Rightly Evaluating — R. Edward Miller

Evaluating Future Rewards

I want to speak on four levels, four levels, several times mentioned in scripture, we'll go into them, we'll have several scriptures this morning, there are four major levels in human life on earth, there's what we call below poverty level, then there's poverty level, then there's middle class, then there's rich folk, I don't know which level I should address you in, but I can guess.

Some people, some people, such as lawyers, doctors, professional men, accountants, all kinds of people like that, they value future rewards. They say it's worth all the sweat, all the study, all the grind, all the struggle, now, to have a whole lifetime of rewards.

Personally, in most cases, I do not grudge a doctor his charges, his honorariums. He spent almost ten years getting to a place he could do that. Instead of grudging him, you could have done it yourself.

I have another question about hospitals and some other things, but nevertheless, and I will do my best not to pay them anything by staying home, but I do not grudge them because they earned it, didn't they?

They took the hard, long years of work to get there, and many of them don't get very high even after all that work, but they have fought for it, they have struggled for it, they have striven for it, they have pressed onward, overcoming discouragement and overcoming difficulties of all kinds to get to that place.

They value future rewards. Then there's other people that don't, and they're the ones that get jealous and envious and angry at those that do. Why should they be so rich? Why should they be so high paid?

We don't get anything. Well, you don't deserve it either. They have earned it because when they were young people, instead of dropping out or playing around or fooling around or half-studying and getting out of school as quick as they could because they wanted to quick get a job, quick get a car, quick do this and quick do that, quick get married and quick get in trouble, they threw out any value of future rewards.

There are those that didn't do that. They worked hard. They got to that place. But there are those that do do that. Therefore, there is an evaluation that we have to take place. Am I going to be one of those that in time to come in my life, I will not be in those that are in poverty level or below poverty level, at least as far as I can have any control over it.

I mean, no one can control everything. There's sicknesses that come in, there's accidents, all kinds of things can happen. But as far as we know and as far as we're able to, we evaluate the future. That's one thing Jesus taught very much.

Heavenly Treasure and the Prize of the High Calling

He said, don't lay up treasures for yourself here, lay up treasures for yourself in heaven, didn't he? He so much valued the future and the rewards of the future. So much so he disdained, he discounted everything in this life as any particular value.

He said, the value, the valuable things are things to come. That's where we need to do the striving, the working to get to that place. And it's true in heaven, everybody's going to be happy. Regardless of where your stage is, where your accomplishments are, everyone's going to be happy.

But that doesn't say too much. You can have a lovely, a lovely Christmas feast and everything's there. You can have your plum pudding, you in South Africa, and we'll have our mince pie or whatever happens to be up here.

And I don't know what you folks in China, you have some kind of a Christmas feast or just to have a regular everyday banquet. But while you're eating that lovely feast, you can have a little baby just as happy as can be with a bottle and doesn't envy your feast at all.

Is that right? Everybody's happy. But there's a lot of difference, isn't there? Everybody's happy, but there's a lot of difference. Paul in Philippians 3, 13, said, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do.

For getting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press towards a mark for the prize of a high calling of God in Christ Jesus. I'm not going into what the high calling of God in Christ Jesus is.

In fact, I'm writing a book on it right now. But the thing is, that's not what Richard is at this moment, but it was a fact that he had set himself to evaluate and consider that as what's important, and that's what's ahead.

He says, I count what's behind as done. It is so unimportant. It is all I have known. He says, I count it all nothing that I might know Christ and be found in Him. And then he says he's an apostle now.

He's already reached apostleship, but he says, that's not the high calling. We think apostleship, ooh, that's high calling. No, he says, that isn't the high calling. I haven't attained it yet. He says, I'm pressing towards a mark.

He was making the effort, even at that stage in his life, having attained apostleship, having attained a ministry, having attained power, having attained the realm of moving into the prophets, prophetics, and the spirituals.

He said, I haven't attained yet. That isn't where I want to go. That isn't what I hold as value. I want to have the high calling, the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. In other words, there's something far beyond, and Paul was able to see it, and understand it, and evaluate it, and say, it's worth it.

I'm not stopping here. I read about Jesus, when He came to pass, when He should be offered up, received up, in Luke 9, 51. He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem. Why? To the cross. Why the cross?

Well, I read something else in Hebrews, in chapter 12. For the joy that was set before Him. Isn't that right? For the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross, despised the shame, because there was something set before Him.

He said, it was worth it. He set His face to go to Jerusalem. He said, nothing is going to stop me, not even the sufferings of the cross, because there's a prize I want to attain. Those are wise people.

Remember, the first night of this conference, Robert spoke on the wise men. The wise men are those that can evaluate the future, and say, that which is what's ahead is worth going through what I have to go through to get there.

The others say, it isn't worth it. Why should I slave in a school? Why should I slave in a university? Why should I slave and hardly have enough to eat? Why should I go without sleep for days without end, trying to learn to be a doctor?

It's not worth it. So they don't. Then when they get sick, they say, why do I have to pay a doctor so much? There has to be the evaluation. If we're wise, we will evaluate things correctly, and we'll realize there is something, there is a prize that's worth attaining.

The Four Levels of the Tabernacle

Now, I mentioned a fact, and this is a message on four levels. First, we'll go to the levels of Christian life. You'll find those in the Old Testament, in the book of Exodus. I'm not giving you any scriptures on that portion, because there's so many scriptures.

But I think your memory will help you enough to take us there. If you remember, there were four levels. There was the camp, there was the court, there was the holy place, and the most holy place. They were all separated.

You could not walk from one to another. There were barriers, barriers that could be crossed, but only under certain conditions could they be crossed. Otherwise, they were not crossable. The first level was in the camp.

There they had mutual fellowship. That's what's a member of a good Christian church. They had fellowship. They had the people around them. They had their friends. They were in the camp, and that was their place.

Then the next step was the court. Now, the camp, there were probably, in the days of Moses, there were probably about close to two million people. But the court was the next step, it was the next level.

And they had to go through some things to get there. There were some consecrations, and there were some rituals they had to pass through. And they had to be belonging to a certain family. In other words, they had to be born in, which includes regeneration.

And in the court was a labor, and we'll just get that a little label, and call it sanctification. Now, they've moved beyond life in the camp. They've moved beyond life as a general, ordinary church member, a Christian, a believer.

They've gone on into another level. Now, they're getting closer into the tabernacle. However, it was only one family. Instead of the 11 families out there, 11 clans, 11 tribes, there was only one tribe in here, the Levites.

They could come in here. And not all of them at a time. They just came by turns, because there wouldn't be room for them. It was so much smaller. The camp was spread out over how many acres? I have no idea.

But the court, that was much, much smaller. And there, they couldn't get in, first without being born in, without regeneration. Second, without coming into the court, without coming through the surrenders that a Levite had to make.

He could never have any land possession. He had land, but it wasn't his. He could never own land. Different things. They had to make certain surrenders to be able to come in there. Then, there was the third position, the third level, which was a holy place.

That's inside the tabernacle. Now, it was more than just being born into a family. They had to come in through certain consecrations. They had to come in to a deeper level of consecration. That was a priestly ministry and a priestly consecration.

In fact, that is why when Uzzah moved in, he was a king. And he moved into that holy place to offer up some sacrifices of incense. He was cursed with leprosy. And the priest, the high priest said, what are you doing in here?

Get out. You do not have the consecrations of the priesthood. Don't get in here. And he did, and he was struck with leprosy. He stayed in that place until the end of his life. There are restrictions. There are limitations.

There are requirements. There are prerequisites. You can't just walk in. God has to bring you in. And those ritualistic consecrations, every one of you study them, are very significant because they speak of spiritual operations and spiritual works in the human life as we go on in Christ.

But there is another level. There is a third level. But there is one more level. It's the most holy place. That's the highest consecration. And there they ministered unto God. It was not only ministering unto the tabernacle.

They ministered unto God. There they had to have some very special consecrations, ritualistic, though very significant and very real in the human life. And that was they had to have blood upon their hands, feet, and ears.

That's the entrance to the mind. That's their work. And that's their walk. It had to be cleansed. Furthermore, they had to have the holy anointing oil put upon their foot and on their hand and on their ear, which meant that the anointing, now they could hear from God through the anointing.

That means they would have anointed works and that means they would have the anointed walk and the abiding of the anointing. Now these were necessary to get to the highest level. There are four levels.

And each one of us is in one of those levels, like it or not. Well, there was one more level we could mention, but we won't consider that one here. And that is outside the camp. The lepers had to go outside the camp, didn't they?

Leprosy, of course, speaks of sin. But there was a camp, the court, the holy place, and the most holy place. Four levels. And those levels represent every person that belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ.

You are in one of those. You can't just walk between one and the other. There were barriers. True, there were only skin barriers, tent barriers, but nevertheless they were very strictly kept. You could only go through the gate, you could only go through the door, you could only go through when it was proper for you to go through.

Four Levels of Prayer in Ezekiel

And otherwise, no. They were sealed off. Now there's another area of levels of existence and that is in Ezekiel 47. Four levels of prayer. Four levels of prayer. Four levels of prayer. You want to read those scriptures to refresh your mind?

He brought me out of the way to the gate northward, 47, to, led me about the way without unto the other gate by the way that looketh eastward, and behold, there ran out waters out of the right side. When the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits and brought me through the waters.

The waters were to the ankles. Again, he measured a thousand and brought me through the waters. The waters were to the knees. Again, he measured a thousand and brought me through the waters were to the loins.

After he measured a thousand, it was a river that could not pass over, for the waters were risen. Waters to swim in. River that could not be passed over. The first level is the ankles. That is where, in our Christian life, beginning Christian life, we are discovering prayer.

It's just ankle deep, like a little one that first goes to the ocean. Oh, he gets his feet wet and tickles him to death, but when those waves start coming in, he runs away. He won't get much in above the ankles, and that is a great tickling.

Oh, he's just thrilled with it and dances and shouts with glee, but it's just to the ankles. It's a discovery of prayer, that it is there, it is real, that it's something that we can have and something we can use and something that works.

In fact, I've had more than one pastor tell me, when he wants to get a prayer answered, he'll ask a new Christian to pray it, because at first, God will answer some prayers to let you know that it does work and is real, but then begins to apply other requirements a little bit later, as the child grows up.

But at first, it's just, this is wonderful. Prayer really works. I remember, Robert was just a little fellow, I think he was maybe nine or ten, and he wanted a horse. Well, I want to tell you something.

I wasn't about to get a horse, but he wanted a horse, and we had no place to keep it, and we had no use for it and no desire for it, but he did. He said, well, if you want a horse, you go pray for it.

That gets him off my back. So he went and prayed for it, and about a week, a horse shows up, wanders in. It's kind of a half-country place, so they'd had all kinds of pasture on the sides of the road and little empty lots around.

So he grabbed that horse. He had it, I don't know, for how many months, three or four months, perhaps, until one day the owner came looking for it. But by then, he was fully satisfied. God answered his prayer.

I was downtown in Mar del Plata one day, and I did something so foolish that even when I did it, I knew it was foolish. Some guy, some man was hawking some jewelry on the side of the street, and he had a nice-looking watch, and I'd never do anything like that, never.

I know it's all fake. So I said, well, there's a nice, I'll get that one for Robert. He was wanting a watch. So I got it. It wasn't very expensive, but as I left the place, I took a good look at it, and it was just the outside had stamped on it the right names and everything, and I realized the whole thing was just nothing but it.

I didn't pay any too much for it, by a long way. And we got home, and I said, well, what a foolish thing I've done. I said, I don't know why I did it. Look, I bought this crazy thing. He said, well, I know why you did it.

I said, why? He said, Robert's been praying for one. I said, well, that's dangerous. Discovering prayer, how wonderful and glorious it is. Then it goes up to knee deep. The man carried me through, and the water was up to my knees.

Now it becomes a way of life, not something that you realize is not only real, but something you're going to have to move on into. You're on your way. You've moved on in your Christian life and experience, and you realize that prayer has to be more than just something to play around in and tickle your ankles, but you've got to move on into it.

Then it moves up the loins at the third level. The loins speak of fruitfulness. Now you begin to bring forth fruit in prayer. Now it becomes useful to the kingdom. Now it's not something you're playing with, something you're working out some nice little things for yourself, something that you're not using to get a horse in your backyard, but it's something that you're going to bring fruit unto God.

You're going to join Him in His prayers. It's going to be fruitful. It's going to be something that's useful. It's wonderful when a person begins to get into that level of prayer, and their prayers become meaningful.

They pray with intelligence. They pray with an intimacy, with a love of their heart for God. It's a very beautiful place. Good to God that more people entered into it and realized that prayer is not just to get things to tickle my fancy.

Prayer is not just to discover that there's some things we do as we're Christians, but it's something that we use for God to bring forth fruit into the kingdom. Then there's a fourth level, and that is swimming.

That's moving on into a new level in prayer, and I want you to notice something. When you're swimming, you do not have ground control. Your feet are not on the ground. You are completely buoyed up into the water.

When you're on the ground, you have control. You can direct yourself. You can turn easy. You can stop. You can move. You can back up, but when your feet are off, then you have to swim around, don't you?

It's a whole different ballgame. In other words, when we move into that level, we become born by the Spirit. These are prayers in the Spirit, as Paul says, praying in the Spirit. Then we're not in control.

Then it's not the earth that's controlling. It's the waters that are controlling. They are the ones now lifting you up. They're the ones controlling you. You are the ones that you are, in swimming, you have to cooperate and use the waters and use them wisely, or it will be too sad.

We've moved into another level, moving to a level of intercession, where the Spirit prays through you with groaning which cannot be uttered. You're not praying to Him now. He's praying through you. It's a different level.

It's very, very effective. In fact, true intercession, you might say this, every prayer is answered. John 3 .22, John says, everything we ask of God, we receive. But because you're not in control, it's not ground control, it's water control, therefore, they're not your prayers, you know what I mean?

They're prayers that He prays through you. When you move into that level, it's a whole different level. I remember when I first moved into that place, and God was showing me that I couldn't bring my prayer to that place.

It had to be His prayers. If He prayed it, and He wanted me to join in His prayer for that, it was wonderful, and it was very effective. I'd seen so many prayers answered. But I couldn't be the one that initiated it.

I couldn't be the one that says, oh, I'm going to intercede for this. Fortunately, that's true. I'll say fortunately, because I know a certain pastor in New York. He visits us in Argentina, and he was in such intercessory prayer, he'd roll on the floor and groan and cry and weep, hours at a time.

And this went on for several months, perhaps 18 months more or less. And I was in his home in New York, and I discovered what this tremendous intercession was for. So his wife could die, and he could marry another woman.

Well, his wife, she lived a long time. God didn't answer that prayer. He tried to take it in there, but I tell you, if you're still on the ground, you're not in swimming water. If you're still in control, that's not the place.

Intercession and Surrender to God's Will

It's when He gets in control, then things change. I remember when I was first being moved into this, and I didn't have any other wisdom, but I think I got a little bit later, quite a bit later. We had a conference in Buenos Aires.

It was just outside of Buenos Aires in a city called City Bell. And to speak at our conference, we had a missionary and his wife from Chile. They were lovely people, and they stayed in our home. And that morning, she had a little upset, physical upset, and she asked me to pray for her.

And very truly, but very unwisely, I said, well, I'd be glad to if the Lord gives that to me to pray for that. Whoa, what a reaction. What do you mean if God gives you to pray for? I said, well, just that.

I mean, if He gives me that prayer, I'll pray it. Of course, I knew it would be answered. And she said, you mean you can't pray for me without some special word from God? I said, that's about right. Oh, she was angry.

So angry, she left her breakfast and stormed off to her room. And her husband, trying to make peace, tried to get me to back up, but I'd already spoken a true word, and I couldn't back down on it. And I tried to smooth it over, but it was a pretty rough deal.

Well, it was time to go to morning service. I wasn't sure she would go. She was pretty angry. But the last minute, she hadn't even combed her hair. She had on a lot of curlers and had a bandana tied around it.

And she went to the service. But God moved in a glorious way in that service. And there was about seven hours, or nine hours, I guess it was, and the Spirit of God moved in so tremendously in that conference that people stood in line, waiting to take the microphone and confess their sins.

And the Holy Spirit did a work of real cleansing that day. And I looked up, and she was in that line, curlers and all. And then she gave her confession, mentioned her pride, and so on and so forth. But that night, the Lord called for healing.

And she was not in the line. So after a while, I went to her. I said, Why aren't you in the line? You wanted healing this morning. She said, I'm not worthy. I'm not worthy. I said, Well, God's going to heal you anyway.

And He did. We're never worthy. But there was a truth. I just didn't get it out the right way. That's all. Because we can pray for one another. It's the fact we can't take on a prayer and get it through and get it answered.

You know what I mean? There is a difference. But we can pray for everybody. Pray for anybody. Because those are petitionary prayers. That isn't talking about carrying prayer into that depth. But there is that level where it no longer is our prayer but His.

Levels of Relationship in the Song of Solomon

Then I want to go on. There are four levels of relationship. You'll find this in the Songs of Solomon. Chapter 6, verse 8 and 9. There are three score queens, four score concubines, virgins without number.

My dove, my undefiled is but one. She is the only one of her mother. She is the choice one of her that bare her. The daughter saw her and blessed her. Yes, the queens and the concubines and they praised her.

Then it goes on to say a little bit about her. Verse 10, Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners? That's quite a bride. Beautiful and terrible.

At least you're fair warned. Damsels without number, maidens without number. They got into the palace but they were not pleasing enough. They had no rights. They were just stuck there in the harem with a lot of other ones.

They had no place in the scheme of things. They had no hierarchy at all. They were just a servant girls in the harem. That's all they had. They had no rights, no conjugal rights. They had no place at all.

They had no place with the king. But there were a lot of them. There were very many without number, just a number, just a great number of them. We'll go into that a little bit later but I want you to notice something as we go on through these that the lower levels are much larger, much more numerous and the higher the levels go the less the people are.

That's true even in Israel. We mentioned the human life. There's a lot more people that are servants than there are that are doctors and there are professional men. Those are much fewer in number. The poverty level people or below, they are a great number aren't they?

Because there are not those that will evaluate the future and plan for it and work for it. Then there were 70 concubines. They were pleasing but their rights, their conjugal rights were very temporary and they were lucky if they had any at all.

These concubines were alliances usually, local alliances in which the tribes, I mean the leaders of the tribe or the higher families, they had one of their daughters in the king and that means they had a way to get a word to the king.

They had a way to make an appeal to the king and so it was a nice place but it was still a very low place. They had no rights. Then the next step, the next level, the fourth, third level was the queens.

They were alliances made with other nations. They had an important place. They did have conjugal rights. They did have rights in the palace. They did have entrance to the king and through them they were like ambassadors.

They were relating always to their own country and bring it back and forth. In fact Solomon if you remember built several temples for the different queens he had in his. But then there is a fourth level.

There is one, just one, the bride. The dove, the undefiled, the only one and she is blessed and praised and with full right to come in any time like Esther. She could come in and she did come in even when she wasn't invited in.

She took the risk but he received her graciously. Those are levels of relationship. There are, if you remember Jesus told a story of the five wise and foolish virgins and behold a bridegroom cometh. Now they were not the bride.

The bride waited in her home. They were waiting as a procession with a bridegroom and his friends passed by, picked up these friends of the bride, took them all in to the wedding supper. They were not the bride.

The bride was the only one. She was the one. Rebecca if you remember when she went up with Eliezer on the camels to Isaac. She took her nurses. She took her maids. They all went up there together. But when they got there they didn't go to the tent with Isaac, just Rebecca.

There is that relationship, that bridal relationship, that relationship with Christ. We are married to Christ that we might bring forth fruit unto God. We read in Romans 7, he calls himself the bridegroom.

There is that intimate, wonderful, lovely, love relationship with Jesus Christ. There is that relationship. God has, he himself has chosen his bride out from the church. She will have with her her friends.

She will have with her her maidservants and so on. But they are not the bride. The church itself, the entire church is not the bride of Christ. But the bride of Christ is in the church. But they are those who have that relationship.

They are those that love is appearing. They are those that have built and taken time to build that relationship because it takes time to build any relationship. In Argentina when a young man and a young woman begin to court in days, we call it their talking time.

We say, están hablando, they are talking. And there is that talking time. What is that talking time? Why is it that she and he can talk and talk and talk and talk for an hour or two or three and it just like it slips by so quickly.

Well, what in the world they're talking about? Maybe if you ask them they wouldn't know. What is it? It's getting acquainted, isn't it? It's getting acquainted. Oh, more than once in college and between classes or after classes before we had to leave or earlier in the morning.

We'd get there a little bit early and we'd stand out there and we'd stand on one foot and talk and on the other foot and talk. I don't remember what we were talking about but it was a lot of fun talking.

But what you're really doing is getting to know a person. Jesus said, this is life eternal that you know God, that you know Jesus Christ, his son. It takes time and it takes talking time. It takes opening up your heart.

What they will do when they're in that talking time? They'll bring out some secrets, something no one else knows and they'll just kind of timidly present it and watch to see how it is received. If the person laughs or makes fun or is angry, close up.

No more said. Too much of that and the talking time ends. Nothing more. But if it's well received then you bring out another little secret and then another little secret and then another little exposition of yourself.

Getting acquainted. Finding out who this person is beyond what our eyes can see. Finding out what's inside. Who this person really is. Is the person that I feel I'm truly matched with. I can truly live with this one and enjoy it.

I can look at this person over the breakfast table every morning and not get so weary I want to kick it out. One man had to make a choice. There were two young ladies. They were very lovely young ladies but one of them wasn't very pretty.

But she had a beautiful voice. Oh, she had a voice like an angel. The other one was very beautiful but she couldn't sing. But he chose the voice. He thought that voice is so beautiful. And they got married.

And the next morning he woke up and looked at her and he said, Honey, please wake up and sing. There is the bridal relationship but it takes time. It takes time and much talking time. It means you not only talk but you listen.

You know, I've been many places. I've even talked with pastors that had never once read the Bible through once from cover to cover. They'd never done any listening to any account. They just hung up sermons and a few things like that and a few well-known passages and things they had learned by repetition and that's all.

We have to sit and listen. We have to take time to listen. This is his letter to us. My daughter, many of you know, and her husband never met until ten days before they were married. But they had a lot of letters.

They had a lot of letters. And at first those letters were lovely letters and my daughter read them to us. Then after a while she stopped reading them. But I'll tell you one thing, she read them all and did something else more than once.

This is God's letter to us. This is God's love letter to us. This is God showing us himself. Do we listen? Do we take time to hear what he's saying? Are we one of those that says, This is the man I want.

This is the love I want. This is the love of my heart. I want to be one of his. I want to have that intimate relationship. I want to be able to hear when he speaks. Well, try listening because it's something we develop.

It's something we have to develop. I think I've read this book, oh, I think more than 50 times. It's a wonderful book. It always has new things in it. You read it over and over and over. Listen. Don't you do all the talking.

But you do your talking too. David said some, quite a few things to God. Some of them weren't all that polite. But he was being honest and being himself. And God has said to us, he said, I want you to speak truth to me.

He loves truth. Even if it's not very nice sounding, that's all. He knows it. I mean, not bringing any surprises on God. But he wants to hear truth. And he wants to hear us say it to him. To have that confidence that he'll love me enough.

That he'll know all about me and still go on loving me. And that's what a real friend is, isn't it? A friend can really know you and not hate you. A friend can really know you and not get absolutely sick and tired of you because, oh, I didn't know they were that way.

Oh, I didn't know they were that way. Well, that's not much of a friend. A friend will know you and still like you. Still be a friend. And God says, I don't want to call you disciples, servants. I want to call you friends.

I want us to begin a friendship. Friendship is a basis, a good basis for courtship. I want to be a friend. I want to get to know you. I want to come into that relationship where we can begin to love one another.

I've had so many Christians tell me, well, I try to love God, but I can't love God. I can't generate any love for God. Of course not. Love has to be built. And love has to grow. Love has to be developed.

It just doesn't happen. An attraction, a chemical attraction can happen. We call it chemistry. But that's all. Love doesn't. In fact, there is a saying that you don't love your husband or your wife until after you've been married two years.

It's something that develops. The more you know that person, you say, yes, this person really attracts me. This person is one that is a blessing. It's a help to my life. That's why we're called helpmates.

This one lifts me up instead of puts me down. I used to tell young people when we were in the Bible school days, make fun of me about their boyfriends or their girlfriends. I said, well, there's one thing you can go by.