"...the blessed and only Potentate, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords" (I Timothy 6:15).
In a world of distractions during a time of obvious darkness in the heavenlies, the focus is set without any detours or alternative routes and the ever present light of glory is an internal reality. This ever present "Light" has found itself dwelling in those earthen vessels of a contrite and humble spirit (Isaiah 57:15).
We can see a comparison in those who would be considered sinners or worldly people and Christians, but such a comparison is not what we are sharing. The scriptures abound with another comparison that may deserve more consideration than the more obvious one we just mentioned.
Mere aspects of truth that grow into a stagnant rest stop are indeed a distraction from "The Truth." From our position all revelation is progressive in its nature, yet when we fail to move with "The Light" of all revelation we are left groping in the darkness. Nevertheless, God has set in the hearts of those who seek His face a divine-discontent and this is the very thing that fuels them on such an awesome path that not only leads to the "Light," but is led by the "Light!" This type of fuel will never let them make their home at a rest stop with stagnant pools, for such a people cannot quench their thirst there!
It is our prayer that we and all of those who have been called by God will acknowledge Him in all our ways instead of just cry out to Him as a resource in a time of need. This brings us to a concern that was touched on lightly at the end of the first article. Do we know Jesus as Savior and Lord or just Savior? Is Lord just a casual name thrown around in a haphazard manner? I'm sure those who do not know Jesus Christ can throw the word around without a care, but God's people are to take the word "Lord" seriously! Just knowing that we are saved without the Lordship of our Savior will never express the life of the New Man.
Mere information about Jesus Christ can never constitute the fellowship God desires with His creation! No matter how deep the truth may sound, no matter how advanced the revelation knowledge may be, not matter how much we read, how much we hear or who we hear we cannot get around these four words - "I never knew you."
In Matthew 7:15-23 we often relate this passage solely to false
prophets.
It says in verse 15, Beware of false prophets.
We are in
agreement
that
judgment will come upon all false prophets, but men with the title
"prophet"
are not the only ones to which verse 23 applies. Verse 21 did not say
everyone
who calls himself a prophet or every preacher that we may disagree
with,
but it says Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall
enter
into
the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is
in heaven.
Now we thank God that you do not have to have a title in
front
of your name to do the will of the Father. You don't even have to be
known
among others as a prophet to do the will of the Father. The blunt
reality
is that you don't even have to be anywhere near a platform or a
spotlight
to do the will of the Father.
The whole point of this subject is not to get on a soapbox about who is a false prophet and who is not! Nor is it a subtle guilt trip to contest who is in the will of God and who is not! The New Man is not after a title, rather his desire is to express Christ in the earth! He also in that same expression will minister life rather than a constant railing toward titles!
The whole point is what Jesus means in verse 23. In another
context,
but the same warning, he says, Verily I say unto you, I know you not
(Matthew 25:12). This brings us to a word we may want to consider:
"ginsk."
This is the Greek word for "knew" in Matthew 7:23. The way the word is
used seems to define the way the Lord desires to know us and, as
equally
important, the way we are to know Him! The first place this word is
used
is in Matthew 1:25. Verses 23-25 read, Behold, a virgin shall be
with
child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name
Emmanuel,
which being interpreted is, God with us. Then Joseph being raised from
sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him
his
wife: And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son:
and
he called his name JESUS.
One of the definitions for "ginsk"
is to
know
by experience! For all of us who believe in the virgin birth we should
easily see that Joseph did not have intimate union with Mary in a most
natural and physical sense until after Jesus was born. And so it is
with
us in a most spiritual and literal sense. This virgin birth seems to be
typified in an individual sense. Man did not have a thing to do with
it.
God apprehends, God calls and God chooses!!! Luke 1:35 reads, And
the
angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee,
and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that
holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
In the context of Matthew 7:15-25 a sobering fact comes to mind. We can do great things in the name of the Lord, and people may be blessed along the way, but unless we know Him as Lord we really do not know Him in the sense that gives us entrance into the kingdom! In first Corinthians 10:1-12 we come to another fact to consider. We are saved by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ while we were still in our sins. The Hebrews were saved by the blood of the Lamb while they were still in Egypt. They were called out of Egypt, already saved, to an inheritance. We are called out of the world and the bondage of sin to an inheritance ! We now may want to ponder this: they all got salvation but did they all get the inheritance?
I think one preacher put it like this, "God brought them out of
Egypt
to get the Egypt out of them." Instead of crying out in the wilderness
for flesh, the Hebrews would have been better off saying ...be it
unto
me according to thy word!
(Luke 1:38). Seeing that as history for
our
learning we would do well to see the principle for present truth and
remember
Mary's words once more: BE IT UNTO ME ACCORDING TO THY WORD! Now that
is
a heavy statement to ponder, and we can shrink back with our flesh as
the
distant echoes of Egypt's past attractions make war with our mind. But
some of us have found ourselves with our hearts crying out NOT MY WILL
BUT THINE BE DONE! While many may seem content with a salvation that
teaches
us we are going up instead of down, some of us are more interested in
moving
forward! In such a journey we must come to know Jesus as our Head! He
is
the only Head that will lead us into the promise land. This emphatic
cry
to know Him in this in-depth way will surpass all information about
Him,
for if it was found in any knowledge apart from intimate union the
bible
colleges and theologians would have birthed the Man Child long ago! To
know Him this way means the cross must be applied in every area of our
life that has yet to say "not my will but thine be done." Ah, our
desires
that seem to be in union with our flesh and our fear that is produced
from
unbelief seem to speak to us with a hissing noise at the end of each
selfish
request. We often hear something deceiving slithering around at the end
of each internal accusation. One thing is for sure; as long as our
affections
are set on that which is earthly, the accuser will always have a dusty
place to crawl around and feed upon. This realty of warfare comes right
down to our very thought pattern in 2 Corinthians 10. In verse 5 we are
instructed to bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of
Christ.
It is quite easy to get snake bit when your affections are not set on
that
which is above (Colossians 3:2). If we could only see in the spirit the
atmosphere of the invisible realm which seeks for a visible medium, we
would see dust particles floating all around! The complaints that are
the
result of finding our peace from another source besides the source
within
are stunting our spiritual growth and giving the serpent plenty to feed
on! (Numbers 21:6, Genesis 3:14).
It seems some brief personal history may be in order to express the very heart of the matter thus far. Before God apprehended me I was a vocalist in a rock band. To some degree some of the people I had contact with in the so called scene I was in showed an interest in the occult. Some of them had a slight interest in the philosophy that surrounds it while others had a strong liking for what is considered "satanic." To me it only seemed like a novelty. However, I did happen to glance through what is considered a "satanic bible." Unlike the bible this book did not seem to speak a lot of its so called god, which would be the devil, I guess. I did not come across any statements that said, "Love Satan with all thine heart." I did happen to read what is considered their first commandment which was, "'Do what thou will' shall be the law." At that time in my life I was fulfilling that law and I did not even need a satanic bible to do so. Anyone acting in their Adamic nature cannot help but fulfill this law. As a matter of fact, I might add they are powerless to do anything else because the old man's nature becomes quite slavish when you try to pull away from it. It is quite ironic that I fulfilled a law that I never even read. You might say it was written upon the tables of my sinful heart! Without the fiery finger of God writing upon our heart we are powerless to fulfill His commandments! Now concerning the so-called command : 'DO WHAT THOU WILL' SHALL BE THE LAW ,what did Jesus pray in the garden? When He said, NOT MY WILL BUT THINE BE DONE, the final nail was put in the coffin of the Adamic kingdom (Romans 6:6, Galatians 2:20) and the head crushing of the serpent was on its way! (Genesis 3:16).
For the sake of anyone who may not have gotten the full impact of the first article, mere bible reading will not change our nature! That does not take away from the fact that the scriptures are inspired! We do not need to throw out the scriptures, we need to have a balance on their function! Depending on the individual's heart, the Letter can be a holding place for the Spirit or it could be the making of a lifeless substitute.
The fellowship we are to have with The Lord does not begin with putting our bibles away! I write this knowing that some have come to the idea that we no longer need the scriptures. Also others use the ones that suit them without considering all of them in their completeness. Gnostic sects of the Early Church and the current New-Age movement are the most obvious examples of this tragic practice. The Holy Ghost and the scriptures will always agree. God seems to make a point to use men who through their whole career use the scriptures, and why not? When you come to know the Author of the book it no longer seems to be a bothersome task to take up the example of the Bereans! Yeah, those good old Bereans just happen to be in the same chapter with those thrill-seekers who always had to hear some new thing. You see the Holy Spirit made it a point for Luke to list the noble ones in Berea. After all they did not swallow anything that came down the road nor did they serve up a knuckle sandwich to Paul for taking away that "old time religion." As puzzled as some of them may have been they won the title of "those who were more noble." How grateful to God we should be for putting three groups of people in the same passage of scripture who seem to foreshadow three different types of believers that are with us today! We are aware that the group mentioned in verse 21 were not even believers as far as the Church is concerned, but the characteristics of those creative Athenians are with us today in the Church and so are the die-hard religious spirits of Thessalonica!
It is self evident that many of the Jews grew harder during the
passing
away of the Old Covenant and some of them repented. The first group of
people in chapter seventeen seem to typify those who are in love with
the
Letter and they are content with their understanding. After all, they
take
the surface of the scriptures for what it says, anything beyond that is
a false doctrine. If it goes beyond their reasoning mind they grab a
hold
of their doctrinal security blanket and never stop to consider that
God's
thoughts are far above the limited scope of our biased concepts that
must
draw from the logic of the mind instead of receiving revelation from
the
spirit! The human mind is always seeking a place of authority instead
of
submitting to the leading of the spirit! Those high things that we hold
so dearly must go through the fire and when God begins to set our
heaven's
on fire they can go out with a great noise! The Jews at Thessalonica
were
not going to tolerate what Paul was teaching , but the Old Covenant was
passing away! Today it can be just the same, depending on what the Lord
is putting the fire to, we will not go down without a fight! That
stubborn
spirit that was such a strong hold for the Jews brought them to a
horrific
end in 70 A.D.! The climax of the of the Old Covenant took on a tragic
visible manifestation. We see how those at Thessalonica rejected Paul,
but in a much greater sense they rejected God! 1 Samuel 8:7 And the
Lord
said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all they say
unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me,
that I should not reign over them.
When we demand that King Reason
must
rule our perception of the scriptures we reject The Lord, who is to be
our ruler! Not only does the Letter kill , but those who love the
letter
and know only the Letter sought to kill Paul and anyone else who posed
a threat to their beloved scriptural knowledge! Today we may not be in
that great of danger as far as being put to death , depending on where
you live, but the rejection comes in a form of proud unbelief. This
rejection
could be summed in one quote by Andrew Jukes:
"There are, alas, many more who say and think they see,- -who see the letter, even as the Jews saw the flesh of Christ,--who yet nor love nor follow His ways, and yet can sit and judge, and justify to themselves their own narrow views of the eternal Word. To them the Word is Joseph's son. They know exactly whence it is. They have never seen the human form transfigured; therefore it cannot be. With such souls, all that is above them is 'imagination;' all that is below them is 'carnal formalism.' What they see,-- where they are,-- that is right. What they cannot receive is, if not down right error, at least questionable. Such souls, instead of trying to understand what others speak, try rather to make others speak only what they understand. Thus their ignorance measures all things. But they too shall see one day, when the veil is taken away, and the Truth returns to judge all things."--end quote
That seems to be enough coverage for the first type of believers from Acts 17, who may appear in us all to some degree. Our only hope to avoid this is having a humble soul and in due time God will lead us in!
The next type of believers is the group we would all like to be
in!
Notice that verse 11 says ...they received the word with all
readiness
of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were
so.
It
did not say that they searched to see if those things were not so! The
condition of their mind was willing and open to search it out. The
Concordant
Literal New Testament reads: Now these were more noble than those
in
Thessalonica, who receive the word with all eagerness.
This is the
state
of mind to be in when we listen to others who share their view's on the
scriptures, because if they are true there is a salvation process that
begins to take place! James speaks of this salvation in 1:21 of his
epistle,
it reads ...receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able
to save your souls.
If you can receive it, salvation is three-fold
in
its operation (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Spiritually the matter was
finished
at the cross, yet everyone in Adam must come to a place of realization
for the need of a Saviour! The soul speaks of the mind whose only hope
is engraftation or, if you prefer, the implanting of the Living Logos!
Now this is not always a painless process, but the attitude we may have
often dictates that. Early in my walk I had many questions concerning
God's
dealing with man, and I still do! God placed an older gentlemen in my
life
who had been a believer for many years and who tended to my first
questions.
Now this brother in the Lord said something to me that stuck with me
ever
since then which was, "I'm still learning." That was a very open and
humble
remark considering all of the years that he has spent studying the
bible.
That remark also reminds me of the Bereans. Their heart was right, open
but not gullible, searching the matter out instead of looking for more
ammunition to discredit the different view.....Therefore many of them
believed
(Acts 17:12). God is not interested in honoring us when we are up on a
spiritual high horse. Proverbs 16:5 says, Everyone that is proud in
heart
is an abomination to the Lord.
There is a divine paradox at work within our microcosm! Christ, the anointing, who dwells in us knows all things, and yet we are all still learning. The measure of truth we possess is in accord with the degree we hearken to our Teacher. We are speaking of the Teacher mentioned in I John 2:27. We feel that this verse does not deny the validity of anointed teachers, pastors, evangelists, apostles and prophets. As long as they are operating in the anointing they are only confirming what the same anointing in us is saying. The goal is to become a mature expression of the complete nature dwelling within us. This nature we are speaking of is Christ! What keeps this matureness from coming to fruition is portrayed in the reaction of those who perished in the wilderness, content with the negative report of the ten spies (Numbers 13). Selah!!
Paul came to Berea with a good report and they searched the matter out (Proverbs 25:2). This should be the most obvious indication that we can be skillful in the scriptures without being fearful to what may challenge us to reconsider our belief. When the heart is right, a challenge is always viewed as a positive thing. The scriptures are a tool for the time being. We do not throw them out nor do we confine them to our understanding. We do not substitute them for Jesus Christ who is the second Adam, which is a life giving spirit, but we see them as a testimony pointing us to the life-giver! The scriptures are not the problem for those who worship them and know no more than the "Letter." The real problem is internal not external. It all seems to speak of a lack of spiritual life that only Christ can give! The ones in the upper room had the spiritual fulfillment of Pentecost while the ones in the city had the lifeless ritual (Acts 2). The scriptures find their proper place when the Holy Spirit enters our hearts! We can be noble without being idolatrous with the bible! We can be noble without being lovers of the "Letter!" In Christ we will always find perfect balance! We may also add that an inactive ritualistic prayer life will always contribute to the measure of Christ missing in our lives! Seeking Him is not tied up into mere bible reading alone!
For the Athenians, all of them, and the foreign residents and
visitors among them spent all their leisure time in nothing except
telling or hearing something newer than the last...
(Acts 17:21
Amplified). Although the Athenians were not Christians, their past time
seems to reflect a common practice among those who are looking for a so
called deeper truth than the last one they heard! We feel it is God's
nature to open our eyes to a deeper understanding! Nevertheless, all so
called new things brought forth are not always from God! We have a mind
that is to be in subjection to the Spirit. It is very interesting to
note that the Greek word for soul is translated as mind and minds in
Acts 14:2, Philippians 1:27, and Hebrews 12:3. The Greek word is psukee
(some pronounce it Sue-Kay), which we get our English words psyche,
psychiatry and psychology. The Greek word is also feminine in its
gender. Athena, according to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, is the
goddess of wisdom who was said to have founded the city of Athens. If
you will allow us the poetic liberty to drive the point home concerning
this third group of people, we too can have a goddess of our own
sitting right between our ears! She is well schooled in wisdom but it
is soulish wisdom as opposed to the wisdom from above! James 3:15
reads, This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly,
sensual, devilish.
The Greek word for sensual is psukikos.
The Concordant Version translates this word "soulish." It is also the
same word used for "natural" in I Corinthians 2:14 when Paul makes the
comparison of the natural man and they that are spiritually discerned.
Jude 19 gives more emphasis on this difference. It reads, These be
they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.
Now
Sister Sue (psukee) can easily get in the habit of telling us
what is spiritual revelation and what is not. When she strays from her
head, being the Spirit, she can find herself playing the harlot after
many strange gods. The natural world and the spiritual world seem to be
mirror images of each other. We would like to share a quote of Cleon to
the Athenians found in Marvin Vincent's Word Studies of the New
Testament (Vol. I, Pg. 541) that illustrates this: "No men are better
dupes, sooner deceived by novel notions, or slower to follow approved
advice. You despise what is familiar, while you are worshipers of every
new extravagance. You are always hankering after an ideal state, but
you do not give your minds even to what is straight before you. In a
word, you are at the mercy of your own ears."
We see that the first mindset that we dealt with was satisfied
with
familiarity as to where this group is on the other extreme. The first
is
happy with "that old-time religion" while this group is out to feed a
thrill
seeking mentality. There have been times where we have felt a check in
our spirits that seems to relate to what Paul felt in Acts 17:16, his
spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to
idolatry.
Time will not permit us to go into all the typology that abounds in
scripture
concerning the internal aspect of our soul playing the harlot after
other
gods, idols, images, and lovers. We see it typified in Israel as far as
the corporate aspect goes. We find it in the book of Proverbs (chapters
2,3,6 and elsewhere) in a individual aspect. I dare say this is so
over-looked,
like so much in the scriptures, that we have only scratched the
surface.
I don't limit the patterns God put in the scriptures of this warning to
Israel and the book of Proverbs. Now remember, the Bereans were still
in
the scriptures. What Paul shared with them was a new revelation and
because
of their noble search many of them believed. Once more, we must state
that
the Holy Ghost and the scriptures will always agree. The bottom line
may
be, what is our motive centered on? I thank God for the many vessels to
whom he has imparted divine revelation. Revelation knowledge is indeed
a gift. When we are Christ centered, this gift can open a whole new
dimension
of life to us. Sadly enough, because of a lack of spiritual communion
with
Christ, He no longer is seated in the center of some circles. The
central
focus has become the same central focus that the Athenians had. It may
seem like a thin line we have drawn here since our position is to come
into new revelation. However, there is a difference between fabricated
information and divine revelation. In receiving a revelation from God,
we have received more than mere information. One of the biggest
deceptions
is to read or hear a revelation and think that because we understand it
intellectually we are already living it. The rubber does not meet the
road
until we experience the revelation. All creation is not groaning and
travailing
for a hearsay theology on the manifestation of the sons of God (Romans
8:19). God loves us enough to bring us through His divine child
training
so that the revelation of Jesus Christ is put into shoe leather! We
will
just go ahead and be bold and admit it whether some may want to admit
it
or not: when you take Christ out of the center of Sonship you will have
what is termed as a New Age message. To us this is nothing new. The ego
of unregenerate man has always tried to put himself in place of God!
Even
in our innocence we can lose focus of the Lord when we come into new
truth,
but remember, ultimately all truth is personified in the Lord Jesus
Christ!
It is our deepest conviction that any Christ centered message
accompanied
with a spiritual experience will strip you down until there is nothing
else but Christ in the midst of thee! All messages are to be lived out
experiences to a groaning creation, for God has all of His creation in
mind for fellowship with Him! The deliverance of creation is not found
in a selfish practice of telling some new thing! There is nothing wrong
with a hunger for revelation knowledge! The main concern should be,
what
is the result of receiving the knowledge? In our questioning concerning
what is the most obvious characteristic of a true revelation as opposed
to a product of a thrill seekers hunt, we have been able to find what
we
may consider the "acid test." Under the heading of "...ministering
with other brethren" in one dear brother's account of his walk with the
Lord we find a timely word of advice:
"But life brings many lessons to be learned, and over a period of time we found some we fellowshipped with were becoming almost 'swampy,' without any banks - - allowing almost anything to be accepted. And then personally I found the Spirit speaking more and more within my heart on 'holiness' and 'overcoming,' and this began to make me feel like a misfit again - - not meshing with those who talked love, but love without correction unto righteousness. And then I remembered a rule that the Spirit had spoken into my heart years before - - something with which to test every new revelation; 1)Does it exalt Jesus Christ the more? 2) Does it require more personal holiness? When any new thought, revelation, etc. comes our way, if it measures up to this little two-fold standard, it certainly will be to our profit. Yet so many so-called new revelations seem to exalt self more than Christ, and seem to accept flesh and ego-projection more than a way of holiness."
In summary, like a pendulum we have two extremes. First, the religious extreme and the second extreme lost in delusion. In the 17th Chapter of Acts we find the balanced mind-set of the Bereans which are listed in the middle for their noble character. They are not too in love with the letter to avoid listening to the Gospel as they may have never heard it, yet neither are they too superstitious, like the Athenians who scoffed at the Gospel. Nevertheless, Paul was faithful to share the Gospel with all three groups and in Acts 17:34 we find that some of the Athenians even believed!
The revelation at hand is as vast as the universe and at the same
time it is found in one source. How I long for you to grow more
certain
in your knowledge and more sure in your grasp of God Himself. May your
spiritual experience become richer as you see more and more fully God's
great secret, Christ Himself! For it is in Him, and in Him alone, that
men will find all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge
(Colossians
2:2-3,
Phillips Translation). Everything that We look for in revelation
knowledge
can be found in Jesus Christ for He is the Revelation! He is like a
diamond,
one stone but multifaceted! On our spiritual journey we may get a
glimpse
of one of these facets and see it as a road sign pointing us to our
sole
destination! When we speak of this journey we are not referring to a
geographical
change, although that may be involved. However, without our eyes single
to that destination we may find ourselves camping around the road sign
and developing a form of worship of a mere aspect of truth instead of
worshiping
"The Truth." This loss of focus on the Author of our faith often ends
with
a real crisis which causes us to cry out to Him for more direction.
When
things are going normal and routine people normally don't cry out to
the
Lord. It is not as if God is out to get us, He just happens to have our
best interest in mind. He is always with us and to the measure we are
aware
of His constant abiding is the very measure we are operating in the
spirit.
There is a wonderful place in God that is ready for entrance for those
of us who have lost the taste for the various distractions this world
has
to offer. I would also like to add a word of encouragement to anyone
who
doubts God during a trying time: For I know the thoughts that I
think
toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give
you an expected end
(Jeremiah 29:11)! Now to really be comforted by
these
words we would have to know the Lord in a way of fellowship that is so
vital to how we see things. This would seem like all the more reason to
seek the fullness in Him as opposed to being content with a piece of
the
fullness. Once we take our eyes off the Author of our faith we are in a
most vulnerable position. However, when He is our Head it is very hard
for us to go anywhere or do anything contrary to the leading of the
spirit!
This is the very thing that says "Jesus Christ is Lord." Our very walk
will show this! We can shout it from the house tops that we are sons of
God, but the scriptures declare that as many as are led by the Spirit,
they are sons of God (Romans 8:14). Unlike the modern day Athenians, it
is not being led by just any spirit, any wind and some piece of truth
that
can lead us in a place that declares Jesus is our Lord, but it is only
by the power of the Holy Spirit that we bear witness of the Lordship of
Jesus in our lives!
The tragic practice of "Jesus at our convenience" robs us of the
spiritual
blessings that are in our reach today. To many, He could be only "fire
insurance," but I declare to you that He is assured fire! The second
that
Jesus makes himself known to us, the book of Revelation is opened in
our
lives in a most personal sense. The overemphasis of He which was and He
which is to come, obscures the opening of this book in our personal
lives.
To know him which is, is to know an aspect of Jesus that is an active
agent
of fire in our lives. Luke 12:49 reads, I am come to send fire on
the
earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled.
It is also very
interesting
to note that he spoke of bringing division (verse 51). Before he even
went
to the cross, he was bringing division among the religious Jews (John
7:43,
9:16, and 10:19). If we can hear it, there is a internal working of
this
division inside of us. It is not our purpose to contend with the
various
interpretations concerning the book of Revelation. However, we hope
that
you will consider that the vast majority treats this book as all future
prophecy. We do not doubt the great future fulfillments that God has in
store. But concerning prophecy, we hope you will consider what is said
about it in Revelation 19:10, ...the testimony of Jesus is the
spirit
of prophecy.
When you consider all of the books, videos and tapes
that
have been done on prophecy, the testimony of the majority of it seems
to
speak of a coming "Antichrist," a "one-world government," cataclysmic
world
events and everything under the sun except for THE SON! We almost left
out the Middle East. We do not know whether to send all of our money
over
there to help them build a temple or to consign them to everlasting
doom!
One thing is for sure, as long as we find things to concern ourselves
with
in the natural, the spirit of antichrist, the government of the flesh,
and the apostate Jew within us is making himself at home in a place
that
should be the temple of God! (I Corinthians 3:16). This is where the
fire
and the division come in. It is my deepest conviction that everything
outside
of Jesus is dross. Although He was born among the animals in the stall,
He shall have dominion over them, not they over Him. Like a divine
microcosmic
uprise, the New Man will have an expression in our lives in spite of
the
soul's erected memorials for the old man. He must reign until all
enemies
are put under His feet. Our soul adopts all kinds of man made slogans
that
deny the new creation in Christ. It would be quite grotesque for
someone
in the natural to dig up something dead and try to carry on a
relationship
with it. But that is just what we do when we live after the nature of a
dead old man that was crucified on Calvary's cross! Not only does
Christ
intend to rule over every animal impulse; He will also share His
scepter
with His Bride, but not until she has made herself ready. We submit to
you this Bride we speak of does not only have a fulfillment as the
Church,
but as the soul also. We agree that there is a corporate fulfillment
that
will play its role in the creation's deliverance, but there must also
be
the individual fulfillment. When you bring a large group of people
together
that have yet to experience this individual fulfillment of the soul
that
must make Jesus Lord, you surely will not have a corporate fulfillment.
A group of people that meet in one place are not always in one mind and
one accord, and even if they are "what mind are they in?"
We hope to avoid making blanket statements concerning what happens
when people come together. It is not our purpose in life to call every
meeting and fellowship Babylon. If lives are being changed from the
nature
of the old man to the nature of the New Man, if people are learning to
walk by faith instead of sight and the evidence of all these things are
touching those that don't even know the Lord, then I can only ask "who
am I to throw stones at that?" Also, I cannot conclude that man's
organizations
apart from divine order makes up what is to be the Church. When we give
allowance to extra biblical concepts on church government we have an
open
door for building upon the sands of human schemes instead of the very
"Rock"
the church is to be founded on! There is man's agenda and God's order.
There is the leading of the spirit and the rebellion of the soul. The
answer
to avoiding man's order is not found in having no order! That will only
end in confusion. The answer to the problem is another question : "what
saith the scriptures?" We also cannot help but consider when some one
is
teaching or preaching who is speaking the Anointing or the soul (sister
sue/ psukee) ? To be quite honest I'd rather pray for sue than
call her
names and rail against her, after all I have a Sue (soul) too! When we
leave a system do we walk out with a chip on our shoulder and a bitter
spirit that can defile many?(Hebrews 12:25) Did Stephen pick rocks up
and
throw them at the religious Jews while they stoned him to death?(Acts
7:60)
It is a sad thing when we claim to have so called deep truths and no
nothing
of true forgiveness. We see Christ as the pattern Son and lay claim to
"Sonship" and we forget that Jesus forgave from the cross! We also
cannot
kid ourselves into thinking that every time people come together, be it
at small a place or a large place or just a handful in a home that they
are coming together as unto the Lord. (Colossians 2:18,19) We can find
a negative example of coming together in Genesis with the tower of
Babel
and we can find a positive example of it in Acts on the day of
Pentecost.
What we are concerned with is the fact that the body cannot make any
advancement
in the Kingdom without the Head! We are also concerned with the
application
in an individual sense, which speaks of the trichotomy of man.(Spirit,
Soul and Body/1 Thessalonians 5:23) The leading and teaching of the
spirit
is to impregnate the soul and the body is to express what the soul is
giving
birth to!(James 1:21, 1 Timothy 2:14,15) In the most powerful moves of
the spirit the miracles at hand seem to become the object of motivation
instead of what the spirit is moving toward. God never intended for the
super natural working power of the Holy Spirit to become a spectator's
sport .Indeed the blind have received sight, the dead have been raised
among many other miraculous things to manifest the works of God, but
beloved
its one thing to know His acts and its another thing to go on and know
His ways!(Numbers 14:22, Malachi 2:9) The Church can experience many
wonderful
visitations of the Holy Spirit, but the purpose of being the "Church"
is
to become the habitation of the Holy Spirit! There were multitudes that
followed the Lord, but how many of them stuck around for the cross? Oh,
how our soul runs from that ugly sight, that place of death and the
denial
of her first husband's death is lived out in her actions. Then at other
times in desperation we try in our own strength to overcome instead of
taking a look back at the cross, it is almost like a sad parallel of
the
fearful ones in the wilderness journey who denied the inheritance and
turned
around and tried to take the land on their own!(Numbers 14:42-45) The
reality
of the cross is an important part in becoming the habitation of the
Lord,
without it we cannot reckon the old man dead. We know it is a
historical
fact, but until we awaken to the spiritual reality that all humanity
hung
on it with Jesus we can only carry on like the rest of humanity and
that
is not the goal of God's people! The habitation of God is to swallow up
all that has no place in it, just as darkness is swallowed by light and
just as death shall ultimately be swallowed up by life! When we only
experience
a periodical visitation of the spirit we are mostly recipients of the
"life"
that we are ultimately to give and become one with the very source of
this
divine life. This gets back to the divine union of the spirit and the
soul,
but before this divine union comes there has to be a division of what
is
dross and what is Christ. As hard as it may sound we come into a place
where God has manifested Himself as an all consuming fire and we are to
enter into this place and stay there until we become one with the fire
instead of running from it. In this place prayer is no longer a one way
conversation where we give God a list of what we want, but we sit
silent
before Him and wait for His voice and His direction. We learn how to
relate
to the prophets inspired words, Be silent O all flesh, before the
Lord:
for he is raised up out of his holy habitation.
(Zechariah 2:13)
Robert Beecham has been kind enough to send us a few copies of his booklet, "The Scriptures and the Word of God," that we mentioned in our first article. They are free upon request.