makes this verse so profound? What does it mean to, “Be
still”? How is my being still going to result in me knowing God? What
is the meaning here? What is this verse saying to us?
In Part 1, we spent the whole sermon going verse-by-verse through all
eleven verses of the psalm. Today we are going to move on to other
scriptures throughout the Bible. However, this time, in addition to
those same questions, I want to focus on the firstfruit’s relationship
with God and more about “unction” of the Spirit.
My purpose today is to encourage all of us to be still and communicate
with God. We communicate to God in both prayer and meditation. There
are many types of prayer and probably as many ways for meditation.
Today, we will study what I call meditative prayer.
Through the years I have spoken much to the concept of meditation. I
have more than one sermon that speaks to this idea. I often state that
prayer is when you are talking to and communicating with God and
meditation is when He communicates with you. Clearly we can combine the
two. In meditative prayer, the firstfruit, generally speaking, is
coming before the throne of God with one specific purpose. He is coming
before God with one specific subject or question. Possibly the subject
is about some aspect of your life and/or some specific element of the
Salvation Process. Maybe you have a huge decision to make and you need
God’s help to see which decision is best. Maybe you are suffering from
some sort of physical, mental and/or emotional turmoil and you are
seeking a plan, procedure or technique in which to overcome this
suffering. These are the kinds of things to bring before God in
meditative prayer.
The concept of meditative prayer is simple: Bring the single question
or subject before Him and then “be still before God.”
As I got into this subject I went to the Internet and typed in,
“Meditative Prayer” and saw that those in the world are using many
different phrases to represent this subject such as:
Meditation Prayers
Centering Prayer
Contemplative Prayer
Mindfulness Meditation
Quiet Prayer
Inspirational Prayer
I am sure some of the sites and site summaries I encountered involved
manmade techniques [like TM and Yoga], rituals and “pull yourself
up by your bootstraps” philosophies that God the Father would surely not
honor. We will not be discussing those. We will only use the
Word of God to direct our path in meditation prayers.
You already have the primary verse; don’t you?
Psalm 46:10a
Be still, and know that I am God:
You are being still and quiet before God. God is doing something which
results in you seeing God taking action and/or giving you an answer.
You will receive a direct answer in what the Bible calls “unction”
and/or a door will open or close…events will be moved and you will get a
clear message from that event.
Let us talk about “unction” for a moment. The word is found in only one
verse of the Bible…1 John 2.
1 John 2:20
But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
First, the, “and ye know all things” is speaking to all spiritual things
as it relates to your life, your calling and your experience in the
Salvation Process. The word, “unction” has a specific definition.
I went to my tabletop dictionary and found this:
---an unguent [uhng-gwuh nt] or ointment; salve. “Unguent” is a
liquid or semiliquid application to wounds or sores. Surely, when we
come before God with some sort of sorrow, turmoil, or
pressing/distressing question, we want an unction salve to heal or solve
it.
Notice now what the commentary says about the meaning of “unction” in 1
John 2:20:
But ye have an unction from the Holy One - The apostle in this verse
evidently intends to say that he had no apprehension in regard to those
to whom he wrote that they would thus apostatize, and bring dishonor on
their religion. They had been so anointed by the Holy Spirit that they
understood the true nature of religion, and it might be confidently
expected that they would persevere. The word “unction” or “anointing” (χρίσμα
chrisma) means, properly, “something rubbed in or ointed;” oil for
anointing, “ointment;” then it means an anointing. The allusion is to
the anointing of kings and priests, or their inauguration or coronation,
and the idea seems to have been that the oil thus used was emblematic of
the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit as qualifying them for the
discharge of the duties of their office. Christians, in the New
Testament, are described as “kings and priests,” Revelation 1:6;
Revelation 5:10, and as a “royal priesthood” 1 Peter 2:5, 1 Peter 2:9;
and hence they are represented as “anointed,” or as endowed with those
graces of the Spirit, of which anointing was the emblem. The phrase “the
Holy One” refers here, doubtless, to the Holy Spirit, that Spirit whose
influences are imparted to the people of God, to enlighten, to sanctify,
and to comfort them in their trials. The particular reference here is to
the influences of that Spirit as giving them clear and just views of the
nature of religion, and thus securing them from error and apostasy.
~Barnes Notes
So, what we see here is God, through the power of the Holy Spirit
enlightening us, sanctifying us and comforting us as we come before Him,
in this case [the subject of this sermon], in silence. The word,
“unction” is Strong’s word 5548 which says, in part, “the special
endowment of the Holy Spirit—rendered ‘anointing’, and ‘unction’.” The
word, “endowment” here means the property, funds, gifts, grants,
capacities, talents, faculties, abilities, capabilities, knowledge,
understanding and/or wisdom given by God to the firstfruit.
Wow, doesn’t that say it all!? God is telling us that, in those times
when we have a specific problem or question, we come before Him in quiet
meditative prayer, where we are looking for communication from Him in
the form of knowledge and understanding which will give rise to
action---wisdom, and further, that God will give us the talents,
abilities and capabilities we need to solve the problem, come to the
right decision or otherwise experience conformity to the will of the
Father. In some cases, He will actually be moving events that result in
the same thing; us knowing His will in our current situation. Let me
give you a specific example right from the context of 1 John 2:20.
Do you remember our ongoing discussion and admonition of, “Preparing for
the Shock” as we move closer to the Great Tribulation and the end of
this age? Let us begin in 1 John 2 and see what shock God is talking
about through John.
1 John 2:1-25
1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not.
And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
the righteous:
2 And he is the propitiation [pruh-pish-ee-ey-shuhn] [atonement]
for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole
world.
3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
Note: Step one of keeping the commandments is immersion in the
Word of God. More about this in a minute.
4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a
liar, and the truth is not in him.
5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God
perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
Note: Focus here on the phrase “whoso keepeth his word” and the
result being us perfected and knowing Him.
6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as
he walked.
7 Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment
which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which
ye have heard from the beginning.
8 Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him
and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.
9 He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in
darkness even until now.
10 He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none
occasion of stumbling in him.
11 But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in
darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath
blinded his eyes.
Note: These verses are especially interesting as we remember the
words of Garner Ted Armstrong when he spoke to the fact that many would
fail to gain the kingdom because of hatred of his brother.
12 I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you
for his name's sake.
13 I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the
beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the
wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the
Father.
14 I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is
from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are
strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the
wicked one.
15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any
man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of
the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the
world.
17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth
the will of God abideth for ever.
Key Point: Notice both the promise and the procedure here. The
promise is that we will abideth forever, meaning that we will have
eternal life. The procedure that gets us to eternal life is doing the
will of God. We glean a lot of that will by immersion in His mind…the
Word of God and coming before His throne in silence. Now comes God’s
admonition to “prepare for the shock.”
18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that
antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we
know that it is the last time.
19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been
of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out,
that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
Note: Now you understand much of what I preach about from 1
Timothy and our not wandering off the path of righteousness and
salvation into “vain jangling” (1
Timothy 1:6). Now comes the “unction” verse.
20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
21 I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but
because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is
antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he
that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
24 Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the
beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain
in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.
25 And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.
Note: Again, we see the promise of eternal life. Verse 24 says,
“that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you.” We
“hear” by the Word of God. Continue in the Word and you will continue
in the Son, and in the Father.
In meditative prayer or coming before God in silence, the unction we
experience will be right from the Word of God; the things we have heard
from the Word of God. Notice now, how dynamic the Word of God is.
Remember that the Word of God is Spirit; that is, made of and consisting
of Spirit. We get this from Ephesians 6:17.
Ephesians 6:17
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is
the word of God:
The Word is spirit. The word is timeless and outside of time.
I found this statement in my preparation for this sermon: “The breath of
God is still on the word.”
Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any
twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and
spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the
thoughts and intents of the heart.
Let us take verses from the Bible that speak to each aspect of this
verse.
For the word of God:
Hebrews 13:7
Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the
word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their
conversation.
Note: This verse is saying much. The ones having rule over you
is referring to your spiritual guides. This is confirmed in the next
phrase, paraphrased as, “those who preach to you.” All firstfruits are
admonished to follow that kind of faith. You are then encouraged to
contemplate the end of such faith and conduct as you see in true
ministers and firstfruits.
The key here is the Word of God. The next phrase says that the word is
quick and powerful.
Is quick and powerful: Note: the emphasis in the scriptures
is mine.
Isaiah 55:11
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto
me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it [the word]
shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
Jeremiah 23:29
Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh
the rock in pieces?
1 Thessalonians 2:13
For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the
word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as
it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that
believe.
James 1:18
Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of
firstfruits of his creatures.
1 Peter 1:23
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of
God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
And sharper than any twoedged sword, etc.:
Revelation 19:21 …the definitive twoedged sword of Christ
And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which
sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their
flesh.
And is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart:
Ephesians 5:13
But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever
doth make manifest is light.
Notice the meaning from the People’s New Testament:
But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light - These works of
darkness are to be reproved by Christians (Ephesians 5:11) that their true
character may be brought to light. If the light is thrown upon them they will be
seen.
Quoted verse:
Ephesians 5:11 ...which is just two verses back from this verse
13And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather
reprove them.
For whatsoever doth make manifest is light - Whatever is brought to light is
light. Even if wicked, when it is brought to light it enlightens men by
revealing its real nature. ~People’s New Testament commentary
So now we are or should be clear of what is going to happen in those times when
we come before God in silence with our specific problem or question. God is
going to communicate with us, by unction, from the Word of God. He may bestow
things upon you and/or He may directly intercede into the events of your life.
We see this in our key verse of Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am
God.” You will know God by what He communicates to you from the Word of God,
what He bestows on you, such as insight, knowledge or understanding and by what
He does next in your life.
I now want to finish up with more about being still or silent before God.
I
now want to go to the Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge and see what scriptures
are speaking to the same ideas coming from our key verse of Psalm 46:10.
Be still:
Habakkuk 2:20
But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before
him.
The Lord is in his holy temple - Jehovah has his temple, the place where he is
to be worshipped; but there there is no image. Oracles, however, are given
forth; and every word of them is truth, and is fulfilled in its season. And this
temple and its worship are holy; no abomination can be practiced there, and
every thing in it leads to holiness of heart and life.