Henry Drummond (1851-1897) was walking with a Glasgow businessman down the street one day. He saw a merchant throw a stock of round strawberry boxes into a gutter. Instantly a group of boys swooped down upon the boxes and put them on their heads as a cap. Then they lined up in military formation and marched away. “There is an idea for you,” Drummond told his friend, and out of that ‘coincidence’ grew the Boys Brigade program that God still uses to win boys to Christ.
D.L. Moody speaks of Drummond as a man who lived nearer to the Master and who sought to do His will more fully. Due to his walk, he was able to see in common events an uncommon path in fulfilling the great commission.
Our service for our fellow humans does not come from strained efforts on our part to live for them but rather from seeing Jesus doing so, and then simply making ourselves available to Him. We do so that we may be channels of His grace and power to them. This is the way in which He walked in His relationship with the Father, and it is the way in which we must walk in our relationship with Him.
Jesus said, “The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do, for what things soever He doeth, those also doeth the Son likewise (John 5:19). We, too, can do nothing but what we see the Lord Jesus doing until we see that we are helpless, and our service is nothing more than self-initiated striving. It is not ours to originate anything but simply to yield ourselves to Him to be the channel of what He initiates and carries through and to trust Him to do so through us.
In the words of Roy and Revel Hession, The Lord Jesus is for others, just as the Vine does not bear the grapes for its own refreshment but for the refreshment of others…The Lord Jesus is not alone in this. He draws redeemed men into cooperation with Himself in the outworking of His glorious purposes, and they become His branches on which His fruit is borne. Just as apart from Him the branches can do nothing of themselves, so it is that apart from them the Vine does not bear fruit. The branches cannot, however, produce or initiate the fruit; that is altogether His work! They simply bear what He produces as He lives His life again in them (1958, 132).
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
The Christian Walk: Reflection 1
The Human Soul:
The value of the Human Soul was brought to our attention by Christ Himself in the parable of the rich farmer (Luke 12:16-31). In it Christ pointed out how precious the human soul is in the sight of God. If we could see how precious the human soul is as Christ sees it, our ministry could approach the effectiveness of Christ, says Phillips Brooks in his selected sermons (1835-1893).
May the souls of men always be more precious to us as we come nearer to Christ and see them more perfectly as He does. No one can ask any better blessing on any ministry that that. The ministry of D. L. Moody was effective and forceful as an evangelist and soul winner due largely to his love for Christ and proper view of the human soul. He had a tremendous burden for the lost and a willingness to do whatever God asked him. This is the point at which a person sees the true value of the human soul just as Christ sees it.
Then comes the true words of Henry Varley quoted often by D. L. Moody thus: “The world has yet to see what God can do with and for and through and in a man who is fully and wholly consecrated.”
Preaching:
One of the definitions of preaching is that it is the communication of divine truth through human personality. The divine truth never changes, but human personality does. This explains why two preachers can take the same text and develop two different sermons, and why the same preacher can preach often from the same scripture passage and always discover something fresh. It must come through his character, his affections, his whole intellectual and mental being. This means, of course, that the preparation for ministry is nothing less than the making of the man.
The preacher of truth, therefore, must be a man open to truth, all truth, no matter where it is found because truth comes only from God. It involves delivering a message which we cannot transmit until it has entered into our own experience, and we can give our own testimony of its spiritual power.
When we preach over people’s heads, it is not the fault of the character of the communication, it is the fault of the aim that makes the missing shots. Remember, in ministering to people, every message fortifies each other. Therefore, no one message should be considered alone as completing the task before us. The harvest time is not at the end of the message. We must learn to leave the results in God’s hand.
The value of the Human Soul was brought to our attention by Christ Himself in the parable of the rich farmer (Luke 12:16-31). In it Christ pointed out how precious the human soul is in the sight of God. If we could see how precious the human soul is as Christ sees it, our ministry could approach the effectiveness of Christ, says Phillips Brooks in his selected sermons (1835-1893).
May the souls of men always be more precious to us as we come nearer to Christ and see them more perfectly as He does. No one can ask any better blessing on any ministry that that. The ministry of D. L. Moody was effective and forceful as an evangelist and soul winner due largely to his love for Christ and proper view of the human soul. He had a tremendous burden for the lost and a willingness to do whatever God asked him. This is the point at which a person sees the true value of the human soul just as Christ sees it.
Then comes the true words of Henry Varley quoted often by D. L. Moody thus: “The world has yet to see what God can do with and for and through and in a man who is fully and wholly consecrated.”
Preaching:
One of the definitions of preaching is that it is the communication of divine truth through human personality. The divine truth never changes, but human personality does. This explains why two preachers can take the same text and develop two different sermons, and why the same preacher can preach often from the same scripture passage and always discover something fresh. It must come through his character, his affections, his whole intellectual and mental being. This means, of course, that the preparation for ministry is nothing less than the making of the man.
The preacher of truth, therefore, must be a man open to truth, all truth, no matter where it is found because truth comes only from God. It involves delivering a message which we cannot transmit until it has entered into our own experience, and we can give our own testimony of its spiritual power.
When we preach over people’s heads, it is not the fault of the character of the communication, it is the fault of the aim that makes the missing shots. Remember, in ministering to people, every message fortifies each other. Therefore, no one message should be considered alone as completing the task before us. The harvest time is not at the end of the message. We must learn to leave the results in God’s hand.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Wedding Message
(We recommend turning your volume
up to the highest possible as the audio is hard to hear at the beginning.)
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Faith Defines the Christian Walk
Life in general is properly described as a journey and not a destination. In this perspective the sum total of what we are engaged in is a walk on this journey. Along this life’s journey many have distracted themselves into side shows. Some are counting the miles they have covered so far and are settling on the wayside. To a good proportion of people the activities of fellow pilgrims have become their preoccupation, and so they turn themselves into walk-watchers.
To the believer in Christ there are rules as to how we walk on this journey. These rules are kept in proper perspective if we are focused on the essence of our walk, and that essence is our faith. It defines our walk.
For example, Hebrews eleven reminds us all of effectiveness, courage and loyalty to God in their walk. Their deeds were not based on wisdom, power, or enthusiasm. Collectively they tell us not to marvel at the great deeds of their lives. We are told, “God made bare His holy arm and has done this by us in His name through faith” (Acts 3:12-16). It is God who has done all these wonderful works.
We make a profound mistake in attributing to these men extraordinary qualities of courage, or strength of body or soul. To do so is to miss the whole point of the reiterated teaching of Scripture. They were not different from ordinary men and women except in their faith.
One characteristic common to all the heroes of faith of the Hebrew story is their faith in God. This lifted them above ordinary men and women and secured for them a niche in the temple of Scripture . This indeed is the capacity of the human heart for God, a marvelous faculty of faith. Four times over this is cited as the secret of all that Moses did for his people.
Our Lord Jesus repeatedly taught and emphasized the need for faith in a believer’s walk. In His judgment having wisdom, being strong and enthusiastic are as the small dust of the balance and must not be taken into serious consideration compared to having faith.
His incessant demand is for faith to b e present in persons. He would say “If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you might say unto this sycamore tree, ‘Be thou plucked up by the root, and be planted by the sea; and it should obey you’” (Luke 17::6). To a father he once said, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth” (Luke 9:23, 24).
The believer, therefore, is the God-filled, the God-moved, the God-possessed human person, and the work which he or she effects in the world is not his or hers, but God through him or her. It is certain that as the present age draws to a close, God has great schemes on hand which must shortly be realized. According to His invariable method, He will have to perform them through the instrumentality and faith of human persons.
Walking by faith implies never to evaluate circumstances or things in the light of our strength, education, abilities or resources. Keep in mind that Jehovah, our Jehoshua, our resource, is all we need to face anything in life.
To the believer in Christ there are rules as to how we walk on this journey. These rules are kept in proper perspective if we are focused on the essence of our walk, and that essence is our faith. It defines our walk.
For example, Hebrews eleven reminds us all of effectiveness, courage and loyalty to God in their walk. Their deeds were not based on wisdom, power, or enthusiasm. Collectively they tell us not to marvel at the great deeds of their lives. We are told, “God made bare His holy arm and has done this by us in His name through faith” (Acts 3:12-16). It is God who has done all these wonderful works.
We make a profound mistake in attributing to these men extraordinary qualities of courage, or strength of body or soul. To do so is to miss the whole point of the reiterated teaching of Scripture. They were not different from ordinary men and women except in their faith.
One characteristic common to all the heroes of faith of the Hebrew story is their faith in God. This lifted them above ordinary men and women and secured for them a niche in the temple of Scripture . This indeed is the capacity of the human heart for God, a marvelous faculty of faith. Four times over this is cited as the secret of all that Moses did for his people.
Our Lord Jesus repeatedly taught and emphasized the need for faith in a believer’s walk. In His judgment having wisdom, being strong and enthusiastic are as the small dust of the balance and must not be taken into serious consideration compared to having faith.
His incessant demand is for faith to b e present in persons. He would say “If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you might say unto this sycamore tree, ‘Be thou plucked up by the root, and be planted by the sea; and it should obey you’” (Luke 17::6). To a father he once said, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth” (Luke 9:23, 24).
The believer, therefore, is the God-filled, the God-moved, the God-possessed human person, and the work which he or she effects in the world is not his or hers, but God through him or her. It is certain that as the present age draws to a close, God has great schemes on hand which must shortly be realized. According to His invariable method, He will have to perform them through the instrumentality and faith of human persons.
Walking by faith implies never to evaluate circumstances or things in the light of our strength, education, abilities or resources. Keep in mind that Jehovah, our Jehoshua, our resource, is all we need to face anything in life.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
God is Working in You
Life today is like a warehouse, assembled from pre-fab sections, ready to receive goods. It is fast, compressed, condensed—slam-bang, it’s done.
It is not so in God’s wilderness schooling. When it comes to walking with God, there is no such thing as instant maturity. God does not mass produce saints; He hand-tools each one, and it always takes longer than we expected.
God takes this careful measure because for anyone to lead effectively such a person must accept being questioned, attacked, accused, hated and betrayed. It is painful, but it enables the person to stand alone. How is it possible to endure such, one may ask. God accomplishes it through the furnace of affliction (Isa. 48:10; John 12:24-25; Heb. 1:9-10; Heb. 5:8). If you learn your lessons well, you will no longer need anyone to pat you on the back. You will go straight on doing what God had called you to do even in the face of both opposition and intimidation.
No matter what role one is called upon to fill, such a role is not unimportant when it come to standing alone for truth. This is because standing for the truth is standing before God. It makes one a unique spokesperson in one’s day and age at this moment and time.
As God works in us, every shred of self-sufficient arrogance, every hint of independent spirit, and all thought of rebellion is scraped away. Any indifference toward authority is replaced by a firm commitment to do only as told regardless. Survival is learned in the crucible of intense, extreme training that characterizes Divine dealings with a chosen vessel.
Mark it down. Things do not “just happen.” Ours is not a random, whistle-in-the-dark universe. There is a God-arranged plan for this world of ours which includes a specific plan for you. Through every ordinary day and every extraordinary moment there is a God who constantly seeks you. The God who loves us and redeemed us uses these moments to advance His purposes. He is there, and He is not silent. He doesn’t speak vocally from heaven, shouting down His word at you. He uses His Book, the Bible, His people, and He uses events in your life. So be patient with yourself, for God has not finished with you yet.
It is not so in God’s wilderness schooling. When it comes to walking with God, there is no such thing as instant maturity. God does not mass produce saints; He hand-tools each one, and it always takes longer than we expected.
God takes this careful measure because for anyone to lead effectively such a person must accept being questioned, attacked, accused, hated and betrayed. It is painful, but it enables the person to stand alone. How is it possible to endure such, one may ask. God accomplishes it through the furnace of affliction (Isa. 48:10; John 12:24-25; Heb. 1:9-10; Heb. 5:8). If you learn your lessons well, you will no longer need anyone to pat you on the back. You will go straight on doing what God had called you to do even in the face of both opposition and intimidation.
No matter what role one is called upon to fill, such a role is not unimportant when it come to standing alone for truth. This is because standing for the truth is standing before God. It makes one a unique spokesperson in one’s day and age at this moment and time.
As God works in us, every shred of self-sufficient arrogance, every hint of independent spirit, and all thought of rebellion is scraped away. Any indifference toward authority is replaced by a firm commitment to do only as told regardless. Survival is learned in the crucible of intense, extreme training that characterizes Divine dealings with a chosen vessel.
Mark it down. Things do not “just happen.” Ours is not a random, whistle-in-the-dark universe. There is a God-arranged plan for this world of ours which includes a specific plan for you. Through every ordinary day and every extraordinary moment there is a God who constantly seeks you. The God who loves us and redeemed us uses these moments to advance His purposes. He is there, and He is not silent. He doesn’t speak vocally from heaven, shouting down His word at you. He uses His Book, the Bible, His people, and He uses events in your life. So be patient with yourself, for God has not finished with you yet.
Monday, August 17, 2009
PrayerLetter-Aug 2009
Dear Friends and family,
The Scripture has it that the Lord lovingly commanded us to “go into the world and make disciples of the nations …”(Matthew 28:19-20). It is a fact that committed missionaries have responded sacrificially taking the gospel into the world, and some of them have willingly laid down their lives. Millions of people have been reached by those who have crossed cultural, linguistic, and geographical barriers. They have successfully preached the gospel by words and deeds and multiplied responsible and reproductive Assemblies. The challenge still remains that we should go and tell in obedience to His command.
Today the reached have caught the vision and are reaching the unreached. They are crossing borders and embracing the terms of the Lord’s Great Commission. The gospel is a spreading flame that is engulfing the world, but the job is not done. We cannot rest, and we cannot give up. Our hearts still need to be ignited with God’s love for lost people. Prevailing human needs should engender in our hearts the compassion to make a difference wherever it is found. We still need to go and tell in obedience to His command.
Currently, reports on the religious scene in Nigeria call for concern and point to the destructive activities of Muslim extremists in the Country. Recently, even conflict among Muslim groups has spilled over to the burning of Christian churches. Many believers were killed and some pastors beheaded for refusing to accept Islam and recant Christ. The Boko Haram Islamic movement in Kano, Bauchi, Taraba, and Borno states in Northern Nigeria is a challenge for Christians to present Christ as the answer.
In spite of these challenges, we are amazed at what happens when we allow God to consume us with a gospel passion. No barrier, no cost, and no excuse will put the fire out. By the grace of God Cyprian will be in Nigeria and visit the work in the next few months.
Please pray for us:
1. that the door of utterance would be set before us by the sovereign Lord,
2. that the hand of the Lord would be heavy upon us for good,
3. that we will experience a daily walk and a passionate devotion to the Lord Himself,
4. and that the Lord will supply all our needs according to His riches in glory in Christ.
All because He lives,
Joy and Cyprian
The Scripture has it that the Lord lovingly commanded us to “go into the world and make disciples of the nations …”(Matthew 28:19-20). It is a fact that committed missionaries have responded sacrificially taking the gospel into the world, and some of them have willingly laid down their lives. Millions of people have been reached by those who have crossed cultural, linguistic, and geographical barriers. They have successfully preached the gospel by words and deeds and multiplied responsible and reproductive Assemblies. The challenge still remains that we should go and tell in obedience to His command.
Today the reached have caught the vision and are reaching the unreached. They are crossing borders and embracing the terms of the Lord’s Great Commission. The gospel is a spreading flame that is engulfing the world, but the job is not done. We cannot rest, and we cannot give up. Our hearts still need to be ignited with God’s love for lost people. Prevailing human needs should engender in our hearts the compassion to make a difference wherever it is found. We still need to go and tell in obedience to His command.
Currently, reports on the religious scene in Nigeria call for concern and point to the destructive activities of Muslim extremists in the Country. Recently, even conflict among Muslim groups has spilled over to the burning of Christian churches. Many believers were killed and some pastors beheaded for refusing to accept Islam and recant Christ. The Boko Haram Islamic movement in Kano, Bauchi, Taraba, and Borno states in Northern Nigeria is a challenge for Christians to present Christ as the answer.
In spite of these challenges, we are amazed at what happens when we allow God to consume us with a gospel passion. No barrier, no cost, and no excuse will put the fire out. By the grace of God Cyprian will be in Nigeria and visit the work in the next few months.
Please pray for us:
1. that the door of utterance would be set before us by the sovereign Lord,
2. that the hand of the Lord would be heavy upon us for good,
3. that we will experience a daily walk and a passionate devotion to the Lord Himself,
4. and that the Lord will supply all our needs according to His riches in glory in Christ.
All because He lives,
Joy and Cyprian
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Purpose for Living
"Who raised up one from the east [and] in righteousness called him to his feet...made him rule over kings? Who has performed and done it calling the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, am the first, and with the last, I am He" (Isaiah 41:1-4).
Clearly we are not on earth by accident and without an assignment to perform, and that constitutes our purpose for living. To be consumed with the erroneous notion that you become just as you choose and succeed as hard as you struggle is to miss the answer to the question most central to our existence: Why am I alive and where do I fit in?
From the passage above it is clear that our path has already been set before we were born (Jeremiah 1:5) and our purpose for living drawn out in every detail. It may be also worth knowing that "the battle is not to the strong and the race is not for the swift, nor riches to men of understanding nor favor to men of skill. But time and chance happen to them all" (Ecclesiastes 9:11).
The Truth of the matter is that we are assigned to an era to play one little part, and that is what counts. John Wycliffe could be called the beginning of an era. It was through the efforts of this dedicated Christian scholar, preacher and Bible translator that the Reformation got its start.
Recalling the life of Wycliffe, Charles R. Swindoll in his biography on David showed how he fit in to his era. Sometime before Wycliffe died in 1384 he was standing alone against verbal and physical attacks. He stayed at the task of translating both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible into the English vernacular…a project so unpopular it led to his martyrdom. Until Wycliffe's heroic work, the Scriptures were chained to ornate pulpits, written in Latin, a language only the clergy could read. While threats were being hurled against him for his defiance, Wycliffe finished his monumental task, then wrote these words in the flyleaf of his own translation of the Bible: "This Bible is translated and shall make possible a government of the people, by the people, and for the people."
Little did Wycliffe realize that almost 500 years later his words would be lifted from the pages of his Bible and immortalized by a president in the New World who would promise "a new birth of freedom" based on "a government of the people, by the people, and for the people." Less than a year and a half later, President Lincoln was killed. Among the hundreds who reported his death, one put his finger on the truth when he wrote, "The death of Lincoln marks the end of an era."
Some lives are so significant in courageous accomplishment, they form the beginning of an era. Others with their deaths, the end of an era. Their thinking, their creative ideas, their magnificent models, leave a veritable chasm across life's landscape. This person's shoes are so big that after his or her death nobody can fill them.
Every individual has a purpose for living - every one of us. Not many have as great a purpose as Wycliffe or Lincoln, but no one God brings to life on this earth is insignificant. The tragedy of all tragedies is that we should live and die having never found that purpose, that special, God-ordained reason for serving our generation.
You have, like no other person on this planet, particular contributions that you are to make to this generation. They may not be as great as your dreams or they might be far beyond your expectations; but whatever they are, you are to find them and carry them out. Then, when your twilight years come and your life is ended, you can be satisfied that you have served God's purpose with your life.
Written by Dr. T. Cyprian Kia on the 27th day of June, 1999 in Room 21, Makurdi Midway Hotel, Benue State, Nigeria
Clearly we are not on earth by accident and without an assignment to perform, and that constitutes our purpose for living. To be consumed with the erroneous notion that you become just as you choose and succeed as hard as you struggle is to miss the answer to the question most central to our existence: Why am I alive and where do I fit in?
From the passage above it is clear that our path has already been set before we were born (Jeremiah 1:5) and our purpose for living drawn out in every detail. It may be also worth knowing that "the battle is not to the strong and the race is not for the swift, nor riches to men of understanding nor favor to men of skill. But time and chance happen to them all" (Ecclesiastes 9:11).
The Truth of the matter is that we are assigned to an era to play one little part, and that is what counts. John Wycliffe could be called the beginning of an era. It was through the efforts of this dedicated Christian scholar, preacher and Bible translator that the Reformation got its start.
Recalling the life of Wycliffe, Charles R. Swindoll in his biography on David showed how he fit in to his era. Sometime before Wycliffe died in 1384 he was standing alone against verbal and physical attacks. He stayed at the task of translating both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible into the English vernacular…a project so unpopular it led to his martyrdom. Until Wycliffe's heroic work, the Scriptures were chained to ornate pulpits, written in Latin, a language only the clergy could read. While threats were being hurled against him for his defiance, Wycliffe finished his monumental task, then wrote these words in the flyleaf of his own translation of the Bible: "This Bible is translated and shall make possible a government of the people, by the people, and for the people."
Little did Wycliffe realize that almost 500 years later his words would be lifted from the pages of his Bible and immortalized by a president in the New World who would promise "a new birth of freedom" based on "a government of the people, by the people, and for the people." Less than a year and a half later, President Lincoln was killed. Among the hundreds who reported his death, one put his finger on the truth when he wrote, "The death of Lincoln marks the end of an era."
Some lives are so significant in courageous accomplishment, they form the beginning of an era. Others with their deaths, the end of an era. Their thinking, their creative ideas, their magnificent models, leave a veritable chasm across life's landscape. This person's shoes are so big that after his or her death nobody can fill them.
Every individual has a purpose for living - every one of us. Not many have as great a purpose as Wycliffe or Lincoln, but no one God brings to life on this earth is insignificant. The tragedy of all tragedies is that we should live and die having never found that purpose, that special, God-ordained reason for serving our generation.
You have, like no other person on this planet, particular contributions that you are to make to this generation. They may not be as great as your dreams or they might be far beyond your expectations; but whatever they are, you are to find them and carry them out. Then, when your twilight years come and your life is ended, you can be satisfied that you have served God's purpose with your life.
Written by Dr. T. Cyprian Kia on the 27th day of June, 1999 in Room 21, Makurdi Midway Hotel, Benue State, Nigeria
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Paul: Prisoner to the Will of the Spirit
An effective and disciplined soldier is a product of disciplined training which includes the proper use of weapons, submission to authority and obedience to command. Then after training he is entrusted with weapons. God always had the power necessary to defeat the enemy we face, and He is not weak. He has not, however, had a people ready for His power.
As the consummation of all things draws near, God in His great mercy is doing a work with an ordained and predestined people. He is bringing them into complete submission, digging out every bit of rebellion, every spirit that opposes God and exalts itself. He makes us prisoners of Jesus Christ. Let us stop fretting about the confinement, the wilderness testing, and submit to the dealings of God for the hour (Hebrews 12:1-6). We cannot be the tool God will work with to bring the world to submission if we are not first broken, perfected and matured for use.
The Apostle Paul sat in his prison cell working carefully on the scroll as he penned a letter to his friend Philemon. This was a special letter for it was being written under the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit and would eventually find its place in the Scriptures as part of God’s inspired written Word. The first few words of greeting from this Apostle of God were simply: “Paul a prisoner of Jesus Christ”. These words, coming from Paul himself, had a great significance. Paul had learned what it was to be a prisoner of Jesus.
He knew what it was to sit on the backside of the Arabian desert for years with the light of the Truth burning in his heart like the noon day sun, while a lost world perished in darkness. He learned to be disciplined under the ministry of a local church in Antioch until the Spirit gave the word through them for him to “Go”. He had felt the harness of the Spirit about him to the extent that he was “forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia” (Acts 16:6). He had been through the training of being bound to the will of God to the extent that when “they assayed to go into Bithynia; …the Spirit suffered them not” (Acts 16:7).
He had become so disciplined to speaking only the word of the Lord that, when in Acts 16 a young demon-possessed girl followed them day after day crying out after them, Paul answered not a word until the Spirit moved upon him to speak and deliver the girl. On his way to Jerusalem in Acts 20:19 he tells how prophecy came to him from prophets in every city telling of the bonds and afflictions that were awaiting him in Jerusalem. In response he said, “None of these things move me” for he was committed to the will of God. He was a prisoner of Jesus Christ and could no longer make his own decision or choose his own course or run his own life. He was disciplined to the will of the Spirit.
Each hour of the day we must choose to obey God. When we submit to God, we shall have to submit to those around us who are in authority over us. Only in this way will we show that we are really submitting to God. What people do to us to hurt us are things God uses to break us. In this way He will make us even deeper channels for the life of Christ to flow out to others.
As the consummation of all things draws near, God in His great mercy is doing a work with an ordained and predestined people. He is bringing them into complete submission, digging out every bit of rebellion, every spirit that opposes God and exalts itself. He makes us prisoners of Jesus Christ. Let us stop fretting about the confinement, the wilderness testing, and submit to the dealings of God for the hour (Hebrews 12:1-6). We cannot be the tool God will work with to bring the world to submission if we are not first broken, perfected and matured for use.
The Apostle Paul sat in his prison cell working carefully on the scroll as he penned a letter to his friend Philemon. This was a special letter for it was being written under the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit and would eventually find its place in the Scriptures as part of God’s inspired written Word. The first few words of greeting from this Apostle of God were simply: “Paul a prisoner of Jesus Christ”. These words, coming from Paul himself, had a great significance. Paul had learned what it was to be a prisoner of Jesus.
He knew what it was to sit on the backside of the Arabian desert for years with the light of the Truth burning in his heart like the noon day sun, while a lost world perished in darkness. He learned to be disciplined under the ministry of a local church in Antioch until the Spirit gave the word through them for him to “Go”. He had felt the harness of the Spirit about him to the extent that he was “forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia” (Acts 16:6). He had been through the training of being bound to the will of God to the extent that when “they assayed to go into Bithynia; …the Spirit suffered them not” (Acts 16:7).
He had become so disciplined to speaking only the word of the Lord that, when in Acts 16 a young demon-possessed girl followed them day after day crying out after them, Paul answered not a word until the Spirit moved upon him to speak and deliver the girl. On his way to Jerusalem in Acts 20:19 he tells how prophecy came to him from prophets in every city telling of the bonds and afflictions that were awaiting him in Jerusalem. In response he said, “None of these things move me” for he was committed to the will of God. He was a prisoner of Jesus Christ and could no longer make his own decision or choose his own course or run his own life. He was disciplined to the will of the Spirit.
Each hour of the day we must choose to obey God. When we submit to God, we shall have to submit to those around us who are in authority over us. Only in this way will we show that we are really submitting to God. What people do to us to hurt us are things God uses to break us. In this way He will make us even deeper channels for the life of Christ to flow out to others.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Moses: Prisoner to the Will of the Spirit
The New Testament shows us clearly that the Lord Jesus wants us to take the low place of slaves. We have no choice in the matter. We cannot decide not to be slaves if we really want to be disciples of Jesus. Slavery is a self-emptying and humbling position. This is what it takes to be a prisoner of Jesus and of being imprisoned to the will of the Spirit.
“Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and in deeds” (Acts 7:22). This man Moses, ordained and predestined by God to deliver His people from Egypt’s bondage, was laid in an ark or basket of bulrushes and carried by the current of the river right close to Pharoah’s palace. There he was taken in and raised as Pharoah’s own grandson, taught in their finest school, trained to lead the armies of Egypt, and his name went abroad throughout the land as a great orator and a great warrior. None of the children of Israel in Goshen had the ability, nor the background, nor the knowledge to do the job as well as Moses to deliver the Israelites from bondage.
Moses tried but failed miserably, the same way we all have failed to bear fruit and conquer sin. He found, just as we all do to our utter dismay, that his own strength was pitifully weak in comparison with the task that must be done. This was all in the plan of God, for after He had proved that the greatest of the great was insufficient for the job, then He sent His chosen servant into the wilderness to be stripped of his strength and ability, to die to his own will and knowledge and desires.
In his own efforts Moses had slain one of the enemy and had hidden his body in the sand. That decaying, stinking thing hidden in the earth was a testimony that it was not the deliverance God’ people were after and needed. Many ministries have cracked under the strain, and many of God’s people have become disillusioned at this high pressure type of thing, as men have tried to rise up and stay the enemy before they themselves had come under the wilderness stripping and discipline of the Spirit. With what rest and what ease Moses lifted up his rod and delivered God’s people and destroyed the might of Egypt, once God had brought Moses into submission. This is the work God is doing today with His true ministry.
The answer is not in the few sheep Moses fed in the wilderness or how fat and productive he could make them. The purpose of God during that forty years was in that man, that ordained and chosen one in the process of God’s dealings. He realized now that the answer is not in him, in his strength or ability. He must hear the voice of God, and he will not move until this comes. Forty years of discipline—all this time the weight of Israel’s burdens pressed down upon his heart, and their cries for deliverance were continually in his ears. There is travail in his soul that finally brought him to a face- to-face meeting with God at the burning bush.
When God finally spoke to this man to go forth and bring deliverance to His people, this Moses confessed his weakness and inability to God and declared that he could not even speak properly and needed someone to do his talking. What a stripping of his own strength! What a binding of his own freedom! At last God had a prisoner who could only move at His word. Then he was ready to bring deliverance to the nation. Now God was ready to entrust him with the greatest power and authority that had ever been possessed or used by man.: “that the excellency of the power may be of God not of him” (2 Corinthians 4:7-12).
“Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and in deeds” (Acts 7:22). This man Moses, ordained and predestined by God to deliver His people from Egypt’s bondage, was laid in an ark or basket of bulrushes and carried by the current of the river right close to Pharoah’s palace. There he was taken in and raised as Pharoah’s own grandson, taught in their finest school, trained to lead the armies of Egypt, and his name went abroad throughout the land as a great orator and a great warrior. None of the children of Israel in Goshen had the ability, nor the background, nor the knowledge to do the job as well as Moses to deliver the Israelites from bondage.
Moses tried but failed miserably, the same way we all have failed to bear fruit and conquer sin. He found, just as we all do to our utter dismay, that his own strength was pitifully weak in comparison with the task that must be done. This was all in the plan of God, for after He had proved that the greatest of the great was insufficient for the job, then He sent His chosen servant into the wilderness to be stripped of his strength and ability, to die to his own will and knowledge and desires.
In his own efforts Moses had slain one of the enemy and had hidden his body in the sand. That decaying, stinking thing hidden in the earth was a testimony that it was not the deliverance God’ people were after and needed. Many ministries have cracked under the strain, and many of God’s people have become disillusioned at this high pressure type of thing, as men have tried to rise up and stay the enemy before they themselves had come under the wilderness stripping and discipline of the Spirit. With what rest and what ease Moses lifted up his rod and delivered God’s people and destroyed the might of Egypt, once God had brought Moses into submission. This is the work God is doing today with His true ministry.
The answer is not in the few sheep Moses fed in the wilderness or how fat and productive he could make them. The purpose of God during that forty years was in that man, that ordained and chosen one in the process of God’s dealings. He realized now that the answer is not in him, in his strength or ability. He must hear the voice of God, and he will not move until this comes. Forty years of discipline—all this time the weight of Israel’s burdens pressed down upon his heart, and their cries for deliverance were continually in his ears. There is travail in his soul that finally brought him to a face- to-face meeting with God at the burning bush.
When God finally spoke to this man to go forth and bring deliverance to His people, this Moses confessed his weakness and inability to God and declared that he could not even speak properly and needed someone to do his talking. What a stripping of his own strength! What a binding of his own freedom! At last God had a prisoner who could only move at His word. Then he was ready to bring deliverance to the nation. Now God was ready to entrust him with the greatest power and authority that had ever been possessed or used by man.: “that the excellency of the power may be of God not of him” (2 Corinthians 4:7-12).
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Joseph: Prisoner to the Will of the Spirit
One of the most notable of God’s prisoners in the Old Testament is Joseph, one of the twelve sons of Jacob. In his childhood he was beloved of his father and had freedom to move about as he chose. He had seen a vision of the Throne, of rulership and authority, and he believed God was going to bring this to him. Nevertheless, this vision was not shared by his brothers, and because of this vision he was brought into a very real confinement by his brothers, into a pit with no way to look but up.
He was then sold into slavery, and he was brought to Potiphar’s house in chains of bondage. At Potiphar’s house Joseph was blessed in such a way that Potiphar gave him a measure of freedom and authority, and he was the means of feeding and caring for the others who were also in bondage. He may have become a little satisfied with his measure of authority and his measure of freedom and the good work that he was doing. Perhaps he travailed before God to complete and fulfill the original vision he had seen. At any rate God began the work of bringing him to the throne.
How? By setting him free? Oh no! But by bringing him into a terrible disgrace and the losing of his reputation and the “measure” of his freedom and authority. God brought Joseph into a greater confinement than he had ever known, and for years He kept him confined in a prison cell. This lasted until Joseph began crying for deliverance, and he tried to enlist the aid of everyone who could get a word with the king. He cries, “Get me out of this place.”
There was real travail of his soul. Psalm 105:19 tells us that “The word of the Lord tried him.” Even in the darkest hour when it looked as though he was a complete failure and his life was nothing, Joseph never lost the vision of what God had shown him. He held on to the word of the Lord to him. When he was completely submitted to the dealing of God, in the fullness of time God brought forth His chosen vessel to feed the nation in the time of need. God was not late, neither could He be forced or pressured into moving too soon. He was right on time. He had Joseph, His chosen one, ready for the hour.
Just because God has given you a vision does not mean you should exert all your strength to take it at will. You must be patient before God and allow Him to prepare you for it. It is not an easy road. Before the world can be brought into submission to God, He first will perfect and mature the tool He will work with. You can never be in this company who rule with Christ on His Throne until you have become His prisoner and been brought into absolute submission and obedience to His perfect will.
To Christ every knee shall bow and every tongue confess, but you will never be used to bring others into submission as long as there is the least bit of the rebellious nature within you. You must be disciplined to the will of the Spirit. Remember that having a burden does not necessitate timing. Surrender and submit under the mighty hand of God.
He was then sold into slavery, and he was brought to Potiphar’s house in chains of bondage. At Potiphar’s house Joseph was blessed in such a way that Potiphar gave him a measure of freedom and authority, and he was the means of feeding and caring for the others who were also in bondage. He may have become a little satisfied with his measure of authority and his measure of freedom and the good work that he was doing. Perhaps he travailed before God to complete and fulfill the original vision he had seen. At any rate God began the work of bringing him to the throne.
How? By setting him free? Oh no! But by bringing him into a terrible disgrace and the losing of his reputation and the “measure” of his freedom and authority. God brought Joseph into a greater confinement than he had ever known, and for years He kept him confined in a prison cell. This lasted until Joseph began crying for deliverance, and he tried to enlist the aid of everyone who could get a word with the king. He cries, “Get me out of this place.”
There was real travail of his soul. Psalm 105:19 tells us that “The word of the Lord tried him.” Even in the darkest hour when it looked as though he was a complete failure and his life was nothing, Joseph never lost the vision of what God had shown him. He held on to the word of the Lord to him. When he was completely submitted to the dealing of God, in the fullness of time God brought forth His chosen vessel to feed the nation in the time of need. God was not late, neither could He be forced or pressured into moving too soon. He was right on time. He had Joseph, His chosen one, ready for the hour.
Just because God has given you a vision does not mean you should exert all your strength to take it at will. You must be patient before God and allow Him to prepare you for it. It is not an easy road. Before the world can be brought into submission to God, He first will perfect and mature the tool He will work with. You can never be in this company who rule with Christ on His Throne until you have become His prisoner and been brought into absolute submission and obedience to His perfect will.
To Christ every knee shall bow and every tongue confess, but you will never be used to bring others into submission as long as there is the least bit of the rebellious nature within you. You must be disciplined to the will of the Spirit. Remember that having a burden does not necessitate timing. Surrender and submit under the mighty hand of God.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Peter: Prisoner to the Will of the Spirit
In the last chapter of John, just before His ascension, Jesus spoke these words to Peter: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, when thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest, but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee wither thou wouldest not” (John 21:18).
In our youth and immaturity (spiritually) the Lord permits many things in us that He later strips from us as we become more mature in the Spirit. One of these is the freedom of our own choices. When we were young, like Peter, we girded ourselves with our armor and went forth to battle, walking wherever we desired. Wherever we saw an opportunity to do a good work for God, we got involved and engaged. There was a freedom granted to us, and God graciously blessed and anointed our efforts as we prayed and sought His help.
If we pastored, He blessed and gave increase. If we decided to go on the evangelistic field, He blessed and anointed and gave us souls. If we decided to teach, He blessed and gave us revelation of His Word. Though we sought for His guidance and tried to be led of the Spirit, there was not that absolute binding to the perfect will of God and the voice of the Spirit. This was in our strength, our youth and immaturity.
With growth and maturity there came a discipline of the Spirit bringing us into submission to His perfect will. Sometimes, because of the strength of our wills or stubbornness and hardness of our own spirits, there comes affliction and tribulation to weaken our own flesh in order to make us submit to His purpose in us. Paul prayed three times for deliverance from a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, but God would not deliver him. In effect He told Paul that He was doing this to keep him weak. For the Lord said, “My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Peter found that, as he grew older in the Lord, there was to be no more of the walking “where thou wouldst.” Rather, there was to be a binding of his own strength, and his girding would come from another, and he would be carried to destinations determined by someone else. This is a mark of maturity. There is a work of the Spirit now going on to bring us to a place of absolute imprisonment to the direct guidance and will of the Spirit. What a glorious confinement!
Just to know that I am bound up in His divine purposes, regardless of what He chooses to do with me and to me, is a privilege worth accepting. It is a difficult and tortuous path at times, until we recognize who our Jailer really is. We fret and worry when we think we are bound by our circumstances, or by our associates, or by the devil. Those who are called into the high calling of God need to come to the realization Who controls their destiny, so that they can come into a REST, and submit to His workings and dealings in their lives. Like Paul and Peter and those other heroes of faith, we are prisoners of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In our youth and immaturity (spiritually) the Lord permits many things in us that He later strips from us as we become more mature in the Spirit. One of these is the freedom of our own choices. When we were young, like Peter, we girded ourselves with our armor and went forth to battle, walking wherever we desired. Wherever we saw an opportunity to do a good work for God, we got involved and engaged. There was a freedom granted to us, and God graciously blessed and anointed our efforts as we prayed and sought His help.
If we pastored, He blessed and gave increase. If we decided to go on the evangelistic field, He blessed and anointed and gave us souls. If we decided to teach, He blessed and gave us revelation of His Word. Though we sought for His guidance and tried to be led of the Spirit, there was not that absolute binding to the perfect will of God and the voice of the Spirit. This was in our strength, our youth and immaturity.
With growth and maturity there came a discipline of the Spirit bringing us into submission to His perfect will. Sometimes, because of the strength of our wills or stubbornness and hardness of our own spirits, there comes affliction and tribulation to weaken our own flesh in order to make us submit to His purpose in us. Paul prayed three times for deliverance from a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, but God would not deliver him. In effect He told Paul that He was doing this to keep him weak. For the Lord said, “My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Peter found that, as he grew older in the Lord, there was to be no more of the walking “where thou wouldst.” Rather, there was to be a binding of his own strength, and his girding would come from another, and he would be carried to destinations determined by someone else. This is a mark of maturity. There is a work of the Spirit now going on to bring us to a place of absolute imprisonment to the direct guidance and will of the Spirit. What a glorious confinement!
Just to know that I am bound up in His divine purposes, regardless of what He chooses to do with me and to me, is a privilege worth accepting. It is a difficult and tortuous path at times, until we recognize who our Jailer really is. We fret and worry when we think we are bound by our circumstances, or by our associates, or by the devil. Those who are called into the high calling of God need to come to the realization Who controls their destiny, so that they can come into a REST, and submit to His workings and dealings in their lives. Like Paul and Peter and those other heroes of faith, we are prisoners of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Christ in the Fullness of His People
Christ is fully God and fully man. He is God man, and His blood washed saints are simply an expression of Himself in the fullness of His people. Therefore, the authority and power they exercise are simply delegated. Such privileges are available to the Body as they fully submit their own wills to His will and are constrained by the leading of His Spirit. “…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” (Colossians 1:18).
The Son of Man is the glorious and wonderful fulfillment of Jacob’s ladder. No wonder Jacob called the place “ Bethel ’, for this is the House of God of which we speak, even the Body of Christ. The Head is in heaven, but the Body is upon earth, and according to the Scriptures the Head hath sent forth the celestial hosts as ministering spirits, ministering upon the Son of Man, this “ new man,” that Paul speaks about, “created in Himself of twain” (Ephesians 2:15-18). It is Christ in the fullness of His people. The heavens are now open to His people, the Body, even as it was to Him, the Head, there at the River Jordan that eventful day.
If we ask the question as to when and how we come into this glorious place, the answer is certainly by faith. We claim it in His Name. In actual experience any honest hearted child of God will admit that the heavens have not yet been opened to him, and that he does not dwell in that place beyond the veil where Jesus, our forerunner “is for us entered” (Hebrews 6:20).
Now we have a priesthood ministry on this earth. Revelation 1:5-6 says: “…Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father.” Also the Lamb, “hast made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:10). Honestly, we are not yet beyond the veil, in the heavenlies. We have not yet entered unto our priestly ministry in full, nor do we reign as kings, but as Jesus came to the river Jordan and set the Pattern, just as surely shall the true Body of Christ follow the Pattern. Hebrews 6:20 says that He is our forerunner, indicating that we are to follow Him into the Holiest.
By faith we enter into that place now, but in actual experience this is still ahead of us. How far ahead I cannot say, but I feel that it is very near. Already the Body of Christ is nearing maturity; dispensationally the water of Jordan is the figurative waters of death. There must be a dying out, a complete death to self and old ways, so that we might be brought into our inheritance. Those who have ears are hearing the call to repent of our religious hypocrisy and forsake that which is dead and turn unto life, to the way of the living God. Submit to the Word, and to the ministry in the earth. This is what will bring the Body out of Jordan unto a glorious freedom and victory that is yet to be experienced.
All these experiences must come by an act of the grace of God. You cannot think, believe, work or even pray your way in. However, one can pray, believe and be ready for Him when He comes to His people. When He comes in visitation, we must follow Him into the wilderness, where He can prune our branches so as to make us bring forth fruit in our lives. It is the fruit-bearers who shall come into this glorious place in God, in the Body of Christ.
The Son of Man is the glorious and wonderful fulfillment of Jacob’s ladder. No wonder Jacob called the place “ Bethel ’, for this is the House of God of which we speak, even the Body of Christ. The Head is in heaven, but the Body is upon earth, and according to the Scriptures the Head hath sent forth the celestial hosts as ministering spirits, ministering upon the Son of Man, this “ new man,” that Paul speaks about, “created in Himself of twain” (Ephesians 2:15-18). It is Christ in the fullness of His people. The heavens are now open to His people, the Body, even as it was to Him, the Head, there at the River Jordan that eventful day.
If we ask the question as to when and how we come into this glorious place, the answer is certainly by faith. We claim it in His Name. In actual experience any honest hearted child of God will admit that the heavens have not yet been opened to him, and that he does not dwell in that place beyond the veil where Jesus, our forerunner “is for us entered” (Hebrews 6:20).
Now we have a priesthood ministry on this earth. Revelation 1:5-6 says: “…Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father.” Also the Lamb, “hast made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:10). Honestly, we are not yet beyond the veil, in the heavenlies. We have not yet entered unto our priestly ministry in full, nor do we reign as kings, but as Jesus came to the river Jordan and set the Pattern, just as surely shall the true Body of Christ follow the Pattern. Hebrews 6:20 says that He is our forerunner, indicating that we are to follow Him into the Holiest.
By faith we enter into that place now, but in actual experience this is still ahead of us. How far ahead I cannot say, but I feel that it is very near. Already the Body of Christ is nearing maturity; dispensationally the water of Jordan is the figurative waters of death. There must be a dying out, a complete death to self and old ways, so that we might be brought into our inheritance. Those who have ears are hearing the call to repent of our religious hypocrisy and forsake that which is dead and turn unto life, to the way of the living God. Submit to the Word, and to the ministry in the earth. This is what will bring the Body out of Jordan unto a glorious freedom and victory that is yet to be experienced.
All these experiences must come by an act of the grace of God. You cannot think, believe, work or even pray your way in. However, one can pray, believe and be ready for Him when He comes to His people. When He comes in visitation, we must follow Him into the wilderness, where He can prune our branches so as to make us bring forth fruit in our lives. It is the fruit-bearers who shall come into this glorious place in God, in the Body of Christ.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
The Body of Christ
If Jesus is the sign, and the Scriptures most plainly show that He is, then who or what is the fulfillment of this sign? This is the glorious mystery that was revealed to Paul the apostle, which he calls “my gospel. For it was Paul who saw the wonderful truth of the Body of Christ, the “Perfect Man,” the sons of God, the many-membered man that God was making after His own image. God’s man is neither male nor female, Jew nor Gentile, bond nor free…,he is made of many members, and we are all one in Him (Colossian 3:11; I Corinthians 12:12-14).
In the Genesis chapter 1 account God began a creation with substances present of which man was made. The dust of the earth and the breath of God were there, but man had not yet been formed. The first day light was given; it was the day of beginnings. On the third day there was a harvest of fruit in the earth. Then on the sixth day God brought forth His man to rule over the earth, and on the seventh day God rested while man ruled. Now we know that Jesus is the light of the world…John 1:1-9 tells us: “That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.”
Salvation, or justification, is the beginning of eternal life for us (every person that believes in Christ). This pointed out beautifully in the types and shadows God gave in the Old Testament law. At the time of the Passover, God said that this should be the beginning of months for them. Everything starts with the sprinkling of the blood on the door post. The death angel passes over them, and the children of Israel are safe from the judgments of God. Then in the third month they are to bring forth the first fruits of the harvest, and on the fiftieth day following the Passover Sabbath comes the feast of Pentecost’
Jujst as the Passover was fulfilled in Jesus spilling His own precious blood on Calvary and rising from the tomb, so was the feast of Pentecost fulfilled when He sent back the Holy Spirit upon the waiting Church, bringing forth a great harvest in the earth, a harvest which actually is only the first-fruit of what God is going to do in the seventh day of the great Feast of Ingathering. For in the seventh month, in the end of the civil year comes the great feast which has never yet been fulfilled, the great Feast of Tabernacle or Ingathering reserved for the end of the age.
Political and historical events of our day are pointing clearly to the fact that we are in the sixth day period. Like the biblical account, God is forming His man, “one body, many parts” man (I Corinthians 12:12) in the earth and is bringing it to completion. To accomplish this divine purpose, the risen Lord Jesus is stirring up within the Church, the five-fold ministries to take center stage for the perfecting of the Body until we all come unto “a perfect man” unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:7-13).
Jesus Christ was the sign given by God of the authority and power He has purported to place upon the redeemed humanity. We see the Head of this Body supremely victorious, waiting until the Body comes to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that His enemies become His footstool (Hebrews 2:8-9). The Head is victorious and crowned. This glorious work He began will continue until His whole body, even the feet, shall rise to the place of authority and power that He has. The smallest and weakest member of the Body, the least in the Kingdom, shall have dominion over every satanic force, over the work of creation, even over their own spirits. “Where I am, there ye may be also.”(John 14:13). The Body is Christ in the fullness of His people.
In the Genesis chapter 1 account God began a creation with substances present of which man was made. The dust of the earth and the breath of God were there, but man had not yet been formed. The first day light was given; it was the day of beginnings. On the third day there was a harvest of fruit in the earth. Then on the sixth day God brought forth His man to rule over the earth, and on the seventh day God rested while man ruled. Now we know that Jesus is the light of the world…John 1:1-9 tells us: “That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.”
Salvation, or justification, is the beginning of eternal life for us (every person that believes in Christ). This pointed out beautifully in the types and shadows God gave in the Old Testament law. At the time of the Passover, God said that this should be the beginning of months for them. Everything starts with the sprinkling of the blood on the door post. The death angel passes over them, and the children of Israel are safe from the judgments of God. Then in the third month they are to bring forth the first fruits of the harvest, and on the fiftieth day following the Passover Sabbath comes the feast of Pentecost’
Jujst as the Passover was fulfilled in Jesus spilling His own precious blood on Calvary and rising from the tomb, so was the feast of Pentecost fulfilled when He sent back the Holy Spirit upon the waiting Church, bringing forth a great harvest in the earth, a harvest which actually is only the first-fruit of what God is going to do in the seventh day of the great Feast of Ingathering. For in the seventh month, in the end of the civil year comes the great feast which has never yet been fulfilled, the great Feast of Tabernacle or Ingathering reserved for the end of the age.
Political and historical events of our day are pointing clearly to the fact that we are in the sixth day period. Like the biblical account, God is forming His man, “one body, many parts” man (I Corinthians 12:12) in the earth and is bringing it to completion. To accomplish this divine purpose, the risen Lord Jesus is stirring up within the Church, the five-fold ministries to take center stage for the perfecting of the Body until we all come unto “a perfect man” unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:7-13).
Jesus Christ was the sign given by God of the authority and power He has purported to place upon the redeemed humanity. We see the Head of this Body supremely victorious, waiting until the Body comes to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that His enemies become His footstool (Hebrews 2:8-9). The Head is victorious and crowned. This glorious work He began will continue until His whole body, even the feet, shall rise to the place of authority and power that He has. The smallest and weakest member of the Body, the least in the Kingdom, shall have dominion over every satanic force, over the work of creation, even over their own spirits. “Where I am, there ye may be also.”(John 14:13). The Body is Christ in the fullness of His people.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Jesus is God's Greatest Sign
In these days we are hearing much about signs and wonders. Many of these, of course, are spurious and false…tricks of the enemy to deceive and mislead God’ people, to magnify the flesh and glorify man, and to sidetrack us from the main purpose of God in the earth today. Not all signs are of the devil. The very fact that there is a counterfeit proves that there is a real, for no one counterfeits that which does not exist.
In Isaiah 7:14 the prophet cried out “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” The sign was not the virgin who brought forth. It was not the swaddling clothes that He was wrapped in, nor was the miraculous birth itself the promised Sign, but rather it was the One who still is God’s greatest sign.
Now a sign is that which points to something, and this man Jesus, His birth, life, death, and resurrection point unerringly to that great thing which God is doing in the earth, the eternal Purpose in Christ Jesus. Matthew 1:18-25 states clearly that the Sign was not fulfilled when Jesus was born. It said that a sign was given. The prophet has promised that God would give them a sign. God gave them this sign when He gave them Jesus there in Bethlehem ’s stable.
Now a sign is not fulfilled when it is given. It is fulfilled when that which it points to comes to pass. That baby lying there in Mary’s arms is the greatest sign God ever gave to the earth, and it shall not fail. That which it points to shall most surely come to pass. The angels spoke to the shepherds in the field on that glorious night: “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tiding of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you” (Luke 2:10-12). They went on to tell them where to find the child.
Simeon the prophet came by the Spirit into the temple, and there he found Mary and Joseph with the baby Jesus. Holding the baby he prophesied saying, “Behold this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel and for a sign which shall be spoken against” (Luke 2:25-34). Jesus Himself said “…this is an evil generation, they seek a sign, and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonah the prophet. For as Jonah was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of Man be (a sign) unto this generation” (Luke 11:29-30).
Jonah was a sign pointing to the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. This sign was given to the Ninevites when Jonah came forth after 3 days in the belly of the whale. The sign of Jonah was fulfilled when Jesus czme forth from the tomb. Jonah’s sign pointed unerringly to the Truth; it did not fail, and now a greater sign than Jonah is given. In Isaiah 8:18 the Scripture says: “Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and wonders.” Hebrews 2:13 makes us to understand that the One who spoke these words was actually our Lord Jesus. He says that He is for a sign, and so are the children (sons) that God hath given Him, those who are being conformed to His image, the Body of Christ. Thank God for His eternal plan and purpose.
In Isaiah 7:14 the prophet cried out “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” The sign was not the virgin who brought forth. It was not the swaddling clothes that He was wrapped in, nor was the miraculous birth itself the promised Sign, but rather it was the One who still is God’s greatest sign.
Now a sign is that which points to something, and this man Jesus, His birth, life, death, and resurrection point unerringly to that great thing which God is doing in the earth, the eternal Purpose in Christ Jesus. Matthew 1:18-25 states clearly that the Sign was not fulfilled when Jesus was born. It said that a sign was given. The prophet has promised that God would give them a sign. God gave them this sign when He gave them Jesus there in Bethlehem ’s stable.
Now a sign is not fulfilled when it is given. It is fulfilled when that which it points to comes to pass. That baby lying there in Mary’s arms is the greatest sign God ever gave to the earth, and it shall not fail. That which it points to shall most surely come to pass. The angels spoke to the shepherds in the field on that glorious night: “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tiding of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you” (Luke 2:10-12). They went on to tell them where to find the child.
Simeon the prophet came by the Spirit into the temple, and there he found Mary and Joseph with the baby Jesus. Holding the baby he prophesied saying, “Behold this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel and for a sign which shall be spoken against” (Luke 2:25-34). Jesus Himself said “…this is an evil generation, they seek a sign, and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonah the prophet. For as Jonah was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of Man be (a sign) unto this generation” (Luke 11:29-30).
Jonah was a sign pointing to the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. This sign was given to the Ninevites when Jonah came forth after 3 days in the belly of the whale. The sign of Jonah was fulfilled when Jesus czme forth from the tomb. Jonah’s sign pointed unerringly to the Truth; it did not fail, and now a greater sign than Jonah is given. In Isaiah 8:18 the Scripture says: “Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and wonders.” Hebrews 2:13 makes us to understand that the One who spoke these words was actually our Lord Jesus. He says that He is for a sign, and so are the children (sons) that God hath given Him, those who are being conformed to His image, the Body of Christ. Thank God for His eternal plan and purpose.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
From Prison to the Throne
Though Joseph was a slave, the Lord was with him, and everything he did prospered. He was made overseer over all the house of Potiphar, and when any of the other servants needed anything, Joseph had the key. When any were hungry, he fed them. God prospered and blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake.
So it was with Jesus. Though He was stripped of His heavenly dignity and took upon Himself the form of a slave, yet He was not defeated in His circumstances. He lived with a people who were bound by the limitations of the Adamic nature, yet He had the key of blessing. Whatever their needs were, He was the answer. In spite of the fact that He walked about in the same earthly prison house of a human existence as other men, yet He ruled in the midst of His circumstances.
There was such a divine radiance about Joseph, such a godly charisma in addition to the fact that he was a handsome young man, that the evil, lustful nature of a worldly woman was attracted to him. As Potiphar’s wife wanted Joseph to compromise his godly standards in an act of adultery, just so Satan tempted Jesus to mix the divine life with earthly desires. Neither man would yield to the temptations, and this led to the cross for both of them.
For Jesus, it was crucifixion at Calvary and into the prison house of death. For Joseph it was the prison house of a living death with no hope of pardon or liberty. Jesus defeated death and took the keys of death and hell from Satan and stands ready to open the prison doors and set the captives free. Joseph was so blessed of God in his prison that the keeper of the prison committed all the prisoners into his hand, and whatever was done in the prison, he was the doer of it. He had the key to unlock any door, and everything he did the Lord made it to prosper. What a peace it brings when we realize that our Lord Jesus has the key to the prison house of humanity we are in; whatever happens to us comes from His hand (Romans 8:28).
Joseph, the elder brother of Benjamin, is a strong type and shadow of our elder Brother, the Lord Jesus. He came out of the prison house and on to the throne. In one bright morning, Joseph was delivered from the darkness of the cell as the prison gate was rolled back. He took his place at the right hand of Pharoah, the supreme ruler of Egypt . All power to administrate the affairs of all Egypt was put into his hands, and all things were done in his name. “Go to Joseph” said the king when anyone asked for corn, or when anything needed to be done. Genesis 41:43 said that every knee was made to bow before him. What a tremendous type he was of the greater One that was to come. For Jesus, our elder Brother, the stone rolled away from the tomb, and He ascended to take his place at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Every knee bows, every tongue confesses, and every thing is done in His great name! Faith looks beyond the circumstances.
So it was with Jesus. Though He was stripped of His heavenly dignity and took upon Himself the form of a slave, yet He was not defeated in His circumstances. He lived with a people who were bound by the limitations of the Adamic nature, yet He had the key of blessing. Whatever their needs were, He was the answer. In spite of the fact that He walked about in the same earthly prison house of a human existence as other men, yet He ruled in the midst of His circumstances.
There was such a divine radiance about Joseph, such a godly charisma in addition to the fact that he was a handsome young man, that the evil, lustful nature of a worldly woman was attracted to him. As Potiphar’s wife wanted Joseph to compromise his godly standards in an act of adultery, just so Satan tempted Jesus to mix the divine life with earthly desires. Neither man would yield to the temptations, and this led to the cross for both of them.
For Jesus, it was crucifixion at Calvary and into the prison house of death. For Joseph it was the prison house of a living death with no hope of pardon or liberty. Jesus defeated death and took the keys of death and hell from Satan and stands ready to open the prison doors and set the captives free. Joseph was so blessed of God in his prison that the keeper of the prison committed all the prisoners into his hand, and whatever was done in the prison, he was the doer of it. He had the key to unlock any door, and everything he did the Lord made it to prosper. What a peace it brings when we realize that our Lord Jesus has the key to the prison house of humanity we are in; whatever happens to us comes from His hand (Romans 8:28).
Joseph, the elder brother of Benjamin, is a strong type and shadow of our elder Brother, the Lord Jesus. He came out of the prison house and on to the throne. In one bright morning, Joseph was delivered from the darkness of the cell as the prison gate was rolled back. He took his place at the right hand of Pharoah, the supreme ruler of Egypt . All power to administrate the affairs of all Egypt was put into his hands, and all things were done in his name. “Go to Joseph” said the king when anyone asked for corn, or when anything needed to be done. Genesis 41:43 said that every knee was made to bow before him. What a tremendous type he was of the greater One that was to come. For Jesus, our elder Brother, the stone rolled away from the tomb, and He ascended to take his place at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Every knee bows, every tongue confesses, and every thing is done in His great name! Faith looks beyond the circumstances.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Joseph Unveiled
The sons of Jacob were faced with a terrible problem. They could not bear to face their father without Benjamin, but they were helpless before their judge, guilty and defenseless. Then Judah, the very one responsible for selling Joseph to the Ishmaelites some 22 years earlier, now makes an impassioned plea for Benjamin to return with them. There is no doubt in my mind that Judah had suffered much from a guilty conscience as he watched his broken hearted father grieve for Joseph, especially after he, Judah, had sons of his own and had experience of losing two of them in death (Genesis 38). Whatever a man sows shall surely bring him an abundant harvest. Would you believe that it was the sons of Judah, the Jews, who were responsible for selling the elder brother Jesus into the hands of the Roman gentiles?
The Jews have suffered much since then because of the anguish of the Father’s heart over what they did. But mercy is coming your way, Judah ! He who sits on the throne will hear your impassioned plea in these closing days of this age, and the beloved elder Brother with the Melchisedic robe of priesthood will unveil Himself to you.
Genesis 45 is a beautiful chapter of reconciliation, forgiveness and restoration. When Joseph revealed himself, his brothers were so startled, shocked, and fearful; they were absolutely speechless. I am sure if there had been any place to hide, any rock or mountain to cover them, they would have fled from his presence. He made them know that in spite of their hatred, wickedness and scheming, it had all been the will of God to bring him to Egypt for the purpose of preserving them in time of famine. It was all necessary in order for the family of Israel to stay in Egypt for 400 years until they grew into a mighty people, ready to go back to Canaan and rule their own country.
That which seems to us to be so unnecessary and even seems like the work of the devil is part of God’s overall plan to bring forth a great people strong enough that they might return to “their own land” to rule and reign with Jesus Christ, our elder Brother. Ours is to trust Him and know that He is on the throne, and that all things will work toward an ultimate victory for His Church, His Body. Let that many membered company of the younger brother of “Joseph” know that they are playing a very important part in the bringing about of this glorious restoration.
The Genesis narrative did not tell us of the special relationship Benjamin had with his long lost brother, once the family had all moved to Egypt . Certainly Joseph had some important work for Benjamin in the five years remaining of the time of famine (Genesis 45:9-15). Beyond that no one knows what part Benjamin had in the glory of Joseph’s Kingdom administration. None can tell you what the sons of God will be doing 10,000 years from now in the Kingdom of Christ and of God (Ephesians 5:5), but I am sure it will be glorious! It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus!
The Jews have suffered much since then because of the anguish of the Father’s heart over what they did. But mercy is coming your way, Judah ! He who sits on the throne will hear your impassioned plea in these closing days of this age, and the beloved elder Brother with the Melchisedic robe of priesthood will unveil Himself to you.
Genesis 45 is a beautiful chapter of reconciliation, forgiveness and restoration. When Joseph revealed himself, his brothers were so startled, shocked, and fearful; they were absolutely speechless. I am sure if there had been any place to hide, any rock or mountain to cover them, they would have fled from his presence. He made them know that in spite of their hatred, wickedness and scheming, it had all been the will of God to bring him to Egypt for the purpose of preserving them in time of famine. It was all necessary in order for the family of Israel to stay in Egypt for 400 years until they grew into a mighty people, ready to go back to Canaan and rule their own country.
That which seems to us to be so unnecessary and even seems like the work of the devil is part of God’s overall plan to bring forth a great people strong enough that they might return to “their own land” to rule and reign with Jesus Christ, our elder Brother. Ours is to trust Him and know that He is on the throne, and that all things will work toward an ultimate victory for His Church, His Body. Let that many membered company of the younger brother of “Joseph” know that they are playing a very important part in the bringing about of this glorious restoration.
The Genesis narrative did not tell us of the special relationship Benjamin had with his long lost brother, once the family had all moved to Egypt . Certainly Joseph had some important work for Benjamin in the five years remaining of the time of famine (Genesis 45:9-15). Beyond that no one knows what part Benjamin had in the glory of Joseph’s Kingdom administration. None can tell you what the sons of God will be doing 10,000 years from now in the Kingdom of Christ and of God (Ephesians 5:5), but I am sure it will be glorious! It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus!
Friday, February 20, 2009
The Silver Cup
After the banquet Joseph’s steward filled the men’s sacks with as much food as they could carry. Joseph arranged for the steward to put his own personal silver cup in Benjamin’s sack. Hardly believing that they had been treated so nicely and were getting away so easily, the eleven sons of Jacob started home. Gingerly they made their way, until finally they were out of the city limits. They began to feel more relaxed, perhaps joking and singing as they started the long journey home.
But a short way out of the city, they looked over their shoulders, and, lo, a cloud of dust was arising as the steward came upon them with a squad of palace police. The brothers experienced a sinking feeling in the pit of their stomachs as they asked: “What is the matter, what have we done?” Then they were told that someone had stolen the prime minister’s silver cup. They protested that one of them would never do such a thing, and to prove their sincerity they volunteered that if any of them had the cup, he should die, and the rest of them would become Pharoah’s slaves. These were confident statements, until the sacks were all opened, beginning at the eldest to the youngest.
The cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. What a shock! “Benjamin, how could you do such a thing? Why would you take such a chance for a piece of silver?” It was no matter that young Benjamin protested vehemently that he was innocent. The proof of guilt was there. Can you imagine the reproach Benjamin had to suffer from his brethren because of the silver cup?
In Matthew 20;22 Jesus warned His disciples that to follow Him they had to drink of His cup and asked if they thought they were able to do so. Joseph’s personal cup, speaking of his years of suffering in slavery and prison, was give to Benjamin. In Genesis 44:17 Joseph told the ten brothers that the one that had his cup would stay with him and be his servant, and the rest of them could return to their own realm or homeland.
Beloved sons of God, there is a price to pay to be a servant of Jesus Christ and live in the same realm He is in, “…that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 24:3). Our relationship with Him brings great reproach. The writer of Hebrews tells us to “go forth therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach.”
What do you think the neighbors thought of young virgin Mary when she was found with child? What do you think her parents thought? Do you think they thought she was still a virgin? Do you think they believed her story of an “angel” visiting her? The carnal suspicious mind would never believe that the one responsible for Mary’s pregnancy was an “angel” much less the Holy Ghost. What a terrible reproach that young girl had to bear because she believed and received the word of the Lord that came to her! Was it worth it? Ask Mary now if she would have had it any other way. Sure, there is suffering and reproach to bear, in order to drink of His cup, but He makes it up to His beloved a hundred fold and more.
But a short way out of the city, they looked over their shoulders, and, lo, a cloud of dust was arising as the steward came upon them with a squad of palace police. The brothers experienced a sinking feeling in the pit of their stomachs as they asked: “What is the matter, what have we done?” Then they were told that someone had stolen the prime minister’s silver cup. They protested that one of them would never do such a thing, and to prove their sincerity they volunteered that if any of them had the cup, he should die, and the rest of them would become Pharoah’s slaves. These were confident statements, until the sacks were all opened, beginning at the eldest to the youngest.
The cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. What a shock! “Benjamin, how could you do such a thing? Why would you take such a chance for a piece of silver?” It was no matter that young Benjamin protested vehemently that he was innocent. The proof of guilt was there. Can you imagine the reproach Benjamin had to suffer from his brethren because of the silver cup?
In Matthew 20;22 Jesus warned His disciples that to follow Him they had to drink of His cup and asked if they thought they were able to do so. Joseph’s personal cup, speaking of his years of suffering in slavery and prison, was give to Benjamin. In Genesis 44:17 Joseph told the ten brothers that the one that had his cup would stay with him and be his servant, and the rest of them could return to their own realm or homeland.
Beloved sons of God, there is a price to pay to be a servant of Jesus Christ and live in the same realm He is in, “…that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 24:3). Our relationship with Him brings great reproach. The writer of Hebrews tells us to “go forth therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach.”
What do you think the neighbors thought of young virgin Mary when she was found with child? What do you think her parents thought? Do you think they thought she was still a virgin? Do you think they believed her story of an “angel” visiting her? The carnal suspicious mind would never believe that the one responsible for Mary’s pregnancy was an “angel” much less the Holy Ghost. What a terrible reproach that young girl had to bear because she believed and received the word of the Lord that came to her! Was it worth it? Ask Mary now if she would have had it any other way. Sure, there is suffering and reproach to bear, in order to drink of His cup, but He makes it up to His beloved a hundred fold and more.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
The Christ of God
Christ of God is a dynamic Savior and a powerful Lord who can help us know that our lives are in His control. He is the only One who can liberate us. He can set us free once and for all from the wretched feeling of being lost.
The Christian life is a constant struggle until we have a one to one encounter with the preexistent, preeminent, personal, all-powerful Christ. Christ who is able to control our lives existed in eternity before time and creation. He was co-equal with God the Father. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1-2). These opening words from the Gospel of John help us catch the magnitude and majesty of the preexistent Christ. As the Word, He was, and is, the generative power of the universe, the One through whom all things were made at the Father’s command.
The One we like to think of as a Friend, Teacher, our Good Shepherd, is also Christ the Word, the uncreated creator of universes within universes, who created life on the planet earth. When the Father said, “Let us make man in our image,” (Genesis 1:26), humankind was thus created. Life Himself brought life into being. The Father was the instigator, the Son, the implementer, and through the ages made us and who came to remake us. He was born among us so we could be reborn.
In His humanity Christ revealed how life was to be lived under divine control. As the son of God, He called His followers to faithful and obedient discipleship. As Immanuel, God with us, He left no ambiguity about who He was. With authority He said, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58) asserting His preexistent oneness with Yahweh. With equal force He spoke with power and declared that He is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).
The Christian life is a constant struggle until we have a one to one encounter with the preexistent, preeminent, personal, all-powerful Christ. Christ who is able to control our lives existed in eternity before time and creation. He was co-equal with God the Father. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1-2). These opening words from the Gospel of John help us catch the magnitude and majesty of the preexistent Christ. As the Word, He was, and is, the generative power of the universe, the One through whom all things were made at the Father’s command.
The One we like to think of as a Friend, Teacher, our Good Shepherd, is also Christ the Word, the uncreated creator of universes within universes, who created life on the planet earth. When the Father said, “Let us make man in our image,” (Genesis 1:26), humankind was thus created. Life Himself brought life into being. The Father was the instigator, the Son, the implementer, and through the ages made us and who came to remake us. He was born among us so we could be reborn.
In His humanity Christ revealed how life was to be lived under divine control. As the son of God, He called His followers to faithful and obedient discipleship. As Immanuel, God with us, He left no ambiguity about who He was. With authority He said, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58) asserting His preexistent oneness with Yahweh. With equal force He spoke with power and declared that He is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Temptation
Our confidence in overcoming temptation is in the faithfulness of the Lord who answers the petition He taught us to pray “lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.”
Christ seeks to lead us out of patterns that will make us vulnerable to Satan’s attacks. That’s why He confronts us about our preemptive hugging of the center stage. He seeks to deliver us from habits of control because He knows we can’t pull it off alone. When we try and then find we need power, He knows that Satan will be ready to offer us false power.
Satan’s power comes at very high cost: his methods and his control cause a frightening spiraling descent into power tactics. But at any point we can call, and Christ will deliver us.
Not only has our Lord been through all the temptations we face and not only does He know every device of the tempter, He alone has power and authority over Satan. In the power struggle between good and evil in the spiritual world Christ always wins. The Father has given that authority to Christ.
We must call for aid. As has been stressed, He waits until we want His deliverance. His ongoing care to keep us out of temptation is freely given. He meets us at the pass erecting “Do Not Enter” signs on certain paths. But even as we push His sign aside and get into trouble He will help us even then in response to our cry for help.
The same Lord who erects the “No Entry” sign also places an “Only Way Out” sign in the jungle of defeat when we get lost. Christ’s help is the expression of the faithfulness of God that Paul touted with such gratitude. No temptation has overtaken you except as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also provide a way of escape, that you may be able to bear it (I Corinthians 10:13). The name of Christ is the way out. Christ delivers.
Christ seeks to lead us out of patterns that will make us vulnerable to Satan’s attacks. That’s why He confronts us about our preemptive hugging of the center stage. He seeks to deliver us from habits of control because He knows we can’t pull it off alone. When we try and then find we need power, He knows that Satan will be ready to offer us false power.
Satan’s power comes at very high cost: his methods and his control cause a frightening spiraling descent into power tactics. But at any point we can call, and Christ will deliver us.
Not only has our Lord been through all the temptations we face and not only does He know every device of the tempter, He alone has power and authority over Satan. In the power struggle between good and evil in the spiritual world Christ always wins. The Father has given that authority to Christ.
We must call for aid. As has been stressed, He waits until we want His deliverance. His ongoing care to keep us out of temptation is freely given. He meets us at the pass erecting “Do Not Enter” signs on certain paths. But even as we push His sign aside and get into trouble He will help us even then in response to our cry for help.
The same Lord who erects the “No Entry” sign also places an “Only Way Out” sign in the jungle of defeat when we get lost. Christ’s help is the expression of the faithfulness of God that Paul touted with such gratitude. No temptation has overtaken you except as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also provide a way of escape, that you may be able to bear it (I Corinthians 10:13). The name of Christ is the way out. Christ delivers.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Joseph's Two Sons
Manasseh and Ephraim were two fine young men with a great heritage. They were Jacob’s grandsons, but they shared in the inheritance with Jacob’s other sons. Thus Joseph actually had a double portion of the inheritance, and his sons were joint-heirs with him. He who is both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36) has a double relationship with His chosen ones. He is our elder brother (Romans 8:29), and we are the children whom God hath given Him (Isaiah 8:18; Isaiah 53:10). He is called “the mighty God, the everlasting Father” (Isaiah 9:6). He who is the Alpha and Omega (Jesus) said that the overcomer shall be His son (Revelation 21:7).
Ephraim was both a son to Joseph and a younger brother to Manasseh. In this picture we see Joseph as a type of the Father and Manasseh as a type of the elder brother. The life of Joseph the Father was imparted to both the elder and the younger brothers, and they are joint heirs together of his inheritance. When the two brothers were brought to Jacob for his blessing, he laid his hands upon their heads and began to prophesy. His eyes were dim, and he could not distinguish one from the other, but by the leadership of the Spirit he crossed his hands, and placed his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, the younger brother. He explained that this one would become a multitude of nations (Genesis 48:15). Thus the younger son was set ahead of his elder brother and given a greater work to do. The “son of the right hand” or that one who received the blessing with the right hand laid upon his head, received greater authority and power.
As we consider who our elder brother is, this idea seems absolutely outrageous and heretical, but I call to your attention what Jesus said in John 14:12-13…”He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto my Father.” He indicates that this brings glory to the Father. Notice He did not say “more” works (as some present day evangelists say is now true), but He said “greater works.”
All evidence from the sacred record reminds us all and points to the fact that the manifestation of Jesus Christ, as Head of His body in this earth will be greater than what men saw when He walked the shores of Galilee (with the exception of His redemptive work on Calvary which cannot be duplicated or excelled).
Ephraim was both a son to Joseph and a younger brother to Manasseh. In this picture we see Joseph as a type of the Father and Manasseh as a type of the elder brother. The life of Joseph the Father was imparted to both the elder and the younger brothers, and they are joint heirs together of his inheritance. When the two brothers were brought to Jacob for his blessing, he laid his hands upon their heads and began to prophesy. His eyes were dim, and he could not distinguish one from the other, but by the leadership of the Spirit he crossed his hands, and placed his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, the younger brother. He explained that this one would become a multitude of nations (Genesis 48:15). Thus the younger son was set ahead of his elder brother and given a greater work to do. The “son of the right hand” or that one who received the blessing with the right hand laid upon his head, received greater authority and power.
As we consider who our elder brother is, this idea seems absolutely outrageous and heretical, but I call to your attention what Jesus said in John 14:12-13…”He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto my Father.” He indicates that this brings glory to the Father. Notice He did not say “more” works (as some present day evangelists say is now true), but He said “greater works.”
All evidence from the sacred record reminds us all and points to the fact that the manifestation of Jesus Christ, as Head of His body in this earth will be greater than what men saw when He walked the shores of Galilee (with the exception of His redemptive work on Calvary which cannot be duplicated or excelled).
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Common Human Temptation
All our temptations are but diminutive demonstrations of our desire to hug center stage. They are beguiling enticements to insure power, to play God, king of the mountain, lord of our own lives.
Try that on for size. Think of the temptations you have had in just the past years. Didn’t they involve side-stepping some spiritual or moral law of God? Start with the basics. Begin with the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods.” All the rest of the commandments focus on the danger of breaking that fundamental spiritual law. We can make a false god out of controlling our use of time, people, the family, truth, sex or things.
The producer and director of that production is Satan. He is a fallen angel who tried to hug center stage. Having lost his place in glory, he is busy recruiting and casting power-hungry people in roles that usurp the spotlight in their life story. He delights in getting us to seek the glory rather than glorify Christ. But center stage is where we get the worst case of feeling at loose ends because we cannot cope with the pressure. It’s inevitable; we were never meant to be there in the first place.
Temptation to get and keep control are distracting loose ends. They keep pulling us away from our central purpose of glorifying God and doing what we know He has called us to do. And now the central question: Is Christ also Lord of these loose ends of temptation? Always remember when you are being tempted that you are seeking to hug the center stage. Stop! You’re not the star. Christ is.
Try that on for size. Think of the temptations you have had in just the past years. Didn’t they involve side-stepping some spiritual or moral law of God? Start with the basics. Begin with the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods.” All the rest of the commandments focus on the danger of breaking that fundamental spiritual law. We can make a false god out of controlling our use of time, people, the family, truth, sex or things.
The producer and director of that production is Satan. He is a fallen angel who tried to hug center stage. Having lost his place in glory, he is busy recruiting and casting power-hungry people in roles that usurp the spotlight in their life story. He delights in getting us to seek the glory rather than glorify Christ. But center stage is where we get the worst case of feeling at loose ends because we cannot cope with the pressure. It’s inevitable; we were never meant to be there in the first place.
Temptation to get and keep control are distracting loose ends. They keep pulling us away from our central purpose of glorifying God and doing what we know He has called us to do. And now the central question: Is Christ also Lord of these loose ends of temptation? Always remember when you are being tempted that you are seeking to hug the center stage. Stop! You’re not the star. Christ is.
The Sad Awakening
Jacob worked for seven years for the privilege of marrying Rachel, and it seemed to him but a few days. This is because of his love for her. That is all that is said about these years, but we can feel the heartbeat of expectancy of those two young people. Girls of the east mature quickly, and it is possible that Rachel was only thirteen years of age when Jacob first saw her. By the end of the seven years, she was a mature young woman, and Jacob was anxious to receive the reward of his labors.
The custom of the land was to have a great wedding feast, all the neighbors gathered, and the wine flowing freely. The bride was kept out of sight until time to come to her husband. Finally, late in the evening, when Jacob was well filled with wine, the bride was brought in, her face covered with a veil, and the marriage was consummated.
When morning came and his head was clear, he found he had married Leah, the older sister. He was furious and went to Laban in a rage. “Seven years I labored faithfully, and you have tricked me! Why would you do this to me, your own nephew?” He was now reaping the harvest of his own cunning, deceiving nature. What a man sows that shall he also reap.
“Oh,” said the cunning old Laban. “Didn’t I explain the law of the land to you? The younger sisters cannot be married off until first their older sisters are married. According to the law and the custom of the land, I had to let you marry Leah before Rachel was qualified to be wed. But now she is ready, so if you will fulfill the wedding week for Leah, give her the customary honeymoon, then we’ll have another wedding, and you and Rachel can be married.”
What could Jacob say? He was trapped by the law, and he did not want some other man to marry his beloved Rachel. Where was she during the wedding? Hidden away somewhere by her scheming father, most likely grieving about her promised husband and her hated sister. So Jacob agreed, and the honeymoon week went on, unpleasant though it must have been.
After Leah’s honeymoon, Jacob wedded Rachel, his true beloved, before any payment was made. He had to work yet another seven years in return for her. The bride of the law was paid for in advance, but the beloved was the bride of grace, nothing having been paid for until after she was really his. So it is with us. We cannot be satisfied with what we have earned or worked for under the law. When we receive the real thing, we find we have paid nothing for it, but we labor the rest of our lives in a labor of love and gratitude (Ephesians 2:8-10).
The custom of the land was to have a great wedding feast, all the neighbors gathered, and the wine flowing freely. The bride was kept out of sight until time to come to her husband. Finally, late in the evening, when Jacob was well filled with wine, the bride was brought in, her face covered with a veil, and the marriage was consummated.
When morning came and his head was clear, he found he had married Leah, the older sister. He was furious and went to Laban in a rage. “Seven years I labored faithfully, and you have tricked me! Why would you do this to me, your own nephew?” He was now reaping the harvest of his own cunning, deceiving nature. What a man sows that shall he also reap.
“Oh,” said the cunning old Laban. “Didn’t I explain the law of the land to you? The younger sisters cannot be married off until first their older sisters are married. According to the law and the custom of the land, I had to let you marry Leah before Rachel was qualified to be wed. But now she is ready, so if you will fulfill the wedding week for Leah, give her the customary honeymoon, then we’ll have another wedding, and you and Rachel can be married.”
What could Jacob say? He was trapped by the law, and he did not want some other man to marry his beloved Rachel. Where was she during the wedding? Hidden away somewhere by her scheming father, most likely grieving about her promised husband and her hated sister. So Jacob agreed, and the honeymoon week went on, unpleasant though it must have been.
After Leah’s honeymoon, Jacob wedded Rachel, his true beloved, before any payment was made. He had to work yet another seven years in return for her. The bride of the law was paid for in advance, but the beloved was the bride of grace, nothing having been paid for until after she was really his. So it is with us. We cannot be satisfied with what we have earned or worked for under the law. When we receive the real thing, we find we have paid nothing for it, but we labor the rest of our lives in a labor of love and gratitude (Ephesians 2:8-10).
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