Champions Of Love
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The Mystery: Part II
“Blessed are the eyes which see the things that you see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which you see and have not seen them, and to hear those things which you hear and have not heard them.” (Luke 10: verses 23b and 24)
There are seven things in the ‘church epistles’ (Romans through second Thessalonians) the Lord tells us specifically that He doesn’t want us to be ignorant of. In our last study of ‘The Mystery’ (which is one of those ‘seven things’) we concluded with a quick look at (a second of the ‘seven things’) spiritual things, including the manifestations (NOT gifts!) of the Spirit (first Corinthians12 verses 7 through 11); Our spiritual ‘tools’, given to us to help us get the job of LOVE done, enabling us to serve the Lord, delivering others from darkness unto light.
The truth that these tools are NOT GIFTS (Each Christian gets them ALL in THE GIFT of the holy spirit!) is clouded in modern ‘charismatic’ doctrine because of the mis-translation and resulting misunderstanding of 1Cor.12:1. If you look in a King James Version you will see that the word ‘gifts’ is italicized. This means that this word was added by the translators and has no actual, corresponding word to it in the manuscript. Just scratch it out of your Bible! The preceding word in the verse, translated ‘spiritual’, is actually the Greek word ‘pneumatikos’ which means: “belonging to or determined by the Spirit, influenced by it, or proceeding from it”. (‘Critical Lexicon & Concordance to the English & Greek New Testament’ -E.W. Bullinger)
In other words, your bible should say, in 1Cor.12:1:
“Now concerning SPIRITUAL THINGS (or matters), brethren, I would not have you ignorant”.
This sets the context of the entire section wherein are discussed gifts, administrations, operations, AND manifestation, all spiritual things or matters, just like it ACTUALLY says in verse 1!
Please try to get it straight in your mind here. These spiritual tools are NOT GIFTS which you may, or may not get! Or that some would get and some not. ('God is no respecter of persons'!) You do not have to wait! If Jesus Christ is your Lord and you believe that God raised Him from the dead (Rom.10:9), you HAVE holy spirit and you CAN and SHOULD Speak In Tongues, Interpret Tongues, Prophesy; receive Word Of Knowledge, Word Of Wisdom and Discern Spirits; and perform Faith, Gifts Of Healing and Miracles in a life of loving service to the Lord of all, loving and ministering to one another in the Body of Christ, directed by the Head!!!! -(Remember? It’s ‘Christ In You, the hope of glory’!!! -Col.1:27)
The purpose of God’s gifts? Look at Eph.4:12,13:
“For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the (building up) edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”
This is not some pie-in-the-sky fancy talk! I’m telling you straight, the way it is! This is like ‘standard issue holy spirit: 1-ea.’! You are SUPPOSED to know how to use these tools!
(This is how Peter and John miraculously healed the lame man at the temple gate in Acts 3! This is how Philip knew to head out to the desert just when the eunuch was stopped in his chariot reading Isaiah beside the road in Acts 8! This is how Peter raised Tabitha from death in Acts 9!)
The Lord Jesus Himself has called you forth and given them to you to do your ‘job’ in the Body. The operation of the manifestations of the holy spirit should be standard operating procedure in the church, and yet, when we look, what we find is: half of the body of believers teaching and believing that we cannot, and/or should not operate them anymore and the other half thinking that they are gifts which we may or may not possibly receive, someday!
Our Lord’s enemy, the devil, who is called ‘the father of lies’, must be laughing his fool head off at the way he’s tricked us with this lie and, in so doing, it seems that he’s hindered the purposes of God. I mean, this is what our Lord, Jesus Christ, gave His life for!
This one, little twist in understanding has been built upon, resulting in a huge mass of, what I would term, ‘doctrinal garbage’ in the church, leading to snobbery and ‘clicism’ (Paul would say ‘strife and envy’) beyond belief! -“Oh yes, David there has the gift of prophecy...”, so..., rather than seeing our unity and equality we have in the body, (you have only one Lord and He is the only one ‘over’ or better than you!, and, furthermore; we ‘are all part, one of another’ in the body of Christ!) we’re told that some have these abilities and some don’t! We see ‘clics’ develop in our typical ‘spirit-filled’ churches, of ‘those who can’ and ‘those who wait’, causing an illusion of inequality and division within the context of one doctrine! (and then, we have so many doctrines!)
God says in Eph.4:1b-6:
“…walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in LOVE, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is ONE BODY, and ONE SPIRIT, even as ye are called in ONE hope of your calling; ONE Lord, ONE faith, ONE baptism, ONE God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”
And also Phil.2:2:
“Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same LOVE, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but, in lowliness of mind, let each esteem the other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.”
We are all God’s children and, like any good father (and He is the BEST Father) He doesn’t have any favorites or give any one of us more or less than He gives the other. GOD IS LOVE! (1John 4:8&16)
You know, if you think about it, things certainly looked bad when they crucified our Lord, didn’t they? Didn’t things look pretty awful when the infant Moses was set adrift in a basket and didn’t it appear completely hopeless when Herod sent out the order to kill all those babies?
Similarly it would appear that, at least in two respects, God’s plan ‘since before the foundation of the world’ (Eph.1:4) has failed!: (1) Christians do not operate (use) the manifestations (tools/weapons) of the spirit as they did in the book of Acts and (2) The LOVE of Jesus has been greatly hindered because, through our own ignorance of God’s Word, the adversary has been able to trick us with selfish pride into allowing ourselves to be divided by denominations! BUT I see a pattern in God’s Word: Many times it has appeared that the devil won; but you know something? He never has! He’s a LOSER!
The Lord always has and always will come through and I believe that our Lord Jesus Christ is angry right now! I believe Jesus is now STANDING on the right hand of the Father because Jesus is about to move! I believe He’s about had it with this doctrinal division and spiritual weakness in HIS body and He’s going to do something about it and I intend to help Him! How about you?
I pray and believe, right here and now, in the name of Jesus Christ, that ‘the veil shall be taken away’ in our reading of God’s Word and that a ‘spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him’ be given to each and every one of you in recognizing God’s calling and purpose for your life!
I’m not saying that Jesus is coming back soon. I don’t know and neither do you. Nobody does. But you see, that’s the thing; Since we don’t know, it could be today, right? Once He comes back, it's over. No one else can be saved! The free gift of holy spirit and eternal life by the grace of God and the merit of Jesus Christ will no longer be available. The Lord wants to bring as many home as He can before that time and WE are His ministers and WE are supposed to carry it out; Not angels, not high priest, not anyone else but you and I!
His enemy wants to stop Him and works against the Lord by tricking us in the body with selfishness! (‘A house divided cannot stand’) With these manifestations we can do ANYTHING to serve our Lord in LOVE and the devil can’t stop us and he knows it! His only hope of defeating the Lord is by tricking us out of learning what we have and loving God and His people by, first, turning our concern inward in his many devious ways and then dividing us with doctrinal argument, all the while blinding us to the power God has given us!
This statement, that the Lord wants us to know about spiritual things, introduces the next three chapters, 12-14 which are actually a single unit in the context of the ‘checklist’ format of these Corinthian epistles. These two 'letters' were written to reprove (correct) practical error among the ‘babes’, or ‘young’ believers in Corinth and in 1Cor.14:26 we see the problem that was being addressed: In the fellowship meeting, there was confusion where there should have been LOVE and building-up!
“How is it then, brethren? When ye come together, every one of hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.” (1Cor.14:26)
Wake up, people! Don’t be fooled by the enemy’s lies! Don’t allow doctrinal differences to separate us, the Body of Christ; Dig into God’s Word yourself and let's figure out together how to restore the kind of unity and spiritual power-in-manifestation this body had in the first-century church when they taught the Word of God to the point that it literally prevailed throughout society in the civilized world! (Acts 19:20) Christianity is not a spectator sport! While you’re sitting there trying to figure out where you disagree with me, why not go get a concordance and do a little research on your own! (Remember that we are all ONE body, united in and connected by one Spirit and our Lord Jesus is the ‘brain’ of this body and Jesus runs things and Jesus is going to do what Jesus wants to do, (See all His teachings in the gospels) directing us, His body, in coordination and grace, like a pro athlete!)
Stop and consider here; that not only is this so, but this is only the beginning of our eternal relationship with Jesus Christ! Did you know that there is prophecy concerning you in your bible? Rev.19:14:
“And the armies (that’s us!) which were in heaven followed Him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.”
This section of Revelation is referring to ‘the day of vengeance of our God’ (Isa.61:2) (or the ‘day of the Lord’), when Jesus comes back as King of Kings and Lord of Lords! We come back to earth with our Lord leading us and help Him wipe this world clean of the devil and all his evil (selfish) works! This same event is spoken of also in a vision which was given to the Prophet Joel in chapter 2:1-11:
“A great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth; The land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness, yea , and nothing shall escape them. The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses, and as horsemen, so shall they run. Like the noise of chariots, on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness. They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks: Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded. They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief. The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble; the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining, and the Lord shall utter his voice before his army, for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word.”
This is the Lord’s plan for your future! This is what you will be and this is what you will do! At that time you will be walking in LOVE and serving the Lord by wiping out the evil from this world and you’ll be using ‘powers’ that enable you to ‘leap… on the tops of mountains’ and ‘run upon the wall’, produce ‘a fire devouring before’ and ‘behind’ you and which make you invulnerable to an attack by sword! In the future you’ll have these abilities and more, and, with them, you’ll be able to do the ‘work of the Lord’ that needs to be done at THAT time. Now you have ‘powers’ suitable to the work the Lord needs you to do at THIS time! (i.e. -‘the ministry of reconciliation’ 2Cor.5:18)
Our Lord Jesus Himself told us that where two or more of us are together, He will (always) be there, in our midst! The fellowship meeting of the saints (those set-apart; that’s you!) is the design of Jesus Christ Himself, presenting the opportunity for the Lord to gather us and ‘work out’ that part of His body with the ‘worship’ manifestations: tongues, interpretation and prophecy! Look, go take a break and just read 1Cor.12-14 and then come back. It’ll bless you!
If you did that you now know about your tools which enable you to ‘edify’ the Body as you fulfill your function as one of it’s members; You know that a basic part of this will be operating your ability to speak in tongues in your day-to-day prayer life; interpreting tongues in a beautiful, perfect spiritual prayer for the assembled to take part in and bringing forth a word of ‘edification, exhortation and comfort’ (1Cor.14:3) from the Lord by prophecy in a fellowship meeting. You’ve seen that your operation of the spirit will always be ‘decent and in order’ (for ‘God is not the author of confusion’) and in the context of genuine LOVE, coming from the Lord’s spirit within you, and that the Lord’s simple solution to the problem of the spirits of strife and envy and pride attacking the believers as they gathered was (and is) ‘Let all things be done unto edifying’ (or building-up, i.e.: LOVE!)).
Since all born-again sisters and brothers in this family have the spirit, and, therefore, the tools that go along with it, we can all be inspired to live a life of powerful LOVE. When we gather in the Lord we are all commanded (1Cor.14:26) to seek to the edification, or building-up of the other members of the body; Not just the pastor; Not just the minister! We are ALL commanded to LOVE one another as Jesus loved us AND we’ve been empowered, or given the ability, to ‘effectually’ do just that! We literally have no excuse not to actually LOVE and help and heal this world! And, ultimately, one way or another, that’s exactly what we are going to do anyway, even when we come back with the Lord to completely annihilate the adversary and all of his! Satan’s already been completely defeated and his selfish way disproved, and he knows it! All the enemy can do is try to trick us with selfishness, of one kind or another, to distract us from the real issue, which is: ENDING THIS DENOMINATIONAL DIVISION AND UNITING IN LOVE IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST AND ‘STOMPING THE DEVIL’S BUTT’ RIGHT HERE AND NOW!! We CAN do that by 1. learning and operating these manifestations in our lives, 2. ‘effectually working’ together, in LOVE as we help and heal all of God's people, undoing Satan’s destruction, pulling down his ‘strongholds’ of pain and misery and 3. driving his forces of evil/selfishness out in the name of Jesus Christ, with the LOVE of God in our hearts, His Word on our lips and His power within us!
In our last study on the Mystery, we looked at what the Lord didn’t read on the day He announced the beginning of His ministry. Let’s take a closer look at what He did say: Isa.61:1:
“‘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, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.’ and He closed the book, and He gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on Him. And He began to say unto them ‘This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.’”
This verse has always been special to me as it was the herald of the start of the true ‘new age’, the ministry of God’s Son Jesus Christ! When I first began teaching God’s Word in my home in 1980, often I’d have this verse in my mind as I would begin to prepare by praying (speaking in tongues) for all the people that were coming, asking the Lord for wisdom (‘what-to-do’) so I could know whatever I needed to know (by Word of Knowledge/Word of Wisdom/Discerning of Spirits) to be able to teach to meet the needs of God’s people, to edify them, studying whatever He ’put on my heart’ and having a ‘readiness of mind’ to minister and heal.
Time and again I would see people’s lives delivered by the Word I taught, not because I'm so smart, but because the Lord takes full responsibility for His Word! In my home-fellowship it was just understood that all who came were speaking in tongues silently for one another throughout the meetings and one of us would interpret tongues where the prayer spoken aloud, in tongues, is then interpreted by that same person for the benefit (edifying) of the people (the body) and prophesy, where one or two of us would literally ’speak for God’, ‘speaking by the spirit’, bringing forth a message of encouragement and comfort (1Cor.14:3) from God!
This may all sound strange to your ears at first, but it’s not; This is how God’s family acts; This is how you (really) act, and if these things do sound strange, it’s because you haven’t been taught, but this is what God’s Word says!:
* “I WOULD THAT YE ALL SPAKE WITH TONGUES…” (and) “…PROPHESY…” (and) “…INTERPRET (tongues)…”! (1Cor.14:5)
* “He that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men but unto God… He speaketh mysteries”! (1Cor.14:2)
* “He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself, but he that profisieth edifieth the church”! (1Cor.14:4)
* “Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual (pneumatikos: spiritual things) (not) gifts , seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church; Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret, for if I pray in an unknown tongue my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is it then? I will pray with the Spirit, (by speaking-in-tongues) and I will pray with the understanding also; I will sing with the spirit, (by singing-in-tongues!) and I will sing with the understanding also.”! (1Cor.14:12-15)
* “For thou verily givest thanks well… (when you speak in tongues)”! (1Cor.14:17)
* “I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all”! (1Cor.14:18)
* “Wherefore tongues are for a sign… to them that believe not; but prophesying serveth (as a sign)… for them which believe”! (1Cor.14:22)
* “…if all prophesy, and there comes in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all, and thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so, falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth”! (1Cor.14:24,25)
* “Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues”! (1Cor.14:39)
* “If any man thinketh himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord , but if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant”! (1Cor.14:37,38)
* “Likewise the (operation of the) Spirit also helpeth our infirmities (Or our lack; namely, that we are limited, physical beings which can neither know all nor are we able of all, by ourselves!); for (because) we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us (The gift of holy spirit which we received when we believed in and accepted Jesus Christ!) with groanings which cannot be uttered, and he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he (it, the holy spirit) maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God, for we know that all (these spiritual) things work together for good (LOVE) to them (you!) that LOVE God, to them (you!) who are the called according to his purpose, for (you!) whom He did foreknow (you!) He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of (MADE LIKE!) HIS SON(!) (Jesus operated seven of these nine manifestations during the ‘earthly’ part of His ministry!), (purpose?) that He (JESUS!) might be the firstborn among many brethren (that’s you!) (THE BODY!); Moreover (you!) whom He did predestinate, them (you!) He also called, and (you!) whom He called, them (you!) He also justified, and (you!) whom He justified, them (you!) He also glorified”! (WITH POWER!) (Rom.8:26-30)
Look, I didn’t write the book, and I didn’t call you! God did! It says right here He foreknew and He called us, predestinating each of us to be made like His Son Jesus Christ, giving us literally the same power and authority to heal and to cast out devils He used when He walked this earth as well as the same LOVE which burned within him!! Isn’t that what we just read? Just what do you think it means when it says we are to be ‘conformed to (His) image’? Do you think maybe we also are supposed to do what He did when He was here, operating the power we’ve been given, carrying out His ministry as His body with Him directing us like God’s Word says?: “…PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR; …HEAL THE BROKENHEARTED, …PREACH DELIVERANCE TO THE CAPTIVES AND RECOVERING OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, …SET AT LIBERTY THEM THAT ARE BRUISED, …PREACH THE ACCEPTABLE YEAR OF THE LORD”!
(JUST DO IT!)
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