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 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us:
How many times have you heard this Scripture quoted in regard to something that God can do for us? Need a promotion? Quote that verse? Have a need of any kind? Quote that verse. Aunt Flo’s big toe is hurting? Quote that verse. What is the context of this verse, what is the Lord conveying to us through the Apostle Paul in the words of this chapter? There is a mystery going on and it is above and beyond what anyone could have imagined. The gentiles were fellow heirs of the same body, and partakers of Gods promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. We know that Peter was astonished by this. He and the other disciples are astonished that the very same Holy Spirit that was poured out upon them, was poured out upon the gentiles. In no other age had this been revealed to the sons of men as it was now being revealed by revelation. It was “made known,’ to Paul.
Paul would testify to the Gentiles of the unsearchable riches of Christ. It was not only the Jewish people that were astonished, the Gentiles would also be astonished that they could be counted heirs of the riches of Christ. Now there was another group that were not privy to the manifold wisdom of God, the principalities and the powers in heavenly places. Neither the angels above nor the fallen angels below knew anything of this hidden mystery. Their astonishment must have known no bounds as the plan of God unfolded in Christ, not only could the Jews be heirs, but also the Gentiles and the whole world. Paul declares that it is “for this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.” You see, he is strengthened in his inner man, in his spirit, for the purpose of declaring this mystery. And while he might be suffering tribulations and chains for this cause, nevertheless he looked to “Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be the glory in the church of Christ Jesus to all generations forever and forever.”
Can you see it brothers and sisters? Can you see that we are called to be a witness to His glory and to His story? There is a reason that we get to partake in the unsearchable riches of Christ? There is a reason that you and I are rooted and grounded in love. There is a reason that we are able to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the width and the length and depth and height of His love, that we may know and partake of the love of Christ which passes knowledge itself……and here it is……that we may be filled with all the fullness of God!!!! We have been filled with the fullness of God that we might be witnesses.This is what He enables us to do!!! Above all that we may ask or think according to His power that works in us if indeed it does work in us. We have been empowered to be a witness! We are witnesses to His plan and His power. We are witnesses of His glory. We are witnesses of His unsearchable riches! Glory to God. You shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (Acts 1:8) Now brothers and sisters, this is why we are empowered. For His story and for His glory!
Eph 2:8 For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
This might be one of the most famous Scriptures there is. How often have you heard it discussed? It has become theological in nature because, well it is, of course, but its certainly not dead letter, rather it’s alive to the glories of God’s plan. And His plan is His gift to man, not of their works but of His workmanship. He desired a people for Himself and would take the marred clay of our humanity and create out of Jew and Gentile, one glorious Body of His own making. He would make known to us the mystery of His will. He would give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation that the eyes of our understanding would be enlightened. He would take two and make one. He would tear down the middle wall of separation by abolishing in His flesh, on the cross, the enmity that existed between God and men, an uncrossable gulf that only Christ could bridge by His work on the cross. Glory to God! We who were strangers and alienated from God, now, in Christ are brought near by His blood. Near to God, near to the heart of the Father. Deeper into the Father’s heart. Let us be closer still and let it be the “work,” of our life to be found in Him. Nearer my God to thee.
By trusting in the unmerited favor of God, and trusting God for our eternal soul, and falling down before Him in repentance, then He has saved us. The gift of God to a world condemned, to the Jew first and then the Gentile. We are made one in Christ. He has raised up for Himself a Body and He inhabits this Body. God would build His own temple with His own hands and this will be His eternal dwelling place. Nothing man made, lest man would boast. Our very salvation is a gift, where is the boasting? We are now citizens and members of the household of God, having been built upon no other foundation other than that of the Apostles and prophets. And at the heart of it all, Christ Jesus, our Cornerstone. In Him the whole building, being fitted together with living stones, is being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood. Spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ our Lord amen. Now stop just for a moment brothers and sisters. Consider what Paul is saying to you and me. Consider the context of it and what has been stated. You are a living stone. You are part of the Body. You belong to the “house-hold,” of God in a way that only you could. God has shaped you, yes you, to fit perfectly into His work. You are His work. It’s nothing less than mind blowing and yet there it is.
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.
Gal 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
In Galatians we see a real encounter. Paul faces them head on. How often do we see this nowadays? A traveling “apostle,” or “prophet,” will come to your church and tell everyone how good they are and how blessed they are going to be in the coming year. They will not be invited to visit near the end of the year, for that is when the resident senior pastor encourages everyone to give in order to get a tax break. An end of year giving. Yet when that year is over, here comes the wolves. Its bonus time. They invite each other to each others churches to come and “speak a word.” Listen to the word Paul speaks to the churches in Galatia, people that he had brought to the Lord himself. 1. O foolish Galatians who has bewitched you? 2. How is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements to which you desire again to be in bondage. You observe days and months and years. I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain. 3. Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth. 4. I have doubts about you. 5. You have become estranged from Christ (let that sink in) you who attempt to be justified by the law, you have fallen from grace. 6. You ran well, who has hindered you from obeying the truth.
That’s the diagnosis and it is a devastating one. Now here is the remedy. Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. It seems incredible that this has to be restated. And there is no doubt that Paul is somewhat astonished at how far they have fallen, in fact, they had fallen from grace. The unmerited favor of God had been replaced by their own attempts to create merit and standing before God. This is not only a refutation of the truth, this is a denial of Christ Himself and Him crucified. Had they suffered so many things… in vain? Was it all for nothing? Were they merely dogs that had returned to their vomit? No, but they were in great danger of that. They must now repent and remember that it was the liberty that Christ gained for them on Calvary that had set them free and He whom the Son sets free is free indeed. The flesh wars against the Spirit brothers and sisters. It would rather rule over itself in bondage than to be vanquished and the spirit set free. We must decide these things. Shall we not trust in the finished work of the Lord? Shall we not consider this established fact that there is therefore now no condemnation to those who walk according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh? That we have been called to be more than conquerors through Him who loved us?
Nothing that we can do can establish our righteousness in Christ. Our call is simply obedience to the Word of God and the Spirit of God and this shall produce love and joy and peace and long-suffering. Goodness and faithfulness and gentleness shall be our mark. Self control shall be our way. For those of us in Christ have crucified the flesh with all of its passions and desires. The world will see something of Christ in us. They will see a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. God’s special possession called out specifically to declare the praises of Jesus who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once we were not a people, but now we are the people of God. Sons and daughters who move and breathe and have our being in His grace and in His mercy. We live by His grace and in this are justified by faith. If we indeed live in the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit brothers and sisters. Let us not deceive ourselves for God is not mocked. What a man sows he reaps. If we sow to the Spirit we shall reap everlasting life as opposed to the flesh which reaps corruption and death. Let us not boast in anything other than the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world has been crucified to us and we to the world. Stand fast brothers and sisters.
Burdens are the celestial stairs
That surely lift me higher
For it's right there where I meet my Lord
Who shall take me through the fire.
Trials are the wings I need to fly
To fly to higher ground
I'll meet the Lord up in the air
To sing with choirs a heavenly sound.
Sufferings draw me ever closer
I am weak and He is strong
And in the depths of my infirmities
You shall surely hear my song.
It is the song of songs of Calvary
Where my Savior bled and died
And rose again three days hence
And now is glorified.
The daily crosses that I bear
To the world they seem a trial
But they sharpen me in the inner man
For they'll only last a while
Soon enough I'll breath my last
I'll lay down the burden of my soul
Then stand before the King of Kings
Where I'll be finally whole.
Gal 4:6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
What a magnificent scripture! The fullness of time had come and God the Father sent forth His Son, to we who were enslaved by sin and under a curse, and redeemed us to Himself. Shall we not boast? Shall we not shout from the rooftops about the cross of Christ? Look to Calvary and we see the magnificent sacrifice and victory of our Father in heaven through His precious sinless Son. The Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world has been crucified to us and we to the world! The way unto heaven was made and the road was paved with tears and sorrows and the gate was covered by His blood. Yet for those who find the way, in the Lord, it leads us to the very throne room of “our Father.” Rest on that a moment brothers and sisters “Our Father.” O precious God in heaven above, we, your children praise you as we cry out unto You. We glorify you today for we are astonished that we who were but slaves and captives and cursed, are now sons and daughters and heirs through Christ our Lord. Who could believe such a thing?
The captives have been set free! The curse has been removed! The slave has been taken from the field! We who dwelt in huts and caves and darkness have been taken to where the Master lives. And because our Lord and Savior Jesus lives, then we live. This life that I now live I live by faith in the Son of God. It is no longer I that live but Christ that lives in me and the cry of my heart and soul that resounds down through the ages and across the heavens is “Abba Father.” My Father who are in heaven, hallowed be thy name. I have died to the law of my flesh that I might live a life of faith given to me by grace. O how sweet is the grace that saved us, and what a price was paid that we may call Him Abba. How could I ever return to the weak and beggarly elements of the flesh and slavery and darkness? Your marvelous light O God has set us free from the law of sin and death and the curse was removed from us by the bloody nails of Calvary and the precious flesh they pierced. O how we love Jesus, O how we love Jesus. He came for you, He came for me, He died and bled to make us free. He rose again and now He lives and by His grace, redemption gives. We, the redeemed of the Lord cry holy, holy, holy…. we cry Abba Father.
Gal 3:26 For you are all sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
Sons and daughters of the living God. What a tremendous privilege brothers and sisters. Having been baptized into Christ, we now put on Christ. Seems like a strange turn of phrase the Scriptures use but there it is, we put on Christ. In the morning you deliberately get dressed and go out into the world. You put on your clothes. If you are a policeman or solider or fireman or many of the trades, you put on your uniform, you put on your work clothes. A business man or woman? Probably a suit of some kind. In a sense it is part of your identity. It denotes something to others. There are standards of dress and codes that we adhere to. Yet, in the putting on of Christ, we clothe ourselves in His righteousness. We awake in the beauty of His holiness. People can see who we are in Christ oftentimes just by our countenance. “There is just something about him.” “Oh, she is the real deal.” He shines through us. We are clothed inwardly with His holiness and it shines outwardly into a dark world. We are one in Christ. It does not matter if we are “Jew or Greek.” It does not matter if we are,” slave or free.” Neither does it matter if we are male or female for we are all one in Christ! The former boundaries of who we were are swallowed whole in Christ.
We are justified by our trust in Christ and the world can see it. Those who trust the Lord walk with a quiet confidence and dignity. The treasures that the Lord has invested in our earthen vessels are plain enough for all the world to see. You are Abraham’s seed and you are heirs according to the promise made to him, glory to God. Sons and daughters. Covenant children no longer bound by the law but rather graduates in the Kingdom of God, fully qualified in Jesus to walk in Kingdom power. The law was added for transgressions till the Seed came, our glorious Savior. If the law could have given us life and righteousness then salvation would come through it, but it could not, it could but point us to Christ and when He came for those who bowed the knee, they/we were glorious liberated. Imagine going back to something that could not give you life, to a place where your own righteousness was but filthy rags! What was begun in the Spirit shall be finished by the Spirit. It is evident to you and I that Christ was crucified for us and we know this by revelation. It has transformed us. It has saved us. It has redeemed us. It has taken us up to higher ground. It makes us to walk in the greens pastures of His righteousness and holiness. Imagine how foolish it is to think that all of this, which began in the Spirit could now be fulfilled by the works of the law and of the flesh. Never! It is Christ first, last and forever, and only , ever, by the power of the Holy Spirit, sayeth the Lord.
Fill me till I thirst no more
With living waters from above
Fill me till I overflow
And it manifests itself in love
Fill me with abundance Lord
That fills my very soul
Fill the deepest parts of me
And in the filling I'll be whole
Fill me with your presence Lord
Till it flows from the depths of me
Fill me with waters from above
That would fill the deepest sea
Fill me with Your glory Lord
For it surely fills the temple
Fill me with your power Lord
That keeps me strong but gentle
Fill me with Your Light O Lord
Burning brighter than the sun
Remind me of Your victory Lord
That on Calvary was sorely won
Fill me with eternal life
So I'll walk the narrow way
That leads to my celestial home
Where I'll forever stay
Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
When Christ lives in us we become bold as lions. The righteous in Christ are bold. Jesus was fearless. He only ever spoke the truth in love. The true love of God in us makes us just like Jesus. Consider what Jesus said to His own followers. “Get behind me Satan! You are an offense to me for you are not mindful of the things of God but the things of men.” “Oh ye of little faith.” “You do not know what spirit you are of.” And of course the same Holy Spirit was also in Paul. We see him rebuke Peter to his face publicly. The truth, spoken powerfully in love is the way of God. This is indicative of those who follow the Lord along the narrow path, they are completely sold out to the truth despite the cost. It burns at the center of who they are. It is the core of their spiritual walk. Always the truth comes first. It is the truth that sets us free. Are we willing to speak the truth in love? In order to walk with the world we must become enemies of the cross and its central truth. Are we willing to follow the one who gave Himself for us? Shall we pay the price? Is it possible to hold the hand of the world while at the same time holding the hand of the Lord? It is not, for each hand leads you in different directions.
There is an old saying that goes something like this “he’s so heavenly minded that he is no earthly good.” Yet let’s be honest, how many folks like that have we met? What is much more common is “he’s so earthly minded that he’s no heavenly good.” To die to this world is to live for the next. There is only one instrument of death available, the cross. If we refuse to pick up our cross then we must walk without Jesus. No cross, no Jesus, no testimony. Paul would not, even for an hour, allow anything to hinder the message of the cross. If he had to stand against religious men teaching another gospel, or even dear dear friends and brothers and seeming pillars such as Peter and Barnabas, then that is just what he would do. We must press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. And in order to do that we must pick up our cross daily lest we find ourselves siding with the world and being enemies of the cross (Phil 3:18) Does the love of the truth burn in you like molten lava? Have you been consumed by it? Is your way the way of the cross? Can you embrace the loss that comes with walking the way of the cross? Followers of Jesus count all things lost to be as rubbish, that they may be found in Him. If He is found in us, let us be found in Him.
A long time ago, I remember flying into Glasgow Airport. Now Scotland is a country that spends a significant amount of the year under cloud cover. Yet here I was, above all the clouds, in a perpetually blue sky, about to descend into and below not just dark clouds but a storm system.
It suddenly struck me that no matter what kind of darkness or grayness or however driech ( good Scottish word for overcast) it was, or whatever storm was raging, that just above that storm or darkness was a perpetually blue sky. The answer was and always has been to come up higher. To rise up above every situation and come into and dwell in this perpetually blue sky.
It’s there in the deepest darkest valleys. It’s there when there seems to be no light and no way ahead. It’s there, it’s there, He’s there, He’s always there and He has given His children wings that they may fly through the gross darkness into His marvelous light. Wings strong enough to fly through the fiercest storms.
Spiritual wings that elevate us from even the deepest of dungeons that can create a way through the darkness. That can disrupt that very darkness with the turbulence of His holiness that pierces the darkness and causes light to fall to earth so that they who dwell in that very darkness can see this great light. The beauty of His holiness in mortal men. A beauty that points to immortality and the eternal. A beauty that penetrates the impenetrable light of God Himself.
Gal 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
We are living in a day where the Gospel is under more threat than it ever has been in the last 2000 years. Quite an incredible statement when you consider the history of martyrs and persecution that took place century after century. We seem to believe that we must not condemn anyone who preaches “the gospel,’ and that the motivation must not be questioned, rather as long as the message is preached then we simply leave the motivation of the preacher to God. I agree with this. Let the Word go forth and let the Lord be the judge. Yet in the scripture we see something entirely different in regard to “another gospel.” If “another,” gospel is preached other than that which was delivered, then the one who engages in this is cursed. And unless we did not get it, Paul repeats himself ” I say again, if anyone preaches any gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.” We should let that sink in for a moment. Paul pronounces a curse over those who preach a false gospel.
In the immediate context Paul is talking about legalizers or Judiazers. People who professed faith in Jesus but still were under the law and desired to see others under the law. Yet this curse is more than appropriate to ascribe to the “cheap grace” or the “prosperity gospel,” and the myriad of other so called gospels that exists today. We hear so many say “well as long as Jesus is being preached.” Jesus was being preached by those whom Paul was speaking of. In the end brothers and sisters, the Gospel is something that we receive through the Holy Spirit. And those who receive it recognize it in others. Paul did not receive it from anyone. In fact, after his salvation he was gone for three years into Arabia. And when he finally came to Jerusalem he only stayed for fifteen days where he conferred with Peter and James only, and then he was gone again for fourteen years. No one knew him personally in Judea, they had only heard of him. This “training,” that Paul received from God himself would mean that Paul would show no personal favoritism to any man, no matter what that man was perceived to be by others.
For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.(Rom 1:16) The Gospel is simply the good news about Christ and His Kingdom. It is personified in the fact that He has set you free from the bondage of sin and death. He came to set the captive free.He came to restore the broken. He has redeemed our fallen souls. He has made a way for us to the Father and it comes only through Him. He loved you while you were yet in your sin. He who the Son sets free is free indeed, he is completely liberated from the curse of the law. And that last point is why he was so hated by many of the legalizers and why he would confront Peter to his face. Brothers and sisters, if we want to be friends with the world then never confront anyone about anything. Stay hiding in your silence. Peep out from behind your twitching curtains and watch as false gospels are taught everywhere and do and say nothing. Doing that will make you the exact opposite of Paul. There is nothing loving about fearful silence wrapped up in virtuous overtones. Its the truth that sets men free, not your love. Your love only makes a difference when it is aligned with truth. Jesus alone and His gospel is the way the truth and the life.
Our role in the coming days (lengthy)
The Body of Christ has not changed down through the centuries. Always at her core she has been called to be an eye-witness to God’s glory. This is the essential heartbeat of Gods remnant bride and always will be. She is a tabernacle in the wilderness, she is Gods temple here on earth. At the same time she has always been despised by the religious spirit because she speaks truth to power. In these days God says in His word through His prophet Zechariah that ” In that last day a fountain shall be opened up for the house of David.” God Himself says again through the prophet that (speaking of Christendom) “Two thirds in it shall be cut off and die. But one-third shall be left in it. I will bring the one-third through the fire, I will refine them as silver is refined and test them as gold is tested. They will call on my name and I will answer them. I will say ” This is my people.” (Zec 13:8-9)
And so we see that a fountain shall be opened in that day for the house of David. Can you imagine how welcome a fountain would be in the midst of a dry and thirsty land, a land racked with drought and famine? I want us to look at two men of God and see what parallels we can draw. Let’s look at Noah and as we do let’s think about the context of the time in which he lived. It’s a time and a place of great wickedness and there would only be a tiny fraction saved out of this. Noah is commissioned to build an ark over a long period of time. We know that Noah faced ridicule and scorn. What he was building have never been built before. And, rain had never fallen from the sky and the notion that the whole earth would be covered by a flood was preposterous to all who lived then.
Every day the people could hear Noah’s hammer. Every day the ark took shape and was rising up. The continuous hammering would have been a great source of irritation to all around him. Noah would have to keep building despite the ridicule and the scorn and the anger because the rain was surely coming and he was being obedient to his calling. We too as Gods remnant people have to keep true to what the Lord has called us to do. We are also in the ark business. There was one place of salvation when the rains of judgment began to fall, it was the ark. Can I put it to you brothers and sisters that the remnant church of God is God’s ark built by the hands of Jesus. The Body of Christ.
With the judgments beginning to fall, with the beginning of the birth pangs, it will become apparent that God has a people who have not bowed the knee to Baal. God is getting ready to reveal His ark by bringing judgment and allowing the rise of the anti-christ. This ark will be a witness to the glory of God and His way of escape. This ark will be used as a last chance for the un-redeemed of the world to be saved before final judgment. This ark will be revealed to the world by persecution. All of the world will see this ark and they will be without excuse when that day comes. This ark is the glory of Christ here on the earth and He reveals Himself through what He has built.
Now lets consider Joseph and consider the context and the back-drop of his day. Here we have Joseph who has been called to save a remnant. “And God sent me before you to save a Remnant in the earth and to save your life by a great deliverance.” ( Gen 45:7) Before Joseph could do this he had to be scorned and ridiculed by his own. Because of dreams and visions, that scorn turned to anger and hatred. He was then rejected and sold into slavery. He is then wrongfully accused and ends up in prison, seemingly forgotten and forsaken. God of course had never left him. This is way of the remnant. Yet God had not forsaken Joseph and even in prison Joseph moved in the supernatural and he found God’s favor. He was able to interpret dreams and visions and this would lead him to see that a great famine was coming upon the land. He was able to make provisions that would save “A Remnant in the earth.”
Can you see the pattern behind this brothers and sisters? Can you relate to the suffering and the rejection and the fact that he seemed forsaken? Joseph was surely plagued by this as he languished in prison. The pattern is clear. When there is great judgment coming upon the land, God has a people or a person whom He will send ahead to enable whoever will, to escape that judgment. God has created such a vehicle in the Body of Christ. And they too, just like Joseph, must be despised and rejected by the very one’s they have been sent to save. This is the divine pattern. We see our Lord Jesus walk down this path. He came from the glories of heaven and the right hand of the Father, emptying Himself and humbling Himself in order to walk amongst those who He had come to save. He became despised and rejected, tortured and killed.
And now with the final judgment fast approaching, the ark which Jesus has been building for 2000 years is almost ready. God’s remnant church comes from every possible background and across all denominational lines. ( artificial walls built by men and not by God) Through the last 2000 years they have been scorned, ridiculed hated and despised and hunted down and killed and almost all of this was done by "their own.” Their own being people who would profess God with their lips but their hearts are far from Him. Yet God in His mercy will reach out and continue to reach out through His Body while there is yet time. A witness until the very end. A faithful Body and a people without excuse.
The Body of Christ is everywhere. It is in every village, every town , every city and every nation on the earth. There are countless millions of Gods own children around the world. For the most part they are swallowed up in Christendom with its multiplicity of divisions and man made walls. Yet, the closer to Christ’s return is, the more and more difficulty the Body of Christ will find within the denominations of men. Could a saint really stay within the confines of any organisation that has corrupted itself with the world?
This will be the ever increasing pressure that will be brought to bear on the saints in the coming days. Only the individual saint can answer this question for his or her self. The Word of God and the Holy Spirit must be a lamp unto our feet. As the darkness increases our need for the light that shines forth from the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit who gives us not only revelation but inspiration only becomes greater and greater.We have a God who will never leave us nor forsake us. We must trust Him with our whole hearts.The Word of God and His doctrines were written to be understood by even the simplest among us, in fact God delights in confounding the wise by the foolish things of this world. The doctrines of men are generally complicated and confusing. Stay with the Word, lean upon the Holy Spirit for understanding and insight. Do all of this with your whole heart and you will not go far wrong. He did not leave us as orphans, praise God.The Holy Spirit will lead and guide His children through not only good times but through the darkest valleys and the narrowest portions of the path that leads us home.
2Co 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
This is such a profoundly important Scripture. Paul has battled his way through these two letters to the Corinthians. He has dealt with so many issues and a big part of his commands to the Corinthians is not to be unequally yoked, Darkness and light cannot have fellowship with each other. He is telling the Corinthians not to be deceived, how could saved and unsaved people dwell together in a fellowship? Therefore one must test themselves to see if they are even in the faith. “Do you not know yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you, unless indeed you are disqualified.” Now that word disqualified is from my New King James, other words that could as easily be used is reprobate, castaway, rejected, unapproved. There can be no question as to what is being alluded to here. If you have the Lord Jesus Christ in you, you shall know it. It is not possible to not know that Jesus dwells in you. That is why Paul is asking the question “is He in you?” If not, there is two possibilities. 1. You have never known Him. 2. You knew Him but you are now a castaway, a reprobate, rejected, unapproved, disqualified. In order to be disqualified from anything, one had to have been qualified in the first place. If indeed one is disqualified from anything in life, it means that they are no longer a part of whatever it was they were once a part of.
But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway 1 Cor 9:27. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. Rom 11:22. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. Rev 22:19. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end; Heb3:14. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life Rev 2:10. These an many other Scriptures allude to the fact that we can fall away or be deceived. This is why we have to “prove to your own selves,” and “examine yourself as to whether you be in the faith.” We human beings have an enormous capacity to deceive ourselves. Many will say to me in that day Lord Lord…………….and then will I profess unto them, I never knew you. Matt 7:22-23. Jesus never knew them.
This who know Jesus have been enlightened. They have tasted of the heavenly gift and are profoundly changed by it. They were given the Holy Spirit lest they be orphans, and He is in them. They have tasted of the good word of God, it has been manna to their soul and a lamp unto their feet and a light unto their path. They have been touched by the supernatural power of God. Now, having experienced all of that and then they go back to the world, the word of God says it is impossible for them to renew themselves again, they have been disqualified. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. (Heb 6:4-6) In light of all of this brothers, I say, along with our brother Paul……… examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
2Co 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
How many people that you know, glory in their infirmities? This chapter of 2 Corinthians highlights the difference between the one who boasts in order to elevate themselves, and the other who boasts in their weaknesses so that Christ might be elevated. There is a great chasm between the two camps. We see clearly in 2 Cor 12 that the power of Christ is manifested not by dreams or visions or even out of body experiences to places such as ” the third heaven, but rather the power of Christ is manifested in his humbled servants who can see and are not ashamed of their infirmities. Now why would this be? Surely the fantastic element of the supernatural would draw people? Yes indeed it does, but not to Christ. It draws them to the one who “boasts,” of them. Paul’s greatest desire is that the power of Christ may rest upon him and that all men would be drawn towards Jesus, not himself.
If you are looking for the difference between a true shepherd of Christ, or a hireling, listen to what they say. Many elevate themselves by telling stories of spiritual “adventures.” They want to show you how important they are in spiritual matters and will boast, over and over again, about these matters. Paul does the opposite. Listen to what he says that he takes pleasure in for Christ’s sake.1. Infirmities. 2. Reproaches. 3. Needs. 4. Persecutions. 5. distresses. He has fully grasped the tremendous spiritual truth that when we are weak then He is strong. The power of Christ rests upon those who understand that His grace is sufficient for us and His strength in us is “made perfect” by our weakness. The name it and claim it folks, the prosperity people cannot understand this. To them, healing is everything because in the end it is all about them. They desperately want the healing and their very lives are a denial of the sufficiency of God’s grace.The hirelings they follow desperately want any healing so that they can boast in that and elevate themselves.
Consider Paul and Silas in the dungeon. Were they not weak? Were they not reproached? Were they not persecuted? Were they not in distress? Yes indeed and so much more. Yet, incredibly, Paul says that he takes pleasure in these things. And this very incident in the dungeon proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Gods word through Paul was more than just words. He lived this life. The power of Christ did rest upon him for this very reason. And this in no way inhibited the supernatural power of God, quite the opposite. It is from a place of glorifying God, whether we live or whether we die, that His perfect strength is demonstrated in us. Why do we see so few miracles? Because we do not embrace the sufficiency of His grace. We, self, must have what we want, what we consider we need. Our very lives seem to be all important when in actual fact all that is important is the glory of God. It’s in this glory that God operates. Brothers and sisters, when we can glorify God in our infirmities (The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord) then we can manifest His perfect strength through us and show the world what it truly means to walk in the all sufficient grace of God as His power rests upon us.
Last night was a sleepless night for me. There was two lines that came to me in my sleep. “I’m walking in the shadow of an already setting sun.” I knew if I did not get up, that these words would not be remembered in the morning. Typically when I write a poem, the Holy Spirit will give me a line that represents the meaning He wants me to convey in words. It’s not usually in the middle of the night. It was a struggle as I was so desperately tired, but eventually I got up at about 3am and went downstairs and wrote the lines. This morning it seemed clear to me what the Holy Spirit was saying. He was speaking to someone, perhaps many, who look at their lives or a particular situation and it seems hopeless. It seems no good thing can come out of this despite your desperate prayers. So, this poem/word is to someone who has specifically asked the Lord a question about what shall become of their desperate situation. The old adage “its always darkest before the dawn,” seems to fit here. There is a dawn coming, the sun will rise in your situation, but in the depths of the longest night it is often hard to believe. To you who asked the question of God, He says to you “the victory is already won, right now your just walking in the shadow of it.”
I'm walking in the shadow
Of an already setting sun
I'm walking in the shadow of
A victory already won
And in that victory I'll arise
O death where is your sting?
I'll stand before the Lord of Lords
And this is what I'll sing
Hallelujah hallelujah
Hallelujah to my King
Hallelujah hallelujah
O death where be thy sting?
Now I look back at the shadow
And the shadow is no more
It's been swallowed up in victory
As I walk on through the door
It's an open door to heaven
A door no man can close
For the one who holds it open
Is the one who took the blows.
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.
Men and women will always choose chains. They will readily accept being in bondage as long as they can exercise their baser desires. The anarchy of the heart and soul reign, and the civilized order that gave rise to the west, presents a true problem to the lunatics that have taken over the asylum. The madness that was contained within the walls of law and order and decency has broken loose. Where did we see this kind of madness in history? Caligula? Nero? In the French court prior to the revolution where the perverse plied their trade? In the halls of the English boarding school system that gave rise to all manner of perversion? And yet it was always contained. Hidden away in the shadows and the alleyways of our “decent society.” The word decent is described as conforming to the recognized standard of society, good taste, modest, as in behavior or speech.
This recognized standard is not particularly etched in stone or written down in a some constitution. It is more like an atmosphere. The prevailing wind of opinion. The rising or falling tides of what is or what is not acceptable. What is the recognized standard of our day? And who does the recognizing? Is it a collective? Once it was the religion of Christianity that defined and defended “decency.” Their decency was derived from the teachings of Jesus. It may have been, for the most part, all just religion, yet it held us together as a society and held back the purveyors of moral and spiritual anarchy. The old notions were enshrined in the law and the law was based upon the Word of God as its final arbiter, meted out no doubt by very imperfect men. Yet what was ever the alternative? To remove God, even the imperfect notion of God, from our laws and out of our national Zeitgeist? Then we had to replace it with another invisible agent. The invisible agent of self.
Self rules. Its not what displeases God anymore, it is what offends man. He does not want to be questioned nor judged by anyone. Women are equally guilty of this “self.” Men have wars and women have abortions, either way there is a slaughter. It is the children who always pay a price for the perversities of adults. Consider the last 120 years. 120 million killed in wars. In America alone, at least 64 million babies murdered. Death and destruction follow after self. 200 million souls lost in that time period. This far exceeds the deaths of all wars combined, in the history of humanity! How did it come to pass that our level of barbarism has risen to far exceed anything that has ever came before us? Yet we would never dream of calling ourselves Barbarians, but that is what we are. God is no longer the invisible agent that moves and restrains societies, self is. This is the generation that collectively worships self and has, with a very loud public voice, rejected God.
This is the great falling way. We are the Godless generation of the last days. In 2 Tim 3 this generation is described. Paul says that men would be lovers of themselves. One might argue that men have always loved themselves but Paul puts this in his descriptive list. This is a love of self far beyond anything we have ever seen before. He says that the Godless generation of the last days would be without natural affection. That phrase is the Greek word is astorgos which means to be have your heart hardened towards your own family. Consider the baby in the womb and the love of a mother for her child. A mothers love is legendary and yet the phrase that rings out from younger woman is “my baby, my choice.” Choice to do what? To kill it. Even in nature we see a mother bear would fight to the death to save her cubs, yet so much of humanity is now without even the very basics of natural affection. They are lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, or even lovers of their own children.
Brothers and sisters, no matter what invisible agent the masses have given themselves to, we, the saints, have not nor ever will change. Down through the corridors of time all the way back to the cross, God has had His people, His remnant saints. They have oftentimes been persecuted by renegade societies and political and religious tyrants. Yet in all these things they have never bowed their knees to the gods of this world and the gods of this world are none other than the great god of self demonstrated in a throwing off of all restraints. Will the streets continue to be given over to lawlessness and anarchy? Yes. Will those who worship themselves trump all common decency and come after us? Yes. Yet, does God still reign? Yes He does. Does the truth still burn at the center of our hearts and flow like molten lava through our veins? Yes it does. If we are cut shall we not bleed mercy and forgiveness? Yes we shall. Does the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ still tower over all of humanity? Yes it does. Even the shadow of the cross burns into the consciences of men.
Where shall they run from this? They shall not run. They shall not hide and one day they shall come face to face with their own barbarity whether in this life or the next. We are a manifestation of Christ on the earth. When they see us they must see Jesus. Shall they fall at His feet or shall they call out “crucify Him.”To crucify His followers is an attempt to crucify Him afresh. And in those days we shall dwell in the shadow of the Almighty. He shall be to us a refuge and our High tower. With the armor of righteousness we shall stand fast in a day of culminating unrighteousness. Our enemies shall be those of our very household and but still we shall love. They will hate us with a perfect hatred but still we shall love. They will reject us and cast us out, but still we shall love. They will hunt us down and kill us, and yet…….we shall love our enemies. We shall not render evil for evil but rather we shall overcome evil in the victory of the cross and by the word of our testimony and we shall love not our lives unto death, the ultimate witness.
2Co 10:4-5 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
It is interesting to see the context of this very well known verse. Paul is addressing “some who think of us as if we walked according to the flesh.” He is talking about a certain group of Corinthians who do not hold him in high esteem. In fact, it is well known that they say “his letters are weighty and powerful but his bodily presence is weak and his speech is contemptible.” You see, they were judging him on his outward appearance. He was not tall, dark and handsome, and he had no motivational speaker skill sets. Oratory was not his wheelhouse. And so, comparing themselves among themselves, and measuring each other in an outward fashion, how the man looks, how the man speaks, they found Paul wanting. Yet Paul, although he walked “in” the flesh, as we all do, did not walk “according” to the flesh or war according to the flesh, quite the opposite.
Those who walk /and or war in the flesh create strongholds within themselves. They are argumentative and high-minded and exalt themselves against the knowledge of God. They have been taken captive by their own thoughts of themselves. They judge according to the outward appearance and what they all think of one another. It is pride in all its many forms and pride is a “high thing,’ or a high place in the mind. And the thing about the high place of pride is that there is only one way to go from there, they must fall. When Paul comes, by the power of the Holy Spirit, he will use the mighty weapons of God to pull down, or cause to fall, the strongholds. These are the fortresses that exist within the mind and soul where pride dwells. By the wisdom of God Paul will demolish their arguments and ever other high thing that exalts “self,” over Christ. Coming against these men by the authority given by God is Paul operating within his sphere of influence, for it is God who commends Paul, God that anointed Paul and God who appointed Paul.
So brothers and sisters, let us glory in God and compare ourselves to Him. Let Jesus be the high water mark. Never compare yourselves to anyone but rather strive to imitate God. Eph 5:1 tells us to imitate God. 1 Cor 11:1 tells us to imitate Christ. Be followers in His footsteps. Do not compare yourself to someone else, for you may compare favorably when comparing one with another. Yet when compare ourselves to God it is always a humbling experience and should be. When we keep this short account brothers and sisters its keeps pride at bay. It never allows us to exalt ourselves or indeed any other man. If you shall glory in anything, do not glory in yourself or any other man or woman but rather glory in God. In glorifying God and keeping ourselves humble in our own sight and in the sight of the Lord we are being raised up and equipped with enormously powerful spiritual weapons that is more than able to pull down on the spiritual strongholds of men and their high places. When we walk in this manner, God Himself will raise us up to dwell in high and lofty places where He fellowships with the lowly and the contrite.
A Call To The Remnant 