Via my wife Glenda from a writing by Lawrence Sloam.
This came from the posting of a friend this morning. I was so taken by the clarity of it, I had to pass it along. Too much of the time, we just do not take the time to sit and truly listen, with the ears that He has given us. Nor do we take the time to see the vision with the eyes He has given us. Please take time to read this, I believe it will be a great blessing to you all!! As Paul prayed for the Ephesians, I pray for you;
Ephesians 1:17-23 "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give to you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the Knowledge of Him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.
And what is the exceeding greatness of His power with authority to us-ward who believe (by means of receptivity), according to the working of His mighty power, Which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the Heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And has put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the Head over all things to the Church, Which is His Body, the fulness of Him that fills all in all."
VIA Lawrence Sloma:
Jesus declared, "This is Eternal Life that they may Know [God]" (John 17:2). Unfortunately, many in the Church miss the great blessing of fellowship or intimacy with our Lord because we have lost the ability to recognize His voice within us. Though we have the promise that "My sheep hear My voice," too many believers are starved for that intimate relationship that alone can satisfy the desire of their hearts.
I was one of those sheep who was deaf to His Shepherd until the Lord revealed four very simple keys (found in Habakkuk 2:1, 2) that unlocked the treasure of His voice....see more
Key #1 God's voice in your heart often sounds like a flow of spontaneous thoughts.
Habakkuk Knew (a word meaning intimacy or intercourse with) the sound of God speaking to him (Hab. 2:2). Elijah described it as a still, small voice (I Kings 19:12). I had always listened for an inner audible voice, and God does speak that way at times. However, I have found that usually, God's voice comes as spontaneous thoughts, visions, feelings, or impressions.
For example, haven't you been driving down the road and had a thought come to you to pray for a certain person? Didn't you believe it was God telling you to pray? What did God's voice sound like? Was it an audible voice, or was it a spontaneous thought that lit upon your mind?
Experience indicates that we perceive spirit-level communication as spontaneous thoughts, impressions and visions, and Scripture confirms this in many ways. For example, one definition of paga, a Hebrew word for intercession, is "a chance encounter or an accidental intersecting." When God lays people on our hearts, He does it through paga, a chance-encounter thought "accidentally" intersecting our minds.
Key #2 Become still so you can sense God's flow of thoughts and emotions within.
Habakkuk said, "I will stand on my guard post..." (Hab. 2:1). Habakkuk knew that to hear God's quiet, inner, spontaneous thoughts, he had to first go to a quiet place and still his own thoughts and emotions. Psalm 46:10 encourages us to be still, and know that He is God. There is a deep inner knowing (spontaneous flow) in our soul/spirits that each of us can experience when we quiet our flesh and our minds. If we are not still, we will sense only our own thoughts.
Loving God through a quiet worship song is one very effective way to become still. (Note II Kings 3:15.) After I worship and become silent within, I open myself for that spontaneous flow. If thoughts come of things I have forgotten to do, I write them down and dismiss them. If thoughts of guilt or unworthiness come, I repent thoroughly, receive the washing of the blood of the Lamb, putting on His robe of righteousness, seeing myself spotless before God (Is. 61:10; Col. 1:22).
To receive the pure Word of God, it is very important that my heart be properly focused as I become still because my focus is the source of the intuitive flow. If I fix my eyes upon Jesus, the intuitive flow comes from Jesus by way of inspiration or revelation of Christ Jesus. But if I fix my gaze upon some desire of my heart, the intuitive flow comes out of that desire. To have a pure flow I must become still and carefully fix my eyes upon Jesus. Again, quietly worshiping the High Priest-King, and receiving out of the stillness that follows quite easily accomplishes this.
Fix your gaze upon Jesus (Heb. 12:2), becoming quiet in His presence and sharing with Him what is on your heart. Spontaneous thoughts will begin to flow from the Throne of God to you through Christ, and you will actually be conversing with God the Father through our Priest-King the Lord Christ Jesus!
Therefore, when you want to hear from God, tune to chance-encounter or spontaneous thoughts.
Key #3 As you pray, fix the eyes of your heart upon Jesus, seeing in the Spirit the dreams and visions of Almighty God.
Habakkuk said, "I will keep watch to see," and God said, "Record the vision" (Hab. 2:1,2). Habakkuk was actually looking for vision as he prayed. He opened the eyes of his heart, and looked into the spirit world to see what God wanted to show him. This is an intriguing idea.(This was the son of mans practice daily as He depended on the Holy Spirit for all He was to say or do.)
God has always spoken through dreams and visions, and He specifically said that they would come to those upon whom the Holy Spirit is given or is received by (Acts 2:1-4, 17).
I had never thought of opening the eyes of my heart and looking for vision. However, I have come to believe that this is exactly what God wants me to do. He gave me eyes in my heart to see in the spirit the vision and movement of Almighty God. There is an active spirit world all around us, full of angels, demons, the Holy Spirit, the omnipresent Father, and His omnipresent Son, Christ Jesus. The only reasons for me not to see this reality are unbelief or lack of knowledge.
In order to see, we must look. Daniel saw a vision in his mind and said, "I was looking...I kept looking...I kept looking" (Dan. 7:2,9,13). As I pray, I look for Jesus, and I watch as He speaks to me, doing and saying the things that are on the Fathers and His heart. Many Christians will find that if they will only look, they will see, in the same way they receive spontaneous thoughts or inspirations of revelation. Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us (Matt. 1:23). It is as simple as that. You can see Christ present with you because Christ is present within you. In fact, the vision may come so easily that you will be tempted to reject it, thinking that it is just you. But if you persist in recording these visions, your doubt will soon be overcome by faith as you recognize that the content of them could only be birthed in Almighty God.
Jesus demonstrated the ability of living out of constant contact with God, declaring that He did nothing on His own initiative, but only what He saw the Father doing, and heard the Father saying (John 5:19,20,30). What an incredible way to live!
Key #4 Journaling, the writing out of your prayers and God's answers, brings great freedom in hearing God's voice.
God told Habakkuk to record the vision (Hab. 2:2). This was not an isolated command. The Scriptures record many examples of individuals' prayers and God's replies (e.g. the Psalms, many of the prophecies, Revelation).
I call the process "two-way journaling," and I have found it to be a fabulous catalyst for clearly discerning God's inner, spontaneous flow, because as I journal I am able to write in faith for long periods of time, simply believing and being in a state of receptivity of God. I know that what I believe I have received from God must be tested. However, testing involves doubt and doubt blocks divine communication, so I do not want to test while I am trying to receive. With journaling, I can receive in faith, knowing that when the flow has ended I can test and examine it carefully, making sure that it lines up with Scripture.
You will be amazed when you journal. Doubt may hinder you at first, but throw it off, reminding yourself that it is a biblical concept, and that God is present, speaking to His children. Relax. When we cease our labors and enter His rest, God is free to flow (Heb. 4:10). Sit back comfortably, take out your pen and paper, smile, and turn your attention toward the Lord in praise and worship, seeking His face. After you write your question to Him, become still, fixing your gaze on Jesus you will suddenly have a very good thought. Don't doubt it; simply write it down. Later, as you read your journaling, you, too, will be blessed to discover that you are indeed dialoguing with God.
Some final notes: Knowing God through the Bible is a vital foundation to hearing His voice in your heart, so you must have a solid commitment to Knowing and Obeying the Scriptures. It is also very important for your growth and safety that you be related to solid, spiritual counselors. All major directional moves that come through journaling should be confirmed by your counselors before you act upon them.
Thanks Lawrence.....
During our sharing of various writers books, papers or articles we do so in an attitude of prayer and worship and the Lord directs us to add to or change some words or even add phrases for emphasis. As we have done in the above article. All in order and to the praise and the Glory of God through the Lord Jesus Christ our High Priest and LORD.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Sunday, October 2, 2011
The Mystery of Godliness apart XXII
By Major W. Ian Thomas
This will close the book. Hope that it has been a blessing to all and maybe help clear up any misgivings or lack of understanding.
Perhaps you are a businessman and you imagine that once you have entered your office you have become the boss. Everything you say now becomes law! You had better repent by giving this business over to God. The resources are not yours anyway. Everything belongs to Him. And, if you are someone who works in an environment where the Spirit cannot remain in control of your life, then you need to get out of that business before it becomes too late to enter into the Kingdom-Life of God. (Matt. 22:1-14)
In what part of your life do you seem to get by without depending on God {not God as a “come along helper” to your plans and desires, as so many ask Him to do, but God as the “originator” and “source” of your plans, activities and desires}? That is the place that needs to change! Right there! You had better repent. You cannot find the Kingdom-Life until you have stopped walking in the strength of the flesh.
Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His Rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it… For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works… Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest… (Heb. 4:1, 10-11 Emphasis added, for further enlightenment look at our other blog link in the left hand top side of this page)
You have been “made alive” in Christ to be exclusively at His disposal. You now need to fully present yourself to Him to be an instrument of His Righteousness, so He may control your activities and display the Light of His Life through your character. Can you honestly say in your own experience, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ Lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh {in a mortal body} I live by faith in the Son of God”? (Gal. 2:20 Emphasis added)
The Capital “I” needs to be crucified with Christ so that God may have complete possession of your body. The degree to which a deliberate, voluntary attitude of faith has permitted you to reckon yourself to be dead “with Christ,” and the degree to which you have stopped living by “the desires of the flesh and of the mind” (Eph. 2:3), will be the degree to which the redemptive plan of God has taken place within your life.
Your worth is directly related to how much you have permitted the Spirit of God to reveal the Son’s Life through you. Everything else is a dead loss and comes in last place or quits or falls out of the race set before us. In the end, everything of the flesh must be burned in the testing fires on the Day of Judgment.
When you are willing to fully surrender your body to become a vessel of Christ’s Kingdom-Life, then the Son of God will fill what you are – nothing, with what He is – everything. Only then will you be something!
With the old flesh-life out, and the Kingdom-Life of Christ in, how wealthy God will have made you! This is the Pearl of Great Price! Good friend, before you lay this book aside, embrace this life of faith. Great and precious are the promises to those who live by childlike dependence on God for everything. (2 Pet. 1:3-4) Submit yourself to Christ so that He may give you all that He has prepared for you in the Heavenly realms. (Eph. 1:3) He waits to share this wonderful Mystery of Godliness with you!
{We therefore} present to you the word of God in its fullness – the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. (Col. 1:25-28)
But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing… Blessed is the man who endures temptation {in the time of testing}; for when he has been approved {to come out of the wilderness of human sufficiency}, he will receive the crown of Life {the Kingdom-Life} which the Lord has promised
to those who love Him. (Jam. 1:4, 12 Emphasis added)
We have come through this by personal experience and have stood the testings, trials and tribulations and still they come as the LORD perfects us with His teaching and revealing of our Salvation within. All to the Glory and Praise of an Endless Life in the presence of God. Even while here on earth in our present state as a receptive creature of God's making.
This will close the book. Hope that it has been a blessing to all and maybe help clear up any misgivings or lack of understanding.
Perhaps you are a businessman and you imagine that once you have entered your office you have become the boss. Everything you say now becomes law! You had better repent by giving this business over to God. The resources are not yours anyway. Everything belongs to Him. And, if you are someone who works in an environment where the Spirit cannot remain in control of your life, then you need to get out of that business before it becomes too late to enter into the Kingdom-Life of God. (Matt. 22:1-14)
In what part of your life do you seem to get by without depending on God {not God as a “come along helper” to your plans and desires, as so many ask Him to do, but God as the “originator” and “source” of your plans, activities and desires}? That is the place that needs to change! Right there! You had better repent. You cannot find the Kingdom-Life until you have stopped walking in the strength of the flesh.
Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His Rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it… For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works… Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest… (Heb. 4:1, 10-11 Emphasis added, for further enlightenment look at our other blog link in the left hand top side of this page)
You have been “made alive” in Christ to be exclusively at His disposal. You now need to fully present yourself to Him to be an instrument of His Righteousness, so He may control your activities and display the Light of His Life through your character. Can you honestly say in your own experience, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ Lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh {in a mortal body} I live by faith in the Son of God”? (Gal. 2:20 Emphasis added)
The Capital “I” needs to be crucified with Christ so that God may have complete possession of your body. The degree to which a deliberate, voluntary attitude of faith has permitted you to reckon yourself to be dead “with Christ,” and the degree to which you have stopped living by “the desires of the flesh and of the mind” (Eph. 2:3), will be the degree to which the redemptive plan of God has taken place within your life.
Your worth is directly related to how much you have permitted the Spirit of God to reveal the Son’s Life through you. Everything else is a dead loss and comes in last place or quits or falls out of the race set before us. In the end, everything of the flesh must be burned in the testing fires on the Day of Judgment.
When you are willing to fully surrender your body to become a vessel of Christ’s Kingdom-Life, then the Son of God will fill what you are – nothing, with what He is – everything. Only then will you be something!
With the old flesh-life out, and the Kingdom-Life of Christ in, how wealthy God will have made you! This is the Pearl of Great Price! Good friend, before you lay this book aside, embrace this life of faith. Great and precious are the promises to those who live by childlike dependence on God for everything. (2 Pet. 1:3-4) Submit yourself to Christ so that He may give you all that He has prepared for you in the Heavenly realms. (Eph. 1:3) He waits to share this wonderful Mystery of Godliness with you!
{We therefore} present to you the word of God in its fullness – the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. (Col. 1:25-28)
But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing… Blessed is the man who endures temptation {in the time of testing}; for when he has been approved {to come out of the wilderness of human sufficiency}, he will receive the crown of Life {the Kingdom-Life} which the Lord has promised
to those who love Him. (Jam. 1:4, 12 Emphasis added)
We have come through this by personal experience and have stood the testings, trials and tribulations and still they come as the LORD perfects us with His teaching and revealing of our Salvation within. All to the Glory and Praise of an Endless Life in the presence of God. Even while here on earth in our present state as a receptive creature of God's making.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
The Mystery of Godliness apart XXI
By Major W. Ian Thomas
…For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8 Emphasis added)
For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man {the flesh-life} was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with {destroyed}, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died {to the flesh-life} has been freed from sin {the old life of self-sufficiency and self-will}. (Rom. 6:5-7)
Once Paul had finally come to the end of himself and had died to the ways of human effort {the old Adam-life, dealing with the external}, the risen Lord was able to manifest Himself through his mortal body. Paul was enabled to experience a complete victory over the old Adam-life by entering into an experiential relationship with Christ in His crucified life. It was by passing through this real death to the old self-life that he was able to begin sharing with Christ in His risen Life. It was then that he could honestly say, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” (Gal. 2:20) And it was then that he could become “more than conquerors through Him who Loves us.” (Rom. 8:37)
Paul received what he referred to as “the abundance of Grace and of the Gift of Righteousness.” This abundant measure of Grace enabled him to “reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” He discovered that Christ’s risen Life was “much more” powerful than the flesh-life he had originally inherited from Adam.
For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one {Adam}, MUCH MORE those who receive abundance of Grace and of the Gift of Righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. (Rom. 5:17 Emphasis added)
How Much Are You Worth
We must never permit anyone to deceive us into believing that God has placed some set limitation on what Jesus Christ can do through us in this world. Through our dependent faith in God, we can put His Divine power and authority to work within our inner being to conquer everything that prevents the Son from displaying His Kingdom-Life of Love through our mortal bodies. He “is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power, authority that is at work within us.” (Eph. 3:20 Emphasis added)
Since God can do more than we can imagine, let us not let carnal minds – minds that are still under the sway of the devil’s lies – limit our understanding of what He can do. “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” (Luke 18:27)
Yes, there will be a physical resurrection of the body “when the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.” (1 Cor. 15:53) And this resurrected body will completely free us from the sufferings we have experienced in this cursed world. But we can still enter into a real participation with Christ in His Divine nature while we remain in this world. And even if it is only a dim likeness when contrasted to His Glorified Life, God does have the power to manifest the same victorious life, through us, that Jesus displayed by the power of the Holy Spirit through His mortal body. We are therefore expected to buy the heavenly Pearl – His Kingdom-Life – by following Him through the cross. (Matt. 16:24-25)
There are two ways for someone to live. The first is to live “to and for self,” and thereby “walk after the flesh.” The second is to live “to and for Christ,” and thereby “walk after the Spirit.” It is not just a matter of degree, it is a matter of kind. Your life will either have self at the center {even when serving Christ} or God at the center.
There are some who think they can serve both self and God. But Jesus Himself said, “No one can serve two masters.” (Matt. 6:24) You will either live by human effort according to “the desires of the flesh and of the mind” (Eph. 2:2-3), or you will live by faith under the control and power of the Holy Spirit. The choice, according to the Scriptures, is yours! And you will need to be very careful about your decision "if" you are to avoid being deceived like Adam and Eve.
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 {in the Kingdom-Life}. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. (Rom. 8:13-14 Emphasis added)
Which of these principles governs your behavior? Remember, there is a “form of godliness” that does not come from the “power” or authority of God. (2 Tim. 3:5) Therefore, we are not asking you about the degree of righteousness you have developed. The principle from which your behavior springs is what matters. Are you living by human effort, or are you living by the Spirit?
To help you answer this question, you should remember that the essence of sin is independence and self-sufficiency: “Everything that does not come from faith is sin.”
(Rom. 14:23) Are you totally surrendered to the Will of God and are you continually depending on Him to manifest His Life and works through you? Or, in your service to God, are you still independently directing your activities and living by your own human wisdom and efforts?
Every area of your life in which you have not learned to be wholly dependent on God is an area that still requires repentance. Are you still trying to become righteous through your own concerted efforts? You need to repent. Are there people you are still trying to change by ruling over them as the Gentiles do? You need to repent? As long as you are depending on human methods, human efforts and human wisdom to correct the world, you are not living by faith in God’s power or authority.
…For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8 Emphasis added)
For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man {the flesh-life} was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with {destroyed}, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died {to the flesh-life} has been freed from sin {the old life of self-sufficiency and self-will}. (Rom. 6:5-7)
Once Paul had finally come to the end of himself and had died to the ways of human effort {the old Adam-life, dealing with the external}, the risen Lord was able to manifest Himself through his mortal body. Paul was enabled to experience a complete victory over the old Adam-life by entering into an experiential relationship with Christ in His crucified life. It was by passing through this real death to the old self-life that he was able to begin sharing with Christ in His risen Life. It was then that he could honestly say, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” (Gal. 2:20) And it was then that he could become “more than conquerors through Him who Loves us.” (Rom. 8:37)
Paul received what he referred to as “the abundance of Grace and of the Gift of Righteousness.” This abundant measure of Grace enabled him to “reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” He discovered that Christ’s risen Life was “much more” powerful than the flesh-life he had originally inherited from Adam.
For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one {Adam}, MUCH MORE those who receive abundance of Grace and of the Gift of Righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. (Rom. 5:17 Emphasis added)
How Much Are You Worth
We must never permit anyone to deceive us into believing that God has placed some set limitation on what Jesus Christ can do through us in this world. Through our dependent faith in God, we can put His Divine power and authority to work within our inner being to conquer everything that prevents the Son from displaying His Kingdom-Life of Love through our mortal bodies. He “is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power, authority that is at work within us.” (Eph. 3:20 Emphasis added)
Since God can do more than we can imagine, let us not let carnal minds – minds that are still under the sway of the devil’s lies – limit our understanding of what He can do. “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” (Luke 18:27)
Yes, there will be a physical resurrection of the body “when the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.” (1 Cor. 15:53) And this resurrected body will completely free us from the sufferings we have experienced in this cursed world. But we can still enter into a real participation with Christ in His Divine nature while we remain in this world. And even if it is only a dim likeness when contrasted to His Glorified Life, God does have the power to manifest the same victorious life, through us, that Jesus displayed by the power of the Holy Spirit through His mortal body. We are therefore expected to buy the heavenly Pearl – His Kingdom-Life – by following Him through the cross. (Matt. 16:24-25)
There are two ways for someone to live. The first is to live “to and for self,” and thereby “walk after the flesh.” The second is to live “to and for Christ,” and thereby “walk after the Spirit.” It is not just a matter of degree, it is a matter of kind. Your life will either have self at the center {even when serving Christ} or God at the center.
There are some who think they can serve both self and God. But Jesus Himself said, “No one can serve two masters.” (Matt. 6:24) You will either live by human effort according to “the desires of the flesh and of the mind” (Eph. 2:2-3), or you will live by faith under the control and power of the Holy Spirit. The choice, according to the Scriptures, is yours! And you will need to be very careful about your decision "if" you are to avoid being deceived like Adam and Eve.
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 {in the Kingdom-Life}. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. (Rom. 8:13-14 Emphasis added)
Which of these principles governs your behavior? Remember, there is a “form of godliness” that does not come from the “power” or authority of God. (2 Tim. 3:5) Therefore, we are not asking you about the degree of righteousness you have developed. The principle from which your behavior springs is what matters. Are you living by human effort, or are you living by the Spirit?
To help you answer this question, you should remember that the essence of sin is independence and self-sufficiency: “Everything that does not come from faith is sin.”
(Rom. 14:23) Are you totally surrendered to the Will of God and are you continually depending on Him to manifest His Life and works through you? Or, in your service to God, are you still independently directing your activities and living by your own human wisdom and efforts?
Every area of your life in which you have not learned to be wholly dependent on God is an area that still requires repentance. Are you still trying to become righteous through your own concerted efforts? You need to repent. Are there people you are still trying to change by ruling over them as the Gentiles do? You need to repent? As long as you are depending on human methods, human efforts and human wisdom to correct the world, you are not living by faith in God’s power or authority.
Friday, September 30, 2011
The Mystery of Godliness apart XX
By Major W. Ian Thomas
True Godliness will not come from our human efforts to fulfill God’s law any more than it will come from our attempts to imitate God. Both are impossible! “For if a law had been given that could impart life {God’s Kingdom-Life of Divine Love}, then Righteousness would certainly have come by the law.” (Gal. 3:21) But law cannot impart life. The children of God need to be filled with the indwelling Life of the Son before they will have the power to fulfill all the righteous requirements of the law and display True godliness.
Therefore, the law was our tutor {serving as a harsh and unrelenting schoolmaster, in that there was NO forgiveness of err} to bring us to Christ {to receive His Divine Life by faith}... (Gal. 3:24)
For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son…that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh {by human effort} but according to the Spirit. (Rom. 8:3-4){The Spirit of an endless Life received by way of receptivity and faith in Christ Jesus. Emphasis added}
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the New Covenant, not of the letter {of the law} but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life {the Kingdom-Life}. (2 Cor. 3:5-6 Emphasis added)
Because the law “made nothing perfect,” it should be a great relief when you discover that God expects you to fail in your attempts to fulfill the righteous requirements of the law. It was designed to kill the pride that led you to think you had the power to conform to His laws in the first place.
Nothing that has shocked you about yourself has ever shocked God; it grieves Him, but it never shocks Him. His laws were given to make you aware of your wretchedness and total bankruptcy.
Even as a Christian, you will resist this death to the flesh-life until you realize two things: First, that God requires His children to fulfill all the righteous requirements found in His laws, including the teachings in the Sermon on the Mount. And second, that you are powerless to fulfill His requirements while living by the strength of your flesh, your own self sufficiency. You will need to come to a place where your only hope of being saved from your fallen nature is by passing through this death to the flesh-life and entering into the Lord’s Kingdom-Life. “Whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matt. 16:25)
After being reconciled to God through Christ’s shed blood, you will find yourself being led to a place where you acknowledge that not only what you have done is wrong, but your very nature is wrong. You must come to the point where you realize that even your best human efforts are still sinful in nature. Not only do they not come from faith {and everything “not from faith is sin” (Rom. 14:23)}, but they will naturally come from selfish motives.
There are many Christians who are still trying to make themselves better. They are continually frustrated with their efforts, but they still seem to think they can do something to improve themselves. And like the Pharisees of old, as long as they have some hope in this self-produced form of righteousness, they will avoid taking Christ’s Way of the cross.
It is time for every Christian to recognize the “nature of the beast.” Stop being deceived into thinking your fleshly nature can be changed or fixed over time. Its roots are too deeply sunk into the life of the devil for you to change yourself on the inside. The only way to be delivered from this old Adam-life is by passing through “death” into “life.”
Compare your daily walk with Christ’s teachings in His Sermon on the Mount. Notice how selfish you are compared to the Sacrificial life He requires of His followers. Even the most loving acts you perform for the Lord and your family will still have a self-centered bias, even if it’s only the desire to be recognized or acknowledged for what you have done. If you have been trying to be righteous through your own efforts, your mouth will be stopped and your sin exposed when you Truly begin to see the High calling we are called to in Christ.
Whether you try to obey Christ’s teachings or try to imitate Him, either method will naturally bring a deep awareness of your sinful nature. And whether you truly compare your life to Christ’s teachings or compare yourself to the Word made manifest through His life, both standards will show how far you have come short of the Glory of God.
A plumb-line may show how crooked something is, but it does nothing to put it straight. If the Son did nothing more than set a standard by which we are to live, we are left with nothing to do but wallow in the squalor of our own inadequacy. In fact, we could say the “good news” of the Gospel is really a message of despair. It mocks us with its words without providing the spiritual life that it requires from us.
But the Son of God offers “much more” than forgiveness for our sins and a standard to live by. Jesus came to do “much more” than reconcile us to God. He has come to save (Redeem) us from our fallen nature. He has both the power and the Authority to enable us to share with Him in the same victorious life that enabled Him to conquer sin {living in one’s own sufficiency and willfulness}.
Here is the “much more” of your Salvation! “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, MUCH MORE, having been reconciled {a past event}, we shall be saved (Redeemed) by His life.” (Rom. 5:10 Emphasis added) You need something much more than being reconciled to God. And glory be to God, you now have an opportunity to receive an abundantly full measure of Christ’s Spiritual Life. (John 10:10) His indwelling Life is even more powerful than the fallen nature that was first received from Adam. (Rom. 5:17) The Son of God has come to establish His Kingdom-Life of Love within your heart so you may walk in True Holiness and Righteousness before Him all the days of your life. (Luke 1:74-75)
True Godliness will not come from our human efforts to fulfill God’s law any more than it will come from our attempts to imitate God. Both are impossible! “For if a law had been given that could impart life {God’s Kingdom-Life of Divine Love}, then Righteousness would certainly have come by the law.” (Gal. 3:21) But law cannot impart life. The children of God need to be filled with the indwelling Life of the Son before they will have the power to fulfill all the righteous requirements of the law and display True godliness.
Therefore, the law was our tutor {serving as a harsh and unrelenting schoolmaster, in that there was NO forgiveness of err} to bring us to Christ {to receive His Divine Life by faith}... (Gal. 3:24)
For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son…that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh {by human effort} but according to the Spirit. (Rom. 8:3-4){The Spirit of an endless Life received by way of receptivity and faith in Christ Jesus. Emphasis added}
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the New Covenant, not of the letter {of the law} but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life {the Kingdom-Life}. (2 Cor. 3:5-6 Emphasis added)
Because the law “made nothing perfect,” it should be a great relief when you discover that God expects you to fail in your attempts to fulfill the righteous requirements of the law. It was designed to kill the pride that led you to think you had the power to conform to His laws in the first place.
Nothing that has shocked you about yourself has ever shocked God; it grieves Him, but it never shocks Him. His laws were given to make you aware of your wretchedness and total bankruptcy.
Even as a Christian, you will resist this death to the flesh-life until you realize two things: First, that God requires His children to fulfill all the righteous requirements found in His laws, including the teachings in the Sermon on the Mount. And second, that you are powerless to fulfill His requirements while living by the strength of your flesh, your own self sufficiency. You will need to come to a place where your only hope of being saved from your fallen nature is by passing through this death to the flesh-life and entering into the Lord’s Kingdom-Life. “Whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matt. 16:25)
After being reconciled to God through Christ’s shed blood, you will find yourself being led to a place where you acknowledge that not only what you have done is wrong, but your very nature is wrong. You must come to the point where you realize that even your best human efforts are still sinful in nature. Not only do they not come from faith {and everything “not from faith is sin” (Rom. 14:23)}, but they will naturally come from selfish motives.
There are many Christians who are still trying to make themselves better. They are continually frustrated with their efforts, but they still seem to think they can do something to improve themselves. And like the Pharisees of old, as long as they have some hope in this self-produced form of righteousness, they will avoid taking Christ’s Way of the cross.
It is time for every Christian to recognize the “nature of the beast.” Stop being deceived into thinking your fleshly nature can be changed or fixed over time. Its roots are too deeply sunk into the life of the devil for you to change yourself on the inside. The only way to be delivered from this old Adam-life is by passing through “death” into “life.”
Compare your daily walk with Christ’s teachings in His Sermon on the Mount. Notice how selfish you are compared to the Sacrificial life He requires of His followers. Even the most loving acts you perform for the Lord and your family will still have a self-centered bias, even if it’s only the desire to be recognized or acknowledged for what you have done. If you have been trying to be righteous through your own efforts, your mouth will be stopped and your sin exposed when you Truly begin to see the High calling we are called to in Christ.
Whether you try to obey Christ’s teachings or try to imitate Him, either method will naturally bring a deep awareness of your sinful nature. And whether you truly compare your life to Christ’s teachings or compare yourself to the Word made manifest through His life, both standards will show how far you have come short of the Glory of God.
A plumb-line may show how crooked something is, but it does nothing to put it straight. If the Son did nothing more than set a standard by which we are to live, we are left with nothing to do but wallow in the squalor of our own inadequacy. In fact, we could say the “good news” of the Gospel is really a message of despair. It mocks us with its words without providing the spiritual life that it requires from us.
But the Son of God offers “much more” than forgiveness for our sins and a standard to live by. Jesus came to do “much more” than reconcile us to God. He has come to save (Redeem) us from our fallen nature. He has both the power and the Authority to enable us to share with Him in the same victorious life that enabled Him to conquer sin {living in one’s own sufficiency and willfulness}.
Here is the “much more” of your Salvation! “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, MUCH MORE, having been reconciled {a past event}, we shall be saved (Redeemed) by His life.” (Rom. 5:10 Emphasis added) You need something much more than being reconciled to God. And glory be to God, you now have an opportunity to receive an abundantly full measure of Christ’s Spiritual Life. (John 10:10) His indwelling Life is even more powerful than the fallen nature that was first received from Adam. (Rom. 5:17) The Son of God has come to establish His Kingdom-Life of Love within your heart so you may walk in True Holiness and Righteousness before Him all the days of your life. (Luke 1:74-75)
Thursday, September 29, 2011
The Mystery of Godliness apart XIX
By Major W. Ian Thomas
The Law of the Spirit of Life
For the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. (Rom. 8:2)
The Gift of the Spirit gives us the ability to respond to the teachings of our Lord as we pass through the time of testing and seek to enter into the Life of Promise. “If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Rom. 8:13) in the Kingdom-Life.
In other words, there is a work to be done after spiritual regeneration. We prepare God’s temple by separating ourselves from the ways of the world as we are led by the Spirit. The Lord will eventually manifest His Kingdom-Life within everyone who will Obediently follow Him through the cross and into the Heavenly realms.
For you are the temple of the Living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them…” Therefore “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. (2 Cor. 6:16-17)
He who has My commandments and keeps them {with their regenerate heart}, it is he who loves Me…and I will Love him and manifest Myself {the Kingdom-Life} to him. (John 14:21)
It was to bring about this change of government and introduce this New law of Spiritual Life from Heaven that the Second Man lived, died and rose again from the dead. “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s Obedience many will be made Righteous.” (Rom. 5:19)
Do not confuse the written Law with the New law of the Spirit of Life. The Old Testament law, although righteous, could only bring about the experience of sin and death in the children of God. Paul said, “I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death.” (Rom. 7:10) The law, we will learn, was given to bring about a real death to the old self-sufficient way of life that everyone has inherited from Adam. This “original sin” needs to die before the Kingdom-Life of God can be fully established within the heart.
( This law is found in: Genesis 2:16-17 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die. This was the first spoken law in the form of a command, a law because with the command there was given the penalty for the disobedience to the spoken command. This was separation from the Life and Love of God which is found in our intimacy or intercourse with God. Emphasis added)
We know there had to be “an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, for the law made nothing perfect.” (Heb. 7:18-19) While Jesus expects His disciples to fulfill all the righteous requirements found in His teachings, including His Sermon on the Mount it can only be accomplished through the power of the Holy Spirit. “It is the Spirit who gives Life {the Kingdom-Life of self-sacrificing Love}; the flesh profits nothing.” (John 6:63)(Here the law referred to is the Law given to Moses and through Moses to Israel found in Leviticus through Deuteronomy which no man could fulfill but which reveals our undoneness of bankruptcy to follow the Will of God in obedience. Emphasis added)
Written laws have only a limited application in God’s dealings with man. First of all, written laws are needed to restrain people who are not living by God’s Spirit. This includes the use of laws established by governments in this temporal world. God uses them to place a restraint on the evil nature in fallen man. In a sense, we can therefore say that written laws are necessary in a fallen and evil world. “Before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law.” (Gal. 3:23)
However, God never intended for man to live by law. The children of God were designed to participate with God in His own Divine nature. And where the fruit of God’s Spirit is being manifested through fully Sanctified Christians {those who have allowed God to set them apart for His exclusive use and are sharing in the Divine nature}, there is no need for law.
But the fruit of the Spirit is Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no {need for} law. (Gal. 5:22-23 Emphasis added)
We can therefore say that written laws will only be needed while people are still living by the strength of the flesh. Once the believer has died to the ways of the flesh and has entered into a real participation with Christ in His Divine nature (2 Pet. 1:3-4), he {or she} will be moved by the Spirit in a Way that naturally fulfills all the requirements found in God’s written laws.
But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things {pertaining to the Kingdom-Life and Godliness}…The anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you {through written laws}… (1
John 2:20, 27)
Christians, after being reconciled to God through Christ’s blood, will have a natural tendency to live by human effort. Because they are not yet living under the full control and power of the Holy Spirit, but still have some dependence on their own strength, they are unable to consistently display the Fruit of Christ’s Spirit through their lives.
The law will therefore have a limited application in the life of every born again Christian. God has provided written laws to reveal what True Righteousness is like. His laws will therefore expose the defects {bankruptcy} that continue to rise out of the heart when one is still living by the strength of the flesh. There will be something within them that “is not subject to the law of God.” (Rom. 8:7) They will find that their old “Adam-life” sometimes still has an opposing nature to the sacrificial Agape Love as displayed by Jesus, the prototype Son.
While these earnest Christians will generally prevent sinful tendencies from breaking forth into outward displays of sin, they will still sense the presence of an evil within their hearts. For example, they will periodically find a selfish anger
coming to the surface when people treat them poorly. And even though this anger ever breaks forth into actual murder, the corruption that exposes itself in selfish anger is the same as murder in God’s Sight. God therefore expects them to submit their Adam-life to the cross so they can die to this old nature and enter into a participation with Christ in His Divine nature.
The requirements that Christ established in His Sermon on the Mount are impossible to keep by human effort. But this does not mean that He does not expect His believers, followers and disciples to fulfill all the Righteous requirements found in His teachings. It simply means that every born again believer will need to learn to live by the Spirit. “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matt. 19:26)
The law has a work to do in the heart of every Christian. It is designed to break the natural sense of self-sufficiency found in the fallen nature. This old spirit (evil, as it is the nature acquired from Satan) needs to be brought to its death. Only then are believers able to enter into the pure faith that will enable them to “put on the New self, created to be Like God in True Righteousness and Holiness.” (Eph. 4:24)(Emphasis added)
The apostle Paul reveals in Romans seven how this process took place in his life. As he has described, the standards found in God’s laws will eventually kill the self-sufficient {evil} spirit in everyone who has earnestly sought to be Obedient to God’s laws.
…Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law… I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death… But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful… For in my inner being I delight in God’s law {a sign of spiritual regeneration and the presence of the Holy Spirit}; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members… Who will rescue me from this body of death? (Rom. 7:7, 10, 13, 22-24 Emphasis added)
Paul did not always remain “a prisoner of the law of sin.” As he later said, “For the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has made me Free from the law of sin and death.” (Rom. 8:2) The Spirit of Christ was able to set him Free from his old sin nature. The Kingdom-Life was established within His heart once he realized that “it is the Spirit who gives Life {the Kingdom-Life}; the flesh {striving by human effort} profits nothing.” (John 6:63)
Every Christian will need to learn how the law was designed to bring about a real death to the self-sufficient life they inherited from Adam. Once they have lost all hope in their ability to fully conform to God’s Ways by human effort, they will be prepared to turn to Christ with the kind of faith that will permit Him to set them “Free indeed” from the “law of sin.”
…Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God – through Jesus Christ our Lord… (Rom. 7:24-25)
…I tell you the Truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin… So if the Son sets you free {from the sin nature}, you will be Free indeed. (John 8:34, 36)
The Law of the Spirit of Life
For the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. (Rom. 8:2)
The Gift of the Spirit gives us the ability to respond to the teachings of our Lord as we pass through the time of testing and seek to enter into the Life of Promise. “If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Rom. 8:13) in the Kingdom-Life.
In other words, there is a work to be done after spiritual regeneration. We prepare God’s temple by separating ourselves from the ways of the world as we are led by the Spirit. The Lord will eventually manifest His Kingdom-Life within everyone who will Obediently follow Him through the cross and into the Heavenly realms.
For you are the temple of the Living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them…” Therefore “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. (2 Cor. 6:16-17)
He who has My commandments and keeps them {with their regenerate heart}, it is he who loves Me…and I will Love him and manifest Myself {the Kingdom-Life} to him. (John 14:21)
It was to bring about this change of government and introduce this New law of Spiritual Life from Heaven that the Second Man lived, died and rose again from the dead. “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s Obedience many will be made Righteous.” (Rom. 5:19)
Do not confuse the written Law with the New law of the Spirit of Life. The Old Testament law, although righteous, could only bring about the experience of sin and death in the children of God. Paul said, “I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death.” (Rom. 7:10) The law, we will learn, was given to bring about a real death to the old self-sufficient way of life that everyone has inherited from Adam. This “original sin” needs to die before the Kingdom-Life of God can be fully established within the heart.
( This law is found in: Genesis 2:16-17 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die. This was the first spoken law in the form of a command, a law because with the command there was given the penalty for the disobedience to the spoken command. This was separation from the Life and Love of God which is found in our intimacy or intercourse with God. Emphasis added)
We know there had to be “an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, for the law made nothing perfect.” (Heb. 7:18-19) While Jesus expects His disciples to fulfill all the righteous requirements found in His teachings, including His Sermon on the Mount it can only be accomplished through the power of the Holy Spirit. “It is the Spirit who gives Life {the Kingdom-Life of self-sacrificing Love}; the flesh profits nothing.” (John 6:63)(Here the law referred to is the Law given to Moses and through Moses to Israel found in Leviticus through Deuteronomy which no man could fulfill but which reveals our undoneness of bankruptcy to follow the Will of God in obedience. Emphasis added)
Written laws have only a limited application in God’s dealings with man. First of all, written laws are needed to restrain people who are not living by God’s Spirit. This includes the use of laws established by governments in this temporal world. God uses them to place a restraint on the evil nature in fallen man. In a sense, we can therefore say that written laws are necessary in a fallen and evil world. “Before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law.” (Gal. 3:23)
However, God never intended for man to live by law. The children of God were designed to participate with God in His own Divine nature. And where the fruit of God’s Spirit is being manifested through fully Sanctified Christians {those who have allowed God to set them apart for His exclusive use and are sharing in the Divine nature}, there is no need for law.
But the fruit of the Spirit is Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no {need for} law. (Gal. 5:22-23 Emphasis added)
We can therefore say that written laws will only be needed while people are still living by the strength of the flesh. Once the believer has died to the ways of the flesh and has entered into a real participation with Christ in His Divine nature (2 Pet. 1:3-4), he {or she} will be moved by the Spirit in a Way that naturally fulfills all the requirements found in God’s written laws.
But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things {pertaining to the Kingdom-Life and Godliness}…The anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you {through written laws}… (1
John 2:20, 27)
Christians, after being reconciled to God through Christ’s blood, will have a natural tendency to live by human effort. Because they are not yet living under the full control and power of the Holy Spirit, but still have some dependence on their own strength, they are unable to consistently display the Fruit of Christ’s Spirit through their lives.
The law will therefore have a limited application in the life of every born again Christian. God has provided written laws to reveal what True Righteousness is like. His laws will therefore expose the defects {bankruptcy} that continue to rise out of the heart when one is still living by the strength of the flesh. There will be something within them that “is not subject to the law of God.” (Rom. 8:7) They will find that their old “Adam-life” sometimes still has an opposing nature to the sacrificial Agape Love as displayed by Jesus, the prototype Son.
While these earnest Christians will generally prevent sinful tendencies from breaking forth into outward displays of sin, they will still sense the presence of an evil within their hearts. For example, they will periodically find a selfish anger
coming to the surface when people treat them poorly. And even though this anger ever breaks forth into actual murder, the corruption that exposes itself in selfish anger is the same as murder in God’s Sight. God therefore expects them to submit their Adam-life to the cross so they can die to this old nature and enter into a participation with Christ in His Divine nature.
The requirements that Christ established in His Sermon on the Mount are impossible to keep by human effort. But this does not mean that He does not expect His believers, followers and disciples to fulfill all the Righteous requirements found in His teachings. It simply means that every born again believer will need to learn to live by the Spirit. “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matt. 19:26)
The law has a work to do in the heart of every Christian. It is designed to break the natural sense of self-sufficiency found in the fallen nature. This old spirit (evil, as it is the nature acquired from Satan) needs to be brought to its death. Only then are believers able to enter into the pure faith that will enable them to “put on the New self, created to be Like God in True Righteousness and Holiness.” (Eph. 4:24)(Emphasis added)
The apostle Paul reveals in Romans seven how this process took place in his life. As he has described, the standards found in God’s laws will eventually kill the self-sufficient {evil} spirit in everyone who has earnestly sought to be Obedient to God’s laws.
…Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law… I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death… But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful… For in my inner being I delight in God’s law {a sign of spiritual regeneration and the presence of the Holy Spirit}; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members… Who will rescue me from this body of death? (Rom. 7:7, 10, 13, 22-24 Emphasis added)
Paul did not always remain “a prisoner of the law of sin.” As he later said, “For the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has made me Free from the law of sin and death.” (Rom. 8:2) The Spirit of Christ was able to set him Free from his old sin nature. The Kingdom-Life was established within His heart once he realized that “it is the Spirit who gives Life {the Kingdom-Life}; the flesh {striving by human effort} profits nothing.” (John 6:63)
Every Christian will need to learn how the law was designed to bring about a real death to the self-sufficient life they inherited from Adam. Once they have lost all hope in their ability to fully conform to God’s Ways by human effort, they will be prepared to turn to Christ with the kind of faith that will permit Him to set them “Free indeed” from the “law of sin.”
…Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God – through Jesus Christ our Lord… (Rom. 7:24-25)
…I tell you the Truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin… So if the Son sets you free {from the sin nature}, you will be Free indeed. (John 8:34, 36)
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
The Mystery of Godliness apart XVIII
By Major W. Ian Thomas
The Second Man (Adam) – The Lord From Heaven
…The last Adam became a Life-giving spirit… The second Man is the Lord from Heaven. (1 Cor. 15:45, 47)
…Who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless Life. (Heb. 7:16)
To grant us that we, Being delivered from the hand of our enemies {the world, the flesh and the devil}, Might serve Him without fear {of remaining bound by the carnal nature}, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life. (Luke 1:74-75)
The first man was Adam, and he entered into spiritual death. The Last Adam was Christ, and He came to raise the spiritually dead and give His endless Life to each of His disciples. “In this the Love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might Live (come to spiritual life, awaken from spiritual sleep Emphasis added) through Him.” (1 John 4:9)
Had God not intervened by providing a New Life from Heaven, the family of Adam would have been without hope. There was no way for fallen man to escape from his sinful nature and raise himself out of spiritual death.(The separation from the intimacy of fellowship with God the Father of spirits. Emphasis added)
Right here we can see why the virgin birth was necessary. Had Jesus Christ been born as you and I were born, by natural conception through the line of Adam, He too would have been “in Adam.” It would have naturally left Him in spiritual death, uninhabited by the Divine Life of God, and dominated by the flesh-life. This is why the doctrine of the virgin birth is not a matter of secondary importance. It is imperative!(This is what the prophets of old had seen but did not have the understanding of as it remains hidden in God or withheld from them. Emphasis added)
Because the Last Adam {Jesus Christ}, the Second Man, came from the line of His own Father in Heaven, and He lived without ever departing from a walk of faith {He lived without sin. “…for whatever is not from faith is sin.” (Rom. 14:23)}, He now has the right to impart His Spiritual Life from Heaven to everyone who will follow Him through the cross. (Matt. 16:24-25) As the Son of God, He was sent into the world to manifest His Kingdom-Life through everyone who is willing to die to their Adam-life. He now has both the Power and the Authority to make Himself known within the soul of every receptive believer in “the power of an endless Life.” (Heb. 7:16)
The Son of God came to re-inhabit your spirit and to re-conquer your soul. He has come to enable you to have His Life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10) As He has said, “Whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” (This He can only do because He was first within Adam before the rebellion of sin which placed all mankind under the curse of sin and death in the flesh of man. Emphasis added)
The Son of God came to restore to you all that makes the Mystery of Godliness an open secret: He came to manifest His own Life through the temple of your body! This is “the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints (disciples). To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you…” (Col. 1:26-27 Emphasis added)
In addition to giving birth to Jesus, Mary also became a spiritual type for everyone who desires to bear the Life of God’s Son. What were the events that led up to the miraculous birth of Christ? How was Mary able to bear the Heavenly Life of the Son?
It began with God’s Word being faithfully delivered by a messenger “sent by God.” (Luke 1:26) The Word she received was both strange and startling. It was contrary to all human experience and beyond anything the mind could fully comprehend. Since the message defied human wisdom, would she believe God’s word?
Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest… And He will reign…and of His kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke 1:30-33 Emphasis added)
The natural reaction of Mary was one of amazement. The obvious question to be asked and to be answered was “How?” And so Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” (Luke 1:34) The angel might have responded something like this, “Mary, there is no way to explain this mystery in human terms!” ‘But the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.’ (Luke 1:35) He will do a work that causes you to bear the life of the Son of God.”
Mary would be a mere instrument. The almighty power of God would perform the miracle. But was that enough? No! One condition still needed to be met! Mary had to make herself available for this gracious, Life-giving ministry of the Spirit.
Maybe you have taken it for granted that Mary would make herself available to God and thereby permit Him to do this wonderful work through her. Is there any reason why you should think this way? Have you made yourself available in a Way that would permit the Spirit to overshadow you? Have you given permission to God to use your body for His purposes? Have you been willing to become “nothing” in yourself so the Son would be able to “reign” over your life and show Himself “great” through you? Is there any reason why you should expect her to do something that you have not permitted God to do through you?
Mary could have said, “I do not want God to interfere in my life! I am engaged to be married and I have my own plans! This would spoil what I have planned for my own life.” Isn’t this what has kept you from surrendering your life and plans to become a vessel of the Son’s Life? Remember, as the Son of the Highest, “He will reign” when He has established His Kingdom-Life within your heart. And when He comes to manifest Himself through your body, He is the only one who can “be great.”
Of course, Mary was a true child of faith! She said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38) Once she yielded to God’s word, and trusted Him to do the work, the responsibility was on God to fulfill His purposes through her. She trusted and yielded; God used His power to do the work.
We should emphasize, however, that it is never easy to bear the Life of the Son. “Difficult is the Way which leads to Life.” (Matt. 7:14) Mary would be expected to go through some suffering before she gave birth to the Life of the Son. After spiritual regeneration had taken place, when the seed of Divine Life was first planted within her by the Spirit, there were still many difficulties to pass through. But she continued to Trust in God and wait for the Life of promise to come forth.
Christians today, if they are to become vessels of the Son’s Kingdom-Life, will also go through periods of suffering before the Son can display His Life of Divine Love through their mortal bodies. It is like giving birth to a child. After being impregnated with a “seed” from the Son’s Life, there will inevitably be a number of difficult trials leading up to the painful birth of His Kingdom-Life from above. (I might add that even during this Kingdom-Life has been received there will be tribulations, testings as training or perfecting of our Salvation continues. For the student does not surpass the Master's Knowledge. Emphasis added)
But may the God of all Grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while {in dying to the selfseeking and self-sufficient ways of the world}, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. (1 Pet. 5:10 Emphasis added)
Every Christian is expected to press forward in their faith until they have given birth to the Lord’s Kingdom-Life from Heaven. “He will reign…and of His Kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke 1:33) His Kingdom-Life, once established within the heart, becomes an everlasting Life.
The law and the prophets were until John {the Baptist}. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it. (Luke 16:16 Emphasis added)
Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you {as Christians} do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star {Jesus Christ in His Kingdom-Life} rises in your hearts. (2 Pet. 1:10-11, 19 Emphasis added)
Next we'll explore "The Law of the Spirit of Life."
The Second Man (Adam) – The Lord From Heaven
…The last Adam became a Life-giving spirit… The second Man is the Lord from Heaven. (1 Cor. 15:45, 47)
…Who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless Life. (Heb. 7:16)
To grant us that we, Being delivered from the hand of our enemies {the world, the flesh and the devil}, Might serve Him without fear {of remaining bound by the carnal nature}, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life. (Luke 1:74-75)
The first man was Adam, and he entered into spiritual death. The Last Adam was Christ, and He came to raise the spiritually dead and give His endless Life to each of His disciples. “In this the Love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might Live (come to spiritual life, awaken from spiritual sleep Emphasis added) through Him.” (1 John 4:9)
Had God not intervened by providing a New Life from Heaven, the family of Adam would have been without hope. There was no way for fallen man to escape from his sinful nature and raise himself out of spiritual death.(The separation from the intimacy of fellowship with God the Father of spirits. Emphasis added)
Right here we can see why the virgin birth was necessary. Had Jesus Christ been born as you and I were born, by natural conception through the line of Adam, He too would have been “in Adam.” It would have naturally left Him in spiritual death, uninhabited by the Divine Life of God, and dominated by the flesh-life. This is why the doctrine of the virgin birth is not a matter of secondary importance. It is imperative!(This is what the prophets of old had seen but did not have the understanding of as it remains hidden in God or withheld from them. Emphasis added)
Because the Last Adam {Jesus Christ}, the Second Man, came from the line of His own Father in Heaven, and He lived without ever departing from a walk of faith {He lived without sin. “…for whatever is not from faith is sin.” (Rom. 14:23)}, He now has the right to impart His Spiritual Life from Heaven to everyone who will follow Him through the cross. (Matt. 16:24-25) As the Son of God, He was sent into the world to manifest His Kingdom-Life through everyone who is willing to die to their Adam-life. He now has both the Power and the Authority to make Himself known within the soul of every receptive believer in “the power of an endless Life.” (Heb. 7:16)
The Son of God came to re-inhabit your spirit and to re-conquer your soul. He has come to enable you to have His Life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10) As He has said, “Whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” (This He can only do because He was first within Adam before the rebellion of sin which placed all mankind under the curse of sin and death in the flesh of man. Emphasis added)
The Son of God came to restore to you all that makes the Mystery of Godliness an open secret: He came to manifest His own Life through the temple of your body! This is “the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints (disciples). To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you…” (Col. 1:26-27 Emphasis added)
In addition to giving birth to Jesus, Mary also became a spiritual type for everyone who desires to bear the Life of God’s Son. What were the events that led up to the miraculous birth of Christ? How was Mary able to bear the Heavenly Life of the Son?
It began with God’s Word being faithfully delivered by a messenger “sent by God.” (Luke 1:26) The Word she received was both strange and startling. It was contrary to all human experience and beyond anything the mind could fully comprehend. Since the message defied human wisdom, would she believe God’s word?
Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest… And He will reign…and of His kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke 1:30-33 Emphasis added)
The natural reaction of Mary was one of amazement. The obvious question to be asked and to be answered was “How?” And so Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” (Luke 1:34) The angel might have responded something like this, “Mary, there is no way to explain this mystery in human terms!” ‘But the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.’ (Luke 1:35) He will do a work that causes you to bear the life of the Son of God.”
Mary would be a mere instrument. The almighty power of God would perform the miracle. But was that enough? No! One condition still needed to be met! Mary had to make herself available for this gracious, Life-giving ministry of the Spirit.
Maybe you have taken it for granted that Mary would make herself available to God and thereby permit Him to do this wonderful work through her. Is there any reason why you should think this way? Have you made yourself available in a Way that would permit the Spirit to overshadow you? Have you given permission to God to use your body for His purposes? Have you been willing to become “nothing” in yourself so the Son would be able to “reign” over your life and show Himself “great” through you? Is there any reason why you should expect her to do something that you have not permitted God to do through you?
Mary could have said, “I do not want God to interfere in my life! I am engaged to be married and I have my own plans! This would spoil what I have planned for my own life.” Isn’t this what has kept you from surrendering your life and plans to become a vessel of the Son’s Life? Remember, as the Son of the Highest, “He will reign” when He has established His Kingdom-Life within your heart. And when He comes to manifest Himself through your body, He is the only one who can “be great.”
Of course, Mary was a true child of faith! She said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38) Once she yielded to God’s word, and trusted Him to do the work, the responsibility was on God to fulfill His purposes through her. She trusted and yielded; God used His power to do the work.
We should emphasize, however, that it is never easy to bear the Life of the Son. “Difficult is the Way which leads to Life.” (Matt. 7:14) Mary would be expected to go through some suffering before she gave birth to the Life of the Son. After spiritual regeneration had taken place, when the seed of Divine Life was first planted within her by the Spirit, there were still many difficulties to pass through. But she continued to Trust in God and wait for the Life of promise to come forth.
Christians today, if they are to become vessels of the Son’s Kingdom-Life, will also go through periods of suffering before the Son can display His Life of Divine Love through their mortal bodies. It is like giving birth to a child. After being impregnated with a “seed” from the Son’s Life, there will inevitably be a number of difficult trials leading up to the painful birth of His Kingdom-Life from above. (I might add that even during this Kingdom-Life has been received there will be tribulations, testings as training or perfecting of our Salvation continues. For the student does not surpass the Master's Knowledge. Emphasis added)
But may the God of all Grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while {in dying to the selfseeking and self-sufficient ways of the world}, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. (1 Pet. 5:10 Emphasis added)
Every Christian is expected to press forward in their faith until they have given birth to the Lord’s Kingdom-Life from Heaven. “He will reign…and of His Kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke 1:33) His Kingdom-Life, once established within the heart, becomes an everlasting Life.
The law and the prophets were until John {the Baptist}. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it. (Luke 16:16 Emphasis added)
Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you {as Christians} do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star {Jesus Christ in His Kingdom-Life} rises in your hearts. (2 Pet. 1:10-11, 19 Emphasis added)
Next we'll explore "The Law of the Spirit of Life."
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
The Mystery of Godliness apart XVII
By Major W. Ian Thomas
When God created Adam in his innocence, the Holy Spirit was a Royal Resident. He had unchallenged and exclusive access to Adam’s soul. He alone had the right to sit, as it were, at the key-board where the human personality was orchestrated. As He instructed the mind, controlled the emotions, and directed the will, the Spirit of Truth struck every chord in true harmony with the heart of God in Heaven. There was a matchless melody that rang out from his daily activities as an evidence that God was the source of Adam’s life. (This harmony was recorded in the stars and Heavens as they still resound this song of God's Grace. Emphasis added.)
The Deceiver, however, led Adam into believing that man could play the Instrument of his own personality. He pointed out the advantages of being free from the restrictive presence of the Holy Spirit.
Supposedly, Adam would be able to enhance his spiritual life when he was free to pick and choose his own tunes. By playing his own music, the tunes would only need to be in harmony with himself. He would no longer need to be concerned about keeping in harmony with God! Indeed, he could become his own god, and what could be better than that? (When this occurred man lost the ability to hear not only God's voice but also the song of the Heavens. Emphasis added)
What Adam did not realize is that once he had turned from the Tree of Life, and the Spirit had vacated the temple of his body, the father of lies would take control of the Music Room. In this fallen way of life, even though the Deceiver had led Adam to believe that he would have an opportunity to choose his own tunes, there would actually be a demon sitting at the key-board thumping away at the notes. It is “the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.” (Eph. 2:2) His name is The Flesh. He took control of the Instrument and began producing an awful noise.
The Instrument has not changed. It is the same Instrument that God originally used to make melodies in harmony with Himself. But having once produced harmony with the Life and nature of God, the instrument now produces discord.
This is the story of how fallen man became separated from the Life of God. The flesh-life, under the sway of Satan, is now at the keyboard producing iniquity and lawlessness in the world!
You do not need a new Instrument. The original is just fine. What you need is a new Musician. The Holy Spirit, when He is in full control of the key-board, will begin to play beautiful music within your soul. He will make your inner being like the Paradise of God. He is the One who is able to produce the Kingdom-Life of God through your mortal body.
But if I {the Son of God} drive out demons {including the flesh-life} by the finger of God {by the Holy Spirit}, then the kingdom of God has come to you. (Luke 11:20)
Next we'll look at: "The Second Man – The Lord From Heaven"
When God created Adam in his innocence, the Holy Spirit was a Royal Resident. He had unchallenged and exclusive access to Adam’s soul. He alone had the right to sit, as it were, at the key-board where the human personality was orchestrated. As He instructed the mind, controlled the emotions, and directed the will, the Spirit of Truth struck every chord in true harmony with the heart of God in Heaven. There was a matchless melody that rang out from his daily activities as an evidence that God was the source of Adam’s life. (This harmony was recorded in the stars and Heavens as they still resound this song of God's Grace. Emphasis added.)
The Deceiver, however, led Adam into believing that man could play the Instrument of his own personality. He pointed out the advantages of being free from the restrictive presence of the Holy Spirit.
Supposedly, Adam would be able to enhance his spiritual life when he was free to pick and choose his own tunes. By playing his own music, the tunes would only need to be in harmony with himself. He would no longer need to be concerned about keeping in harmony with God! Indeed, he could become his own god, and what could be better than that? (When this occurred man lost the ability to hear not only God's voice but also the song of the Heavens. Emphasis added)
What Adam did not realize is that once he had turned from the Tree of Life, and the Spirit had vacated the temple of his body, the father of lies would take control of the Music Room. In this fallen way of life, even though the Deceiver had led Adam to believe that he would have an opportunity to choose his own tunes, there would actually be a demon sitting at the key-board thumping away at the notes. It is “the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.” (Eph. 2:2) His name is The Flesh. He took control of the Instrument and began producing an awful noise.
The Instrument has not changed. It is the same Instrument that God originally used to make melodies in harmony with Himself. But having once produced harmony with the Life and nature of God, the instrument now produces discord.
This is the story of how fallen man became separated from the Life of God. The flesh-life, under the sway of Satan, is now at the keyboard producing iniquity and lawlessness in the world!
You do not need a new Instrument. The original is just fine. What you need is a new Musician. The Holy Spirit, when He is in full control of the key-board, will begin to play beautiful music within your soul. He will make your inner being like the Paradise of God. He is the One who is able to produce the Kingdom-Life of God through your mortal body.
But if I {the Son of God} drive out demons {including the flesh-life} by the finger of God {by the Holy Spirit}, then the kingdom of God has come to you. (Luke 11:20)
Next we'll look at: "The Second Man – The Lord From Heaven"
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