Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Having heard all the magnificent stories of the faithful saints down through the ages, the author then turns to us and says, “what about you?” Are you not part of this precious group of faith? And if you are then shall you not lay aside “every weight.” What is this weight? Every burden, every hindrance, everything external that would keep you from your reasonable service to God and your reasonable service to God is everything. Your life is not your own, it was bought with a price. It is no longer you that live but rather it is Christ that lives in you. You are a special person, a called out one, a royal priest. You have a duty that is higher than any other duty, that is to serve the King. This you must pursue no matter the cost.
Internally you have the sin that so easily captures you. It might be your temperament, crucify it. It might be your politics, leave that to the world. It might be the personal bias that you grew up with, kill it by the cross upon your back.You would train night and day if you were an Olympic athlete. While others slept, you would be up before the sun. When others were eating anyway they pleased, you would be following a strict diet. You would not be smoking or drinking and in some cases just prior to your race you would refrain from lying with your spouse.The sacrifices we are willing to make in order to get a gold medal, to get fame and fortune in this world are without limit. Isn’t your calling to God so much higher than any athlete?
Are you not running the race of eternal life for a crown that will not perish? A crown that you will cast down before the Lord’s feet because He deserves all the glory!How can we do all of this brothers and sisters? How can we be sold out to God in our lives? “Looking unto Jesus the author and the finisher of our faith.” His testimony was that for the joy of serving His Father and fulfilling His will, He willingly endured the cross, despising the shame and then sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Are we willing to endure? Are we willing to accept the discipline of the Lord? Jesus shall be our strength, the Holy Spirit shall be our guide. He shall be the lifter of our heads. He shall convict us and He shall give us the strength to follow Him, if it is our heart to follow Him. If it is our heart to run the race. If it is our heart to endure. If it is our heart to overcome. If these are our desires, He shall give them to us.
(Col 3:1-3) If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
This verse starts out with the word “if.” This is just to clarify that the magnificent truths of the Gospel can only ever apply to those who are genuinely born again. And if we are genuinely born again then we are called to have this mind-set, the mindset of Heaven and of God. Our eyes are to be drawn upwards as we seek the manifest glory of God and to be conformed to His image. The seat of all our affections are entirely up to us. What do we seek? Where do we look? What captures our attention? What do you fill your mind with? There are only two paths that lie before us. We can either set our minds on things above, or we can set our minds on the things of earth. The things of earth and the things of heaven should be entirely apparent and are laid out in the following verses in this chapter in the form of the things we “put on,” and the things we “put off.” Note well that we are the ones who are putting on or putting off.
We are to put off, or put to death, fornication. Most notably this would be adultery. Uncleanness, which would be all forms of immorality. Inordinate affections or passions which would be lusts. This could be sexual in nature or it could be a lust for money or power or promotion. It is all idolatry because it “unseats,” the Lord Jesus from His rightful place on the throne of your heart. We have also to put off anger and hateful thoughts and of course any kind of blasphemy should never be heard on our lips. Now, we are not left alone in the putting off of these things. The genuine saint has died and we are hidden in Christ. Therefore we love Him with a love that knows no bounds. In the end this will be your greatest weapon, your very love for Jesus and His love for you and the Holy Spirit will magnify this love in your hearts towards Him. It is our greatest weapon because in genuine love, the very last thing we would ever desire to do would be to displease our heavenly Father.
There are many many people in this world who have excellent and righteous early fathers and mothers. Speak to them and they will tell you that the very last thing in this world would they would ever want to do would be to disappoint them. They say they would rather die than to see the look of disappointment on their faces. Now brothers and sisters, is not our relationship with our heavenly Father so much higher than any earthly relationship? The very notion of disappointing our Heavenly Father should form the greater boundary of the narrow path. And therefore we rather put on all the attributes of the new man, the one who arose with Christ. Tender mercies and kindness should be the order of the day. Humility and meekness should pave the narrow road on which we walk. Long-suffering while continuing in kindness and mercy to others should be one of the many ways that we are marked. Love and forgiveness above all else should be as natural to as it is to breathe for we ourselves are lavish recipients of such. Today, brothers and sisters, put on and put off. Take up your cross daily and you shall do both, to the glory of our Lord and Savior Jesus.
Col 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
In all things Jesus might have the preeminence. In all things brothers and sisters. And for this purpose we read in the earlier verses of this chapter that ” you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” Increasing in the knowledge of God and the knowledge of His will is the work of the Holy Spirit in you. And as this occurs then Jesus is elevated, Jesus is lifted up, Jesus becomes first and last in all things, He indeed becomes your grand obsession and in this God is glorified. It was Christ who delivered us from the powers of darkness. It was God who transferred us, we were translated into the Kingdom of “The Son of His love.” How beautiful is that phrase ” The Son of His Love.” We, by the power of the Lord Jesus Christ become the sons and the daughters of His love!
Jesus is the image of the invisible God. Jesus is the Word made flesh. Jesus in Immanuel. He walks among us and is in us by the power of the Holy Spirit. By Jesus all things were created that are in heaven and in earth. Thrones, dominions and principalities and powers, all things were created by Jesus for the glory of God the Father. He is before all things and by Him all things exist. He is the head of the Body, the Church, and He is the firstborn from the dead and in all these things He has the preeminence. It is the devils task to tear Jesus down in the minds of men in a futile effort to dethrone Him. He detests the fact that Jesus Christ is the Son of His love. He is insanely jealous of Jesus and wants to replace Him which is why he is anti-christ. By removing the preeminence of Jesus from our gatherings he has went a long way in an inevitably futile task. How tragic that Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior has been sidelined and relegated in the hearts of millions of professing saints around the world in their hearts and in their gatherings.
Yet praise the Lord Jesus rules and reigns supreme in the hearts of His very own, no matter how much of the world has flooded into what we call churches. Jesus is and always will be higher than the highest heavens. One day the Lord will rend the heavens and His glory will flow down the mountains and fill every valley with His majesty. The seas will flee at His presence, the mountains will humbly bow and say ” Glory , glory to the risen King.” The sun will turn its face away in shame for it is outshone by the brilliance of His illumination. The moon and the stars will cry out ” Holy, Holy is He who was and is and forever shall be.” And every voice from every tongue will say “Jesus,” and acknowledge the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And the beasts of the earth will fall down and cover their faces and then the lion will rise up and approach the lamb and they will lay down together.
And every knee shall bow in every tribe and in every nation and even the hordes of hell will fall silent as He approaches. The earth itself will grow silent and shall be still and then a glorious noise will begin to rise and will fill the earth, it will fill the sea it will fill the night skies it will fill the whole universe and all that will be heard will be the choirs of angels, that heavenly choir and the glory of God will not only cover the earth but will fill up everything that there is or has ever been. God’s saints, the children of His love will rise on this glorious symphony, they will arise in the updrafts of His glory and majesty and it will carry them into the heart of God. And those who rejected this magnificent glory will fall and their cries will be heard as they fall into the depths of darkness, for what eyes can ever see light again that were not sanctified eyes. And He will reign forever.
I believe God will ignore most of the Evangelical churches standing today. They have what they want, they are satisfied with what they have, and there is no room in their program for the Holy Spirit to do His thing…………………to go forward requires that we go backward to rediscover and reclaim our spiritual roots. We have abandoned our roots and are wandering helplessly in a spiritual desert………what is happening across the board cannot be salvaged from a spiritual standpoint, and the chances are pretty high that God may have to start all over again,my prayer is that it happens quickly…..I am not sure this can begin in todays church. I am absolutely sure it cannot begin in most denominations (Tozer- Alive in the Spirit)
Now can I suggest that since this was written over fifty years ago, brother Tozer could be even more emphatic than his above statements. In Psalm 11 David asks “What can the righteous do in the foundations are destroyed?” What will happen when the average Evangelical church has exactly what it wants but is given over to leanness? ( psalm 106 13-15) Can dimmed lights replace leanness? How about musical concerts? Smoke machines? What disaster has befallen us? We are exceedingly lean people wandering lost in a desert of our own request and all we have to encourage ourselves is crowds? Somehow, if we have many folks walking through the doors and three services on a Sunday then maybe no one will notice the leanness? If they do we just need to make it darker or increase the entertainment value. Lets start to teach them how to live and somehow ignore the fact that the Holy Scriptures first teach us how to die.
Our spiritual roots which Tozer advises us to go back to can only be found in the Scriptures. If the programs have become the service then the service has to end until the only program available is the Holy Spirit’s program. What? If we shut down the programs who is going to pay the light bills and the staff’s salary. Someone might whisper “maybe we could just meet in our homes,” and upon overhearing this the professionals howled in protest. Now if we are to return to our spiritual roots where would a man give a word of wisdom? Where would a woman give a tongue? Where would one give a prophecy? Obviously not in the professional gatherings, only the ordained experts and trained worship leaders can be heard there. No scripture for that but lets not let that get in the way of the fact that this is how we have always done it for decades and centuries. Tozer goes on to say ” the next generation or two will face a challenge that cannot be overcome in the natural. Throughout history God has selected certain people to come out of the established church and start over again using biblical authority. What is happening across the board cannot be salvaged from a spiritual standpoint.”
Tozer gave a dire report on the state of the Evangelical church and its denominational counterparts fifty years ago, since then they have plunged down into the depths of leanness and depravity. One could only imagine the horror of men like Tozer and Ravenhill and even Wilkerson if they saw the depths to which the established church has fallen. Lean churches produce lean leaders who produce lean converts and that’s the best of them. The others will cross land and sea to make one convert and make them twice the child of hell than themselves. What can we do if the foundations are destroyed? We must discover anew the proper foundation that is laid down in Christ and the Apostles and the prophets. We must raise spiritual walls using only the Word of God. We must be found in these days of danger in our high towers. The righteous run into to it and they are safe. The high tower, the fortress, the deliverer, my shield in whom I trust. Upon Christ alone and upon His word we must go forward, baptized in the Holy Spirit that emboldens us to stand in such a day. This is our spiritual roots.
Eph 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
There is a King and His name is Jesus, and His name is above all names. He holds my heart and in the depths of who I am, He reigns. He holds the fabric of my life together, He’s the smile you’ll see upon my face. And even now in the depths of winter He is my everlasting warm embrace. The truth is high and lifted up and when it is spoken in love the whole world shakes. It puts to flight all lies and cuts through the darkness. Shall we not be filled with this love and speak the Truth? In doing so we grow in all things related to our Lord. And when everyone of us begin to move, when the whole Body moves together then the earth begins to tremble for the army of the Lord is on the march. If we shall grow, individually and corporately we must speak the truth in love. If we shall rise up and go deeper into the Father’s heart, we must speak the truth in love and walk there in. If we shall be one even as He and the Father are one it can only happen in truth and in love. They go together, no one can separate Christ into individual parts.
“The whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does it share, causes growth of the body, for the edifying of itself in love.” (Eph 4:16) This is an explosive scripture. The Body is knit together by what every joint supplies. It is only effective when every part does its share. This is the only way for growth. Despite what charlatans and hirelings and wolves might tell you, adding numbers to a gathering is not growth. Speaking the truth in love is growth. Edification and discipleship is growth. Fruits of the Spirit is growth. Sanctification is growth. When we have put off our former conduct, that is growth. Growth is about the inner man, not how many services you have. Growth is about endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Only in Christ who is truth can there be unity, can there be one body and one Spirit. One hope, one faith, one baptism one God and Father who is above all and who is preeminent in our hearts and in our minds and our gatherings. We can grow in the desert. We can grow in the depths of a dungeon. We can grow on the mountaintops. We can grow in poverty and we can grow in sickness. Growth is not determined by our circumstances, it is determined by our desire to follow the Lord and His word, wherever that narrow road will take us.
There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.(Eph 4:4-6)
There is one Body and one Spirit and that’s the plain truth of it. Whoever attempts to divide the Body is on a fools errand. The catastrophic failure of denominationalism flows from the root failure to understand our calling. To walk as one in Christ, this is the hope of our calling. We endeavor to keep the unity of Christ which means we diligently work to tear down walls of separation just as the walls that separated the Jews from the Gentiles were torn down on the bloody battle-field of Calvary. The Body of Christ spans the world and churches and denominations. Christendom, all that calls itself after Christ is not the Body, but for the most part the Body dwells within the confines of Christendom. Christendom needs them but they do not need Christendom. For by our new birth we were born into Christ, into the Body and it is one. One faith, one baptism and one God the Father who is in us. If the Father is not in you then you are not in the Body of Christ, no matter what “church,” you belong to. If the Father is in you then you belong to the Body of Christ no matter what “church,” you belong to.
Being a member or an attendee of a “church,” is of no consequence to those in whom the Father does not dwell. Circumcised or uncircumcised has no spiritual value. Church goer or non church goer has no spiritual value outside of the Spirit of God that dwells with us. Among the true Body of Christ there are some apostles and some prophets, some evangelists and some pastors and teachers. Their purpose is to bring the saints to maturity and to edify the true Body of Christ until Christ comes again. They are not for the amusement or the hiring of the unsaved or the religious. No one outside of the Body can be edified by those whom the Lord calls, for the calling is to the one true Church. In Christendom we see “the trickery of men in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting.” (Eph 4:14) The plotting is always in association with self-serving. Every wind of doctrine is employed by the trickery of men to build themselves up, and build for themselves a kingdom. Yet God will always have those of the Body who shall speak the truth in love, seeking only to edify and protect the Body. It is incumbent upon you, O saint, to discern these things by the Word of God and His Spirit.
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:
Jesus, that name which is above every name. There is no other name under heaven, given among men by which we must be saved. It’s at the name of Jesus that ever knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. He is above all principalities and power, and might and dominion and every name that is named not just in this world but in the world to come. It is the Father of glory, The Lord’s Father, our Father,who bestows upon us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him that the eyes of our understanding might be enlightened. That you may know what is the hope of His calling and what is the riches of His glory as His inheritance to us the saints. His exceedingly great power is directed to us who believe. We are rich in His mercy. We are rich in His grace. We who trust in Him move in His wisdom. We are awash in the treasures of heaven, given and dispensed to us in measure by the Holy Spirit.
All of these things were written to people who were exceedingly poor by the measurements of the world. This was not Corinth. These saints were not wealthy in any measurable way, yet they were living the abundant life in Christ. They had life, and they had it in abundance. They were not living their best lives now as we have come to understand that phrase. Yet they were living richly in Christ Jesus and in His fullness whereby He fills those who love Him and trust Him. They had heavenly treasures in earthly vessels. For the God, who had commanded the light to shine out of darkness, had shone it in their hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And this is what they indeed had. They were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise and He was their guarantor. He guaranteed the redemption of the purchased possession. Eternal life has been purchased for you and for me, and for those of us who trust in the Lord our God we have all of those same promises and treasures. You may not have the wealth of this world, but you have the treasures of heaven.
What does it mean to be delivered? What does it look like for God to take full possession of us? Did He not purchase us? Did He not redeem us? He surely did and He will have all of us. One Wednesday night many many years ago at a church I used to attend, I was ministering to a young man in his 20s. He had been in the army. As I prayed for him I heard myself telling him that this was a battle. He had to fight his way to the very center of all of the madness and take this flag that had been planted in the depths of his heart and break it over his knee. “This is what victory looks like to you,” I told him. As I was driving home the Holy Spirit spoke to me very clearly clearly. “That was a good prayer…. how about you?……what about your battle?” And in that way that only God can do, I heard Him speak without speaking. I had a flag planted in the depths of my heart. It was planted there when I was a child. The devil himself, through my earthly father had planted a flag in my heart and it denoted ownership. There was a part of my heart that I could not have articulated to you. Oh I knew I had anger. I knew there was rage in me still, even after coming to the Lord, but it was buried deep. It would come out in flashes and would shock me.
As I continued driving home in the midst of this revelation, the Holy Spirit told me to go home, go to the basement where my father would be, he was visiting from Scotland. Turn of the television and look him right in the eyes and say to him “I am going to tell you something and I do not want you to interrupt me. I love you dad. As far as I am concerned there is no past between us, there is only now and I forgive you.” And when the Holy Spirit was finished speaking to me I was totally horrified. There was an inner scream in me. I was supposed to say this to the man who crushed my heart and broke my spirit? I would rather be roasted over hot coals. Its not that I did not want to say it to him, its that I simply could not. That was a bridge too far. And in my thoughts I screamed “I could never do this.” And immediately, the Holy Spirit very firmly said to me, out of my own mouth no less, in a way that could not be argued with “yes you can.” And so I drove home, trembling. Fear rose up in me. A fear I had not felt since I was a child dealing with the rage of a drunken father who hated God. I was literally drowning in my fear. There was no place to run and no place to hide. There was a flag planted in the depths of my heart and this very night God was going to tear it down.
I arrived home. I asked my wife where my dad was. I was half hoping he was not in the basement. Maybe I could convince myself it was not God that spoke. “He’s in the basement watching TV. ” I approached the stairs like a man walking towards his own funeral. Thoughts and memories rushing through my mind, memories I had suppressed all of my adult life. With every stair I went down I could hear the insults. “Fucking idiot.” Another stair, “You useless piece of shite.” Another stair “stick that fucking knife in me right now.” Another stair “go on you fucking poof.” I was descending back into a hell I had long since left behind. And there he was. And there I was. The man that had crushed my heart and broken my spirit and robbed me of my childhood, and had never been confronted in any way. The giant that ruled over my childhood land with ruthless domination. All of a sudden, there I was, speaking word for word what the Holy Spirit had told me to say. And the flag was uprooted and broken in two. The stronghold fell. I hugged my father and wept on his shoulder. And when it was over it was over. I would like to tell you that it had a fairy tale ending. That we had this marvelous relationship after that. We did not. Yet, the power had been broken. The work had been done. Listen brothers, listen sisters. God wants all of you. He knows the very depths of your heart. He knows you better than you know yourself. He will do a work in you. He will take what is His. He will shape you and mold you. Never fight it. God bless you in your journey.
2Co 11:13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
The desire for authority and position is an ancient one. It marks humanity. Indeed, it marks the fallen angels and Lucifer who desired God’s position. He wanted to be exalted. He wanted to be worshiped, he desired an opportunity to be regarded as God. When he speaks to Jesus face to face in the desert, his true heart is revealed for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. In the three temptations of Jesus, the first two he refers to Jesus as “If you are the Son of God.” Yet the third temptation he drops that accusation and shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and tells Jesus that they are all His ” if you will fall down and worship me.” You see, he knew exactly who Jesus was and now we see exactly what Satan wanted. He wanted what was not his, he wanted Jesus’ position.
Paul says, in regards to the false Apostles “that I may cut off their opportunity to be regarded just as we are.” You see what the false teachers wanted? They wanted to be regarded like Paul. They wanted what Paul had. The false Apostles desired the position so that others would serve them. So that others would elevate them and so they would be held in high regard. In other words they wanted what their master, Satan, wanted, and in order to get that for him they would be turned into angels of light and ministers of righteousness. Now remember brothers and sisters, this is all happening in the “early church.” There is nothing new under the sun. For three years Paul warned about such men, night and day, with tears, calling them out, calling them, in effect, devils in disguise. The church of today could not handle such teaching. Paul would be banned from almost every pulpit in the world.
These false teachers would share about their hard times in order to get the sympathy (and the money) of the folks. And Paul says that they gladly put up with them, he actually says that “you gladly put up with fools.” He says to the Corinthians that they put up with these men even although they lead them into bondage. Even although they devour them and take from them everything that they have and even beat them. The very essence of religiosity was threatening to consume them and they were giving themselves over to it because it is easier to be religious than it is to die to yourself and rise again in the beauty of holiness. Paul tells them that what he is about to tell them is foolish. Yet, he tells them that if suffering were the high water mark of Christianity, then he had suffered much more than any of these men. Yet, he had suffered for Christ’s sake. And he counted it all as nothing so that he may be found in Him. If he was going to boast about anything, he would boast about his weaknesses so that Christ may be elevated. Brothers and sisters, mark those who elevate themselves. Only if Christ be lifted up, only if Jesus has the preeminence can we know that the Holy Spirit is indeed among us.
2Co 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
In this chapter Paul lays out the marks of the ministry, how we shall be known. As ministers of God, meaning the Body of Christ and all of its many members, who seek to live Godly in Christ Jesus, we shall be patient in the many tribulations that we will surely face. And here are just some of the many situations that we are commended to be patient in, as opposed to living your best life now. In needs, in distresses, when we are beaten for Christ and imprisoned for His sake. In working with our hands, in revolts and rebellions, in sleeplessness and in fastings. We shall be known for our kindness and our sincere love as we walk though all of these situations, showing Godly wisdom and sharing the knowledge of God in all places and to all people. We shall walk in the power of God and by the armor of His righteousness. We shall be honored but we shall also be dishonored but we shall be gracious in both states. Men will say good things about us, but equally many men will dishonor us with lies and false accusations. They will say that we are deceivers and agents of the devil himself, but no matter, let us continue to be patient. The remnant people of God will know of us but for the most part we shall be unknown.
To the world it will seem that we are cursed and are dying but we are blessed and we are walking in the true abundance of eternal life. It will be seen that we are men and women of great sorrow, and indeed we shall suffer the sorrows of this world but we rejoice in the glory of Jesus and in the sure knowledge of the eternal Kingdom of God. It will seem to many that we are poor and wretched and blind but we are truly rich in the treasures of heaven which were purchased in the midst of the fire by the hand of Christ Jesus. We are clothed in the white garments of righteousness and holiness and our blind eyes have been opened to see the glory of God and to gaze up into an open heaven. It seems to the world that we have nothing, but in the reality of the Kingdom of God we possess all things through our Lord and Savior Jesus. We who suffer with our Lord shall rule and reign with Him in the heavenlies and this our heart knows well. We have a peace that surpasses all understanding. We have a contentment that the world knows nothing of because it is not based on any worldly things. Now brothers and sisters, what has just been here described is the common walk of the genuine saint.
We must walk in Christ alone and find our fellowship with others of like mind. We must not be unequally yoked. For what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness? Can we fellowship with those who are willful transgressors? Not according to the Word. What communion can light have with darkness? For those who are in the light walk in the light and they have fellowship one one with another. Does Jesus and the devil have fellowship? Is it possible for believers and unbelievers to walk together under the banner of Christ? Brothers and sisters, it is incumbent upon us to understand this, the weight of these directives fall upon us in this matter of fellowship. In this day and age of watered down Christianity, a Christless and crossless Christianity, it is up to us to find the saints who walk as Paul admonished us to walk in this very chapter of 2 Cor 6. God Himself says, no rather He commands, in the very context of this chapter, that we are to “come out from among them and be separate and do not touch what is unclean.” In following these commands He promises to receive us and that He would be our Father and that we would be His sons and daughters. He promised to dwell in us and walk among us where two or three are gathered together in the mighty name of Jesus, and He will be our God and we shall be His people. Glory to God!!!
1Co 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love , I am become as sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal.
In the previous sentence Paul tells us that we have to earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet, even above and beyond the best gifts, which we have indeed to earnestly desire, we must pursue love. It is not one or the other, God forbid. That’s a lie. Not only must the man or woman display the manifestation of the Spirit, above and beyond even that, He must walk in the greatest gift of all, love. Not human love, supernatural love. The kind of love that can only belong to the born again man or woman. The kind of love that shatters the gates of hell. The kind of love that inspired God to create us in the first place. The love that sent His only Son to die for the whole world. The kind of love that pursues us even when we are yet in our sin. The love that confounds hell itself. Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do. What kind of love motivated Jesus to cry this out in the midst of the greatest agony ever suffered? What kind of love would motivate Stephen to cry out the same thing even as those cruel merciless stones rained down upon his mortal body? Supernatural love. If one is truly endued with power from on high, that power will be first and foremost manifested in love in his or her life, the greatest manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
Paul begins with what love does not do or what it isn’t. It does not envy. It is not boastful. It is not full of pride. It does not behave in a deliberately offensive manner. It is not selfish. It is not easily provoked. It does not think the worse of people. It does not rejoice when others fall. Love, instead, revels in the truth, it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things. Love, indeed, never fails. It never fails. For this love is the manifestation of God Himself, in His own and through His own. It can never fail because God never fails. It is eternal for God is eternal. When the end comes, when the Lord Jesus Christ comes back and the Kingdom of God rules and reigns for all eternity then of course we wont have to hope any more, for all hope is fulfilled. We will no longer have to trust in the God that we cannot see, for now we shall see Him face to face.
Knowledge will vanish because we shall know as we are known. When all things are fulfilled in this manner, then love still stands forever. We are yet in this world, but the world to come is coming soon. Now we are like children, then we shall be complete in Him. Now we see in a mirror dimly, then face to face. Imagine it saints!!! There is now and there is then, we still exist in the now. And now we have the manifestation of the Spirit, then, all things are complete, perfect. And when that perfect has come, then all these other things, besides love, shall fall away. Do not let anyone fool you, do not be ignorant about these things brothers and sisters. For certain men have a form of Godliness, nevertheless they deny the power of God and say that it has ceased. From such men turn away.
1Co 12:7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all.
The Scriptures plainly teach that the “manifestation of the Spirit,” is given to each one for the profit of all. It is given in such a way that in order that we may learn, in order that we might grow and becomes sons and daughters of the King. Without this edification, how could we grow? If a child is not being nourished properly then it is often referred to as “failure to thrive.” Failure to thrive is defined as “infants or children that fail to thrive seem to be dramatically smaller or shorter than other children of the same age.” I would argue that we live in a Christian generation that has failed to thrive, Failed to grow. A generation that is more Biblically illiterate than their counterparts from 300 years ago. Despite our instant access to the Word and commentaries and Greek and Hebrew translations, we are the most Biblically illiterate generation for several hundred years. Can I suggest that when we rid ourselves of the “manifestation of the Spirit,” through the gifts that are given to us by God Himself, we could do nothing else but fail to thrive.
In the verse above we see that these gifts are “given,” by God. And then we read in verse 18 that God has “set,” each member of the Body just as it pleased Him. And finally we see in verse 28 that God has “appointed,” those who apostles and prophets, evangelists and teachers and pastors and so on. So we can clearly see that God is intimately involved in ever aspect of His Body. He gives the gifts, He sets the members, He appoints those who are to lead. He does all of that. This is what makes it the Body. This is how we thrive. This is how we are edified, this is how we grow. He takes the foolish things of this world, He transforms them through the new birth, He feeds them milk as babe, He then introduces meat when it can be handled and that one begins to grow. He or she grows up into a son or a daughter of the King. This is all done in the confines of the Body, each part set by Him and moving in the gift given to them. They are led by servant leaders whose entire goal is to see the flock strong and healthy and following Jesus. This is God’s way and it is beautiful. Men so often have entirely different agendas. They may fill a building, but it is a building full of pygmies.
Signs and wonders and miracles follow those who believe. It follows the dramatic transformation of souls, which is of course the greatest miracle of all. A large majority of Christendom seem only transfixed on miracles. We see in Acts 8-9 a man called Simon magician or sorcerer. Upon seeing the power of the Apostles, he wanted the same power and desired to “purchase,” it. Of course he is sternly rebuked. He is never mentioned in Scripture again. In extra biblical writings it seems he continued in his sorcery while still being around the Christian community. He gave rise to the word “Simony,” which means “using religion for profit.” Men like Simon would never move in the power of God. May I suggest we live in an age of Simony. There is so little evidence of the miraculous power of God in Christendom because Christendom in large part is run by men who “use religion for profit.” God is still a miracle working God, therefore if there is a fundamental lack of the true supernatural power among that which names itself the church, then that is a reflection on them and not upon our Lord who never changes.
If God has not changed, and of course He has not, then why it is that there is next to no supernatural power on display in what we call the church today? Can I suggest that one of the major causes is “Simony” those who “use religion for profit.” And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? (Judges 6:13) Where are all the miracles Gideon asks? The very first thing Gideon had to do was tear down the idols of his fathers. What Gideon did, we will not do. The traditions of our fathers still stand and they are more important to us than the commandments of God. The definition of insanity is to keep doing the same things over and over again and expect different results. If there is a crisis and a lack of genuine power within the ranks of Christendom, then the answer is not to dim the lights, bring on the smoke machines and turn Sunday services into secular looking concerts. The answer, as always, lies within the Word of God and His commandments. 1 Cor 14. This is the model, and if we refuse to return to the Word of God in order to maintain our own traditions and the salaries of “senior pastors and so called worship leaders” then, of course, not only will nothing change, it will only get worse.
Isa 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
This glorious Scripture was fulfilled when Christ stood in the temple and expounded this verse and told the world, that this Scripture was fulfilled in their hearing. The Spirit of the Lord God was upon Jesus. It is He who is anointed to preach the good news to the poor. He may speak through us, but by the power of the Holy Spirit it is Christ Himself that speaks to the poor. Only Jesus can heal the brokenhearted. Only Jesus can proclaim liberty to the captives, and only Jesus can free those captives from their chains and He would do it all through us, the priests of the Lord by the power of the Holy Spirit. The dove descended upon the Lord Jesus and we must be immersed in the same Holy Spirit. We rise up in that power. We are a royal priesthood, a Holy Generation. We are the chosen ones of the Lord, royal priests in a royal priesthood.
When they see us brothers and sisters, they must see Jesus. We are a manifestation of Jesus to the world by and through the power of the Holy Spirit. Everything is done in the name of Jesus because there is no other name under heaven whereby a man can be saved. There is no other name under heaven whereby a man can be freed from His bonds. There is no other name under heaven whereby a man can be healed. There is no other name under heaven whereby the blind eyes are opened and the crushed heart is restored. We saints are clothed in the garments of salvation. We are covered by the robes of righteousness just as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. Just as a garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, so to the Lord our God causes righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. We are a living demonstration of His righteousness and we can do nothing more than praise Him from the depths of the inexhaustible wells of our salvation. Never forget who you are in HIm brothers and sisters.
You have to establish a non petitioning heart before you can truly petition the Lord. What do I mean by that? Does your prayer life consist mostly of petitions, meaning, is it just about you asking for things? Take a moment and reflect upon your prayers. I want to give you some examples. In Acts 16 we see Paul and Silas in a terrible situation. They were hungry and thirsty. They were seriously injured. They were held captive. They could well be killed. And here is what we know about their communications with God. ” At midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God.” There is nothing to indicate they were praying for their personal needs, no, rather they were praising God in the midnight hour. That very same hour, the jailer, after crying out “what must I do to be saved,” got saved, his family got saved, Paul and Silas were delivered from their bonds, the stripes upon their backs were tended to and food was set before them.
In Acts chapter seven we see Stephen in a terrible situation. He had just spoken mightily by the power of the Holy Spirit and the crowd were riled up and they had murder in their heart. Did Stephen cry out for deliverance? Did He petition God to shield him in that moment? Here is what happened “He, being full of the Holy Spirit gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God…..then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, Lord, do not charge them with this sin. That day a young man called Saul witnessed what had happened and the seeds of his own salvation was planted.
Brothers and sisters, there is much power in not giving heed to the situation you find yourself in. The Kingdom of God transcends all situations, if only we had eyes to see the glory of God through the darkest nights, the good news is that we do. Every night is like the noonday sun to those with eyes fixed upon Jesus. Now, is it right and proper to petition the Lord? Yes, of course. Yet, we all know someone who only ever talks to us when they want something, is that not right? How do you feel when you see that person approach? Does your heart not sink? Does it not sink even deeper when they pretend to be nice to you? We have names for people like that. Hypocrites? Fair weather fans? People who only come around to get what they want or to be part of a success.
First and fore-most in our lives we have been called to glorify God. No matter what our situations are, no matter what chaos the enemy might have caused, we need to stand in the power that comes from glorifying God in our prayers. We need to lift up the name of Jesus. We need to glorify the Lord our God. We need to see Him high and lifted up and then we need to lift up our eyes to that vision of Him. He is with us and He is preeminent not just in our hearts but in every aspect of our lives. Glorifying God and praising His holy name causes the foundations of our captivity to begin to shake. God is not in the business of building prisons, He is in the business of tearing them down. He does not throw people behind prison cells, He throws open the doors. He breaks the bars of captivity. He is worthy to be praised and He has given us the way. Establish the proper order. Love Him, praise Him, give Him honor and glory. Let the principalities and powers know that no matter what, The Lord Jesus Christ will be praised, before any mention of our needs.
Philippians 4:6 Tells us “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God, and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” We see a very similar text in Matt 6:25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than food, and the body than clothes? And so we see the two sets of instructions from Jesus, be anxious for nothing, or the almost identical phrase “take no thought for your life.” What might be the primary petitions of the saint? And how are these petitions to be framed? Well we see from Phil 4:6 that they are to be framed by, or bathed in, thankfulness. It is the thankful heart that breaks through to the throne-room. And with this thankful heart we pray, we glorify God, and into this heart He pours in His desires. And His greatest desire is that we would be like His Son.
And therefore, having put the cares of this life aside we stand devoid of distractions. We cry out to God that He would help our unbelief. That He would give us wisdom, that He would glorify Himself in whatever situation we find ourselves in. Whether in the depths of a dungeon or kneeling before an angry mob who is about to kill us. Whether we face bankruptcy or the grievous loss of a loved one, how shall we glorify you in this Lord? Job’s prayer was to praise God and acknowledge that the Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord. Brothers and sisters, there is a tremendous power at our disposal if we would only lay down the distractions of this world and lift Jesus us in our minds and hearts and spirits. There are walls to be shaken. There are captives to be set free. Yet we must be free ourselves from the distractions of this world in order to be used in setting at liberty others. Is it possible to live an anxious free life and walk in the power of God? Yes it is. Is it possible to “take no though for your life?” Yes it is. Jesus commanded that we do it and we must decide to do it. It is our decision.
Isa 58:8 Then shall your light break forth as the morning, and your health shall spring forth speedily: and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be thy reward.
These are the promises of God to those who walk according to His Spirit and in accordance with His will. We shall loose the bonds of wickedness and undo the heavy burdens of our fellow man. This means that we shall aid and comfort those who find themselves afflicted by the ravages of this life and give comfort and aid to the poor in as far as we are able. This is truly the fast that God would have us do. When you walk in such light to those who dwell in darkness then your light shall surely break through like the morning sun rising over a a world in darkness. The healing balm of Gilead will be ours and it shall go forth from us as unto the nations. Our righteousness in Christ shall go before us and the glory of the Lord shall be our rear guard. When you cry out to the Lord He will answer and say “Here I am.” What greater reward is there? He has called us to lift up our voices with great intensity, like a trumpet, and speak for Him to those who have wandered far.
He will guide us continually as we continue in Him and He will water our thirsty souls whether in springtime rains or summertime drought. You shall be like a well watered garden, like an eternal spring that does nor fail. You shall build the waste place and a highway of Holiness shall be found in you. Even in old age your bones shall be strengthened, for those who wait upon the Lord. And from these waters that flow from you, there shall be established the beginnings of many generations who will rise up and call His name Holy. Jesus will be exalted through the flesh of your flesh long after you return home. God has called the holy ones, the excellent one, the Royal priesthood to be the Repairers of the breach. What the enemy tears down, God rebuilds from the ashes and the ravages of this life. You have seen it in your life, and in the lives of others and it shall be seen in the lives to come for those who fear the Lord and call Him Holy. These are the great and mighty promises of Almighty to God to His own. To you brother, and to you sister. Be encouraged today. God sees it all and your life is bigger than you think.
I would like to discuss a word that is not used very often. It is the word Godliness. It is rather a mysterious word really. What is Godliness? Are you Godly? Who decides? Can it be measured or quantified? In 2 Pet 1:3 we see that the Divine power of Jesus has given us all things that “pertain” to life and Godliness through the knowledge of Him. Now, that word pertain means to bring us close to, or nearness to. And so we could say that the power of God, through knowing Him in an intimate way, directs us to life and this thing called Godliness. It is the tightest and most succinct three words in all of Scripture that alludes to our calling, “life and Godliness.” No life, no Godliness, one must be born again in order to have the life that will enable Godliness.
I would argue that Godliness is an awareness of God in our everyday life. A constant awareness of God. Now this is not to be confused with the manifest presence of God. The manifest presence of God is the awareness of Gods actual presence. It is always dramatic, no matter how it comes. The manifest presence of God cannot be conjured up. No one controls God. It is not normative in the Christian life but it is vital that we have “encountered God,” at some point or many points along the way. Yet Godliness can be pursued. We are told in 1 Tim 4:7 that we have to train ourselves in the way of Godliness. It is up to us to constantly bring to mind the things of God in our daily lives. The Godly man has an attitude towards God that forms the core of who he is and it can be visibly seen in every aspect of his life.
We see in 2 Pet 1:5-9 that in the pursuit of a Godly life we must be diligent to add to our trust in God, excellence in everything we do for His name sake. We must be just men and women. And to that we must exercise the knowledge that we have been given and have experienced through God. We must exercise patience in everything that we do and continue on no matter what comes our way. We are those who persevere through trial and flood. Out of that comes our Godliness. We are exercised in the ways of God. His honor and His glory will be the most important thing in our lives and when we walk in this fashion then we shall be known for our love for one another. If we walk in the awareness of God then we shall never be barren, indeed we shall be fruitful all the days of our lives no matter the circumstances. In fact the circumstances will only prove the genuineness of our Godliness.
Those who walk in the awareness of God do so out of devotion to Him. What do we mean by that? We all know someone or maybe many people who are devoted to their wives or husbands. We hear the phrase “he is so devoted to his wife.” It carries all the more weight when the wife is bedridden or dying. The husband in this case spends every waking hour attending to her needs. Even although he himself maybe very tired, no matter, he is bound and determined to serve his wife to the best of his abilities with everything he has. Brothers and sisters, this is Godliness. Are you bound and determined to serve God with a love and devotion greater than we could ever have for another human being? Is He at the center of all of your thoughts? Are you constantly aware of His presence in your life day by day, hour by hour? This is Godliness and out of of this Godliness, this devotion, flows rivers of life. You must train yourself in these matters brothers and sisters. It takes diligence and a dogged desire to walk with God.
Walking with God is our daily life. Its our interactions with everyone we come into contact with. Its our first thoughts in the morning. Its our drive to work, its our grocery shopping. It is our lunch with a friend. It is everything and when He is everything to us, and in everything that we do, then we know that we are truly “walking with Jesus.” There is a great power that comes from this walk called Godliness. The power to love, the power to forgive, the power to never take up the offense. This is no mere fantasy brothers and sisters, this is our calling. When we desire to live in Godliness then everything that is in our lives that is not Godly has to go. I think this is why so few of us walk in Godliness. Godliness is to continually pray if you like. A constant awareness of His nearness that will transform your life. It is not for the lazy Christian. You wont get it by going forward in a service. No charlatan will lay his hands on you and suddenly you are Godly. No, it belongs to the diligent, the genuine devotee of God, and it will show. You cannot measure it yourself, it is something that is seen in you by others. Yet brothers and sisters, when you walk in Godliness you will realize the goal of “being anxious for nothing.” The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will rest upon your life.
Pro 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Fearing God is the beginning of all things. Man can never find relationship with God outside of a healthy fear of the one who created him. A reverence for God draws you closer. No one skips into His presence. Isaiah falls down on his face, the prophets tremble at the presence of God. We have lost all fear of God in Christendom. The world has foolishly never feared God and they will go the way of fools. Yet, what happens when those who call themselves by His name have no actual fear of God? No reverence of God, no trembling at His touch, at His majesty. He is not your mate, your buddy or your pal. He is God and He is greatly to be praised. We praise Him by our lives, by our thoughts and our deeds. Worship is a way of life, not a 20 minute song service.
To worship God is to fear God, to fear God is to encounter God. To encounter God is to be drawn deeper into our Fathers heart. We do not fear God in the sense that a man fears a wild beast that can tear him to pieces. We fear God in the inner man. We know of His reverential beauty and glory. We understand just who we are in the presence of majesty. We know that without His covering we would be nothing more that wretched men who would cry out “who will deliver me from this body of death.” And we know our Saviour who has indeed delivered us from this death. We are no longer “undone,” and our lips are no longer unclean for we have been cleansed by something greater that a burning coal from the fires of heaven. We have been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb! We know the sacrifice that God the Father made in sending His only Son to die for us. We have been touched by the magnitude of this.
It has rocked our world greater than any earthquake could. The ground shifted from beneath our ungodly feet and He set our feet upon the solid Rock. We now stand, by His grace and Mercy, upon the finished work of our Lord on the cross. Who could measure the magnitude of this? There exists no such spiritual Richter scale. The Love of God cannot be quantified other than by the bloody cross of Calvary. The preaching of the cross is foolishness to those who perish, but unto those who are saved , it is the power of God (1 Cor 1:18) Fools despise this message and they know nothing of the fear of God. Those who know God and fear Him are on the path of knowledge. True knowledge and true wisdom. The ultimate irony for the foolish who fear not God, is that they will tremble and fall down with fear when it is too late. Better to learn the fear of God now and live, than to learn it before His seat and die eternally.
A Call To The Remnant 