The Path (Fire on the Mountain Series) (9 page)

As we began walking, the young girl pulled up beside me. “I do not mean to be impertinent,” she began, “but if this is true, I want to understand it. Can I ask you more questions as we walk?”

“Of course,” I replied. “You can ask me anything, if you will allow me to say ‘I don’t know’ when I don’t know the answer.”

“Fair enough,” she began. “I’m one of those who has always had trouble when I think about all of the people who never had a chance to even hear the gospel. So it is hard for me to hear about some who get to run the race for this glorious high calling when others don’t even get salvation.”

“That is a fair question,” I responded, “and I think it is one that every thinking person who really cares about justice must ask. It took me many years to find an answer that satisfied me, but it is not a simple issue.”

“Will you share what you learned with me?” she asked.

“I’ve never shared all that I learned about this with anyone because it would take so long to do it right. But I’m willing to share as much as I can with you while we are together on this journey.

“First, in anything we accept as doctrine, as a truth, it must be confirmed in the Scriptures. No opinion of man, or even angels, can carry the weight of the written Word of God. It took me years to come to my understanding of these issues and to establish them in the Scriptures. To convey in a short time is not likely, but I can help you begin down the right path to searching out the truth.

“Why don’t we do this: let’s take your questions one at a time, and I will share with you my conclusions and as much as I can about how I came to them. If my conclusions don’t satisfy you, then ask for more, and I’ll try to show you how I came to them.”

“I would appreciate any help,” she replied.

“What I did find through all of my searching absolutely convinced me of the righteousness and justice of the Lord, and how He even went far beyond that to add grace and mercy,” I said.

“I would like to have these things settled in my heart,” the young girl continued.

“Okay, but I want to tell you up front that my main purpose in sharing these things with you is to give you something that could be even better than my conclusions,” I said.

“What is that?”

“The path that I took to find my answers. Sometimes it is not just the answers that are important, but how you come to the answers.

“Those that come too cheaply are not as valuable. When you work to obtain them they become treasures of wisdom and knowledge that you will value enough to take care of,” I replied.

“Well, it seems that we may be together on this journey for awhile, so I’m open. What was the path that you took to find the answer to this?”

“First, what is your name?”

“I’m Mary.”

“Fitting,” I replied, “and that’s a compliment. So we have two Mary’s on this journey, and you seem very much alike. Your parents must have been prophetic. Like the Mary who was Martha’s sister in the gospels, you are called to have a special relationship to Jesus.”

“I hardly feel that close to the Lord. I feel that my questions may be an insult to Him. I don’t mean for them to be, and I know my concern for the people I love can eclipse my devotion to the Lord at times, but I cannot shake these questions, and they are hurting my ability to trust the Lord.”

The other Mary pulled closer, and spoke up, “We do share many of the same questions. I’ve been listening to your conversation. If that is the real Elijah, then surely he knows the answers. Can you get him to come back and talk to us?”

“Believe me, I would like to have him answer all of your questions, and I would like to hear his answers too, but I’m afraid that is not going to happen.”

“Why not?” the older Mary asked.

“He told me about your questions and said that I would have to answer them. He did not know what the questions were, but he said that they were important for the entire group, and that I would have the answers,” I replied.

“That’s weird, that he knew about our questions, but it also sounds like God is not angry at us for having them,” the younger Mary remarked.

“Of course, He’s not angry. I don’t think the Lord ever minds sincere questions. In fact, He has made it very clear that yours are very important,” I said.

I then said to the whole group, who I could see was watching us and would like to be included in the conversation, “Let’s go over to the bank by the living water and take some time to discuss some of the questions you have.”

I waited for all to drink and then settle about on the rocks and ground near the stream. I then asked for volunteers to post watchmen back on the path. Then I began:

“A friend once told me that almost every heresy is the result of trying to carry to logical conclusions that which God has only revealed in part. I think this is true. At the same time, we are told that we know in part and see in part. None of us has the whole picture, or the whole understanding. So to have the whole truth we must put what we have together with what others have.

“There are some things that, if we pooled all of our knowledge together, we would still only have part of the understanding because that is all God has revealed to man at this time. That which God has only revealed in part we must not add to by trying to carry it to what we think are logical conclusions. He has His reasons for not giving us more at this time. We will have eternity to get our questions answered, so some of them need to wait. We honor Him and prove our trust for Him by accepting this. That must be acceptable to us for the walk of faith.”

“Okay. I know I may not learn all there is about this matter, but some of the questions I have make it harder for me to go forward with the trust that I need,” the older Mary confided while the younger Mary nodded her agreement.

“I understand. However, there are some things that God did not hide from us, but He hid them for us. What makes something a treasure is that it is either rare or hard to get to. Some of the greatest treasures of knowledge and understanding will only come with great perseverance. Anything that happens too fast or too easily is usually insignificant. I think some of your questions are important, and I will not presume to be able to answer them easily or quickly, but I will share with you what I have found in my own search.

“To keep from falling into another heresy, what seems partial or incomplete to us we must leave that way until He gives a clear revelation that we can confirm in the Scriptures. If we cannot verify a revelation in the Scriptures then we cannot accept it as doctrine. Prophecy or revelations are never given to establish doctrine, but only the Scriptures can do that. If you examine the roots of many cults and sects, you will almost always find a ‘revelation’ that cannot be verified by Scripture. If Jesus, who was the Word, would take His stand on ‘it is written,’ how much more do we need to do this?”

“Is your understanding of these issues established in the Scriptures?” Mary asked.

“Yes, but that does not mean you will see it. There is something else more basic required to understand the Scriptures.”

“What is that?”

“You have to be willing to accept the conclusion and obey it, regardless of whether you like it or not. Jesus said, ‘
If any man is willing to do His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from Myself
.’ So to be able to understand the truth we must be willing to obey it.

“There was a dispute between Aquinas and Abelard about whether we need to understand in order to believe, or do we need to believe in order to understand. According to what Jesus said, we must not only believe, but be willing to obey Him in order to know whether His teachings were from God.”

“That can be a challenge,” the young Mary said.

“It is meant to be a challenge,” I responded. “We have to see the Lord’s glory with an unveiled face to be changed into His image. Our own prejudices, our good or bad experiences, can be veils that cause us to distort His teachings. Before we are trusted with the ultimate truth we must settle in our hearts that He is God, He is the Creator, and has the right to do what He wants with His creation. That is basic, but to trust Him we must also establish that He is just and will never do anything unjust.”

“So you don’t think He would condemn to eternal damnation those who never had a chance to hear and respond to the gospel?” the young Mary said quite loudly.

“I know that our God would never do anything unjust. Neither do I think we have to distort our concept of justice to make it fit what He does. Everything He does and everything that He will allow in His kingdom will be both righteous and just because ‘
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne
’ or His authority. You can count on this,” I offered. You can also count on His love for all men.”

That is when I saw Elijah again, standing nearby. I was obviously facing the questions he had warned me about. I looked around at the group. I knew that some might not make it past this point if they were not satisfied with the answers to some of these questions. Some would only make it past this point because of what I was about to say to them. I do not remember ever feeling this kind of pressure while feeling this inadequate. I prayed earnestly in my heart for the help of the Holy Spirit.

“Amen,” I heard Elijah say. As I looked up, I was surprised to see him walking toward us.

That is when a loud noise came from the direction of the path. Two of the watchmen came running into the open, breathing hard while trying to yell:

“There’s a lion after us!”

Elijah turned and swiftly grabbed both of the watchmen, saying, “Why are you running? There’s a much bigger lion in you!”

Then he entered the woods walking, but resolutely moving toward the lion. The questions were no longer the most important issue for anyone.

“Let’s go,” I said, and we entered the path behind Elijah.

CHAPTER SIX

THE TEACHER

N
either Elijah nor the lion could be seen or heard. They seemed to have just vanished into the wilderness.

“It was the biggest lion I’ve ever seen,” one of the watchmen said. “I can’t believe Elijah would just go after it like he did.”

“Did you hear what he said?” Mary asked.

“What did he say?” the watchman replied.

“That there is a bigger lion in us,” Mary answered.

“What did he mean by that?” someone asked.

“But that lion was real!” the watchman declared.

“So is the lion in you,” a familiar voice said.

Elijah was standing beside the path in front of us. He turned to the still shaken watchman, and continued:

“If you do not learn to face the lions, you will be running from them the rest of your life. If you do not chase them they will chase you far from your purpose, and you will die in this wilderness.”

“But we need a big gun to face a lion like that,” the watchman protested.

“You have weapons that are more powerful than guns. As I said, ‘The Lion that is in you is greater.’ If you see the Lion who lives in you, you will not be afraid of any other lion or anything else. You will not make it through this place without seeing the One who lives in you,” Elijah countered.

“I helped you this time. Don’t count on me being this close to you the next time they attack. They will be back, and they will keep coming back until you have made them more afraid of you than you are of them.”

Everyone stood considering what Elijah said. The entire wilderness experience had taken on a much more serious air. Knowing the doctrine of Christ in us was not enough; we would have to live by the reality that He is in us. Seeing the Lord and abiding in Him was no longer just an option, but it would mean life or death.

After a few minutes, Mary walked up to Elijah and looking him directly in the eyes asked,