Our Spiritual Richness

Today I want to make use of Norman Grubbs and Pastor Hoekstra's writing on Grace and the accompanying observable nature of Grace. Norman Grubbs uses Esau and Jacob as instruments of this fact (faith) while Pastor Hoekstra uses Barnabas of Acts 11. Then I will look at my targeted subject of GOD's being the universal Father, making use of the ESV translation. I must remind us that I am looking at Ephesians 4:1-6 with a closer look at verse 6.

Romans
By Norman P. Grubb


"There is a certain subtle truth that we come to here: Esaus don’t remain Esaus but become Jacobs if they want to. But, at the moment Paul is not saying that. He is saying a very strong thing. He is saying that you have to face the total sovereignty of GOD—that GOD does what He likes—that takes place. Until you see the other side of it, it looks as if GOD is a ruthless Person who would save some people and damn others. It looks like that because it is difficult for us humans to accept the character of GOD. He is totally Sovereign. What He says goes and nothing else goes, and He alone is the last word. The reason it is said is this: We humans have to come to the place where we bow down to GOD even if we don’t understand Him. Because GOD will never be understood by reason or mans intellect. He can only be understood by faith. So this is an area where you have to take Him as He stands. Knowledge doesn’t precede faith. Knowledge follows faith. The Bible says, “I know Whom I have believed.” You know when you believe. Reason can’t find it. Faith is an apparent absurdity.

You have yet to understand the truth, which for certain reasons, you boldly take, because it is given you and as you take it, you say, “Oh I see!” And, the seeing only follows the faith. “I know whom I have believed.” Not I believe whom I have known. You believe first. Then you know. The world can’t take that. That is why the world rejects us. They say, “You know then you believe.” No! You believe then you know, because belief is and attitude of obedience to the One higher than yourself. When you accept that He is higher than yourself and greater than yourself, you say, “Well, I do not understand it, but I will believe it because He is the great One and I am the small one. I will believe Him.” And, then as you take the right relationship as a human to the Deity you will find, “Oh, I understand now. I can see what He means.” So the world cannot believe that because the world is not going to start by yielding themselves to God, let alone GOD. That is the whole point. They have become rebels. They don’t want to yield to God, as GOD. They are enemies. So, they claim to be able to rationalize themselves into God and despise those who say certain things—as if they are certain because we know—because we have believed and they can’t say that.

Therefore, the “works-Christian” is bound to despise you. The Christian whose basis to life is “my own self effort” is bound to think you as crazy. Because they think you can know without having to come this way. And you can’t do it. You only know when you have found the end of yourself and been replaced by Christ. So, we have to realize what the great Kierkegaard called “the absurdity of faith.” We live in the foolishness of faith. He has a great book on the agonies of Abraham’s faith, when he had to sacrifice Isaac. To sacrifice Isaac—even though the liberals laugh at it—is to burn your son as a burnt offering. He wasn’t just going to kill him. He was going to burn him. He took him up with wood and the knife to burn him—his own precious son. Who is going to do that? He describes in that marvelous book called “Fear and Trembling”—the agonies that lie between. “Is it murder or is it guidance?” He has a very striking instance there. He uses a lot of long terms. What he means is this Ethics can still be self. Ethics is, “Oh I do so and so.” Suddenly GOD comes and calls you to do something which is unethical. “Oh? How can you do something which goes against human morality? Now that is awkward. This was the case. What! Abraham called to be a murderer? Was it murder or was it guidance? That is a pretty stiff decision to make before it happens. It is all right to look back now and know what happened, but it wasn’t then."

 "The Observable Nature of the Grace of God"
By Pastor Hoekstra

"The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord. Then news of these things came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch. When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad." (Acts 11:21-23)


"Fundamentally, the work of GOD's Grace takes place within human hearts. "It is good that the heart be established by grace" (Hebrews 13:9). Yet, whenever Grace is at work in lives, visible indicators inevitably appear: "When he came and had seen the grace of God." This statement raises for our consideration the observable nature of the Grace of GOD. Because it is GOD working on the inside or in the inner man.

After Stephen was stoned by the religious leaders, an expansive persecution arose. GOD used this widespread difficulty to extend the proclamation of the gospel. "Now those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but the Jews only" (Acts 11:19). Others began to reach out to those whose background was Grecian. "But some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus" (Acts 11:20). GOD used them to touch many lives. "The hand of the LORD was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord." Word of this spiritual harvest soon reached Jerusalem. "Then news of these things came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch." So, Barnabas traveled to Antioch, where the first great Gentile church was being birthed. When he arrived, the invisible was being made visible: "When he came and had seen the Grace of GOD." It was obvious to Barnabas that GOD had been working by His Grace.

What Barnabas saw was undoubtedly similar to the spiritual phenomenon that had occurred in the church at Colossae. When the gospel was embraced there, it clearly impacted lives: "the truth of the gospel, which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of GOD in truth" (Colossians 1:5-6). In Colossae, the outward effects of the inward work of the Grace of GOD was spiritual fruit. When Barnabas saw this same process unfolding in Antioch, "he was glad."

GOD Spoken of as the Father of all Man,

Deuteronomy 32:1-14 "Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak, and let the earth hear the words of my mouth. May my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew, like gentle rain upon the tender grass, and like showers upon the herb. For I will proclaim the name of the LORD; ascribe greatness to our God! "The Rock, His work is perfect, for all His ways are justice. A GOD of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is He. They have dealt corruptly with Him; they are no longer His children because they are blemished; they are a crooked and twisted generation. Do you thus repay the LORD, you foolish and senseless people? Is not He your Father, Who created you, Who made you and established you? Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; ask your Father, and He will show you, your elders, and they will tell you. When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when He divided mankind, He fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of GOD. But the LORD's portion is His people, Jacob His allotted heritage. "He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; He encircled him, He cared for him, He kept him as the apple of His eye. Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions, the LORD alone guided him, no foreign god was with him. He made him ride on the high places of the land, and he ate the produce of the field, and He suckled him with honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock. Curds from the herd, and milk from the flock, with fat of lambs, rams of Bashan and goats, with the very finest of the wheat— and you drank foaming wine made from the blood of the grape."


Malachi 2:10-12 "Have we not all one Father? Has not one GOD created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers? Judah has been faithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the LORD, which He loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god. May the LORD cut off from the tents of Jacob any descendant of the man who does this, who brings an offering to the LORD of hosts!"

Matthew 23:1-12 "Jesus said to the crowds and to His disciples, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, Who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted."

Romans 3:27-30 "Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. Or is GOD the God of Jews only? Is HE not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since GOD is One— Who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith."

1Corinthians 8:4-6 "Concerning the eating of food offered to idols, we know that "an idol has no real existence," and that "there is no GOD but one." For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords"— yet for us there is one GOD, the Father, from Whom are all things and for Whom we exist, and one LORD, Jesus Christ, through Whom are all things and through Whom we exist."


Ephesians 4:1-6 "I therefore, a prisoner for the LORD, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—  one LORD, one faith, one baptism, one GOD and Father of all, Who is over all and through all and in all."

Hebrews 12:3-11 "Consider Him Who endured from sinners such hostility against Himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the LORD, nor be weary when reproved by Him. For the LORD disciplines (His Jacobs) the one He loves, and chastises every son whom HE receives." (Psalm 119:75) It is for discipline that you have to endure. GOD is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of (our) spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but HE disciplines us for our good, that we may share His Holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it (Him)."

1John 5:5-12 "Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of GOD? This is the One Who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the Truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of GOD is greater, for this is the testimony of GOD that HE has borne concerning His Son. Whoever believes in the Son of GOD has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe GOD has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that GOD has borne concerning His Son. And this is the testimony, that GOD gave us eternal life, and this Life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has Life; whoever does not have the Son of GOD does not have life." (He remains an Esau by denying his birth right.)

Our Spiritual Richness

Now for my part of todays subject taken from Ephesians 4:6 which states this, "one GOD and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." But as is my habit I will again call on Pastor Hoekstra and his writing on Grace as our needed resource for spiritual life in Christ and through Christ as we are now Christ-ones. Then I will look at our need for His Divine Spirit indwelling of us making use of the ESV translation all being done with the LORD's help.


"Jesus' Example of Grace for Our Speech"
By Pastor Hoekstra


"You are fairer than the sons of men; grace is poured upon Your lips . . . Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one." (Psalm 45:2 and Colossians 4:6)


"In our two previous meditations, we saw Jesus as our two-fold example. First, He exemplified the suffering that prepares us for more of GOD's Grace to work in our lives. Second, He exemplified the related issue of GOD's Grace developing our lives comprehensively as Norman Grubbs called us an Esau in his writing on Romans 9. Now, we consider Jesus' example of grace for our speech.

Centuries before the Messiah (Jesus, as this Christ) came into this world, the Psalmist prophesied of the word of Grace that would flow from His mouth. "You are fairer than the sons of men; Grace is poured upon Your lips." The manner in which the Grace of GOD guided and poured forth through the words of Jesus set His speech above that of every other person. Those who listened to Him during His earthly pilgrimage testified of this fact. "All bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth" (Luke 4:22). One of the distinctive aspects of Jesus' words was the unique authority that this giving of Grace imparted. "Then He went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths. And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority" (Luke 4:31-32). At one point in Jesus' ministry, the Jewish leaders wanted the temple officers to take Jesus into custody, but they returned empty-handed. "Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, 'Why have you not brought Him?' The officers answered, "No man ever spoke like this Man!' " (John 7:45-46). 

The LORD intends for this same Grace to impact our speech. "Let your speech always be with Grace." When we humbly allow the LORD to flood our speech with His Grace, our words have a heavenly flavor to them: "seasoned with salt." His Grace will also add heavenly wisdom to our words: "that you may know how you ought to answer each one." This causes our speech to be edifying to others, because our words are ministering GOD's Grace through us into their lives. "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers" (Ephesians 4:29).

The Believer's Indwelling,

Ezekiel 36:22-32 "Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the LORD GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. I will vindicate the holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the LORD GOD, when through you I vindicate My holiness before their eyes. I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness's, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes and be careful to obey My rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be My people, and I will be your GOD. And I will deliver you from all your uncleanness's. And I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you. I will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations. Then you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations. It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the LORD GOD; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel."

John 14:15-18 (Jesus is speaking) "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. "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."


Romans 8:9-11 "You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in (faith that is) fact the Spirit of GOD dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of Him Who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, HE Who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit Who dwells in you."

1Corinthians 3:16-17 and 6:12-20, 2Timothy 1:8-14 "Do you not know that you are GOD's temple and that GOD's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys GOD's temple, GOD will destroy him. For GOD's temple is Holy, and you are that temple."

1Corithians 6:12-20 "All things are lawful for me," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be dominated by anything. "Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food"—and GOD will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the LORD, and the LORD for the body. And GOD raised the Lord and will also raise us up by His power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, "The two will become one flesh." But he who is joined to the LORD becomes one spirit with Him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, Whom you have from GOD? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify GOD in your body."
2Timothy 1:8-4 "Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of GOD, Who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of His own purpose and grace, which HE gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now have been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, Who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through this gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know Whom I have believed, and I am convinced that HE is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me. Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit Who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you."


1John 2:26-27, 28-29 "I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. But the anointing that you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. For as His anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as HE has taught you, abide in Him.
Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears we may have confidence and not shrink from Him in shame at His coming. If you know that HE is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of Him."

Our Spiritual Richness

I am about to look at what Ephesians 4:4-6 with emphasis on verse 6 which states, that being, "There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, Who is over all and through all and in all." But before I do I will again call on Norman Grubbs and Pastor Hoekstra and his writing on Grace as our needed prerequisite for life, spiritual life. Taking his thoughts from Jesus. And as always I depend on the LORD to provide more and often deeper insight to His revelation of transformation and reformation than is provided. And I will also use the ESV translation when I get into my subject matter, which  may require another posting.


Romans
By Norman P. Grubb

"This is what took place in the case of Esau. Notice it doesn’t say that Jacob would be accepted and Esau would be rejected. He said “The elder shall serve the younger." Then he quotes from Malachi, “As it is written afterwards, “Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated.” Now something else has come in there. That first prophecy before birth didn’t say that. It just said that they would have a certain relationship. One would serve the other. But, long afterwards, it says this, “Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated.” You see hate is only love in reverse. Every opposite is only the thing in reverse. “No” is ‘yes’ in reverse. It is just saying “yes” turned around, that is all. Hate is the reversal of love. If love loves one way, it must hate in the opposite way. If love identifies with self-giving-love, it must hate self-loving-love. If love identifies with self-giving-love, it must hate self-loving-love. Of course it must. So hate and love are one thing.

It is said of Jesus in Hebrews 1:9 “Thou has loved righteousness and hated iniquity, therefore God, even thy God hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows.” That is a statement about the Lord Jesus Christ in Hebrews 1. If you love in the right way you must hate the wrong ways. Of course we do. The seriousness is our identification with the right or the wrong. When we as persons identify, then we are of course in the love dimension. If we identify with the wrong, that hate is on us. As we see later on, it is a hate that can be reversed. The reason it can be reversed is all of us are an Esau. We don’t start as Jacobs. Jacob is the one whose heart was set on GOD and who moved into the new birth and bought the birthright promises and remains all the way, GOD’s precious person.

We all start out in life as an Esau; of course we do. Esau represents people who are self-against GOD. Mind you, if a person is born the elder and has the elder’s birthright privileges and he is taught by his parents what the real privileges are—that GOD is your God and GOD has eternal destiny, eternal purposes for you, eternal operations—and then you wipe God out and despise Him, and sell Him for a bunch of lentils, that is pretty contemptuous. See, that person was contemptuous of GOD or he wouldn’t have sold his birthright for a bowl of lentils—if he had any thought of the wonder of GOD. He was a man of the flesh. He had no wonder of GOD and His promises and all that became to him nonsense. That is what the world despises. Well you see you are then in the hate realm. As you see later on that doesn’t mean that you can’t be love, because everybody starts out hating, really. We have all been an Esau, we all start in life rejecting GOD in our own way—turning our back on Him and being bound to the flesh and to the world and to the devil. We have all been an Esau."


"Jesus' Example of Grace Developing Our Lives"
By Pastor Hoekstra

"And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him . . . And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men." (Luke 2:40, 52)


"In our previous devotional, we looked at the suffering that prepares us for GOD's Grace to work in our lives, developing us spiritually. Jesus was given as the primary example of this truth. In our present verses, we see Jesus as the example of grace developing our lives comprehensively.

When the Son of GOD came into the world as a man, He laid aside the independent exercise of His deity: "who, being in the form of GOD, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, and made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant" (Philippians 2:6-7). He then developed as any man should (except, He was without sin). "And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom." Jesus grew in spiritual strength, as the LORD wants us to do: "strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy" (Colossians 1:11). The wisdom of the Father began to permeate His life, as He also desires for us: "that you may be filled with the knowledge of His Will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding" (Colossians 1:9). When Jesus was twelve years old, His spiritual maturity and wisdom were evident, as He discussed the faith with the leaders of Israel. His parents "found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers" (Luke 2:46-47). 

Jesus continued to develop in spiritual maturity, pleasing His heavenly Father and impacting the people. "This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased . . . Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught. And the Jews marveled, saying, 'How does this Man know letters, having never studied?' " (Matthew 17:5 and John 7:14-15). The LORD wants our walk with Him and our testimony before others to grow, just as in Jesus' life. "Walk as children of light . . . proving what is acceptable to the LORD . . . that you may become blameless and harmless, children of GOD without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world" (Ephesians 5:8, 10 and Philippians 2:15). 

In Jesus' life, this godly progress was accomplished by the Grace of GOD at work: "and the Grace of GOD was upon Him." So it is to be in our lives. "

Our Spiritual Richness

Back about a month or so ago, I looked into Amos 3:3 and our call to walk in agreement one with another. I chose to make my "another" Christ, because I am a Christ-one and all of scripture reveals His revelation and our transformation in GOD's reformation. And then I included much of what Norman Grubbs has to say about this same revelation of GOD's being restored to man......with that thought in mind, now I will look at Ephesian 4:1-6 but before doing that I will call upon Pastor Hoekstra's writing on Grace and our part in the receptivity of GOD's activity in and through Grace.


"The God of All Grace Developing Our Lives"


"But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus . . . perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you." (1Peter 5:10)


"We have been considering GOD's Grace as "much more" (Romans 5:17, 20), as "exceeding" (2Corinthians 9:14), and as "exceedingly abundant" (1Timothy 1:14). These terms appropriately lead into our present meditation, which looks at "the God of all Grace." The true and living GOD has all kinds and all measures of grace, and He wants to impart this Grace to develop our lives. One purpose of GOD's Grace is to allow us to dwell forever in His glorious abode: "who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus." This is ours through the atoning death of Jesus Christ, our mediator. "He is the Mediator of the new covenant (of Grace), by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant (of Law), that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance" (Hebrews 9:15). But the promises were given before the Law and are of more importance than the Law, as it was only a tutor until the day of the Lord. For that reason we are under Grace which works by Love and Faith as seen in Jesus. Meanwhile, until He returns for us, He wants to develop our lives spiritually during our pilgrimage here on earth. 

Part of His plan is to perfect our lives. "May the GOD of all Grace . . . perfect . . . you." This speaks of GOD completing what is missing and equipping us for service. "Now may the GOD of peace . . . make you complete in every good work to do His will . . . And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry" (Hebrews 13:20-21 and Ephesians 4:12). Part of His plan is to establish our lives. "May the GOD of all Grace . . . establish . . . you." This has to do with the LORD stabilizing our Christian walk, keeping us steadfastly moving in His direction for our lives. This word was used to describe Jesus' unswerving commitment to head for the cross, resurrection, and ascension that awaited Him outside of Jerusalem. "Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go toward Jerusalem" (Luke 9:51). Part of His plan is to strengthen our lives. "May the GOD of all Grace . . . strengthen . . . you." Our calling to serve the living GOD requires strength that we do not have in and of ourselves. The LORD wants to teach us to draw upon His mighty power: "that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man" (Ephesians 3:16). Part of His plan is to settle our lives. "May the GOD of all Grace . . . settle . . . you." This involves being increasingly grounded in GOD's ways: "that you, being rooted and grounded in love" (Ephesians 3:17).


"The Suffering that Prepares Us for Grace"


"But may the God of all grace . . . after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you." (1Peter 5:10)


"In our previous meditation, we saw that "the GOD of all Grace" wants to develop our lives spiritually. He wants to use His exceedingly abundant grace to "perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle" us. Now, we will examine the useful (though often undesired) suffering that prepares us for this work of Grace. 

Yes, suffering is often the link between the work of GOD and what GOD wants to do in us and the abundant grace that He will use to effect the work: "after you have suffered a while." Even as the perfect, sinless man, the Son of GOD learned valuable lessons through suffering. "Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered" (Hebrews 5:8). He experienced the agonies that can be involved in obeying GOD while dwelling in a rebellious, sinful world. He is the full example of godliness, and we are called to follow Him. As two walk in agreement as One. "For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps" (1Peter 2:21). If we are willing to walk the path of godliness, we will suffer as well. "Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution" (2Timothy 3:12). Such trials and sufferings are normal and purposeful. "Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you" (1Peter :12). Painful trials seem strange, but they routinely come to test and exercise our faith. 

GOD gives Grace to the humble. Trials and suffering humble our hearts and stir us to cry out to the LORD for His necessary Grace. This direct link between suffering and grace can be seen in Paul's most persistent trial of suffering. "Lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me . . . Concerning this thing I pleaded with the LORD three times that it might depart from me" (2Corinthians 12:7-8). Paul's difficulty moved him to earnestly plead with the LORD for His intervention. The LORD responded by His Grace. "And He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me' " (2Corinthians 12:9). Paul did not receive the healing grace that he sought. However, he experienced the sustaining Grace that GOD often chooses to impart in times of suffering. Through His Grace, GOD changed Saul to Paul by changing Paul's heart, not his circumstances."

When we get a hold of this we to will see what Ephesians 4:1-6 states, "I therefore, a prisoner for the LORD, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one LORD, one faith, one baptism, one GOD and Father of all, Who is over all and through all and in all."

Our Spiritual Richness

Continuing with Our Spiritual Richness is to grow by revelation of GOD and His now dealing within us as HE did Jesus and then Paul, among a host of others over the past 2000 years. For this I have turned to Norman Grubbs and his thoughts on this revelation. As taken from Romans.

Romans
By Norman P. Grubb

"So He must have His human intercessor who would die for the people as did His own Son later on. Then Moses having gone back, as he did—he dealt strongly with the people, as he should do. He brought them to repentance and they came back to God. In order to fulfill the thing up on the mount, he said, “God, You can’t leave these people.” God had said, “My Presence will dwell with you.” “I don’t want Your Presence, we want you with us.” And that is what ...he said when he said, “Look here, God, these people are guilty. If You can’t forgive their sins, don’t forgive mine. If You turn Your back on them, blot me out too.” That is intercession. That is this person who says, “If I am identified with these people and I don’t want to go on being what I am now, blot me out with them, if You can’t forgive them.”


You see God uses negative pressures to bring out of us the real person in us. Of course that was God in Moses really. That was the Spirit of intercession in Moses. It was God’s own character expressing through Moses. So, God has to take us through processes like that sometimes. This is the only other case in the Bible, where a man in actual words says the same kind of thing. “I would renounce my privilege of going to heaven, if by that means I could be the means by which my brethren could go to heaven.” We don’t use those terms now, because we think of heaven as present Eternal Life. In the future heaven is going to come, but we are more concerned with the heavenly spirit now. But, that comes to the same thing. His passion for these very people who chased him and chased him again and again until they could kill him. But, love does not see the enemy. Love has no enemies. God’s love sees everybody as God’s person. So when you see right, you see every person as a form of God, even if they don’t. Even the redeemed form of God, if they knew it. But, mind you, you can reject being the redeemed form of God. You can’t see enemies—because they are just those who miss the way, and I missed the way, too. So, this transferred to how you can help the person even though the person may be the one who is wronging you, antagonizing you, etc.


Then Paul goes into a phase which is very interesting. That is to say that whether the Israelites appear to reject Christ or accept Him, God’s will takes place anyway. Paul now moves into the total sovereignty of God. He stops in Verse 6 where he suddenly says, “I said that about the children of Israel who reject Christ and so their backs are turned to the Messiah and the Redeemer when He comes.” The he says, “Not as though the Word of God hasn’t taken effect.” He will defend the perfect way of God on every level. So, he says the reason that we say that is—that in actual fact all Israel are not just all the physical Israel. They are that part of Israel, as a nation which has moved into a relationship of grace and salvation with God, which of course is true today. I would say of our own churches that the churches are those who have entered into what we speak of as the new birth, a new creature relationship. There may be many who use the name and title of Christian in different ways. We know the difference, we who have been that way ourselves. Paul is defending that by what appears to be a strange way. He says some appear predestined and others do not appear so. It works out that way. Then he goes back and says—You can see it in Abraham’s children. Isaac was the seed through whom God’s purposes were fulfilled. Ishmael was the one who left the family and went out into the desert and became the progenitor of the Arab race.

That incidentally is why it is so interesting to find in Isaiah, that great prophecy, where it says—The days are going to come, when Assyria and Egypt would be back again in brotherhood with Israel and the three together, the people of God. But, in this chapter it appears as if there are those whom God had appointed and those whom God had rejected. That is a tough saying. That isn’t actually said of Isaac and Ishmael but it was said of Jacob and Esau. And, it is distinctly said here, before they had done good or evil, while they were still in Rebecca’s womb. In Verses 11 and 12: “For the children being not yet born, neither having done good or evil that the purpose of God, according to election might stand, not of works, but of Him that calls. It was said unto her, ‘The elder shall serve the younger.” Now watch that!!! That didn’t say they were rejected. It only said that it will work out in that relationship. Well, they had relationships.

Of course, when you are in Christ, places don’t matter. When you are a love-servant of Christ, you are a love-servant of the people. So it doesn’t matter to you whether you are the top or the bottom, because all you will do is fulfill your love-service. So the apparent superiority or inferiority in the operations of life don’t matter when you are really in grace. All Paul said was, that this was going to work out—that the elder would serve the younger. As a matter of fact that is true of all the world. The flesh world is the elder and we are the younger and the world serves us, not we the world.

If you watch through history you will find the world has been serving the growth and progress of the people of God. It might look the other way around. It is good to remember that. The flesh world is only the servant of the spirit world. And, the flesh world crucified Jesus Christ. They don’t even know that they are in Jesus Christ. He has become world conqueror because they crucified Him. He is now winning back thousands of the world and “leading captivity captive.” And so, it always is so. As we read before, it is God in people. People have God who reign in Christ. They are on top of their reigning and what is happening is only bringing out more of the reign of Christ in them—more of the manifestation of Christ and His love. They are really the people who are the leaders of the world, which is the reverse of what it looks like."

Our Spiritual Richness

Our Spiritual Richness is to grow by revelation of GOD and His now dealing within us as HE did Jesus and then Paul, among a host of others over the past 2000 years. For this I have turned to Norman Grubbs and his thoughts on this revelation. As taken from Romans.


Romans
By Norman P. Grubb

"Now the ninth chapter moves us into the necessary effect of this union relationship. If the Being of God and the delight and fulfillment of God is to give Himself for His creation as being Love, and His fulfillment that He may be the means by which His creation has their fulfillment, their happiness, their completion, their activity and their responsibility, whatever it is, all so that they become the true beings they are meant to be on all levels. O...ne day the animal creation, as seen by the prophets, will love its antagonists—which really are product of our own self-antagonisms. And somewhere it says, “Harmony on every level of creation.” Because God is harmony. Harmony means things work together, live together, cooperate together. And this is God in completion—when he can be the means by which His whole universe operates like that. What He gets back is the joy and the love of the whole universe by whom this has become the fact.


And so, that is the nature of God. If there then I boldly say, “I am no longer I, but I am the Deity which is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit within me,” I must be that. I can’t be anything else. I don’t have to try and be; I am. Remembering, as we always say. It hasn’t come up particularly in this Roman letter. It comes out more in the Hebrew letter, and so on. We have learned the differentiation between the reactions of the outer form and inner self. The outer form in Hebrews consists of the soul and the spirit—our emotions, our reason, our bodies. They can deceive us, because they can cause us to think we are what we feel we are. And then we may feel absent from God, we may feel weak, we may feel so and so and of course that is an illusion.

We, therefore, cannot be whatever we think we are. We cannot be a person—a replaced person in whom our real self is, “Not I but Christ,” without being a person who cannot help being involved in others. Whatever my situation is, this is in me now, I cannot be for myself but for God. I cannot be anything but somebody which is for others, so that other people should have this secret of Eternal release, which is Eternal Life, that I have. So I become. I can’t help it. I am an out-goer. There again I don’t go back to this other. There is no such thing in this life as “trying it out.” That is the danger of saying, as I say the soul may say, “You don’t look like it.” That is not the point. Other people may say it. We live on the affirmation that we are. If we are, if that is what is so, we are. And if we say, “I don’t see it” then He puts that in to order causing us to know in what way we can’t help but being—“Of course we know we are.”
So our lives in the Bible terms become outgoing streams to rivers. It is said in John, first it is like a well of water totally supplying us, springing up into everlasting life, but that same well of water now is continuously an outgoing river. And, we don’t question it, we are. And that is not for us to know how, because our outgoing river is He by us. So, we don’t question how or we will get back on this self effort and false self examination. We just say it is so. And, somewhere or other we each of us know how that is coming out in our lives. Now this is what we might call the sad example of it, because this is the great letter which has taken us through the whole progress of what it is to be a true human.

And, here we move into Romans 9 and say the very person who would affirm to us that you can’t be separated, which was the last final paean of magnificent glory, he said you cannot be separated. Neither man nor devil can separate you. No man nor devil can accuse you. In God’s sight you are His precious perfected person in Christ and you stand there. The very person who said that turns around here in the ninth chapter, saying, “I would be glad to be separated from Christ, if that would be the means of my brother’s salvation.” Now we are moving into “other love.” He is speaking here about his concern over his brothers—beautiful tenderness—because they were the ones who had persecuted him to death. They stoned him; they beat him up and did every mortal thing a person could do and yet, his total concern was, “Oh, I would do anything if my brothers could see the true Messiah.” We may say, “It is a strange thing.”

You would think that Paul would have great prejudice against his people for the persecutions. We all have prejudices in our own types, in our own lives. From this distance, it is all right, “Is it possible for a Jew, knowing the proper Jew had been this perfect person that anybody who does not believe in the Deity of Christ would at least see that they couldn’t get away from the perfection of Jesus. There has never been a person who has spoken the kinds of things He has and done the kinds of things He has and loved and been as un-blamable as He has. You would think no one could deny that this is so. There was never a more perfect man even if they don’t believe He is God. To us this is strangest thing—that they wouldn’t be proud of this greatest product of their race. It shows the great blindness and it shows how we don’t understand what prejudices are. We have our own prejudices. So it is easy for us to judge other peoples’ prejudices, because they don’t. And this blindness as we have seen in these chapters has come upon Israel. And here Paul is speaking about the privileges of the Israelite. They had the adoption of God, they had the glory of the covenants, they had the giving of the law. They were the servants of God, promises piled on. God had piled Himself on in His grace and glory and beauty and promises to these folk. And then finally the Christ Himself had come through them and they don’t see Him. And so in the flesh Christ came. It was God’s blessing in Verses 3 and 4. It was there that he said in Verse 3, “I could wish myself accursed from Christ.” It sounded like a wish. That is a strong thing to say. “I could wish I was separated from Christ,” which was his very life, for his brother’s sake. “This love in me now has moved in this direction.” It is a big thing to say that I would even go to hell.

Two men are known to have said that. Moses said that when he was tested about the golden calf. God has to use negative methods. This is why God disguises Himself. We often see, especially in the Old Testament, God is in disguise, because we can’t see any other way. So He has to put Himself, as it were, in a rough character to stir up its opposite in us. That is why it appears to be anger and so on, because His anger really is only His concern for us to get us out of our foolishness and corruption and so on. It looks as if He is the angry one.

Now on this occasion, Moses was the leader and prophet of these people in the wilderness. In order to stir Moses to what he was. God appeared so angry when these people who had been given the law and proceeded to forget all about it and Moses. They had gone after the golden calf and they were doing their lewd dances and so on—doing all their idolatrous stuff around the golden calf. He said to Moses, “I’ll destroy these people; I will make a new nation of you.” As if God had no use for His own people. That is His clever way in which He stirs the opposite—stirs the reality up in us. So God does deliberately take unpleasant disguises upon Himself to help us into reality. That was what helped Moses into his reality. “Oh, You couldn’t do that God. Why Your name is linked to these people. If you destroy them, the whole of the Egyptians will say You couldn’t keep the people.” Moses was fighting for the people as if it was against God. Of course that is what God wanted, because God must come through humans."

Our Spiritual Richness

For the past few days I have shared from Norman Grubbs writings on Romans and our being one with GOD through or in Christ. Today I will return to Pastor Hoekstra and his teaching on Grace as our resource for Life which is of course the same Life that Jesus, Paul and a few others acquired over the past some 2000 years, as we also are to poses by faith. All of whom have experienced GOD's transformation power within them.


"Exceedingly Abundant Grace for Transformation"


"And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry . . . And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant." (1Timothy 1:12, 14)


"The Grace of GOD is "much more" than our sin and our failure. It is "much more" than our personal inadequacy. It is "much more" than our comprehension of it. GOD's Grace is "much more" than necessary to radically change our lives. In the limitless resources of GOD, there is exceedingly abundant grace for transformation. The Apostle Paul is a distinctive example of this transforming grace of GOD. The LORD took him from religious vanity into spiritual service. 

Paul was grateful for this work of Grace. "And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry." God is the one who puts us into ministry. Consequently, for every arena of service we are given, it is appropriate to express thanksgiving to GOD. Paul knew his ministry was anchored in God's will, not man's. "Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father" (Galatians 1:1). Certainly, man can recognize and confirm our callings from GOD. "When James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles" (Galatians 2:9). Still, our appointment is from the LORD: "to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles" (2Timothy 1:11). Unlike many of us, Paul was told of his calling at the very beginning of his walk with the LORD. "Rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you" (Acts 26:16). Such callings to service becomes a stewardship from, and unto, the LORD: "of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from GOD which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of GOD . . . if indeed you have heard of the dispensation [same term as stewardship] of the Grace of GOD which was given to me for you" (Colossians 1:25 and Ephesians 3:2). 

To put Paul into effective ministry, GOD Himself had to do the necessary strengthening work, as well as making him a man of faith. "And I thank Christ Jesus our LORD Who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful." GOD's Grace is the bountiful resource that brings about such transformation for ministry. "And the Grace of our LORD was exceedingly abundant." 



  "More on Exceedingly Abundant Grace for Transformation"


"I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man . . . And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant." (1Timothy 1:12-14)


"By His bountiful Grace, Jesus Christ transformed Saul of Tarsus into the Apostle Paul. The LORD did this by enabling Paul, making him a man of faith, and putting him into ministry. As we consider what Paul was before the LORD began to change his life, we will see even more on exceedingly abundant grace for transformation. 
Before he became a follower of Jesus Christ, Paul engaged in blasphemous behavior. "I was formerly a blasphemer." Through uninformed religious zeal, he said and did much that insulted and opposed the Lord. "Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth" (Acts 26:9). Part of his sin of blasphemy was incurred attempting to force Christians to speak evil of the Lord. "And I punished them often . . . and compelled them to blaspheme" (Acts 26:11). 

Related to this, Paul severely persecuted believers in Jesus Christ before he came to salvation. "I was formerly . . . a persecutor." He aggressively searched out anyone he could find who followed Jesus, hoping to imprison them. "As for Saul, he made havoc of the church (composed of mainly Hebrews), entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison" (Acts 8:3). He was so enraged against the followers of Jesus that he even obtained authorization to pursue them into distant cities beyond Israel. "Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem" (Acts 9:1-2). 

In light of such brazen aggression, it is no surprise that Paul confesses to being an arrogant man before he was saved. "I was formerly . . . an insolent man." His religious success clearly led him to a prideful estimation of his own spirituality. "If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the Law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the Law, blameless" (Philippians 3:4-6).

Nevertheless, all of this godless religiosity can be transformed by God's bountiful Grace. "And the Grace of our LORD is to us exceedingly abundant."

 "Once More on Exceedingly Abundant Grace for Transformation"


"I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus." (1Timothy 1:12-14)


"Before Saul believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, he spoke evil of Jesus, oppressed His followers, and exalted himself. "I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man." Yet, GOD called Paul from this ungodly religious life and made him a faithful, fruitful servant of the LORD. Once more we will see this can only happen by exceedingly abundant grace for transformation. 

This magnificent transformation process began with mercy, the necessary companion of Grace. GOD's mercy holds back the awful consequences that our ungodliness deserves. GOD's Grace brings us the wonderful blessings of godliness that we could never deserve. GOD was merciful toward Saul's ignorant and unbelieving behavior. "But I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief." The ministry of Grace that GOD would eventually give to Paul (as well as any ministry GOD has for us) was established upon mercy. "Therefore, since we have this ministry [new covenant Grace — 2Corinthians 3:6], as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart" (2Corinthians 4:1). GOD chose Saul to be a distinctive example of His rich mercy. "For this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life" (1Timothy 1:16). 

This grand project of transformation then proceeded with Grace. "And the Grace of our LORD was exceedingly abundant with faith and love which are in (through) Christ Jesus." This bountiful Grace brought two spiritual blessings (faith and love) that would be essential for Paul's ministry. Paul had been a man of religious works and self-righteousness. But GOD turned him into a man of faith. "The righteousness of GOD is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, 'The just shall live by faith' " (Romans 1:17). He had been a man of cruel hatred and religious prejudice. GOD turned him into a man of love. "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love (Galatians 5:6)."

Our Spiritual Richness

Our Spiritual Richness is to grow by revelation of GOD and His now dealing within us as HE did Jesus and then Paul among a host of others over the past 2000 years. For this I have turned to Norman Grubbs and his thoughts on this revelation. As taken from Romans.

By Norman P. Grubb

That is about as far as the main body of Romans is concerned. There are some very interesting things to follow. Tremendous area on the subject of God, how He can love Jacob and hate Esau. How predestination works in the free will. He handles that in Romans 9 and 11. That is because that is only for the mature. The ‘prepared of God’ can only be mature. When you have really finished this business, you begin to see God only. Now you are in focus. So it is here he talks of only God. God manages everything totally, evil and good alike. You can’t see total until you are free from the nagging question about yourself. When you know who you are, which is not yourself but He, then you are free. So your own life, you know how to handle it whatever arises. Now you are free to move into a detached way and look at God Himself. That comes in Romans 9 and 11 and on from there.
We make an abrupt change in Rom. 9 because there is an abrupt change in the operations of the Spirit in us, at this juncture. As we said, up ‘til the present, the purpose is for us to be whom we have been created and predestined and recreated to be, which is ordinary humans who know we are not ordinary humans because we are containers and manifestors of Deity. Because the Bible says the whole Trinity is in us. Paul says Christ dwells in you and the Spirit dwells in you—remember that dwelling is the old fashioned term for permanent residence. Therefore, we have the permanent Person of whom we are the means of His expression. It is the whole Deity. We must remember that we are talked about as being vessels, as being the body of Christ.

In John’s Gospel He talks about the branch—vine and in I Cor. Paul talks about us being “the temple of the Living God.” In Rom.6, we are presented as being slaves to a master—that we humans are the created and recreated means by which God Himself expresses Himself as He is, and the character that He is, and the purposes that He has. He is absolute Love; therefore, we are love, and inheritors of the universe. So, we see this marvelous plan of God from the ages to have a people made in His image—actually humans. His own Son would become a human at the human level to provide the necessary deliverance of us humans, who had gotten under the power of the false deity, who was expressing the spirit of error in us, instead of the Spirit of truth. Then in Him, as representing us as the last Adam, we are lifted into brotherhood relationship with Him. We brought that out in the previous chapter that He might be the first-born among many brethren. It wouldn’t be enough to think that meant that we were just side by side, as if we were separate individuals. We have only in a stronger sense the same relationship that the whole human family has with His progenitor. As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive. And, more so because that is not the sense in which Adam lives in us, but there is the sense in which Christ is us, expressing God in our human form.

When we saw, we settled into that, we are liberated. Because a person is liberated according to the ability, shall we say that he has to be himself. And so, you have to pass through the stages of learning the apparent ability, although there never was such a condition. A person is free when you have what it takes to be yourself. When it is settled into us that whatever happens we are no longer ourselves, we are permanent expressions of Deity, we certainly have adequacy. This is “The Rest,” that is spoken about in Heb. That when you enter into this relationship, you enter into His rest. Because rest isn’t inactivity; it is adequacy in action. Strain is inadequacy in action. All life is action. A human being exists to be in action and it is a strained being when we are operating from inadequacy. We are a complete being when we operate from adequacy. When it settles in our consciousness that it actually is so eternally—I am not myself, I am Deity. I am Christ—God, the Father, Son and Spirit in me, as me and I operate from that consciousness and that comes from adequacy.

Our Spiritual Richness

And again continuing with Norman Grubbs and his thoughts of our being now one with GOD through the LORD Christ Jesus.

By Norman P. Grubb

What about you? You are Christ. You find your liberty, when you know that. You have suffering and tension, but you know your liberty and you know you are Christ in you, which gives you an opportunity to love, etc. So, you are now transmitting liberty. We don’t do it very much, we don’t know what it even means with the material creation. We are the agency by which the whole world is going to come into glorious liberty, but we are involved in the suffering. So, we accept that as the necessary part of our way of life. In a sense, even our faith ahs a suffering life. We can’t prove it. We live by faith. You can’t prove your faith, except by the changes made in you. You can’t prove God is a Spirit except by an inner spirit consciousness. So, there is a certain element of suffering even in our faith. It is built on a big question mark. We live in the consciousness. All life has an element of suffering and a question with this glorious liberty of the children of God. Part of that Paul says, is your body. Paul doesn’t speak about everybody being healed.

Now you have moved into an area where you are not free yet. You are not free in your body because your body binds you. And, so he says here we groan with the world. We know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together now. Not only they, but we have the first fruits of the Spirit—but not completely. It is wonderful enough, but it is only first-fruits. We groan with ourselves, waiting for the adoption, which is the redemption of our body. It said, “By hope” but hope which is seen is not hope. “What a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?” So, there is an area in which you are saved ‘in hope’ and not ‘by faith.’ Faith means that you have. Hope means you haven’t yet got it. So, the Bible says, “Don’t kid yourself, be balanced.” And, your body is part of that. You do not get total redemption of your body. You may get some temporary healing, but we are in a corrupt body which dies. So Paul is a very balanced person. So the whole point though is to be able to be in with God in any situation and to magnify God in any situation. There are some questions we can answer and some we cannot wholly answer. So, we have infirmities, not sins. We don’t know what we should pray for as we ought. Now, as a whole I don’t think there is very practical praying. Many of us know a good deal about operating faith. We do a lot of it and it operates. There are some areas we don’t know what to pray for, what the ultimate is going to come and how the world is going to come through, etc.
So, in those areas the Spirit in us shares His groaning with us and makes intercession and God has those groaning and we are able to get the total answer there. But, we are settled in the point “that all things work together for good to them that love God and all called according to His purpose.” So, that becomes, at least on a temporary condition, our answer to the groaning. We learn this principle of seeing God is His goodness through all evil—all things working together for good.

Then we are finally established in who we are, how we should regard ourselves, where we can be free to be ourselves. Paul says, that we are pre-destined to be conformed to His image. So, we are on that way in His perfection, forms which will be exactly like HIM. In the ultimate sense, we shall be this, when “we shall see Him as He is.” That is in 1 Jn. 3:2. He has foreknown us. He has predestined us here to be conformed to that image, that He might be the first born among many brethren. This is where faith comes in. “Whom He has predestined He calls, whom He calls He justifies, whom He justifies He glorifies.” This is why we see people as perfect. We see each other perfect in Christ—now. There are elements in which this is being fulfilled but we see it as such. Verse 30, “whom He has justified He has already glorified.” Then Paul says you are stable there. “If God be for you, who can be against you?” He has prepared you and gives you all things that are necessary. Who can condemn you? If God justifies you, who can bring a charge against you? No one. We don’t take it from other people. We don’t take condemnation. God doesn’t condemn. We are in God’s peace and light. You don’t take charge. You are doing what God means you to do. You are free. You have all resources at your disposal. He has given you The Son. He has given you all things with Him freely. Finally, Paul says, you are in an inseparable condition. He says that neither things human nor super-human could ever divide you. Nothing can separate you from the love of Christ.

Then Paul says you will suffer all day long being killed for His sake, like lambs led to a slaughter. But, you are more than conquerors. This is the combination between joy and suffering. We go through tensions, all kinds of things, but you are on top of them. And, you are so on top of them that you are helping somebody else. “More than conquerors” means you conquered them and you have something to give other people. So, you are right in the middle o...f this thing where nothing can separate you, but you are in an area where all these kinds of pressures happen to you. And, then Paul says, nothing eternal, nothing temporal, nothing can separate you, “Neither death, life, angels, things present, things to come, height, depth, nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

In other chapters, Paul will tell us the kind of person we are, how to live our life outwardly. It is based on how we live it inwardly. It is based on a positive consciousness of union, of replacement, of freedom. No, we are not taking what man says, not what the Law says. We are guided and led people. We are positively established that nothing can separate us.

Yet, at the same time we are involved in the world in situations where we have different kinds of sufferings because now we have learned the process by which sufferings can be something through which God is coming. Paul doesn’t discuss that here. In other words, we learn how to see the suffering areas as stimulants to faith. God puts us there because He is coming through certain ways of deliverance.

So, I am a free person because I have what it takes to be myself and as I am understanding that I am in this union relationship by which He is expressing His self by myself. I act freely because it is He. A man or woman competent in their profession act freely because they know their stuff. They don’t have to consult; they just do it because it is part of them to do it. They have learned now to do it the right way, so they do it the right way. So, th...eir competency and themselves have become one thing. They function as competent this or competent that. Therefore, we boldly function as Deity in expression as Jesus Christ, Father, Son and Spirit because we have this basis of competency. We do not keep saying, “I’m competent, I’m competent.” I forget who I am and be it.
 

So we have come back to this remarkable life in which we are just ourselves and we are our free selves. We think our thoughts, make our decisions, follow our motives and act as persons. Yet, we live an inward secret consciousness, which is called the “mystery of Christ.” But, it isn’t really we; it is He. So, it does have the outer effect of us appearing egotistical. As I always say using that term, there is no bigger egotist recorded in History than Jesus Christ. No one used a bigger “I” than He. “I am the way, I am the truth, I am the door, I am the good shepherd, I am,” all the way through. But of course, when He opened up as to Who He was, He was always anything but Himself. “I have the Father dwelling in me. And when I am speaking the words, it is He speaking them through Me; when I am doing deeds, it is He doing them through me.” His hidden secret is the hidden mystery. Paul says in Colossians, “Our life is hid in Christ in God and Christ is our life.” That is our hidden secret that we operate as if we were just ourselves.

There are those who are bound to hold us in judgment. They are bound to say that we are proud, or self-sufficient, or holier-than-thou or whatever you like. They can’t help it, because we act freely as who we are and if necessary say so. They never understand the possibility of a human claiming to be an expression of deity. To them it is blasphemy or absurdity or conceit. That is part of the stigma we have to take and glory in the taking. We know that truth always bears its own witness. And, it is actually bearing its witness in those who oppose us.

Just as Paul saw in Stephen’s death when instead of being concerned with his being stoned to death, he was crying unto God, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.” And, Paul was responsible for that stoning. He saw a quality, a reality of truth which met his inner being. Because our inner being comes from God and our inner being is to be for others, not for ourselves. Paul saw the contrast between him and his proud defense of his own religion, for his own reputation’s sake, compared to Stephen who was concerned about the needs of his persecutors.

Our Spiritual Richness

Now continuing on with Norman Grubbs and his thoughts on Romans and our growth in the knowledge and revelation of Christ restored to man in GOD's reformation and transformation.

By Norman P. Grubb

From Romans 8:16 Paul starts talking about a new thing. He says the Spirit bears witness with your spirit, that you are children of God. So, he said, that is the proof. You see, I am saying—witness is knowing within you. Now this is this further along witness. You have the witness, you are redeemed; you now have the witness you are unified. The Spirit bears witness with your spirit that the real you is the Spirit of Christ in you. You are settled int...o this; this witness comes. You are settled. Witness means something fixed to you. Now he says, “When you are fixed in that witness you are led by the Spirit of God.” What does that mean? Life becomes very easy. Led isn’t pushed; led isn’t shouted at; led is just you go that way. And, so you take your way to be His way. You have become a free person. Because, you are not you but HE, do what you like. Dare to believe that it is HE in you. So, believe that your ordinary, normal life is HE leading, “Yes, come along, we are coming this way, I am leading you.”

However, when HE isn’t leading you, HE will check you. When HE doesn’t check, go along. Don’t wait to be led, take it for granted that you are led unless the red light is up. Be free, you are a led person now. You are to believe in this new life as a led person and that you are a son of God.
This has given you a new concept toward God, HE is our Father, HE is Daddy. So, Paul says, “He has taken out the spirit of bondage and given you the Spirit of Adoption.” And, I am in the family now. I go to the icebox if I want to. God delights in me doing my stuff, and HE is really doing it! So, I have got a sense of God’s delight behind me, God’s pleasure and Spirit leading. This is this new freedom. And, then Paul says a sudden thing, “But, you will have suffering.” He says it right in the heart of this—suffering. That is startling, isn’t it.

He had just said before, “In this relationship you are now son and heir. If you are children, you are heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ.” So, you are now beginning to move from the trivial to the magnificent. You are part of God’s universal purpose now. So far, that is our personal need—to get out of this and to get into the other. That is finished. You are led. God is your Daddy. Get on with it. That fear stuff is gone. He is with you all the time. You are free and you know who you are. You have got the positive witness.

Now you are moving to something far bigger. You are one by whom God is managing the Universe. You are going to have a new concept of life which is that your job begins to be that you are a communicator to others. Naturally, as we have all through life, we learn a profession and we communicate our profession. We get our wages by doing our plumbing, or doing our engineering or doing our teaching. That is the whole point. You are communicating. You have got the know-how. Now this is moving into the communicating area. It starts off, when he says, “You see, you manage the Universe.” Out through you, you see you are co-heirs, co-heirs with Christ. You are going to move out from yourselves now. Now you are involved with the suffering world and you suffer with it. It says, in Verse 17, “If you are children, you are heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with Him.” Now suffering is the pressures that we never get beyond. This life is a mix-up. It is a mix-up of joy and sorrow, of glory and suffering. The glory and the joy overflow, but the other is there always. So we are mingled in others lives where we are involved with things which do hurt and do cause us concern. You can’t escape that. That is part of the life you are in.

It says, “If you don’t suffer with Him, you aren’t glorified together.” We do suffer. How can we put that? Only that I think there is a drive in life beyond the self. A drive in life. Something inner which causes us to seek to be something. Something in our own area, a contributor to others, involvement with others. And, this is to a suffering world. He even says that we are involved even in the creation this way. He says that creation is suffering; it is under a tension. And, they live by fear—the birds go through this, if the cat’s on the corner. Everything in life has a certain tension about it. This beautiful world has tensions about it. We are involved in this kind of world. So, we must expect to share in the tensions and the problems and our share in the solution of them. Again, he says it is part of this whole negative, positive process. It says He deliberately subjected the created world to a tension condition—what we call the condition of corruption—that it may be delivered into the glorious liberty. It says, “The creature itself was made subject to vanity”—the wrong way of doing things—“not willingly, but by reason of Him Who hath subjected the same in hope.”

So, you see we are part of the process here. We had to pass through negative to a positive. And, we move into the positive in Christ through whole areas of negative. And, even now we have to walk an old life because of the dangers of the negative, all the time, the self influences upon us.

Paul says the whole world is like that. In a sense the whole world having been subjected to the negative, is suffering. Animals, one eating with teeth and claw, etc. Humanity is fitted with its own teeth and claws and is waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. So you see, it says, “Creation waits for the manifestation of the sons of God.” It is in bondage of corruption to be delivered into the glorious liberty of the children of God. So, this is what we are after in this present time. As far as we are able to transmit this liberty, the glorious liberty, we do it—like I transmitted to that lady I told you about.

Our Spiritual Richness

I have taken a few days off of posting to consider what is required to a change in the way that GOD and His change of course which many seem not to be able to grab hold of. And for the answer to this problem it is also within the teachings of scripture as there are many who seem to keep an evil heart of unbelief which a spirit of unacceptance of Truth and its stark reality. To see this I will call upon Norman Grubbs and what he has shared on his Face book page over the past few days.

Romans
By Norman P. Grubb

Many Christians live a bugged life because they think they are wrong because they are tempted. No, temptation is your jumping off spot. “Count it all joy when you fall into temptation.” It gives you a chance to prove faith! The trial of your faith means it gives you a chance to prove faith and then faith gives you a settlement in patience.

So, Paul comes round to this, very simple. He says in Rom. 8, when you have got this you discover you are governed by a new law. A law is a principle, the spirit of life, through Christ. Christ is the one Who cut you off from the old law of sin and He said He condemned sin in the flesh. The fact that the thing shouts at you—it is under bars now—“Come and join me, come and join me”—like a prisoner can shout through the bars. A condemned prisoner is not free and so sin can shout at us through temptations. But, there’s a new law in the Spirit of Life in Jesus Christ—“I have got a new principle—the Spirit of Life.” He goes on to say, “If any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of His.” And, it says in Verse 10, If Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is Life because of righteousness.” The Spirit is your life; the Spirit of God dwells in you. He is you.

Then he says, “You are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit” (Verse 9). That is where you are. Now then, in this condition you walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. You live this life now—under this new settlement. It is settled in you now, surely has settled in you. You are redeemed by the blood of Christ. So it has settled into you, you are unified with Him in His body at His death and resurrection. In His death, out with the old. You are really CHRIST IN YOU. Now, you have settled in that. Now it says, you walk in that, because you are in the world which shouts flesh at you. The whole world is bent on flesh. This is the false world. This is our privilege to shine as lights in a dark world. So it shouts at us.

Now, if you walk in the flesh, every time you walk in the flesh it cuts you off from God. Result is you are fighting, resenting, hurting and you are in trouble. What does that mean? Walking in the flesh isn’t some big sin; it is self response. Flesh is independent-self. That is what Satan is. It isn’t some vast sin; it isn’t that at all. It merely means that every time I’m tempted, “Oh, what shall I do about that?” I’m in trouble. I am waling straigh...t into, “What shall I do about that, this and the other thing?” You always start that way; that is what life is. Life always is by a negative pull on me. “What about, what about?” Now walking in the flesh doesn’t mean that I’m tempted by the flesh. It means that if I proceed that way I am in trouble. I can’t do it, and I am resentful, hurt, worried, burdened. More fool you!!! All that is to give me a little more education to say, “Why am I such a fool? I am not that, Christ is managing this.” So walking in the Spirit is to recognize Who it is walking you, the Spirit of God. And when you are right, your flesh is an asset, it is through your flesh that God comes.

It is only its misuses that are wrong. Its misuse is self, independent-self. That is the flesh, independent-self, which makes you think, “I should do that, I shouldn’t do that.” You learn to live out of that one and you walk and get tempted all the time. But your temptation becomes your practicing grounds. So, he says you have no more debts to pay to the flesh. You are not debtors to the flesh to live under the flesh. The flesh has no call on you. That independent-self got you, through the fall. You are no longer an independent-self. You are Christ in you, and you begin this new life that follows death. When I am tempted to misuse my body, “I am dead, Christ you are right in this and YOU take over, and YOU overthrow the temptation or something.” You get that when you get into Romans 8. He moves away from this flesh/Spirit business. He has left that behind, now. That has been done in these Chapters 6 and 7 and the first part of 8.

Our Spiritual Richness

Todays target is the Leadership of the Spirit as our Guide. But first Pastor Hoekstra and his teaching on Grace with the heading of much more Grace. And as has become my normal habit I will use the ESV translation with the LORD's guiding's in all things.


"The "Much More" Grace of God"


"For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ." (Romans 5:17)

"The Grace of GOD is here connected with the phrase "much more." What a grand description of His Grace — the "much more" Grace of GOD! GOD's Grace is "much more" than forgiveness. It is "much more" than new birth. It is "much more" than we have yet understood. It is "much more" than we have ever yet experienced. Here, we see it is "much more" than sufficient to deal with the devastating effects of sin in the lives of the children of the first Adam (man).


Due to sin, mankind begins their existence separated from the LORD. They are "dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1). Additionally, each person's individual experience can be decimated by the effects of sin. Selfishness, dishonesty, brutality, fear, disloyalty, deception, and the like can leave individuals in miserable bondage and paralyzing defeat. These devastations come from being under the rule of death: "For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one." When Adam fell into sin and rebellion, the enemy of men's souls gained access to Adam and his seed. This cruel dictator rules over everyone who is related to Adam through natural birth (and not yet related to Jesus by new birth). Elsewhere, Jesus described the sole intention of our enemy's interest in us. "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy" (John 10:10).


The remedy of GOD for escaping this reign of terror of death is two-fold: "those who receive abundance of Grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ." First, the "gift of righteousness" provides an acceptable standing in heaven before a Holy, righteous GOD. "But now the righteousness of GOD apart from the Law is revealed . . . even the righteousness of GOD which is through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe" (Romans 3:21-22). Second, "abundance of grace" provides the ongoing spiritual resources that are necessary for the development of a godly, victorious walk for the glory of GOD in the midst of humanity here on earth. Both of these wondrous provisions ("abundance of Grace and of the gift of Righteousness") are ours because of the relationship we have by faith with Jesus Christ: "through the One, Jesus Christ."


The Leadership of the Spirit Guides:

Guides Into All Truth,

John 16:12-15 and Acts 8:26-40 (Jesus is speaking) "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when the Spirit of truth comes, HE Will guide you into all the truth, for HE will not speak on His own authority, but whatever HE hears HE will speak, and HE will declare to you the things that are to come. HE will glorify Me, for HE will take what is Mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is Mine; therefore I said that HE will take what is Mine and declare it to you."


Acts 8:26-40 "An angel of the LORD said to Philip, "Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." This is a desert place. And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over and join this chariot." So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" And he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: "Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth." (Isaiah 53:7-8) And the eunuch said to Philip, "About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?" Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?" And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the LORD carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea."


Controls in the Movement of Christian Leaders,


Acts 10:17-23a "Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon's house, stood at the gate and called out to ask whether Simon who was called Peter was lodging there. And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Behold, three men are looking for you. Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them." And Peter went down to the men and said, "I am the one you are looking for. What is the reason for your coming?" And they said, "Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say." So he invited them in to be his guests."


Directs in the Selection of Christian Leadership,


Acts 13:1-3 "Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. While they were worshiping the LORD and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off."


Chooses the Fields of Operation,


Acts 16:6-10 "They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that GOD had called us to preach the gospel to them."


Obedience to, a Mark of Sonship,


Romans 8:12-17 and Galatians 5:16-24 "So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of GOD are sons of GOD. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of GOD, and if children, then heirs—heirs of GOD and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with (like) Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him."

Galatians 5:16-24 "I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are (wage war) against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of GOD. For the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."

Our Spiritual Richness

Today I am all about doing another double header with this blog, one being with Norman Grubbs and his unique way of presenting Christ in you and the other I will look at the leadership of the Spirit of GOD within us.

Romans
By Norman P. Grubb

"From Romans 8:16 Paul starts talking about a new thing. He says the Spirit bears witness with your spirit, that you are children of God. So, he said, that is the proof. You see, I am saying—witness is knowing within you. Now this is this further along witness. You have the witness, you are redeemed; now the real work of the Holy Spirit within us begins, you now have the witness you are unified. But this does not usually happen at once nor over night if you will, it takes some time to bring this light to bearing of the reality of this change also known as Salvation. The Spirit bears witness with your spirit that the real you is the Spirit of Christ in you. You are settled into this; this witness comes. You are settled. Witness means something fixed to you. Now he says, “When you are fixed in that witness you are led by the Spirit of GOD.” What does that mean? Life becomes very easy. Led isn’t pushed; led isn’t shouted at; led is just you go this way. And, so you take your way to be His way. You have become a free person. Because, you are not you but HE, do what you like. Dare to believe that it is HE in you. So, believe that your ordinary, normal life is HE leading, “Yes, come along, we are coming this way, I am leading you.”

However, when HE isn’t leading you, HE will check you. When HE doesn’t check, go along. Don’t wait to be led, take it for granted that you are led unless the red light is up. Be free, you are a led person now. You are to believe in this new life as a led person and that you are a son of God.
This has given you a new concept toward God, HE is our Father, HE is Daddy. So, Paul says, “He has taken out the spirit of bondage and given you the Spirit of Adoption.” And, I am in the family now. I go to the icebox if I want to. God delights in me doing my stuff, and HE is really doing it! So, I have got a sense of God’s delight behind me, God’s pleasure and Spirit leading. This is this new freedom. And, then Paul says a sudden thing, “But, you will have suffering.” He says it right in the heart of this—suffering. That is startling, isn’t it.

He had just said before, “In this relationship you are now son and heir. If you are children, you are heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ.” So, you are now beginning to move from the trivial to the magnificent. You are part of God’s universal purpose now. So far, that is our personal need—to get out of this and to get into the other. That is finished. You are led. God is your Daddy. Get on with it. That fear stuff is gone. He is with you all the time. You are free and you know who you are. You have got the positive witness.

Now you are moving to something far bigger. You are one by whom God is managing the Universe. You are going to have a new concept of life which is that your job begins to be that you are a communicator to others. Naturally, as we have all through life, we learn a profession and we communicate our profession. We get our wages by doing our plumbing, or doing our engineering or doing our teaching. That is the whole point. You are communicating. You have got the know-how. Now this is moving into the communicating area. It starts off, when he says, “You see, you manage the Universe.” Out through you, you see you are co-heirs, co-heirs with Christ. You are going to move out from yourselves now. Now you are involved with the suffering world and you suffer with it. It says, in Verse 17, “If you are children, you are heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with Him.” Now suffering is the pressures that we never get beyond. This life is a mix-up. It is a mix-up of joy and sorrow, of glory and suffering. The glory and the joy overflow, but the other is there always. So we are mingled in others lives where we are involved with things which do hurt and do cause us concern. You can’t escape that. That is part of the life you are in.

It says, “If you don’t suffer with Him, you aren’t glorified together.” We do suffer. How can we put that? Only that I think there is a drive in life beyond the self. A drive in life. Something inner which causes us to seek to be something. Something in our own area, a contributor to others, involvement with others. And, this is to a suffering world. He even says that we are involved even in the creation this way. He says that creation is suffering; it is under a tension. And, they live by fear—the birds go through this, if the cat’s on the corner. Everything in life has a certain tension about it. This beautiful world has tensions about it. We are involved in this kind of world. So, we must expect to share in the tensions and the problems and our share in the solution of them. Again, he says it is part of this whole negative, positive process. It says He deliberately subjected the created world to a tension condition—what we call the condition of corruption—that it may be delivered into the glorious liberty. It says, “The creature itself was made subject to vanity”—the wrong way of doing things—“not willingly, but by reason of Him Who hath subjected the same in hope.”

So, you see we are part of the process here. We had to pass through negative to a positive. And, we move into the positive in Christ through whole areas of negative. And, even now we have to walk an old life because of the dangers of the negative, all the time, the self influences upon us.

Paul says the whole world is like that. In a sense the whole world having been subjected to the negative, is suffering. Animals, one eating with teeth and claw, etc. Humanity is fitted with its own teeth and claws and is waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. So you see, it says, “Creation waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.” It is in bondage of corruption to be delivered into the glorious liberty of the children of God. So, this is what we are after in this present time. As far as we are able to transmit this liberty, the glorious liberty, we do it—like I transmitted to that lady I told you about."