Out of all the people of the Bible, there are three men that stand out
who had an insatiable desire to know God. Moses, who met God at the
burning bush and spoke with God face to face, "So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend..." (Exodus 33:11) He desired to know God more intimately, "And Moses said, “Please, show me Your glory."
(Exodus 33:18) The second of these three men was David. David was also a
man who loved God and had an insatiable to know Him. We see this
reflected in the Psalms that he wrote as well as what God Himself said
about David, "I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will." (1
Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22) The third is Paul. Paul was willing to all
for Christ. He walked out his Christian life through great success and
yet most likely with more trials then any other believer in the history
of the church. (2 Corinthian 11:24-28) However, even through his
continuous trials he said, "that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death." (Philippians 3:10)
Unfortunately,
for most believers, there initial encounter with God, the day they
receive Christ as Lord and Savior, was the most intimate encounter that
they have ever experienced. But, believers cannot be content with
only their born again experience. We must know Him. God is and has so
much for us. Sadly, believers miss out on divine experiences and
encounters with His presence. They are satisfied with the theory,
theology, and knowledge they have, but that should never be enough.
Jesus promised that He would be with us always. (Matthew 28:20)
Affirming this truth should not be just a doctrinal declaration on our
part, but see and receive this promise by faith every day, knowing that He is indeed with us.
For instance, Jesus tells us, "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever the
Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees
Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be
in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you."..."But
the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He
will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that
I said to you." (John 14:16-18, 26) If you are born
again, the Lord Jesus through the Holy Spirit dwells with you and is in
you! He is our Helper; He is our Teacher; He gives us revelation through
God's Word. Although this is true, how many believers truly rely on the
Holy Spirit for these things?
The church today has many resources such as, study Bibles, books,
teachings on CD's and DVD's, computer programs, the internet with Bible
studies, and the preaching of the Word. Basically, believers have access
to countless resources to help them grow and mature spiritually and
even though for-the-most-part this is good, all it has provided is
intellectual knowledge that has not transformed lives. We have so much
knowledge that we have become selective to the point that some of us
place our personal interests above the living and transforming Word of
God. As a result, many church leaders often reject revealed knowledge
from God and adopt beliefs that seem to be more acceptable to their own
lifestyles or worse yet, the lifestyles of the world.
Proverbs 27:7 declares, "A satisfied soul loathes the honeycomb, but to a hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet." That is to say, that we
have become so self-satisfied that we "loathe the honeycomb" that is,
reject God's Word, especially the revelation that the Holy Spirit
brings. The proof of this is seen in the church today, regardless of
denomination. In order to justify a lack of faith and
revelation of truth, church leaders develop doctrines and creeds as
disclaimers that disagree with God's Word. Jesus experienced the same in
His day as the Son of man, "This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men."..."making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down..." (Mark 7:6-7, 13)
The good news is, there is a generation of people of all ages and
nations who genuinely hunger and thirst to know God more intimately.
They are no longer interested in the ritual of church as usual nor the
church programs that are focused on training the natural person and do
nothing for ones spiritual condition. They are not satisfied with
teachings that only please the flesh and tickle the ears, nor doctrines
of men that are contrary to God's Word which do not build faith,
but actually erode it. These believers yearn to learn more of Him
through revelation by the Holy Spirit and not the knowledge that come
through the five senses that only increases the intellect. This hunger
to know the deep things of God, to have daily encounters with Him, has
made even "that which is bitter a sweet tasting thing." In other words,
those who hunger and thirst after God may face ridicule and even
persecution from other believers, but to them it is worth it, it is "a
sweet tasting thing" because they are receiving the wonderful things of
God which come by being in His presence.
Jesus has made us promises as to what we can expect if we truly desire Him above all else, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." (Matthew 7:7-8) "He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst." (John 6:35) "However,
when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all
truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears
He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you." (John 16:13-15) Of course this takes faith in the integrity of God's Word. Hebrews 11:6 declares, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently (make a pain staking effort) seek Him."
So, let us no longer seek for knowledge that only increases our
intellect, but let us have an insatiable desire to know Him like Moses,
David and Paul. Let us pray everyday the prayer that Paul prayed for the
church and receive it through faith, "that the God of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom
and revelation in the knowledge (Epignosis; precise and correct knowledge) of Him."
(Ephesians 1:17) Let us desire to have an encounter with the Father
everyday. Let us no long put God on our schedules, and try to fit Him
in, but let us "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness..." (Matthew 6:33) "For man does not live on bread alone, but every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." (Matthew 4:4) Grace and peace be with you
Monday, November 14, 2022
Desires Of The Heart
Monday, November 7, 2022
Right Standing With God
Since the fall of man, the desire within him has been to have right
standing before God. This is evidences through the world religions of
paganism, metaphysics, as well as all the philosophical religions of
today. Basically, people want to feel good about themselves, when in
fact none of mans best efforts to appease his conscience from sin will
ever bring him to the place of right standing before God. There is only
one way for man to have right standing before God, "...having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 5:1) Man is justified, made righteousness, given right standing only by faith in Jesus Christ.
Righteousness restores to man all that was lost at the fall of man. It
restores his standing before God giving him the same ground that Jesus
enjoyed with the Father during His earth walk. (1 John 4:17) Being made
righteous through faith in Christ takes away sin consciousness, that is,
the feeling of guilt, condemnation, shame and inferiority that has
robbed man of coming with confidence into God's presence. (Romans 8:1)
It assures man of his standing before the Father, because in Christ he
now has a legal right to come into the Father's presence. (Hebrews 4:16)
It positions man as the master of Satan and all his forces. (Luke
10:19) It gives man boldness to stand in the presences of sickness,
disease and even death without fear. (2 Timothy 1:7)
Righteousness restores to man his lost relationship and fellowship with
the Father. It gives him the same confidence to approach the Father in
the same way that Jesus approached the Father. We can approach the
Father with the freedom that a child has approaching his own parent(s).
(1 John 1:3) It restores to man his lost faith, not
the faith that Thomas exhibited after the resurrection, which was
rooted in his five senses, (John 20:25) but the faith that pleases God
and moves mountains. (Mark 11:23; Hebrews 11:6) It restores peace with
God. (Romans 5:1) It restores quietness and rest to the spirit.
(Philippians 4:6-7) We are no longer afraid of bills, no longer afraid
of circumstances. Faith rises unconsciously and we face the most adverse
conditions with unwavering resolve.
Righteousness restores freedom to man. (John 8:36; Galatians 5:1) It is
the freedom that is only found in Christ. His freedom gives the courage
never to fear Satan again as well as freedom from the fear of man
because we trust in God with all our hearts and do not lean on our own
understanding. (Proverbs 3:5-6) Righteousness give us one of the most
incredible things, it restores sonship with God. (John 1:12; 1 John 3:1)
God is our Father and we are His sons (and daughters). We are His
children. We are in His family and we know that our Father loves us.
(Romans 8:38-39;1 John 4:10) Knowing these truths in our heart releases
unspeakable joy and we come to truly understand what it means to walk in
freedom.
But we must keep in mind, this all comes about only one way as stated above, "...having been declared righteousness by faith...through our Lord Jesus Christ."
(Romans 5:1) In other words, God made Jesus sin with our sin (2
Corinthians 5:21) He was made unrighteous with our unrighteousness. As
man's substitute for sin, He suffered until every crime against humanity
had been met and justice had been satisfied. It was Deity suffering for
humanity because this was the only way that man's sin debt could be
paid. When God declared that man's sin had been paid in Christ, and
every demand of justice was satisfied, Jesus was justified or made
Righteous. (Romans 4:25) He was "justified in the spirit" (1 Timothy
3:16) He was "made alive in the spirit" (1 Peter 3:18) He was "the first
born from the dead." (Colossians 1:18)
When a person
confesses Jesus as lord and receives Him as their Savior, God then
declares that one to be righteous solely on the grounds of what Jesus
did. This is called being born again and what scripture calls the "New
Creation" in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17) The believer also becomes a
partaker of the divine nature of God. (2 Peter 1:4) In this, the
believer becomes righteous by nature and by faith.
God declares that we were made righteous freely by His grace through
the redemption that He made possible through Jesus Christ. Now we can
stand in His presence without any sin consciousness. When believers come
to truly understand and act upon these truths, they will experience
tremendous growth in their faith and will step into the Father's
presence without any trepidation, because we fully know that "there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus..."
(Romans 8:1) Therefore, let us stop looking for what is right and put
our faith in Jesus Christ the righteous and be free of guilt,
condemnation, shame and inferiority. Let us make our confession sure.
Let us make our confession bold, "I am the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ." (2 Corinthians 5:21)
Monday, October 31, 2022
I Am Identified With Christ
Identity theft is defined as the fraudulent acquisition and use of a
person's private identifying information, usually for financial gain.
Although this definition describes what is taking place in our world
today, identity theft has actually been taking place since the fall of
man. Jesus tells us, "The thief does not come except to steal, and to
kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that
they may have it more abundantly." (John 10:10) From the Garden of Eden the thief has been stealing from humanity all the God has freely given him.
For centuries, man has been working hard to regain his standing before
God. The religions of the world as well as the so called Christian
cults, such as Russellism and Mormonism have worked to no avail to
correct what Adam's act of disobedience had brought upon humanity.
Naturally, it begins and ends with the person of the God man, the Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ. This also includes the various sects of
Catholicism and the many denominations within Protestantism. Although
Catholicism and Protestantism have a similar fundamental belief of the
incarnate birth of Christ as well as His vicarious death, resurrection,
ascension and glorification, the majority still present a beggarly
redemption in Christ.
For the most part, the church in all of it divisions has been very
strong in teaching man his need of righteousness, but has also taught
his weakness and inability to please God. It preaches the denunciation
of sins, against unbelief, world conformity, and lack of faith,
but has been sadly lacking in presenting the truth of what and who
believers are in Christ. It has lacked in teaching how righteousness and
faith are available to all who put their faith in Christ. This type of
teaching puts redemption off until after death and therefore raises many
questions.
- Is it after death and in heaven when we will find rest?
- Is it after death and in heaven when we will have victory?
- Is it after death and in heaven when we become overcomers?
- Is it after death and in heaven when we will have peace with God?
- Is it after death and in heaven when we will have no more failings?
- Is it after death and in heaven when we are complete?
- Is all we have to look forward to on this side of heaven, failure, misery, disappointment and weakness?
This would indicate that God in His plan of redemption was unable to give us victory, but that He needed the devil to complete His redemptive work. This sounds far-fetched, but when you think about how redemption is presented in most of Christendom today this would be the conclusion. The truth is, God Himself is now our very righteousness, and that we are the righteousness of God in Christ. (1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 5:21) We also are partakers of God's very nature. (Ephesians 4:24; 2 Peter 1:4) Therefore, the believer does have rest (Hebrews 4:3); victory (1 Corinthians 15:57; 2 Corinthians 2:14); is an overcomer (Romans 8:37); has peace with God (Romans 5:1); is no longer a failure (Philippians 4:13); and is complete in Christ (Colossians 2:9-10); which means that believers no longer have to live this life in failure, misery, disappointment and weakness. PTL
The fact is "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ..." (2 Corinthians 5:17) A person cannot be in Christ and have the devil's nature in him at the same time. He is either in the family of God or in the family of Satan. There is no dual nature. It's one or the other, "In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest..." (1 John 3:10) There can be no real development of faith, no strong, victorious Christian life with this mixed conception of the believer in Christ. We are either new creations or we are not. We have either passed from death into life or not. (John 5:24)
When Paul says, "For sin shall not have dominion over you..." (Romans 6:14) he means exactly what he says. If you live a life of weakness and defeat, it is because you do not know what and who you are in Christ and how the Father see you, which, I believe is the greatest need of the church at this hour. Look at this incredible truth, "And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight." (Colossians 1:21-22) Does this sound like failure, misery, disappointment and weakness? Absolutely not! This is a present reality. Believers stand before God complete in Christ.
If God was unable to take the sin nature out of us when we are born again, if the blood of Jesus was not sufficient to wipe it out, then preaching from the Bible gives no hope in this life and God's Word is reduced to nothing more than philosophy, which enlightens, but does not bring life. Also, keep in mind that unrighteousness prevents one from coming into the presence of God, yet God's Word tells us, "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:12)
Remember, "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." (John 10:10) Jesus came to bring, not only the after life (eternal life) but life now to those who can believe. It has been the devil who has and is constantly working at stealing the believers identity in Christ and leaving him with a sin consciousness, that is, the feeling of guilt, condemnation and inferiority before God. But thanks be to God who has justified us freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus and Who is the Justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus Christ. (Romans 3:24, 26) PTL
Monday, October 24, 2022
Life In The Spirit
Before the fall, man had perfect fellowship with God. He lived in the
realm of the spirit, but when he disobeyed God's command, he was driven
from the presence of God and became dependent upon
his senses for his protection and 1ife. His spirit became the slave of
his senses. When this happened man lost all real knowledge of spiritual
things. As the history moved forward and although the senses gained
supremacy over man, we see recorded in Hebrews 11 that there were people
who did have spiritual discernment. One in particular was Abraham,
because He believed God. (Genesis 15:6) Abraham's faith is one of the
greatest example of the true type of the faith that believers can and
should have. When I refer to the phrase "true type faith or true kind of
faith" I mean the type of faith that pleases God. (Hebrews 11:6)
When Jesus left eternity and broke into time, all men lived in the realm
of the senses. When reading the four gospels carefully you will notice
that all the people (which includes the religious leaders) were not
discerning of spiritual things. They believed only what their senses
could comprehend. Jesus said to them, "...You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times." (Matthew 16:3) . Their spirit had no place in their daily life. In Jesus' encounter with Nicodemus He says, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God...That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." (John 3:3, 6) Unless one is born again from above, they are unable to discern or understand the spiritual things of God.
Faith
comes by getting acquainted with the Father through the Word. Not in
studying the Word alone, but by actually living the Word; doing the
Word; practicing the Word, and letting the Word live in us. James tells
us, "...receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls." (James
1:21) God's Word is able to save (to keep safe and sound; to rescue
from danger or destruction; to make well, heal, restore to health) the
soul (the mind, will, emotions and intellect). We see in John gospel the
people asking Jesus, "...What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do?" (John 6:30 )
Interestingly enough, that generation is not any different than our
generation. Like that generation, this generation does not believe God's
Word either unless it sees signs and wonders and even then as Jesus
said, "...neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead" (Luke 16:31) will most hardly believe.
I have come to believe that if one spends time in fellowship with God in
His Word, under the illumination of the Holy Spirit, they will not
require a sign to believe. In fact, they will actually live the
Christian life used of God to perform signs and wonders. (Mark 16:17-18;
John 14:12) God's Word is the food and life of the spirit. (Matthew
4:4; John 6:63) Through God's Word, we can come to know His will,
nature, character, purpose and plan. His Word is the only avenue that we
can come to know and understand God's most potent characteristic, love.
(1 John 4:7-8, 16) If we walk in love, the spirit has perfect freedom
to guide us because faith and
love are a product of the recreated spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23) Faith
grows through God's Word (Romans 10:17) as we practice love. (Galatians
5:6) As we practice love the Father becomes more and more real to us,
because again, He is love (1 John 4:16). The reality is, God's love is
already in our recreated spirit. (Romans 5:5) It is no longer something
that we ask for, but simple act upon. But like everything else, the
things of God come by revelation to our spirit, not knowledge through
the five senses.
1 Corinthians 2:12 declares, "Now we received, not the spirit of the
world, (the spirit of the natural man) but the Spirit who is from God,
that we might know the things that have been freely given us by God."
The believers recreated spirit, is able to know the things of God,
while the natural mind that is dominated by the senses, is unable to
know the things that are freely given in the Redemptive work of Christ.
The natural man cannot understand the expressions "in Christ" or "in
Whom" because their sense driven mind will not grasp the full meaning of
such which prohibits them from receiving with joy their legal position
in Christ.
Now we can understand why the Apostle Paul tells us "to renew the mind."
(Romans 12:2) This is most likely the greatest need of the present day
church, renewing of the believers mind through God's Word. It is God's
Word which renews the mind and develops the recreated spirit to have
dominion once again. Let's be honest, the average Christian today is
carnal, that is, ruled by their senses. The sad thing concerning this,
is, they are babes due to a lack of spiritual food given to them by
church leaders who should be mature. (Hebrews 5:11-14) Although most say
they believe God's Word is infallible and that scripture is the
authority of the church, yet they are not doers of the Word, therefore
never growing their faith,
but remain completely dependent on their senses. They are ever
striving, but never arriving. There is only one way to help these people
(those who are mature and skilled in rightly dividing the Word of
Truth, should) is to teach them how to take their place in Christ and do
as James tells us, "be doers of the Word, and not hearers only." (James 1:22)
This can seem simple, but at the same time be a difficult task. But we
must believe that God's Word is just as powerful today as it was when it
was first spoken. Paul tells us, "And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but 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." (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)
Let us help others in the faith as Paul, through humility, not relying
on the wisdom of man, not trying to prove how much we know, but by
letting the Holy Spirit do the work through us so the people we help
will not place their faith on the senses, but on the power of God.
Monday, October 17, 2022
Revelation Knowledge
Living by the senses neutralizes true faith.
When I use the term true faith, I mean the only kind of faith that
pleases God, revelation faith. The Apostle Paul tells us, "I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh (senses). For
the flesh (senses) lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh (Senses);
and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things
that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law." (Galatians 5:16-18) (I added the word senses for clarity purposes)
We
can see that a battle exists between the senses, which are the natural
things, and the spirit which are the eternal things. Paul also tells us,
"But
the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for
they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:14) Again, we see that the senses, the natural man, cannot discern spiritual things. Sense knowledge does not know God, nor can it ever know God, for He and His Word are Spirit. (John 4:24; John 6:63)
This is a very important key to understanding why so many believers
struggle and battle with things in their lives. These very things that
some many believers struggle with, have been set aside, overcome and
destroyed by Jesus Christ through the redemption provided by faith in Him.
Let
us look at how the Apostle Paul came to know spiritual things,
especially concerning Christ and all that He has provided for those who
put their faith in Him. "But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ." (Galatians
1:11-12) To truly know God and things of the spirit, it must come by
revelation through the Holy Spirit. (John 14:26) Paul's epistle to the
Romans also sheds much light, in contracting the flesh (senses) with the
spirit. "For
those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of
the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the
Spirit." (Romans 8:5)
This is speaking of our recreated spirit coming to understand the things of God through the Holy Spirit. Paul goes on, "For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." (Romans 8:6) To be ruled by the senses is death. It does not become more plain than that. But why is this so, "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be." (Romans 8:7) In other words, the
mind of the flesh, that is, the thinking that derives its evidences
from the senses, is enmity, the state of hatred or animosity against
God. When Paul is addressing the flesh he does not mean the physical
body as the physical body, but the physical body as the vehicle in which
the five senses are contained. It is through the five senses that
knowledge comes to our intellect. The body is but the vehicle of the
five senses through which all the knowledge of material things has come
and comes to our brain.
So
then, those who are in the flesh, letting their senses have dominion,
cannot please God. In fact, as spoken above, they are in a state of hatred or animosity against God. Unfortunately, man
has failed to get the knowledge of God, though he has given himself to
study and searching, because he has relied upon his senses. The senses
have taken such a stronghold on most, they have come to equate mental
ascent as faith. Paul warns, "Now the
Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the
faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons." (1 Timothy 4:1) Who expressly says? The Holy Spirit! What does the Holy Spirit expressly say? "...some will depart from the
faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons."
The departure of true faith, that is, believing and acting on God's
Word, opens the senses to deceiving spirits and the doctrines of
demons!
Keep in mind
that the devil's lies and deception against humanity is through the
senses (Genesis 3:1-6; 1 John 2:1516) He attacks God's Word, as well as
His character, nature, purpose and plan, by getting people to use their
soul (mind, will, emotions, intellect, that is, the five senses) to
reason, which, if not immediately cast down, creates "...arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God." (1 Corinthians 10:5) (And we wonder why there is so much division and erroneous doctrine in the church) Paul's prayer for the church reveals that it is through "the spirit of wisdom and revelation" (Ephesians 1:17) that we come to know spiritual things, that is, the knowledge of God. Paul also tells us where all true knowledge and wisdom are found, "...attaining
to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge
of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Colossians 2:2-3)
Although Paul had had the advantages of all the scholarship, all the knowledge of his age in which he had gathered, he shows us the true riches, "And
I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech
or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but 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." (1 Corinthians 2:1-5) We can clearly see that the sense knowledge, educated, Paul, gave
up sense knowledge, which is limited, for revelation knowledge that
knows no bounds. His desire was the same for the church, so they (we)
could walk in true faith.
What happened at Lazarus tomb is a reflection of what takes place in most congregations today. "Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha,
the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there
is a stench, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” (John 11:39-40) Sense
knowledge limited Martha to the natural realm and although Martha did
see the glory of God, it makes one wonder if she truly appreciated it,
or was only happy to see her brother alive again.
A
person may be a child of God and yet never have his mind renewed,
because he lives in the realm of the senses. Sense knowledge has closed
the doors against the teaching of the Holy Spirit who is the promise of
the Father and gives revelation to us through God's Word. (John 16:13) As long as you listen to the voice of the senses, you will never believe God's Word and never walk by faith.
Sense knowledge leads us invariably away from God to trust in what man
can do, whereas revelation knowledge leads us to trust in the Lord and
see His glory. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit...
Monday, October 10, 2022
It Makes No Sense
Few of us have come to realize that almost all knowledge that has been accumulated through the ages has come by-way-of the five senses. Due to this, there will always be a conflict between our five senses and God's Word. God's Word demands that we walk by faith, (2 Corinthians 5:7) whereas the senses demand that we walk by sight. (John 20:24-25) God's Word demands absolute obedience, (John 14:15) whereas the senses rise in rebellion against it. (Galatians 5:17) Walking by faith is simply acting on God's Word.
However, the
senses have dominated for so long that it is hard to yield their
dominion over us to God's Word. To walk by faith, one must believe God's
Word and act upon it regardless of any circumstances that dictate
otherwise. (James 2:17) Jesus said, "...The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life." (John 6:63) Therefore, God's Word leads us out of the realm of the senses into the realm of the spirit. The Apostle Paul tells us, "while
we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which
are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the
things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:18)
The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul reveals several provocative
scriptures connected to the spiritual and physical (sense) realm. Here
are two, "For though we walk in the flesh, (senses) we do not war according to the flesh (senses). For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting
down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the
knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience
of Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:3-5) (I added the word senses for clarity purposes)
To walk in the flesh is to walk according to the senses. However, for
the believer, our walk is in the spirit and the weapons of our warfare
are spiritual weapons, especially God's Word. The strongholds are
reasonings created by the senses which produce knowledge contrary to
God's Word that men use to defend themselves against God's Word. Some of
the strongholds of the senses are the denying of the supernatural for
today and denying the integrity and authority of God's Word. These come
in the form of church doctrine and creeds. These reasonings and vain
thoughts are the enemies of faith. These by far are the main stronghold that has crippled most believers today. They exalt themselves against the Word of God.
Believers are to bring every sense knowledge reasoning (thought) "into captivity to the obedience of Christ." When we are tempted to believe our senses, we must turn resolutely to God's Word. We are to, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6) We are to hold on to His Word. Put our complete trust in Him, knowing that "Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things." (Matthew 6:32) We are to "Hold fast the confession of our faith without wavering, for He who promised is faithful." (Hebrews 10:23) Our confession will always take sides either for God's Word or against it.
Every time that we confess weakness, lack, failure or that our wants have not been met, we
are unconsciously taking sides against God's Word. When we confess
things such as these, we are confessing Satan's supremacy over us which
gives him permission to thwart the will of the Father in our lives. We
need to stand in the power of His might and know that "No Word from God is void of Power." (Isaiah 55:11) When we let our senses cause us to confess our weakness, lack and failures instead of "looking to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2) we have lost the battle.
However, if on the other hand, we declare by faith such things as, "The Lord is my light and my salvation...The Lord is the strength of my life (Psalm 27:1)...God shall supply all of my need (Philippians 4:19)...I am complete in Him (Colossians 2:10)...Yet in all these things I am more than a conqueror in Christ (Romans 8:37)...then we are putting our trust in Him. In doing this, we can stand on what He has promised, "He shall direct your paths." PTL
Monday, October 3, 2022
Go Therefore
If you were asked, "Why are you a Christian," what would be your answer?
What if you were asked, "What is the purpose of the church?", what
would your answer be? Now there are plenty of ways that these questions
can be answered, but are your answers based solely on God's Word or what
you have come to believe about yourself or what the local church
teaches? Jesus gave very explicit direction to His disciples as to their
purpose and the purpose of all those who would believe upon Jesus based
on their words.
Jesus told them, "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20) This is what has become known as "The Great Commission." When Jesus commissioned the disciples, He was granting the disciples certain powers and authority to carry out
His message of redemption to all humanity. This was not an option but a
command that the disciples fully understood. Jesus also tells us, "If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever the
Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees
Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be
in you." (John 14-15-17)
Not only would Jesus be with the disciples (all) in the person of the Holy Spirit, but He also tells them, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." Obeying
the commandments of Christ is one way of showing our love for Him. To
use any reason not to carry out the Great Commission both corporately
and individually reflects the believers or churches lack of love for not
only the Lord, but also others. Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:29-31)
Now
some who are reading this may feel that I am way off base, because you
have been called to be a pastor, worship leader or some other ministry
of the church, therefore you are not called to evangelize. This may true concerning your calling and or anointing from the Lord, but to neglect the great commission for any reason would indicate
that you are special in God's eyes and do not have to obey some of His
commands which are set forth in God's Word.
God means what He says and shows no partiality (Romans 2:11). This in
no way is to cause condemnation, but to bring us to the place where we
become more engaged with the Lord and His business. Seeking first the
Kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33) will move us from
churchianity to Christianity.
Another
thing to consider, is, due to Christ’s authority conferred upon the
church, Jesus tells His disciples to make disciples, not to only have
people make a so called profession of faith. Why? The reality is, many
in the church today have never really experienced true conversion. This
is evident in two ways. First, they can take Christianity or leave it.
They were only interested in not facing hell when they passed from this
life to the next. The second is similar, these are what the Apostle Paul
calls "carnal Christians" acting like unsaved people. (1 Corinthians
3:1-3) In both cases, they live by their five senses. They let their
feelings and emotions control them and never come to the place of
growing in faith due to not knowing God’s Word, nor submitting to
discipleship. "Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If
you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know
the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:31-32) To abide means to hold on to; to continue in.
Today
many church building are filled with people who are not free, but bound
by the things of the world and Satan himself because they do not hold
on to or continue in God’s Word.
They are not being made disciples, but are inundated with church
programs that do not mature them spiritually. Temporal things are more
important or have more place in their life than eternal things. This
becomes very obvious in their life when a problem or trial arises. They
flounder because they have built their life on sand and not the Rock,
Jesus Christ. They have no foundation of the Word and therefore find it
difficult at best to stand under the trials of life, under the schemes
of the devil.
Look at some of the what’s and how’s of making disciples, “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." The Apostle Peter reveals, "Repent,
and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for
the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit." (Acts 2:38) First, there needs to be repentance.
Recognizing that all have sinned and fall short of God. (Romans 3:23)
Repentance is a complete turning away from the direction one is going to
the direction of God. To be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ is
repentance. It is acknowledging Christ as Lord and that sins are
remitted. Forgiven as though they never happened.
Next, Jesus says, “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. The
disciples were to impart and instruct new disciples to attend to
carefully, take care of; to guard; to keep, ALL THINGS that Jesus had
commanded them. This was not in word only but in demonstration. In other
words, the disciple were not only to teach God’s Word
to the new disciples, as Jesus did to them, but how to function in the
ministry that Jesus emulated before them to make more disciples.
I
believe that one of the greatest needs of today is to realize what God
has accomplished for us in Christ; who we are in Christ; how God sees us
in Christ and all the legal rights and privileges that have been given
to us in Christ. The disciples of Christ took the things that Christ had
commanded very real and very serious. They knew that they were no
longer natural people but supernatural and they showed us what that
meant throughout the Book of Acts. Hosea the Prophet tells us, "My people are destroyed because they don’t know me (Hosea 4:6) However, Solomon tells us, "For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;" (Proverbs 2:6)
So let the Holy Spirit rise up in our lives and go forth in the name of Jesus for, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few"
(Matthew 9:37) because the sole purpose for being a Christian and the
sole purpose of the church is to win souls and make disciples. There is
nothing to fear in doing this because Jesus is with us, even to the end
of the age. PTL