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And thou shalt make fifty taches of gold, and couple the curtains together with the taches: and it shall be one tabernacle. (Exodus 26:6) |
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The fifty gold clasps positioned over the veil signify that as we pass from the Church Age to the Kingdom Age there will be a Pentecost (fifty) of Divine (gold) blessing and glory. |
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There are three roofs placed over the linen ceiling. The first is black goat hair representing the sin found in the Christian. The second is ram skin dyed red speaking of the blood of Jesus that covers the sin found in the Christian. Finally a covering of the hide of sea cows, portraying the tough exterior that every saint must develop if he or she is to withstand the pressures of life. |
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Do you see the picture? The Christian has a glorious Christ-life within. However the body still has sin. But the sin is covered by the blood of Jesus. Then the entire personality has a tough hide that protects the personality from the pressures of life and also conceals the work of God from curious eyes. |
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Let us think about the first roof, the black goat hair. It also was coupled with fifty clasps positioned directly above the fifty gold clasps of the linen ceiling and parallel with them. But the clasps coupling the goat hair curtains were bronze instead of gold. Bronze typifies judgment, in the Scripture. |
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Consider this: there were fifty gold and fifty bronze clasps directly over the veil. This means there will be a double portion of Pentecost (fifty and fifty) at the time the saints move from the Church Age to the Kingdom Age. Part of this revival will include the gold of Divine glory and blessing and part will include the bronze of judgment. |
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The tenth chapter of Zechariah shows us that the latter rain will bring fruitfulness. But the eleventh chapter of Revelation reveals another side of the revival, the exercise of Divine judgment on the nations in anticipation of the furious cavalry charge of Christ and His warriors when they descend from the sky to drive the wicked from the earth. |
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Like it or not, awesome change is upon us. The next few years will be critical for the United States of America. The churches either will turn away from sin and bring blessing on our nation, or else business as usual will continue in the churches until judgment falls. The period of judgment will not prove to be a pleasant time for the believers. |
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Some are saying that it is too late for America. Our sins are too great. This may be true. However, I think I have it from the Lord that there is still a brief period during which the churches can humble themselves and seek the Lord. |
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But I do think we need to preach a tougher message. I don't believe people can be loved into the Kingdom. I think we are to plant the cross of Christ in front of people and inform them that God has made a way through Jesus Christ by which they can receive complete forgiveness of sins, with the understanding that they will repent, be baptized in water, and then walk in a manner pleasing to the Lord. Let us reason with people concerning righteousness, self-control, and judgment to come until, like the covetous Felix, they tremble. |
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We are to bring people under conviction, not under condemnation. We are to warn them to flee from the wrath to come and then show them the open arms of Jesus so they have a glorious alternative. |
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But let us never compromise the demands of discipleship in order to win people. Let us be very clear that while God is willing to wink at our sins of the past He now wants us to come to Jesus for the power to turn away from the sins of our age and to serve God with a pure heart as has been true of the saints of all ages. |
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How do you feel about all this? |
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The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. (Revelation 1:20) |
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The churches are lampstands. They were prefigured by the golden Lampstand of the Tabernacle of the Congregation. Christ is the Light of the world and His churches are the light of the world because He is in them. |
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Being the light of the world means that the purpose of the churches is to reveal the Person, Kingdom, way, will, and eternal purpose of God in Christ Jesus the Lord. |
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The churches are in the world but not of the world. The highest, most impenetrable wall in the universe is that between the Church and the world. The eternal expression of the division between the Church and the world is the wall that surrounds the new Jerusalem. |
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There is a trend in the American churches of our day to view the churches as hospitals for sinners. Now, a light is one thing and a hospital is another. |
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Are the churches to be lights that reveal the Person and will of God or are they to be hospitals for sinners? We would submit that of necessity they must be both but their primary role is that of the light of the world. This is important to emphasize because the need for spiritual hospitals is so all-consuming that the role of light-bearer can be minimized or become non-existent. |
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I have been a preacher of righteousness and have sought to make disciples. My message has not been an easy one to listen to. But a while back I saw that a person who was all broken up emotionally was not strong enough mentally to be a disciple. It was like asking someone to wrestle when they had a broken arm. |
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So we invite Dr. Dianne McIntosh come to our church on a regular basis to assist people who can use a little help along the way in becoming a sturdy disciple. We think Dr. Dianne is the best there is with her academic background, extensive clinical and church experience, devotion to Christ, and spiritual gifts. |
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Our purpose is not to solve all the problems of the community but to assist those whose discipleship is being impaired because of deep-seated problems of bitterness, unforgiveness, anger, or some other factor of personality. |
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We think there is an important balance to be maintained. We can easily get so involved with the needs of the dysfunctional American people of our day that there is not time to fulfill our first role. Our first role is to be the light of the world. |
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But some will say, "That is how we light the world—by meeting the needs of people." We would answer that this is humanistic thinking, not Kingdom thinking. |
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The world always has had enormous social, economic, and emotional problems. The world is under the curse of God. God has not given us the gifts and ministries of the Holy Spirit to relieve society but to bring the believer to spiritual maturity. The mature believer is a light that points the way to the solution of the world's problems. The solution is the crucified and risen Christ. When we address the problems of the world instead of the discipling of the believer we are attacking endless symptoms rather than the cause. |
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The coming of the Kingdom of God will end all social ills. The Kingdom of God will not come to the earth until Zion has been built up, that is, until the saints come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. The ascended Christ has given gifts to men for the purpose of building us up to full maturity in Himself. When this has been accomplished we can return with Him and put an end to the social, economic, and emotional problems. |
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And we can do a great deal of good today in helping people as we learn to walk hand in hand with Jesus and not get carried away with trying to repair the world according to our own notions. |
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Some short-term solutions are necessary. But if we become preoccupied with Band-Aids we never will get at the root of the problem. |
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To be continued. |
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My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you, (Galatians 4:19) |
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The need today in America is for the saints to grow. Most of the believers are babies, it appears. They do not have their senses exercised to judge good and evil nor the willingness and strength to choose the good and reject the evil. Therefore they choke on the meat of the Word. |
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The Lord Jesus Christ is our model. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil. But, as He said, the miracles were the proof of His Divine origin not an attempt to lift the curse from the world. His mission was and is to turn men away from sin and to enable them to walk righteously. Only then can the world be healed. |
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The Lord Jesus came to deliver the oppressed so they might become oaks of righteousness. As soon as the believers become oaks of righteousness they will be able to rebuild the desolations caused by sin and rebellion against God. |
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We notice the Lord at the Pool of Bethesda. He could have healed every individual who was waiting for the troubling of water. Why just one person? Because that is how the Father directed Him. |
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God has not commissioned us to empty the hospitals. Our task is to follow the Lord closely in all we do. The end result will be a Church without spot, wrinkle, or any such thing. This is God's goal and the momentary relieving of the human condition in the present hour must give way before the grand design. |
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God's intention is to bring all saved people to the fullness of joy. But the path that leads to fullness of joy is often very thorny. Suffering and transformation into the moral image of Christ are necessary. Otherwise we could not keep Paradise were it given to us again. First Christ and His righteousness must be formed in the saints. Then He and they will return and bring righteousness, peace, and joy to the saved nations of the earth. |
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In the meantime, while the Christians are being brought to spiritual maturity, maturity as measured against the full stature of Christ, the churches are to bear witness to the world. We are to bear witness by performing good works of righteousness. In so doing we point toward the true and living God and also convict the world of sin. We are not of the world and therefore the world will hate us. We must be a continual reproof to the wicked ways of the world. |
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Yes, the churches must be hospitals. In America great numbers of people are emotionally dysfunctional and therefore unable to take up their cross and follow Jesus. It appears that a great number of the women of the churches were molested as children. This experience takes its toll on their emotions in later life making fervent discipleship difficult. |
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We must, as God enables, bring healing to the wounded. But we must never forget that our purpose in bringing the believers to health is to make them oaks of righteousness who can bring justice and peace to the world. For the hope of lifting the misery from our planet lies in the maturing of the saints and only in the maturing of the saints. |
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They say that when you are up to your neck in alligators it is easy to forget you were sent to drain the swamp. As we look out and see the human ruin occurring because of the moral breakdown in America, let us not forget that the churches are to be lampstands revealing to society the Person, soon-coming Kingdom, will, way, and eternal purpose of God in Jesus Christ. These lampstands will burn brightly when the gifts and ministries of the Holy Spirit are employed to bring the saints to the fullness of maturity in Christ Jesus the Lord. |
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Let us not spend our life on the symptoms but go after the root of the problem, which is the sin in the churches and the immaturity of God's people. |
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God didn't send us to fight Sanballat and Tobiah but to build the wall against sin. |
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Continue to fight off the alligators. But remember, once the swamp is drained you won't have to worry too much longer about alligators. |
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Keep first things first! |
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Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. (II Timothy 4:2) |
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Seasons of refreshing come from the Presence of the Lord. The Holy Spirit falls on a nation, or city, or church, or person. Great things happen. The work of the Lord takes a giant step forward. |
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We are familiar with the major revivals of history. Today God is moving in some of the third world countries and from time to time we hear about what is taking place. |
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God did marvelous things through Aimee Semple McPherson a few years ago and with other Pentecostal notables. |
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The problem is, after such blessing there often comes a relapse. Rochester, New York was one of the areas affected by the extraordinary anointing on Charles Finney. San Diego, California was greatly influenced by Sister McPherson. But today neither city exhibits remarkable spiritual power. |
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Sometimes we think of Greece, Turkey, and Italy where the Apostle Paul ministered and picture the unprecedented spiritual authority and power that swept through there. Yet none of these countries is characterized today by extraordinary spiritual revelation and power. |
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Why the relapse? Why is there not a more lasting effect? Surely it is God's will that such a movement have a more permanent effect than we usually notice. |
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We understand that there indeed are lasting benefits proceeding from all outpourings of the Holy Spirit. We just would like to make sure we are doing what we should to establish some permanency. |
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The Holy Spirit was poured out at Azusa Street in Los Angeles, California. It was a very short time later that the immediate area of the revival was characterized by division and bitterness among the believers. |
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We are heading today toward the climax of the latter-rain revival. It is our understanding that the latter rain will continue until the Gospel of the Kingdom has been preached to every nation for a witness. |
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But then we see from the Book of Revelation that after the witness has been given to God's satisfaction the testimony will be overcome by the lusts of the flesh (Sodom), the lusts of the eyes (Egypt), and the pride of life (Jerusalem). Lust, covetousness, and pride often overcome the witness of God. |
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A great declension will occur at the end of the thousand-year Kingdom Age. So I guess relapse will be with us until the new Jerusalem but I still think we should do all in our power to prevent it. |
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We know that in spite of the ebbs and flows of spiritual life there finally will emerge a Bride without spot, wrinkle, or any such thing. We are not referring to an imputed perfection but an actual perfection of character wrought by the Divine Nature of Jesus Christ working in the members of the Bride. The Kingdom of God is not in imputed righteousness but in an actual new creation of righteousness, holiness, and obedience to God. |
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The question we are raising in the present essay, is how do we maximize the creation of actual righteousness, holiness, and stern obedience to the Father as a result of and in the wake of a mighty outpouring of the Spirit of God? How do we prevent the rise of the works of the flesh such as took place immediately following the glorious revival at Azusa Street? |
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To be continued. |
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He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. (I John 2:4) |
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The answer to this problem is found in a correction of our doctrine. From the time of Christ and His Apostles the teachers and preachers to a large extent have not been able to relate the commandments of Christ to our redemption. Where do the New Testament exhortations fit in the scheme of salvation? |
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At least two factors have operated to obscure the role of obedience to the commandments. |
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One factor is that the Apostle Paul stressed faith and grace as the Divine replacement for the Law of Moses. We of today interpret Paul as stressing faith and grace as the Divine replacement for righteous behavior—righteous behavior judged not by the Law of Moses but by the eternal moral law of God written in our conscience and expressed in writing by Paul and the others in their Epistles. |
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We realize that in our Internet essays we have stressed this particular confusion several times. But it is so very critical to our thinking if we ever are going to gain lasting benefit from the outpouring of the Spirit. |
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A more destructive mistake could not be made than that of interpreting the Apostle Paul to mean Divine grace is an alternative to righteous behavior! |
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A second factor is that the Protestant Reformers emphasized justification by faith as a replacement for the various works of penance of the Catholic Church. We of today are preaching their concept of justification by faith as being a replacement for moral behavior—moral behavior as measured by our conscience and expressed by the Apostle Paul and the other Apostles in their Epistles. |
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Because of these two factors, our incorrect interpretation of the emphasis Paul placed on faith and grace and our incorrect interpretation of the emphasis the Protestant Reformers placed on faith and grace, we do not know how to relate to the commandments issued by Christ and by Christ through His Apostles. |
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I believe the Protestant Reformers as well as we were lured into the trap of interpreting Paul to mean we were not bound by any code of behavior. Not being learned in the history of the Reformation, I cannot say for sure. Actually "the just shall live by faith" (Habakkuk 2:4) has no reference whatever to salvation through belief in correct doctrine but refers to the fact that we should live our life by faith in God rather than proudly in our own strength. If this is so, if even the great Reformers were confused on this issue, then the problem is not as simple as we have outlined. |
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The conclusion that we are called to be part of Jesus Christ by a Divine pronouncement given at the beginning of time (which is true) and that our calling is to eternal life in Heaven rather than to godly behavior wherever we are (which is totally and destructively false) has given rise to a number of reasons for our not being required to keep God's commandments, the commandments enjoined on us by the Great Commission announced in the last chapter of Matthew. None of these reasons is valid or scriptural in any sense whatever. These range all the way from the simplistic "Jesus did it all so I don't have to worry" to a highly abstract, abstruse plan of God that is eternal and not in any way modified by human behavior. |
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To be continued. |
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If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him. (I John 2 29) |
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Following are some popular reasons why we do not have to keep God's commandments. |
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I am saved by grace, not by works. |
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I believe in Calvinism so I don't have to keep God's commandments. God is saving me sovereignly. Grace is sovereignly initiated by God and no matter what we do God's grace will not change or fail. |
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Hebrews 6:4-6 and Galatians 5:19-21 cannot mean what they say, at least as far as Christians are concerned, because we are not obligated to keep God's commandments. (This is a problem in consequences, which we intend to discuss in a future essay.) |
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The just shall live by faith. We are saved by faith alone. |
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The only law that governs Christians is the law of love. |
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Christ is perfect and His perfection has been imputed to us. |
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Christ has done it all for us and all we are to do is believe. |
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Christ will perform the commandments in us if we will just relax. (This is a problem in method, which we intend to discuss in a future essay). |
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The four Gospel accounts are no longer binding on us because now we are saved by grace. |
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The letter kills but the Spirit gives life and so we do not have to obey the commandments of Christ and His Apostles. |
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The Book of Galatians applies only to Gentiles. |
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The Book of Hebrews applies only to Jews. |
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The Book of Revelation cannot be understood and should be avoided. |
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To attempt to live righteously is to detract from the perfection of Christ or the perfect work of Christ. |
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The commandments were given to show us our need of a Redeemer. God does not expect us to keep the commandments, only to discover through them how unworthy we are and thus bring us to Christ. |
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No one can keep Christ's commandments. |
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If you are aware of any we have missed would you please send them to our Internet address? There may be hundreds more. Thank you. |
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We have presented in a previous essay a very simple model of salvation. |
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Step One—we receive our forgiveness. |
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Step Two—we keep the Lord's commandments by the grace He gives us. |
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Step Three—Christ is formed in us. |
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The three steps must be taken within the environment of our participation with Christ in His death on the cross and His glorious resurrection and ascension to the right hand of the Father. |
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Our mammoth problem of today is that we have removed Step Two on the basis of the excuses listed above. Yet we cannot move to Step Three except as we take Step Two. We absolutely must keep the commandments issued by Christ and His Apostles or Christ will never be formed in us. |
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The reason the effects of revival are not more permanent is that the people are not taught the absolute necessity for keeping Christ's commandments. If we love Him we will keep His commandments. If we keep His commandments He and the Father will make Their eternal abode in us. |
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He who says he knows and loves Christ, and yet does not keep His commandments, is a liar. The truth is not in him or her. The disciple (the Christian) is the individual who keeps the commandments of Christ. |
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To be continued. |
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Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. (John 15:14) |
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There is a dense cloud of confusion hovering over the Christian churches. This monster proclaims that no person can keep Christ's commandments. Of course we can keep the commandments listed in the New Testament. God has opened the way into the Holy of Holies so we can come before the very Throne of God and tell our Father about our need, that is, our need for wisdom and strength to keep His commandments. |
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God is not sparing in His response when we cry to Him for grace to help us when we are battling sin. He sends abundant wisdom and strength so we can live without condemnation. |
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What area of worldliness, what area of fleshly lust, what area of self-will and stubbornness, is so powerful the Son of God cannot overcome it in our personality? The answer of course is, none. Christ can make us more than a conqueror. We can overcome all that is in us and all that comes against us. We are drowning in water that is only waist deep. We can gain the victory over the world, sin, and self-will by pressing forward in Jesus Christ. |
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Until we who pastor, preach, and teach begin to guide the flock into keeping the commandments of the New Testament the revival will not and cannot be permanent. Whether the Glory is present or not we are to be in season and out of season keeping the commandments of God. |
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There is a great emphasis on evangelism today. Surely the Lord is interested in the lost sheep and is sending out those who will make every effort to reach them and bring them into the fold. |
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But there is an even greater need in the United States and it appears to me to be neglected. The need is for the sheep who already are in the fold to be brought up to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. |
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The gifts and ministries issued by the ascended Christ are for the purpose of bringing each member of the elect to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. This agrees with the purpose of the new covenant which is that every member know the Lord. This is why there is no temple, no church building, no veil in the new Jerusalem. All of God's saints can know Him personally as Father, not through mediation of a church. |
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The purpose of ministry is that Christ be formed in the believer. When Christ is formed in the believer the gates of Hell are threatened. When Christ is formed in the believer the Kingdom of God is at hand. |
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There simply must be a renewed emphasis in our day on keeping the commandments of Christ and His Apostles so that Christ may be formed in each member of each Christian assembling. |
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We are not suggesting the work of evangelism be minimized or neglected. We are stating rather that the emphasis on the growth in righteousness of the saints and the work of evangelism be balanced according to the balance found in the Epistles. For the Epistles reveal the preaching and teaching given to the churches in the days of the Apostles. In the Epistles the scales are tipped clearly on the side of building up in righteous, holy, and obedient behavior those whom the Lord has added to the church. |
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Great revival is at hand. We desire that the inevitable relapse be held to a minimum and the growth of Christ in the saints be maximized—especially after the revival has passed. Such a satisfactory outcome of the revival can be realized only as the local churches becomes places where the believers are assisted in every way to grow to full stature in Christ the Lord. |
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