“What We Have Here is…Failure To Communicate”
“What We Have Here is…Failure To Communicate.” Perhaps some of you are old enough to remember this famous line from the authoritarian captain played by character actor Strother Martin in the 1967 movie, “Cool Hand Luke.” Paul Newman’s academy award nominated performance as Lucas “Luke” Jackson is a character study of a non-conformist, anti-hero loner who bullheadedly resists authority and the Establishment. One of the films posters carried the tagline: “The man … and the motion picture that simply do not conform.” This film by director Stuart Rosenberg proved to be one of the key films of the 1960’s, a decade in which protest against established powers was a key theme.
Sadly, God the Father is looking at the Church and the Christian’s life in 2002 and saying, “What We Have Here is…Failure To Communicate.” The Church is bullheadedly resisting the authority of The Word of God and the Christian is simply choosing not to be conformed to the image of God’s Son (Romans 8:29). Christians are simply not being established in the Faith today. The snare of the devil is progressing at an accelerated rate in the Church and he is holding many Christians captive to do his will while multitudes enter eternity lost. Many in the Church are lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to authorities, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God and give appearances of holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power.
Our Father is proclaiming through His Servants, “My People are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My Priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children” (Hosea 3:6). Genuine worship in the Church has been exchanged for entertainment. We have been lured away by the “bright lights” and tactics of Hollywood to attract the masses. We’re more concerned about numbers than we are about souls. The study of skits and dialogues by Christians to entertain the masses has replaced the study of the Word of God to equip the saints to save the masses. Yet, the authority of God’s Holy Word remains unchanged. The Bible proclaims to all who will hear, “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24) We need The Spirit of the Lord and we need The Truth of the Lord to communicate with and genuinely worship the Father who daily demonstrates His Love for us.
Fellow believers, the communication lines are open but we refuse to use them. We are experiencing failure to communicate! Jesus asked the Father on our behalf: “Sanctify them in the truth: Thy word is truth (John 17:17).” However, Bible Doctrine isn’t being preached in the church today. Few Christians truly know what they believe or how to defend the faith. Many believers make erroneous statements to the searching and many within the Church think there is more than one way to God when the Bible is clear: Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. Other Christians live a silent existence when the Bible says, “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.” The result is that many believers are deaf to the world because they are deaf to the Father. They are not communicating. There is a communication failure because they are not surrendering to the authority of God’s Word and the leading of His Spirit. Like Lucas “Luke” Jackson in rebellion to authority, they refuse to be conformed and established in the Faith. How sad, when The Father wants an intimate relationship with each and every one of His Children and has our best interest at heart. We have failed to hear The Apostle Peter’s warning: “You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard lest, being carried away by the error of unprincipled men, you fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. (2 Peter 3:17-18).”
This failure to communicate is our weakness in the Church and the Christian life today but there is hope. The Apostle Paul says in Romans 8:26-27: “And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” God The Holy Spirit and God the Son are available to help us communicate with God The Father. Here Paul identifies what we have is … failure to communicate. The promise of 2 Chronicles 7:14 remains true: “and [If] My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, them I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” Prayer is how we communicate with God. Paul says we do not know how to pray, as we should. We are busy seeking from God’s hand but care little about seeking God’s face. We have failed to see the power of the disciples’ request, “Lord, teach us to pray.”
Like a child needs to learn to talk to communicate, so we too need to learn how to pray to communicate with God. A young child learns to talk by watching, listening and attempting to formulate and speak the words of their parents. As a child spends loving time with the parent, he quickly learns syllables, words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, and eventually the language. This happens as the parent encourages, corrects and teaches the child hour-by-hour, day-by-day and week-by-week. It is a two-way communication that facilitates the learning. Time spent at the knees of the parent leads to an increased level of communication that enriches the joy of the relationship. But it requires the investment of time and energy – for the child it comes naturally for without concern he totally depends on the parents for instruction.
It is good to examine how this communication occurs for it teaches the Christian how to avoid a failure in communication. First, the child must be totally dependent on the parent. LIKEWISE, TO AVOID A FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE WE MUST ACKNOWLEDGE OUR NEED TO BE TOTALLY DEPENDENT ON GOD. We must realize not only our need of The Holy Spirit to help us communicate with God but also our need upon God in every other area of our life – only by realizing we are weak can God make us strong. The fact that we can speak eloquent words doesn’t mean we can communicate with God. It may puff us up, sound good to others who hear our praises and petitions but it doesn’t mean we are getting through to God. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.
The Apostle Paul discovered “the power of weakness” in his own life and it transformed his ministry and relationship with the Lord. Paul learned the power of acknowledging our weaknesses and depending upon Christ. Listen to his words to the Corinthian churches: “Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:10).” Remember believers the words of our Lord: “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9). It is obvious from these verses that acknowledging our weaknesses and being totally dependent on God unleashes power in and through our lives as we serve and reach out to others in His Name. In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian churches he said, “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:2-5)
SECOND, TO AVOID A FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE WE MUST TRUST THE SPIRIT TO INTERCEDE FOR US. Paul says, “And in the same way the Spirit also helps…” What does Paul mean by this statement? I believe he is referring to previous statements made about The Holy Spirit in Romans chapter 8. Thus, in the same way the Spirit gives life to our mortal bodies (Rom. 8:11), leads us (Rom. 8:14) and bears witness that we are children of God (Rom. 8:16), He helps with our inability to communicate. And this way only comes through trust in the promises of God as revealed in His Word and dependence of the Holy Spirit to complete the work in fulfilling those promises (Philippians 1:6). We must trust that The Holy Spirit intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. These are groanings that come not from the lips but from the heart.
Believers listen to these wonderful promises: “but just as it is written, Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love him. For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thought of a man except the sprit of the man, which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.” (1 Corinthians 2:9-13)
THIRD, TO AVOID A FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE WE MUST SPEND TIME WITH THE LORD. How much time did you spent with the Lord Jesus Christ today? This week? This month? It is not religion but relationship that is the key and like any relationship it requires both parties spending quality time together. It is essential if the relationship is going to grow. “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. (Romans 10:17).” Like the young child learns to talk by watching, listening and attempting to formulate and speak the words of their parents, we need to do the same to grow in the Christian life. We must spend loving time with our heavenly Father so we learn the syllables, words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, and eventually the language of the Christina life -- for all else flows from communication.
Of course this communication is a two-way street. The Godhead works together to encourage, correct and teach His dependent, yielded children moment-by moment, hour-by-hour, day-by-day and week-by-week. It is a two-way communication that facilitates learning. Time spent at the knees of Our Father in Heaven leads to an increased level of communication that enriches the joy of the relationship. Remember Jesus words to Martha in Luke 10:41-32: “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only a few things are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken ways from her.” Of course, Mary was “listening to the Lord’s word, seated at His feet (Luke 10:39).” Believers, when we are seated at the feet of Jesus, The Holy Spirit helps us, especially in the gray areas of life. He imparts to us understanding of the Word and divinely operates to strengthen our faith. God The Son works in us to will and to work for His good pleasure and intercedes for us according to the will of God since He knows what the mind of the Spirit is. But it requires the investment of time and energy on our part – we can be a Mary or a Martha -- for the infant it comes naturally for without concern he totally depends on the parents for instruction. Likewise, we should be the same.
Finally, TO AVOID A FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE WE MUST PUT INTO PRACTICE WHAT THE LORD TEACHES US THROUGH HIS SPIRIT. The Apostle Paul made it clear to the churches in Philippi: “The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things; and the God of peace shall be with you.” (Philippians 4:9) Jesus said, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” (John 14:26) And Jesus promised: “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. (John 7:17)
Believers, I encourage you not to be a Lucas “Luke” Jackson Christian who simply does not conform. Instead, “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude. (Colossians 2:6,7).” For whom the Father foreknew, He also predestined to become confirmed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren (Romans 8:29). But for those who rebel and are anti-establishment, the Father says, “My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you” (Galatians 4:19).
“My People are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My Priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children…Hosea 3:6.”
“What We Have Here is…Failure To Communicate.” Perhaps some of you are old enough to remember this famous line from the authoritarian captain played by character actor Strother Martin in the 1967 movie, “Cool Hand Luke.” Paul Newman’s academy award nominated performance as Lucas “Luke” Jackson is a character study of a non-conformist, anti-hero loner who bullheadedly resists authority and the Establishment. One of the films posters carried the tagline: “The man … and the motion picture that simply do not conform.” This film by director Stuart Rosenberg proved to be one of the key films of the 1960’s, a decade in which protest against established powers was a key theme.
Sadly, God the Father is looking at the Church and the Christian’s life today and saying, “What We Have Here is…Failure To Communicate.” The Church is bullheadedly resisting the authority of The Word of God and the Christian is simply choosing not to be conformed to the image of God’s Son (Romans 8:29). Christians are simply not being established in the Faith today. The snare of the devil is progressing at an accelerated rate in the Church and he is holding many Christians captive to do his will while multitudes enter eternity lost. Many in the Church are lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to authorities, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God and give appearances of holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power.
Our Father is proclaiming through His Servants, “My People are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My Priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children” (Hosea 3:6). Genuine worship in the Church has been exchanged for entertainment. We have been lured away by the “bright lights” and tactics of Hollywood to attract the masses. We’re more concerned about numbers than we are about souls. The study of skits and dialogues by Christians to entertain the masses has replaced the study of the Word of God to equip the saints to save the masses. Yet, the authority of God’s Holy Word remains unchanged. The Bible proclaims to all who will hear, “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24) We need The Spirit of the Lord and we need The Truth of the Lord to communicate with and genuinely worship the Father who daily demonstrates His Love for us.
“You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard lest, being carried away by the error of unprincipled men, you fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen…2 Peter 3:17-18.”
Fellow believers, the communication lines are open to God but we refuse to use them. We are experiencing failure to communicate! Jesus asked the Father on our behalf: “Sanctify them in the truth: Thy word is truth (John 17:17).” However, Bible Doctrine isn’t being preached in the church today. Few Christians truly know what they believe or how to defend the faith. Many believers make erroneous statements to the searching and many within the Church think there is more than one way to God when the Bible is clear: Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. Other Christians live a silent existence when the Bible says, “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.” The result is that many believers are deaf to the world because they are deaf to the Father. They are not communicating. There is a communication failure because they are not surrendering to the authority of God’s Word and the leading of His Spirit. Like Lucas “Luke” Jackson in the motion picture “Cool Hand Luke” believers are in rebellion to God’s authority and refusing to be conformed and established in the Faith. How sad, when The Father wants an intimate relationship with each and every one of His Children and has our best interest at heart. We have failed to hear The Apostle Peter’s warning: “You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard lest, being carried away by the error of unprincipled men, you fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. (2 Peter 3:17-18).”
“And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God…Romans 8:26-27.”
This failure to communicate is our weakness in the Church and the Christian life today but there is hope. The Apostle Paul says in Romans 8:26-27 that God The Holy Spirit and God the Son are available to help us communicate with God The Father. Here Paul identifies what we have is … failure to communicate. The promise of 2 Chronicles 7:14 remains true: “and [If] My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, them I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” Prayer is how we communicate with God. Paul says we do not know how to pray, as we should. We are busy seeking from God’s hand but care little about seeking God’s face. We have failed to see the power of the disciples’ request, “Lord, teach us to pray.”
Like a child needs to learn to talk to communicate, so we too need to learn how to pray to communicate with God. A young child learns to talk by watching, listening and attempting to formulate and speak the words of their parents. As a child spends loving time with the parent, he quickly learns syllables, words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, and eventually the language. This happens as the parent encourages, corrects and teaches the child hour-by-hour, day-by-day and week-by-week. It is a two-way communication that facilitates the learning. Time spent at the knees of the parent leads to an increased level of communication that enriches the joy of the relationship. But it requires the investment of time and energy – for the child it comes naturally for without concern he totally depends on the parents for instruction.
“And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God…Romans 8:26-27.”
It is good to examine how communication occurs with a child for it teaches the Christian how to avoid a failure in communication with God. First, the child must be totally dependent on the parent. LIKEWISE, TO AVOID A FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE WE MUST ACKNOWLEDGE OUR NEED TO BE TOTALLY DEPENDENT ON GOD. We must realize not only our need of The Holy Spirit to help us communicate with God but also our need upon God in every other area of our life – only by realizing we are weak can God make us strong. The fact that we can speak eloquent words doesn’t mean we can communicate with God. It may puff us up, sound good to others who hear our praises and petitions but it doesn’t mean we are getting through to God. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.
The Apostle Paul discovered “the power of weakness” in his own life and it transformed his ministry and relationship with the Lord. Paul learned the power of acknowledging our weaknesses and depending upon Christ. Listen to his words to the Corinthian churches: “Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:10).” Remember believers the words of our Lord: “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9). It is obvious from these verses that acknowledging our weaknesses and being totally dependent on God unleashes power in and through our lives as we serve and reach out to others in His Name. In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian churches he said, “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:2-5)
“And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God…Romans 8:26-27.”
TO AVOID A FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE WE MUST TRUST THE SPIRIT TO INTERCEDE FOR US. Paul says, “And in the same way the Spirit also helps…” What does Paul mean by this statement? I believe he is referring to previous statements made about The Holy Spirit in Romans chapter 8. Thus, in the same way the Spirit gives life to our mortal bodies (Rom. 8:11), leads us (Rom. 8:14) and bears witness that we are children of God (Rom. 8:16), He helps with our inability to communicate. And this way only comes through trust in the promises of God as revealed in His Word and dependence of the Holy Spirit to complete the work in fulfilling those promises (Philippians 1:6). We must trust that The Holy Spirit intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. These are groanings that come not from the lips but from the heart.
Believers listen to these wonderful promises: “but just as it is written, Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love him. For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thought of a man except the sprit of the man, which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.” (1 Corinthians 2:9-13)
“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ…Romans 10:17.”
To avoid a failure to communicate we must spend time with the Lord. How much time did you spent with the Lord Jesus Christ today? This week? This month? It is not religion but relationship that is the key and like any relationship it requires both parties spending quality time together. It is essential if the relationship is going to grow. “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. (Romans 10:17).” Like the young child learns to talk by watching, listening and attempting to formulate and speak the words of their parents, we need to do the same to grow in the Christian life. We must spend loving time with our heavenly Father so we learn the syllables, words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, and eventually the language of the Christina life -- for all else flows from communication.
Of course this communication is a two-way street. The Godhead works together to encourage, correct and teach His dependent, yielded children moment-by moment, hour-by-hour, day-by-day and week-by-week. It is a two-way communication that facilitates learning. Time spent at the knees of Our Father in Heaven leads to an increased level of communication that enriches the joy of the relationship. Remember Jesus words to Martha in Luke 10:41-32: “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only a few things are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken ways from her.” Of course, Mary was “listening to the Lord’s word, seated at His feet (Luke 10:39).”
Believers, when we are seated at the feet of Jesus, The Holy Spirit helps us, especially in the gray areas of life. He imparts to us understanding of the Word and divinely operates to strengthen our faith. God The Son works in us to will and to work for His good pleasure and intercedes for us according to the will of God since He knows what the mind of the Spirit is. But it requires the investment of time and energy on our part – we can be a Mary or a Martha -- for the infant it comes naturally for without concern he totally depends on the parents for instruction. Likewise, we should be the same.
“The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things; and the God of peace shall be with you…Philippians 4:9.”
To avoid a failure to communicate we must put into practice what the Lord teaches us through his spirit. The Apostle Paul made it clear to the churches in Philippi that practice is essential (Philippians 4:9) Jesus said, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” (John 14:26) And Jesus promised: “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. (John 7:17)
Believers, I encourage you not to be a Christian who simply does not conform to the work of God in your life. Instead, “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude. (Colossians 2:6,7).” For whom the Father foreknew, He also predestined to become confirmed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren (Romans 8:29). But for those who rebel and refuse to be established in the faith, the Father says, “My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you” (Galatians 4:19).
