parallellines
A great lesson through two parallel lines
John the Baptist cried in the wilderness, “He (Jesus) should increase and I should decrease”
John wanted his own image to decrease in proportion to the image of Jesus Christ. How?
Let us now draw two parallel lines of equal length. One line is meant for the image of Jesus Christ and the other line for the image of John the Baptist or our own image. Now the image of Jesus Christ cannot be altered because He is the express image of the invisible God (Col.1:15). No one can alter the image of Jesus Christ at all. By praising Him or giving a testimony about Him, we cannot increase His image. By ridiculing Him, we cannot decrease His image. By publishing scurrilous books like The Da Vinci Code, etc, or publishing some ridiculous cartoons, nobody can decrease His image. As such, let us not touch the first line which represents the image of Jesus Christ. Now to magnify His image through our vision, we can alter the second parallel line. By decreasing the second line, we can magnify the first line. A minister of God becomes popular through the gifts of the Holy Spirit and his/her image grows. Multitudes follow him/her to experience the power of God. The minister concerned can increase or decrease his/her own image. When he/she grows in image, he/she can withdraw into the wilderness and spend the time in intercessory prayer or in other ministry that does not propel him/her into popularity. He/she can devote the time to writing messages or interpreting the word of God. At the same time, the minister of God can equip his/her co-worker to do the public ministry. In this manner, he/she can decrease his/her own image.These days, we can see the image of a “popular” servant of God through his magazines, television channels, etc. If he promotes his co-workers or those in the second line of his ministry in the public gaze, he can definitely decrease. Paul had a team of co-workers with him in his ministry. Even Jesus Christ did have the company of His twelve disciples. He did equip and send them for ministry. The Pentecost ushered in a body ministry of the Holy Ghost. The individual Levitical ministry came to an end when Christ died on the Cross and the veil of the Temple in Jerusalem was rent in twain from the top to the bottom (Mark 15:38). Those who have been redeemed by the precious blood of the Lamb have been made unto God kings and priests to reign on the earth (Rev.5:9-10).
“No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse.
Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved (Mathew 9:16-17).
We find today is the same old Levitical ministry but in new bottles. New cloth and new bottles mean the new dispensation under the new covenant through the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Let us put on the new cloth by discarding the old cloth. Similarly, let us put the new wine of the gifts of the Holy Spirit into the new ministry of the New Covenant. The new wine should be put in the new bottles only.
The servants of God promoting their own ministries should decrease by replacing their ministries with “body” ministries. They should discard the old clothes but should put on the new clothes. They should not combine the new dispensation with the Old Testament tool of Levitical ministry.
What we find today is the decaying of these individual popular ministries. The Levitical ministry has to perish. If the Levitical priesthood is practiced continuously, it will definitely become “worse”.
- Job Anbalagan