by Clay Sikes
Jesus made a sacrifice sufficient enough for us to hear from the Throne Room for every major decision, to live our lives governed by His Spirit within us, to walk in a total victorious 'way.' Our enemy to this "way" is our old traditional "way" of natural thinking: this wide path is traveled by many and is the seed of Cain.
‘Those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God’ (Romans 8:14). Notice that this scripture does not say “all Christians,” or “all preachers,” or “all church leaders” are sons of God…only those led by the Spirit of God. As the Spiritual Church continues to be birthed out of the Carnal Church, we are beginning to see the sons of God manifested – those men and women who have died to themselves and who are ‘about doing the Father’s business.’ A distinguishing characteristic of a true son is the continuing grace of God - the grace to pray, the grace to hear, the grace to move according to the plan of God. Grace and humility are virtually synonymous terms.
Humility, staying bowed before the Father, draws the grace of God like a magnet draws metal because God gives grace to the humble and resist the proud (James 4:6). Staying bowed before the Father means hanging onto His every word – the words He speaks to us. We can only have faith for what we have heard the Father say and if we are not hearing, it is safe to assume that we are not bowed, in a state of humility, before the Father (I Peter 5:6).
Our hearing (faith) is proportional to our humility. God desires a pre fall, Tree of Life relationship with His sons and daughters, those that are led by His spirit (the humble), those who do not live life on their own terms by the vanity of their own minds (the proud). God’s true sons live completely on His terms staying bowed before Him; spending time with him, hearing Him speak, and doing what He says. They do not live from the Tree of Knowledge where they judge from their own mind, but from the Tree of Life where men do not live by bread alone, but upon ‘every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’ They have a great revelation and understanding of Jesus words, “I can of my own self do nothing” (John 5:30). They have come to the end of themselves and recognize that without Him, all else is fruitless; neither worth the time nor the effort.
We know that idolatry is sin and yet often commit it unknowingly. Often the idol we place between us and God IS US: our own intelligence, our own propensity to judge, our own way of doing things, our own traditions, our own theology, our own doctrine. Let us look at the consequences of this lifestyle in Jonah 2:8 – ‘Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.’
God is calling us to a place where we function effectively as tools in His hands. We must be about the Father’s business, accomplishing His will, NOT OUR OWN. We are to “Forget not His benefits” as we become (God’s) purpose minded, we will never again have to be resource minded (like the pagans in Matthew 6:32). If nothing else is remembered in this reading, remember this - God pays for what He orders…when we become purpose minded, we’ll not ever again have to be resource minded. In the process of doing God’s will all needs are met. What a unique and wonderful Kingdom dynamic. While we are busy doing His will (obeying His instructions to us), our needs are being taken care of, because the greater (doing His will), always includes the lesser (taking care of our needs). When we fulfill His desire, our desire is seen to - just one of the benefits of staying bowed before the Father, in a state of humility, obeying His every word.
When we continuously use the mind (the arena of reason) instead of the Holy Spirit for direction, we unconsciously forfeit the grace to hear God for His directed purposes. Galatians 5:1-4 further reveals the consequences of our actions.
‘It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery (the world’s system, man’s way – using the mind over the Spirit). Mark my words! I Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised (engage the old way of mind over Spirit), Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; YOU HAVE FALLEN AWAY FROM GRACE.’
‘You are made sons by faith in Christ Jesus…’ - (Galatians 3:26): ‘You who are trying to be justified by law (the old way of doing things) have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.’ We are made sons by faith in the new way, Jesus Christ, hearing God and obeying him. We become alienated from Christ and lose the grace to hear the Father when we engage the old way (making major decisions from the mind). There is a right way with God and a wrong way as we see in Jeremiah 6:16-19 – There is a good way that God blesses and a wrong way that He does not bless.
Read Galatians 3:26 and 5:1-4 in the context of the following: THE VOICE OF THE SPIRIT IS NOT AVAILABLE TO US IF THE DAILY GRACE HAS FALLEN AWAY. Engaging the old way (“the yoke of slavery”) will cause the grace that could be ours to fall away; we have re entered a form of idolatry, a form of the old law (way) by looking to self for answers… when we do this we lose the grace that could be ours to hear God for specific direction. Jesus made it possible for us to hear God individually for direction in our lives, yet we forfeit the grace to hear Him as we return to the vanity of our own minds for direction.
It is possible to be a Christian and live without the ministry of grace offered by the Holy Spirit. When Paul said the Galatians had fallen from grace he didn’t mean they had lost their ability to go to heaven. He meant they had fallen from their dependence on the Holy Spirit…they were reverting to other methods, and in so doing deprived themselves of the Holy Spirit’s ministry of grace for daily living. The letter kills, the Spirit gives life.
There is a prophetic sound that is being heard with clarity, “Ishmael can no longer live in the house with Isaac.” “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son” (Galatians 4:30). Ishmael represents the child of the flesh, the original son (the original way). He taunted Isaac much the same as our natural mind taunts us as we begin to move in the things of the Spirit. We all began by using our mind (looking to self for answers) instead of God’s Spirit within us, yet now is the time for Ishmael to be put out of the house. “We are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman” (Galatians 5:31). It is time for the child of promise to reign: Jesus enabled us to walk by the leading of the Spirit.
Our inheritance is based upon our growing up and becoming mature in God (Galatians 4:1-7). We will never receive our inheritance until we grow up by trusting God, hearing and obeying, discerning Spiritually, spending time with God etc.,
Part of that maturation process is putting Ishmael out of the house; in fact, out of our house! Beginning in verse 28 of Chapter 4 of Galatians, ‘Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. BUT WHAT DOES THE SCRIPTURE SAY? Get rid of the slave woman and her son, FOR THE SLAVE WOMAN’S SON WILL NEVER SHARE IN THE INHERITANCE WITH THE FREE WOMAN’S SON.’ We have come to the time where the two cannot occupy the same house. We can no longer mix living from our minds with living by the Spirit. The two can no longer live in the same house. A little leven unleventh the whole lump.
I belabor this point because of its vast importance in understanding sonship. Those who allow human reasoning to rule their decision-making are the seed of Cain; they produce Ishmaels. Ishmael is a work of the flesh – the very essence of human reasoning. When we make decisions by human reasoning and do not seek the Lord for His will, we will inevitably produce another Ishmael. Ishmaels are always produced by a lack of patience, a fact which promotes the idea that it is always best to wait until we are sure we have heard God before we move. Again, we can only have faith for what we have heard God say, which not only includes His direction, but also His timing. When we follow exactly what God says, we will birth Isaac and Isaac is the seed of promise.
Ishmael and Isaac can no longer live in the same house because there is enmity between the two. Said differently, we can no longer allow human reasoning to stay in the house with being Spirit led. There will always be enmity between that which is born of the flesh and the true seed of God. As we know, Abraham eventually put Ishmael out of the house, recognizing the mocking and taunting nature of Ishmael toward the true seed -Isaac. As a wonderful Biblical example for us and to Abraham’s credit, he was able to recognize Ishmael as a work of the flesh, further realizing that every tree can will only bear fruit after its own kind, hence he chopped the tree down and got rid of it. So too should we when we recognize our works of the flesh. This if often a painful process, but must be undertaken for mature growth to come.
Even though God blessed our Ishmaels for a while, when Isaac appears, THAT WHICH IS BORN OF FLESH MUST BE DRIVEN OUT. Flesh cannot be an heir with that which is born of Spirit. If you want to be an heir you must drive out works of the flesh. Many make the mistake of using their mind (flesh) for the purposes of God and wonder why their work is not blessed. Many Churches today are governed by the seed of Cain and continue to flounder in a powerless state. If Sarah (Abraham's wife) could shout one phrase for all the Church to hear it would be “The Sin Of Presumption Often Hides Itself In Noble Purposes!” Take note of the fact that "presumption," even if it is for God is sin, and will produce a work of the flesh! Anything that is not faith is sin, and you can only have faith for what God has said to you!
We must begin to distinguish between the things that God blesses and those that He inhabits. Ishmael was a work of the flesh, having been born of the bondwoman and remaining in bondage (Galatians 4:21-31). Ishmael was not the promised seed, but he persecuted the true heir and does so to this day, yet God blessed him and made him a great nation. He blessed him because he had a covenant with Abraham, and he often blesses our works of the flesh, to a degree, because of the covenant He has made with us; however, he will not inhabit them.
The time has come when the child of the flesh must be cast out. We must now look beyond that which may have a blessing upon it, and give our attention to that which He inhabits. He inhabits what He orders, and if we cease from our own works and ways, He will be sure, by His grace, to give us His works and ways – the place He inhabits, the place of His blessing. The rest of God can only be found in obeying the work of God. This type rest is not necessarily the absence of activity, but rather the absence of anxiety. We find peace and rest in the middle of God’s assignment and specific purpose for our lives.
