MAKE STRAIGHT

THE PATH OF

THE LORD

By George Davis
&
Michael Clark

Copyright 2004 © aWildernessVoice.com

Contents

Article 1
"You Are the Christ, The Son"

Article 2
Partakers of the Heavenly Calling

Article 3
The Radical Call

Article 4
The Centrality of the Cross

Article 5
Neither Jew nor Gentile

Article 6
A Child or a Son

Article 7
The Last god to Go

Article 8
The Friend of the Bridegroom

Article 9
The Temple of God or the Temples of Men?

Article 10
Choose Life

Article 11
More are the Children of the Desolate

Article 12
He Will Come to Us as the Rain

Article 13
We were Brethren

Article 14
Follow on to Know the Lord

Article 1: "You Are the Christ, The Son"

Note: Throughout this discourse we use the term son and sons as do the scriptures, but where it applies to God's elect, it also includes the sisters in Christ.

Recently we sat together contemplating the days ahead. We both sensed that we are entering a time of transition and many of you have written and testified of the same sense in your own walks. The Lord brought to mind the words of Jeremiah 1:10. "See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant." We are not saying by this that we are called to preside over nations and kingdoms. But we do feel strongly that Father is leading us out of a long and glorious season, in which we have written boldly and labored with Him rooting out and pulling down, the religious rubbish of men (Nehemiah 4:10) that stands in the way of His eternal purpose. We both sense that for the most part this season is over and that the Lord wants to start using us to build and to plant. The following teaching, we feel, is of that nature. If you have any longing to know about your calling and destiny IN CHRIST THE SON we encourage you to read on. We add to these words our prayers that you will see in your innermost being what the Spirit has been endeavoring to reveal in us! George and Michael--July 2003

"Who do men say that I, the son of man, am?"

Who would have ever thought that a seemingly simple question such as this one posed by Jesus could spark a religious controversy that would last for nearly 2000 years? Men's commentaries and opinions on this passage are both numerous and diverse. Such an important question should never be taken at face value or passed over as something trivial, for Jesus was not seeking information here as if He did not know the thoughts of men (see John 2:25). This question was framed in such a way as to lead the hearer to a particular revelation--the founding revelation or rock the church (His called out ones) is built on. With this in mind, let us join Jesus and His disciples on that fateful day on the coasts of Caesarea Philippi where Jesus asked, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" (Matthew 16:16).

This self-designation the Son of Man (ho huios tou anthropou) carried messianic and prophetic overtones. Jesus used it in connection to His mission as the suffering Messiah, who must be lifted up from the earth to draw all men unto Himself (John 12: 34). This designation was also used of Old Testament prophets (see Ezekiel 2:1 and Daniel 8:17). Because of His mighty miracles Jesus had become a popular figure. He was the talk of the nation. Everyone seemed to have some idea about who and what He was. Many saw Him as nothing more than a prophet. This was reflected in the disciple's answer to His piercing question, "Some [say] John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." Israel could receive Jesus as a reincarnated prophet, but they had much higher hopes in the power of the promised Messiah. The lowly Jesus did not fit their expectation of a conquering emancipator who would free them from the yoke of Roman tyranny.

Now Jesus took His disciples a step further by asking them, "But who do you say that I am?" His questions were always designed to get men to think outside the box. In a bolt of inspiration Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. I also tell you that you are Peter (Petros), and on this rock (Petra) I will build my assembly, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:17-18, NRSV). Again, consider the choice of words here. Simon, the name given Peter by his flesh and blood father, draws our attention to Peter's natural parentage, Simon son of Jonah. Jesus was saying that nothing Peter had received from his flesh and blood father could aid or share in this heavenly revelation. Peter did not envision who Jesus is because He possessed the cleverness of his earthly father, or because he had sat at the feet of Judaism's finest teachers. Natural abilities had no part in it whatsoever. "... the flesh profits nothing" (John 6:63). Simply put, this revelation was about two fathers, one earthly and One heavenly, and their sons, one earthly and One heavenly, one impulsive and religious and the other simply obedient.

We are certain that Jonah took pride in the man that his son Simon had become. Simon had faithfully learned the family trade from his youth and had grown to share in the family values and was perhaps the mirror image of his earthly father. What more could a father want? As you look throughout scripture you will find that the divine rule of revelation is simply this, first the natural, then the spiritual. On the backdrop of Simon's natural relationship to his earthly father, Jesus would showcase a divine relationship to His heavenly Father. But more, this occasion would serve as the opportune moment for the Father who is in heaven to proudly set His beloved Son on display.

So what does this have to do with the foundational rock (Petra) upon which Christ builds His called out assembly of living stones? What is the rock of the ekklesia? Is it, as some suppose, Peter (Petros)? Only if you can build a great house on a pebble. A Petros is not foundational material because it is a detached stone "that might be thrown or easily moved" (W. E. Vine). Peter was building material in the hands of God, as we all are, but this revelation was not all about Peter, anymore than what God is doing now is all about us. The Petra or massive foundational rock the called out community is built on is much larger than a Petros.

The words on this rock I will build imply a foundation. On this rock, upon this foundation, I will build my Church (see also Luke 6:47-49). So rather than ask if Peter was the rock in reference here, let us instead ask, "What is the foundation of the church?" This puts a different twist on it. If Peter were the foundation-rock being referred to here why are there no supporting scriptures to confirm this? Something as important as the foundation for God's temple of living stones should be consistently verified throughout the scriptures. If Peter were the rock, the foundation, surely the rest of the apostles would have hailed him as the rock and Peter would have shown up in the Book of Acts as the last word in all government and decision-making in the church. Surely, such an all-important point would have been included as fundamental in the teachings of the apostles.

No. It is certain that Peter, the small movable stone (Petros), was not the rock (Petra), the massive foundation of the ekklesia. The prophet Isaiah foretold just who that Rock and Foundation was to be when He said, "Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: 'Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; Whoever believes will not act hastily'" (Isaiah 28:16, NKJV). It is upon this Foundation where the living stones of God's temple find their rest.

If the rock of which Jesus speaks is not Peter, then the foundation or Petra of the called out assembly must be the revelation that Jesus is the Christ, right? Almost without exception this is the consensus throughout Protestantism today. Virtually all commentaries and Bible notes agree on this point. This does present a problem however, when we consider that all of the disciples, with the exception of Judas, already believed that Jesus was the Christ, and if so, why did Jesus make such a big thing out of Peter's words? This was no new revelation to any of them. It is certain that this was the topic of discussion among them early on as they began to forsake all and follow Him. The message that Simon (Peter) heard from Andrew was, "We have found the Messiah!" [which is, being interpreted, Christ] (John 1:41). God had already opened their eyes to see Jesus as the Christ. Simon would never have left his nets had he not believed this anymore than men who believe Jesus was a mere "prophet" in many of the religions of the east follow Him today.

If the foundation-rock is not fully and completely Jesus' messiah-ship, then what is it? What was the new and blessed revelation that the Father showed to Peter? What was it in Peter's words that made Jesus commend him? What does the Father desire to reveal? To answer these questions, let us go back down to Jordan on that memorable day when John the Baptist humbly took Jesus out into the murky waters of the Jordan River to baptize Him. When Jesus came up from the water, John saw the heavens parting, and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove. Then the voice of a delighted Father was heard from heaven saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!" (Matthew 3:17). The delight of the Father is the Son! Only the Father can reveal Him for "No one knows who the Son is, except the Father" (see Luke 10:22). To truly see the Son as He is, is to see the Father, for Jesus said, "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him" (John 14:7, NKJV).

The great revelation to Peter, upon which the ekkelsia or called out community is built, is "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Because God loved the world He sent to the world the purest expression of His love. He sent a Son who flawlessly expressed His brightness and express image (see Hebrews 1:3). The scripture does not say that God so loved the world that He gave the Messiah, although Jesus certainly is the Anointed One. Neither does it say, God so loved the world that He gave a prophet, although Jesus certainly was prophetic. No! God loved the world so much "that He gave His only begotten Son…" As a Father, God gave what was dearest to Him. We could have doubted His love if He had sent a prophet (and even doubted the authenticity of that prophet), but He loves us so much that He sent His only Son, the Son of His love. If you have children, try to put yourself in His place. Try to realize what a sacrifice it was and how it must have pained His fatherly heart to watch His only begotten Son suffer so much rejection and the death of the cross. This is how much He loves you and me! If we do not comprehend this we will always remain unsure of God's love toward us. "When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son (Galatians 4:4), not a prophet or teacher, but His Son. This is the revelation that the Pharisees could not receive, but that the demons cried out whenever they saw Jesus (See Matthew 8:29).

In Matthew 22:40 Jesus asked the Pharisees, "What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is He?" Jesus is doing it again. He's leading them. They answered, "The Christ is the Son of David." Wrong answer! Jesus replied, "Then why did David call him "Lord'?" David, speaking by the power of the Holy Spirit, said, "The Lord said to my Lord: Sit by me at my right side, until I put your enemies under your control" (Psalm 110:1). "David calls the Christ "Lord,' so how can the Christ be his son?" None of the Pharisees could or would answer Jesus' question for there was obviously only one correct answer and they were either unable or unwilling to go there. To go there was to admit that Jesus had a higher position of authority than they did, and that they would not do for fear of loosing their place (see John 11:45-48). Oh, how antichrist our pride, longing for power and position really is.

Jesus' words, "David calls the Christ "Lord,' so how can the Christ be his son?" left them speechless and even more determined to do away with Him. Whose Son is the Christ? If He is not David's Son, then whose Son is He? By process of elimination, Jesus led them to the only possible conclusion. They were looking for the Messiah, the son of David. In all of their study of the scriptures, they had not seen the Christ, the Son of the living God. They couldn't see the blessed revelation that Peter saw! The bottom-line question is simply and always this: What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?

How casually and tritely do we believers today refer to Jesus as "the Son of God"? It has become something that we mindlessly parrot, but do we truly have the revelation of the Son? Has the Father revealed His Son to us and in us? The revelation of the Son is the foundational revelation of all that God is doing in this new and everlasting covenant and is key to understanding the Father's eternal purpose.

Jesus told Nicodemus that whosoever believes on the Son "shall not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). This is critical, for it does not say that whosoever believes that Jesus is the Messiah will have eternal life, but whosoever believes on the Son. This is no mere play on words. For the Son has "life in himself" (see John 5:26), and the Father desires "that everyone who sees the Son, and believes in Him, should have eternal life" (John 6:40). The life-giving question is simply this; do we see the Son? And if we see Him, do we believe in Him? The gospel and letters of John were written with this express purpose in mind.

"But these are written, that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you might have life through His name." (John 20:31)

"God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life." (1 John 5:11-12, NKJV)

"These things I have written to you who believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe on the name of the Son of God." (1 John 5:13)

"We know that the Son of God has come, and has given us an understanding, that we know him who is true, and we are in him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life." (1 John 5:20)

This is the rock upon which the family of God is built--Christ, the Son of the living God. The Christian life is not about being good and moral. It is about us living in the Son and Him living in and through us. No matter how noble and praiseworthy our actions might be, they are unacceptable to the Father if they do not spring from the life of His Son.

May the Father reveal to us what it means to believe on and abide in the name of the Son of God! That we could "live by the faith of the Son" (Galatians 2:20), and experience the very life within that created all things and gave them life, that life eternal that existed in Father and in the Son before the world began. This eternal life is in the Son of God! Do we really know what it means to abide in Him and so doing, abide in eternal life? "He who has the Son has life. He who doesn't have God's Son doesn't have the life." May the Father in heaven open our eyes to see His beloved Son, that we, in deeper and deeper measure, might believe on His name!

The ekklesia or called out community is gathered and built upon the revelation of Christ as the Son. His ekklesia is not an institution but a family in which all who believe in Him are siblings because they have the same Father. God works continuously by His Spirit in those who are called sons to create the family likeness in us and transform us into the image of His Son, Jesus. As a family, we are taught by Jesus to pray, "Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name." What is His hallowed name if it is not Father? If He is our Father, then we must be sons and daughters. Apostle Paul wrote, "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named" (Ephesians 3:14-15). The Rock is the Son and the church is the family. God sent His Son for the express purpose of bringing many sons (a large family) unto glory (Hebrews 2:10).

In Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis wrote:

Its very first words [of the Lord's Prayer] are Our Father. Do you see what those words mean? They mean quite frankly, that you are putting yourself in the place of the son of God. To put it bluntly, you are dressing up as Christ. If you like, you are pretending. Because, of course the moment you realize what the word means, you realize that you are not a son of God. You are not being like The Son of God, whose will and interests are at one with those of the Father: you are a bundle of self-centered fears, hopes, greeds, jealousies, and self-conceit, all doomed to death. So that, in a way, this dressing up as Christ is a piece of outrageous cheek. But the odd thing is that He has ordered us to do it... For you are no longer thinking about right and wrong; you are trying to catch the good infection from a Person. It is more painting a portrait than like obeying a set of rules. And the odd thing is that while in one way it is much harder than keeping rules, in another way it is far easier.

The real Son of God is at your side. He is beginning to turn you into the same kind of thing as Himself. He is beginning, so to speak, to "inject" His kind of life and thought, His Zoe, into you; beginning to turn the tin soldier (the first Adam) into a living man (the last Adam). The part of you that does not like it is the part that is still tin ...

Jesus wasn't sent unto us as a prophet like Elijah, Jeremiah or John the Baptist. He was sent as a Son to provoke us into son-ship with His Father! He wasn't a messenger. He was more than that. He WAS the Message--the very Word of God.

Are We Mere Messengers or Sons?

The author of the book of Hebrews labored to make this critical point in the early chapters. His point was simply that the Son is superior to messengers because He brings a superior revelation of the Father. The Son brings "the brightness and express image" of the Father. Messengers bring a word, while the Son is the Word. Regardless of how glorious the messenger is or how accurate his message may be, he pales in comparison to the Son who bears the substance, the reality, the brightness and the express image of God's very being. It is this great truth that distinguishes the Son from mere messengers, prophetic or angelic, who speak in fragmented parts and portions (see Hebrews 1:1). It is this very comparison that the author of Hebrews made, in his introduction to "the book of better things."

In many parts, and many ways, God of old having spoken to the fathers in the prophets, in these last days did speak to us in a Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He did make the ages; who being the brightness of the glory, and the impress of His subsistence [the state of existing in reality], bearing up also all things by the saying of His might--through himself having made a cleansing of our sins, sat down at the right hand of the greatness in the highest, having become so much better than the messengers (aggelos), as he did inherit a more excellent name than they.

For to which of the messengers said He ever, "My Son you are -- I today have begotten you?" and again, "I will be to him for a father, and he shall be to Me for a son?" and when again He may bring in the first-born to the world, He says, "And let them bow before him -- all messengers of God"; and unto the messengers, indeed, He says, "Who is making His messengers spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire; and unto the Son: Your throne, O God, [is] to the age of the age; a scepter of righteousness [is] the scepter of your reign ..." (Hebrews 1:1-8 RYLT).

Note the language of family here; a Son, the Son, My Son, begotten, Father, First-born. The importance of this will become clearer as we progress.

We are aware that what we are about to write will probably not be well received by those who call themselves "prophets." For some, losing their place, title and ministry and growing up into sons who only seek glory for the Father is just too high a price to pay. The scriptures speak of a day when prophesying in part will vanish away as well as knowing in part. All prophecy is according to knowledge and is therefore in part (see 1 Corinthians 13:9). Paul wrote, "But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away" (1 Corinthians. 13:10). The Father has a day in view when we will no longer speak in fractured parts, as did the prophets of old. As His sons we are called to manifest the brightness and image of the Father, not in mere words, but in our very being.

The prophets spoke in "many fragments and by various methods" (Hebrews. 1:1, Weymouth), giving an incomplete revelation of God's being and will. "The truth as a whole never comes to light in the O. T." (Vincent). But in these last days God has clearly and fully spoken by a Son. This is very important! For a critical comparison is made here between the Son and prophetic and angelic messengers. A messenger brings a fragmented and partial message. The Son is the "flawless expression of the nature of God, himself the upholding principle of all that is." (J. B. Phillips). One brings a word, the other brings the Reality. As Jesus told Philip, "If you have seen me, Philip, you have seen the Father."

In this passage, the words a Son put the emphasis, not just upon Jesus, the Son, but also on the principle of son-ship as a truer and more complete representation of God. Jesus certainly is the Son and we are careful not to take away from that! But first we must consider Jesus as a Son and what this means to those who are predestined to be conformed to His image (Romans 8:29). The emphasis here is not only upon the only begotten Son but also upon the Firstborn of many brethren. He is the Son, but He is also a Son, one of many. Jesus is the Firstborn of many sons. Sons communicate the image of the Father with an effectiveness that is well beyond the abilities of prophets and angels.

We see then that words are a secondary and inferior means of expression even when spoken by the best redeemed men and the most gifted prophet and teacher. As one dear old saint put it, "At best we are speaking the languages of Babel." When Paul was taken up into the third heaven he saw things that were "unlawful to utter." They were beyond words. Only God is glorious and He has chosen to communicate His glory with many sons through a communication that goes far beyond words. Sons have no glory of their own. Their glory is the brightness and exact image of their Father. Like the Son who prayed "Now, Father, glorify me with Your Own self" (John 17:5), sons have denied their own glory. They seek to be adorned with God's own self, manifesting only Him. This is what makes sons better than mere messengers, apostles, prophets, teachers, etc., though these too can manifest the Father only as much as they are His sons. Note that it takes many sons and daughters in Christ to fully manifest the Son, so not only do we as sons not take away from the glory of the Son, rather we bring it forth as many lights shining throughout a dark world. "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light" (Ephesians 5:8, NKJV).

The Least in the Kingdom

God said, "Behold, I will send my messenger (Hebrew malak, Greek aggelos), and he shall prepare the way before me" (Malachi 3:1, Matthew 11:10). This is a prophecy about the coming of the forerunner, John the Baptist. God showed John great honor by calling him "my messenger." And yet, Jesus said of John, "Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he" (Matthew 11:11, RSV).

The key to understanding this passage is found in the two phrases, born of women and in the kingdom. John was an Old Testament Prophet who was killed before the kingdom he preached had fully come. He was once-born, born of a woman but those in the kingdom of the Father are twice born. If they weren't they could not be in the kingdom. What is born of the flesh is still flesh. What is born of the Spirit is spirit, and one cannot see or enter the kingdom of God unless he is born (Fathered) again (see John 3:3, 5). Those in the kingdom are not just men of God but sons of God, born of the Father, and the least of these are greater than any prophet.

The prophet Moses was called "the man of God" (Ezra 3:2). He was never referred to as a son of God. None of the prophets received this distinction. No doubt they were great among those born of women, but "to whom of the messengers said He at any time, "My Son art thou! I, today, have begotten Thee'? And again, "I shall be to Him for a Father and He shall be to me for a Son'?" (Hebrews 1:5 CLNT).

Jesus was the perfect Son, reflecting the exact imprint of God's very being. The same is true of mature sons. They corporately are called to a higher expression. They are called to be transformed into the image of the Son and to reflect the brightness and image of God the Father. They bring more than a message. They are the message--living epistles!

Many years ago I, Michael, had prayed, "Father, make me like your Son, so that I only do the works I see you doing and only speak the words I hear you saying." I had just enough time to think to myself, "Wow, that sure was a righteous prayer," when I heard the Lord say, "No, my son, that is only the starting point." Shortly after that I was teaching a home Bible study to a group of saints. After the meeting was over a dear older sister named Mary came up to me and said, "That was a good message you just gave. But God wants you to know that when He is done with you, you will not have to prepare a message.You will be the message!" Over the years of trials and wilderness that He has put me though since, I have never forgotten her words. True transformation only comes by the working of the cross that deals with the propensity to do what we want and speak our minds. Death to this childish behavior is worth it, for the call of God is always upward toward His Pattern Son. I do not say that I have "arrived," but rather I do see now that it is not about me but about the Message in me.

We are fully aware that most translators have indiscriminately translated aggelos (messenger) as angel unless forced to do otherwise by the context of the scripture. In many cases they have been correct. But we must be careful to note the repeated references to prophetic messengers in the early chapters of Hebrews. Even as far as chapter three the comparison of the superiority of a Son to prophetic messengers is still being made. The author of Hebrews was clearly trying to accentuate this point. He seemed to shift back and forth between prophetic messengers and angelic messengers, both of which are inferior in witness to the least in the kingdom of heaven.

Although Moses "was faithful in all His house," (Hebrews 3: 2) this one (Jesus, the Son) "has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house" (verse 3). Then we come to verse six, which begins, "But Christ was faithful as a son." Moses was faithful as a prophet and we are thankful that he was, but Jesus was faithful as a Son! This is the faithfulness that every born-again believer is called to. Not just a faith expressed in words, but one that is modeled as true sons and daughters of the Father who are the radiance of His glory and the representation of His essence.

In Jewish society there was a strong tendency to elevate dead prophetic messengers beyond what is reasonable. They proudly decorated the tombs of the prophets in an effort to apologize for and distance themselves from their forefathers who had brutally killed these men of God. So elevating departed messengers had become a national tradition, one that even Peter, James and John would endeavor to keep on that fateful day when they went up with Jesus on the mount of transfiguration. There they saw Jesus speaking with two of Israel's favorite messengers, Moses and Elijah. They were superstars among the prophets. Understandably then, Peter wanted to do right by them all without distinction, making three tabernacles, one for Jesus, one for Moses and one for Elijah. Now that sounds equitable, doesn't it? But in doing so Peter was not only trying to enshrine the moment, but was clearly putting Moses and Elijah on the same level with God's Son. He was bringing the Son down to the level of a mere prophetic messenger. Speaking of Peter, the narrative says, "for he knew not what he said." Then God's corrective voice thundered from heaven, "This is My beloved Son. Hear Him."

By and large the emphasis among God's people today is placed upon the accuracy of the message and great importance is placed on messengers and teachers in our gatherings. This is reflected by an untold number of doctrines, creeds and bylaws that are as varied as they are numerous. We take great care with our words. The centerpiece in our meetings is the podium and the foremost function is sermonizing. Therefore, the greatest among us are those who are eloquent and educated, who alone are deemed worthy to be elevated to this venerated place and function. If you do not believe this, just look at the list of titles and degrees that bracket their names like a gilded frame around a portrait. But God is seeking those who will not glorify themselves, but rather Glorify Him. He still puts His treasures in common earthen vessels and uses the weak and the foolish to confound the mighty and the wise of this world.

Speech in our culture is very important, but imagine for a moment, if you can, that by some miracle we were unable to speak, how would we communicate our faith to others? Even more, how would we reveal the Father to this dying world? There is only one way and that is the radiance and express image of God within and without His saints. As a Son, Jesus bore God's express image. Yes, He did preach the good news to the poor, but only after He was the manifestation of His Father. This is the calling of all sons and daughters of God. If we do not know Jesus as a Son, we cannot understand our relationship as sons to the Father. Jesus did not suffer and die to bring many apostles, many prophets, many evangelists, many pastors and teachers, but many sons unto glory! It is these who have the power to be witness of the Father's kingdom.

The Firstborn Leading Many Sons

In Hebrews chapter one, verse six, Jesus is referred to as the Firstborn. This tells us two things. One, Jesus is like the firstborn son in the Old Testament who has a superior position and receives the full inheritance of his father (See Exodus 4:22, Deuteronomy 21:16, 17). And two, "firstborn" implies that there is more than one child.

The development of God's eternal purpose in His Firstborn Son is found in Hebrews 2:9-10. "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain [747 archegos] of their salvation perfect through sufferings" (Hebrews 2:9-10 NKJV). Jesus is the archegos, the leader of a file or column, the start of a glorious series of sons--"the general assembly and church of the firstborn." (See Hebrews 12:23).

The Biblical scholar Daniel Steele explains,

There is one word in the Greek Testament that exactly describes this relation of Jesus to the development of the sons of God. The term archegos is unfortunately translated by three different English words in the only four passages in which it occurs. It is compounded of two Greek words, signifying, beginning and leading. The best Saxon rendering is file-leader. Thus declares Peter in his indictment of the Jews: "And killed the file-leader of life, whom God hath raised from the dead" (Acts iii. 15). Again, before the Sanhedrim he utters these sublime words: "Him hath God exalted with (or at) His right hand to be a file-leader and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins" (Acts v. 31). The office of Christ as the beginner of a glorious series is strikingly set forth in Heb. ii. 10: "For it became Him for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the file-leader of their salvation perfect through sufferings." Here we see, not with the eye of a poet's fancy, but with the anointed vision of inspiration, Jesus Christ marching at the head of a long column, "many sons," leading them into the wide open portals of heaven, till they stand at last in the blaze of its innermost glory, a circle around the throne upon which He sits down.

In chapter one of Hebrews we see a Son, the "only begotten Son"; in chapter two we see many sons. Between the only begotten Son and many sons stood the cross. So it was that Jesus was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death. Jesus spoke of this in the language of agriculture. "Most assuredly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat (the Son) falls into the earth and dies (the cross), it remains by itself alone (the only begotten of the Father). But if it dies, it bears much fruit (firstborn among many brethren, bringing many sons unto glory)" (John 12:24).

It is imperative that we comprehend Jesus as a Son and that we see His son-ship as the rock upon which the church is built. The revelation of Jesus as a Son is foundational to the realization of God's fatherly desire to have a large family, all bearing the family resemblance or image.

Son-ship implies likeness. Those who are born of God are sons of God, predestined to be transformed into the image of the Son. The more accurately we see Him the more we are changed into His image, the image of God. The importance of accurately beholding the Pattern Son cannot be overstated. The more we see Him as He is, the more we are changed into the same image. This is the "revival" so desperately needed among God's people today and nothing less!

True reformation has nothing to do with fixing and repairing an ecclesiastical system, but is the result of a Spirit-wrought revelation of Christ, the Son. This revelation brought forth in many sons in the Book of Acts was what turned the known world on its ear. There is no true and lasting change without it. All that is right and eternal springs from the Son. The power to be a witness of the kingdom comes from a personal revelation of Christ the Son.

Unless the Father glorifies His Son in our eyes, we will never be able to make Him glorious to others. Unless He is revealed in us we can never truly communicate Him to a lost world. The world is not Christ-less for lack of hearing our words about Jesus. They remain Christ-less for the lack of seeing Him as He is, the exact image of God. That image is to be seen in many sons as members of His body. (See 1 Corinthians. 6:15).

Glory is like a circle where participants are giving honor to the others in that circle, and never taking honor to themselves. This is the nature of agape love in action. The Son glorifies the Father. The Father glorifies the Son. As the saints through the Spirit of Christ give glory to the Father and are conformed into the image of the Son, they are taken up into that same glory circle.

"Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You'"(John 17:1, NKJV). Earlier something very significant happened when Jesus prayed, "Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? "Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour. 'Father, glorify Your name.' Then a voice came from heaven, saying, 'I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.' Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, 'An angel has spoken to Him.' Jesus answered and said, 'This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake.'" (John 12:27-30, NKJV). The Father answered, "I have both glorified it and WILL glorify it again." Then He said the voice came for our sake. What was he speaking of if it was not "many sons unto glory," the path of the cross? (See also John 11:40, 13:32, 14:13, 15:8, 16:14, 17:4, 17:5, 17:10, 17:22, 17:24, 21:19).

In Revelation chapter four we see an interesting passage that speaks of the glory that exists between the Father and the saints.

The twenty-four elders were adorned by the Father with white robes and crowns. Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: "You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created." (Revelation 4:9-11, NKJV).

Twenty-four elders were all wearing white robes and golden crowns and sitting on thrones, but whenever the four living creatures before the throne of God start giving glory to the Father, the elders left their thrones and cast their crowns down before them, lying prostrate before Him. This demonstrates the nature of this "glory circle," a desire to always give glory to the other and never take it to yourself. This is worshiping the Father in Spirit and in Truth. This is the heart of the sons of God. This is true son-ship in action!

We are sons not because we try to live the good Christian life, but because Father has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts. "And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, 'Abba, Father!' Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ" (Galatians 4:6-7, NKJV). True Christianity consists of the indwelling Son living out His devotion to Abba through us. Paul wrote of this in Galatians 2:20. "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

It Is Not All About Us!

Son-ship is central to everything. The eternal Father sent His eternal Son to accomplish His eternal purpose in bringing many sons to glory. The popular salvation message we hear today focuses primarily upon our inheritance in Christ and leads the new believer to conclude that God's sole purpose in sending His Son was for our blessing and pleasure alone. It is perceived as a message that is all about us! To believe this narrow perspective is to believe that Christ died for no greater end than that we might live a feel-good Christian life and, after we die, go to heaven and spend eternity in heavenly ease and bliss.

I, Michael, recently visited many of the nation's monuments and parks in the western United States with my daughter, Dinah, and her daughter. One of them was the famed Mount Rushmore. There in a museum I saw the words of Thomas Jefferson engraved in granite. They were from the Declaration of Independence and read:

"We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

It seems this is the gospel of the modern Christian. Sorry, but this is not the whole purpose of God and His creation of mankind. The only true life and liberty we can have is in Christ. The pursuit of happiness is not our goal as sons of God, but rather the pursuit of His perfect will on earth as it is in heaven. David wrote, "Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, Whose hope is in the LORD his God" (Psalms 146:5, NKJV). Happiness is like a butterfly. As long as you give chase it will flutter and flit here and there and you will wear yourself out and never catch it. Should you stop pursuing, sit down and be very still it might light upon your shoulder.

Today among Christians there is little talk of God's inheritance in the saints. The purpose of Christ's redemptive work is clearly seen in His first message to His disciples after His resurrection. He appeared to Mary Magdalene and said, "Don't touch me, for I haven't yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brothers, and tell them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God'" (John 20:17). Jesus didn't die on Calvary to birth an institution. He died as the Only Begotten of the Father that He might become the firstborn of many brethren. He suffered the horrors of Calvary so that He could have brothers and the Father could have many adopted sons. He did not die so God could become the cornucopia of blessings for my life, the facilitator of my goals, the guardian who insures my pursuit of happiness. Nothing could be more fulfilling than knowing the life in the Son, but we so often forfeit that high calling for something much lower, giving the eternal for a bit of the temporal (see 2 Corinthians. 4:16-18). Christ died and rose again for the Father's glory and to bless the Father's by making us His sons and daughters, living for His glory, bearing His image!

Satan tried to throw Jesus off course by tempting Him to "get a piece of the rock," here and now, but this was not His character, His name and or His nature. He withstood every temptation that the enemy offered. Later He told His disciples, "And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son" (John 14:13, NKJV). When Jesus said, in my name, He meant much more than just adding His name at the end of a prayer. To ask in Christ's name is first to ask in His character, His passion for the Father's glory. If we are praying purely for our own interests, seeking our own glory, we are not asking in Christ's name. The Son seeks only the glory of The Father and the Father is glorified only in the Son.

God does not ask us, like so many orphans, to struggle and strain to become like His Son. His way of enabling and empowering us is to show us His Son that He might, by His Spirit, transform us into that very image. Just as God revealed to John an open door in the heavens before He invited him to come up here (see Revelation 4:1), so it is with the Father. He reveals the Son as an invitation to come up here, to be transformed, to be borne on the wings of His Spirit to the heights and to enter the realities of Him who is the Father's delight and see things which must shortly come to pass. Paul wrote:

"Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. . .But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror (a darkened glass) the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. . . But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus' sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (2 Corinthians 3:16-18, 4:3-6, NKJV)

The glorious truth of the New Covenant is this: we all are called to behold the glory of the Lord, and be transformed into the same image. We never preach about ourselves or our needs. Rather we preach in word and in deed that Christ is the Image of God. And the God of creation who first commanded light to shine out of darkness, who said let there be light and there was light, is still commanding the light of His glory to shine forth in our hearts. The light of the knowledge of the glory of God is seen in the face of Jesus Christ and we are changed from glory to glory as we behold Him.

This redemption in the ultimate, ongoing sense is more than a one-time act of believing on the finished work of Christ! Full redemption includes restoration, which means bringing something back to its former glory and wholeness. But even more is included here. For in Christ, the Son, man is restored beyond the fractured, empty image of the first Adam.

Not so long ago, the space shuttle, Columbia, blew apart on reentry. There is a giant hanger in Texas with many of the shuttle's parts strewn across the floor. The sum of all these parts still does not show the image of the space shuttle in its former glory. At best they give a hint of what it might have been. So it is with man. Since Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden tree, they also blew apart what was meant to be the express image and likeness of God.

The Image of God

The Apostle Paul tells us that the degeneration of society and the Church that is adversely influenced by that society is the sad consequence of "changing the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man." (See Romans 1:23-25). Without doubt the world is reeling from the effects of this. History bears this out.

In the period known as the Dark Ages, Jesus, the image of God, was portrayed as the austere head of an ecclesiastical order in both the art of that period and the doctrines of the fallen church. He was viewed as severe and stern in disposition. The poor, loving and lowly itinerate Jesus was veiled, and another Jesus (see 2 Corinthians 11:4), adorned in gold and silver and bedecked in the purple of lavish royal robes was set before the eyes of the people. And they cowered in fear before the image they created.

These were dark days indeed! Ecclesiastical leaders succeeded in changing the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man. They had created a Jesus in their own image. Throughout the reformation, society was directly impacted to the degree that Christ, the image of God, was seen. As Christ was seen for whom He is, society and the church were changed. Art changed. Science changed. Everything began to reflect the image.

True Christianity is all about God creating His image and likeness in fallen man, and in so doing, raising him up into His glory. All His dealings have this end in view. He has purposed that all things should be conformed to the true image of Christ. In Christ, God is once again saying, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. . . " (Genesis 1:26).

In the beginning, "God created man in His own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." (Genesis 1:27). The Hebrew word for image in the above passage is tselem--empty, image, semblance (Strong). In Psalm 39:6, tselem is translated shadow. "Surely every man walks about like a shadow (tselem); Surely they busy themselves in vain; He heaps up riches, And does not know who will gather them" (Psalm 39:6, NKJV). In the New American Bible this verse reads, "Mere phantoms, (tselem) we go our way; mere vapor, our restless pursuits; we heap up stores without knowing for whom" (Psalm 39:6).

W.E. Vine gives us a fuller sense of its meaning. "tselem . . . a thing which represents the original more closely but lacks its essential characteristic (reality) . . . the word represents a 'dream image'. "As glorious as Adam and Eve were, they still comprised only a dream image, an empty image of God yet to realize its fullness. Adam and Eve lacked completeness. They were a work in progress."

God first creates and then He fills. He created the earth and then He filled it with plants and living creatures. He created the oceans and then He filled them with fish. He created man out of the dust of the earth and breathed into him the breath of life and he became a living soul. He then created Eve out of Adam. Adam and Eve were created and animated by God, but it yet remained for them to be filled with His fullness. God had much more in store for them. They could have freely eaten of the tree of life, and embarked upon an endless and boundless discovery of their Creator. They could have been filled with His fullness, but tragically, they ate from a tree that had a different effect altogether. They ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and became self-aware (covering their nakedness) rather than God-aware. Now they were overcome with desires and passions for good and for evil that did not come from their heavenly Father.

They had received the empty image of God, but had yet to grow into the likeness (Hebrew demooth) of God. This Hebrew word demooth does not mean similarity but "one likeness." Ezekiel said of the four angelic beings that he saw in a vision, "And as for their appearances, they four had one likeness (demooth)." (Ezekiel 10:10).They had a shared likeness. As applied to Adam and Eve, demooth means the exact likeness of God, which they were predestined, through growth and development, to be conformed to. When we consider that God is Spirit, this likeness must consist of more than merely looking like God in image (as a mere photograph), but being like Him in essence. This is the reality that the last Adam, the Son of God, the quickening Spirit, brings to those who believe on His name. In Him we are invited to be partakers of the divine nature (See 2 Peter 1:4), and to become one spirit with Him. "But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit" (1 Corinthians 6:17). The first Adam never realized this likeness for he was only two-dimensional at best.

To keep them from eating from the tree of life and living forever in their fallen state, adding evil to evil, God drove Adam and Eve from paradise and they began to die in their sin. Thus humankind was temporarily denied the complete filling they were created for. Fallen man remains an empty image, craving the fullness and likeness. He endeavors to fill the void within him with the good and evil of this world. But nothing of this kosmos can quench his insatiable thirst for fullness. He is driven to fill an emptiness that echoes in the center of his being "You are unfinished! You are empty! You are incomplete! You have the image but you lack the likeness!"

Christ Jesus, the Tree of Life, is God's answer for man's emptiness. He is the "fullness of Him who fills all things." Through His redemptive work the way to the Tree of Life is once again open, and we can know Christ's love which surpasses knowledge. We can "be filled with all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:19). Man was not just created to bear God's image but to be filled with God's fullness. Man is a mere vessel that remains unfulfilled as long as he is image without likeness.

Unlike fallen man who bears the empty form of God, Christ in His fullness is God's brightness and express image. We need a fresh revelation of Christ, the Son of the living God, and to be filled with the fullness of Him!

(Note: Where the word image [Greek eikon] is used in this context in the New Testament, it speaks of a complete manifestation of the thing it represents, whereas the Hebrew word for image in the Genesis account is a mere shadow. See 2 Corinthians 4:4-7.)

In his book The Ultimate Intention, DeVern Fromke wrote:

Recently I learned that the word "renew" in Isaiah 40:30 really means "exchange." Thus the text could correctly read, "But they that wait upon the Lord shall exchange their strength." This is the secret! The Christian exchanges his old manner of life and resources for the new. Weakness is exchanged for strength.

I suppose (says A. W. Tozer), it is improper to say that God makes His people strong, but we must understand this to mean that they become strong in exact proportion to their weakness; the weakness being their own and the strength being God's. 'When I am weak then am I strong' is the way Paul said it, and in so saying set a pattern for every believer. What has happened is that he has switched from his little human battery to the infinite power of God.

Now remember we are still considering God's plan for our participation, appropriation and qualifying. This was God's first plan which has in no sense been changed by sin or the Fall . . . we shall see that men have become so engrossed in the wonders of salvation they have missed the larger intention of God for His sons.

We are called not merely to receive His life, imparted by the new birth; we are called to a full participation in the life of Christ. We are called not merely to enjoy the bud, but to allow full blossoming of the flower. Let no one who is still allowing the selfish purpose of life (of the first Adam) to dominate, imagine that he is to any measure participating in this divine life. Jesus Christ will only live one kind of life in us: a life poured out unto the Father and for others. It is the snare of this present hour that men seem to want a crisis-impartation of His life for themselves but have little interest in daily manifesting His life unto God.

The Son Is the Restored Image of God

Luke traces the lineage of Christ all the way back to "Adam, which was the son of God" (Luke 3:38). Paul called him the First Adam. As the son of God, Adam, in his emptiness, "begat a son in his own likeness, after his image, and called his name Seth" (Genesis 5:3). Mankind was created to bear God's image, likeness and fullness but for the next 4,000 years he would bear the image and emptiness of the First Adam. Man had become a chip off the old block.

But then, in the fullness of time, God sent His Son, the Last Adam, to birth a new humanity that would once again be given the privilege of pursuing the fullness and bearing the true image and likeness of God. Jesus is called the Last Adam because He is the last word in what man is to become. Jesus came to His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him and believed on His name, to them He gave the power (the legal right or power of attorney) to become the sons of God. (See John 1:11-12). Adam was created to reflect his Creator-Father. Likewise, all new creatures in Christ have been called to be sons and as sons are called to reflect the glory and likeness of their heavenly Father. That's what sons do! They reflect their Father! They're the spitting-image of their Dad. John described Jesus' glory in these terms, "And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14, NRSV).

We catch a glimpse of the glorious fellowship between the Father and the Son in John chapter seventeen, as Jesus lifted up His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may also glorify you...Now, Father, glorify me with Your Own self, with the glory which I had with you before the world existed" (John 17:1, 5). Contained in this high-priestly prayer of the Son to the Father is the secret of His glorious-ness. Wasn't the Son glorious in Himself? Yes! But clearly a far greater glory is in reference here. The Son could not glorify the Father, in the fullest sense, unless the Father glorified Him, "Glorify your Son, that your Son may also glorify you." Why? Because the glory of the Son is the Father's own self.

As it was with the only begotten Son so it is with all sons. We are not called to reflect our own glory! We are called, as Jesus was, to reflect the glorious image of our Father. But that image is not a dream image, a shadowy imprint, as it was with Adam. We are called to share in the likeness, fullness and glory of the Son who is glorified with God's own self.

Jesus goes on to express His desire "that they (all disciples everywhere, throughout all time) may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me" (John 17:21). The operative word here is in. The only way that I can be one with God is for God to be in me and the only way we can truly be one with others is for God to be in us as He is in them. John wrote, "But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7, NKJV). Here is fellowship and here is our cleansing from all that is of the first Adam.

The opening words of John's first epistle consist of an open invitation into the fellowship and glory of the Father and His Son. "We are writing to you about something which has always existed yet which we ourselves actually heard and saw with our own eyes: something which we had opportunity to observe closely and even to hold in our hands, something of the Word of life! For it was life which appeared before us: we saw it, we are eyewitnesses of it, and are now writing to you about it. It was the very life of all ages, the life that has always existed with the Father, which actually became visible in person to us. We repeat, we really saw and heard what we are now writing to you about. We want you to be with us in this--in this fellowship with the Father, and Jesus Christ His Son" (1 John 1: 1-5 Phillips). This is the true ground of unity!

This is the greatest witness that Jesus is the Son, and was sent by the Father. When the world sees the Father's own self reflected through many sons it will be without excuse. The call of son-ship is far greater than that of mere messengers because sons are called to be glorified with God's own self. This is the greatest witness of all! All creation attests to this from the First Adam, the son of God, to the Last Adam the Son of God. He is taking our captivity captive and giving us the gift of also becoming God's own sons.

All creation bears witness to the paternal heart of the Eternal Father. All creation that has seed within itself attests that God's purposes are seminal, containing the seeds of later development that should come to fruition in the fullness of time. This is the purpose man was originally created for. It is the purpose that was gloriously modeled by Christ, "the seed," the only begotten of the Father, the pattern Son. It is the reason that the only begotten of the Father became the first born among many brethren (many sons).

From Children to Sons -- Changed into His Likeness

"Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." (1 John 3:1-2, NKJV) Selah! Pause and thoughtfully reflect on that for a moment!

In Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, he says in chapter thirteen, "But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known" (1 Corinthians 13:10-12).

I, Michael, used to work in the security business and installed closed circuit TV and alarms in banks and business. Many of these businesses had two-way mirrors installed, which were used by the store detectives. They could stand behind them and observe the customers without being seen and catch shoplifters in the act. Customers never knew when they were being observed or not. I discovered that you can defeat a two-way mirror by blocking out the light with cupped hands against the mirror and your face. If the reflective side was darker than the viewing side, you can defeat it. A child or someone not trained in these things looks in this modern "glass darkly" and sees his own reflection, thinking it is a normal mirror. They might even look in it to comb their hair or, like infants, crawl up to their own image and want to play.

What does this have to do with the kingdom of God and seeing God? Since the fall of man, he has chosen his own light (he has become "wise"), and it has blinded him from seeing God as He is. The trouble with looking into a darkened glass or mirror is that the first image we see is our own!

This is what happens to people under the law. The law is weak through the flesh in that when a man looks into it all he can see is his natural face. (See James 1:23.) The difference between children (under the law or "schoolmaster," see Galatians 4) and sons is that sons do not behold their own image in a darkened glass; their maturity enables them to see beyond that. They see through the darkened glass and behold the glory of the Lord, with open face and are changed into the same image from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18). They eagerly await the day when they shall no longer know in part. They look forward to that full day when they shall know even as they are known. They long for that day when their view of Him is no longer darkened by their own reflection but they shall see Him face to face (1 Corinthians 13:12). Sons look into the scriptures and no longer see their own image. They no longer see a god that is aligned with their own desires and needs. They no longer look for passages that justify their own lusts. They read the scriptures looking for the image of their Father and His needs and desires. They look in the glass and see the glory of the Son.

It is disturbing when we see God's people reading their Bibles purely to find promises that they can use to get something from God. "God give me a newer car and a bigger home! Bless my family! Prosper my soul, expand my boundaries," and so forth. These look into the glass and see only themselves. They do not see the glorious Son, the image of God, who can change myopic, selfish children into glorious sons!

We start out as mere children in His kingdom, speaking as children, understanding as children, and thinking as children. It is all about us. We see the kingdom in terms of our salvation, our callings, our ministries, our comfort, our needs and provisions. But just how did Jesus see the kingdom of His Father? He said that the works that He did were only the works that He saw His Father doing and the words that He spoke were His Father's words. His life was lived to the Father. Jesus was not even worried about eating. When the disciples came back to Him out of the Samaritan village with food, He answered, "My meat is to do the will of Him who sent me, and to finish His work." Now that is God's weight loss plan! Jesus no longer thought, understood, or spoke as a mere child. He acted and spoke as a son. Sons are taken up with the will of their fathers. Children are taken up with their own wishes and desires.

Carnal man will never see God as He is, but rather see Him as a mixture composed from the lusts of his own heart. Jesus said it clearly in the sermon of the mount, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." The double minded man with one eye on the kingdom of God and the other on his own will always be unstable in all his ways. Unless the eye be single, the whole body will never be filled with light.

Jesus prayed, "That they all may be one, as You, Father, [are] in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me." How often I, Michael, read this prayer that we, the church, might be one in each other, but no, that is not what He prayed. Rather He prayed that we might all be one in the Father and the Son. This is what it means to be heavenly sons. Unity with one another in the church can only be true unity as much as we are individually one in Him (1 John 1:7). This comes as we behold the Son and are transformed into the same image from glory to glory. It is not about us (i.e., thinking like a child), but it is all about the Son who is the very image of God. We must look beyond the reflection in the mirror, leaving our carnal senses behind and start seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling and touching with spiritual senses. We must "taste and see that the Lord is good." We must do the works we see our Father doing. We must speak the words we hear our Father saying. In this we will touch the heart of God and smell His sweet aroma--all with new senses that are part of our being born of the Spirit. We must go beyond merely being born of the flesh.

As we mature into sons, we are urged to put away childish things. Sons are mature and reflect the love of God, which is the seal of perfection or maturity. The greatest witness of our son-ship is God's love. When agape love is fully developed in us, all those other gifts that are given to build up the body, in love, will have fulfilled their purpose and no longer hold our attention. "When that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away" (1 Corinthians 13:10). Sadly, many of God's children find their purpose and identity in the gifts and make the gifts the end. When they get a "ministry," they cease their quest to be conformed into the image of the Son. They have taken their eyes off the goal.

Natural children rarely focus on more than one thing at a time. To them the immediate thing is the eminent thing. The only thing they see is the thing that is dangling before their eyes at any given moment. Being egocentric, children relate all things to themselves, taking whatever they can get their little hands on and making it their own unique property. This is often accompanied by the screams, "Mine! Mine!"

Children also have a misguided sense of value. They fight over bottle caps and trample pearls. The same is true with the Lord's toddlers. You can hear their baby talk reverberating throughout the hallowed halls of Christendom today, "Jesus is Mine! The gifts of the Spirit are Mine! My Church, My pastor, My, My, My. Salvation is Mine, the most important ministry is My ministry." In making God's gifts and graces the end or goal, many make attaining this goal so large in their eyes that they cannot see over, under, around or through to the eternal purposes of God. To them, the gifts and graces of God were given for no greater purpose than to make the holder powerful and of high esteem.

God does not give spiritual gifts as a father gives toys to his children, to be used for their amusement and pleasure. He doesn't give them so that one can say, "I am a prophet" and another, "I am a pastor" and another, "I am an evangelist," or "This is My church and My congregation." It is time to put away such childishness. Spiritual gifts are given for a far greater purpose than this. Gifts are given to men "till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13, NKJV).

Mature sons recognize that it is not all about them. They have seen through the many shortfalls and pitfalls of temporary things and pressed on for the eternal. They see all things in relation to their Father's interests. Their eyes are not on the gift but on the Giver. Certainly we should unselfishly exercise the gifts that Christ gives us for the maturing of His body. But we must keep the goal before us; we must remember that these gifts are given to bring a desired end, and work with Him toward that end, never allowing the means to eclipse His greater purpose, many sons unto glory.

The Divine Process

There are children of God and then there are sons. There is a divine process through which God makes His children into sons. Paul wrote:

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children (Greek Teknon- little children) of God, and if children, then heirs ( kleronomos - one who receives his allotted possession by right of son-ship) --heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. (Romans 8:16-17, NKJV)

And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: "My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives." If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. (Hebrews 12:5-8, NKJV)

As you can see, the Father does not passively sit by and watch us grow up into whatever we will. This lack of maturity is all too common in the world today. Often we see couples who are still ruled by their own childish natures raising their own children. In his foolish wisdom that is against God and His ways, man has rewritten the book on child rearing and stricken the chapter that deals with chastisement to his own peril. Lawlessness is everywhere you look, but true sons of God follow after the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. They embrace the chastisement of the Father and the cross of the Son in their lives.

We do not necessarily ascribe to the teaching known as "the manifest sons of God," but neither do we believe that scriptures should be removed from the Bible because they have been misused. The following scripture is one that has been ignored because of its misuse in the past. Let's not toss the baby out with the bath water for there is a wealth of understanding in it. So please bear with us as we view this passage again with new eyes.

"For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing (used of events by which things or states or persons hitherto withdrawn from view are made visible to all) of the sons [huios--mature sons--come to fullness] of God." (Romans 8:19, RSV)

All that is really being said here is that in God's economy there will be a full-grown manifestation of the sons of God that hitherto has not been seen. In the scheme of seedtime and harvest, there yet remains the full fruition, the full corn in the ear. "It does not yet appear what we shall be, but . . . we shall be like Him."

We have already mentioned Hebrews 2:10 and God's desire to bring many sons unto glory. This does not necessarily mean bringing many sons to heaven in the sweet by and by. It is a clear reference to the divine process God uses to bring these sons to the place of glory and dignity as sons of God. The Father glorifies His sons and the sons glorify the Father.

God often renames someone and causes them to grow into that name. For instance there was Abram, whose name was changed to Abraham, "father of a multitude." This was in keeping with the promise that He had made to Abram that he would be the father of many nations. God calls things that are not as though they are. Abraham bore this name long before the promised son was given. Finally this father of a multitude was over 100 years old and still childless. Abraham's wife Sarah was barren, but to make things worse she was 90 years old, well past the time of childbearing. God, in His faithfulness, brought Abraham to possess the fullness that his name foretold. God chooses to know no man after the flesh, but rather to see him in light of His perfect will. "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it." (Revelation 2:17 NKJV).

This was also true of Jacob, whom He named Israel, and Simon, whom He named Peter. This is also true of sons. "For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the first-born among many brethren. And those whom He predestined He also called; and those whom He called He also justified; and those whom He justified He also glorified" (Romans 8:29-30). In God's mind it's a done deal. Those He has called He already sees as glorified. Could this be what the Apostle John was marveling over when he wrote, "Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God" (1 John 3:1). We are called to a glory that is beyond the present realities of our sometimes-barren lives. "Beloved, now we are the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be." It does not yet appear, but it will. And as surely as the earth brings forth fruit of herself, we that are called sons of God will be brought into the good of that name. ". . . first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear" (Mark 4:28).

The time is fast approaching when the sons of God will be brought into the glory of their name and be glorified with the Father's own self. This is as far beyond us to create as it was for Abraham and Sarah to birth Isaac in their old age. As it was with the Son, Jesus, this manifestation of the sons of God, is "not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." "Faithful is He who calls you, who will also do it" (1 Thessalonians 5:24).

We trust that this has helped you to better understand the Father's eternal purpose for many sons in His Son. We realize that a vast subject such as this cannot be covered in such brevity. Even as we received this revelation and started to write it down, verses throughout the Bible were coming alive in a new and exciting way with greater depth and reality. And even now they continue to do so. Nonetheless we submit this writing believing that the Father will open your spiritual eyes to see His glorious Son in ever increasing clarity. That you will begin to see your calling as sons on every page of the scriptures and as you do, you will write the final chapters of the book of life as His living letters!

Please prayerfully read the following passage in the light of what we have been sharing. May the eyes of our understanding be opened in the full revelation of our glorious Savior! Amen.

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. ¹⁵For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" ¹⁶it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. ¹⁸I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to [in] us. ¹⁹For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God; ²⁰for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of him who subjected it in hope; ²¹because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God. ²²We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now; ²³and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? ²⁵But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. ²⁶Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. ²⁷And he who searches the hearts of men knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. ²⁸We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose. ²⁹For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the first-born among many brethren. ³⁰And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified. ³¹What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who is against us? ³²He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not also give us all things with him? (Romans 8:14-32 RSV)

Article 2: Partakers of the Heavenly Calling

Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus. . . for this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house. (Hebrews 3:1-3, NKJV).

We hear a lot of talk in Christendom today about the will of God. Volumes have been written on the subject. Do we really understand what Jesus meant when He said, "Lo, I come to do Your will, O God"? Or do we understand what the author of Hebrews meant when he specified, "He takes away the first to establish the second"? (See Hebrews 10:7-9). One look at Christianity today reveals that the answer is NO. What we see is a paradox, praying, "Your will be done," while it rebuilds the things that Christ came to remove. We are like Peter who boldly cried out, "Not so, Lord!" as soon as God asked something of him that went against the traditions of the Jewish fathers. We see a practical denial of Christ's finished work, and like the Hebrews in the wilderness, we fail to enter into the finished work of the Father by choosing the works of our own hands. If we rebuild the things that Christ destroyed, we make ourselves transgressors (See Galatians 2:18) because our thoughts and actions are at variance with the truth. The book of Hebrews is a call for believers to live a higher reality--a reality that calls us up above the temporal realm of earthly sacraments into the heavenly reality and substance, of which these earthly things are mere shadows.

The author of Hebrews exhorts us to leave behind those religious things of past dispensations that have waxed old, and answer the heavenly calling, the ever-increasing upward call of the Spirit in Christ Jesus. This is the theme throughout the book.

Jesus came to do God's will, first in taking away and then in establishing. He did not come to take away the first religious system so that a better religious system could be established in its place. No, this new order tears at the very fabric of carnal man's need for a religious order and calls everyone who wants to know the risen Christ to pass into His presence beyond the torn veil of all religion. As Jesus died on the cross He cried out, "It is finished." It was then that God ripped the temple veil in two from top to bottom. Christ, the perfect sacrifice, finished the old order, fulfilling its types and shadows. He Himself is the reality and substance that they foretold. This does not only apply to the Lamb of sacrifice, but also to every other facet of temple worship. All things have become new and heavenly. We must go beyond mere symbolism and reach out for the true spiritual substance of God's kingdom. In spite of this glorious truth, we see Christians today who are as intrigued as any orthodox Jew by a one ton cornerstone paraded around the temple mount and the search for a perfect red heifer. All God's children need to understand these three simple words, "It is finished!" He has taken away the first and established the second! God's will has nothing to do with sacrifices and offerings of the old religious order that hinted of better things to come.

This was without doubt a highly revolutionary thought to the recipients of the Letter to the Hebrews. In the minds of the Jews, who had been taught that the religion of their fathers was perfect and unchangeable, the thought that Judaism had outlived its usefulness and was ready to vanish away was more than radical--it was heretical. The idea that God did not intend to use the old wineskin of Judaism but cast it away was difficult if not impossible for them to accept. The same thing is happening today in the minds of most Christians who are being challenged to look beyond the teachings of their denominations for a more perfect manifestation of God' own Son.

This letter to the Hebrews was written to help Jewish Christians who were struggling with the extremes of this new order that Christ established and to help them to go on unto perfection. They had settled into a compromise, choosing a more moderate approach, keeping what they felt were the essentials of the old order and mixing them in with the new. They had created a sort of designer-Christianity that did not offend anyone. They put themselves in the position of determining what is good and evil. They were determined to maintain the things that had given them power in the old Levitical system while claiming Jesus Christ as their Messiah. In today's religious thinking, they were moderates and considered balanced.

The word moderation means, "Avoiding extremes." Religious man prides himself in his moderation, and does all that he can to avoid the radical, and yes, even the extreme ramifications of Christ's finished work. This is especially true regarding the taking away of the old religious order. To avoid offending his heightened sense of moderation, religious man sets his hand to take those things of the old religious order which he has determined to be good and mixes them with the new order.

T. A. Sparks wrote,

This letter to the Hebrews sets forth the all-inclusive revolution or reconstitution which God made when He brought His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world - that is, the religious revolution. This revolution, which was rejected by Judaism, has been almost entirely overlooked or lost sight of by Christendom since Apostolic times. The entire present system of Christianity as generally accepted would be impossible if the meaning of this letter were received as a heavenly revelation in the power of the Holy Spirit. . . .In the light of such a spiritual eye-opening a whole lot of things would go: but being a "heavenly vision," there would be no tears, no sense of loss, and no fond farewells. The gain and joy would rather put all such things into the category of a worn-out and no-longer to-be-desired suit of clothes. . . .In the previous dispensations everything was outward and tangible -- sacrifices, altars, meeting places, priests, vestments, feasts, rewards, etc; but in this age all these things are gathered into the all-inclusive "In Christ," and are essentially spiritual aspects of the One Heavenly Man; to be known, enjoyed, and comprehended only by faith. The long generations of sentient gratification in religious things were in the very blood of these Hebrews, and they craved for the seen, the felt, the heard, the physical and emotional system of the past.

We must grasp this essential truth. Although the ekklesia of Christ meets on the earth, it is not an earthly institution. It is a heavenly organism, seated in heavenly places in Christ. The words heaven, heavens and heavenly are used sixteen times in the epistle to the Hebrews in connection with the true Church, which is heavenly and spiritual, in comparison with Judaism, which is earthly and concerned with physical ceremonies, temples, hierarchy and all things that appeal to the five senses.

Now, 2000 years later, Christianity has come full-circle. Having adapted its priesthood after the old Levitical order and re-instituted the rituals of the old religious system, Christianity, for the most part, has become another Judaism and has largely lost its heavenly salt and savor. Tragically, the better things that the author of Hebrews wrote about are as unrealized and unseen in today's worldly Church as they were in first-century Judaism. A church that still clings to things that tantalite the carnal senses cannot know the power of the age to come. The mystique of beautiful buildings, tapestries, stained glass windows, imagery, incense and music all add to the optimal religious experience, allowing the earth-bound worshipper to feel touched. Only a heavenly-minded ekklesia, called out of this sensationalism and seeking those things that are not seen, that city whose builder and maker is God, can answer the heavenly call.

The call to God's children today is the same as it was in the first century. It is a heavenly calling. It is an invitation to smell the sweet savor of Christ, to hear His voice, to taste of the heavenly gift, and seek with spiritual eyes a heavenly country. We are called to "mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem." We dare not be like Israel that did not enter God's rest beyond the veil, but instead focused on outer and inner court ministry, requiring the Gentile believers to do the same. We too can miss, by their same example of unbelief, the heavenly sanctuary that God pitched and not man. Paul accused such as these of minding earthly things and exhorted all believers to remember that "our conversation [our life] is in heaven" (See Philippians 3:19-20).

This is the choice before us today. Will we set our affections on high, denying the cravings of our carnal nature, or on things upon the earth? Will our love for the rudimentary things of the religious kosmos make us the adversary of Him who was sent to take away the first and establish the second? Will we mind the earthly things of religion or answer the heavenly call? No man can serve two masters. He will hate the one and cling to the other.

In Revelation chapter two, verse five, Jesus exhorts the assembly at Ephesus, "Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent." The Greek word for fallen in this passage is [1601] ekpipto--"to fall from a thing, to lose it, to fall from a place, to fall from a position, to fall to the ground, to be without effect" (Strong).

The church has fallen from its heavenly position by clinging to earthly shadows, saying to itself, "I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing." Jesus’ called the church of Laodicea to repent of the fallen, earthly institution that they had become. Jesus called each individual to open the door and allow Him to bring the fellowship of heaven once again. It was a call to again be a part of the heavenly organism that He intended them to be. He directed them to the open door in the heavens. He exhorted them, "He who overcomes, I will give to him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father on his throne" (Revelation 3:21).

When John turned his eyes from the earthbound churches of Asia Minor, he saw a door opened in heaven, and a voice like a trumpet issued the invitation, "Come up here and I will show you the things, which must happen after this." What did John see? What happened next? Immediately John was in the Spirit and saw "a throne set in heaven" (See Revelation 3:19-4:2).

Jesus invites those who overcome to join Him in His victory and sit in His throne, but first the bonds of the world, both religious and secular, must be broken. Jesus said to His disciples, "Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). The Spirit is still calling the church to overcome and return to our heavenly position, to set our affections on things above and not on things on the earth (See Colossians 3:2). We must enter into His rest. The exalted Christ is still inviting us to overcome and sit down (labor to enter His rest) with Him in His throne.

Paul wrote, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ . . . And has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 1:3, 2:6). This is the rest our Hebrews writer speaks of in chapter four.

We cannot answer the call to "come up here" unless we overcome the weight of religion that tethers us to this present evil world. We cannot keep the things of the old religious order and soar to heaven's heights! We cannot sit down with Christ in His throne while we are bound to the earth by the rudimentary principles of the world. We cannot have it both ways! If we attempt to do so, God forbid, we will sacrifice the better things for the old things!

"However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man" (1 Corinthians 15:46-49, NKJV).

"Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.

"Then He who sat on the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new.' And He said to me, 'Write, for these words are true and faithful.' And He said to me, 'It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.

"'He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.'

"Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, 'Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife.' And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal." (Revelation 21:1-11, NKJV).

Article 3: The Radical Call

Throughout history, when one king defeated another, the victor required the vanquished king and his surviving armies to renounce all other allegiances and swear unconditional loyalty to him and his kingdom. We read of one such instance in 1 Kings 20:1-4. Ben-hadad, the king of Syria, and thirty-two other kings gathered their armies together and besieged Samaria. Ben-hadad sent messengers to Ahab the king of Israel in the city, and said to him, "'So says Ben-hadad, Your silver and your gold are mine, and your wives and your sons, the best, are mine.' And the king of Israel answered and said, 'According to your word, my lord, O king, I am yours, and all that I have.'"

These words of Ahab depict the degree of surrender required to answer Christ's call and enter the Kingdom of God. When Jesus came preaching the Kingdom of God, He issued a call that required no lesser surrender, demanding the radical renunciation of all that you are and possess. It also requires a radical response to heed the radical call of the King of kings. Jesus was absolutely brutal and unwavering about the requirements of following Him and be HIS disciple. He made no exceptions.

Angel Blowing Trumpet And yet today, we Christians glibly parrot the words "I am following Jesus, I am a follower of Christ!" We sing of our devotion to Christ, "I have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back, no turning back . . ." and yet we seem unsure of what these words really mean. To some following Christ is attending Church and paying tithe. To others it is blind submission to a Church hierarchy. To others it may mean something different, whatever their concept of holiness may be. But what does it really mean to answer Christ's radical call, "Follow Me"?

When Jesus first began His earthly ministry. he issued a radical call to twelve men. That call was no less radical than the one Ben-hadad issued to Ahab and clearly represents Christ's call to every believer. We can learn much by considering these individuals Christ gave this invitation to, and pondering how radical it was for them to immediately drop everything and follow Him. This kind of utter detachment and abandonment stumbles the western mind. From a twenty-first century theological perspective, this borders on irresponsibility and fanaticism. The very Idea that men would leave their trades, wives and children to follow someone who had no place to lay His head, defies all the western values that Americanized Christianity holds dear and dutiful.

For instance, two fishermen, Simon Peter and Andrew his brother, were casting a net into the Sea of Galilee when Jesus came walking by. Jesus said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Without questioning, they IMMEDIATELY left their nets and followed him. Really! How strange is this? Going on from there, Jesus saw two other brothers, James and John in a boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, getting ready for the next day's catch. The scripture says "He called them." Is that it? He simply called them? He didn't reveal the whole counsel of God, give an altar call, or ask for a show of hands? He called them? What was their response to this simple and yet radical call? "They IMMEDIATELY left the boat and their father, and followed Jesus (Matthew 4:18), not for a day, not for a week, not for a month but for three years. Put yourself in their place. Ask yourself; "Is my commitment to Christ this radical?"

Then there was Matthew sitting at the local Internal Revenue office, collecting taxes from his fellow Jews for the Roman government. Jesus said to Matthew, "Follow me." What did Matthew do? "He got up and followed him." (See Matthew 8:8). What irresponsibility! He had a government job with all the perks! His future was guaranteed, and he left it all for a life of uncertainty.

The same thing happened to Philip. "The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, 'Follow Me.'" (John 1:43, NKJV).

Perhaps the answer to this mysterious selection process is found in Jesus' words, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me" (John 10:27). These men may not have fully known who Jesus was at first but Jesus knew them and that they were chosen by the Father. They also recognized His voice as that of the Good Shepherd and followed Him.

Another who desired to follow Christ asked that he be allowed to fulfill his responsibility to his family by first going and burying his father. "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." What was Jesus' response to this grieving man's request? Surely such a circumstance would merit an exception. Not so! Seemingly defying all social protocol this Radical from Nazareth replied, "Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead" (Matthew 8:22) "but you go and announce the Kingdom of God" (Luke 9:60).

Can you put yourself in this man's place? Here you are among fellow believers and you go to the "head pastor" of your church and say, "I need you to excuse me from my place on the ministry team this Sunday. My Father in California has just died." What would you think of this man if he replied to you, "Let your dead unsaved relatives put him in the ground. You are not excused." How would this sit with you? I can tell you that a pastor with this attitude would soon have no flock in today's church.

Another said, "I want to follow you, Lord, but first allow me to bid farewell to those who are at my house." But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God" (Luke 9:61-62).

Wow! Do these demands seem a bit unreasonable to you? Surely we should honor our earthly fathers enough to give them a proper funeral? Don't we owe it to our families to at least tell them "goodbye" before disappearing from their lives?

Then there was the rich young ruler who ran to Jesus, knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except one--God. You know the commandments: 'Do not murder,' 'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not give false testimony,' 'Do not defraud,' 'Honor your father and mother.'" The rich young ruler answered, "Teacher, I have observed all these things from my youth." Jesus looking at him loved him, and said to him, "One thing you lack. Go, sell whatever you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me, taking up the cross" (See Mark 10:17-21).

Because Jesus loved, he issued The Radical Call--requiring the one thing lacking. He looked upon him and loved him and that love required that he expose that one weight of earthly responsibility that so easily beset him. What utter disregard for this man's financial responsibilities! Sell all and give to the poor? Couldn't this money be better spent to support missionaries, apostles and prophets as they traveled around preaching the kingdom? How irresponsible is it to give away all this money when it could be used to further the gospel.

What would you think if you went to join a church and the pastor asked what kind of life you were living? You assure him that you are in good standing with God, but then he tells you if you were really perfect you would give all you have to the poor and come and follow him. What audacity! We can understand a man requiring you to give all to HIS ministry if you were to join it, but to give all you have to those wretched poor who most likely would have squandered it all in a week or two, never! But this was the very test that this rich young ruler was required to pass. He failed it miserably, and went away sad.

We wonder just how many would also fail such a test in today's church system. Jesus told him, "Yet, one thing you lack. . ." What is our "one thing lacking"? That is what Jesus went after in each of these cases and He has not changed. Today we are being tested just like they as to whether WE are worthy of His kingdom.

Art Katz wrote in the forward to his book, The Spirit of Truth:

How is it that a phenomenon whose origin is heavenly and was purchased at such a cost should become, by our generation, so melancholy a culture? I was brought one Sunday morning, free from any commitment of my own, to enjoy the luxury of hearing another preacher. I went tripping as a doe, full of delight and anticipation, buoyed by the lavish praise for the minister as a preacher of the Word by the brother who escorted me.

I was seated in the balcony of the crowded church attentive and waiting but not a little disturbed by the contrasting groups around me. On the one hand, the audience included clusters of giddy teenagers round about. On the other hand I was struck by the air of religious stiffness and joylessness in the adults. I endeavored to throttle my jaundiced subjectivity, not wanting in any way to allow it to impinge upon the preached word now beginning to come forth. As the message unfolded, I could readily understand the enthusiasm for the preacher which my companion held. The words were clear, pointed, correct. But what then was this strange uneasiness rising in my soul that with every word intensified 'till finally my innards were knotted in an inexplicable anguish?

At last I realized my dilemma: My mind was approving the outward biblical and doctrinal correctness of the word preached, but my soul was recoiling at the spirit of the speaking which contradicted it's every syllable! We were with the one enjoined to radical commitment and sacrifice, while the other was saying, "No need to panic; this needn't be taken seriously--remember, this is only a sermon. I'll provide a biblical message weekly and you provide for my personal security and well-being. I won't push you and you don't push me, and we'll get along famously."

In that moment the realization was birthed in me, (should I have not long before seen it?) that the truth is the whole truth and nothing but the truth, that the spirit of the one speaking--the constitution and grit of the person--must be in complete agreement with the words of the one speaking or it is a LIE. The devastating words of the widow of Zarephath to the prophet Elijah pierce me still: "Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the words of the Lord in thy mouth is truth." (1 Kings 17:24)

It is one thing to speak the words of Christ and preach from the Bible, yet it is a whole other thing to speak from a life within that is in agreement with the one who wrote the scriptures. Is it any wonder that today's ministries lack what the early apostles had? Of them it was said, "With great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus."

Who Do You Love?

Many a person has heard the call of God, but not followed because they feared disappointing their parents who had designs on their futures, perhaps to take over the family business or become a doctor or a lawyer, thus fulfilling their own childhood aspirations. You guessed it, Jesus even had something to say about this.

"He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it." (Matthew 10:37-39, NKJV).

On another occasion, while Jesus was teaching in a house His mother and brothers stood outside "and sent to Him, calling Him." Mark records that "a multitude was sitting around him when messengers told Him, 'Behold, your mother, your brothers, and your sisters are outside looking for you.' He answered them, 'Who are my mother and my brothers?' Looking around at those who sat around him, He said, 'Behold, my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.' (See Mark 3:32-35)

Neither Mark nor Matthew give any indication in their accounts of this event that Jesus ever went out to see His relatives. He evidently left them standing outside. He simply turned to the multitude around Him and said, "Behold, my mother and my brothers!" By today's Christian standards, to ignore your parents in such a manner is disrespectful and rude. Christ's devotion to the will of His heavenly Father superceded all earthly loyalties and responsibilities, and in that He was radical indeed. His life and devotion to the Father fully exemplified the radical-ness of the call that He issued to others. He also required this same radical abandonment in those who would follow Him.

Many of us have gone on to find our lives and make something of ourselves at the bidding of our parents, all the while ignoring the commandment of the Lord to follow Him. What a loss! All because of this radical call, we deem Christ too extreme, too demanding. So we settle for an existence that is less than perfect as we join the flow of American mediocrity with our house in the suburbs, our two new cars, color TVs and home entertainment systems, hot tubs, and all the creature comforts of this world that we can or cannot afford.

As a result of this, so many of us in this same boat form clubs of like souls who have not followed on to know the Lord and we call these organizations "churches." We hire men who will tell us we are doing the right thing, who are willing to scratch our ears, teaching nothing beyond the general and predictable level of commitment that each group has deemed to be reasonable and therefore correct. We call these teachers, pastors. No, this is NOT the church of Jesus Christ, who by definition are His called out ones. The bar of Christian commitment has been lowered so far that you have to scuff your feet to stub your toe on it. The Radical Call cannot be demanded by anyone but Christ, yet religious man is intent on watering it down to make things comfortable and palatable for all. After all, if we were to preach the same radical message that Jesus preached, how would we ever fill our impressive church buildings and pay our pastors' big salaries? We must be practical here!

Today we are considered saved if we sit in a padded pew while the man up front gives an altar call that is no more inconvenient than secretly slipping one hand in the air. Least anyone is embarrassed by our public display of loyalty to Christ; the rest of the faithful close their eyes and bow their heads, no one looking around. If THIS is indicative of the level of our commitment, no wonder that the divorce rate, crime rate, drug and alcohol abuse, etc, statistics among Christians in America match that of the un-churched. It takes a radical commitment and conversion to walk a life that is beyond the downward pull of this world system. If we are to live as citizens of another kingdom that is not of this world, we must first take a step that is as radical as putting a man on Mars. We must boldly go where the nominal believers dare not venture.

This Radical Call is well depicted in John Bunyan's classic, Pilgrim's Progress. A man, later called Christian, stood crying, looking around as though he could not tell which way to go. A man named Evangelist came to him, and asked why he was crying.

Christian answered, "Sir, I perceive by the book in my hand, that I am condemned to die, and after that to come to judgment; and I find that I am not willing to do the first, nor able to do the second."

Then Evangelist gave him a parchment roll, with the words "Flee from the wrath to come" written within it. After reading this, Christian asked, "Where must I fly?"

Evangelist: (pointing with his finger over a very wide field said, to Christian) "Do you see yonder wicket gate?" (Matthew 7:14)

Christian: "No."

Evangelist: "Do you see yonder shining light?" (Psalm 119:105; 2 Peter 1:19)

Christian: "I think I do."

Evangelist: "Keep that light in your eye, and go up directly thereto; so shalt thou see the gate…"

The man began to run toward the light, but he had not run far from his own door before his wife and children perceived it and began to beg him to return. Refusing to look behind him and putting his fingers in his ears, Christian ran towards the middle of the plain, crying, "Life! Life! Eternal life!"

His neighbors also came out to see him run. Some mocked, others threatened, and some cried after him to return. Two even followed him, determined to fetch him back by force. The name of the one was Obstinate and the other Pliable. Finally they caught up with him. Christian asked them why they had come. "To persuade you to go back with us," they replied.

This dream (as Bunyan called it) demonstrates the struggle all believers face as they set out to follow Christ. The decision to follow Christ in such a radical abandonment is viewed by the world as madness and by today's church as fanaticism. The obsession to run after and bring such demented ones back is driven by the prudent, balanced and wise voices of Christian mediocrity.

The Seemingly Irresponsible Teachings of the Radical Christ

Early in my (George) walk with Christ, in my childish faith, I didn't know any better than to read the words of Christ and take them literally. When I read, " whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also," I thought that was what it really meant. Silly me. Before long I learned that Jesus' words needed to be interpreted and made contemporary. These simple words were not as easy to understand as I first thought. I soon learned that it sometimes took three hours to explain what Jesus said in three seconds. Things were much more complicated than I thought. So off to Bible school I went to learn how to arrive at a balanced perspective. Who knows, I might have done something radical or even irresponsible if I didn't learn how to interpret these difficult teachings of Christ.

There I sat in the classroom and sure enough, someone asked the Professor a profound question, "When Jesus said, 'Give to him who asks you, and don't turn away him who desires to borrow from you' (Matthew 5:42), what did He mean?" Surly He didn't mean, "Give to him who asks you, and don't turn away him who desires to borrow from you"? An anticipatory hush fell over the student body, as the all-knowing Professor set out to explain the qualification and responsibilities that the one asking must meet before another should give to them. I had no idea that there was so much involved. Certainly it would be irresponsible to give to someone without knowing the extenuating circumstances. Would they be responsible with the gift? So it was that I learned how to interpret the coded language of Christ. You take His words and interpret your wants and desires into them, under the guise of prudence and responsibility.

Christ's Utter Disregard For Sound Financial Principles

There is much talk in Christendom today about "sound biblical financial principles." There is much talk about "grounded principles and solid practical advice so you can plan for a secure future, get out or stay out of debt, and enjoy freedom that comes from having your financial house in order." They talk about "stewardship and financial security, understanding wise money management skills, investing to maximize results, avoiding financial disaster, retiring with a comfortable lifestyle," and so forth.

This is the language of Wall Street, not the Via De La Rosa.

One day while Jesus was teaching His disciples one of the multitude that had also gathered around said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." That sounds reasonable, doesn't it? It is only right that this man should receive his share of the inheritance. Surely Christ would take the time to correct this injustice. But no, it seemed that Jesus didn't even see this man's plight but looked beyond to a greater problem. Jesus said to him, "Man, who made me a judge or an arbitrator over you?" Then Jesus turned to His disciples and the rest of multitudes around Him and said to them, "Beware! Keep yourselves from covetousness, for a man's life doesn't consist of the abundance of the things which he possesses."

Then He spoke a parable to them, saying,

"The ground of a certain rich man brought forth abundantly. He reasoned within himself, saying, 'What will I do, because I don't have room to store my crops?' He said, 'This is what I will do. I will pull down my barns, and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. I will tell my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, be merry."' "But God said to him, 'You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared--whose will they be?' So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." (Luke 12:16-21)

In America soundness of responsibility is measured by the size of your barns, the extent of your portfolio, the size of your bank account and whether it can be said of you, "He is a success." This preoccupation with mammon is also rampant in the American churches, which are modeled after American big business. And the Americanized gospel is a mixture of America's corporate values and the Judeo-Christian ethic. Even the American churches have adopted this measure of success and respectability. As a result, many ministers have taken on the flavor of the motivational-speakers of corporate America, speaking more of success and money than of the risen Lord, making wealth the proof of your godliness. They teach that if you have great faith you will have great wealth. Hence they constantly tear down their barns and build bigger and more extravagant ones, to lay up many goods for many years. In corporate America, bigger is always better, but not so in the kingdom of God.

One such well-known Christian financial counselor wrote,

"Can you imagine retiring with a nest egg of $1 million? It may seem excessive but, actually, it's not unrealistic. Consider that 30-year Treasury Bonds currently yield about 5.7 percent interest. If you invested $1 million at 5.7 percent interest, you'd receive annual income of $57,000 or $4,750 per month. That may be more income than you'd need if you retired today, but consider the impact of inflation over time. Currently, inflation is about 2 percent, but it wasn't too long ago when inflation was much higher. And we may see higher inflation rates in the future.

"Let's assume a long-term inflation rate of 3 percent per year. If we discount an income of $4,750 per month beginning 10 years from now at 3 percent inflation, it is equivalent to $3,520 per month today, or $42,000 per year. If you plan to retire in 20 years with an income of $4,750 per month, it is equivalent to $2,609 per month today, or $31,000 per year. Thus, due to inflation and the very real income needs you will have in the future, it is not unreasonable at all to have a nest egg of at least $1 million.

"Many people may believe that accumulating $1 million in savings and investments is impossible. However, it's very possible!

"Let's assume that you can earn 10 percent on your investments. This is based on the fact that the returns of large capitalization stocks over the last 70 years have averaged in the range of 10 percent to 11 percent. If your investments are in a taxable account, then you must earn more than 10 percent in order to net 10 percent after taxes. Assuming you're starting from scratch, the chart on this page shows how much you’ll have to save each month at 10 percent interest in order to accumulate $1 million by age 65. As you can see, the earlier you start, the less you'll have to set aside each month."

Regardless of Christ's teachings regarding the foolishness and danger of storing up and trusting in riches, such teaching is common in Christendom today. This may sound like sound financial counseling and may even work, because you get what you seek. You have your reward, but the real issue here is where our hearts are. Where our treasures are, there our hearts will be also.

Now compare the sound financial teachings of Jesus Christ to His disciples.

"Therefore I tell you, don't be anxious for your life, what you will eat, nor yet for your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they don't sow, they don't reap, they have no warehouse or barn, and God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than birds! Which of you by being anxious can add a cubit to his height? If then you aren't able to do even the least things, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow. They don't toil, neither do they spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if this is how God clothes the grass in the field, which today exists, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith? Don't seek what you will eat or what you will drink; neither be anxious. For the nations of the world seek after all of these things, but your Father knows that you need these things. But seek God's Kingdom, and all these things will be added to you."

What kind of hippy attitude is Jesus teaching here? He seems to be rejecting the moorings of established society. Isn't it ambition that drives a healthy economy? We should not forget who Jesus is teaching here! He is teaching the poor how to get ahead. His sound financial advice to them was, "Take no thought for your life." But hang on to your hats folks! It gets more radical from here!

"Don't be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. Sell that which you have, and give gifts to the needy. Make for yourselves purses which don't grow old, a treasure in the heavens that doesn't fail, where no thief approaches, neither moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (See Luke 12:13-40)

The Un-Christlike Model of Today's Church

Let's see if we have this correct thus far. Jesus is telling the multitudes (Greek ochlas--those with no titles of positions) to take no thought for their lives, and then he tells them to take what precious little they have, sell it and give it to those more needy than themselves.

The parable of the unjust steward (Luke 16:1-14) points to the need of the believer to use the unrighteous mammon at his disposal to buy "friends that can receive him into everlasting habitations." We as Christians should be doing the same with those things that we call our own by lessening the burdens of those who are weighed down in this world.

Have you ever noticed that the ones who are the most generous are the ones who have little? I, Michael, spent some time in Guatemala and I have never seen such poverty, yet such giving hearts as I saw in those people. It taught me what Jesus meant when He said, "Blessed are the poor." James warned, "Do you not know that it is the rich who exploit you?" How many of us will stand before God and find that we have no friends on the other side to receive us because we were not rich toward God by helping the poor, the widows and the orphans? Instead we have already had our reward in THIS life, because we spent all our lives pleasing our own flesh with the resources God put us in charge of.

How much of our lives are spent in finding our lives? Do we in the American church really live like our REAL lives are in heavenly places in Christ? If so, then why have we and our churches spent so much to store up so much in this life? A mere hundred years ago, the American church was spending great amounts on foreign missions. Not so today. We leave it all to governmental organizations to do that and thus the Gospel of Christ is not being manifest in the world.

Many years ago I, Michael, was on a church board of deacons. I took the position that was offered because I had a heart for foreign missions and that church was known to spend 30% of its budget on reaching out to the lost in foreign lands. Almost as soon as I accepted the part, the pastor started coming to our deacons' meetings and asking us to cut back our donations to mission work and start earmarking more of the church income for "building-up the base." You guessed it. It was not long before the missions budget was cut to less than 10%, the food bank was designated for members only, and many other self-centered programs were instated. I resigned in disgust halfway through my two-year term.

For there to be a radical call to a lost and dying world, there must once again be radicals doing the calling, just as Jesus called. You cannot preach a radical gospel from a padded pulpit to people sitting in padded pews, while you wear your three piece, silk- lined Armani worsted wool suit. All the while your parishioners are checking their Rolex watches to see how much longer your canned sermon will last. Does anyone see the irony in all this that calls itself the church? As the singer, Ray Stevens, so aptly observed, "Would Jesus wear a Rolex on His television show?" Too many have the attitude of a small-time evangelist that I (Michael) once knew. As he belched after a big meal and patted his bulging belly, he observed, "Yup! This forsaking all is really where it's at."

Now let us say in conclusion that we (George and Michael) are required to be just as ruthless with our carnality as we are at pointing out the flesh of today's ministers and the fallen state of the church. God is requiring of us the same radical call. I (Michael) remember how surprised I was when I prophesied something to a local church and found out that God was first requiring it of me! Judgment first begins in the house of the prophet, then the family of God and finally it goes out to the world.

Please hear our hearts here. We are not throwing stones from our lofty ivory towers. We are just two brothers in Christ who desire to see God's glory fill the earth. We also desire that all flesh offering resistance to this (including our own) would be burned away by the fire of God's Spirit. We understand that the manifold wisdom of God cannot be made known except by the Ekklesia. This wisdom is rarely seen today, for today's church has lost its salt, it radical-ness, its otherworldliness. Many are beginning to see the need for the restoration of the primitive Church" and are heralding a cry of return to Radical Christianity. This all seems right and true, but understand this: you cannot have radical Christianity without radical Christians and you cannot have radical Christians without a Radical Call! You may recapture the primitive pattern, but if you lack the primitive abandonment and sacrifice that the early Church possessed, you still have nothing that would set you apart from any other worldly institution. You may have radical programs, a radical worship team, a radical youth group, but without a radical severing from the things of this world in your life and a wholehearted clinging to the Kingdom of God, all you've got is empty religion.

Those who truly follow Jesus will not find themselves welcome among the religious institutions controlled by men, any more than He was welcome among the religious institutions of 2000 years ago. The Radical Christ still calls us from outside the camp. Will we take up our crosses and go out to meet Him, bearing His reproach? Are we willing to pay the price?

Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. Hence, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come. (Hebrews 13:12-14, NASB).

Article 4: The Centrality of the Cross

In spite of the pain, suffering and open shame of the cross it remains at the center of all God's dealings with men. The word of the cross was especially central to the redemptive purposes of God.

For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (1 Corinthians 1:22-25, NKJV).

The Cross Today the message of the cross is no less disdained by men than it ever was. The societies of the west still seek after wisdom and Jews (the East) still require a sign. Both halves of the world have spawned many diverse religions, but they all have one thing in common--they have no place of honor or obedience to the working of the cross of Jesus Christ. Yet without it there is no unity or obedience to God and His Spirit. Men will seek scholastic wisdom in seminaries, they will give their bodies to be burned for a cause and even give great sums of money to charitable organizations. They will wax eloquent about the death and resurrection of Jesus from their pulpits, but few will embrace their cross and follow Him.

All of creation reveals the secret of life. It can be seen in the smallest seed. A seed must die before it can live. Before a tree or any other living plant can germinate and grow a seed must fall into the ground and die. Before many seed bearing fruit trees can reproduce, they must go through a winter where they lie dormant. If you plant an apple tree in Florida where it does not normally freeze in the winter, it will produce wonderful foliage, but will remain fruitless.

This principle of death is reflected throughout creation as well as revealed on every page of the scriptures. It was out of "the deadness of Sarah's womb" that Isaac, the son of promise, came forth. Although God provided Abraham a sacrifice in the place of Isaac, He demanded in type that that seed should fall in the ground and die before it sprang forth and multiplied in number as the stars of the sky and the grains of sand by the sea. In figure, the sacrifice of his son, Isaac, was also a type of God's redemptive plan yet to unfold.

Yet again, Jonah was in the fish's belly for three day and nights. Jesus said this was a prophetic sign, "the sign of Jonah," foretelling His death and resurrection unto salvation. Jonah's obedience was the salvation of Nineveh as was Christ's that of the world.

As in nature, so it is in the kingdom of God. The way to life is through death. We see a vivid picture of this when Israel crossed the Jordan River to enter the land of promise. Joshua put twelve rocks in the middle of the River representing the twelve tribes of Israel. In a figure of baptism into death and resurrection life, they buried their stoney hearts and left the reproach of Egypt behind them to enter a new life. (See Romans 6:3-11 & Joshua 4:9.) In Hosea 6:2 we also see this principle of death overcome by life. "After two days will he revive us. On the third day he will raise us up, and we will live before him."

Nothing so vividly captures this principle as the cross. The cross was an instrument of death and shame. It was despised by the Jews, in whose law it was written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree . . ." Even the Romans who loved the brutality of the coliseum abhorred the gore of the cross. The Roman Cicero wrote, "Let the very name of the cross be far away not only from the body of a Roman citizen, but even from his thoughts, his eyes, his ears." It was forbidden for Romans to be crucified for it was considered "the death of a slave" --a description that certainly fits the servanthood of Jesus Christ, whose whole life was in service to His Master, the Father.

In spite of the pain, suffering and open shame of the cross it remains at the center of all God's dealings with men. The word of the cross was especially central to the redemptive purposes of God. So much so that Paul wrote, "For the word (logos) of the cross is foolishness to those who are dying, but to us who are saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18). The King James Version reads, "For the preaching (logos) of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." This is somewhat misleading for the Greek word logos is much broader in scope and meaning than the word preaching conveys. When you hear the word "preaching," what comes to mind? Do you envision a man standing behind a pulpit expounding on the written word, teaching about the cross? Although the Greek word logos means "a word," the emphasis is not upon the utterance itself, but upon the inward thought, reckoning or reason behind the utterance. The logos of the cross is the logic or reason of the cross. But more, logos is the Divine thought, the heavenly principle of life, power, witness and growth in the kingdom of God.

The prologue of John's gospel reads, "In the beginning there was the Word (logos). The Word (logos--not preaching) was with God, and the Word (logos) was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were made by him, and nothing was made without him. In him there was life, and that life was the light of all people. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overpowered it." (John 1:1-5, NCV) The translation of the New American Standard Version of our verse in first Corinthians comes the closest. "For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."

The author of Hebrews wrote, "In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world." (Hebrews 1:1-2, RSV) Jesus is the Logos, the Word or Divine thought. He is God's final and ultimate word! Jesus is God's summation, embodying the sum total of divine wisdom. He has been made unto us wisdom. He exemplified the logic of God, and as far as the cross is concerned, Christ's every word and action revealed its logic -- logic that defies human logic. It is a logic that defies death and hell itself, thus breaking the hold of Satan's corrupted wisdom (Ezekiel 28:17) on mankind. It makes the grave the very door to victory. "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" (1 Corinthians15:55).

The Cross and Fruitfulness

In John 12:20-28, we read about certain Greeks who came to Philip, and asked him, saying, "Sir, we want to see Jesus." Philip told Andrew, and in turn, Andrew came with Philip, and they told Jesus. There is nothing in the record to indicate that these Greeks ever saw Jesus that day. Although it seems somewhat off the topic, Jesus' answer to the request of these Gentiles gives us a deeper understanding of the redemptive work of the cross. "The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified" (vs 23). How did God glorify His Son? How would God make His Son, who was perfect and without sin, more glorious or excellent than He already was? And in what way does this relate to the inquiry of the Greeks, "We would see Jesus"?

Perhaps turning His eyes upon the ripening fields of wheat that were so commonly seen throughout Israel, Jesus went on to explain how the Gentile world would see Him. "Most assuredly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life will lose it. He who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life" (Vs 24). The way to glory does not lead through the mountains of selfish ambition, distinguished acts in the field of battle or through the lofty peaks of noble rank and status, but through the valley of the shadow of death. There the noble, the wise, the brave, the weak and foolish alike must die the same death.

As in nature, unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies it remains alone. So also is the path to life and fruitfulness, but more, it is the path through which Jesus is seen. Jesus knew that if he never went to the cross and died, He would remain alone and the Greeks, those sheep of another fold who so desired to see Him, never would. To see and know Him is to know Him fully as the wisdom of God not just as the man Jesus or "Son of Man." It is to know Him as the light and life of the world, "the true Light, which gives light to every man coming into the world."

It is not enough to know Him as the Son of Man after the flesh (2 Corinthians 5:1), knowing and believing in Him as some great historical figure, but we must see and know Him as the Son of God--the second Adam--the life-giving Spirit. Until Christ the seed fell into the ground and died, the Gentile world would never see and know the glorified Christ!

How would the Gentile world see Christ? Not one of them knelt at the foot of the cross. There were no Greeks at the tomb, so how could they see the risen and glorified Lord except through those who followed Christ? This was the reason Christ turned His attention to the disciples and said to them, "follow me . . . it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven . . ." Did they know where He was leading them? Did they know that the cross waited at the end of the path in this life, as the doorway into the heavenly realm? Did they know that the path to glory led through the shameful death of the cross?

Jesus continues.

If anyone serves me, let him follow me. Where I am, there will my servant also be. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. ’Now my soul is troubled. What shall I say? "Father, save me from this time?" But for this cause I came to this time. Father, glorify your name!

When Jesus said, "If anyone serves me, let him follow me," where was He leading? Where was He going? When He said, "Where I am, there will my servant also be," where would He be and where would His servants gather? The answer to all of these questions is, at the cross. The cross was central to Christ's mission here on earth. " . . . for this cause I came to this time." Jesus promised that the Father would honor them who gather where He is--at the cross--and serve Him there. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. Jesus goes on to remove all doubt where this gathering place is. "Now my soul is troubled. What shall I say? 'Father, save me from this time?' But for this cause I came to this time. Father, glorify your name!" Then there came a voice out of the sky, saying, "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again." (Vs 26-28) The glory that Christ was really concerned with was not His own, but the glory of the Father, and that glory is seen in the cross. The Father glorified His name in the obedient death of His son Jesus and He has and will glorify it again and again in the obedient death of His saints. Regarding this fruitfulness, Tertullian wrote, "The blood of the martyrs is seed."

Take up Your Cross and Follow Me

"When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die." --Dietrich Bonhoeffer (The Cost of Discipleship)

Toward the end of His ministry Jesus began to show his disciples that he would have to go to Jerusalem and suffer a great deal because of the elders, the high priests, and the scribes. Then he would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised (Matthew 16:21). In reaction to this revelation, Peter took the Lord aside and rebuked him, saying, "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!" But Jesus turned around and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men!" Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone wants to follow me, he must deny himself, pick up his cross, and follow me continually. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." (Vs 24-25).

It was not Peter who sought to dissuade Jesus from His mission. Jesus recognized this. It was Satan who sought to turn Christ from embracing the cross and save himself, desiring the things of men. Even when Jesus was hanging on the cross, Satan, through the religious rulers, mocked Him saying, "You who destroy the temple, and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!" (Matthew 27:40)

Nothing can serve Satan's purposes better. O dear Christian, Satan comes to us, often through well-meaning Christians, like Peter and others, tempting us to avoid the unpleasantness of the cross and, in various ways, save ourselves. Remember Christ's words, "He who finds his life will lose it; and he who loses his life for my sake will find it" (Matthew 10:39).

"Save yourself!" Satan's message to man has never changed. He knows the nature that he placed in man with that forbidden tree. When he was dickering with God about the fate of Job he appealed to this innate nature in fallen man to save himself, "Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life." It is this self-preservation of the natural man that is enmity against God and His kingdom. Today we seek to save our lives more than ever. We set out to find our lives in an identity and prosperity in the things of this world. We spend years building up our worldly careers. We put away vast sums to retire on. Many of us are insurance premium poor as we try to hedge against any unforeseen disaster that might come upon us. This is neither the walk of faith in Christ and His kingdom nor is it embracing the cross. To us, like he did to back-slidden Peter, Jesus is saying once again, "Do you love me more than these?"

The One Thing Lacking

Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. "You know the commandments: `Do not commit adultery,' `Do not murder,' `Do not steal,' `Do not bear false witness,' `Do not defraud,' `Honor your father and your mother.'" And he answered and said to Him, "Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth." Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me." (Mark 10:17-21, NKJV).

It is very easy to keep certain commandments and yet lack the one thing. We may not murder, commit adultery, steal, give false testimony, or defraud, but there is the one thing lacking in us, that fanatical act of selling all and following Christ. Do we abstain from all the religious taboos and yet lack that one radical thing, that single aggressive and reckless attitude of abandonment? Like the rich young ruler, do we brag of our religious abstinence while there is yet one thing lacking? Have we gone beyond the usual customs and institutions to a radical following of our Lord? Have we sold all? Have we denied ourselves? Have we taken that path that leads outside the camp of Christian mediocrity, bearing His reproach (Hebrews 13:13)? Have we taken up our cross? Have we gone out unto Him who bore our shame and sorrow? Have we truly followed?

As we look around Christendom with its garish multi-million dollar churches and temples surrounded by shiny new cars every Sunday morning, the answer is all too obvious. Today, the church has never had so much wealth, yet spent so little on the poor and needy and the furtherance of the gospel in foreign lands. Once it lived like the widow in the temple who gave her all to God, but now it stands there beating its breast like the self-righteous Pharisee, thanking God that it is not like one of these lowly ones.

Have we gone out, bearing our cross, to Golgotha, "The Place of a Skull"? Or are we at ease inside the camp, enjoying all the latest Christian fineries, far removed from its gore? How can we call ourselves Disciples of Christ when it was He that said, "Whoever doesn't bear his own cross, and come after me, can't be my disciple"? (Luke 14:27) It doesn't get any clearer than this. Cross bearing is the prerequisite to discipleship.

The Path of the Christian is the Path of Christ

In Philippians chapter three Paul plainly sets forth the path, the goal and calling of every Christian. This chapter can be divided into six distinct parts or subheadings.

(1) Denying self (Verses 1-9), e

(2) Taking up the cross unto utter salvation (Verses 10-11),

(3) Following Christ (Verses 12-14),

(4) The cross and leadership (verses 15-17),

(5) The Enemies of the Cross (Verses 18-19), and finally, e

(6) The cross as the door to our true home and citizenship in Christ (Verses 20-21).

In this passage Christ's teaching about the cross can clearly be seen as the governing rule, first in the life and passion of the apostle Paul and then in the corporate body of Christ. Let us carefully look at these six parts, since this will help us to understand how the cross effects our daily Christian lives as the only means of knowing and serving Christ.

1. Denying Self

"Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not tiresome, but for you it is safe. Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision. For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh; though I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If any other man thinks that he has confidence in the flesh, I yet more: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the assembly; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, found blameless. However, what things were gain to me, these have I counted loss for Christ. Yes most assuredly, and I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and count them nothing but refuse, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith . . ." (Philippians 3:1-9 WEB).

We usually repeat ourselves for the sake of emphasis, to stress the importance of a thing. In this instance, Paul is writing the same things that he had written before, things that were of such importance as to determine the safety or peril of the reader. So to write them again was not tiresome. This gives us a sense of their importance.

Using some rather strong language, Paul warned the Philippian believers to "Beware of the dogs or evil workers of the false circumcision." He then goes on to explain the true circumcision -- those who worship God in the Spirit, making it very clear that they have no confidence in the flesh. Paul proceeds to explain what he meant by confidence in the flesh, drawing from his history as a Pharisee. He listed those things that were gain to him, those things that were considered praiseworthy in the religion of his fathers. He had a sterling religious pedigree. He was circumcised on the eighth day. He was of the tribe of Benjamin, one of only two tribes that did not revolt with Jeroboam or pollute the worship of God with idolatry. This was considered quite an honor. Paul was of pure stock, a Hebrew born of Hebrews. Paul was a Pharisee and concerning the righteousness, which is in the law, he was without blame. All these things that were gain to Paul, that his fellow-Pharisees so admired about him, had to be counted as loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus. None of it held a candle to that glorious relationship he had with the living God. Alongside Christ these things were comparatively of no greater value than dung. Paul gladly denied himself these things that he might gain Christ.

2. Taking up the Cross

" . . . that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed to his death; if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:10-11)

How may we know Him in the power of His resurrection? Paul gives us the answer, "the fellowship of His sufferings and conformity to His death." These two are prerequisites to attaining to the resurrection from the dead, both in the present quickening of God's Spirit in our daily lives and in the future resurrection. The Greek word for fellowship in the above passage is koinonia, which comes from the root word koinonos, meaning partnership or participation. We are called to a partnership and participation in the ongoing sufferings of Christ. Not that we are called to seek suffering, but suffering will seek us out if we follow Christ. " . . . all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (2 Timothy 3:12). ". . . through many afflictions we must enter into the Kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22).

Elsewhere Paul said, "I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church." That is fellowship with Christ. So many want the power, but avoid Christ's sufferings in their lives. These will never know His power. They will never be able to say with Him, "The prince of this world has come and found nothing in me." Instead, SATAN has the power over these.

Now, what does it mean to become conformed to his death? The Greek word for conformed is summorphizo [4833v], "to make of like form with another person or thing, to render like" (sun, "with," morphe, "a form") . . . (W.E.Vine)

Our identification and partnership with Christ in His sufferings are necessary if we are to be joint-heirs With Him. (See Romans 8:17). We cannot be Christ-like without being like Him in His sufferings, conformed to His death. Everything is dependent upon our partnership with Christ in His sufferings. The consolation of Christ cannot abound in us unless the sufferings of Christ abound in us. (See 2 Corinthians 1:5, 7). Paul rejoiced in sufferings saying, " I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church" (Colossians 1:24).

All Paul had to do was to compromise and start preaching circumcision and the offence of the cross would cease. The persecution would stop and he could return to the comfortable life of a Pharisee. " . . . if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling-block of the cross has been removed." (Galatians 5:11). Would Paul save himself? No. Like the heroes of faith, he chose rather to suffer affliction than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. (See Hebrews 11:25).

3. Following Christ

"Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect; but I press on, if it is so that I may take hold of that for which also I was taken hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers, I don't regard myself as yet having taken hold, but one thing I do. Forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3: 12-14)

Having shouldered his cross, Paul would now press on toward the goal for the prize of the high calling, following on to know the Lord. He refused the stiff-necked attitude that is so common in religious circles, claiming to have already attained, but instead acknowledged that he had not already obtained perfection and therefore must press on. "I don't regard myself as yet having taken hold . . . " One thing must happen before Paul could realize the prize he so earnestly desired. He must embrace that ONE THING lacking. He must assume that radical attitude of heart that turns the affections and leads to a forgetting of those things that are behind. "ONE THING I do," said Paul. Paul chose to forget those things that had entrenched him, which had kept him, like Samson, blind and tethered to the treadmill of Judaism, never progressing but going in circles, treading out the same routine every day, every week, every month and every year. Unless we forget we cannot press on. Unless we forget those things that are behind and stretch forward to the things that are before, we can never press on toward the goal for the prize of the high calling. Unless we deny ourselves and take up our cross, we cannot follow on.

4. The Cross and Leadership

Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, think this way. If in anything you think otherwise, God will also reveal that to you. Nevertheless, to the extent that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule. Let us be of the same mind. Brothers, be imitators together of me, and note those who walk this way, even as you have us for an example. (Philippians 3:15-17)

True unity is found in all that are perfect having the same mind. Therefore Paul boldly states, "If you think anything differently, God will also reveal this to you." In other words, as Christians who have the mind of Christ because of the indwelling Spirit of God, there is only one correct way to think. All are to walk by "the same rule, being of the same mind" and that attitude of thought was distinctly set forth in the previous scriptures. Paul exhorted the Philippian believers to be fellow-imitators of him and to mark brothers who walk in this way, considering their example. What was that example? It was that of the Suffering Servant, even Christ who Paul followed. "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." (Philippians 2:7-8)

We are to note those who walk this way. Only those who walk by this rule are following Christ. Only those who have this mind are leaders.

5. The Enemies of the Cross

"For many walk, of whom I told you often, and now tell you even weeping, as the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who think about earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from where we also wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will change the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working by which he is able even to subject all things to himself." (Philippinas 3:18-19)

What makes someone the enemy of the cross? An enemy is someone or something that is hostile, hateful and poses a threat to someone or something else. Today in the visible church we have many enemies of the cross. They give lip service to Jesus as being the Son of God and Lord over all, yet they live and speak as if He were not. Notice the earmarks of the enemies of the cross mentioned above:

(a) "whose god is the belly. . .who mind earthly things." Have you ever asked yourselves why the majority of today's ministers are overweight? Jesus said that a man cannot serve two masters. He would love one and hate the other or serve one and deny the other. When there is such an emphasis from today's pulpits on getting more money from the people to build bigger churches, get bigger salaries and support bigger programs to bring in more people, to get more money, etc., it is obvious that the god of Mammon (worldly gain) is in control. The next time you watch one of these so called servants of Christ lecture the congregation about giving more money to his church, ask yourself one question, "Did Jesus do this? Did he ever ask people to whom He ministered to give money to His ministry?"

(b) "Whose glory is their shame." Have you ever noticed that along with this service of the god of Mammon, there is this open arrogance and pride displayed as these men lord over the people who submit unto them? They glory in what should be a shame, and the more they parade around in their righteous robes, the more their followers like it. The words of the prophet have come to pass, "An astonishing and horrible thing has been committed in the land: The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule by their [own] power; And My people love [to have it] so. But what will you do in the end? (Jeremiah 5:30-31).The more things change, the more they remain the same.

You cannot serve your belly, seek the things of this world and have a single eye on following Jesus. The cross strips you of all things in your heart that seek the things of this world order. To serve mammon and one's own self interests and to encourage others to do the same whether by word or example is to be an enemy of the cross.

The New Christian Hedonism -- A Cross-less Christianity

Hedonism is the doctrine that pleasure or happiness is the sole or chief good in life. Egoistic hedonism is defined as "the ethical theory that achieving one's own happiness is the proper goal of all conduct." We have already seen that the condition for discipleship is self-denial and cross bearing, so there can be no such thing as "Christian Hedonism." Either you are a hedonist or you are a Christian. Youcannot be both. The term itself is an oxymoron, like "loving hatred," or "Christian atheism."

In spite of Christ's teachings and example of self-denial, what we have chosen to call "the new Christian Hedonism" Has emerged. You are invited to come to Jesus to receive happiness, wealth and power. Suffering is seen as evidence of unbelief and all that pertains to suffering and sacrifice is viewed as "negative" and therefore to be avoided. In such hedonistic churches the cross is nothing more than a symbol on the wall, an icon representing the unfortunate price that Christ paid to purchase our happiness. Few see its present ramifications, and even fewer take it up on follow on.

Pampered and spoiled by self-indulgence and denying itself none of the world's fineries, a Cross-less and powerless Christianity has risen to usurp the faith that was once delivered to the Saints. They live as though Jesus said, "Deny the cross and take up your desires and follow me." All who don't deny themselves, take up their crosses and follow Jesus are enemies of the cross. By their refusal to bear it they have become its foe.

The cross that George Bennard envisioned in his hymn, "The Old Rugged Cross" was not a gold-covered icon nor a shining symbol on the shields of knights and crusaders, but a rugged splintered " emblem of suffering and shame . . . stained with blood ". But more, he understood that it fell to every Christian to gladly bear its shame and reproach until at last he lays down the world's trophies.

6. The Cross, the Door to Our True Home in Christ--Eternal Life

For our citizenship is in heaven, from where we also wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will change the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working by which he is able even to subject all things to himself. (Pilippians 3:20-21)

Once I (Michael) was accused by a pastor of being "so heavenly minded that I was no earthly good." When we start to live as if our kingdom was not of this world, we have often heard this phrase from the Christian elite, pulling us down back into a life focused on the things of this world. Paul wrote, "But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world" (Galatians 6:14, NKJV). The working of the cross severs us from this world order. Yes, you have a heart for the lost who are trapped in this world system and want to see them saved out of it, but remember that you are in the world without being OF the world. It is far easier to save a drowning man with a life ring and rope thrown from a boat on the raging sea, than it is to dive in the foaming brine and be pulled down by his thrashing struggle as he pushes you under to get his own head above water. Much of the church has become so "seeker friendly" and has become so earthly minded that it is no longer any heavenly good. Paul wrote,

For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus' sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. (2 Corinthians 4:5-7, NKJV).

The eternal light shining forth from these clay vessels is the power for all true evangelism. Like Paul revealed to the Corinthian church,

"And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God." (1 Corinthians 2:1-5, NKJV).

If we are not a sample of heavenly things to come, the world has the right to reject our sermonizing. Our eye must always be single if we are to be lights to a dying world around us. Jesus promised that only as we abide in Him and He abides in us, only THEN, would we bring forth much heavenly fruit.

Note Paul's words again, ". . .our citizenship is in heaven, from where we also wait for a Savior." God's kingdom should be such a reality to us if the cross has done its work, that the "things of this world have grown strangely dim." Our citizenship is IN HEAVEN! We have become true strangers and pilgrims in a strange land here on earth. We should be living humble lives here in this body of our humiliation, not strutting around with our chests puffed out in pride over the things of this world. Our only hope should be in Jesus ". . .who will change the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working by which he is able even to subject all things to himself." What a precious hope!

In his second letter to the believers at Corinth, Paul said,

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. (2 Corinthians 4:16-5:9, NKJV).

I, Michael, am now fifty-eight years old and I am watching my outward man perish as my body ages. If THIS life was my only hope I would be panicky by now seeing the health of my youth melt away. But I have this hope within me -- I see my inward man being renewed in Christ day by day. From time to time I have experienced His glory abiding in me and have experienced what it means to go from Glory to Glory. Yes, we are going from death to death on this temporal plane, but we who are in Christ are also going from life to life. We are exchanging this temporal life that the whole world makes their focus for one that is eternal. Eternal life is NOW as we abide in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. It is a life source that gives us hope and strength regardless of what happens to our outward man.

As His Spirit finds a safe haven within us, we are caught-up unto Jesus in our inner man. Our whole being starts to take on a different look as the inward life starts to shine forth. Like Jesus, Moses and Steven, we have an opportunity to be so caught-up with the presence of the Lord and His Spirit that our faces can shine forth with a heavenly light.

One time, I was invited to a friend's house to meet a dear old saint named Norman Grubb. As I walked into the dining room there sat a little gray-headed old gentleman with the warmest smile I have ever seen. As I was introduced to him I sat down next to him and all I could do was just sit there and hold his hand. Words didn't cut it. If I were to speak it would only take away from the moment of being in the presence of the Lord in this wonderful saint of the Lord. Just seeing the presence of Jesus within him gave me hope.

Jesus said we have this hope within us, "When He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." Paul wrote,

Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart. (2 Corinthians 3:16- 4:1, NKJV).

Could it be as the veil is taken off of our own eyes, we would see the result in the mirror? Could it be that instead of seeing the dying of our old outward man, we would behold the glory of the Lord? We are being transformed into His image from glory to glory.

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:29-31, NKJV).

It is the desire of the Father that we should be totally transformed into the image of His own Son. He is FOR US! His desires for us go so far beyond anything we can imagine. So let us not limit Him in our lives by the limitations of our earthly minds. Faith knows no boundaries.

But as it is written: 'Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.' But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. (1 Corinthians 2:9-10, NKJV).

Paul prayed that we might all have spiritual eyes with which to see the boundless nature of our callings in Christ.

. . . 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, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power. (Ephesians 1:17-19, NKJV).

The only thing that limits the boundaries of God within us is our lack of faith. Jesus prayed that we might all be just as He and the Father and that we might know the same glory upon us as He prayed, "I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me." (John 17:24, NKJV).

Jesus prayed this just before He went to die on the cross, that where He was, there we might be also. What does that mean? As I, Michael, was praying about this article, the Lord showed me an old fashioned hourglass. He told me that the cross was not the goal but a means to the end. The cross is the constriction in the hourglass that only allows one grain of sand to pass at a time. It is like the eye of the needle the camel must pass through if it is to enter the kingdom. It is that thing that strips away everything that is not fit for eternity. It is that "yonder wicket gate" that John Bunyon saw in his vision. The cross is the gate we must pass through if we are to go on with Christ and be where HE is. The cross is the beginning of all true life in the Spirit. It is the door into God's eternal kingdom. The cross may be the end of our lives that have been so bound to this world, but it is the beginning of true eternal life within the saints of God. The cross is our friend. Take up your cross, embrace it and and follow Him.

Article 5: Neither Jew nor Gentile

A brother wrote recently, asking a question that reflects a common misunderstanding of the gospel that is prevalent throughout Christendom today. "Is Messianic Judaism a return to a first century New Testament form?" We have received many such letters from sincere believers who asked similar questions. This is our attempt to answer these questions in a way that will not alienate any part of the family of God. Our goal is the unity of the faith in Christ Jesus.

It cannot be denied that the resurgence of "Messianic Judaism" is a return to a first century New Testament form that can easily be found in the pages of the New Testament. In fact virtually all of the epistles of Paul addressed it in one way or another. What did he have to say?

Many who ascribe to Messianic Judaism today, teach, either by implication or openly, that special privileges go with being a natural Jew, that Christianity is Jewish, and that any return to primitive Christianity must include a return to our Jewish roots. Although this may sound logical to some, it represents the same danger to the church today as it did in the Apostle Paul's day.

In Romans 3:1-2 Paul asked, "What advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the profit of circumcision? Much in every way!" Paul's answer here seems to contradict his teaching in the rest of his epistles, but he summed up as follows: "What then? Are we better than they? No, in no way. For we previously charged both Jews and Greeks, that they are all under sin. As it is written, "There is no one righteous. No, not one." (Romans 3:10).

Before Jew and Greek can be united as one new man in Christ they must first be united in this fact, "They are all under sin." All are lost. There is none good, no not one. There are no outward privileges and physical advantages associated with being a Jew or a Gentile; both are sinners and are equally in need of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

No Ethnic Distinctions

Menorah A good knowledge of Jewish idioms and customs as well as the Old Testament helps shed a clearer light on the things that Jesus said and did, as pointing to Him as the Messiah. But all too often we loose sight of the TREE of LIFE as we gaze at the forest! Failure to understand the extent of the redemptive work of Christ and how it transcends all ethnic boundaries has led many of today's Christians to embrace a contemporary form of Galatian-ism. Bewitched by religious formalism, Jews and Gentiles alike are returning to the old Jewish feasts and ceremonies that Christ fulfilled in His sacrifice on the cross. He totally filled up the just requirements of the law by His sacrificial death (see Romans 8:3 and 4). We agree that the current observances of "Christian holidays" are not found in the teachings of the New Testament fathers, but neither is going back under the Jewish law. God still hates our feasts. "I hate, I despise your feast days, and I do not savor your sacred assemblies" (Amos 5:21, NKJV). There is only one day that God is interested in us entering into and remaining, and that is His Sabbath rest (read Hebrews chapter four).

The current fascination with Messianic Judaism marks a return to the legalism of first century Judaism by which well-meaning Jewish believers nearly destroyed the Church. The very name "Messianic Judaism" indicates that the Messiah came to establish a christianized form of Judaism. Nothing could be further from the truth. Many early Jewish believers, called Judaizers, failed to understand that God's purpose in establishing a covenant with Abraham was not to bless the world with a failed religious system called "Judaism" (see Acts 15:7-11) but to bless all nations with Christ--the Seed. Paul accused them of preaching a different gospel (Galatians 1:6) and issued the following warning. "As we have said before, so I now say again: if any man preaches to you any gospel other than that which you received, let him be cursed" (Galatians 1:9). Jesus saw this threat coming when he tried to warn the disciples saying, "Beware of the leavening of the Pharisees." And Paul warns, "A little leaven leavens the whole lump."

What made the gospel of the Judaizers different? Their gospel was a mixture of both the old and the new covenants. They went out among the Gentile churches preaching that the Gentiles must become circumcised. The problem is that circumcision is a sign that you belong to an old covenant that has been done away with. They failed to understand that "If that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second" (Hebrews 8:7). They failed to understand that the New Covenant is "not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life" (2 Corinthians 3:6). God used Paul to correct this misunderstanding.

Paul reasoned that the law, which was added 430 years after God's covenant with Abraham (who was neither Jew nor Israelite), could neither enable nor hinder the promise, for the inheritance is not of the law but by promise, just as it was with Abraham (Galatians 3:16-19). Paul should have known, for he had been taught by the best teachers in Jerusalem and strove to keep the law perfectly before his life-changing encounter with the living Christ. The law was not the blessing, but was "added because of transgressions, until the Seed should come." The law was the stern schoolmaster, not the blessing to all nations.

The scripture has included all (both Jew and Gentile) "under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe." But before faith came, we were kept under the law, "Shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed." The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. After faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. We are no longer under the law. For we are ALL (both Jew and Gentile) the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For all who "have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ." For this reason there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for we are all one in Christ Jesus. If we belong to Christ, then and only then are WE Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. (See Galatians 3:22-29) Paul wrote, "He is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit not in the letter; whose praise is not from men, but from God" (Romans 2:29).

Jews are by definition of the tribes of Judah (of which was Mary the mother of Jesus) and Benjamin (of which was Paul), but we who believe in Christ are the spiritual seed of Abraham who was the great, great grandfather of both Judah and Benjamin. Abraham was not even a Jew! The Christianity that Jesus gave birth to is not of bloodline, but rather of faith in Christ alone. The only bloodline that counts in the eyes of God is the line of blood that leads from Calvary directly into the Holy of Holies, consecrating a NEW and LIVING way.

"Don't lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his doings, and have put on the new man, that is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator, where there can't be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all. (Colossians 3:9-11 WEB).

"For in Christ Jesus neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation" (Galatians 6:15 WEB). "For we [who are born from above] are the true circumcision, who worship God in spirit and by the Spirit of God and exult and glory and pride ourselves in Jesus Christ, and put no confidence or dependence [on what we are] in the flesh and on outward privileges and physical advantages and external appearances." (Philippians 3:3 AMP)

So many Christians today are blowing the shofar, burning candles in the shadows, celebrating Purim, Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles, while they reestablish the old extra-biblical rituals of rabbinical Judaism constituting a return to the shadows of religion. Most grievous of all is the fact that the substance and perfect sacrifice of Christ is ignored (see Colossians 2:17) and the one new man, the fruit of Christ's redemptive work, is denied by their unbelief.

The law was never given to the Gentiles nor did the early apostles expect them to keep it. Peter made this crystal clear when he said to his fellow Jews, some of which were still clinging to Judaism, "Now therefore why do you tempt God, that you should put a yoke on the neck of the disciples [the Gentile believers] which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?" (Acts 15:10). The blessing of Abraham is the Spirit, not the law, and is of faith and not of dead works (Galatians 3:14).

When it comes to the Church, we are neither pro Jew nor pro Gentile. We are against a mindset that says that one race is more spiritually endowed than another. The covenant that God cut with Abraham, a Gentile who walked with God by faith, was established to make Jews and Gentiles into one new spiritual race or man. It was not to make Gentiles into Jewish proselytes, keeping the Jewish laws, for in Abraham all the nations were to be blessed (Genesis 18:18). God is not requiring Gentiles to become Jews nor is He demanding that Jews become Gentiles, observing their holidays, laws and traditions. He wants both of them to become NEW! He is making of both ONE new man--reconciling "them both in ONE BODY to God through the cross."

"For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new (2537 kainos) man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity." (Ephesians 2:14-16)

Clinging to our ethnicity and systems of religion causes enmity and strife. A new identity in Christ alone is our peace! He has MADE BOTH ONE! He did this by breaking down and abolishing the WALL or ENMITY that divided the two. The wall of separation that He abolished is "the law of commandments contained in ordinances." He did this to create in Himself ONE NEW MAN from the two, to the greater purpose that He might reconcile them both to God in one body and thereby put to death the enmity. The question we must ask ourselves is, "Is Jesus our only identity and hope?"

Nation Against Nation

Everywhere we look around the globe today, we see prophecy fulfilled, but the one prophecy that is most prominent is found in the words of Jesus, "Nation shall rise up against nation and kingdom against kingdom." The word translated nation is the Greek word ethnos. Jesus prophesied that there would be great divisions and struggles along ethnic lines. When political boundaries and dictatorial controls cease, wars and violence pop up. We saw this all over the Soviet Union as Russia withdrew into its original boundaries. With the abolition of one dictator right now in Iraq, we see armed struggle rising as our troops withdraw. The blood-bath is not over yet. Even with all his organizations for world peace and high tech armies, man cannot bring peace or keep the peace. As soon as the troops withdraw, the pent-up hatred and prejudice takes center stage once again. Our only hope for peace is in forsaking all ethnic, social, sexual, and political prejudices and lines that divide as we become ONE NEW MAN in Christ. Without the Prince of Peace dealing with the enmity in our hearts, we are sure to destroy ourselves. One new spiritual race in Christ is our only hope. We must reverse the effects of the fall of the First Adam and come under the covenant of the Last Adam or this world will self-destruct.

For the first century Jews, the gospel of Christ presented a real problem. They saw themselves as the keepers and guardians of God's Law, and this became a part of their national identity. It was the source of great pride, that out of all the people in the world, they were God's chosen people, and the custodians of His Law. To abolish the law would be to strip them of their pride and patriotic national identity. In the Jewish mind, the loss of the law would be tantamount to divesting them of their Jewishness. For this reason the preaching of the cross was a stumbling block to them. Before God could unite both Jew and Gentile, He had to remove the very thing in which the religious Jew found his sense of identity and righteousness. They saw the traditions of the elders and the law of commandments contained in ordinances as the very thing that had preserved them as a unique people, separate from all others. This separateness, which the Judaizers so fiercely defended, was the enemy of God's eternal purpose, which began long before Abraham, in eternity past, and will culminate at the end of the age.

This one body in Christ is no more Jewish than it is Gentile. The doctrines of British Israel and Arian Nations are as divisive as any Christian clinging to Judaism. In every way the body of Christ is NEW! (2537 kainos "of a new kind, unprecedented, novel, uncommon, unheard of." -Strong). Nothing like it had ever been seen before. This one new man, consisting of both Jews and Gentiles, is a new race, no longer of the old adamic lineage but something unheard of before. It is not of this world.

Not of This World

So many today are seeking to build their walled cities and towers unto the heavens with the same building blocks that God has forsaken. These are walls that divide the church. They believe that they are calling believers back to their roots, claiming that Christianity is Jewish. On the other hand some claim that the queen of England sits on the true throne of David, and that the ten lost tribes of Israel are the Arian races of Europe. These believe that they are working toward unity by calling all to join in their religious structures, but such is not the case. For the one body that Christ is reconciling to God is new. Revamping a failed religious system is just putting a Band-Aid on the sinful flesh nature. Paul wrote, "So that if any one is in Christ, that one is a new creature; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV). To attempt to unite man around anything other than Jesus Christ is to reject His heavenly citizenship, because His kingdom is not of this world (see John 8:23 and 18:36).

The terms American Christians, Jewish Christians, and so on are oxymorons in the mind of God. We who belong to Jesus are either in Christ and He is our all in all, making all things new, or we are of another spirit, clinging to another gospel and another christ.

Christ is the root, the Seed, extending back beyond the ethnic confusion of Babylon to the garden, and the promise of a Seed that would bruise the serpent's head--the Seed through whom all nations would be blessed. The Gentiles are not saved by believing in Abraham, but by believing in the same Christ that Abraham believed in (see John 8:56), THE SEED. Unbelieving, broken-off branches are not the root. Neither are we wild olive branches who were once aliens without Christ and have been grafted in. We both need to be grafted into HIM and nothing else. The Root supports the branches, not the branches the Root (see Romans 11).

The bloodline of the Jews means nothing beyond the fulfilling of the promise made to Abraham that by his Seed the nations would be blessed (see Galatians 3:16-18). Christ is the promised Seed! Christ is everything. This is why Paul counted all his heritage and Jewish education as dung compared to the excellent, intimate knowledge of Christ. It was this line of thinking and preaching that finally led to Paul's betrayal and death. Satan knows his days are numbered once the walls of separation are down and the Son is manifest in true unity in the One New Man.

Jesus told those who claimed to be of the seed of Abraham, who trusted in natural lineage, that they were of their father the devil. Their actions clearly proved this out for they rejected the Seed of Abraham and hung him on a tree. They manifested that they were of Satan, who "was a liar and a murder from the beginning."

Jesus said that Abraham rejoiced to see His day. Without faith in Jesus, no man or woman can please God. Everyone, regardless of race or station in life, meets on a level plain at the foot of the cross. God has no favorites. He is no respecter of persons except for the person of Jesus Christ. When the Father looks at a Christian, all the Father wants to see is the image of His Son.

Neither Jew or Gentile but a New Race

God has created a new race of new creatures, born of the last Adam, destined for His kingdom, devoid of the lines of this world that divide. Paul wrote, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; FOR you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). The Last Adam (Christ) has birthed a new race! As the first Adam was the natural father of the human race, so Christ, the last Adam, is the progenitor of a new humanity, a spiritual race. "So also it is written, 'The first man, Adam, became a living soul.' The last Adam became a life-giving spirit" (1 Corinthians 15:45).

Are we going to have part in this new race, or are we going to cling to our Jewish or Gentile heritage and traditions that separate and make void the commandments of God?

Old Testament types and shadows of things to come are not the substance of His kingdom, but a mere apparition from the kingdom point of view. Fables about the ten lost tribes are just mere smoke and mirrors that divide the body of Christ. How long will we continue to divide that one new man with ethnic quibbling and pride? How long will we refuse the work of grace that will truly unite us as one? How long will we make the promises of God of no effect in our lives by clinging to the shadows? Are we going to cling to the old Adam, the first Adam, or are we going to claim our place in the Life Giving Spirit as new Spiritual beings of the heavenly kingdom? Will we know one another after the flesh (2 Corinthians 5:16-17) or after the Spirit?

Father, help us to put aside all that would hinder and divide what you have joined together in your Son! Open our eyes to see the glory of the risen Christ that we might rightly comprehend His finished work! Open our eyes to see that He died to unite us as one new man. Restore to us the faith and vision of Paul who was totally taken-up with Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Break the downward pull of this world and its systems that make us slaves of false teachers who teach perverse things that they might draw away disciples after themselves. We would see only Jesus. Amen.

Article 6: A Child or a Son

Paul the apostle paints an earthly picture of spiritual growth and development in the kingdom of God by comparing the natural stages of human growth to the stages of freedom. A child requires much more supervision than a full-grown son.

Note: In this article the word son (huios), unless otherwise specified, is used in a non-gender-specific sense, applying equally to mature sons and daughters of God. When God created "man" He created them "male and female." Those who have "put on Christ" are not defined by gender. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for you are all one (and the same) in Christ Jesus. (Gal 3:28 Emphasis mine) Therefore the term "sons of God" should be viewed, in a larger sense, as descriptive of all mature believers.

"Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child (teknion), does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father." (Galatians 4:1-2)

"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." (Romans 8:14)

The above passages delineate two very different spiritual existences, one of a child, the other of a mature son. Each has its own distinctive form of guidance. One is external (religious), driven by the rudimentary principles of the world; the other is internally (spiritually) enabled by the spirit of adoption--the Spirit crying, "ABBA."

Paul the apostle paints an earthly picture of spiritual growth and development in the kingdom of God by comparing the natural stages of human growth to the stages of freedom. A child requires much more supervision than a full-grown son. We cannot fully understand Paul's teaching regarding the sons of God without first comprehending the relationship of a child to a son. Paul pictured the child as one "kept under guardians" and as long as the heir remains under this babysitter (schoolmaster) he/she is no different than a slave. Throughout the Pauline epistles there are repeated references to the contrasts between religion and bondage vs. Christianity and freedom.

A Child

". . .the heir, as long as he is a child (teknion-an infant, little child), does not differ at all from a slave." Both are under guardians and stewards. A first century child was guided through the external medium of guardians and stewards. A guardian (GK.epitropos) is one who has the care and tutelage of children--a "tutor." In the first century household, a governor (GK. oikonomos) was a superintendent or "schoolmaster" (Galatians 3:24,25), probably a freed-man or a slave. The head of the house made this person the custodian and caregiver of his children who were not of age. This background is critical to the understanding of Paul's teaching regarding the sons of God.

The Schoolmaster

But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. (Galatians 3:23-24)

In the above passage the law is depicted as a schoolmaster. The word schoolmaster is a translation of the compound Greek word paidagogos, which literally means, "child-leader." (pais, "a boy, or child," ago, "to lead"). The paidagogos was not the instructor of the child; he was the disciplinarian who followed the child everywhere he went. Thayer defines the word like this: "1) a tutor i.e. a guardian and guide of boys. Among the Greeks and the Romans the name was applied to trustworthy slaves who were charged with the duty of supervising the life and morals of boys belonging to the better class. The boys were not allowed so much as to step out of the house without them (paidagogos) before arriving at the age of manhood."

The paidagogos' imposing, confining and restraining influence could best be described by the words "kept under" and "shut up." The Greek word translated kept in the above verse is phroureo, which means "to guard, protect by a military guard, either to prevent hostile invasion, or to keep the inhabitants of a besieged city from flight" (to besiege and detain). The Greek word translated shut up is sugkleio, means "to shut up together or to enclose." In Luke 5:6 sugkleio is used of a multitude of fishes trapped in a fisherman's net.

In the absence of inward discipline in the heart of the child, the paidagogos imposed an outward discipline, to (sugkleio) completely shut up and keep the child in check. Like a fish in a net, the child was forced to do and go where he otherwise would not. You must force a child to wash behind his ears and few are the brave parents who wait to see if the child ever does it of his own initiative.

Paul's figure of the law as the irksome paidagogos, leading us to Christ (the Teacher), speaks of our spiritual coming-of-age, the adoption of sons. The external control of the paidagogos (the law) should give way to a greater inner reality and control of the Spirit. Our goal is to no longer be children, "kept under the law" and "shut up unto faith" but become mature sons, led by the Spirit.

Like the paidagogos or "child-leader," religion provides an outer order or control, calling it structure. In this environment, there is a belief that the Christian will most certainly go astray without constant (weekly) direction and maintenance from the clergyman. The current preoccupation with accountability and accountability groups also springs from the misguided idea that being answerable to other Christians is the impelling force for right behavior. In that context, the church, its clergy, its ministries, and its programs are the new schoolmasters and the heirs are shut up, like children and slaves, under the siege of ecclesiastical guardians and stewards.

Carnality and the Child

Another characteristic of a child is carnality. The term "carnal Christian," used in some Christian circles today, is an oxymoron. Carnal means controlled by animal appetites, and Christian means like Christ. Christ was a Son, led exclusively by the Spirit of God, not by carnal appetites.

Firstborn Son In 1Corinthians 3:1, we see that carnality is the earmark of babies. "And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ."

Paul continues, "for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, 'I am of Paul,' and another, 'I am of Apollos,' are you not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one?" (1 Corinthians 3:3-5, NKJV).

The carnal baby tends to seek external leadership and divides the body of Christ. A carnal baby always looks for a leader other than the Spirit of God. Paul said to them "I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual." Things are very much the same today. One person says "I am of Apostle wonderful." Another says, "No! You must join Prophet Sensational's Church!" And yet another says, "You are both wrong. Reverend Stupendous is the one we should all follow!"

In his book "Call to Discipleship," Juan Carlos Ortiz writes,

"As I understand it the church of today faces three basic problems. The first is eternal childhood of the believer. The second is misplacement of the believer. The third is lack of unity. This became evident when I surveyed my own situation in our church. Although we were adding more and more people to the membership roll, all were remaining children, little babes who had to be taught the same things year after year.

"The hymns we sang, the prayers we prayed, told us that we were only children. Not only were we content to use the same hymns and prayers for forty years, but they were always the same subject: asking. Yet I knew that when a child grows, the clothes don't fit him anymore. . . .

"People who sing the same hymns for years, pray the same prayers for years, keep the same church structure, and need the same messages are not really growing, period. They are eternal children. . . .

"Our childishness is shown in our prayers. 'Heal me, help me, baptize me, prosper me, me, me.' The 'me' center, the 'I' center, is childhood. . . .

"Children are always seeking for gifts--more than for fruit. If a healer or evangelist comes to our church, you see in the crowd those who never come to the regular meetings. The children all turn out to see the spectacular gifts, much as children love to go to magic shows. But only the mature people will seek the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, etc.

"Materialism is also an evidence of childhood. Children do not know how to value things. …Church members demonstrate their childishness by craving for material things--good homes, good cars, money--while they leave spiritual things in second place. Eternal childhood."(Call to Discipleship, copyright 1975, Logos International, pp. 4-7)

The writer of Hebrews continues this theme,

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age; that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. (Hebrews 5:12-14)

When the author of Hebrews calls everyone who partakes of milk an unskilled babe, he was not just talking about dependency on milk. The word unskilled denotes the infant's inability to feed himself. This explains why he starts by saying, "For though by this time you ought to be teachers." Enough time had passed that they should have been mature contributors, not infantile consumers. Those who are of full age do not need to be told what is good and evil, for they are exercised unto the development of Spiritual discernment. They are no longer carnal babes, but spiritually mature adults.

In view of this, Paul presses his point that the church at Corinth fell into the category of carnal, not spiritual. Paul had to relate to them as carnal babes or infants. "And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ." (I Corinthians 3:1) I can almost feel Paul's disappointment here! He could have no deep and abiding fellowship with these believers. They waded in the shallows, knowing nothing of the deep things of God. Since fellowship is realized when "deep calls unto deep," Paul could have no fellowship with them in the deep things of God but was instead limited to nursery duty. "I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal." Then Paul proceeds to offer the proof of their carnality. "For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, "I am of Paul," and another, "I am of Apollos," are you not carnal?"

Paul saw the believer's utter dependence upon the Holy Spirit as the goal of Christian growth, while continued dependency on men is a sign of carnality. Paul offers their confessed dependence on and preference for as evidence of their infantile and carnal status.

"The Kingdom of God is within you"

Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is within you." Simply put, the kingdom of God is the place or condition where God rules, where He is King. By virtue of the indwelling Spirit of God, the kingdom of God is within every true believer. Those who have learned to yield to this inner rule are the sons of God.

The kingdom of God does not come with observation as some outward event or like the kingdoms of the world. It is an interior kingdom--the inner rule of God, marked by righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. In Colossians 3:15 Paul wrote, "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful." (Colossians 3:15 WEB)

The exhortation here is to allow God's peace to rule in the heart. We should pay close attention to word rule, which means to act as umpire. When we lose our peace, it is because God is acting as Umpire in our hearts, officiating, ruling, and either giving or withdrawing our peace to teach us the things that are pleasing in His sight.

Sons of God

"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." (Romans 8:14)

The child (teknion) of God is not necessarily a son (huios) of God. The child (teknion) is an heir but does not yet reflect the Father's likeness and nature. The likeness of the Father is what defines a mature Son of God. Jesus used the word huios to clearly show the difference between children and sons. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God." (Matthew 5:9) "Love your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you; that you may be (GK. ghin'-om-ahee- to become- be fulfilled- come to be) sons of your Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 5:44-45)

Firstborn Son Regarding this scripture, W.E. Vine wrote, "The disciples were to do these things, not in order that they might become children of God, but that, being children (note 'your Father' throughout), they might make the fact manifest in their character, might 'become sons.' (See also 2 Corinthians 6:17,18) The difference between believers as 'children of God' and as 'sons of God' is brought out in Rom. 8:14-21. The Spirit bears witness with their spirit that they are 'children of God,' and, as such, they are His heirs and joint-heirs with Christ. This stresses the fact of their spiritual birth (Rom. 8:16,17). On the other hand, 'as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God,' i.e., 'these and no other.' Their conduct gives evidence of the dignity of their relationship and their likeness to His character."

Suffering - The Pathway to Sonship

The path to sonship is the way of suffering--the way of the cross. "If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us." (2Timothy 2:12)

"For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake." (Philippians 1:29)

"For I calculate that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to compare to the coming glory to be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly awaits the revelation of the sons of God. For the creation was not willingly subjected to vanity, but through Him subjecting it, on hope." (Romans 8:18-20 LITV)

The suffering of this present time is a prelude to the coming glory to be revealed in us! Even Jesus learned obedience by the things He suffered. (See Hebrews 5:8.) Creation itself earnestly waits the unveiling of the sons of God--those who know the sufferings of Christ and reign with Him. Sonship is costly. In fact, as Paul and Barnabas traveled throughout Asia Minor preaching the gospel, they also taught "that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God." (Act 14:22) Sons, like diamonds, are formed under pressure.

The Adoption of Sons (huiothesia)

"But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, having come into being out of a woman, having come under Law, that He might redeem the ones under Law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because you are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba! Father!" a(Galatians 4:4-6 LITV)

The Greek word son here is huios (a mature son), and the adoption of sons refers to the ceremony called "placing of sons." At maturity, a son would be given charge over much of his father's business. A son is so full of his Father's spirit, so careful for his Father's interests, and so driven for his Father's glory that he can be trusted to do nothing else.

Compare the following two passages:

"But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, 'Abba, Father!' Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods. But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?" (Galatians 4:4-10, NKJV)

"But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Therefore, brethren, 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 as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father.'" ( Romans 8:9-15,NKJV)

Let us reflect for a moment on what Paul meant by "the weak and beggarly elements." He is referring to religious knowledge, the basic principles of religion, which existed among the Jews before Christ came. Paul wrote, "For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to Jerusalem, which now is, and is in bondage with her children." (Galatians 4:25) Paul did not mince words! Religion is synonymous with bondage.

Paul cautioned the Colossian believers about being spoiled, or led away captive "through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." (Colossians 2:8) The word "rudiments" here is the same Greek word stoicheion also translated elements as in weak and beggarly elements. Paul goes on to ask, "if we are dead with Christ from the rudiments (elements) of the world, why, as though living in the world, are you subject to ordinances, 'Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle.'" These basic principles of the world indeed do "have an appearance of wisdom," but it is only appearance. These worldly principles encourage the denial and neglect of the body, in a self-imposed worship, but are of no value whatsoever in subduing the flesh or sinful nature. (See Colossians 2:23) There is but one cure for the flesh, and that is death, i.e., "the cross."

The child who is under the schoolmaster (the law) endeavors to relate to God through external precepts and traditions. He minds external "earthly things." (See Philippians 3:19) His approach to God is powered primarily by the human will and ultimately finds its expression in outward, ceremonial observances. The child finds security in bylaws and creeds, practicing fruitless abstinence and austere self-discipline. Like fighting fire with gasoline, he seeks to subdue the flesh in the energy of the flesh. The weak and beggarly elements, religion, posing as something life-giving, have deceived him. All the while the child senses a call, a knowing, a desire to become! He secretly aspires to rise above the worldly; to apprehend that for which he has been apprehended. To know Him whose image beckons like some ancestral calling, a reminder of things lost and yet sought!

"Let us make man in our image". All was lost! Or was it? He who is the express image, the Son of God, has come to restore God's likeness and image in mankind. Those so restored are called "sons," or more appropriately, "Sons of God."

A Child Is Born, But a Son Is Given

"For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6, NASB)

Children are born, but sons are given. A man and a woman can come together and nine months later a child is born. This is a miracle that we call life, but it is not the greatest miracle. The greatest is sonship in Christ, the First Son. This is something that only God can do in us.

"But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:12,13, KJV).

Nothing that man can do can duplicate this miracle, because it is not "of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Mere men cannot wish it into existence. We can't make it happen by our most concentrated "positive thinking" or hardest efforts. Sons are "given" by the intervening power of God in the lives of mankind. As Jesus put it, "Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father." (John 6:65, NKJV).

Paul expands on this theme even further when he wrote:

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love. He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will." (Ephesians 1:3-5, NASB)

This should take away any thought that God chooses us because we have finally become good enough. No, we were chosen before the foundation of the world that we might be holy and blameless and manifest His vitality to all men. It was by His love that He predestined us to be His adopted sons by the intention of HIS will. While we were yet sinners Christ died for us. To comprehend this is to comprehend faith. Sons are given into the lives of mere men by the intervening power of God, the process of His workings. Thank you, Father, that you have given us to be your sons!

Article 7: The Last god to Go

John closed his first epistle with these words, "Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen." (1 John.5:21).

The Amplified Bible reads, "Little children, keep yourselves from idols (false gods)--[from anything and everything that would occupy the place in your heart due to God, from any sort of substitute for Him that would take first place in your life]. Amen (so let it be)."

The New Century Dictionary defines an idol as ". . .any person or thing that is the object of blindly adoring regard or inordinate devotion." In short, an idol is anything, other than God, we ascribe worship to.

Christendom today venerates one icon above all others. It is the most deceitful, illusive and beloved idol known to religious man. While other idols are more obvious and more readily cast off, this one object of worship is often the last god to go. It is talked about on every "Christian" television and radio broadcast and is the topic of an untold number of "Christian" books. Many people spend their lives in undying devotion, burning incense to it from the wee hours of the morning to the late hours of the night. What is this idol that bewitches so many well-meaning Christians today? Is it a statue of some Phoenician god set up in a secret sanctum? No. It is more subtle than that. It is the god of ministry.

Behind this idol is an even more beguiling and sinister object of worship. As in the movie "The Wizard of Oz," if you pull back the curtain behind the flash, fire, and smoke of a lot of "ministry" today, you often discover a different culprit altogether. Cowering behind the curtain called "My Ministry" is the self-exalting fraud of self-interest. Much of what is done in the name of ministry today comes from an inordinate romance with our own reputations, and resembles a PR campaign, complete with regular mental polling to determine your ratings. At the end of the day, success is determined by going down an unseen checklist of all the people that can hurt or help your cause and realizing that all of them have been placated. Yes, "nothing succeeds like the appearance of success" (Christopher Lasch).

Jesus contrasted this idolatry to His own devotion to the Father. He told the Pharisees, "I don't receive glory from men, but I know you, that you don't have God's love in yourselves. I have come in my Father's name, and you don't receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, who receive glory from one another, and you don't seek the glory that comes from the only God?" (John 5:41-44) Let's ponder these words for a moment.

One predominate trait of this idolatry is expressed in Christ's words, "If another comes in his own name, you will receive him." How often have we seen this? Great crowds gather to hear and see men of renown who come in their own name, but he who is true, who seeks the honor of the One true God, and refuses to accept honor from men is not received. One of the unwritten qualifications for this good ol' boys club is "You pat my back and I'll pat yours."

How often do we see men in ministry coming in their own names? There is Bobby ____ Ministries, Kenneth _____ Ministries, ________ and Associates, _____ _____ University, ______ Bible Institute and so on. Carnal man loves to have his name in lights. Carnal followers love to be identified with big name personalities. Can you see John the Baptist with a huge sign on the cliff above the Jordan that read, "John the Baptist Ministries" or "Baptisms are Us"? No, John did not come in his own name. When messengers from the religious leaders in Jerusalem asked who he was, he simply answered, "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness." John did not come to lift himself up, but to make the path straight for the only One who God wanted to glorify, the very Son of God.

Jesus told those Pharisees, "I don't receive glory from men. But I know you . . . " There is little doubt what Christ is saying here. Because these Pharisees did not have God's love IN them nor seek God's honor, they did not truly worship God. Instead, they honored themselves. They looked for honor from men and not the honor that comes from God alone. Their religious cloak was only a ploy to gain power over the righteous.

Paul puts it this way, "But he who boasts, let him boast in the Lord. For (because) it isn't he who commends himself who is approved, but whom the Lord commends" (2 Corinthians 10:17-18). Elsewhere he wrote, "For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? For if I were still pleasing men, I wouldn't be a servant of Christ" (Galatians 1:10). It doesn't get any plainer than this. If the favor of men is our focus, we cannot be the servants of Christ. We are not true if we do not seek the glory that comes from God alone. To receive glory in this life for the work of God is to miss receiving it from Him in the next. He will say to us as we stand in judgment, "I say unto you, you have had your reward."

When our sense of accountability is horizontal toward man rather than vertical toward God, we cannot possibly be faithful to Christ. When we look for praise from man, jealousy and unbelief creep in. Jesus said, "How can you believe, who receive glory from one another?" Belief is more than adhering to a system of doctrine; it is faithfulness to God's leading and obedience to Him alone. You live what you really believe.

Man's Good Ol' Boy Networks

Unless a man is free from private ambition and free from the need for man's approval, he cannot be a true servant to the people of God. Paul wrote, "For being free from all, I have made myself bondman to all, that I might gain the most possible." (1 Corinthians 9:19, Darby) You cannot truly serve another and do what is best for them if you are fearful of falling into their displeasure. This fear is what makes today's good ol' boy networks work. In associations like these, the members are constantly trying to make themselves look better and win the approval of the power clique in hopes of moving up the ladder.

One ministry that is making great inroads on today's apostolic/prophetic community has a single man at the top who instructs the other ministries under his venue to cut off anyone who will not yield to their authority. He and his ruling board also advocate removing pastors who will not come under their power from their ministries. Having been raised in the Catholic Church, I (Michael) see the same controlling, top-down structure here in this Protestant group that I saw in my youth. The proverb has once again been proven, "Like mother, like daughters" (see Ezekiel 16:44-45).

This movement goes by different names, such as Third Day, Third Wave, or New Apostolic Reformation, and is the religious equivalent of the New World Order of the governments of the Beast system. These Third Day ministries professes to think outside the box, but a closer analysis of their structure reveals the same old box with a new look. The thing that they will not touch is the hierarchical structure that has been in place for the last 1700 years. If anything, what is coming is a greater concentration of power to the few at the top. These elite few are taking to themselves the titles of apostles and prophets. The thinking goes, "If we just tack scriptural names and titles on what we have built in the past, then God will bless it." Nothing has really changed. The controlling spirit behind it is still the same.

This is the same method that David and Uzzah used to bring the ark back to Jerusalem. Since the Philistines sent the ark back to Israel on an oxcart, they thought a new oxcart would be ideal to bring it on up to Mount Zion. God was not impressed then and he is not impressed now. Every oxcart needs people to steady it. Invariably the ox--those burdened with making the new system work--stumbles. People and movements always die and eventually all that is left is another cold denomination.

In order for the presence of God to return in power in HIS temple, the body of Christ, God must be true and all men be liars. God will not share His glory or power over the church with men, even if they are priests. God struck Uzzah dead because he and his priestly sons failed to follow the due order. We are not speaking of a cast of priests doing the work of the ministry. In the New Testament every man and woman is a priest and minister unto the Lord, set completely apart to follow Him alone.

Men Who Would Be Kings

One of the unwritten laws of good old boy networks is that the ruling members are to make the other ruling members look good at all times. You are never to dress down another leader in front of the "laity." An appearance of solidarity must always be maintained before the faithful or they might loose faith in your right to rule over them.

I, Michael, was in one such ministry in my youth. The head minister who supervised everyone with an iron hand instructed us to lift him up in the eyes of the public, mentioning his name in glorious terms at all times. If we did, he would build us up in the eyes of others, too, and we would all look good. What ever happened to Jesus' words, "If I be lifted up, I WILL draw all men nigh"? Carnal man wants his own name lifted up above Christ. This is the very essence of antichrist, which not only means against Christ, but also to displace Christ.

If we are slaves to the fear of man we cannot do what is best for them or ourselves. We will be too fearful to correct people when the Spirit shows us that they are out of order and teaching false doctrines. The fear of man is two-sided. One side is the love of being seen and praised; the other side is the fear of rejection and scorn.

If Christ had looked for honor from man, no one would be saved today. The last place He would have gone was to the shameful and humbling death of the cross. Thank God that He shouldered his cross, bore it outside the camp, and suffered and died for our sins.

The Last God to Go

In the kingdom that Jesus came to establish, there is no priestly cast that rules over the saints. Paul planted believers in Christ. He did not plant churches or make himself head over them! Wherever two or more of these believers were found, that was the church in that area. God was autonomous over them as HIS priests. God's mind has not changed. Jesus is still building HIS church in one heart at a time. His church is built after the pattern in the heavens and cannot be aided by worldly, romanistic methods.

Paul cried out to the Corinthians,

"Oh, that you would bear with me in a little folly--and indeed you do bear with me. For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted--you may well put up with it!" (2 Corinthians 11:1-4, NKJV).

Can anyone read this and not feel Paul's heart? Where are our hearts? Are we espoused to one Husband or have our ministers espoused us to themselves? Who and what are WE in love with? God's words, spoken through the prophet Jeremiah, ring as true today as they did back then. "But my people have forgotten me, they burn offerings to a delusion; they have stumbled in their ways, in the ancient roads, and have gone into bypaths, not the highway" (Jeremiah 18:15 RV). Do we burn offerings to a delusion or worship the one true God? Do we erect secret shrines and burn incense to our own image--our own ministries?

Paul wrote that the events of the Old Testament "happened. . .by way of example; and they were written for our admonition" (1 Corinthians 10:11 ASV). Its types and shadows are examples that often apply, in amazing detail, to God's current work in the Church.

Today many people are fulfilling that same idolatrous vision that Ezekiel saw in chapters eight and nine.

And He said to me, Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each man in the rooms of his image? For they are saying, Jehovah does not see us, Jehovah has forsaken the earth. . .And he brought me into the inner court of the house of Jehovah. And, behold, at the opening of the temple of Jehovah, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty five men with their backs to the temple of Jehovah. (Ezekiel 8:12 and 16a GLT).

The chapter starts out with these elders of Jerusalem sitting with Ezekiel in his house, looking good to the outward glance. But the prophet is taken out of this inner circle by an angel and shown what they are doing in the hidden chambers of their hearts. He is taken in a vision to the inner court of the temple and there he sees each man bowed down before his own image (imagination or conceit; see Hebrew meaning of image) in the inner court of the temple of God. They are driven by the god of Jealousy (Hebrew - envy). Under the guise of ministering to the people, they turned their backs on the temple of God built with living stones.

God then orders His angel in white linen (the garment of the true priests of His inner court [see Ezekiel 44:17-18] to go forth and mark the foreheads of all those who are mourning: "And the LORD said to him, 'Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.'" (Ezekiel 9:4, NKJV). Then the judgment falls on all that are not so marked.

Be warned. God has once again sent out his angels to mark the foreheads of all who are weeping over the fallen state of today's self-seeking church leadership. The unmarked who are profiting from this current apostasy and going along with it will be dealt with. Judgment begins first in the house of the Lord.

Are We Betrothed to One Husband?

How quickly we trade the living Son of God for other idols! Paul betrothed new believers to Jesus Christ Himself, not Paul, not a hierarchy! As the friend of the Bridegroom, he presented them as chaste virgins to Jesus, the only Bridegroom. They were not of Paul, nor Apollos, nor Cephas. Because they belonged to Jesus alone, all things were theirs in Christ (see 1 Corinthians 3).

Men in ministry are still betrothing the bride to themselves, constantly referring to my ministry, my congregation, or my church. They act as if THEY are the rightful bridegroom. If one of these men had been sent by Abraham to purchase a bride for Isaac, Isaac would still be waiting for his bride in Canaan (see Genesis 24). This self-seeking is perverse and sick and yet the people of God are taken in by this craftiness. Instead of following Jesus, they follow a man who tells them that HE has the NEW way to get to Jesus or the keys to all truth.

Paul warned the Ephesian Church:

"For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears." (Acts 20:29-31, NKJV).

Savage wolves that devour the flock of God will never produce a new wineskin that God's new wine can be poured into. They are IN the box, will never think outside the box, and will not allow others under their domain to do so either. Jesus spoke of the antichrist (in place of Christ) spirit when he said to the Jewish leaders, "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men, for neither do you go in [yourselves], nor do you allow those who are entering to go in" (Matthew 23:13). They can repaint the whitened sepulcher as often as they like, but inside it still holds a rotting corpse that kills everything that comes in close contact with it.

Today Christians still put up with those who are of another spirit, preaching another gospel, and portraying another christ. The more things change, the more they remain the same. But there is hope. We get letters from dear saints who are finding the truth in the One who said, "I am the Truth." The latest movements always point to themselves and their apostolic names, positions and titles. They want to rule over the believers, so they rarely point them to Christ. If these men and women were honest, they would adopt the country song by Toby Keith as their theme song. "I wanna talk about me, talk about I."

The Heart Motivation

The motive of the heart determines whether you are true or not in the eyes of God. The current preoccupation with accountability in the church is to insure that the ones at the top remain there. The ambitious who are climbing toward the top use submission to get their piece of bread. Solomon wrote: "To show partiality is not good, Because for a piece of bread a man will transgress" (Proverbs 28:21, NKJV). These people can be bought and in fact have been. They sell themselves for promotion in the eyes of honored men. As Jesus put it, "No one can serve two masters; either he will hate the one and will love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other" (Matthew 6:24). No wonder the church is filled with apostasy these days.

Man cannot maintain true accountability to men and remain faithful to God. If fear of being called to task by man motivates us, we are not truly serving God, but are bowing before lesser gods. One of the first lessons about God that I (George) learned as a child was, "God sees everything!" You can run but you cannot hide. He is around when there's no one else present. It is a sub par "Christianity" that requires man's scrutiny to force God's children into obedience. These accountability systems destroy any sense of the believer's responsibility of doing "all things as unto the Lord." The victims of this system find themselves doing all things unto church dictators. Paul spoke of this in the context of slaves and masters. "Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men" (Ephesians 6:6-7).

I, Michael, remember the paralysis that I felt when I was sent out to do a task for my master in the ministry group I mentioned earlier. Invariably, something would come up that was not covered by the leader's instructions, and I would be forced to make a decision on my own. No matter how hard I tried, I would always make the wrong choice and the inevitable dressing down followed. The fear (of man) has torment. I have since learned that this is typical cult behavior.

Our Lord "made Himself of no reputation." He didn't come to win friends and influence enemies or use soul power to build a large following. Jesus did not render eyeservice and He was not a man-pleaser. His eyes were trained on the Father and He did only the things He saw the Father doing. Who was Jesus accountable to? Who did He honor? Who did He receive honor from?

In today's Church, we promote ministries like the world promotes rock stars. "Come and see Dr, Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, Teacher, Brother Wonderful! He moves in all nine gifts of the spirit and possesses all five ministry gifts in his humble little soul. He will be preaching a barn burner of a message and miracles in Holy Spirit power will follow (on demand)." It has taken lots of time, effort, and publicity, but some have finally reached superstar status, not caring who they used or stepped-on along the way.

Raise Yourself Up!

Today there is a mentality that says, "If I am raised up before all men, then I can draw all men to Christ." This is a flat out lie from Satan himself. Jesus was constantly pressured to promote Himself. An example is found in John 7. The feast of tabernacles was at hand, and His brothers scoffed at him, "Go where your followers can see your miracles!. . . You can't become a public figure if you hide like this! If you can do such wonderful things, prove it to the world!" (John. 7:3-4 NLT). Christ was not concerned with becoming a public figure. He had come to bear witness to His Father, not Himself. "He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory" (John 7:18). Those who speak their own words from their own authority seek their own glory, but those who are sent by God seek only His. These are the genuine article.

The way of Christ is to decrease, not increase. It is the way of lowly service, not ruling over. It is the way of the cross, not the way of gilded thrones and posturing over the priests of God.

Choose the cross, dear saint, not the way that seems right to men but ends in death. Jesus is the Pattern Son. Follow Him alone. Then when you stand before Him you will hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant," not "I say unto you, you have already had your reward."

Article 8: The Friend of the Bridegroom

John was a mystery to everyone but Christ. Most of what we know about him is extrapolated from Christ's teachings. He was a prophetic representation of the end-time messengers God will send in the spirit and power of Elijah. Every detail regarding his life and ministry is significant, as we shall see shortly.

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. He came into all the region around the Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for remission of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Make ready the way of the Lord. Make his paths straight. (Luke 3:1-4)

John the Baptist The passage above begins by listing the political and religious rulers who reigned over Israel during Christ's earthly ministry, the sum-total of the governments of that day. This small privileged class represented all that the world considered noble, mighty and wise.

Nonetheless, the word of the Lord bypassed emperor's thrones, king's palaces, the courts of the tetrarchs and the dynasty of the high priestly family, and came to a cryptic figure, dressed in camel hair in the wilderness. Can you see the divine irony here? After Luke names all these high and lofty men, he says, "The word of God came to John in the wilderness."

Unlike the rulers of the day, John claimed no titles. He lived like a pauper and had a reputation for being a bit odd. John rejected the religious establishment and they rejected him, but it was to HIM that the word of God was revealed. As far as men were concerned, he was the outcast of outcasts. Nevertheless it was this peculiar man that God chose to prepare the way for His Son. This same spirit was in Paul when he said, "But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." (Galatians 6:14, NKJV).

Little is known about John the Baptist. His early years were spent in silent preparation for this time in the wilderness. He was a messenger prepared and sent from God. He did not speak of himself. When asked who he was, his reply was, "I am the voice of one crying. . ." John did not come to build a ministry but to prepare the way for Christ. He was just a voice, and THAT voice spoke for God.

John was a mystery to everyone but Christ. Most of what we know about him is extrapolated from Christ's teachings. He was a prophetic representation of the end-time messengers God will send in the spirit and power of Elijah. Every detail regarding his life and ministry is significant, as we shall see shortly.

What Did You Go Out Into the Wilderness to See?

Jesus asked the multitudes a number of revealing questions concerning John. "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in king's houses. But why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet" (Matthew 11:7-9). In His typical form, Jesus asked questions that searched the heart of the hearer. Had they gone forth to see a prophet? Yes! But John was "more than a prophet!"

John was a walking, living, illustrated message. Everything about him was prophetic, pointing both to the past and the future. He was a visual aid to the understanding of end-time prophetic events. What was it that they had gone out to see? His clothes, the location where he ministered, the river in which he baptized the people and the message that he preached all spoke of the spirit in which he came. All these things were a part of the message that John brought.

John's clothing was the first thing that Jesus addressed. John's clothes were very much a part of his message. Instead of wearing the soft garments of a king, he wore the coarse aesthetic garb much like that of Elijah (see 2 Kings 1:8) and probably wore a long beard. Today, John would probably be considered a vagrant and a madman and ushered out of our churches before he had a chance to sit down. He would not be the sort of fellow that you would stop and pick up if he were thumbing along the highway.

Then there was John's diet. Locusts are a kosher food (Lev 11:22) and were eaten by the very poorest people. John was born into a priestly family and could have lived a comparatively upper-middle-class lifestyle. Instead he chose the life and diet of the poor. He cared for none of the things that people ordinarily live for, "what you shall eat, what you shall put on." His life was dedicated to one purpose -- the increase of Christ. His self-renunciation was a visible rebuke of the worldliness of his day.

The location of John's ministry was also significant. The Jordan valley is a 100 mile long, 10 to 15 miles wide depression in the earth's surface, reaching its greatest depth in the Dead Sea (1,300 feet below sea level). The Jordan River where John baptized the people flows from the Sea of Galilee south down the Jordan valley to the Dead Sea, and is a geographical parable of spiritual things. It signifies John's character and ministry. Jordan (Yaden) means, "the descender" or to "go down" or "be prostrated." The Jordan River wound down the deepest valley in the center of the country, ever descending, ever decreasing.

Without question John was the descender. Like the Jordan River, he was ever decreasing. We love to quote his famous words, "He (Jesus) must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30). John prepared the way for Christ and then he got out of the way for Christ. John did not promote his own ministry as is so common today even among those calling themselves prophets. God has always chosen the lowly and the detestable to manifest Himself to the world. He chooses the backdrop of death to set apart the manifestation of His Spirit life. The Spirit of God drew the crowds to John because he was only a lowly messenger pointing the way to God's own Son.

Jerusalem and all Judea "went out to him. . .and were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins" (See Matthew 3:5-6). The crowds went out to John. He did not send out flyers, rent stadiums, or hold campaigns in the larger, more affluent cities where it would be easy to draw a crowd. No one invited him to be the keynote speaker at special gatherings. In fact, he didn't come to town at all. If you wanted to see and hear John, you had to go out into the wilderness. For the word of the Lord came to John in the wilderness, and there he chose to remain.

John the Baptist had none of the outward trappings of a respectable minister of his day nor a willingness to employ their methods. He had no fancy buildings for folks to meet in. He had no swanky robes that set him apart from the masses, no lofty podiums nor pulpit, no priestly titles, no recognized eldership, no human covering or authority structure that sent him out, and no accreditation (all of which men in ministry cling to today!). He never performed any miracles that we know of, but news about him spread far and wide, and people throughout the region around Jerusalem and the Jordan came to see and hear him.

John was a humble man but his humility was not measured by his submission to the priesthood of his day. By today's standard, his speech would be classified as rebellious. If he were here today, he would be accused of having a root of bitterness. He often resorted to name-calling when unrepentant religious leadership came out to spy on his ministry to the poor. Seeing them he said, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"

John the Baptist was the messenger who came in the prototype of Elijah. God honored John by calling him "my messenger." John came suddenly out of the wilderness of Judea, in much the same way that Elijah came from the wilderness of Gilead. John bore the same strange appearance as his predecessor; the message of John was very similar to that of Elijah, "If Yahweh [is] God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." The history of John the Baptist was the fulfillment of that of Elijah in "the fullness of time." Yet there is one more fulfillment still to come.

My Messenger. . . preparing the way

Jesus went on to speak of John by quoting from the Old Testament. "For this is he, of whom it is written, 'Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.'" (Matthew 11:10)

He was quoting the prophet Malachi. "'Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, behold, he comes!" says Yahweh of hosts." (Malachi 3:1

Notice that there are two messengers foretold here. The first prepares the way for the second. With the advent of John in the wilderness, the people of Israel expected that Messiah would soon appear. And He did. John was sent to prepare the way for Christ by calling all Israel to repentance, just as Isaiah had prophesied seven hundred and forty years earlier saying, "The voice of him who cries in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of Jehovah; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the knoll shall be a level place, and the rough places a plain.'" (Isaiah 40:3-5, Luke 3:3-6, LITV).

This passage reveals the nature of John's ministry and defines the repentance that God is calling for today. Just as there was a need for a forerunner to prepare the way before Jesus came the first time, so it is before He comes again. God is the great equalizer. The ground at the foot of the cross is perfectly level. Notice that the highway of our God is found out in the waste places of the desert! It is not found in the palaces and temples of self-exalted men. John equated the elevated ones to the lowest of beasts, calling them snakes and vipers. This theme of equality is the earmark of God who opposes the proud and gives grace to the lowly. Godly repentance is best described by the words, "Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low."

How do you build a highway? You bring down the mountains, fill in the valleys. You straighten the crooked places but still that is not enough. You must remove the topsoil and get down to something solid. Only then can you start laying the roadbed for the new highway. You can't build a highway for Christ without removing the humus of the kingdoms of men. All those proud mountains that exalt themselves and the despondent and downtrodden valleys must be brought to grade. Jesus came as a suffering servant that He might break every yoke and let the captives go free. Free to do what? Free to serve one another and the Father in all humility as the family of God. Those mountains that are above such servanthood must be brought low. Those valleys that are debased and devalued shall be exalted.

The Spirit of Elijah

John the Baptist was both a fulfillment of prophecy and a prophetic picture, foretelling future events. Jesus spoke of this mystery in Matthew 17:11-13. "Elijah is indeed coming (future tense), and will be restoring all. Yet I am saying to you that Elijah came already (past tense), and they did not recognize him, but they do to him whatever they will. Thus the Son of Mankind also is about to be suffering by them" (CLNT).(Emphasis ours)

Here Jesus is speaking of the coming of Elijah in both the future and past tenses. He is indeed coming but he has already come. He had come the first time as Elijah. He had come the second time as John the Baptist, and he will yet come in the future to restore all things.

When the angel of the Lord came to Zacharias and informed him that his wife, Elizabeth, would bear a son and that they should call his name John, he also quoted a prophecy from Malachi 4:5-6, revealing the spirit in which John would minister. "He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord, their God. He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children." (Luke 1:14-17)

John was the fulfillment of Malachi's prophecy. In Matthew 11:13-14, Jesus removed any doubt as to who this Elijah was. "For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. If you are willing to receive it, this is Elijah, who is to come." The word spirit is often used to describe a person's character, disposition or nature and passion. John came in the spirit, in the passion of Elijah. It is that spirit and passion that motivated and impelled him.

The Friend of the Bridegroom

The following passage reveals the heart attitude and character of this messenger who was sent from God. In the declining days of John's ministry, some Jews created strife with John's disciples about baptism. This is what followed.

They [John's disciples] came to John, and said to him, "Rabbi, he who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, the same baptizes, and everyone is coming to him." John answered, "A man can receive nothing, unless it has been given him from heaven. You yourselves testify that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but, 'I have been sent before him.' He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. This, my joy, therefore is made full. He must increase, but I must decrease. He who comes from above is above all." (John 3:25-36

John the Baptist is the ideal messenger. His faithfulness is nothing short of inspirational. His famous words, "He [Jesus] must increase, but I must decrease" were descriptive of his single passion, the spirit in which he came. Do we really know what these words mean? Do we know it on the level that John did? This is John's mission statement. It was his goal from the outset. It never entered his mind to establish and maintain a high-profile ministry. He was simply an anonymous voice crying in the wilderness. He found his identity in Christ, not in his calling and ministry. From the shores of Jordan, where he first saw the One whose shoelaces he was not worthy to unloose, John never stopped heralding, he never stopped pointing; he never stopped directing the eyes and hearts of the hearers to Jesus. He never stopped saying, “Behold the Lamb of God!”

But the time came for John to decrease even further. His job was done and he saw the need to disappear. He had prepared the way for Jesus and now it was time for him to make way for the Bridegroom. He knew that if he stayed he would find himself in competition with Jesus.

John's followers had not yet left him and gone after Jesus, and now they were tempting him. Their words were filled with jealousy against Christ. "He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!” They wanted John to get with the program; to compete with the very one he was called to serve. Couldn't John see that his ministry was failing? That people were no longer coming to him? Perhaps they were attempting to get John to hold more meetings, to do what had worked for him in the past. Get up! Do something! Can't you see that all are coming to Him?

John's reply is teeming with significance. He reminded his disciples that "a man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven." John did acknowledge that he had (past tense) been sent before Christ, but that time was over. John reminded his disciples what his ministry was all about when he said, "He who has the bride is the bridegroom." In the context of the traditional Hebrew wedding ceremony, John saw himself as the friend of the bridegroom, who helped in any way he could to present the bride unmolested, as a chaste virgin, to the Groom.

The final act of the friend of the bridegroom was on that long awaited night when the groom came to steal the bride away. When she heard the cry, "The bridegroom comes, go out to meet him," she was swept away to the house that the Groom had been long preparing.

According to the Jewish tradition, the friend of the bridegroom followed the wedding procession at a distance. When the groom took the bride into the bridal chamber, the friend of the bridegroom drew near. Standing just outside the bridal suite, he listened to the sound of lovemaking and at the first note of joy in the Bridegroom's voice, the friend of the Bridegroom danced and shouted for joy. His job over, the groom's friend turned and walked away.

So we see in John a perfect messenger with a perfect heart. May God help us to be such friends and messengers of the Bridegroom today and walk away from any clamoring after our own gain under the guise of ministry!

Abraham's Faithful Servant

In Genesis 24, we read the story of a similar servant, with the same passions. He also was the friend of the bridegroom. He was sent by Abraham back to his homeland to get a bride for his son, Isaac. Abraham gave this man ten camel loads of wealth, the bride's price, to purchase a bride for his son. The man is just a servant, has no wealth of his own, and nothing personally to gain! Yet he goes for great distance (some say it was about 470 miles) and weeks of travel with a king's ransom and no supervision to pick out a wife for Isaac. When he gets there he fell on his face and cried out to God that he might choose the right woman for his master's son. He put forth a test and Rebekah passed with flying colors. The servant gave all the wealth to Rebekah and her father, and took her back to Isaac. He never had the slightest thing to gain from the journey other than the knowledge that God had given to his master's son a bride of His choosing. In that only did he rejoice! (See Genesis 24:10-22).

As they approached Beer Lahai Roi, they came upon Isaac. When Rebekah saw Isaac she dismounted and said to the servant,"Who is the man who is walking in the field to meet us?" The servant presented the bride to the groom as a chaste virgin by identifying him. "It is my master." (See Genesis 24:61-65)

Like John the Baptist, this faithful servant knew that the bride belongs to the Bridegroom. We see this heart also in Apostle Paul, who wrote, "For I am jealous as to you with a jealousy, which is of God; for I have espoused you unto one man, to present you a chaste virgin to Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:2 Darby)

What a lesson these servants provide us! God is looking for such servants to serve the Body of Christ today. He is looking for those who will bring forth a Bride worthy of the Son - one that is without spots or bruises from the manhandling of presumptuous ministers. He seeks servants who will not spend the Bride's price on themselves, or sully the bride for their own pleasures. God seeks those who will not set up their own kingdom with the Father's wealth, but are good stewards of all that is given into their hands, delivering it where it belongs. For these servants who share the Father's heart, bringing forth a Bride for the Son's good pleasure is reward enough. In this their joy is fulfilled.

God often gives us an Old Testament prototype (as seen above) that exhibits the essential features of a later type. The New Covenant fulfillment is in Christ, but it does not stop there. The continuous work of the Holy Spirit is to form, fill and fulfill all things that the prototype prefigured. Such is the case with Elijah, John and the end-time Elijah Company. Elijah and John are prophetic of an end-time company that God WILL send to restore all things.

The End-Time Elijah Company

But in what form will Elijah come in these final days? Will he be a single high-profile entity? Or will he be a whole company of dear saints that are flat out in love with Jesus and want to see Him get what He so deserves as Savior and Lord? We believe Revelation shows this final coming of Elijah to be a company of people, not just a single man, this being depicted by the "two witnesses" (a sign of plurality). The whole of the New Testament points to the Spirit's anointing being on a body of believers, not just one or two empowered ones (see Acts 4:31-33, 20:32, 26:29, Romans 8:32, 1 Corinthians 3:21-23, 12:5-7,11-13, 14:31, Galatians 3:28, Ephesians 1:22-23, 3:8-11,17-19, 4:10-16,25, 1 John 2:20, 27).

In what way is this end-time company like Elijah and John the Baptist? In what way will this Elijah Company sum-up or consummate the ministries of these forerunners? The heart of their message will be the same.

Every word John spoke pointed the way to that Prince that was not of this world, to that other kingdom that is to come. His opening volley down at the Jordan River was, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." When Jesus came to be baptized, John pointed to Him and said, "This is the ONE!" When his disciples still refused to follow the ONE he scolded them. He said, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven." John pointed to the Bridegroom and insisted that the bride belonged to Jesus, not himself.

Who can be part of the Elijah Company? Can we make ourselves part of this end-time prophetic ministry? Can we go to some school of the prophets and learn the techniques necessary to walk in the footsteps of these great men? NO! A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. The calling, the preparation, the severing from this world, the message and finally the work all come down from heaven. God is still sovereign and it is HE who chooses, prepares, empowers and sends forth His messengers. He is looking for hearts that seek only the Son.

Those who are of the Elijah Company, like Elijah and John, will also find that they are in a direct confrontation with the political and religious systems of this world. As we can see from the lives of these messengers, all the kingdoms of men rejected them and finally tried to kill them.

In the book of Revelation, the two witnesses preach the kingdom of God in the streets of apostate Jerusalem and prevail for a season, but when they are finally slain, a great party is held in celebration of their demise. This is again a type of the antagonism that exists between the kingdoms of the prince of this world and the kingdom of God. As Jesus said so well, "He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony."

What passion inspires and propels these chosen ones of the Elijah Company? Is it to build a great ministry? NO! They only want to see Jesus' kingdom increase. They understand that for this to happen they must decrease. They must lose their lives and identity, lest they be found stealing the attention of the Bride away from the Bridegroom and defeating their very callings.

God is looking for those, like Abraham's faithful servant, who are willing to deny themselves to bring forth a bride without spot or wrinkle, fit for the Son. Individuals whose heart-desire is to build a ministry in their own name and for their own glory can never be faithful friends of the Bridegroom. They try to woo and possess the bride for their own gratification. To such unfaithful servants, the following words of John are a scalding rebuke. "He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease."

On the other hand, true friends of the bridegroom eagerly wait for those times of intimacy when the groom takes the bride into His chambers. They rejoice when the bride follows passionately after the Groom, when He sweeps her away to that place of intimate communion. In this their joy is made full! They live for the Groom's fulfillment. Hearing His satisfied voice is the delight of their ears. They dance and shout for joy at the very thought of the union of the bride and the Groom, even knowing that it marks the end of their work. Their lives have been spent in preparation for this very moment.

They have eagerly worked themselves out of a job. Having prepared the way for Christ, now it is time for them to get out of the way for Christ. Only the faithful friend of the bridegroom will turn and walk away. The unfaithful servant tries to maintain his place and his ministry at all cost. He will fight to keep the bride to himself. This is the very point that John was making when He told his disciples, "He who has the bride is the bridegroom." Only such friends will deliver an unmolested bride to the Groom. Only such friends can fully rejoice in that union. This is the spirit of Elijah!

The Power of Elijah

Some might ask here, "But what about the power of Elijah? Won't this end-time Elijah Company come in the power of Elijah as well?" We believe so, but only when their passion is in full alignment with the Spirit's passion. The Spirit does not squander His power on those with private ambition. The scriptures fail to yield one instance where God commanded anyone to seek power. Fleshly men want the power, but few have the passion for the Bridegroom that is behind the power of Elijah and John. These two men's hearts were altars upon which the heavenly fire descended. It was the effectual fervent prayer proceeding from the hearts and mouths of such messengers that moved the hand of God. Their desire was not miracles, but turning hearts toward God. Elijah did not independently seek power, but the power came as he sought the restoration of all things. What would make us any different from Simon, who tried to purchase power from Peter, if our quest is for power? Would we not likewise bring ourselves under a curse?

Today we see high-profile men in ministry posturing and selling "power." They holding expensive seminars for the prophetic and apostolic ministers "so they too, can receive the power." They often promise their adherents that if they support them, then these supporters will be given their own power ministry. We have even seen personal prophecies sold for seventy-five dollars a pop. O dear Christian, it is time to weep between the porch and the altar (see Joel 2:17)!

The Spirit of God brings a selfless passion for the exaltation of Jesus before He brings any power to those who are called. First "to will" THEN "to do," first the passion, then the power. Without the cross in the lives of these called-out ones, there will never be an impartation of passion or power. The natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit or God's kingdom, so kingdom power cannot be wielded by fleshly ambition.

As we see Christendom today so permeated with private ambition, and worse yet, see the residue of that same ambition in our own hearts, we tend to become cynical. We question whether the purity and passion of heart that was found in Elijah and John the Baptist could ever be found in contemporary Christianity.

In spite of our doubts, God is doing it once again! He is bypassing the scholars and would-be kings. To the chagrin of many, He is also bypassing those who sit in the seats of ecclesiastical power. "Who is this coming up out of the wilderness leaning on her beloved?" What is this fire glowing in the desert night? It is the lowly and humble wilderness-dwellers, a company preparing the way. They are nameless! They are voices crying! They seek no identity, no ministry and no fame. They are coming in passion, a passion to see the Bridegroom receive His bride! These are also coming in the power of Elijah!

Article 9: The Temple of God or the Temples of Men?

Down through the ages, men have always felt compelled to build a house for God, the God who created the universe. Even when Moses and Elijah showed up to minister to Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, the first thing out of Peter's mouth was, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" (Matthew 17:4, NKJV). Peter wanted to capture the moment, to enshrine it within the works of his own hands. However, what seemed "good" to Peter was of little interest to God. As we shall see, Peter's response to this glorious event is typical of man's response every time God moves in the earth. Almost without exception someone steps forward saying, "it is good for us to be here. . .let us make here."

A host of temples are strewn over the reformation trail, each one built upon some mountain-top experience. They stand as testimonies of religious man's propensity to progress only so far with God and then build--to permanently attach himself to a prior move of God at the expense of the present truth. Tragically, what man builds so often serves as an anchor, marking the end of forward progress and the beginning of the fight to defend their fixed institutions and unique brand of orthodoxy against all who would attempt to continue on. God was not impressed with Peter's new public works program. He answered out of the heavens, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!" Build a house for God, His prophets, or His Son? The God that is omnipresent! Whatever gave men that idea? As we shall see, it was not God!

It is clear that the first temples for deities were constructed in ancient Babylon. Throughout Babylon, every city had its own local deity, and each deity had a large temple in which he or she was worshipped. The larger cities had many temples and chapels dedicated to one or more gods. It is estimated that the city of Babylon itself had more than 50 temples during the time of Abraham. "The cella, or inner part of the temple, in which the statue of the deity stood on a pedestal in a special niche, was the holy of holies, and only the high priest and other privileged members of the clergy and court were permitted to enter it. In the temple complexes of the larger cities, a ziggurat, or staged tower, was often built, crowned by a small sanctuary, which probably was reserved for the all-important sacred-marriage ceremony celebrated in connection with the new-year festival." (Encarta Encyclopedia)

The concept of a house for a deity is as old as the tower of Babel. The Babylonian concept was a sanctuary where the deity the temple was dedicated to dwelt in the "most holy place." These existed over 430 years before Moses received the pattern for the "tabernacle of witness." Does this strike you as strange? That God's tabernacle should bear such a close resemblance to the Chaldean temples? As we look back over the history of God's dealings with mankind, in His incredible redemptive love and patience He has repeatedly related to man within his current perception of deity. He did this in order to lead man on to a greater understanding of Himself. If man could perceive Him in no other way, He met man there so He might lead him forward. For this very reason, God sent His own Son into the world as God's Word incarnate. Jesus, not only came with a message, He WAS the message. Up until then no one-- not even Abraham--knew who God really was. Even Moses only saw God's back as He passed by. Hence throughout the Old Testament scriptures we see the continuing revelation of God's name, His very character.

The apostle Paul referred to God's way of building upon previous truth when he stood in the Areopagus at Athens. Surrounded by idols, he saw an altar with the inscription, To the Unknown God (Acts 17:23). So Paul said to them, "Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you." The problem with religion is that it so often consists of worshipping "the unknown God." Or as Paul says here, "the One whom you worship without knowing." Then Paul makes a definitive statement, announcing the end of an era and the beginning of another.

"And the times of this ignorance (referring to the unchecked idolatry around him) God winked at; but now commands all men every where to repent" (Acts 17:30).

Paul explained to these superstitious people who this "unknown God" is and what His attributes are.

"God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshipped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things." (Acts 17:24-25)

Here Paul is addressing man's tendency to relate to the Lord of heaven and earth with a pagan mentality, as though He dwelt within temples made with hands. Relating to God in a pagan mentality has been a reoccurring problem down through the years and is still a problem today.

In Hosea's day Israel related to God in the same manner as the worshippers of Baal, even calling God by the names of "Baali" and "Baalim." God had long suffered the "times of this ignorance." However, "in the latter days" (3:5) "it shall be at that day, says the LORD, that you shall call me Ishi (husband), and shall call me no more Baali" (Hosea 2:16). The days of ignorance are at an end. God winked in a time of ignorance but now commands all men everywhere to repent.

Note that this prophecy is for the latter days. It is for today. Over the years ignorance has been slowly dispelled, as God has little by little removed the names of baalim from the mouths of His people. In the last days the Bride He has wooed is called forth to know Him as Ishi (Husband). We, His bride, are called to attend a wedding feast. In Revelation 21:2 we see the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, depicted as a bride adorned for her husband. This is the fulfillment of Hosea's prophecy, for God will have led His people into an understanding of Himself as "Husband" and themselves as the "Bride."

From Tent to Temple

How many times has God "winked at" man's flawed concept of who the Divine is? He stooped to relate to man in spite of his erroneous thinking. Man could not imagine relating to God in any other way than the deity inside a temple, but from the very outset God was clear that this was not His best. He allowed this ignorance only for a season. Therefore, over the years of God's dealing with man we see an ongoing separation of God from the house. We can learn much by going back to the beginnings of the first Hebrew temple as first conceived by King David in Jerusalem.

Now it came to pass when the king was dwelling in his house, and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies all around, that the king said to Nathan the prophet, "See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells inside tent curtains."

Then Nathan said to the king, "Go, do all that is in your heart, for the LORD is with you."

But it happened that night that the word of the LORD came to Nathan, saying, "Go and tell My servant David, 'Thus says the LORD: "Would you build a house for Me to dwell in? For I have not dwelt in a house since the time that I brought the children of Israel up from Egypt, even to this day, but have moved about in a tent and in a tabernacle. Wherever I have moved about with all the children of Israel, have I ever spoken a word to anyone from the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, 'Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?'"

Now therefore, thus shall you say to My servant David, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts: "I took you from the sheepfold, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel. And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made you a great name, like the name of the great men who are on the earth. Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more; nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore, as previously, since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel, and have caused you to rest from all your enemies. Also the LORD tells you that He will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever."

According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David. (2 Samuel 7:1-17)

David spoke what was in his heart when he said, "See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells inside tent curtains." Note the use of the word "dwell" here. Religious man's concept of a temple is a dwelling place for his god. David's thinking was still influenced by the traditions of religious men. God was about to send Nathan back to David with a qualifying word. At first Nathan had given a general approval to David's aspiration to build a dwelling for God. However, God posed several questions that are revolutionary even to our thinking today. "Would you build a house for Me to dwell in? For I have not dwelt in a house since the time that I brought the children of Israel up from Egypt, even to this day, but have moved about in a tent and in a tabernacle. Wherever I have moved about with all the children of Israel, have I ever spoken a word to anyone from the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, 'Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?'"

God didn't seem very excited about David's plan, just as He wasn't excited about Peter's idea to build three tabernacles on the Mount of Transfiguration. God had another idea in mind, one that defines His purposes even today, which is, "I will build YOU a house." God is not nearly as interested in what man can build for Him as He is in what He can build in and of yielded vessels. Yes, God would build David a house and He would set up David's Seed after him, Jesus Christ the Messiah. It is this Seed (singular) through whom God would establish his kingdom and build a house for His name forever. By what authority can we claim this? Read what the Apostle Paul said when he spoke of a certain Seed.

Of that Seed He says, "Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made." He does not say, 'And to seeds,' as of many, but as of one, 'And to your Seed,' who is Christ" (Galatians 3:16).

In the book of Acts, Paul referred to this same singular Seed again when he said,

And afterward they asked for a king; so God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, "I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will." From this man's seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a Savior--Jesus. (Acts 13:21-23, NKJV).

Jesus is the "Seed" of Abraham and David and He is the builder of the true temple of God. Nathan went on to speak for God saying, "I will be his Father, and he shall be My son." David wanted to build a house out of cedar, but looking into the future, God saw the house that His Son, the Son of David, would build. He looked to the day when Jesus was to build a house for God's name; the spiritual temple made of the spirits of true believers as living stones, to be a habitation of God through the Spirit. As Paul put it, "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God?" (1 Corinthians 3:16.)

The establishment of His house, His throne, and His kingdom forever, can apply to no other than to Jesus Christ. Zechariah also spoke of Jesus building God's temple when he wrote, "Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Behold, a man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is; and He will build the temple of the LORD." (Zechariah 6:12, NASB).

After a forty-year reign, David the son of Jesse died, full of age, riches and honor. David's son Solomon, still a mere child, now sat on the throne of his father. It appears that Solomon was overwhelmed with the responsibilities of the kingdom. It is also clear that he did not take these responsibilities lightly. David stored up materials for the building of the temple of the Lord, still thinking in terms of a temporal house for God, but because he was a "man of blood" the LORD would not permit him to build it. That duty fell to Solomon, the son of peace. In a sense God was allowing a physical house to be built because He was still "winking" at the ignorance of man that would presume to build a dwelling for God. Solomon was about to learn otherwise. Solomon sought the Lord with a thousand burnt offerings, and on that very night God appeared to him saying,

"Ask! What shall I give you?" Solomon replied, "Now, O LORD God, let Your promise to David my father be established, for You have made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude. Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of Yours?" (2 Chronicles 1:9,10, NKJV).

The Lord, greatly pleased at Solomon's request, replied.

"Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches or wealth or honor or the life of your enemies, nor have you asked long life--but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge My people over whom I have made you king- - wisdom and knowledge are granted to you; and I will give you riches and wealth and honor, such as none of the kings have had who were before you, nor shall any after you have the like." (2 Chronicles 1:11,12, NKJV).

Shortly thereafter, Solomon began the construction of his temple. However, in his wisdom Solomon saw something that even his father David had never seen before. He saw what God had revealed to Nathan the prophet. Even though David had stored up for the construction of this glorious piece of architecture to which even the temples of Egypt paled in comparison, Solomon knew that God could not be contained in a house build with the hands of men for he said,

"But who is able to build Him (God) a temple, since heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him? Who am I then, that I should build Him a temple, except to burn sacrifice before Him?" (2 Chronicles 2:6)

Solomon recognized that the only use for the house was to burn animal sacrifices before God. Unlike the heathen gods made of wood and stone who could easily be contained in temples made with hands, the God of Israel was too vast for the heavens themselves, let alone a temple, no matter how glorious it was. Here we see the wisdom of Solomon. He had seen through the prevailing concept of deity, the way Israel had attempted to relate to God in the manner of the pagans round about. It was time for this ignorance to be cast off.

The time of this ignorance was coming to a close. God required an animal sacrifice for sin and that was what the house was for. Nothing more! It served no other purpose. When animal sacrifices were abolished, the need for temples and buildings dedicated to God ended. This is why, when Jesus, the final and ultimate sacrifice for sin was offered, God rent the veil of the temple in Jerusalem. When Jesus said, "It is finished," the need for the altar of animal sacrifice was done away along with the need to house it. All the types and shadows in the design and purpose of the temple were fulfilled in Christ. From that moment on, God no longer delighted in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin (Hebrews 10:6). David had an understanding of this truth in Psalm 51 when he prayed, "For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart--These, O God, You will not despise." The burnt offering was an interim measure, typifying the coming "Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." It was a temporary means to an end. "But Jesus, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God" (Hebrews 10:12).

Solomon's insight demonstrates a wisdom that had been shown only by the prophet Nathan. Solomon saw in a prophetic glance the true worth of the temple he was about to construct. It had no worth except as a place for the offering of the obligatory animal sacrifices under the law. Later, through the prophet Isaiah, the Lord made the very same point to a people who placed their trust in their man-made temples. Thus says the LORD:

"Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build for Me? And where is the place of My rest?" (Isaiah 66:1)

After the crucifixion of Christ, Stephen, the first martyr of the new ekklesia of God, was charged with heresy. While standing before the same Sanhedrin that had condemned the Lord Jesus to death, he explained God's view of religious man's attempts to confine Him in a temple. They had called false witnesses to testify against Stephen. These "witnesses" said, "This man ceases not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place (the temple) and the law." (Acts 6:13) In short, Stephen was accused of threatening the establishment, the status quo, and the whole power base of the Jewish leaders. The charges levied against Stephen were not totally false. It is reasonably certain that Stephen did say something that could be construed by the unenlightened mind as an attack on the temple. In fact, Stephen went on to offer what the Jewish elders would consider collaborating evidence. There was true genius behind Stephen's panoramic, historic synopsis--a genius comparable to the Wisdom of Solomon. Truly he was full of the Holy Spirit.

There is more to be gleaned in a brief overview of Stephen's message than in the particulars themselves. The entire discourse is a single argument refuting the charges brought against him. Stephen recounted the roving past of their forefathers. He tracked their journey as pilgrims and sojourners on the earth, describing one phase of their migratory history after another. He began with Abraham, who was called out of the land of the Chaldeans to a land that God would show him, the very land in which they now dwelt. Then Stephen discussed Abraham's offspring, and how God revealed to Abraham that his progeny would also sojourn in a strange land, and that they would be in bondage for four hundred years (Act 7:6). Stephen then went on to tell how the patriarchs moved to Egypt. He reminded them how after 400 years of slavery, God delivered their forefathers to begin the pilgrimage toward the land of promise. They were still sojourners, still strangers.

We know that before Israel departed Egypt they were commanded to take "a lamb for a house," slay it, apply its blood to the door posts and cook the lamb and eat it together with bitter herbs. This meal was the first Passover. All who ate this meal were to be fully prepared to travel.

Exodus 12:11 And thus shall you eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD'S passover.

This is more than symbolic!

Having become a partaker of the Lamb of God, everyone who is born again must be ready to travel. He must eat with his loins girded, with his shoes on his feet and his staff in his hands. The Passover meal is a call to exodus. If we do not eat this feast with staff in hand, we will stay behind, lost in types and shadows, rather than following on to know the Lord. As unthinkable as it may seem, people find security in bondage. They find the whole concept of exodus frightening at best. It requires faith to leave the security of the known and journey into the unknown--to dwell in a strange land. It requires the faith of Abraham.

Before they killed him, Stephen addressed Israel's refusal to go on with God. From the time of righteous Abraham, who was "a pilgrim and stranger in a strange place," God led them through the period of the judges as a migratory people. But now they had become a static people with a static understanding, refusing to progress with God. God does not change, but He is constantly calling us forward into His own perfection, His eternal purposes and a more perfect manifestation of His bride. Man seems traumatized by insecurity in such a nomadic context. Man loves the predictable, what he perceives to be stable and constant. Buildings are a testimony to man's insecurity and represent the rebellion of man against the change that following God demands. Buildings are like fortified cities that shield people from the faith required to progress with God into the new or unknown.

"Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers" (Acts 7:52). Stephen was about to meet the same fate as his Lord, at the hands of the same persecutors, for the very same reasons. Before we become too critical of the Jews, ask yourself a question. In all of church history, were any messengers bringing reform not resisted? If there is such an instance we cannot find it. Those who praised what God had done in the past always resisted the messengers of change. They always resisted the Holy Spirit.

This is not a uniquely Jewish problem. We must earnestly desire God's will over our own or we, like the Jews, will not be able to say, "Blessed is he that comes in the name of the LORD." We will take up stones and resist the present truth and all who bring it. We will sew up the torn veil and defend the edifices that represent the previous move of God. There are only two choices before us.

1.We will resist the Holy Spirit, clinging to the things of the past, refusing to forget those things which are behind, which in time will stink like yesterday's manna.

2.We will reach forth to those things which are before, pressing toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of Jesus Christ, counting all else dung that we might apprehend that for which we were apprehended of Christ Jesus.

The children of Israel were called out unto the land that God had promised. Hence Stephen referred to Israel in the wilderness as "the church (ekklesia) in the wilderness." They were called out just as their father Abraham had been. This is very significant. They were not just called out of Egypt, but unto the land of promise. Stephen reminded the Jewish leaders that they were a people of calling, a people not just called out but unto, implying a journeying on, following the cloud. The "Wise Men" were wiser than those Stephen spoke to, for they also were called out of Babylon to kneel before the Creator of the universe. Not one of the so-called "holy men" of Israel went forth to honor Him when these foreigners made their purpose known. Israel refused to be called out. They would not hear of it!

Just as God called Abraham out of Ur of Chaldees and used Moses to call the people of Israel out of Egypt, Jesus issued another call, a warning to forsake the old. He issued a warning to flee Jerusalem and temple worship when He said,

For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation. (Luke 19:43,44, NKJV).

The temple of Herod was leveled along with Jerusalem in 70AD by the Romans and there has not been a Jewish temple since. You cannot be a Jewish follower of God without Jesus any more than you can be a Christian without Him. Stephen quoted a scripture which makes this point conclusively.

This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, "The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear" (Acts 7:37).

Like Moses, Jesus leads God's people out of bondage and into liberty. He leads His people from the bondage of religion and its powerless forms that do nothing but serve as a constant reminder of sin (Hebrews 10:3). He leads us forward into the utter freedom that is found only by abiding in Christ, as those "who worship God in spirit and in truth," and once purged should have "no more conscience of sins" (Hebrews 10:2).

"But Jesus, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God" (Hebrews 10:12). He said, "It is finished." What could be added to that? In a sense Jesus did exactly what he was accused of. He destroyed the temple. In a single act of obedience, by "ONE SACRIFICE," He made its function null and void forever. Jesus fulfilled all that the temple bespoke. "There remains no more sacrifice for sins" (Hebrews 10:26). Like Moses, He led His people out of the old into a better or new covenant. Jesus led the exodus out of Judaism. There is no more Jew nor Greek but a new creation. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Paul wrote: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). God created a new race in Jesus, "the second Adam." When God says, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away (Hebrews 8:13).

They say that Hebrews is "the book of BETTER things." Consider these passages from its pages:

. . .Jesus made a surety of a better testament. (Hebrews 7:22)

Jesus has. . .obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also He is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. (Hebrews 8:6)

. . .better sacrifices (Hebrews 9:23).

. . .a better and an enduring substance. (Hebrews 10:34)

. . .a better country (Hebrews 11:16)

...a better resurrection (Hebrews 11:35)

. . .the blood of sprinkling (Christ's blood), that speaks better things that that of Abel. (Hebrews 12:24)

Also in chapter eleven the author of Hebrews had this to say in praise of the heroes of the faith:

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. (Hebrews 11:13-16)

Dear friends, we have been called unto better things like those pilgrims and sojourners

mentioned in Hebrews 11 who would not look back but waited in faith for a BETTER country. They refused to consider the country they had come out of. They could have turned back and lived at ease, but instead they waited in faith for a heavenly country. We also must learn to set our desires on a BETTER country, a heavenly city. It takes faith to accept God's NEW THING. We are called to ongoing change, from glory to glory, and that requires that we be malleable in His hands and yielded to His continual shaping and renewing. We must be ever ready to let go of yesterday and embrace today. Yesterday's manna cannot sustain us today; it was only good for yesterday. Behold, NOW is the accepted time; behold, NOW, in the present, is the day of salvation. NOW, today, He gives daily bread. We cannot cling to the old and embrace the new at the same time. If we try clinging to both, we will add the new to the old, attempting to contain the new thing in the old and losing both.

Jesus spoke of this in a parable.

No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, "The old is better." (Luke 5:36-39).

In this passage Jesus is comparing the NEW thing which he brought to earth with the OLD order. No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one, nor stores new wine in an old wineskin. The new patch will make the old garment look worse than ever and the new wine will burst the old wineskin. This describes man's tendency to patch the old and contain the new within the old. The old order cannot contain the new wine. In the book of Acts, the Judaizers attempted to patch Judaism (the old wineskins) with faith in Christ. But the old, rigid structure of the Jews could not contain the new wine of the Spirit of God. The God of Israel could not be contained in that old wineskin and He burst it, just like He rent the veil, as the glory departed.

Jesus goes on to describe why change comes so slowly in religious circles. "No one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.'" These four words "the old is better" speak of what has impeded God's progress among men more than any other thing. It aptly depicts religious man's consistent and immediate response to change. As Stephen told the Sanhedrin before they killed him, "You do always resist God's Holy Spirit."

This simple statement "the old is better," reveals the heart of religious man. Change was not acceptable to the elders of the Jews. Like Pharaoh, they would not let the people go. None the less, Jesus was calling His people out.

Stephen also made other repeated remarks about the stubbornness of Israel and how they resisted change at every turn. He told how they turned back again into Egypt in their hearts (Act 7:39). They made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands (Act 7:41).

Stephen went on to remind the Jews of God's perspective regarding the temple, "''Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. What house will you build for Me?' says the LORD, "Or what is the place of My rest? Has My hand not made all these things?' You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you" (Acts 7:49-51, NKJV).

Have you ever ridden a horse that insisted on returning to the barn? He interprets any slack in the reins as free rein, turns around of his own accord and proceeds back to the barn on a dead run, just as if you had commanded him to do so. This can be very frustrating if you have another destination in mind. If you have ever ridden such a horse you might understand what God faced with Israel. They always wanted to turn back. Any progress was made under protest. There were skid marks all the way from Egypt to the Jordan River. A stiff-necked animal doesn't respond to the gentle nudges of the reins, but must be plow-reined to pull his head around and point him in the right direction. Even then he often takes the bit in his teeth, resisting guidance altogether. A stiff-necked horse makes a pleasurable experience into a nightmare.

There is little doubt what Stephen is communicating here. Israel was still trying to build and maintain a dwelling for God even though the temple, its sacrifices and priesthood had been made obsolete by the once for all sacrifice of Christ, the spotless Lamb of God. They wanted to turn back to the barn. They attempted to sustain the system and sacrifices that were no longer relevant. They hung on to the very system that Christ had called his people out of. They were resisting the present truth.

Men resist any new move of God because they find their identity and support system in what God has done in the past, rather than what he is doing in the present. They are encumbered with traditions that keep them tethered to the past and blind them to what God is doing now. Those who cling to their traditions "always resist the Holy Spirit."

Paul spoke of this in Philippians chapter three. "Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." (Philippians 3:2-3) Paul did not say beware of the circumcision, but beware of the concision (mutilation). Paul was comparing the addition of circumcision to faith in Christ to the cutting and mutilation of idolatrous heathen. The prophets of Baal cut themselves with knives on Mt. Carmel hundreds of years earlier. Paul is warning those who add anything to the finished work of Christ. In doing so it becomes idolatry, expressed in a loyalty to religious things, the worship of relics (dead things from the past) rather than the worship of God. Because Israel had refused to forsake their Jewish traditions to heed the call of Christ--to leave their temple, rituals, and ceremonies behind--they could not help but resist God just as their forefathers had. They chose rather as their object of worship the works of their hands (their temple).

In Philippians chapter three, Paul exhorts us not to look back but to press on ahead. The dung Paul referred to in Philippians 3:8 was his vested interest in the religion of the Jews and all that it had brought Him. It was his religious pedigree, traditions and prestige that he counted as dung. This was the price he had to pay before he could "win Christ." He was called out of Judaism. Those things that were once gain to him he now counted loss as he wrote, "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ" (Phi 3:7-8). God wants to lead His people forward, but religious man is in a constant cycle of tearing down his barns and building bigger ones. Francis Frangipane summed up the nature of this religious dilemma conclusively when he stated, "Satan's deception during a move of God is both subtle and powerful because the devil's disguise is a religious spirit. He cloaks his activity by honoring what God HAS done, while fighting what God IS doing."

Are you beginning to see how radical Paul's stance was? He didn't count SOME of his previous religion dung, but ALL of it. Religious man still builds temples, calling them "sanctuaries, cathedrals, or churches." Men called "priests and clergy" still preside over them. The Lord still asks, "Would you build a house for Me to dwell in?" This is the reason why change comes very, very slowly in Christendom today. WE want to build Him a house, and HE wants to build His ekklesia as a dwelling place for Himself. He is still saying, "I will build you a house!"

If we do not count our vested interest in the last move of God as dung, we cannot move forward to heed the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. We will stay in UR. We will refuse to leave Egypt and even if we do we will be looking back over our shoulders yearning for the leeks and garlic. If we are to continue to follow God's cloud of truth, we must always count everything that threatens moving on as dung. Defending those things that you have a vested interest in blinds you to the truth the Lord wants to lead you into. The temporal things that He once honored are often brought to an end so that the greater spiritual truth can be seen more clearly. God's truth always adds to the previous revelation, thus making the whole picture that much more complete. He always desires to conform the beholder into a more perfect image of Christ.

Much to the chagrin of religious man, God is not confined to a box like a genie in a corked bottle. Even as Christians, we often think we can rub Him just the right way and He will pop out of confinement and say, "Yes master, what can I do for you? Your wish is my command." God is God and we are not! Like the message I saw on a coffee cup at work, "Me boss, you not!" What makes us think that we can confine Him either with our buildings or our doctrines? We are the ones who must conform to what He is building, not the other way around.

When John the apostle saw the city referred to as the Bride, there was no temple. He sounds almost shocked as he reported, "But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light" (Revelation 21:22-23). The heavens themselves cannot contain Him, so how could the work of man's hands do more? Who can build Him a temple that could contain His glory? God's question, "What house will you build for me?" reproves man's ambition to build a temple for his God and warns of the futility of attempting to do so. Only God is sufficient for the task of building himself a temple and our effort to do so is an affront to His glory. All we can do is yield to His work of conforming us into His living stones to be fitted together as He sees fit.

Christians today also resist the Holy Spirit in the very same way that Stephen's accusers had. We must come to see that clinging to the former things is to decline God's invitation to move on. It is a refusal to allow God to conform us into that building fit for His glory, opting for the works of our own hands instead.

The worst thing about buildings is how they displace the real work of God, the preparation of His bride. Temple worship inherently conceals God behind sacrifices and ceremonies that make God inaccessible, or make Him accessible only by earthly mediators. God places in each one of His saints something that He can use to build up His house. Having a physical temple or church building refocuses all the resources and efforts of the Body of Christ. Consequently, much of the finances that could be used to send workers into the harvest field and help the needy, go to pay for the extravagant maintenance of physical buildings. One mega-institutional church in Anchorage Alaska had a regular monthly heating and electric bill of $30,000. This exceeds the yearly wage of many people. In his book Going to the Root, Christian Smith estimated the value of real estate owned by churches in the United States alone to be over two hundred and thirty two billion dollars. If where we spend our money is any indication of our priorities, what then is the priority of Christendom today?

The story is told of Dominic, who was given the royal tour by the Pope when he visited Rome. After witnessing the lavish wealth of the Vatican, the Pope turned to Dominic and said "Saint Peter can no longer say 'silver and gold have I none.'" Dominic replied, "Neither can he say 'Rise and walk.'"

The larger the building is, the greater the need to fill it with people. The more people in the building, the greater the need for order. The greater the need for order, the more control a handful exercises over the many. Finally only the elect few minister and the body that should be participating and functioning becomes quadriplegic. The head does all the work. The only contribution of the silent masses finally comes down to supporting the few who minister and the all important edifice borrowed from another age.

The church building or temple fixes all ministry on a central point of interest. By example, the Church stops going out to save the lost. Doesn't it seem strange to you that Paul went about the Middle East and Europe in his day and never built a single church building? Modern missionaries and church planters didn't get their ideas from him! I know a minister who moved to a small western town. At first he was very outgoing and visited all the people in their homes like pastors used to. As I heard reports of his efforts, I had hopes. But then the day came when he had gathered a handful of interested people who met with him regularly, and he put out the call to the denomination for help building a "church." They gladly obliged him and once it was built, you had to meet Pastor Sam (not his real name) at the building. This is not the model of the New Testament Church or that of the three-sided tabernacle of David that made the ark accessible to all.

As we look back over the history of Israel, we see ALL that could not contain HIM was cast off, until finally HE in whom the fullness of the godhead dwells bodily arrived on the scene. When the veil of His flesh was torn, the God of eternity rent the temple veil, signifying that everyone who believes in Him has access to the Holy of Holies, not just the priestly cast. God has found a new dwelling place! He no longer dwells in temples made with hands.

When the Jews asked Jesus for a sign, He answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?" But He was speaking of the temple of His body. "Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said" (John 2: 18-22). Jesus referred to His body as the temple, the dwelling place of God. When he said he would raise again in three days, the religionists were threatened. In their paranoia they thought that Jesus had threatened to tear down the temple, which was their trust, their livelihood and their instrument of power over the people.

Jesus was speaking of a different temple altogether, one that could contain the ONE whom the heavens could not. What is the center of our Christian lives? Is it our temple, our church building, our vested interest in our ministries? Nothing but the true Temple, the ONE that was destroyed and raised up in three days, can contain the fullness of HIM who fills all things. We are invited to be part of that Temple as His body with Jesus as the only head. Will we continue to expend all our resources on something God left behind 2000 years ago and find ourselves fighting His purposes? Or will we spend our time, resources, and the gifts that He has given each of us building one another up as His living stones in a temple fit for God?

And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people" (2 Corinthians 6:16).

The true temple of God is not built with the hands of men out of wood, hay and stubble or stone; it is built of precious stones by His Spirit. This is the house to which God referred when He said to David "I will build you a house." This is the Temple that the prophet Zechariah said would be built by the Branch. "He will build the temple of the LORD" (Zechariah 6:12).

Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16, NKJV).

This passage contains the answer to the age-old questions God still asks those who aspire to build great and grand temples, cathedrals, sanctuaries or church buildings. "Where is the house that you will build for Me? And where is the place of My rest?" (Isaiah 66:1) God has already chosen the temple that He builds and no other.

God is calling His children out of their temple-laden cities to sojourn with Him. He is calling His people out of the bondage of making bricks without straw and erecting pyramids and temples as monuments to men. Will we be viewed by future generations as faithful like Abraham the sojourner? Or will they see us as stiff-necked, refusing to go forth into uncharted territories? Will we pay the price and count all of yesterday's glories and achievements as dung? Will we forget those things that are behind, and reach forth unto those things that are before?

Back To the Tent

The shepherd-king David lamented that he was living in finery, but the ark of God rested in a tent on Zion. He did not understand that God loved His tent and wants to return to it.

Recently we shared our thoughts about the fluidity of God's true temple with a friend and brother, Charlie Lafferty of Texas. We found that he has also been hearing the Lord along this line. He basically said, "Amos says that God will restore the Tabernacle of David in the last days. In Acts 15, James quotes Amos. Could it be a reference to God restoring the fluidity to the Church so that we will follow Him wherever He goes again?" Thanks, Charlie. Right on!

The Lord spoke His heart through Amos saying,

In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: (Amos 9:11)

Acts 15 tells about a crisis in the early church. Certain men came from Judea to Antioch and taught the brethren that they must be circumcised after the manner of Moses or they could not be saved. This was an attempt to place a new wine in an old wineskin in the belief that "the old is better". Paul and Barnabas disputed with these men, and eventually they went up to Jerusalem to discuss this matter with the apostles there. Paul and Barnabas did not go to seek the counsel of the other apostles; they were going to the source of the problem. The legalists had come to Antoich from Jerusalem; perhaps they were some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed. Paul and Barnabas went to Jerusalem to make a point, and that they made conclusively. At the end of that meeting, James recited the verse out of Amos as proof that the Gentiles no longer need to adhere to the old law.

After this I will return And will rebuild the tabernacle (tent) of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, And I will set it up; So that the rest of mankind may seek the LORD, Even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, Says the LORD who does all these things. (Acts 15:16,17, NKJV)

We have indeed come full circle, from tent to temple to tent again! The temple was an interim measure at best. The tabernacle of David, the tent that David pitched on Zion was always God's best. It represents a return to the fluidity and pilgrim status of all who progressed with God, from righteous Abraham on. God in a tent is God on the move. Until we see the full restoration of all things we are also sojourners, tent dwellers, willing to pull up stakes and follow wherever He leads. It was John, who wrote,

"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." (John 1:14)

The Greek word for dwelt in this passage is skenoo [4637], which means to "fix one's tabernacle, have one's tabernacle, abide, to (or live) in a tabernacle (or tent), tabernacle" (Strong's). The Word became flesh and pitched His tent among us! God wants to be among His people, not sealed off behind the temple veil. God's purposes are no more complicated than this. He desires to be among us as a Bridegroom longs for His bride!

The early Church had no buildings. Instead they had the abiding presence of God, and the Gentiles marveled at these believers saying, "Behold how they love one another." It was their fluid missionary zeal, their willingness to follow the Lamb where ever He went that "turned the world upside down!" It was the love of the Lord in a group of Jesus People with no church buildings that drew me (Michael) to the Lord in 1970.

At the consummation of all things, God will fully realize His desire, for in that day the tabernacle of God will be with all men, His very elect. As it is written:

And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." (Revelation 21:2-4)

We have no permanent dwelling place here. Let us not make the mistake of minding earthly things. (Philippians 3:19) Christ is the High Priest of a new priesthood. He now ministers in the heavenly sanctuary. The earthly one has been done away. The writer of Hebrews wrote:

"Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. (Hebrews 8:1-2)

The "True Tabernacle" is the one that the Lord pitched on high, where He is now seated at the right hand of The Father. We must set our affections where "we now dwell in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." The High Priest of the sanctuary (Jesus) intercedes there on our behalf.

If you then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. (Colossians 3:1-2)

Dear Christian, we are pilgrims and sojourners dwelling in a strange land. Our citizenship is in heaven. We are not called to build cities like Cain, or ziggurats like Nimrod. Individually and collectively, we are the habitation of God, the place of His rest. We are His workmanship, His building! We are His temple, His dwelling! There is no other. Nothing else is able to contain Him. This is the house that He promised David He would build, over which his Seed (Jesus) would reign forever. Now rather than a physical house, we have a spiritual house. "You also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 2:5).

Amen. Come Lord Jesus, fully in us, your temple.

May God bless each of you as you are conformed into the true temple of God!

Article 10: Choose Life

As Christians, the goal of gathering together should not be a "good service" or to entertain each other. We gather to commune with Christ.

I call Heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore, choose life, that you may live, you and your seed, to love Jehovah your God, to listen to His voice, and to cleave to Him. For He is your life. (Deuteronomy 30:19-20 LITV)

It was Sunday morning and the question running through my (George's) mind was, Lord, why have you sent me here? Of all places, why here? I entered to the sound of perfectly played and flawlessly mixed keyboards, drums and guitars, sound that would satisfy the critical ear of any studio technician. Like a well-timed, finely tuned machine, everything was revved to perfection. No detail was left unattended--the overheads, lights, band and choir, all functioning in perfect chorus--a testimony to the hours of practice required to attain such a standard of excellence. Like a well-rehearsed Broadway production, every nuance fell perfectly into its predetermined place.

Then came the time for the announcements. The Pastor and his wife ascended the platform and together informed the congregation of the many activities coming up in the following days and weeks. There were meetings of every sort; including some for the newcomers to get them "knit in." There were potlucks and dinners galore. There were more activities than I can remember. Then they previewed three commercials that would be running on the local cable network, advertising their church as "a place for people just like you." Although these ads targeted diverse ethnic groups, they were all cast in an upper middle class context.

Next they told of an up and coming "crusade," where a team of Christian musclemen renown for their ability to break bricks, bend iron bars, and blow up hot water bottles till they burst would soon be coming to break bricks and bend bars right there on that very platform. Imagine that! But what stirred me most was the film of one of these muscle-bound evangelists giving the philosophy behind their ministry. "People may not come to a church service," he said, "but they will come to see men do feats of strength! And when they come, we can tell them about Jesus."

The following day, as I pondered these things in my heart, the Lord said to me, "Is my Son not enough to attract the lost?" What we witness in today's unique brand of Christianity is the ongoing struggle to offset powerlessness with sensationalism, a sure sign of spiritual decline. When the testimony of life wanes, the great temptation is to seek some other sensational new way to attract converts instead of seeking the Source of All Life. Unwittingly, we trade Life for activity after activity after activity. How we have fallen from that Life that once attracted men: "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men; and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it." (John 1:4&5 LITV)

If it takes feats of strength to draw people to salvation, what kind of sensationalism will it take to sanctify them? If the drawing force is entertainment, what will happen when the entertainment ceases? Will they go right back to the world where entertainment is acquiring new "heights" daily? What new diversions will be required to keep today's thrill-seeking, activity-driven Christian converts amused and contained? I question the quality of such conversions! Isn't Christ's presence enough? Would churches with such a mentality even recognize Him if He showed up in one of their services?

As Christians, the goal of gathering together should not be a "good service" or to entertain each other. We gather to commune with Christ. If only two people gather in His name, He has promised to be among them! "For where two or three are gathered together in my name," Jesus said, "there am I in the midst of them." (Matthew 18:20)

These words have lost their meaning today and are often spoken as an excuse for the lack of any evidence of His presence. "Oh, you may rest assured, He is here! Don't let the fact that you cannot see Him fool you! For even though you cannot see or sense Him, He said He would be here, so He is here!" These words are empty when all the while He is left standing outside the door, knocking and asking to be let in. He is scarcely heard above the merriment, the band, the singing and the sermonizing. But in those rare moments of silence, faintly, from without, the sound of knocking can be heard. Like a whisper, a muffled cry comes from beyond the door, "If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will enter to him, and I will dine with him, and he with Me." (Revelation 3:20 LITV)

Few recognize the dire state of today's Christian churches that cloak their nakedness in so much doing that the voice of the Bridegroom is no longer heard in them. Jesus pleads with them, "Because you say, I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing, and do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I counsel you to buy from Me gold purified by fire, so that you may be rich; and white clothing, so that you may be clothed, and so that the shame of your nakedness does not appear. And anoint your eyes with eye salve, so that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; therefore be zealous and repent." (Revelation 3:17-19 MKJV)

The only legitimate reason Christians come together is to share the life and communion of Christ, where His presence in their lives is evident. You cannot see the Wind but you know when it is blowing! If believers gather in His name, for His glory, and are moved solely by His Spirit, then He will be more than evident among them! If a ship is stalled in the doldrums, the crew does not line up behind the sail and start blowing. No! Even heathen sailors know that it will take an outside force to get the ship moving again and back on course.

In the first century, it was the presence of the living Christ in the midst of that rag tag company of believers that drew unbelievers by the thousands. Without the aid of a single potluck or crusade, three thousand were added to the Church in a single day. (See Acts 2:41) No one except God was doing feats of strength.

It was Christ's presence upon unlearned and ignorant men that caused the elders of Israel to marvel. (See Acts 4:13) As Zephaniah said of Zion, "The LORD your God in the midst of you is mighty; he will save." (3:17) He is mightier than prime time commercials, more persuasive than ten thousand bar-binding brick-breaking hulks or all of the chariots of Egypt

The renown of the primitive church was based on something altogether different than what we have today! They were not known for their ornate sanctuaries or flowery sermons, for they had neither. But when the sinner came into the gatherings of these simple people and the gifts of God's Spirit were at work, they fell on their faces and exclaimed, "God is in you of a truth." (1Corinthians 14:25). It was not their human strength that set them apart, but weakness and total dependence on Jesus. Sinners were convinced by the evidence of God among them. The Lord in the midst of them was mighty and all glory was attributed to Him! There is no greater manifestation of pride than preempting His glory, trusting in your own ingenuity and programs, ignoring the presence and power of the living God. It is the presence of Christ and nothing else that will truly draw the lost!

I, Michael, was raised in the church. I had seen most of what the church had to offer. I even said a sinner's prayer, but I did not see the Life demonstrated in the New Testament. After a Sunday service in 1970, my wife and I noticed a handbill on the windshield as we were getting into the car. It announced a week of Christian meetings to be held in the local parks. It was worded in such a way that I was intrigued enough to go check it out. What I saw first should have scared me off before the first word was spoken. These meetings were held in the local hippie park, which I knew nothing about until I got there, but the Holy Spirit was drawing me so I stayed. Next I saw a group of longhaired young people with tambourines, singing their praises and love for Jesus and sharing their testimonies. It was not their songs that attracted me, but something I had never seen before--the love of the Lord manifest in a body of believers. It was so real and powerful I felt I could reach out and touch it. His love in them reached out to me and revealed the vast emptiness in me that religion could never fill. It created an immense hunger that would not be satisfied until I had THAT same love in me. THEIR gospel was with a demonstration of HIS power and not their own. This was the real thing. Later in that week I emptied myself in an unconditional surrender to Jesus. As one of these young people explained, "No two things can occupy the same place at the same time. If you want all of Jesus, you have to give up all of yourself and ask Him to forgive you all your sins." This was THE turning point of my life. For the first time, I had His life abounding in me with the power of the Holy Spirit that the Bible promised. I had been attending a "Bible church" for two years and heard all the words, but had never seen the "Life that was the Light of men." His Spirit was the force that drew me, and the demonstration of His power to change a heart.

We see an example of this in Jesus' earthly ministry. When it got out that He was in a particular home, soon the crowd was so great there was standing room only. You couldn't even get close to the door to look in. Four men came carrying a paralyzed friend on a cot. Since they couldn't get to Jesus because of the crowd, they tore a hole through the roof over the place where He was. They let the paralyzed man down to Jesus, cot and all. (See Mark 2:1-4)

Where Jesus is there is no need to hold crusades. Where Jesus is you won't need to run prime time commercials. He is His own best advertisement and word of mouth is enough. If He is in our gatherings, people will be tearing the roof off to get in! He is altogether lovely. He is the drawing force! Didn't He say, "If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all to Myself"? (John 12:32 LITV) Real evangelism is Jesus drawing all to Himself without our earthly help.

A Post-Christian World

Today we are living in a "Post-Christian world." Evangelically at least, today's brand of Christianity has fallen well behind the other religions of the world. In the last five years, 100,000 institutional churches in America alone have closed, while during that same time period the number of mosques has increased from 843 to about 1,300.

If the Christian goal is to evangelize the world and the measure of success is determined by that standard, these words of Juan Carlos Ortiz might give us some indication of how well we are doing. "We are told by computer projections that at the rate we (Christians) are now going it is going to take 19,000 years to evangelize the world."

Why is this? Why is the faith that turned the world upside down in the first century failing today? There has been an apostasy, a falling away from the true faith that once moved in power. Paul foretold this falling away in 2 Thessalonians 2. He could see what was to come. Not a great "end time revival," filling our church buildings, but a decline in the life that empowered the early church until it was reduced to the status of a dead religion. Paul warned Timothy of this, describing the last days condition of the apostate church as "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof" (2 Timothy 3:5). The denial of the power has brought Christianity to its current failed condition. Instead of seeking the Life that was lost, we now continue in our own flesh, creating new forms of sensationalism, hoping to keep our institutions from failing. We effectively deny the Lord access to His own Church.

Christendom today functions by the same energies and is sustained by the same means as the other religions of the world. Degraded to a form of religion, Christianity is so drastically reduced in power and effectiveness that it comes in a distant third or forth to the other religions of the world. What today's brand of Christianity have that other religions don't? We approach them with the Bible; they point to the Koran or some other holy book. We pray to God, but so do they, only more regularly. We bring them the STORY of Jesus. They counter with the STORY of Mohammed, Buddha, Confucius, Krishna, and so on. We have zeal! So do they! We would die for our faith. So would they. Book for book, prayer for prayer, story for story, zeal for zeal and human life for human life. What is the difference?

What distinguishes true Christianity from the religions of the world? What is it that raises true Christianity above the religious fray? Nothing except the presence of the dynamic, living Christ! He sanctifies and sets His Church apart! His life-changing, love-emitting presence in His believers IS Christianity. Most religions are built upon dead men! True Christianity is propagated and sustained by the living Lord! What is not birthed and fully supported by His life is as dead and powerless as any other religion. It may bear His name, but if it lacks His life and His power, it is His in name only and is merely a form of godliness.

"Such as I have give I you"

The first century Church did not bring Bibles, Sunday-school materials or Church programs to Asia Minor. They certainly didn't bring strongmen to hold crusades, performing feats of strength! What did they bring? They brought what they had! Do we have what they had?

They had what Peter and John gave to the lame man at the gate Beautiful. Looking steadfastly at the lame man, Peter said, "Silver and gold have I none but such as I have give I you!" Hear these words again, "Such as I HAVE give I you." You cannot give anyone what you do not have. When a salesman spends a lot of time and many words trying to convince me to purchase his wares, I know that what he is selling will not sell itself. It is severely lacking.

The apostles gave what they had! What they had was Jesus in a measure that the twenty-first century Church simply does not have. Then, "all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon's, greatly wondering." Why? Peter explains, "And the Author of Life you killed, whom God raised up from the dead, of which we are witnesses. And on the faith of His name, this one whom you see and know was made firm by His name, and the faith which came through Him gave to him this complete soundness before you all." (Act 3:15-16 LITV) Why did the people come running? Jesus was present! The Author of Life was there! The man by the gate had been lying there for many years. He had been passed by many a priest and Jewish leader, but not one of them had the power of Jesus' resurrected life. They could have told him, "We have no power, because we chose to have gold and silver. Here is an alms." Jesus DID say that you cannot serve both God and mammon.The first century Church did not bring Bibles, Sunday-school materials or Church programs to Asia Minor. They certainly didn't bring strongmen to hold crusades, performing feats of strength! What did they bring? They brought what they had! Do we have what they had?

The early believers had what Paul and Silas demonstrated. After being beaten with many stripes, cast into prison and fastened into stocks, they prayed and sang praises unto God in the midnight hours. "And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed." (See Acts 16: 23-26) All shackles fell off and the prison doors flew open. Why? The Author of Life was present!

A New Reformation

Beginning with Luther, the restoration of truths that had been lost for 1400 years began. We have come a long way but we do not yet see the full restoration of the new covenant life. The Author of Life is not seen as He was in the early church. The current church system functions from a deficit of life and tries to drum up it up by degrees. The early church had no crusades. They had no weekly bulletin. Beyond the moment they had no idea what the day would bring, let alone the following weeks. They were without agenda, except to obey the prompting of the Spirit moment by moment. Rather than trying to make things happen, they were forced to explain what was constantly occurring among them. "This is that which was spoken of by the prophet Joel; the faith which came through Him (Jesus Christ) gave to him (the lame man) this complete soundness before you all." Today's apostate brand of Christianity makes empty promises that if you do all the right things in the right way, life will result. Like a hamster's wheel, round and round it goes, and though the poor hamster sees himself making great progress, he steps out of the wheel looks around and finds himself in that same little cage. All that he gets for his efforts is tired. Where does it all stop? Right where he started. And where is the life and freedom that was promised?

If you question the process you will be told you got weary just before the prize, and if you had just hung on a little longer, you would have most certainly reaped the benefits. I guess it never enters the poor hamster's (Christian's) mind to ask, "Where are all the others who have attained the promised life?" No, like the elusive carrot dangled before the nose of the donkey, it is always just out of reach.

God intends to restore New Covenant life in its fullness. How else will we ever minister to the Moslems? Will we compete with them in Jihad on the level of "might makes right"? Will we intimidate them into submission by calling for a team of musclemen who bend bars, rip phone books, and break bricks with their foreheads? Maybe if we bomb them enough they will believe that Jesus is the Christ. Will we draw them in with our professionally crafted commercials? Will we impress them with our skilled worship team or carefully arranged stage lighting? Will we dazzle them with our awesome choir? How do you convince any unbeliever that the Christ we say is alive, is indeed alive? Is He alive enough to be evident in His people? Is He in the house?

Once I, Michael, was at a meeting in a brother's home. He had invited an evangelist from India to this meeting. This man told us of all the miracles and demonstrations of power the Lord was doing in their gatherings in his home country. There were glowing reports of demons being cast out, the lame walking, the blind seeing, and the lepers being cured. When he was done I asked him why these same manifestations of the power of God were not happening in America. He then told me a story.

"When I was growing up in India, we lived in a one room house that was about the size of this brother's living room. We never traveled far because we lived in community and met one another's needs as we were able. We had no furniture or cars and mother cooked outside over an open fire. At night we would roll out our grass sleeping mats on dried cow dung, because it was soft and spongy. In India, whether you are Sikh, Hindu, Muslim, or Christian, the most important thing is to seek the spiritual in your life

"You in America have the highest standard of living in the world. Your middle class lives like our kings. To answer your question why the Lord does not act in power in the American Church, the answer is that you get what you seek after.”

We leave you with these words of A. W. Tozer:

"We must have a new reformation. There must come a violent break with the irresponsible, amusement-mad paganized pseudo-religion which passes today for the faith of Christ and which is being spread all over the world by unspiritual men employing unscriptural methods to achieve their ends."

Article 11: More are the Children of the Desolate

This article is a message of hope for all who have felt that bit of panic as you see the end of your years coming, with little fruit to show for it. You had such hope for your life but look at you now. Jesus has promised you great fruitfulness. He chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain (see John 15:16), but now, in the declining years of your life, you feel more spiritually barren than ever. To make things worse, even your natural strength is failing you.

Take heart, for you are in extremely good company. You are not the first one to have felt this way. In fact, those heirs of the promise that brought forth the greatest fruit unto God were in similar situations. The promise is not to the expert. The race does not go to the swift, nor the battle to the strong (see Ecclesiastes 9:11). Those who wait upon the Lord, not charging on ahead in their own strength, but remaining ready and available for His use, will be given a source of strength unknown to the mighty and noble. They will run and not grow weary.

God's principle of fruitfulness is strikingly set out in Isaiah 54:1-2.

Sing, barren, you who didn't bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, you who did not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, says Yahweh. (2) Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of your habitations; don't spare: lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes. (WEB)

Children How could the desolate have more children than the married wife? This is a natural impossibility, and that is the point exactly. The path of the Lord runs straight through the impossible every time, and often seems to lead directly away from the blessing He has promised us. Like dear departed Lazarus who was beyond the realm of all natural help and hope, wrapped in grave clothes and rotting in his tomb, God shuts us up unto faith awaiting the call to come forth unto Him. He IS himself the resurrection and the life. If we could resurrect ourselves from the dead then we might be able, by our own strength, to bring forth fruit unto God. But between the promise and the provision is a place of dead barrenness--a place where our natural strength fails us--a place of waiting in hope for resurrection life.

A dear brother recently told us, "Things in the Kingdom of God are not done; they are birthed." God made a covenant with Abraham and his Seed. In that regard He elected to bring about His purposes through the natural process of begetting and birthing, a natural figure of the spiritual birthing. The Bible genealogies record the long line of begotten ones through whom He birthed His first begotten Son, Jesus, into the world, through the womb of one who knew no husband.

As a Son, Jesus came bringing the revelation of God as Father. We must not pass this lightly. God is called Father because He is the begetter. Just as in the natural, what the Father does not beget is not His offspring. Those fruits that are born out of man's strength and ingenuity are not acceptable to Him. Paul wrote, "not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to account anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God" (2 Corinthians 3:5). To know God as Father IS to know Him as the progenitor of all things.

The first verb in the New Testament is (gennao), begat. "Abraham begat Isaac." That sounds fairly simple and painless doesn't it? But the birth of Isaac was a supernatural birth that tested the limits of Abraham's patience and faith. Abraham and Sarah are a natural figure of the spiritual process God still uses to birth His purposes through yielded vessels.

Not far from our homes in Idaho is a little town called Hope. Just past Hope on state highway 200 is another little community appropriately named Beyond Hope. Before God fulfilled His promise of fruitfulness to Abraham and Sarah He first brought them to a place beyond all natural hope. Abraham was one hundred years old and Sarah was barren, but to make things worse, at ninety years old, she also was well past the age of bearing children.

God gave Abraham an incredible promise of fruitfulness. ". . .in blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is on the seashore. Your seed will possess the gate of his enemies." O boy! It's onward and upward from here, right? All Abraham and Sarah had to do was come together and nine months later--not!

Between the promise and the provision stood the impotence of Abraham and the barren womb of Sarah. In fact, barrenness was a tradition in Abraham's family; a tradition established by God. The women most favored were often those who were barren and the children of promise were those born of barren women, such as Sarah the mother of Isaac (Genesis 11:30), Rebekah the mother of Jacob (Genesis 25:21) and Rachael the mother of Joseph (Genesis 30:1). All of these women were barren and certainly all of these sons were special. From one man, who was already considered dead, there arose a race as numerous as the stars, as countless as the sands of the sea-shore. More are the children of the desolate!

Then there was another special woman named Hannah, of whom we shall speak in more depth later. For now, suffice it to say that Hannah reveals, in a special way, the divine purpose of barrenness, "for the Lord had shut up her womb" to this mysterious end. (See 1 Samuel 1:5).

Back to Abraham

God had promised Abraham great fruitfulness. Years passed and still no seed. From a natural perspective, things were looking awfully bleak. However, there was one more trick up Sarah's sleeve. Sarah had an Egyptian bondmaid named Hagar. If a wife was barren in those days her bondmaid could have offspring for her. In desperation Sarah sent Abraham into Hagar. After all, Abraham couldn't sit there and do nothing could he? Hagar conceived and brought forth a son, who they named Ishmael. O boy! Finally some fruit! Doubtless, Abraham thought that Ishmael was the son of promise. He had to be! For all other avenues were closed, right? No! God had chosen Sarah, the barren one, not Hagar. Although God loved him, this child of Hagar could not be the son of promise. Therefore, God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but her name will be Sarah. I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. Yes, I will bless her, and she will be a mother of nations. Kings of peoples will come from her."

It was at this point that Abraham did something unbecoming the father of the faith. He "fell on his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, 'Will a child be born to him who is one hundred years old? Will Sarah, who is ninety years old, give birth?'" Because of the seeming impossibility of God's promise, Abraham pleaded, "Oh that Ishmael might live before you!" God's answer came immediately, "No, but Sarah, your wife, will bear you a son. You shall call his name Isaac (laughter)" (Genesis 17:15-19). It seemed that God was getting the last laugh.

Now consider Jacob and Rachel. Rachel also was barren and in her desperation she cried out to Jacob, "Give me children, or else I die." Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel and he said, "Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?" (Genesis 30:2, NKJV). Rachel followed in Sarah's example and in desperation, cried out to Jacob instead of to God. Her answer to him was, "Behold, my maid Bilhah. Go in to her, that she may bear on my knees, and I also may obtain children by her" (Genesis 30:2-3 WEB) In His time God, by His mercy, remembered Rachel and opened her womb. She conceived and brought forth Joseph, another miracle offspring (Genesis 30:1). Like Sarah, Rachel tried to fulfill God's promise through her own ingenuity with this son born of Bilhah the slave. His name was Dan. It is interesting that when the tribes of Israel are listed in the book of Revelation, Dan is not mentioned, but Joseph is. God only honors those sons that He gives. He only blesses the offspring that are born of barren wombs, beyond all hope of natural productivity.

Let's sum up for a moment, that we might see the principle of barrenness. God gave a promise, but between the promise and the provision was a barren womb. Sarah tried to contravene the process by sending Abraham into the Egyptian bondmaid, but her offspring was unacceptable to God. Sarah and Abraham had created their own promised son, which they proudly offered up to God. God rejected Ishmael. Abraham begged God to reconsider, for in his mind there was no other way that the son of promise could come. But God had purposed that the provision should come through barrenness so that no flesh could glory in His presence.

Here we see an example and admonition for the church today. God gives a promise and then waits. He waits to see if we will wait. He waits to see if we will trust Him as FATHER or attempt to bring the promise to pass through our own virility.

How often do we come to God offering our Ishmael, the offspring of our flesh, only to hear that eternal "NO"? Yet we continue to beg God to allow our Ishmael to live in His sight. We go about producing the offspring of Hagar that are in bondage with all of her children. (See Galatians 4:21-31). How much of what is done today in the name of God is the product of flesh and leads to legalism and bondage? How much of our praying before God, to bless our doings, is no different than Abraham's pleading, "Oh that Ishmael might live before you," and it, too, falls on deaf ears? We come up with a good idea, put it into action by our own strength and then ask God to bless it. We see this happening on every front of Christendom. Flesh can only beget flesh and bondage can only birth greater bondage.

The travail of soul that comes out of barrenness and knowing that the provision is beyond the innovations of our flesh, but requires a miracle from heaven, is a rarity. All the religious works of religious man put together cannot compare to the fruit of one life that has been shut up unto barrenness, shut up unto faith and in patience inheriting the promise. Indeed, ". . .more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife. . ." God chooses the weak things of this world to confound the mighty.

God makes sure that nothing of our flesh can glory in His presence. We might persuade thousands to follow us and put their energies into our movement or program, but if God does not father it, it will all come to naught. Someone once said the definition of an insane man is one who keeps doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results. When will we ever learn that "He doesn't delight in the strength of the horse. He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man" (Psalm 147:10)? "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them [who rely on the Lord—see verse 8] whose heart is perfect toward him" (see 2 Chronicles 16:9). He desires us to experience the impotence of our flesh that we will no longer put any confidence in it. "In my flesh dwells no good thing."

This Brings Us to Hannah

Hannah was also barren, but she seemed to understand the necessity and purpose of barrenness in a way that none of these other women had. Perhaps she had seen the error of Sarah and Rachel who attempted to fulfill the promise by the fleshly means of sending their husbands into their bondmaids. The example Of Hannah stands alone in that she neither looked to her husband, as Rachel had, saying, "Give me children, or else I die," nor did she turn to a bondmaid to remove the shame of her barrenness. Instead she came to the door-post of the tabernacle and poured out her soul to the only One Who could open her womb. She seemed to see prophetically, and out of this clarity of vision and travail of soul was born the greatest prophet of Israel, Samuel.

This is extremely significant. Hannah recognized that her barrenness was given by God to accomplish some greater end. Figuratively speaking, have you ever had the Lord shut up your womb? Have you ever prayed in desperation, "Give me children, or else I die"? Have you considered that those times in your life when you are the most barren are appointed by God as a test to see if you will seek to do spiritual works in your flesh? Our driest spiritual seasons are often followed by the greatest periods of growth. It's true! It is in such times that we are invited to travail in prayer to our heavenly husband. But if we are not careful, we will seek to remove our shame vicariously, like Sarah and Rachel, through fleshly handmaidens.

In His mercy, God brings us to a place beyond our natural capabilities as He did with Elisabeth the mother of John the Baptist, who was well stricken in years (Luke 1:7), beyond the time of childbearing, That "the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us" (see 2 Corinthians 4:7).

The Lord had shut up Hannah's womb. "She wept, and did not eat." Her husband, Elkanah, asked her the reason. "Why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?" he asked (1 Samuel 1:8 WEB). Even the love of her husband could not diminish her desire to bring forth his fruit into the earth. She did not turn to her natural husband but to her heavenly husband.

Off to Shiloh she went, where Eli the priest was sitting on his seat by the door-post of the tabernacle. There, in the shame of her barrenness, she poured out her soul to the Lord. The Lord heard her cry and gave her a son, who she named Samuel. In this instance the old adage is true that the seed does not fall far from the tree. For we see in Hannah's response a prophetic clarity and understanding of the ways of God that rivals any prophet.

You will remember that the birth of Samuel was impossible of realization along the ordinary line of nature, but his mother Hannah entered into a spiritual travail concerning him. While in that spiritual travail, while before the Lord in strong crying and tears for this man-child, the other wife of her husband laughed at her, sneered at her, looked down upon her. She had children, Hannah had none, and was despised; and then by a special intervention and act of God that spiritual travail was answered and Samuel was born. Born, on the one hand, out of travail in her soul, on the other hand, born out of a direct act of God in His Divine intervention when man was helpless, and nature was impotent. (T. Austin Sparks, Because of the Blood of the Lamb)

After Samuel was born, Hannah prayed, and said: "My heart exults in Yahweh; my horn is exalted in Yahweh; my mouth is enlarged over my enemies; because I rejoice in your salvation. There is none holy as Yahweh; for there is none besides you, neither is there any rock like our God. Talk no more so exceeding proudly; don't let arrogance come out of your mouth; for Yahweh is a God of knowledge, by him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty men are broken; those who stumbled are girded with strength. Those who were full have hired out themselves for bread; those who were hungry have ceased to hunger: Yes, the barren has borne seven; she who has many children languishes" (1 Samuel 2:1-5). Hannah understood something that Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel did not. She understood God's principle of fruitfulness. "More are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife."

The travail of Hannah typifies so well the deep yearning within the hearts of so many of God's children today, who desire above all else to bring forth fruit unto God! More than any other people, these are aware of their barrenness. They have learned not to cover the shame of their barrenness with the works of their hands. Unlike Abraham, they know that to go into Hagar is to bring forth fruit unto the flesh and unto bondage and that such fruit is forever at enmity with God's purposes. Isaiah did rightly prophesy:

Who among you fears the LORD? Who obeys the voice of His Servant? Who walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD and rely upon his God. Look, all you who kindle a fire, who encircle yourselves with sparks: Walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks you have kindled--this you shall have from My hand: You shall lie down in torment. (Isaiah 50:10, 11, NKJV).

The saints of God who know His heart understand that the fig leaves of the flesh can never cover the shame of their barrenness. They have learned that Ishmael is unacceptable in God's sight. They know that God will not allow the son of the bondwoman to inherit with the son of the promise (see Galatians 4). They understand, as Paul did, that it is out of weakness that Christ's strength is made perfect in them. They know that it is out of barrenness and travail of soul that God births the Isaacs, Jacobs, Josephs and Samuels through whom the promise, purpose and provision of His kingdom comes upon the earth.

These are they who travail before the Lord in strong crying and tears for the man-child--for that divine expression of Christ in the earth. There will always be those who laugh at the seeming barrenness of these travailing ones who wait upon the Lord and His creation to come forth. Like Elkanah's other wife, these scoffers have brought forth many children in their own strength and are content in their fruitfulness. Never mind that their offspring persecute God's children of promise. These look down upon all those whom they perceive to have lesser fruit. God not only seeks a seed that are more than the number of the stars in heaven, but he seeks a godly seed that will bring forth glory to Him with their lives. The carnal do not understand the fruit that is born, on the one hand, out of travail of soul and on the other hand, out of a direct act of God "when man was helpless, and nature was impotent."

The story of Hannah gives us a natural picture that perfectly corresponds to the spiritual reality of the law of travail. In Revelation 12, we read of a woman that enters into this spirit of travail. In her labor she brings forth a man-child (a mature child), which we believe is a figure of the bringing forth of a remnant company--a prophetic company. This prophetic community, living by the spirit of Christ, speaking those things they hear the Father speaking, doing those things they see the Father doing, are those who are caught up unto God and to His throne. It is this company that Satan, the red dragon, is eager to devour. There are those who are travailing for the birth of the man-child. We meet them nearly everywhere we go. They are like Hannah in that they do not turn to earthly husbands or to fleshly bondmaids but come to God in travail of soul, asking for a man-child for His service, for Hannah gave the child to the service of the Lord from the time Samuel was weaned. These are often mocked, as Hannah was, by those who are like Elkanah's other wife or, even worse, by the priests of our day. Eli accused Hannah of being drunk as she prayed. Christendom today knows little about travail and is smug and contented in its vast mediocrity, bringing forth children unto itself, after its own image.

If you are a part of this Hannah-company, travailing before the Lord for this man-child, know this: it wasn't until his old age that Simeon held the infant Christ, the first begotten of the Father, that he had prayed and waited for his entire life. Let's not settle for lesser fruit. Let's not substitute the empty offspring of religion for the reality of the mature Christ child, the fullness of Him who fills all things. Let us not carve out once again broken cisterns for ourselves while we reject the flow that can only come from the Fountain of Living Water.

It is not until the womb of our flesh is closed, and our souls are poured out, that we will know true fruitfulness. So what should we say to those who minister in Ishmael-like strength, who ask, "So what is God doing in your life?" Perhaps this would be a good answer. "Nothing! God has closed my womb! I am just being barren before the Lord, pouring out my soul, knowing that what He has promised He will do! I have no desire to fabricate anything. I have no following, nor do I desire one! I have no church building and receive no tithe. I have no titles, no office, and no honor in my family or in my country. But I have a promise and He is faithful who has made it!"

By today's standard we are truly barren, but by God's standard we are like Hannah, for we are not ashamed of our barrenness but are aware that any fruit in our lives is His, not ours. Therefore, we are not ashamed, nor will we be, for God has promised! And what is more, when it seems like time is running out, and we are well past the time of childbearing we remember these words of David, "He makes the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise the LORD!" (Psalms 113:9). I am what I am by the grace of God!

Though all the facts around us are like scoffers, mocking the disparity between the promise given and the realities of our lives, we know that He is faithful who has promised. Has the Lord given you exceedingly great and precious promises for which you have waited beyond any reasonable time of fulfillment? Don't give up dear ones! Continue to wait in faith! Don't try to fulfill the promise through the innovations or energies of your flesh! For you can no more bring about the promise through your own energies than you could, by these same energies, form a soul and breathe the breath of life into it.

Giving birth is a miracle surpassing any other biological function. All you have to do is sit in on a birth to know this. In His wisdom, the God, who opened the womb of Sarah and Rachel and closed the womb of Hannah for a season, is Himself the prime Mover in inception, conception, development and delivery of all that He promises, desires and commands in and through our lives. He is all and in all! He is Himself the provision we seek. We often do not appreciate the fruit that comes effortlessly, and without thought through an intimate and abiding relationship with the Lord after our womb has been closed--until we have been shut up with Him for a season.

When our words and deeds seem to fall flat before us, we are most tempted to fake it and keep up the outer appearance of fruitfulness. If we learn to cease from our labors and enter into His rest (see Hebrews 4) rather than performing some fleshly ritual to our own god of fertility, we will see the promise come to pass in the fullness of the Son.

From a divine perspective barrenness is a necessity if we are to be brought to the end of our fleshly strength. God will resist all our attempts to circumvent our barrenness until we have given up all hope of ever producing His fruit by our fleshly efforts. Until then the words of Christ mean nothing, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:6). Flesh is flesh and Spirit is spirit and never the twain shall meet. All that flesh can produce, regardless of how noble it may appear, is still flesh. The goodness of the flesh and the decadence of the flesh are the same to God. They are both flesh and the flesh profits nothing. God has chosen those who are weak, foolish, ignoble and barren to confound the mighty and the wise "that no flesh should glory in his presence" (see 1 Corinthians 1:29). Only the life-giving Spirit can produce spiritual fruit.

"Sing, barren. . .for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife."

Article 12: He Will Come to Us as the Rain

How many times have we heard a brother or sister in Christ refer to the former and latter rains as past and future events--a happening or occurrence--something that did take place or that will take place in the last day? As something that happened at Pentecost almost 2000 years ago or that is needed to bring the ultimate and final surges of growth just preceding the final harvest?

"Come and let us return to Jehovah. For He has torn, and He will heal us; He has stricken, and He will bind us up. After two days He will bring us to life; in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight. Then we shall know, if we follow on to know Jehovah. His going out is prepared as the morning; and He shall come to us as the rain, as the latter and former rain to the earth." (Hosea 6:1-3 MKJV)

Have you ever noticed or caught yourself thinking of the scriptures and the workings of God as something that DID happen, that must be measured up to, or that is GOING TO happen, either dreaded or hoped for? Or along the same pattern of thought, we place events or happenings that have to do with the kingdom of God in some far away land, but not in our immediate lives. We seem to go through a mental gymnastics as we read the Bible that assures us that the buck will never stop here.

Rain The more I (Michael) search my heart and motives and ask for the Lord to shine His marvelous light on me, the more I find verses in the scriptures I have done this with. Of course our modern Bible teachers impregnate us with this form of thinking, with doctrines of dispensationalism and teachings that make us look for the building of physical temples in Jerusalem so that the scriptures can be fulfilled. All the while the New Testament and the teachings of Jesus point to a kingdom that is within and now and a temple that is made of living stones. Could this be a kind of avoidance we get into so we do not have to deal with the life changing demands of His kingdom? The longer I live, the more I see just how "desperately wicked and deceitful" our hearts really are. Pray that the Lord might open your eyes to see Jesus as He IS. The God we serve calls Himself the I AM, not the I Was or the I Will Be, and He is always present at all times and in all places in His creation.

I (George) am almost ashamed to admit that it was just recently that the meaning of these words "He shall come to us as the rain, as the latter and former rain to the earth" broke fully upon me! The latter rain is not a happening, an event, a something. It is not a movement, a future outpouring, or a revival, at least not as we have traditionally known revival. He will come as the rain! He will come AS the latter and former rain. He is the event! It is a deception of religion to view truth as fractured pieces of knowledge, as though it were something completely apart from God. For instance, to us "getting saved" is an "it," a feel-good "experience," accompanied by goose bumps. Getting blessed is the chief and desired goal rather the consequence or byproduct of abiding union with Christ. We view eternal life as a qualitative state of being rather than the experiential and intimate relationship with God. (See John 17:3)

"Christ has been made unto us redemption" (1 Corinthians 1:29f). There is no redemption apart from Him. We are not saved by giving mere mental credence to a formulated "doctrine of salvation" but by believing in Him (clinging to and relying upon Him as our only life) who Himself is redemption. He shall come to us as the rain. He is life! As John reported his first-hand observations of the Son, "In Him was life and the life was the light of men." We tend to turn it all around seeking Jesus as knowledge, "light," and in finding that light we think we will have "life." The more things change, the more they remain the same. Jesus had this same problem with the religious Jews 2000 years ago when He warned them, "You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life."

The Church today largely wants the blessing, the benefits, the salvation, and the identity without the hassle of having Him. In Isaiah chapter four verses one and two, the prophet says, "Seven women (seven lamp stands) shall take hold of one man, saying, 'We will eat our own food and wear our own apparel; Only let us be called by your name, To take away our reproach.'" What a vivid picture this is of the current church, which in effect says, "Give us salvation, give us the blessing, give us wealth, give us eternal life, take away our reproach, give us your name, let us be called 'Christians'--Christ ones. We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel. We will trust in our own righteousness, we will rely on our own doctrines, just give us your name--your blessing! That is enough! We desire no more than this. We seek your name, not you! Only your name." If you love anyone because he/she is wealthy, you love only his or her gold! Have we become a cult of gold diggers, a bride that only wants the blessing and gives feigned love and support just to get the perks, while her heart belongs to another?

We give Him allegiance so that we can have His treasures, all the while not appreciating the fact that He is that Pearl of Great Price that we are to sell all and give all to purchase. He is the true treasure! You have always heard this parable taught, as if YOU are the treasure, haven't you? Can't you see the self-centeredness of our backward thinking and backslidden hearts? He will come as the rain! He will come as the blessing. He is the bread of life! He is the living water! He is that eternal life.

Hudson Taylor, the famed missionary to inland China of the mid-1800s, prayed for years that He would know the power of Jesus, that he would receive the power to be a witness of Christ to the Chinese people. It troubled him that every day was filled with effort and toil as he did his overwhelming missions work in that backward nation. There were orphans to feed, sick to be tended to, the gospel to preach, and it sorely taxed him to the bone. What made it worse was when he read the words of Jesus, "Take my yoke upon you, for my burden is easy and my yoke is light."

One day as he was meditating on Jesus' words in John, chapter fifteen in his time of prayer, the lights came on! He read, "I am the vine and you are the branches. . .abide in me. . .the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine. . .for without me you can do nothing." Taylor said in that moment he saw it, "Jesus is the Vine, Jesus is the branches, Jesus is the fruit of the branches!" It is all about Jesus and not about us! From that time on, Hudson would get up early in the morning and pray and worship until well into the day, practicing his abiding in the Spirit. He actually spent less time doing the work of the mission, and more time with the Lord in prayer, but strangely enough, more was getting done than before. And on top of that, he was rested at the end of the day instead of being wrung out. God had shown him the importance of Jesus doing the work by constantly abiding in Him. It is all about Jesus, not us.

In his book, "Abide in Christ," Andrew Murray points out how a branch is grafted into the vine. First the vine or stalk is wounded and a slit is made in its bark and opened up. Then the branch is wounded, cut off from its old life source. Finally the branch or "slip" is inserted into the vine, and they are bound together as one until the stalk accepts the branch and they become one without the help of the bindings.

Rain This is so pregnant with meaning! Can you see it? First Jesus had to be wounded for us. The soldiers opened up His side. Then we have to be wounded, cut off from the old world and our old life source of the flesh. Finally, we are grafted in to the True Vine, the ever living source of life. The slip does not start to bear fruit until it has found its life in the True Vine. Do you understand why you have been so wounded in the world and why your life has been so hard since you decided to give your life to Christ? You are being made ready for His wonderful engrafting so that you might find Him and Him alone as your only source of life. The day is coming when each of us will be so engrafted with Him and His life that no one will be able to see where Jesus leaves off and we begin. Then Jesus' priestly prayer will be answered:

"I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. . .For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.

I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.

"Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. . .But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. . .And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. . .that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.

"And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them." (John 17:6-26, NKJV).

One! Not "What Would Jesus Do?" But, "Look at what Jesus is doing!" Not imagining what we should do in each circumstance by remembering what we read about Him in the Bible, but abiding in the Doer and seeing Him manifest Himself through us! "Father, that they all may be one as You are in Me and I (abide) in You; that they might be one (abide) in Us." No guess work here on how to imitate Jesus. No! God will not settle for any cheap imitations of His Son! Only Jesus in us will satisfy Him.

Have you ever wondered how the all-present and all-knowing God could say, "I never knew you"? The people He speaks these words to did miracles, cast out demons and performed many wonderful works in His name. How could God not know them? They did not abide in Him and He was not their intimate fountain of life. They thought to themselves, "Now, what would Jesus do?" and went out and did it. Remember the seven sons of Sceva in the Book of Acts? They were casting out demons in His name, too, but not by the same life-source that Paul and Jesus knew. The demons knew it too, and they said, "Jesus we know and Paul we know, but who are you?" According to Jesus, "Apart from me you can do nothing."

Another area where we have our thinking backward and are carnally minded is this thing about "putting on the whole armor of God." Whose armor is it? Is it ours or God's? The text says it belongs to Him! How can we put on His armor if He is wearing it? The answer is simple. Again it is all about Jesus. We must first put on Christ if we are to be able to wear the armor with which He is cloaked. Paul knew this! Did he not say, "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:26-27 NKJV)?

When you look at all the division and denominationalism it seems that some who have been baptized were not baptized into Christ! Many, in fact, have not put on Christ. We "put each other on," wanting to have His name without being clothed in Him. No wonder our armor is so lacking against the wiles of the enemy and there is so much division in the church.

Can you see how we of modern church-thinking fall so short of the glory of the abiding Christ? We are always placing the kingdom in another time or another place. We run from sea to sea seeking Him and His manifestation, when all along He warned, "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or, 'There it is!' For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst." (Luke 17:20-21). The King and the kingdom are within you! Don't let the enemy and his side-shows steal what is yours in abiding in Christ.

Here is another manifestation of this "elsewhere" and "another time" way of thinking:

So they (the people of Nazareth) were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house." Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. (Matthew 13:57,58, NKJV).

Why is it that a man is practically unheard of in his own home town, but if he travels a few hundred miles he has credibility? Why is it that when God raises up a prophet among us, we say, "Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?" Maybe we know that the man from out of town will not be staying, and that we can fake being Christian for a short time until he leaves. Maybe we figure that he will not be around long enough to see who we REALLY are outside of Christ, whereas the local prophet knows us all too well and is a living accusation of where we fall short. It is safer to leave him in his cave, unacknowledged by all.

Remember Paul the apostle's words? ". . .according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I shall not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ shall even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:20,21, NASB). For me to live IS Christ. The death of my life essence is gain. The way we modern Christians think reminds me of a country and western song with a lyric that goes, "Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die."

Many want His name, want to be thought of as "good Christians," but do not want to walk the way of the cross, giving up their own lives to have the life of Jesus and "the fellowship of His sufferings." They do not want to be rejected by the world and the worldly church. The cost is too much. Walking with God can be dangerous to our worldly lives. Remember Enoch?

When Philip asked Jesus to show him the Father, what was Jesus' reply? "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father." Jesus also said to His disciples, "It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord."

Look back to the passage from Hosea we opened with:

After two days He will bring us to life; in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight. (Hosea 6:2 MKJV).

Why does He say here that we will live in His sight? Shouldn't that be a foregone conclusion? The Lord is saying more here than that we will be "going to heaven." Jesus said, "I do the works I see my Father doing." Jesus had a special spiritual sight. He walked in that sight. He dwelt in that sight. He had the sight of the Father and so it was easy for Him to see as God sees and do as God does. The promise is for us as well. The day is upon us that we shall dwell in His sight. The kingdom is in our midst. Lord, do for us what you did for the servant of the prophet. Open our eyes so we can see what You are doing and believe on You and your power as our only life flow. Amen.

Article 13: We were Brethren

Without a return to true servanthood we will never see the true dynamic power of God return to Christ's ekklesia. Moreover, we shall never see true servanthood until we are saved -- made whole -- healed of the madness caused by the false logic of ecclesiastical hierarchies and replace it with the therapy of the cross.
We believe that God is moving those of His children with hearing ears and willing hearts out of the current religious system in order to strip them of the foul logic and pride of hierarchism. He is bringing them, as brothers and sisters, to a place of equality at the foot of the cross.

"Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, 'Sir, we wish to see Jesus.' Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew went with Philip and they told Jesus." (John 12:20-22, RSV).

Notice that they did not say, We would see apostle Philip, apostle Andrew or even Apostle Peter! No, the plea was so simple, yet full of light and truth for those who truly seek the Truth "WE WOULD SEE JESUS!"

Upon hearing this, Jesus, perhaps turning His eyes upon the ripening fields, said, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain."

What does this have to do with so earnest of a plea from a handful of lowly Gentiles? Jesus knew that the Gentile world could never truly "see" him until, like the grain of wheat, He should die to bring "many sons unto glory" (Hebrews 2:10). Without the cross, the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret since the world began would remain hidden from the Gentile world (Romans 16:25). The world is still crying out today, "We would see JESUS!" The question is, how many of are willing to pay the price so that they can?

Then Jesus turned His attention to His disciples, who had thus far followed faithfully but had no concept of the path before them. As yet they had no understanding of how the grain of wheat principle of life and fruitfulness applied to them.

Jesus continued, "He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor."

What did He mean by saying, "If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me"? What did He mean when He said, "where I am, there My servant will be also"? Follow Him where? Where was Jesus asking His disciples to go? He was going to the Father via the cross and the grave, and he who would follow must first deny himself and take up his cross. (Mark 8:34, Luke 9:23) Yes, it is at the cross where His servants gather. For where He is, there His servants will be also. And of those who walk this path Jesus said, "...him My Father will honor." Once again we see that God grants to His servants (Acts 4:29-30).

"And where I am, there My servants will be also." Where is Jesus? Yes, He is sitting at the right hand of the Father, but where IS He in Spirit? Jesus is the Chief of all Servants, the bottom of the pile if you will. He lives even now making intercession before the Father for us. To be great in His kingdom is to seek the lowest place and to serve all with a heart filled with love. He spoke of this to His disciples that they might be where He was, "whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Then, as He so often did, Jesus turned his attention heavenward to the Father, acknowledging the purpose for which He had come. "Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name." (See John 12:23-28)

As we follow Jesus, keeping the light in our eyes, sooner or later the cross will loom larger on the horizon. It is then that the temptation to cry "Father, save me from this hour" is ever present. It is then that the dissuading voices crying, "Come back! Come back!" (Song of Songs 6:13), crescendo in our ears in thunderous and enticing tones. Like those tempting voices at the foot of Christ's cross saying, "save yourself." (Matthew 27:40) May we, like Bunyan's Pilgrim, cover our ears and run toward the light, shouting, "Life! Eternal life," casting our eyes heavenward with hearts impassioned for the Father's glory, refusing to sidestep the cross. May we say with the Holy servant Jesus "But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name."

If we don't embrace the Father's purpose in the cross we will take up fleeing, not following, saving ourselves instead of serving, avoiding any inconvenience rather than obedience.

For the most part, Christianity today has become a system for the comfort of men rather than a company of servants who exists for the glory of God. The honest observer must admit that, typically, today's church system is a place of ease and entertainment, and in many cases is not much different than the local theatrical troop. In terms of progress it more resembles the children of Israel trekking around Mt. Sinai. It was only an eleven-day journey from the Red Sea to Kadesh-barnea, but it took them forty years.

Now before you start giggling under your breath, let me remind you that in the last thousand years the "church" has made far less progress. We will either follow Jesus as servants or mill around bullying one another. We will journey with Him as true servants or take another lap around the mountain. Only the cross-bearing servant, following Jesus, will the Father honor.

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:5-8, NKJV).

As this mind departed the early Church, so went the power. So much so that in time the Father could rarely find those vessels through which He could express His heart. And certainly not a company of believers, through which He might, as "the body of Christ," fill all things. No! With the rise of hierarchism, so went the servant. The life of God departed, to the degree that men positioned themselves over one another, as rulers, rather than among, as brothers and servants. It is not an understatement to say that for there to be any true and lasting reformation there must be a large-scale return to servanthood and that cannot happen without repentance, i.e., a turning away from ecclesiastical hierarchies and returning to our right mind, the mind of Christ.

Please hear us! When we speak of servanthood, we are not talking about cleaning the church toilets. We are not talking about being someone's "armor bearer," where you prove your worthiness of promotion, thinking, "If I am faithful and keep the toilets clean long enough, and wash Pastor Wonderful's car every Saturday, I might get to be an elder." This is not the mind of Christ (Remember, Jesus said that what we have done to the LEAST of these His brethren we have done unto Him). This is nothing more than curtseying for coronation, groveling for government, suffering the momentary shame of bowing for the compensation of the crown. So corrupt is this mentality that it has made even servanthood a posturing tool and brings to bear the destructive influences of competition, providing an unending source of ecclesiastical slave labor. These slaves are bound to an institution instead of Christ. This is typical of the Levites ministering to the house, which was a punishment for their iniquity. It is in dire contrast to the sons of Zadok of which God said; "They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge." (See Ezekiel 44:10-16)

Service to the institution that many call "the church" is not the servanthood of the cross! This is not the heart and mind of the Holy Servant Jesus who served with no thought of personal advantage. Suffice it to say that the contemporary concept of deacon is alien to true Jesus-servanthood as well. Jesus did not come to sweep the temple floor, or clean temple toilets. He was not an ecclesiastical errand boy. He did not come to advance the pharisaic institutions of the day. He did not come submitting to the whims and wishes of the Pharisees so all would go well in His religious career, not even for a moment. He did not come to advance Himself at all. He came to do the will of the Father. He came to lay down His life, His will, His physical safety and well being, all for the love of God and others.

As this servant-mentality departed the church so went the power, until all that was left was powerless form. Paul foresaw this and warned Timothy of its eventual effect. He said that many would deny the power of the true faith and fall away assuming only a "form of godliness" (2Timothy 3:5) They would abandon true cross-bearing servanthood for a powerless form.

The logic of the cross = The power of God

"For the word (logos) of the cross is foolishness to those who are dying, but to us who are saved it is the power (dunamis) of God." (1Corinthians 1:18 WEB)

The reasoning or logic of the cross is foolishness to those who are lost, but to us who are being saved, healed and restored it is the strength, power and ability of God. His blessing and power rest upon the lived-out logic of the cross. So much so that Paul could say that the word of the cross "is the power of God." Not to everyone mind you, but to those who are being saved (sozo 4982 "being made well, healed, restored to health, rescued from danger or destruction); those who are being restored to a sound mind.

The reasoning of the cross releases the dunamis power of God. It is through servants walking the path of the cross that this power flows. When we pray, "grant to your servants," things begin to happen. What did happen after the brethren prayed that day? Did they simply dismiss and go home, hoping that God would answer their prayers in time? No! "When they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness." (Acts 4:31) God answered immediately - perhaps while they were yet praying. Why? God is quick to grant to His servants. The Father will honor them.

Without a return to true servanthood we will never see the true dynamic power of God return to Christ's ekklesia. Moreover, we shall never see true servanthood until we are saved -- made whole -- healed of the madness caused by the false logic of ecclesiastical hierarchies and replace it with the therapy of the cross.

We believe that God is moving those of His children with hearing ears and willing hearts out of the current religious system in order to strip them of the foul logic and pride of hierarchism. He is bringing them, as brothers and sisters, to a place of equality at the foot of the cross.

Any true Spirit outpouring must be preceded by such a stripping or repentance. We believe that this was happening in each of the saints of God in the upper room as the day of Pentecost first came upon the church (See our article "Critical Mass" ).

Such was the case at the Azusa Street assembly in 1906 in Los Angeles, California. There is much to be learned from the events that led up to what was undoubtedly the greatest Spirit awakening in America to date. We should also pay close attention to what marked its demise. Below are some excerpts taken from "Another Wave Rolls In," written by an eyewitness by the name of Frank Bartleman. Mr. Bartleman experienced firsthand the glorious freedom and power that follows such a stripping.

"We had no pope or hierarchy. We were brethren. We had no human program; the Lord Himself was leading. We had no priest class, nor priest craft. These things have come in later, with the apostatizing of the movement. We did not even have a platform or pulpit in the beginning. All were on a level. The ministers were servants, according to the true meaning of the word. We did not honor men for their advantage in means or education, but rather for their God-given gifts. He set the members in the Body.

The services ran almost continuously. Seeking souls could be found under the power almost any hour of the night or day. The place was never closed nor empty. The people came to meet God...He was always there. Hence a continuous meeting. The meeting did not depend on the human leader. God's presence became more and more wonderful. In that old building, with its low rafters and bare floors, God took strong men and women to pieces, and put them together again, for His glory. It was a tremendous overhauling process. Pride and self-assertion, self-importance and self-esteem could not survive there. The religious ego preached its own funeral sermon quickly.

No subjects or sermons were announced ahead of time, and no special speakers for such an hour. No one knew what might be coming, what God would do. All was spontaneous, ordered of the Spirit. We wanted to hear from God, through whomever He might speak. We had no respect of persons. The rich and educated were the same as the poor and ignorant, and found a much harder death to die. We only recognized God. All were equal. No flesh might glory in His presence. He could not use the self-opinionated. Those were Holy Ghost meetings, led of the Lord. It had to start in poor surroundings, to keep out the selfish, human element. All came down in humility together at His feet. They all looked alike and had all things in common, in that sense at least. The rafters were low, the tall must come down. By the time they got to Azusa they were humbled, ready for the blessing. The fodder was thus placed for the lambs, not for giraffes. All could reach it.

We were delivered right there from ecclesiastical hierarchism and abuse. We wanted God. When we first reached the meeting, we avoided as much as possible human contact and greeting. We wanted to meet God first. We got our head under some bench in the corner in prayer, and met men only in the Spirit, knowing them 'after the flesh' no more.

All obeyed God, in meekness and humility. In honor we preferred one another. The Lord was liable to burst through anyone. We prayed for this continually. Someone would finally get up anointed for the message. It might be from the back seat or from the front. It made no difference..." (Emphasis ours)

You will note here that Mr. Bartleman saw the resurgence of the "priest class/priest craft /hierarchy" to be responsible for the "apostatizing of the movement." Considering the glory of their former state he said, "We were brethren" who "had no human program; the Lord Himself was leading." Can you here the tones of grief and longing in his voice - a longing for family? "We were brethren!" The power came when they were stripped of hierarchy and were ALL brought to the same level, humbled at the foot of the cross. However, they were left with powerless form when someone thought to institute once again the errors of the past.

A careful study of history will reveal that wherever God finds such a company of servants and brethren He grants to them. When they obeyed our Lord's teaching "It shall NOT be so among you," they were blessed.

They said to Him, "We are able." So Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared." And when the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John. But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all." (Mark 10:39-44, NKJV).

Dear fellow Christian, "we were brethren!" O that we could be so again!

(Includes excerpts from the article "Arch-Madness" by George Davis)

Article 14: Follow on to Know the Lord

The other day as George Davis and I were talking, he brought up the following verse: "Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth." (Hosea 6:3, KJV).

"Then shall we know IF we follow on to know the Lord." These words, like so often happens in a Spirit lead fellowship, totally seized my attention. How often do we truly pursue the Lord? The word in the Hebrew that was translated follow on in this passage means to pursue, like an army pursuing its foe. It was even translated persecute in the KJV. So many of us are content to just say, "I know Jesus," and then all our active pursuit ends as we sit there in our comfortable pews like we are watching a football game on TV and let the professionals do all the pursuing for us. The trouble is that most of the professionals in today's church are more than willing to do all our pursuing as long as we continue to pay their salaries and don't run out onto the playing field.

Path Through Mountains But as you can see, the above passage out of Hosea gives no place for this kind of shallow knowing. "We shall know (Hebrew word yada) if we follow on to know." This word yada is the equivalent to the Greek word ginosko. Both were used in the Old and New Testaments to describe an act of intimacy between a man and a woman (see Genesis 4:1 and Matthew 1:24-25). Interestingly enough, it is this very Greek word that Jesus used describing the judgment of the Father in that final hour and what will make the difference.

Many will say to Me in that day, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?"

And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!" (Matthew 7:22-23, NKJV).

When there is a statement in the scriptures that seems to be contradicted by another part of the scripture, I try to investigate it to find out why. How could it be that an all-knowing God would not know one of His own creation? He doesn't even say that He once knew and now no longer knows, but rather "I never knew you." We must conclude that this word means something more than mere knowing with the mind.

Jesus is saying to these religious goats with their religious works that He has never had an intimate relationship with them. The works they did --casting out demons, prophesying, and doing wonderful works--were never conceived by an intimate knowing between them. All works that are acceptable to God come from abiding in Jesus (see John 15).

So as Hosea says, "Then we shall know IF we follow on to know. . ." God expects that same pursuit of us that a young man has with a young woman. He is driven to pursue her until they fall in love, are engaged, married, and the marriage is fully consummated so the two become one flesh. It is in this total pursuit that you finally come to know. You cannot just sit and read the Bible and all the commentaries for years on end and say that you know God, anymore than I can read all the magazines and watch all the TV shows and movies about Julia Roberts and then say that I know her! I am not her husband and she is not my wife. If I am to know her, I must follow on to know her. Knowing her with my mind is not enough.

The New Testament

As George and I continued to talk that day, the Lord keyed me in on a couple other verses. What is the new testament? Most would say it is a book, the last third of the Bible that starts out with the Gospel of Matthew and ends with the Revelation to John. I disagree. Even the New Testament does not call itself the new testament. Now, many of you might think I am belaboring a point here. I am.

What does the New Testament say the new testament is? The same Greek word diatheke that was translated testament was also translated covenant. A testament is a covenant in which one is promised an inheritance, a gift linked with a promise. Jesus used this same word as He spoke of His ministry to fallen man for the remission of our sins.

Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." (Matthew 26:27-28, NKJV).

We later find this same Greek word used by the writer of the letter to the Hebrews, speaking of a last will and testament. Here he is contrasting the old covenant (testament) with the new:

For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives. (Hebrews 9:13-17, NKJV).

The words in this book we call "The New Testament" are nothing more than a pointer to a covenant or testament made by Jesus with those who believe on Him. The New Testament is not the inheritance. The cleansing of the blood of Christ and being brought into a perfect union with the Father and all that He has for us is. Many worship the Bible so much that it has taken the place of the Holy Spirit in the work of the Godhead. Jesus did not promise that He would send us a Bible and that IT would lead us into all truth, but rather that He would send the Comforter (the Holy Spirit) and HE would lead us into all truth. I believe that men would rather be lead by their Bible teachers than the Spirit of God. The mind of man can manipulate and control the meaning of the written words of God, but they cannot manipulate the Spirit of God. All they can do is quench Him.

What would you think of a man who was called by the executor of the will to hear the reading of the will of his rich uncle who died. As soon as he heard the will, he grabbed it out of the lawyer's hand and said, "Thank you for such a wonderful will. I shall bind this wonderful gift from my uncle in leather and place it on my coffee table for all to see, that they might know what a wonderful man my uncle was and see his wonderful words for themselves." At that, the heir headed out the door, will in hand!

This is just what many in Christendom have done. Bible churches, Bible schools, and Bible teachers abound. Just as Jesus said to the scribes and Pharisees, so it is today, "You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life." (John 5:39-40, NKJV). Yes, it is one thing to know and a whole other thing to follow on to know. The first only takes a mental assent to the things learned. The second requires an active relationship with the One who is known. The Bible is a wonderful gift, but it is not the full inheritance.

Jesus said, "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." (Luke 11:9-10, NKJV). Jesus' words mean that we are not only to seek, knock and ask, but we are to keep seeking, keep knocking and keep asking.

Just before this passage, Jesus told a story of persistence. "Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, `Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; "and he will answer from within and say, `Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you'? "I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs."

God is looking for persistence in those who come to Him. He wants us to be fully changed into the image of His Son. THIS is our inheritance! We will know Him if we follow on to know.

The Holy Spirit

Have you ever read that the Holy Spirit is not our inheritance either? Yet many people in Pentecostal circles carry on as if the Spirit or even the gifts of the Spirit or the so called five-fold ministries are all that we need to walk out a full Christian life and have success as the church.. Some reason if we can just duplicate the form of the early church and reinstate the so called "offices" of Ephesians chapter four in that form, then we will again see the power that the early church once had. I thought this for years, but even HERE we can mss what is perfect by focusing on what seems good. Paul did say, "Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His," but he went on to speak of the Spirit as the earnest of our inheritance, not the inheritance itself.

In Him (Jesus) also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee (KJV--earnest) of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 1:11-14, NKJV)

The Holy Spirit only speaks of and glorifies Jesus as He points us to the fullness of Christ. "In Him. . .we have obtained an inheritance." Of the Spirit Jesus said, "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you." (John 16:13-15, NKJV).

Over the years Dorothy and I have purchased many houses as we have followed the Lord and moved from place to place in the process. Each time the buyer required us to pay earnest money up front. We paid it as a guarantee on our part that we were earnest enough about buying the house that it could be taken off the market. If we backed out of the deal at the last minute, we would forfeit the earnest money to the seller. In the same way, God has given us who believe and are His an earnest money payment on our full inheritance. The earnest is the Holy Spirit. The Spirit has been given to us until the completion of our purchase has been made. What is that inheritance of which the Holy Spirit is only the earnest? Paul goes on to say,

". . .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 (epignosis - to fully know) Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power. . . made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 1:17-2:7, NKJV).

There is our word ginosis again, but this time it speaks of us fully (epi) knowing (ginosis) Jesus as the Father knows Jesus. "We will know if we follow on to know. . ." We are to be fully enlightened with full understanding in our hearts of Him and made full heirs of His inheritance in Christ, with the Holy Spirit given to us as the down payment or earnest of our inheritance.

In the above example, if Dorothy and I had just put down the earnest money and then asked for the keys to the house, we would have been thought fools. A deed of trust and promissory note are required to delineate the rest of the deal, i.e., a down payment and so many monthly payments until the house is paid for. Likewise, we see above that Paul goes beyond the Earnest of the agreement, the Holy Spirit, and speaks of the details, i.e., wisdom, revelation, understanding, enlightenment, hope of our callings, riches of His glorious inheritance in us, the exceeding greatness of Christ's power to raise us up together in Christ and make us sit together in Christ in heavenly places. Without these keys to the kingdom we would not be able to sit in our heavenly abode in Christ.

Summary

In summation, dear saints, let us not settle for just the last will and testament nor only for the earnest agreement in our pursuit of God and all that He has for us in Christ. Let us not only know, but actively follow on to know. Let us not be content like so many spectators at a ball game and allow a few professionals to stand in for us while THEY do all the pursuing. The Holy Spirit and the New Testament were give to the saints of God to lead them into all truth, a full relationship with the One who IS the Truth, Jesus Christ.

Paul spoke of the law and the Old Testament as being a shadow of the new and that they were written to instruct us in type of things to come. In the Old Testament there is a story of two ambitious men who divided up the kingdom of Solomon after his death. Jeroboam, the one that took control of the ten northern tribes of Israel, was afraid of the people being lost to the king of the two southern tribes as they went down to the temple feasts in Jerusalem numerous times each year. Not to worry! He devised a plan and a new religion so the people would not have to weary themselves with such a long trip and strain themselves pursuing God. He constructed two holy places for them to worship that were much easier to reach. Here is the story:

Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and dwelt there. Also he went out from there and built Penuel. And Jeroboam said in his heart, "Now the kingdom may return to the house of David: If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah."

Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!" And he set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. (1 Kings 12:25-30, NKJV).

It appears that the churches of today have done the same thing. We now have two "golden calves" that have been cleverly designed to keep us from following on to know God in an intimate personal way. The one is the idolizing of those who intellectually pursue the scriptures and their teachings and the other is the pursuit of spiritual gifts and so called "offices" in the church. Neither of these is the goal. Just as the brazen serpent on the pole that once saved Israel from fiery serpents became an idol in Gideon's day and had to be destroyed, history has repeated itself. The gifts of the Spirit, church ministries and the scriptures were never meant to replace going up to Mount Zion, the city of God, for ourselves. Today, as it was in the time of Jeroboam and Rehoboam, we as His church have fallen short of the fullness of our callings. No man can do it for us. This is the difference between the wise and the foolish virgins. The foolish asked for their oil from other virgins, but the wise went out and got it from the Source, Jesus Christ, the Bridegroom, before He came for them. Let us follow on to know until we are found sitting in the fullness of our inheritance in Christ, in heavenly places.

Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12, NASB).

The End