Category Archives: Religion vs. Abiding in Christ

“Who ARE You, Lord?”

by Michael

Paul Meets JesusAs he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.
Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”(Acts 9:3-5 [NKJV])

What was it that changed Paul from being a self-righteous, judgemental, law and death wielding Pharisee into one who lived by the law of God’s love and had compassion for the saints of God? Wasn’t it a divine and personal encounter with the living Christ? This same man that was highly educated by the best available schools of Judaism after His divine encounter, counted it all dung except for his knowledge of the LIVING Jesus Christ. It was then that he said, “If any man thinks he knows something, let him know this… he knows nothing as he really ought to know.” There is knowledge and then there is an intimate knowing of the ONE who knows all things. When we truly KNOW HIM, we can never again settle for mere scholastic knowledge… The Tree of Life vs. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is the choice we must face. Choose LIFE!

Will it Be the Churches or the Called-Out Ones of the Father?

by Michael

churchesJesus knocking

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very early on in the history of the body of Christ, the father of lies discovered that he could not eliminate the kingdom of heaven on earth by persecuting it. The more he did so, the more it flourished! So, he decided to kill it with kindness. He cleverly made an earthly counterfeit of the ekklesia of God and called it “the church” and its popularity has continued down through the last 1700 years. In its infancy the ekklesia of Christ were known as the people of The Way, not “the Church,” because they adhered to the One who said, “I AM the Way to the Father.”

According to the New Covenant, we who are Christ’s are God’s assembly of called-out ones. We are called out of the world and all its systems; governmental social and religious. As we follow our Good Shepherd we are pilgrims and exiles upon this earth for just as they hated Him, they hate and reject those who truly belong to Him and are born from above by the Father. Here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one which will come down from the throne of God, the NEW Jerusalem, which is above and is the mother of all who belong to Jesus, not that wicked city that kills the prophets and the Christ. We NOW sit in heavenly places IN Christ Jesus. We have a kingdom that does not come with an outward manifestation like the church systems of today which break up the sky line with their great monolithic buildings and institutions, but rather is hidden from the world’s view as His kingdom developes within us.

With all this in mind is it any wonder that there were no “church buildings” erected by those of The Way until after Emperor Constantine of Rome got his hands on what was left of that faith in about 311 AD and seduced them to fall in line under His rule, promising peace in the place of persecution and made it the new official religion of the Roman Empire? He rapidly converted The Way into another bureau of his government with which to conquer and control the world, the bureau of religion, to facilitate his military conquests and capture the minds as well as the bodies of the subjugated masses! Those conquered nations that would not convert were often put to the sword by this great “benefactor of the church” with the advent of a new theology, “holy wars.” Funny how he took to himself the titles of “the Thirteenth Apostle” and “Pontifix Maximus” (the greatest pontiff or bishop of Rome) totally lacking in humility. What a contrast to the lowly Jesus who came as a Servant in a back-water town in a subjugated nation where He conquered hearts with the weapon of His great love.
Soon the visible church ceased to be an organism with Christ as its Head and only Foundation and became an organization with paid priests (often “converted” pagan priests) and bishops over it with the Emperor as their head as the first pope. The “birds of the air,” demons, began to nest in its upper most branches and tares were sown among the wheat (see Matthew ch. 13) as new adherents to the king’s new religion were either bribed or coerced to joining the his new church. Cut off from its true Head, the body soon died and it was not long until the City on a Hill filled with light became the cause of the Dark Ages as its light went out bringing to mind Jesus’ warning, “If the light within you is [becomes] darkness how great is that darkness.” When salt looses is saltiness it is good for nothing but to be trodden under the feet of men. That living organism born from above that “turned the world upside down” soon became part of the world system.

Since then Church Reformers have come and gone and were often persecuted and killed by the “mother church” and they made some coarse corrections redeeming part of what was lost due to doctrinal changes, but the changes were not enough. Sad to say, these reformers were often just as bloody and hateful as was the mother church they protested against, using force when argument did not prevail. The nut (Protestantism) didn’t fall far from the tree (the Catholic church). The daughters of Babylon never fully returned to having Christ as their Head, but rather chose men to lead them and be the heads and lieutenants of their denominations. They never fully comprehended Jesus’ warning to the disciples when He said, “The kings of the Gentiles rule over them and they are counted as benefactors, but with you it cannot be. He who is great among you shall be your servant and the greatest one among you shall be your slave.” They also never fully embraced the Holy Spirit as the guide and Teacher of each individual believer, but rather chose pastors and bishops to be their teachers and guides. They never left off constructing and supporting Christian temples and “churches” or appreciated what it means to be the Living Stones in God’s holy temple “not made with hands,” but kept on building “church buildings” just like their mother. They still embraced sacerdotalism, seminaries to generate its leaders and Old Testament laws with which they furthered their power structure, lording over the people to keep them in bondage and fear. They still kept the rigid division between clergy and laity — those with the right to rule-over and the subjugated masses — adhering to the doctrine of the Nicholaitans (Greek – to conquer and rule over the people) which God hates. The more that things “changed” in the Reformation, the more they remained the same.

The hour is now come where Jesus has had enough. He is no longer content to stand outside the Laodicean church system, knocking on its doors, asking them to join Him while those inside this closed door system are oblivious to the fact that He has left “the building” and that they are “poor, miserable, blind and naked” — the only state a body can be when each member no longer looks to the Head for its supply! Jesus is now seen standing in the heavens, as the next passage in Revelations reveals, calling to us through an open door! Didn’t He say, “I am the door to the sheepfold. By me they come in and go out and find pasture”? He is calling and saying, “Come up here and I will show you things…” It is as we seek Him as our ALL in all that He administers eye salve that we MIGHT see and clothes us in His white raiment, the garment of His bride who is being made ready. It is here that we are made rich with gold (His righteousness worked within) made in our fiery trials as we sit with Him in heavenly places with the Father, where we have only ONE Mediator who ever stands before the Father to make intersession for us, not an earthly priesthood of paid professionals.

Saints, what will we say to Him if “we neglect so a great salvation” and continue to settle for the kingdoms of men which call their organizations “the church” and ignore His upward call? God help us!

Therefore, having left the discourse of the beginning of Christ, let us go on to full growth… And this we will do, if God permits. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the world to come, and who have fallen away; it is impossible, I say, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify the Son of God afresh to themselves and put Him to an open shame. (Heb 6:1-6 MKJV)

And he called out with a mighty voice, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! It has become a dwelling place of demons, a haunt of every foul spirit, a haunt of every foul and hateful bird; for all nations have drunk the wine of her impure passion, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich with the wealth of her wantonness.” 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 18:2-5 RSVA)

 

 

 

A Better Covenant – A Better Hope – A New Priesthood – A New Law

by Michael

bible-altarThe Book of Hebrews is one of the most important books in the New Testament. In it we read what the nature of the NEW Covenant really is…

 Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levit’ical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchiz’edek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron? For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well… This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchiz’edek, who has become a priest, not according to a legal requirement concerning bodily descent [ descendants of Aaron] but by the power of an indestructible life. For it is witnessed of him, “Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchiz’edek.” On the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness (for the law made nothing perfect); on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God. And it was not without an oath. Those who formerly became priests took their office without an oath, but this one was addressed with an oath, “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘Thou art a priest for ever.'” This makes Jesus the surety of a better covenant. (Heb 7:11-22 RSVA – emphasis added)

But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry which is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second. For he finds fault with them when he says: “The days will come, says the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; for they did not continue in my covenant, and so I paid no heed to them, says the Lord. This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach every one his fellow or every one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” In speaking of a new covenant he treats the first as obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. (Heb 8:6-13 RSVA – emphasis added)

How many times in our Bible reading have we breezed by these verses in Hebrews and never absorbed what the writer is really saying under the inspiration of God? It is evident that the leaders of Christendom down through the history of Christianity since it became a “religion” or “religions” have failed to understand their meaning or just plain ignored these passages. Just how much of what we do in churches today that is linked to the Old Covenant is evidence of this. Many of us just observed one of the traditional feasts, Easter (named after the fertility goddess, Ishtar). It was originally observed on the Jewish Passover when Christ died on the cross, but later was changed to the pagan feast observed in the spring according to the movement of heavenly bodies (In 725, Bede succinctly wrote, “The Sunday following the full Moon which falls on or after the equinox will give the lawful Easter.” – This formula is still pretty much what the church system goes by today, not the Jewish Passover). Then we have the feast of the winter solstice we call “Christmas” and all its associated pagan traditions when Jesus true birth date according to most scholars was in the spring of the year. 

The point I am making is that in the church today we have certain feasts that must be observed if you are to be called a “Christian” just as they had in the Old Covenant. “Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God at the place which he will choose: at the feast of unleavened bread [Passover], at the feast of weeks [Pentecost], and at the feast of booths [Tabernacles]…” (Deu 16:16 RSVA).

What other traditions do we keep from the Old Law? We still have a paid professional priesthood we call “pastors.” But what does the New Covenant say about this? Aren’t all who are Christ’s His priests?

 … To him [Jesus] who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. (Rev 1:5-6 RSVA)

 Come to him, to that living stone, rejected by men but in God’s sight chosen and precious; and like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1Pe 2:4-5 RSVA)

 But in the church systems today we still have our special temples and synagogues [called churches and cathedrals] that we must assemble at on a regular basis so we can “worship” there. Did I hear someone say, “But isn’t that where we are to worship? Surely you don’t believe that a person can worship out on a fishing stream or while hiking in the mountains on a Sunday, do you?” Well, Jesus was quite clear on this when HE was talking about the New Covenant saying,

 Jesus said to her [the Samaritan woman], “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father… But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (Joh 4:21-24 RSVA)

True worship of the Father is a state of being, not being in a certain place to be-in.

So we Christians today, like the Jews, have our special buildings where we carry on our special feasts at the hands of a special paid professional priesthood. What else? Oh yes, where there are special buildings and a special priesthood there must be support moneys coming in so we observe the law of the tithe (or at least a warped version of it). All this and much more is required in this earth-bound false system just like the Old Covenant observances and traditions were in that system that appealed to the five earthly senses with it trumpets, incense, gold and silver plating, tapestries, priestly garments, etc. But the nature of the New Covenant is one that is “a heavenly.” Even those of the first covenant who walked with God by faith were not bound in their worship of Him by the things of this world. In Hebrews eleven, the great “faith chapter” we read,

 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from which they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly: therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he has prepared for them a city. (Heb 11:14-16 KJ2000)

Do we who call ourselves “Christians” really worship our Father in Spirit and in Truth? Does the Holy Spirit in our spirits lead us in our worship which is not bound by an earthly local? Is the Living Truth, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, leading us into all truth (see John 16: 13-15) or do we still rely on human teachers to teach us all things? “And they shall not teach every one his fellow or every one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest.” Do we even know what covenant we are of?

So what about keeping the law? Surely the New Covenant incorporates all the ten commandments of the old law? Well, yes and no. In the quotes above found in Hebrews chapter seven and eight the writer is telling us that with the NEW priesthood it is necessary to have a new law and that it would be inscribed upon our new hearts. Jesus made it clear what that “new law” is saying, “A new commandment I give unto you, That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another” (Joh 13:34-35 KJ2000). Paul went on to write,

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, self-control: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. (Gal 5:22-25 KJ2000 – emphasis added)

If we walk in the Spirit of Christ we will be walking in His love toward our fellow man and the love of God fulfils the whole law and commandments. In fact there is one true sign given by Jesus that we are a true disciple of Christ and that is that we are walking with one another in His love. Without His love in our hearts we are only a bunch of religious hypocrites putting on an outward show in a religion that is all about the outward things of this world.

Freedom! To walk in unity with Jesus by His Spirit is true freedom, freedom from sin and freedom from law keeping by the flesh. It is also freedom from any “new covenant” church laws made by men to keep us serving in their church systems. We are like the wind that can not be bottled up and sold by men. As Jesus said to that bound up old church man 2000 years ago, “The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound thereof, but can not tell from where it came, and where it goes: so is everyone that is born of the Spirit.” (Joh 3:8 KJ2000). Jesus’ own words all pointed to our freedom that He died for that we might be free IN Him as we abide IN Him. The law is only a school master to keep us in check as long as we are not truly born anew by the Father. Those who are under the old fleshly natures of Adam are still subject to the law to keep them in check (see Galatians 3:24-25), but those who have receive their new natures in Christ are walking by His law of love and are the only ones on this earth that are truly free, because they are not of this world, but are of His heavenly kingdom under the rule of His Spirit, bound to Him and one another by love. Be free, my brothers and sister and walk in the light as He is in the light. Amen.

The Letter of the Law or the Spirit?

by Michael

pharisee

To answer this question correctly is to understand the nature of the New Covenant under Christ as its Head.

Apostle Paul was once a Pharisee who taught the law. He knew everything there was to know about God and he persecuted the church (and Jesus), but after he had an encounter with the living Christ he wrote,

But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love him. (1Co 2:7-9 KJ2000)

The wisdom of the New Covenant is hidden from those who are of the world  and its way of thinking. But it is given to those who love God. Love is the key. Not love of religion, one’s denomination or even a love for the Bible, but His wisdom is given to those who truly love God! These other things can be good, but the worst enemy of the best is not evil, but what is merely “good” for they make us settle for a near miss. Many want to be seen as those who love God, but few are willing to pay the price for what it means to be a follower of His only Begotten Son whom God sent. We would much rather follow the world’s princes and leaders… kings, presidents, heads of denominations, popes, generals, etc., the very ones who lead us away from Christ and to themselves (see Acts 20: 29-31).

In the world there is a saying, “Rex Lex,” The law is king. The letter of the law must be observed! “To hell with mercy. Enforce the law!” they say.  The Jews lived by this mindset. As I read the Bible, it seems that they spent their whole day searching for someone that broke their law so they could kill them. There is in Christendom a form of legalism that clings to the letter of the law, the Bible as well. The people of this mindset are loyal to God and hate everyone that is not as “loyal” as they are. Just as it was with the scribes and Pharisees of 2000 years ago, it is all about power and control to this day among the self-righteous religionists. But is this what Jesus, the Son of God, came to portray to all men regarding His Father? I think not.

Let’s look at a comparison of the letter of the law to the Spirit of Christ.

The letter of the Old Covenant says, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” But Jesus came saying,

“But I say unto you, That you resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue you at the law, and take away your coat, let him have your cloak also. And whosoever shall compel you to go a mile, go with him two. Give to him that asks you, and from him that would borrow of you turn not away.” (Mat 5:39-42 KJ2000)

The letter of the Jews’ law says, “You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.” But Jesus said,

“But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them who despitefully use you, and persecute you; That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven: for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love them who love you, what reward have you? do not even the tax collectors the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you more than others? do not even the tax collectors so? Be you therefore perfect, even as your Father who is in heaven is perfect.” (Mat 5:44-48 KJV2000)

The letter said that a woman caught in adultery should be stoned. But Jesus when confronted by the Jews over an adulterous woman said,

“He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they who heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing before him. When Jesus had lifted himself up, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, “Woman, where are those your accusers? has no man condemned you?” She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, “Neither do I condemn you: go, and sin no more.” (Joh 8:7-11 KJV2000)

The law kills, but Jesus gave life and came that we might have life more abundantly (see 2 Cor. 3:6).

The letter of the law said that Jews were not to talk to Samaritans, especially their women! But Jesus spoke words to an adulterous Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well that no legalistic Jew ever heard – words of healing and words of life…

“If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that said to you, Give me to drink; you would have asked of him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said unto him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from where then have you that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his sons, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, “Whosoever drinks of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” The woman said unto him, “Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come here to draw.” …The woman said unto him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain; and you say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” Jesus said unto her, “Woman, believe me, the hour comes, when you shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship you know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (Joh 4:10-24 KJV2000)

He spoke to her of her need of the Spirit to dwell within who would become an artesian force of life flowing out of her. There was not a single word of condemnation, though He could see her whole life clearly.  In this conversation Jesus also went up against the law of the Jews by saying that their temple was no longer needed to worship God, but that REAL worshipers of God do so in the Spirit out of lives lived in the Truth. Tell that one to your pastor or priest and see how far it will get you!

The letter of the law said that hands had to be washed before one could eat, yet the disciples who were with Jesus ate with unwashed hands. The self-righteous Jews were all about looking good on the outside and being seen of men as they did their religious duties, but Jesus taught that God looks not on the outward, but rather on the heart from where comes the real issues and motivations of our lives (read Matt. ch. 23). What an ugly sight that must be!

The Jews’ law said that it was okay to circumcise a man on the Sabbath, but they sought to kill Jesus because he healed a lame man on the Sabbath and made him whole. Does anyone see the irony in this? It is okay under the law to maim but not to heal? It is okay to loose one’s donkey or ox on the Sabbath and take them to water, but it is a sin to loose a woman of the demon that possessed her? To these hypocrites Jesus said, “But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. But if you had known what this means, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day” (Mat 12:6-8 KJ2000 – emphasis added).

If Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath, then it was impossible for Him to break the Sabbath. And the Lord of the Sabbath said, “Man was not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was made for man.” It was meant to be day of rest, not a day of condemnation and judgment.

We Need a New Mind!

Why is everything so twisted up in the religious minds of men? Jesus came to set all men free and religion comes to bind them up again! It is simple. The carnal mind is enmity against God and the religious mind is carnal. Paul wrote,

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. (Rom 8:6-8 KJ2000)

Jesus made it clear that we have to be born of the Spirit or we will never understand God (see John ch. 3), in fact we will end up being His enemies! Paul went on to say,

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. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. (Rom 8:9-10 KJ2000)

Everybody wants to go to heaven, but few want to die that they might truly live. The Spirit of Christ must be in us if we are true Christians. That which is born of the flesh only is only flesh! But that which is born from above of the Spirit of God is spirit. Sorry all you who pursue Bible teaching with the power of your intellects only, you are out of luck. Is it any wonder that the first Christian seminary was not built until well into the fourth century when the church had already fallen under Roman control?

The mind when used properly is a good thing, but it has to be submitted to God and tuned to the Holy Spirit and not just used for intellectual pursuits or the Truth will never be fully apprehended by it. But we have an alternative to our carnal minds with which to explore and respond to God. Paul wrote,

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phi 2:5 KJ2000).

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ” (1Co 2:12-16 KJ2000).

Peter wrote the same saying, “Since therefore Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin; That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God” (1Pe 4:1-2 KJ2000). The real battle is to LET this mind be in us, the mind of Christ, that we might fully comprehend the kingdom of God and His Son with the help of the Spirit who is our Teacher (See 1 John 2:26-27). The letter of the Bible is not enough. Without the Spirit of God we are blind to the things of God and will use them to do damage to others just as the Jews used them to justify the murder of Christ. Because they did not know the day of their visitation from God, their house has been left to them desolate. The temple is no more, but God still has His true worshipers and they worship and live IN the Spirit and IN the Truth, even Jesus Christ.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that kill the prophets, and stone them which are sent unto you, how often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, you shall not see me again, till you shall say, Blessed is he who comes IN the name of the Lord. (Mat 23:37-39 KJ2000 – emphasis added)

“My Kingdom Is Not of This World”

by Michael

Church & State

Pilate answered [Jesus], Am I a Jew? your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you unto me: what have you done? Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from here. Pilate therefore said unto him, Are you a king then? Jesus answered, You say that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth hears my voice.
(Joh 18:35-37 KJ2000)

Pilate asked Jesus what He had done to be delivered to be delivered by the Jewish authority for execution. Jesus answered him succinctly, “My kingdom is not of this world.”

If we are of this world (kosmos – world system) we will support the governments of men on one side or the other, putting our hopes in them and not the Prince of Peace. We will stand and fight and the world will love us. Our actions will always lead to murder and war (see James 4:1-6). The “peace movement” of the sixties turned violent very quickly because they were ignorant of this fact. Satan had them in his hand in a heartbeat.

Jesus was killed by the religious and governmental systems of men because he was NOT of this world so were Stephen and the rest of the early church martyrs. It was not until Christianity became a religious system under Emperor Constantine’s control that it became murderous. “God and country” whether it is Allah and country under sheriah law or the American version “Moral Majority” is still the same murderous delusion. When religion gets punitive power it becomes bloody every time, even killing the Christ and His messengers who come to save them from themselves.

Much of Christianity today appeals to the Old Covenant to justify governmental power and even murder. They use it to justify hatred for minorities, homosexuals and other religions of the world, but Jesus brought an end to that covenant and filled up the just requirements of its law as He died on the cross as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. We are not under that covenant, but rather one that is NEW in every way with Christ, the Prince of Peace, as our only Head. If we had known what this means, “I shall have mercy, not sacrifice,” we would have not condemned the guiltless. Jesus came to tear down the wall of separation between all men, not establish a new one. His mercy triumphs over judgement and HIS kingdom will triumph over the fallen kingdoms of men.

Choices are being made in this hour as to who is our King and in which kingdom we will be found taking our stand. Guns stores are being emptied of weapons and ammunition here in America. There will be another bloody revolution as King Obama or is ilk continues to strip away our civil rights with increasing centralized governmental power. To many Christians in America this is a severe test. May we who belong to Jesus all be found standing with the Prince of Peace in the days ahead no matter the cost.

Full Body Ministry or Full Body Cast?

by Michael

body cast

In my early years as a believer, I heard a lot of teaching about “full body ministry.” The teaching was that God gives each one of us who is in Christ abilities to do something well for the benefit of rest of the body of Christ and if we would just function in that gifting all our needs would be met through Christ. Paul wrote:

Rom 12:3  For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think [of himself] more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God has dealt to every man the measure [Grk. metron] of faith.

Here we see Paul counseling us to think soberly and not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought. I have found that in the institutions of men there are very few sober thoughts. As these institutions grow so does the power that is consolidated near the top. Men become drunk on power and true sober thinking goes out the window. Sober thinking is thinking with the mind of Christ who upon finding Himself in the form of a man did not reach for the top, but rather lived in humility and took on the form of a servant and living a life and dying a death for the benefit of all.

The problem with most church institutions is that they have taken on the world’s form of leadership, top down, executive titles, unquestionable authority, etc. Most have the life of Christ organized out of them and have taken on a life that is against the Life which Christ desires to manifest in His saints where He gives each member of His body a measure of the Spirit by which we are to serve one another. The mindset of that system is that the guy at the top (pastor, apostle, evangelist, bishop, C.E.O., etc.) has every ability to do everything that needs to be done and that other people only exist to augment those abilities either through donations or subservient leadership and ministry positions. How opposite this is from how the Spirit moves among us with HIS measures of grace? These measures are given to each member to function not according to the dictates of an office holder, but rather to function according to the will of Jesus where all that is done is done in a mindset of pure servant-hood and laying down of our lives for one another.

Church leaders usually have a metron in which they are gifted by God and they are good at it and gain much attention because of this gifting. But the mindset of the systems of the world takes over and soon it has them trying to minister outside their metron and they fail every time. Not only that, but they take over in an area that God has given to another member of the body in their measure of Christ and now the body is robbed twice.  Like all diseases, this infection soon becomes exponential following the example of the head and it is not long until the whole body is dysfunctional and is spiritually dead. It becomes “The Peter Principle” on steroids, simply because each member is not answering to the Head who is Christ and functioning in the measure of grace He has for them. Oh, how we all need the mind of Christ and His cross working in us which gives us the humility we need to truly serve one another in His love.

Psalm 23 – the Path to Maturity in Christ

by Michael

PS 23 ShepherdThe LORD is my shepherd; I shall not lack. He makes me to lie down in green pastures: he leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul: he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies: you anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. (Psalms 23:1-6 KJ2000)

A few years ago it occurred to me that Psalm 23 is a time-line of our journey in Christ. When we start out on our journey as His saints in Christian City, it is all about green pastures and still waters while He restores our sin ravaged souls. Here we learn that we are to follow Him in His paths of righteousness. It is a very wonderful time and for some it is just like an emotional honeymoon where Jesus is showing us that He is the Lover of our souls.

Then there comes the working of His personal cross, that instrument of death that is tailor-made to remove from us all that is in control and is contrary to the leading of His Spirit. This is confusing because we were always told that God wants to use us and our abilities to build His kingdom now that we are saved. Yet, though we are sincerely “trying to do the God stuff,” we start experiencing trials and testings and it is a painful time as He starts to pull that tumor of self out of us, yet He is there seeing us through it all and we find encouragement from that.

But then we find that our path with Him takes us to a strange place and there is a deep ravine in front of us which seems to block the way. We find ourselves lined up with others along the edge of a deep valley, the Valley of the Shadow of Death, with Jesus having moved to the opposite side bidding us to come to Him. Try as we may, there is only one way to get there, we must descend into that pit and endure all that is waiting there for us that we might know His fullness on the other side.

As we look in the bottom of that deep valley and we see a cross with our name on it waiting for us. Like Pilgrim in Pilgrims’ Progress, we must decide if we will go on. Many at this point decide that the price is too great and they retreat back to the comfort zone of the familiar, the green pastures and still waters, but their growth in Christ is held in check from that point on. They scurry back down the path to Christian city, seeking refuge from that awful sight, but Jesus just isn’t there like He once was because we have failed to obey Him as or Lord. Many who should know better try to comfort us and tell us that this lesser existence is normal and our Christianity is supposed to be this way. So they do all they can to make our church experience pleasing and comforting to our rebellious souls.

Robert Burnell in his booklet, “Escape from Christendom,” wrote:

“Is this the City of God?” I hear the traveler ask a woman at the information booth in the central square.

“No this is Christian City, “she replies.

“But I thought this road led to the City of God!” He exclaims with great disappointment.

“That’s what we all thought when we arrived,” she answers, her tone sympathetic.

“This road continues up the mountain, doesn’t it?” He asks.

“I wouldn’t know, really,” she answers blankly.

I watched the man turn away from her and trudge on up the mountain in the gathering darkness. Reaching the top, he starts out into the blackness; it looks as though there is nothing, absolutely nothing, beyond. With a shudder he retraces his steps into Christian City an takes a room at a hotel.

http://www.awildernessvoice.com/Escape.html

Yet, some of us bravely descend into that valley, or as in this allegory we climb that dark mountain, wanting to go on and get to where Jesus is in heavenly places in the Father, “Father that they might be where I am…” Inwardly we know that there is more than what we have seen so far. The way into that pit is fast as we slide down its slopes and everything in our lives seem to be totally out of our control. Finally, we hit our bottom and begrudgingly embrace the cross He has for us to kill-off all that is of Egypt, as it was with the Children of Israel, that still clings to us and is still of the old Adam within. Often it is confusing because here we find, as it was with the Master, those who jeer at us as we hang on our cross and these detractors were the ones we once knew in Christendom who on Palm Sunday were singing our praises! This makes the pain and suffering all that more effective in spiritual terms. “And one shall say unto him, ‘What are these wounds between your hands?’ Then he shall answer, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends’” (Zec 13:6 KJ2000). In a time like this it is hard to remember His admonition,

If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me. (Joh 15:18-21 KJ2000)

The way out of this valley is long and arduous and it seems like it is more than just a mere “shadow of death,” but rather the real thing and that we will never get out of there alive. Just as all forsook Him on His trek up Calvary, so it is with us. We have the smell of death about us and the “green pastures” Christians want nothing to do with us, which adds more suffering to the cross we bear. It is a slow climb, but an ascent just the same, as we bare our cross knowing Jesus is still calling us upward to Him. That vision that we once had of Him over on the other side stays with us.

There is only one place for that old Adam within us, where we once found our strength and power, and that is on the cross. God can not use our natural charm, charisma, wit, strengths and abilities. These things are in rebellion to His will and deafen us to His voice. But once we climb out of that valley, being led by His upward call, we see Him there waiting for us with a vast table of His heavenly love, joy, wisdom, peace and all that HE is in the Father and he bids us come and dine with Him, “Come up here and I will show you things…” We can still see Christendom, but now it is on the opposite side of the valley where we once were and they are still serving in their tabernacles, but “We have an altar [table], of which they have no right to eat who serve the tabernacle” (Hebrews 13:10 KJ2000).

We still have the nay-sayer around us… our enemy is still there to discourage and confuse if he can, but Jesus is there at His table with us and our enemy’s voice is not as seductive as it once was. For now we know a faith and confidence in Jesus as we abide IN Him and the Father, being assured of His goodness and mercy, no matter what the enemy dishes out. We also have a new anointing that we never knew before. “You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over” with fresh revelation and power from the Spirit as He establishes us in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

The prophet Micah wrote:

Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me. Rejoice not against me, O my enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me. I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause, and executes justice for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness. (Micah 7:7-9 KJ2000)

The presence of Jesus with us is like never before because we are now IN Him and He sustains us like never before, because we put our total trust in Him. This is a vision that sustained Paul and the early saints through all that they suffered for Jesus… a vision and presence that sings forth in worship in the depths of prisons with backs torn by the jailer’s whip. There is only rejoicing from here on out, no matter what our earthly circumstances are and we are comforted in that we have been counted worthy to suffer these things for the gospel of Christ and His kingdom. Isaiah prophesied,

Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he has put him to grief: when you shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, he shall prolong his days, and the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. (Isaiah 53:10-11 KJ2000)

Jesus rejoiced in His sufferings for the joy that was set before HIM in the Father. He saw the end of it all… His offspring, many sons and daughters into and unto the glory of God and it sustained Him. We are to be,

Looking unto Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such hostility of sinners against himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds. (Hebrews 12:2-3 KJ2000)

Our focus has been change from all things here on earth including earth-bound churches to those things which are of heaven. We have become so heavenly minded that we are of no benefit to those who build earth bound things, yet it is HIS kingdom what we build, the Kingdom of Heaven, as the Spirit works through us by His power and might and not of our own.

The stone which the builders rejected has become the head stone of the corner. This is the LORD’S doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. (Psa 118:22-23 KJ2000 – emphasis added)

Therefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. (Hebrews 13:12-14 KJ2000)

Forsaking the “Box Job”

by Michael

People Leaving Church

Today we hear about the “Big Box” stores that seem to have taken   over everyone’s shopping experiences. Gone is the day of the little family operated, Mom and Pop corner grocery where personal service from caring neighbors meant something.

As for “not forsaking the assembling together of ourselves as is the manner of some…” (Hebrews 10:25) We hear this a lot from our church going friends when they find out that we no longer attend their highly organized gatherings on Sunday mornings. I have yet to hear one of them quote the verse just before it which reads, “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works” (Heb 10:24 KJ2000). How much “one anothering” actually takes place during a Sunday service? Isn’t what happens there pretty much one way?

I use to work in a saw and small engine shop. Once in a while we would get what we called a “box job.” It usually was something like a chain saw or a lawn mower which had been torn completely down by the owner who hoped he could fix it, but gave up once they had it torn apart and saw that they were over their heads [it was in parts]. So it came to us to be fixed in a box. THAT is what “organized religion” is like to me. Men have man-handled the Church to the point that Jesus cannot recognize it and then they want Jesus to show up and make it all better so they can man-handle it some more.

The other thing is that the mower or chain saw in that box was technically “assembled together,” but Jesus has a hard time using it for HIS purposes, because it is not assembled together the way HE meant it to be. It is just a bunch of loose pieces that are not interrelated in any form He can use. The pieces are not “fitly joined together” as members of HIS body should be.

So, do we not come together at all? No, we seek organic gatherings where all there can “consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works.” The other thing is just “playing church” while we who assemble in this way get to BE the Church, His body, as the Spirit orchestrates our gatherings in an organic way with Christ as our Head.

“But when that which is perfect [perfectly assembled] is come, then that which is in part [in parts… the box job] shall be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” (1Co 13:10-11 KJ2000)

“Every day people are straying away from the church and going back to God.” ~ Lenny Bruce

Knowing One Another After the Spirit in Us

by Michael

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. (2Co 5:14-17 KJ2000)

Do we seek to know one another after the Spirit? The apostles and many in Israel knew Jesus after the flesh. They saw this man from Galilee walk among them, do miracles among them, heal many of them. He taught them and even fed them food when they were hungry. But did they know Him after the Spirit of God within Him? Most did not. When Jesus asked the disciples who men said that He was they answered, “John the Baptist. But others say Elijah, and others say one of the prophets.” They only knew him after the flesh, but Peter was given revelation of something more. Jesus asked them again, “Who do YOU say that I am?” To this Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Peter in that moment was given revelation by the Father as to the spiritual nature of Christ and would eventually know Him after the Spirit and not just after the flesh.

Two disciples were walking along the road to Emaus after Jesus died on the cross and this man came along and walked and conversed with them. The only knew that Man after the flesh, even though He opened the scriptures to them and showed them that Christ must suffer many things and die and rise again. It was not until He took some bread and broke it and gave it to them that their eyes were open to see Him “after the Spirit.”

Paul was not one of the disciples and it is not know if Paul ever saw Jesus in person before He died on the cross, but that would all change one day when he had an encounter with the living, resurrected Christ on the road to Damascus where he was heading to persecute the members of Christ’s body. He was so shocked by the vision of this Being that He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” To this Jesus answered, “ I am Jesus whom you persecute…” OOPS! Imagine what was going through Paul’s head right then! The people who believed in Jesus who Paul hated WERE Jesus, this all powerful Person who just knocked him down and blinded him! Members of HIS body were suffering and dying at the hands of Saul the Pharisee who later became Paul the apostle. Back to the drawing board! All stop! His self-righteous Pharisee days were over and he became a member of the body of Christ that went forth to give life and nurture it in every way he could.

Oh, that we who are called Christians today would first know Jesus after the Spirit and then start to know one another after that same Spirit that abides in Him and one another. How differently we would treat each other. How we would prefer one another in the love of God. How we would honor one another and honor the gift of the Spirit that abides in each of us. How we would nurture each member as Christ loves His church and gave His life for each person in it. Paul exhorted the church saying, “Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor [in honor preferring one another]. Never flag in zeal, be aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord” (Rom 12:9-11 RSVA). Do we prefer one another over ourselves? Do we prefer Christ in one another over our selfish estimate of who we are and the love we have for “our own ministry”? Do we try to outdo one another in showing His love for each member of the body?

When was the last time you asked Jesus to show you how HE see that brother or sister you fellowship with, especially the difficult ones that just seem to rub us the wrong way? Can you see that gift He has placed in them and nurture it and encourage them to function in the gift? Do you see the treasure that God has put in them for the benefit of the whole body and not just “your ministry”? Do you see each member of Christ’s body as a jewel in the crown of God?

Then they that feared the LORD spoke often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son that serves him. Then shall you return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serves God and him that serves him not. (Mal 3:16-18 KJ2000)

Or worse yet, are we persecuting Jesus in the way we treat members of His body? I hold that if we have no fear of God, we will also not have any fear of damaging or doing harm to the bride of Christ. Remember, the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Let us be wise in the way we treat one another and “outdo one another in showing honor,” preferring one another over ourselves.

Let us mine the depths of the riches of Christ in one another, dear saints. The church of Laodicea is seen by Jesus as poor, miserable, blind and naked. The church is sick today because we do not rightly discern the body of Christ. It might be well if we would often ask when confronted with another member of Christ’s body what Paul asked that blinding day on the Damascus road, “Who are you, Lord?”

Signposts or Idols?

by Michael

Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Teacher, we would see a sign from you. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah: (Mat 12:38-39 KJ2000)

For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. (Heb 13:11-14 KJ2000)

I was on the phone today with a brother from Arizona and God had been talking to him about signposts and how men who have revelation of the truths of God are like signposts. Then he said, “The trouble is that when we find one of these “signpost” that are clearly pointing to God we want to sit on the signpost and we refuse to go on!” He is right!

We in our fallen human natures tend to be both idolaters and campers. The first thing that Cain did when going out from the presence of God was to go into the world and build encampments or cities. Finally, in few generations later men in rebellion against God’s command to “be fruitful and multiply”and spread through and take dominion over the whole earth (an early type of the great commission… they all gathered together in Babel around a leader named Nimrod and he convinced them to build a city “least we be scattered across the face of the earth” and to raise up a tower unto the heavens that they might “make a name” for themselves. Ancient history goes on to show that Nimrod and his wife Semiramis became the very first idols of men and down from them came the other cultural pagan gods of Baal, Moloch (Molok), Jupiter, Ashtoreth, Ishtar, Diana, etc.

Nimrod was the first king in the Bible narrative. It is interesting that melek is the Hebrew word for king! When Israel demanded of God a human king to rule over them instead of Him (see 1 Samuel 8), they became worshippers of Moloch instead of God. No wonder He was so offended with them! His chosen people preferred a man to watch over them and go before them in battle whereas God had been doing that all through their history for them and they never needed a human king before. This was the beginning of the end for Israel. Most of their kings were human despots who led them away from God and only David (their second king) was “a man after God’s own heart.”

So, after many failed kings and kingdoms in the land of Israel and many “keepers” of God’s own vineyard – His chosen people — God send forth His Son to take possession of His vineyard for Him and what happens? “But when the tenants [of the vineyard] saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize his inheritance” (Read Matthew 21:33-43KJ2000).

You see the tenants of God’s vineyard, the leaders of the Jews, rejected His Son, Jesus, when He came to them. They required a “sign” instead of Him! So they plotted to kill Jesus…

Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man does many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation. (Joh 11:47-48 KJ2000)

Who’s place and who’s nation??? The chief priests and Pharisees claimed God’s people as their own! They were lords over the flock of God. The temple was theirs, it was their place, their center of power. and they guarded it against God’s chosen and sent ones with great jealousy. How often have we heard a pastor or other minister use the terms, “my church” or “my ministry”? This is s symptom of a terrible disease.

God had sent the Jews other holy men and prophets ahead of Christ and their fathers persecuted and killed these men for the same reason they killed Christ! Jerusalem had become a city of blood. Is it any different to day? Aren’t we who call ourselves “Christians” doing the same thing? God gives us a man or a woman with a vision, a revelation, spiritual understanding or spiritual power to proclaim Christ and point the way to Him and His kingdom and what do we do? We idolize their wisdom and knowledge and rally around their vision and teachings. They were only meant to be a signpost pointing the way down the path to God’s eternal city, the New Jerusalem, His holy Zion where Christ rules supreme, but we create our own Babel and camp around the signpost, our new king, and another Christian cult or denomination is born.

In the Matthew twelve passage above, Jesus equates this seeking after a sign as adultery. Why? Because the love and devotion and the preferring of HIS voice (yes, His sheep HEAR His voice – see John ch. 10) that should be in us for Jesus is given to a mere human signpost. Instead of moving on and obeying the upward call of Christ, we camp around them and their teachings. This is spiritual adultery! Jesus is our Husband, not gifted men and women!

Paul wrote:

For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. (1Co 1:22-24 KJ2000)

Christ crucified, not a sign! HE is the very substance of God, not a shadow. Paul later wrote in chapter three that the Corinthians were “yet carnal” because they were devoted and attached to high profile leaders in the church including him! In Hebrews we read that the scriptures themselves all point to Christ and that they are only a shadow of Christ who is our substance. Yet in our carnal ways, we even make this book our idol and refuse to listen to God’s voice via His Holy Spirit. Yes, God can and does speak through the Bible, but it is nothing but a book without the Spirit of God opening its words up to us. Reading it on our own without His revelation, we will invariably turn its teachings into false doctrines, even doctrines of demons. When the Spirit uses it words to speak to us it is still HIM speaking. The Book is only a sign pointing to Jesus and only He is to be our All in all. Christ is our power and wisdom. He is our knowledge and our very source of all things pertaining to God and godliness. It is “in HIM that we live and move and have our beings.” “All things are yours and you are Christ’s and Christ is God’s.” It is time that we start living in the fullness of the Son.  http://www.austin-sparks.net/english/books/001837.html