Beth Moore - Substance and Shadow - Part 5
Amen, you may be seated. All right, would you tell me as you're seated, let's go through one through five and I'm gonna get you started and you're going to complete it.
Number one is this: shadows... They cannot exist apart from the light. So when we're in a shadowy place, we can know that right on the other side is the light.
Number two, tell me what our human bent is. Our human bent... is to swap substance for shadow.
Number three, when we make a shadow the head, the growth will not hold. There is a growth that comes from God and there's a growth that does not come from God. And when we are detached from the head, it may air up like a balloon, but it is going to pop because most of the time a growth process will begin with a shrinking back, a cutting back, a pruning back, and then a fresh season of growth will come.
Then number four, I know this is a long one but it's so important. It's got all our words in it. Our refuge is in the shadow of the one who is both substance and light. I just love the fact that he is not only the substance but he is the light. He is all the things. Somebody say out loud, "He is all the things". Oh, say it one more time: Jesus is all the things. I mean, that's just all you need.
And number five and this is the gospel. Number five: the cross triumphed over every dark shadow. That brings us toward our final one. But we're gonna take a couple of minutes to get there. You turn back with me to Colossians 2 and I wanna read now the end of the chapter to you. So we have not read this part yet. We have made it all the way to 19, but I wanna start with you on 20. So look back at the paragraph before so we can get our context. That's where we're told you're not gonna let anyone judge you in regard to what's... our daily stuff is our, what? Food and drink. And then we've got the matter of what's the annual... what's the monthly... what's the weekly? And these are a shadow of what's to come, but the substance is Christ.
So we're not gonna let anyone condemn us by delighting, some of your versions say "delighting in humility". I'm trying to think, it may be the ESV. Does anybody have an ESV or NIV? But it's... NIV? Okay, "delighting in humility". And it's so interesting because as believers, we are called to humility. But what he's talking about when we're proud of our humility, we like, we delight in being humble. We delight in the fact that we look as if we have not eaten in 40 days and 40 nights. Anybody know what I'm talking about? That we self-efface.
You know, we've harmed ourselves to beat the sin out of us and the sin tendencies in us. And we delight in our humility. We delight in that we abstain from this or abstain from that. We just delight in it. It's such an interesting phraseology and then it talks about that these that hold on to these things that are just religious, but they don't have the head that is Christ and how we need that holy chiropractor to come and give us an adjustment where the spine is back in alignment with the head. And that's a growth that comes from God.
Now, verse 20, okay, okay, Lord help us, 20-23: "If you died with Christ to the elements of this world," where we died with him and were raised with him. Every time we think about the crucified life is so that his Spirit can live through us. "So if you died with Christ to the elements of this world, why do you live as if you still belong to the world? Why do you submit to regulations: 'Don't handle, don't taste, don't touch'? All these regulations refer to what is destined to perish by being used up; they are human commands and doctrines. Although these have a reputation for wisdom by promoting self-made religion, false humility, and severe treatment of the body, they are not of any value in curbing self-indulgence".
They are not of any value in curbing the indulgence of the flesh is the way that ESV would say it. Now sit here with me for a minute because one of my commentaries was pointing out, I had not really put this together. I had felt it but I had not put it together that that "Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch," that that really, it is like a parent having to speak to a young child that in our immaturity, it has to be all, "Now don't, don't, now don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't".
It's like that our walk starts out, we're overwhelmed with what we cannot do. But remember what we talked about last night, all the No's... and God does say No to some things, but all those No's are always to lead us to his Yes and Amen in Christ, so that they will not distract us or detract us or derail us or detour us from what we've been called to do. So, I mean, it's Yes and Amen in Christ, there is joy in the Lord, there is fulfillment and satisfaction in the Lord. But what this is saying is these things, when we live by a "You can't" kind of mentality in Christ, then what we've done is we've made it all about what we have to keep from doing.
And let me tell you something: when the reputation of the church, this is not, we've got a different reputation right now. But now, when I was growing up in the church, the biggest reputation of the church would have been that if somebody from the outside would have said, "What are they about"? It would have been that the thing they knew best about us, especially where I came from, was what we did not do. We did not drink, not in front of anyone. We did not drink, we did not smoke, we did not chew tobacco. Does anybody know what I'm talking about? So they would know us by, "Oh, what are they like? Well, they don't do the following things".
In Christ, it was meant to be: How do we know who they are? They do the following things. They come alongside the disenfranchised. They remember the poor, they go alongside those who are oppressed. They go to the aid of those that need help. They're good to us. They love us. I've treated her so badly or I've treated him so badly and yet he's continued to be kind to me. What we do; not what we don't do. He says it's of no value in curbing the indulgence of the flesh. So what is the answer to that? Because it's kind of like, okay, okay, so we don't do that. But what do we do? Now, I want to say this to you and I don't know if this is the right way to say it. But I think you're gonna know what I mean.
What I'm suggesting to you this weekend, what I try to practice in my own life, is to indulge in Christ. Indulge in Christ. I want you if you have not, if you have not really known what I'm talking about and never feel weird about that. Never, never. It's always a good thing to go, "Okay, something's off here because none of that, I don't sense any of that". But a very simple thing, pray for what we lack. If it's something that God said he wanted to give any one of his children, pray for it. Pray, you get to pray your joy back. Wait, joy is my birthright. I want my joy back, but one of the things I would encourage you to pray is that God would cause you to enjoy him, to literally enjoy Jesus. It will change everything and listen.
Here's what I want to say to you. You can begin immediately, already thanking him for it. Because remember 1 John chapter 5: When we pray in his will, we have what we ask. So I mean, if he wants it for us, listen, I promise you that Jesus wants you to find joy in him. He said, "I want you to have my joy in you that your joy and my joy may be complete". I promise you. So you can already say, start today: "Lord, I really want you to grant that I would begin to truly enjoy you. And I thank you in advance that it is as good as done".
And then you just watch for these little bits and pieces, like today, I sort of tarried over the scriptures instead of being anxious to just get through it and run. I sort of, I like just kind of sitting with him for a minute, that it changes everything. Lord, give me the inclination to love you and find you the greater reality than anything I could touch or see. Pray these things. When they're in his will, you have what you ask. Indulge in Jesus. I want you to turn with me now to Psalm 23. You might have anticipated that we were going to go here because of the wording.
Psalm 23. And what I've decided to do, I just love it when all together we say something, whether it's a portion of scripture or prayer, whatever it may be, I just love that. So I've asked them to put it on the screen for us and I just want you to say the 23rd Psalm with me. And would you do me this favor, do yourself this favor. Let it sink in as we go. Let's let the words mean something to us and let's own them. One of the things about this Psalm is, is the "I the Lord and I," and I want you to feel, "He restores my soul". You're hoping he will restore the soul of your family members, of your good friends, of all the people that mean so much to you. But you know what? Today right now, let him restore yours, let him restore yours.
So we just, let's just say, and it's gotta be in the New King James. I'm sorry, it just has to be. We have to say, "Yea," we have to say "Yea" in that part of it, okay? So go with me here. "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord".
Somebody say, "Amen". Remember when the apostle Paul was talking about Jesus being the substance, that the shadows are toward that which is to come? Everything. I think the thing that I love most about Bible study is seeing how all of it ties together and leads up to the climactic point of Christ Jesus. And that how many things in Genesis you find again in Revelation. Why? Because now we've gone from creation to new creation and to know that that is coming, to know to your bones that is coming, that this is not just our hope, as surely as Jesus has come, taken on humanity and yet fully God, lived a sinless life, given it for us on the cross, carrying all of our sins and paying the penalty for us, was dead and buried and raised on the third day.
Then ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God, as surely as he did all of those things, he is coming back and there will be the renewal of all things and there will be a feast to beat all feasts. And you are seeing every time they feast from that very first feast that is ever introduced in scriptures, all the feasts in Leviticus 23, and certainly right here in Psalm 23, he prepares a table before me. And now in this earth, it's right there where the enemy can see it. And do you know how defeated he is when after all you have been through, he could not stop you from sitting down with your Bible and believing God and taking him at his word and placing your faith in him? That is infuriating. And so he just has to sit there because he doesn't get to interrupt the meal. Does anybody know what I'm saying to them?
There's this gorgeous, gorgeous scripture, Revelation 3:20. Many of you perhaps know it, are familiar with it. I wanna read it to you very quickly and then I wanna just say a comment or two. Again, I'm just driven by that, "Do they know how? Does somebody new that was with us today, does she know how? Does she know how"? And I'll remind you of these words. And it says "See" in the CSB but I like "behold" better. "Behold! I stand at the door and knock". This is Jesus talking. "If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in with him and eat with him, and he with me", I will come in. "I stand at the door and knock", and it's very much present tense. And "if he opens the door," in other words, "let me in, I will sit down with him and I will dine with him".
Now, what does that mean? It can mean a host of things. It's enjoying the presence of the Lord. When I was a little girl, the best part of my family life was, besides church, I was also loved in my home, but I was also abused in my home by others. So there's that, that gets very confusing. But one of the things that I just loved is how the adults, especially if my mom's friends or some of my aunts were over, or whatever, and I was raised in a three-generation home, so my grandmother was always there and then my mom and they would sit at the table and drink coffee when it was over and the best conversation, the men all scattered and it was just the women there and oh, the gossip. It was just delicious. It was, I mean, it was better than pie. It was just, to hear them talk and the neighbors and, oh, I just loved it.
And most of them were smoking and smoking and drinking coffee and it was just like, oh, to sit at that table and I still, in my house, I'm not good with decorating or anything. I don't get it. I don't know how to do it. I know what I think looks pretty but I don't know how to do it. But I love my dining table. I wish I had thought that I was gonna share this with you and I'd bring you a picture of it because it's painted and I just love it. It's the most treasured, when I think about, it's easy for me to think about what happens with my jewelry where my daughters are concerned. But I don't know how in the world I'm gonna work out what daughter that table goes to because in my family that table is the most important place in our house.
And listen, we're fiery. We fight at that table. We do. We are just like, everyone in my family is just as opinionated as I am. Every one of us. So it is just like a field day. It's a field day. But oh, oh, the love around that table. But I want you to think about, so it's enjoying his presence. He's not really smoking or anything. Um, okay, I wanna give you an idea because this was a game changer for me. And I taught this just not long ago in Align, 31 days of prayer. And I have heard from so many people that have said, "That put something together for me".
And so I'm gonna hope it's gonna do something here. All right, one of the ways that God made my prayer, like, I enjoy prayer time. And I can remember when I didn't and I didn't not enjoy it. It just was like a discipline rather than, "I just love this, and I would wish to tarry here, you know, an hour or two". So, I know the difference between the two. There's no shame in that. It's just like, what, I don't get how to bring this to life. One of the things that the Lord taught me is to turn my Bible reading into dialogue. So I'm reading the scriptures, say for instance, I'm right here at the, okay, say I'm right at Psalm 25 because that's on that same page and I'm reading through it.
So it's my Bible reading that morning. The Lord is speaking to me through his Word. This is the inspired Word of God. So the Lord is speaking to me through his Word. So what am I gonna do? I'm gonna talk back and I'm not gonna have to talk back every sentence, but I'm gonna talk back as I want to. So, in other words, the things that I'm thinking, for instance, if I come upon a passage that I just don't get at all, there's some places in Judges, I just wanna go, "Lord, I just want to set this before you and go, 'What is that there for...?'" You know what I'm saying?
So I say it to him. I say it out loud. Or I will say to him, so if I were reading Psalm 25 there's this place where it says, oh, oh, I hope it says it similarly here. Hold up, hold up. Oh, oh, oh, it says in verse 15 of 25: "My eyes are always on the Lord. He will pull my feet out of the net". So I would pause right there because I memorized that part of the scripture and I love to say it. He will pull my feet out of the net, out of the snare, that if we're in a snare of any kind.
So I would stop right there and I would say to the Lord: Lord, that I want you to do that for my family members or do that for my grandchildren, that if they're getting caught in a snare, you just snatch them out of it. You just snatch them out of it. Lord, if anyone in my family, at the ministry, if anybody's in a snare. Do you understand what I'm saying?
So what am I doing? Well, I'm participating. So we're sitting. I want you to think of your Bible reading as you sitting at the table dining with Christ. You have pulled up, you've let him in because when you open this, if you have intention to interact with him and there are so many people that leave God out of the study of his Word. It happens constantly. It's just we're going to, we really wanna be knowledgeable about his Word.
Let me tell you something. If that's all it's about, go read an encyclopedia. Once you've read it through, go read something else. No, these are living words that transform us, that teach us how to pray, where we begin praying effectively. Why? Because we're abiding in him, and his words are abiding in us. So that when we ask, we learn to ask in his will, and so this is life and breath to us. So we open the Word and when we open up to Christ, we're opening that door. He sits down on the other side of the table. I just want you to picture that. Just in this image, in this just in our imaginations. And then he's talking to us and we're talking back. He's talking to us and we're talking back and it may be a few minutes before I say a word.
And then other times, I mean, it's like, "Well, this is just exactly what I needed to hear". So whatever is going on in my spirit where I'm responding in my spirit, I just say it out loud and you would not believe, suddenly as that becomes dialogue, everything changes, because now you are participant in intimacy with God and in engagement. Remember that all of these things that he's invited us to do, in our giving, in our feasting, in our gathering, in our Bible study, in our prayer, all of them are toward the aim of engagement. Engagement.
I want you to see with me as we close our last point together. It's number six. And with this, we wrap it up, that says these words: Even in the valley of the shadow of death, we dine with Christ. One of the things that I love about that Psalm, it's really saying the shadow and not death itself. It doesn't appear that this was written just like 5 minutes before he died. That's a beautiful thing to know that very often when we think, "No, this is gonna kill me". Well, no, it's not going to. It's not going to. Even if you wish it would, it's not going to. But there will come a time when we will be in the shadow of death and I pray that we will fear no evil because I'm gonna tell you something.
Listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, all you're gonna do is go from dining table to dining table. Does somebody understand what I'm saying to them? All you're going to do is move from one table to the next table. All you're going to do is drop off this thing that has kept you bound up in all of this earthly living and in this place. We will drop it off. We will be made new and we'll be right there at the table and we will laugh and we will toast and we will have the most fun and we will sing and shout, "Hallelujah".
We will live in the new heavens and the new earth and it's gonna be marvelous. Maybe many of us in this room have lost some friends in recent years in all the divisiveness, whatever divide you might have been on, it doesn't matter. All of us have taken a beating, wouldn't you say, and it's just been such a rough time and such a brutal time and, oh, we've gotten so mean and become such bullies. And there's a song that Andrew Peterson sings on his album, "The Burning Edge of Dawn".
I just love that whole album. It's not new, but it is just fantastic. His lyrics are just so great. But he says this, he says: "And maybe now the only way to find some peace is just to give it time and trust in grace. So this is my communion hymn. I want to sit beside you at the feast, my friend". And that's how I feel. That's how I feel, for all the people that I've fought with, who have fought with me, for all the people in the body of Christ, when I'm just going, "Come on. I mean, at the end of the day, aren't we brother and sister? Aren't we sister and sister? Aren't we? Aren't we really"?
And so it may never be satisfying. We may never get the answer that we wish for. There may never be any reconciliation here, but I hope I get to sit by you at the wedding feast. I hope we can smile at one another and go, "Aren't we glad to be here? Aren't we glad to be here? Aren't we glad to be here"?