Category Archives: Religion vs. Abiding in Christ

The Bride of the Lamb

by Michael

In our American culture we have officially entered into the “Christmas Season” with the dawning of “Black Friday.” What an interesting title for what greedy men have made out of the birth of the Christ child with their final push at the end of the year to sell as much of their merchandise as possible. How opposite can a culture be from the nature of our Savior who turned over the tables of merchandise and money changers when He found them in the temple in Jerusalem and said to them, “It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves.” 

In great contrast have you ever wondered how the Church could be called the wife of the Lamb? The lamb is used by the Spirit in the scriptures to show us the nature of Christ. John in his heavenly vision (the Book of Revelations) saw a lamb as though it had been slain, standing! This is the very nature of Christ who came to this earth in all lowliness as a baby born in a stable for there was no room for Him because all the Jews had had come from afar and filled up the spaces in the local inns. He was born into poverty and the wise men who saw His star just knew that the King that they foresaw would be born in a king’s palace and that is where they showed up. The first shall be last and the Last shall be First. This is the nature of God’s only begotten Son in His love, true humility and lowliness. The profit Zechariah wrote,

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zech 9:9, ESV2011)

In the Book of Revelation we read,

Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.”And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. (Rev 21:9-11, ESV2011 – emphasis added)

There is so much to unpack here! The Bride, the wife of the Lamb… we know that the Lamb is Jesus Christ for John the Baptist saw Him coming and said of Him, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!” But how can a Lamb have a Bride made up of humanity unless the Bride has the very nature and attributes of this same Lamb? In Genesis we read where God demanded that each being He created was commanded to reproduce after its own kind. The Bride is also likened by the angels in this vision to a holy city a NEW Jerusalem coming down out of heaven with the glory of God Himself with a radiance of a jewel clear as crystal.

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. (Rev 22:1-5, ESV2011 – emphasis added)

These two analogies speak of the same thing in two different allegories. The bride of the Lamb is compared to a city with only ONE street which had one river that flowed down from the throne of God. It is also spoken of as having great purity and clarity. Today in Christendom we have many streets that come under many different names and not all their rivers are going the same direction much less are they flowing down from the throne of God. Another thing that strikes me is that John is carried away to a great high mountain and there he saw the New Jerusalem, the bride, coming down out of heaven. When Jesus was tempted by the devil at the end of his 40 days in the wilderness he was take away to a high mountain and shown all the kingdoms of the world…

And the devil, taking him up into a high mountain, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, “All this power will I give you, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.” (Luke 4:5-6, KJ2000)

These are two kingdoms that are adverse to one another. One is God’s kingdom, the New Jerusalem where Jesus and His Bride will rule for it is being prepared as a wife for the Lamb which was slain who yet now stands before God waiting for the perfection of His wife the Bride of Christ in all her purity and beauty. And the other kingdom is the one that belongs to Satan (also known as the Great Whore) where he gives its power to whomever he wishes if they will just bow down and worship at his feet (if we look deeper into the actions of those who rule in the kingdoms of men we often will find that demon worship is quite common among them).

Jesus knew that He had a kingdom which His Father was preparing for Him. But He also knew that it could not be taken prematurely by greedy hands. What was Jesus’ answer to this temptation? “Get you behind me, Satan: for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.” Satan’s playground is found in the things that men desire. Just before Jesus was to go to the cross we read the following,

And he began to teach them [the disciples], that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he spoke that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him. But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get you behind me, Satan: for you consider not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men. (Mark 8:31-33, KJ2000)

Peter and many of Christ’s followers were falling under the desires of the carnal Jews who wanted to have a kingdom of their own here on earth. The Jews were looking for Him to use His demonstrated power to overthrow the Romans and set up a kingdom here on earth where they could sit with Him and rule over the affairs of men. Little do men, even religious men, know that it is as Jesus warned saying, “He who finds his life will lose it, but he who loses his life for my sake shall find it.”

Even in Christendom men who rule desire the high places among their followers. Sad to say, in many cases Christianity has become “a haunt of every demon and every foul and hateful bird.” Sad to say, the humility of Christ is rarely found among Christian leadership today. Most Christian leaders love the high places in the congregation. How they love their elevated platforms! Whatever happened to the example and life of Christ that was found throughout the early church in the first century? They were known as the “People of the Way” and it was the pagans of Antioch that called them “Christians.” Oh, that all who claim Christ were truly the People of the Way. In those early years the Roman emperors and the leaders of the Jews persecuted and killed those who believed in Christ because they in their love and humility they were turning their world upside down. What do we have today? Our presidents and leaders pay honor and are willing hosts to those who are the high profile leaders in Christendom. How opposite is this thing called “church” from what Jesus set in motion by His very example and life? No wonder Jesus prophesied,

And shall not God avenge his own elect, who cry day and night unto him, though he bears long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man comes, shall he find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:7-8, KJ2000)

The Shooting of Charlie Kirk

by Michael

Charles James Kirk was an American Christian political activist, entrepreneur, and media personality. He co-founded the conservative organization Turning Point USA which has become quite popular among young people who have been seeking an alternative to the left wing propaganda being fed them in their universities and the legacy media. 

You may have noticed that I haven’t got involved in political matters on this blog. By nature I would be considered a conservative. My time in the Vietnam war might have had something to do with that because I grew up in a family of liberal democrats. So was I until I was exposed to the corruption of the U.S. government. It was very much a downer to find out at the end of that war that 57,000 of our men and women died over there for nothing except to make corrupt politicians and the military-industrial-complex rich in exchange for the blood of our servicemen. Enough said.

I got home from that war in 1967 after three “cruises” over there in the Navy off the coast of Vietnam. The more I read about the political history of the U.S. and Vietnam, the more disenchanted I got with all that took place during that war. I was looking for answers and an alternative to the insanity that was happening all around me which continued after I came home. But I can now say that God used it all to get me to look beyond myself and anything this world had to offer.

The problem with most of us is that we keep looking for answers in this world. But what did Jesus say as He was being tried by Pilate?

“My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” (John 18:36, ESV2011)

The question is, what kingdom are we of who claim Christ? We who want to fight and use soulish means to advance Jesus and His kingdom are showing that we are not of His kingdom. Jesus had to rebuke Peter when he drew his sword in defense of his Savior. “Put away your sword, Peter. Those who live by the sword shall die by the sword.”

I think I had a two stage conversion to Christ. By 1968 We had started to attend an evangelical church in our neighborhood. Having been raised a Catholic, hearing the Bible preached from the pulpit was something new to me and the Bible was scratching an itch I couldn’t reach. By the summer of 1970 the Holy Spirit was hard after me and I was becoming quite miserable trying to be a “good” church Christian. I could read the Bible for myself, but I was missing the enlightening power of the Spirit and it was like reading a big city phone book. It was all disconnected. Jesus said, “I am the way the truth and the life, no man can come to the Father but by me.” Led by the pastor of that church, I had said “a sinner’s prayer” in 1968 but that was not enough. God wanted me to walk IN the Spirit and not just in religion so that I might hear His voice. Jesus said that after He died He would send us the Comforter and that He would lead us into all truth (see John 16:13&14). Until I received the infilling of the Spirit I had no idea what I was missing.

Before then I was totally miserable and terrible to live with. My wife had told me that unless something changed, she and the kids would have to leave me. She told me that the hate in me was killing her and the kids. THAT gave me a lot to think about over the next three months! Of coarse the enemy was telling me to commit suicide and do everyone a favor (if God had not moved on me the way He did I probably would have). It is no wonder that over 300,000 Vietnam war veterans have commuted suicide or died in strange accidents  after coming back home.

One day in July 1970 I came out of that Sunday church to find a handbill on the windshield of our car. It was an invitation to park meetings that some out of town “Jesus People” were having in our area. I figured, “what do I have to lose!” After going to two or three of these open air meetings, I finally found out what was missing in me, I had not yet been filled with the Spirit of God. I asked one of these young people what it meant to be filled with the Spirit. He told me that the law of physics states that no two things can occupy the same space at the same time. THAT I understood! He went on to tell me that as long as I was filled with myself, the Spirit could not come in. I needed to get down and humble myself before God and be emptied out of everything I was, everything I had, everything I even hoped to be. I had to confess every sin that I had committed as far back as I could remember and give it ALL to Jesus. He went on to say that if I would get real with God, He would fill the dark void in me with His Spirit. That evening in a coffee shop prayer room, I did just that and it was not a pretty sight.

Looking back on it, I think that I picked up a spirit of murder while I was in the Vietnam war. Since I left that war behind, I had been collecting guns and ammunition and dreaming of killing people that were against my political beliefs. The guns and ammo had to go along with all that was driving me to do evil. In short, I got delivered that night.

The apostle Paul wrote,

Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come! (2Cor 5:17, AMP)

Sometime that night the Spirit of Christ came into me and I awoke in the morning with a new mind and a new heart. All that hate that had been driving me was gone and I was filled with Christ’s love for all men. Three months later my father-in-law came to visit. He took my wife aside and said, “What has happened to Mike? He doesn’t swear anymore!” As the Bible says, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” and I had been given a new heart (see Hebrews 8:10&11).

You might be wondering, “What does all this have to do with the assassination of Charlie Kirk?” I had not been a follower of his and not a big fan of political people in general since Christ set me free of all that had been driving me before. As a result, I have to stay clear of getting involved with politics least I fall back into my old mindset and make room for demons to take over again. Jesus warned us about such things when He said,

“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.” (Matt 12:43-45, ESV2011)

In Proverbs we read, “Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly.” (Prov 26:11, ESV2011). Dear saints, we must learn from what happened to this young man that shot Charlie Kirk. He had been meditating on killing Charlie “because Charlie was filled with hate.” That hate demon had found a home in him to manifest the will of the prince of demons. Except for the grace of God, that could have been me in 1970 taking the life of some left-wing politician or antiwar demonstrator.

When Jesus and the disciples were about to pass through a Samaritan village, those people turned them away because they saw that Jesus and the disciples were Jews heading for Jerusalem. (The Samaritans believed that they had the true place to worship in their “holy mountain”). How did Jesus’ disciples react?

And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, ‘Lord, will you that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elijah did?’ But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, ‘You know not what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.’ And they went to another village. (Luke 9:54-56, KJ2000)

What manner of spirit are we of? It is sad what happened to Charlie Kirk and many believe that he is now with Jesus in heaven. We should pray for his wife and children, but we should also pray that this young man that killed him that he might reach out to Jesus in his misery. Remember Jesus’ words to Nicodemus. No one is beyond salvation.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16-17, ESV2011)

“That whosoever believes in Him” would have eternal life. It is never too late. Remember the repentant thief that was crucified with Jesus? He called out saying, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:42-43, ESV2011)

(The above photo was courtesy of Janine Robinson on Unsplash)

Are Christians Called as Pioneers or Settlers?

by Michael

(Photo by Randy Faith on Unsplash)

Consider these verses of scripture.

We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. (Heb 13:10-14, ESV2011)

One time after failing to fit in and get along with Christians in many different churches, I cried out in frustration, “God! I don’t fit! I just don’t fit!” To my surprise He replied, “YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO FIT!” Abraham was a pilgrim and sojourner in a strange land where he even had to buy a plot of land to bury his wife Sarah when she died. If we are to find our place in HIS kingdom, we will not find a place in any other kingdom until we finally find our rest with Him. Yes, let us go to him outside the camp!

I recently found an amazing parody that explains my experiences in Christ. It was in chapter three of an insightful book by Brennan Manning, Lion and Lamb, the Relentless Tenderness of Jesus (Fleming H. Revell Company, Old Tappan, NJ, 1986)

There are two visions of life, two kinds of people. The first group sees life as a possession to be carefully guarded. They are called settlers. The second group see life as a wild, fantastic, explosive gift. They are called pioneers.

These two types give rise to two kinds of theology: Settler Theology and Pioneer Theology. According to Wes Seeliger in his book, Western Theology, the first kind, Settler Theology, is an attempt to answer all the questions, define and housebreak some sort of Supreme Being, establish the status quo on golden tablets in cinemascope. Pioneer Theology is an attempt to talk about what it means to receive the strange gift of life. The Wild West is the setting for both theologies.

In Settler Theology, the church is the courthouse. It is the center of town life. The old stone structure dominates the town square. Its windows are small and this makes things dark inside. Within the courthouse walls, records are kept, taxes collected, trials held for bad guys. The courthouse is the settler’s symbol of law, order, stability, and—most importantly—security. The mayor’s office is on the top floor. His eagle eye ferrets out the smallest details of town life.

In Pioneer Theology, the church is the covered wagon. It’s a house on wheels, always on the move. The covered wagon is where the pioneers eat, sleep, fight, love and die. It bears the marks of life and movement—it creaks, is scarred with arrows, bandaged with baling wire. The covered wagon is always where the action is. It moves toward the future and doesn’t bother to glorify its own ruts. The old wagon isn’t comfortable, but the pioneers don’t mind. They are more into adventure than comfort.

In Settler Theology, God is the mayor. He is a sight to behold. Dressed like a dude from back East, he lounges in an over-stuffed chair in his courthouse office. He keeps the blinds drawn. No one sees him or knows him directly, but since there is order in town, who can deny that he is there? The mayor is predictable and always on schedule. The settlers fear the mayor, but look to him to clear the payroll and keep things going. Peace and quiet are the mayor’s main concerns. That’s why he sends the sheriff to check on the pioneers who ride into town.

In Pioneer Theology, God is the trail boss. He is rough and rugged, full of life. He chews tobacco, drinks straight whiskey. The trail boss lives, eats, sleeps, fights with his people. Their well-being is his concern. Without him the wagon wouldn’t move; living as a free man would be impossible. The trail boss often gets down in the mud with the pioneers to help push the wagon, which often gets stuck. He prods the pioneers when they get soft and want to turn back. His fist is an expression of his concern.

In Settler Theology, Jesus is the sheriff. He’s the guy who is sent by the mayor to enforce the rules. He wears a white hat, drinks milk, outdraws the bad guys. The sheriff decides who is thrown into jail. There is a saying in town that goes: those who believe the mayor sent the sheriff, and follow the rules, they won’t stay in Boot Hill when it comes their time.

In Pioneer Theology, Jesus is the scout. He rides out ahead to find out which way the pioneers should go. He lives all the dangers of the trail. The scout suffers every hardship, is attacked by the Indians. Through his words and actions he reveals the true intentions of the trail boss. By looking at the scout, those on the trail learn what it means to be a pioneer.

In Settler Theology, the Holy Spirit is the saloon girl. Her job is to comfort the settlers. They come to her when they feel lonely, or when life gets dull or dangerous. She tickles them under the chin and makes everything okay again. The saloon girl squeals to the sheriff when someone starts disturbing the peace.

In Pioneer Theology, the Holy Spirit is the buffalo hunter. He rides along with the covered wagon and furnishes fresh meat for the pioneers. Without it they would die. The buffalo hunter is a strange character—sort of a wild man. The pioneers can never tell what he will do next.

He scares the hell out of the settlers. He has a big black gun that goes off like a cannon. He rides into town on Sunday to shake up the settlers. You see, every Sunday morning, the settlers have a little ice cream party in the courthouse. With his gun in hand the buffalo hunter sneaks up to one of the courthouse windows. He fires a tremendous blast that rattles the whole courthouse. Men jump out of their skin, women scream, dogs bark. Chuckling to himself, the buffalo hunter rides back to the wagon train shooting up the town as he goes.

In Settler Theology, the Christian is the settler. He fears the open, unknown frontier. His concern is to stay on good terms with the mayor and keep out of the sheriff’s way. “Safety first” is his motto. To him the courthouse is a symbol of security, peace, order, and happiness. He keeps his money in the bank. The banker is his best friend. The settler never misses an ice cream party.

In Pioneer Theology, the Christian is the pioneer. He is a man of daring, hungry for a new life. He rides hard, knows how to use a gun when necessary. The pioneer feels sorry for the settlers and tries to tell them of the joy and fulfillment of life on the trail. He dies with his boots on.

In Settler Theology, the clergyman is the banker. Within his vault are locked the values of the town. He is a highly respected man. He has a gun, but keeps it hidden in his desk. He feels that he and the sheriff have a lot in common. After all, they both protect the bank.

In Pioneer Theology, the clergyman is the cook. He doesn’t furnish the meat. He just dishes up what the buffalo hunter provides. This is how he supports the movement of the wagon. He never confuses his job with that of the trail boss, scout, or the buffalo hunter. He sees himself as just another pioneer who has learned how to cook. The cook’s job is to help the pioneers pioneer.

In Settler Theology, faith is trusting in the safety of the town: obeying the laws, keeping your nose clean, believing the mayor is in the courthouse.

In Pioneer Theology, faith is the spirit of adventure: the readiness to move out, to risk everything on the trail. Faith is obedience to the restless voice of the trail boss.

In Settler Theology, sin is breaking one of the town’s ordinances.

In Pioneer Theology, sin is wanting to turn back.

In Settler Theology, salvation is living close to home and hanging around the courthouse.

In Pioneer Theology, salvation is being more afraid of sterile town life than death on the trail. Salvation is joy at the thought of another day to push on into the unknown. It is trusting the trail boss and following his scout while living on the meat furnished by the buffalo hunter.

The pioneers and the settlers portray in cowboy movie language the people of the law and the people of the Spirit. In the time of the historical Jesus, the guardians of the ecclesiastical setup, the scribes and Pharisees and Sadducees had ensconced themselves in the courthouse and enslaved themselves to the law. This not only enhanced their prestige in society, it also gave them a sense of security. People fear the responsibility of being free. It is often easier to let other people make decisions or to rely on the letter of the law. Some people want to be slaves.

After enslaving themselves to the letter of the law, such people go on to deny freedom to others. Jesus described them this way: “They tie up heavy loads and put them on men’s solders, but they themselves are no willing to lift a finger to move them” (Matt. 23:4).

Jesus wanted to liberate His people from the law – from all laws. Under His word we become free people, people of the Spirit and the fellowship of free people grows up, as in the New Testament, beyond all kinds of theological disagreement.

It is in Galatians 5:1 that Paul writes, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then and do not let yourselves to be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. If we are not experiencing what Paul calls in Romans 8:21, “the glorious freedom of the children of God,” then we must acknowledged that his World has not taken sovereign possession of us, that we are not fully under the way of the Spirit. (end of excerpt)


Abraham was a pioneer and those who walk by faith as He did, following the Spirit of God, are also pioneers for he is the father of our faith. This is what it means to be the sons and daughters of God.


By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. (Heb 11:8-10, ESV2011)

An Exchanged Life

by Michael

Have you ever thought, “What a raw deal. We are all being punished for our sins in this less than perfect world because Adam and Eve blew it? Paul wrote about this to the saints in Rome:

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned… For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for many… For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. (Rom 5:12-17, ESV2011)

T. Austin Sparks wrote:

“He that has My commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves Me…“.

How this may apply I do not know. I trust it does not seem hard; it is not meant to be hard. It is intended to bring us into possession of the secret of things… spiritual enlargement is a question of obedience, progress according to obedience. But obedience is not an enforced response to a law in pain of judgment. This is the obedience of love, consecration and devotion. Obedience is the active side of faith. Faith and obedience are two sides of one thing and cannot be divided without destroying completeness. And obedience is the proof of faith, and faith is the demand for obedience. (1)

We who have believed into Christ and were immersed into His death by baptism have also been raised into HIS newness of life in His Spirit. It was His agape love for His Father that motivated Jesus His whole life even when it meant that He would die a terrible death on the cross. For He knew that it was not only His body that was on that cross, but all the sins of fallen man down through the ages. He was the Father’s perfect sacrificial Passover Lamb for the sins of the world.

In Genesis we read of Abraham living out this act by faith with his and Sarah’s only son.

And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, ‘My father:’ and he said, ‘Here am I, my son.’ And he said, ‘Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?’ And Abraham said, ‘My son, God will provide himself a lamb…’ (Gen 22:6-8a, KJV)

The Father has always wanted many sons and daughters to love and walk with Him just as Adam did before his fall. But Adam and Eve’s fall and being cast out from the face of God in the garden was not the final end of that thought in the mind of God. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in [Grk. eis – into] him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16, ESV2011). Through the sacrifice of Jesus, He traded our eternal death for His eternal life.

It is important to know that verses in the New Testament which speak of our initial act of saving faith often miss the depth of meaning that is behind them because of poor translations. We don’t just believe in Jesus in some kind of mental ascent, but the gift of God of saving faith places us into Christ by the Holy Spirit. Even that favorite verse of evangelical Christians, John 3:16, misses that depth of what salvation is by saying we only have to believe in Him much like we might believe in a certain political figure or our football team. The gift of salvation is an intimate act that places us IN Jesus Christ and His Spirit within us teaches us all things (See 1 John 2:27). Paul wrote,

Know you not, that so many of us as were baptized into [Grk. eis] Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that just as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of [His] life. (Rom 6:3-4, KJ2000 – emphasis added)

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Gal 2:20, KJ2000 – emphasis added)

But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. (Gal 3:22, KJV – emphasis added)

Even the righteousness of God which is by the faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe… (Rom 3:22a, KJV – emphasis added)

We who have been crucified with Christ have met the end of our old, weak, adamic natures and we now have been raised in total newness of Life. This means that we no longer have to access our Christian walks by our own weak faith that so often fails us, but we now can live by the same faith by which Jesus lived in a loving relationship with His Father! For “without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (Heb 11:6, ESV2011 – emphasis added)

In Christ we are all called to live in HIS life, walk by HIS faith and do HIS works not our own least any man should boast. This is what Paul was talking about when he wrote,

I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through [Grk. en in] him who strengthens me. (Phil 4:12-13, ESV2011– emphasis added)

 

Entering into God’s Rest

...the one who enters God’s rest has himself rested from his own works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest… (Heb 4:10-11, ISV144– emphasis added)

This is so hard to believe isn’t it? God rested on the seventh day of creation. In John chapter one we read that the Word, Jesus Christ, made all things in the beginning and without Him was nothing made that was made. He did it all by merely speaking everything into existence. And the Word of God still speaks! Jesus told the disciples,

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. (John 14:15-17, ESV2011– emphasis added)

For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait [in God’s rest] for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. (Gal 5:5-6, ESV2011– emphasis added)

Yes, faith which abides in Christ will find its outworking through God’s love in us. It is here that we can truly rest and cease from our own religious efforts. Peter often tried to do his own “good” works because they seemed like the right thing to do at the time (calling fire down from heaven on a Samaritan village, cutting off the ear of the high priest’s servant, etc.) As a result he often received a rebuke from Jesus. There are many Marthas in Christendom, but few Marys who have “chosen the better part” resting at Jesus’ feet.

Yes, saving faith works through God’s love within us from a position of emotional rest. Without His faith working in us we are only left with dead works at best.

Whoever has my commandments and keeps them [whoever hears my commands and does them], he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” (John 14:21, ESV2011)

And at the very end He prayed for us saying,

I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. (John 17:20-23, ESV2011)

Being one with the Father and the Son as Christ’s body is abiding in His rest.

(1) https://austin-sparks.net/english/books/008167.html

photograph above by:  joan-gray-NkkjoQeA63c-unsplash(1)

What Does it Mean to Be the Body of Christ?

by Michael

People join themselves to different denominations and churches for many different reasons. But is this a manifestation of what it means to be one IN Christ? Is Christ divided? No! He is one with the Father and with all those who are in His body, members of one another without man-made walls and divisions.

For the love of Christ constrains us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they who live should no longer live unto themselves, but unto him who died for them, and rose again. Therefore from now on know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet from now on know we him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2Cor 5:14-17, KJ2000)

The Word of God, Jesus Christ, by His Spirit is active in those who are His to separate the grip of our souls that seek to have preeminence over our spirits.

For the WORD of God is living, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in HIS sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of HIM with whom we have to do. (Heb 4:12-13, KJ2000)

Many contribute the above passage to the power of Bible reading, but the Bible alone can not accomplish all that this passage is speaking of. Only the living Word of God can. Many Christians in the world are still living according to their own fleshly, soulish wills, intellects and emotions (their souls). There is no division of soul and spirit in them. Their old man has not passed away. The true believer has been crucified with Christ and risen again in newness of life, the Life of Christ. The problem arises after our spirit has been made alive IN Christ and our old soulish nature does not want to play second fiddle to Him. Paul wrote about this in the book of Romans.

For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwells no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that which I would not, it is no more I that does it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. (Rom 7:18-25, KJ2000)

Paul went on to write about the solution to this dilemma.

There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death… For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. (Rom 8:1-9, KJ2000)

The problem in Christendom is not being members of the right church organization. The problem is that many Christians today are not experiencing first-hand the Life of Christ within because they have yet to be filled with His Spirit. If we don’t have the Spirit of Christ within, we are not His nor are we yet members of His body, obeying Him as our Head.

Once we are alive IN Christ we see all of mankind differently than we did before. Like the blind man said after Jesus prayed for him a second time, “Now I see all men clearly” instead of seeing them like he did at first–as “trees walking.” We are given spiritual sight when we are made alive by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It is in this state that we cease to know men and women after the flesh, but see them as the Spirit of God sees them.

But after faith is come… you are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Gal 3:25-28, KJ2000 – emphasis added)

What is faith? When I was a young Catholic I was told that because I was baptized by a priest I was now a member of “the Faith.” Faith is not a man-made institution, nor is it a mere mindset that we conjure up by “positive thinking.” Faith is a divine gift that comes into us from the Father that enables us to draw near to Him in a loving relationship and see things the way He does. It is here that He floods us with His love. In Him we see everyone and everything as Jesus does.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Heb 11:1, KJ2000)

Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he has consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having a high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. (Heb 10:19-22, KJ2000)

For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Eph 2:8-9, KJ2000)

Faith is a miracle. With hearts filled with His faith, we can boldly enter into His presence as His children. Here we can pray according to His will and know that He hears us and will answer.

In Jesus’ final prayer on earth we read:

Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also who shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that you have sent me. (John 17:20-21, KJ2000)

It is here in divine oneness with the Father and the Son that we have our testimony before the world as Christ’s living body, directed by Him as our Head. Of the newly born-from-above church of the first century the Spirit in them made all the difference and their witness had power, “…These that have turned the world upside down are come here also.”(Acts 17:6, KJ2000)

The True Church of Christ Is a Living Organism

But [we] speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, who is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body being fitly joined together and knit together by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, makes increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. (Eph 4:15-16, KJ2000)

It is by being joined together in His Spirit as a living organism that we find the supply of Christ, just as any member of our mortal bodies gets its supply. If you cut off a member of your own body it dies and can no longer function neither does the rest of your body function as it once did. We need every member of His body to function in the fullness of Christ (see 1 Corinthians 12:12-19). The effective working of the measure of every part makes for the growth of His body. Satan seeks to divide us and destroy Christ’s body and negate its witness to a dying world. Jesus said, “The thief comes not, but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10, KJ2000)

Bind Us Together, Lord
Bind Us Together
With Cords That Cannot Be Broken
Bind Us Together, Lord
Bind Us Together
Bind Us Together In Love

There Is Only One God,
There Is Only One King
There Is Only One Body,
That Is Why We Sing.

Bind Us Together, Lord
Bind Us Together
With Cords That Cannot Be Broken
Bind Us Together, Lord
Bind Us Together
Bind Us Together In Love

Made For The Glory Of God,
Purchased By His Precious Son;
Born With The Right To Be Clean,
For Jesus The Victory Has Won.

Bind Us Together, Lord
Bind Us Together
With Cords That Cannot Be Broken
Bind Us Together, Lord
Bind Us Together
Bind Us Together In Love

You Are The Family Of God,
You Are The Promise Divine;
You Are God’s Chosen Desire,
You Are The Glorious New Wine.

Bind Us Together, Lord
Bind Us Together
With Cords That Cannot Be Broken
Bind Us Together, Lord
Bind Us Together
Bind Us Together In Love

Hymn written by Bob Gillman

Michael, Where Are You?

by Michael

***Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash***

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. (Heb 11:13-16, ESV2011)

This passage above speaks of where I have emotionally been for the past few months, “desiring a better country, that is, a heavenly one.” Frankly, I have not had any inspiration to write. I have asked myself many times, “Why did we moved to east Texas from northern Idaho?” Logically, we moved here to be near two of our kids, six grand kids and five great grands and visiting with them has been a blessing. But I have to ask myself, “What is it that God has for me to do while here and where is His family IN Christ?”

Since we moved here we bought a very nice house that is walking distance to a very large lake with lots of fish to be caught. But in this area the humidity off the Gulf of Mexico is very high and the summer months are hot and muggy. This is hard on those of us who have lived just two hours south of Canada most of our lives. The winter months were tolerable, but these summer months for the most part keep us cooped up in air conditioned spaces.

The main thing that bothers me is that it has been hard to find any real fellowship in the Spirit even though we are surrounded by hundreds of churches and thousands of church Christians. It reminds me of lines from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Day after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean…

We have even tried going to a couple of Sunday churches and it has all been so two dimensional. They are like “painted ships upon a painted ocean” stuck in the doldrums where there is no Spirit breath or motion. And they call this part of America the Bible Belt? Jesus did not die on the cross so everyone can have a Bible. He died to blot out our sins that separated us from God so that we too could rise again in newness of life and enjoy our fellowship with the Father and the Son IN THIS LIFE! (See John chapter 17). The poem continues with a familiar verse,

Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.

What a contrast! Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well,

“If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” (John 4:10, ESV2011)

The ancient mariner had killed an albatross on their voyage which was a sign of bad luck and the crew reacted against him.

Ah! well a-day! what evil looks
Had I from old and young!
Instead of the cross, the Albatross
About my neck was hung…

Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus. (Acts 5:41-42, ESV2011)

I believe that He is a husband to the widows and that He places the orphans in families just as it is written. There is hope.

After a long voyage and perils at sea the Mariner’s ship finds its way back to his home harbor…

We drifted o’er the harbour-bar,
And I with sobs did pray—
O let me be awake, my God!
Or let me sleep always.

And now this spell was snapt: once more
I viewed the ocean green,
And looked far forth, yet little saw
Of what had else been seen—

Like one, that on a lonesome road
Doth walk in fear and dread,
And having once turned round walks on,
And turns no more his head;
Because he knows, a frightful fiend
Doth close behind him tread.

But soon there breathed a wind on me,
Nor sound nor motion made:
Its path was not upon the sea,
In ripple or in shade.

It raised my hair, it fanned my cheek
Like a meadow-gale of spring—
It mingled strangely with my fears,
Yet it felt like a welcoming.

Swiftly, swiftly flew the ship,
Yet she sailed softly too:
Sweetly, sweetly blew the breeze—
On me alone it blew.

Oh! dream of joy! is this indeed
The light-house top I see?
Is this the hill? is this the kirk [Scottish for church]?
Is this mine own countree?

We drifted o’er the harbour-bar,
And I with sobs did pray—
O let me be awake, my God!
Or let me sleep alway.

The harbour-bay was clear as glass,
So smoothly it was strewn!
And on the bay the moonlight lay,
And the shadow of the Moon.

The rock shone bright, the kirk no less,
That stands above the rock:
The moonlight steeped in silentness
The steady weathercock.

And the bay was white with silent light,
Till rising from the same,
Full many shapes, that shadows were,
In crimson colours came.

A little distance from the prow
Those crimson shadows were:
I turned my eyes upon the deck—
Oh, Christ! what saw I there!

Each corpse lay flat, lifeless and flat,
And, by the holy rood!
A man all light, a seraph-man,
On every corpse there stood.

This seraph-band, each waved his hand:
It was a heavenly sight!
They stood as signals to the land,
Each one a lovely light;

This seraph-band, each waved his hand,
No voice did they impart—
No voice; but oh! the silence sank
Like music on my heart. <end>

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1Thess 4:16-18, ESV2011)

There is hope, for those in Christ there is an “Easter rising.” Even this poem speaks of the resurrection of his ship mates that died at sea.

I know that there are others of you who can relate to my struggles. God has allowed me to find fellowship with other saints by phone, email and a rare visit from afar, but it is a manifestation of the living body of Christ here locally that I miss. Paul wrote to the Colossians,

May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Col 1:11-14, ESV2011)

It fits! Bless you all in the fellowship of the Father and the Son,

Michael

Power to Become the Children of God

by Michael

He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the children of God, even to them that believe on his name: Who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:10-13, KJ2000)

What a magnificent passage this is! “The world knew Him not. He came to His own and His own received Him not.” He was the very One who created the heavens and the earth, but its inhabitants didn’t know Christ when He came and dwelt among them. Sure, they knew He was from Nazareth and everyone knew that no good thing could come out of that backwater town. But very few who lived in Israel at that time really knew Him. Yet there were those who were given the power to become the children of God. How many who claim His name today really know Him in a love relationship?

Once again we see this Greek word ginosko translated knew and it means not only a mental knowledge of who Jesus was and is, but it means that there is an intimate relationship with the One who is known. “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the children of God.” There is a receiving and taking Him into us and not just a mental knowledge of who He is. Formal education of the Bible or theology does all of us a great disservice until we can cut through our mental gymnastics into a heart to heart and Spirit to spirit relationship with Him. The Jewish establishment knew a lot about Jesus and they thought that they knew just how and when the Messiah would come but they did not receive Him. It was the harlots, publicans and tax collectors that received Him into their homes and to them it was given the power to become the children of God. These were the most despised people by the “righteous” ones of Israel, yet it was to these that the power to become the children of God was given.

This week while we were shopping for a car for my wife Dorothy, I met a man by the last name of Singh. It was one of those divine appointments that happen ever so often when you least expect it as we abide in the Spirit of Christ. As I was listening to this man, the Lord spoke to me and said, “He is one of mine.” I asked Singh if he was from India and he affirmed that he came to Canada from India as a young boy and later his family moved to the USA. This man was in charge of making sure that the payment and all the paper work for the cars sold on this lot were done properly. We were in the process of trying to electronically transferring the funds and it was not going easy when the Lord told me to tell Him what He was showing me about this man. Finally I said to him, “God is showing me that you are one of His.” He blinked a couple of times and then said, “Don’t worry about the electronic transferring of the funds, I can see that you are honest people and can be trusted. We will accept your check.” Imagine that a personal check from total strangers from an out of state bank for thousands of dollars!

Jesus spoke of the final judgment.

Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ (Matt 25:37-40, ESV2011 – emphasis added)

Mr. Singh received us as God’s children. I had to give him a hug. It was a wonderful moment of the love of God flowing between us even though we were strangers a half hour earlier. After the deal was done, he invited us to stop by and see him again.

This morning I was reading in my daily devotional “Open Windows” this quote from T. Austin-Sparks spoke to me:

All of us reflect the glory of the Lord with unveiled faces, we are becoming more like Him with ever-increasing glory by the Lord’s Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18 ISV)

I believe that if we are living in the radiance of Divine Life, there will be something of it betrayed by our faces. At any rate, the world will know something if we are really living in touch with the Lord, and there will be a language which only the spiritual can enjoy and understand. There will be those spiritual counterparts of the seed of Abraham, a people different from all the rest…

You cannot fit them in with other things, and it is not because they are awkward and difficult and deliberately irritate people, but there is that which by reason of their spiritual constitution marks them off; and if they did but know it, this is the secret of their influence in the world.

The progress and increase of spiritual Life means this, that the gap widens all the time between the children of God and those in the world who are not such. That is not to be taken literally in this sense, that we begin a mistaken system of hiving off, shutting ourselves up, getting out of touch. That is a wrong application of the principle. The Lord Jesus is preeminently our example in that He could move in any circle, and He did so deliberately, publicans and sinners, all classes, He moved among them, but His power over them was in His basic difference from them. Let us be careful how we are caught in this great movement of conforming to this age. To conform is to lose spiritual power.

https://www.austin-sparks.net/english/000428.html

Photo courtesy of NASA on Unsplash

What Does it Mean to Be In This World, Yet Not Of This World?

by Michael

What is the “world”? Is this word kosmos in the New Testament Greek speaking of the earth? Not most of the time; rather it is speaking of the systems on this orb that are ruled over by “the prince of this world” and Jesus said this about it:

“…for the prince of this world comes, and has nothing in me. But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go from here.” (John 14:30-31, KJ2000)

Oh yes, dear Christian, “let us rise up and go” from this world system, its emotions, its drives and its ways of thinking and acting! A brother sent me this quote recently,

“Christianity began in Palestine as an experience, it moved to Greece and became a philosophy, it moved to Italy and became an institution, it moved to Europe and became a culture, and it moved to America and became a business! We’ve left the experience [of Holy Spirit guided lives] long behind.” [1]

So true! Speaking for the opposite of this in a positive light, T. Austin- Sparks wrote:

You only need to read John to see how unattached everything is, how everything is lifted clean out of this world, and everything is bound up with the fact that Christ is in heaven, and that the Lord’s people are here, but not here; here, but not known; in the world, but not of it; a mystery people in this world so far as the world is concerned… unrecognized, unknown. And yet by that very means and for that very reason, the most potent force that this universe knows: the spiritual, hidden, secret people of God in this earth. To take hold of Christianity and mold it, and shape it, and systematize it, and crystallize it, and make it some mighty movement here; with its roots here, with all its associations such as man can see, appreciate and approve; to register itself upon the ordinary consciousness of this world as being something; all of that is contrary to the Word of God and is contrary to spiritual life and spiritual power. Christ is in heaven, and we are lifted out, translated, seated together with Him in the heavenlies. Our present purpose in this world is testimony only, by which others will be taken out of the nations, a people for His name. – T. Austin-Sparks [2]

It seems that every attack of the enemy is an effort to bring our focus and thoughts away from God and HIS kingdom and down to this world and the system that rules over it. Think about our daily existence. Aren’t we consumed with the cares and pleasures of this life? How much of our thoughts are focused on Jesus who sits at the right hand of God and His Spirit who abides in us? Even if we have thoughts and works that are by Him, how long until the enemy redirects those thoughts and works down to this worldly level?  Isn’t that what Satan was trying to do when Jesus was being tempted in the wilderness?

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread. ”But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him,  “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. (Matt 4:1-11, ESV2011)

Jesus had just been Baptized by John the baptizer and empowered with the Holy Spirit, symbolized by the dove at His baptism that had just taken place, and the Spirit lead Him into the wilderness. The same thing happened to Paul after His encounter with the Living Christ on the road to Damascus. He spent the following three years in the Damascus wilderness. In our new found zeal and excitement after becoming Spirit filled, we want to run right out and do exploits “for God.” Yet the most important thing Jesus (yes even He had to learn obedience through the things He suffered) and Paul learned was that there is no good thing in our flesh, and as Jesus said, “apart from Me you can do NOTHING!”

In Christ’s temptation Satan was trying to get Him to do anything, absolutely ANYTHING apart from hearing it from His Father, but He was not moved from His place IN the Father. This temptation was constantly put before Him all through the gospel accounts, even by His disciples. Satan knows that if we are bent on doing God’s work, he must pull that work down to an earthly level. So what happens? We are first tempted to ask men for the support of “our ministry” so we can do the work and still eat and have a roof over our heads, right? Young aspiring people who want to go out and preach for God are encouraged to go around to the churches and get pledges from people to support their work as missionaries or find a pulpit to preach from where the people will support them. “And the tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” How many of us seek First the kingdom of God and HIS righteousness and [let] all these other things be added unto us?

Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Oh yes! We must go to the holy city and do our works there! The people of that city cry out, “So you are a Christian? What church are you going to? Who is your pastor? Who is your covering?” The city of Christendom is there waiting with its embrace that squeezes the life of the Spirit out of you until you are conformed into their image and not the image of Christ. There is room for lives ruled by the Spirit there.

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”

I remember a “holy man” of renown in our area whom I met with one time in my spiritual youth. After I told Him what God put on my heart he said, “You have a good message, but if you would just tone it down and soften it a bit you would find more Christian platforms from which to get your message out.” Yes, the devil took me to that high mountain, the mountain of Christendom, and tempted me to tailor what God had put in me so that I could have all their kingdoms open to me. I refused and as a result it is like Sparks wrote.

“Everything is lifted clean out of this world, and everything is bound up with the fact that Christ is in heaven, and that the Lord’s people are here, but not here; here, but not known; in the world, but not of it; a mystery people in this world so far as the world is concerned… unrecognized, unknown. And yet by that very means and for that very reason, the most potent force that this universe knows: the spiritual, hidden, secret people of God in this earth.”

This is why Jesus said even of Himself, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown.” (Luke 4:24, ESV2011)

In Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho, a town filled with churches and church Christians, I am totally unknown, especially among all the pastors and potentates of these churches or their people. Yet, as I wait on the leading of the Lord it is His “little ones” that He puts me in touch with at a restaurant here or a grocery store there in my daily life, even on the street in front of my house as when I talked to a young man working on the sewer line one day. God shows up with His divine appointments as we keep our eyes upon HIS kingdom more often that we realize. God is not about pulpits. Jesus didn’t spent all His time in synagogues or in the temple. In fact, more than once the leaders and the mob wanted to kill Him because He spoke the truth.

No, if we really do seek HIS kingdom and not the kingdoms of men or try to establish our own “ministry” kingdom, we will be “known, yet unknown” just as Paul said. In America everything is about grandeur-ism! Bigger is better. “I want it now and I want it biggy sized!” It’s all about “the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life.” And that is the mindset we come into the kingdom of God with. This is why the flesh has to be nailed to the cross of Christ. The way of the cross is all about decrease that He might increase in and through us.The carnal man seeks after a sign, something tangible to the five senses. He wants something he can see and put his hands on and possess, and so did the leaders of the Jews. They wanted Him to establish a worldly kingdom that they could be part of and rule over.

Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” (Luke 17:20-21, ESV2011)

Dear saints, the kingdom of God is not found in bricks and mortar or in Christian City. It is being built in seclusion in the midst of us, in our hearts as we seek FIRST HIS Kingdom. Peter wrote,

As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious,you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1Pet 2:4-5, ESV2011)

Dear readers, may you be found standing IN Him alone in all your lives then you will have done all to stand against the temptations of the devil.

[1] https://quotefancy.com/paul-smith-quotes

]2] https://www.austin-sparks.net/english/books/002953.html

Only That Which is Spiritual Shall Remain

by Michael

Photo by Harry Smith on Pexels

The following is a letter by T. Austin-Sparks written in the early 1950’s. If what he wrote about back then was true, how much truer it must be 70 years later as we watch society crumble, the church turn into a business instead of the relational family of God with Jesus as its only Head and evil arise all around us filling the void caused by its internal decay? The salt has lost its saltiness and is being trodden under the feet of men because it is so earth bound and without a heavenly vision or ability to stem the tide of Satan’s cohorts. What Sparks wrote below that happened to Judaism in Israel is surely coming down the pike for Christendom. It already has in many parts of the world with the onslaught of Islam and Communism. Remember, what is seen is temporary and will be shaken so that those things that are not seen and eternal will be all that remains – the true spiritual house of God IN Christ made of living stones.

BELOVED OF GOD,

With this last issue of the paper for this year (and it will not reach many of you until very near the end of the year) I feel a strong desire and urge to look back and on with you. For myself, it has been a very full year. So far as movements are concerned, the fullest year of my life. I have travelled by air alone twenty-six thousand miles, and quite a bit in other ways. This has involved many conferences, meetings, etc. so that there has been a very great deal given out. To this must be added all the ministries and labours of my colleagues and fellow-workers. This is not mentioned just as news or information, although it will show that “a great and effectual door” is opened to us. But I mention this because it will indicate that we are not spending our time up in some corner, imagining things, and ministering to hypothetical situations. We are in immediate and direct touch with the spiritual and actual situation as represented by a very large area. We have no hesitation, though much sorrow, in saying that the situation spiritually is very, very sad and deplorable. It is our well-considered and deeply-rooted conviction that some great and drastic judgment from heaven of Christendom is absolutely imperative. We are equally convinced that it has commenced and is moving obdurately and inflexibly across the world. Just as the Assyrians were the instrument under the sovereignty of God to sift Israel in the last dispensation, so it is most likely that the power moving over the earth today – a combination of Satanic forces with human instruments – is going to test the whole of Christendom as to its real spiritual measure. This may very well be the counterpart of what took place is the year 70 A.D. when Judaism was shaken to its foundations and fell. The Scriptures quite definitely foretell a tribulation coming upon “the whole world to try them that are upon the earth”. This is something much more than Jewry.

The words quoted from the prophet seem yet to be capable of a fuller-ranged fulfilment than even the above-mentioned ‘shaking’. “Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also the heavens”. (Hebrews 12:26,27).

There is no doubt that the Letter to the Hebrews was a supreme effort to get Christian believers detached from an earthly form of Christianity, and attached to Christ in heaven. That effort had as one of its strong reasons the fact that a great shaking was foretold, foreseen, and imminent. That shaking was to be in two parts, an earlier and a latter; an entirely earthly, and later an earthly and heavenly combined. The effect of the shaking, and, indeed, the purpose of it, would be to test everything as to abiding values. The former and earthly shaking was Jewish, but it had all the elements in principle and type of the latter.

In the destruction of Jerusalem – toward which the Letter pointed – the whole earth was shaken so far as Jewry was concerned. The Temple, as the focal point of that whole world, crashed even with the ground. The priesthood, as gathered up in the high-priestly order, passed away. The temple service ended, and the nation ceased to be an integrated and unified people.

These were things capable of being removed. And yet how long they had stood! What forces they had withstood! What confidence there was that they could never cease to be! How assured they were that God was so bound up with it all that it could never be destroyed and cease to be! How they fought and clung to it to the last terrible extremity! But it was of no avail. God was no longer wanting the framework and earthly system, which had taken so much room, and energy, and expenditure, before the really spiritual was reached. The percentage of spiritual value was so small after all, and spiritual interests lay so far along the labyrinthine ways of religious machinery and tradition, that it was not worth while. The means to the end was not immediate, that is, there was far too big a distance between the means and the end. There was no immediate touch with the real Divine requirement, and there was far too much that was intermediate. And so it had to go, and, rather than preserve it, God Himself shook it.

What remained after the shaking was just that, and that only, which was Christ in a spiritual and heavenly way: Christ in heaven, and here by His Spirit, the gathering point, or occasion of assembling; Christ in heaven the High Priest and Sacrifice; the order of God’s house here a purely spiritual and heavenly one – not formal, arranged, imposed, imitated, or material. Order grows out of life, and if that life is Divine, and unchecked, Divine order will be spontaneous.

The amazing thing is how blind and unbelieving Christian people are, and therefore how unwilling to seek to know the way of the ‘unshakable’. In a very small part of our lifetime the phrase ‘world evangelization’ (from one part to another) has been rendered unusable, and all that mighty machine is having to be revised. Countries which were until quite recently the greatest spheres of ‘missionary’ activity are now closed as such. There is a feverish race to try to move ahead of the flood in other countries which are already encircled and undermined. In those overrun countries nothing but a true and living knowledge of the Lord is stemming the tide. The framework and organized structure of Christianity is gone. Deeply, stealthily, and irresistibly this sinister work is paving the way for swift and paralysing movements in all the rest of the world, as much in the West as in the East. The result will be the same everywhere, little as it may seem possible because of long traditions and strong establishments. It seems a terrible thing, even to think, but as we have touched so very much of what is called ‘Christianity’ we are bound to believe that, because vast numbers who call themselves Christian are in an utterly false position, and the system itself has become so largely an earthly, traditional, formal, and unspiritual thing, this world-wide shaking is quite necessary and will be eventually justified. If we were writing a treatise, we could show that what is called ‘Christianity’ is really the greatest enemy of Christ.

It will be seen that it is not a matter of substituting another and better system for an old and poor or bad one. Some people seem to think that it is all or largely a matter of the order, technique, and form, and if we returned to the ‘New Testament’ form or order of churches all would be well. The fact is that, while certain things characterized the New Testament churches, the New Testament does not give us a complete pattern according to which churches are to be set up or formed! There is no blue-print for churches in the New Testament, and to try to form New Testament churches is only to create another system which may be as legal, sectarian and dead as others. Churches, like the Church, are organisms which spring out of life, which life itself springs out of the Cross of Christ wrought into the very being of believers. Unless believers are crucified people, there can be no true expression of the Church.

This brings us to our particular point. What is the pressing imperative in view of this oncoming flood of testing, which has already carried away very many of those who were called Christian, and even evangelical Christians?

Surely there is only one answer:- On the one hand, a ministry which has as its substance and object the “rooting and grounding”, the establishing, the building up, of believers, the real increase of “the measure of Christ”. This must get behind evangelism, so that the work is deep, not superficial; enduring, not transient; intrinsic, not general! On the other hand, believers must really take stock of their Christianity. Is it just a tradition, an assumption, an external system, the thing which is common acceptance – more or less? Or is it really “by revelation of Jesus Christ” in the heart? A real walk with God, and a growing knowledge of Christ, a life in the Spirit? God has said it: the things which can be shaken will be. What have we got that, being unshakable, will remain? [1]

 

Then this message from the Lord came to Solomon:“Concerning this Temple that you’re building, if you live your life according to my statutes, carry out my ordinances, and keep all of my commands, and live according to them, then I will do what I promised to your father David. I will reside among the Israelis and will never abandon my people Israel.” (1Kgs 6:11-13, ISV – emphasis added)

Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; my covenant which they broke, although I was a husband unto them, says the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, says the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, says the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. (Jer 31:31-34, KJ2000 – emphasis added)

[1] https://www.austin-sparks.net/english/books/002091.html

Unto Us a Son Is Given… the Son of God

by Michael

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” (Isa 9:6-7, KJ2000)

These wonderful words came forth by the Spirit of God long after David and Solomon died and their throne and kingdom came to an end. It is obvious to those who walk by faith that it is Jesus Christ and His kingdom that Isaiah was speaking of because HE is the Prince of Peace, the Mighty God, and the Everlasting Father. There has been no end to the increase of His government and peace since the foundations of the world.

Many of the Jews and their leaders knew this passage and saw by the signs and miracles Jesus did that He was not just a prophet or just a good teacher, but if He was really the promised Messiah, when was He going to flex His real power on this earth and make the kingdoms of men into the kingdoms of God? And of course to them it meant that He would set the Jewish leaders as the heads of His world-wide government! But God and Jesus was and is Spirit and their kingdom is a spiritual kingdom. Jesus said that God’s kingdom “is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” (Luke 17:20-21, KJ2000). Yes, His kingdom is wherever Jesus is King, in our hearts, and not in this physical world or among its leaders with all their hidden agendas.

Samuel prophesied this to King David:

And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son… (2Sam 7:12-14, KJV)

Samuel was speaking of the Son of God, not Solomon. The kingdom of Israel was unified under David’s son, Solomon, but was divided upon his death between one of his sons and one of his generals. Israel has been divided and conquered ever since. Even today’s Israel is not that kingdom that was once ruled over by Solomon, which was ten times larger but is now is overrun by Gentile nations. So what could this prophesy of a kingdom that will last forever be speaking of other than the kingdom of God? Only Jesus Christ will sit upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.” The increase of Israel’s government came to an abrupt end in 68AD when the Roman soldiers sacked Jerusalem and the temple, not leaving one of its stones upon another, and killed and scattered the people of Israel all over the Roman Empire. Even now those who rule in modern Israel are divided against one another. The only thing that unifies that country is the fact that they are surrounded by enemies and come together in a common defense with their carnal weapons.

Where is this house that David’s seed was to build after him? Solomon’s temple? This too was only an earthly manifestation of what God has been building with living stones from the foundation of the world. It is sad how many Christians are as blind today as the Jews were during Christ’s first coming as they speak of Israel as “God’s chosen people” and are blind to their own birthright as the household of faith. Part of the problem is that as Jesus said, “Not everyone who says unto me, “Lord, Lord” shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but those who do the will of my Father.” These do greatly err because they look to the place occupied by the Dome of the Rock as if it were God’s “Mount Zion on the sides of the north, the city of the Great King,” expecting a new temple to be built there when the New Testament says so clearly that the temple of God is one made of living stones. Peter wrote:

As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1Pet 2:4-5, ESV2011)

Jesus is the cornerstone of that house, since Isaiah prophesied:

Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’ (Isa 28:16, ESV2011)

Jesus is the Cornerstone and Foundation of that house. Men are always trying to pull down what is heavenly and spiritual into the natural where they can manipulate it and control people. Today there is an “apostles and prophets movement” that claims to be the foundation the church and I have never seen such a display of carnality in my life as what I have seen in their writings, websites and meetings! Paul wrote:

According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. (1Cor 3:10-11, ESV2011 – emphasis added)

Yes, let each one of these so-called “apostles and prophets” take care!

God spoke to Abraham and said, “And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice” (Gen 22:18, KJV). This is the promise that Paul wrote about.

Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. (Gal 3:16, KJV)

The people of God are not a people of a common blood line, religion, nationality, political leaning or set of doctrines, but are those who walk in the faith of Abraham, faith in Jesus Christ alone. Jesus told the Jews, “Abraham saw my day and he rejoiced.” Jesus spoke to Abraham even back then and he believed. “For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (Heb 11:10, ESV2011). These Jewish leaders thought they had that city and the temple system under their control in an unholy alliance with Rome, and they were not about to give that up to the Son of the Vineyard Owner. Prophesying His own death, Jesus said, “But when the tenants [or the vineyard] saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize his inheritance” (see Matt. 21:33-41).

So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” (John 11:47-48, ESV2011)

It was here that they started plotting Christ’s death. When the Jews rejected Jesus as their Messiah and King, they rejected their place in God’s kingdom and it resulted in their own demise because this passage out of Matthew goes on…

“And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.” Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” (Matt 21:39-44, ESV2011)

Yes, “the kingdom of God will be [and was] taken away from you [them] and given to a people producing its fruits.” The gospel took root among the Gentile believers and those Jews who rejected that old temple system and produced fruit for the Master who is in heaven. But when the Jews repent and “look upon Him whom they have pierced” and weep and mourn, “On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.” (Zech 13:1, ESV2011. See also Zech 12:10-14).

With God His promises have always been given to those who walk by faith, just as it’s written…

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Heb 11:6, KJ2000)

For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter [of the law]. His praise is not from man but from God. (Rom 2:28-29, ESV2011)

For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Gal 3:27-29, KJV)

And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. (Heb 3:5-6, KJV)

Dear saints, we need to quit looking to the kingdoms of this world and even church systems for our help and salvation. Political systems are not the answer. The kingdom of God does not come with things that are seen, but is in the hearts of those who walk by faith, listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit. The warning in Revelation is clear.

Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. (Rev 18:4-5, ESV2011)

Unto us and INTO us a Child has been born and a Son has been given. The government of God’s kingdom rests upon the shoulders of Jesus Christ and His kingdom is increasing day by day as His people listen to and follow His Spirit, not religious and political men who usurp His place in their lives. There is no end to the increase of His kingdom in our hearts as we obey the leading of the Spirit. Let us search our hearts and forsake all that is of this world system, dear brothers and sisters, and watch how the Holy Spirit comes alive and Christ’s kingdom increases within us for He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star. ”The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. (Rev 22:16-17, ESV2011 – emphasis added)