Church of the Holy City

Not Revealed by a Human

Not Revealed by a Human
Rev. Dr. David J. Fekete
August 24, 2014

Exodus 1:8-2:10 Matthew 16:13-20 Psalm 2

When Peter says that Jesus is the Son of God, Jesus tells him that this truth was not revealed by any human, but by God. Our deepest truths are revealed to us by God, not by human reason. In fact, as the inner sense of the Moses story tells us, human reason is often at war with spiritual truth. This is represented by Pharaoh attacking the Hebrew people in Egypt.
Religious truth and conviction, or faith, is given to us from heaven by God. We can confirm our religious faith by means of human reason and knowledge from this world. But we are likely to run into trouble if we begin our quest for spiritual truth by means of reason and knowledge.
Many, indeed, are the difficulties that reason has with religion. It seems to me that the more a person gets educated, the more difficult religious faith can become. I say this because some of the most educated people I know–people I have met in graduate school as professors or students–many of these highly educated people are atheists. In fact, the great Canadian philosopher writes, in his complex philosopher’s language, writes about atheism in higher education:
Our modern civilization is made up of a host of societies, sub-societies and milieux, all rather different from each other. But the presumption of unbelief has become dominant in more and more of these milieux; and has achieved hegemony in certain crucial ones, in the academic and intellectual life, for instance; whence it can more easily extend to others (Taylor, A Secular Age, pp. 12-13).
So Taylor claims that in academic and intellectual life, atheism has achieved hegemony–it is the dominant way of thinking.
Some of the things religion asks us to believe are hard to accept from a rational perspective. For one, God is invisible. Evidence for God’s existence comes from within–not from what we see and reason about. I know a man who was raised in the church–a minister’s son, no less–who said to me once, “I just don’t see enough evidence to believe in a God.” If you start your reasoning from what you observe, you won’t see God. But if you allow influx from heaven that there is a God, you will see God everywhere–in the sunrise, in a flower, in the plants that pop up in all manner of inhospitable places like the desert or on the steel hull of a boat–everywhere. But to see God there, you need inner sight, not evidence that starts from outside.
Another thing that our religion asks us to believe that is hard for reason to accept is that a man walking the earth 2,000 years ago was and is God. Jesus was a great man, and a great prophet. This every person can admit–even atheists. But the notion that this great man was also the Almighty is very difficult for a person to admit rationally. No man we ever knew of rose from the dead. No man that ever walked this planet was God. We may not doubt that there was a person named Jesus who lived in Israel. But many people–especially educated people–have difficulty believing that this remarkable person was the Messiah, God on the earth.
In order to believe that Jesus was God in the flesh, we need to have revelation from God Himself. Consider how Peter’s confession of the Christ is developed in Matthew’s Gospel. Jesus asks His disciples who they think He is. They begin with a list of great prophets: John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah. Great prophets indeed. But only prophets. Only men. But a dramatic shift takes place when Peter says that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Now, Jesus is lifted out of the realm of mere mortals. Now Jesus is lifted above even great mortals like John the Baptist or Elijah. With Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Son of God, Jesus is now equal with God–God on earth.
And this realization is so profound that Jesus tells Peter that only God could have revealed this to him. So it is with this foundational truth for all of us. We only see this statement as true when we are enlightened by the Holy Spirit.
In fact, if we think too hard about these matters, we may have second thoughts. I am currently reading a book about the historical Jesus and the early Christian church. This book is written by one of the world’s leading scholars on the history of Jesus and the early church. But the more I read this book, and the more facts this ponderous historian presents me with, the more difficult it is for me to cling to my faith in the divinity of Jesus. This author gives us sociological information about farmers in Galilee and new Roman cities that depleted their agricultural resources. He gives us sociological reasons for their hatred of cities and the people in them such as Pharisees and Sadducees. He asks the question why the “Jesus movement,” as he calls it, arose in Galilee and not other places like Jerusalem. He gives me so many historical facts about the Jesus movement that I wonder where divine intervention in all this occurred. This historian is giving me so many facts that I am losing a grip on my belief system.
This is what is symbolized by Pharaoh attacking the Hebrew people. Pharaoh symbolizes human reason. Swedenborg writes,
Pharaoh, the King of Egypt–by whom human wisdom or intelligence, that is knowledge in general, is represented . . . by these words they are signified who desire by means of knowledges, and so from themselves, to enter into the mysteries of faith (AC 42).
Another way of describing Pharaoh is the natural level of our thinking. The natural level of our personality is the level that is created to live in this world. In it are self-preservation and self-serving, the five senses, and the lowest level of thinking which is knowledge, facts, and reason. Being created to live in this world, the natural level of thought thinks about how to make money, how to get ahead, how to be a good citizen, and what seems to be true based on evidence from what we see, hear, touch, smell, and taste. Without enlightenment from heaven and God, all we have is the natural level of thought–thinking about how to make money, how to get ahead, how to be a good citizen, and what seems true based on what we see, hear, touch, smell, and taste. None of this will reveal God to us. The natural level of thought will not make the leap of faith that is belief in God.
Our conviction comes from an entirely different place than our natural level of thought. It comes from an inner thought process. With every person, God inflows with the idea that He exists. When God flows into our thinking, it is called influx. Influx literally means “flowing in.” The idea that God exists and that God is real enlightens our whole mind. When we are open to this idea, then we can use our lower mind to affirm this truth. We can study science or philosophy, we can look at our life’s experience with an eye to learn from it, we can dialogue with others about religion or their life’s experience–in short, we can look everywhere in this natural world for confirmation of God’s existence. All the facts and information we glean from this world serve to strengthen our belief in God.
But we cannot use this information to convince others. They need to use their own minds and listen for their own influx. And unless a person has their own mind illuminated from God inwardly, nothing we say outwardly will change their belief or unbelief. I have spoken with atheists about the logical inconsistency of their belief system–and denying God is a belief system–and they refused to listen even to logic.
Listening to Pharaoh, or using the natural mind to enquire about faith will blind us to truth. In fact, the natural mind will attack and argue against the possibility of faith. So Pharaoh attacked and enslaved the Hebrew people.
When Peter recognized Jesus’ divinity, the conviction came from God. And our conviction comes from God too. It comes from within directly and indirectly from God. We need only keep the door open and Jesus will come in and dine with us. The recognition that there is a God and that He is Jesus is not given by any human nor by natural reasoning. It is a gift from God.

PRAYER

Lord, this day, and every day, we pray that you strengthen our faith. Confirm us in our beliefs and grant us confidence that You are there for us. Many, indeed, are the temptations from this world that would turn us from our belief in You. Many are the arguments, the reasonings, and the persuasions against our faith which we encounter in this world. But in our hearts, we know that You are and that You are there for us. Hold us strong in this belief. Enlighten our minds from within. So that everything we see, hear, and touch in this world will remind us of You, and that You are there for us.

And Lord, we pray for the sick. May they experience the power of your healing love. Fill them with the grace of your healing power. Comfort their family and friends. We pray for the grace of your healing power for all who are ailing in body or soul.