JESUS Our All in All

WHY MUST I CARRY THIS HEAVY LOAD?

2012-01-14T18:36:00.000-08:00

A true story by Josh and Karen Zarandona

Brenda was a young woman who was invited to go rock climbing. Although she was scared to death, she went with her group to a tremendous granite cliff. In spite of her fear, she put on the gear, took a hold on the rope, and started up the face of that rock. Well, she got to a ledge where she could take a breather. As she was hanging on there, the safety rope snapped against Brenda's eye and knocked out her contact lens. Well, here she is on a rock ledge, with hundreds of feet below her and hundreds of feet above her. Of course, she looked and looked and looked, hoping it had landed on the ledge, but it just wasn't there. Here she was, far from home, her sight now blurry. She was desperate and began to get upset, so she prayed to the Lord to help her to find it.

When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but there was no contact lens to be found. She sat down, despondent, with the rest of the party, waiting for the rest of them to make it up the face of the cliff. She looked out across range after range of mountains, thinking of that Bible verse that says, "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth." She thought, "Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is. Please help me." Finally, they walked down the trail to the bottom.

At the bottom there was a new party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted out, "Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?" Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across the face of the rock, carrying it.

Brenda told me that her father is a cartoonist. When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a picture of an ant lugging that contact lens with the words, "Lord, I don't know why You want me to carry this thing. I can't eat it, and it's awfully heavy. But if this is what You want me to do, I'll carry it for You."

I think it would probably do some of us good to occasionally say, "God, I don't know why you want me to carry this load. I can see no good in it and it's awfully heavy. But, if you want me to carry it, I will."

God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.

On Being A Parent

2012-01-04T07:48:00.000-08:00

1. What children are and are not.
2. What children need and do not need.
3. What parents can and cannot do.

by James A. Fowler.

I did not want to be a parent! After we were married (shame on me!), I told my wife, Gracie, that I did not want any children. During the first year of marriage we were still finishing our college degrees. The second year we were studying languages in Europe. The third and fourth years we were starting our careers, for which we had prepared in college. So adamant was I about not having children, I demanded that Gracie use two different forms of birth control to insure that no unwanted pregnancy should occur.

Approximately four years after we were married, I was serving as a camp counselor, and a fellow pastoral-counselor asked me why we did not have children. I explained that I did not want any children, and proceeded to give what I thought were viable reasons for remaining childless: the population explosion, limited world resources, the degenerative evil of the world, etc. The pastor-friend looked me right in the eye and said, "No, that's not why you don't want to have children! You don't want to have children because you are selfish, because you don't want to face the responsibilities of children, and because you don't have enough faith to believe that God can provide everything necessary for you and your children." I was flabbergasted! How dare he presume to identify the reasons for my decisions! But what he said caused me to ponder the legitimacy of my rationalizing, and I had to admit to myself that he was partly right.

Returning home at the end of that week of camp, Gracie met me and indicated that she had something important to tell me. Feeling very miserable, she had gone to the doctor while I was gone, and the results of the test indicated that she was pregnant! She was afraid what my response might be. Would I be angry? Would I hold this against her? She was almost afraid to tell me. Little did she know that God had been so good to use the pointed remarks of that pastor-friend to prepare me (mentally, anyway) for what was already a reality the conception of our first child!
The next seven months were a time of mutual anticipation. I accepted the reality that I was going to be a parent, and when our first child, a son, was born, I was elated to be a father.

Tending to be very logical and analytical, I determined to figure out how I could be the very best father possible and avoid all the problems of child-rearing. I searched the Scriptures, and read every parenting book I could find. I wanted to do it right! Sure that I had figured it out, just nine months after our son was born I was so presumptuous as to begin an eight-week sermon series expounding the proper procedures for parental discipline. Oh, the patience of that congregation for tolerating a young, know-it-all preacher!

Over twenty years later as we watch the last of our five children become adults, Gracie and I thank God for the privilege of being parents. Did we do it right? We did it day-by-day "as seemed best" (Heb. 12:10) at the time. Did we make mistakes? Without a doubt! There are no perfect parents! Do we have any insights and observations to share with those still engaged in the parenting process? In consultation with Gracie, I have attempted to outline some thoughts "on being a parent," under three headings:"

(1) What children are and are not.
(2) What children need and do not need.
(3) What parents can and cannot do.

These observations are not the "last word" on parenting. Having eaten many of the words uttered in that sermon series long ago, I am much more cautious about formulating formulas and teaching techniques for effective parenting. In the day-to-day process of parenting, I realized that I did not need proper procedures as much as I needed the personal empowering of the Lord Jesus Christ by the grace of God. Parenting (and the entirety of Christian living) is only accomplished by the grace of God!

What Children Are and Are Not

Misconceptions abound in the minds of parents concerning the purpose of children and parenting. These perceptions are often deeply entrenched in the subconscious mind through unspoken attitudes transmitted and perpetuated through generational family dynamics "unto the third and fourth generation" (Exod. 34:7). It should be helpful, therefore, to clarify what children are and are not.

Children are not merely progeny, to carry on the family name. In some families there is such a loyalty to the hereditary family, that it verges on deification of the family. Many young couples have felt the pressure to produce children, especially sons, to perpetuate the family name and insure a posterity.

Children are not possessions to be controlled, manipulated, used or managed. Many first-time mothers are overly protective and possessive of their first child, but normally they learn to relax and mother the child, rather than "smother" the child. Our children do not belong to us! Nothing does! Our children belong to God who made them and loves them more than we do. God entrusted our children to us that we might serve as "trustees" of his possessions during the preliminaries of their lives.

Children are not projects that must be accomplished according to precise procedures. Some parental personalities have a propensity to be task-oriented, rather than people-oriented, and they tend to approach their children as a project that must be completed. Babies do not come with instructions stamped on their bottoms in order to construct the project with the proper tools.

Children are not projections or extensions of the parents. It is not the parent's place or right to project expectations of popularity, intelligence, vocation, etc. upon the child, or to attempt to live out their own unfulfilled desires vicariously in their children. Each child must be allowed to be himself, and follow his own interests.

Children are not pawns, peons, or petty servants who exist to do their parent's work or whims. Without a doubt, many children throughout the world have been pressed into service as slave-labor. Many others have been depreciated as peons, or manipulated as pawns. Children are not meant to be used or abused by their parents.

Children are not promotional displays for the parents. Many children have been regarded as trophies or status symbols to enhance the reputation, popularity or position of the parents. Ever so subtlely parents have used children to promote their value system, religious beliefs, or even their philosophy of parenting.

Children are not perfect, nor should they be expected to behave perfectly. It must be remembered that every child is spiritually depraved, sinful and selfish. Parents must keep in mind that they have not conceived and received little angels (as cute as they may be when babies), but children who often act out like little devils. That does not mean that the parental objective is to "beat the devil out of them."

What, then, are children?

Children are a provision of the Lord. The Psalmist wrote, "Behold, children are a gift of the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward" (Ps. 127:3). The life of every child is derived from the Living God, albeit through natural processes. Couples who have suffered through infertility know full well that children are a gift of the Lord.

Children are a priority responsibility of those who have enjoyed the coital pleasure that leads to the conception of a child. Those who have joined themselves in sexual union must be prepared to accept the consequences of their action. It is a sinful irresponsibility to procreate and then abandon the child. Until the child is prepared for the independence of adulthood, he remains a priority responsibility of the parent. This will require a commitment on the part of every parent to remain with the child and give adequate time and attention to the child, refusing to opt out in abandonment, marital separation or divorce, and disallowing other priorities such as vocation or ministry to supersede that of parenting.

Children are a personal development opportunity for the parents. Those who have children learn things about themselves and about life that they might never have learned otherwise. The parent must learn to defer his or her own personal interests (Phil. 2:4) for the good of the child. We learn that unselfish love is the "fruit of the Spirit" (Gal. 5:22). As parents, we learn what it means to be humbled and humiliated (Phil. 2:3). There is no other process as beneficial to our personal and spiritual development as parenting.

Children are a privilege and a blessing. Though there are times when every parent will question this, God has made it possible for every parent to know the "joy of parenting." Joy is not just pleasant feelings of happiness when circumstances transpire as we desire, but joy (Greek chara) is a derivative of God's grace (Greek charis) and the recognition that we as parents have had the privilege of being in on what God is up to in the life of our child.

What Children Need and Do Not Need

Every child comes into this world helpless and needy. Parents are sometimes surprised that their child seems to be a vast vacuum of needs that can never be fully satisfied. They must understand that no parent can meet all the needs of their children. Only God can! (cf. Phil. 4:19). That is why it is imperative for parents to understand the sufficiency of God for their parenting, so as to adequately respond to what their children need and do not need.

Children do not need a divine parent. Children are given to human parents by God the Father, and the parents must realize that they are not meant to usurp or assume the role of "God" for their children. Human parents are not God or gods, and they never will be. They must avoid trying to "play God" in the lives of their children by manipulating and molding the children to their particular designs. God is the potter and we are the clay (Isa. 64:8); parents are the tools in the hand of God to form His children.

Children do not need an authoritarian parent who serves as a drill-sergeant or a law-enforcement officer. Despite a common misconception of the parent being a legalistic parental authority over the child, the primary responsibility of the parent is not to assume an authoritarian role. Authority without loving relationship is tyranny! This does not mean that there is not a legitimate authoritative placement of parent over child which the child must be taught to respect, but the point being made is that the child does not need an authoritarian task-master.

Children do not need a lavishing parent who attempts to give the child everything his selfish heart desires. Many parents have sought to buy their way out of parental responsibility by indulging their children with liberal bestowals of money and material things in place of their personal time and relationship. The ultimate deprivation for a child might be to experience no deprivation, and thus to conclude that they deserve, and the world owes them, everything they want.

Children do not need an over-protective parent that shields them from the "hard knocks" of life. Parental over-protection is a form of rejection when it disallows the child from learning how to handle life's failures and injustices. There is something much worse than a child failing, and that is a child who is never allowed to fail and never allowed to learn how to respond to the inevitable failures of life.
Children do not need a permissive parent who allows them to have their own way in everything. Such parental leniency and laxity may be a result of the parent's neglect of responsibility to provide guidance in the child's life, or it may be a result of the parent's fear of not being liked by the child, or of damaging the child's fragile psyche. The wisdom of Solomon indicated that "a child who gets his own way brings shame to his mother" (Prov. 29:15).

What, then, do children need?

Children need a care-giving parent who will assume their God-given parental role of assisting the child in finding fulfillment of their God-given personal development needs. Every child needs to be loved and accepted, to belong and to be sustained, to feel secure, to learn and communicate, to feel significant, content, excited and unique, to have an identity, to experience freedom and responsibility, to achieve and serve, and to have a sense of hope and destiny. The parent serves as God's care-giving agent in fulfilling these needs.

Children need a loving parent who can express God's love to the child. "We love because He first loved us" (I John 4:19). Despite the learned aversion that some parents have to expressing emotion and being affectionate, they need to overcome such in order to demonstrate love to their children. How tragic is the child who can never remember their parent's arms around them, nor ever recall hearing their parents say, "I love you!"

Children need a relational parent who relates personally and individually with each child. This requires communication that involves talking with the child, not just to the child. Too often parents berate and debate and restate, but fail to relate! Personal relating will be sensitive to and appreciative of the child's feelings, accepting of their individuality, allowing them to think and have their own opinions (even if they are radically different from that of the parent).

Children need an available parent who chooses to take the time out of all the other competing interests to relate and provide guidance for their child. It is a busy world that we live in, but the parent who is too busy for their family is busier than God intended them to be. Some parents have tried to justify their failure to be available and spend time with their children by insisting that what little time they do spend is "quality time," and "quality is more important than quantity." That maxim is not valid when applied to spending time with your children.

Children need an exemplary parent who models consistency and honesty. This is probably the foremost formative influence in your child's life, as your child observes the character that emanates from your behavior. It is not enough for the parent to say, "Do as I say, not as I do," for the child will soon conclude that "what you do speaks so loud, I can't hear what you say."

Children need an encouraging parent who is supportive of the child in the midst of his struggles and development. How unfortunate that parents and children are often cast as antagonists and enemies, rather than as a mutually supportive family "team," who are "in it together." As parents, we should be "on their team, and not on their back."

Children need a forgiving parent who does not forever hold their failures and faults against them. This requires a parent who has first admitted his own failures, mistakes and wrong-doing, and experienced the forgiveness of God. Our children are not perfect. They will "blow it," make mistakes, and perhaps engage in serious sin or criminal activity. The parent who has been forgiven can be a forgiving parent.

What Parents Can and Cannot Do

We have already indicated that parents are not God, and therefore they cannot do for their child what only God can do in the life of the child. Only God can ultimately create in the child what is necessary for the child to be the person He wants them to be as His child. We parents have to remember that God loves them more than we do, and trust that He will be working in their lives by His grace. There are some things we can and cannot do.

A parent cannot dictate or determine the personality of their child. Try as we might to clone the child to our own patterns of orientation and activity, the child will inevitably follow his own course and become his own person. Those of us who have had several children know that their personalities are very different, and must be the result of a complex combination of hereditary determinants, environmental development, and divine direction.

A parent cannot make the choices of life for their child. God created every individual as a choosing creature who must live with the consequences of his own choices. The parental objective is to prepare the child for independent decision-making that allows them to move on to be a constructive citizen of society, to serve others as a care-giver, and to pursue their God-given destiny.

A parent cannot rescue, salvage or save their children from all of the unpleasant consequences of the choices they might make. When parents attempt to do so, they only solidify and enable the child in those same kinds of choices. The lessons of life are learned by having to live with the consequences of our choices, so why would a parent allow their own sentimentality to cheat their child from progressing in life?

Parental love must sometimes be tough love!

A parent cannot convert, regenerate or save their child spiritually. God has allowed every individual the freedom to come to a personal relationship with Himself through His Son, Jesus Christ. This cannot be engineered, orchestrated or coerced by the parent. Each child must avail himself/herself of the opportunity to decide to receive the person and life of the Spirit of Christ into his/her spirit (Rom. 8:9). Only God can spiritually renew our children, and proceed to sanctify them in holiness and righteousness as a disciple of Jesus Christ.

What, then, can a parent do?

A parent can start each child off on the course of life with direction. This was the intent of Solomon's admonition to "Inaugurate your child in the opening of the course of life, and when he grows up he will not be able to escape the fact that he was set off in the right direction" (Prov. 22:6). The child may not go in the direction he was shown, but he cannot deny that he was pointed in that direction. Such an understanding of a parent's responsibilities in the preliminaries of a child's life could relieve many a parent from the false-guilt and self-condemnation of not having employed the proper child-training techniques, when they observe their child rejecting or rebelling against the guidelines and values they were taught.

A parent can allow the grace of God to function in them as parents. Parenting is an impossible task, in and of ourselves. The apostle Paul explained that "we are not adequate to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is of God" (II Cor. 3:5). Only as Christian parents understand this grace-activity of God in Jesus Christ, and are faithfully receptive to His divine activity in their parenting, will they function as the parents that God intends. I repeat, Christian parenting (and all of Christian living) is only accomplished by the grace of God!

A parent can entrust their children to the grace of God. By now it should be obvious that we cannot make our children into what we want them to be. God is quite capable of working in our children's live, despite whatever we might do as parents, yet never violating the child's freedom of choice. Parents can do their children the greatest favor by entrusting them to the gracious oversight of God. This does not mean that parents abdicate their responsibilities, but that they recognize their dependency upon God and trust that God's dynamic of grace will formulate the children's personalities, spiritually renew them, physically protect them, and cause them to be all that He wants them to be.

These observations "on being a parent" may appear to some as a simplistic or hardened "love 'em, and leave 'em" approach to parenting. Some may surmise that I am advocating a passivistic or fatalistic philosophy of parenting that could be summed up in the aphorism, "Let go, and let God!" To tell you the truth, that would probably have been my conclusion had I read these words years ago when I was a young parent, and still thought that I could get all the procedures for proper parenting figured out. (Before you jump to that conclusion be sure to reread what was said above about the "priority responsibility" of parenting.)

I praise God for the privilege of having been a parent for over twenty years. I am humbled by the opportunity to have been thus used of God in the lives of our children. I revel in the glorious freedom and liberty of experiencing the divine dynamic of Christian parenting. I am convinced that when the life of Jesus Christ is lived out in Christian parents, then the family functions as God designed it to function, by the receptivity of His activity.

The Cup - What Are You Drinking?

2012-01-03T18:53:00.000-08:00

A "Cup" is an interesting symbol in the Bible, not so much for what it is but for it’s contents. The "Cup" is a container, much like the Christian life. We are cartons, cups, receptacles, etc., etc., for good or evil things, for the Holy Spirit or the Unholy spirit. We bring good or evil things out of the treasure of our hearts.

In Matt, 20:23 we see that the cup contains Suffering.

In 2 Samuel 11:13, it contained Treachery. (The Cup that David offered to Uriah)

"And when David had called him, he did eat and drink before him; and he made him drunk: and at even he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but went not down to his house."

In Mark 14:36 it contained the wrath of God upon sin. Jesus took the cup of God's wrath (anger against sin).

And he said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt."

Jesus took the cup of wrath so that we may now take the cup of salvation that He offers.

Psa 116:13 I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the Name of the Lord.

However, if we refuse the the cup of salvation we will drink of the cup of God's wrath. Rev 16:19

And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

Either way, there is a cup that we will be drinking from.

We have all been offered cups filled with genuine fellowship and "pure" drinking water and we have all been offered cups filled with strange fellowship (that we thought was genuine) and polluted water (truth mixed with lies) which always turns out to "poison" an individual. This "poisoning" always takes one away from the simplicity that is in Jesus Christ.

The other thing regarding the "cup of salvation" is the fact that Jesus does not force-feed us. We have to receive His cup of salvation and then bring it to our "mouth" and drink deeply of it. The taking and receiving of what God gives is our responsibility. The giving is His and the receiving is ours.

On another note, we have all drank mixture (lies and truth together). Maybe we should sip a bit more and gulp less. Slosh it around in our mouths a bit and see if we sense any bitter taste before we actually "swallow" it. Sometimes, you just don't know something is bad for you until you actually do swallow it so we need our "senses (palate) exercised to discern both good and evil" (Heb 5:13).

Are we supposed to "know" evil by experiencing it? No, we are not. We are to discern it, but not experience it. So, how do we exercise our spiritual senses? Certainly not by partaking of evil as Satan deceived Eve into doing. Rather, by getting to know the Lord and obeying Him will you learn to discern evil. And how is this done? How do you discern evil by getting to know the Lord? Well, the more you know the Lord the more you recognize what is not of Him. This is how we are to recognize evil. By partaking of Jesus (Tree of Life). Not by experiencing evil (the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil), but by "knowing" the Lord. Any by knowing Him, we will know what is contrary to His nature and character and stay away from it. Someone once said that "the best way to get good at recognizing counterfeit money, is to study the real thing."

Psalm 34:8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

Here is a good test that you can keep in mind. If it takes away from Jesus Christ in any way, or diminishes Him or brings Him lower than something or someone, then it does not pass the "simplicity test" and you should not drink from that cup.

The More Excellent Way

2012-01-02T10:47:00.000-08:00

The last day of 2011 is 12/31. The day before the New Year. 1 Cor 12:31 is the last 12:31 in the Bible. It is the lead-in verse to the "more excellent way."

1 Cor 12:31
But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.

Jesus Christ is the central theme and focus of the Bible and He is the "more excellent way."

He also has the more (most) excellent name in all of the Universe. Much better than angels.

Heb 1:4
Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

And it is because of His "more excellent ministry" that He has provided much better things for man.

Heb 8:6
But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

Jesus: the Better Revelation of God
Hebrews 1:1-4

Jesus: the Better Man for Mankind
Hebrews 2:5-18

Jesus: the Better Ground of Faithfulness
Hebrews 3:1-19

Jesus: the Better Rest of God
Hebrews 4:1-13

Jesus: the Better Divine-Human High Priest
Hebrews 4:14 5:10

Jesus: the Better Hope of Inheriting the Promises of God
Hebrews 5:11 - 6:20

Jesus: The Better Hope of Man
Hebrews 7:19

Jesus: the Better Mediator between Man and God
Hebrews 7:20-28

Jesus: The Minister of a Better Covenant
Hebrews 8:6

Jesus: The Minister of Better Promises
Hebrews 8:6

Jesus: The Better Sacrifice for Forgiveness
Hebrews 9:23

Jesus: The Better Way of Access to God
Hebrews 10:19-39

Jesus: The Better Guarantor of Promises Received by Faith
Hebrews 11:1-40

Jesus: The Better Country
Hebrews 11:6

Jesus: The Better Resurrection
Hebrews 11:35

Jesus: The Better Example of Faithful Endurance
Hebrews 12:1-13

Jesus: The Better Example of Holiness and Worship
Hebrews 12:14-29

Jesus: The Better Example of Suffering and Bearing Reproach
Hebrews 13:1-25

May we all continue to grow up into Him in all things (which is the Head, even Christ) as He fitly frames us together growing unto an holy temple in the Lord. (Eph 4:14 and 2:21).

Famous people who died 2011...and my New Years thoughts to my friends.

2011-12-29T08:47:00.001-08:00

An interesting look at a life departed...in just one year. This impacted me in a sobering way..."Vanitum, Vanitum, Todos est Vanitum"....and for us to assess, or reassess our lives accordingly.

At our highest achievment, What have we accomplished? Be it ever so noble, as a defender of our country, a National leader touted as the great liberator, or an inventor that changed the face of the entire Earth...in the end...how have we spent our life?

"They followed the Lamb where-so ever He went!" Some, who have realized all other achievments and glories, other than Him, simply abiding in Him, and following Him, is a useless life lived. This was the imprint that Jesus Himself branded upon His disciples, and in turn, all of the apostles seared upon the Church intrusted to them. "He who saves His life....SHALL lose it!"

"All for Jesus no matter the cost!" was their creed, and they lived it...even unto the least of the brothers and sisters...and their reward on this Earth, was martyrdom....butchered for His sake. This was their success, their victory...."To live is Christ!"....."To die is Gain!"....and, if we are real, and really want Jesus....this must be our heart attitude also. It is the spirit cry of the disciple....and what did the Lord Himself say??....

And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,

^"If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple!"

^"And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple!"...Jesus the Creator

...This means to hate your life, to live to His life. This is at the bottom root of what Christianity is...and true success in His eyes. Everything else is"Vanity, Vanity, all is vanity!" He knows them that reflect His image...as He sees Himself in them. Everyone else that he does not recognize, are separated from His holy Heaven...."I never Knew You!"...and their will be wailing and gnashing.....and no one without holiness will gain Him.

Steve Jobs speaks in the end, about following your heart...as far as attaining on this Earth...and speaks of the knowledge that all of us will certainly die. But, what is our love? Is it here? Happiness? Prosperity? An orderly and loving family and future?

For some, it is. For the Wise Virgins, it is not. They cry; "ALL FOR JESUS NO MATTER THE COST!" and the prove it unto their death As a failure, I get back up again, beg the Father to see me covered by the blood of His holy Son Jesus.

God wants vessels, and written over their success is ...EMPTY and CLEAN!....and we cannot attain this within ourselves....We must be given grace....to repent and believe. God loves us so much...but He is also Holy.

This is why Paul said so much...constantly!..."GRACE BE UNTO YOU!"...Your struggling brother and friend....Tom Watkins.

Here is the video from BBC:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16287679

"If I Be Lifted Up" Is Not Universalism

2011-12-25T15:48:00.000-08:00

The growing camp of Universalists declare that when Jesus says He will draw (gk. drag) all men unto Himself that He is saying all men WILL be saved. Let's take a look at what Jesus was referring to when He said that.

"And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. (This he said, signifying what death he should die” (John 12:32, 33).

In John 3:14,15, Jesus connects His lifting up to the “serpent” that Moses lifted up in the wilderness.

"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:14, 15).

"And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived” (Num. 21:6-9).

So, Numbers 21:6-9 is the transaction to which Christ was alluding to in John 3:14, 15.

The object in both cases was to save men from perishing. If a serpent bites you and it is not treated it will result in the death of the body. The same is true for the effects of sin; unpardoned and uncleansed from the heart, will be the ruin of the soul. One will perish.

Christ is lifted up, so that sinners, believing in him may not perish, but may have eternal life. Perish in this context cannot mean annihilation, for it must be the opposite of eternal life, and this is eternal life is clearly much more than eternal existence. It must be eternal joy and happiness - real life in the sense of all-surpassing enjoyment, and the opposite of this would be eternal misery and this is presented under the term "perish." It is common throughout the scriptures to present the contrast a state of endless misery and suffering with one of endless joy and happiness.

Two things that we can observe between the serpent of brass and Christ.

1. From the verse in John 12, it is plain that Jesus is referring to His being raised up from the earth on the cross at His crucifixion. Christ must be lifted up as the serpent was in the wilderness.

2. Jesus is held up as a remedy for sin, even as the serpent of brass was as a remedy for a poison. Throughout the Bible we can see sin represented as a sickness/disease. And for this spiritual malady Jesus Christ had the “healing” power to bring recovery to the “sick”. He stated that the “Son of man has power to forgive sin” and He could cleanse the soul from the pollution of sin. Jesus always and ever claimed to have this power directing men to rely upon Him and come to Him as the remedy for their sin.

This is how the serpent of brass was a type of Christ. Whoever looked upon this serpent was healed. And Christ does not heal from punishment only, otherwise the analogy for healing loses its importance, but Jesus cleanses a man from the pollution of sin (corrupted morals). He heals the soul and restores it to health. This is true wholeness.
"Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.” (Matt 1:21)

His power is available to save a soul from the uttermost and to cleanse and purify the soul.

“Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:” (1 Pet 1:22)

Christ and the serpent were both held up as a full and comprehensive remedy. In neither case was any assistance needed by man. The cure was all-sufficient to look to God’s provision. The Hebrew children were only to look in a very simple way to the pole with the serpent on it and they would receive their cure from the bite. This was an indication of faith when they looked (expectantly) on this pole to receive their cure.

So, Christ is also to be lifted up as a present remedy against the “serpents” bite and as the cure was immediate in Moses day the cure is immediate when one looks upon Christ, in faith. To be sure, many are drawn to look upon Christ, but NOT all men look upon Him in faith.

And so today, we hold Jesus Christ “up” as the one crucified for the sins of men and that whosoever will, may come, but no one is forced or “dragged” to come to Jesus. You cannot find that anywhere in Scripture.

When you look at the whole counsel of God you will see that it is a free choice given to men to “look upon the serpent of brass as well as Christ”. And not only must a man look toward the serpent of brass/Christ, but he must exercise faith. No man is forced to exercise faith in Christ’s atoning sacrifice. For faith must be exercised by each individual, coming from their own volition, their own will.

If in Moses’ time many were seen to still be dying after having looked upon the Serpent of brass who could have believed Moses’ instructions that “every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live?” I am sure many Hebrews could see with their own two eyes many living witnesses who had the scars of those snake bites, but had been healed by looking upon the pole. Each and every case should have encouraged those who had not been cured yet. Jesus Christ represents Himself as the only One ready and willing and able to save. And this is sustained by the testimony of His living witnesses, too.

Not only is Christ lifted up to be looked upon but how we “look” at Christ, is the key.
Men looked upon the serpent, expecting divine power to heal them. Even in the days of Moses those men understood that the serpent was only a type, not the very cause in itself of salvation.

When it is said in John 12, "If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me," ALL is obviously universal in scope but it is language that is denoting a great multitude. If it was strictly universal it would be at variance with the preponderance of Bible truth. I will draw a very great number of people, a vast "multitude that no man can number." There is nothing here in this one verse contextually speaking that implies the strictly universal interpretation that ALL men WILL look to Jesus and be saved. We know that is not true, for all men DO NOT look upon Jesus Christ in faith to be saved from their sins.
”And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21).

Men must decide to call, you cannot call for them and you cannot make them call.
The serpent of brass was designed to try the faith of the Israelites. God often put their faith to the test, and often used His wisdom to educate their faith and to draw it out and develop it. The Lord did many and various things to prove them. Now they had sinned. Fiery serpents came out among them and many were bitten and poisoned, dying on every hand. God said, Make a serpent of brass and set it upon a pole, and raise it high before the eyes of all the people. Now let those that are suffering look upon this serpent and they shall live. This was designed to put their faith to the test.

I suppose that it is conceivable that many perished through unbelief, although the provision of God for their “salvation” (healing) was most abundant. Nothing much has changed today, has it? Has the heart of man changed towards the “foolishness” of God? We can see in today’s world that the heart of man has not changed. The Hebrew children look at a serpent of brass and they might say with scorn, “what does Moses take us for, complete idiots?” Perhaps like today, some philosophize on the matter. “Isn’t it better, more reasonable and logical that we trust our own tried and true physicians than these “myths and superstitions?” What divine connection can any man envision about looking upon a piece of brass and being healed of a serpent’s bite?

Especially in today’s world, although if you take away the technology I don’t think man is much different than any other century the last 2,000 years. In fact, he may be worse off with all of his “enlightenment.” And of course his “enlightenment” juxtaposed against the great hypocrisy in today’s Christendom certainly does not help him to see clearly. But, God is able to communicate to men and show them the truth. His truth is denied for many and various reasons and most often exchanged for lies. But each man will stand before God one day and will be forced to face his own responsibility and decisions that HE MADE in the face of the truth that he was shown. Even today, with all of the confusion that is abounding, men are still getting soundly saved. To be sure, the Enemy has sown confusion for millennia and yet the Holy Spirit is able to cut through all the fog of doubt and reach a man’s heart.

Many now blow off the gospel of Jesus Christ wondering how anything good, let alone healing can come of faith in a man that died on a cross. It is true, that they hear that some are healed and that people testify that they “looked to Jesus and were made whole”, but they regard these accounts as mere fanatical delusion.

The main problem is that they can see none of their own philosophy in the gospel. But, is this any more strange than a man bitten by a poisonous serpent, who by God’s command to look upon a serpent of brass is healed?

The simplicity of the gospel causes many to stumble and TO NOT BELIEVE. They want something more intellectual, logical, reasonable! They want to understand it completely and they will not trust what they cannot explain. This is why many stumble at the doctrine of holiness and sanctification which is by faith in Jesus Christ. Something so simple, a child could understand it. But their philosophy does not allow them to see it.

And that brings us full circle. Men are to look to Jesus that they may not perish but may have everlasting life. But in this “looking” they must exercise faith in Him. Faith that brings restoration of relationship to God, healing from the effects of sin and salvation for their soul.

The natural man always seeks to take some credit for his salvation as he works out some form of self-righteousness for he cannot and will not trust Christ alone. It does not seem logical or practical for him. He has been told by the “enlightened masters” that he is really a pretty good guy and things are not as bad as they seem. That within him is everything he needs to flourish and be happy.

When the serpent of brass was up, there is no doubt that many perished because they would not accept and act upon such a simple plan of “salvation”. Just like today, many put off the decision to “look upon” the pole/cross because they did not and would not realize their danger. Others that saw men “cured” might say “This wasn’t done by the serpent of brass on the pole.” Those men which were supposedly cured probably did not have that much poison in them and would not have died anyway.” They assume that those who give credit to God for their cure are mistaken and that they really cured themselves by just deciding to be whole.

And so we see then and now that many perish from delay. Man wants to wait to see if he is in danger of dying. And yet they wait so long that it becomes too late as the poison of sin has taken its toll on them and they are so crazed that all they can do is lie down and die.

That is why NOW is always the acceptable Day of Salvation.

While “Christians” are pointing their fingers at sinners they have tossed aside the doctrine of sanctification by faith in Christ. They have replaced the “uplifted One” by their own persona and they draw men unto themselves. How can they hope to teach sinners with any clarity how to look upon Christ in simplicity and faith? The power of faith is absent in their own lives and all that is left for them to tell others about is the men that they are following. The blind leaders of the blind with the end result that both of them are falling into the ditch.

Jesus said, “You shall know them by their fruits.”

Not every one 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. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matt 7:21-23).

The man in Matthew 7 is so much different that this man (below).

“And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner” Luke 18:13 .

Hidden Manna for God's "Hidden Ones" - Part I

2011-11-12T17:45:00.000-08:00

Hidden Manna is for God's Hidden Ones. And why He gives them the Hidden Manna is contained right there in Revelation 2:17.

They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. (Psa 83:3)

When Athaliah sought to kill all the seed royal of the house of Judah, Jehoiada, the High Priest, took Joash, who was then a child, and hid him for six years in the house of the Lord, and there he was safe. The Lord can take each of His children and make a Joash of them. He can and will preserve us from the assault of the enemy so that we cannot be destroyed.

God said to Noah, “Come, you and all your house, into the ark,” and he and his household went into the ark and the Lord shut them in.

God hid Moses on the back side of the desert for 40 years, Paul went into Arabia, David was hid in the wilderness from Saul and on and on. These are all examples of a spiritual reality that we can walk in.

Those that are "hidden ones" are more concerned about the preeminence of Jesus Christ rather than blowing their own trumpet and establishing their own preeminence.

I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.(3Jn 1:9-10)

That's why they are content to remain under even the shadow of His wings. His shadow (authority) casts long and far and those that are hidden gladly place themselves under His authority. This is when they receive the hidden manna.

Read on but you may want to get some coffee, tea or whatever your favorite beverage is.

At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the “wise” and “prudent”, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. (Mat 11:25-27)

Here, Jesus is talking about HIDDEN things (the heart of the Father) that only He will reveal.

What is this saying? That the truths of God are hidden from carnal eyes and understanding but revealed unto “babes” (those that trust in and rely directly on Jesus by the Spirit of God).

The religious leadership of Jesus' day were declared spiritualy blind by the Lord, and so were those who put their trust in them. So, here is the key it seems, why men cannot see that which is simple. They are trusting in men. They are seeking to please men. They look to men to “reveal” truths to them. And this is why Jesus “hates” the Nicolaitans, because they (clergy) came between the sheep and the Shepherd. In fact, Jesus says twice that He hates the Nicolaitans. Rather than teaching that all believers are brothers, they set themselves up as a professional class of leaders (in the tradition of their fathers).

What must we “overcome” to eat of the “hidden manna”, (i.e. the hidden Word of Truth)?

I believe within Revelation 2:15-17 we have the answer.

God’s people must separate themselves from any false system/spirit where men come between Christ and His sheep. I always wondered why the Holy Spirit emphasized that Jesus hated the Nicolaitans, twice? It is a very serious thing to the Lord when His authority in our lives is usurped by another. Maybe the Holy Spirit mentioned it twice, once for the “Nicolaitans in the Old Testament and once for the “Nicolaitans” in the New Testament. We see them in the Old Testament, too.

The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof? (Jer 5:31)

Indeed, what can you do when the people love to have it so? Really nothing, except to separate from them. What you are doing is separating yourself from that spirit that the “priests” (leaders) are ruling by. You are not wanting to come under that ungodly “authority” and influence. The Lord does not want you to come under it because then His authority and voice is weakened/blocked or completely usurped in your life.

This is referred to in the Bible as an apostate system and it has it’s very own “false apostles”, (i.e. “sent ones”).

This is the false church government (clergy over laity rulership) and the “married to the world” (Balaam ministry) that sold itself for hire, as in Rev 2:2, 2,6 and 14 and other places (2 Peter 3:2-3 and Jude).

We are commanded (in Rev 2) to “overcome” this Nicolaitan spirit of control over us. It desires to control us and our flesh desires recognition and significance from man. It reminds me of the children of Israel in Saul’s day where they demanded a visible King to rule over them. Samuel says “the Lord is your King” and they would not have it. They wanted a man to rule over them. We are to overcome this domineering spirit of control and manipulation rather than having it overcome us. We overcome it in our own hearts by embracing the cross and choosing to come under the Lord’s authority (under His wings) and we overcome it externally by separating from those that this spirit operates in. Not meaning to destroy or hurt anyone, but rather to separate from them or separate them from you. It is the cost of following Jesus. Many times you have to separate from those that are close to you. God’s hidden ones are often misunderstood.

This type of “leadership” asserts carnal authority over God’s people. It is manipulating, controlling and dominating and it is what the Pharisees (clergy) in Jesus’ day did and what the false priests and prophets did in the Old Testament.

Included in this command to overcome are the “doctrines and commandments” that nullify God’s Word. This is any belief system inherited from our “father’s” traditions (previous generations). I believe with all my heart that when we do this, God will open our eyes to behold “what the Spirit saith to the churches”.

Part II of Hidden Manna for God's "Hidden One" is next.

The Story of Job in the Light of Joplin, Missouri

2011-10-17T20:45:00.000-07:00

I heard some people judging the people in Joplin, Missouri unfairly regarding the 2011 EF5 Multiple Vortex Tornado that destroyed much of Joplin in 2011. It was the 7th deadliest tornado in US History. I wrote this article in response.

I find it interesting that Job's Comforters got one thing right.

What they got right: God brought this horrible affliction upon Job.
What they got wrong: WHY God brought this upon Job.

God answered Job’s complaint, summing up the whole matter at the end of his book:

Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, "Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding." (Job 38:1)

Even back then, they did not blame any of the calamities on the "natural order of nature". They knew all good and bad came from the hand of God. But our view of "bad" is not always God's view of "bad", if you know what I mean. Pain in God's hand is a tool, and instrument in conforming us to the image of Christ.

The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. (Psa 37:23)

Sabeans killed his servant, fire from heaven (lightning?) burned up his sheep, the Chaldeans stole the camels, and slew more servants. Job's "sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house:

And, behold, there came a great wind (tornado) from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead;"

Job admits it was all from God.

"Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die. But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips." (Job 2:9-10)

The other things that the 3 comforters did right was to make an appointment with Job to see him and mourn with him for 7 days. They should have stopped right there but they could not. They definitely regarded Job's troubles as EVIL that came upon him for his transgressions.

"Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him." (Job 2:11)

"And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven. So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great." (Job 2:12-13)

Yep, they should have stopped right here!

"Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God."(2 Co 1:4)

Chapter 3 - Grief and sorrow and bitterness were welling up in Job's heart and finally it all came out.

"After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day. And Job spake, and said, Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived." (Job 3:1-3)

"My soul is weary of my life; I will leave my complaint upon myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul." (Job 10:1)

Job is actually very simple. Scripture plainly and repeatedly states that Job was righteous, and that even in the midst of his great suffering, he "sinned not, nor charged God foolishly" (Job 1:22).

"Why then did God allow Job to suffer the loss of everything except his own life? The answer is evident when viewed in context with all of God's Word. Job was allowed to enter into the sufferings of Christ which is viewed as an honor and a royal and divine service of immeasurable magnitude to the King of Kings for the edification of the His Body.

The Apostles rejoiced when "they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name" (Acts 5:41).

Peter writes: "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." (1 Pet 4:12).

Paul says, "I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church" (Col 1:24).

Job was just as precious to God as the thousands of martyrs that lost their families, possessions and honor and even their own lives through the centuries in joyful service to the Lord Jesus who, lost all everything including His own life, for them. Job was a cherished and beloved servant of God who had great faith and could say "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him" (Job 13:15). " Online Bible Wheel

God also used Job’s suffering to bring out the false reasoning and counsel about His Righteousness and what it means for man to be righteous in light of God's righteousness. Job’s "counselors" all blamed Job!

Eliphaz, the first to respond, explained it this way:

"Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off?" (Job 4:7)

Implying that his servants, sons and daughters were destroyed for their transgressions.

Did Eliphaz really have to remind Job that he fell short of God's righteousness? Eliphaz says, "Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?" (Job 4:17)

Again, Eliphaz attributes all to God, but obviously he does not know why God did it. But, that doesn't stop him from "darkening counsel".

"By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed." (Job 4:9)

Job is just needing pity and comfort from his "friends". His "friends" don't understand God, so they speak stupidly.

Eliphaz pretty much accuses Job of lack of faith for his troubles.

"I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause: Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number:" (Job 5:9)

Message: You are not seeking God. You need to seek God.

Job says:
"To him that is afflicted pity should be shewed from his friend; but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty." (Job 6:14)

Job was actually seeking God at the time that all this happened to him, his conscience was clear, yet suffering was still brought upon him.

Chapter 8: Bildad speaks. He attributes the calamity to God, but his reasoning is also more blame for Job's children's transgressions.

"Doth God pervert judgment? or doth the Almighty pervert justice? If thy children have sinned against him, and he have cast them away for their transgression;" (Job 8:3-4)

Job speaks:
"If God will not withdraw his anger, the proud helpers do stoop under him." (sarcasm)(Job 9:13)
"For he breaketh me with a tempest, and multiplieth my wounds without cause." (Job 9:17)

Then Zophar speaks:
"...Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth." (Job 11:6)

Again, blame for his "sin".

Job speaks and calls his "counselors" forgers of lies.

"Lo, mine eye hath seen all this, mine ear hath heard and understood it. What ye know, the same do I know also: I am not inferior unto you. Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God. But ye are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value. O that ye would altogether hold your peace! and it should be your wisdom." (Job 13:1-5)

Later, Job receives revelation from God which is more than all the flapping lips speaking to him could ever give him.

"Then Job answered the LORD, and said, I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." (Job 42:1-6)

God speaks to Elipahaz about himself and his two friends.

"And it was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath." (Job 42:7)

It is a terrible and destructive thing to misrepresent the character of God.

So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as the LORD commanded them: the LORD also accepted Job. (Job 42:9)

"And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before." (Job 42:10)

Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him OVER ALL THE EVIL THAT THE LORD HAD BROUGHT UPON HIM: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an earring of gold. (Job 42:11)

Job knew of no sin that he committed yet at the same time he could not justify himself and this goes perfectly with 1 John 1:8 regarding the sin of self-justification.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:8)

I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God? If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand. (Job 9:2-3)

How much less shall I answer him, and choose out my words to reason with him? Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer, but I would make supplication to my judge. (Job 9:14-15)

"If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse" (Job 9:20).

And finally the Lord God, says.

"Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?" (Job 40:7-8).

"May it never be. Let God be true and every man a liar" (Rom 3:4).

If our claim to righteousness by faith crosses the bounds of what God teaches us as in the doctrine of "Sinless Perfection", it will sound like we are justifying ourselves, which, if we do, we make God a liar.

If you are going to Joplin, have pity on these people, comfort and encourage them, help them and minister God's love to them. And don't be surprised if you meet some mighty men and women of faith like Job. You probably will. Talk little, listen much.

What is Your Purpose in Life?

2011-10-11T22:39:00.000-07:00

For the Believer in Jesus Christ, what is God's purpose and what is your purpose?

This question alone could fill a library full of books, so I don't pretend to be able to answer this in one post, nor will I have enough years left in my life to enumerate all the purposes of God. But, here is a beginning for us to think about...

God's purpose from the beginning was that He might "circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart" (Deut. 30:6).

To build a temple for His glory, and--to plant a garden that will flourish with the fruit of His Spirit.

Our purpose first and foremost is to know God. And in knowing Him, we have been invited into His family, to be a functioning member in the Body of Christ. (I'm not talking about "going to church"). Our purpose is to exercise the gifts that God imparted to us by His Holy Spirit and to build up the Body of Christ and to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom to the lost.

God's purpose is to bring many sons to glory and to conform us to the image of His Son, thus growing us up into maturity (love) in Christ.

Our purpose is to follow the Lamb, wherever He goes and to listen to the Spirit and learn the will of God, harmonizing our wills with the Father's will just as Jesus and the Father were one (unity). We are to come into agreement with our Heavenly Father's Word and walk in the attitude of Jesus Christ each day. Being led by the Spirit, we walk in the Spirit, not fulfilling the lusts of the flesh.

He calls us to walk as He walked, to carry our cross as He carried His cross, entrusting Himself to His faithful Father.

For those people who are looking for a "City whose Builder and Maker is God", Jesus has set before us a very clear pattern and example. You cannot walk as Jesus walked if you have no inward life with the Holy Spirit. If you don't have His life within you, following Him is an impossibility.

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Php 2:5-8).

For Jesus Christ, the Captain of our Salvation, the Son of God, the Author and the Finisher of our faith...the call of of His Father heavenward, brought Him lower, and lower, and lower...even unto the death of the Cross.

And so it must be with all who desire to follow the Lord. God deliver us from all the jockeying for position, power, wealth and acclaim that we see today... striving for significance and honor from men and position over men. When we find our significance in Him alone, we have found our purpose. The pathway of SONSHIP does not lead upward but rather takes you lower and lower. We must decrease and He must increase.

"And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors.

But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve" (Luke 22:25-6).

"For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many" (Mar 10:45).

In other words if Jesus were walking around today He would not accept position, power, wealth and acclaim from men and neither should we. He did not do it 2000 years ago and He won't do it now. And as we just said, He surely would not accept a position OVER his brethren. He served them and ministered to them everyday of His life. Somehow we have gotten this idea that ministry is a position OVER brothers and sisters.

And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; (Luke 22:29).

Yes, He surely is Lord and King of a Kingdom and He has a Kingdom to give. However, God's Kingdom is established on different principles than the world's kingdom (even and especially the world's religious kingdoms). His disciples are not to expect or strive for titles, position, offices and power. The most advanced disciple in His kingdom will be characterized by being a very humble servant. Jesus painted many pictures, spiritualizing the natural and even demonstrating to His disciples what He meant. He then shows them what He is talking about.

Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them" (John 13:13-16)

Yes, if you know these things, happy and blessed are you if you do them!!

God's ways are not man's ways. And we are reminded of that by all the many paradoxes in God's Word.

Man would rather be lifted UP, God's way to go UP is to go DOWN.

Man jumps at the chance to go OVER others (be served), but God's way is to go UNDER (server others) and lift us up.

God's way to SUCCESS is through FAILURE of all of our own devices.

The way to true PROSPERITY is not through gain from others but through spiritual BANKRUPTCY and CONTRITENESS, then we attain true gain from God...godliness.

Man's way to VICTORY is by his own strength but God's way to Victory is through DEFEAT.

And of course one of the most well known paradoxes of Jesus is the way to LIFE, is through DEATH.

Everyone of these paradoxes speak one thing. Not my way, not my will, not my plans, not my strength, not my glory. BUT, God's way, God's will, God's plans, God's strength and His glory.
It's all about Jesus Christ. It always has been about Him and never has it been about us.

Our purpose is to walk as Jesus walked depending on His Father each step of the way.

"He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked" (1Jn 2:6).

Who Are You?

2011-10-09T15:44:00.000-07:00

CHAPTER 1 - THE ARMIES OF HEAVEN

"And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns, and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS." (Rev. 19:11-16).

In this day of fear and anxiety, and distress among nations, how assuring to look into the scriptures and catch a glimpse of God's war plans, and to know that the Commander-in-Chief of the armies of Heaven is about to break forth on the scene of human depravity and futility, riding upon a white horse of righteousness and power, and leading His armies to battle and to total victory!

How assuring to know in this hour, when men's hearts are failing them for fear, and kings and rulers and presidents of nations are frustrated in their attempt to solve the nuclear arms crisis, and to lay a foundation for peace... to know that there is One who has conquered, and who by God's decree sits even now at God's right hand of power and authority, ruling and reigning "in the midst of His enemies"... but who simply awaits God's time-schedule, and the signal from the throne of the eternal Jehovah-God, to charge forth into battle against the Enemy, and put an end to the reign of evil.

..And to know also that we, if we are accounted to be 'faithful and true' shall be a part of that army that will follow the Son of God as He goes forth to battle in the great Day of God Almighty. These are the people who not only profess to have FAITH and TRUTH; but faithfulness and truthfulness have been wrought into their very being, as they have learned obedience by the things they have suffered, and have followed the Lord in all His ways.

The Church of Jesus Christ was destined and equipped with the armor of God to be a warring Church. We are not denying that she has fought many a valiant war with the forces of evil throughout her long history, but in too many cases she has suffered defeat, either because she knew not the strategy of the Enemy, or because she did not confine herself to those spiritual weapons which God had given her for warfare and for eventual victory. Nevertheless, in and through it all God has not forsaken the declaration of His Son:

"I will build my church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18).

The defeats of the past (and there have been many) do not alter the purposes of God; for in the wisdom of the Cross, God will yet take all the devices of the Evil One, whose intention is to destroy the people of God, and entwine these into His own purposes so that the Enemy will be trapped in his own devices and snared in the very evil that he thought to bring upon God's chosen ones.

Samson's Ultimate Victory

The story of Samson is going to take on beautiful meaning for those of us who live in the last days. Right now we are almost ashamed to admit that we are part of the "Church" when we see ourselves like Samson: bound by the world-systems of the Philistines, grinding out the corn for the enemies of God, and so blinded in our hearts that we think we are victorious and triumphant in the midst of it all. But one day--and we believe it is beginning to happen--the hairs of Samson's head will grow again, and his strength will be renewed. We are beginning to recognize that God wants us to be distinct and separate people in the earth, "in the world, but not of it." We are beginning to realize that our calling is heavenly, that our warfare is heavenly.

One day as Samson's heart began to turn back to God--in his weakness and in his blindness and in his bondage--he comes to the place where he is prepared to lay down his life, if so be he can be avenged of the Philistines, and bring deliverance to the people of God. "Let me die with the Philistines," he cried, as he leaned upon the pillars in the House of Dagon, and destroyed the hordes of the Philistines in one massive blow. The result was that he slew more in his death, than he had slain throughout his whole life--spectacular and dramatic as many of his activities were in his former years.

Dear ones, we are going to see the true meaning of all this, when the Church of Jesus Christ begins to come to the realization of the greatness of her bondage...

When she realizes she has been so blinded in her understanding, that she did not even know she was a willing tool of the world-system...

When she realizes that she has been grinding out corn for the Philistines, all the while thinking she was working for God...

When her Nazarite vow of separation unto the Lord is renewed, and her hair of glory is restored...

When she suddenly realizes she is the laughing-stock of the world and not her friend...

When she realizes she has been led about by a lad of the Philistines, and not by the hand of God...

And when she is finally prepared to lay down her life, if so be she might know the power of the risen Christ working within her.

"For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh" (2 Cor. 4:11)

God is preparing an army, beloved, who will go forth in the Day of the LORD to put an end to the reign of Evil, and to deliver the people of God from their oppressor. They are not being conscripted because they have military or political skills, and know how to get involved in human programs; but because like Samson of old they have discovered the folly and the futility of all this, and are now prepared to learn God's secrets of warfare. They are a people who are being taught the art of war, and whose only weapons are SPIRITUAL AND HEAVENLY, and "mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds" (2 Cor. 10:4)

And we are going to discover, as we proceed with this message, that if we are not clothed upon with spiritual armor, and engaging in battle in the Spirit of God in heavenly places, we are not going to know anything but defeat down here in the realms of earth.

George H. Warnock

The Position of the Church, Today

2011-10-04T18:50:00.000-07:00

Let's start off with a declaration from Jesus Christ regarding the Church.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and GREATER WORKS than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. John 14:12

We see that Jesus is the fullness of the Godhead bodily and that we are complete in Him. He did not qualify this statement. (i.e. only married couples, or five-fold ministry only, etc, etc). No special qualifications except "ye be born-again". This is the heritage of every Spirit-filled believer.

For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: Col 2:9-10

All things are under His feet and He is head over all things to the church. We have been raised together with Him and we sit together with Jesus Christ in Heavenly places.

And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. Eph 1:22-23

We are vitally joined to the Head
But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. 1Co 6:17

Vitally joined by marriage
Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, EVEN TO HIM who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. Rom 7:4

We are His inheritance.
The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of HIS inheritance in the saints, Eph 1:18

We sit with Him in heavenly places.
Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: Eph 2:5-6

The Church MUST extend the sceptor of His Kingdom.
Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. Psa 45:6

THINE ARROWS are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies; whereby the people fall under thee. Psa 45:5

I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall SMITE the corners of Moab, and DESTROY all the children of Sheth. And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies; and Israel shall do VALIANTLY. Out of Jacob shall come HE THAT SHALL HAVE DOMINION, and shall DESTROY HIM that remaineth of the city. Num 24:17-19

THE CHURCH MUST ENTER TO DELIVER - but the Church today is at ease and not an offensive (engaged) force.

We must resist
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Jas 4:7

The Lord is MY Deliverer
The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my DELIVERER; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. Psa 18:2

We need deliverance from frontal assaults and attacks (on the whole man).

We need deliverance from SUSTAINED pressure which could be called OPPRESSION.

I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the OPPRESSION OF THE ENEMY? Psa 42:9

THERE is a great battle today over the use and control of the mind, not only in the world, but among the children of God.

"I fear lest, by any means, as the serpent, beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." (2 Cor. 11.3, A.V.)

THE FACT OF A “WAR” DECLARED BY PAUL:
First note the fact that the Apostle declares that there is a "war" in which he is engaged. " My warfare ," he says, "is not waged according to the flesh." This is in accord with his statements in other parts of his writings.

THE BATTLE FOR THE MIND DESCRIBED:
We see there is an aspect of the war described in this passage which has to do with the mind . "Thereby can I overthrow the reasonings of the disputer." In verse (A.V.) we read of a "pulling down of strongholds ". The Apostle seems to infer that the mind is a "stronghold" which has to be pulled down, and every rebel thought in it made captive.

A "stronghold" is generally held by an enemy , and truly there is an enemy holding the stronghold of the mind, according to 2 Cor. 4. 4, where it says that the "god of this world" (age) has "blinded the minds of them which believe not".

LOOSING –
Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Mat 18:18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Mat 18:18

Deliverance from a Bondage:
- A Siege and blockade is where the enemy breaks through and surrounds an area of our life and resistance is not enough. Another member of the Body of Christ helps to "relieve the blockage". This is a ministry of the Church.

A renewed mind is a mind permeated with the Spirit. Thus, our mind becomes "the mind of the spirit (Rom 8:27)," and our spirit becomes "the spirit of the mind. (Eph 4:23)" The Spirit of God desires to have full possession of our minds. This does not take place through "the involuntary forfeiture (passivity) of the human mind," but through the inward working of the Holy Spirit in the heart and soul of a believer. In order for the Spirit to possess our mind and be expressed through it, ALL BLOCKAGES in the mind must be removed.

Jessie Penn-Lewis remarks:

“If the mind is the vehicle of the Spirit it is absolutely necessary that the Spirit of God should have full possession of it, with every "rebellious thought" brought into captivity to Christ. The Holy Spirit, dwelling in the spirit, needs the mind as a channel for expression, but it may be so blocked up, and filled with other things that He is unable to transmit all He desires to do. A "blocked" mind means the spirit unexpressed, and a spirit unexpressed is a stoppage of the outflow of the Spirit of God to others.

The Spirit of God will not force Himself upon us or into us. At the time of Christ's baptism, the Spirit of God descended as a dove upon Him. The Spirit also works in us as a gentle dove. He does not require, nor do we in the local churches, that anyone forfeit the function of his mind. Rather, He patiently waits for the believer voluntarily to surrender and abandon himself to the Spirit so that, with the ACTIVE COOPERATION of the believer's intellect, the Spirit may spread into the mind, renew it, and flow out through it to give LIFE-GIVING WORDS to satisfy the thirst of others. How refreshing it is to be with those with such a Spirit-saturated mind! When these Christians "express their thoughts and ideas, WE SENSE THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD'S SPIRIT. Because their minds are under the control and direction of the spirit, the Lord’s Spirit has the opportunity to saturate and occupy their mind."

CASTING OUT
And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; Mar 16:17

Casting out Devils implies there is deliverance from an invasion and occupation. The Enemy actually “occupies” an area of a life. An area no longer under the control of man. Deliverance is done by Believers who take authority and cast out according to the promise and word of Jesus.

CONCLUSION:

As kingdom confronts kingdom the church must rise up in the power and authority of her Head. The Jerichos of wickedness must fall with all its rulers. Satan has had time to establish his kingdom throughout the earth and the Church must challenge these authorities and pull down strongholds of wickedness.

Facing The Enemy

2011-10-03T23:30:00.000-07:00

Now that you have your weapons it's time to FACE THE ENEMY.

In the New Testament we have quite a bit of information on the powers of darkness from the Holy Spirit as well as the OT. The Holy Spirit often quotes the Old Testament and also gives new insight into the workings of the enemy.

An aggressive church will confront a kingdom that is spiritual. The word to the church is to rise up and rule with Christ in the midst of His enemies.

Contrary to this, most of the Church today is “at ease in Zion” and they are not an offensive, spiritual force.

Psa 110:2 The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: RULE THOU IN THE MIDST OF THINE ENEMIES.

We see when Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit that He was confronted directly by Satan. Jesus did not ignore him by running away or pretending that he did not exist which many today are taught to do. Jesus also faced His enemy with the whole armor of God on, and resisting his temptations, rebuked him with the Word of God (sword of the Spirit) and stood firm (having done all, STAND). He did not vacillate and He did not flirt with temptation.

Jesus recognized the enemy and resisted him. “Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”

This is very much different from Adam and Eve and many others in the Bible, who did not recognize the “sweet” voice of the enemy with all of his “wonderful” offers. “Hath God said?” Satan would tell us, “No, of course not, this is what He really means.” And he appeals to the lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh and pride of life in masterful ways.

If you cannot recognize the enemy you certainly will not resist him. How can you resist what you don't recognize? And this equals deception and captivity. That’s right! You are caught in his trap. Proverbs speaks much about this.

When you do recognize him, you need to know how to resist.

The Church is commanded to face the enemy, but before doing this, we must know about the devices and workings of the powers of darkness and our position and authority in Christ. God does not want His Church to be ignorant concerning the Powers of Darkness.

Paul said that they were NOT IGNORANT of the Devil's devices.

2Co 2:11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for WE ARE NOT IGNORANT OF HIS DEVICES.

Why weren't they ignorant like the majority of believers today are? Because they studied their enemy and understood his subtelties and strategies. His strategies are replete all within the OT and NT, in the different accounts of people's lives, and additionally, there is much information (once again) in Proverbs.

We see that Paul knew the subtlety of the enemy and that Satan could be transformed into an angel of light. He is always cloaking himself so that you do not recognize him. We see this in many different ways today.

2Co 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

2Co 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

He will float his lies in the midst of some truths and he does this through “teachers” and “good” men and women in the Church.

Act 20:29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves ENTER IN AMONG YOU, not sparing the flock.

They will be among you.

"There is a difference between "false" teachers, and deceived ones. There are many deceived ones amongst the most devoted teachers today, because they do not recognize that an army of teaching spirits have come forth to deceive the people of God, and that the special peril of the spiritual section of the Church lies in the supernatural realm, from whence the deceiving spirits with "teachings" are whispering their lies to all who are "spiritual," i.e., open to spiritual things.

The "teaching spirits" with "doctrines" will make special effort to deceive those who have to transmit "doctrine," and seek to mingle their "teachings" with truth, so as to get them accepted. Every believer must test all teachers today, for himself, by the Word of God, and their attitude to the atoning Cross of Christ, and other fundamental truths of the gospel, and not be misled into testing "teaching" by the character of the teacher. Good men can be deceived, and Satan needs good men to float his lies under the guise of truth." Jessie Penn-Lewis, War on the Saints

Let’s look at the Kingdom of Darkness.
The Kingdom of Darkness is a Hierarchy of Wickedness.
Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

-Principalities (Archas: the first ones, preeminent ones)

Definition: “The person or thing that commences, the first person or thing in a series, the leader.” Thayer.

References:
Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor PRINCIPALITIES…

We see that the Kingdom of Darkness has rule, authority and power.

1Co 15:24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when HE SHALL HAVE PUT DOWN ALL RULE AND ALL AUTHORITY AND POWER.

Eph 1:21 Far above all PRINCIPALITY and POWER AND MIGHT, and DOMINION, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:

Eph 3:10, 6:12, Col 1:16, 2:10, 2:15, Titus 3:1

-Authorities (Exousia: the power of rule or government)
Authority to rule.

Definition: Power exercised by rulers or others in high position by virtue of their office.

Reference: 1 Cor 15:24, Eph 1:21, 2:2, 3:10, 6:12, Col 1:13, 2:10, 2:15, Titus 3:1

Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the PRINCE OF THE POWER OF THE AIR, the spirit THAT NOW worketh IN the children of disobedience:

1Pe 3:22 Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; ANGELS and AUTHORITIES AND POWERS being made subject unto him.

I remember shortly after I became a Christian and as I was reading the Bible I would see over and over again that Jesus was very aggressive and would always confront the enemy and stand up to him. It impressed me that there was nothing at all passive about Jesus and I slowly realized that I should do the same.

Jesus faced the enemy and used the Word of God (Truth) against his lies. That left a lasting impression on me because He addressed the enemy directly.

He sends us out as lambs in the midst of wolves to face problems and not run away or ignore them. To “preach good tidings unto the meek, bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. “ There is nothing passive about these actions. Preach, bind up, proclaim and open.

When you fulfill your calling you will confront and be confronted by the Kingdom of Darkness.

So Jesus sends out his disciples and tells them to face the enemy and not run:

Matt 10:8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.

The Position of Christ Today:

The position of Christ today is that He is set at God’s right hand in the heavenly places, all things are under His feet and He is the Head over ALL things to the Church. Eph 1:20-23

Angels and authorities and powers have been made subject to HIM. 1 Pet 3:22

And He has triumphed over all principalities and powers. Col 2:15

Next: What is the position of the Church, today?

God's Sword - The Word of Truth

2011-10-02T19:40:00.000-07:00

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: (Eph 6:17)

- Form of Attack from the Enemy
a. "Hath God said?" (Gen 3:1)

b. "Twists and distorts the Word.

Jer 7:8 Behold, ye trust in LYING WORDS, that cannot profit.

Jer 29:23 Because they have committed villany in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbours' wives, and have spoken LYING WORDS IN MY NAME, which I have not commanded them; even I know, and am a witness, saith the LORD.

c. Takes the Word out of the heart of the hearer.

Mat 13:19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

Jer 23:30 Therefore, behold, I am against the (false) prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.

d. Doctrine of devils (demons)

1Ti 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;

Counterattack:

An offensive weapon that comes from the mouth.

And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. Rev 19:15

a. Do not be afraid to rebuke Satan
b. State the ground upon which you stand
c. Speak the truth

This weapon is energized by the Spirit. Then it becomes the "Sword of the Spirit".

God has prepared the church for the attacks of the enemy. We do not need to fear his attacks as we stand in the whole armor of God.

God's sword is misplaced by human reasoning and understanding. If you're wise, you will figure out how the Devil has gotten through your armor and strengthen that part. Ask the Lord for wisdom. He is faithful.

Eze 6:3 And say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys; Behold, I, even I, will bring a SWORD upon you, and I will destroy your high places. (principalities, idols)

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Psa 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Jesus is the Word and our Sword.

Rom 13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

God's Salvation - A Helmet

2011-10-01T18:35:00.000-07:00

And take the helmet of salvation... (Eph 6:17)

- Form of Attack from the Enemy

a. The Mind - a battleground in thoughts (confusion,passivity)
b. The Carnal Mind - operates in the flesh.

Rom 8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

c. The Unrenewed Mind - remains in darkness.

Eph 4:18 Having the understanding DARKENED, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:

The mind is a KEY source of defeat for people.

God's provision is the Helmet of Salvation, not failure.

The Helmet of Salvation is misplaced by unclean thoughts and strife.

A soldier can survive a wound to the arm or leg, but a blow to the head can be fatal. The "Helmet" covers our mind which controls the entire man.

Paul refers to it as the HELMET, the HOPE of salvation.

1Th 5:8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an HELMET, the hope of salvation.

Man can survive many things, austere conditions such as hunger, thirst, and imprisonment but no man can survive without HOPE. Even in solitary confinement, if man has HOPE, he will survive (maybe not physically) and not throw away his hope.

Tit 2:13 Looking for that BLESSED HOPE, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

Satan will attack us with the end goal of causing us to lose HOPE. It does not matter if you are a young christian or an older christian. If we have not renewed our minds (learned to think as God thinks) then we are vulnerable.

An understanding of what God has promised us brings us hope. God does not lie. Our hope is based on Him. A Christian with the helmet of the hope of salvation will not get confused with the fleeting pleasures of sin. Nor will they trade their birth right (salvation) for the temporary lusts of the world.

How Do You Put on the HELMET of SALVATION?

The confidence that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ is our HOPE. The strategy of the enemy is to come in like a flood and barrage you with attacks from every side so that you eventually lose hope. Once again, condemnation is a chief weapon of our enemy. We live in a performance oriented Christianity where no one can ever measure up, though they keep trying. Inability to measure up produces condemnation and confusion. Eventually, you run out of gas. Your hope was not in God alone.

Persecution causes people to lose hope, also. Many things do and Satan knows this. He has many weapons. But we have the armor of God.

Heb 10:35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.

How Do You Develop Hope?

We develop it the same way we develop faith.

Rom 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

God's word touches our heart. It is essential you have a clear understanding of what God has promised you. This will give you hope; an unfailing expectation in the ability of your God to fulfil His promise.

Hope is something you think about and understand and it is communicated from God's Spirit to your spirit. Faith is exercised through belief in God's promises (His Word). You receive them by faith (believe).

Heb 6:18 That by two immutable things, in which it was IMPOSSIBLE FOR GOD to lie, we might have a STRONG CONSOLATION, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:

Heb 6:19 Which HOPE we have as an ANCHOR of the soul, both SURE and STEDFAST, and which entereth into that within the veil;

Hope provides us with an anchor. Something to hold unto with our soul (intellect, emotions and faith). Faith needs hope to sustain it.

If FAITH were your engine, then HOPE is the super-fuel of your FAITH. Without HOPE, your engine won't run.

Heb 11:1 Now FAITH is the substance of things HOPED for, the evidence of things not seen.

If your Helmet is misplaced your head is vulnerable to a death-strike.

Lastly, Saul wanted to give David his armor, but David refused. He refused because of one reason. Saul's armor was not tested. David would put on the armor of God that day against Goliath. The armor of God had been tested by David many times and it always protected him. We need to make sure we are not wearing man-made armor but rather God-made armor. His Righteousness, His Salvation, His Truth, His Peace, His Word.

1Sa 17:39 And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I HAVE NOT PROVED THEM. And David put them off him.

1Sa 17:45 Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I COME TO THEE IN THE NAME OF THE LORD OF HOSTS, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.

What did Jesus do with the Armor of God?

Isa 59:17 For he put on RIGHTEOUSNESS as a BREASTPLATE, and an HELMET of SALVATION upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke.

He vanquished His enemies, He OVERCAME. This is God's will for us.

Isa 59:18 According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence.

Isa 59:19 So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. WHEN THE ENEMY SHALL COME IN LIKE A FLOOD, the SPIRIT OF THE LORD SHALL LIFT UP A STANDARD AGAINST HIM.

Psa 39:7 And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.

Pro 10:28 The hope of the righteous shall be gladness (FUEL): but the expectation of the wicked shall perish.

Your hope in Him shall be GLADNESS and gladness is fuel/joy because THE JOY OF THE LORD IS OUR STRENGTH!!

Exo 15:2 The LORD is my strength and song, and HE IS BECOME MY SALVATION: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him.

Jesus is our HELMET OF SALVATION!

Rom 13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Enemies in the Land

2011-06-12T18:54:00.001-07:00

When you begin to expose the works of darkness there will be opposition. You can count on it. The enemy will not go without a fight.

God's covenant of redemption of His people promised that HE would drive their enemies out of the promised land, and that He would do it with marvels (miracles).

That "covenant of miracles" was perfected at Calvary, when God made the New Covenant by the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ, for all who would receive Him.

And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Col 2:13-15

In the midst of the wilderness of Sinai Moses prayed to the Lord, see, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. Exo 33:12-13

And he (God) said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth. Exo 33:14-16

And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name. And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. Exo 33:14-19

And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. Exo 34:6-7

And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped. And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance. And he said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the LORD: for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee. Observe thou that which I command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite. Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee: But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves: For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God: Exo 34:8-14

We will look at these nations in depth a bit further down.

Before the children of Israel entered the promised land, Moses gave them this blessing: The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and HE SHALL THRUST OUT THE ENEMY FROM BEFORE THEE; and shall say, Destroy them. Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew. Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy Excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places. Deu 33:27-29

(Satan is the father of lies and dwells in high places - pride).

That is why God could promise rest and peace for His people, even in a land inhabited by enemies. He had already rendered those enemies powerless, and He told the children of Israel, "By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land" Exo 23:30

"By little and little I will drive them out before thee", this is the Holy Spirit's ministry of deliverance for each child of God. It is a progressive work of sanctification.

It is important to remember that to "inherit" means "to occupy by driving out previous tenants and possessing in their place". The children of Israel had every reason to be sober and alert. God had cautioned them, "Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee: But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves: For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God: Exo 34:12-14

If they compromised God's word concerning the nations in the land, the children of Israel would be seduced away from God and into idolatry. THE ENEMIES HAD BEEN RENDERED POWERLESS; God had already promised to drive them out. But they wouldn't be driven out if the children of Israel made a covenant with them allowing them to stay. God had warned the children of Israel to completely destroy everything (altars, images and groves) which would give place to another god. We have the same warning in Ephesians - "Neither give place to the devil". Eph 4:27

Again and again we see that Israel's literal journey parallels our spiritual journey.

So who were these nations God had called by name? Who were the enemies that MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO REMAIN in the place of His inheritance (You). And how does the fact that they had to be driven out apply to us today?

Interestingly, the name of every enemy has to do with selfishness and self-centeredness. They are the same "nations" (principalities) that we must each fight if we truly want to possess the land.

And he said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the LORD: for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee. Observe thou that which I command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the AMORITE, and the CANAANITE, and the HITTITE, and the PERIZZITE, and the HIVITE, and the JEBUSITE. Exo 34:10-11

AMORITES: PUBLICITY, PROMINENCE and PRIDE (worshipping the gods of I, Me, My). THE FIRST THING GOD DOES when He begins to deal with us is to humble our pride. Satan, the father of lies, tells us that pride is our best weapon of self-defense (of defending or protecting who we really are). Pride is a pretender. It is obsessed with putting on a good, self-confident front - even when we're cowering behind it, desperately needy and afraid.

CANAANITES: REJECTION (What about me? My feelings are hurt)
Canaan was one of the sons of Ham, who was one of the sons of Noah. The name, Canaan, represents rejection. Just as Adam and Eve were rejected by God and driven away from His presence because of rebellion, Ham made judgments against Noah and became accursed. Rejection already has a place in our lives when we are born of in Adam's image. Our fallen nature is separated from God; we are not whole. We need to feel like we have "a place"; we need to feel like we "belong".

HITTITES: FEAR (I am afraid that something will happen to me or to the people and things that I love). The Hittites were also descendants of Ham. The name "Hittite" means terror, and comes from a root word which means "to break down through violence, confusion or fear." It can also mean "broken, dismayed or in dread or fear".

PERIZZITES: UNFORGIVENESS (Look at what they have done to me; I'll never forgive them or let them hurt me again). The root word means "to separate". The Perizzites were first mentioned in the story of Lot and Abram in Genesis 13. Their herdsmen were in so much strife that Lot and Abram had to separate themselves from each other.

HIVITES: REBELLION
If you trace the word "Hivite" back to its root, you will find that it means "Eve", who was the mother of rebellion. The Hivites were first mentioned in Genesis chapter 10 as descendants of Ham. In Genesis 34, Dinah, Jacob's daughter, was defiled by a man of the Hivites when she went out from the house of Jacob (Israel) to "see the daughters of the land".

JEBUSITES: DEFILEMENT
The name "Jebusite" means "to trample, loathe, tread down or tread under, to be polluted". The Jebusites were a picture of the defilement which comes into our lives and into our souls through sexual lust, impurity and perversion.

We will look more in depth at these nations and how they oppressed the Children of Israel.

God's Shield of Faith

2011-06-11T18:32:00.000-07:00

Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the FIERY DARTS of the wicked. (Eph 6:16)

- Form of attack from the enemy: “Fiery darts”

a. Unbelief

Heb 4:2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: BUT THE WORD PREACHED DID NOT PROFIT THEM, NOT BEING MIXED WITH FAITH in them that heard it.

Heb 3:19 So we see that they could not enter in because of UNBELIEF.

Jude 1:5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them THAT BELIEVED NOT.

b. Doubt

Psa 106:24 Yea, they despised THE PLEASANT LAND, THEY BELIEVED NOT his word (DOUBT):

Psa 106:25 But murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the LORD.

Psa 106:26 Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness:

c. Fear (the antithesis of faith)

What kind of land did the Devil keep them from occupying through their fear, doubt and unbelief?

Deu 8:7 For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills;

Deu 8:8 A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;

Deu 8:9 A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.

What kind of land would this be for the Believer, today? Do you want this land of blessing, today? This land is YOU, full of faith, full of fruit, walking in God’s righteousness, RESTING in God rather than driven to perform, experiencing freedom and liberty in your mind, will and emotions and being led by PEACE.

Does this mean that everything on the outside is going well? Not necessarily, but it is God’s will for us to be Overcomers spiritually.

Your outward condition is not a barometer of your inward state. The Prosperity Gospel has nothing to do with what we are talking about.

If Satan can bring the Christian to walk in fear or unbelief, he can be defeated. Condemnation comes from without and conviction comes from within. Conviction always lets us know that God is for us and is not destructive.

Faith protects the WHOLE man.

a. Faith is a shield that covers from head to foot.
b. Faith extinguishes the fiery darts of the enemy.

Faith ACTIVELY resists the enemy.

1Pet 5:9 Whom RESIST stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

Faith is misplaced by doubt and fear. You resist in the faith as a weapon and you are protected by the shield of faith.

Review so far:

Strategies of the Enemy:

a. Lies and deceptions - Pray for discernment

b. Accusations and Condemnation – Keeps you under a sense of rejection and failure. The Devil can drive you into the ground doing “good things” out of condemnation.

Learn the difference between condemnation and conviction.

c. Persecution: Watch for bitterness and rejection as a fallout from persecution. You must be careful. Keep your shoes of PEACE on. If you get bitter you lose your shoes and then comes hatred and you have become very vulnerable to the enemy.

Unbelief, doubt and fear set in and faith cannot operate. It is impossible.

The Lord is your SHIELD.

Gen 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

So, “put on” Jesus Christ – He is the armor of God

Rom 13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

God's Gospel of Peace - Shoes

2011-06-05T19:31:00.000-07:00

Ok, quick review. We are talking about "possessing the land" that the Lord has commanded us to possess, and He says that there are enemies in the land already. So, we should expect them. He is not telling us that we can stay in the wilderness, no not all, He wants us to rise up and rule in the midst of our enemies and cleanse the land of all of it's inhabitants. This land today is not some acreage somewhere across the ocean. This land is YOU. It is the land of your mind, will, emotions and body. The enemy seeks to bruise us as soon as we are born, yet the Lord has served notice that He has come to bind up the brokenhearted and to heal them that are bruised.

In order to possess the land we have been given a spiritual armor and we are presently in the middle of looking at this armor that has been given to us.

Stick with us in this series as we will be looking at the following subjects after we finish the Armor:

Facing the Enemy
The Land of the Mind
The Land of the Will
The Land of the Emotions
The Bruises of Satan
Bruised and Bitter
Releasing Hurts
The Bruise of Rejection
Bruised and Healed
Root of Rebellion
Root of Pride
Root of the Occult

Ok, let's continue with the Shoes of Peace.

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! (Isa 52:7)

- Form of attack from the enemy:
Persecution - Satan tries to get others to attack you. Persecution comes through men.

...If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. (John 15:20)

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have PEACE. In the world ye shall have TRIBULATION: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

Jesus says that IN HIM you will have PEACE. We are promised tribulation and persecution in the world, and it will come from various sources, even those very close to you, but there is one that sticketh closer than a brother. (Pro 18:24)

Other forms of attack that are used against you in order to move you out of peace (out of Him).

b. Lies - Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; (1Tim 4:2)

c. Compromise - (Your own compromise)

d. Passivity - You stop fighting and advancing in the Lord. Satan's attacks are meant to discourage you and wear down your will.

Blessed are they which are PERSECUTED for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matt 5:10)

Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and PERSECUTE you, and shall say all manner of evil against you FALSELY (Lies), for my sake. (Matt 5:11)

Even when you are attacked your offensive weapons are to follow peace. Our challenge is to walk in love and not let the fiery darts of the enemy find a lodging place in our hearts. We do not want to sustain "hurts" which are the darts from the enemy that will fester and become bitterness and hatred and eventually alienating you from others.

- Counterattack: Feet that always follow the way of PEACE

a. Jesus the example

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 shall shew judgment to the Gentiles. (Matt 12:18)

He shall NOT STRIVE, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. (Matt 12:19)

A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. (Matt 12:20)

b. Feet indicate one is ready to move with a message.
Always follow the way of peace - Your reaction? A peaceful attitude.

The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Rom 1:16), and your shoes are misplaced by strife and dissension.

Purpose in your heart to walk in peace and ask the Lord to show you the areas in your life that keep you from walking in peace. Drive the enemy (FEAR, INSECURITY, STRIFE, ACCUSATIONS, CONDEMNATION, UNBELIEF, etc) out of your land and you will have PEACE.

Jesus is our weapon of PEACE.

FOR HE IS OUR PEACE, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; (Eph 2:14)

So, “put on” Jesus Christ – He is the armor of God

But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. (Rom 13:14)

God's Righteousness - A Breastplate

2011-06-04T04:50:00.000-07:00

- Form of attack from the enemy:
a. Accusations - Night and Day accusing the brethren.

And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: FOR THE ACCUSER OF OUR BRETHREN is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. (Rev 12:10)

...If God be for us, WHO CAN BE AGAINST US? (Rom 8:31)

Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. (Rom 8:34)

b. Condemnation - When falsely condemned, declare the truth.

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Rom 8:1)

c. Spiritual pride is trusting one's own goodness.

Accusations and condemnation are a very effective tool of Satan. People are so bombarded by accusations that they are unable to rise up in the spirit and be who they are suppose to be in Christ Jesus. Accusations will put the spirit of slavery upon you.

Accusations and condemnation do not come from God. The source is the enemy. Don't receive it. When you entertain accusations and condemnation against you, that is the beginning of "receiving" them. The Devil wants to bring condemnation on you in everything you say and do.
Decide whether you are going to stand in your own righteousness or God's righteousness. You cannot be accused if you are standing in God's righteousness.

For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; THAT WE MIGHT BE MADE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN HIM. (2Co 5:21)

- PROTECTION - A heart that is covered with God's righteousness.

a. Pure motives: love and compassion--God's glory.
b. You must stand in God's righteousness.

Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: (Rom 3:22)

Jesus is our weapon of RIGHTEOUSNESS.

In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. (Jer 23:6)

So, “put on” Jesus Christ – He is the armor of God

But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. (Rom 13:14)

God's Truth - A Belt

2011-05-29T17:20:00.001-07:00

An aggressive church needs protection. God has given her a spiritual armor. The command is "Put on the whole armor of God". We shall look at the strategy of the enemy and God's protection.

PUT ON the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to STAND against the wiles of the devil. (Eph 6:11)

Without the armor of God you cannot resist. The secret is RESISTING if you can STAND long enough.

Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to STAND. (Eph 6:13)

Prepare Yourself for Battle and prepare yourself for deception with God's Armor. In order to "possess the land", you will need armor. Strategies from the enemy in any battle is to try to deceive you regarding God's viewpoint on matters and to get us to receive his lies as the truth.

We see from this scripture below, that Paul is weeping, because of those that used to walk in truth but have become deceived and he actually regards them now as "enemies of the cross of Christ".

(For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: (Php 3:18)

So, let's look at the Belt of Truth. And this is such a small bit about it. There is much more and I would love to hear about what the Lord has shown you.

1. GOD'S TRUTH - A BELT

- Form of attack from the enemy
a. Lies against the character of God.

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. (John 8:44)

b. Deception about who you are.

What do you believe about yourself that keeps you from surrendering to the Lord? What has Satan convinced you of that is a lie?

c. Error as to the way you are going.

Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: (Matt 25:24)

The man in Matthew 25:24 had a distorted view of God. You won't be very profitable to God if this is your view.

v25 He was afraid and he withdrew and hid.

And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.

- COUNTERATTACK: God's truth enables us to move in battle.
a. "Gird up your loins" means to prepare for activity.

And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD'S passover. (Exo 12:11)

b. "Gird up your loins" means "be dressed in readiness:

Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; (Luke 12:35)

Girding up your loins indicates that you are preparing for battle.

c. Gird up your mind. Tying it all together - Let your mind be alert and not passive.

Wherefore GIRD UP THE LOINS OF YOUR MIND, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; (1Pe 1:13)

If you "gird up your mind", you can receive truth and initiate and make decisions. This is the opposite of passivity.

The Armor of Truth can be misplaced by walking in deception.
The devil knows how to come against you and the basis of spiritual warfare is TRUTH. Truth defeats lies. The Devil initiates his schemes through lies. Know the truth and the truth will set you free and enable you to not receive lies.

"We wrestle not against flesh and blood" - so it's not someone else's fault that we are deceived. However, they may be an instrument of the enemy. (Eph 6:12)

but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the WILES OF THE DEVIL. (He is the deceiver). (Eph 6:11)

Jesus is our weapon of TRUTH.

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)

So, “put on” Jesus Christ – He is the armor of God

But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. (Rom 13:14)

Possess The Land Within

2011-05-21T08:53:00.000-07:00

THE CHALLENGE BEFORE THE CHRISTIAN TODAY IS TO POSSESS THE LAND WITHIN!

Just like Joshua in the OT broke the authority of evil over the children of Israel, our Joshua (Jesus) has broken the authority of evil over us and we have a land to possess, now.

Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: (Col 1:13)

The works of the enemy must be dealt with in the land of:

-The mind
-The will
-The emotions
-The body

Biblical Principle: What has been given must be possessed. (Already talked about earlier, Deut 1:8)

- Salvation is given on the principle of faith and the battles we fight and the victories that are yet to be won must operate on this same principle.

- Faith extends God’s authority into every area of our living.

The works of the enemy must be torn down in our lives and his presence drive
n out.

THE CHALLENGE of SATAN IS TO ROB THE CHRISTIAN OF GOD’S PROVISION (Love, Peace, Joy, Sound Mind, Healthy-Loving Relationships, etc., etc.)

1. He will challenge the believer.
2. His works must be met with superior force.
3. The Cross is the focal point of his defeat
4. He is a defeated foe who has left his forces scattered in the land.

To “possess the land” means the same thing in principle that it did for the Israelites. You must face the enemy and his works. There can be no victory without a battle and there will be no battle if you shrink back and run from your enemies. The Lord always has us face our "problems" to win the victory.

There can be no compromise in any area of your life. The Land of Promise should be the land of complete victory. It can be IF YOU ARE WILLING to deal with all the works of the enemy.

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. (Isa 41:10)

Many people in the wilderness are waiting for God to give them the land. Yet God IS WAITING FOR YOU TO FACE YOUR ENEMY. The land is yours, you must take it by taking it away from your enemy, and you take it away from your enemy by facing him in the name of Jesus Christ. The enemy is wreaking havoc in the land and must be defeated. When you get there, you’ll have giants. Expect them! They are already there. Face them in the name of the Lord of Hosts as David did.

Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. (1Sam 17:45)

The Lord will help you to reclaim your mind, will, emotions and body for the Glory of God.

Remember that the power of God was released when the Israelites opened their mouths (Jericho). Declare His word (truth) and sing His praises.

Authority is laid hold of in your life and is not inherent in the believer. You lay hold of ever increasing degrees of authority through faith by the Holy Spirit. Authority in your life over the powers of darkness is also determined by personal victory and purity in your life.

Scriptures on Authority
And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. (Matt 10:1)

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. (Matt 28:18)

Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. (Luke 9:1)

Behold, I give unto you power to TREAD on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. (Luke 10:19)

Face the enemy in and with the power of Jesus Name not in your own name or “righteousness” or position, but in Jesus’ name.

Look at the verbs below. There is nothing passive about them.

FIGHT the good fight of faith, LAY HOLD on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast PROFESSED a good profession before many witnesses. (1Ti 6:12)

Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be PARTAKERS of the divine nature, having ESCAPED the corruption that is in the world through lust. (2Pe 1:4)

BE DILIGENT that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. (2Pe 3:14)

But GROW in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen. (2Pe 3:18)

May the Lord bless you as you fight the good fight of faith and lay hold on eternal life.

There is freedom in Jesus!

Possess the Land Without

2011-05-20T22:33:00.000-07:00

Today, we have a land to possess just like the Children of Israel had a land to possess. The land that we seek to bring under the Holy Spirit's control and push all forbidden inhabitants out is the land of our mind, will and emotions. The Lord wants us to have a renewed mind, emotions that are not bruised and battered and a will that is strong and not easily manipulated by men or devils. All the promises to the Children of Israel are for us today.

Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. (
Josh 1:9)

Remember the word which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, saying, The LORD your God hath given you rest, and hath given you this land. (Josh 1:13)

God gave the land of Canaan to the Israelites. The giving was God's part; the taking was Israel's part. The land was theirs but they had to possess it.

The Lord shows us that WHAT IS GIVEN IS NOT AUTOMATICALLY OURS.

Behold, I have set the land before you: GO IN AND POSSESS THE LAND which the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them. (Deut 1:8)

The Church is passive today and this passivity has come in through deception in the form of doctrines of demons that either offer men false security or put men under the control of other men. In any case, it is all deception and the Lord wants us to walk in truth, light and love. There is a war going on and the church has not shown up for the battle.

Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. (1Ti 6:12)

THE CHALLENGE TO THE CHURCH TODAY - POSSESS THE LAND WITHOUT!

Jesus is our spiritual Joshua. Joshua broke the power of the authorities.

SO JOSHUA TOOK THE WHOLE LAND, according to all that the LORD said unto Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. And the land rested from war. (Jos 11:23)

If there are strongholds in our lives of unforgiveness, bitterness, fear, unbelief, rejection, fear of failure, etc., the Lord wants us to face our enemy, and through Him, kick them out of the land.

Joshua subdued 31 kings.
The king of Tirzah, one: all the kings thirty and one. (Jos 12:24)

Jesus subdued the powers and principalities.
And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. (Col 2:15)

JOSHUA DIVIDED THE LAND BEFORE THEM
Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them? (Jdg 1:1)

THE CHURCH MUST DEAL WITH THE PRESENCE OF THE ENEMY
Israel did not possess all their land.

And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; BUT COULD NOT drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron. (Jdg 1:19)

And the children of Benjamin DID NOT DRIVE OUT the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day. (Jdg 1:21)

NEITHER DID Manasseh DRIVE OUT the inhabitants of Bethshean and her towns, nor Taanach and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns: but the Canaanites would dwell in that land. (Jdg 1:27)

And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, AND DID NOT UTTERLY DRIVE THEM OUT.

And THEY FORSOOK THE LORD GOD of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger. (Jdg 2:12)

JESUS
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. (Joh 14:12)

Jesus destroyed the works of the Devil and this is a ministry of the Holy Spirit in us.
He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, THAT HE MIGHT DESTROY THE WORKS OF THE DEVIL. (1Jn 3:8)

WHAT HAS BEEN GIVEN MUST BE POSSESSED BY THE CHURCH

A WORD TO THE CHURCH
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. (Mat 28:18)

GO YE THEREFORE, AND TEACH ALL NATIONS, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: (Mat 28:19)

TEACHING THEM TO OBSERVE ALL THINGS WHATSOEVER I COMMANDED YOU; and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Mat 28:20)

The Lord has not changed. This is the same word to His people that He has been telling them from of old.

All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers. (Deu 8:1)

There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. (Jos 1:5)

AN ARMOR FOR THE CHURCH – God provides an armor for the church which goes into battle - Ephesians 6

A BATTLE FOR THE CHURCH -
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) (2Co 10:3-4)

So, we see in the Old Testament that they fought men, kings, princes, nations, etc. Today, our battle is not carnal and neither are our weapons. Our fight is not with men but with powers and principalities. Of course, there were powers and principalities behind these men and nations and kings and princes back then and those same powers and principalities are here today.

God's command to subdue and drive out all inhabitants and possess the land has not changed and the way of doing it has not changed. Man must apprehend all that God has for him by faith.

A word for you today as you walk with the Lord.

Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. (Deu 31:6)

Possess The Land

2011-05-18T22:24:00.000-07:00

Man is a spiritual being and because modern philosophy has sought to ignore this fact, most of today's approach to solving man's problems is inadequate or temporary. I believe there are spiritual answers for a spiritual man, and God's Spirit can reach down inside of man and bring forth an integration of his being when there has been a continual disintegration.

There are spiritual concepts which deal with basic problems that trouble people. Being a Christian does not automatically solve these problems, but most certainly places one in the position to receive help. That help comes through a proper understanding of Satan and his works, and understanding of one's self and an understanding of God and His provision to meet every need of man.

Salvation is our entrance into the family of God. It is also our deliverance from sin and the penalty of sin. It is our deliverance from "Egypt" and God desires to bring us into a "good land". The Lord does not just want us to be satisfied with Salvation. He has a land that He wants to bring us into and this land must be taken.

Along with delivering us from the penalty of sin, He desires to also heal us from the effects of sin and bring us into a land of blessing and fruitfulness. God's Word instructs us that what God has given to His Church, His Church must reach out and appropriate/take by faith.

Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them. (Deu 1:8)

Too many today are delivered from Egypt but are “suffering and dying in the wilderness" without possessing that which has been given to them.

It is the Lord's desire to bring healing to His people, to break severe bondages, release people to live in acceptance and love and bring people to self-acceptance and identity releasing them from the hurts of the past.

In short, it is God's desire for man to be a total man -- free to relate to others and free to relate to God. This is the land that God wants to bring us into.

And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. (Isa 58:12)

The Church has occupied a rather passive role as if it has a defeated attitude in the face of the enemy that rules in the world. I believe God is saying to His Church, "Rise up and rule in the midst of your enemies!"

The god of this world has established his strongholds and authorities in the land. I believe the word that came to Israel through Moses is the word for the Church today,
"Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land..." (Deut. 1:8)

A passive attitude will not conquer and possess. Consequently, the enemy remains in the land and God's people suffer. It is never God's will for His people to suffer from the oppression of the enemy. God wants His people to be a victorious people: a strong people that can determine the will of God and take direction rather than being directed by a turn of events. He wants a people that will magnify the Name of the Lord--who has made Him their strong Tower, their Refuge, their Shield, their Covering and their Conqueror.

In God's Word we can find encouragement to do battle with the enemy and to arise to enter into all of God's provisions promised to His people. There are areas of the mind that we will discuss that keep God's people from rising up in the Lord and entering in. Deception and Passivity are two major areas in which the enemy works.

God wants a free people that will possess ALL the land.

(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) (2Co 10:4)

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: (1Pe 5:8)

Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. (1Pe 5:9)

The Kingdom of Saul

2011-01-12T15:15:00.000-08:00

An exchange from a friend:
Hey, I've been considering a little the comparison of King Saul to the modern day pastor. And it came to mind that advocates of the IC (Institutional Church) might argue that David is an example of a godly pastor with a "right" heart before God. How would you answer someone who says that Saul is an example of a tyrannical pastor with wicked motives and David is an example of a biblical pastor with a heart after God's own heart? Look forward to hearing from you. Thanks.

And then a followup:
Just a few moments ago it occurred to me that one way of looking at it would be to consider David as God's second best, not His ideal. Similarly we may see some well meaning godly pastors as God's second best. To me some of them are like victims of an unbiblical system, although they do have a part to play in terms of culpability. Just some thoughts that came to mind.

My Answer:
We know that the the Kingdom of Saul was not God's way. And we know that, from the following verses.

1Sam 8:4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah,
1Sam 8:5 And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.

Even though the kingdom of Saul was not God's way, the Lord nevertheless ordained it because He told Samuel to "hearken unto the voice of the people". So, the people got what the people wanted. And what they did not want, was for the Lord God to rule over them. They wanted a man. Does this sound familiar?

1Sam 8:7
And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

The people of God would be learning very soon that to reject God as their Lord will bring bitter experiences into their lives. God will bring all of their works to nought.

1Sam 8:18 And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day.

In another part of Israel God is preparing another man and forming in him the heart of a true shepherd. His very own heart. The day of trouble is surely coming and the Lord always has true shepherds that He has prepared and who know His heart. Here are some things that David knew because of the Lord's dealings with him.

1. David never challenged Saul, or mocked him, or slandered him or gathered men unto himself so that he may cause a "split" in the kingdom. David respected the anointing, for God indeed did anoint Saul as we see in 1 Sam 15:1.

Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD.

2. David also learned to love the anointed ones of God. He did not just love those who were walking in God's ways, but He loved all those that were called and anointed by God, whether they were walking in all the light or some of the light. Many are walking in the light they have and seeking to serve God the best way that they know. They may be caught up in a crumbling kingdom yet they are still called and anointed by God. The focal point is that God called and anointed not that they were walking in all the truth. Just like several of my articles lately, they are walking in their "best of intentions" (their understanding and their ways).

Thank the Lord that He does not discard us, but is constantly trying to lead us out of darkness and teach us His ways. So it was with Saul, yet at the same time, the Lord is always working with others and trying to form Himself in them. David was such a person that was allowing God's work in his life. It was not without discipline and correction, though. Discipline and correction are a vital part of being perfected in love. So, we see that David respected the Lord's anointed and would do nothing to derail Saul's life. God is in control and we don't ever have to take anything into our own hands.

1Sam 16:21 And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armourbearer.

We know from all the lessons in God's Word that God does have a better way. It is His way and His way alone. Everything built by man will not survive the "shaking" of God. We need to understand that God's "better" way will prevail, will always prevail. The Kingdom of Saul (man) can never threaten the Kingdom of David (Christ).

David even had some opportunities (temptations) to bring Saul's kingdom down. This is a good lesson to us today, that man's system will always be around, yet individual kingdoms come and go. Only God's kingdom endures forever. Because God's kingdom will endure forever and because His ways are better, it is absolutely in our best interests to line up our hearts with Him for he that is not with Me is against Me.

Luke 11:23 He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.

It is notable that even after Saul's kingdom came crashing down that David wrote the "The Song of the Bow" in memory of Saul and Jonathan. He really did love them. There was no pretense in David. I am sure that David hoped that God's annointed ones would repent and turn towards God, yet Saul did not do this and was eventually slain in battle and thus, his kingdom was no more.

Here is David's song.

"The beauty of Israel
Is slain upon thy high places:
How are the mighty fallen! "I am distressed for thee, My brother Jonathan:
Very pleasant hast thou been unto me..."
(2 Sam. 1:19, 26).

Until that hour, God's true shepherds were rejected and despised. This is a necessary training regimen for God's men to go through. Let me say that again. Being rejected and despised is a necessary training regimen for God's man to go through. You cannot avoid it if you want to follow the Lord with all your heart. It is one of God's ways of proving you and testing if you are accepting of His ways. They reject you because they reject God.

The true role of a shepherd is to turn the hearts of the people towards the Lord and the spirit of Saul always uses man for his own purposes and turns the hearts of the people toward themselves.

Here is the spirit of Saul in 1 Samuel 8, the religious spirit. Tell me if this sounds familiar.
1 Sam 8:11
And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.

1Sam 8:12
And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. (I don't see any mention here of the Lord).

1Sam 8:13
And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.

1Sam 8:14
And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants (give them to his staff).

1Sam 8:15
And he will take the tenth of your seed (sounds like today's tithe), and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants (his staff, again. Professional hired workers with salaries).

1Sa 8:16
And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work.

1Sa 8:17
He will take the tenth (prophetic of today's tithe) of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. (still no mention of the Lord. Whose servants are we? )

This passages as it turns out has become quite prophetic regarding our present day religious system. Notice how Saul's system, which is indicative of the flesh as opposed to the Spirit, is so very much like man's system that we are witnesses of today. Well, in fact it is just like man's system. The Clergy or those in "leadership" are absolutely dependent upon the people for support. Notice how Saul takes, takes, takes and gives to his captains and officers.

In many "churches", the "leaders" are hired or fired by the people. In this, they are answerable to the people yet say they are answerable to God. When the people support you (pay your salary), I would say that the temptation to compromise is very great and cannot be avoided. And this is why most in leadership cannot and will not preach the "whole counsel of God". Teaching only a part of the counsel of God will not perfect anyone in holiness and it keeps man enthroned over the people (congregation). Ever heard a religious leader teach on 1 Samuel 8? They would be out of a job, if they taught the true liberty of the Sons of God and who their true Leader was.

But since this is the religious system, let's explore a couple of things. I said that the temptation to compromise God's Word is very great. It should be obvious, why? After all, you have been hired by the people and you certainly do not want to do anything to offend them. At least you don't want to offend them to the point where you are fired. You have a family to support and bills to pay. This is the predicament of a hireling.

Do you see what I mean when I use the term "best intentions". Man has these "best intentions" to "serve" God and is doing it the best way that he thinks. He has created this "wonderful" religious system and set up all these programs and activities in order to meet the needs of the sheep and keep them content. But there is a way that seems right to man, yet the end thereof is death. Pro 14:12, 16:25. (God tells us that, twice).

The problem is that you can never keep the people content and happy. In order to keep unity, you will have to cave in to the pressure of different groups of people. Interesting that God gave the people just the right man for this. Saul did not have a heart to seek God. He did not have a heart to walk in ALL of His ways. He did not have a heart that loved truth. He was the perfect ruler of a discontented people. He would yield to them if need be.

At the same time (and this is always the case), there were men in Israel that wanted something better. Just like the people of God in Babylon that were stirred up by the Spirit of God to leave Babylon and rebuild Jerusalem (only 43,000 out of about 2 million left). There were also men in David's day that wanted something better. We should never say that the men that stayed with Saul were not men of God. And we should never besmirch how brothers and sisters in the caught up in the religious system. As far as Saul's men, we can say from Scriptures, that they chose to stay with Saul until the bitter end. Just like in Babylon, it takes a revelation of the Holy Spirit to show a man that he is dwelling in religious Babylon under a Saul type of ruler. The Lord's command is "to come out of her my people (Rev 18:4)". As Saul's kingdom was disintegrating many men went over (in large numbers) to David.

We see the same thing today. Many are seeing that the "Emperor has no clothes on" as the children's story goes. Many are seeing by the grace of God (truly opening up their spiritual eyes) that the religious system is most definitely the product of man's best intentions, and they are seeing that it is empty and fruitless and even at great odds against God. They see that there is no rest in man's system and are weary of working for the "king" who takes, and takes, and takes and puts them to work. It is no wonder that the man who appeared before the Christ at the judgment, could only speak of his works. He really thought that, that was what following God was all about. Work, work, work.

1Sam 8:18 And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day.

Those that are teachable, hungry and open to the Holy Spirit's leading will find their way in the Body of Christ. Two very important things you need, to be free from man's influence, is that you need to be a God pleaser instead of a man pleaser and you need to be free from the fear of man. I guess, that is basically the same thing. So fear God and don't fear anything else. The man that does fear God, does not fear anything or anyone. Amen!

Then you will be able to say:

Psa 26:8 LORD, I have loved the habitation of thy house (the people of God, not a building), and the place where thine honour dwelleth.

So, we can talk about man's system versus God's system. What works as opposed to what does not work. But, from David's life (Christ's life) we should know, not to slander or mock, or try to bring division into man's kingdom. Like David, just leave Saul's kingdom. David knew, for his very own survival, he had to leave. God will give you a small band of men to fellowship with in the wilderness just as He gave David. Let the Spirit of God speak to other hearts and let the Sword of the Spirit bring the dividing of those hearts, but not you. The Lord is more grieved than you or I are regarding how man's system has usurped the authority of Jesus Christ from amongst His people. Many like to point fingers at the Pope and Priests in the Catholic Church for doing this, but it is happening everyday, throughout the land in the non-Catholic churches. The Lord Himself will deal with the spirit of Saul. We are called to be faithful and preach the Word, but not attack others. David knew this very well.

If we have learned anything, then let it be that God Himself, by His Spirit, built on the foundation of His Son, will build the Church. And those shepherds in the church will direct men to the Lord, not themselves. And I guess that was your original question. Yes, David is the picture of the right kind of shepherd, but also take notice that he dwells in the right kind of kingdom and serves the right kind of God. God Himself and not a god of his own creation. Which means he will live for God's ways and not man's ways (his own ways). God's shepherd cannot dwell in man's (Saul's) kingdom. And if he does, he will not like it for long if he wants to stay true to the Lord. If a man truly has a heart for the Lord, he will be very uncomfortable in man's kingdom.

Likewise, a Saul cannot dwell in God's kingdom. God's kingdom does not allow a Saul to be "in charge". There are no Saul's in God's Kingdom. Like Milt Green always said, "There is only one Boss, and His name is JESUS". In God's kingdom, God raises up men, as opposed to people raising up men. Where men are totally dependent on God for support and not people. Where men are not forced to compromise and where the honor of the Lord is preeminent and above all.

You are right on the money when you say, "They are victims of an unbiblical system". Yes, that is so true, but also as you say, "They have some culpability". Also, very true. Serving an unbiblical system is obviously out of the will of God and is basically putting you at odds against God and this will eventually destroy you. There is no other way to say it, if we are not with Him, we are against Him. We are only with Him, when we come into agreement with all of His ways and leave all of our understanding and ideas, behind.

The good thing is that just like Cain, God is always trying to lead us out of darkness. I am encouraged when I see that God even tried to reach Cain's heart. All throughout His Word, we see Him trying to lead people out of darkness and embrace His ways. By allowing man's systems to exist, God exposes and tests our hearts. We need to have our hearts exposed, if not for anyone else, for ourselves. It helps us to see in real life, what the difference is between God's way and man's ways. Does our heart follow men or follow God? Are we enamored with man's system of pleasing God or is it repugnant to us? It was repugnant to Jesus. You can see this, especially when He was clearing out the temple of all the money-changers.

Always remember, God's shepherds will flee Saul's kingdom. You will have to flee if you want to stay true to God because the "Sauls" will "kill" you. Religion always kills the true brethren as we see this chronicled down through the history of man. Of course you know I mean that religion will seek to marginalize you and push you out because light is a threat to darkness. However, we do know that through the centuries and even in our present time, it has also resulted in countless deaths to God's servants. Remember Saul, tried to kill David. The first time was when he threw his spear at David. And of course, recall what the religious system did to Jesus.

John 15:20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

One last thought, the Kingdom of Saul is a system that exists in men's hearts. It can manifest itself in a house church as well as the Institutional church. It can manifest itself wherever man is. It is not about location or environment as much as it is about our very own hearts.

Constantine and the Institutionalization of the Church

2011-01-11T09:07:00.000-08:00

The following is a recent post from the blog of author Neil Cole:

My wife and I spent a couple days in York, England recently. While there we saw a statue to Constantine erected just beside the main cathedral in the area--the York Minster. While beautiful and impressive in many ways, we were reminded by the cathedral of how far from the original intent of the church people had taken her.

The early church was organic and a movement for the first couple hundred years. Driven underground by waves of Roman persecution, it remained a viral movement that could not be contained or stopped. Though many tried to stomp it out all attempts only made it stronger.

All that changed in 313 AD when the emperor Constantine declared that the empire would not only tolerate Christianity but restore to the church all lost property. He was the first “Christian” emperor and Christianity went instantly from the margins to the mainstream and everything changed. Christianity became the state religion and the church did not change much from that point on. Our enemy, the devil himself, learned that if he cannot stop the church, he might as well join it and change it from the inside so that it is ineffective and less a threat. But for occasional breakouts of remnant expressions he succeeded. He used Constantine to launch this sinister attack.

Over the centuries, after Constantine, the Western church has evolved in many ways, but none have been a significant systemic change. There was the establishment of both the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodoxed Church and for hundreds of years there were very little changes. The Reformation split the Western church into the Roman Church and the volatile protestant church. But as an institution, in spite of the differences, the institutional system remained mostly unchanged. The Anabaptists were set lose by the reformation (and persecuted by it) but quickly would institutionalize as well.

Whether the church adapts to reach coal miners in the 18th century England or postmodern pilgrims in the 21st century, most of the changes have been minor shifts. Whether you are talking about high church or low, Pentecostal or Presbyterian the church has remained institutional in its approach. From Baptist to Brethren, from Mennonite to Methodist, the changes in the system are relatively untouched over the centuries. Music or no music? Pipe organ or electric guitar? Tall ceilings with stained-glass widows or meeting in a box building without windows, the actual system of church has gone relatively unchanged.

You have the priests or pastors, the Sunday service with singing and a sermon, the weekly offering, the pulpit with pews and the church building. These have been constants since the forth century. Even if you move the whole show into a house instead of a church building, if the system hasn’t changed you have only shrunk the church, not transformed it. Changing the style of music does not upgrade the system. Turning down the lights and turning up the volume is a simple patch to the same old system. Choirs and hymns or praise bands and fog machines, kneeling or standing the system is changed very little. Sermonizing with topical messages or expositional ones is not changing the system just making minor adjustments. Sunday Schools or small groups as secondary learning environments are not a systemic change at all, just a variation on the same old operational system.

Constantine was declared Caesar while in York in 306 AD. Today, near the spot where he was named the emperor is a statue of him beside a large cathedral, which I find quite symbolic. Constantine turned the church into an institution and in that state it remained for for 1700 years. He is now remembered beside a very institutional expression of what church is--the York Minster Cathedral. Today we are seeing a rapid shift back to organic and viral expressions of ecclesiology.

We should remember Constantine so as not to make the same mistake. We must begin to awaken once again to the true nature and expression of Christ's body, not as a building, a program, an event or an organization, but as a spiritual family called out on mission together. We must come to realize once again that the form of church is not the issue, but the way we relate--to God, one another and the world.

Two New Posts Added to the Tithing Series

2011-01-10T15:32:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,

I just wanted to let you know that I have added two new posts to the Tithing Series.

I backdated them to keep them in line with the other tithing posts.

You can find them here.

Tithing - Part VIII - Fear Preaching

Tithing - Part IX - What About Hebrews 7 and Melchizedek?

The Best of Intentions - Part II, Cain and Abel

2011-01-08T09:20:00.000-08:00

I was reading Genesis the other day and came upon some interesting thoughts related to Cain and Abel.

Here is the text that I was reading.

Gen 4:2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

Gen 4:3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.

Gen 4:4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

Gen 4:5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

Gen 4:6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?

Gen 4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

Gen 4:8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

As I thought about this exchange between God and Abel, then God and Cain and finally Cain and Abel, the Lord showed me that being accepted in the beloved has everything to do with doing things well. And "doing things well" has everything to do with God's definition of it. His ways and His methods. Curiously, the entire Bible is about God's ways as opposed to man's ways. Over and over again, the comparison is made regarding God telling us how to please Him, and man actually trying to please Him in his way.

The first thing we notice is Cain and Abel's vocation in life. One was a Keeper of Sheep and the other was a Tiller of the Ground. The Lord does not show us that anything is necessarily wrong with their vocations but rather His spotlight was directed on their offering to Him. It wasn't that Cain was a tiller of the land that caused him not to be accepted but what he offered the Lord. For in Gen 3:23, we read regarding Cain's father, Adam, after he fell, "Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken." We see that God "sent forth" Adam to till the ground. With that said, God did say to Adam in Genesis 3 that the ground was cursed. And because God cursed the ground He will not accept any offering from it. It is also worth mentioning that man came from the ground and nothing that we produce from ourselves, from our own work or toil, of which we are the author, will God accept. Only that which originates from Him will He accept.

Continuing, we see that "in the process of time", Cain brought his offering to the Lord and Abel also brought his offering to the Lord. When we bring something to God and offer it up to Him, do we just assume that God would and should accept it? After all, we worked hard to produce these "works" and "He should be happy with my offering" we assume. I would like to submit that our works and offerings reveal the attitude of our heart which in turn reveal what we think of the Lord, what we think of others and what we think of ourselves. In fact, it is the very attitude of our heart towards the Lord and our understanding of His heart, which actually determines our "works" and what we offer to Him. And here, I don't mean work as in vocation, but what we would call "good works" in our Christian life.

In the story of Cain and Abel, the focus has always been on the difference between Abel's offering of an animal and Cain's offering from the ground. But, I think there is something more here regarding our relationship with the Lord and our everyday life as an acceptable offering to God.

The Lord is always so faithful in that He will show us our heart in this matter of "offerings". He is not like a human father, who says, "I don't want to hurt my children's feelings, so I will accept their offering. They mean well, and even though, their offering is all about their own pride, good works and selfish ambition, at least they are trying and I don't want them to feel unloved or unaccepted by Me."

Thank the Lord for His faithfulness! In that, He is not a Father that enables bad behavior and selfish attitudes. He is faithful in teaching us His ways, no matter how many times we need to start again at the very beginning (or go around Mount Sinai). He is a God of truth and He will speak truth to us and that is the most loving thing anyone can do. He is after all, the Author of Love. The Lord knows the “monster” that He would create in telling someone all the time that they are doing well when in fact they are operating out of a heart of pride and selfish ambition and what they are growing up into is actually going to hurt themselves and many others.

So Abel, brings his offering to the Lord and the Lord has respect unto His offering. Abel is accepted and receives the approval and acceptance of God. It is interesting that Abel means emptiness or vanity; figuratively something transitory and unsatisfactory;

Isn't that what we really are? Empty and vain and transitory? And in ourselves alone, having nothing to offer God and very unsatisfactory when it comes to pleasing God.

Cain brings his offering to the Lord and the Lord does not accept it. Do you think the Lord hated Cain before he brought his offering? Do you think the Lord rejected Cain’s offering because He did not like Cain? Do you think God was unfair? How often we bring God down to our level and ascribe to Him the motives and desires of men. Maybe you have thought that the Lord was unfair to you in your own life. Do you think that His ways are too hard and that He should at least accept some of your own "offerings"? After all, you did pray and work hard and serve others to produce this offering, right?

God told Cain that "If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?" Do you think that God would have made this statement to Cain without telling him what it takes to do well? Do you think that Cain did not know what God expected and what pleased Him? It would be quite unfair don't you think if God was correcting Cain while Cain had no idea what God was talking about or what would please Him. I am sure that Adam told both Cain and Abel that the ground was cursed. Abel got it! Cain may have understood, but his obstinate and prideful heart could not accept it.

We all see Cain after the fact because we know the whole story. And so, Cain is always seen by so many as an evil, unbelieving person that murdered his brother Abel. And that is certainly true, but what if you saw Cain before the murder. Would you have said that he is a hard worker, responsible, tilling his field and doing good works for the Lord? We do see that Cain had a relationship with the Lord as many do, today. And, just like many today who do have a relationship with the Lord, Cain has no regard for God's ways, and he will obstinately and pridefully offer up what he wants to offer. Even though he was warned by God. Notice that Cain is not offering up to an idol or to strange god. He is offering up to Jehovah God. Does that come as a surprise to you that Cain just might have had some level of relationship with God?

It should not come as a surprise because even those that are regenerated in the Lord are not yet fully transformed yet the Lord has a relationship with all of His children no matter what level of maturity they are at.

However, Cain is a picture of man’s attempt to be accepted by God. Cain is a type of what we know as the religious system. A system of good works, man’s methods, man’s ways and ultimately man’s righteousness offered up to the throne of Grace. Now, isn’t that an oxymoron? Man’s righteousness offered up to the throne of Grace? They toil for God, seek God, want to please God, sometimes hear God and in the end, they offer the toil of their hands to God rather than trust in God's toil (sacrifice) for them.

Even though Cain was going to offer up the works of his hands you couldn't tell him that he wasn't seeking after God. Just like you cannot tell a many Christians today that they are not seeking after God, because they think they are and they probably are. Who are we to say the contrary? Have we all not been religious at times and still seeking God. Maybe most of us are still religious in many ways. You can have a heart to seek God yet not have a heart to obey Him. The entire time that he was tending his field, he was planning on offering the Lord a sacrifice and he did. God gave Cain a chance and even warned Cain (as He often warns us that sin is crouching at our door). The sin of self-rightouesness, self-sufficiency, and selfish ambition.

Does your Bible say that Cain offered his sacrifice to an idol? No, it does not. Does your Bible say that a familiar spirit talked to Cain or that God talked to Cain? God did talk to Cain.

Cain and God had communication between each other. God spoke to Cain to warn him and also to encourage him. Cain responded with an offering from the toil of his own hands (religious pride). Have we not all had religious pride? But Cain crossed the line and murdered Abel. He killed the one whose life was pleasing to the Lord because he trusted in God with living faith and not self-righteous works, (as did Cain). Cain was jealous of Abel's acceptance with God. This is no way to solve that problem. What we must do is find out how we may be acceptable to God.

There are Cains all around us in the Church. And there is no need to look very far. More importantly, am I a Cain, are you a Cain? Thankfully, God is not done with us yet and if we heed His voice we can be converted and saved. Cain is a picture and type of the Flesh and coming to God based on our righteousness and works. Abel on the other hand is a picture and type of the Spirit.

We also see just before Abel was murdered that he and Cain were talking in the field.
Gen 4:8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

We don't know what they were talking about, but evidently Abel stood his ground regarding God's sacrifice (his offering to the Lord). It could have been that Abel was trying to tell Cain about God's ways as opposed to man's ways and the more that Abel tried to show Cain what pleases God, the more that Cain's pride and anger became inflamed because he was not accepted on his terms. He may have seen that as rejection and anyone that has ever been rejected knows that rejection is anger turned inward. And that anger eventually comes out and becomes hatred and hatred when fully conceived becomes murder. Cain was the oldest and if Abel knew what an acceptable sacrifice was, then Cain did too. Adam surely taught Cain that the ground was cursed and God would not accept anything from the ground (representing the toil of our labor, our works).

Gen 3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

God provided skins for Adam and Eve, and that was the beginning of a "red thread" of sacrifice and salvation that runs from Genesis all the way to Revelation. And it has to do completely with God's ways and not men’s ways. Our covering (salvation, righteousness) is and always will be provided by the Lord. This is God's righteousness which is culminated in Jesus Christ's death on the cross and resurrection from the dead.

Gen 3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

When Adam and Eve covered themselves with fig leaves, this was the beginning of man's way of making himself acceptable before God and this “black thread” of man’s ways and methods, will become known as unrighteous, religious, self righteous works and also runs from Genesis all the way to Revelation. This is man’s methods and ways of providing their own covering, trusting in their own “righteousness” rather than the righteousness of God.

God's City and Man's City run from Genesis to Revelation. It is called many things. Spiritual Reality and Counterfeit, False Church and True Church, God's Building or City and Man's Building or City, the Fleshly and the Spiritual.

The deceptive thing is that without the illumination of the Holy Spirit we will think that all of our works are acceptable and pleasing to God, even up to the day we stand before the Lord where He may have to say to us, “I never knew you”. And this, after we stand before Him and recite all of our good works to justify that we "did well" and He should "accept us" based on what WE did FOR Him.

Matt 7:21 Not every one 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.

Doing the will of the Father is precisely what we are talking about in comparing Abel with Cain.

Matt 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Self-deception continues right up until we are standing before the Lord and then have to hear it from Him face to face.

Matt 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

And we will be given the final rejection, not being accepted because we evidently did not
“do well”. Our iniquity was not doing the Will of the Father. Don't you think it might be important to find out what the "Will of the Father" is rather than to just be wrapped up in religious works?

But God was not the one that rejected Cain. Cain first rejected God’s ways and God’s methods and God cannot and will not accept anything that is not of Him.

Abel was walking in the "red thread" of God's ways and Cain was walking in the "black thread" of man's way. Man’s way (righteousness) will never be accepted by the Lord. His righteousness demands a sacrifice and it is one that He provides not one that we provide. This is something that He makes clear in many ways throughout His Word. He does not want our sacrifices, He want our heart and Him having our heart is manifested by our obedience to His will.

I find interesting some of the synonyms of the word wroth. The scriptures say that Cain was very wroth. I know wroth means angry (very angry) and I looked it up for other meanings. One of the synonyms for wroth is IRATE. And I think that word clearly depicts man's ways and methods, especially when bringing his offerings to the Lord. Yes, I RATE, my sacrifice rates, my offering rates, my works rate. I worked so hard in "ministry" to achieve this. Look what I did, what I created for your glory. It's a play on syllables to be sure, but it makes the point well.

Cain was clearly IRATE in more than one way (I Rate). Like I said earlier, our "offerings" to the Lord, truly reveal who we are and what we think of God and others (Abels).

I said originally that Cain had a heart to seek God. But having a heart to seek the Lord does not automatically mean that we will have a heart to obey Him. And, unfortunately Cain did not have a heart to obey revealed truth. The reason for this, is that revealed truth (from God) and obedience to it, always requires the Cross. It requires for us to bring nothing to the table (a blow against man’s pride), but our heart in humble submission and obedience. Cain was seeking God but wanted fellowship with Him on his terms, namely that he was a pretty good guy and worked hard and "God, you should accept all my hard work for you".

Yech!!! Can't be a seeker without being an obedient son. Can't be an obedient Son unless you are willing to pick up the cross and decrease that the Lord might increase. I think you can say the difference between religion and relationship, flesh and spirit, orphan and sonship, IS THE CROSS.

When thinking about Gen 4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?
I cannot help but think about why God accepts us and what is this "doing well" all about.

Yes, the Lord obviously must have told Cain what pleased Him and possibly Cain had the fellowship of Abel at some point and Abel related these things to Cain, also. We don’t know, but you kind of figure that brothers would tell each other what they thought about in life. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. What captures a man’s heart is what they will normally talk about with each other.

Luke 6:45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

We have much more today than Cain. We have God's completed Canon of Scripture and the indwelling Holy Spirit. We also have the fellowship of other Abel’s that can encourage us in our walk with God. I really believe that God did use Abel to speak to Cain and encourage him. The Lord has much to tell us about what it takes to be accepted by Him and what this "doing well" is all about. Yet, ever since Genesis, the Cains have been killing the Abels.

Eph 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Eph 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

Notice the object of these two verses. His grace, He hath, In whom, His blood, His grace. And so it is and will always be, He is and will be the ALL in ALL.

By our actions and words it seems that we would like to change these verses to read.

Eph 1:6 To the praise of the glory of our works, wherein we have made ourselves accepted in the beloved.
Eph 1:7 For whom we have gained redemption through our works, the forgiveness of sins, according to all of our hard work and best intentions;

May it never be!

I believe that Cain just did not want God’s yoke on Him. And I think it really all comes down to that in our lives. Will we take the Lord’s yoke upon us or throw it off? Is the attitude of our heart one that says, “Yes, Lord whatever it takes in my life, lead me in the way everlasting" or have we thrown off God's yoke?

Jer 31:18 I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God.

Cain’s countenance fell and he “bemoaned” himself, but unfortunately only unto “human sorrow” which brings regret instead of “godly sorrow” which brings repentance. 2 Cor 7:10, goes on to say that human sorrow ultimately brings death.

And so ends the sad story of Cain who had the best of intentions yet the best of intentions next to God's blueprint (His ways) will always fall short and never be accepted by God. Is our walk with God marked by "good intentions" or doing the "Father's will"?

Maybe we need this scripture to remind us of some important things. I know I do!

Matt 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Matt 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and
ye shall find rest unto your souls.

Before Jesus talks about the yoke, He promises rest and then after He mentions the yoke He mentions rest again. He surrounds His yoke in rest. When you are yoked up with Jesus you will tread the path that He treads yet you are promised rest all the way.

Matt 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

And that is what makes His yoke easy. It is His rest. And His rest is actually Him. If it was not for His rest and peace His yoke would not be easy. This speaks of relationship. Did He not say, "Apart from Me, ye can do nothing?" Apart from being yoked up with Him. Is His yoke easy to you? I cannot say yet that it is easy, yet I believe Him when He says it is. I have not fully realized it, yet. I know the key is to enter His rest. If we try to stay yoked up to Jesus yet take Him in the direction that we want to go, that will be a difficult struggle my friends. I know from experience, that sometimes we even want to throw off His yoke. I know that His grace is sufficient and He is faithful to bring these things to pass in our lives, that we may say in agreement with Him, "Your yoke is easy, Lord".

Notice that Jesus said, "Take my yoke and learn of me". We cannot know Him, learn of Him, until we are yoked up with Him. That is relationship with Him and relationship with the Lord is only maintained by the operation of the Cross in our lives.

Are you unaccustomed to the Yoke of the Lord (Cross of Jesus)? Have you made grievous errors and mistakes in your life like the rest of us have? Even Moses was confident and thought he knew how to deliver the Israelites, but just like Moses we all have to tread the same path in learning God's ways. He will lead us into the wilderness to "grind US down" until we come to the place where, like Moses, we are no longer confident of anything in ourselves. Now that is a man that God can use!!!

You may be unaccustomed to the yoke and it is even ok to admit, but let's pray for one another and ask the Lord for grace as we follow to know the Lord and be comfortable with His yoke upon us and say as Ephraim did, when the Lord chastises us, "turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God."

Oh, how we need Him!

Much grace and peace to you in the knowledge of Him,

Next: The Best of Intentions – Part III, Martha and Mary

The Best of Intentions - Part I, Cain

2011-01-07T04:38:00.000-08:00

Once there was a very hard working and industrious man who had a heart to seek God. We know that he could "hear" the Lord God's voice because the Scriptures reveal that he was greatly encouraged and counseled by God. He had a desire to please God so he brought to God part of all that God had blessed him with. So far, according to popular religious standards this fellow has all the qualifications of a leader of the people of God -- very hard working, a heart to seek God, a desire to give unto the Lord and experience of fellowship with God. This is the type of person that the church is actively seeking, a spiritual mover and shaker. The problem is, "that the things that are highly esteemed among men are an abomination in the sight of God".

And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. Luke 16:15

The Lord was not pleased with this fellow's offering. We can only expect our offering to be received by God when we come to Him according to His terms and not in a way that seems good to us. The man, whose name was Cain, had a brother named Abel. Somehow, Abel had an understanding of what was acceptable to God. In order for fallen man to be acceptable before God, there must be an atoning death. This is not really pertinent to the story, nor is the fact that Cain went on to be a murderer and a liar. But rather, the fact that man is constantly leaning upon his own understanding to come up with ideas, plans and schemes to do something for God is a principle that has brought more ruin to the people of God than all of our enemies without.

Contribution by: John Saunders - Guardians of the Ark

Give some thought about this.Cain is an example of religious flesh (the religious system) and Abel is an example of a man walking in the Spirit and being well-pleasing to the Lord. You could say that Abel dwelt outside the camp. Heb 13:13 Outside the camp of accepted religious norms.

And Cain was jealous and antagonistic towards Abel, who dwelt outside the camp. But Cain had the best of intentions. And he did offer something to the Lord, afterall. It looks like God does not accept our best intentions, doesn't it? What was God interested in concerning Cain? The same thing that He is interested in concerning us. Transformation in the inner man.

There is a man in the NT who hid his talent because he thought God was a hard man who reaped where He did not sow. He was given an investment along with a couple of other men. The other men multiplied their investments. That means that they took a risk. And the risk they took, was doing things God's way. Obviously, they knew something about the Lord that the person who hid their talent did not know. They must not have thought their Lord (employer) was a hard man. Have you ever wondered how much better it would be to actually know someone than to know about someone?

We get to read about many people through Christian literature and Christian websites and we sometimes talk about these people we read as if we know them. But we don't, do we? At least not most of them. We imagine things about them. Sometimes we imagine great things about them and sometimes we imagine not so great things about them. How much better is it to know God than to imagine what He is like. Obviously, this person that said his employer (the Lord) was a hard man, imagined this in his heart. He really did not know Him.

Well, we all know that this little story talks about the Lord and us. The success of our walk with Him is directly proportional to the personal light and revelation we have received about Him, about who He is to us, to me personally. Not about reading about Him, but PERSONAL light and revelation that has entered our being about Him whereas we can say WE KNOW HIM.

Ever since Adam and Eve, God is trying to drive this point home. He is saying, that I don't need your best intentions. I need you to learn of my ways, for my ways are higher than your ways and learn of my thoughts for my thoughts are higher than your thoughts. God will grind us down little by little by life's circumstances, situations and disappointments until someday, we will stop trying to walk this Christian walk and build His church in our own strength. When we are ready to surrender, the real fun will begin. There is a lot of security in being a nothing, a zero. If you don't think so, try it. There is a lot of rest getting rid of your false burdens and trying to do only what is God's job to do. When you come to the place where you look to Him in everything and He is truly your everything, life is so much better. When you stop trying to do His job and get rid of your false burdens, you will begin to experience Him and His joy. Peace and rest will enter your soul.

Moses had a false burden and thought that by the strength of his hand he would do a wonderful thing and be the Deliverer of Israel. Yet it was not meant to be. Good intentions, yes, but not God's way. There is only one Deliverer in God's kingdom. After 40 years of being ground down in the backside of the desert, God called Moses. The proof of Moses coming to the end of himself, is that when he was called, he did not even want the job. Now, there is a man that God can use. Contrast that with men today that jump at the chance to "lead" God's people, or who plan it as a vocation and a career. And part of their career plan is to be educated and get credentials from man. Very good intentions, yes. But not God's way. The Lord's school is the school of the Spirit in everyday life. It is not a school of textbooks and term papers and degrees on parchment and letters behind your name and titles, that then give men a false confidence that they can either build or lead the church. Our confidence must be completely in Him.

Here are some verses that might help.

Jer 9:12 Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD hath spoken, that he may declare it, for what the land perisheth and is burned up like a wilderness, that none passeth through?

Jer 9:13 And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein;

Jer 9:14 But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them: They have walked after their own understanding and ideas. What is important to the Lord for you and me?

Jer 9:23 Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:

Jer 9:24 But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.

Jeremiah 9:24 describes our "employer".

He is not a hard man at all. He exercises lovingkindness, judgment and righteousness. He delights in these things. He does not delight in wisdom (education), or strength and power over our fellow man and He certainly is not a slave to mammon, but He does know what mammon can do to our hearts. Are you going to continue in your Christian walk with "the best of intentions" or are you going to STOP and LISTEN and LEARN from the feet of Jesus, what His way of doing things is all about.

Isa 55:6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

Isa 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Isa 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.

Isa 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. The wicked man is the man that will not forsake his thoughts and his way of doing things.

God does not delight in our methods. He wants us to KNOW HIM.

In Matthew 7 and Matthew 25, he says the same thing to the man that stands before him on judgment day boasting about all HIS works and the 5 foolish virgins, I NEVER KNEW YOU.

And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. But if any man love God, the same is known of him. 1 Cor 8:2-3 (KJV)

Next: The Best of Intentions - Part II, Cain and Abel

THE CROSS: THE ALL-INCLUSIVE ANSWER

2010-12-26T22:51:00.000-08:00

All that is gathered up in the Cross. The Cross simply says that an order, though it be religious, well-motivated, or good-intentioned, but nevertheless proceeding from man in his natural state (not necessarily in defiance of God or in conscious rebellion against Him, but just the expression of man's natural state as he is), the Cross says that this entire order is set aside. God has judicially judged it and put a ban upon it. In the Cross of the Lord Jesus God has said finally: 'You in your natural state cannot serve Me, and cannot bear any fruit to My glory! It is possible to go out and work, labour, and die of the strain of trying to serve Me and yet it still remains true that you cannot, out from yourself, by any natural resources whatever, bear fruit unto Me.' The only thing that can ever get through to God's end, and that can be in life - eternal, Divine, heavenly life - is that which proceeds from the Holy Spirit.

How sweeping that is! How that analyses and dissects everything! Of the things we say, for example, it continually presents the interrogation: 'Was that spoken in the Holy Spirit?' It is not enough to ask ourselves: 'Did I mean it well? Did I intend it for the Lord?' but: 'Was it said, was it done, in the Holy Spirit, or did I do it?' It is not a question of motive or of intention, but of the source from which we did it.

We have daily to recognize that our lives must be subject to the Holy Spirit, and when we are aware that there has been something of our own will, we have to be faithful before God about it. I believe that slowly and surely we shall come to the place where we live with that certain pause in our hearts which is a check on our impulsiveness, a check on rashness, a check on acting under excitement, a check on our own way of reasoning about things. That is a thing for the Holy Spirit to set up in us. Our business is to recognize that from centre to circumference our lives must be handed over to His control. The result will be that the Holy Spirit will all the time work back to the Cross. The Cross, once for all, settled that position in a comprehensive and detailed way. It stands for ever as God's judicial ban upon man by nature, in his unregenerate state. The Holy Spirit will work back to that with us.

Do recognize that the Cross is the end of the risen life, and not only the beginning. If you forget everything else, remember that. The Cross is the end of the risen life, as well as the beginning: "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed unto his death." People have been to me with Philippians 3 and have asked: 'Why did Paul put death at the end? Surely it ought to be right the other way round - "That I may be conformed to His death, and know Him in the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings"!' No, there is no mistake. The order is of the Holy Spirit. The power of His resurrection presupposes that there has been a death, but the very resurrection-life leads to the Cross. The Holy Spirit in the power of the risen life is always leading you back to the Cross, to conformity to His death. It is the very property of life to rule out all that belongs to death. It is the very power of resurrection to bring us back to the place where death is constantly overcome. That place is none other than the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ where the natural life is put aside. So Paul says: "...becoming conformed unto his death...", which means: to have the ground of death continuously and progressively removed; and that, again, as we have said, is the fruit of living union with Him. It would be a poor look-out for you and for me were we to be conformed to His death in entirety apart from the power of resurrection in us, apart from our already knowing the life of the Lord. Where would be our hope? What is it that is the power of our survival when the Cross is made more real in our experience? There would be no survival were it not that His risen life is in us. So Paul prays: "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection...", and that means conformity to His death without utter destruction. The end of the risen life is the Cross. The Holy Spirit is always working in relation to the Cross, in order that the power of His resurrection may be increasingly manifested in us.

This is the background of the whole question of life. I am sure, with a greater certainty today than ever, that the basis in us for life triumphant is the working of the Cross in the setting aside of all that which is natural. There is nothing more hated by the enemy than the Cross. Let us seek to free our minds from all false conceptions of the Cross! So often there has been this kind of reaction: 'Oh, it is the Cross; it is death, death, death! This working of the Cross in a subjective way is all the time leading to death!' That is why we have already mentioned that it is so important for us to recognize that it is not that death destroys us, but that it makes the way for a greater fullness of life. It is the positive side that we have to keep in mind; not the fact that we are constantly being ruled out, and ruled out, but rather that of necessity that is being done in order that He may come in, and come in, and come in. It is the life side which has to be kept uppermost, even in the working of the Cross with reference to what was set aside by God at Calvary.

Is your need, then, that of life? The Lord, in effect, says: 'Well, let us get this thing out of the way!' And when He gets that out of the way there is life. Do you want more life? Well, let us get this thing out of the way; and you have more life. You very rarely meet people who, having really laid themselves out before God for an increase of spiritual life, have not promptly gone into a very bad experience and had a difficult time. Have you ever come to the place where you have laid yourself out for that extra thing, that new thing, which God has been revealing to you, and not gone through some dark, trying and painful time? It is always so. It is not wrong. The Lord is only saying: 'Do you want that?' There is always something to be got out of the way. It may be that you want spiritual increase because it will make you a happier man. That motive will have to be got out of the way so that you want it, not for your own sake, but for His sake. If you go through a bad time, and the dominating element is self, you will say: 'Oh, well, it does not matter. I would rather not have it if it means this!' That is the selfish way of regarding it. But if you are in a dark time in relation to something, and you come to the place where you say: 'Well, whatever it costs, the Lord must have this thing in my life!' you have come there by way of Christ's victory. The Holy Spirit always brings that issue. It is life that He is after, and life more abundant, and this is alone realized by His bringing back and back to the Cross. The Cross is basic to life, because it was there that the Lord Jesus conquered death, and brought life forth for the saints. Calvary is victory, not defeat!

T. Austin Sparks

Jesus Christ, The Armor of God

2010-12-25T20:57:00.000-08:00

God's Word tells us to put on the "Full Armor of God". It is interesting when you look in God's Word to see what God tells us to "put on" and what he tells us to "put off".

Even Job understood what was meant to put on as it was communicated to Him by God's Spirit.

Job 29:14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem.

We see that Isaiah grasped this term also:

Isa 52:1 Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.

He is telling God's people to put on strength and put on thy beautiful garments (holiness).

As I read the Old Testament I often picture different writers of the New Testament reading the same thing that I am reading as the Holy Spirit uses them to pen an epistle to the Church.

And so, we come back to God's Armor.

I see Paul in my mind's eye reading and thinking about Isaiah 59 as he writes to the Ephesian Church about putting on the Full Armor of God.

Isa 59:17 For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke.

But what exactly is the "Full Armor of God" and how do we put it on? Normally, you put something on that is not intrinsically part of YOU, or a natural part of your body, your person. In other words, it is something that was not yours but rather, you acquired it, somehow. Otherwise, the Lord would not be telling us to put something on that was already a part of us.

We are told that if we put it (this armor) on we will be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. No other remedy is given to us to stand against the clever machinations of the enemy, except that we put on the full armor of God.

Eph 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Let's break down the armor and see what each piece is. We are told that this battle we are in is not against flesh and blood, therefore we should know that it won't be physical armor.

Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

So, then we are not talking about rifles, knives, hand grenades, shields or kevlar vests, are we?

Here are the different pieces of armor.

Eph 6:14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
Eph 6:15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Eph 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Eph 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

The Armor we Put On:

Belt of Truth
Breastplate of Righteousness
Gospel of Peace
Shield of Faith
Helmet of Salvation
Sword of the Spirit

When we break these down we see that our weapons, which the Bible says are "mighty to the pulling down of (spiritual) strongholds", are indeed, not physical weapons. Physical weapons are useless in a spiritual battle. The spiritual realm is not physical and therefore cannot be affected by physical weapons. The spiritual realm does, however, affect us in this spiritual world. And what we do in this physical world does affect us spiritually. Nevertheless, we cannot use physical weapons such as guns or bows and arrows to vanquish a spiritual foe or procure a spiritual victory.

2Co 10:4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds.

So now we see what the individual weapons are but let me show you how to simplify it even more.

Here is a clue for you if you are overwhelmed at how to put on all of these weapons.

It is called the "simplicity of Christ".

2Co 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

So, we are going to keep it simple, primarily because the Gospel of Jesus Christ is for all. If it was only for the intellectual then only educated people would be saved, but unfortunately, because the Gospel is so simple, it is usually the intellectuals that stumble over it's simplicity. Let's not stumble over the simplicity of the Good News.

Ok, back to each weapon.

First, the Belt of Truth. When you "put on" the Belt of Truth, you have to understand what is being referred to as Truth. Are we supposed to study all the false religions in the world in order to better separate what is false from what is true? Is this what will help us put on Truth?

This scripture should help. John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If Jesus is the Truth, then is it possible that somehow we are to put on Jesus?

The Breastplace of Righteousness is next. How do we put this on? Maybe it is by doing righteous works you might say? What does the following scripture mean to you?

1Co 1:30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

This verse from the Old Testament will help you further to understand the Righteousness that you are to "put on".

Jer 23:6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. If Jesus Christ is Righteousness, is it possible that we are to put on Jesus Christ?

The Gospel of Peace is the 3rd weapon we are to put on. How do you put on the "preparation of the Gospel of Peace". God's Word will give us the answer again.

Eph 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;

So far we are seeing that Truth, Righteousness and Peace are a Person. They are weapons that culminate in the Person of Jesus Christ.

The 4th weapon is Faith (the Shield of Faith). We know if we have faith we can "move a mountain", but how to you come by this faith? How do you obtain it and then increase it? In Ephesians we see that even faith is a gift from God.

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

And once again we even see that Faith is represented in the person of Jesus Christ.

Php 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

When God imparted Jesus Christ to you, and plunged you in Him, He plunged you into Faith.

That brings us to the Helmet of Salvation. I guess you are beginning to see by now that each spiritual weapon that we are told to put on, is referring to the person of Jesus Christ. So that means Salvation must be found in the person of Jesus Christ, also.

Let's see what God's Word says.

We see that God was trying to communicate to the Old Testament people that salvation was a Person.

Exo 15:2 The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him.

Job knew WHO was Salvation.
Job 13:16 He also shall be my salvation: for an hypocrite shall not come before him.

David knew Who Salvation was.
Psa 27:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

John the Baptist declared who Salvation was.
Luke 3:6 And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. (referring to the Messiah)

The old prophet Simeon, confessed that he had seen God's salvation when beholding the baby Jesus.
Luke 2:30 For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,

And Peter knew that Salvation was a Person.
Act 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under
heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

And finally, the Sword of the Spirit. Well you may have guessed it already that Jesus is that Sword.
Rev 2:16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. Yes, His Word that proceeds from His mouth is His Sword.

Heb 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

He is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of our hearts.

So, now we have all of these spiritual weapons and we see that all of these weapons actually point to Jesus Christ. Surprised? You shouldn't be. The more you walk with Jesus the more you will see that everything points to Him and any time you are being directed away from Him, alarms should go off in your head.

What can we conclude from all of these scriptures? We can conclude that to put on the whole armor of God is in reality to "put on" Christ. Is there a scripture for that? If there was, it would tie everything we have spoken about together in Christ.

I would say that Romans 13:14 is very much in keeping with the "simplicity that is in Christ".
But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Yes, put on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be clothed with righteousness and salvation. You are adorned with the the Lord and nothing else will suffice. Nothing or no one else can replace the Preeminent One.

Isa 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

Your next question is probably going to be, "How do I put on Christ"? That is a very important question, because the Word says, if we put on Christ then the flesh will have to provision to fulfil lusts and thereby cause us to lose battles. So, now that we know what the whole armor of God is (the person of Jesus Christ), we now need to see how we put on Jesus Christ.

Here are some clues that you can be thinking about.

Rom 13:12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of
the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Gal 3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

The Scriptures don't talk about being baptized into a specific church organization, or being baptized into a particular tradition, but being baptized into Christ. Have you been baptized into Jesus Christ?

If you have been baptized into Christ then you are a new man and old things have passed away. And so, by faith we are to walk in newness of life and put on this new man daily, which is to walk in faith, in Christ, each day.

Eph 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

Col 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

When someone says put away lying or put off lying, you know what they are saying. They are saying to stop lying.

Eph 4:25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.

The opposite is true when we are told to put on the full armor of God or to put on anything else such as bowels of mercy.

Col 3:12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;

This means that you are to walk in mercy, or show mercy in all your actions and conversation.

Putting off the flesh and putting on the Lord Jesus Christ (kindness, mercy, humility, etc), all come through the principle of the Cross in our lives. Without the cross that we are instructed by the Lord Jesus to to bear daily, we will not be able to overcome the lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.

It is through the principle of bearing the cross that we die daily and also walk in newness of life. As Jesus was in the world, so are we.

Christianity is not about anything else, except a Person. The Person of Jesus Christ. Your walk before God revolves around Jesus Christ. Not any man and certainly not yourself. Our communion and fellowship with God the Father is through His Son. The Holy Spirit will always point and direct you to Jesus Christ. If you feel that attention in your life is being focused on man, or doctrines or organizations or anything else, then you need to realize that the Enemy is a foot and trying to deceive you into putting off the things that need to be put on and putting on the things that you should be putting off.

So, put on the Lord Jesus daily, walk in Him, abide in Him and look to Him in all things.

Col 3:14 And above all these things put on charity (love, Jesus), which is the bond of perfectness.

by Rick Simoni

Spiritual Abuse and Christmas Trees

2010-12-22T09:40:00.001-08:00

Spiritual Abuse and Christmas Trees
By Eric M. Pazdziora

I think I finally figured out what Christmas trees are really about.

A while ago I found a blog article on the subject of our friend Mr. Tannenbaum. Apparently (the author observed) some folks believe that Christmas trees are pagan symbols that the church has adopted in sinful syncretism. They appeal to Scriptures such as Jeremiah 10 to support the idea: the passage describes trees being chopped down, decorated with precious metals, and worshiped by pagans ("A-ha!" chorus the neo-Scrooges).

Knowing a bit about interpreting Scripture in context, I smelled an opportunity
to cry "Humbug!" True, Jeremiah describes pagans chopping down trees for
idolatrous worship. But it also mentions the trees being "shaped by chisels"
into images of false gods like these. Those don't look much like Christmas trees
to me. Anyone for some eisegesis?

The underlying logic is even more significant. Follow it through: Idolaters once
used decorative trees to worship false gods. Therefore, anyone else who uses a
tree for decoration ever again must only be pagan.

Bah. Humbug.

I explained in another article in more detail exactly why this genre of
anti-Christmas rhetoric is so absurd. Pagans didn't make trees; God did. So even
if pine trees were once misused in pagan worship, it hardly follows that they
must always and for all time be unacceptable to people who believe that "only
God can make a tree."

But when a few outspoken commenters started chiming in to quarrel in favor of
that phony interpretation of the Bible, my Spiritual-Abuse-Survivor Sense
started tingling. Some people seem inordinately concerned with proving that the
majority of Christians are sinful pagan syncretists. Not that I'm in favor of
bringing paganism into the church, but somehow that obsession struck me as
suspiciously like a warning sign of Spiritual Abuse.

Next time you hear one of these Scrooges, pay close attention to the subtext:
* Everyone who doesn't believe precisely what we believe is unbiblical and
pagan! (Exclusivity, dogmatism, spiritual pride.)

* The vast majority of Christians are evil pagans, so you had better stick with
us if you want to please God! (Legalism, elitism, manipulation.)

* We have standards that you have to follow if you want to be holy, and if you
don't follow them you're an ungodly pagan! (Superiority, shame.)

* Your external actions and displays--whether or not you put up a Christmas
tree--are very important. (No mention of the grace of Christ.)
I could go on, but if you know about Spiritual Abuse, you've heard all this
stuff before. It's the classic, archetypal sign of abuse, and they're taking the
occasion of the birth of Christ to pull it out on us. Forget "Happy Holidays";
here's the real war on Christmas.

But, spiritual abuse awareness aside, what these sorts of people say about the
poor pine tree turns out to show the real message of the Gospel better than they
know....

The pagans used trees to sinfully honor their false gods instead of the Creator.
The devil influenced me to sinfully honor myself above my Creator.
The spiritual abusers say that, since the trees were used sinfully, they can
only ever be regarded as sinful. They said that about me too.

God says, "It may have been used sinfully, but I made it in the first place.
Don't you go calling anything I made unclean (Acts 10). If I made it good in the
first place, that means I can make it good again."

At one time the pagans chopped down a tree, cut it into pieces, and hung it with
metal to worship their false gods.

But another time some pagans chopped down a tree, cut it into pieces, and with
metal, hung something on it that redeemed our souls.
Jesus came into the world at Christmas to be hung on a tree.

Jesus was hung on a tree for the sins of the world, including idolatry.

Because of what happened with that chopped-down, metal-adorned tree, we are free
from the rules that say we can only ever be sinful.

Because of what happened with that chopped-down, metal-adorned tree, nobody can
ever say that God is about anything other than grace and forgiveness.

Because of what happened with that chopped-down, metal-adorned tree, anyone who
looks at a tree now can see not a symbol of idolatry, but an outward and visible
sign of the infinite grace of God.

Because of what happened with that chopped-down, metal-adorned tree, anyone who
looks at you now can see not a sinner, but someone who has been cleansed and
made new by the infinite grace of God.

The devil intended to use that tree for evil. The spiritual abusers say it could
only ever be evil. But God used that tree for the greatest good that has ever
happened.

The devil intended to use you for evil. The spiritual abusers say you can only
ever be evil. But God intends to use you for a greater good than you can
imagine.

The Christmas tree reminds us that everything God created is good.
The Christmas tree shows us that everything God does is gracious.
The Christmas tree tells us that you don't have to accept the label that you're
only a sinner.

And as for me, anything that makes legalists and abusers that upset is something
I'm glad to decorate my house with. The other reason Jesus came into the world,
of course, was to annoy the heck out of legalists.

Eric M. Pazdziora is a composer, pianist, author, and copyeditor. If you're
looking for a good Christmas present, you might pick up a copy of his CD New
Creation, which features original settings of hymns about grace performed by
Eric and his wife Carrie. For more of Eric's music and writings, visit his
website at http://www.ericpazdziora.com/.

Excerpt from "Tethered"

2010-12-07T19:58:00.000-08:00

I came across this book, and felt it worthy of consideration. Your thoughts?

From the new book TETHERED

by Tim Miller

In many cases the organizational structure of the church is hallowed ground for those who have become satisfied with spiritual lethargy and apathy. In their opinion, nothing is wrong with the church as long as their personal comfort zone is not challenged.

This predominant "me-ism" has ushered into being a very self-centered, self-reliant, faithless, prayerless, and powerless church---albeit very comfortable. The New Testament church was focused upon explosion, while today's traditional church is programmed for implosion.

We have organized ourselves for certain failure in fulfilling Christ's commission as we move in exactly the opposite direction He mandated. ...

Consider the typical traditional Sunday morning worship service. Remember, traditionalism leans heavily upon the past. Each week, many churches hold to the same identical format as they have been for decades. Consequently, they have a stand up---sit down ritual. The offering is received during the same time period in each service.

The only thing with fluidity is the songs they sing which seem to be repeated at least by-monthly. The sermon is preached followed by an invitation in most protestant congregations. Sunday evening follows the same type of format. Wednesday (or other midweek) evenings are little different and form varies from congregation to congregation.

Theoretically, it is quite possible to maintain this same format for years and years without ever seeing a significant movement of God. This type ritual is somehow supposed to invoke the presence of God into our midst. How could we have drifted into such dead repetitious form in order to seek the Lord?

The puzzling thing is hundreds and thousands of people seem to think (at least, in part) going through this ritual every week is what it means to be "Christian." Traditional repetition has a way of blinding the eyes and waxing cold the heart. Can anyone who practices this predictable cycle remember what it was like to truly be in the presence of God?

What happened to Moses during His experience with the burning bush? How about Isaiah when he saw the vision of heaven? What about Solomon when the glory of God fell upon the temple? What happened to Paul on the road to Damascus?

These events were hardly nonchalant or casual. God doesn't always move with such astonishing displays, but when He does move---when He is truly present---lives are forever changed---no one sleeps, and no one is bored. And although we should not live for these movements of God, I sure do not want to live "without" them.

Unfortunately, our systematic organization has replaced God's imminent presence. Spontaneity and sensitivity to the Spirit's leadership have been eclipsed by form and time constraints. While we sleep through our time honored traditions---people are perishing without Christ.

Tim Miller; excerpt from "Tethered"

The Foundations Under Attack

2010-12-04T20:04:00.000-08:00

The Foundations Under Attack - The Roots of Apostasy
by Michael de Semlyen

Spiritual Abuse in the Family

2010-11-20T14:53:00.000-08:00

Spiritual abuse occurs when someone in a position of spiritual authority, the purpose of which is to ‘come underneath’ and serve, build, equip and make God’s people MORE free, misuses that authority placing themselves over God’s people to control, coerce or manipulate them for seemingly Godly purposes which are really their own.

—Jeff VanVonderen, co-author of The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse

Spiritual abuse is one of the most devastating crimes committed against another human soul. Using the name of God to control the life, behavior, thoughts, and even the future of another is sin. One which, I believe, causes God to weep and rage with jealous fury.

To take His name in vain, and attach it to the doctrines of men, causes them to commit idolatry.

2 Corinthians 11:2-4 For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!

This is no light thing, and invites the wrath of God.

Thankfully, those who have experienced horrendous spiritual abuse within churches or other religious organizations have many resources designed to facilitate recovery. Tender shepherds, ministering healing to the brokenhearted within Christendom—hearts wounded in the sanctuary designed for nourishment, rest, and growth in Christ—have a special place, I believe, in the eyes of God.

But when this occurs within our homes, what then? Is it still Spiritual Abuse? Is it still as serious? Should it be addressed, or left between each family and God? What if you are biologically bound to those in leadership? If there is no evidence of mistreatment to the physical body, is it really called abuse? What about mistreatment of the soul and spirit? How do you answer when you are still a youth, told you are too young to discern truth, and to trust your elders? When questioning is treated as rebellion? How do you respond when you are a woman?

Father, Father!
Many authoritarian and patriocentric families promote isolationist ideology in an effort to withdraw from the world. The advocation of unworldliness and Christian Separation is compelling, resulting in many well-intentioned parents who become independent from the system and society—consequently, disconnected from healthy accountability. This often includes a wholesome, established church body. Acknowledging need for Biblical study and Christian exhortation and instruction in righteousness, the head of the family becomes the sole conduit for religious growth and guidance. It is a natural progression, as left unchecked and unaccountable, the role of spiritual leader becomes exploited, and grave ramifications take root.

According to David Henke who founded the Watchman Fellowship, spiritual abuse has five distinct characteristics: authoritarianism, image consciousness, suppression of criticism, perfectionistic standards, and imbalance in belief or practice. In the context of family, these features are particularly noxious, for a godly Christian family should be a haven, a place of safety. If it is not, then Jesus has strong words for those who cause others to stumble . . . "It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones." Luke 17:2

And to offend is to abuse.

Authoritarianism

Authoritarians exercise complete or almost complete control over the will of others, as well as favor complete obedience or subjection to authority as opposed to individual freedom.

In familial structure, authoritarianism happens when the parent—in patriarchal ideology, always the father—wields absolute control over his children. Thoughts, actions, decisions, desires are all subject to his will, often regardless of age. Plans for future, activities, clothing, books, even, to some extent, the food they eat, are governed by parental conviction. This may not always be carried out consistently, especially in large families—however the goal for absolute domination over the personhood of another, remains.

Many raised within an authoritarian environment—especially women—find it extremely difficult to make decisions later in life, particularly if they have been taught that their own thoughts and communication with God cannot be trusted, due to the deceptive nature of the heart. While the degree of authoritarianism is determined by such facets as personality, relationship with God and others, and personal dogma, typically authoritarian parents:

react rather than respond
are excessively demanding
require instant obedience and conformity, often without 4. explanation or with a "Because I am the dad!"
are intimidating and become angry, animated, or forceful
often communicate unreasonable expectations

convey unspoken messages such as: you are loved and / or accepted by me only when you perform the way I demand

disparage and discourage the emotional needs of their children

are restrictive and intrusive
do not respect boundaries

Contrast this with authoritative parenting, where the authority of a parent is inherently established by being who they are, rather than through austere insistence. It is believed that authoritative parents are a healthy balance between authoritarian and permissive styles.

Authoritative parents:

respond rather than react
have high but reasonable expectations
are assertive
practice healthy balance between discipline and nurture
are sensitive to the needs of their child, including the emotions

respect boundaries, including those of their children
encourage responsible decision-making while still under protection of the home

Christianliberties.com reminds us that:

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus (Matt 28:18).

Jesus alone is the Head of the church (John 5:26-27, Eph 1:22-23, Col 1:18).

God does not permit Christians to have controlling authority over other Christians in the church (see Matt 20:25-28, Mark 10:42-45, Luke 22:24-27, 1Pet 5:3, Matt 23:8-12, etc.).

We do not have multiple special high priests over us. There is only One High Priest, Jesus Christ (see Hebrews 3:1, 4:14).

We have One Master Christ and we are all brothers (see Matt 23: 8-12).

You cannot obey two masters; you will love the one and hate the other (Matt 6:24, Luke 6:13). You simply cannot obey Jesus as master and a pastor as master at the same time.
We must remember that all Christians, even those within an isolated family, are members of Christ—and therefore comprise the church. A father who makes himself prophet, priest and king is no less liable for his actions than a pastor for his flock. And what is done to the least of these is done also to the Lord of heaven and earth—He does not take this lightly.

Image Consciousness

Spiritually abusive families place undue emphasis on how things look. This is taken by proof-texting a popular KJV verse: Abstain from all appearance of evil. 1 Thess. 5:22 Responsive or initiative actions are weighed according to how they might appear to someone else—believer or not—regardless of actual truth. Image conscious "Christian living" counters the gospel and ministry of Christ, evidenced by the fact that Jesus Himself appeared with prostitutes, gluttons, and drunkards. Appealing to "your witness" emphasizes appearance over truth and heart. Jesus concerned Himself with heart and truth, not appearance.

Suppression of Criticism

To question is rebellion within authoritarian, spiritually abusive families. Children, even adult offspring, who raise issues or inquiries regarding beliefs, convictions, and way of life or doctrine, are perceived as a challenge to authority, a threat to family values.

A common reason for this view is the element of influence among members of the family—specifically, brothers and sisters. For the proliferation of established creed, any challenge is detrimental, for it enables seeds of doubt or uncertainty to become planted into the minds of others. If all were to question the leader, his power and influence becomes undermined, weakened. As preventative, the challenger becomes the errant one, the problem, the black sheep, the prodigal child, the wayward one—possibly even considered unsaved, or shunned.

However, questioning is a healthy way to grow and discover what is righteous and true. Test all things; hold fast what is good. 1 Thess. 5:21

Perfectionistic standards

". . . but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:15,16

To "prove" the success of patriocentric parenting, it is critical for mothers and fathers to have perfect children. Although verbal protests arise—"Nobody is perfect except God", for example—in actuality, families rife with unspoken messages use performance-based love as subtle coercion. "Responsible" parents dangle approval or affection before a child, to achieve desired results—thus validating the right-ness of a chosen lifestyle. In reality, this is behavior control—manipulation. But holy living—"God's way" or the "biblical way"—accumulates many regulations, so parents believe extreme control is justified as instruction in righteousness and "training up in the admonition of the Lord." The foolishness of children is taught with gusto—stark contrast, however, to the serious warning of Jesus.

Parents who demand perfect adherence to established dogma end up re-creating God in their image, laying the foundation for grave theological and relational errors in the hearts of their children. When perfection is demanded throughout formative years, children have no true example of humility, godliness, or truth. Failure is anathema—there is no grace within a spiritually abusive system, and little faith.

Appealing to fear—fear of hell, fear of disappointing parents or God, fear of the world, fear of the flesh—is another method of behavior control with attempts to ensure perfection. In addition to subtle condemnation for questioning, challenging, and other understood 'misbehavior', further error is {often silently} promoted: that the spiritual head alone hears from God and interprets truth, for those within his care are not able to accurately discern any matter which may contradict the accepted family creed. Those who do, or attempt to do so, are labeled rebellious, and humiliated.

As a result, truth is suppressed in unrighteousness, for all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.

The pursuit of holy conduct has inspired centuries of debate, reformation, creed, conviction, and judgment. Legalism has reigned through religion since the institution of religion itself. Peter teaches, however, that true holy conduct is not based on works at all.

Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Imbalance

Spiritually abusive families retain severe lack of balance. Many claim a special grasp on truth, or God, that is not shared by others even within the Christian faith. Some claim to be more holy, more enlightened—perhaps not in words, but subtle inferences cast this conjecture upon others who may feel less-righteous by certain standards. Proponents suggest that this is conviction, yet true conviction is the work of the Holy Spirit and leads to salvation, whereas the sorrow of the world leads to death. It could be death of relationship, death of joy, death of spiritual growth. Imbalance, or extremism, rarely produces any godly fruit.

Other aspects of imbalance are manifested as spiritually abusive families frequently downplay the importance of evangelism, or elevate Mosaic Law despite the sacrificial work of Jesus.

Biblical Response to Spiritual Abuse in the Family

Ezekiel 34:2-4 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God to the shepherds: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them."

Authoritarianism and religious abuse never, ever, ever have a place within a true, godly home.

When your father is your shepherd, when your father does not feed you or strengthen you when you are weak, nor heal you when you are sick, nor bind up your broken places, nor bring you back when you are driven away, nor seek you when you are lost—dear sister, you have been gravely, inexorably wounded.

When your father is your shepherd-who-slaughters, a leader who weakens your heart and faith, who brings sickness to your soul, who drives you away, who makes you lose your way, who rules you with force and cruelty—you have been injured in ways that slash marks upon your heart, possibly even marks upon your skin.

When God's name is used to hurt the ones created in His image, when His name and nature, when righteousness and the Bible, are distorted, when things that are not of God are made to be so, when sacred pillars become erected in the heart, we witness the rise of idolatry. When we serve and follow anything that is not God, we sin. When your father has taken the name of God in vain, and used it against you, to control, manipulate, and to harm you, he will answer to the Lord who says it would be better for him to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Lean not on your own understanding

We who are indwelt with the Holy Spirit have the Spirit of God leading us unto truth. We must examine our hearts, and forgive, lest bitterness take root and poison our love and faith. However, forgiveness does not make abuse okay. Forgiveness does not miraculously wipe away the pain we feel.

As adult women, we must acknowledge our Lord in all our ways, and He will direct our paths. We cannot blame our parents, our fathers, even our husbands in patriocentric families. Just as we are to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, and as we are able to approach the throne of grace directly, through the work of Jesus needing no other mediator, we are also responsible for our own hearts, our own attitudes, and what we do with our own hurts—the pain we feel, the abuses we sustain.

We can pursue truth, with vehemence, determination, and passion. We can seek wholeness, and understand why we struggle, why we ache, why we have wounds which need healing. We can throw ourselves at the feet of Jesus and writhe and weep and rage, for He will not turn us away or tell us we are not perfect enough. We can live, and flourish, and become His hands to the ones who come behind.

For Jesus' love is messy love. His hands are bloody and He is not afraid of darkness. He does not heap oppression on our souls or give us more to do. He Himself leaves the flock to seek us, lost in our sin, and rejoices when He finds us. He is the Healer of the Broken, who binds our wounds.

He is the good Shepherd.

What now?

For those of you haunted and wounded through a spiritually abusive family, one thing essential to understand is that God does not condone what has been done in His name. It is also important to acknowledge that true abuse has occurred; until then, denial will prevent lasting healing—for denial perpetuates falsehood and suppresses truth.

The journey to healing is as personal as we are, for God meets us in our pain and gently guides our paths. Begin with the basics—God, His Son, and the cross. Offer to Him everything else you have always believed so that He may redeem your mind, thoughts, beliefs, heart, and your years. He can separate the wheat from the chaff, even within your mind. This takes courage—for it is when we are faced with questioning—challenging—everything we have always believed, that we discover how often we place faith in things that are not living. When everything falls away, and we stand naked before our God, He can restore, renew, and rebuild the foundations of our lives. And be patient—learn to let yourself feel, for it is crucial to mourn that which is lost. God Himself feels, expressing wrath, jealousy, sadness, joy, and love. You will likely feel anger, betrayal, distrust, grief. It takes time to heal, but His mercies are new every morning.

The journey out of darkness is a pilgrimage to the true, Living God.

It is a journey to life.

John 10:9-11
I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 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.
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.

Taken from:
http://www.quiveringdaughters.com/2009/08/spiritual-abuse-in-family_01.html

Bill Gothard Teachings

2010-11-17T05:46:00.000-08:00

We have many that live around us that promote IBLP and Bill Gothard. I was so concerned by some of their practices that I looked for a book where his teachings would be checked out and it was hard to find one, but then I did, and it was a gem. The name of the book is "A Matter of Basic Principles, Bill Gothard and the Christian Life" and it answered all my questions and confirmed the red flags that we saw and more.

There is always truth mixed with error otherwise the error would not be accepted.

A thoroughly documented book. I was very impressed by the spirit of good will it was written in, to warn others and also to correct Bill.

When I was looking into IBLP about 5 years ago, there was not much on the Internet about him. But just recently I googled "Bill Gothard Teachings" and was shocked to find all the links out there exposing his teachings and warning people about them.

Here are some:

The Dangerous Leanings of Bill Gothard’s
Teachings

Bill Gothard - General Teachings/Activities

The Blinding and Binding Teachings of Bill Gothard

Basic and Advanced Concerns for the Teaching of Bill Gothard

BENEVOLENT MINISTRY or BONDAGE MAKING?

An Evening with Bill Gothard

More links:
http://www.google.com/search?q=bill+gothard+teachings&hl=en&rlz=1I7GGLL_en&prmd=o&ei=NpzXTM_fK8HflgfJktH9CA&start=30&sa=N

Several on this page.
http://www.midwestoutreach.org/02-Information/02-OnlineReference/04-Etc/01-TheJournal/index.html

http://www.midwestoutreach.org/02-Information/01-AvailableResources/GothardBookEndorsements.html

After my wife and I read this book, we understood much better why the Gothardites around us did what they did. We also understood the subtle art of control hiding behind "Biblical Patriarchy

The Shunammite Woman II - Spiritual Fullness

2010-10-26T05:28:00.000-07:00

The Shunammite Woman II – Spiritual Fullness
II Kings 8:1-6

The intriguing story of the Shunammite woman seemingly ended with her son brought back to life in II Kings 4:37. All’s well that ends well. Then she unexpectedly
resurfaced again in chapter 8 with a backdrop of severe famine in the land.

The chapter opens with Elisha asking the woman to flee with her household from an impending seven-year famine. She followed the man of God’s advice and “went with her household” and dwelt in the land of the Philistines for seven years (8:2).

Then the very next verse addresses her return from sojourn. The story omits all the details of the entire seven years as though nothing happened during the time when
the family of three lived in the territory of the Philistines.

But, as we discussed previously, much of the significance, or “greatness,” lies not with the Shunammite woman’s words or deeds; it is hidden in the unspoken.

First of all, it was the Shunammite woman with whom the prophet communicated both in chapter 4 and chapter 8. Her husband, no doubt a good man, never took part in the conversation. True fellowship that hits the mark is from deep unto deep, or from spirit to spirit. No doubt, the Shunammite woman has spiritual depth and discernment to facilitate fellowship with the prophet.

There is nothing quite as uplifting as fellowshipping with brethren who are full of Christ and full of spiritual insight. But I also remember times when elderly and
spiritually matured brothers’ fellowship flew right over my head. There were other times when I received email from seeking brothers and sisters who lamented that no
one in their respective congregations understood a word they were saying – it was as if they spoke in a foreign language.

The problem is not a lack of knowledge, but a lack of spiritual depth. Knowledge comes by relatively easily; spiritual depth is gained only by yielding to the work of the cross. One of the deficiencies of seminaries, trainings, or any mass-production schemes is the emphasis on turning out pupils, followers, and workers without turning on their spiritual depth. The kingdom of God is not going to be won by brethren unified in knowledge and walking in lockstep, but by common folk who have had their spiritual depth turned on.

This is not to say, however, that saints with spiritual depth should only fellowship with kindred spirits, but never attempt to communicate with spiritual novices. If it were so, then none of us would have the light we have today. If Jesus were such, He would not have spoken to His largely clueless disciples, and we’d all be doomed to
darkness.

Spiritual depth does not necessarily refer to stoic or somber demeanor, or men and women walking around with a Bible tucked under their arm while a halo floats above
their head. In fact, it is a joy to talk to simple believers who just love the Lord. A simple greeting from a child always warms my heart. A hand drawn card with squiggly notes handed to my wife during her time of physical affliction often moved us both greatly. It seems that the Lord comes through simple folk much more easily than sophisticated folk. May the Lord help us return to simplicity.

Take our precious Shunammite woman for example. She received and understood Elisha’s fellowship, and she must have shared it with her husband also, as we saw in
chapter 4. Here in chapter 8, her fellowship with her husband is hidden in the unspoken. Notice that Elisha told her, not her husband, about the impending famine,
but she went “with her household” to the land of the Philistines (v. 2). Undoubtedly, her husband took the lead on account of her fellowship, and she merely followed – it’s a beautiful picture of fellowship, isn’t it?

We have to give the Shunammite’s husband tribute for being a simple person with an open heart for fellowship. Though not shown to possess spiritual depth, he gladly received his wife’s fellowship time and time again without reservation. As a result of this openness, the entire household received blessings.

As we consider the attributes of the Shunammite woman, her husband’s simplicity and openness to receive fellowship should not be minimized. In a day and age when
spiritual knowledge is easily accessible through books and the Internet, everyone seems to be fortified and puffed up with many spiritual concepts which prevent open
and uncluttered fellowship. To have the Shunammite’s husband’s simplicity and openness would be a great blessing indeed!

Then, an interesting thing happened. Instead of the woman returning with her household, it simply says, “the woman returned from the land of the Philistines.” And not only so, but we read that “she went to the king to make an appeal for her house and for her land” (v. 3). Given the Shunammite woman’s spiritual depth and maturity, something extraordinary must have happened during those seven years for her to take the lead in coming home, and to make an appeal before the king for her house and for her land!

Hidden in the unspoken is that her husband must have died during the seven-year sojourn in the land of the Philistines, leaving the Shunammite woman alone to lead
the family back and appeal to the king with only her son in tow (vv. 3 & 5).

How can we prove that her husband died during those seven years? The first clue is that her husband is “old” (4:14). Then we know from history of the Old Testament
that the Philistines are perennially arch-enemies of God’s people. So it’s not hard to imagine the physical and emotional stress this old man must have endured in having to move his entire family to resettle in the harsh conditions of a repressive ruler in a strange land.

Perhaps a small window is open so that we can see something of the tremendous sufferings this Shunammite woman must have endured during those seven years of exile, i.e. the famine, the move, the resettlement in enemy’s land, and ultimately, the loss of her husband.

There is reason to believe that the Holy Spirit broke the continuity of the Shunammite’s story into two parts (II Kings 4:8-37 & II Kings 8:1-6) with more than three chapters of unrelated stories in between to show us just how dark the situation was and how dire the sufferings were.

II Kings 4:38 begins to detail different aspects of the suffering. There was the “wild gourds” that became “death in the pot.” There was the feeding of one hundred hungry men. There was Naaman’s leprosy and Gehazi’s greed. There was the meager living condition of the “sons of the prophets.” There were wars. There were famines. Folks were driven to do the unspeakable, even to cannibalism!

Then, out of all these horrendously dark and gruesome tragedies emerges a pure, simple and humble woman who has herself undergone afflictions and tragedies yet seems to have been untouched and undaunted by any of them. There is simply no mention of the woman’s sufferings, hint of her groaning, or even a murmur of any kind throughout the story. Although her beloved and only son suddenly died in her lap, she conducted herself in perfect calmness. It reminds me of Daniel’s three friends who were thrown into a fiery furnace that was intensified seven times. When they came out, there was not so much as the smell of smoke on them.

Many Christians cringe at the slightest hint of God’s dealing. They miss many golden opportunities to allow the Lord to deepen them from within and constitute them with
the Lamb’s humble nature and character. The greatest blessings are often, if not always, hidden under rough disguises.

On the other hand, many teachers ministering on the subject of the cross must take heed lest their sharing does not match their inner constitution which has to have been molded and conformed to Christ’s image before the message can become a blessing.

I appreciate what the Holy Spirit intends to show us in presenting the other stories found in chapters 4, 5, 6 and 7 before returning to consummate the story of this
precious Shunammite woman. As we have seen in these chapters, when suffering, starvation and the terrors of war come, God’s people struggle in despair for deliverance. We hear their collective cry, “There is death in the pot!” But in stark contrast, our Shunammite woman, having yielded herself to the Lord, calmly stands as a fragrant aroma in the midst of horrendous situations that no amount of teaching or human endeavor can alter. She needs not shout, lecture or even speak much; her being emanates the reality of the cross, not just her words – this, dear friends, is what makes the Shunammite woman “great.”

Un-molested, unaffected, and unafraid through all the turbulent tribulations, our brave Shunammite woman stands quietly and humbly before the king to appeal for what was once her husband’s, now hers, home and land. There was no thought of regret for not taking Elisha’s offer seven years prior in asking for a favor before the king (II Kings 4:13) which would have made it easy now to get her house and land
back. But then she would have owed a huge debt of favor to the king that might encumber her and her family for the rest of her life, not to mention the effect such a course would have had on her spiritual stature.

We can learn a lesson from the Shunammite woman with regard to our relationship with our earthly “king” (leaders). Let it be a sobering warning that we should always be careful in seeking to develop a special relationship with our spiritual leaders. Our relationship horizontally, with one another, should be the result of our relationship with the Lord vertically. Excessive reliance upon a leader, especially a well respected one, will develop into an undue loyalty to him, and many leaders exploit this loyalty to manipulate innocent flock.

But there is no such danger with our Shunammite woman who put the Lord before the king and declined Elisha’s offer of seeking favor from him in chapter 4.

It is interesting to note that in chapter 8, the Shunammite's son stands by her side as her silent testimony of life. Many are those who labor in the vineyard of the Lord. Many are those who stake a claim in the land of God’s kingdom. Many are those who believe they have a position in the household of God’s people. But the crucial
question remains, Do they have a silent testimony of life by their side?

When the King of kings returns in His glory, we must all stand before Him. Many may lay claim before Him concerning the "great works" and "mighty miracles" which they claim to have done "in His name". But if the silent testimony of divine Life is missing, a Life known only through experiencing His death and resurrection, the Lord may say to them, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness."
(Matthew 7:23).

How, then, is this silent testimony of life acquired? Remember the Shunammite woman.

Only God's sovereign grace could have arranged the conversation between Gehazi and the king, and the timely appearance of the Shunammite before the king. God moves, through the king, to restore not only her former house and land, but also all that the land has produced since the time that she left! This, dear friends, is none other than spiritual fullness.

In everything the Shunammite woman did, we see Christ. We see Christ speaking in and through her. We see Christ manifested in and through her words and actions. It
was the cross of Christ operating in her that sent forth a sweet aroma of His death. It was her experience of Christ's cross that gave depth and meaning to her sufferings. It was also the cross of Christ that brought forth a resurrected son – the silent testimony of resurrection life. Finally, it was that same cross of Christ that ushered her into spiritual fullness.

O, that we would echo Paul’s longing and prayer that the body of Christ might be built up "until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith, at the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."
Amen!

Oliver Peng
Feb. 2, 2010

The Shunammite Woman - I

2010-10-24T06:48:00.001-07:00

The Shunammite Woman
II Kings 4:8-37

The Shunammite woman intrigues me.

The Scriptures call her a “great” (Lit.) woman (II Kings 4:8). To my
recollection, there are not many people worthy of being called “great” in
the word of God. Upon closer examination, she didn’t seem to have
accomplished much of anything that can justify her with this accolade. The
few things we are told that she did were 1) inviting Elisha for a meal every
time he passed by, 2) asking her husband to build a small upper chamber
for Elisha to rest, and 3) informing Elisha of her son’s death.

She is a woman of few words. The few times that she did speak, her
words were all very simple. There were no high-sounding, eloquently
presented, spiritually embellished or theologically profound phrases.

I think the Lord left much of the unspoken to the capable hand of the Holy
Spirit to reveal it to the simple and hungry hearts yearning for Himself.
Herein lies the first lesson for us. Too many of today’s preachers rely on
their eloquence and presentation to weave an airtight sermon complete
with PowerPoint, dramatization, research, and high-sounding catchy
phrases designed to impress their audience. Nothing is left to the Holy
Spirit who alone can invigorate and captivate the hearts of men.

To a certain extent, Christians in general have also embarked upon this
psyche in employing high-sounding and spiritually garnished phrases in
talking to each other. Folks often want to be viewed as being spiritual.
Worse yet, those in leadership positions encourage this type of behavior to
the detriment of the proper growth of younger believers.

Our Shunammite woman did not become “great” by listening to or following
Elisha’s preaching. In fact, she was not Elisha’s target audience at all.
Elisha merely “passed by” her house on his way to somewhere else.

It seems clear that there is an urgent need among Christians to reconsider
the whole idea of sitting passively listening to sermons preached to them
week in and week out. Don’t misunderstand. Genuine prophetic ministry
is a rarity these days and sorely needed. It’s the unscriptural spoon-
feeding of the congregation Sunday after Sunday that has crippled the
body of Christ. Take a hint from our humble Shunammite woman.

She must have had many dealings with the Lord and grown to understand
spiritual things as a result. For one thing, we learned that she has no son
(v. 14). We know from the example of Hannah, as well as through our
knowledge of the Hebrew culture, that a son is highly desired in every
Hebrew family. Just her barrenness must have been a tremendous
dealing from the Lord.

Dealings from the Lord are precious and constructive. As long as we have
the right frame of mind, it’s impossible to have such dealings without being
impacted and changed by the Lord in terms of our spiritual growth and
transformation – just look at Jacob, David, Peter, John, Mary Magdalene,
Paul, to name just a few.

I think we can establish that the Shunammite woman is “great” not by what
she did, but by what she has become as a dealt-with and yielded vessel in
the hand of the Lord. May we all learn to embrace the Lord’s hand and
treasure His dealings.

The first thing she did was to persuade Elisha to stop by her house to eat
some food. An evidence of a person’s wealth is his abundance of food.
Since our Shunammite woman is one who has learned yieldedness, she is
rich in spiritual abundance. Throughout church history, the person with
the deepest brokenness yields the rarest fragrance. And we know that a
person's usefulness is always a function of their overflowing fragrance of
Christ, not their zeal or ability.

Many Christians are zealous for service; few have found the secret. Miss
Margaret E. Barber taught the young and zealous Watchman Nee that the
first thing he needed to learn about serving God is to not serve God.
Service is not a function of what we can do for God; it is an extension of
what we have become in the hand of God. The process of becoming a
useful vessel is the hard part. Serving is the easy part, once we’ve
learned to yield and surrender.

This is why the Shunammite woman is “great” – she as a yielded vessel is
rich with surplus food – the abundance of the experience and reality of
Christ.

The picture of her sharing food with Elisha should also translate to our
fellowship and relationship with each other. Fellowship and relationship is
about sharing Christ. To share Christ, we must first experience Christ.
Then, we must learn to yield to His dealings, the more the better.

Notice that the Shunammite did not stop at providing food. She also asked
her husband to build a little walled upper chamber and furnish it as a
resting place for Elisha.

Now a point about her spiritual perception should be considered too. She
said to her husband, “Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God
passing by…” (v. 9). Spiritual perception, or discernment, is an extension
of spiritual maturity. Spiritually matured believers have discernment that
younger believers do not have. Less matured ones often fall for what is
visually enticing and soulishly exciting, but lack discernment to grasp the
real situation.

In the Shunammite’s case, her spiritual discernment played a significant
part in providing for the next level of fellowship: building an upper chamber
for rest.

Sometimes we encounter brethren who appear to be calm on the surface,
but under the facade they may be in great distress and turmoil.
Discernment is required before we can usher our brothers and sisters out
of their turmoil into rest. Again, the only way spiritual discernment can be
acquired is through yielding to the Lord’s dealings. Jacob is a case in
point. Everyone knows that he encountered numerous dealings. But it
wasn’t until he learned to yield to the hand of the Lord that he finally
acquired real spiritual discernment.

Notice that when Jacob was old, weak and nearly blind, he knew what he
was doing when he crossed his hands and blessed Joseph's younger son
above the eldest. What did he say when Joseph protested? "I know, my
son, I know . . . " (Gen 48:17-19). Spiritual sight gave blind, but matured,
Jacob better discernment than the natural sharp sight of Joseph. Such
spiritual insight is never deceived.

In the Shunammite woman’s case, her abundance enabled her to provide
food for Elisha, and then her discernment ultimately resulted in a resting
place for him as well.

It is important to see a spiritual progression here. In our walk with the Lord
we sometimes enjoy mountain-top experiences; at other times we languish
in the valleys. Through it all, we gradually learn to yield and surrender to
the Lord who graciously enlarges our spiritual capacity with more and more
of Himself which becomes the “food” we share with others. Then,
ultimately, our fellowship (sharing) should usher us into a rest in Christ.
And this is where spiritual discernment comes in, enabling us to know each
other’s needs and draw from our riches of Christ to meet those needs.
Once the riches of Christ have been enjoyed and assimilated, we enter
into rest.

Now we can begin to understand the importance of discernment. It is the
means that enables us to share with each other the Christ who has been
wrought in us, ushering us into rest. How we need spiritual discernment in
order to help our brothers and sisters find rest!

Not only are there deeply troubling personal issues that beset our precious
brothers and sisters, there are a horde of Christian movements, cults and
churches each claiming to be the fulfillment of God’s ultimate desire. Most
of these groups lift up either certain leaders or teachings and practices that
distinguish them from all others. They all have one thing in common – they
focus on the church, or their group, as the ultimate rest instead of Christ
Himself.

Now, let’s consider the building project in the Shunammite woman’s
household. Notice it is an “upper chamber” (v. 10). It cannot be just an
add-on to the existing house, but an elevated upper chamber. Interesting.

The best efforts and noblest intentions of men can only produce an add-on
to the ground level of the house. An "upper chamber," on the other hand,
is in another realm altogether. It is something of a heavenly and spiritual
nature. It is something that is Spirit-wrought through yielded vessels.

There is no shortage of gifted and powerful Christian leaders who
discovered God’s ways for the organic gathering of His church. The
problem is that their building project usually leads to just an add-on to the
ground floor. The “upper chamber” is what will set the real rest in Christ
apart from all the imitations.

Anytime the unique centrality of Christ is replaced, rest is gone. It is not
difficult to find many enlightened believers trumpeting a return to the Early
Church-inspired organic church patterned after the book of Acts in the
New Testament. It’s also easy to talk about the “centrality and supremacy
of Christ,” and many do give a fine talk. But the real issue is whether
Christ Himself is the Rest – or is there a subtle emphasis on church, certain
teachings and practices, or leaders? Discernment – may the Lord grant us
discernment.

So far, we have seen, through the Shunammite woman, what normal
Christian fellowship and relationship ought to be. It is caring for and
sharing the riches of Christ with each other. It is having discernment which
will help usher others into an “upper chamber” of rest in Christ.

Now let’s consider Elisha’s fellowship with the Shunammite.

Elisha asks, “What can I do for you? Would you be spoken for to the king
or to the captain of the army?” (v. 13).

We have to love the Shunammite woman’s answer, “I live among my own
people” (v. 13). What simplicity! What contentment! Leave the great
movements to the movers and the shakers. Let their anointed “kings” and
“captains” have their moment in the sun. Movements come and
movements go, but at the end of the day, we all have to find our “own
people” to dwell with, don’t we?

Those caught in a movement will be disappointed sooner or later. And
better sooner than later – I am speaking from my own experience.

We can render a great help to our precious brothers and sisters who are
caught in such "movements" by helping them find their "own people." How
can you tell when you have found your "own people"? It is simple. There
will be no "king," no "captain of the army"! In other words, there will be no
authoritarian figures, imposing their rules and regulations upon you, to
keep you "in line." No man demanding honor; all honor goes to God.
Make no mistake, ultimately the only authority is God Himself. How sad
that many ambitious and gifted men seek to set themselves up as "kings"
and demand that all in their "kingdom" submit to them. It seems such men
have no rest until they have corralled a following of "sheep" who are willing
to be dominated by them and to listen to no other voice.

Isn’t this extremely revealing of our precious Shunammite woman’s real
character? She has no desire for success, fame, riches, favor, power or
glory – all the things that carnal (and religious) men relentlessly pursue
after. Now this has to be another proof that, through many dealings, she
has learned to yield and surrender to the Lord.

Many enlightened brothers and sisters pursue a dream church and thus
they skip from church to church. They have no rest until they find it – but
they won’t. I recall the words of one wise brother: “The church was perfect
until you showed up.” What a poignant reminder to all those who have
their eyes fixed upon the church instead of Christ! Pursuing church –
dream church or otherwise – will only lead to heartaches and
disappointments. Pursuing Christ will lead us to “living among our own
people” – where, I might add, Christ is the King.

The Shunammite’s words are so simple yet profound, “I live among my
own people.” May the Lord grant us to find simple brothers and sisters
who desire to live under the headship of Christ in simplicity.

Then comes the single most precious element of fellowship – sonship.
Since the Shunammite “has no son and her husband is old” (v. 14),
Elisha’s burden and fellowship for her is to usher her into sonship.

There is no other element more precious than the formation of sonship.
Paul said to the Galatians, “My little children for whom I travail again until
Christ be formed in you” (Gal. 4:19). It is every parent’s desire that their
child grows into adulthood. It is no different in the spiritual realm.

The writer of Hebrews differentiates the “babe in Christ” who can only
partake of milk from the “mature” who can partake of “solid food” (Heb 5:
13-14). Without a doubt, it is only the mature "sons" who are qualified to
bear the ark of the true testimony of God.

Notice what Elisha said, “At this season next year, you shall embrace a
son” (v. 16). Sonship is not an instantaneous thing. It takes both time and
travail. Someone said very well, “The conversion of sinners takes a
moment; the construction of saints takes a lifetime.” Sonship requires a
lifetime. A son is not formed miraculously; it takes both time and
tribulation.

Paul said that the Lord, as the Captain of our salvation, was made perfect
through sufferings, and that He will lead “many sons” into glory (Heb. 2:
10). It is sons that the Lord is after, not babes in Christ.

Since the sons represent spiritual maturity, it is the one thing God’s enemy
hates the most, and it is just here that the spiritual warfare rages the
fiercest. No wonder we read in II Kings 4 that the woman's son suddenly
died, apparently without cause. No doubt, this is an attack from God's
enemy to destroy sonship.

Now we get a glimpse of the Shunammite’s true “greatness.” Notice how
calm and collected she is even when her son has died right in her lap.
She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God (in the upper
chamber), and shut the door behind her. She recognized that she was in a
spiritual battle, and she knew it must be fought in the heavenly realm – in
the "upper chamber.”

The problem with many Christians who encounter warfare is that they put
the problem on the ground floor instead of taking it “upstairs.” Paul said
we fight not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers
in the heavenly places. Once we position the battle in the proper place,
that is, recognizing its spiritual nature, the battle is half won.

Then we must make a beeline to our “Elisha,” a figure of Christ. And just
how does our “Elisha” fight this battle? By zapping the enemy with legions
of angels? By a snap of His fingers?

By His Cross.

Elisha’s laying himself on and identifying with the dead corpse is a
prefigure of Christ identifying Himself with sinful mankind and entering fully
(mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands) into death.

The cross is a sign of weakness. Man conquers his enemy by strength;
God conquers His enemy by weakness. Our only way to resurrection life
and victory is through the Cross.

It might be funny – if it were not so sad – that the message of the Cross has
been preached for centuries, but those who claim to be the church, who
claim to be enlightened as to how to practice the church life, still are not
willing to take the cross.

I think I’ll return to living among my own people….

Oliver Peng
Jan. 18, 2010

The Great Falling Away, Today

2010-10-16T20:26:00.000-07:00

Many Christians believe we are living in a time of one of the greatest revivals in the history of the Church. Evangelism reports from around the world seem to substantiate this claim. Manifestations of supernatural gifts, signs and wonders are commonplace in a large percentage of churches. They are widely proclaimed as being from the Lord and proof that God is well pleased with the Church today. Ministries are expanding into mass media evangelism which spans the globe. Evangelistic and charismatic groups are experiencing tremendous numerical growth as new buildings can be seen springing up and spreading out in almost every direction. All of these things would seem to refute the remote possibility that we are now living in the time of the great falling away of the Church: a falling away from true faith and the life-style which God demands of His people and which is taught in scripture. Instead, multitudes of church members say they are eagerly anticipating the return of Christ through a secret rapture which will whisk them out of every trial and tribulation which is obviously coming upon the world. However, when close investigation is made of the personal lives of the church members, we find little difference between most of their life-styles and those of the people in the world. Divorce, adultery, homosexuality, gossip, unforgiveness, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, and factions are as prevalent in the churches today as they are in the world.

Almost any pastor or church leader you talk to privately will admit that down inside he knows something is desperately wrong. Many people wander from church to church looking for something they know they are missing. The message of "peace and safety" being preached cannot put an end to their inner turmoil. They discern the spiritual emptiness in religious traditions and often fall prey to cults and sects that draw them away from Jesus Christ and the Word of God altogether. Others are looking for the true body of Christ which they know is supposed to be "holy and blameless." People easily become disillusioned when they see in the Church what they see in the world. Churches have turned to recreation and entertainment in an attempt to hold the people, becoming more and more like the world. Rather than select a pastor on the basis of his spiritual maturity and understanding, they choose a man based on his fund-raising ability and his charismatic personality to attract people in order to increase the size of the congregation and "build the church." Counseling ministries flourish as the message proclaimed by the churches is not sufficient to meet the needs of the spiritually hungry and desperate people. Many pastors, looking for answers, have investigated other denominations and groups (sometimes secretly for fear of being labeled disloyal to their denomination), only to be disappointed to find the other groups have similar spiritual problems. In the midst of this day of people searching for answers, we should recognize that we are now experiencing what the Lord promised would come. "'Behold, days are coming,' declares the Lord God, 'when I will send a famine on the land, not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, but rather for hearing the words of the Lord. And people will stagger (in spiritual darkness) from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they will go to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.'" Amos 8:11, 12. While this famine continues, the Lord has begun to awaken His sheep and reveal to them the essential truths from His Word that have been overlooked and ignored. God did not find it necessary to cooperate with the requirements of religious systems in order to reveal His truths in the time of Jesus. That has not changed. God has begun restoring the power and truth of the gospel today. This is the day that will see the glory and power of God coming to earth into His Church which will be "holy and blameless."

The Great Falling Away, Today! by Milton Green

The Song of the Remnant

2010-10-12T10:12:00.000-07:00

This is long, but there are so many lessons and wisdom in here, you may want to reserve some time to read this very slowly and thoughtfully. I have not read anything better on this subject and am very convicted by many things. Well worth anytime that you need to set aside for this.

When we consider God’s work of creation, we inevitably are captivated by thoughts of “perfection,” “fullness,” “life,” “beauty,” “goodness,” “wholesomeness,” “joy”…. Job tells us that in creation, God laid the foundation of the earth, set its measurements, stretched its lines, laid its cornerstone…then the morning stars sang together, and all the angelic hosts burst forth with a symphony of joy (Job. 38:4-7). It is beyond our consideration that God would harbor thoughts of “brokenness,” “outcast,” “lowliness,” “affliction,” “suffering,” even “death” as ways to ultimately arrive at His good pleasure in His new creation.

Even when the old creation failed Him, His purpose remained unchanged and a remnant was soon called forth to pick up where man failed and pressed ahead toward that great purpose. Ever since Adam and Eve, this scene has repeated time and again. Is the Lord not trying to teach us the principle of resurrection whereby the old creation must give way to the new, the former glory concede to the latter glory, the first man Adam yield to the second man Christ, the earthly to the heavenly, the carnal to the spiritual, and the temporal to the eternal? In each case the cross of Christ operates to put to death not only that which is evil, but also that which is natural and naturally good in us until Christ is gained in resurrection. And as a result of the work of the Refiner’s fire, a lowly remnant is produced to carry on and continue pressing toward God’s purpose.

Unfortunately, however, man’s attention soon focuses on the attainment of the remnant while the character of the remnant is largely overlooked; for the natural man loves glamour, he is incapable of appreciating the quality of being hidden, humble, and lowly. We pay no attention to the remnant until we discover that the Lord is using the remnant to accomplish His great purpose. Then, suddenly, everyone wants to be a remnant! It is the spotlight, the applause and the glamour that we crave for, not the lowliness, the obscurity, and the slow and painful process that goes into the making of a remnant.

Some time ago I went to a fabric store with my wife where she was looking for a certain pattern and fabrics to make home furnishing. After careful selection, she picked out what she wanted but still needed a small amount of “remnant.” I fancied her use of the word and soon found out what she meant as she headed straight for the scrap table. These seemingly insignificant and unglamorous leftover cut-up pieces were useless to most but possessed great value to one who had a vision of the final product and an understanding of how all the components would fit together. The real remnant are like those lowly and forgotten scrap pieces, but the Lord in His grand scheme and foresight has foreordained an important role for them, no matter how insignificant and outcast they appear to be.

It should be noted at the outset that the Lord did not cast away the whole in favor of the remnant. His calling is for ALL to come into His fullness, love, purpose and glory. The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, and He wants the earth to be full of the knowledge of Him. Despite man’s failure to enter into the good of it, His work to this end goes on by using the remnant to restore His purpose for all mankind, and by using the remnant to usher in His fullness.

In the Old Testament, God wanted all His people to return from Babylon to rebuild His house, but only a remnant hearkened and obeyed. During the time of the Assyrian captivity, Isaiah lamented, “for though your people, O Israel, be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant within them will return” (Isa. 10:22). God’s desire is for all Israel to come back to rebuild His house, and this desire has been clearly revealed in the Old Testament. Why then, we might wonder, didn’t all God’s people obey His clear command? Was it only because of their disobedience and unbelief? And does obeying God’s command necessarily qualify one to be part of the remnant?
Indeed, most of us who obeyed God’s revelations concerning Christ and His purpose for the Church and came out of religious institutions considered ourselves to be the remnant. Yet, un-Christ-like behaviors are often seen among the so-called “remnant” such as superiority complex, critical spirit, judgmental attitude, finger-pointing, stone-throwing and ridiculing. Something must be amiss, for we behave just like, if not worse than, our brethren in captivity. There must be a much greater qualification for becoming a remnant than merely coming out of religious captivity.

Before any attempt is made to address the makeup of a remnant,let’s consider the makeup of the church since the remnant is a part of the church. Jesus said, “I will build My church”; but I wonder if we misappropriate this wonderful promise thinking, the Lord will build our church: the attendance will increase, Sunday School will flourish, people will get saved, services and missions will be well staffed and funded, and soon we’ll be running out of space, and building projects will be underway…. Is that what the Lord had in mind when He said, “I will build My church”?
T. Austin-Sparks hit the mark when he said, “The church is measured by Christ: more Christ, more church; less Christ, less church.” Not only is the Lord the One who builds the church, He builds by incorporating, through the cross, His very own character and essence into the church; thus “more Christ” equals “more church.” The remnant, therefore, are a people who have allowed the cross of Christ to operate in their lives bringing them through death into resurrection life; and as a result, they are constituted inwardly with a greater measure of the element of Christ.

It doesn’t matter how large or small the congregation, if we are devoid of the essence and character of Christ, we are not the remnant. And, contrary to popular belief, coming out of institutionalized “Babylon” does not one a remnant make. Dear saints, the focus should always be on the “Beloved Son” in whom the Father is “well pleased.” The issue is always whether or not the Beloved Son’s character and essence have been wrought into our being. Isn’t it therefore our urgent need to consider matters related to the character of the remnant?

The Character of the Remnant
“Woe to those who enact evil statutes, and to those who constantly record unjust decisions, so as to deprive the needy of justice, and rob the poor of My people of their rights, in order that widows may be their spoil, and that they may plunder the orphans” (Isa. 10:1-2).
If we believe the Lord’s purpose is to be accomplished and His testimony upheld through His remnant, then we must consider the character, calling and ministry of the remnant. In chapter 10 verse 2, Isaiah presents four types of people: the needy, the poor, the widows, and the orphans. On the surface, Isaiah seems to seek vindication for these lowly people, but if we are to dig a little deeper, we may be able to find something of the character of Christ being portrayed through each of them.

Objectively, the church should provide for the needy and the poor, honor the widows and care for the orphans. These things the church by and large has dutifully administered and lovingly borne upon her broad shoulders for the past two thousand years. Subjectively though, the church should be in essence the needy, the poor, the widows and the orphans. But subtly and craftily the Enemy has shifted our entire attention to the objective and external agenda of doing good works. Many churches make social work their prominent mission busying themselves with a plethora of outreach programs. At the end of the day, they feel good about themselves because of the good deeds they have done.

Without a doubt, there is nothing wrong with doing good deeds. We should have a burning desire to do good deeds and to help our fellowman. But the Lord must always come first. “The poor you have with you always, but you don’t always have Me” was the Lord’s answer to the indignant disciples who rebuked Mary for “wasting” a costly alabaster bottle of ointment on Him. The disciples’ top priority was doing good deeds for the poor. Mary’s was putting the Lord first, which required an inward seeing and humility. This inward seeing and humility surely came about as the Lord revealed to her both His precious worth and her profound neediness.
The Enemy loves to remind us of the need to help the poor and would be quick to reward us with fluffy feelings – as long as we gradually shift our eyes away from the Lord and become oblivious to our own neediness. When the church loses her subjective essence of being the needy, the poor, the widows and the orphans, she usually turns to the external works of feeding the hungry, caring for the poor, helping the widows and providing for the orphans to assure herself of a sense of worth.

What then is our subjective essence? Paul told the Corinthian believers, “for we have become a spectacle to the world…we are fools…we are weak…we are without honor…we are both hungry and thirsty and poorly clothed, roughly treated, homeless... reviled... persecuted... slandered… and we have become the scum of the world, the dregs of all things…” (I Cor. 4:9-13). Paul was not advocating a Franciscan monk’s meager existence in self-abasement; he was rather showing us the inward qualities of Christ-like lowliness, absolute dependency upon Him, and reckless abandonment to Him. These essences cannot be taught, mimicked or legislated, they are hammered into our being only by the work of the Spirit through the cross. Since the church in Corinth and the Church in general (just like the disciples) have failed in this regard, these essences then became the character of the remnant who yielded to the hammering of the cross.
The remnant are, therefore, a people who have submitted to the work of the Spirit through the subjective dealings of the cross and have gained a measurable portion of the character and essence of Christ. We must be a needy people not in the material but in the spiritual sense. We need Him to be everything for us. We need Him to be our life, our love, our patience, our light and salvation, our comfort in trials and balm in pain, our joy and strength, our wisdom and might; for without Him our needs would be unfulfilled and our life vanity.

Not only so, we are also needy of the body of Christ. Though the Lord endowed us with some gifts, He also kept many of our deficiencies even in our new creation. He sovereignly ordained it this way so that we would learn humility and receive His grace and “every joint of the supply” (Eph. 4:16) from each member of His body. Any member, regardless of how gifted or spiritual, who does not need his or her fellow members is possibly filled with hidden pride. This is perhaps the single most difficult problem for those who are smart, gifted and spiritual.
I have seen some powerful preachers and some gifted and intelligent brothers and sisters who received extraordinary ability to teach, give, help and love only to spurn the love, help and fellowship of others. The brothers and sisters who are most able to give, preach and help…are often the last to feel needy of other saints – especially the less gifted ones. And the root cause may possibly be a deeply hidden self-reliant and self-conceited pride. This problem is by no means confined to the talented, the smart, or the spiritual; it is the problem of all – to different degrees. This sin not only hampers our own spiritual growth, it also hinders the life of the body. Oh, how the Lord must deal with us and expose this hidden sin!

One other prevalent misconception especially among God’s servants is the way they presume to have all the answers – since they have been “called” to serve, they must maintain a dignified appearance and aloofness, and not be seen as being needy of the “common” brothers and sisters. Surely those untrained and “non-ordained” laymen have nothing to offer to the great pillars of the faith; but this is not what the Bible teaches, is it? Paul said in I Cor. 12, “For the body is not one member but many…if the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If they were all one member, where would the body be? The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you’…on the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor” (vv. 14-23).

By examples, Paul also showed us that he was needy of the saints. He needed a virtually unknown Ananias to appreciate the value of the small members in the body (Acts 9:10-18). He needed Prisca and Aquila who “risked their necks” for his life (Rom. 16:4). He needed the unnamed mother of Rufus, himself a little-known brother, to provide him with affectionate motherly love (Rom. 16:13). He needed a runaway slave, Onesimus, to help and to minister to him (Philem. 11, 13, 16). How blessed we would be to learn to see our own inadequacies and be needy of others. Allow me to stress again: we need the Lord most supremely, but we also need the body most desperately.

Secondly, the remnant are also the poor. In this regard the Bible gives us a dual type: the Lord made Himself poor so we could become rich; and we being made rich in Christ, should learn to be poor in spirit. The Church has been positioned in the good land (a type of Christ) to feast upon all the riches and abundance of Christ. Thus positionally we are rich in Christ. Yet dispositionally, we are required to be poor in spirit. Since we are dealing with the character or disposition of the remnant, we should learn to appreciate the Spirit’s work of constituting Christ’s deep humility in us.

Isaiah portrayed His humility this way: “He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of parched ground, He has no stately form or majesty that we should behold Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like One from whom men hide their face, He was despised and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening of our being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed” (Isa. 53:2-5).

Paul puts Jesus’ humility this way: “Although He existed in the form of God, He did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Phil. 2:6-8). In our disposition, we are anything but poor; rather we are filled with lust, ambition, pride, vainglory and self. Even spiritually, we can be so filled with knowledge and experiences that we become conceited. We are anything but poor in spirit. May the Lord expose our Laodicean pride (Rev. 3:17). May He empty us and work into us this precious character of being poor in spirit.
We turn now to the third character trait of the remnant – widows. The Church is the wife of Christ. Paul said to the Corinthians, “…for I betrothed you to one husband, that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin” (II Cor. 11:2). During the time of her Husband’s absence, the Church lives as a widow. What characterizes her should be purity of devotion and simplicity of heart. But where is such a virtue when all around, we see nothing but her pomp and circumstance, gigantic cathedrals, traffic in commerce, entanglement in political and worldly affairs, vainglory and fame, lust for power and wealth? Is it any wonder the Lord rebuked the church in Pergamum, a church that is married to the world?

The remnant therefore must learn to keep herself pure, simple and devoted to Christ, longing for His soon return. Anytime we find ourselves attracted to the world, loyal to a spiritual leader, enmeshed in a religious system, devoted to a particular cause, or engaged in political maneuvering (in the church), we are in danger of committing spiritual fornication just like the church in Pergamum, and we will surely lose our standing as the remnant.

Lastly, we come to the character of the remnant as orphans. Spiritually, these are those who are defenseless, those who mourn, those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, and who have been dealt insult, persecution and all manner of evil speaking on account of Him (Matt. 5). To them, the Lord says, “Blessed are you.” The orphans seek no revenge against their persecutors because their reward is great in heaven. Dear saints, have you been wronged? Have you been maligned? Have you been short-changed? Have your rights been violated? Have you suffered persecutions? Do not seek earthly fathers (comfort from men). Cry out to your heavenly Father – He will wipe away your tears. And forgive, as our heavenly Father has forgiven us. May our heavenly Father expose and remove any root of bitterness in us.

The Calling of the Remnant
It is my observation that the Lord does not issue a calling without demanding the proper character; and, conversely, the Lord never builds character without matching it with a calling. One of the great dangers in young, zealous brothers and sisters who desire to serve the Lord is that of answering the call without being properly molded and prepared in character. Many a testimony has been tainted because of the un-Lamb-like blemishes in the character of the ministers. The Christian community in general places far too much emphasis on those men and women who claim to have received a “calling from the Lord” to serve, and not enough on the substance and the character of the called ones. It is certainly important that calling should be a criterion for service, but it is alarming that no one bothers to look into the substance and the character of the “called” ones.

How vastly off the mark too have been the efforts of the school of prophets! Stuffing seminary students with Greek and Hebrew, doctrines, theology, methodology and psychology, and sealing their academic achievements with a sheepskin will only steer them further away from the precious revelations and the character-building that can only be learned in the school of Christ. If the calling is genuinely from the Lord, why even bother to be certified by men, as if the Lord were impressed by our achievements and not able to use a non-degreed vessel?

“Now it will come about in that day that the remnant of Israel, and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped, will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God…. Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts, ‘O My people who dwell in Zion…’” (Isa. 10:20-21, 24a).

The first calling of the remnant is in the phrase: “remnant of Israel.” Israel means the “prince of God” where God takes a family and builds it into a kingdom. To be able to see past the crafty, heel-holding Jacob all the way to the prince of God requires vision. So, the first calling is to have a vision of God’s purpose, to have a sense of God’s ultimate goal – kingdom and glory. In any spiritual service it is vital to begin with a vision, to know what God is after. It is a blueprint for building, a manual for service. At the same time, we must remember that we are of the “house of Jacob” – that we still see Jacobean conniving and contriving reminds us that nothing good dwells in us. The remnant is not an elite group of super Christians, just forgiven sinners who have been captured by a governing vision of the Lord and His purpose.

The second calling is to “escape.” Whether it is Egyptian bondage, Babylonian captivity, or any other form of bondage, the Lord’s calling is, “Come out of her, My people!” There is no possibility of becoming a remnant when we are in bondage to the world or to religion. The remnant feels pain like that of the Psalmist who lamented, “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and, yea, we wept when we remembered Zion. Upon the willows in the midst of it we hung our harps. For there our captors demanded of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion.’ How can we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget her skill. May my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember thee, if I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy…” (Psa.137:1-6).
Even though the vast majority of God’s people found comfort, wealth and yes, religion, and settled in the land of captivity, thank God, a small remnant never compromised with the world or with religion. They never forgot Zion. Propelled by His enabling grace and a vision of His house, they escaped! Dear ones, have you discovered and lamented the deprived and deplorable conditions of your captivity? Has your soul been gripped by an agonizing longing for Him and for Jerusalem? Have you appropriated His enabling grace and escaped?

The phrase, “they will never rely on the one who struck them” leads to our third calling – a crucified life. The remnant are those who have been “struck.” Jesus was “stricken, smitten of God and afflicted…He was pierced through…He was crushed….” The cross of Calvary epitomizes the life of brokenness out of which the redeemed extract their life and peace, balm for healing, and joy for living. Oh, dear brothers and sisters, how shall we expect to feel the woes of our brethren when we have not undergone pain? How shall we expect to provide the healing ointment when our olives stay uncrushed? How shall we offer the wine that cheers both God and men when our grapes are withheld from the winepress? How shall we expect others to smell the fragrance of Christ when our alabaster bottles remain unbroken? How many servants of God vainly crave for power and notoriety without embracing the cross?

The Lord is looking for resurrection fragrance in our lives. If our service or ministry has not gone through death and resurrection, He cannot use it. Thankfully, many dear brothers and sisters in times past have learned to yield to the chastening hand of God. Their paths soaked with pilgrims’ tears and stained by martyrs’ blood have guided many wayward sojourners and smoothed the traverse of the remnant. In awe and adoring reverence, I bow before Him; the Lord has collected much ointment, His fragrance from broken vessels is starting to permeate the house….

Fourthly, “A remnant will return.” The Lord does not just provide for the remnant a way of escape; He wants them to return to Him (v. 21). Escaping Egypt (or Babylon) is one thing, returning to the Good Land (Christ) is quite another. Many saints have come out of the Enemy’s bondage, but few have fully returned to Christ. I have seen many brothers and have myself fallen into this trap. Why? We don’t know Him. We compromise. We settle for fluffy feelings. We go for the place where we can best utilize our talents…. The list goes on. But perhaps the biggest hindrance to returning to Him lies in the fact that to escape, one only needs to suffer deprivations. Take away his freedom, wealth, comfort and peace, and he is ready to escape and resettle wherever freedom, wealth, comfort and peace can be found. But to return requires a powerful longing for the place of his origin. Many other places offer equal or better living conditions thus prevent the wayfarer’s return, unless he is gripped by that powerful longing that would not be satisfied by anything less than returning home.

It is not enough for Christians to lament the degradation of Christendom; there needs to be a seeing of the abundance, riches and beauty of their home in Christ from Whom they strayed. There is no shortage of Christians who see clearly and criticize eloquently the degradation of the church, and some are even willing to suffer reproach by escaping “outside the camp,” but only a precious few have truly seen and returned to the fullness of Christ. The act of returning must be accompanied by a true seeing of the beauty of Christ and a heart of repentance; and we cannot repent unless we see how terribly far we have drifted from Him. Repentance depends upon our seeing both of the beauty of Christ and of our own depravity; only then can we hope to return to a fuller measure of His reality.

Throughout Church history, we see saints being set free from religious captivity; even in our time, we are not hard pressed to find a good number of brothers and sisters being delivered, by the Lord’s mercy, from cold, dead, or proud elitist groups. Sometimes the great trauma they experienced in escaping or being cast out left them dazed, hurt and confused. Some were quite ready to point fingers, voice self-vindication and evoke sympathy or applause. One day I met a dear brother who had himself gone through such a gut-wrenching experience in the late 1960’s; he remarked about these disgruntled outcasts: “Unless they (the outcasts) themselves come into repentance, perhaps they haven’t really come out of Babylon yet.” Let me tell you, I have never before heard a wakeup call quite so loud.

The prodigal did not return to his father without seeing his own deplorable and pathetic state. His return was further hastened by seeing the riches of his father’s house. “Yes, but we are NOT the prodigal son,” one may be quick to protest, “we merely spoke against the institutional degradation and were forced to leave.” Quite right, but remember also Daniel’s prayer in which he repeatedly confessed, “For we have sinned…” (Dan. 9:5, 8, 11, 15, 20). And the prayer of Nehemiah, “…we have sinned against Thee, I and my father’s house have sinned” (Neh. 1:6). And what about Isaiah’s desperate cry, “Woe is me, for I am ruined, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips…” (Isa. 6:5)?

It may seem righteous of us when we have been wronged and suffered persecution at the hands of our pharisaical brethren in institutional degradation; but our righteousness, when measured against Christ’s, is nothing but smoldering self-righteousness! In the end, God is only looking for Christ. He is looking to see if we have returned to Christ, and He is looking to see if Christ has been wrought into our inner being. If He cannot find the character of Christ in us, smell the fragrance of the transcendent Christ in us, see the brand mark of the cross of Christ in us, perhaps we haven’t yet escaped – let alone returned.

The prodigal was drawn home by a seeing of the riches of his father’s house. What are the riches of the father’s house? Christ is the riches of the Father’s house. Yet many have substituted other things for Christ. One big counterfeit the Enemy uses these days to substitute for Christ is, believe or not, the Church! More and more seeking Christians have been shown a vision of the Church – the bride of Christ – who is vastly different from the institutionalized edifice we call “church.”

Elated and excited, these dear brothers and sisters paid a great price to exit the institutionalized edifices where they had invested their entire being to start afresh in the newfound church. Many gifted and powerful leaders also came along to trumpet the “Return to the Early Church” movement. Many messages have been given on the Church; much attention has been focused on the “wineskin”; the mechanics of the New-Testament-styled “Early Church” have been studied, dissected, copied and implemented. Many such efforts have succeeded in attracting sincere and seeking saints who were offered a real taste of the sweetness of brotherly love. Drawn by the warmth of fellowship that was missing in institutional churches and released by the exercise of the priesthood of all the believers that was impossible in clergy-laity situations, they were overwhelmed by the sheer exhilaration of being set free from tradition and religiosity. Thus a movement begins to take hold.

In many House Church web-sites, there is no shortage of bold invitations to “Come see the New Testament Church,” “Experience the radical and revolutionary Early-Church-Life,” and “Be a part of the life-changing Organic Church.” It really sounds exciting, doesn’t it? All the buried treasures concerning the Church that beg to be brought back to light! Except one thing – where is Christ in the midst of all the clamoring about the Church? It is not at all uncommon to see each “house church” or “New Testament church” trying to outshine the other by presenting herself in the best light, or vie for new members by enticing them with some accomplishments related to the great “recovery” of the truths and practices concerning church. One line in a familiar hymn comes to mind: “The bride eyes not her garment but her dear Bridegroom’s face.” The true bride, call her the “New Testament Church,” the “House Church,” the “Organic Church,” the “Recovered Church,” or what have you, never, I repeat, never talks about her own beauty and accomplishments. She only has an eye for her Beloved. He is the theme of her song. She considers her accomplishments all but rubbish!

Once a dear brother shared this true story with me: In the south Texas city of Corpus Christi, a group of brothers and sisters were drawn by the vision of the Early Church and began meeting to practice simple church life without religious trappings and clergy-laity distinctions. Having attained a level of success in duplicating the New Testament Church, they sought to impress others. One day, they took a group photo of themselves and signed each one’s name in the back, and sent it along with a letter listing their accomplishments to an older and wiser spiritual brother in Christ. “These are the things that we have done, and this is how far we have come along….” Hardly able to conceal their excitement, they continued, “So, brother, what’s next? Where do we go from here?”

The wise old spiritual brother replied simply, “The whole thing must die and be born of travail….”

It became prophetic. Within a few months, the whole thing did die.

Dear saints, the real testimony of Jesus never looks at her own accomplishments. The real bride of Christ never looks at her own beauty. The real church is born of travail. Duplicating the mechanics of the early Church means absolutely nothing without firstly allowing the travails of the cross to hammer the character of the Lamb deep into our inner being!

But, being mesmerized by a vision of the church, many chose to copy a prescribed formula to have church, or follow a leader who is a self-appointed Early Church expert, more than allowing the Holy Spirit to instill the character of the Lamb into them so that they can simply be the church. Besides, there is also a hidden desire to vindicate themselves to their former friends and associates who stayed in the institutional church. This urge to vindicate pushes them to spend all their energy and attention on the church. Subtly and gradually, the church is presented as a place of refuge, a source of life, and a generator of ambience, camaraderie and excitement until the church is placed on center stage and elevated even above Christ! Most regrettably, many unsuspecting and naïve brethren have been swept into this seemingly innocent but very deceptive trap.

While I was once enraptured by the utter ecstasy of seeing a vision of the heavenly bride of Christ many years ago, I must bow my head in shame and confess that I also erred tragically by emphasizing the Church far above Christ. In brokenness and humility, allow me to submit: the supremacy and centrality of Christ is not to be tampered with and overshadowed in any way. Not even by the Church – no matter how New-Testament-like or how recovered she may be!
A brother once related what Fred Malir shared from Genesis: Jacob saw a vision of the house of God (the Church) when he fled from Esau and bedded down for the night at a place he called “Bethel” which means “the House of God.” Without a doubt, Jacob had been arrested by a vision. Twenty years later he returned to the same spot but called it, “El-Bethel” – the God of the House of God. After twenty years of dealings from the Lord through the cross, the “vision” was finally calibrated into a proper focus – God came before the house (Church)! It grieves me deeply that many saints and groups claim to have returned but have only returned to “the church.” Christ is left outside the door knocking.

“A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.” To the mighty God, not to the mighty church!

“O My people who dwell in Zion” (v. 24a) concludes the last calling for the remnant. Zion is the embodiment of the person of Christ, the work of Christ, and the purpose of Christ. It is where men have fully returned to God and found His good pleasure. It is where God is fully expressed in man and works into him His good pleasure. It is where the testimony of Jesus is upheld. Zion is the place of David’s throne, hence, it is a place of ruling, reigning and kingdom. Here, all the saints come under Christ’s kingship. Here, all the King’s subjects are His servants – there is no intermediate class. Here, the brethren dwell in unity. “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, in the city of our God, in the mountains of His holiness; beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion on the sides of the north, the city of the great king.” What can ever compare with the remnant who have returned to the mighty God, dwelled in Zion, and the kingdom has become a spiritual reality?

May the Lord build the Lamb’s character of brokenness, lowliness and humility in us, so that we can answer the call of the remnant with a clear vision of God’s eternal purpose, an escape out of the Enemy’s worldly and religious systems, living a crucified life, returning to the mighty God, and dwelling in the reality of the kingdom under His Headship.

The Ministry of the Remnant—A Prelude

“A harsh vision has been shown to me: the treacherous one still deals treacherously, and the destroyer still destroys. Go up, Elam; lay siege, Media. I have made an end of all the groaning she has caused. For this reason my loins are full of anguish; pains have seized me like the pains of a woman in labor. I am so bewildered I cannot hear, so terrified I cannot see. My mind reels, horror overwhelms me; the twilight I longed for has been turned for me into trembling” (Isa. 21:2-4).

Here we find a most amazing description of the prophet’s delicate inner emotions and turmoil having seen the decline of the testimony and faced with the dreadful prospect of imminent attack and eventual deportation of God’s people. This inner travail for the testimony may be considered a prelude to ministry. Before any ministry is commenced, there needs to be evidence of the work of the cross in our lives: cutting, hammering, sculpting, shaping and forming to produce the character of Christ so that we may possess the feelings and emotions of the Lord regarding His testimony.

Our own feelings and emotions will always err and mislead us. But when properly dealt with through the cross, our emotions are wonderful vehicles to usher us into God’s feelings for His people. What better way is there to minister to God’s people than to have His feelings and emotions for His people? What better way is there to pray for God’s people than to pray with His feelings and His emotions? Understanding His feelings of sorrow regarding the degradation of the church produces a powerful burden, which pushes us into travailing prayer; and travailing prayer commences prophetic ministries.

In Matt. 4:1-2, we have a window into how the Lord Jesus commenced His ministry: He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness where He “fasted forty days and forty nights.” We know that throughout the Bible, fasting is always associated with praying – praying with great travail, intensity and burden. Paul also learned the importance of prayer before the commencement of his ministry (Acts 9:11; 13:1-2). If the Devil’s assault on Jesus prior to His ministry was any indication, His fasting and praying must have in some way clued Him in to the Father’s feelings and strengthened, prepared, and readied Him for the burden of the ministry. Not only so, Jesus also displayed tremendous inner agony when He lamented the ruinous condition of the House of God, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling…” (Matt. 23:37-39).

Two thousand years of Church history confirms that no servant of God who has had a prophetic ministry failed to yield to the cutting of the cross and through it to possess God’s feelings for His testimony. Now Isaiah’s agony and turmoil in 21:3-4 begins to make sense, does it not? May we not rush into ministries without having the Lamb’s character wrought into us which tunes us to His feelings which, in turn, symphonize into a prelude of travailing prayers that take us to our next intensified movement.

The Ministry of the Remnant – An Allegro

“Then the lookout called, ‘O Lord, I stand continually by day on the watchtower, and I am stationed every night at my guard post” (Isa. 21:8).

A watchtower symbolizes believers’ persistent prayers from the heavenly position. If our vision is clear and our burden genuine, our prayers are of enduring nature (every night). There were times in our lives when certain burdens did not stand the test of time. After a level of spiritual maturity and readjustment, those burdens no longer seemed important or even existed. But, by His mercy, there are some burdens that never lose their weightiness. In fact, their weightiness increases with time and maturity. This increased burden adds to the weight of our ministry and the clarity of our vision – “Now behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs. And one answered and said, ‘Fallen, fallen, is Babylon; and all the images of her gods are shattered on the ground’” (Isa. 21:9).

Horses symbolize the natural energy and raw power of the carnal man. Ever since the fall of man, sin entered and dwelt in our flesh. But the prophetic ministry at this stage is so exercised in discernment it has the Enemy’s troop movements (“the troop of riders, horsemen in pairs”) – the activities of the flesh – completely on its radar screen. There is no doubt that the matured ministry not only can now spot the Enemy, but engages the Enemy head-on and deals a knockout punch: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon.” A ministry that does not strike absolute terror in the heart of the Enemy will not do for the Lord. The conflict of the ages demands nothing less from our ministry than delivering a knockout punch to the Enemy. Martin Luther has a line in his powerful hymn, A Mighty Fortress is Our God: “One little word shall fell him.” If our ministry is to be useful to the Lord, it also needs to rely on a Mighty Fortress to deliver a “little word” that topples the enemy.

The Ministry of the Remnant – A Crescendo

“Watchman, what is the time of the night? Watchman, what is the time of the night?” (Isa. 21:11b).

Now the prophetic ministry is gathered up into a fast-tempo major chord and consummated in a crescendo. The refrain of the above questions strikes a resounding chorus:

I) A sense of urgency. In the New Testament, Peter’s ministry, Paul’s ministry and John’s ministry all carry a sense of urgency. Likewise in the Old Testament, the children of Israel in Egypt were charged to ready themselves, eat the Passover in haste and head out without delay. After the Babylonian captivity, the returned remnant failed to keep up the intensity of the burden to rebuild God’s house and allowed the work to slack off. It took the prophetic ministries of Haggai and Zechariah (Ezra 5:1) to restore the sense of urgency to rebuild God’s house so that God’s purpose could be resumed.

Perhaps nowhere else in the Bible is this point quite as poignant as in Haggai 1:2-12. There we find the people of God saying, “The time has not come for the rebuilding of God’s house.” To that the prophet answered, “Is it time for you to dwell in your paneled houses while God’s house lies desolate?” Isn’t it true that nowadays we are more and more settled into the comfort, convenience and luxury of modern living, chasing the elusive “American Dream” while the urgency of rebuilding God’s house is all but forgotten? And isn’t it equally true that we usually care for our own ministries much more than the testimony of Jesus?

We devote most of our efforts and time to finding out what we can and want to do for Jesus; few have given any thought at all to what Jesus wants, and how He wants it done. In Nehemiah’s time, he returned to Jerusalem only to find the entire city oblivious to the burnt gates and breached walls. The situation really hasn’t changed today. While there is no lack of zealous brothers and sisters with burning zeal to serve the Lord, there is a real lack of urgency about the “burnt gates and breached walls” – the desolate condition of the testimony of Jesus.

II) A present word – “Watchman, what is the time of the night? Watchmen, what is the time of the night?”

Under the orchestrating hand of the Holy Spirit, the reverberating chorus continues to raise the level of intensity toward His purpose of the ages.

Our God is a speaking God who reveals His purpose through speaking. Even though God did speak to all His people in captivity, His ultimate intention was only hearkened by the remnant whose hearts responded to God’s stirring to return to Zion to rebuild His house (Ezra 1:3,5). His great purpose was etched and burned into the hearts of the remnant who longed for His presence and returned to Zion.

While God does speak to all His people regardless of where they are, the revelation of His heart’s desire is often only seen and received by those who yearn for Him, those who delight in His presence. David, the “Sweet Psalmist of Israel”, had such a prolific ministry in Psalms because he learned the secret of yearning to dwell in the presence of the Lord. Mary who broke the alabaster bottle of perfume alone knew Jesus’ heart because she delighted in drawing near at His feet.

To these, the Lord always speaks a present word – a word that reveals the richest and rarest and fullest thoughts and feelings of God concerning His purpose of the ages: His Beloved Son. Since the remnant are the ones who are drawn by His presence and purpose to return to Zion, His dwelling place, the prophetic ministry, therefore, must also rest squarely on the shoulders of the remnant, and it must be of such caliber that it reveals God’s heart’s desire for the present hour. Historically, we have found the Lord speaking through His remnant in every generation a present word expressing the richest, rarest and fullest thoughts and feelings of God concerning His eternal purpose.

Commenting on the present nature of God’s word, T. Austin-Sparks said, “A minister according to God’s mind must have a message for the time. It will not do for us to be giving out things just in a general way. Our Bible teaching must not be just of a general character. What God needs more than anything are those who have a message for the present hour…that our message related to a special time in the purpose of God” (The Persistent Purpose of God). Dear saints, does your ministry bring out God’s purpose for the present hour? Do you have a timely word that ministers God’s full thoughts and feelings concerning His Son to your generation, or do you merely minister good Christian ethics, various issues and general teachings and re-hash yesterday’s manna? Do you know what “time of the night” it is?

III) A watchman – “Watchman, what is the time of the night? Watchman, what is the time of the night?”

It is no less significant that the whole question of the prophetic, present ministry should be addressed to a watchman. In fact, there should be a desperate cry going out: “Watchmen, we need watchmen!” At a time of spiritual decline when the Church generally slumbers into a “spirit of deep sleep”, when doctrines, teachings, experiences and Christian entertainment titillate our senses and capture our attention but dull our spirits, we need remnant who are awake like the watchmen.

Just what makes a man a watchman? Does a seminary degree make one a watchman? Does a person’s giftedness and zeal make him a watchman? Is today’s salaried professional preacher a watchman? Are those who bear the most “fruit” and command the largest assemblies watchmen? All of the above are legitimate issues that demand careful scrutiny, and one would do well to bring them before the Lord; my burden, however, is to pick out just a few positive attributes of a watchman:

1) He is one who waits. “Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited… this is the Lord for whom we have waited” (Isa. 25:9). One of the hardest things to learn is to wait. Didn’t the Lord command us to trade and invest our talents? Didn’t He rebuke the passive slave who did nothing with his given talent? Yes, but the exercise of our spiritual talent ought to be conducted in a spiritual context. He is never counting on us to do the trading, earning, and increasing, for in us, that is in our flesh dwells no good thing. It is the Christ in us who works, serves, and ministers to His good pleasure and results in an increase of Christ.

Moses in the flesh possessed great wisdom, power, and zeal, but the Lord could not use any of it. In fact, He had to bring Moses to the “back forty” and leave him there until ALL his wisdom, power and zeal were sapped out and drained dry! Jacob is another prime example. Even David had to spend many years tending his father’s sheep and many years on the run being chased like a stray dog, then had to wait seven more years before his “talents” could be fully put to use. Paul, too, possessed great raw talents, but the Lord had to teach him the secret of waiting before he mastered the art of serving.

So, does it mean in waiting, we do nothing? Not necessarily. In fact, one can engage in all kinds of activities outwardly yet remain in a calm and restful waiting on the inside. Nehemiah showed us such an example. His job as the king’s cup-bearer probably equals today’s presidential advisor; he was likely the king’s confidant in the inner circle of power. Yet we find him communing with God while serving the king (Neh. 2:4). Furthermore, just because Moses, David, and Paul all learned to wait before they served does not necessarily mean that once they started serving, they no longer needed to wait. Waiting is first and foremost an inner condition and has little to do with outward activities (or the lack thereof). However, when the Lord is dealing with our flesh or with our natural zeal, He will require us to cease from outward ministries until we have learned to die to our self, as was the case with Moses, David, Paul and countless others.

2) He is the gatekeeper – “he who opens.” “Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter” (Isa. 26:2). In the Old Testament, the city gate is the place of fellowship, a place where matters are settled through fellowship. The gate is also opened to its citizens, its welcomed guests, its kings and nobles. Spiritually, we need to learn to promote the fellowship of all the saints. Paul suggested that it was through fellowship with all the saints that the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ could be apprehended (Eph. 3:18). In the church, we need the ministry of gatekeepers who have learned the value of fellowship to help us apprehend the many aspects of the multifaceted riches of Christ.

Paul likes to use a single word to describe the unfathomable riches of Christ: “mystery.” In Col. 2:2-3 Paul said, “that their hearts may be knit together in love and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a full knowledge of the mystery of God – Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Since in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, these hidden treasures remain a mystery until someone unlocks the gate of the treasure house. Oh, how we need the ministry of the gatekeepers in the church! Each time we meet, we need to open the gate and usher each other into Christ. Each time we fellowship, we need to open the gate and bring out a little more of the hidden treasures of Christ.

In the book of Revelation there are seven churches in Asia, but only one attained a level of normalcy: the church in Philadelphia. We find, among other things, an “open door (gate)” here. How blessed this church must have been to possess the “little power” in keeping the gate, the avenues of fellowship open among the brethren, and through such fellowship to have entered into the riches of Christ.

Then at the end of Revelation we find the “New Jerusalem” with “twelve gates”! Isn’t this simply marvelous? Twelve gates, an eternally perfect number related to God’s eternal purpose – Christ. In God’s consummate purpose and desire, His people should be abounding, nay, super-abounding in perfect fellowship concerning His perfect Son; and through such overflowing fellowship to usher each other to enter in, search out, experience and possess in full the unsearchable riches of Christ throughout eternity. Don’t wait for that day to experience this reality. Even today in the church, there needs to be a microcosm of the twelve gates where the saints can help usher each other to Christ. Do not delay, open the gates today! Lord, recover the gatekeepers for us.

3) He is the gatekeeper – “he who shuts.” On the negative side, a gatekeeper also keeps out unwanted elements by keeping the gate shut when it should be shut. Not all fellowship edifies, not all fellowship is unto God’s purpose, not all fellowship is according to sound doctrines, and unfortunately, not all fellowship ushers us into Christ. So, in order to keep out negative elements that hinder the edifying in Christ, the gatekeeper must learn to discern death from life. The “knowledge that puffs up,” the “letter that kills,” the “myths and endless genealogies,” the profane, the doctrinal debates that do not foster life and building, the “every wind of teaching” that leads astray, the heresies…these things ought not to be allowed in and wreak havoc among the saints.

Historically as well as presently, we have seen that when the hands of the gatekeepers are tied, many assemblies have left themselves wide open to be hijacked and taken over by fleshly, domineering and ambitious elements.

But do we really know how and when to shut the gates? I am not so sure. I have witnessed first-hand many precious brothers and sisters being devastated by the ruthless and careless slamming of the gate of rejection in the church. Christ is the real Gatekeeper. Only He knows when and how to shut the gate. We find a type of Him in Psa. 84:10, “For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God, than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” Here Christ is portrayed as a lowly butler standing at the gate. If we want to have the spiritual authority to be able to reject the undesirable fellowship from entering into the church, we had better first allow the Lord to instill His character into us; after all, it is His character that constitutes the “gate.”

Our zeal to keep out death by arbitrarily shutting the gate could ironically bring death into the camp. On the other hand, when Christ is constituted in us, His character will automatically expose and deny any questionable element from sneaking in. What an urgent need therefore it is to have Christ woven into our character!

The Prophetic Ministry – A Grand Finale

Finally, the ministry of the remnant is a ministry of the recovery from ruin and desolation to the fullness and glory of Christ. Chapter 34 paints a gloomy picture of the desolation of the land that has been judged by God with its corpses, blood, dried-up riverbed, burning tar pits and smoke along with savage beasts and birds of prey…. Without belaboring the specific details of each item, suffice to say that it is a picture of our flesh in its manifold manifestations.

One of the many sad features in chapter 34 is perhaps summed up in the phrases, “the hairy goat shall cry to its kind” (v. 14) and, “the hawks shall be gathered there, every one with its kind” (v. 15). Not to mention the error of the denominations which divides the Body of Christ by doctrines, practices, experiences, cultures and personalities, they are also characterized by congregating “with their kind.” Likewise, among the remnant who have escaped the denominational error, one of the greatest danger is also the proclivity to congregate “with our kind.” Paul categorized division or the exclusive spirit under “deeds of the flesh” (Gal. 5:19-20). May the Lord convict our hearts that exclusivism perpetuates the desolate conditions of the church!

Yes, it is absolutely necessary to seek out and gather with brethren of kindred spirit and like vision, but it is entirely wrong to evolve into a clique of a Mutual Admiration Society. It is sad to see dear saints who left institutional errors only to form holy huddles of “their own kind.” It is divisive and destructive to despise, exclude and look down on precious members of the same Body who might not have the same vision and understanding of Scripture. May the cry of the remnant be, “Lord, enlarge our hearts to embrace ALL Your children; and enlarge our circle of fellowship to include ALL Your people!”

Regarding the necessity to seek out and gather with like-minded saints while maintaining fellowship with all God’s people, J.N. Darby said it well, “We must have big hearts and small feet.” The “big heart” is to include and embrace all God’s people for fellowship; the “small feet” are needed to restrict ourselves to traverse only the paths that lead to God’s eternal purpose through revelation. Sad to say though, the Brethren history has cast a distorted hue to the validity of this beautiful principle. Darby himself vigorously pursued to be faithful to the vision that was given him (the small feet) but sacrificed the need to embrace all God’s people for fellowship (the big heart), and his group fell into exclusivism.

The “Open Brethren” on the other hand, over-corrected by adopting and compromising with the teachings and practices of the denominations and groups, and departed from the original vision and the narrow path. The Open Brethren’s eagerness to embrace all believers prompted them to sacrifice the light that helped make them the remnant in the first place. How we need God’s mercy to help us traverse the narrow path (with small feet) while maintaining fellowship with all God’s people (with big heart)!

Suddenly, chapter 35 reverses the gloomy story of judgment and gives us a joyful picture of the recovery of the fullness of Christ. Such a dramatic recovery now symphonizes into a grand harmony that includes: “the wilderness and the desert that are glad,” “the Arabah that rejoices and blossoms like the rose,” “the glory of Lebanon and the majesty of Carmel and Sharon,” the “slack-handed” the “feeble-kneed,” the “anxious-hearted,” the “blind,” the “deaf,” the “lame,” the “dumb,” and the “fools.” In other words, the genuine recovery of the remnant MUST include ALL different varieties of God’s people, and they are usually not a very pretty sight except for the inward beauty of Christ. Didn’t Paul say that among God’s people there were “not many wise, not many mighty, not many noble”? Our own “kind” should never be the ground of fellowship. Even “vision,” as important as it is, should never be the only ground of our fellowship. Christ is our only common ground.

A genuine recovery must include every joint and every member that supplies life to the body. When we have yielded to the work of the Holy Spirit in dealing with us through the cross thereby causing the character of Christ to increase in us, then the “pains of a woman in labor” that Isaiah experienced shall become our reality and give birth to the remnant who minister the grand finale of the symphony of the recovery of the fullness of Christ. Let it be so! Let it be so!

The Ministry of the Remnant – A Postlude

“Enlarge the place of your tent; stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, spare not; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your pegs. For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left. And your descendents will possess nations, and they will resettle the desolate cities” (Isa. 54:2-3).

The land of Canaan with its milk and honey, hills and valleys, brooks and fountains, fruits and produce, iron and copper…typifies the fullness of Christ. Such fullness can never be possessed and experienced by any single person regardless of his maturity or spiritual stature. It can only be possessed by a corporate entity. In the Old Testament this corporate vessel was the nation of Israel; in the New Testament it is the Church, the Body of Christ.

After Israel entered the land of Canaan, the land was divided and possessed by the tribes of Israel. Except for the tribe of Levi, each received a portion of the land as an inheritance. Some received bigger portions, some smaller, but all were equally important, necessary and precious when viewed as a single corporate vessel. To the Israelites, this apportionment was extremely important. It determined the boundaries of their properties. Severe consequence (curse) resulted if the boundary lines were removed or encroached upon (Deut. 27:17).

In the light of the New Testament, it is easy to see that this is a picture of the body of Christ with its various members having different portions of Christ enabling them to function in different capacities. Amazingly, David had discovered this long before the dispensational change. In Psalm 16:5-6, he declared, “The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup; Thou dost support my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.” Oh, if only Christians could see what David saw! No matter how big or small, our portions of Christ are pleasant and beautiful.

When Christians are in firm possession of their portions and functioning accordingly, it is nothing less than awesome. But to our dismay, nothing of this sort is in plain sight. Alas, how carelessly we have surrendered our portions to members who have greater portions! Sunday after Sunday, the more gifted members encroach upon and swallow up the portions of the less gifted; and the smaller-portioned saints willingly forfeit theirs to the greater-portioned. The worldly thinking of the religious system has programmed and conditioned us to put the five-talent members on pedestals and to accept a depreciated value of our single talent. Beware, lest we allow the system to lure us into committing the grave error of the “one-talent servant” in Jesus’ parable.

Religious systems aside, even in places where “Clergy-Laity” distinctions have been done away, the same threat of encroachment by zealous and gifted members still exists. With all due respect to the gifted ones, the insignificant “sparrows” – the common members also have their place in the House of God (Psa. 84). Much unnecessary grief can be spared by learning to respect each other’s beautiful and pleasant “ancient boundary lines” (Prov. 22:28; 23:10).

Enlargement – The Heading Up, Summing Up and Filling Up in Christ

Much has been shared from the book of Ephesians by brothers like Watchman Nee and T. Austin-Sparks concerning God’s eternal purpose that His Son, Christ, would be all and in all, that He would sum up all things in Christ and put all things in subjection under His feet. The thought of the supremacy, centrality and universality of Christ fills the entire Ephesian letter. God wants His Son to head up, sum up and fill up all and in all. In Isaiah, we find that the notion of “enlarging your tent” dovetails nicely with the thought of the Ephesian letter.

Let’s consider Isa. 54:2-3 again, “Enlarge the place of your tent; stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, spare not; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your pegs. For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left. And your descendants will possess nations, and they will resettle the desolate cities.” Now let’s read Eph. 1:10: “with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ….” And Eph. 1:22-23: “And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” And Eph. 3:17-19: “…so that Christ may make home in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.”

The enlargement spoken of by Isaiah was not merely a prophecy concerning the nation of Israel; more significantly, it is prophetic of the Church. On a physical level, the Church is to be enlarged and spread throughout the earth. On a spiritual level, the enlargement points to the heading up, summing up and filling up of all things in Christ. The Church is the vessel for such an enlargement of Christ. Today, the biggest problem facing the Church is not the want of converts and numerical increase. The greatest problem facing the Church is a serious shortage of Christ! We can fill a cavernous cathedral with thousands of Christians and yet have very little Christ. We can busy ourselves with successful mission works and have a serious shortage of Christ. For two thousand years, the Church has expanded and spread throughout the earth, but there has not been a corresponding enlargement of Christ in her.

When the Church is taken into captivity, she is able to flourish just as the children of Israel did in Babylon. Her outward success and greatness betray her inward poverty due to the lack of the substance and character of Christ. It takes the travail of the remnant to recover the testimony of Jesus. The remnant are simply a people who yearn to “enlarge the place of their tent” – to have Christ as head over all things to the Church summing up, heading up and filling up all and in all.
The Cost – Stretching

This enlargement of Christ does not come without cost. Notice the words “stretch out” and “spare not” in Isa. 54:2. A desire for the enlargement of Christ will most definitely be challenged by our natural man and the love of our soul life. It takes little effort to love brethren who are like-minded and like-dispositioned; it requires much “stretching” to love those who are not. We will be so stretched in the process of being enlarged that the only way to get through will be to “spare not” (lay down) our soul life. Jesus said, “For whoever wishes to save his (soul) life shall lose it, but whoever loses his (soul) life for My sake shall save it” (Luke 9:24). In a family life among the husband, the wife and the children, or in the assembly life among the saints, the Lord has decreed some “stretching” in order to enlarge us. Though it is unpleasant to our flesh, the stretching is actually not a misfortune. No matter how like-minded and like-dispositioned, and no matter how well-intentioned, we still get on each other’s nerves and rub each other the wrong way. We know we cannot get out of being stretched, but we do tend to look for ways to minimize the hardship. Many Christians gather on the basis of race and culture, because the “cost” is much lower to be around their “own kind” who are brought up in the same culture, who think alike, speak the same language and savor the same cuisine. Oh yes, there is no denying how importantly food weighs in on our scale of fellowship preferences.

The reason we find it easy to love those who are like us is because we are in love with ourselves. Many believers choose their place of worship based on cost alone: the less costly the better. Sadly, the popular cliché “Pay now, or pay later” holds true spiritually as well. Each lesson postponed only gets harder later on. Each cost deferred always comes back to exact a higher interest.

Sometimes the Lord will divide up the cost in “installments,” if you will. Paying the first installment does not guarantee we will pay the second. The remnant who returned from Babylon did pay a tremendous “first installment” leaving their careers, properties and relatives behind. But amazingly, a few years after arrival, many settled into a contentment to building their own paneled houses while the House of God lay in ruins prompting Haggai to stir up their spirit to refocus on what they came back for – the rebuilding of God’s House.

Today, a similar scenario seems to unfold before our very eyes. Many precious saints paid a high price to exit the Institutional Church leaving ministries, fruit and relationships behind, but they are unwilling to reinvest themselves in new relationships. Some stay out of fellowship altogether. Some hopscotch from group to group enjoying their freedom of fellowship but would not pay the additional installments of having their vision re-calibrated, developing intimacy, travailing in prayer with the saints, or shouldering the burden of building up a testimony with any one group, to say nothing of getting balanced and adjusted by other saints.

This new trend does look enticing with its cloak of spirituality because of its association in a somewhat larger circle of fellowship involving multiple Christian families and groups. But the problems are: 1) they become spiritual Lone-Rangers, 2) they can never develop meaningful relationships by church-hopping, 3) no spiritual building can take place. A few saints looking for broad spiritual experiences with a less “costly” price tag have hopped on this bandwagon.
David knew well what “paying the full price” meant. After being punished for numbering the people of Israel, David was told to offer burn offerings. Ornan the Jebusite graciously offered his threshing floor to the king for free with wood for burning and oxen for sacrificing thrown in. What an offer! Any good Israelite would jump at such a deal. But not David. He insisted on paying a full price. Very significantly, the threshing floor for which David paid a full price became the very foundation of the Temple later on. I am afraid many so-called churches, relationships and even those of the remnant are today sitting on threshing floors purchased at a discount.

The Fellowship – Lengthening

Another important element in the enlargement of Christ is the “lengthening of the cords.” To lengthen the cords refers to the longing to expand fellowship. There is no possibility of having Christ enlarged among us if we keep an elitist and exclusivist mentality in our fellowship. We must reach out – “lengthen” our fellowship – to include brethren of all backgrounds, learning, experiences, ethnicity and cultures. Church historians tell us that the groups that did not reach out for fellowship suffered the fate of “spiritual incest.” Every time!

Paul expresses the need to reach out for fellowship this way: “to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth” in order that we may be “filled up to all the fullness of God.” In other words, the remnant must not stay in a cocoon but reach out for fellowship with all the saints in every dimension that Christ may be enlarged in fuller measure.

The Anchor in Christ – Strengthening

A crucial factor in this enlargement is found in the last phrase of Isa. 54:2: “strengthen your pegs.” To strengthen the pegs, they must be driven into solid ground, and what solid ground is there besides Christ? Yes, all else is sinking sand. There is no shortage of Christians and groups who are willing to be stretched and inconvenienced, or to reach out for fellowship even to the point of laying down their soul life. Most cultic groups meet this requirement. The crucial question is: Do all the stretching, laying-down and reaching out result in the stakes being firmly driven into solid ground? In other words, are our efforts to stretch out, reach out and fellowship resulting in being “filled up to all the fullness of God,” or are we merely satisfying our own religious zeal and good intentions?

Often our effort to reach out comes with a hidden motive of either trying to bring others into a sectarian fold or in line with a certain religious stronghold, or simply to feed our insatiable desire to “minister.” Yes, our reaching out should be to receive all the saints for fellowship, but we also must ask the Lord to anchor our fellowship firmly in Christ – this is how to “strengthen the pegs.”

There is a dangerous tendency among those who have seen the degradation of religion. They detest religiosity but have not seen enough of the positive elements of Christ. “They know what they don’t want,” as a brother pointed out recently, “but they don’t know enough of what, or more appropriately, Who they do want.” It seems that everything they do is motivated by their intolerance for the “institutional church.” Sometimes their gathering can be devoid of the anointed presence and the sweet fragrance of Christ, yet they still pride themselves for having the “real church” experience just because they did not conduct it in a traditional or religious venue. Unfortunately, doing church outside of institutional environment and having church (or even being church) without a clergy-laity system becomes their only criteria for having the “real church” experience. As long as the church is gathered “organically” and “spontaneously”, they are satisfied. If everyone shares, the meeting is considered “excellent.” The weightier issues of the Lord’s presence, utterance, and anointing are all but neglected.

We must not only speak, Christ must come out of our speaking. Lance Lambert commented a few years ago, “Two people can play the same piano, one plays and his gift comes out; the other one plays and Christ comes out.” This is in essence what “prophesying” means in I Cor. 14. Prophesying is not merely to speak for Christ or to fore-speak future events, more importantly, it is to speak forth Christ!

In my limited observation, the Charismatic circle has a penchant for fore-speaking future events calling it “prophesying.” In the House Church movement, folks have a strong tendency to urge everyone to speak for Christ citing I Cor. 14 as basis for prophesying. Alas, bona-fide prophesying is rare these days! Brothers and sisters who have not yielded to the dealings of the cross, and fellowship not anchored in Christ will not speak forth Christ and can lead to confusion, contention, chaos, and the formation of another religious system. It is anything but the “real church”! A people that set their sights on being “non-institutional” instead of the Lord is just as religious as they come. A congregation where ALL speak but without Christ coming forth in their speaking has ventured hardly afield of the congregation where only one person speaks.
As mentioned earlier, many precious seeking saints have been led outside the camp and discovered the value of their priestly functions in small house churches. A great number of such dear saints have given themselves to analyzing the mechanism and duplicating the practices of the Early Church. Armed with Bible verses, Greek renderings, historical documents…some groups have dissected and taken apart every component of the early Church meetings and practices. They scrutinized every detail under a microscope, reassembled them, certified themselves as experts and set up shop to authenticate and mass-produce their brand of the early church.

It’s the Great American Way, isn’t it? The irony is, the very “camp” that the saints came out of has come full circle to entrap them again! When Christ is replaced by the church as our focus, we are right back in the “camp,” whether we meet in a large cathedral or a cozy living room. May the Lord help us to anchor our fellowship in Christ.

The Building – The Full Expression of Christ

As the cords need to be lengthened for the tent to have any hope of enlargement, our fellowship needs to reach out if we want to have an increased portion of Christ. Furthermore, as the lengthened cords need to be firmly staked in solid ground for the tent to be raised, our reaching out for fellowship needs to be firmly anchored in Christ in order that the building, the House of God, may go up. The ultimate issue is the building up of the House of God.

From the Tabernacle to the Temple to the Church to the New Jerusalem, the issue is abundantly clear: God is after a building – the full expression of Christ. As a matter of fact, the divine thought of building emerged almost immediately after creation. In Gen. 2:22 God “built” a woman out of the rib He took from Adam. As the typology of Adam and Eve points to Christ and His counterpart, the Church, so does the building of Eve point to the Lord’s building of His Church from the pierced side of Jesus. And the thought of building continues throughout the Bible to the end of Revelation.

Therefore, every Christian group being part of the Church should consider the eventuality of something being built up. A fellowship should be open to all born-again believers; there can be no denominational, doctrinal or cultural restrictions placed on anyone. Fellowship is a matter of life – since we have been born-again we share the same life, and this life enables us to have fellowship with each other. All differences in doctrinal understanding, meeting styles, experiences, races and cultures, visions, preferences, personalities…must be set aside. Any failure in this regard endangers the nature of fellowship and causes divisions.

Having said that, the church is not a free-for-all either. A brother (Ron) in San Francisco pointed out, “If we do not stand for anything, we would fall for everything; a fellowship where everything goes would be no different from a social club.” A young brother from another city near us made a sobering assessment about the fellowship he attended, “When we get together, we are gathering unto each other, not unto the Lord.” It is a serious dilemma, isn’t it? On the one hand, we need to embrace all genuine believers into fellowship, on the other hand, our fellowship must never become a free-for-all. A fellowship unto each other will find the Lord on the outside looking in. The key to this problem is, we need to be built up, and building up takes light.

We need the Holy Spirit to cast light on the living word of God to illuminate our fellowship. Every fellowship that is enlightened by the word through the Holy Spirit leads us closer to the “unity of the faith” (Eph. 4:13) and produces Christ. As T.A. Sparks said, “more Christ, more church.” This is how spiritual building is formed – through enlightened fellowship that produces more Christ and bonds believers together. On the flip side, church-hopping requires no light at all because the basic requirement for fellowship is life. As long as we have the life of Christ, we can fellowship and enjoy the Lord with even a company of strangers; hence some saints prefer to church-hop from group to group. But, in order to be delivered from mediocrity and for fellowship to be full of Christ that would give birth to a spiritual building (and indeed all fellowship should lead to spiritual building), we desperately need light.

Herein lies a paradox: among most groups, whenever “building” is the issue, fellowship fades, for the most part. This is why the Baptist Church cannot “build up” with the Methodist Church, the Lutheran Church, the Charismatic Church…and vice versa. Each one having its own doctrinal understanding, vision, goal and agenda preclude them from building together. The Word of God is the same, the Holy Spirit is the same, but their visions are different.

A while back, a former pastor of a Vineyard Church in our city visited a number of groups that assembled outside of institutional parameters with an intention of bringing them all under one umbrella. When he came into our midst, we were able to have the most wonderful fellowship and worship before our glorified Christ. But, his idea for the building of God’s house was clearly different from what the Lord revealed to us through His word. Were we able to enjoy fellowship, and can we continue to fellowship? Most certainly! Could we acquiesce in becoming part of his vision of God’s building? I am afraid not, with all due respect.

Given this unfortunate paradox, all Christian fellowships must still seek divine light which produces spiritual “building,” because without light, anyone with a doctrinal bias and a personal agenda can come in and hijack the fellowship and inflict damage. If our fellowship group were a “free-for-all” without an anchor in the word of God and the light of what the Lord desires, then the aforementioned ex-Vineyard Pastor could easily enlist our group and make it into another trophy to adorn his umbrella group of house churches.

Great consideration must be given to “building,” because it gives expression to fellowship. The more Christ-centered a fellowship becomes, the more built up it gets. So, how are we to build? Upon what basis do we build? Building is based on light, among other things. The more light we receive, the more solid is our building because light calibrates and sharpens our vision of Christ. Moses’ work of building the Tabernacle was based entirely on the “pattern on the mount” (light) he received. Down to the minutest details. There was no room for religious ideas, good intentions, fleshly zeal, human ingenuity, compromise or any other considerations. That building work was based 100% on divine light. David’s blueprint for the building of the Temple was also based exclusively on divine light. The Lord Jesus’ work of building His House (the Church) was exclusively according to His Father’s revelations – “upon this rock (the revelation of who Christ is) I will build My Church.”

Since both the Tabernacle and the Temple are important types of the Church, it goes without saying that the Church is not just a fellowship, it should also become a spiritual building as more light is received and more Christ comes into focus. All Christians who gather regularly in their respective groups are engaged in a building up in some fashion whether they know it or not. They labor (or more precisely, the Lord labors through them) toward a common goal under the light of a common vision to build up their fellowship.

King Solomon declared, “Unless the Lord builds the House, they labor in vain who build it” (Psm.127:1). Notice that Solomon did not say, “Since the Lord is the One building the House, the laborers needn’t bother; since the Lord is the One watching the city, the watchmen can go to bed.” The watchmen still need to keep watch, but it is the Lord who guards the city. The laborers still need to build the house, but it is the Lord who builds in and through them.
Paul said, “Now if any man builds upon the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident…” (I Cor. 3:12-13). There is no question that the Lord is the One who builds His house, yet He has decided that we all become His co-laborers in this endeavor, because His building work is done through men. George Cutting once told Watchman Nee, “I can’t do it without the Lord, but do you know, the Lord can’t do it without me?” God’s entire business is wrapped up in man, but man has utterly failed. The sooner we realize our complete untrustworthiness and total incompetence, the better are our chances of being fashioned into vessels useful in the Master’s hand.

The question is not whether we have a part in His building work. The questions are: 1) How much have we allowed Him to mold us into useful vessels so that He can labor in and through us? 2) How much of our co-labor is based on divine light?

Regrettably, a great number of the brothers and sisters who have received a vision of God’s purpose for His Church care only for the external technicalities of the church. They split hairs over whether the Lord’s Day begins at sundown Saturday or sunup Sunday, whether the Lord’s Supper should be a full meal or just crackers and tiny cups, over scheduling meetings versus meeting spontaneously, over how to be un-religious, over the “proper name/proper ground” for the church, and even over certain version of the Bible! At the drop of a hat the saints quarrel, and the points of contention soon lead to point of departure if their “biblically sound” resolutions are not respected and adopted into practice.

For sure, these and other issues are very important and ought to receive careful considerations. We most certainly should search the Scriptures for light on these things. But do we really allow the light of the word to expose us, search us, change us, and fill us with His character first; or do we zealously read our religious biases and concepts into God’s holy word and call that “light”? All too often, we are ready to withdraw or cut off fellowship over some pathetically minor trivialities. There is a tendency among brethren who are gifted and zealous to major in the minor and minor in the major, and in so doing tear the fellowship apart and inflict great harm to the innocent members of the body of Christ.

In the New Testament economy, our greatest source of light comes from the word of God through the illuminating of the Holy Spirit. Some Christians may argue that the Holy Spirit is the only source of light, citing the fact that the patriarchs did not have the benefit of the written word, yet they came into God’s will either through the revelation of the Holy Spirit or direct divine intervention. Others also claim to have the leading of the Holy Spirit without the written word in matters related to jobs, marriages, etc.

While it is true that the patriarchs did not have the written word of God, it is equally true that they did not have a comprehensive view of the light and revelation contained in the written word of God which we have today. The same can be said about today’s leading of the Holy Spirit independent of the written word. While the Holy Spirit can certainly prick men’s conscience and convict men of sins without the written word, the questions are: 1) How much longer can such people go on without relying on the authority of the written word and not suffer spiritual delusion, deprivation and darkness? 2) How much “light” can one claim to have in being solely “led by the Holy Spirit”? 3) Can anyone come into the revelation (light) of the “fullness of Christ” and the “whole counsel of God” without the complete record of the word of God being illumined by the Holy Spirit? The answer is obvious.

Therefore, any claims of comprehensive divine revelation that do not conform to, and are not consistent with the word of God must be questioned and discarded. Even more importantly, if we have not allowed the light of the word to penetrate, expose and cut our egos down to size first, our un-dealt-with natural man will either puff ourselves up or slay each other, no matter how much “light” we claim to have!

So the first order of things in the building of His testimony is the need for divine light and for us to be completely arrested and cut down in His light. Isaiah cried out upon seeing a vision (light) of the Lord high and lifted up, “Woe is me, for I am ruined!” (6:5). Then and only then can Isaiah be commissioned for service. No service or building of any kind is possible aside from a complete surrender of our natural man under His light.

Fellowship and Building

Then, in our willingness to be “stretched” and in our desire to reach out for fellowship unto the enlargement of Christ, it becomes necessary to see how “fellowship” and “building,” “life” and “light” harmonize in concert together. Missing “fellowship,” our Christian gathering becomes a lifeless, lethargic, legalistic and exclusive entity. Neglecting “building,” our gathering becomes a visionless, aimless free-for-all, and is subject to being “tossed to and fro, and carried about by every wind of teaching, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming” (Eph. 4:14).
The relationship between fellowship (life) and building (light) is fascinating. No Christian group can flourish without a good balance of life and light, fellowship and building. The shortage of either could seriously inhibit proper growth. Usually, in groups where doctrinal issues, experience issues, personality issues or cultural/racial issues divide Christians into different camps, serious Christians will discover the tragic error and start looking for fellowship across doctrinal, experiential and cultural lines. Eventually, they will grow so detached from their original groups that they may either have to leave or can no longer fit in and be built up with the brethren even if they stay.

No Palace of Strangers

It is commendable when Christians discover the errors of division, and long to reach out to all God’s children. Driven by a burden to be enlarged, they “stretch” themselves and “lengthen” the cords of fellowship. However, the most common mistake at this juncture is the reluctance to becoming relational with any one group, and the resultant lack of building up with brethren of like vision and kindred spirit.

Isaiah warned in 25:2b, “A palace of strangers is not a city; it shall never be built.” Two important thoughts are underscored here: 1) the need to be relational – “a palace of strangers is not a city,” 2) the importance of building – “it shall never be built.” Perhaps nowhere else in the Bible are these thoughts as graphically portrayed as in Nehemiah chapter three. There we find the people of God rising up to rebuild the walls and the gates of Jerusalem by sections. Two words keep popping up: “next to.” “Next to him built the men of Jericho; and next to them built Zaccur…. And next to them repaired Meremoth…. And next to them repaired Meshullam…. And next to them repaired Zadok…. And next to them…and next to them….” And so it goes. What a picture of the saints becoming relational to each other! No “palace of strangers” here! No spiritual Lone Rangers either; they all had someone to become relational with. And since these men in Nehemiah “built” next to each other, and the “palace of strangers” in Isaiah will “never be built,” can there be any doubt that building comes out of relationship at least in this context?

I am eternally grateful that the Lord has given us a section of the wall to rebuild and has stationed a few of us shoulder-to-shoulder, “next to” each other on our section of the wall. And it was exciting to discover that as we reached out, there were other relational groups of saints building on their sections of the wall! My joy could hardly be contained as the Lord graciously allowed our different groups to fellowship and experience oneness together. At the same time, I must say, I am also alarmed that the Enemy has relentlessly attacked the fledgling building. It seems that any time the degree of light and revelation concerning God’s full purpose intensifies, the Enemy’s attack ratchets up a notch. If we want to become relational and burdened for the building, rest assured that the attack will come, but also rest assured that God’s ultimate rout of the Enemy will be great! The Evil One’s attack on the building of God’s testimony will be his own undoing. Make no mistake about it.

The Original Foundation

As an important side-note, please notice that all the families stationed “next to” each other on the walls had to come back to Jerusalem – the place of the original foundation – for the building; they couldn’t build just anywhere they wanted. In order for genuine “next-to” relationship to exist among the saints, we also have to return to our original foundation – Christ. Any talk of relational experiences or building outside of Christ is wishful thinking.

Regrettably, some precious saints with religious concepts and high and lofty ideas that are not founded upon the “original foundation” come into a group and expect their concepts and ideas be accepted before they are willing to become relational. On the other end of the spectrum, some saints will settle with any group with no regard for the “original foundation” as long as they can feel warm and fuzzy for being “relational” with each other. And still there are others who decide to form their own relational groups only because they cannot get along with certain brothers and sisters, or because their religious bias precludes certain biblical teachings….

Sad to say, some of these “next-to” relational groups are not founded upon the “original foundation” and may suffer loss. I’m afraid that many zealous saints casually start a new group and have no idea just how serious it is to do so without returning to the original foundation. While many seeking saints have awakened to discover the cold and ritualistic conditions of the Institutional Church and longed to be relational in simplicity, only a small remnant have truly returned to the “original foundation.”

On the one hand, an assembly must have a “big heart” to accept all God’s people for fellowship regardless of their level of life and light, but it must not become a cesspool of all sorts of ideas and strange teachings. Our “big heart” must be balanced by our “small feet” to return to Jerusalem – the original foundation for the building. A building outside of the original foundation of Christ is no building at all.

The church is a relational entity, but I’m afraid many have settled far short of the “original foundation.” I firmly believe that being relational takes fellowship to a deeper level. With today’s technological advances in multimedia, internet and telecommunications, one can fellowship with a multitude of believers all over the globe in real time without stepping out of the front door. Even though one can fellowship across geographical, denominational, doctrinal, cultural and racial boundaries, he may not have entered into deeper or more intimate relationship at all with anyone.

One of the subtleties of the Enemy is to blur our relationship with each other by taking away the “next-to.” He knows better than anyone else that stirring up oppression and persecution will never destroy the Church. The Roman Empire persecuted and oppressed Christians for three hundred years only to make them stronger. But herding Christians into those cold, cavernous cathedrals (under Constantine) and making them all pew-members did the trick. Just make the Christians “Sunday Morning Spectators,” and the church is paralyzed. Just take away the “next-to,” and the building collapses. Just isolate the Christians into contentment with their keyboards, modems and dish-networks, and the testimony is over!

I am sure we all appreciate these modern technological wonders, but what a price we are paying. With some folks, I am afraid they may have given away much more than they gained. Relational! Brothers and sisters, we need to be relational with each other. We urgently need to find others we can be “next-to” with. We also urgently need someone who can get close enough to chip away some of our sharp egos. Without the “next-to,” any talk about the building is wishful thinking; unless of course the Lord puts us in a situation of isolation to teach us some valuable lessons. After all, the Lord did send Moses to the “back side of the desert” for 40 years, and Paul to the Arabian desert for 3 years.

Just as the returned remnant were each assigned a section of the wall, we, the New Testament remnant, also have each been given a section of the wall to rebuild. Dear brothers and sisters, have you seen the deplorable condition of the burnt gates and the breached walls? Has the Lord granted you light on the building of His testimony? Do you have a burden to “rise up and build”? Are there brothers and sisters “next to” you on your section of the wall? I am afraid most Christians have not seen the deplorable condition of the “breached walls and the burnt gates” of God’s testimony. Just as in Nehemiah’s time when he rose up in the middle of the night to inspect the walls, God’s people today are also soundly asleep with regard to the degradation in Christendom.

Before you get all stirred up to build the testimony of God, may I humbly suggest that you repair your own dormant or damaged relationships first? Do you have some feelings against certain dear children of God? Have you offended someone? Has someone offended you? Are you just staying aloof? Do you stay away because you think your doctrines and practices of the church are superior? Do you think you have received better light and revelation than others? Ask the Lord to help you. Nothing pleases Him more than seeing brothers and sisters reconcile and restore those damaged or dormant relationships, because the restoration of relationships comes straight from the very core of the character of the Lamb. And it is the Lamb’s character that affords the Lord a perfect platform upon which to build His testimony.

Recently, the Lord mercifully restored a divorced couple’s relationship in a town just north of us. The testimony that came out of their reconciliation greatly strengthened and encouraged all the saints in their fellowship and beyond. As a result, the brothers and sisters there experienced tremendous building up in life, joy, faith and love for each other. More recently still, another young divorced couple in another fellowship in our city got restored, and great rejoicing and encouragement fell on all the saints. Praise Him!

The Need for Light

It is one thing (and a good thing) to want to stretch and lengthen our cords, but if there is no one on the receiving end of the cords of fellowship to drive them firmly into solid ground, our fellowship will fall seriously short. Cords of Christ-centered fellowship must be mutually understood and received or they cannot be firmly anchored; and firmly anchored they must be, or any winds of teaching will send the tent crashing into the dust! Also, many precious saints who chose to stay in the Institutional Church have withered on the vine because their fellowship concerning the vision of Christ and His eternal purpose was not understood and received. The problem was not the lack of fellowship; it was the lack of light and perception that directly resulted in the lack of building.

This is where the need for light comes in. As mentioned before, fellowship is based on life, not on light. Consider how a 60-year-old grandfather can have the sweetest fellowship with his 3-year-old grandson not because of light (which the child has none) but because of life. If fellowship were based on light, then the old man could never fellowship with the young lad; and Jesus could never have fellowshipped with His disciples (who were largely in a fog most of the time). Yes, fellowship is based on life, but fellowship must be issued from and received in light to be firmly anchored in Christ, or there is no building! Please notice that it is only when the cords are firmly staked into solid ground that the tent (the building) can be raised up. Notice, too, that Jesus’ fellowship, though fully in life, did not immediately result in building until Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came and flipped the “light switch,” so to speak, and brought the brethren out of the fog and the Church into being.

Just like the grandfather, those who are spiritually mature must still reach out to the spiritually younger and find the fellowship sweeter than honey. It is Jesus’ life that makes our fellowship sweet. At the same time, the remnant must labor to pursue light on God’s eternal purpose, and travail on behalf of the younger brethren that they too, might see light so that the “stakes” can be firmly anchored in Christ and the “tent” of testimony raised up. Fellowship, as important as it is, does not by itself result in building; fellowship in light facilitates building.

Now, isn’t the relationship between fellowship and building, life and light a most fascinating one? On the one hand, the remnant should reach out to fellowship with all God’s children. On the other hand, they must forsake not the gathering together with like-visioned and kindred-spirited brethren in order that those “cords” are not only stretched and lengthened, but also firmly anchored into solid ground so that the “tent” (the building) can be raised up unto the testimony of Jesus. Fellowship without building will not produce real testimony; life without light leads to sloppy-agape. Building without fellowship will result in legalistic division; light without life ends up in arrogant exclusivism.

The Remnant, a Work in Secret

Finally, the Lord’s work in preparing and enlarging the remnant is done inwardly and in secret. You rarely find the remnant making headlines. You won’t see them plastered on billboards or glowing under spotlights. In fact, if we saw them, we would be utterly surprised, as Isaiah bemoaned: “Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who has begotten these [the remnant] for me, since I have been bereaved of my children, and am barren, a captive and a wanderer? And who has reared these? Behold, I was left alone; where did they come from?’” (49:21). Just like the Jews who missed their Messiah because He was so hidden, humble and lowly, likewise when the lowly and humble remnant do appear, many Christians will let out a collective cry of surprise: “Where did they come from?”

It is so sad that Christians are constantly being bombarded and enticed with the desire for outward greatness and success, they no longer pay attention to the intricate work of the Holy Spirit enlarging us for more Christ within. It is ironic that Christians today are so quick to point out the failure of the Jews to recognize Christ, but do not see that the same danger also lurks in our failure to detect and embrace the work of the Holy Spirit in producing and enlarging Christ in us inwardly and secretly. When the lowly remnant, the ones who have been enlarged and constituted with the character of Christ appear, may we not be those caught astonished, “Where did they come from? I thought we were the remnant….”

If there is one thing that captures the essence of the remnant, perhaps it is in this verse, “The children of whom you were bereaved will yet say in your ears, ‘The place is too cramped for me; make room for me that I may dwell here’” (Isa. 49:20). Oh, how delightful it must be to the Lord that His remnant is so in tune with the divine thought of yearning for the enlargement and fullness of Christ! Dear saints, do you feel “cramped”? Do you need more “room”? Do you yearn for more Christ? Are you willing to be stretched? Do you long for fellowship, relationship and building up? May this be the heart-cry of all God’s children, “Lord, how very little of Your character and essence do we posses! How much we need You to enlarge our capacity until Christ heads up, sums up and fills up all and in all!”

Lo, the old creation is passing away, the new creation will soon be consummated in His glorious return. The remnant is standing in the gaps (unseen) by His enabling grace and by His might. Soon we shall hear the shouts of joy: “Grace, grace unto it” as the top stone is being laid when the building of His Church is finally finished. Hark, it is the song of the remnant: “Therefore the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion, and everlasting joy shall be upon their head. They shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away….”

Oliver Peng

Simply Stated

2010-10-08T15:20:00.000-07:00

Much like people of the world, Christians also fancy extraordinary phenomenon, give heed to supernatural events and take stock in outstanding accomplishments. The fixation with outward greatness and notoriety - and by association, prosperity - has driven many Christians to seek after experiences that excite the soul but do nothing for the spirit.

There is a whole culture that gears toward nurturing and heightening man’s senses for the sensational. Everywhere we look, today’s churches are programmed to accommodate this culture and take it to new heights. Churches that are successful in this endeavor are magnets for new converts and are looked upon with envy by their peers. Many such churches even give seminars to fellow-pastors with aspiration for outward greatness and success.

Sad to say, all the fuss about success, programs and greatness has distracted Christians from their one and most central issue – Christ.

A.W. Tozer once told a church congregation that if Jesus walked in today, no one would recognize Him.

The reason we would not recognize Him is because we are preoccupied with all these programs, hypes, promotions and productions instead of focusing on the person of Christ. The familiar story of Elijah at Horeb might illustrate this point. The prophet fled from Jezebel and came to a cave in Horeb where he saw the Lord passing by with a violent rushing wind tearing the mountains and breaking the rocks, but the Lord “was not in the wind.” Then there was an earthquake, but the Lord “was not in the earthquake.” Then there was a fire, but the Lord “was not in the fire.” Then there was the sound of a “gentle blowing” (I Kings 19:9-12).

Too many Christians, ministers and churches are too grossly preoccupied in the outward and sensational “winds,” “earthquakes,” and “fires” to hear the Lord’s still small voice any more. People want quick-fixes to their problems, and churches want instant success for their plethora of programs.

Genuine spirituality is always opposite of and hidden from the flashy and sensational "winds, quakes and fires." Genuine spirituality on the one hand is the result of being dealt with in fleshly lusts, natural ability and religious zeal; on the other hand, it is being brought forth from a closer walk with Christ and fuller apprehension of the person of Christ. Closer walk with Christ requires cultivation through time and the privacy of closed doors before the possibility of fruition.
In today's culture of instant gratification, time has become the neglected element in true spiritual development. Instead of following the foot-steps of the Lamb in taking the time-consuming way of the cross, Christians have taken to the "just add water" culture in their pursuit of spirituality.
Jesus is the one grain of wheat that fell into the earth and died, and as a result of His death, fruitfulness is produced (Jn:12:24). In the same way, our true spiritual development can only come from surrendering to the slow dealings of the cross to facilitate the laying down of our self life. It is through the dealings of the cross which strike a blow to our lust for the "winds, quakes and fires" that we learn to hear His still small voice and acquire the lowly and sweet character of the Lamb.

However, the dealings upon the natural man, the dying to the self life, and becoming lowly and hidden are not messages Christians want to hear nowadays. To put things in perspective, today’s churches almost have to operate under the hypes of “winds,” “quakes,” and “fires” to some degree. Take the “winds,” “quakes,” and “fires” away, most churches will suffer immediate membership decline!

It is a classical case of new wine vs. old wineskin syndrome.

On the other hand, enlightened believers want to fix the leaky wineskin by patterning after the "early church" in the New Testament. Ornate religious buildings, pews, liturgical forms and clergy-led programs are now replaced by the simplicity of home fellowship and spontaneity of worship.

But it is not uncommon to find many early church experts doing a sort of reverse engineering and coming up with wonderful discoveries of the missing pieces from the biblical early church.
While the biblical early church blueprint does reveal the Lord's mystical body functioning organically on earth and expose the woeful departure from such pattern in today's churches, reverse engineering is a far cry from the Lord's way of securing His desired church.

Simply stated, it is the increasing and maturing life of Christ that enables us to experience and express the reality of the organic church life. The reverse-engineered church life is only a look-alike, no matter how much it resembles the biblical early church. The true Bride of Christ does not come into being by "just add water," she is the result of travail.

A few lowly remnants who have been through the rabbit trail of "first-century church" or "organic church" finally discovered that these efforts - failed or not - were also just another patch work in the same old wineskin.

By the Lord’s grace and mercy, simple and unpretentious brothers and sisters in many parts of the country and around the world are realizing that the various attempts at biblical early church as mere mechanical processes that leave out the Spirit, and shortcuts that cut out the work of the cross. Saints whom the Lord made simple are learning to discover that the way to genuine spirituality is through the cross, the gateway to spiritual fullness and maturity is through a closed door of intimate relationship with the Lord.

Today, many of the non-traditional churches that gather outside of the institutional environment claim a return to simplicity, which is a hallmark of the early church, but simplicity is not merely the doing away with clergy-laity system, glamorous church buildings and the programs. It is first and foremost a work of the Holy Spirit through the cross to diminish the self life and increase the character and likeness of the Lamb within. Being made Lamb-like in character is what confirms the claim of simplicity, all other claims pale in comparison.

May we learn to look to Him and holdfast Him who is our All to make us simple from the inside out. Quietly, the Lord is working inwardly to “drive out the nations” (decrease of self) and “enlarge our borders” (increase of Christ) as in Ex 34: 24.

Little by little, as we learn to surrender to His merciful dealings, the Lord then has a chance to gain some ground in us; and quite unexpectedly, a sweet and real church life emerges without anyone working up a sweat trying to copy or mimic the so-called “Early Church” pattern (not to say we haven’t tried before).

Whenever the "self" is in charge, the most first-century-like church is merely an empty structure, whether it gathers in a house or an ornate building.
On the other hand, when our focus is shifted from the church to Him, a wealth of treasure is opened to us not the least of which is a genuine church life that many saints elsewhere devote themselves to but have difficulty laying hold of. When the focus is the church, we lose sight of Christ; when the focus is Christ, we gain both the new wine and the wineskin. It’s not about us, dear saints, it’s all about Him.

Oliver Peng