*[See Introduction to God’s Saving Grace for an explanation of the terms “zoe” and “psuche”.]
There was a desert wilderness that separated the old life in Egypt from the new life in the Promised Land. God used this testing period to teach His people His ways, to humble them and to lead them to depend on Him. He permitted them to go through difficult situations and then tested them to see if they would respond to His ways. If they learned to trust in His Word, respond to His teachings, and look to Him to do what He had promised, He would take them into a land flowing with milk and honey.
Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live…and go in and possess the land {the life of promise}... And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna {a supernatural food}…that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread {by the physical} alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. {Life is supplied by God as we yield to the voice of His Spirit.}…
You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you {to change how you think and act in order to prepare you for life in the kingdom of God}… For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs… (Deut. 8:1-7)
The number forty in the Bible represents a special time of trial and testing. While the people of Israel remained in the testing period for forty years, Jesus was there only forty days. The number represents a principle more than a certain amount of time. God will take His children beyond this dry and arid land the moment they have turned from the ways of this world by rejecting Satan’s temptations and have fully yielded to His way of the cross.
Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust {desires} of the flesh, the lust {desires} of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. (1 John 2:15-17)
[The NIV translation gives some much needed insight to this passage] – Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world – the cravings of sinful {self-willed} man, the lust {desires} of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does – comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires {will} pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:15-17 Emphasis added)
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Rom. 12:2)
He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me…and I will love him and manifest Myself to him. (John 14:21)
For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: “For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul. (Heb. 10:36-39)
While an entrance into the life of promise establishes the Kingdom-life within the heart, it does not bring an end to temptations and trials. It is during this special time of trial in the wilderness that God’s called-out children must reject the way of life that Satan fostered on the world. As our Leader revealed, Jesus was required to refuse the devil’s temptations to respond to the lust {desires} of the flesh, the lust {desires} of the eyes and the pride of life before He could be strengthened from on high and come out of His wilderness testing period in the power of the Spirit. But this does not mean the devil would not come along with further temptations in an attempt to turn Him from His Father’s will.
Now when the devil had ended every temptation {in the wilderness testing period}, he departed from Him until an opportune time. Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. (Luke 4:13-14)
It is during the wilderness-testing period that God’s children are required to pursue holiness. But we cannot make ourselves holy. Our responsibility is to respond to God’s Word and the leading of the Holy Spirit so we may be brought to the place where God is able to manifest His holy Presence within the temple of our body. (John 14:21) He has promised to reveal His life of holiness through each of us. “Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.” (Ezk. 36:23) We become “partakers of His holiness” after passing through the suffering that takes place in the wilderness testing period. (Heb. 12:10)
This pursuit of holiness is what prepares us to receive “the gift of righteousness” and “reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” (Rom. 5:17) When Christ manifests Himself to the soul “according to the power of an endless life,” we “put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” (Eph. 4:23) If we do not press on through this time of testing in the pursuit of Christ’s life of holiness, we will end up falling short of the grace of God. (Heb. 12:14-16)
It is not enough to believe only certain parts of the gospel. God expects His children to fully submit to the way of life that exists in His eternal kingdom. Receiving Christ as Lord entails submitting to everything He teaches. It includes entering into the way of life described in His Sermon on the Mount. This is where He explained how people live in His kingdom. It is also the way of life as depicted in First Corinthians chapter thirteen.
If God’s called-out people are never told how they are required to live, they will never make it through the testing period. Many ministers do not reveal the truth to their people. Charles Finney, in noting how ministers often fail to perform their duty in this matter, said in his Lectures to Professing Christians: “They seem to hold up a different standard from that which is inculcated in Christ’s Sermon on the Mount, which was Christ’s exposition of the moral law. Christ expressly taught in that sermon that there was no salvation without conformity to the rule of life laid down in that sermon.” If the people are not being taught of the necessity of fully conforming to the way of life found in God’s kingdom, they will never be prepared to enter into it.
Many Christians have never seen this Pearl of Great Price. The tremendous value of His Kingdom-life has remained hidden from their view. Because the leaders of the flock have never opened the real meaning of salvation to their view, they are never truly prepared to pay the full price to receive this heavenly life.
It might help to note how God backed up the Jordan River all the way to “Adam” when the people were miraculously taken into the Land of Promise. (Joshua 3:16) It is an example of how God intends to reverse what occurred at the Fall when Adam first turned from the Tree of Life to enter into a self-originated form of life. Those who choose to die to their self-originated form of life {living by self-will in our own sufficiency}, will come to a place where the heavenly paradise of God can be established within their eternal soul so they may enjoy His Presence forever.
Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to {the ever-present} eternal life. (John 4:14)
Jesus said, “Difficult is the way which leads to life {the eternal “zoe” life}, and there are few who find it.” (Matt. 7:14) Even though others may preach a different gospel, our Lord has warned of this difficult time of testing that separates the soul from the self-originated form of life. And there is no way around this “difficult” way. (Acts 14:21-22) However, it is our prayer that the following lessons will help earnest souls avoid unnecessary chastening and suffering. By knowing what God is attempting to do and by responding to the truth, we can save ourselves some chastening in the time of testing.
For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives {into His heavenly life of promise}…for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Heb. 12:6, 10-11)
The World’s Value System
The devil has fostered a value system on the world that must be recognized. He will have the advantage until the light from God’s Word has exposed the evil in his ways. Scripture has used such terms as “the spirit of the world” and “the spirit of error” to refer to this corrupt way of life. Yes, even if we have been a part of the Christian church and have sought to be followers of Jesus from earliest childhood, we have still “walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.” (Eph. 2:2) Most Christians do not even understand what it implies to follow the course of this world. They have remained deceived and are still under the sway of “the spirit of the world.”
Life in the eternal kingdom of God requires a complete change in how we think. The Son provided a little insight into just how offensive man’s ways are to God when He said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” (Matt. 16:23) The difference between the ways of this world and the way of life in God’s kingdom is so great that Jesus could say without qualification, “What is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.” (Luke 16:15) And since it is detestable in God’s sight, we can begin to see how important it is to clearly identify “the things of men” and “the course of this world.”
A careful reading of the Bible will reveal the following facts: The “spirit of the world” teaches everyone to become independent and self-sufficient. It is an evil influence that turns people from a childlike dependence upon God to a self-seeking and self-exalting form of life. The people of this world reject the light of life as revealed through Christ’s self-denying and self-emptying way of life. They prefer to build up their own image and live for their own pleasures.
While fallen man may become religious and serve others as a part of this image building process, his main focus is to develop a personal kingdom where he becomes great. These are the ways that are highly valued by men and are detestable in God’s sight. It helps us to see how far we must go in renewing our mind before we can be lifted by the power of God into His eternal kingdom.
Those who live in the kingdom of God empty themselves of their own glory so they may live as mere vessels of God’s life and works. In His kingdom, He receives all the glory because He becomes the source of everything that takes place. Jesus provided an example of what this means. The Son of God left the place of prominence to become the lowest servant. Instead of living for His own pleasures, He willingly “suffered” for the good of others. And He assures us that He did not do anything “out from” Himself. (John 5:30; 8:28)
Can we begin to see what it will require if we intend to follow Him? And we must be mindful of the fact that we can only find His eternal Kingdom-life by following Him. (Matt. 16:24-25; John 8:12) Instead of living for our own pleasures and desires as worldly-minded people naturally do, it actually entails choosing to suffer for His kingdom while living in this world. We can become “joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.” (Rom. 8:17)
Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone {separated forever from the eternal life}; but if it dies, it produces much grain… If anyone serves Me {in the kingdom of God} let him follow Me {through the cross}; and where I am {in the Kingdom-life}, there My servant will be also. (John 12:24-26)
The world teaches us to save ourselves and to live for ourselves as a means for finding “life.” When Peter was on this “save thyself” course, which reflects the fallen way of life that Satan fostered on the world, Jesus knew that he was under Satan’s influence. In contrast, the Spirit of Christ teaches us to deny ourselves and to lose our old self-originated form of life so we may find life from above. It is here that we must choose which of these two conflicting courses we are going to follow.
The world leads people to direct their own steps. The objective is to be free from servanthood so we may “pursue life” as we please. Individuals want the right to develop their “psuche” life according to their own will. And while no man should bind another man, this so-called “right” to personal freedom has been promoted to such an extent that even Christians have been unwilling to become servants of the living God.
Paul spoke of being “bound” to the Spirit. It is a reference to losing all rights to his life. He gave up all rights to his own life, and stopped living for his own pleasures, so that God would be able to direct all his steps. This is what enabled him to find the Kingdom-life from heaven and consistently enjoy “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Rom. 14:17) Have you taken this same God-ordained course, or are you still following the spirit of the world?
Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. (1 Cor. 6:19-20)
And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin {to self-will and self-seeking}, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God… And having been set free from sin {self-will} you became slaves of righteousness. I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh {your unspiritual mind}. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness {everything is unclean that is not wholly devoted to God and His purposes}…now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness {to be used by God as He has planned}. (Rom. 6:13, 18-19)
While worldly-minded people will sometimes restrain their pursuit of pleasure in this world for a season, it is generally with the intent of accumulating their resources to prepare to have more happiness in the days ahead. Being afraid of what is ahead, they anxiously make plans to protect their future “psuche” life. They try to protect themselves from future hardships because they have learned how easy their spiritual life is lost in unpleasant circumstances.
The people of the world naturally live by their own strength and will. To them, only a fool would avoid planning his own future. Because they have never entered into a Spirit-directed way of life, where they trust God to work out all things for their good, they remain caught up in the self-sufficient and self-seeking ways of this world.
Jesus’ teachings are completely foreign to the worldly mind. He said to those who desired to follow Him, “Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on.” (Luke 12:22 KJV) He knew that those who continued to live for themselves would not be able to serve Him in His kingdom. “No one can serve two masters.” (Matt. 6:24) He went so far as to emphatically say, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth.” (Matt. 6:19) He said that only those who are of “the nations of the world” do such things. (Luke 12:30) Lacking faith in the one and only God who is able to fully care for His true children, the people of this world think they must live for themselves and store up treasures on earth to protect their future.
The true followers of Jesus live as dependent little children. They trust in God to take care of their needs as they live for His Kingdom and glory. To the children of faith, this is wise because it puts the omnipotent power of God to work in their life.
These two different ways of life present us with a very important question: Who is the wise man and who is the fool? Is the man of the world wise when he rejects Christ’s teachings in order to lay up treasures for himself on earth? Or, is the child of faith wise when He trusts in the God of infinite wisdom and power to care for His future needs while he pours out his life in the service of the Lord’s eternal kingdom? Jesus Himself provides the answer to our question with very clear words.
Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man… But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man… (Matt. 7:24, 26)
God says that unless we are completely changed and become like dependent little children who trust in Him to direct our steps, which includes depending on Him to supply our needs according to His will, we will never see the kingdom of God. (Matt. 6:31-32; 18:3) In fact, He instructs us to give up our rights to both our lives and our resources in living for the good of others, so we may receive “the kingdom of God” as a gift. (Luke 12:32-34) He even goes so far as to instruct us to be willing to go through physical suffering for the sake of His eternal kingdom. (Phil. 1:29) Can we begin to see how our mind will need to be completely renewed before we will be prepared to enter into the way of life found in God’s eternal kingdom?
For those who are willing to be honest with God’s Word, it should become quite apparent how there will need to be a radical change in how we think if we are to pass through the desert testing period and enter into Christ’s heavenly life of promise—the constant, abiding and eternal “zoe” life. Those who continue to live for themselves will find that it is impossible to truly respond to God’s Word. No one can serve two masters.
Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live…and go in and possess the land {the life of promise}... And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you…to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not… For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs… (Deut. 8:1-7)
In God’s kingdom the “least” and the “last” shall be the “greatest” and the “first.” Because everything is reversed, you will need to completely reverse your course in order to “come out” from “the spirit of the world.” “Therefore, ‘come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you {into the life of promise}.’ ” (2 Cor. 6:17)
Since our Lord’s ways are diametrically opposed to the ways of this world, you should begin to see why you will need to die to your own reputation and seek to be the lowest of servants if you are to follow Him. Have you taken this course, or are you still seeking to have your own reputation so you may have honor from men? Remember, God is the one who is testing your heart. And it was Jesus who said, “How can you believe {in the Christ who made Himself of no reputation and did not receive honor from men}, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?” (John 5:44)
Those who are willing to be the least and last will be lifted into the highest levels of spiritual life in the heavenly realms. What has been the result of your system of beliefs? Has God honored you with His life from heaven?
Of course, the devil will tell you that God did not really mean what He said. You will therefore need to be very careful to avoid being deceived. You must listen to the Spirit of truth. You cannot afford to be like God’s people of old who did not receive the promise because they did not respond in faith to His teachings. “And to whom did he swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey?” (Heb. 3:18)
As you seek out this life of promise, and search out God’s ways, you will be helped considerably by remembering what Jesus said: “What is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.” If the people of this world love to do something, and they commonly seek after it as a means to improve their spiritual life, then it is probably something that needs to be avoided at all cost. Their whole thought process is in conflict with the “zoe” life in God’s eternal kingdom.
“But My people have changed their Glory for what does not profit. Be astonished, O heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid; Be very desolate,” says the Lord. “For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water {as they seek spiritual life from the temporal realm}.” (Jer. 2:11-13)
Anyone who honestly opens their heart to the truth will begin to see how all independence, self-sufficiency and self-seeking, which naturally lead to a self-exalting form of life, come from an evil spirit. This “spirit of error” has led fallen man to keep his eyes on earthly things. In contrast, the true children of God lose their “psuche” life and live for the Lord and His kingdom alone. This is how we know who are the children of God and the children of the devil. And we need to say again that no one can serve two masters.
For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him… (2 Cor. 5:14-15)
We know that we are of God {because we no longer live for ourselves}, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one {because they live for themselves and their own glory}. (1 John 5:19)
There is only one way to be saved from the spirit of the world and this fallen way of life. We must deny ourselves and follow Christ in His way of the cross. It implies dying to the “psuche” life. Whatever you do, do not try to justify living for your own purposes. Even if you have the whole world agreeing with you, the self-seeking way of life is still detestable in God’s sight. As James has said, “This wisdom {that leads to self-seeking} does not descend from above, but is earthy, sensual, demonic.” (Jam. 3:15) It always leads to the wrath of God. (Rom. 2:8)
They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God {and understands His way of life} hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. (1 John 4:5-6 Emphasis added)
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God {so we may walk in His ways and find life from Him rather than vainly seeking life from the things of this world}, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. (1 Cor. 2:12)
If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above… Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (Col. 3:1-3)
This may be difficult to comprehend, but Jesus lived in the heavenly realms with His Father while He walked in this world. It was in this sense that He was “in the world” but not “of the world.” Yes, He is now in a place of much greater glory. But there is a way for man to walk in the heavenly realms with God while living in a mortal body. Jesus said, “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.” (John 3:14) The Son was living with the Father in the heavenly realms by sharing with Him in the eternal “zoe” life while He walked in this world. And He expects us to live through Him in the same way. (1 John 4:9)
Every individual must choose today where he or she intends to live. Our place of life needs to be in the heavenly realms today if we plan to live throughout eternity in God’s kingdom.
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love…raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly place in Christ Jesus. (Eph 2:4, 6)
In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness {to reveal God’s heavenly kingdom-life}, and the darkness did not comprehend it. (John 1:4)
Walking with God
Jesus specifically stated that God hides the truth from the wise and prudent. (Matt. 11:25) He does this by speaking of spiritual truths using physical descriptions. The spiritual implications then need to be opened to the heart by the Spirit. He reveals the truth to those who come to Him as dependent little children. (Jam. 1:5)
The wise and prudent dislike having anything spiritualized. They prefer to deal with what they can grasp with their own intellect. This is the reason why Paul was unable to speak of the deeper spiritual truths to carnal people.
We also recognize the danger of trying to spiritualize God’s Word in a way that distorts the truth. With these thoughts in mind, we express the following beliefs without wanting to be dogmatic. But as we recognize Jesus as the Second Adam, we have to assume that He walked with God in the same way that the first Adam first walked with God. Jesus spoke of the Father always being with Him; and yet, no one was able to see the Father walking with Him. In effect, the Father walked with Him by walking in Him.
We therefore believe that the Garden of Eden, which is the Paradise of God, should be looked upon as a spiritual type used by God to help earthly-minded people—those who think in temporal terms—to better understand spiritual principles. Before the Fall, God {who is Spirit} walked with Adam in this world as He walked with Jesus. You might say that the heavenly realms touched the earth. In heaven, everyone shares with God in His life because He is omnipresent. When there was no darkness separating the heavenly realms from the earth, the Divine Life that is throughout the heavens touched the earth. The heavens and the earth were one with each other. There was no darkness separating the two. God, who is Eternal Spiritual Life, walked with Adam because Adam walked on earth in the heavenly realms, sharing with God in His spiritual life.
When Jesus brought “light” {the eternal life} into the fallen world, He penetrated the darkness that had separated the heavens from the earth after the Fall. Once He had completely overcome the “spirit of the world” by denying the self-originated form of life to the point of death on a cross, He was in a position to share His overcoming life with everyone who chooses to walk as He did. When man was no longer living “out from” himself, God could once again walk in man.
We now have an opportunity to overcome the darkness. We can walk with God in the same way the first Adam walked with God before the Fall and in the same way the Second Adam walked with God after the Fall. Our spirit can be lifted into the heavenly realms where it is possible to share with God in His eternal “zoe” life. God is then able to “dwell in” us and “walk in” us as we live in this fallen world. This is the way of life that every believer needs to lay hold of by faith.
For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them. (2 Cor. 6:16)
But God…because of His great love…raised us up to together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. (Eph. 2:4-6)
And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. (1 John 5:11)
Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called… (1 Tim. 6:12)
Now that the barrier of darkness which had separated man from the eternal life of God has been torn apart, we can overcome the world and enter into the Presence of God. The veil that separated man from God has been rent. We can now live in the heavenly realms and eat from the Tree of Life by sustaining ourselves on God alone. As the Son consistently shared with the Father in His heavenly life while walking in this world, we too are enabled to share with Him in the spiritual blessings found in His eternal life. (Eph. 1:3) It is in this sense that He can establish the firstfruits of the Paradise of God within our eternal soul.
As the living Father sent Me, and I live {in the eternal “zoe” life} because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me {the Tree of Life} will live {in the same eternal life} because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven… He who eats this bread {by sustaining their spiritual life on Christ alone} will live forever. (John 6:57-58)
To him who overcomes {the world and the flesh-life} I will give to eat from the tree of life {so they may sustain themselves on the Son’s eternal “zoe” life}, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God. (Rev. 2:7)
The Son has given every believer access to the Glory that He shares with the Father. (John 17:22) We can now become like Him in heavenly love. (1 John 4:17) And yet the people of the world and many deceived people in the church have “changed the Glory for what does not profit.” (Jer. 2:11) There are earnest but deceived Christians who are still turning away from the Bread of Life for the temporal food of this world. It is the reason why they are not enjoying Christ’s heavenly Presence within their soul. And until they are consistently sharing with Him in His overcoming life, they can expect to find themselves periodically being beaten up spiritually by the devil.
We need to distinguish between life in the desert-testing period and life in the land of promise. God only supplied His people with periodic wells of refreshment while He was taking them through the wilderness. This is where He works to break the self-sufficient spirit. He can only perfect His power through His children when they have no confidence in the flesh and have begun to live wholly by faith in Him. He therefore takes them through long dry spells to drain their cracked cistern of everything that is self-originated. Of course, He sustains them with the promises in His Word and occasionally takes them to special wells of refreshment to build up their hope and to keep them from completely turning back to a self-directed way of life. He wants to keep them encouraged so they will fight the good fight of faith and lay hold on the eternal life that flows without ceasing.
Unfortunately, the “spirit of the world” and “the spirit of error” keep turning them back to the ways of this world for their relief. As they keep relying on their own sufficiency and the temporal pursuits and pleasures of this world for their spiritual support, God is required to use greater measures of suffering. It is not easy to cause someone to lose all hope in this world and die to their self-sufficient spirit. The flesh-life is not easily weakened and prepared for death. God therefore continues to scourge His children to take the strength out of their flesh-life as He prepares them for the cross and a complete death to the old self-originated form of life. (Heb. 12:6, 10)
Blessed is the man who endures temptation {in the time of testing}; for when he has been approved {when the mind has been renewed and he is fully submitted to God’s way of life}, he will receive the crown of life {the Kingdom-life that is held in the heavenly realms and can now be imparted to the soul} which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. (Jam. 1:12 Emphasis added)
He who has My commandments and keeps them {in the time of testing}, it is he who loves Me…and I will love him and manifest Myself to Him. (John 14:21)
But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus {to share in His glory}, after you have suffered a while {in dying out to the old flesh-life}, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. (1 Pet. 5:10 Emphasis added)
God never presses His children beyond what they can bear. He recognizes the need for a careful balance between suffering and encouragement. He does not want anyone to completely turn back to the world. But the special times of refreshing that He supplies should not be mistaken for the life of promise. Christ has come to supply the soul with an endless supply of His Living Water. “As the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” When He comes in “the power of an endless life” (Heb. 7:16), His people “never thirst.” (John 4:14) Those who still experience an up and down “psuche” life can know there is a better life – the eternal “zoe” life, where it is possible to consistently enjoy the indwelling Presence of the Lord.
Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord {to work out his own affairs}. For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness…
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green {because the Living Water never fails}, and will not be anxious in the year of drought {because the river of life continues to flow}, nor will cease from yielding fruit… I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways {whether you are living by the flesh or the Spirit}… (Jer. 17:5-10 Emphasis added)
The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought {regardless of the conditions around you}… You will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. (Isa. 58:11)
It is in the wilderness testing period that God determines if we are willing to become like Jesus. In this age of fulfillment {the New Testament}, God has spoken to us through His Son because He is the target of our faith. We are to become like Him in this world. And those who do not cease from their own works and learn to yield to His way of life so that His “light” may be manifested through them, will end up being like the foolish virgins. They will come before the Lord, referring to Him as their Lord, but He will insist that He does not know them. Their problem is that they never permitted Him to manifest His life through the vessel of their body. They therefore are not fit to enter into the kingdom of God and to be wedded forever with Christ in His eternal life.
Can you begin to see why we must choose today where we plan to live throughout eternity? There are only two choices. Either we will choose to live through Jesus in His light of life, or we will find ourselves eternally separated from His life and in outer darkness where there will be misery forever. With this thought in mind, we close this chapter with some thoughts from G. D. Watson. In speaking of “A Gentle Spirit,” he reminds us of the absolute necessity of yielding to the Spirit who was in Jesus. For “the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.” (Jam. 3:17)
…Unless we, from the bottom of our hearts, desire a gentle spirit, and then by the grace of God determine that we will have it, it is not likely that we will ever know its inexpressible blessedness.
It is possible for us to desire sanctification [to enter into the life of promise], and even resolve on having it, without involving the proper appreciation of having a soul filled with all the meekness and gentleness of Jesus. It is a law in the spiritual life that we get from God just about what we determine to have. It is amazing how God watches and honors the deep, serious determinations of the will of His creatures. Most men do not know that they determine to go to hell [and this includes many in the church], but such will be proved to be the fact in the Day of Judgment…
Every advance step in grace must be preceded by first apprehending it, and then a prayerful resolve to have it. Real gentleness is not a mere set of parlor manners that we can put off and on; it must be soaked into every fiber of our being, and must be drawn from a divine fountain.
So few are willing to undergo the suffering out of which gentleness comes. We must die before we are turned into gentleness. Crucifixion involves suffering, and it is not a painted death but a real breaking and crushing of self which wrings the heart and conquers the mind. There is a good deal of mere mental and logical sanctification nowadays which is only a religious fiction…such a one goes forth with a gay, flippant, theological prattle about the deep things of God; but the natural heartstrings have not been snapped, and the Adamic flint has not been ground to powder…and the beautiful self-constructed air castles have not been crushed to pieces. And not having the real death-marks of Calvary there cannot be that soft, gentle, floating, victorious, overflowing, triumphant life that flows out like a spring morning from an empty tomb…
To have a real gentle spirit there must not be the least secret feeling of anything bitter, or sour, or severe, or combative, or dictatorial, or a sitting in judgment, or religious braggadocio spirit. If we do not know how to suffer, then we will never know how to be gentle.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Monday, July 06, 2009
Create In Me a Clean Heart - by Steve Bray
HyssopThe supernatural flow of Christ's righteousness, peace and joy must come to us from the heavenly realms if it is to overcome our circumstances. The true life of the Lord is designed to flow like an endless river from the heavenly realms. This never-ending river is able to completely satisfy our soul, even while undergoing some of the most severe circumstances this world can throw at us. Everyone born of the Lord's heavenly nature overcomes the world.
There is only one way to enter the life in Zion where everyone becomes one in nature with the Father and the Son. We must come out from the ways of the world and offer our body to Him as a living sacrifice. (Rom. 12:1-2) Only in this way can we become an instrument of His true righteousness and holiness.
Read full Article
Saturday, June 27, 2009
The Error of the Galatians
*The following article is from the book – The Gospel Message by Steve Bray - and the chapter entitled “The Error of the Galatians.”
Paul came to the Galatians with the indwelling life of Jesus Christ. He could say, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” (Gal 2:20) He had received the life of promise. “It pleased God…to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles.” (Gal. 1:15-16) The Gospel he preached actually worked. This is why he was so insistent that the Galatians adhere to his teachings.
The Galatians, however, were being turned from the true gospel message. Some false teachers had come to the church and were leading them into a “law keeping” form of salvation. This error had turned them away from a faith that depends on the Son to reveal His Kingdom-life of perfect love within the heart and thereby save them from their fallen nature.
There have always been people within the Lord’s church who prefer the way of law because it permits them to save their flesh-life. It has become a stumbling block to both Jews and Gentiles alike. While they do not mind studying the Scriptures and committing themselves to many of its ways, they have generally been unwilling to die to their old self-originated form of life in order to find the Lord’s Kingdom-life from heaven.
You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me {the Messiah who has come to establish the eternal Kingdom-life of perfect love within the hearts of God’s people}. But you are not willing to come to Me {through the cross} that you may have life {the divine life from heaven}. (John 5:39-40)
Once people in the church have seared over their conscious concerning the deeper things of God, it is possible to find a sense of fulfillment in a law-keeping form of righteousness. Like the Pharisees, these people end up choosing certain “standards” that are within the capacity of their human efforts. We will then find them insisting that holiness consists of conforming to the laws they have accepted.
It takes pride to think we have the ability to produce a right kind of life. This pride will also tend to foster a spirit that tends to judge others based on the righteousness we have developed for ourselves. However, if we truly compare ourselves to Jesus, we will begin to see how there is still an evil spirit within our heart that has kept us separated from our Lord’s meek and loving nature.
People who depend on their own efforts to keep the law actually separate themselves from the life that comes from Christ. “You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.” (Gal. 5:4) This separation from grace will prevent the heart from becoming perfect in love.
The Divine love that suffers long, is gentle and will not break the bruised reed or quench the smoking flax, comes from the grace of God. You will find that law-keepers do not possess this grace. There will be a hardness in them that tends to condemn others for not living by the same standards.
People who have not entered into the Kingdom-life of perfect love that comes down from heaven cannot lead others into the Lord’s saving life. While they may hold up many of the laws found in God’s Word and expose people to the Scriptures, they never lead them into full salvation. Consequently, their converts eventually take on the same critical and condemning spirit.
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell, as you are. (Matt. 23:15)
Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He will declare justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice {a haranguing voice} in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, till He sends forth justice to victory; And in His name Gentiles will trust. (Matt. 12:18-21)
Again, perfect love does produce righteousness. It is able to reveal a standard of living that clearly comes from heaven. And those who live through it will reveal a light that shows justice breaking forth into victorious Christian living. In the sense that Jesus had compassion, it will show compassion for the multitudes it sees lost in sin. It is capable of expressing the truth with a real sense of mercy and concern for the hearer.
Give no offense…just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved. Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ. (1 Cor. 10:32-11:1)
You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials…how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying… repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ…
And indeed, now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more. Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God… For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock…
So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified… I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak… (Acts 20:18-35)
Paul knew that people who live by law would become “conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” (Gal. 5:26) He therefore said, “But if you bite and devour one another {with your unloving words}, beware lest you be consumed by one another!” (Gal. 5:15) Do you criticize others {perhaps only in your thoughts and not openly} for not living as you do? If so, it is evidence you have developed your “own righteousness, which is of the law” and know nothing of “the righteousness which is from God by faith.” (Phil. 3:9) When you live among law-keepers, you can expect others to criticize you for not following one of their standards. Everyone will have something they can use to judge others. Again, the perfect love of God will not be found in a church {or denomination, or any other religious organization} where people think that holiness consists of conforming to certain laws.
Whenever pastors and teachers display a severe and judgmental approach in pressing certain laws on others, it will become obvious how they have become “estranged from Christ” and “fallen from grace.” (Gal 5:4) Their efforts to establish a form of righteousness through their own endeavors will result in a pride that separates them from the grace that supplies the heart with the Son’s divine nature. God can only give His grace to the humble. (1 Pet. 5:5)
Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits… A good tree cannot bear bad fruit… Therefore by their fruits you will know them. (Matt. 7:15-20)
People who have based their righteousness on keeping the law will not understand the Sabbath-rest of God where God’s children “cease” from their own works. (Heb. 4:9-10) They are unwilling to count everything from the self-life as loss and become nothing in themselves so that Christ may become “all in all” and be the source of their spiritual life. They are still looking to have some of the glory.
Again, the way of finding divine life from heaven by following Christ through the cross, remains a real stumbling block to people who insist on living by law. Rather than glorying in what can be received from the Son by taking His way of the cross, they glory in the righteousness that comes from keeping the law. But regardless of how far they progress, people who live by their own human efforts {in the same sense that Abraham tried to help God produce the “life of promise” through his own efforts – but instead produced Ishmael, a life that ultimately had to be cast out} will not have the capacity to “put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” (Eph. 4:24) They cannot become perfect in love and mercy like their heavenly Father is perfect. (Matt. 5:48)
We need to realize that even Jesus, while living in a mortal body, did not produce the Kingdom-life by His own efforts. Everything He did came from the Father through faith. He said, “The Son can do nothing of Himself.” (John 5:19) This literally means that He did not do anything “out from” Himself.
Jesus did not live by a self-originated form of life. While He was required to surrender His will to the will of the Father in order to remain free from sin, and He had to choose to submit to truth, He was dependent on the Father to manifest the “light of life” from heaven through Him. And in this same sense He says to us, “Without Me you can do nothing.”
This does not mean that we will not find people working hard for the Lord. We will find them doing many things in the name of Jesus. But these works do not necessarily reveal the divine life of perfect love. And without this revelation of perfect love through our daily life, our works will remain valueless. (1 Cor. 13:3) They are called “dead works” because they do not reveal the divine life from heaven.
Human benevolent works are unable to further the kingdom of God because they will inevitably be overshadowed by the darkness that comes from a self-centered nature. A life that is still centered around self will display various signs of selfishness, and this corruption will divert others away from the Lord’s Kingdom-life of promise. The disciple will find reasons to excuse himself from pressing forward through the cross and into Christ’s life of perfect love as long as he still senses that his teacher is living for himself. And so, because of his opportunity to see the true meaning of light from his reading of the Scriptures, he becomes “twice as much a son of hell” as he was before being converted.
For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ {and they have seen what His life is like}, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. (2 Pet. 2:20-21)
Again, there is a vast difference between the works that man does as a benevolent person and the work that God does through people who have been perfected in love. The work that is accomplished in God’s kingdom is intended to have a supernatural quality to it. There needs to be such a degree of selflessness revealed that others can plainly see how this “light of life” is coming from the Son of God in heaven.
But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God {through the Son’s life of love}. (John 3:21 NIV)
But we have this treasure in jars of clay {weak mortal bodies} to show that this all-surpassing power {to live in perfect love} is from God and not from us. (2 Cor. 4:7 NIV)
There was a reason why Paul did not preach with “persuasive words of human wisdom.” (1 Cor. 2:4-5) One cannot develop the Christian life in the same way that teachers of this world help people develop their lives. In the world, everyone must depend on his of her own efforts to raise themselves into a better life. In contrast, the simplest child of dependent faith can enter into a position that permits God to raise them into the highest levels of spiritual life in the kingdom of God. Paul therefore preached “in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” (v. 5)
Unfortunately, the Galatians had turned from this way of childlike faith in God’s power and had begun to rely on their own strength to produce the “goal” of righteousness. (Gal. 3:3) And just as unfortunately, this has been the same error committed by many earnest Christians in the church today.
I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like {dependent and trusting} little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matt. 18:3)
We can only enter into the Kingdom-life of God through a childlike faith in the Lord. While we are required to meet His covenant conditions, which includes submitting to His teachings, this submission will never produce the life of heaven. Again, “Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life {the Kingdom-life of heavenly righteousness}, truly righteousness would have been by the law.” (Gal. 3:21) Paul was trying to teach the Galatians to look to Christ as their only hope of truly enjoying the righteousness that exists within the kingdom of God.
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes… For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last… (Rom. 1:16-17 NIV Emphasis added)
But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. (Rom. 3:21 NIV Emphasis added)
But whatever was to my profit {everything that led to a strict religious life} I now consider loss for the sake of Christ…that I may gain Christ, and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. (Phil. 3:7-9 NIV Emphasis added)
The granting of this righteousness that comes from Christ is an act of our Sovereign God that comes through a work of His grace, when the conditions are met. Again, meeting the conditions can only prepare the way that will lead to the life of promise. We receive this “gift” of true righteousness by receiving an “abundance of grace.” Only in this way can we ever expect to “reign in life through…Jesus Christ.” (Rom. 5:17)
Paul uses Abraham, “the father of faith,” as an example to distinguish the difference between the “way of faith” and “the way of human effort.” He assures the Galatians that everyone who follows Abraham’s way of faith will receive the long awaited “promise of the Father.” “For if the inheritance {the life of promise} is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.” (Gal. 3:18) While the great saints of the Old Testament dispensation died in the faith without actually receiving the Kingdom-life of “promise” in this world (Heb. 11:39-40), they continued to walk in a justified state because they continued to submit to God’s will as best they knew how while waiting on Him for the fulfillment.
Yes, they responded to the known will of God. But their hope of truly becoming righteous was in the coming Messiah. The law had revealed to them their need for a Savior who could deliver them from the law of sin and death and enable them to display the true righteousness and holiness that God had originally planned to reveal through His children. They had learned by their efforts to keep the law how this life could not be produced through human efforts.
“What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come…” (Gal. 3:19) Again, there needs to be some way to control the corruption that tends to rise out of the fallen nature. But law-keeping could never produce the divine life of God. (Gal. 3:21) The Kingdom-life of perfect love would need to be received from the Son of God by dependent faith.
Abraham’s personal life provides a spiritual example to demonstrate this principle. God promised to manifest a son through him. Because his wife was past the age when she could bear children, it was impossible for them to produce the child through their own works {efforts}. The life of the “son” would need to be received as a supernatural gift from God through faith.
Even though Abraham became confused and thought it was necessary to help God produce the promised life of the son, which is the same mistake that most Christians are now making, he still continued to believe in God’s promise. In effect, “most” of his hope continued to be in God. Paul could therefore say, “He did not waiver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised he was also able to perform. And therefore ‘it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ ” (Rom. 4:20-21)
This spiritual “type” is fulfilled in God’s promise to manifest the life of His Son through our mortal bodies (2 Cor. 4:10-11) in this world. Even though it is impossible for us to do, the promise can be fulfilled by receiving an abundant measure of grace and the “gift of righteousness” through our dependent faith in the Lord. As long as we remain “fully convinced” that God is able to do the work, we too will continue to be “credited” with Christ’s righteousness during the time of testing when we are waiting for Him to fulfill the promise. Like Abraham, there will be a period when we must learn to distinguish between our efforts to help God fulfill the promise and the true way of faith. God will need to put our self-sufficient spirit to death before we will be prepared to receive the promise by faith alone.
We should note that Abraham continued to obey God as best he knew how while he was waiting for the promise to be fulfilled. (Heb. 11:8) We should also note that it was not until he was “as good as dead” that he received the promise. (Heb. 11:12) As long as he had some hope in his human efforts, and still thought he could help God produce the life of the son, he was not yet in a place where he could receive the promise by pure faith. Similarly, God cannot manifest the Son’s Kingdom-life of perfect love within our heart until we are “as good as dead” to the ways of human {or self} sufficiency.
This was Paul’s meaning when he referred to the suffering that the Galatians were experiencing: “Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh {by your own efforts}? Have you suffered so many things in vain…?” (Gal. 3:3-4 Emphasis added) The suffering that God sends into our lives during the desert testing period is designed to break our self-sufficient spirit and destroy the old self-originated form of life. And yet, these scourgings can very easily be in vain if we do not understand what God is attempting to do. Let us therefore yield to His work and permit the Holy Spirit to put our self-sufficient spirit to death so we are in a position to receive the promise of His eternal Kingdom-life by pure faith.
As children of promise, Christians must not make the mistake of trying to help God produce the life of the Son. Everyone who enters into this struggle by human effort will have to go through a longer period of suffering than would normally be necessary. And in the end, they will find that they can only produce a life that is represented by Ishmael. In other words, they will never be truly set free from the self-centered {fleshly} nature. Instead of entering into a real enjoyment of the spiritual life of promise, these believers will continue to find themselves going through a wilderness of spiritual suffering and dryness.
We should note that Ishmael was around even after Isaac was born. And as long as this illegitimate son remained in the camp, the true son of promise was in danger. Sarah began to perceive that Ishmael’s presence {the self-originated flesh-life} would not only threaten their peace and happiness, but would also place the life of her God-given son in danger. To Abraham however, it was disturbing to think about completely casting out Ishmael. After all, this part of his life had come from his own efforts! Abraham would naturally have had a sense of pride in what he had accomplished through his own work.
How does this lesson apply to us? Even after we have experienced a miraculous new birth and we know that a “Seed” from the life of the Son has been planted within our heart, there is still a tendency to use our own resolutions and efforts to help produce the mature fruit of Christ’s Spirit. But as we have mentioned, a spirit that is contrary to the spirit of perfect love will remain within the heart of everyone who lives by law in an attempt to make themselves righteous.
Yes, we may even build great edifices in honor of the Lord. In fact, there is a tendency to enjoy these works because we like to be honored for what we have done. But regardless of what we have accomplished, and unless we have totally seared over our conscience, we will continue to sense that something is still wrong within our heart. We will still have a sense of Ishmael {the remains of the flesh-life} causing trouble. Consequently, we will find that we are not always overflowing with Christ’s divine life of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control {over the carnal nature, which will still have its “say” in unguarded or trying moments}. (Gal. 5:22-23)
The presence of Ishmael {the self-originated form of life} will continue to threaten a full revelation of the Son’s divine life. Even though it will be painful, let us cast out this old form of self-produced righteousness and enter into the fullness of the promise through the way of faith.
Ishmael’s inheritance was the desert wilderness. While we may be greatly distressed over the thought of truly dying out to the old self-sufficient form of life, we need to realize that keeping him around will inevitably result in an ever-returning spiritual thirst and a never-ending struggle against the old self-centered nature. This is why God has insisted that we “cast out” the old life that we created through our human efforts. “Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise… What does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman.” (Gal. 4:28, 30)
This casting out will entail counting everything from our self-life as loss, so we may truly look to Christ as our only hope of being made perfect in love. “For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.” (Gal. 5:5) Yes, salvation from the fallen life is by grace, through dependent faith in the completed work of Jesus Christ.
This provides a better understanding of Paul’s message about the cross. There was only one way for him to become qualified to preach the Gospel. He too had to follow His Lord’s instructions to deny himself and take the path of the cross. It enabled him to “find” the Lord’s Kingdom-life and become an effective minister of the Gospel message. “It pleased God…to reveal His Son in me.” (Gal. 1:16) “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” (Gal. 2:20)
Paul, as one who preached the true Gospel, knew how important it was to reveal the saving life of Jesus Christ before the eyes of his hearers. He could say, “For you remember, brethren, our labor and toil; for laboring night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God.” (Gal. 2:9) This visible display of a self-sacrificing life—the Lord’s “light” from heaven—will always bring deep conviction within the hearts of fallen man as the implications of the Gospel are being revealed through the Word of God. In other words, this display of selflessness will place a conviction on the hearts of those who still possess a self-centered nature.
There is only one means for preaching the word of God in a way that leads to a deep conviction within the heart of self-centered man. We must first receive a power from on high that enables us to display the self-sacrificing life and nature of Jesus Christ. It was in this sense that Paul could say to the Thessalonians: “For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake.” (1 Thess. 1:5 Emphasis added) As the Thessalonians observed a visible display of the Gospel message in the life of Paul, the word of God worked powerfully within their hearts.
Paul had discovered the secret that had long been veiled in the Old Testament Scriptures. The mystery was that Christ Himself would begin to reveal the light from His Kingdom-life through the saints, so that others would see the true salvation of the Lord and sense the need to surrender to the same light of life. When Christ is not able to reveal His glory—His life of perfect love—through the members of His body, the world will never see this great mystery of true salvation.
{It is} the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory {the hope of revealing God’s Kingdom-life of perfect love}. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all {spiritual, not earthly} wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. (Col. 1:26-28 Emphasis added)
It is not the words we speak that will have the greatest impact on the world. This is why a “law-keeping” form of salvation has very little impact. The world can see the conflict between what we teach and how we often act in a spirit that is not perfect in love, a spirit that still evidences the remains of a self-seeking and self-indulgent nature, which is easily detected by others. The people we are teaching must see the Kingdom-life of perfect {self-sacrificing}love being expressed through our lives before they can understand the true Gospel message and be drawn into the same light of life. What we say will matter, but what we “are” is what enables the Spirit to truly convict those who have seen the light.
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk {just words to give intellectual assent to} but of power {the “power of an endless life”}
(1 Cor. 4:20 NIV)
For the kingdom of God is…righteousness {divine love} and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Rom. 14:17)
Some people think it would be possible for them to be a better Christian if their religious upbringing would have been a little better. Others tend to think that a better God-centered religious education would help them improve their spiritual life. There are others who think that more zeal for God would enable them to accomplish more for the kingdom of God. While there is nothing wrong with these things, we need to note that they are exactly what Paul had to count “as loss” in order to fully depend on Christ and live in the resurrection power of God’s Spirit. By turning from a dependence on all these things, he was able to find the Kingdom-life from heaven. Let us not turn away from the true hope of glory, which is Christ’s indwelling presence, by acting as if some other means would improve our spiritual life.
If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so; {based on such thing as a good moral upbringing, a good religious education and a tremendous zeal for God; and}…concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection… (Phil. 3:4–10 Emphasis added)
Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes. (Ezk. 36:23 NIV)
The message of Galatians, in harmony with the rest of the Scriptures, is all about receiving a whole new form of life from Jesus Christ by following Him through the cross. Like the Galatians, we make a serious mistake when we begin to place our emphasis on living by certain standards that we equate with true righteousness. It naturally leads to a concentration on the standards we have chosen to amplify rather than on the life of perfect love we need to receive by uniting with Christ at the cross.
But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world {and all of its self-originated ways} has been crucified to me, and I to the world. (Gal. 6:14)
Everyone who will take the way of the cross is assured of finding Christ’s Kingdom-life of perfect love. (Matt. 16:24-25) It is only through His “exceedingly great and precious promises” that we can become “partakers of the divine nature” and escape “the corruption that is in the world through lust” – {desires for things temporal}. (2 Pet. 1:4) Thus, it is by faith. Yes, “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life {so we may be a display of His Kingdom-life from heaven} and godliness.” (2 Pet. 1:3) Let us therefore praise the Lord for what He has already accomplished for us and look to Him for the fulfillment in our own lives.
At the same time, we must not forget about the need to yield to all truth as we prepare the way for the Lord and His life of promise. James describes this as the faith that works. (Jam. 2:14-26) God will be testing our willingness to become like Jesus. He expects us to fully submit to being led by His Spirit. It will be necessary to yield to the ways of the Lord during this time of testing. There is no other way to be led into the fullness of the blessing.
But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, {self-sacrificing} love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. (2 Pet. 1:5-9)
This preparation that demonstrates the true fruit of repentance is a necessary part of the six days of man. God is looking for a yielded heart that is willing to prepare the temple according to His specifications. But in the end, we are still dependent upon Him to manifest His glory within the temple of our body. There is no other way to reveal His life of perfect love in this world. We should therefore never rest short of the promised “Sabbath-rest” where it is possible to “cease” from our own works and begin living through the promised Kingdom-life of our Lord.
Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life {the first-fruits of the life of heaven} which the Lord has promised to those who love Him {to those who submit to His ways}. (Jam. 1:12)
Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Pet. 1:10-11 Emphasis added)
Paul came to the Galatians with the indwelling life of Jesus Christ. He could say, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” (Gal 2:20) He had received the life of promise. “It pleased God…to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles.” (Gal. 1:15-16) The Gospel he preached actually worked. This is why he was so insistent that the Galatians adhere to his teachings.
The Galatians, however, were being turned from the true gospel message. Some false teachers had come to the church and were leading them into a “law keeping” form of salvation. This error had turned them away from a faith that depends on the Son to reveal His Kingdom-life of perfect love within the heart and thereby save them from their fallen nature.
There have always been people within the Lord’s church who prefer the way of law because it permits them to save their flesh-life. It has become a stumbling block to both Jews and Gentiles alike. While they do not mind studying the Scriptures and committing themselves to many of its ways, they have generally been unwilling to die to their old self-originated form of life in order to find the Lord’s Kingdom-life from heaven.
You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me {the Messiah who has come to establish the eternal Kingdom-life of perfect love within the hearts of God’s people}. But you are not willing to come to Me {through the cross} that you may have life {the divine life from heaven}. (John 5:39-40)
Once people in the church have seared over their conscious concerning the deeper things of God, it is possible to find a sense of fulfillment in a law-keeping form of righteousness. Like the Pharisees, these people end up choosing certain “standards” that are within the capacity of their human efforts. We will then find them insisting that holiness consists of conforming to the laws they have accepted.
It takes pride to think we have the ability to produce a right kind of life. This pride will also tend to foster a spirit that tends to judge others based on the righteousness we have developed for ourselves. However, if we truly compare ourselves to Jesus, we will begin to see how there is still an evil spirit within our heart that has kept us separated from our Lord’s meek and loving nature.
People who depend on their own efforts to keep the law actually separate themselves from the life that comes from Christ. “You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.” (Gal. 5:4) This separation from grace will prevent the heart from becoming perfect in love.
The Divine love that suffers long, is gentle and will not break the bruised reed or quench the smoking flax, comes from the grace of God. You will find that law-keepers do not possess this grace. There will be a hardness in them that tends to condemn others for not living by the same standards.
People who have not entered into the Kingdom-life of perfect love that comes down from heaven cannot lead others into the Lord’s saving life. While they may hold up many of the laws found in God’s Word and expose people to the Scriptures, they never lead them into full salvation. Consequently, their converts eventually take on the same critical and condemning spirit.
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell, as you are. (Matt. 23:15)
Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He will declare justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice {a haranguing voice} in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, till He sends forth justice to victory; And in His name Gentiles will trust. (Matt. 12:18-21)
Again, perfect love does produce righteousness. It is able to reveal a standard of living that clearly comes from heaven. And those who live through it will reveal a light that shows justice breaking forth into victorious Christian living. In the sense that Jesus had compassion, it will show compassion for the multitudes it sees lost in sin. It is capable of expressing the truth with a real sense of mercy and concern for the hearer.
Give no offense…just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved. Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ. (1 Cor. 10:32-11:1)
You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials…how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying… repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ…
And indeed, now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more. Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God… For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock…
So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified… I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak… (Acts 20:18-35)
Paul knew that people who live by law would become “conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” (Gal. 5:26) He therefore said, “But if you bite and devour one another {with your unloving words}, beware lest you be consumed by one another!” (Gal. 5:15) Do you criticize others {perhaps only in your thoughts and not openly} for not living as you do? If so, it is evidence you have developed your “own righteousness, which is of the law” and know nothing of “the righteousness which is from God by faith.” (Phil. 3:9) When you live among law-keepers, you can expect others to criticize you for not following one of their standards. Everyone will have something they can use to judge others. Again, the perfect love of God will not be found in a church {or denomination, or any other religious organization} where people think that holiness consists of conforming to certain laws.
Whenever pastors and teachers display a severe and judgmental approach in pressing certain laws on others, it will become obvious how they have become “estranged from Christ” and “fallen from grace.” (Gal 5:4) Their efforts to establish a form of righteousness through their own endeavors will result in a pride that separates them from the grace that supplies the heart with the Son’s divine nature. God can only give His grace to the humble. (1 Pet. 5:5)
Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits… A good tree cannot bear bad fruit… Therefore by their fruits you will know them. (Matt. 7:15-20)
People who have based their righteousness on keeping the law will not understand the Sabbath-rest of God where God’s children “cease” from their own works. (Heb. 4:9-10) They are unwilling to count everything from the self-life as loss and become nothing in themselves so that Christ may become “all in all” and be the source of their spiritual life. They are still looking to have some of the glory.
Again, the way of finding divine life from heaven by following Christ through the cross, remains a real stumbling block to people who insist on living by law. Rather than glorying in what can be received from the Son by taking His way of the cross, they glory in the righteousness that comes from keeping the law. But regardless of how far they progress, people who live by their own human efforts {in the same sense that Abraham tried to help God produce the “life of promise” through his own efforts – but instead produced Ishmael, a life that ultimately had to be cast out} will not have the capacity to “put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” (Eph. 4:24) They cannot become perfect in love and mercy like their heavenly Father is perfect. (Matt. 5:48)
We need to realize that even Jesus, while living in a mortal body, did not produce the Kingdom-life by His own efforts. Everything He did came from the Father through faith. He said, “The Son can do nothing of Himself.” (John 5:19) This literally means that He did not do anything “out from” Himself.
Jesus did not live by a self-originated form of life. While He was required to surrender His will to the will of the Father in order to remain free from sin, and He had to choose to submit to truth, He was dependent on the Father to manifest the “light of life” from heaven through Him. And in this same sense He says to us, “Without Me you can do nothing.”
This does not mean that we will not find people working hard for the Lord. We will find them doing many things in the name of Jesus. But these works do not necessarily reveal the divine life of perfect love. And without this revelation of perfect love through our daily life, our works will remain valueless. (1 Cor. 13:3) They are called “dead works” because they do not reveal the divine life from heaven.
Human benevolent works are unable to further the kingdom of God because they will inevitably be overshadowed by the darkness that comes from a self-centered nature. A life that is still centered around self will display various signs of selfishness, and this corruption will divert others away from the Lord’s Kingdom-life of promise. The disciple will find reasons to excuse himself from pressing forward through the cross and into Christ’s life of perfect love as long as he still senses that his teacher is living for himself. And so, because of his opportunity to see the true meaning of light from his reading of the Scriptures, he becomes “twice as much a son of hell” as he was before being converted.
For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ {and they have seen what His life is like}, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. (2 Pet. 2:20-21)
Again, there is a vast difference between the works that man does as a benevolent person and the work that God does through people who have been perfected in love. The work that is accomplished in God’s kingdom is intended to have a supernatural quality to it. There needs to be such a degree of selflessness revealed that others can plainly see how this “light of life” is coming from the Son of God in heaven.
But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God {through the Son’s life of love}. (John 3:21 NIV)
But we have this treasure in jars of clay {weak mortal bodies} to show that this all-surpassing power {to live in perfect love} is from God and not from us. (2 Cor. 4:7 NIV)
There was a reason why Paul did not preach with “persuasive words of human wisdom.” (1 Cor. 2:4-5) One cannot develop the Christian life in the same way that teachers of this world help people develop their lives. In the world, everyone must depend on his of her own efforts to raise themselves into a better life. In contrast, the simplest child of dependent faith can enter into a position that permits God to raise them into the highest levels of spiritual life in the kingdom of God. Paul therefore preached “in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” (v. 5)
Unfortunately, the Galatians had turned from this way of childlike faith in God’s power and had begun to rely on their own strength to produce the “goal” of righteousness. (Gal. 3:3) And just as unfortunately, this has been the same error committed by many earnest Christians in the church today.
I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like {dependent and trusting} little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matt. 18:3)
We can only enter into the Kingdom-life of God through a childlike faith in the Lord. While we are required to meet His covenant conditions, which includes submitting to His teachings, this submission will never produce the life of heaven. Again, “Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life {the Kingdom-life of heavenly righteousness}, truly righteousness would have been by the law.” (Gal. 3:21) Paul was trying to teach the Galatians to look to Christ as their only hope of truly enjoying the righteousness that exists within the kingdom of God.
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes… For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last… (Rom. 1:16-17 NIV Emphasis added)
But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. (Rom. 3:21 NIV Emphasis added)
But whatever was to my profit {everything that led to a strict religious life} I now consider loss for the sake of Christ…that I may gain Christ, and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. (Phil. 3:7-9 NIV Emphasis added)
The granting of this righteousness that comes from Christ is an act of our Sovereign God that comes through a work of His grace, when the conditions are met. Again, meeting the conditions can only prepare the way that will lead to the life of promise. We receive this “gift” of true righteousness by receiving an “abundance of grace.” Only in this way can we ever expect to “reign in life through…Jesus Christ.” (Rom. 5:17)
Paul uses Abraham, “the father of faith,” as an example to distinguish the difference between the “way of faith” and “the way of human effort.” He assures the Galatians that everyone who follows Abraham’s way of faith will receive the long awaited “promise of the Father.” “For if the inheritance {the life of promise} is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.” (Gal. 3:18) While the great saints of the Old Testament dispensation died in the faith without actually receiving the Kingdom-life of “promise” in this world (Heb. 11:39-40), they continued to walk in a justified state because they continued to submit to God’s will as best they knew how while waiting on Him for the fulfillment.
Yes, they responded to the known will of God. But their hope of truly becoming righteous was in the coming Messiah. The law had revealed to them their need for a Savior who could deliver them from the law of sin and death and enable them to display the true righteousness and holiness that God had originally planned to reveal through His children. They had learned by their efforts to keep the law how this life could not be produced through human efforts.
“What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come…” (Gal. 3:19) Again, there needs to be some way to control the corruption that tends to rise out of the fallen nature. But law-keeping could never produce the divine life of God. (Gal. 3:21) The Kingdom-life of perfect love would need to be received from the Son of God by dependent faith.
Abraham’s personal life provides a spiritual example to demonstrate this principle. God promised to manifest a son through him. Because his wife was past the age when she could bear children, it was impossible for them to produce the child through their own works {efforts}. The life of the “son” would need to be received as a supernatural gift from God through faith.
Even though Abraham became confused and thought it was necessary to help God produce the promised life of the son, which is the same mistake that most Christians are now making, he still continued to believe in God’s promise. In effect, “most” of his hope continued to be in God. Paul could therefore say, “He did not waiver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised he was also able to perform. And therefore ‘it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ ” (Rom. 4:20-21)
This spiritual “type” is fulfilled in God’s promise to manifest the life of His Son through our mortal bodies (2 Cor. 4:10-11) in this world. Even though it is impossible for us to do, the promise can be fulfilled by receiving an abundant measure of grace and the “gift of righteousness” through our dependent faith in the Lord. As long as we remain “fully convinced” that God is able to do the work, we too will continue to be “credited” with Christ’s righteousness during the time of testing when we are waiting for Him to fulfill the promise. Like Abraham, there will be a period when we must learn to distinguish between our efforts to help God fulfill the promise and the true way of faith. God will need to put our self-sufficient spirit to death before we will be prepared to receive the promise by faith alone.
We should note that Abraham continued to obey God as best he knew how while he was waiting for the promise to be fulfilled. (Heb. 11:8) We should also note that it was not until he was “as good as dead” that he received the promise. (Heb. 11:12) As long as he had some hope in his human efforts, and still thought he could help God produce the life of the son, he was not yet in a place where he could receive the promise by pure faith. Similarly, God cannot manifest the Son’s Kingdom-life of perfect love within our heart until we are “as good as dead” to the ways of human {or self} sufficiency.
This was Paul’s meaning when he referred to the suffering that the Galatians were experiencing: “Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh {by your own efforts}? Have you suffered so many things in vain…?” (Gal. 3:3-4 Emphasis added) The suffering that God sends into our lives during the desert testing period is designed to break our self-sufficient spirit and destroy the old self-originated form of life. And yet, these scourgings can very easily be in vain if we do not understand what God is attempting to do. Let us therefore yield to His work and permit the Holy Spirit to put our self-sufficient spirit to death so we are in a position to receive the promise of His eternal Kingdom-life by pure faith.
As children of promise, Christians must not make the mistake of trying to help God produce the life of the Son. Everyone who enters into this struggle by human effort will have to go through a longer period of suffering than would normally be necessary. And in the end, they will find that they can only produce a life that is represented by Ishmael. In other words, they will never be truly set free from the self-centered {fleshly} nature. Instead of entering into a real enjoyment of the spiritual life of promise, these believers will continue to find themselves going through a wilderness of spiritual suffering and dryness.
We should note that Ishmael was around even after Isaac was born. And as long as this illegitimate son remained in the camp, the true son of promise was in danger. Sarah began to perceive that Ishmael’s presence {the self-originated flesh-life} would not only threaten their peace and happiness, but would also place the life of her God-given son in danger. To Abraham however, it was disturbing to think about completely casting out Ishmael. After all, this part of his life had come from his own efforts! Abraham would naturally have had a sense of pride in what he had accomplished through his own work.
How does this lesson apply to us? Even after we have experienced a miraculous new birth and we know that a “Seed” from the life of the Son has been planted within our heart, there is still a tendency to use our own resolutions and efforts to help produce the mature fruit of Christ’s Spirit. But as we have mentioned, a spirit that is contrary to the spirit of perfect love will remain within the heart of everyone who lives by law in an attempt to make themselves righteous.
Yes, we may even build great edifices in honor of the Lord. In fact, there is a tendency to enjoy these works because we like to be honored for what we have done. But regardless of what we have accomplished, and unless we have totally seared over our conscience, we will continue to sense that something is still wrong within our heart. We will still have a sense of Ishmael {the remains of the flesh-life} causing trouble. Consequently, we will find that we are not always overflowing with Christ’s divine life of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control {over the carnal nature, which will still have its “say” in unguarded or trying moments}. (Gal. 5:22-23)
The presence of Ishmael {the self-originated form of life} will continue to threaten a full revelation of the Son’s divine life. Even though it will be painful, let us cast out this old form of self-produced righteousness and enter into the fullness of the promise through the way of faith.
Ishmael’s inheritance was the desert wilderness. While we may be greatly distressed over the thought of truly dying out to the old self-sufficient form of life, we need to realize that keeping him around will inevitably result in an ever-returning spiritual thirst and a never-ending struggle against the old self-centered nature. This is why God has insisted that we “cast out” the old life that we created through our human efforts. “Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise… What does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman.” (Gal. 4:28, 30)
This casting out will entail counting everything from our self-life as loss, so we may truly look to Christ as our only hope of being made perfect in love. “For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.” (Gal. 5:5) Yes, salvation from the fallen life is by grace, through dependent faith in the completed work of Jesus Christ.
This provides a better understanding of Paul’s message about the cross. There was only one way for him to become qualified to preach the Gospel. He too had to follow His Lord’s instructions to deny himself and take the path of the cross. It enabled him to “find” the Lord’s Kingdom-life and become an effective minister of the Gospel message. “It pleased God…to reveal His Son in me.” (Gal. 1:16) “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” (Gal. 2:20)
Paul, as one who preached the true Gospel, knew how important it was to reveal the saving life of Jesus Christ before the eyes of his hearers. He could say, “For you remember, brethren, our labor and toil; for laboring night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God.” (Gal. 2:9) This visible display of a self-sacrificing life—the Lord’s “light” from heaven—will always bring deep conviction within the hearts of fallen man as the implications of the Gospel are being revealed through the Word of God. In other words, this display of selflessness will place a conviction on the hearts of those who still possess a self-centered nature.
There is only one means for preaching the word of God in a way that leads to a deep conviction within the heart of self-centered man. We must first receive a power from on high that enables us to display the self-sacrificing life and nature of Jesus Christ. It was in this sense that Paul could say to the Thessalonians: “For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake.” (1 Thess. 1:5 Emphasis added) As the Thessalonians observed a visible display of the Gospel message in the life of Paul, the word of God worked powerfully within their hearts.
Paul had discovered the secret that had long been veiled in the Old Testament Scriptures. The mystery was that Christ Himself would begin to reveal the light from His Kingdom-life through the saints, so that others would see the true salvation of the Lord and sense the need to surrender to the same light of life. When Christ is not able to reveal His glory—His life of perfect love—through the members of His body, the world will never see this great mystery of true salvation.
{It is} the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory {the hope of revealing God’s Kingdom-life of perfect love}. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all {spiritual, not earthly} wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. (Col. 1:26-28 Emphasis added)
It is not the words we speak that will have the greatest impact on the world. This is why a “law-keeping” form of salvation has very little impact. The world can see the conflict between what we teach and how we often act in a spirit that is not perfect in love, a spirit that still evidences the remains of a self-seeking and self-indulgent nature, which is easily detected by others. The people we are teaching must see the Kingdom-life of perfect {self-sacrificing}love being expressed through our lives before they can understand the true Gospel message and be drawn into the same light of life. What we say will matter, but what we “are” is what enables the Spirit to truly convict those who have seen the light.
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk {just words to give intellectual assent to} but of power {the “power of an endless life”}
(1 Cor. 4:20 NIV)
For the kingdom of God is…righteousness {divine love} and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Rom. 14:17)
Some people think it would be possible for them to be a better Christian if their religious upbringing would have been a little better. Others tend to think that a better God-centered religious education would help them improve their spiritual life. There are others who think that more zeal for God would enable them to accomplish more for the kingdom of God. While there is nothing wrong with these things, we need to note that they are exactly what Paul had to count “as loss” in order to fully depend on Christ and live in the resurrection power of God’s Spirit. By turning from a dependence on all these things, he was able to find the Kingdom-life from heaven. Let us not turn away from the true hope of glory, which is Christ’s indwelling presence, by acting as if some other means would improve our spiritual life.
If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so; {based on such thing as a good moral upbringing, a good religious education and a tremendous zeal for God; and}…concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection… (Phil. 3:4–10 Emphasis added)
Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes. (Ezk. 36:23 NIV)
The message of Galatians, in harmony with the rest of the Scriptures, is all about receiving a whole new form of life from Jesus Christ by following Him through the cross. Like the Galatians, we make a serious mistake when we begin to place our emphasis on living by certain standards that we equate with true righteousness. It naturally leads to a concentration on the standards we have chosen to amplify rather than on the life of perfect love we need to receive by uniting with Christ at the cross.
But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world {and all of its self-originated ways} has been crucified to me, and I to the world. (Gal. 6:14)
Everyone who will take the way of the cross is assured of finding Christ’s Kingdom-life of perfect love. (Matt. 16:24-25) It is only through His “exceedingly great and precious promises” that we can become “partakers of the divine nature” and escape “the corruption that is in the world through lust” – {desires for things temporal}. (2 Pet. 1:4) Thus, it is by faith. Yes, “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life {so we may be a display of His Kingdom-life from heaven} and godliness.” (2 Pet. 1:3) Let us therefore praise the Lord for what He has already accomplished for us and look to Him for the fulfillment in our own lives.
At the same time, we must not forget about the need to yield to all truth as we prepare the way for the Lord and His life of promise. James describes this as the faith that works. (Jam. 2:14-26) God will be testing our willingness to become like Jesus. He expects us to fully submit to being led by His Spirit. It will be necessary to yield to the ways of the Lord during this time of testing. There is no other way to be led into the fullness of the blessing.
But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, {self-sacrificing} love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. (2 Pet. 1:5-9)
This preparation that demonstrates the true fruit of repentance is a necessary part of the six days of man. God is looking for a yielded heart that is willing to prepare the temple according to His specifications. But in the end, we are still dependent upon Him to manifest His glory within the temple of our body. There is no other way to reveal His life of perfect love in this world. We should therefore never rest short of the promised “Sabbath-rest” where it is possible to “cease” from our own works and begin living through the promised Kingdom-life of our Lord.
Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life {the first-fruits of the life of heaven} which the Lord has promised to those who love Him {to those who submit to His ways}. (Jam. 1:12)
Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Pet. 1:10-11 Emphasis added)
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Responding to the Right Impressions
*The following article is from the book – Walking With God by Steve Bray - and the chapter entitled “The Fellowship of Communicating with God.”
Learning to respond to the right impressions is an important part of being a Christian. We have therefore included extensive quotes from the best sources we have found on this subject. The following lessons are from Martin Knapp’s book Impressions. (We have provided additional material in the Appendix from Impressions and from Thomas Upham’s book Inward Divine Guidance.)
Emphatic mention of this test of impressions is made by Upham in his valuable treatise on Divine Guidance. He says… “If a leading is of God the ‘way will always open for it.’ The Lord assures us of this when He says: ‘When He putteth forth His own sheep He goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice.’ Notice here the expressions, ‘goeth before’ and ‘follow.’ He goes before to open a way, and we are to follow in the way thus opened. It is never a sign of divine leading when a Christian insists on opening his own way, and riding roughshod over all opposing things. If the Lord goes before us He will open all doors for us, and we shall not need ourselves to hammer them down. The Word declares, ‘Behold, I have set before thee an open door and no man can shut it.’ ”
This open door of providential opportunity awaits every person who follows impressions from above. “I will go before thee,” declares Jehovah to all who follow Him, “and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron.” All true impressions from above find “crooked places” divinely straightened, gates of brass divinely broken and bars of iron divinely sundered.
The providential openings which thus ever welcome those divinely led are marvelous. God never impresses a Noah to build an ark, or a Solomon a temple, but that means, material and men await their appropriating faith. He never impresses a Philip to go preach to an individual, but that he prepares the person for Philip’s preaching…
We cannot forbear to quote further from the luminous teachings of George D. Watson on this frequently puzzling point. He says: “The Holy Ghost never guides us contrary to the Word. The Word never guides us contrary to Providence, and Providence does not guide us contrary to the Word or Spirit. So that these three elements of divine guidance are always harmonious… When you want to be divinely led, simply consult God’s providence and consult God’s Word and consult the convictions of God’s Spirit upon your heart, and the Lord, if you are humble and teachable, will see that you are properly led.”…
God has given us reasoning powers for a purpose, and he respects them, appeals to them, and all of His leadings are in unison with them. He will bring up all the facts in the case in such a way as to convince us that His leadings are all in harmony with sanctified common sense…
God never asks us to act on uncertainties. To do so is a spiritual crime. “He that doubteth is damned if he eat,” and this principle proscribes the doing of anything concerning the rightfulness of which there is doubt… [“For whatever is not from faith is sin.” (Rom. 14:23)]
God does not drive, but leads His children… Watson says, “You can detect the devil by one or two things. The devil always talks loud. Jesus always talks low and tender… When a [worldly] spirit makes an impression on the mind, that impression can be made in a loud, rushing, pell-mell sort of way… I mean to say that the impression has a loudness in the mind… The devil wants you to be in a hurry and rush and go pell-mell and not wait for anything; whereas Jesus is always quiet and He is calm and always takes His time… The more you wait on God, if the conviction comes from the Holy Ghost, the more you wait and the more you pray, the stronger it becomes. If it comes from the devil, the more you wait and the more you pray, the weaker it grows. You can tell by that. If you have a call to some mission work or anything, and you say, ‘I wish I did know whether it were God or Satan,’ you just take time…”
While it is true, when duty is clearly known, that “the king’s business requireth haste,” yet when it is not clearly known it is just as true that “he that believeth shall not make haste.”…
The impressions from above, when followed, are attended by a sweet peace and the consciousness that they are right; those from below, by perplexity and the feeling that something is wrong. The first brings rest. The second robs of it… The Holy Spirit is an unerring guide, and he who detects and turns from every wrong impression and fully follows Him will be led into “all truth.”…
May we each so “try the spirits,” and “watch and pray,” that, like God’s people of old, we may see our “pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night,” and thus while being led in a “plain path” be enabled to “stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.”
God does not reveal the full details of His will all at once. He keeps His children in constant dependence upon Him. You will therefore need to have your patience perfected and learn to live each moment by the Spirit. “But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete {living in full dependence upon God}, lacking nothing.” (Jam. 1:4) The more lamb-like you become in your meek and lowly submission to His will, the easier it is to hear His voice and follow Him. You will then begin to discover that you never lack anything.
Wesley Duewel says in his book there is never an emergency with God. Even though we may think there is a crisis, our Sovereign God knows the end from the beginning. In Let God Guide You, he says, “The nature of guidance often requires extended time. You must allow God time to prepare you, others, and the situation for which you are praying.”
Even though there may appear to be a crisis developing at times, God will never permit His Spirit-led children to enter into any greater difficulty than is necessary for their good. As we have learned from the apostle Paul’s life, God will sometimes use very difficult situations to bring us to the end of ourselves. (2 Cor. 1:8-9) He will also use special thorns to separate us from the self-sufficient and self-exalting ways of the devil. He will do what is necessary to produce within our heart a childlike faith so He may keep us in the place where we “lack nothing.”
Learning to respond to the right impressions is an important part of being a Christian. We have therefore included extensive quotes from the best sources we have found on this subject. The following lessons are from Martin Knapp’s book Impressions. (We have provided additional material in the Appendix from Impressions and from Thomas Upham’s book Inward Divine Guidance.)
Emphatic mention of this test of impressions is made by Upham in his valuable treatise on Divine Guidance. He says… “If a leading is of God the ‘way will always open for it.’ The Lord assures us of this when He says: ‘When He putteth forth His own sheep He goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice.’ Notice here the expressions, ‘goeth before’ and ‘follow.’ He goes before to open a way, and we are to follow in the way thus opened. It is never a sign of divine leading when a Christian insists on opening his own way, and riding roughshod over all opposing things. If the Lord goes before us He will open all doors for us, and we shall not need ourselves to hammer them down. The Word declares, ‘Behold, I have set before thee an open door and no man can shut it.’ ”
This open door of providential opportunity awaits every person who follows impressions from above. “I will go before thee,” declares Jehovah to all who follow Him, “and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron.” All true impressions from above find “crooked places” divinely straightened, gates of brass divinely broken and bars of iron divinely sundered.
The providential openings which thus ever welcome those divinely led are marvelous. God never impresses a Noah to build an ark, or a Solomon a temple, but that means, material and men await their appropriating faith. He never impresses a Philip to go preach to an individual, but that he prepares the person for Philip’s preaching…
We cannot forbear to quote further from the luminous teachings of George D. Watson on this frequently puzzling point. He says: “The Holy Ghost never guides us contrary to the Word. The Word never guides us contrary to Providence, and Providence does not guide us contrary to the Word or Spirit. So that these three elements of divine guidance are always harmonious… When you want to be divinely led, simply consult God’s providence and consult God’s Word and consult the convictions of God’s Spirit upon your heart, and the Lord, if you are humble and teachable, will see that you are properly led.”…
God has given us reasoning powers for a purpose, and he respects them, appeals to them, and all of His leadings are in unison with them. He will bring up all the facts in the case in such a way as to convince us that His leadings are all in harmony with sanctified common sense…
God never asks us to act on uncertainties. To do so is a spiritual crime. “He that doubteth is damned if he eat,” and this principle proscribes the doing of anything concerning the rightfulness of which there is doubt… [“For whatever is not from faith is sin.” (Rom. 14:23)]
God does not drive, but leads His children… Watson says, “You can detect the devil by one or two things. The devil always talks loud. Jesus always talks low and tender… When a [worldly] spirit makes an impression on the mind, that impression can be made in a loud, rushing, pell-mell sort of way… I mean to say that the impression has a loudness in the mind… The devil wants you to be in a hurry and rush and go pell-mell and not wait for anything; whereas Jesus is always quiet and He is calm and always takes His time… The more you wait on God, if the conviction comes from the Holy Ghost, the more you wait and the more you pray, the stronger it becomes. If it comes from the devil, the more you wait and the more you pray, the weaker it grows. You can tell by that. If you have a call to some mission work or anything, and you say, ‘I wish I did know whether it were God or Satan,’ you just take time…”
While it is true, when duty is clearly known, that “the king’s business requireth haste,” yet when it is not clearly known it is just as true that “he that believeth shall not make haste.”…
The impressions from above, when followed, are attended by a sweet peace and the consciousness that they are right; those from below, by perplexity and the feeling that something is wrong. The first brings rest. The second robs of it… The Holy Spirit is an unerring guide, and he who detects and turns from every wrong impression and fully follows Him will be led into “all truth.”…
May we each so “try the spirits,” and “watch and pray,” that, like God’s people of old, we may see our “pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night,” and thus while being led in a “plain path” be enabled to “stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.”
God does not reveal the full details of His will all at once. He keeps His children in constant dependence upon Him. You will therefore need to have your patience perfected and learn to live each moment by the Spirit. “But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete {living in full dependence upon God}, lacking nothing.” (Jam. 1:4) The more lamb-like you become in your meek and lowly submission to His will, the easier it is to hear His voice and follow Him. You will then begin to discover that you never lack anything.
Wesley Duewel says in his book there is never an emergency with God. Even though we may think there is a crisis, our Sovereign God knows the end from the beginning. In Let God Guide You, he says, “The nature of guidance often requires extended time. You must allow God time to prepare you, others, and the situation for which you are praying.”
Even though there may appear to be a crisis developing at times, God will never permit His Spirit-led children to enter into any greater difficulty than is necessary for their good. As we have learned from the apostle Paul’s life, God will sometimes use very difficult situations to bring us to the end of ourselves. (2 Cor. 1:8-9) He will also use special thorns to separate us from the self-sufficient and self-exalting ways of the devil. He will do what is necessary to produce within our heart a childlike faith so He may keep us in the place where we “lack nothing.”
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Salt - by Guy Morris
This word is to you that have experienced a birth into the family of our Lord. Your life has been changed because of Jesus Christ, but the leaders of today have lost the vision of how the children of our Fathers kingdom grow up.
The purpose the Lord has is to stir up your thinking; to think... asking yourself where you are and what message are you hearing? What direction are you going? Are you on the milk of the Word? Is the milk healthy? Have you ever tasted meat that comes from the Lord? We need to ask ourselves if we know what salt is. Have we ever really tasted the flavor of the saltiness of the Word of God? Are we really carrying the cross that Jesus has asked us to carry following Him all the way or is it only a cross attached to a pretty chain around our neck?
The scripture the Lord has chosen for this letter comes from 2nd Kings 2:19-20, 21 and the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is naught, and the ground barren. And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him. And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land.
A cruse is a container or vessel that is used for different things. Some are used to hold water, salt, seed or other things for the household. In this case it is a vessel that holds salt.
The city the Lord is referring to are a people who call themselves the bride of Christ or the Jerusalem of God, the brethren or perhaps they prefer to just plainly be a Christian church. At any rate I spent the first 42 years in these churches of different names and doctrines before the Lord called me out.
It is a divided city which is so full of different names and teachings that we almost lose count of how many there are.
Each one of these which are called by different names will very willingly tell you that they are right and the others are wrong. Saying, 'You will find out when you get to heaven and see that we were right.' This is the city we are talking about. A city that is full of divisions. As you look at this city as a whole you will also find it is a city of confusion. In the book of Revelation the Lord has given this city another name and that name is spiritually BABYLON.
To go on with this scripture we see the situation of this city is pleasant. Most of the buildings we call churches have padded seats to sit on. Nice carpet and the colors are pleasant to the eyes, but it depends who you talk to as to what answer you get. Perhaps the reason for this is because the scripture goes on and says the water is naught and the ground barren.
The Hebrew Word naught has many words to describe its meaning. Here are some; bad, evil, harm, hurt, worse, calamity, wretchedness, and more of such words to describe its meaning. So we see that the watering of the Word is not good and it makes the ground barren.
The Hebrew word barren means to miscarry; that is to suffer abortion, by analogy to bereave of children, and rob of children.
Perhaps the reason He is using this scripture is because the Holy Spirit used this to help teach me and so He is passing it along to you. He used this scripture to help teach me of what the churches have become. It wasn't that I was not saved as they put it or birthed into life by the Spirit of God. It was that I was not growing or developing into a healthy son of God.
The watering of the Word has been so twisted into different meanings and I was being robbed of growing up in our Lord Jesus. It was causing me harm and if it were not for the Lord calling me out I don't know what would have happened to me because I saw in a vision that my pastor was trying to cast me and another person into a bottomless pit. This scared me.
All I knew was going to church was the right thing to do. So now what am I to do? He preached Jesus, being born again, and receiving of the Holy Spirit. Yet God is saying he is robbing me.
We can understand how a child is born in the natural,(by the flesh), but we don't understand the fullness of how a Spiritual child of God is born and given a change of growing up to be just like Jesus. What is born of the flesh is flesh, but what is born of the Spirit is Spirit.
Many churches may have really had a part of a person receiving Jesus, receiving the Holy Spirit but then tell the people to pitch their tent in the wilderness of this world, far short of the Jordan River and the promised area of God. They call each tent by name and make up the rules that govern their group. If you don't follow the rules they may press you to leave, but if you want to leave on your own they may speak to you like they spoke to me.
You are leaving the will of God; your going to Hell or they may put the quilt trip thing on you trying to get you to come back saying you are going in the wrong direction. Some say, we need you to help us and others are really looking up to you. Patting us on the back does wonders to the ego of the flesh.
Satan is not afraid of a baby casting him out of heavenly places. What he is really concerned about is that baby growing up. He has done a good job so far keeping that child from growing up. I believe the Lord is about to change all that; that is if we are willing to listen to HIM.
The truth of the matter is I was going back to my Father's house looking to the Holy Spirit to guide me. Where I was all those years was living the life of a prodigal son only I didn't know it. Giving my time and money to leaders that were not helping me but harming me and other children of God from growing up in Christ Jesus. Now my Father was calling me out of these tent builders to come Home, to be in His presence.
We read in the scriptures that at one time it was OK to go to church or to gather together with others of like minds. Now it is different, because every one of us have been born into this world at the time of the great falling away. Our churches have become a part of the great harlot Babylon! Maybe there is a church somewhere which hasn't fallen away; I don't know. All I know is I have not heard of any.
When I was being called out two angles came to my house and stood behind me as I sat on the couch. I did not see them but I knew they were there. One of them spoke to me encouraging me to obey the Lord. I obeyed Him and left it. It made me think about the two witnesses that were sent to Lot to get him out of Sodom. At the same time you feel a little like Abraham when he was called out to the wilderness not knowing where he was going looking for the city of God; the one He was building.
The first thing the Holy Spirit began to do was to take away some bad teachings. I felt just like I was in a wilderness with the Lord's people scattered every where unknown to me. He also was teaching me new things that the church never taught. One of those things is the knowing that now I was a part of the true church of God, the one He is making, and not man. Sometimes I missed hearing the singing and fellowship with a few of them, but then manna came down and I was glad I obeyed Him.
Along with the scripture that I shared with you He showed me something else about the churches. I happened to go to Denver and the Holy Spirit wanted me to go to the stock show that was going on in town. He wanted to show me something. I didn't know where to go but I happened to be just in the right place sitting about half way up in the seats. They were selling bulls for reproduction of the farmers herds. Man o man did they fuss over those bulls, washing, combing, brushing and even putting curls in the hair at places. It looked like they were putting some kind of oil on them to make the hair shiny. These bulls were bought by the highest bidder.
The entire time what the Lord wanted me to see is... this is what man is doing to future preachers in the schools of men. They are hirelings groomed for producing people. They will go to the highest bidder teaching the doctrine of that school. They only looked good on the outside.
Elisha spoke what the Lord wanted-- Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him. And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land.
Bring me a vessel full of salt. If you have been called out and you're walking in this wilderness as a living sacrifice unto the Lord; don't desire to go back. For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Mark 9:49
Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you and teach you because He will make you into the salt of the earth and when the Lord goes forth with healing in His wings; you will be one with Him. Some of the Lord's people will be stubborn and will not come out of her until the day you are sent to them.
You that are being called out and you haven't obeyed Him yet; you need to do it. You need to trust the Holy Spirit to care for you. Jesus said, will there be any faith left when He comes? We don't want to come up short of having faith in God's Word and His promises.
True worship is to obey Him!
The Holy Spirit told me that when they were putting the guilt trip on me.
He is fully capable of getting you where you need to be according to God's will for you. The time will come that everyone whose name is in the Book of Life will be called on to come out of her before she is destroyed.
When I was being called out some things the Lord was showing me were hard to believe and I sort of felt like Abraham and the story told about him when he was called out. Maybe you feel the same way and you don’t know exactly where to go or what to do. I want you to know this is normal for a person like you.
You are special to our Father. One of the hardest things to over come is your own family and the love you have for them, which is a part of this world. The reason is, if you love your family more then Jesus; you are not worthy to have Him. In other words you will never be as one with Him. Talk about being salty? We all have to make up our mind that it is the Lord we will love and obey, denying our own life in order to be one with Him.
The Lord needs vessels of Salt for the healing of the true Church of God. To be vessels of Salt you need the mind of Christ and that means growing up to be Sons of God. Taste the Words that come out of the mouth of our Lord Jesus. If you don't think they are really salty then you are not hearing Him, nor tasting the flavor of salt.
I encourage everyone of my true family which is born of God. Have faith in every Word God has spoken through His Son Jesus or a fresh Word that He is speaking to you now. Yes, to have true faith in His Word will cause you to lose your Life but you will find a life that is truly wonderful and not of this world. We all need to be the salt of the earth; always ready to walk further with our Lord Jesus Christ. Always ready to have an answer seasoned with salt.
Matthew 7:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
There are many obstacles about this door seeking to turn you aside or call you back and the way is to suffer the loss of your life. It will be worth it to become the salt of the earth because that is what JESUS IS.
IN HIS LOVE
Guy
The purpose the Lord has is to stir up your thinking; to think... asking yourself where you are and what message are you hearing? What direction are you going? Are you on the milk of the Word? Is the milk healthy? Have you ever tasted meat that comes from the Lord? We need to ask ourselves if we know what salt is. Have we ever really tasted the flavor of the saltiness of the Word of God? Are we really carrying the cross that Jesus has asked us to carry following Him all the way or is it only a cross attached to a pretty chain around our neck?
The scripture the Lord has chosen for this letter comes from 2nd Kings 2:19-20, 21 and the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is naught, and the ground barren. And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him. And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land.
A cruse is a container or vessel that is used for different things. Some are used to hold water, salt, seed or other things for the household. In this case it is a vessel that holds salt.
The city the Lord is referring to are a people who call themselves the bride of Christ or the Jerusalem of God, the brethren or perhaps they prefer to just plainly be a Christian church. At any rate I spent the first 42 years in these churches of different names and doctrines before the Lord called me out.
It is a divided city which is so full of different names and teachings that we almost lose count of how many there are.
Each one of these which are called by different names will very willingly tell you that they are right and the others are wrong. Saying, 'You will find out when you get to heaven and see that we were right.' This is the city we are talking about. A city that is full of divisions. As you look at this city as a whole you will also find it is a city of confusion. In the book of Revelation the Lord has given this city another name and that name is spiritually BABYLON.
To go on with this scripture we see the situation of this city is pleasant. Most of the buildings we call churches have padded seats to sit on. Nice carpet and the colors are pleasant to the eyes, but it depends who you talk to as to what answer you get. Perhaps the reason for this is because the scripture goes on and says the water is naught and the ground barren.
The Hebrew Word naught has many words to describe its meaning. Here are some; bad, evil, harm, hurt, worse, calamity, wretchedness, and more of such words to describe its meaning. So we see that the watering of the Word is not good and it makes the ground barren.
The Hebrew word barren means to miscarry; that is to suffer abortion, by analogy to bereave of children, and rob of children.
Perhaps the reason He is using this scripture is because the Holy Spirit used this to help teach me and so He is passing it along to you. He used this scripture to help teach me of what the churches have become. It wasn't that I was not saved as they put it or birthed into life by the Spirit of God. It was that I was not growing or developing into a healthy son of God.
The watering of the Word has been so twisted into different meanings and I was being robbed of growing up in our Lord Jesus. It was causing me harm and if it were not for the Lord calling me out I don't know what would have happened to me because I saw in a vision that my pastor was trying to cast me and another person into a bottomless pit. This scared me.
All I knew was going to church was the right thing to do. So now what am I to do? He preached Jesus, being born again, and receiving of the Holy Spirit. Yet God is saying he is robbing me.
We can understand how a child is born in the natural,(by the flesh), but we don't understand the fullness of how a Spiritual child of God is born and given a change of growing up to be just like Jesus. What is born of the flesh is flesh, but what is born of the Spirit is Spirit.
Many churches may have really had a part of a person receiving Jesus, receiving the Holy Spirit but then tell the people to pitch their tent in the wilderness of this world, far short of the Jordan River and the promised area of God. They call each tent by name and make up the rules that govern their group. If you don't follow the rules they may press you to leave, but if you want to leave on your own they may speak to you like they spoke to me.
You are leaving the will of God; your going to Hell or they may put the quilt trip thing on you trying to get you to come back saying you are going in the wrong direction. Some say, we need you to help us and others are really looking up to you. Patting us on the back does wonders to the ego of the flesh.
Satan is not afraid of a baby casting him out of heavenly places. What he is really concerned about is that baby growing up. He has done a good job so far keeping that child from growing up. I believe the Lord is about to change all that; that is if we are willing to listen to HIM.
The truth of the matter is I was going back to my Father's house looking to the Holy Spirit to guide me. Where I was all those years was living the life of a prodigal son only I didn't know it. Giving my time and money to leaders that were not helping me but harming me and other children of God from growing up in Christ Jesus. Now my Father was calling me out of these tent builders to come Home, to be in His presence.
We read in the scriptures that at one time it was OK to go to church or to gather together with others of like minds. Now it is different, because every one of us have been born into this world at the time of the great falling away. Our churches have become a part of the great harlot Babylon! Maybe there is a church somewhere which hasn't fallen away; I don't know. All I know is I have not heard of any.
When I was being called out two angles came to my house and stood behind me as I sat on the couch. I did not see them but I knew they were there. One of them spoke to me encouraging me to obey the Lord. I obeyed Him and left it. It made me think about the two witnesses that were sent to Lot to get him out of Sodom. At the same time you feel a little like Abraham when he was called out to the wilderness not knowing where he was going looking for the city of God; the one He was building.
The first thing the Holy Spirit began to do was to take away some bad teachings. I felt just like I was in a wilderness with the Lord's people scattered every where unknown to me. He also was teaching me new things that the church never taught. One of those things is the knowing that now I was a part of the true church of God, the one He is making, and not man. Sometimes I missed hearing the singing and fellowship with a few of them, but then manna came down and I was glad I obeyed Him.
Along with the scripture that I shared with you He showed me something else about the churches. I happened to go to Denver and the Holy Spirit wanted me to go to the stock show that was going on in town. He wanted to show me something. I didn't know where to go but I happened to be just in the right place sitting about half way up in the seats. They were selling bulls for reproduction of the farmers herds. Man o man did they fuss over those bulls, washing, combing, brushing and even putting curls in the hair at places. It looked like they were putting some kind of oil on them to make the hair shiny. These bulls were bought by the highest bidder.
The entire time what the Lord wanted me to see is... this is what man is doing to future preachers in the schools of men. They are hirelings groomed for producing people. They will go to the highest bidder teaching the doctrine of that school. They only looked good on the outside.
Elisha spoke what the Lord wanted-- Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him. And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land.
Bring me a vessel full of salt. If you have been called out and you're walking in this wilderness as a living sacrifice unto the Lord; don't desire to go back. For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Mark 9:49
Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you and teach you because He will make you into the salt of the earth and when the Lord goes forth with healing in His wings; you will be one with Him. Some of the Lord's people will be stubborn and will not come out of her until the day you are sent to them.
You that are being called out and you haven't obeyed Him yet; you need to do it. You need to trust the Holy Spirit to care for you. Jesus said, will there be any faith left when He comes? We don't want to come up short of having faith in God's Word and His promises.
True worship is to obey Him!
The Holy Spirit told me that when they were putting the guilt trip on me.
He is fully capable of getting you where you need to be according to God's will for you. The time will come that everyone whose name is in the Book of Life will be called on to come out of her before she is destroyed.
When I was being called out some things the Lord was showing me were hard to believe and I sort of felt like Abraham and the story told about him when he was called out. Maybe you feel the same way and you don’t know exactly where to go or what to do. I want you to know this is normal for a person like you.
You are special to our Father. One of the hardest things to over come is your own family and the love you have for them, which is a part of this world. The reason is, if you love your family more then Jesus; you are not worthy to have Him. In other words you will never be as one with Him. Talk about being salty? We all have to make up our mind that it is the Lord we will love and obey, denying our own life in order to be one with Him.
The Lord needs vessels of Salt for the healing of the true Church of God. To be vessels of Salt you need the mind of Christ and that means growing up to be Sons of God. Taste the Words that come out of the mouth of our Lord Jesus. If you don't think they are really salty then you are not hearing Him, nor tasting the flavor of salt.
I encourage everyone of my true family which is born of God. Have faith in every Word God has spoken through His Son Jesus or a fresh Word that He is speaking to you now. Yes, to have true faith in His Word will cause you to lose your Life but you will find a life that is truly wonderful and not of this world. We all need to be the salt of the earth; always ready to walk further with our Lord Jesus Christ. Always ready to have an answer seasoned with salt.
Matthew 7:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
There are many obstacles about this door seeking to turn you aside or call you back and the way is to suffer the loss of your life. It will be worth it to become the salt of the earth because that is what JESUS IS.
IN HIS LOVE
Guy
Sunday, May 24, 2009
The Sovereignty of God in Our Lives
In Genesis we read God made man in his image: “…in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” Genesis 1:27
We also read the story of how man fell and sinned against God by disobeying his one commandment to them, to not eat of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Then God said “…Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil...” Genesis 3:22. This may seem like a paradox….first God said he created man in his image, then after they fell, he said they became “as one of us” to know good and evil. But the words “as one of us” here, speaks of them becoming their own God or another God with their own understanding.
The carnal mind and self will that Adam and Eve fell to that day when they went their own way, has lead man to do what was right in their own eyes…deciding for themselves what was good and evil. God said “…in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Genesis 2:17). Their union with God was broken and their spirit life died that day. They had been covered with the Glory of God, (which is the image of God) but it could no longer rest upon them, they had gone their own way. Without union with God, they were now naked and sought the covering that only union with God could give them. Man has tried everything imaginable since that time to substitute that covering. Every pleasurable thing the world can offer has been tried to fill that spot, but it all leaves them empty in the end and looking for the next “covering”
But Paul knew what he was looking for and it could only be found in the spiritual ream with spiritual life in union with God: “For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.” (2 Corinthians 5:2-4)
In Genesis….God said they were going to create men in their image, and that is what he has been doing these last six thousand years. God is creating Sons of God, a people who are just as he is. Like a mirror, the image has no separate life of its own; it only reflects the life in front of it. It doesn’t seek its own will; it only does what it sees life in front of it doing. This is what the Sons of God will be like.
Everything that has transpired since God formed Adam out of the dust of the ground has been to this end. Giving Adam and Eve the opportunity to fall, giving man the law, yet allowing man to do what seemed right in their own eyes. In one form or another every law and every commandment has been a picture of what union with the father should be. It is the evidence of whether we are in union with him or not. The law was our school master. But without the spiritual life from God, we could not be in union with him. We could have forgiveness of sins through the sacrifices of the lambs and fulfilling the rituals of the festivals, but they could not give us back the life that was lost in the garden and the Glory that rested on them. Without this life there is no union with the father. It took Jesus death for forgiveness of sins, and his resurrection life in us to make it possible to be once again in union with the Father.
God is not looking for just modified behavior that is able to keep the law, but desires to impart a new life in us, born of an incorruptible seed by the Holy Spirit that will grow up into a perfect man made in his image.
We have to understand that not everyone born into this world or even those who call themselves Christians will summit themselves to God to be formed into the image of him and become true Sons of God. 2 Timothy 2:20 speaks of vessels of honour and vessels of dishonour. 2 Timothy 3:12 says “…all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” If any desire to follow the Lord and live their life through him will suffer loss. The words “in Christ Jesus” in this scripture is Christ living in us, giving us the power to live Godly. In order for that new life to be formed in us, we must die to ourselves. Any good works done in our own strength apart from the power of God working in us is only self righteousness, and God HATES self righteousness. It is still the same thing that Adam and Eve did in the garden, apart from God, they had a knowledge of good and evil.
Why do I speak so much about unity or union with God? This is the part he has shown us of himself and he is requiring that of us. Philippians 2:5 says, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” As we study the words of Jesus, he says things like….I and my father are one….I can do nothing apart from my father......he that hath seen me hath seen the Father.
John writes: “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” 1John 5:7
I believe it is save to say that none of the three, the Father, the Son or the Holy Spirit, does anything apart from each other, they are always in union. That is why they are called “One”. He is calling us into this same unity with him, “one” perfect man, the body of Christ, whose head is Christ Jesus.
Jesus prayed “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, [art] in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” John 17:21
Since no flesh can glory in God, our flesh must die.
We can know these things; we can quote the scriptures and talk about it. We can have a sincere heart that desires to live this way, but until it is worked into us by God though trials and tribulations, it can not be formed in us. Scriptures tell us that even Jesus learned obedience through the things he suffered. (Hebrews 5:8)
If we have a true desire to be a vessel of honor for our Lord, to be conformed into his image, if we belong to him, we have to believe he is working in us. No matter what happens or comes our way, it is for our good and his purpose in us. We must believe he is sovereign in every part of our lives. As Roman 8:28 says: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose.”
People like to rebuke the Devil when persecution comes, but we need to get that out of our minds, there is no solid scripture for it. Quite the contrary, persecution is an instrument by which we are conformed into the image of Christ. As our flesh is being crucified with trials and tribulations, our will, pride and our own sense of what we feel is “right” and “wrong” is being nailed to the cross. This is how we are blessed when Jesus spoke of it in Matthew 5:11, “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.” All of this is necessary to burn away our old “life” so the new life in Christ can grow up into a new spiritual man and his glory can be revealed in us. Everything that Adam and Eve “learned” at the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is carnal and fleshly…it is the enemy of God and we must leave it behind. Our ways are not God’s way.
Peter wrote: “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.” (1 Peter 4:12-14)
Let us read the words of Paul who knew much about suffering:
“…there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)
How may we have the power of Christ rest upon us? By taking “pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions.” If we do not have faith or trust in a sovereign God, that all things that come against us are not only known of God, but are ordained of him for our good…and that his grace will be sufficient, we have no real faith in him at all!
We are here for His purpose, and his purpose is to conform us to his will. The only part we can play in this is to say to the Lord, “not my will but thy will be done” and obey him. When we have done all…..stand. If a battle is to be fought, let the Lord fight it. Only speak or do as the Lord leads. Don’t try and figure things out with our own understanding, be led daily of the Lord. He is able to keep us when we hold on to him.
As we do this, more and more of our old self dies away and the power of Christ rest upon us!
We also read the story of how man fell and sinned against God by disobeying his one commandment to them, to not eat of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Then God said “…Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil...” Genesis 3:22. This may seem like a paradox….first God said he created man in his image, then after they fell, he said they became “as one of us” to know good and evil. But the words “as one of us” here, speaks of them becoming their own God or another God with their own understanding.
The carnal mind and self will that Adam and Eve fell to that day when they went their own way, has lead man to do what was right in their own eyes…deciding for themselves what was good and evil. God said “…in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Genesis 2:17). Their union with God was broken and their spirit life died that day. They had been covered with the Glory of God, (which is the image of God) but it could no longer rest upon them, they had gone their own way. Without union with God, they were now naked and sought the covering that only union with God could give them. Man has tried everything imaginable since that time to substitute that covering. Every pleasurable thing the world can offer has been tried to fill that spot, but it all leaves them empty in the end and looking for the next “covering”
But Paul knew what he was looking for and it could only be found in the spiritual ream with spiritual life in union with God: “For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.” (2 Corinthians 5:2-4)
In Genesis….God said they were going to create men in their image, and that is what he has been doing these last six thousand years. God is creating Sons of God, a people who are just as he is. Like a mirror, the image has no separate life of its own; it only reflects the life in front of it. It doesn’t seek its own will; it only does what it sees life in front of it doing. This is what the Sons of God will be like.
Everything that has transpired since God formed Adam out of the dust of the ground has been to this end. Giving Adam and Eve the opportunity to fall, giving man the law, yet allowing man to do what seemed right in their own eyes. In one form or another every law and every commandment has been a picture of what union with the father should be. It is the evidence of whether we are in union with him or not. The law was our school master. But without the spiritual life from God, we could not be in union with him. We could have forgiveness of sins through the sacrifices of the lambs and fulfilling the rituals of the festivals, but they could not give us back the life that was lost in the garden and the Glory that rested on them. Without this life there is no union with the father. It took Jesus death for forgiveness of sins, and his resurrection life in us to make it possible to be once again in union with the Father.
God is not looking for just modified behavior that is able to keep the law, but desires to impart a new life in us, born of an incorruptible seed by the Holy Spirit that will grow up into a perfect man made in his image.
We have to understand that not everyone born into this world or even those who call themselves Christians will summit themselves to God to be formed into the image of him and become true Sons of God. 2 Timothy 2:20 speaks of vessels of honour and vessels of dishonour. 2 Timothy 3:12 says “…all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” If any desire to follow the Lord and live their life through him will suffer loss. The words “in Christ Jesus” in this scripture is Christ living in us, giving us the power to live Godly. In order for that new life to be formed in us, we must die to ourselves. Any good works done in our own strength apart from the power of God working in us is only self righteousness, and God HATES self righteousness. It is still the same thing that Adam and Eve did in the garden, apart from God, they had a knowledge of good and evil.
Why do I speak so much about unity or union with God? This is the part he has shown us of himself and he is requiring that of us. Philippians 2:5 says, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” As we study the words of Jesus, he says things like….I and my father are one….I can do nothing apart from my father......he that hath seen me hath seen the Father.
John writes: “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” 1John 5:7
I believe it is save to say that none of the three, the Father, the Son or the Holy Spirit, does anything apart from each other, they are always in union. That is why they are called “One”. He is calling us into this same unity with him, “one” perfect man, the body of Christ, whose head is Christ Jesus.
Jesus prayed “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, [art] in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” John 17:21
Since no flesh can glory in God, our flesh must die.
We can know these things; we can quote the scriptures and talk about it. We can have a sincere heart that desires to live this way, but until it is worked into us by God though trials and tribulations, it can not be formed in us. Scriptures tell us that even Jesus learned obedience through the things he suffered. (Hebrews 5:8)
If we have a true desire to be a vessel of honor for our Lord, to be conformed into his image, if we belong to him, we have to believe he is working in us. No matter what happens or comes our way, it is for our good and his purpose in us. We must believe he is sovereign in every part of our lives. As Roman 8:28 says: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose.”
People like to rebuke the Devil when persecution comes, but we need to get that out of our minds, there is no solid scripture for it. Quite the contrary, persecution is an instrument by which we are conformed into the image of Christ. As our flesh is being crucified with trials and tribulations, our will, pride and our own sense of what we feel is “right” and “wrong” is being nailed to the cross. This is how we are blessed when Jesus spoke of it in Matthew 5:11, “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.” All of this is necessary to burn away our old “life” so the new life in Christ can grow up into a new spiritual man and his glory can be revealed in us. Everything that Adam and Eve “learned” at the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is carnal and fleshly…it is the enemy of God and we must leave it behind. Our ways are not God’s way.
Peter wrote: “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.” (1 Peter 4:12-14)
Let us read the words of Paul who knew much about suffering:
“…there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)
How may we have the power of Christ rest upon us? By taking “pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions.” If we do not have faith or trust in a sovereign God, that all things that come against us are not only known of God, but are ordained of him for our good…and that his grace will be sufficient, we have no real faith in him at all!
We are here for His purpose, and his purpose is to conform us to his will. The only part we can play in this is to say to the Lord, “not my will but thy will be done” and obey him. When we have done all…..stand. If a battle is to be fought, let the Lord fight it. Only speak or do as the Lord leads. Don’t try and figure things out with our own understanding, be led daily of the Lord. He is able to keep us when we hold on to him.
As we do this, more and more of our old self dies away and the power of Christ rest upon us!
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