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Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: (Malachi 4:5) |
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Jesus Christ contained within His Personality the compassion of Moses and the remoteness of Elijah. Since we are being made in the image of Christ we also must contain both aspects. |
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The true witness of God has a side that touches people and a side that touches God. |
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A saint can become imbalanced, but then some people have special callings. Perhaps in certain instances those who have spent their lives hidden away in a monastic setting need to develop a side toward people. |
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The big problem in the American churches is the lack of the side toward God. It seems to me we have gone way overboard in trying to make the assembling a social gathering in which the whole neighborhood feels welcome. |
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This will not do. A social gathering of neighborhood people is not the lampstand, the witness of God, unless there is an aspect of the assembling that is remote, that is hidden away with God, that is not understandable to the unsaved or even to the carnal churchgoer. |
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The pastor is not one of the boys! On suitable occasions he or she should be coming down from the mountain of prayer bearing the awful covenant of God. (This is a combination of Moses and Elijah.) |
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I can understand Moses discussing with Jesus the atonement Jesus was to make in Jerusalem. But Elijah? Why in the world would God pick Elijah to accompany Moses? Why not Isaiah? Isaiah wrote about the atonement. Elijah didn't write anything. He was just there! And as long as Elijah was there people knew there was a God in Israel. |
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God has promised to send Elijah before the great and terrible Day of the Lord. We know that the spirit and power of Elijah rested on John the Baptist. But why Elijah!? God has many outstanding patriarchs and prophets to choose from. Why this strange individual? Would you like to have Elijah on your church council or as the pastor of your church? He didn't even dress like everyone else. |
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Jesus would do just fine as the pastor, but not Elijah. Why not? God seems to regard him highly! It is because we know he is more interested in God than in us. |
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And yet, James says Elijah had feelings like us. He was afraid of Jezebel. Imagine, with all the power surrounding him he was scared of one frail woman. Elijah was human! But the call of God was so strong on him his humanity was pushed into the background—like John the Baptist. |
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We know about the birth of Moses. We do not know about the birth of Elijah. |
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We know about the mother and father of Moses. We do not know about the mother and father of Elijah. |
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We know about the early life of Moses. We know nothing of the early life of Elijah. |
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Moses was married and had children. Elijah had no wife or children as far as we know. |
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Moses led several million people through the desert. Elijah led no one anywhere. |
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Moses produced writings among the most marvelous of history. Elijah produced no such writings. |
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Moses prayed that God would strike his name from the Book of Life if the people were not to be saved. It is difficult to imagine Elijah moved to utter such a prayer. Moses was involved with people. Elijah was wrapped up in God. |
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To be continued. |
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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. (II Kings 2:11) |
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Moses sinned, being provoked by the people. There is no record that Elijah sinned, although we understand he was not perfect. |
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Moses died and was buried. |
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One of the most telling incidents of all in the life of Elijah was his departure from the earth. His last miracle—the parting of Jordan. Then a chariot of fire and horses of fire. Don't you love it? What a set of pallbearers, but how suitable for the man of fire! Even Elisha was pushed aside. |
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Then the whirlwind or windstorm in which Elijah ascended into heaven. Lord let me ride in that chariot behind those horses of fire. Let me live in the windstorm. |
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This is an important part of God and consequently of the witness of God. We are so infiltrated with humanism and democracy in America we are losing sight of the chariot of fire and the horses of fire. The Christian Gospel has become too involved with the needs of people and not enough involved with the needs of God. The balance must be restored. |
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Paradoxically, the more involved we become with the needs of God the more use we will be to people. Jesus was remote but look at the good He did! |
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If your child was at the point of death, who would you rather have pray for him or her, a pastor that was actively engaged in social betterment or Elijah? |
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God didn't say, "I will send Moses, or Ezra, or Daniel, or Abraham before the great and dreadful Day of the Lord," but Elijah. Why Elijah? Why is this type of individual so important to God? |
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Moses was able to tell people how to please God, how to keep God's commandments. We need people today who can tell us how to please God, how to keep His commandments. We Christians of America are not faithfully keeping the words of Christ and His Apostles because we have been taught we do not have to in order to go to Heaven. However unwittingly or unintentionally, we have been lied to. |
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But Elijah did not give his testimony in teaching or writing. Elijah was just there. |
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There is something awesome about a person like Elijah just being there. John the Baptist, the man of the spirit and power of Elijah, did not go to downtown Jerusalem. He remained in the wilderness and all sorts of people came out to him to repent and be baptized. |
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The presence of a person like Elijah acts as a knife in the conscience of people. The two witnesses of Revelation, Chapter Eleven torment those who dwell on the earth. |
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The churches of the end-time, if they are to bear a true witness of God, must not only instruct people in the righteous ways of the Lord but must be a knife in the conscience of all who are not living a godly life in Christ Jesus. |
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The two olive trees of Revelation Eleven speak of the Elijah-Elisha anointing that is at hand, the promised latter rain. But first God must prepare us so we can receive such power. |
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To be continued. |
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And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth. (Zechariah 4:12-14) |
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The experiences of people when the Holy Spirit is outpoured show that it is not enough to just have a move of God. I can remember in the late 1940s when the latter-rain movement came down from Canada. There was wonderful revelation of the Spirit, particularly with reference to the gifts and ministries of the Spirit and to the concept of the Body of Christ. |
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But along with the true revelation there was much error. |
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"There is no more communion or water baptism." |
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"Christ is in us so we are to get off our knees and march forward. We don't need gifts and ministries because Christ is in us." |
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"The sons of God are to be eunuchs." |
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"It is time for the manifested sons of God to appear." |
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You would think people would be able to discern what was coming from God and what was coming from Satan. But let me tell you something! In one breath Peter declared that Jesus is the Christ and in the next breath Peter spoke from the spirit of Satan. |
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Christians need to understand that Satan can emulate the Holy Spirit until you can't tell the difference. You have to pray, ask God in Jesus' name to keep you from deception and error, and even then be very careful to watch the fruit of what you are doing. The wisdom that comes from God is always peaceful, never hurried or frantic, never in disagreement with the Scriptures. |
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You do not have to force people or circumstances to do God's will. When you feel uncomfortable, irritated, dreading what you are doing, it is a good idea to go to the Lord and ask Him if such pain and dread are His will for you, and if not to remove them from you; and if you are causing your own pain to guide you away from what you are doing. |
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Yes, there was much error accompanying the Pentecostal outpouring and always will be when God is moving. This is why God is preparing us now so that when He does pour out His Spirit we will not attempt to organize the move into a new denomination. We will not vaunt ourselves, go off into deception, do something foolish, or otherwise tie ourselves up in a spiritual knot. The vessels of the Glory must be prepared today. |
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An important part of the preparation is our recognition of the value of Moses and the value of Elijah. Both of them will be part of the Kingdom, as Jesus pointed out on the Mount of Transfiguration. |
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We who bear witness of the Lord must have the compassion and wisdom of Moses and the ability to explain to people how to walk in righteousness, holiness, and obedience to the Lord. |
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We who bear witness of the Lord must also have a side toward God so that when people come to make us a king we will flee to the mountain of prayer so we can be alone with God. |
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When I was in Bible school many years ago Elijah was my hero. To think of the chariot and horses of fire! To think of not dying but going up to Heaven in a whirlwind! Awesome! |
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Let's keep both dimensions of the Kingdom strong in our personality so we can live in God's Presence and say (as did Elijah and Elisha) "the Lord God before whom I stand" and also be able to come down from the holy mountain with the knowledge of God to share with a Church and a world that in the present hour needs a fresh revelation of the Almighty. |
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A one- liner: It may be the work of a moment to get a person out of the world, but it is the work of a lifetime to get the world out of the person. |
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For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. (Ephesians 5:5) |
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I guess I am going to keep on harping on the same old theme. We Christians must start keeping the commandments of Christ and His Apostles. This is what I think the Lord has burdened me to put on the Internet and I think I had better be obedient. |
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Recently a brother showed me a newsletter from a prominent Christian writer. In the newsletter the statement was made that people must keep God's commandments and if they do not there are penalties. |
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Then he spoiled his whole exhortation by reminding us we are saved by grace, meaning whether or not we keep God's commandments we will go to Heaven anyway. |
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This is what drives me nuts! |
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The writer of the newsletter, beyond all question, is devout, intelligent, and well educated, with a good command of the English language. |
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This tells me that the blindness, the illogic, is spiritual. For whatever reason God has permitted a veil to blanket the perception of intelligent Christian leaders that they cannot see what is stated plainly in the New Testament. |
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Or maybe it is a case of the emperor's new clothes. Maybe we are so afraid of one another we fear to buck the party line. |
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All the editions of the New Testament I have read follow the party line. They chorus with one voice: "You shall not surely die!" |
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It is no fun to be a maverick and it doesn't win you many friends. (The few you do have are marvels of faithfulness and integrity.) |
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Let's do this. Let's take a verse or two from the sixth chapter of Romans, a passage from the Book of First John, and finish with verses from the fifth chapter of Ephesians. |
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I have gone through the sixth chapter of Romans in previous essays and so will only mention a verse or two. But the entire sixth chapter of Romans proves beyond doubt that current Evangelical teaching is 180 degrees off course. Read it and see for yourself. |
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The Book of First John is one long exhortation to Christians to quit sinning, warning them that they are liars if they say they belong to Christ and continue in sin. |
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You know what? My Evangelical edition of the New Testament says that the theme of First John is to give believers assurance of salvation. If American Christians have any more assurance of salvation the nation will perish. I'm okay, you're okay, sin is okay, the country is okay, Satan is okay, God is okay. The only problem is, fetuses are being aborted, children are being molested, the youth have little or no (or the wrong kind of ) moral training, the adults are drowning in lust, pornography, the amassing of money, sports, entertainment, violence, drunkenness, and witchcraft, and the older people are retiring from life when in the prime of their ability to contribute to society. |
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To be continued. |
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Put to death therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, lust, evil desires, and covetousness, which is idolatry: for which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: (Colossians 3:5,6) |
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Slander, gossip, bitterness, unforgiveness, strife, anger, party loyalties, are found in the Christian churches—perhaps even your church. Right? |
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Other than that everything is swell. You can ask your Pastor. |
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And somehow First John, which was written to believers so they would keep God's commandments, has as its theme "to give the readers assurance of salvation"? Give me space! |
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Up is down, crooked is straight, square is round. |
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Oh well, I became excited when God first spoke to me. Then I became angry because people did not understand, which did no good at all. Now I sit at the computer. Later I will go to be with the Lord and find out if I was really hearing from Him. |
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Back to our topic. |
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Our purpose in writing this essay is to prove to God's people that we have to keep the commandments of Christ and His Apostles; that if we do not we will reap destruction in the Day of Christ. We will not be "saved anyway by grace and go to a mansion in Paradise," at least not according to the Scripture. |
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We will mention a verse or two from the sixth chapter of the Book of Romans, then a passage from First John, and conclude with Paul's exhortation to the saints in Ephesus. |
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Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. (Romans 6:6) |
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How many can see Romans 6:6 means that now you are a Christian it does not matter whether you sin because you are saved by grace? Raise your hand. Yikes!—the whole church. |
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Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. (Romans 6:12) |
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How many can see Romans 6:12 means you don't have to worry about sin because you are saved by grace? If Christ wants you to stop sinning He will do it in you without your help. Again, the whole church. |
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Mother, you never said it would be like this! |
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Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. (Romans 6:13) |
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Romans 6:13 means you are saved by grace through faith apart from any effort on your part. If you try to live righteously you are a legalist and a Pharisee. |
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I'd better leave the sixth chapter of Romans. There is no end to this. |
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Who needs to be logical? I have a friend, Mark Overton, who maintains that a hundred thousand lemmings can't be wrong. If you can't lick 'em why not join 'em? |
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To be continued. |
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Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. (II Corinthians 7:1) |
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First John is one long exhortation concerning sin in the Christian life. John does not mince words. |
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And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. (I John 2:3,4) |
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How many can see I John 2:3,4 means—not that again! |
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Let's move on. |
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And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. (I John 3:3) |
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Every believer who hopes to be like Jesus and see Him as He is purifies himself or herself from the love of the world, the lusts of the flesh, and self-will and stubbornness. He doesn't attempt to purify his neighbor, he doesn't attempt to purify the government, he doesn't attempt to purify the unsaved, he purifies himself. He does this by confessing and turning away from the filthiness of his flesh and spirit, calling on Jesus for help. |
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He purifies himself just as Christ is pure. |
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Is this what is says? Did I come close to the text? Or does it mean we are saved by grace anyway? |
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Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. (I John 3:4) |
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John, being a devout Jew, would be referring to the Law of Moses, particularly the Ten Commandments. |
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We Christians do not understand that the Law of Moses is a guardian servant that brings us to Christ. The Law is always there ready to judge us if we continue in sin. |
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Sin is the breaking of the moral law of God. We are free from the Law of Moses provided we count ourselves crucified with Christ and risen with Christ, and act accordingly! The tremendous error of our day is that we can continue in the flesh and by confessing Christ be relieved from the condemnation imposed by the Law. |
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We have died to the Law of Moses that we might be married to Christ and bring forth the fruit of Christ's Nature in our personality. |
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But let not that individual, whether or not he professes faith in Christ, who continues to walk in the filthiness of the flesh and spirit, suppose for one moment that he is free from the moral law of God as expressed in the Ten Commandments. He is not free. God will have no creature continue to live under no law. Judgment will not be long in coming. |
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Again, did I depart wildly from the verse? |
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And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. (I John 3:5) |
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Sin was forgiven under the old covenant through means of animal sacrifice. I have heard it taught that the sins were not really forgiven but the animal sacrifice only looked forward to the atonement made by Christ. I don't think this is quite true. The Book of Leviticus states several times that the sins were forgiven and I would rather stick with the Scripture than get into human reasoning. |
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To be continued. |
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And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. (Galatians 5:24,25) |
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The difference between the old covenant and the new covenant is not that the sins were not actually forgiven under the old covenant but are actually forgiven under the new covenant. |
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The difference is that under the old covenant the sins were only forgiven but under the new covenant they are forgiven and then removed. This is why the new covenant is superior. |
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Christ was manifested to take away our sins (I John 3:5), not just to forgive our sins but to take away our sins. There is no sin in Christ and there is to be no sin in the person who is abiding in Christ. |
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Regardless of any analysis of the verbs and participles of the Greek language, hypothetical applications, allegorical reasoning, or similitudes or explanations of any other type, the sense of the Book of First John is that the purpose of Christ is to take away our sins and if we are continuing in sin we have no part in Him. |
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If we once grasp the sense of a book of the Bible then we don't get into distortions or misapplications of a given passage, as has happened with Romans 6:23, Hebrews 2:3, and Hebrews 6:4-6 for example. |
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There is no sin in Christ. If we say we are part of Him, and then do not work with Him in purifying ourselves from the filthiness of the flesh and spirit, we have not seen Him and we do not know Him. This is what John is saying. |
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Reread the Book of First John and see if our interpretation is sound, not being forced in any area. |
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I think you will agree with me that this passage, at least, is not an assurance of salvation. Rather it is an exhortation and warning concerning how we live our life in relationship to Christ. |
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Okay so far? |
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Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. (I John 3:6) |
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The idea is if we are continuing in sin we have neither seen Christ nor known Him. |
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We all sin from time to time. The point is how we regard sin, what we do about it. |
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If we confess our sin, naming it before the Lord, resolve to turn away from it with the Lord's help, then we are forgiven and cleansed. If it doesn't work the first time we hit it again. We keep on coming against the particular sin, sometimes with the help of other Christians, until it is out of us totally. No halfway measures allowed! |
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But if we reason away the necessity for deliverance from sin, then we are outside the Scripture. |
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The current Evangelical doctrine is that we ought to try to do good, but even if we don't we will go to Heaven by grace. This is a lie. This is straight from Satan. The Scripture does not teach that even if you fail to overcome you still will receive the rewards designated for the overcomer. |
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To be continued. |
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