(Introduction)(Dial.1)(Dial.2)(Dial.3)(Dial.4)(Dial.5)(Dial.6)(Dial.7)(Dial.8)(Dial.9)(Dial.10)

DIALOGUE 11(Dial.12)(Dial.13)(Dial.14)(Dial.15)(Dial.16)(Dial.17)(Dial.18)(Dial.19)(Dial.20)

THE GLORY OF GOD 

CLEAN_C: Sometimes it feels to me we have been talking in vain. You keep struggling with the same problem ever since we met for the first time. Your attitude causes a great deal of mixed feelings in me which I try hard not to pay attention to. It seems you just don’t see how urgent the cleansing of your soul is. Had you cleansed your life, we wouldn’t need to discuss all of this over and over again. Everything would be so different and things would make sense to you because you would be experiencing them yourself. “And they shall no more teach each man his neighbour and each man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sins no more”, Jer.31:34. You just need to be forgiven for sure to know about all these things. You must cleanse your life at once!

DIRTY_C: You aren’t, perhaps, becoming tired of me, are you? I love to listen to you! Please, don’t give up on me! I feel miserable enough already. I listen to you quite well. Please don’t give up on me.

CLEAN_C: Yes, you love to hear. “Yet they seek Me daily, and delight to know My ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and one who did not forget the ordinance of their God. They ask of Me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in drawing near to God, Is.58:1,2. Jesus did never condescend towards any person who resists truth. You ought to be doing the will of God by now, but you are still listening and listening. Christ supports whoever does what He says. One day you will wish to do something about it and your time might have run out. Esau cried for the blessing he had despised before, and it was too late for him. The Bible says grace passes by us. If we do not follow where it is leading, we won’t know if grace will repeat the offer ever again. You know, going away from God is not the only way to stop following Him. If you follow Him in a slower pace or in a unwilling mood you are not following Him as well. The same thing happens to those people who walk faster than the Lord is leading. It amounts to the same thing. “This people draw near Me with their mouth, and with their lips honour Me, but have removed their heart far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the command of men”, Is.29:13. I believe they move away from God especially because they praise and glorify Him with their lips only.

DIRTY_C: I really want to glorify God! I sing hard in church, I enjoy my church. We even eat together at church and have some fun together. We are always doing something.

CLEAN_C: That can’t be a way to glorify God.

DIRTY_C: What do you mean?

CLEAN_C: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” Is that the way God is to be glorified? Paul told a church to assemble after having eaten at home because they went to church to eat there. We cannot go to church to eat and to have a good time with friends. We should go there to refill our hearts and not our stomachs.

DIRTY_C: We are just brothers and sisters who come together to read the Bible and to have a good time together.

CLEAN_C: It seems to me you come together for something else and the Bible is a pretext! I don’t have doubts about you being brothers and sisters since you seek the same things the same way! Perhaps, if there were no parties your brothers might stay at home. Perhaps you would also stay at home if there was no party.

DIRTY_C: Now you are being mean to me again and disrespectful to my brothers!

CLEAN_C: No, I am not. I believe I am speaking the truth now.

DIRTY_C: But, the way you say it hurts me. You shouldn't speak about us that way!

CLEAN_C: How, do you think, does God feel about you using food and fun to get together around the Bible? It is the Spirit who should be able to unite us and not food and fun. Jesus once accused people of coming to Him because of the bread He had given them and not because of God or His words. I don’t think following Him for the sake of fellowship with people is what the gospel is about. I believe it is a big sin to do so. It is wrong to give the second place to God and the first to fellowship.

DIRTY_C: Doesn’t singing and praising glorify Him? We even pray and say grace before we eat!

CLEAN_C: Praying is not what glorifies God. What glorifies God are the answers to those prayers. Praying is not as good as praying and having answers. I pray before I ride my car. But, what good would it bring me if God did not hear my prayer? Why would I be praying for? Why would I pray if God did not go along with me in my car for real? What kind of benefit would such praying bring to me or to anyone else? “And whatever you may ask in My name, that I will do, so that the Father may be glorified”, John 14:13.

DIRTY_C: I can’t see what you mean. I am sorry, but I still feel bad about what you said. And now you seem to be saying praying is no good! You should listen to people before expressing such harsh conclusions or definitions about them.

CLEAN_C: Is there any way we can talk that doesn’t really upset you? Can you advise me? I am sure it is not the way I speak that offends your feelings. I believe you would feel offended whatever I say. Even if I keep quiet you would not be happy about it. Perhaps you would wonder why I keep quiet and be upset about it. Your ways will always be heading against mine because I can’t be a hypocrite before you. Is there a specific way I should say the truth without offending you? Please, tell me if there is another way I should say something.

DIRTY_C: I don’t know what you are talking about. There is something in you which is very sharp and smooth against normal people. It hurts them smoothly. I understand we all need to hear the truth, but you hurt people the way you speak.

CLEAN_C: I believe you people need to hear these things the way I talk about them. However, Jesus does not always respond to hypocrites because hypocrites know the truth.

DIRTY_C: How can you say that hypocrites know the truth?

CLEAN_C: Hypocrites complain because they know God is not answering any of their prayers. “Why have we fasted, and You do not see? Why have we afflicted our soul, and You take no knowledge?” Is.58:3. The fact is that people need to have some knowledge of truth to become hypocritical or hardened about it. If you are able to harden yourself against something, it means you know what that something is. In case you did not know about it, how would you harden yourself against it ever? All actors have a script according to which they play reality. Hypocrites also have the knowledge which drives them to become actors of truth. That way, they are able to hide their lies in darkness.

DIRTY_C: You are confusing me again. How so?

CLEAN_C: Hypocrisy is a force against a known truth. To imitate truth is the strongest and most annoying enemy of it. People try to impersonate only what they know. If a hypocrite did not know truth, he wouldn’t be a hypocrite anymore. “Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would have no sin. But now you say, We see. Therefore your sin remains’”, John 9:41.

DIRTY_C: I don’t see myself as a hypocrite.

CLEAN_C: Of course not. You seem to believe things about yourself which are not truthful and it drives you to make God accept you as you are, as if you are fully prepared to get into His presence. Why else would you complain against God? You pressure God so hard to be accepted that you cease to care about God’s opinions and ways to get you there. Isn't it true that you try to force Him to comply to your ways? In fact, people come to a point where they won’t accept God’s opinion about them anymore. They even say it is the devil accusing them or something. All the while, it is God trying to help them through truth! Besides, everyone has this vain idea that admitting sin will condemn them eventually. People discredit conveniently what God has to say about them. “Therefore, I said to you that you shall die in your sins, for if you do not believe, you shall die in your sins”, John 8:24. We need to believe God and all He says about us. “You did not turn to Me with your whole heart, but with feigning, says the Lord”, Jer.3:10.

DIRTY_C: Can a hypocrite sing to the Lord and praise Him? Doesn’t the Bible say that everyone who is able to mention Jesus’ name belongs to Jesus? I love to sing the hymns I sing!

CLEAN_C: It easier to become a hypocrite when we sing and pray. In fact, I believe there is no better occasion to form a hypocrite than during prayer, fasting and worshipping. The service to God is a perfect cover-up for hypocrites and sinners. The better they sing and pray, the better hypocrites they are. However, the world sees it some other way. It would be very good if you were the one who became pleasant and perfect towards God and not your singing. God hears people for what they are, whether they sing well or not. And many sing believing they are praising God because they sing those hymns they love to sing. Were I to sing to someone, I would sing those things that person loves and not what I love. Could you sing a serenade to your bride using the songs and the kind of music you like? Or would you rather sing the songs she loves the way she loves to hear them? If you sing what you like to sing and be there for the reasons which bring people together, how can it be a serenade for God?

DIRTY_C: You don’t sing to the Lord those hymns you like?

CLEAN_C: Yes, I do. But, I don’t sing them because of the love I have for them, but rather for the love I have for the Lord. But, you should not try deviating the sword from your heart by trying to find fault in me. If you wish to know about my faults, I will most gladly talk about them so you can pray for me - if your prayers are heard at all.

DIRTY_C: You seem to put yourself always high above others.

CLEAN_C: No, I am not higher than anyone else, at all. But, I cannot sit around a table where people scorn God with their singing. How can I distinguish between hypocrisy and holiness if I don’t put truth and lies in their proper light? Hypocrites make it harder for people because they always fabricate means and plans to attract everyone to their way. Hypocrites hate to be lonely. They use truth to lie. They use goodness to do evil. “Offspring of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” Mat.12:34. They pray, but, it does not mean God hears them. And what glorifies God is not that we pray, but, that we find the answers to those prayers. It is good to discern between false religion and real worshipping. One of the things God promised to us was the discernment we would gain through light and by living and experiencing truth. “Then you shall again see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves God, and him who does not serve Him”, Mal 3:18. God says here, that it is not easy to discern between a hypocrite and a saint unless we walk with Him.

DIRTY_C: How can you use Jesus’ words to offend people like that? Or, how can you twist those words to back up offenses against people?

CLEAN_C: How can you use Jesus’ words to cover up sin? How can anyone ever use God’s words to refine his own sinfulness? And how can I talk to a feigning faith without using the word “hypocrite”? My intention is not to offend, but to speak the truth. You may not be offended by the truth or it will displease God greatly.  

DIRTY_C: Please, let’s change the subject or we won’t stop arguing about this at all. Can we? I can’t figure out why you see me as a hypocrite. But, it doesn’t matter to me anymore. I believe those people which belong to your sectarian gospel speak as you do. They are very bold and they enter in doors to which they have not been invited. They act as if they have the right to offend everyone around.

CLEAN_C: We go out inviting. We are not expecting to be invited because time is too short and too precious to wait for an opportunity which they do not desire. Besides, if your house is burning down should I wait till you invite me in to rescue you? We can change the subject, yes. We were talking about the honour of God as far as I can remember.

DIRTY_C: You are a very annoying person! You speak in such a way that no one can trace a hint of anger in you. How can you say such things looking into my eyes without having bad feelings? It is amazing! The way you do it is a mystery to me. It seems you haven’t been fighting all this time! And if I had to call someone a hypocrite, I would need to be very angry with him. You make me feel guilty for the way I talk back to you. And you didn’t change your opinion about me, not even a bit.

CLEAN_C: Do you need my opinion to live on as you do? Why is my opinion so important to you? Does your conviction lack on assurances? Do you need my opinion to support you? Do you need it to feel more comfortable? If I don’t change my opinion about you, will it make you unsure? Why would you like to be sure about something which might not be steadfast and true?

DIRTY_C: I can’t explain this. It seems I understand everything you say in another light. It doesn’t feel you are teaching me the word of God as my pastors do. You seem to be pointing at me all the time! I feel annoyed just b looking at you!

CLEAN_C: I am sorry to hear that. Jesus must have felt sorry when He asked people around Him, “Why do you not know My speech?”

DIRTY_C: I can’t accept that one can sing to God and still be considered a hypocrite. It makes singing to God appear evil. How can singing to God be evil at all?

CLEAN_C: Let me try to explain again. But, please, do not get offended this time!

DIRTY_C: Ok, I will try.

CLEAN_C: We give glory to God through our living, through the way we are. What we are is what counts and not what we do in the name of God. If our behaviour is not something that is found in the inside as well, it can't please God. Unless it really comes from the inside, especially when we are ourselves and unaware of what we are doing, we are hypocrites. We need to be ourselves and that only. If we must change something in us, let’s change for real and through the grace of God which works deep inside man. We cannot afford to pretend before people or God. We cannot change appearances only. Appearance is not transparency at all. In fact, appearance is the opposite of transparency in many ways. We need to become transparent and not apparent. When people look at us, they must see what is inside us. That is how transparent we must be! And inside us must be the glory of God. We cannot be ashamed of any of it either. It is our lives which glorify God and not our words or prayers.

DIRTY_C: I can’t see what is the difference between what ones and what one is.

CLEAN_C: Can’t you see? It is so clear even a child can see it! People say too easily they have accepted Jesus. They accept someone they know nothing about. They hear about Him, but they don’t see Him. Also, it is Jesus who needs to accept them. They are the ones who say Jesus accepted them. It should be Jesus saying He has accepted them and not they. They speak for Jesus and, most of the time, the Lord has not granted them the knowledge of His opinion. We cannot speak on behalf of someone else unless we have the credentials of His true testimony in us to do so. His testimony in us needs to speak for itself. Death cannot speak on Life’s behalf and pretend to be alive by speaking about life!

DIRTY_C: If I clean all my sins will I understand and accept all these things clearly? What you say seems to come out of a personal experience and not out of much studying. I am impressed about how easy you answer my doubts! Sometimes it is annoying, but it seems you answer things even before I ask them. But, it seems rivers of words come out of you freely and no one can stop them. They seem so natural in you! Do you believe I will ever see truth the way you do? In fact, I desire greatly what you have. It annoys me that I can’t have it the way you do.

CLEAN_C: The problem with you is that you wish to get into the sheepfold avoiding the door. It seems you want to get in there by climbing over the wall. We need to get in through the door, using the ways and the means God established. I am sure only then will things become crystal clear to you. But, if you do not get in through the door, the temptation to jump over the wall shall become greater and greater because you will smell the peace inside the sheepfold and the sulphur of hell outside. It will drive you crazy and will cause you to do crazy things. Going in through the door is much easier than to jump over the wall. Yet, people will will rather jump over because they know they are not allowed to enter carrying their sin!

DIRTY_C: Everything seems so easy to you! I don’t think it is easier to tell people about all my sins! You mean that is the only way I shall really be cleansed? Is it the only way that truth will become clear?

CLEAN_C: Yes, that’s what I mean! Paul talked quite often about the simplicity that is found in Christ Jesus. It needs to become simple and straight forward. But, it seems you do not like straight talk.

DIRTY_C: And why is it so complicated to me?

CLEAN_C: I believe it is because you are trying it the hypocritical way! It is not easy to do it that way. Only after we have cleansed our lives with God and people, naming every sin by name and removing them from between us and people and us and God, can we ever come to the full understanding of truth and to the reality of it. Then, shall we understand why a holy life is the normal way to live. All beings created according to God’s image must experience it and live through it alone. If holiness is not simple and natural in us, we shall be considered hypocrites. By being transformed for real from inside, we shall, then, understand and see what it is all about. This is why I keep telling you that you are trying to have it the other way round. Unbelievers want to see first. Believers obey first and immediately. The simplicity of a holy life at your workplace, in church or even at home is what glorifies God. God heard Job and not his prayers. God heard the prayers because of Job and not Job because of his prayers. Were the same prayers offered by Job’s friends, they would never reach God’s ears. When prayers are not heard, there is seldom something wrong with the prayers themselves, but rather with who prays. We read God said He would hear Job and not prayers. And unless holiness is natural to you, unless it is the only way you know how to live and to do all you do, it won’t be acceptable to God. That sort of life needs to be worked on by the Lord from deep inside us and God will do that if we are clean or being cleansed.

DIRTY_C: You talk as if things can really be made that simple and that practical! You scare me to death! You make me feel lost.

CLEAN_C: God’s life is real. God will accept from us only what is offered through His life. His life and everything He is able to work in us is what makes Him accept us. His life in a natural, simple and spontaneous way is the main beauty of the Universe He created. There is nothing more glorifying to Him than that. You take it for free, by abandoning your old life in the whole. Jesus’ blood needs to cleanse us thoroughly of it before we can share in this great glory. Take it or leave it. Trying to imitate it is never an option. You should know it by now. But, instead you use the Bible the way an illiterate man would use a book. Only after we are cleansed can we be filled with His life in an abundant measure. We show obedience before we are filled and not only after. We shouldn’t try it the wrong way, or do it the other way round. “Therefore do not be like them...” Mat.6:8. The people Jesus talks about here are those who have no real life in them. They shall always pretend. They could have it, but, they will rather pretend.

DIRTY_C: I understand.

CLEAN_C: After we are thoroughly cleansed, every step towards a simple, greater Life will be blessed and God can surely make everything beautiful in us in His own time. We need to have His commandments in us before we can think of fulfilling them. We have to share in eternal life here on earth and before we die. Jesus talks about such who HAVE His commandments. “He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me...” John 14:21. We must think of having them first, before we can think about fulfilling them. It needs to be worked in us and God needs to have His full way in us freely. And if sins separate us from Him, it just won’t happen. Force can never make for the lack of Life we experience. We need to have it and share in its fullness. Jesus will never trust a kind of holiness He did not work on Himself. And He can work it from deep within us through the active grace of God. There is no deepness in us His Life cannot reach to change it.

(Introduction)(Dial.1)(Dial.2)(Dial.3)(Dial.4)(Dial.5)(Dial.6)(Dial.7)(Dial.8)(Dial.9)(Dial.10)

DIALOGUE 11(Dial.12)(Dial.13)(Dial.14)(Dial.15)(Dial.16)(Dial.17)(Dial.18)(Dial.19)(Dial.20)