|
Seeking to Proclaim...
|
|
|
Seeking to Proclaim...
|
|
|
Frederick J. Huegel (early 1900s): "If I have been able to feel the spirit that has moved the efforts of Christians, pastors, and missionaries in these later years; if I have been able to perceive the concern of our work, I would say: The supreme passion of many hearts, the deepest yearning of many brethren is that a great revival similar to those in the days of Wesley, Fox, Finney, and Moody, would sweep our the whole country, overthowing the citadels of darkness, and transporting thousands into the kingdom. Many have been praying, crying out in the Spirit, and shedding tears before the Almighty, waiting for such an event... Why did God not answer us? Why didn't He want to visit us with a great revival similar to those He has brought to other countries in other times... Why doesn't God visit us with a great outpouring of His Spirit? Finally... I now see that the problem is not with God. My eyes have been opened to see that the obstacles exist in us... Why talk of evangelizing the masses when there are enormous blocks of paganism in my own being that need to be exposed? Should I give to others what I've not given to my own soul still in darkness?" [Through seeking God in two more years of prayer] "The answer came, "You have been crucified with My Son. You have to die taking advantage of the death of the Savior. That great mountain of self-centeredness and carnality, you have to get rid of it! Go to Calvary with everything! To Calvary with your life and flesh! To Calvary with everything that is not inspired by the Holy Spirit... Finally the Cross of Christ worked in me, and after the Cross a glorious resurrection. Oh, what glory! What an abundant life! A great revival, rivers of the water of life; a life of victory, fullness of life in Christ Jesus!"
|
"For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption — that, as it is written, 'He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.'” I Cor. 1:26-31 NKJV
"Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?" James 2:5 NKJV
R. A. Torrey (1800s - early 1900): “Faith furthermore comes through the Spirit. The Spirit knows the will of God, and if I pray in the Spirit, and look to the Spirit to teach me God’s will, He will lead me out in prayer along the line of that will, and give me faith that the prayer is to be answered; but in no case does real faith come by simply determining that you are going to get the thing that you want to get.”
Fred D. Jarvis (old-time revivalist): “We are living in a crisis-ridden age. The problems of the world are not just economic, political, social, ecological and educational. They are spiritual! It is high time that we ask the question, ’What can turn this morally-bankrupt and sin-benighted generation back to God?’”
|
|
There are many things to know and understand before the believer can clearly and fully grasp what the Spirit of the Lord is saying to the churches in these last hours of "the last days." Most of us must unlearn much of what we have been taught before we can actually comprehend what He is saying. Through abiding in His Word and seeking Him honestly by His Spirit and Truth, any believer can know more.
But because we are so strongly influenced by our personal preferences, perhaps the most important thing to come to grips with first, when seeking to know the Word of the Lord, is the fact that our feelings one way or the other do not alter what He says; our emotions, sentiments, cares, and feelings do not count; political views, earthly heritage, love for tradition, religious practices, religious education, and denominational dogma do not count; personal opinions, aspirations, and assumptions do not count; whether rich in this world's goods, or poor - neither one alters Truth - and no one is exempt from Truths reality. Only what the Lord says matters now, and in the very end. By the grace of God, and by His gift and call in me, this preacher seeks diligently to proclaim the Word of God without the influence of those things listed above, or any other influence than the Holy Spirit Himself. Seven times to the Seven Churches of Asia Jesus said, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches" (Rev. 2-3). A Fundamental Obstacle to Walking in Truth
A fundamental problem leading to many grievous errors that subvert truth in the church today has to do with our misunderstanding of the world's kingdom as it relates to God's kingdom.
When the Lord prayed, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matt.6), He was not implying that we should make the world's kingdom Christian, as good as that may sound to the natural mind. It is impossible to make the world's kingdom Christian in this age. The spirit of this world cannot be converted, only people can be converted. The world's spirit must be overthrown by Jesus Christ Himself, ultimately; and it will be overthrown at His coming at which time He will also consummate His kingdom reign on earth. Satan will be bound, and thrown into a bottomless pit (Rev. 20). Until then, however, God permits Satan to be the Prince of the Power of the Air, the Ruler of this Age (Eph. 2; II Cor. 4). Albeit, God is in absolute control ultimately, and true believers have been delivered from the power of Satan even now. Yet while God, through Jesus Christ has given us authority over the enemy as He relates to our lives individually, as well as to many things around us, our sincerest efforts cannot and will not stop, overthrow, or take dominion over the enemy altogether in any city, county, state, or nation - not in this age. That has been reserved for Jesus, the Son Himself at His coming. The "restitution [restoration] of all things" began through the Person and work of Jesus Christ, and continues by His Spirit through us, but it will not be consummated until He actually comes again (Acts 3:21). This reality is not pointed out so as to disparage honest efforts for bettering the world by injecting authentic kingdom-of-God influence at every opportunity - through government, business, relationships with those who are not of His kingdom, etc. We can and should have a positive impact on the world. That is commendable, and God-honoring, for sure. Oh, that all men would do that. But our positive impact through material ways and means in order to grow a materialistic domain is not the end of the matter; and also, we should be ever-so-careful in taking care not to build our own kingdoms, while claiming to build His. Many a believer has grown to be like many of the children of Judah after years of living in Babylonian captivity - they didn't want to return to Jerusalem at God's bidding because they had grown to enjoy their little domains in Babylon. We should be careful how we do business (actual business or individual interaction) in the world, so that we do not become like the Babylonian system ourselves, enjoying Babylon so much so that we won't be found worthy of the Lord's true kingdom when He comes. Establishing His kingdom on earth is our mandate, for sure; but the test of one establishing His kingdom will be the consequence of the fruit of His kingdom - righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. That means changed lives, rescued lives, eternally-bound lives, true oneness among the members of His body, etc. This message is important, so that true believers will pause long enough to recognize that regretfully, much of what we have to do is aligned perfectly with the world's order, for the world's good, from the world's perspective, and by the world's ways and means as if that is God's mandate to us in doing service to Him. We all-to-often justify our comradery with the world as if we are doing God service. Let us remember that our mandate for this age is two fold, nothing more, nothing less: first, that we continue to grow up into His image individually and corporately as His body; and second, that we proclaim Him to the world as He really is, in word and deed by His Spirit, unencumbered, and uninhibited, unaided, or uninfluenced in any way by our frail religious experiences, intellectual savvy, or material enterprise. According to our Lord Himself, for the most part, if we are faithful to Him by the Spirit, we will not be accepted by the world, but rather ostracized, rejected, and even persecuted sometimes. We are thankful for those opportunities given when we are in positions of influence, so for as much as we are permitted, let us be about it if the specific purpose and end result is to lead others into His kingdom through new birth, freedom from the spirit of the age in which we live, and overcoming power to live the Christ life. Nothing short of the latter is establishing His kingdom here as He meant for it to be. Everything here is going to burn because it is, and forever shall be inferior to Him. Unfortunately, most of what we call Christianity has been adopted by the world because we have acquiesced our mandate to proclaim spiritual Truth, and have adapted ourselves to the cultural-Christian-friendly world around us - to its institutions, its formalities, its ways and means. The world will not truly and fully accept us into its community when we are truly abiding in the Vine and walking by the Spirit, during which time we will do everything within our power to remain separate from the world, only to operate in it for His glory, and His glory alone. We are supposed to be living as sojourners and pilgrims in the earth; and in the same way that we are at warfare with our flesh and Satan, we are at war with the spirit of the kingdoms of this world. Until Jesus comes again, the world's domains will not cease being under Satan and the strong influence of that prince of the power of the air. Therefore, even though Christian influence can be injected into the world system, and should be, that system cannot possibly become altogether Christian. Jesus wants His kingdom to be established in the earth through us - but it is a kingdom totally separate from the world's kingdom. To join hands with the world in order to establish and build God's kingdom in the world is completely contrary to God's instructions for His kingdom's assembly; it mingles darkness with light, carnality with spirituality, and man's mind with God's mind. It can only result in a deceitfully polluted church. It is this fundamental error that has led to ten thousand times ten thousand more errors that plague the Christian pilgrims way in life reflected through our many weaknesses. We must come to an understanding that His kingdom is to remain totally separate and apart from the world's if we would mature into His stature. To be a friend to the world on the world's terms is not God's mandate for His people. It never was, and it never will be. It is when a peace pipe is smoked between the kingdoms of this world and the kingdom of our God that we end up with the jaded kingdom we have today - and consequently the polluted images of God and all that He is. We must understand that, while we are to participate in the kingdom of the world, we are to be a kingdom all our own, allowing God to establish His church by His Spirit as His salt and light in the midst of the world. Because the church has chosen to be so utterly devoid of the absolute leadership of God's Spirit we have become far too much like the world. This is the fundamental problem. Through this site, as we do through all our ministry, we will seek to help guide you into the Truth about how we are to live in this age. Please feel free to share your thoughts and concerns through our contact page, and look for teaching as the Spirit leads and gives us opportunity. |
LOVE NOT THE WORLD.
"15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever." I John 2:15-17 NKJV HIS KINGDOM IS WITHIN US.
"20 Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; 21 nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.” "22 Then He said to the disciples, 'The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 And they will say to you, "Look here!" or "Look there!" Do not go after them or follow them. 24 For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day. 25 But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: 27 They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; 29 but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed." Luke 17:22-30 NKJV THE WORLD DOES NOT KNOW US
"3 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him." I John 3:1 NKJV YOU ARE NOT OF THIS WORLD "18 If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. 21 But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me." John 15:18-21 NKJV GOD HAS CHOSEN THE POOR OF THIS WORLD TO BE RICH IN FAITH "5 Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? 7 Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called." James 2:5-7 NKJV HIS KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD "36 Jesus answered, 'My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.'" John 8:36 NKJV |