RELEASE
OF THE SPIRITUAL MAN
by
George
Kirkpatrick
Vital Words to the Body of Christ
Freely We Have Received, Freely We Give
E-mail:
vitalwords@aol.com
Come visit our online catalog at:
http://www.newfoundationspubl.org/catalog.htm
"But the anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need
not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all
things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall
abide in Him." *** I John 2:27
"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." *** II Timothy
3:16
This anointing is the Spirit of truth about whom Jesus said, "Howbeit when
He, the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all truth..." ***
John 16:13
Any effort that is put forth to produce a product, using the Bible as its
basis, should be one that is meant to teach God's hidden truths.
A teacher should have three main objectives:
#1 A teacher should teach how to learn
#2 A teacher should teach what to learn
#3 A teacher should give a practical application for what has been taught
"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." *** II Timothy 2:15
The word divide means "to cut straight, or to handle the word properly".
Many today, when a scripture is quoted, use the same old worn cliche, "You
took it out of context." Yet, when Jesus quoted many Old Testament scriptures,
as did Paul, Peter, James and others, they were not used in the context
originally written.
The scripture is "all truth". Truth is truth, and it will stand by itself
or in the context written. The guideline that must be used is: Does it line
up with all other scripture? If it does not, then it will not stand by itself.
"Whom shall he teach knowledge. And whom shall he make to understand doctrine;
Them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line
upon line; here a little, and there a little." *** Isaiah 28:9-10
"For every one that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness:
For he is a babe." *** Hebrews 5:13
Precept means "command". God's commands come as thoughts or ideas. When we
see a thought or idea in the Bible, it will line up, line upon line, and
we get a little here and a little there until the whole idea the Word is
trying to bring forth is formed and therefore becomes a reality. This can
only be done through the anointing that is upon us, which is our teacher.
Therefore, on this basis, we will proceed; "Precept upon precept, line upon
line, here a little and there a little, rightly dividing the word of truth."
PREFACE
"IN THAT DAY" - This statement appears many times in the Bible, and it always
refers to a time of fulfillment. We live "In That Day," the Day of the
Fulfillment of all things, especially the fulfillment in the Word of the
coming of the Body of Christ. This will be brought forth by the release and
coming forth of the inner Spiritual man.
"And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." *** I Corinthians 15:49
That heavenly, or Spiritual man will be brought forth into the earth. We see so many times in the Word the phrase, "In Earth". When we see "In Earth", it refers to our physical body which is earth. God's creation, Adam, means "red earth". We live "In That Day" when God is bringing forth His Kingdom into the earth, into His many-membered Body.
"For the body is not one member, but many." *** I Corinthians 12:14
When God gets His Kingdom Principles and His Kingdom Precepts into His Kingdom
people, He will then bring His Kingdom upon the earth. He must put the Kingdom
in the earth (His people), then He will bring His Kingdom on the earth. This,
we will see when He comes to be glorified in His saints. He will be admired
in them that believe "In That Day". *** II Thessalonians 1-10
Today, many are trusting in the precepts and doctrines of men. Jesus related
that these draw near to Him only with their mouth, honoring Him with their
lips, but their hearts were far from Him. *** Matthew 15:8
God's desire is to have a people who will stand in the Holy Place with Him
who have clean hands and a pure heart, *** Psalm 24:4. He desires a people
who are seated with Him in heavenly places. *** Ephesians 2:6
This is "that day". This is the day in which God is baring His Spiritual
arm to those people desiring to be those who have grown up into the head,
which is Christ.
If we are to become that new creation in Christ, the old, carnal man must
pass away, and all things must become new, *** II Corinthians 5:17. This
happens when the inner Spiritual man is released.
It should be our desire to walk worthy of God, who hath called us unto His
Kingdom and glory. God has proclaimed it, and He will bring it to pass. ***
I Thessalonians 2:12
SPECIAL NOTE: Any endeavor, undertaken by a man, can only be judged
by those who have been helped by what that endeavor has produced. And if
the effort put forth to produce the product, was well spent or wasted, any
product that is produced, using the Bible as its basis, must totally line
up with the Word of God, and the final product must bring forth glory to
God. Anyone producing such a product must have, as his or her teacher, the
anointing spoken of in *** I John 2:27:
"But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need
not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all
things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall
abide in Him."
CHAPTER ONE
THE ANOINTING
When the Lord spoke to me to write this book concerning our relationship
with the Law, I came to realize this could not be accomplished without a
thorough understanding of the Holy Spirit anointing in our lives. This is
the life-giving, life-changing, infilling of the Holy Spirit given on the
day of Pentecost.
This will not be approached from the standpoint of a physical manifestation
of having received the infilling of the Spirit of God, but rather from our
relationship to God, after we have received it.
The first mention of the Spirit in the Bible is in Genesis.
"And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." *** Genesis 1:2
The first thing that moved upon the earth was the Spirit. It is no different
with us. Before we can have any relationship with God, the Spirit must move
upon our earth, or our body. Our first relationship with God is always fleshly,
then Spiritual. Most people never go past a physical, fleshly relationship.
They never grow into maturity.
The writer of Hebrews speaks of this maturing.
"Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God." *** Hebrews 6:1
The word perfection is TELEIOTES, which means "completeness or maturity".
"And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." *** Genesis 1:3
"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in
our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the
face of Jesus Christ." *** II Corinthians 4:6
The light which shines out of darkness is the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. That light is the Holy Spirit of God that moved upon the face of the waters. The glory of God, the Holy Spirit, is what shone in the face of Jesus Christ. We also receive this promise.
"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us." *** II Corinthians 4:7
Every step Jesus took, we must follow.
"For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving
us an example, that ye should follow His steps." *** I Peter 2:21
"The disciple is not above his Master: but every one that is perfect shall
be as his Master." *** Luke 6:40
Notice, we see something further in *** Genesis 1:2:
"...and darkness was upon the face of the deep..."
"And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And the
evening and the morning were the first day." *** Genesis 1:5
We see both these references used in I Thessalonians 5.
"For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief
in the night.
For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh
upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you
as a thief.
Ye are all the Children of Light, and the Children of the Day: we are not
of the night, nor of darkness." *** I Thessalonians 5:2-5
The day of destruction, spoken of in verse 3, is not going to come upon the
Children of Light and the Children of the Day as a thief. We are not the
children of the night nor of darkness.
Light always means energy. Energy means life, and life is God. Darkness is
the absence of light and life. Darkness is the absence of God.
As we saw in Genesis, darkness, "called Night", is part of the Spiritual
realm also. We will not be addressing the spirit of darkness. All references
to the Spirit and the Spiritual realm will be to the Spirit of light and
life.
God is looking for a people who will come out of the flesh and seek Him in
the Spirit. He is longing for a people to grow up into the head which is
Christ, or the anointing.
Jesus, in speaking to the Samaritan woman, said,
"But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship Him." *** John 4:23
The Father seeks those who will worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. The anointing is the Spirit of Truth, as we will see later. We have no hope in the flesh, for the fleshly mind cannot communicate with God.
"For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they
that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life
and peace.
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the
law of God, neither indeed can be.
So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God." *** Romans 8:5-8
The word flesh in the Greek is SARX, which means the "substance of the body".
The word carnal is SARKINOS, which means "consisting of the flesh". God is
not looking for a fleshly-minded people, but a Spiritually-minded people
who will worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.
God's kingdom people will be those who move in the Spirit, who know the voice
of the Father and who operate in His power and authority. God had such a
people in the Old Testament.
All through the Old Testament, we find many men whom the Bible says the Spirit
moved upon. A partial list is given below with scriptural reference:
Bezalel - Exodus 32:2-3
Moses - Numbers 11:17
Seventy - Elders Numbers 11:17,25
Joshua - Deut.34:9
Othniel - Judges3:10
Gideon - Judges6:34
Jephtah - Judges 11:29
Samson - Judges 14:6
Saul - I Sam. 10:10
David - I Sam. 16:13
Anasai - I Chron. 12:18
AzariahII - Chron. 15:1
We have also stated that all scripture is inspired by God. All 66 books of
the Bible were written by men inspired to do so by the anointing of God.
There are different words used in the Bible for this anointing. In the Old
Testament we see the word MESSIAH used. In the New Testament this word is
used twice as MESSIAS. The word comes from the word for anointing or anointed.
When God gave the priesthood to Aaron, it came with an anointing, called
MESHAH. Those anointed into the priesthood were called MESHIAH, which meant
"the anointed one".
We know Jesus was the "Messiah" and was also called "Christ". Thus, both
these words have the same meaning: "the anointing" or "the anointed one".
"Messiah" and "Christ" are interchangeable words. Why is it necessary that
we understand this? Our relationship with Christ is a close, personal one.
We have relationships in the natural, and it is important to know and understand
the people that we have this kind of relationship with. It is equally important,
if not more important, to know and understand the very nature and character
of God, that we may commune with Him through the Spirit. When we come to
Jesus, it is important that we understand who Christ is. It is also of utmost
importance that we understand who Christ is in our lives.
We know Jesus was "the Christ". But when did He become the Christ? Was He
the Christ at His birth, or did that come later?
"And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call His name JESUS." *** Luke 1:31
At this time, there was no mention of the word "Christ" or the anointing
which was going to be upon Him. Thus, the angel spoke to Mary.
We see this again when the angel came to Joseph.
"And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins." *** Matthew 1:21
Again, there was no mention of the "the anointing" or "Christ". Jesus' name
means "Saviour".
The question is: When did Jesus become the "Christ"? It was when the anointing
of the Father came upon Him. This happened immediately following John's baptism
of Jesus. This event is recorded in three of the gospels.
"And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water; and,
lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending
like a dove, and lighting upon Him." *** Matthew 3:16
"And straightway coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opened, and
the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him." *** Mark 1:10
"And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon Him..."
*** Luke 3:22
When the Spirit of God descended upon Jesus on the banks of the Jordan, He became the "anointed of the Father" or "the Christ of the Father".
"That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judaea, and
began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached;
How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who
went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil;
for God was with Him." *** Acts 10:37-38
It was after "the baptism that John preached" (water baptism), that God anointed
Jesus with the Holy Ghost and with power. This is when Jesus became the "Christ
of the Father". By understanding this anointing which came upon Jesus, our
example, we gain much understanding concerning God's anointed in the earth
today.
When the Holy Spirit anointing comes upon us, we become the "anointed" or
the "Christ" to the Son.
The first thing that happened after the anointing of the Father upon Jesus
was that the Spirit began to direct His life.
"Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil." *** Matthew 4:1
It is the same with us. Upon receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit, our
time of testing begins. I have heard people say, "I have been saved all my
life and have never had any trouble." But when a person receives the Holy
Spirit in his life, a time of testing is sure to follow.
When the Spirit came like a dove upon Jesus, a voice from heaven proclaimed,
"This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." We know this voice was
that of the Father, and that Jesus was His Son.
In order to understand who fathered Jesus, we must go to Luke.
"And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." *** Luke 1:35
Who fathered Jesus? The Holy Ghost. This was confirmed when the angel appeared unto Joseph.
"Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as His mother Mary
was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child
of the Holy Ghost.
But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared
unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take
unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy
Ghost." *** Matthew 1:18 and 20
In three places, the angel proclaimed that Jesus was conceived in Mary's
womb by the Holy Ghost. Therefore, when the voice spoke on the banks of the
Jordan proclaiming Jesus as God's Son, this voice was the Holy Ghost, the
voice of the Father.
The Holy Spirit is the Father, and the Father is the whole Spiritual "Realm
of Light".
"For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one." *** I John 5:7
When we come to an understanding that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one, we begin to understand the words of Jesus in Luke.
"And, behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high." *** Luke 24:49
Had the Father made them a promise, or was the Father the promise? Jesus said, "the promise of My Father". Who fathered Jesus? In the three scriptures we just covered, the Word said the Holy Ghost overshadowed Mary, and Jesus was conceived. Therefore the promise of His Father was the Holy Ghost. This came on the day of Pentecost. When Jesus said, "I will send the promise of My Father upon you", that promise was the Father.
"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." *** John 3:3
John 3:3 says, in order for us to see the kingdom of God, we must be born again. Therefore, the Father, the Holy Ghost, must overshadow and conceive this new birth in us. Only then will we see the kingdom of God.
"God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." *** John 4:24
God is "Spirit". The Spirit is the "Holy Spirit". And the Holy Spirit is
the "Father".
The Holy Spirit is called by many names:
Holy Spirit Matt. 1:18
Luke 11:13
Spirit of God Matt. 3:16
Spirit of the Father Matt. 10:20
Spirit of the Lord Luke4:18
Spirit of Truth John 14:17
Spirit of Life Romans 8:2
Spirit of Christ Romans 8:9
Spirit of Adoption Romans 8:15
Spirit of the Living God II Cor. 3:3
Spirit of His Son Gal.4:6
Holy Spirit of Promise Eph.1:13
Spirit of Revelation & Wisdom Eph.1:17
Holy Spirit of God Eph.4:30
Spirit of Jesus Christ Phil. 1:19
Eternal Spirit Heb.9:14
Spirit of Grace Heb. 10:29
Spirit of Glory I Pet. 4:14
This was the Spirit which descended as a dove upon Jesus on the banks of
the Jordan, whereby He became the Christ, the anointed of the Father.
Peter recognized this in *** Matthew 16:13-20: "...Whom do men say that I
the Son of man am?" Peter stated, "...Thou art the Christ, the Son of the
living God." In verse 20, Jesus charged His disciples to "...Tell no man
that He was Jesus the Christ."
Jesus became the Christ. This was not something which He received at birth,
but on the banks of the Jordan. The anointing of the Father is the same anointing
Jesus promised us. It is called "the power from on high."
"...but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high." *** Luke 24:49
Jesus operated in this anointing and power during His ministry, just as we are to do. We must have this anointing and power operating in our lives, today.
"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
Jesus was made flesh. There was nothing in Jesus' flesh that was beautiful or glorious.
"For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him." *** Isaiah 53:2
The word comeliness is HADDAR and means "splendor, beauty, glory and majesty".
In Jesus' flesh, there was no beauty, glory, or majesty. What was beautiful
in Jesus? It was the Light of the Holy Spirit that shone in the face of Jesus,
the very glory of God. There was nothing in Jesus' flesh that we should desire
Him.
We will receive that same glory of the Father's anointing when the Holy Spirit
comes upon us.
"And the glory which thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are one." *** John 17:22
This is the glory of the Father, the Light of God that shines in our faces,
also. This is a visible light and can be seen in the face of all those who
have been filled with the Holy Spirit of God.
The anointing that was upon Jesus was the anointing of the Father. When Jesus
prayed, He always prayed to the Father. In everything Jesus did, He gave
glory to the Father. He never once took any glory for what He did in the
flesh, always directing that glory back to the Father. When the rich young
ruler came to Jesus, addressing Him "good Master", Jesus said:
"Why callest thou Me good? There is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." *** Matthew 19:17
Was Jesus not good? Sure He was good, but He gave the flesh no credit for
being good. He turned the glory for His goodness back to the Father when
He said "there is none good but God."
Neither is there anything good in our flesh. The anointing of the Father
alone makes His goodness to shine through His people. Jesus always gave the
honor and glory for any endeavor to the Father. So must we.
"Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do: for what
things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise." *** John 5:19
"And I know that His commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak
therefore, even as the Father said unto Me, so I speak." *** John 12:50
Jesus never gave the flesh any glory. There are those today who direct all glory and attention to the flesh.
"I am the Lord: that is My name: and My glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven images." *** Isaiah 42:8
God will not allow us to take the glory for what He is doing in our lives.
The true anointing of the Father upon us will declare His glory alone.
Jesus knew this and took no glory for what He accomplished in the flesh,
but rather gave all glory unto the Father, the anointing which was upon Him.
He operated through the Holy Spirit's anointing, just as we are to do.
We, too, are to bring our lives under complete authority to the anointing,
as Jesus, our example, did.
We, too, are to listen and hear the voice of the Holy Spirit.
We, too, are to speak what we hear and do only as we see the Father do, not
with our physical eyes and ears, but with the spiritual senses that are given
to us through the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
CHAPTER 2
COMING OF THE ANOINTING
Jesus' ministry in the flesh, lasted for three and one half years after which
the flesh was destroyed. Before this happened, we were given much insight
by His words to His disciples, as to our relationship to Him after the flesh
was to be destroyed. There would come a time when we would no longer have
a relationship with Him in the flesh, but rather, our relationship would
be in the Spirit.
For us to understand this, we must go to the words of Jesus.
"...for the things concerning Me have an end." *** Luke 22:37
He was speaking of the end of the flesh, because the Spirit has no end. The
spirit is eternal.
Jesus also said in *** John 17:4 (speaking to the Father):
"...I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do."
Jesus' work in the flesh was finished; completed. Jesus' work was to fulfill the law and bring redemption to all mankind. He came as the Sacrificial Lamb of God.
"Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." *** Hebrews 9:12
The blood of bulls and goats purified the flesh.
"How much more shall the blood of Christ (the anointed one), who through the eternal Spirit (the Spirit of the Father) offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" *** Hebrews 9:14
The death of Jesus brought an end to the sacrificial system under the law.
All this system ever did was to purify the flesh.
Today, we see people that can only see Jesus in the flesh and who continue
to worship Him in the flesh. They see Jesus as the Good Shepherd, standing
at the door and knocking. This is fine if you have not accepted His free
gift of forgiveness of sins. But, after we have accepted Him as the anointed
Savior, is that all there is?
Unfortunately, in a vast majority of the people, this is as far as they are
willing to go with Jesus. They are happy to state, "I am saved," and never
go any further with God into His wonderful salvation plan, never going on
with the promises of God which are so plain and so beautiful in God's Word.
Before Jesus left the earth, He told His disciples in *** Luke 24:49 to tarry
in Jerusalem until they be endued with power from on high. Endued means "to
be clothed with, or to be clothed with power from on high". Power is the
word DUNAMIS, which means "ability". Jesus said they would be clothed with
the ability of God.
Too many, today, are seeking the Spirit of God that they may have some physical
manifestation, to be lifted up in the eyes of man. But the Holy Spirit was
given that we may have the ability of God, which will enable us to bring
forth fruit in our lives to the glory of God.
This fruit is to look like the Father, the Holy Spirit. This fruit will reproduce
itself in us, if it is unhindered by the flesh. This power and ability comes
forth from the Holy Spirit anointing which came on the day of Pentecost.
This was the Spirit of the Father.
Jesus, in a prophetic word to His disciples and to us in *** Matthew 10:18-20,
said.
"And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for My sake, for a testimony
against them and the Gentiles.
But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak:
for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.
For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh
in you."
It was the Spirit of the Father which spake in Jesus, and it is the Spirit
of the Father which speaks in us. This is the anointing of the Father. When
this anointing comes, we also become the anointed ones, or "Christ".
When Jesus died on the cross, it was not the end of Jesus. It was only the
end of His flesh. His work as Jesus Christ, or Jesus, the anointed of the
Father, was finished.
The work He accomplished is eternal. It is not necessary for us to be "resaved"
every morning or every week-end. Once we have accepted forgiveness of sin
and have been resurrected from death caused by our sin, it is time, then,
to go on. It is then time to build on the foundation that was laid by Jesus
Christ.
"Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on
unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead
works, and of faith toward God.
Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection
of the dead, and of eternal judgment." *** Hebrews 6:1-2
We are not again to go back and continue to lay the foundations of repentance
from dead works, faith toward God, doctrines of Baptism, laying on of hands
and resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.
Yet, these are the main topics in most church sermons today. The writer of
Hebrews says to leave these things and go on unto perfection. Leave the basic
elementary teachings and go on into maturity. Grow up into the head which
is Christ.
"For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens
with the saints, and of the household of God;
And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ
Himself being the chief corner stone;
In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple
in the Lord:
In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the
Spirit." *** Ephesians 2:18-22
Through Jesus, we have access by one Spirit unto the Father. We are built
upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being the
chief corner stone. The apostles represent the New Testament, and the prophets
represent the Old Testament. Jesus Christ is the chief corner stone of both
and of the building He is constructing in the earth. This building is His
Holy Temple, which He will inhabit.
This will never be accomplished through our worship of a fleshly Jesus. This
can only be accomplished through the Spirit, through the Spiritual anointing
which is upon our lives and by how we allow the Spirit to work through us.
"Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a Spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up Spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." *** I Peter 2:5
Most have made Jesus Christ the whole house. The foundation is only the place to begin. Jesus is the chief corner stone of the house God is building.
"In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." *** Ephesians 2:22
This house is being built through the Spirit. The word through means "channel".
This is the channel by which He will accomplish the building.
When we observe Jesus coming to the end of the flesh on the cross, we see
that it truly was a horrible thing; the crucifixion, the grief, the sorrow,
the pain.
There was also a sense of failure. All those that followed Jesus thought
He would bring His Kingdom at that time, overthrow the Roman government and
bring Utopia upon the earth.
Then came the resurrection, and Jesus' appearances. This, also, did not last.
Eventually, there came a time when all normal activity resumed. All the
activities surrounding Jesus seemed to have come to an end. Nothing was
happening.
"Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee..." *** John 21:3
They had seen the miracles and heard the wonderful words of Jesus, but nothing
was happening. There was no activity. Peter resumed his trade as fisherman.
We see by *** John 21:6, they were fishing with nets. They were not out for
an afternoon of pleasure, nor were they fishing for a meal. They had gone
back to their old trade of fishermen; everything had returned to the old
way of life.
Jesus appeared to them on the banks of the lake. He did not scold them because
they were not out spreading the news of the kingdom. He knew it was not yet
time for that.
It was not until the day of Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit,
that these men received direction and power in their lives to accomplish
that which Jesus had given them to do.
It's the same in our lives. When we are saved, we generally go back to a
normal life. There are small changes which begin to take place. We see a
change in our language. We notice our old friends do not come around as often.
Our Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings are taken up with church instead
of other activities. But the greatest change takes place after the anointing
comes into our lives. The power of the Spiritual man is released, and God
starts renewing and changing our minds.
We are all aware of what happened on the day of Pentecost. The book of Acts
tells of the beginning of the church. There was no church until the day of
Pentecost when the anointing came.
Since the day of Pentecost, God has desired a people who will allow Him,
through the Spirit, to bring them into the likeness of Himself. God's whole
purpose in the earth is to have a people that He may commune with and walk
and talk with, as He did with Adam and Eve. God did not create Adam and Eve
to take them to heaven. He created them so He could fellowship with them
here on earth. God's original plan did not change. But sin changed mankind
to where man could no longer stand in the presence of God.
This remained the same for over 4,000 years until the day of Pentecost, when
God, again, restored His Spirit to man.
It is only through the Spirit that man can again come into God's presence
and communicate with his Creator. This is why the anointing is so important
in our lives.
CHAPTER 3
CHRIST JESUS
Before the day of Pentecost, our relationship with God had been through the
flesh. But on the day of Pentecost, our relationship changed with God. Our
relationship is now with Him through the Spirit. We are never again to have
fellowship with Him in the flesh.
God's relationship to us also changed. Peter said,
"Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." *** Acts 2:36
This was a change in God's realm.
"...God hath made..."
This was not something Jesus had been, but something He had become after
His resurrection. While He walked on earth, He was the Christ, the "anointed
one". Now, after His resurrection, He has become Christ, the "anointing".
Jesus is now both Lord and Christ.
The word Lord is KURIOS and means "supreme in power and authority".
The word Christ is CHRISTOS, which means "the anointing, or the anointed
one". As Peter said, Jesus had become both Lord and Christ. He was no longer
Jesus, the anointed one, but He had become Christ, the anointing. When Jesus
was in the flesh, He had this anointing upon Him, but now, after His
resurrection, He has become that anointing, or Christ.
Paul stated it well in *** I Corinthians 1:24:
"But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God."
That power in our life is Christ. It is the change Peter spoke of in ***
Acts 2:36. God hath made Jesus both Lord and Christ. This change must take
place in our lives also. The anointing must become supreme in power and
authority. When Jesus was in the flesh, He was our Savior. In the Spirit,
He is our Lord and Christ.
We see this change reflected in the way Jesus' name is rendered. Jesus' name,
through the four gospels and up to the nineteenth chapter of Acts, had always
been Jesus, Jesus Christ, or Christ. But in Acts 19, we see for the first
time, Jesus as Christ Jesus.
"Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on Him which should come after Him, that is, on Christ Jesus." *** Acts 19:4
This is the first place in the Bible Jesus' name is rendered "Christ Jesus".
It occurs as "Christ Jesus" 53 more times after this.
For years, as I looked at Jesus Christ, and Christ Jesus, I thought the writers
and translators had simply turned the words Jesus Christ and Christ Jesus
around. It was not until the Lord revealed it to me that I saw how important
this seemingly simple change was in our relationship to Him. Our relationship
to Him was no longer to Jesus, the Christ, because this alluded to His flesh;
but rather, our relationship now is to Christ Jesus the anointing in our
lives.
As I mentioned in Chapter One, the anointing we receive is the Father. Jesus
has become the Father.
"Then said they (the Pharisees) unto Him, Where is thy Father? Jesus answered,
Ye neither know Me, nor My Father: if ye had known Me, ye should have known
My Father also." *** John 8:19
"And He said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: Ye are of this
world; I am not of this world." *** John 8:23
Jesus was not speaking of His flesh. He was speaking of who He was in the
Spirit. The word above Jesus spoke here was the "heavenly realm".
The word used throughout the New Testament for heaven is OURANOS,
which means "the aerial heaven, where the birds fly, the area over the earth".
Heaven is also used in the Spiritual sense as being the realm over the flesh.
As heaven is above the earth, the Spiritual is above the flesh.
When Jesus said, "I am from above," He was saying He was from the Spiritual
realm, but the Pharisees were from this world; the flesh realm.
The flesh is earth; the earth realm. Heaven is the Spiritual realm and is
all around us.
"I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I AM (He), ye shall die in your sins." *** John 8:24
Jesus told the Pharisees they would die in their sins; "For ye believe not that I AM." "He" is in italics, and does not appear in the original. Jesus declared Himself to be the "I AM". To find out who the "I AM" is, we must go back to Exodus 3 when Moses was sent by God to deliver the children of Israel.
"And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel,
and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and
they shall say to me, What is His name? what shall I say unto them?"
And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say
unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." ***Exodus 3:13-14
When the children of Israel asked, "What is the name of the one who has sent
you?" Moses was to declare, "I AM, THAT I AM hath sent me." God declared
Himself to be the great I AM.
Jesus told the Pharisees they would die in their sins because they did not
believe He was the "I AM." Thus, Jesus declared Himself to be God Almighty.
Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall
ye know that I AM (He), and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father
hath taught Me, I speak these things." (again omitting the He) *** John 8:28
"Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was,
I AM." *** John 8:58
Many times Jesus referred to Himself as the great I AM. In the garden when they came to take Him, He again stated He was the I AM.
"Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon Him, went forth,
and said unto them, Whom seek ye?
They answered Him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I AM (He). And
Judas also, which betrayed Him, stood with them.
As soon then as He had said unto them, I AM (He), they went backward, and
fell to the ground." *** John 18:4-6
They all fell backwards. We find in the Bible, when men fall backwards, they
are in rebellion to God. When they were not in rebellion to God, they fell
on their faces.
When Jesus declared Himself to be the great "I AM," the Almighty God, men
could not stand in His presence.
"Then asked He them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.
Jesus answered, I have told you that I AM (He): if therefore ye seek Me,
let these go their way." *** John 18:7-8
Then Jesus allowed Himself to be taken. No flesh can stand before the presence
of the Almighty God, and Jesus declared Himself to be the Almighty God, saying
He was the "I AM".
Isaiah declared Jesus to be the Almighty God.
"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." *** Isaiah 9:6
One of the names of Jesus was the Mighty God. Isaiah also declared Jesus to be the Everlasting Father. The word for everlasting is the word AD and means "continuing future, without end and eternal". Isaiah said Jesus was the continuing eternal Father without end.
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh
unto the Father, but by Me.
If ye had known Me, ye should have known My Father also; and from henceforth
ye know Him, and have seen Him.
Philip saith unto Him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou
not known Me, Philip? He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father; and how
sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? the words
that I speak unto you I speak not of Myself: but the Father that dwelleth
in Me, He doeth the works.
Believe Me that I (am) in the Father, and the Father in Me: or else believe
Me for the very works' sake." *** John 14:6-11
Jesus declared Himself to be the only Way, the only Truth, the only Life
to the Father. It is only through the relationship which we have in Jesus
that we have access to the Father.
When did the disciples see the Father? When they saw Jesus, they saw the
Father's anointing, which was upon His flesh. Jesus said, "When you see Me,
you have seen the Father." This is the same today. When people see us, they
should see the Father's anointing which is upon us.
But Jesus' disciples and others around Jesus could not see the anointing
because they had not developed their Spiritual eyes. Without Spiritual eyes,
all we can see is the flesh. This is where many are today. All they can see
is Jesus in the flesh. God would have us to lift our eyes above the earthly
realm to the heavenly realm and, as Stephen did, see Jesus on the right hand
of the Father.
All through Jesus' ministry, He declared Himself who He was, but they were
unable to recognize Him because all they had were fleshly eyes. All they
could see was Jesus in the flesh.
Jesus said, "When you have seen Me, you have seen the Father." He did not
say, "You have seen an image of the Father, or an impersonation of the Father,"
but He said, "You have seen the Father."
Their problem then, as now, was they were blinded and could not see the Father.
All they could see was His flesh.
Paul recognized the Father when he wrote Colossians 1.
(Talking of Jesus, he said): "Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature." *** Colossians 1:15
The word image is EIKON, which means "manifestation of the invisible
God, or God made flesh". This was so we could relate to Jesus while we were
in our fleshly condition,
The writer of Hebrews also addressed this.
"Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sin, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." *** Hebrews 1:3
The word for image here is CHARAKTER, which means "the exact impression of that which produced it". Jesus was the exact impression in the flesh of God in the Spirit. Jesus stated,
"These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when
I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly
of the Father.
At that day ye shall ask in My name: and I say not unto you, that I will
pray the Father for you:
For the Father Himself loveth you, because ye have loved Me, and have believed
that I came out from God." *** John 16:25-27
"In that day", the day of understanding...God is trying to show us the Father. This is that day, if we would only open our Spiritual eyes to God's truths.
"I and My Father are one." *** John 10:30
This is impossible to understand without the knowledge of the Father's anointing
which was upon Jesus' flesh. That anointing was Christ. Jesus was the Christ
because of the anointing of the Father.
Thus, we see Jesus in the flesh becoming Jesus, the Christ, because of that
anointing. After the day of Pentecost, we begin to see the use of His name
as "Christ Jesus" for Jesus became that anointing, not in the flesh, but
in the Spirit.
It is very important that we understand this and begin to apply this in our
lives. We need to know that Jesus did not come to earth to show us an easy
way to heaven. But He came that He might have a people who know who they
are in Him, who know and understand the power and authority which is contained
in the anointing which we have in the Father. He came that He might have
a people who are vessels of mercy prepared for His glory, not the vessels
of wrath fitted to destruction.
"What if God, willing to shew His wrath, and to make His power known, endured
with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
And that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy,
which He had afore prepared unto glory." *** Romans 9:22-23
God is looking for a people, a kingdom people, whom He is bringing forth
through Christ Jesus - a people anointed with power and authority; vessels
of glory unto the Father.
To bring more understanding in this area of Jesus becoming Christ, we must
look further at John 14.
"And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that
He may abide with you for ever;
Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth
Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you,
and shall be in you." *** John 14:16-17
If another comforter was coming, that would mean we already had one comforter,
and that comforter was Jesus. Without Jesus we could have no fellowship with
the Father.
But He promised another comforter. This comforter will abide with us forever.
Whereas the first comforter, Jesus, was only to be temporary, the second
comforter, Christ, would be permanent.
Jesus said this would be the Spirit of Truth. He said the world could not
receive this comforter because the world had not accepted the first comforter.
Therefore, this comforter was not available to the world. Jesus said, "Ye
know Him." He declared to the disciples that they knew who this second comforter
was, because He dwelt with them.
Who was dwelling with the disciples? Jesus. But Jesus said there would be
a change in His position concerning them. Jesus said, "He dwells with you,
and shall be in you."
Jesus was dwelling with them, but the position that He held with them ended
on the cross. The second comforter, the Holy Spirit of Truth, would come
into them on the day of Pentecost.
Jesus knew that He would be leaving them in the flesh but that, on the day
of Pentecost, He would dwell in them. How? In the Spirit, as the Father.
Jesus' next statement proves this without a doubt.
"I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you." *** John 14:18
"I" (first person, singular) will not leave you comfortless. "I" (first person,
singular) will come into you. This statement leaves no doubt that the Spirit
which came as cloven tongues on the day of Pentecost was Jesus, as the anointing
or Christ.
Our relationship with Jesus is no longer through the flesh, but through the
Spirit.
How long is this promise for? The second comforter will abide with us forever.
"...for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." *** Hebrews 13:5
Jesus' desire is that all believers be one, as He and the Father are one.
"Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on
Me through their word;
That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that
they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent
Me.
And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one,
even as We are One:
I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that
the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast
loved Me.
Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where
I am; that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me: for Thou lovedst
Me before the foundation of the world.
O righteous Father, the world hath not known Thee: but I have known Thee,
and these have known that Thou hast sent Me.
And I have declared unto them Thy name, and will declare it: that the love
wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them." *** John 17:20-26
As He and the Father are one, so are we to be one in Them. "I" (first person,
singular) in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one (the
Holy Spirit).
Christ's relationship to us is the same as the Father's relationship to Jesus.
As Jesus was the anointed of the Father, so are we the anointed of the Son.
As Jesus was the Christ of the Father, so are we the Christ of the Son.
We will never become Deity, but we have become the anointed of the Son. When
understanding comes forth in this area, we begin to see and understand how
important the anointing of the Father is in our lives. For without the anointing
we have no relationship with God.
Many today, like the disciples and the Pharisees, know Jesus in the flesh,
but they do not know the anointing which was upon Him. It is through the
anointing that we have our relationship to the Father. It is by this anointing
that we enter into the Holy Place of God.
When we begin to understand these things, scriptures such as *** I Corinthians
15:22-23 begin to open their truths to us.
"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that
are Christ's at His coming."
Verse 20 reveals who Paul is talking about as being the first-fruits.
"But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept." *** I Corinthians 15:20
Jesus was Christ, the first-fruits; and we are the Christ at His coming.
Paul is speaking of those who are the anointed ones when Jesus returns to
His redeemed Body; the purified, cleansed church without spot or wrinkle,
those who will be the rulers and reigners with Him for 1,000 years. Those
who are the Christ at His coming will make up the Body of Christ of which
He will be the head. He will set His head on this Body.
"And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever." *** Revelation 11:15
Who is "His Christ"? They are those who have received the anointing of the Father.
"And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength,
and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser
of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night."
*** Revelation 12:10
"...The kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ..."
The book of Revelation is the revelation of Jesus Christ, *** Revelation
1:1. This is the revelation He is trying to bring forth in us who have His
anointing. This is our hope. Our position in God is in that anointing. This
glorious promise of power is made to those who are the Christ to the Son.
As the scriptures begin to open in this area, we find our proper rank and
position in God. When we seek wisdom in this matter, we will find that Jesus
is not jealous of our position in Him.
"Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." *** Luke 12:32
God desires for us to have all things in Him and through Him.
"Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more." *** II Corinthians 5:16
We knew Christ after the flesh. This is speaking of Jesus while He was in the flesh, but we are to know Him no more after the flesh. We are to know Him after the Spirit, or the anointing.
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." *** II Corinthians 5:17
The word creature is KTISIS which means "creation". This creation is not a physical creation. It is the Spiritual creation which takes place when Christ comes into us. He comes in as a seed; the incorruptible seed. The seed always reproduces itself. Paul wrote,
"My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you." *** Galatians 4:19
This is not Jesus, but Christ Jesus. Paul also states,
"I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." *** Philippians 3:14
The High Calling of God is in Christ Jesus.
"For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice
in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." *** Philippians 3:3
"And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus." *** Ephesians 2:6
"To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places
might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
According to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord."
*** Ephesians 3:10-11
"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which
God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." *** Ephesians 2:10
"And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts
and minds through Christ Jesus." *** Phil. 4:7
"But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by
Christ Jesus." *** Philippians 4:19
"Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus." *** Romans 3:24
Even Peter, who was given the keys to the kingdom, stated,
"But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you." *** I Peter 5:10
Jesus said,
"Howbeit when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will shew you things to come." *** John 16:13
One of the main truths He is trying to lead us into is: Who He is in us.
He is trying to form the Christ in us, that we may worship Him in Spirit
and in Truth, not simply with fleshly emotions, not trying to be pleasing
to Him through man-made doctrines, dress codes or what we eat, but we are
to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.
As Jesus said in *** John 4:23, "...The Father seeketh such to worship Him."
Our position in Him is no longer Jesus Christ, but rather Christ Jesus. We
are no longer worshipping a fleshly Jesus, but we worship Him in the Spirit.
There will be more on Christ Jesus later on in the book. It is impossible
for us to understand our position to the law and in the law without this
understanding of Christ Jesus, the invisible God, the first born of every
creature.
Chapter 4
FAILED GRACE
From the very beginning of time there have been only two ways God has governed
His people: by Grace and by Law. These are the only two ways that appear
in the Bible.
This all sounds very simple. If we would ask anyone, "Do you want God's law
or His grace?", they would most definitely want His wonderful grace.
We see an example of God's grace to David. David committed a great sin against
God. A prophet by the name of Gad was sent to David to tell him God had given
him three choices of punishment. David's words show that he had great confidence
in God's grace and mercy.
"And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the Lord; for His mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man." *** II Samuel 24:14
When the Old Testament is taught, it is generally thought to be a period
of law, but the law was not given until the book of Exodus. This brings up
the question, "What did man live under in the book of Genesis?" In Genesis
6, the Bible plainly states that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
The Hebrew word for grace is HEN, which means "favor". Noah found
divine favor in the eyes of the Lord. If Noah found grace, then God's grace
must have existed for those who were searching for it.
The Bible does not come right out and say man lived under grace, but as we
search the scriptures for clues, we find many.
"For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law." *** Romans 5:13
The word imputed is the Greek word ELLOGRO, which means "charge to one's account". Therefore, where there was no law, sin was not charged to their account.
"Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of Him that was to come." *** Romans 5:14
The word death is THANATOS. Thanatos is used to describe both physical
and Spiritual death. Romans 5 speaks of spiritual death. Adam did not die
the day he sinned against God. But there was a spiritual separation which
took place between God and Adam. God no longer communed with Adam. Therefore,
spiritual death became a reality in Adam's life.
This spiritual separation, or spiritual death, reigned from Adam to Moses.
Although sin was not imputed to man during this time, man no longer had spiritual
communion with God for there was no way yet given for man to deal with his
sin. There was no communion between God and man as there was in the garden
and as there is now, after Pentecost. It was not until the giving of the
law that this was accomplished through Moses.
We are not told how God judged or will judge these, but we do know by the
Word that their sin was not laid to their charge. Therefore, under God's
divine favor, they lived by the grace of God during the entire book of Genesis.
This period covered 2,500 years.
"But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ." *** Ephesians 4:7
We see by this that grace is the gift of Christ; the anointing. Grace is by and through the Spirit. Law is of the flesh. Law and grace are opposites.
"Wherefore He saith, When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men." *** Ephesians 4:8
Christ freed those who were held captive by the grave, those that had died
before the law and those under the law.
Peter sheds more light on this in *** I Peter 3:18-19:
"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that
He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened
by the Spirit:
By which also He went and preached unto the spirits in prison."
Verse 18 says Jesus was "put to death in the flesh but was quickened by the
Spirit" (made alive by the Spirit).
Verse 19 says, "...by which also He went and preached unto the spirits in
prison..." those who were held by the grave.
"But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the
gift of Christ.
Wherefore he saith, When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive,
and gave gifts unto men.
(Now that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended first into the
lower parts of the earth?
He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens,
that He might fill all things.)" *** Eph. 4:7-10
Christ went into the lower parts of the earth, taking those who were held
captive with Him when He ascended up on high. Jesus freed those held captive
by the grave, leading captivity captive, ascending far above all heavens.
This was God's grace being shown to those who had died before the law and
those whose sin had been covered by the blood of bulls and goats under the
law. Verse 7 states that this was the gift of "Christ".
In *** I Peter 3:19-20, we found that Christ went into the prisons, or graves,
and preached to those who had died in the flood and also those who had died
before the flood.
"For this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit." *** I Peter 4:6
These things are hard to understand, but we accept them by simple faith. Those who died before the law were shown God's wonderful grace.
"For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men." *** Titus 2:11
This is a very important scripture. God's grace was not just on those before
the law. The law did not stop God's grace, but, rather, enhanced it.
When the people broke His law, His grace was still found by those who sought
it. Yet, there were some who did fail God's grace.
"Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root
of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel
of meat sold his birthright." *** Hebrews 12:15-16
Thus, Esau failed the grace of God.
Israel also failed the grace of God. God desired to speak to Israel face
to face, but they refused to hear God's voice, wanting to listen to man for
fear of dying.
"In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the
land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai.
And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and
they stood at the nether part of the mount.
And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon
it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and
the whole mount quaked greatly.
And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder,
Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice." *** Exodus 19:1 and 17-19
*** Exodus 20:1-17 relates God speaking the Ten Commandments to the children of Israel.
"And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise
of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they
removed, and stood afar off.
And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not
God speak with us, lest we die." *** Exodus 20:18-19
The people did not want to hear from God. They wanted to hear from man. The writer of Hebrews uses this as an example of "Failed Grace".
"For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned
with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,
And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that
heard entreated that the Word should not be spoken to them any more:
(For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a
beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart..."
*** Hebrews 12:18-20
Israel, unlike David, who did not want to fall into the hands of man, chose
to be under the authority of man instead of the direction of God. When Israel
"Failed Grace", God called Moses into the mount. Only then did God give the
law.
If Israel had listened to God, the Ten Commandments would have been the only
law necessary. They would have continued under grace; under the direction
and guidance of His voice.
Only when they refused to hear God's voice were they given laws, commandments,
statutes, judgments and ordinances.
Only then were they given a system of sacrifices to cover and atone for their
sin.
Only then were they given the priesthood, man's representative, before God.
Under the law, Israel was no longer allowed to come into the presence of
God. From this time on, only the High Priest could enter into the presence
of God and then only once a year on the day of Atonement.
The question seems to always arise when discussing the law and grace: "How
do we know that God did not give the law to the people living prior to
Deuteronomy?" For the answer to this, we go to the book of Deuteronomy.
"The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.
The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who
are all of us here alive this day." *** Deuteronomy 5:2-3
God did not make the covenant (the law) with their fathers, but with those
alive at the time Moses was speaking. God gave Israel the law because they
had failed God's grace. They no longer had any spiritual contact with God.
All contact with God from that time until the day of Pentecost was one of
the flesh.
Today, those who have contact with God only in the flesh, kept under the
law, have failed God's grace. They refuse to hear the Father's voice and
will not receive His anointing. They have no Spiritual communion with God.
From the beginning, God's desire was to commune with His creation. But sin
separated us from God in the Spirit. Man lived under grace before the law,
but there was no Spiritual communion with God. Then He gave the law. Under
the law man could only have their sins covered through the Levitical priesthood.
When Jesus came, He gave forgiveness of sin so that we may stand righteous
before God and man could have total forgiveness of sin.
But it was not until the day of Pentecost that Spiritual communion was
reestablished with God.
Many today still desire to be under law, if not Moses' law, then man's law
set down by denominational systems. They are told that by following these
laws, they are acceptable before God. But, whether man follows Moses' law
or man's law, there is no Spiritual contact with God because they have denied
Pentecost.
If we are going to move in God's grace (which is much more than forgiveness
of sins), we must come to our personal Pentecost, where we establish a personal,
Spiritual relationship with the Father.
*** Acts 17:28 tells us the relationship we can have in God. "...In Him we
live and move and have our being..." If we are not in Him, through Him and
by Him, then we have failed God's grace as Israel did and will be cut off.
God is Spirit. If we are to be pleasing to God, we must come to a Father-child
relationship with Him. This can be done only through the Spirit. If we are
going to live in God's grace and hear the Father's voice, then our relationship
with God must be in the Spirit.
CHAPTER 5
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
Let's look at the giving of the Ten Commandments. The giving of the law showed
the end of the law. After the people of Israel had rejected God's voice,
Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was. Moses stayed in the
presence of God for forty days, at which time, God gave Moses all the laws
Israel was to live by.
The people did not know what had happened to Moses. He had not been seen
since he entered into that black cloud. We can imagine the talk, as they
sat around the campfires, how Moses must have been consumed by God's presence
or how he must have been killed in the mountain. Because of doubt, the people
turned from the direction the voice of God had given, to idol worship.
"And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount,
the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up,
make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that
brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the
ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto
me." *** Exodus 32:1-2
Aaron told them to give him all the golden earrings which were in Israel.
Gold is a symbol for God. The earring is a symbol for God's anointing on
their ears. When Israel rejected the voice of God, they no longer needed
their hearing because they had refused to hear God's voice.
It is the same today. Man has refused God's anointing and is depending totally
upon the voice of man and his church doctrine. He does not feel the need
of the anointing upon his ears because he does not listen any longer to the
voice of the Father.
God said to Moses, "Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest
out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:
They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they
have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed
thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee
up out of the land of Egypt."
They had turned the golden calf into the image of the invisible God. At this
point, God was ready to destroy the whole nation of Israel and begin again.
But Moses interceded for Israel. God repented of the evil He thought to do
to Israel and placed two tablets of stone in Moses' hands on which He had
written His Ten Commandments. Then Moses came down from the mountain.
When Moses saw the calf and the dancing, his anger waxed hot. He cast down
and broke the tablets beneath the mountain. This showed the end of the law.
We see two happenings here:
We first see God speaking His law to His people verbally. They were still
under grace, but they refused to hear. They wanted man to tell them what
to do instead of God. Therefore, God wrote His law, and the first thing man
did was break it.
We also see that this symbolized the end of the law which would come in Christ.
God called Moses back into the mount to give him the law again.
But this time God was not going to put His law back in the hands of man.
God told Moses to build an ark and carve two more tablets of stone.
"At that time the Lord said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto
the first, and come up unto Me into the mount, and make thee an ark of wood.
And I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables which
thou brakest, and thou shalt put them in the ark." *** Deuteronomy 10:1-2
God told Moses this time to make an ark of wood, instructing him that when
he was done writing upon the tablets, to place them in the Ark.
The Ark represents God's PRESENCE, PROTECTION, PROVISION, POWER and PEACE.
The law was never to be put back into man's hands. God had spoken it, and
it had been rejected. He put it in man's hands and man broke it. This time
He was going to keep it in Himself.
Jesus was the only man who ever kept the law perfectly, which shows that
He is our "Ark of the Covenant".
Moses came down the mountain the second time with the tablets in the ark.
The law God had written on the tablets was the same as He had spoken and
written the first time. But something had changed, and that something was
Moses.
We see this change in *** Exodus 34:29,
"And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him."
Moses' face shone so brightly that he had to put a veil on his face when
he spoke to the children of Israel for they could not stand to look upon
his face. The brightness on Moses' face was the very glory of God.
If we are to understand this, we must go back to verse 9, where Moses interceded
before God for the forgiveness of Israel's sin.
"And he said, If now I have found grace in Thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for Thine inheritance." *** Exodus 34:9
Pardon means "to forgive". There was no forgiveness under the law, only
atonement. The word atonement means "to cover, to condone, to placate or
conceal". This was accomplished by the sacrifice of the blood of bulls and
goats.
Moses was praying for the forgiveness of the people because he had found
grace in the eyes of the Lord. Moses knew what God's grace was before the
law.
"Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made He man." *** Genesis 9:6
This was the first commandment God gave after the flood. Murder was to be punished by the shedding of the murderer's blood. Moses was a murderer. He killed an Egyptian.
"And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand." *** Exodus 2:12
By God's commandment, Moses should have been killed, but he lived by God's
grace. This was before the law.
After Moses had interceded for Israel and had sought forgiveness for them,
God told Moses what He was going to do for Israel.
"And He said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the Lord: for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee." *** Ex. 34:10
The word "terrible" means "to stand in reverential amazement of what God is going to do". Paul was referring to this:
"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered
into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love
Him.
But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth
all things, yea, the deep things of God." *** I Corinthians 2:9-10
When Moses came down the mountain the second time, his face shone. This was
to show the glory that was going to be revealed in God's people at the end
of the law.
The end of the law came on the day of Pentecost. The coming of the Holy Spirit
brought the very glory of God upon man. Because Israel demanded the law,
they could not look upon Moses' face. The glory did not come with the law
but with God's grace.
This all ties together in the New Testament.
"And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel
could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:
But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail
untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament; which vail is done away
in Christ." *** II Corinthians 3:13-14
Paul was speaking of Israel because they demanded the law. Israel's eyes
were blinded. We know they did not become physically blind, but were blinded
Spiritually. This Spiritual blindness came as a vail, in that they could
not understand the Old Testament when it was read. Only in Christ, the Holy
Spirit anointing, can that vail be done away with.
Only the Holy Spirit can reveal God's truths in His Word. Only through the
Holy Spirit can we understand how the Old Testament and the law pertain to
our lives today and how it lines up perfectly with the New Testament; precept
upon precept, line upon line, here a little, and there a little.
The shine which was on Moses' face was the very glory of God. Paul said they
could not look to the end of that which had been abolished. That which was
abolished was the law. The glory was not in the law, but the glory which
shone on Moses' face was the glory which came at the end of the law. That
glory was Christ, which came on the day of Pentecost.
It is the same for us today. When Christ comes into our lives, two things
happen. The end of the law comes, and the glory that shone in Moses' face
is also revealed in our faces.
When God gave the law, grace ceased for the children of Israel. God would
not directly speak to them again. The administration of the law was placed
in the hands of the Levitical priesthood. Approximately 1,450 years passed
from the giving of the law until the coming of Jesus. Israel lived by and
under the law for this time period. At the time of the coming of Jesus, the
law was still in effect. Jesus was born under the law, and all the law was
kept concerning His birth.
"And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child,
His name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before
He was conceived in the womb.
And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were
accomplished, they brought Him to Jerusalem, to present Him to the Lord."
*** Luke 2:21-22
Joseph and Mary offered sacrifices according to the law. Jesus' whole life was lived under the law. When He died, the law was still in effect. His resurrection did not change this fact. But on the day of Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit, the law came to an end.
"For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." *** Romans 10:4
This is also true in our lives. When Christ, the anointing, comes, the law ends. Those still under the law have not received the anointing. For when they receive the anointing, they will again hear directly from God, as man did before the law. Righteousness comes by the anointing, not by the law.
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." *** Matthew 5:17
The word destroy means "to overthrow completely". Jesus did not come to overthrow, but to fulfill and complete the law. He did not come that we may be able to keep the law perfectly, as some teach, but that through Him, we may have a relationship with the Father through the anointing.
"Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: Yea, we establish the law." *** Romans 3:31
Are we then to keep the law? And if not the whole law, part of the law? And
if part of the law, which part?
These questions have plagued many since Jesus ascended from the earth. But
we have Paul as an example. Paul was a man who had to deal much with the
law.
There are still those today who are trying to please God in the flesh. They
do this in various ways: by keeping the law, by their diet, with dress and
by the day on which they worship. We will look at these one at a time.
CHAPTER 6
COUNCIL AT JERUSALEM
For 1,450 years, Israel lived by and under the law. When Jesus was born,
the law was in effect. During His life and His ministry, the law was in effect.
When He died, the law was still in effect. His resurrection and the day of
Pentecost did not change the fact that the law existed. When did the law
end?
The law did not end. The law is still in effect. The only thing that has
changed is our relationship to the law by Jesus Christ and in Christ Jesus.
Are we then to keep the law? And if not the whole law, part of the law? And
if part of the law, which part?
To answer these questions, let's look at the life of Paul. Did Paul know
the law? Let's go to go to Acts 22.
"I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day." *** Acts 22:3
Paul was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel. "Brought up at the feet of"
is equivalent to saying "he was educated by". Gamaliel was the son of the
great Hillel and was a doctor of the law, above the status of a lawyer. This
would be equivalent to a Supreme Court judge. He was called "The Beauty of
the Law". Gamaliel held the distinctive title of "Rabban". He was also a
Pharisee.
Pharisee means "separatist". They were strict keepers of the law, claiming
themselves to be the authority concerning the law. Paul's education, therefore,
came in the strictest sense: to know, understand and keep the law.
"But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee..." *** Acts 23:6
Paul was not only a Pharisee, but the son of a Pharisee. The teaching of the law, in every sense, from the time Paul was born was part of his life.
"Which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee." *** Acts 26:5
Paul certainly knew the law. "Did Paul keep the law?" Let's go to Philippians.
"Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin,
an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee." *** Philippians
3:5
"And profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation,
being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers." *** Galatians
1:14
Paul said he was more zealous after the tradition of his fathers. In today's
language, we would say Paul was a fanatic to keep the law...not in part,
but in every jot and tittle of the law. Then something wonderful happened
to Paul on the road to Damascus.
In Acts 9, while Paul was on his way to Damascus, he met Christ. That ruined
Paul's religion. Before this encounter with Jesus and the anointing, Paul
was spiritually blind.
Paul had to be blinded physically so his spiritual eyes could be opened.
Paul was blind for three days. He fasted and prayed these three days. When
Ananias came, Paul received not only his physical sight, but his Spiritual
sight, also. Paul never went back to the old religion or his old religious
ways or the keeping of the law.
There was only one place in the New Testament that Paul appeared to have
slipped back into anything having to do with the law or the keeping of the
law. We find this in Acts 21 when Paul returned to Jerusalem. At the request
of the elders, he had agreed to a vow. An uprising on the part of the Jews
prevented Paul from carrying through with this vow. It would appear that
God had stopped Paul from going back and from keeping the law. *** Acts 21:18-30
Another reason Paul may have been willing to step back into the law is found
in I Corinthians 9.
"For though I be free from all men, yet I have made myself servant unto all,
that I might gain the more.
And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them
that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are
under the law." *** I Corinthians 9:19-20
There is no indication that Paul would have done this without the elders'
request, but we do know that request was not to go back to keeping the law.
When Paul began to preach in the synagogues, he preached Christ, the Son
of God. When Paul took his first missionary journey, he traveled through
the area known as Galatia, which contained the towns of Antioch, Iconium,
Lystra and Derbe.
When Paul began to evangelize, there immediately arose the problem of what
relationship the new converts had to the law. The following scriptures relate
Paul's relationship to the law.
"And certain men which came down from Judea taught the brethren, and said,
Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.
When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation
with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them,
should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question."
*** Acts 15:1-2
Dissension is the Greek word STASIS, which means "insurrection and uproar".
Disputation is ZETESIS, which means "debate or dispute".
This caused quite an uproar for Paul, who had kept the law in the past. A
debate took place, and Paul and Barnabas decided to go up to Jerusalem to
settle this matter of the law, once and for all.
"And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter." *** Acts 15:6
After much discussion, they decided there were four areas of the law the
Gentile believers should adhere to:
# 1 Abstain from the pollution of idols
# 2 Fornication
# 3 Things strangled
# 4 Eating of blood
*** Acts 15:20 and 23-29
A letter was then written by the elders and apostles and sent to the churches
in Galatia.
"Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled
you with words, subverting your souls saying, Ye must be circumcised, and
keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment:
For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater
burden than these necessary things." *** Acts 15:24 and 28
Again, they repeated the four things in the law they felt the new converts
should keep. *** Acts 15:29
This letter and this council should have settled this matter once and for
all but there are still those today which are trying to subvert the people's
minds, attempting to put them under the law.
We see this did not end the matter for Paul. A year or so after the council
at Jerusalem, we find that, once again, it was necessary to write a letter
to the Galatians. This letter to the Galatians has become the standard as
to where we stand in Christ and the law.
When we consider what Peter said about the law at the council at Jerusalem,
it should settle in everyone's mind that "Christ" is the end of the law.
"Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples,
which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be
saved, even as they." *** Acts 15:10-11
God's salvation plan does not include any part of the law. If you believe
you must keep the law, or any part of it, hear the council at Jerusalem.
CHAPTER 7
BONDAGE OR LIBERTY
Most believe that Galatians was the first book written in the New Testament.
Its main theme is Christ and the Law. Most also agree that Paul wrote it
while at Corinth.
Paul had learned that the Judaizers were continuing to bring people back
under the bondage of the law through their false teachings. When Paul heard
this, he was most urgent to write to the Galatians. Paul's letter did not
begin with the greeting so common in his other letters, nor was this letter
addressed to one church, but to all the churches at Galatia. *** Galatians
1:3
Paul immediately began to address this problem.
"I marvel that ye are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel." *** Galatians 1:6
Who was it that had called them?
"No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him..." *** John 6:44
The word draw is HELKO, which means "to urge by divine impulse". That urging
by divine impulse is the Holy Spirit. To state this more plainly: No one
comes to Jesus unless the Father, the Holy Spirit, calls.
Paul said, "I marvel that you are so soon removed from Him that called you
(the Holy Spirit), into the grace of Christ unto another gospel."
Paul was declaring the simple message of the gospel. There was nothing to
be added to that gospel. This reference was made concerning the law as being
part of the salvation message.
"Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ." *** Galatians 1:7
The teaching of the law, coupled with the gospel is a perversion of the gospel
of Christ.
In Chapter 2 Paul again relates the journey he took to the council at Jerusalem.
"But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be
circumcised:
And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily
to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring
us into bondage." *** Galatians 2:3-4
Titus was not compelled or persuaded to be circumcised to come into compliance
to the law of Moses.
This is the basis Paul proceeds on: The law is bondage and Christ Jesus is
liberty.
"For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.
For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God." ***
Galatians 2:18-19
The word transgressor is PARABOTES, which means "to overstep the limits,
to fall away". What was it that Paul could build again in his life? It had
to be his old way, which had to do with the keeping of the law. But Paul
stated he was dead to the law, the law had no effect in his life.
Paul begins the third chapter,
"O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?" *** Galatians 3:1
The word foolish is AMVETOS, which means "senseless lack of understanding".
The word bewitched means "to malign by false representation".
Paul addressed the Galatians as foolish and bewitched. They had no understanding,
being maligned by false representation. They had allowed false doctrine to
come into their midst and lead them astray from obeying the truth of the
gospel.
"This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the
law, or by the hearing of faith?
Are you so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by
the flesh?" *** Galatians 3:2-3
The word perfect is EPITELEO (continuing present tense), which means "a process of bringing to completeness or maturing". Paul asked, "Is this maturing process through the Spirit, or is it by the law?"
"Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator." *** Galatians 3:19
The question was raised, "Wherefore, then serveth the law, or why was the
law given?" It was added, because of transgressions. What was Israel's
transgression? They refused to hear God's voice, therefore, the law was added.
The law was not part of God's original plan for man. It was added because
of Israel's refusal to hear God's voice. God's plan has always been that
He would speak directly to His creation.
"Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." *** Romans 5:20
The word entered is PAREISERCHOMAI, which means "to come in beside". The law came in beside, or it was added, as it says in Galatians.
"Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made..." *** Galatians 3:19
God had put a time limit on the law, on how long it was to be in effect:
"...till the seed should come, to whom the promise was made." *** Galatians
3:19
Who was this seed?
"Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ." *** Gal. 3:16
Who was Abraham's seed? It was Christ. When did He come? On the day of Pentecost.
The law ended that day for those who accepted Christ, the anointing.
The promise was passed down through Isaac and Jacob, and then to the children
of Israel until they refused to hear God's voice and be obedient. Only then
did God put them under the law, until the promised seed, Christ, should come.
He would again anoint their ears that they might hear His voice.
"For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham,
or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise
made of none effect." *** Romans 4:13-14
Under the law we have no inheritance, no promise of eternal life. The purpose of the law was only that the Israelites may have their sins covered until the time Jesus died: that we may have forgiveness of sin and come into a relationship with the Father again.
"And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect." *** Galatians 3:17
The covenant with Abraham stands today because it was confirmed by the Holy Spirit anointing upon it. The covenant with Abraham preceded the law by 430 years. It is still in effect after the law because it was confirmed in Christ. As we will see later, the Abrahamic Covenant is ours to claim, if we are Christ's.
"For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ." *** Galatians 3:27
The word baptized is BAPTIZO, which means "to completely immerse or dip".
The phrase "put on" is ENDUO, which means "putting one's self on another".
We must be totally immersed in Christ, taking His total being upon us.
There are multitudes today who have been told that because they have had
some physical manifestation, they are baptized in the Holy Spirit. But there
is no evidence of change in their lives.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith,
Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and
lusts." *** Galatians 5:22-24
When we have put on Christ, then the change which Christ, the anointing of the Father, brings in our lives will be seen by all. Our relationship with Christ will then be as a friend.
"Ye are My friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his
Lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard
of My Father I have made known unto you." *** John 15:14-15
God will begin to reveal His truths through the Spirit, as to who He is in us.
"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
The phrase shut up is the word SUMLEI and means "to close on all sides like
a net or trap". We were held in bondage until we came to Christ, the Holy
Spirit anointing. It is then that we are justified by faith.
The word justified is DIKAIOSIS, which means "the act of pronouncing
righteousness, justification and acquittal". Being righteous, just and innocent
before God does not come by the law, it comes by Christ. God's salvation
plan is not by the law, or any part of the law. It comes by Christ.
"But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." *** Galatians
3:25-26
We are justified by faith, not by things under the law. Only by faith in
Christ Jesus, the anointing, do we become the children of God.
This is one of the most important passages of scripture. Today, many do not
want any relationship to the Holy Spirit anointing. They are satisfied with
salvation and water baptism. When we talk of coming into a deeper relationship
with God through the Holy Spirit, they say "I am saved." But, if we are to
become the children of God, it is absolutely necessary to come into this
Spiritual relationship with Him, for God is Spirit.
As Paul said in Colossians,
"To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." *** Colossians 1:27
Justification, righteousness and acquittal are by Christ, the Holy Spirit anointing. This is our hope in glory.
"The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the
works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.
But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh,
to fulfil the lusts thereof." *** Romans 13:12 and 14
The phrase "put on" is used as putting on the armor of light. That light
called "Day" in Genesis, is the light that shone in the face of Jesus and
in the face of Moses and that light can shine in our face.
Christ is also the unifier of the body because it is His body that He is
bringing together. Since the day of Pentecost, man, through his means, has
tried to unify God's people. All the denominational systems, through man-made
doctrines, ordinances and rules, have tried to unify God's Body. But, all
it has done is separate and divide the Body of Christ, not only by their
denominational differences between each other, but within their own
denominations. There are many different groups with different doctrinal beliefs
in the same denomination.
At the crucifixion of Jesus on Golgotha, we see three crosses. One cross
represented the law. The other cross represented grace. But the center cross
held the True Body of Christ.
Law rejected Christ right to the end. Today, as we see the end nearing, those
under the law are still rejecting the True Body of Christ, having separated
themselves into their own groups having nothing to do with the cross of Christ,
or His Body.
The cross of grace showed God's true grace. That thief never confessed Jesus,
never asked forgiveness of sins, never was baptized. He did none of the things
we consider necessary to be saved. All he confessed was His desire to be
part of that Body that hung next to him. Jesus, by His Word, accepted him
into the kingdom.
But we see in *** John 19:32 that before sundown, the soldiers came and broke
the legs of both law and grace. Therefore, those bodies cannot stand. Only
the Body of Christ's legs were not broken.
"Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other
which was crucified with Him.
But when they came to Jesus, and saw that He was dead already, they broke
not His legs." *** John 19:32-33
"For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone
of Him shall not be broken." *** John 19:36
Sundown represents "the end of all things, or the end of time". Law and grace
will not stand after sundown. Only the True Body of Christ will stand in
that day.
We see this foretold in Psalm 22, which is the foretelling of Jesus on the
cross.
"I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint: My heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of My bowels." *** Psalm 22:14
All of Jesus' bones were out of joint. This is the shape in which His Spiritual Body is in today. All claim to be part of that Body, but there is no unity, no agreement. No bones are broken, but the Body is all out of joint. Therefore, the Body of Christ is not standing. It is racked with denominational and doctrinal differences. There is no power in the Body, and there will be no power in the Body until Christ becomes the head of the Body.
"But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which
is the head, even Christ." *** Ephesians 4:15
"But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of
God, and the wisdom of God." *** I Cor. 1:24
We must grow up into the head which is Christ. The Bible says we must put
on the mind of Christ. All through the scriptures, we see that it is Christ
who is the unifier of the Body. It is His Body which He will bring together,
to make up His Church. We must be part of His Body, or when He makes up His
Church, we will not be a part.
This will all be done through the anointing of the Father.
"And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." *** Matthew 24:31
God will gather His elect (His chosen). These are His Body, which will make up His church, His True Church. This will be done through His Holy Spirit anointing in our lives. Then the statements we see in Galatians and Corinthians and elsewhere will become reality in our walk.
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is
neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." *** Galatians
3:28
"For as the Body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that
one Body, being many, are one Body: so also is Christ." *** I Corinthians
12:12
Christ is the Body. Christ is the church.
"And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." *** Galatians 3:29
If we are Christ's, then we are Abraham's seed, and heirs to the promise
which God made Abraham. As Jesus was to the Father, we are to Him. Abraham's
seed is Christ. Then only those who have the Holy Spirit of God in their
lives are inheritors.
God declares,
"But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His." *** Romans 8:9
If we have not the Spirit of Christ, we are none of His, and if we are not His children, then we will not inherit.
"And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together." *** Romans 8:17
Our inheritance comes through the anointing. It is the Christ in us. It is
our hope of glory. We need to "put on Christ". Christ is Freedom, the law
is bondage.
CHAPTER 8
FLESH OR SPIRIT
"If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." *** John 8:36
Jesus came that man might be free. But man has consistently brought God's people under his control and power.
"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." *** John 8:32
The truth sets us free. The truth is that man's law, enslaves; but God's
Truth and Spirit set us free.
After Paul explained the purpose of the law, the bondage of the law and Christ
as the freedom from the law, he again addressed this subject in chapter four
of Galatians.
"Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?
For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the
other by a freewoman.
But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman
was by promise.
Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from
the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which
now is, and is in bondage with her children.
But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all." ***
Galatians 4:21-26
The word hear is the Greek word AKOYO, which means "to harken or understand".
Paul asked those who desired to be under the law if they understood the law.
Allegory is made up of two words, ALLOS, which means "other", and AGOREUO,
"to speak in place of". It signifies to speak, not according to the primary
sense of the word, but so the facts stated are applied to illustrate a principle.
We know the bondwoman was Hagar, the Egyptian slave girl. The free woman
was Sarah, Abraham's wife. The son of the bondmaid was Ishmael, and the son
of the free woman, Sarah, was Isaac.
The word for gendereth is GENNAO, which means "to beget or bring to birth".
The covenant from Mount Sinai (the law) brings bondage to birth.
Arabia is where Israel had wandered for 40 years. The Jerusalem which now
is, is the ancient city of Jerusalem, which is in the nation Israel.
Jerusalem has always represented the True Worship of God. Those who are trying
to worship God by keeping the law have gone back to Mount Sinai, the old
physical Jerusalem, with its fleshly observance of the law, which brings
bondage to birth. They have their inheritance with the bondwoman.
But the Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
The Jerusalem from above is the Spiritual Realm of Light, the realm over
the earth. Jerusalem above is free. There is no bondage.
In Revelation 21 we see something else about this city:
"And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." Revelation 21:2
The New Jerusalem is coming out of the Spiritual realm. The Jerusalem from
above is the Spiritual Holy City of God and is prepared as a bride.
When we look further, we see that this Holy City is the bride, the Lamb's
wife.
"And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials
full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither,
I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.
And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed
me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God."
*** Revelation 21:9-10
This, I know, will immediately raise the question: "Isn't the Church the
Bride of Christ? Isn't the Church that Holy City?" This has been taught by
many and has become a doctrinal stance of many groups.
One of the basic rules we must follow is that we go to the scriptures to
get our beliefs, not take man's teaching and try to make them fit in the
Bible.
We saw in Revelation 21:9-10 that the Bride, the Lamb's wife, is the Holy
City, New Jerusalem. The Holy City, the Lamb's wife and the Marriage Supper
of the Lamb go hand in hand. In order to understand the Marriage of the Lamb,
we need to look at the Marriage Supper. We find this in Matthew 22.
Jesus spoke this parable:
"The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son." *** Matthew 22:2
We see after this, that those who were bidden would not come. The king sent his servants into the highways and byways to gather the people into the wedding supper.
"So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests." *** Matthew 22:10
The wedding was furnished with guests (not brides).
"And when the king came in to see the guests, He saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment." *** Matthew 22:11
All the guests had on wedding garments (not the bridal veil). There was no
bride at this wedding feast. When this seemed strange to me, I began to study
the Hebrew Wedding Ceremony. The bride was never at the Marriage Supper.
When the time came for the bridegroom to marry his bride, he went to the
bride's house. The wedding was always held at the bride's house.
After the Marriage Ceremony, the bride, heavily veiled, was brought
to the bridegroom's house and was escorted to the bride's chamber, where
she was to remain until after the Marriage Supper was over. The bridegroom
was not to look upon his bride until after the Marriage Supper.
The Marriage Supper was part of the Wedding Celebration. The Marriage Supper
sometimes lasted for days. There was much eating and drinking. The bridegroom
would then enter the Bride chamber. The bride would become his wife through
the marital relationship.
When we come to an understanding of the Hebrew marriage ceremony, we then
begin to see how Jacob could have married Leah and not have known until the
morning after the Marriage Supper that he had been deceived. *** Genesis
29:21-25
When we think of marriage, we think of two people getting married and leaving
immediately on their honeymoon to be alone, the wedding veil being lifted
at the end of the marriage ceremony. It was not so in the Hebrew wedding.
The bride was not unveiled until after the marriage supper.
This is a shadow of the unveiling of the Holy City, New Jerusalem, coming
down from God out of Heaven. This will be after the Marriage Supper of the
Lamb.
"There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham,
and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you
yourselves thrust out.
And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north,
and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God." *** Luke 13:28-29
At the Marriage Supper of the lamb, we will sit down in the Kingdom of God,
then the bride will be revealed.
In Matthew 22, we see there is no bride at this marriage feast because the
bride is still in the bride chamber and will not come out of her bride chamber
until after the Marriage Supper is over.
We also see the Marriage Supper in Revelation 19:
"Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of
the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and
white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints." *** Revelation
19:7-8
The Lamb's wife is going to be arrayed (clothed) with fine linen, and that fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. Now, if we, the saints, are the wife, then we would clothe ourselves with our own righteousness. This would be self-righteousness. God said our righteousness is as filthy rags in His sight.
"And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athrist come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." *** Revelation 22:17
Do we say "Come," unto ourselves? If the saints are the brides, who then heareth?
"And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast." *** Mark 2:19
It should be obvious that He is referring to us as the children of the bridechamber and not the bride. The children of the bridechamber do not grow up to be the Bride.
"And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." *** Romans 8:23
We are waiting for adoption, not marriage. When a man takes a wife he does not adopt her. The fact that the church is not the Bride of Christ becomes even more clear in Abraham. The Holy City, New Jerusalem, is our inheritance. This was also the city which Abraham looked for.
"By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should
after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither
he went.
For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker
is God." *** Hebrews 11:8 and 10
This heavenly Jerusalem has been God's promise to man since Abraham, the
Father of faith, left the Ur of the Chaldees.
Was Abraham looking for the church when he looked for that city? No, Abraham
was looking for the physical manifestation of God's Spiritual promise. We
know he was not looking for us.
The Bible is plain concerning who the bride of Christ is. The marriage of
the Lamb and His wife are in the Spiritual realm. We do not understand what
this all means, but we do know God's principles. We are told that the Holy
City is the mother of us all. We also know that Christ Jesus is our Father
and many scriptures say that we are the children.
In this, we can see the family and marriage as God instituted it. He says
man and wife became one flesh. But in this marriage there is no flesh, because
this is happening in the Spiritual realm.
When the Bible refers to the Father as being our husband, He is referring
to Himself as our husbandman, which means "provider or one who cares for
us", never husband, as to be married unto His church. He acts as provider.
"For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building." *** I Corinthians 3:9
We are God's husbandry, and He is the husbandman, or caretaker and provider.
If this city was the church, why did God show Jeremiah where it would sit
upon the earth? To gain more understanding, we must read in Jeremiah 31:
"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the city shall be built to the Lord from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner." *** Jeremiah 31:38
Jeremiah says the Lord shall build a city.
"And the measuring line shall yet go forth over against it upon the hill
Gareb, and shall compass about to Goath.
And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields
unto the brook of Kidron, unto the corner of the horse gate toward the east,
shall be holy unto the Lord; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down
any more for ever." *** Jeremiah 31:39-40
We go, again, to Revelation 21 for more understanding concerning the eternal city.
"And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." *** Revelation 21:2
*** Revelation 21:2 tells that the holy city, New Jerusalem, came down from
God out of heaven. *** Jeremiah 31:38-40 tells where this holy city will
sit upon the earth. He said this city would not be plucked up. We would not
say this about a physical city; but God is speaking of His Holy City coming
down from God out of heaven (the Spiritual Realm).
There are no scriptures which say this Holy City is the church, or that the
church is that Holy City. This is man's teaching and has no scriptural backing.
The allegory Paul put forth has five parts. I want to look at these five
parts. Look again at Galatians 4.
"For this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children." *** Galatians 4:25
The word answereth is SUCTOICHEO, which means "to line up in a row". We think
of answereth as being in subjection to and must report back to, but SUCTOICHEO
means "to set in a row or to line up with".
On one side we have that which lines up with Mount Sinai, Hagar, Jerusalem
(which now is) and Ishmael (or the son this produces). This is all referring
to the law.
On the one side is the law:
#1 Flesh
#2 Bondswoman (Hagar)
#3 Old Jerusalem
#4 Ishmael (the son law produces)
#5 Bondage
On the other side of the allegory, those freed from the law by Christ:
#1 Spirit
#2 Freewoman (Sarah)
#3 New Jerusalem (our mother)
#4 Isaac (the promised son)
#5 Liberty (freedom)
Illustrated here are those who attempt to worship God after the flesh and
those who worship God after the Spirit.
"Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called." *** Hebrews
11:18
"Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born
after the Spirit, even so it is now." *** Galatians 4:28-29
We, as Isaac, are children of promise, and that promise comes by the Spirit,
but so many today who desire to walk in the Spirit are commanded to keep
the law, or some part of it. If we refuse to serve the bondwoman's son, we
are separated from their company and there can be no fellowship.
Paul said in *** Galatians 4:30-31:
"Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son:
for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free."
Back at the council at Jerusalem, Peter said,
"Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?" *** Acts 15:10
Paul also was at the council at Jerusalem. He stated,
"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." *** Galatians 5:1
That yoke of bondage is the law but Paul said Christ has made us free. Therefore, we are to cast out the bondwoman because her son will not be an inheritor with the Son of promise.
"But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn
ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to
be in bondage?
Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain." *** Galatians
4:9-11
Paul has stated our position in Christ and the law as plainly as it could
be explained. The law is of the flesh. Freedom is of Christ. You can serve
the law in the flesh and stay in bondage but there will be no inheritance
for those under the law.
You can serve Christ in the Spirit and be free. Stand fast in Christ's liberty
and be not entangled again with the things under the law.
CHAPTER 9
CURSE OF THE LAW
Paul said, "Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear
(understand) the law?" *** Galatians 4:21
"For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is
written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are
written in the book of the law to do them." *** Galatians 3:10
The word for curse is KATARA, which means "to separate and denounce evil
against yourself or another".
Paul writes that as many as are under the law are under the curse. That curse
separates us from God and denounces evil against us.
At the time Adam and Eve sinned, God pronounced curses against them and the
serpent, bringing separation and pronouncing evil against them.
"And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life." *** Genesis 3:14
God separated the serpent from all other animals. God cursed him to crawl in the dust the rest of his existence.
"And unto Adam He said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy
wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou
shalt not eat of it: Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou
eat of it all the days of thy life;
Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat
the herb of the field;
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the
ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt
thou return." *** Genesis 3:17-19
Adam was not in communion with the earth. God had separated Adam from the blessing of the earth. The earth had become a curse unto him. It would no longer yield its blessing. Man would have to work the soil by the sweat of his face.
"Unto the woman He said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee." *** Genesis 3:16
He separated the woman from the headship. Her husband was to have rule over
her, and her curse was pain in childbirth.
God also put a curse upon Cain after the murder of Abel.
"And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive
thy brother's blood from thy hand;
When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her
strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth." *** Genesis
4:11-12
Cain's curse was that the earth would not yield her strength unto him. He
was never allowed to settle upon the earth. He was to be a vagabond all the
days of his life, and he was separated from all peoples.
God pronounced these curses because of sin. But Paul said those under the
law are also under the Curse of the Law. How does the Curse of the Law apply
to those who desire to be under the law?
"For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." *** Galatians 3:10
This scripture was quoted from *** Deuteronomy 27:26 and is in reference
to those who want to keep part of the law and not the whole law. A man who
makes this decision to be under part of the law is under the curse.
Many today want to keep part of the law but not the whole law. Paul says
they are cursed. God has separated them and pronounced evil upon them.
"For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law." *** Galatians 5:3
If any man is circumcised to keep the law, then he must keep every jot and
tittle of the law." *** Matthew 5:18
The word debtor is OPHEILETES and means "to be obligated to do the whole
law". Man cannot choose what part of the law he wants to keep and what part
he believes is not necessary to keep.
"For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." *** James 2:10
If you try to keep part of the law, you must keep the whole law, and if you fail in one point, you are guilty of the whole law. The law was given as a unit. It cannot be partially accepted. If we be keepers of the law and commit sin, "How are we then to seek forgiveness?" By what process do we stand righteous before God?
"And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the
same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:
But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down
on the right hand of God." *** Hebrews 10:11-12
"For then must He often have suffered since the foundation of the world:
but now once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by
the sacrifice of Himself." *** Hebrews 9:26
Jesus put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Therefore, there is only
one sacrifice for sin, the blood of Jesus Christ.
Under Moses' law, there was no forgiveness, only sacrifices which could never
take away sin. In Christ Jesus, even this sacrifice was done away with, when
He became the sacrifice for sin. Therefore, after the cross, those who sin
under the law die because there is no sacrifice for that sin.
To those who desire to keep all or part of the law, by what sacrifice is
their sin forgiven or covered? There is none. They cannot go to Jesus because
they have not chosen grace, but law.
"Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by
the law; YE ARE FALLEN FROM GRACE." *** Galatians 5:4
"For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God
sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned
sin in the flesh:
That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not
after the flesh, but after the Spirit." *** Romans 8:3-4
Only those who walk in the Spirit fulfill the righteousness that God put in His law.
"But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law." *** Galatians
5:18
"For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth."
*** Romans 10:4
When we come into Christ, we come into a different relationship to God. It is not a relationship through the flesh, but through the Spirit.
"For we know that the law is Spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin." *** Romans 7:14
Paul realized he could not keep the law in the flesh because the law was
Spiritual, and he was in the flesh. No man can keep the law in the flesh.
This is why God instituted the Sacrificial System. If man could have kept
the law, there would have been no reason for the Sacrificial System.
As we saw in Moses, when God put the law in Moses' hands, man broke the law.
But the second time He put the law in the ark because He knew He had to keep
the law in Himself. He accomplished this in Jesus. He was the only man to
ever keep the law in the flesh.
"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." *** Galatians 3:13
We see Christ being the end of the law, and we also see Christ redeeming
us from the curse of the law. This is the Christ in us or the Holy Spirit
anointing in our lives. If we have not accepted that anointing, then we are
still under the law.
Paul, in the letter to the Colossians, explains how the law was nailed to
Jesus' cross and how the law was contrary to us.
"And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath
He quickened together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was
contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross." ***
Colossians 2:13-14
The word against is PROS. The main use of the word PROS in the Bible is "to
or unto". It would be more proper to say, "the handwriting of ordinances
which was to, or unto us".
We know Paul was talking about the law being nailed to the cross. Therefore,
the law had become a curse, being contrary to us and separating us from God.
We were dead in our sin, uncircumcised in the flesh, but He quickened us
together with Him (made us alive by the Spirit) and forgave all trespasses.
The word for trespasses is PARAPTOMA, which means "a false step, a blunder
or to fall away". It does not necessarily mean "to commit sin" but rather
"to make a mistake". But under grace we are forgiven.
"For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law." *** Romans 2:12
Those who have sinned in or under the law will be judged by the law, since there is no more sacrifice for sin under the law. Those who desire to be under the law stand guilty. This is why Paul called it the Law of Sin and Death.
"For the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." *** Romans 8:2
Next, we come to the question: "How do we know what is pleasing to God, and what is right or wrong in His sight?"
"Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart." *** II Corinthians 3:3
When we come into a Spiritual walk in the Holy Spirit, God writes His laws in our hearts (minds). We no longer follow them because they are written with ink or cut in stone, but because the Spirit directs us to do that which is pleasing to God. The law was never given to the righteous but to those who would not follow God's voice.
"Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the
lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and
profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers.
For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers,
for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is
contrary to sound doctrine." *** I Timothy 1:9-10
The righteous did not need the law, only those who rebelled against God and refused to hear His voice. Therefore, we then ask, "Who is righteous in God's eyes?"
"If ye know that He is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of Him." *** I John 2:29
We know every one who doeth righteousness is born of Him (or born of the
Spirit), not just saved but born again. Therefore, the righteous are not
under the law because they have been born again in the Spirit. Those who
are born of the Spirit follow another law.
This law is spoken of in many places. It is called the law of Liberty. Moses'
law, as we saw, was the Law of Bondage.
"But whoso looketh into the perfect Law of Liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed." *** James 1:25
Paul understood this Law of Liberty we have in the Spirit.
"All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any." *** I Cor. 6:12
What had Paul been set free from? The law. And since he was set free from
the law, he said that now all things were lawful unto him, but some things
were not expedient.
The word expedient is SUMPHERO, which means "to be advantageous or profitable".
Paul was speaking of his walk with God. He was free to do all things, but
they were not advantageous, profitable or uplifting in his walk.
Paul proclaimed he would not be brought under the power of any. Power is
the word ESOPUSIAZO, which means "to exercise authority over". Paul said
he was not coming under the authority of any, or anything.
We submit to authority. But to be brought under the power of someone, gives
them authority over you that you have not submitted to. Therefore, you have
become a slave unto men and not a bond servant of God.
Paul addresses this again in I Corinthians:
"All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not." *** I Corinthians 10:23
Paul said all things were lawful, but all things were not edifying to the body. Therefore, we see by these scriptures that Paul understood the Law of Liberty in his life, which he had through the Spirit.
"For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he
is guilty of all.
For He that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if
thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor
of the law.
So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the Law of Liberty."
*** James 2:10-12
Paul is telling us not to do as they; but do, and say, as those who will be judged by the Law of Liberty.
"For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another." *** Galatians 5:13
Paul said he was free to do all things, but all things did not edify, and all things were not expedient. We are not to use this liberty as an occasion of the flesh. In other words, "Do not use your freedom to satisfy the flesh, but rather to serve God in the Spirit."
"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." *** Galatians 5:1
Christ, the Holy Spirit anointing, has set us free, free from the Law of Sin and Death.
"Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." *** Galatians
6:2
"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for
us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." *** Galatians
3:13
When Jesus was hung on a tree (the cross), He did not become a curse, but
a blessing to the whole world. The law was the curse, but Jesus was the blessing.
He brought grace.
If you have received the blessing of forgiveness of sin, then get free of
the law.
If you choose to be under law, or any part of it, then as Galatians 2:21
says, "Christ is dead in vain in your life."
Galatians 5:4 "Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; YE ARE FALLEN FROM GRACE."
If you reject Christ, then you are still under the curse of the Law of Sin
and Death. If you sin you die, because there is no forgiveness under the
law.
We must choose today. We can choose the Curse or the perfect Law of Liberty
in Christ. It comes down to two choices, "Christ or the Curse."
CHAPTER 10
EAT NOT THE UNCLEAN THING
When we come into a personal relationship with Christ, and begin to walk
in and through the Spirit, we begin to see more clearly that those who are
trying to be pleasing to God in the flesh are missing God's whole intended
purpose for their lives. All these fleshly activities that are so important
to them have absolutely no bearing on their relationship to God. One area
that many try to be pleasing to God is in diet.
In attempting to keep the law, many follow the Levitical Dietary Laws. We
do not address this in any sense of these being good or bad. Since God gave
them we will accept them as good.
What I want to address here is this: "Do we still follow these and keep the
law?" and "Are these limitations to our diet still in effect?"
In any study of this nature, we must begin at the beginning. Therefore, we
will begin at Genesis 1. On the fifth day, God created everything in the
waters and all the fowls of the air. God saw that everything He created was
good. At the beginning of the sixth day, God created all the earth-bound
creatures, beasts great and small and the insect world. God saw that everything
He created that day was good. God also created man on the sixth day. God
made every living thing that He created to eat herbs. Nothing on earth at
this time was to eat meat. There were no carnivorous animals. *** Gen. 1:20-31
This was the way God's whole earth-bound creation was to eat. This did not
change until after the flood. But after the flood, we see God changed man's
diet drastically.
"And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and
multiply, and replenish the earth.
And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the
earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth,
and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.
Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb
have I given you all things." *** Genesis 9:1-3
Everything God created, He created good. There was nothing defiled. After
the flood, God gave it all to man for food, with no limitations, no reservations
and no restrictions. All the herbs, all the things in the water, all the
things which were upon the earth. This included all the insects.
As we stated before, man lived under grace during this time. No other
restrictions were put upon man's diet until the giving of the law. As long
as man was under grace, there were no restrictions upon his diet. But when
Israel refused to hear God's voice, then the law was given, and God changed
their diet.
We find these changes in Leviticus 11. I will not take up space to go into
these, but rather, I want to look at whether the breaking of the dietary
laws constituted sin. We find under the law that when a person committed
sin, the priest had to offer a sin offering for him in order that his sin
might be covered. But there was no sin offering mandated for eating forbidden
foods.
"And he that eateth of the carcass of it shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: he also that beareth the carcass of it shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even." *** Leviticus 11:40
It was necessary for them to wash their clothes, and they were unclean until the evening. When evening came, they were clean again. There was no other punishment for breaking the dietary laws.
"And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you." *** Lev. 11:10
God said unclean foods were an abomination to the children of Israel. He
did not say they were an abomination unto Him, but rather an abomination
unto them. This is stated throughout *** Leviticus 11:10-42. These verses
all say these foods are an abomination to the children of Israel under the
law.
I want to look at the word abomination. There are two words used here, SHIQQUES,
meaning "detest", and the word, SHEQUES, meaning "detestable thing". Detest
means "to dislike greatly". It was God who had made these foods an abomination
under the law. He had made them unclean and contaminated to the children
of Israel. They were to be an abomination, or they were to greatly dislike
these forbidden foods in their diet under the law.
They had to accept, without question, these changes in their diet in order
to be obedient to God. They were given this law because they refused to hear
God's voice. Under grace, which was before the law, this was not so.
We find no other restrictions in man's diet except those while Israel was
under the law. When we come to the New Testament, while Jesus walked upon
the earth, Israel was still under the law. After the day of Pentecost, when
the Holy Spirit had been given, God changed man's diet again. This time it
reverted back to the diet as it was after the flood.
In Acts 10, God gave Peter a vision which reveals to us that man was no longer
under the Levitical Diet.
"On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city,
Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour:
And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready,
he fell into a trance,
And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had
been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth:
Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts,
and creeping things, and fowls of the air.
And there came a voice to him, Rise Peter; kill, and eat.
But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common
or unclean.
And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed,
that call not thou common." *** Acts 10:9-15
All the things which had been forbidden under the law were on that sheet.
God told Peter to get up and kill what was on the sheet and eat it. But Peter,
like many today, argued with God that he was going to keep the dietary laws.
God said, "What I have cleansed, call not thou common." God cleansed everything
on that sheet. No longer was there anything unclean in man's diet. Man was
given again, as after the flood, everything God had made in the beginning,
and He called it good. Yet, today, there are those who are still arguing
with God that the foods He cleansed are unclean.
There is another aspect to this vision which God gave Peter. God was going
to send Peter to Cornelius' house. Those of Cornelius' household were the
first Gentiles to receive salvation.
The Jews thought all non-Jews (Gentiles) were unclean. God was truly showing
Peter that the blood of Jesus was for all mankind, not just for the Jews.
But when God said, "Arise, kill, and eat what is on the sheet," it was a
direct reference to the cleansing of all His creation for food.
Paul was constantly faced with the problem of the law and spoke about the
dietary laws. Paul's conclusion was, "It really does not make any difference
what we eat or do not eat."
"Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.
For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth
herbs.
Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which
eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him." *** Romans
14:1-3
Paul is speaking to those who not only follow the dietary laws, but to be safe follow the Genesis diet, spoken by God in the beginning. They have made their diet their religion and are trying to please God in the flesh.
"He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks." *** Romans 14:6
Paul is saying it does not matter what you eat, as long as you give God thanks.
"For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it
is evil for that man who eateth with offence." *** Romans 14:20
"But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better;
neither, if we eat not, are we the worse.
But take heed lest by any means this liberty of your's become a stumblingblock
to them that are weak." *** I Cor. 8:8-9
Paul says our liberty should not be a stumbling block to the weak. Paul made it very plain in I Corinthians 10.
"If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to
go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience
sake.
But if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat
not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience sake: for the earth is
the Lord's and the fullness thereof:
Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other: for why is my liberty
judged of another man's conscience?
For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which
I give thanks?
Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory
of God." *** I Corinthians 10:27-31
Paul said that if you are invited to a feast by an unbeliever, whatsoever
is set before you eat, asking no question for conscience's sake. He was talking
of meat offered to idols. If you are told that this meat was offered to idols,
do not eat it because of the one who told you. It is for his conscience because
he is weak, NOT because there is anything wrong with the food. For the earth
is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.
Paul said, "Why should my liberty be judged by another man's conscience?"
Whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of
God. He said, "If I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that
which I give thanks?" Paul lived by grace. Those who spoke evil of Paul were
still in bondage to the law. Paul was free. Jesus said:
"Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man: but that which cometh
out of the mouth, this defileth a man.
Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth
into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?
But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart:
and they defile the man." *** Matthew 15:11 and 17-18
It is not what we eat or drink that defiles us, but that which proceedeth out of the heart of man and comes out his mouth. The scripture is very clear that when man is under grace, God puts no limitations upon his diet. The only limitations are under the law, which is done away with in Christ.
"Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth
not himself in that thing which he alloweth.
And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith:
for whatsoever is not of faith is sin." *** Romans 14:22-23
Do not let others set rules and regulations for you to follow. Do not let anyone condemn you in the things that you eat, and do not condemn yourself. God has made you free. Do not be entangled again in the yoke of bondage.
"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart
from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath
created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the
truth.
For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received
with thanksgiving:
For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer." *** I Timothy 4:1-5
Everything God created was good, as He spoke to Peter. Today we still have those who deny the Lord.
"But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction." *** II Peter 2:1
These damnable heresies will bring God's people back under bondage, trying
to have them be pleasing to God in the flesh by what they eat, what they
wear or by following their man-made doctrines. Everything that God has made,
He has given us for food. As God spoke to Peter, "Do not call that unclean
which He has cleansed." You may now eat the unclean thing because God has
cleansed it.
CHAPTER 11
THE TRUE SEVENTH SABBATH
Many say we must still keep the Sabbath. They contend that when God rested
on the seventh day from His creative labor, He made it a law that we were
to keep the seventh day as our Sabbath day forever. Many denominations have
raised up, having separated themselves because of this doctrinal difference
between themselves and all others that worship God on Sunday.
These doctrinal differences which bring separation in the Body of Christ
need to be corrected. God desires unity in His Body. Paul wrote:
"Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you: but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment." *** I Cor 1:10
The precepts and doctrines of men divide and enslave God's people, but God would have us free.
"And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight." *** Acts 20:7
The early church met on the first day of the week. This is our Lord's day.
Jesus was resurrected on the first day of the week. Jesus ascended from the
earth on the first day of the week. The day of Pentecost was also on the
first day of the week. These events changed the whole course of history for
mankind. We are a people of faith. We meet on the first day of the week to
praise Him for what He is going to do that week.
All the law was fulfilled in Christ. This includes the keeping of the seventh
day, or Saturday, as the Sabbath. But God has a True Sabbath. We will keep
that True Sabbath with joy. It will not bring bondage but true freedom in
God.
Jesus, who is our example, had two perfectly good opportunities to tell the
people to keep the Sabbath but He never mentioned it.
The rich young ruler came to Jesus in Luke 18.
"And a certain ruler asked Him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit
eternal life?
Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not
steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother." ***
Luke 18:18 and 20
Jesus listed half of the commandments, but not one word about this rich young ruler keeping the Sabbath. The lawyer asked Jesus,
"Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." *** Matthew
22:36-40
Again, Jesus did not mention keeping the Sabbath. In fact, it is not mentioned
once in the whole New Testament. It is not even suggested anywhere in the
New Testament.
When God, through His Word, begins to reveal the true meaning of His seventh
day of creation, we begin to see His glorious promises to man about that
seventh day.
When we look at the seventh day, we must also look at the third day. As we
study the Word, it becomes plain that both of these days are talking about
the same day.
Both refer to the 1,000-year reign of Christ with His saints. The seventh
day measures the time from the first Adam, and the third day measures the
time from the second Adam (Jesus). In other words, the seventh day comes
after the 6,000th year from Adam, and the third day comes after the 2,000th
year since Christ.
This will become clearer as we go along. To see God's True Seventh Day, we
must start again at Genesis.
"And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested
on the seventh day from all His work which He had made.
And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He
had rested from all His work which God created and made." *** Genesis 2:2-3
The word blessed is BARAH, which means "endue with power, to succeed". Sanctified
is the word QADESH, which means "to set apart into the sacred realm". Therefore,
the seventh day, not the sabbath, was endued with power to succeed and is
set apart in the sacred realm. God was not referring to Saturday, but to
His seventh day of creation.
This day begins after the 6,000 years of man's existence upon the earth.
The writer of Hebrews speaks of this seventh day.
"Let us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into His
rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached
did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
For we which have believed do enter into rest, as He said, As I have sworn
in My wrath, if they shall enter into My rest: although the works were finished
from the foundation of the world." *** Hebrews 4:1-3
The word for rest is KATAPAUSIS, which means "to cease from all labor". This
has the same meaning as "Sabbath" in the Old Testament.
The warning is for us today. "Do not abandon or forsake this promise; that
any come short of entering into His rest." God had a rest for His people,
Israel, but they did not enter into that rest because of unbelief.
*** Hebrews 4:3 is quoted from *** Psalm 95:11.
"Unto whom I sware in My wrath that they should not enter into My rest."
Before we can understand God's True Seventh Day, we must understand God's wrath which is coming upon the earth. This is called by many names: The Day of the Lord, The Day of Wrath, The Great Tribulation, The Great and Terrible Day of the Lord, The Day of Judgment and God's Judgment. These all refer to the same time, which is the Day of His Wrath. This will come at the end of the sixth day.
"For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." *** Matthew 24:21
This event, the Great Tribulation, is foretold throughout the whole Bible.
God is going to judge the sin of mankind, those who have rejected His grace.
Although most churches teach a false doctrine of Rapture, the Bible does
not mention or even suggest that God has any such plan for His saints. This
doctrine has brought the false hope spoken of in *** Matthew 25:5.
"While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept."
The church has been lulled into a false sense of security by this false doctrine.
God's wrath will be poured out at the end of the sixth day, just before God's
True Seventh Day begins.
This is why the writer of Hebrews warns in *** Hebrews 4:1 that we should
fear lest we come short of that day. In plain words, those will not enter
into His day or His rest! Those who come short of that day will go through
the Wrath of God. They will not enter the rest of His True Sabbath.
God's work was finished from the beginning. The sixth day ended all His creative
process.
"...although the works were finished from the foundation of the world." *** Heb. 4:3
When God's six days of creation were finished, there was nothing to be added to His physical creation. By looking at the scriptures, we see God had ordained His salvation plan for mankind even before man sinned in the garden.
"Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure." *** Isaiah 46:10
God declared the end from the beginning and all works were finished from the foundation of the world. God has given us many scriptures which proclaim this:
"According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love:
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will." *** Ephesians 1:4-5
We were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world.
"And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship Him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." *** Revelation 13:8
The Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world.
"Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things,
as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from
your fathers:
But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without
spot:
Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest
in these last times for you." *** I Peter 1:18-20
We were redeemed by the blood of Jesus before the foundation of the world.
"Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." *** Matthew 25:34
The kingdom was prepared from the foundation of the world.
All the works were finished at the end of His six days of creation, not only
the physical creation, but everything that had to do with the redemption
plan for God's people. This included the Crucifixion of Jesus and our being
chosen by God to be in Him. It also includes everything concerning His kingdom.
All were finished before the foundation of the world.
We do not know how long the first six days were, but we know how long the
seventh day is because the Bible tells us that the seventh day is the 1,000-year
millennium.
The word day is YOM. It can have one of five meanings:
#1 The period of light (as contrasted with the
period of darkness)
#2 The period of 24 hours
#3 A general, vague time
#4 A point in time
#5 One year
"For He spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God
did rest the seventh day from all His works.
And in this place again, If they shall enter into My rest.
Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom
it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:
Again, He limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long
a time, as it is said, To day, if ye will hear His voice, harden not your
hearts." *** Hebrews 4:4-7
Again these scriptures relate to Israel's rejection of God and their refusal
to hear His voice. God is still waiting for a people to hear His voice.
God entered into His seventh day and rested. When did He leave His rest?
He did not leave His rest or His place, but has been waiting for a people
to enter into that rest with Him.
As David said:
"For He is our God; and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of
His hand. To day, if ye will hear His voice,
Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation
in the wilderness." *** Psalm 95:7-8
So it is today. When we refuse to hear His voice, He keeps us under law, because we have refused His Spirit. We need to develop our Spiritual ears and listen for His voice.
"For if Jesus had given them rest, then would He not afterward have spoken
of another day.
There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
For he that is entered into His rest, he also hath ceased from his own works,
as God did from His.
Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the
same example of unbelief." *** Hebrews 4:8-11
Most translators agree that the use of Jesus' name in the KJV should have been Joshua and that this passage is referring to Israel.
"There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God." *** Hebrews 4:9
This verse is in the future tense. Therefore it uses Israel as the reference
but points ahead to those who have come to Jesus in the flesh but have refused
His Spirit. They have refused to hear His voice and have not come into His
rest. We must do this in the Spirit because there is no rest in the flesh.
Jesus did not bring this rest, because Jesus represents the flesh. But Jesus
spoke of another day. That day was His seventh day of rest. God is looking
for a people who will cease from their own labors and, as Jesus, do only
as they see the Father doing and say only what the Father speaks. For us
to enter into that day, we must develop our Spiritual senses. We will not
enter into that day with this flesh.
When we come to this Spiritual place in the Father, then we will have entered
into His rest. He entered into His rest on the seventh day. Those who have
come to this place in the Father will enter into His rest on the seventh
day, also.
We can see types and shadows of the seventh day all through the Bible. Let's
look at the lives of Noah and Jesus. Noah's life is the key to the time in
which we live.
In the words of Jesus, the days of Noah are going to be as the days of the
coming of the Son of man.
"And as it was in the days of Noe (Noah), so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man." *** Luke 17:26
Most believe that Jesus was referring to the condition of the world and the
condition the people were in at this time. This may be one reference, but
I want to look at another.
We see in *** Genesis 5:32 and *** Genesis 6:8 that Noah found grace in the
eyes of the Lord when he was 500 years old.
"And Noah was five hundred years old..." *** Genesis 5:32
"But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." *** Genesis 6:8
God told Noah to build the ark, and it was not until the 600th year of Noah's life that the flood came.
"In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened." *** Genesis 7:11
Noah was on the ark for 375 days. When Noah got off the ark He was 601 years old.
"And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry." *** Genesis 8:13
When Noah was 500 years old, he found grace in the eyes of the Lord. When
Noah was 600 years old, he was on the ark, He was 601 when he stepped off
the ark.
Noah found grace in his 5th day. At the end of this 6th day, the earth was
destroyed. At the beginning of his 7th day, (601), he got off the ark, on
to a cleansed earth. All the wickedness spoken of in Genesis 6:5 was gone.
Only those who were in God's protected place were left upon the earth.
We see this same picture illustrated in Jesus' life. But before we look at
this, we must look at II Peter 3.
"But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." *** II Peter 3:8
God's days are 1,000 years in length. Jesus came to earth approximately 4,000
years from creation, or Jesus came to earth at the beginning of the 5th day.
As Galatians 4 says, Jesus came in the fullness of time, as God had ordained
in Himself.
"But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law." *** Galatians 4:4
So Jesus brought grace at the beginning of the 5th day. It has been about
two days, the 5th and 6th day, since He left the earth. We are about to enter
the 7th day.
As it was in the days of Noah, at the end of the 6th day He will cleanse
the earth of all unrighteousness. Then the True Sabbath will come, which
is God's seventh day of creation.
This is also referred to as the third day.
"And He said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected." *** Luke 13:32
Jesus is referring to being perfected in His people.
"When He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe...in that day." *** II Thessalonians 1:10
The 3rd day is the day that God is going to be glorified in His saints. As
Jesus was glorified in the Father, we will be glorified in the Son.
Today and tomorrow, or the 5th and 6th day, is the time of cures and of casting
out demons. The 2,000 years since Jesus left the earth are two days. The
third day is the 1,000-year millennial period, in which He will be perfected
in His saints.
We also see a type of the third day when Israel entered into the promised
land.
"And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant
of the Lord your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall
remove from your place, and go after it.
Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits
by measure..." *** Joshua 3:3-4
The ark represents our PROMISE, PROTECTION, PROVISION, POWER and PEACE. Jesus is our Ark of the Covenant. We will follow Him about 2,000 cubits, which is the measure of a man.
"And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel." *** Revelation 21:17
The cubit is the measure of man. Man measures time by years. We will follow
our ark about 2,000 years.
Many references are made to the third and seventh day in the New Testament.
"And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there." *** John 2:1
The Marriage Supper at Cana was on the third day. The first two days are not mentioned, but the third day was when the stone water pots were filled to the brim. Those stone water pots represent God's people being filled to the brim with the Spirit of God. This will be on the third day, when we will receive the Holy Spirit without measure.
"And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and
bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,
And was transfigured before them: and His face did shine as the sun, and
His raiment was white as the light." *** Matthew 17:1-2
It was after six days that Jesus was transfigured. Again the first six days
are not mentioned. It is after six days, or the seventh day, when Jesus is
going to appear before His saints in all His glory.
In the Word, there are many references to our seeing God in all His glory,
standing in His very presence and becoming that express image of the Son,
as Jesus was the express image of the Father.
"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is." *** I John 3:2
We cannot see (it doth not yet appear), but we do know that we will see Him
as HE is in all His glory. We too, will see Him in all His glory just as
Paul did on the road to Damascus and as John saw Him on the Isle of Patmos.
We, too, will see Him in all His glory.
John says we shall be like Him.
"When He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe...in that day." *** II Thessalonians 1:10
Jesus' return will be when He will be glorified in His saints. It is going to be "In That Day". Even the ancient patriarch, Job, saw this day.
"For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter
day upon the earth:
And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I
see God:
Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another;
though my reins be consumed within me." *** Job 19:25-27
Job knew his flesh would not enter into God's presence but in his Spiritual
flesh, or his redeemed body, he would see his God.
God will appear in all His glory in His saints, and every eye will see Him,
not those with physical eyes, but those who have Spiritual eyes to see Him.
"When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with
Him in glory." *** Colossians 3:4
"After two days will He revive us: in the third day He will raise us up,
and we shall live in His sight." *** Hosea 6:2
Four times Jesus speaks of raising His people up the last day, *** John 6:39, 40-44 and 54. This is not speaking of the Resurrection, it is speaking of the Seventh Day; or if you desire, the Third Day. They are both the same period of time. It is when we will be raised up in His glorified presence.
"Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such
the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ,
and shall reign with Him a thousand years." *** Revelation 20:6
"And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light
of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for
ever and ever." *** Revelation 22:5
Let's review what has been discussed thus far in this chapter. Under the
Mosaic law, God told Israel to keep the Seventh Day holy unto the Lord. God
gave this ordinance three times. He spoke it two times under grace, and twice
He wrote it on the tablets. The tablets were only presented once to Israel
because the first time Moses broke them. This was first spoken to Israel
by God in *** Exodus 16:23. God gave them a sabbath of rest. Remember, the
sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath. *** Mark 2:27
The question is: "Why did God want Israel to keep the Sabbath?"
#1 He desired the people to have a day of rest from all labors (God's mercy).
#2 It was also to show the reverence for the True Sabbath, or the Seventh
Day of God's creation.
God entered into that Seventh Day in *** Genesis 2:2, and has been waiting
for a people to enter that day with Him so that He may have the same relationship
with His creation as He did in the garden.
"For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect." *** Hebrews 10:1
The law was only a shadow, not the very image. No one under the law will come into perfection.
"Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an
holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." *** Col.
2:16-17
The Body of Christ are those who are the anointed and hear God's voice. A shadow is not the real thing. The law was a shadow. The keeping of the sabbath was only a shadow of what God was going to do with His people.
"Now all these things happened unto them (Israel) for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come." *** I Cor. 10:11
This speaks of Israel. What happened to Israel was only an example to us,
on whom the ends of the world have come, those who are in the place to enter
into His rest, those who keep His True Seventh Day Sabbath, those to whom
God has sanctified and endued with power.
These are the ones who will enter into His rest in that day; a day set apart
in the sacred realm, a day God endued with power and a day in which God is
going to reveal himself in all His glory. Make sure you do not come short
of it!
CHAPTER 12
THE EARLY AND THE LATTER RAIN
Jesus says "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." *** Matthew 16:18
Jesus was not talking about a weak, defeated, unseparated-from-the-world
church, overcome by every trial and testing, but a church that has been endued
with power from on high, with Jesus as their example. Christ is their head,
and He will subdue the enemy and put the enemy under His footstool.
We ask, "How can this be?" God's word is full of wonderful promises concerning
the Seventh Day, for it is the Day of Restoration.
Isaiah spoke of this day in which we live.
"But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore." *** Is. 42:22
He is speaking of the church; a people who have been robbed and spoiled. They are trapped in their holes and hid away in prison houses, being held captive by the precepts and doctrines of men in their denominational system. These who are unable to overcome satan in their lives.
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised." *** Luke 4:18
Jesus says He came to preach deliverance to the captive and recover the sight of the blind. These are those who are Spiritually blind. *** Isaiah 42:22 says, "None saith, Restore." The restoration message has been replaced in the church with a message of rapture and prosperity.
"And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful." *** Revelation 21:5
Jesus said He will make all things new. This is His day of restoration, a day we can all be part of. God's wrath will soon be poured out upon the earth! In that day, will you be overcome, or will you be an overcomer?
"For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." *** Matthew 24:21
There has never been a time like this, nor ever shall there be again, but
God promised a people that shall walk through this time and be victorious,
ruling and reigning with Him for 1,000 years. This is the Seventh Day.
In order that we may understand the Early and Latter Rain, I want to begin
with the Day of Pentecost.
"And, behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high." *** Luke 24:49
The promise of the Father was the Holy Spirit. The "power" was also referring to the Holy Spirit.
"But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God." *** I Corinthians 1:24
Christ is the power and wisdom of God. Jesus gave His disciples a direct commandment to tarry, or stay in Jerusalem.
"And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)" *** Acts 1:15
There were 120 in the upper room on the day of Pentecost.
"And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." *** Acts 2:4
First, we observe that they were in the place where Jesus told them to be. They were obedient. We do not know how many disciples Jesus had at this time, but we do know that if He had more, only those that were obedient were filled with the Spirit.
"For He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him." *** John 3:34
Jesus was given the fullness of the Spirit. Was this how the disciples received the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost?
"And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." *** Romans 8:23
We have received the firstfruits of the Spirit. The firstfruits allude to the Feast of Firstfruits which was part of the Passover. It was when the first ripe fruits were picked and waved before the Lord to insure a bountiful harvest. The first fruits of the Spirit were given so that God would have a bountiful harvest in the day of harvest, or the day of redemption.
"Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." *** II Corinthians 1:22
The word earnest is ARRHABON, which means "down payment to be redeemed later". We have received the down payment of the Spirit.
"Now He that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath
given unto us the earnest of the Spirit." *** II Corinthians 5:5
"In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel
of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with
that Holy Spirit of promise,
Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession, unto the praise of His glory." *** Ephesians 1:13-14
We have not received the fullness of the Spirit, only the firstfruits, the
down payment, until the day of redemption.
This was prophesied in the Old Testament.
"Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for He hath given you the former rain moderately, and He will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month." *** Joel 2:23
God has given us the former rain moderately. This came on the Day of Pentecost.
He promises us the former and the latter rain in the first month, together.
This is the promised Double Portion outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
We see a type of this in Elijah and Elisha. The day Elijah was going to be
taken off the earth, Elijah and Elisha were inseparable. Three times Elijah
told Elisha to wait first at Bethel, then at Jericho and finally at the Jordan.
All three times, Elisha refused to be separated from Elijah.
"And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters,
and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry
ground.
And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha,
Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha
said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.
And he said, Thou has asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when
I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not
be so.
And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there
appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder;
and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My Father, my Father, the chariot of Israel,
and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his
own clothes, and rent them in two pieces.
He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and
stood by the bank of Jordan." *** II Kings 2:8-13
Elijah told Elisha if he saw him when he was taken up, he would receive a
double portion. You can be assured that Elisha never took his eyes off Elijah.
Only those who will never take their eyes off God will receive the Double
Portion outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
THE SPIRIT OF ELIJAH
"Elijah" means "my God is Jehovah". Therefore the Spirit of Elijah was the
Spirit of the Father, or the Holy Spirit. When we get to the New Testament,
we find the Spirit of Elijah again.
"And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." *** Luke 1:17
This scripture is speaking of John the Baptist. The Spirit of Elijah rested upon John. John was to proclaim the first coming of Jesus.
"For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb." *** Luke 1:15
John was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb. John knew the
Spirit of Elijah from the very beginning.
Jesus proclaimed John the Baptist as Elijah, or the Elijah ministry, but
He also spoke of the Elijah ministry that is in the earth today.
"And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell
the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.
And His disciples asked Him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias
must first come?
And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias (Elijah) truly shall first come,
and restore all things.
But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but
have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of
man suffer of them.
Then the disciples understood that He spake unto them of John the Baptist."
*** Matthew 17:9-13
Jesus said Elijah would come and restore all things. The Elijah ministry
which is in the earth today is restoring all things. These are the ministries
crying, "RESTORE!"
What are these ministries restoring? To start with, the true praise and worship
which God not only desires, but demands from His people. The Elijah ministry
is raising up a people who are totally separated from the world unto God,
a people whose heart, soul, mind and strength is turned to God, who have
nothing to do with the religious system, whose whole desire is to know Him.
As Paul said in Philippians,
"That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death." *** Philippians 3:10
That I may know Him, not just know about Him, but know Him. Not a theological
understanding, but to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the
fellowship of His suffering, being made conformable unto His death.
This is the death of the flesh dying to flesh and the lust of the flesh.
This is the Elijah ministry in the earth today.
"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great
and dreadful day of the Lord:
And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart
of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a
curse." *** Malachi 4:5-6
This coming of Elijah is before the Great and Dreadful Day of the Lord; the
Wrath of God which is coming upon the whole earth. He will turn the heart
of the Father to His children. This will be when true worship and praise
is given to the Father. Then will He again smile upon His children. Then
His children's hearts will again be returned to the Father, "their Heavenly
Father."
To summarize, there are three appearances of the Elijah ministry:
#1 Elijah
#2 John the Baptist
#3 The Elijah ministry in the earth today
This ministry today is to restore all things. It will also bring forth the
Double Portion ministry which will be in the earth at the time of Restoration.
This ministry will be accomplished by those who, like Elisha, have torn off
the old covering, which is the flesh; overcoming the flesh, putting on the
Elijah mantle, the Holy Spirit covering, and turning their hearts back to
the Father.
We know by reading the Word that Elisha's ministry did twice as many miracles
as did Elijah's ministry. Does the Bible speak of the Double Portion ministry?
"Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for He hath given you the former rain moderately, and He will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month." *** Joel 2:23
In the natural, the Early (former) and Latter Rains are speaking of the spring
planting and the fall harvest rains. In the Spiritual, the planting rains
refer to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Joel
says we received the Former rain moderately, but the Former and Latter rain
would be poured out together in the first month or at the beginning of a
new dispensation of time.
When will this time be?
"Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for He hath torn, and He will heal
us; He hath smitten, and He will bind us up.
After two days will He revive us: in the third day He will raise us up, and
we shall live in His sight.
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 6:1-3
Hosea said that after two days, or two 1,000-year days, He would raise us
up to live in His sight. We saw in Matthew 17, it was after the sixth day
that Jesus appeared in all His glory before His disciples. Hosea said those
who would see this are those who followed on to know the Lord. Those who
have received the Early and Latter rain will rule and reign with Christ during
the 1,000 years of Restoration. This will be the Seventh Day of God's creation
which God has set apart in the sacred realm and endued with power for His
people who will enter into it.
This Double Portion outpouring of the Holy Spirit is also spoken of in the
New Testament.
"Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husband-man waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until He receive the early and latter rain." *** James 5:7
Much of what Jesus said concerning the Double Portion outpouring of the Holy Spirit has not been understood because man has tried to understand it with his carnal mind. If we are to gain understanding of what Jesus spoke, we must look at it in the light in which it was spoken.
"It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are life." *** John 6:63
The words of Jesus are Spiritual. We must understand them with our Spiritual
mind. Our carnal mind has no comprehension of the things of the Spirit.
As we read the Word, God speaks of a wonderful time that is coming upon the
earth for His kingdom people. Since Jesus left the earth, man has been trying
to bring them to pass in the flesh, to bring glory to the flesh, but Jesus'
words were Spiritual.
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father." *** John 14:12
Jesus spoke of the greater work which His kingdom people would do, those whom He has endowed with the Double Portion of His Spirit. Jesus received the Spirit without measure. Those who receive this Double Portion outpouring will do greater works. This day we will see shortly. Jesus speaks of this great people whom He will raise up in the earth at this time.
"Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." *** Matt. 11:11
John was the greatest man ever born. Greater than all in the Old Testament.
Greater than Moses, David, Joseph, Isaac, Jacob, yes, and even Abraham. He
says the least in the kingdom will be greater than all these men.
These are those who hear and are obedient to God's voice. These will be spared
the wrath. They will not be taken off the earth, but put in a protected place,
like Noah, who went through the flood. God's wrath was all around him but
could not touch him.
"Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." *** Luke 21:36
Those who will receive the Early and Latter Rain together are those who have
received and are operating in the Firstfruits and the Earnest of the Spirit
God has already given.
God's Word is full of His wonderful promises. We need to come into the place
in God where we are able to receive these promises. As we see the day of
His wrath approaching, we need to follow His Word.
"Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." *** Matthew 26:41
BIBLIOGRAPHY
HOLY BIBLE
King James Version
THE EXPANDED VINE'S EXPOSITORY DICTIONARY OF
NEW TESTAMENT WORDS
John R. Kohlenberger III, Editor
Bethany Publisher
Minneapolis, Minnesota
55348
copyright 1984 PA881, V5 1984 487.4
THEOLOGICAL WORDBOOK OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
Two Volumes
R. Laird Harris
Gleason L. Archer, Jr.
Bruce K. Waltke
Moody Press, Chicago, IL
copyright 1980
BS400.t49
221.4'4'0321
THE NEW STRONG'S EXHAUSTIVE CONCORDANCE OF
THE BIBLE
James Strong, LL.D., S.T.D.
Nashville, Tennessee
copyright 1984
BS425.58 1984
220.5'2033
UNGER'S BIBLE DICTIONARY
Merrill F. Unger
Moody Press, Chicago, IL
copyright 1957
ANSWER KEY
Chapter One
1. Those who will worship Him in Spirit and in Truth, John 4:23
He is seeking a people who will come out of the flesh and seek Him in the
Spirit
2. Fleshly; Spiritual
3. Bezalel Othniel Saul
Moses Gideon David
Seventy Elders Jephtah Anassi
Joshua Samson Azariah
4. OT Mesha NT Messias
The Anointed One
5. Jesus became the Christ (the Anointed One) following His baptism by John
the Baptist. It was at this time the flesh was done away with and He became
obedient to speak and do only as the Father directed.
6. The Spirit began to direct His life, driving Him into the wilderness to
be tested.
7. As soon as we receive the Holy Spirit.
8. The Holy Ghost
9. The Father, or the Holy Spirit, is the Promise that comes upon the obedient.
It was not that the Father had made them a promise. The promise was the Father.
Luke 24:49
10. Spirit, Holy Spirit, Father
11. The light of the Holy Spirit that shone in His face, the very glory of
God.
12. The anointing of the Father
13. Glory
14. We will only speak, hear, and do as we see the Father do.
Chapter Two
1. Sacrificial system under the law; flesh
2. No, we must proceed through God's wonderful salvation plan.
3. To enable us to bring forth fruit in our lives to the glory of God.
4. Spirit of the Father
5. 1 - Repentance from dead works
2 - Faith towards God
3 - Doctrines of baptisms
4 - Laying on of hands
5 - Resurrection of the dead
6 - Eternal Judgment
6. The greatest changes take place after the Holy Spirit anointing comes
into our lives.
7. To have a people that He may commune and walk with.
8. Spirit
9. Jesus Christ is the Cornerstone and is the foundation The Prophets and
the Apostles are the Old and New Testament Christ is the Head Stone
10. Cornerstone; Old Testament; New Testament; Christ the Headstone
Chapter Three
1. The Anointed One; The Anointing
2. He became The Anointing after His resurrection
3. Heaven
4. Rebellion
5. When they saw Jesus they saw the Father
6. Flesh
7. In the Spiritual realm on the right hand of the Father
8. Anointing of the Father
9. 1 - Who know who they are in Him
2 - Who know and understand the power and authority which is contained in
the anointing of the Father
3 - That have become vessels of mercy prepared for His glory.
10. 1 - Jesus 2 - Christ
11. In the Spirit, as the Father; "I will not leave you comfortless: I will
come to you." *** John 14:18
12. The Spirit
13. The anointed; Christ (the anointed ones)
14. Those who are Christ (the anointed ones) at His coming
Chapter Four
1. Genesis 6:8; Romans 5:13
2. Adam died a Spiritual death. Spiritual separation between God and Adam
took place that day.
3. Israel failed grace because they chose to be under the authority of man
instead of the direction and grace of God. Exodus 20:18-19
4. Deuteronomy 5:2-3
5. Those who have contact with God only in the flesh
6. On the Day of Pentecost
7. Pentecost; Spiritual
Chapter Five
1. The law written on the first tablets were cast down and broken by Moses.
Go no longer put the keeping of the law in man's hands, instead He alone
kept it in His hands in the Ark of the Covenant.
2. God; ears
3. He broke it
4. 1 - God's presence 2 - God's protection
3 - God's provision 4 - God's power
5 - God's peace
5. Grace
6. The glory that was going to be revealed in God's people at the end of
the law.
7. The Day of Pentecost
8. Only in Christ, the Holy Spirit anointing can that vail be done away with
9. Jesus' whole life was lived under the law. When He died, the law was still
in effect. his resurrection did not change this fact. The law was done away
with only at the coming of the holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.
10. Personal answer
Chapter Six
1. Many are still under the Law today, the only thing that changes is our
relationship to the Law when we receive Christ, the Holy Spirit.
2. Paul encountered Christ, the Holy Spirit, on the road to Damascus. His
life was never the same after that.
3. Galatians
4. God's complete salvation plan cannot be accomplished in our lives if we
remain in the yoke of bondage under the Law. We must allow the cloven tongue
cleansing of the Holy Spirit to have its work in our lives.
Chapter Seven
1. The Holy Spirit
2. A Perversion
3. Bondage; liberty
4. Because of Israel's transgression to refuse to hear God's voice
5. Christ, on the Day of Pentecost
6. Holy Spirit anointing; Spiritual; Spirit
7. One cross represented the law.
The other cross represented grace.
The center cross held the True Body of Christ.
8. Law and grace; stand; broken; stand
9. Seed; to Him; Christ; inheritors
10. Holy Spirit; hope of glory; Christ; freedom and liberty; bondage
Chapter Eight
1. Allegory signifies to speak, not according to the physical or primary
sense of the word, but so the facts stated are applied to illustrate a Spiritual
principle.
2. Bondage
3. The True Place of Worship
4. Galatians 4:9-11; Galatians 4:28-29 Galatians 4:30-31; Acts 15:10 Galatians
5:1
Chapter Nine
1. Genesis 3:14-15
2. Genesis 3:16
3. Genesis 3:17-19
4. Genesis 4:11-12
5. Galatians 3:10
6. Whole law; point; the whole law
7. The blood of Jesus Christ
8. There is none. They cannot go to Jesus because they have not chosen grace,
but law.
9. When we come into a Spiritual walk in the Holy Spirit, God writes His
laws in our hearts (minds). We no longer follow them because they are written
with ink or cut in stone, but because the Spirit directs us to do that which
is pleasing to God.
10. We know every one who doeth righteousness is born of Him (or born of
the Spirit), not just saved but born again.
11. The Law
12. James 1:25; I Corinthians 6:12; I Corinthians 10:23;
13. Christ; The Law of Sin and Death
14. The Perfect Law of Liberty in Christ
Chapter Ten
1. Romans 14:22-23; I Timothy 4:1-5
2. Damnable Heresies
3. Rule and regulations; eat; condemn; yoke of bondage
4. Believers
Chapter Eleven
1. True Freedom
2. Both refer to the 1,000-year reign of Christ with His saints. The Seventh
Day measures the time from the first Adam, and the Third Day measures the
time from the second Adam (Jesus). In other words, the Seventh Day comes
after the 6,000th year from Adam, and the Third Day comes after the 2,000th
year since Christ.
3. Sixth Day
4. Flesh
5. At the end of this 6th day, the earth was destroyed.
At the beginning of his 7th day, (601), he got off the ark, on to a cleansed
earth. After the 6000th year day, God's wrath is again going to fall upon
mankind.
And the 7000th year day will begin God's True Seventh sabbath.
6. II Peter 3:8
7. Third Day; perfected or glorified
8. The two days of the Church Age
9. Promise; Protection; Provision; Power; Peace
10. Jesus is the Ark of the Covenant
11. The Latter Day
12. #1 He desired the people to have a day of rest
from all labors (God's mercy).
#2 It was also to show the reverence for the
True Sabbath, or the Seventh Day of God's
creation.
13. The True Seventh Sabbath
14. Set apart; power; glory
Chapter Twelve
1. Restoration
2. The Day of Rapture and Prosperity
3. They only received the earnest or down payment of the spirit. We will
not receive the fullness of the Spirit until the Day of Redemption.
4. First fruits; Day of Redemption
5. Early Rain, Early and Latter Rain, dispensation
6. Double Portion Outpouring
7. John the Baptist
8. The Elijah ministry in the earth today, those who will restore all things
back to the Father.
9. True praise and worship
This Elijah ministry is raising up a people who are totally separated from
the world unto God
10. #1 Elijah
#2 John the Baptist
#3 The Elijah ministry in the earth today
11. Those who hear and are obedient to God's voice in the Kingdom.
12. Those who have received and are operating in the
Firstfruits and the Earnest of the Spirit God has already given.
Vital Words to the Body of Christ
Freely We Have Received, Freely We Give
E-mail:
vitalwords@aol.com
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