Revisiting The Making of a Prince by Dr. Jonathan David
Recalling points from previous chapters:
Chapter 1: Relationships In The House
- You are not ignorant and out in the streets, but also keep in mind that you are also not out in the streets cheering to get inside. You are in the diplomatic car, with your Father the King. You are not desperately seeking attention outside the car, but you are waving out the window from inside the car.
- It is important to remember your location, and your status. By Jesus and His finished work, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, (1) You are the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21), and (2) delivered from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of Christ (Colossians 1:13).
Chapter 2: The Perception of God-given Dreams
- Consider the conviction of the Holy Spirit (John 16:7-11) who glorifies Jesus Christ (John 16:14) and reminds us we have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). Consider this pleasant cycle: the mind of Christ reminds us of the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and vice versa.
- From this cycle, we see another cycle: We receive revelations relevant to our past, dreams for our present and future – which all ultimately point to the mind of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit… and vice versa.
Chapter 3: There must be the evidence of God’s presence favouring you.
- We are sealed by the Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance, to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14)
- Christ is the Vine, and we are the branches – By the Holy Spirit, it is Christ who produces love, peace, patience, joy, faithfulness, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control in us in all circumstances. We do not produce the fruit, but we bear it.
- The evidence of God’s presence in us is seen in our living FROM our belief in God’s everlasting love for us. We move, not primarily from how much we love Him, but from the Truth that He loved us first through Christ and His finished work.
- The evidence of God’s presence in us is seen – above our loving others as we love ourselves… When we love one another as Christ loved us, the world will know that we are His disciples.
Chapter 4 will discuss ‘The Power of Integrity and Purity‘.
Before anything else, I feel this is very necessary for me personally, in this season. Things are happening at a faster pace, and things are happening at a higher level. It is like the legendary ‘danger zone’ of Mount Everest, where the smallest mistake – the smallest misstep, the smallest break in breathing pace, the slightest hesitation – can spell the difference, not just between success and failure but also between life and death.
There is a need for leaders in this day and age to have integrity in their words and actions. There is a need for men in this day and age, to be ‘pure’ – meaning, they are not so easily swayed by all that the world has to offer, because they have tasted and seen that the Lord is good.
I feel the need for me to personally go through the Scripture before going through what Dr. Jonathan David had to say.
1 Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. 2 The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 His master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. 4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. 5 From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the LORD was on all that he had, in house and field. 6 So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge, and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate.
Take note of the experience of Joseph through all this time. He was well aware of his position – a little too much, considering how his brothers responded to all he had to say. Yet although they took offense and had their way with Joseph, selling him to be a slave in Egypt, here we see that the Lord stayed faithful to him.
Because the Lord was with Joseph, ‘he became a successful man‘; Because ‘His master saw that the LORD was with him‘, Joseph found favor in his sight… and when Potiphar made Joseph overseer of his house, ‘he blessing of the LORD was on all that he had, in house and field.‘
Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. 7 And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” 8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge. 9 He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” 10 And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her. Genesis 39:1-10
Joseph was fully aware of how blessed he was, and of the great responsibility entrusted to him, and (most of all) how all this was because of the Lord being with him.
Therefore, when Potiphar’s wife began to tempt him, he chose to respond by testifying of (1) how blessed he was and (2) how great of a responsibility he had (‘he has put everything that he has in my charge’), and (3) calling what Potiphar’s wife wanted as it is: sin (‘How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?’)
Here I am reminded of two things: (1) Christ’s response to the greatest temptations of the devil, always beginning with the Word (‘it is written‘), and (2) the Scripture we can rely on in this day and age is Revelations 12:11: ‘they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.‘
As men under constant temptation, we ought to remember (1) the Word, and (2) our testimony – that is, how Jesus Christ and His finished work was revealed by the Holy Spirit to be real and personal to us, so we can say something similar:
Through the blood of Jesus Christ, I have been fully reconciled to God, now and forever. Sin no longer has any dominion over me, and I have been made righteous unto eternal life. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?
11 But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house, 12 she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house. 13 And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of the house, 14 she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. 15 And as soon as he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me and fled and got out of the house.”Genesis 39:11-15
Again, we are not just men who are tempted, but we are under constant temptation. And just like Joseph, there will be days when Potiphar’s wife will have an additional advantage, when there was no other men in the house – there will be days that temptation may seem like it has the upper hand… and in this case, we’re to flee, as Joseph fled.
Here I’m reminded of Proverbs 5:8-14, and Proverbs 6:27-29:
8 Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house,
9 lest you give your honor to others and your years to the merciless,
10 lest strangers take their fill of your strength, and your labors go to the house of a foreigner,
11 and at the end of your life you groan, when your flesh and body are consumed,
12 and you say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof!
13 I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my instructors.
14 I am at the brink of utter ruin in the assembled congregation.”
27 Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned?
28 Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched?
29 So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; none who touches her will go unpunished.
Here I’m reminded that this is not OUR integrity, nor is it OUR purity. If we call it ours, we would grow overconfident and think that we can take temptation, even at times that it is ‘stronger’ than usual… but integrity and purity as God would give to us would sometimes tell us, not to confront, but to flee. There are times that the longer you stay in temptations influence, the more you get burned, the more you suffer.
You got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em
Know when to walk away and know when to run
-Kenny Rogers, ‘The Gambler’
So all in all: When temptation comes our way, it’s not enough for us to sing, ‘I have lived in the goodness of God‘, and ‘all my life (He has) been faithful‘, but also that we ARE alive in the goodness of God here and now and God WILL BE faithful to us, now and forever… much so, that because we have the mind of Christ and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we’re able to discern when to stand our ground, and when to walk away.
Now with all this in mind, let’s go on and see what Dr. David has to share:
When you are pure, you are powerful. Purity is power. When you are pure you are powerful, and when you are clean it’s powerful.
Integrity means un-changeableness in changeable times — that means to say that your character, your value systems will not change.
You must learn to flush these things out. That’s why this woman came to Joseph and said, “Come lie with me!” Nobody was seeing or hearing the conversation, yet in Joseph’s own heart, his heart restrained him. That is integrity.
…integrity means you hold fast to it and pull it back and say no to it. If you don’t have that you have no power. Somebody is having power over your life; you are powerless if you cannot control your own thoughts and emotions – you are not powerful.
Integrity is our living according to the Word without compromise, and we draw motivation and encouragement to live this way because Christ, who is the living Word, did not compromise anything to give us life according to His will.
Whoever we are with, and even when we are alone, the Holy Spirit is consistent in reminding us that we are dead to sin, and that sin has no power over us. He is faithful to remind us further that we are alive unto righteousness, and our right-standing with God leads to eternal life.
If you touch poison with your hands and you serve someone that you love with these same hands that have touched poison, don’t you think that they are going to be affected?
It is our responsibility as members of the body of Christ to live in integrity and purity, because we aren’t just living for ourselves. Whether we like it or not, and whether we believe it or we don’t, everything that we do and don’t do, all that we say and don’t say – our integrity in action, and purity of speech (or lack thereof) doesn’t just impact us, but others as well.
This woman spoke to Joseph day after day – every day she said to him, “Come, lie with me! It’s okay to sin. I am the one, don’t worry about my master, he is not coming back but will be away for two weeks, I’m alone by myself. I’ll open the window and keep the window open for you.” She made all the plans and thought nobody would know because she was the mistress of the house. “I will guard you and protect you and will make sure that all the men are away so that you can come and see me.” But Joseph never fell for such trickery because he said, “How can I do this great evil and sin against God?” Not against your husband but against God. That is integrity; unchangeableness.
I want to read a Scripture in the book of Ecclesiastes 10: 8
‘He who digs a pit may fall into it, and a serpent may bite him who breaks through a wall.’
The wall of protection is a light. If you live in what God has said to you then you are living in the light. It is our protection.
All our vulnerabilities will be revealed, and all our weak points will be tested. This is why we should not let our guard down, but this does not mean that we are to be tense. While we are to constantly immerse ourself in the Word, it is not from an attitude of fear, but with divine assurance. Let the world have its own schemes and mantras – we have the promises of God which are, in Christ ‘yes’, and ‘amen’. We live in the Word, we live in the light, and we are protected – constantly, and without fail. The Word is not a mere manual – it is our protection. It is alive, as Christ is alive, and dwells in us.
5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.2 Peter 1:5-9
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
15 Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.Titus 2:11-15
Lest we forget, it is by this same Word that we are not only protected from the outside, but from within. Temptation may assault us and threaten our integrity from the outside in. Sin and the flesh may try in vain to destroy our purity from the inside out… and, let’s be honest, we will stumble every now and then, BUT it will not stay – it cannot remain!
Why is this so? Because (1) the Holy Spirit reminds us that we are able to pick ourselves back up (from virtue to knowledge, knowledge to self-control, all the way back to love), reminding us that we have been cleaned from our former sins, and (2) the grace of God continually trains us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions. Indeed, God is faithful when the times come that we are faithless!
(i) Success brings temptation you may not have power to handle.
Let us, therefore, demonstrate integrity by staying aware and focused on what is unchanging – our forgiveness, and the grace of God. Temptation comes in success and failure – but grace and forgiveness are absolutes. Constants.
(ii) Your Personality, Skills, Talents, and Appearance, May Bring You Into a Place of Temptation.
We may have our own perks and gifts, but let us fix our eyes on the things above. Whatever is praiseworthy, whatever is excellent… let us think of these things, instead of investing all our attention on the fleeting skills, personality, talents, and so on.
(iii) Provide Your Own Way of Escape.
Let us stay constantly in guard. Keep in mind that (1) the smallest things have the greatest effect and (2) people say things, even when you have the greatest of intentions from your point of view. Play safe. Move in the Spirit.
Run to the throne of grace in your time of need. Do not falter or grow anxious – Pray and give thanks, that the God of peace would guard our hearts in Christ Jesus.
On top of it all, let us walk by faith, not by sight. Let us walk according to the Spirit, and not according to the flesh.
Let us always remember the Friend we have, closer than a brother: He is the Spirit of Power, Love, and Sound Judgment. He is our Spirit of Adoption, the Spirit of Truth that leads us into all Truth. While we are in this world, we will always hear His constant convictions: of sin, righteousness and judgment.
The integrity of Christ is what leads us to purity. As Christ has integrity and purity, so we are able to bear the same.
What a good and great Savior we have!
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