The Second Crucifixion

 

Proverbs 27:7  The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.

·        “loatheth” = Hebrew BUWC (“boos”) = to tread down, reject, desecrate, to trample

Amplified  He who is satiated [with sensual pleasures] loathes and treads underfoot a honeycomb, but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.

Proverbs 30:7-9  7 Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die: 8 Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: 9 Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.

Hebrews 10:28-29  28 He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: 29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

Hebrews 6:4-6  4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

·        To understand the text, we must understand that honey was highly esteemed as food in the Ancient Middle East.  It was eaten directly from the honeycomb and used in pastries and condiments.  In ancient times honey basically took the place of sugar.  It was often presented as a gift (Gen. 43:11).

·        Some twenty times in God’s Word, Canaan is referred to a “a land flowing with milk and honey,” signifying rich pasture for milk-giving cattle and many beautiful flowers for honey-producing bees.

·        In the hot climate of the Holy Land, although bees occasionally make their hives in trees as in other countries, they generally resort to clefts in the rock (Deuteronomy 32:13, Psalm 81:16).

·        Thus, hives (and honeycombs) filled with sweet honey would often be on or near the ground.  But only someone who was very full would think of trampling something so valuable!

·        Honey is likened to God’s Word in Psalms 19:9-10 and 119:103 – something very valuable indeed!

Psalm 19:9-10  9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. 10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

Psalm 119:103  How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

·        I realize that I am speaking to people who have never really been hungry.  North Americans are the richest people in the world, and we are far removed from the 13-18 million people who die every year from hunger.  Estimates range from 24,000 to 35,000 dying every day from starvation, and experts say that 75% of these are children under the age of five.  We know next to nothing of the one billion human beings whose health, productivity and even intelligence are ravaged by hunger.

·        Ironically, our greatest health risk from food is not starvation but over-eating!  We have such quality and variety of food available to us that we are spoiled.  We throw away food while others starve!

·        While the Bible is concerned with such issues as world hunger, that is not its primary focus.  However, where spiritual hunger is concerned, the Bible speaks very directly and emphatically.

·        Since the time of Israel, God’s people have always had a big problem with spiritual “over-eating” (that is, getting so “full” in their spirit that they end up despising God’s blessings).

Numbers 21:5  And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread [MANNA].

Deuteronomy 32:9-15  9 For the LORD’S portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. 10 He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. 11 As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: 12 So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him. 13 He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock; 14 Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape. 15 But Jeshurun [RIGHTEOUS NATION, a name given to Israel to remind it of its calling] waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

·        God’s people today have the very same problem – we are so “full” that we are no longer really hungry for the things of God!  That is why we have a “take it or leave it” attitude!

·        There are only TWO ways (in the natural or the spiritual) that you can be TOO FULL TO EAT:

1.     WHEN YOU HAVE “FILLED UP” ON THE WRONG THING!

·        Like Esau who was so hungry for soup that he did not desire to keep his inheritance!

(Genesis 25:32  And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?)

·        There are three enemies of your soul’s hunger for the things of God:

YOUR FLESH (FULL OF SELF)

·        The new theology of the Self-Esteem Movement focuses on making a person feel good about himself.  The terminology sounds good, until you compare it with Scripture!

·        “The most serious sin is the one that causes me to say, ‘I am unworthy, I may have no claim to Divine sonship if you examine me at my worst.’  For once a person believes he is an ‘unworthy sinner,’ it is doubtful if he can really honestly accept the saving grace God offers in Jesus Christ.” (Robert Schuller in “Self-Esteem – The New Reformation, p. 98)

·        “A person is in hell when he has lost his self-esteem.” (Ibid, p. 15)

·        “To be born again means that we must be changed from a negative to a positive self-image – from inferiority to self-esteem, from fear to love, from doubt to truth.”  (Ibid, p. 68)

·        Romans 5:6-8  6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

·        If you are full of your own “goodness” you will not be hungry to partake of God’s goodness.

THE WORLD (FULL OF PLEASURE)

·        The Greek word translated “pleasure” comes from two root words meaning “think” and “good.”  Thus, the Bible defines “pleasure” in its negative sense (pleasure in wickedness, pleasure in unrighteousness, pleasures of sin) as anything we think is good that God defines differently.

·        2 Timothy 3:1-5  1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

·        The cry of the modern-day pleasure seeker is “No time!”  What they really mean is they have no time for God … because they are using all their time on themselves!

·        Pleasure is not necessarily a sin; rather it is usually a “weight” (Hebrews 12:1).

·        Don’t waste your spiritual appetite on anything less than the best!

·        If your schedule is full of other priorities you will not be hungry to fulfill God’s priorities.

THE DEVIL (FULL OF SIN)

·        Sin is – first and foremost – a separator between man and God.  If you indulge in sin, you will be uncomfortable in the presence of God.

·        Isaiah 59:1-2  1 Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: 2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

·        Sin always blinds your eyes to your need of God. You are “too full” to have an appetite for Him!

2.     WHEN YOU HAVE “FILLED UP” ON THE RIGHT THING … BUT HAVE NOT EXERCISED!

·        Unless the church expends some spiritual energy – in worship, in prayer, in evangelism, in holiness – it can become “bloated” on the very things which should nourish it!

·        We write songs like, “They will never crucify Him again” and “It will be different the next time You come.”  But God’s Word says the only people who can crucify Jesus again are not those in the world but those in the church!

·        The way they crucify Him again is that they lose their hunger for the things of God!

·        The full soul tramples the honeycomb, but to a hungry soul even the bitter things of God are sweet!

·        The prodigal son had to feel his hunger before he desired to get right with the Father!

·        Luke 15:17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!

·        The hunger that comes from a “form of godliness” is very reserved – because it is very slight!

·        But real spiritual hunger has no manners – even the bitter things are sweet!

·        Apostolic evangelism has no elegance or etiquette, apostolic preaching has no poise or protocol, apostolic praying has no polish or propriety, apostolic repentance has no refinement or restraint, apostolic churches have no composure or culture, apostolic separation has no sophistication or subtlety, apostolic devotion has no decorum or deportment, and apostolic worship has no finesse or fashion … BECAUSE WE’RE HUNGRY!