This epistle of Biblical Truths
is based solely on the King James Version of the Bible in its accuracy,
integrity and simplicity of its rightly divided word of truth WITHOUT
RELIGIOSITY in it.
Because the content of this work is new to
most, a lot of people may feel offended. Those of you who become offended allow
yourselves to become offended. Romans 12:2 - And be not conformed to this
world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind (Changing your
mind to what God’s Rightly Divided Word states Not manmade religiosity), that
ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Because this book of biblical
truths is based solely on what God’s Word says in 2 Timothy 2:15 - Study to
shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth,
And by revelation from God
You might say that this epistle
is sanctified by God Himself.
Expounding More Perfectly
I DO NOT add anything to God’s
Original Word, For your benefit I Expound More Perfectly on God’s Glorious,
Matchless, Rightly Divided Word in its accuracy, integrity and simplicity
WITHOUT RELIGIOUS LIES
DID YOU KNOW that God’s Word the
Bible never says anything about going to a Seminary, a Theology College or any
other man-made religious organization or religious school of any kind in order
that you may build a Christian Ministry.
In your life you can become an
apostle; prophet; evangelist; pastor or a teacher; what soever God has chosen
for you which is for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the
ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: so that you may bless others
with signs miracles and wonders. You shall also do greater “works” than he. (Jesus
Christ)
Your God-Given Ministry of
Reconciliation along with its proven ‘operation manual’ called the word of
Reconciliation, along with God’s ‘Factory Representative’ called Jesus Christ
who through His actions has made for You a proven blueprint of success to
follow.
That blueprint is contained in
this Epistle which is so simple to follow even a twelve-year-old could finish
this publication successfully.
What
a God-given Privilege and Honour You Have at Your Fingertips
- There is only
one person stopping you and that person is you! -
INDEX
Chapter One – The Basics –
………………………………………… Page 05
Chapter Two– In the Home -
………………………………………… Page 12
Chapter Three – The Standard –
……………………………………. Page 21
Chapter Four – Your Fathers
Business – …………………………... Page 38
Chapter Five - Living Examples –
…………………………………… Page 50
Chapter Six – Under Shepherding –
…………………………………. Page 71
Chapter Seven – Script nor Purse
– ………………………………… Page 89
Chapter Eight – Sharing the Word
– ………………………………… Page 95
Chapter Nine – Most Noble Act -
…………………………………… Page 97
Chapter Ten – About the Author -
………………………………… Page 114
The
Basics
The mustard seed is one of the
smallest seeds of all the herbs in the world. Even though one of the smallest
seeds, this herb can grow to a height of about fifteen feet.
=
It's not in the size of the seed, but in the
quality of life in that seed, which enables it to grow to be so great. The
Fellowship is like that mustard seed. It contains a heart which makes it grow.
The Word of God is the heart of the
Fellowship; it is what gives the Fellowship life, for the written Word reveals
God and the Word taught reveals the written Word. It is from that Word of God
that the Fellowship draws quality life.
The Apostle Paul, by revelation
from God, wrote about the Fellowship.
I Timothy 3:15 - "But if I
tarry long, that you may know how you ought to behave yourself in the house of
God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the
truth."
This should literally read,
"how men ought to behave themselves." The word "house" is
the Greek word "oikos". This word means "a dwelling with special
reference to the in dwellers." So, you see, it's God's household that's
important - and God's house is not a house made with human hands.
It's a spiritual household, where
God and Jesus Christ dwells in each member
spiritually.
It says in the next phrase, "which is the
church of the living God." The word "church" is
"ekklesia" which refers to "the called out," those who are
assembled around the greatness of God's Word that God had chosen before the
foundation of the world. As called out
ones, we must see God's calling in our own lives. We must have the personal
vision that it takes to move the greatness of God's Word. Without that personal
vision, that inner awareness of who we are, where we're going and what we're
doing, the Word of God will never live in a great way in our lives.
To realize that you are
Christ-like, you must go to the Word of God and see your calling, so you can
live it in your day-by-day walk. This
personal vision becomes the embodiment of believing. Vision is the perspective of
anticipation.
‘ONE
SOLITARY LIFE’
Written by James A. Francis (1864-1928) who was born in Nova Scotia, Canada and became a pastor at age twenty-one. His first pastorate was in New York City at the Riverside Baptist Church and was later led to Los Angeles in 1914.
First
Used in a Church in 1926
Here is a man who was born in an
obscure village,
the child of a peasant woman.
He grew up in an obscure
village.
He worked in a carpenter shop
until he was thirty,
and then for three years he was
an itinerant teacher.
He never wrote a book. He never
held an office.
He never owned a home. He never
had a family.
He never went to college.
He never traveled, except in his
infancy, more than two hundred miles from the place where he was born.
He never did one of the things
that usually accompanies greatness.
He had no credentials but
himself.
While he was still a young man,
the tide of popular opinion turned against him.
His friends ran away.
One of them denied him.
He was turned over to his
enemies.
He went through a mockery of a
trial.
He was nailed upon a cross
between two thieves.
His executioners gambled for the
only piece of property he had on earth,
his seamless robe.
When he was dead, he was taken
down from the cross and laid in a borrowed grave through the courtesy of a
friend.
Nineteen wide centuries have come
and gone, and today he is the centerpiece of the human race and the leader of
all human progress.
I am well within the mark when I
say that all the armies that ever marched,
all the navies that ever were
built, all the parliaments that ever sat, and all
the kings that ever reigned, put
together, have not affected the life of man
upon this earth as powerfully as
has this one solitary personality
That man was a man born a bastard
child in the world's eyes.
His mother was a whore in the
world's eyes.
He was born in a manger, not the
stateliest place for a king to be born.
He lived in a neighborhood where
he had to overcome the un-belief,
the criticism, the doubt, the
slander of his community for about thirty years, and
he was not born with the spirit
of God upon him.
When he was about thirty, the
Word says, the spirit descended upon him and abode there.
That's when his heavenly Father
said, "This is my Son, in whom I am well pleased."
You would not say he was born
with a "silver spoon in his mouth."
He must have had as many
obstacles to overcome as any man who has ever lived,
because he had to be big enough
so that we could walk in his steps. He had to
experience life for us.
He had to prove that God's Word
was faithful in any situation with which we might be
confronted, and so, he had to
succeed. Had he blown it, all would have been lost. We
would still be in an unredeemed
state.
Jesus Christ also had freedom of
will.
With this freedom of will He did
four basic things -
First, he studied God's
Word.
How did he know he was the Son of
God? He read it in the Word. There
had to be a first time he read
The Scrolls and he saw the promised seed.
Imagine what it was like when his
mother pointed it out to him when he
was a little boy. And yet, he had
a choice to make: whether to believe her
or the neighborhood.
The neighborhood had already
judged his mother to be immoral. Despite this, Jesus
Christ established that the Word
of God was right. He had to have read the scriptures
in Isaiah which said that he
would be more despised than all the men of the earth; that
he would be horrendously flogged
and become a lacerated mass of bleeding flesh; that
he would be more marred than any
man; that his back would be like a furrowed field.
He lived with that in his mind.
He knew those verses, and yet he had to overcome them
by the renewing of his mind as he
studied God's Word and he saw God's perspective.
Secondly, he had to
recognize his position as the Son of God. If he could do that and
lead the way by renewing his mind
to be the Son of God, which he was, then surely,
we can follow him and recognize
our position in Christ as being sons of God.
Thirdly, he had to
practice the presence of God. Believe it
or not, Jesus Christ had to
practice it, because he had to
walk by his own will. He could not be possessed, he had
to choose to do God's will.
One of the greatest laws of the
universe, the greatest power a person possesses next
to the holy spirit within them is
his freedom of will, the power to choose to be what he
wants to be. A man fails because he wants to fail. He succeeds
because he wants to
succeed. We have the ability,
once we have Christ in us, to walk and succeed,
because the Word of God says we
are more than conquerors in EVERY situation.
Fourthly, he, Jesus
Christ, lived love. He
simply walked out in love. That is what
energized the power in his life
to help people. He knew who he was and where he
was going. He had inner vision.
He was the embodiment of believing concerning the
Word of God, and he had the
perspective of anticipation.
Vision will give you
direction and purpose for your life.
As the called out of God, we must realize who we are in Christ and lift
up our heads
and walk. We are of the living
God. The word "living" was translated from the New
Testament Greek Word “zao” which means “life
in all of its manifestations.”
Acts 17:22, 23 & 28 - "Then
Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, You men
Athens, I perceive that in all
things you are too superstitious (religious). For as I passed
by, and beheld your devotions,
I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE
UNKNOWN GOD Whom therefore you
ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. For
in him we live, and move, and
have our being; as certain also of your own poets have
said, For we are also his
offspring."
We are the offspring of The
Living God. Whenever we surround ourselves with Him by
putting the Word on in our minds
and become grads of Romans 10:9,10, we are in
God’s household.
In Timothy the Church is
described as "the pillar and ground of the truth."
The word "pillar" was
translated from The New Testament Greek Word “stulos" which
means "a firm support."
The rabbis used to talk of pillars about the teaching of the
Mosaic Law to the Jews, because
the law would give the Jewish people a firm support.
It's used in the secular world of
the colonnades or the pillars that would give firm
support to a building.
But in the Word of God, it's used
about men, because they would provide God's people
with a firm support by the Word
they stood on and taught.
Galatians 2:9 - "And when
James, Cephas (Peter), and John, who seemed to be
pillars, perceived the grace
that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the
right hands of fellowship;
that we should go unto the heathen (the Gentiles), and they
unto the
circumcision."
These three men are referred to
as the pillars of the Church. A pillar gives firm support.
When individuals teach the
greatness of God's Word, they give the believers a firm
support; they build the vision of
the household. In this Body of Christ, the house of
God, the called out of the living
God, there is to be a firm support.
The Church is described as
"the pillar and ground of the truth." The word "ground" is
the New Testament Greek Word
"hedraioma" which is "foundation." The fellowship is
where we build a solid foundation
in our lives while we are here on earth. The day is
coming when we will ascend with
Christ Jesus and be like him.
Today we live here on earth in the body of
Christ. That Body of Christ on earth must
have a practical means to
function and live. That practical means is the Fellowship.
The Fellowship is where we not
only lay, but also build, a solid foundation of truth in
our lives. Jesus Christ was and is the chief
corner stone. That literally means he is
the whole foundational slab; he
is the foundation upon which the true Church of God
was built.
Other men of God may be the
pillars, but he is the whole foundation. He laid the
foundation with his life. This
Word continues to live today in people's lives as they
understand the rightly divided
Word that they are taught in its accuracy, integrity and
simplicity!
I Corinthians 3: 10 & 11 -"According
to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a
wise master builder, I have laid the
foundation, and another build thereon. But let
every man take heed how he builds thereupon.
For other foundation can no man lay
than that is laid, which is Jesus
Christ."
2 Timothy 2:19 - " Nevertheless
the foundation of God stands sure, having this seal,
The Lord knows them that are his. And, let everyone
that names the name of Christ
depart from
iniquity."
It says the "foundation of
God stands sure." It's a solid
foundation the one Body is the
mystery, the house of God, but in practical
terms, the mystery must be lived and
carried out in the Fellowship. It is in the
Fellowship that the household is built. It's
where the individual members have
the spirit of the living God dwelling in them, and
that is where they meet for spiritual nurture
and growth.
The
Fellowship is where the foundational truth in its accuracy, integrity and
simplicity are laid out without manmade religiosity woven through it.
Where individuals learn and
believe the greatness of God's Word.
It's where God raises His
household, where He brings up His kids.
Chapter Two
In the Home
Romans 16:5b-7 - ". . .
Salute my well beloved Epaenetus, who is the first-fruits of Achaia unto
Christ. Greet Mary, who bestowed much labor on us Salute Andronicus and Junia,
my kinsmen, and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles
(these are fellowship leaders who had known the apostles), who also were in
Christ before me."
These Fellowship leaders got in
the Word before the great Apostle Paul!
That's fantastic. You can start
to see that a fellowship leader is a whole ministry. It's a whole means of
outreach. It's a miniature ministry.
Your
Fellowship should have its own Outreach.
In Titus we see where unbelievers
were fighting spiritually to stop the move of God's Word in the
Fellowship.
Titus 1:11 - "Whose
mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which
they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake (for their own financial and personal
gain).
They were subverting whole
houses. Has anyone ever got a house born again? No? Well, why not? Because a
house is a physical building. It is not that these houses were being subverted.
The inhabitants of a house get born-again/saved or are subverted. The house is
where the inhabitants assemble, where they are gathered together around the
Word.
The
spiritual fight is fought in the Fellowship.
Hebrews 10:24 & 25 -
"And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is;
but exhorting one another and so much the more, as you see the day
approaching."
Do
we daily assemble in a group of 5,000? No!
Where do we generally assemble?
Where do we build the truth of
God's Word in our lives?
Where do we gain
deliverance?
Where do we hold forth the
greatness of God's Word?
Where do we live?
In the Fellowship! It's an
assembling of ourselves together.
2 Thessalonians 2:1 - "Now
we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our
gathering together unto him."
This is the verse that shows what
the embodiment of the Fellowship should be like.
Every Fellowship in the world
should be like the gathering together of the saints. The Fellowship is the
earthly coming together of the saints before the gathering together when Jesus
Christ returns for his saints. We are going to have eternal life, we are going
to be changed in the splitting of an atom/twinkling of an eye. We are going to
have perfectly renewed minds.
We will receive rewards,
inheritances and crowns if we're faithful. We will have responsibility in the
spiritual household according to our faithfulness on earth. We will have
perfect bodies and perfectly renewed minds.
We will be spiritually perfected
to live forever in the household of God. Every category of life will be made
whole. Our residence will he the upward calling in Christ Jesus, never to leave
his side again.
We will have access to the throne
room of grace with all the tenderness, the compassion. the love, the
forgiveness, the boldness, the confidence to go before His throne personally at
any time.
That's what the Fellowship should
build for people. The Fellowship is to be the gathering together of the saints
(born-again/saved-Romans 10:9,10) before the gathering together at the return
of Christ.
We are going to take a look at
some of Jesus Christ's Fellowship to see some of the characteristics that we
can build in our own Fellowship. If the Fellowship is to be like the gathering
together of the saints, where they come together in the household, where the
love of God is shared, where we don't talk about all the negatives in our
lives, where we can "recharge our batteries," where we can move with
the greatness of God's Word, then we need to look at Jesus Christ's Fellowships
and see how he operated.
Jesus
Christ left us an example, a blueprint that is very sure, very steadfast.
Mark 2:1 & 2 - "And again he
entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the
house. And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no
room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door and he preached the
word unto them."
What were they doing in the house
with Jesus Christ, having a beer, having a NASCAR party, Tupperware party?
No! They were learning about God from
His Only Begotten Son.
How was it noised abroad? The Jerusalem Gazette, W-O-R-D Radio? By
Angel-Band Telecommunications (ABT) No! it's a figure of speech. It was noised
abroad because each one was living the Word. As each one spoke the Word, it got
out; it was “noised abroad.” “Talked about during coffee break at work so to
speak
Mark 2:13 & 14 - "And
he went forth again by the sea side; and all the multitude resorted him, and he
taught them. And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at
the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed
him."
And he followed! It wasn't mind
control! There had to be a lot more to the record than is given right here, but
the important thing is that he did follow.
Jesus Christ witnessed in this
area, and he walked by this man who had probably been following the Fellowship.
He came up to the man and said, "Follow me." He must have had
previous contact with him.
Mark 2 15 & 16 - "And
it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house (he is in another
Fellowship!), many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and
his disciples: for there were many, and they followed him. And when the scribes
and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his
disciples, how is it that he eats and drinks with publicans and
sinners?"
Where is the fight being carried
out? At the Fellowship. Where were people witnessed to? In the Fellowship. What
did the Fellowship do? Did they all sit
there and just do Biblical research? No! They studied God's Word, so they could
help people. Then they would go out and hold it forth.
They'd come back, build the Word
in their lives, and then they'd release the Word again. (Receive, Retain,
Release). People got a chance to give and to receive.
3:1a-5 - " . . . and
there was a man there which had a withered hand. And they watched him, whether
he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him. And he
(Jesus Christ) said unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.
(The Pharisees were standing back there, too.) And he said unto them, is it
lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? To save life, or to kill?
But they held their peace. And when he had looked round about on them with
anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he said unto the man,
Stretch forth your hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored
whole as the other."
Where
was the fight? The Fellowship was out holding forth the Word.
How would you ever minister to
anybody in your Fellowship if you never had anybody new to deliver?
Mark 3:13 - "And he went
up into a mountain and called unto him whom he would: and they came unto
him."
Anywhere
that is quiet to teach God's People
14 “And he ordained twelve, that
they should be with him and that he might send them forth to preach." (The
word "preach" is the word "kerusso". It means "to
herald forth, sound forth," - not necessarily referring to teaching, but
to witnessing. He sent them forth to "kerusso", to herald the Word.)
15 “And to have power to heal
sicknesses, and to cast out devils. "
In Mark 3:14 and 15 we see three
vital points needed in the Fellowship:
1) to have intense fellowship
with the Fellowship leader (to share his living Word as well as his teaching of
the Word)
2) to send them forth to
witness
3) to build the power to bring
deliverance to people, power to heal people, power to expose the spiritual
snare of Satan and to bring people from darkness into light. It is a training center.
Mark 4: 10 - "And when he
was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the
parable."
He had a big meeting, and he
taught something that not everybody necessarily understood; so, when they were
in their meeting at home, the disciples asked the Lord what was going on. Then
he shared with them the greater meaning.
Mark 4 34 & 35 - "But
without a parable spoke he not unto them and when they were alone, he expounded
all things to his disciples. And the same day, when the evening was come, he said
unto them, let us pass over unto the other side."
Christ would have explained what
he had said had the believers in the Fellowship been alone by themselves for
some in-depth study. But they had been out witnessing with the people. They had
been out ministering; they had broken bread, they had fellowshipped: they had
been out among the people. Not sitting on their laurels waiting for God to send
them someone to share the Rightly Divided Word with.
Mark 7:24 - "And from
thence he arose, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into
a house, and would have no man know it but he could not be hid."
He just had a night owl; a nice,
quiet time in that Fellowship.
Mark 9:2 - "And after six
days Jesus took with him Peter, and James, and John, and lead them up into an
high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before
them."
It was a mountain top experience;
they had an "advanced meeting". Their own little time when they
advanced spiritually with God, with intimate fellowship. Look at the vision
Jesus Christ had for leading men. Look at the heart he had for building the
Word in people's lives to bring about deliverance.
Mark 9:28 - "And when he
was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, why could not we
cast him out?
They'd been out themselves
witnessing and ministered to an individual. Then they had some opportunities
and they failed. When they got back in the Fellowship, they worked the Word
again and got the answer, so that they were more powerful the next time. What
great lessons we learn from the Master Fellowship Leader.
In John 12 or Mark 14 3, you can
read about some suppers in the last week of Jesus Christ's life. They're very
important, because in the last week of his life you see him spending his time
in Fellowship; every night he goes back to a Fellowship, has dinner, shares the
Word, spends his time with the people he was closest to, those in the
Fellowship. The last supper is recorded in John 13. Here is a great record
because he left them an example - an example so plain, that not even a fool
could miss it.
John 13:1 - "Now before
the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he
should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which
were in the world, he loved them unto the end."
The “end" is not referring
to the end of his life on earth; it's referring to his ability to love. He
loved to the greatest extent. In other words. in his fellowship. He would do
whatever it would take to get his men delivered. He witnessed with them, he had
intimate fellowship with them: he taught them the way in the Word in their
lives. He broke bread: he reproved and corrected. They lived; they moved in
this household. Just like at the gathering together, he will minister to all of
us personally. He ministered to those twelve men personally as they would
gather together.
His
Fellowship had a foundation.
That
Fellowship was building pillars for our day and time.
He told them he was going to wash
their feet. Peter said, "Lord, not my feet." Now you've got to
understand Peter he was a self-made man, if there ever was one.
John 13:12-15 - "So after
he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again,
he said unto them, Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Master and
Lord: and you say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have
washed your feet; you also ought to wash one another's feet.
For
I (Jesus Christ) have given you an (what?) example."
And that's what Jesus Christ's
Fellowships did for us in the gospels. They gave us the example or blueprint.
THE
STANDARD
Jesus Christ's ministry set the standard
for the movement of God's Word. He was the master teacher sent by God to herald
the clarion call, to bring God's Word to a nation of un-belief. He blazed a
path and left it up to man to choose which way he would walk: with the world or
with God.
Now
it’s your Turn.
Thomas Wyatt (1503 – 11 October
1542) was a 16th-century English politician, ambassador, and lyric poet
credited with introducing the sonnet to English literature. It fits me to a ‘T’
"Two
Paths"
"For
uncharted sea do their hearts desire, do men of believing set sail.
While
the beaten men with fearful hearts walk along life's beaten trail.
The
men of believing will challenge both men and Satan's wrath.
But
the beaten men will compromise and walk the beaten path.
Beaten
loads are for beaten men as they walk with measured tread;
With
tombless souls they move along to dwell among the dead.
But
men of believing climbed un-scaled walls and sail uncharted seas.
They
dare to cross conventions, bound to set the captives free."
I Peter 2:21a - "For even hereunto
were you called because Christ also suffered (Greek πάσχω (paschō), meaning
experienced) for us....
Jesus Christ went through the
whole walk for us.
I
Peter 2: 21b - " Leaving us an example, that you should follow his
steps."
Jesus Christ left an example of
how to love to the utmost. His example was one of service. He answered the
clarion call of God that has run throughout the ages and here it reads he left
us an example to follow. This word "example" is the New Testament
Greek Word "hupogranmmos". Meaning a writing to be copied, an
example Yesteryear we had a machine in
our society known as the record player, or a gramophone.
Whenever you put the needle on the record, as
long as it stays in the groove of the record, it will exactly reproduce the
sound that is inlaid in the groove. Hupogrammos is also used of an
underwriting, as a child would trace the words on a page when he's learning to
write. A person lays the clear, transparent paper over the word and traces the
letters. In "leaving us an example that you should follow...," the
word "follow" means to take the same road step by step.
The following is from a poem,
written by Lynn Keyes.
"Walking
in the Woods."
I found the way that is my own
though others travelled here before; that makes it no less mine alone.
For others are here today and
though their footprints lie ahead, behind another set now lay.
For footprints on a path remain
and well-worn paths turn into roads made easier to travel on by every footstep
it contains.
Whenever we walk in the groove of
the principles on which Jesus Christ stood, whenever we trace the steps he left
as an example, we can reproduce the same results of signs, miracles and wonders
because God is no respecter of persons. If we are to challenge Satan's wrath
and not compromise the Rightly Divided Word of God, if we are to follow in His Son's
steps marking out our own trail to victory, then we must blaze a trail to God's
heart as it is revealed by Jesus Christ from the Word.
John 1:18 - "No man has
seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the
Father, he has declared him."
No man has seen God at any time,
yet many men saw Jesus Christ, The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of
the Father, in the center of his Father's will, he has declared Him. Now we
must check the Word to see how Jesus Christ declared Him.
The Book of John declares God's
heart through Jesus Christ because "Jesus Christ the Son of God" is
the theme all the way through the book.
In John chapter one, Jesus Christ
wins one at a time.
In chapter two, he goes to a
marriage feast and works with his mother among other people.
In chapter three, Jesus Christ
deals with Nicodemus.
In chapter four, he witnesses to
a woman by the well.
In chapter five, he delivers a
man at the pool in Bethesda.
In chapter six, he works with
Philip.
In chapter eight, he shows love
and forgiveness to the woman taken in
adultery.
In chapter nine, he heals the man
born blind.
In chapter ten, he teaches how
the good shepherd gives his life for his sheep.
In chapter eleven, he raises
Lazarus from the dead.
In chapter twelve, he shares one
of the last suppers with his disciples.
In thirteen through eighteen, the
last night of his life on earth, he shows his love to his Fellowship.
In chapter nineteen, Jesus Christ
the individual suffers for the sins of many.
In chapter twenty, he appears to
Mary Magdalene and later to Thomas.
In chapter 21 Jesus Christ
challenges Peter to follow him once and for all. (John !:34-36 - "And I saw, and bare
record that this is the Son of God. )
In chapter 25 again, the next day
after John stood, and two of his disciples; And looking upon Jesus as he
walked, he said, Behold the Lamb of God! There is the lamb of God! There he is!
Put
yourself in those men's shoes. That's a startling statement.
John
1:37 - " And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed
Jesus."
The ministry, if it had been built upon John,
would have collapsed because they left John to follow Jesus. Surely it was not
built upon a man, because both John and Jesus were working for the same God. It
was built on something greater than a man.
John 1:38 - "Then Jesus
turned, and saw them following, and said unto them, what do you seek? They said
unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master or teacher) where
do you live?"
Why would they want to know where
the master teacher lived?
Obviously, they wanted to be
taught.
John 1:39 - "He said unto
them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that
day: for it was about the tenth hour (4 p.m. our time)."
Two
pupils with the master teacher at his house equals a teaching
situation. There weren't
multitudes - only two pupils. Jesus Christ, at the outset of his ministry,
exhibited the pattern of outreach he would continue throughout its entirety.
The pattern would be to teach the integrity of God's Word to those who wanted
to hear. Here we have two men who wanted to hear, so he taught them. He was not
building on numbers but on God's Word, and his concern was to help individual
people. We refer to such a teaching situation as a Fellowship.
John 1:40-42 - "One of
the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's
brother. He first found his own brother Simon, and said unto him, we have found
the Messiah, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. And he brought him to
Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, you are Simon the son of Jonna: you
shall be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone."
Andrew brought Simon Peter to
Jesus. The Word does not record that the other man returned. Jesus Christ made
the Word available, then those that heard had to decide whether to believe it
or not.
God's
greatest witness of all time, the Lord Jesus Christ,
witnessed to two men and the Word
only records that one returned. Why do we feel badly when somebody rejects the
Word which we speak? They don't reject us, they reject God - it's His Word. All
you and I have to do is stand for the rightly divided Word of God, then let
people make up their minds.
God's
Word sounds the clarion call.
How does the Word have integrity?
Jesus Christ put it together for them. He showed them the accuracy and the
soundness of the Word.
When we study Jesus Christ in the
four gospels, we will see that he quoted ninety-two different sections of scripture
word-letter-perfect without a scroll in his hand. There are many accounts of
his speaking boldly the literal truth while under verbal fire from the
Pharisees and other enemies.
Don’t
Worry
John
14:26 - But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will
send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your
remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Matthew 12:1-5a - "At
that time Jesus went on the Sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples
were hungered, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and eat. But when the
Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, your disciples do that which is
not lawful to do upon the Sabbath day. But he said unto them, have you not read
what David did, when he was an hungered, and they that were with him;
How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not
lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the
priests? Or have you not read in the law, how that on the Sabbath days .
. .?"
Six times he answered the critics
call with: "Have you not read?" Time and again, he asserts, "It
is written," and then nails down the situation with truth.
Jesus Christ built his ministry
upon God's Word and he staked his very life on the greatness of the truth.
John 17:19 & 20 - "And
for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through
the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall
believe on me through their word."
A
true ministry is built on God's Rightly Divided Word in its Accuracy,
Integrity
and Simplicity FREE FROM manmade Religiosity
It is not built on a man, a group
or a multitude. When a ministry has the accuracy of the Word. God is able to
support it, give it integrity by backing it with His authority and power
through signs, miracles and wonders. In
Matthew there is a great confrontation between the integrity of truth and
unauthoritative tradition.
Matthew 15 1-8 - "Then
came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, why do
your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they wash not their
hands when they eat bread. But he answered and said unto them, why do you also
transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying,
honour your father and mother: and, He that curses father or mother, let him
die the death. But you say, whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It
is a gift, by whatsoever you might be profited by me; And honour not his father
or his mother, he shall be free. Thus, have you made the commandment of God of
none effect by your tradition. You hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you,
saying, this people draw nigh unto me with their mouth, and honour me with
their lips; but their heart is far from me."
Religion looks on the outward appearance.
God wants His people to have a
heart to-heart relationship with Him.
Religion is based on man's ideas
of what he thinks about God.
Therefore, he is incapacitated in
his worship.
Matthew 15:9 - "But in
vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines (or standard of truth) the
commandments of men."
Did they worship? Yes, but
without success because their doctrine was not sound; it did not have the
integrity God's Word has.
Matthew 15:10-14 - "And
he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear and understand: Not that
which goes into the mouth defiles a man; but that which comes out of the mouth,
this defiles a man. Then came his disciples, and said unto him, know you that
the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? But he answered and
said, plant, which my heavenly Father has not planted, shall be rooted up. Let
them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the
blind, both shall fall into the ditch."
Without
the integrity of the Word, man is blind to God. He worships in vain.
He has no access to God nor can he call on His
power.
The
accuracy of God's Word accounts for its integrity.
God
supports His Word, not the error and hypocrisy of religion.
Jesus Christ's ministry was built
on the greatness of the truth of God's Word. Truth Stands. Ninety-two times he spoke the Word under
Pressure.
When he battled Satan in the
wilderness he stood on "It is written," He asked his critics.
"Have you not read?" When we realize that it is the greatness of the
Word on which we stand, it opens the door for us to walk with great confidence
and boldness. Jesus Christ had to overcome obstacles like we do. In all these
situations the Word was his turning point for success.
Luke 4: 14-19 - "And
Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame
of him through all the region round about. And he taught in their synagogues,
being glorified of all. And he came to
Nazareth, where he had been brought up and, as his custom was he went into the
synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered
unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he
found the place where it was written.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach
the gospel to the poor; (Greek πτωχός (ptōchos), meaning destitute of the wealth
of learning, and Christ's teaching NOT money) he (God) has sent me (JC)
to heal the broken-hearted, 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."
"The
Spirit of the Lord is upon me." Jesus Christ never had the Holy Spirit
in
Him because it wasn’t yet given uno the world –
John 7:39 - (But this spake he of
the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost
was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.- lifted up)
The
Holy Spirit is that which gives man power Not his flesh.
The
man is the vessel, but the spirit of God in him is the treasure.
The key to a victorious walk with
the Father, is acquiring an in-depth perception and awareness of this spiritual
treasure. We acquire this by studying the Word and then practicing the presence
of God as we renew our minds to the Word.
Next it reads, "He has
sent me to heal the broken-hearted "
Luke 4:18". . . Because he
has anointed me (you) to preach the gospel to the poor (Greek πτωχός (ptōchos),
meaning Meek, destitute of truth - not lack of money)."
God always enables us to do the
job He has called us to do. If He gives us
the ministry (of reconciliation, then he must have given us the ability
to reconcile)
How do you heal a heart that is
torn and lonesome? Healing comes from God.
Psalm 107:20 reads that "He
sent His Word and healed them."
Jesus Christ spoke the truth in
love He was moved with compassion and therefore God's love in his life was
energized to heal the broken-hearted.
He was sent "to preach
deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind)." This
is referring to the spiritual captives, to the spiritually blind. Adam, at one
time had great spiritual sight. He lost this in the fall.
Jesus
Christ made the recovering of spiritual sight available to man.
It also says "to set at
liberty them that are bruised” Isaiah 53 talks about the bruising of Jesus
Christ. He would be bruised for our iniquity. Iniquity is inner perverseness or
sin consciousness. It bruises the insides of a man's life, puts him in
condemnation and holds him in captivity for a lifetime. That's why Jesus Christ
had to set at liberty them that were bruised.
Finally:
Luke 4:19-21- "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”.
What a statement. That got their
attention They were just like leeches clinging to every word.
Luke 4:22 -"And all bare him witness,
and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they
said, Is not this Joseph's son?"
This was his hometown. They
believed he was a bastard child - his mother a whore, and oh, man, his brothers
and sisters - weren't they something!
They judged his flesh, blindly
missing the spiritual treasure of his life. But they weren't just questioning
Jesus' life. They were questioning the integrity of what God had said!
As we study Luke 4:18 and 19, we
notice two basic principles which describe Jesus Christ's ministry.
He
spoke the Word and did the works of the word.
Both John I and Luke 4 concur
that Jesus Christ built his ministry on the accuracy and integrity of the Word
and his concern for the individual.
First Jesus witnessed to two men
in John 1. One returned with his brother, Peter. The next day they witnessed to
Philip who was from their hometown of Bethsaida. Philip witnessed to Nathanael.
Each one won one and they fellowshipped around the Word following their
Fellowship leader, Jesus Christ.
After a period of time, Jesus
challenged these followers to answer another call.
Mark 1:16-20 - "Now as he
walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net
into the sea; for they were fishers. And Jesus said unto them, come you after
me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. (Jesus here calls them as
a corps of disciplined followers.) And
straightaway they forsook their nets and followed him. And when he had gone a
little further thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother,
who also were in the ship, mending the nets. And straight away he called them: and they left
their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants and went after
him. Peter, being in charge of the
fishing fleet must have been wealthy because his partners, James and John, had
them. Peter was a self-made man. He had natural leader ship ability but was
very headstrong.
We can see this in
Luke 5:3-5a - "And he
entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him (asked
him) that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down and
taught the people out of the ship. Now when he had left speaking, be
said unto Simon, launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a
draught. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the
night.... (Peter is saying, "I've fished here for years, built my own
business in this fishing area and I know when they're not) Nevertheless...."
Luke 5:5b ", . .
Nevertheless, at your word I will let down the net."
Jesus
did not say let out a net, he said "let down your nets."
Peter is not exactly following
what Jesus Christ had told him to do. As a matter of fact,
he's doubting, he's questioning,
he's rationalizing, and he's in error because he's not carrying out the Word.
"Nevertheless, at your word..." is a token response which brings
token results.
Expounding
More Perfectly
the
Word only works when it is believed from the Mind (heart)
Luke 5:6 - " And when they
had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes and their net
broke."
Was this a blessing? No. The net
which was their means of business was ruined. Did they then turn to God for
help?
Luke 5: 7 - "And they beckoned unto
their partners (James and John), which were in the other ship, that they
should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that
they began to sink."
Peter still depended on man, not
God. Both ships are sinking, and the net is broken. Finally, Peter saw....
Luke 5: 8 - "When Simon
Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus ' knees, saying, depart from me; for I am a
sinful man, O Lord."
Peter had been on an ego trip.
Ego is always thinking of yourself than what the Word declares you to be. First
Peter knew it all, now he's not good
enough.
Peter
was not Word-conditioned. He was circumstance-controlled.
We are to be Word-conditioned not
circumstance controlled. We must confess
what the Word says and control our minds to believe it about ourselves.
When we believe that the Word of
God is the will of God, then we let down all of our nets in all confidence,
knowing that God guarantees the catch.
Peter saw the broken net and fell
into condemnation, sin consciousness.
He realized his un-belief. He had
not followed the Word accurately.
Luke 5 :9 & l O - "For
he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes
which they had taken. And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee,
which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from
henceforth you shall catch men.”
Peter's problem was condemnation.
Why did Jesus Christ say, "Fear not"? Because the root of
condemnation is fear. Here the fear is not being worthy or good enough. There
is forgiveness, compassion and forgetting the past in the statement "Fear
not." "Forget all your fears about not being good enough, and spend
your time believing, following me," Jesus said. "You shall catch, if you follow
me."
Luke 5:11 - "And when
they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed
him."
In Mark they forsook their nets;
here they forsook all. This is more than forsaking a boat or a net as a primary
source of sufficiency. They started to forsake the old man. Finally, they had
started believing their call.
As
a Fellowship leader, Jesus Christ
1) called men to Fellowship first, and
2)
call to an intense leadership
3)
training program as fishers of men.
4)
Jesus Christ called them to ordination.
His disciples answered the
clarion call of the Word in each case.
Today we once again move with certainty as we
base our ministry upon the accuracy, integrity and simplicity of God's Word. We
counter both man's un-belief and Satan's wrath as we answer God's clarion
call.
YOUR
FATHER’S BUSINESS
When
Jesus Christ was twelve years old he went up to Jerusalem with his parents for
the feast of the Passover as was their custom every year.
Luke
2:43-45 - "And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the
child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of
it. But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey;
and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And when they found
him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem,
seeking
him."
Jesus
Christ had stayed behind in the Temple, and when his parents found him again they discovered him sitting in the
midst of the doctors (Greek διδάσκαλος (didaskalos) meaning one who teaches
concerning the things of God, and the duties of man) hearing them out and asking
them questions about the law.
Luke
2:48 &49 - "And when they (his parents) saw him, they were
amazed, and his mother said unto him, Son, why have you thus dealt with us?
Behold, your father and I have sought you sorrowing. And he said unto them, how
is it that you sought me? Wist (know) you not that I must be about my
(Heavenly) Father's business?"
At
a very early age Jesus Christ had an inner vision and knowledge of who he was
and what God had called him to do. Jesus
Christ had a great inner vision, a dream in his heart. His dream was what God's
Word had prophesied centuries before, that he would redeem Israel from the
curse of the law, that he would redeem man from his fallen state and that during
his lifetime on earth he would take the
Word over Israel.
In
Luke chapter 2, we see that at the age of twelve Jesus Christ had already
developed this inner vision. How? His mother and father had been teaching him
God's Word in their own Fellowship.
The
Fellowship is the gathering together of Christian Believers) before the great
gathering
together.
The Fellowship is where God's Word is built in people's lives, where the pillar
and ground of the truth is laid on which people can grow.
With
that early foundation Jesus Christ was able to gain an inner vision concerning
the truth of God's Word, his ministry, and his purpose in life.
Until
a person sees the great inner - vision it takes to move with God and His Word, they
will never produce many results in his life. As long as a person is making
merely token efforts or going through the motions without true direction, he'll
never have the joy of accomplishment. But we have a direction and ministry
today which we all have the responsibility to uphold
and
keep alive. Our greatest example is still Jesus Christ, the man with both the
ministry and the vision.
Even
before JC’s ministry began, Jesus Christ knew who he was and where he was
going, and he maintained this inner vision unto the end.
Consider
the bold proclamation of Jesus Christ as he hung on the cross, "Eli, Eli
lama sabachthani," that is to say, "My God, My God, for this purpose
was I spared!" Then the last words he uttered before he bowed his head and
gave up His life: "It is finished." He faithfully maintained and
fulfilled his inner vision. His whole life was a consummation of his belief in
his life's mission, and his believing enabled him to accomplish what God had
called him to.
However,
though Jesus Christ had this vision, at the beginning of his ministry the
people of Israel did not share it with him. They were looking for a political
redeemer, a man who would redeem the land promised them in the Old Testament
and who would win control of the land back from the Roman Empire. They weren't
at all expecting what Jesus Christ came to do: to build a kingdom on truth, a
spiritual kingdom invisible to human eyes. Indeed, Jesus Christ came to rebuild
what God had given man in the very beginning, to redeem man from the fall, from
the curse of the law, and to take God's Word to His people. But because Israel
lacked the vision, Jesus Christ had to paint an inner vision for them. Somehow,
he had to show Israel that there were two spiritual kingdoms: one of the true
God, his Father; and the other, the kingdom of Satan, the god of this world.
Thus, Jesus Christ painted a spiritual vision for Israel via parables which
illustrated the depth and scope of his own vision concerning the truth of God's
Word.
In
the open fellowships with the multitudes, Jesus Christ set forth in parables
the basic truths of God - His love, His wonderful grace, His Word, His
tenderness and compassion. But when Jesus Christ held "grad
fellowships" with his disciples, then he would take those teachings apart
and explain the parables in detail, imparting to his disciplined ones the depth
and scope of his own inner vision. This is a fantastic truth.
To
demonstrate the unique character of the "grad fellowship" as it was
first used by the master teacher himself, Jesus Christ, let's consider a few
principles of a 'grad meeting'
Hebrews
5 12-14 - "For when for the time you ought to be teachers, you have
need that one teaches you again (to establish) which be the first
principles (foundational truths) of the oracles of God; and are become
such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For everyone that uses milk
is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat
belongs to them that are of full age (spiritual adults), even those who
by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and
evil."
This
passage is distinguishing spiritual babes from spiritual adults. During the
spiritual adolescence period of our lives, we start to grow some spiritual hair
on our "chests", we change our diet from milk to solid food and begin
to develop some spiritual inner vision. The depth and scope of God's Word which
Jesus Christ set for his people - his communication of his personal inner
vision - enhanced their own inner vision, which in turn personalized the
ministry and inspired a greater commitment of loving service among his people.
To study the principals involved in building
the "grad fellowship", compare Jesus' teaching to the multitudes with
his later explanation to his disciples.
Mark
4:1-10 - "And he began again to teach by the sea side and there was gathered
unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea;
and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land. And he taught them many
things by parables and said unto them in his doctrine (in his teaching), Hearken
(Hey, listen up!); Behold, there went out a sower to sow And it came to pass, as he sowed, some
fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. And
some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it
sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: But when the sun was up, it was
scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. And some fell among the
thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And
other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased;
and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some a hundred. And he said
unto them, He that has ears to hear, let him hear. And when he was alone, they
that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable.”
While
Jesus Christ was among the multitudes, he taught in parables; but when he was
alone with the faithful disciples who were with the twelve, he was able to
explain his parables.
Mark
4:11 - " And he said unto them, unto you it is given to know the mystery
of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without (outside of the
kingdom), all these things are done in parables."
A parable is a
comparison using "like" or "as"; it is an extended simile
which
paints a picture. For example, "Life is like a flower: Plant a seed, it
grows up, produces wonderful flowers and then dies. So also, life is here
today, gone tomorrow." Thus, a parable takes a concrete example and makes
a comparison with the spiritual world.
Jesus Christ taught
publicly in parables for two reasons:
First, because parables
would veil the truth from the attacks of unbelievers. Just as you do
not
cast your pearls before swine, neither did Jesus Christ cast God's Word before
unbelievers, but set it in parables, knowing they'd never be able to dig out
the spiritual pearls until they developed a spiritual hunger and meekness to
receive the Word.
However, when Jesus was
among the true and faithful believers,
he
would take each parable apart for them, line by line and word by word.
Secondly
His purpose
then for teaching in parables publicly was to lay the groundwork for later
illuminating truths in the eyes of his faithful, disciplined followers.
Matthew
13:10-12a - "And the disciples came, and said unto him, why do you
speak unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, because it is
given unto you (the born-again/saved believers) to know the mysteries of
the kingdom of heaven, but to them (the unbelievers) it is not given.
For whosoever has to him (a certified Christian Believer with
understanding),
shall be given...".
Here
Jesus Christ is talking to the believers. What do believers have that
unbelievers don't have? The answer is Spiritual Understanding.
Matthew
13 12 & 13 - "For whosoever has (spiritual understanding), to
him shall be given (understanding), and he shall have more abundance
(of understanding): but whosoever has not (spiritual understanding), from
him shall be taken away even that (understanding) he has. Therefore,
speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear
not, neither do they understand (spiritual things)".
What does a parable do?
By comparison, using "like" or "as," it deals with
the truth and either
veils it or makes it known to the understanding,
depending upon the
spiritual hunger of those listening.
Do
the unbelievers see with their five-senses eyes? Yes, but they don't see
spiritually. Do they hear with their five-senses ears? Yes, but God's Word goes
in one side and out the other. They hear according to the five senses, but not
spiritually. Neither do they understand spiritual things.
I Corinthians gives the same truth for our
administration/ Time Period
I
Corinthians 2:14 - "But the natural man receives not the things of the
Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because
they are spiritually discerned (understood).
This
is what Jesus was explaining to the believers in Matthew.
Matthew
13:14-16 - "And in them (the unbelievers) is fulfilled the
prophecy of Esaias, which said, By hearing you shall hear, and, and seeing you
shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and
their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest (if by
chance) at any time they should see with their eyes (spiritually), and
hear with their ears (spiritually), and should understand with their
heart (spiritually), and should be converted, and I should heal
them."
In Mark chapter 4 we again read about Jesus
Christ holding a "grad fellowship" after an open or public fellowship.
Jesus Christ had a huge open fellowship at which grads and non-grads - a
mixture of believers and unbelievers - were
present. Afterward, when Jesus Christ was away from the multitude, he took time
to spend with the "inner sanctum," the grads, those who really wanted
to know. These committed ones were not there to criticize or to defame Jesus
Christ. But these faithful followers were hungering and thirsting after the
same depth and scope of the Word - the same inner vision - which Jesus Christ
had.
At this this meeting Jesus Christ opened
with the following question. His aim: to teach his grads the purpose and profit
of parables.
Mark 4:13 - "
And he said unto them, Know you not this parable?
And how then will
you know all parables?
Then Jesus Christ proceeded to
handle the parable of the sower and the seed. In Mark 4:14 Jesus Christ begins,
"The sower sows the word (the seed]."
Now if you're going to sow a
garden, you don't go out and throw all your seed into the air, do you? Not at
all. But the sower sows the seed, and just as he takes care in doing so, we
likewise, if we want fruit to abound, must sow God's Word systematically.
The
Word of God uses two different Greek words to
show
the two ways to speak the Word publicly.
One is didasko, "a
systematic setting forth of the Word of Truth," and as such it appeals to
the intellect. We get our English word "didactic," meaning
"instructive," from this Greek word.
In contrast the
Second Greek word,
kerusso, which means "to witness" or "to herald the truth,"
and which does not necessarily refer back to teaching, but to preaching the
Word. For this reason, kerusso, unlike didasko, implies a more personal
communication and appeals to the emotional rather than to the rational factor
in man.
In the grad fellowship in Mark 4,
Jesus Christ is providing an in-depth explanation of the parable of the sower
and the seed, an instructive, systematic setting forth of the Word of Truth. He
is teaching rather than preaching. Among this group of mature believers who
were "with the twelve," he is appealing to reason rather than to
emotion.
In verse 14, he explains, the
sower sows the seed, which is the Word of God, and the seed remains the same.
However, the place where the Word, the seed, is sown, varies. The Word is sown
in four different kinds of hearts, represented in the parable by four different
kinds of ground.
Mark 4:15 - "And these
are they ("they" represents the hearts) by the way side, where
the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan comes immediately
(quickly), and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts."
Satan's
basic goal is to destroy God's Word. God and His Word are one.
Because no man can see God at any
time, the only way to God is by way of Jesus Christ, His Spiritual Son.
Likewise, the only way to Jesus Christ is through God's Word; and the only way
to get to the Word is through you and me to whom God has committed the Word of
reconciliation. Satan's basic goal, therefore, is to immobilize us, thereby
preventing the move of God's Word. Without God's Word, man could not know God's
Son, Jesus Christ; neither could man know God since Jesus Christ is the one who
makes Him known.
Mark 4:16&17 - "And
these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have
heard the word [at least they hear it], immediately receive it with
gladness; And [But they] have no root in themselves, and so endure but
for a time afterward when affliction [mental pressure] of Persecution
arises for (on account of) the word 's sake, immediately they are
offended."
Notice
the Word doesn't say if affliction or persecution arises; it says when,
for whenever and wherever you're
going to stand for God Almighty and His rightly divided Word of Truth, you're
going to be persecuted - pursued by your enemies, which are the people of the
house of the unlearned - Satan’s people. If you're going to stand “godly”, the
Adversary's going to attack you because you represent the Word which will make
God known just as Jesus Christ made God known when he walked the earth. This
does not imply defeat, however, for how many times was Jesus Christ defeated in
his walk with God? Never.
When the attack comes, those whose hearts are
on stony ground immediately are offended. They may endure for a time, but
because they have no root in themselves, when affliction or persecution arise, immediately
they stumble. Only those seeds sown in the good ground will root and grow up
and endure. Likewise, only when God's Word is sown in the fertile soil of
hungry, meek hearts will it become deeply rooted and grow up bountifully.
When you look at a tree you
cannot see its root system. You can only see the part above ground, the
manifestation of the life of the tree: the trunk, limbs, branches, twigs,
leaves and fruit. You won't, however, see any greater manifestation of that
tree above the ground than the corresponding root system beneath. In other
words, a treetop will not spread any higher or wider than the tree's roots are
spread deep and wide. Likewise, you cannot see how deeply a man's or woman's
roots reach into the Word, but you can see the manifestation of that life
within. If the Word of God is rooted deeply in our lives, if we continue to
stretch and reach out and add depth and scope to our lives with God's Word,
then there will be a significant corresponding manifestation of the Word in our
lives. If we continue faithful to the Word and ministry that's been given us,
we will manifest that ever- growing inner life as did the first followers of
the Lord Jesus Christ. For it was the visible manifestation in the lives of
those faithful followers - the manifestation of the personal vision Jesus
Christ himself imparted to his grads - that took the Word over the known world
and which brought so many signs, miracles and wonders to the first century
Church.
ALWAYS
REMEMBER -
We
are the continuation of the first century church with all its power.
There
are only two things that have changed, time and location.
Living Examples
A Day in the Life of a Leader
bearing in mind the depth and the scope set by Jesus Christ in the grad
fellowships which he held with his people; we will now examine a day in the
life of a leader. The record we want to handle will cover more than just a 24 -
hour period. I want you to see that leadership in your life as a fellowship
leader, as it was in Jesus Christ's, is 50 not a meeting that you hold once a
week.
Expounding More Perfectly -
A fellowship leadership is a
walk. It is not only a meeting that you are responsible for. But rather, you
are responsible to carry the integrity of the Word of God in your life wherever
you are, and as leaders you will be confronted with situations outside of the
Fellowship every day.
The
Adversary does not work only in or around the Fellowship. He attacks people
anywhere, bombarding them throughout the whole day.\
So, you, as leaders who will be
constantly ministering and helping people, must be living examples of the truth
of God's Word at all times wherever you are.
We read in Mark chapter 4 that
there was a large gathering where Jesus Christ taught on the parables of the
Kingdom. He laid out the truth for the people and tried to lead them out of the
darkness that had crept in during those 400 years from the prophet Malachi
until John the Baptist. Jesus Christ spent a long time, in that teaching
session with the multitudes.
Afterwards He called his grads
together. "They locked the doors," they all sat down, and he began to
reveal some deeper truths to his disciples (his disciplined followers).
Following that session, we read the record in
Mark 4: 35 - "And the
same day, when the even was come, he said unto them, Let us pass over unto the
other side."
Jesus Christ was up at Capernaum
on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee near his own headquarters. Now it's
evening and he's passing over unto the other side. He's going to go down to
Gadara which is three to five miles southeast of the Sea of Galilee, and he's
travelling with his men.
They
fellowshipped. They moved together.
Mark 4:36 - "And when
they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And
there were also with him other little ships."
The sun's setting, other little
ships are accompanying him, probably from Peter's fleet. They've pulled off
from the coast and they're out on the lake somewhere. At this time of the year,
the winds can blow right over the mountains south of the lake, causing very
heavy atmospheric conditions - thunderheads. The wind blows down fast to a
thunderhead which causes a typhoon.
Mark 4:37 & 38a -
"And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship,
so that it was now full ("filling" is the text). And he
(Jesus) was in the hinder part of the ship (stern), asleep on a
pillow."
He's asleep on the pillow in the
back of the ship. Now it takes some stayed mind to be able to relax like that.
He'd been up very early in the morning. He'd had a meeting all day, later in
the afternoon he got together with his grads; then the sun set, and he crawled
into the boat and tried to get a catnap as they were crossing the Sea of
Galilee. Suddenly, up came a typhoon. He rested while he could, but watch this
in -
Verse 39a - "And he
arose...."
He gets up from his sleep, sees
what's going on, rebukes the wind, and says unto the sea, "Peace, be
still." With that, the winds ceased and there was a great calm. There had
been a great storm (caused by satan – who is God of this world - 2 Corinthians
4:4, Prince of this world - John 12:31, Prince of the Power of the Air –
Ephesians 2: look at the context.
Now all was calm.
All
J, C, did was speak words, believing them.
Expounding More Perfectly
As true born-again/saved
believers by Romans 10:9,10 we can do the same as Christ did because we when we
have the Holy Spirit in us have complete control over satan who has to do what
you command him.
This I know by practical
experience –
Back in 1985 I was blessed by God
to have a children's Christian TV show. It was called Easy Faith Kids Korner.
The concept was that Mr. Jay, (me) would share a Biblical story with Pinky the Rabbit
and Wiz the Dog. (Believers dressed up as a rabbit and dog) The two characters
would ask questions that might be difficult for the kids watching to
understand. Thus, the questions were answered simply. This show in its first
year was considered for an award for best children's programming. The series
was written, produced and hosted by God through me.
Back to the true story
In the summer of 1997 the local
churches decided that they would have a Christian ‘Jamboree’ in a local park. T
hey invited over a dozen
“Christian Entertainment Acts but when it came time for the local popular kids TV show Easy Faith Kids
Korner they couldn’t have it involved with its teachings because it wasn’t what
the churches taught (because it was the accuracy, integrity and simplicity of
God’s rightly divided word of truth WITHOUT manmade religion woven through it
as the churches taught)
Needless to Say, I was a little
upset. So, I challenged God to make it
rain on their fun and games.
The day started out bright and sunny,
About the eleventh hour it started to rain and wiped out their day of fun.
Right then and there I realized that I have what God’s Word says I have and I
do in fact have control over satan and his disciples.
Wow
what a truth.
The thing is after you successfully
set up your ministry of reconciliation you will have this same power as well as
what the following scripture states
Matthew 10:8 - Heal the sick,
cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received,
freely give.
The
only person that will be stopping you is you
all
you have to do is what JC did – which was
speak
words, and believe them
Mark 4: 40a - "And he
said unto them, why are you so fearful? . . ."
The word "fearful" is
"cowardly." "How come you're still so cowardly? How is it that
you have no believing in you? Look, I've been teaching you the Word," he
says to them. "How come you're still so full of fear?"
Jesus Christ's life was a living example to
them.
They learned by being with
him.
Though these men were
circumstance-controlled, Jesus Christ had conditioned his life to the truth of
God's Word from his early years. And because he was Word conditioned, not
circumstance-controlled, when emergencies did arise, he was able to take a
stand on the truth of God's Word. In your daily life as a leader, you're going
to have to put the Word on - not in emergency situations, but way ahead of
time. Build it in your heart which is your mind and life so that the
circumstance does not seize upon you when you're least expecting it.
He arose, rebuked the wind and
said to the sea, "Peace, be still." He didn't even need
revelation for this thing. You know why? Because he knew that typhoons are not
of God. They have no right to damage a believer or his property. He spoke the
accuracy of the Word with authority, backed by believing, and the storm ceased.
As the Son of God with power, he faced it head on and triumphed because he had
the revelation in God's Word.
Mark 4:41a - "And they
feared exceedingly (were awestruck) ...."
They were awestruck. Peter had
been out there in storms before - he knew what they were like, but he never saw
anybody calm one.
Verse 41b - ". . . and
said one to another, what manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea
obey him?
After that typhoon - wind
blowing, high waves - everybody's tired. Have you ever worked on staff at a big
meeting? You drive, drive, drive yourself throughout the day and when you
finally go to bed at night, you're ready to get some sleep. Jesus Christ and
the disciples with him had been to a big meeting. They had helped to setup.
They'd been through intense teaching. They had weathered a great storm. The
storm had occurred at maybe nine or ten o'clock at night. After that storm was
a great calm. When they finally got to the other side of the sea, they were
exhausted but their work was not yet over.
Mark 5:1-3 a - "And they
came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.
And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the
tombs a man with an unclean spirit, Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and
no man could bind him...."
In chapter 3 of Mark, Jesus
Christ set forth a parable for his disciples about the strong man. As soon as
Jesus Christ called his men and instructed them as disciples, he was criticized
- by his friends first and then by his own family. They said he was nuts.
Mark 3:22-27a - " And the
scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He has Beelzebub, and by the
prince of the devils’ casts he out devils. And he called them unto him, and
said unto them in parables (this was the first parable in Mark), How can
Satan cast out Satan? And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom
cannot stand. And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot
stand. And if Satan rise up (revolt) against himself, and be divided, he
cannot stand, but have an end. No man can enter into a strong man's house
(kingdom)..."
Who's
he talking about? Satan. They accused him of being of Satan.
Verse 2:7 - "No man can
enter into a strong man's house (or kingdom, like Satan's kingdom), and
spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man (like Satan); and
then he will spoil his house (kingdom)."
Jesus
Christ sets the truth of the Word in Mark 3, and then a situation comes up in
Mark 5 where he's going to have to do a little binding.
Mark 5:3-6 - "Who had his
dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains:
Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains
had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither
could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and
in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. But when he saw Jesus
afar off, he ran and worshipped him."
Let's get the whole picture once
again, Jesus Christ walked! It's the end of the day, he's been through an open
fellowship meeting, grad meeting, and a typhoon. Finally, he gets to the other
side, ready for some rest; remember he's been up early praying. The next day
he's got a big day. It is now late at night and the first thing that happens is
they see this guy come running down off the mountains, yelling for Jesus.
Verse 7a - "And cried
with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with you, Jesus, you Son of the
most-high God? I adjure you by God, that you torment me not."
It was wild. This record in God's
Word couldn't be any more living and real than had it happened today in your
Fellowship. It's fantastic.
Look at it
Verse 7b - ". . . I
adjure you by God, that you torment me not.”
Oh, he was sincere. He was
religious. He even talked about God.
Verses 8-10 - "For he
(Jesus) said unto him, Come out of the man, you unclean spirit And
Jesus asked the spirit, What is your name? And he answered, saying, my name is
Legion for we are many. And he (referring to the "five-star
general," the Legion spirit) besought him (Jesus) much that he
would not send them away out of the country."
The five-star spirit spoke back
to Jesus through the man, using the man's vocal cords. He said, "Don't
torment us, don't send us out of the country. "
Verses 11-13a - "Now
there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. And all
the devils besought him (scratch the capital "H" if you have one
in your Bible; it should be lower case. It's referring to the five-star devil
spirit, the Legion spirit not Jesus Christ), saying, Send us into the swine,
that we may enter into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them (those
little satanic spirits) leave...".
With
these lesser devil spirits, there is a ruling devil spirit. He's the five-star
general over the daimonion, which are the lower-ranking devil spirits like
sergeants and privates.
Jesus Christ spoke to the man, late at night,
all in a day's work. Though he was tired and probably wanting to go to bed,
look how sharp he is, how fast he's able to switch gears. He's the master of
the situation. He's spiritually perceptive and aware of what's going on around
him, always walking in the spirit. Revelation sometimes comes at the strangest
times.
You
can't determine every situation that's going to occur in your life,
but
you can determine to be in fellowship and be ready when it comes.
Here's Jesus Christ dealing with
this fellow. Nobody's been able to heal him, take care of him, deliver him.
Jesus Christ runs head-on into the situation.
Verse 13b - "And the
unclean spirits went out and entered into the swine and the herd ran violently
down a steep place into the sea (they were about two thousand) and were
choked in the sea." (The swine
were drowned but the satanic spirits left the swine and found some other
individuals to poses)
Peter's cleaning the nets,
listening to the conversation ("What's going on back there?"), trying
to get his job done and still trying to figure out what's going on. And then he
hears "Come out of him!" All of a sudden, next thing he knows there
are 2,000 swine coming down at the boat! "What's going on out there?"
Can you imagine 2,000 swine falling into the sea, rocking your boat and choking
to death?
Verse 14a - "And they
that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the (round about
area) ... ".
The swine herders ran and told it
in the region round about and in the town, Gadara. But people don't get up in
the middle of the night and go running out to the edge of town. It probably
took the swineherds all night to deliver this message and the people probably
waited till early in the morning to go out to the sea to see for
themselves.
Verses 14b & 15 - " ...
And they went out to see what had been done. And they came to Jesus, and saw
him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, (past
tense, he was) sitting, and (he was) clothed, and he was in his right
mind: and they were afraid."
Before, nobody could bind this
guy - he was nuts, looney, screaming, cutting himself, breaking chains. Now
when the people got to him, he was sitting - the position of a student - and
Jesus was teaching him. He was clothed - much like, I believe, what happened to
us when we got born again; we got clothed spiritually. And he was in his right
mind. His deliverance was complete.
The townspeople said, "That
sure is fantastic, Jesus. I'm sure glad you came to our coasts." No. They
were afraid. That's the world for you. Look at the contrast. Here's the man
sitting there in complete peace and they're standing there in stark alarm. Only
the master could give such real, practical peace to a man possessed as this man
had been.
Verse 16 - "And they that
saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and
also concerning the swine."
Don't forget the swine! In these
people's eyes, the swine were a lot more important than this one man - because
he hadn't joined the right fraternity or the right organization in town or sat
in the right bench. The townspeople put very high esteem upon the things they
had and not upon people.
Jesus, however, left the 99 for
the one. An individual is worth a whole lot. And in your Fellowship, you've got
to have the time and the consideration, the patience, the compassion to reach
out and touch people's lives like Jesus Christ did. Maybe they don't look like
somebody you would like to accept in your Fellowship. But they're God's people in your Fellowship.
Be thankful for them.
You don't have the right not to
be thankful for what God has given you.
You don't get a sound mind
"just like that" when you've got a Legion type spirit operating in
you. Jesus Christ had to have stayed up all night long with the man, showing
him how to retemorize scripture, how to keep his trap door shut, how to work
God's Word in his mind.
The next morning the guy has
learned how to keep his trap door shut. He's all cleaned up, and all the
psychiatrists down in Gadara can't figure it out. Their clinic never helped
him, and because they couldn't help him, they thought Jesus was weird!
Verse 17 - "And they
began to pray him (ask him) to depart out of their coasts."
They began to beseech him,
begging him to leave town. "Look, you're a nice guy, but please go
somewhere else."
Jesus has been up the day before early in the
morning, praying, then in session all day with a large meeting, a grad
fellowship in the afternoon and a typhoon in the evening.
He stays up all night and works
with this man he's ministered to by casting out the spirits. The next morning
he's driven out of town. He hasn't had any real sleep yet. He was trying to
take his nap in the boat but I'm sure he didn't get a whole lot of rest. I
don't know about you, but after I see some miracles or do some miracles I don't
sleep too well. Who wants to sleep?
I'm ready for the next one—bring
on act two!
Verse 18 - "And when he
was come into the ship (he didn't force himself on the towns people; he
just shook the dust off his feet and continued on his way), he had had been
possessed (past tense) with the devil prayed him that he might be with
him. "
He prayed or asked him that he
might be with him. He wanted to join up with Jesus Christ, follow him. Isn't
that something? Jesus Christ had asked other men to follow him. Other men had
asked him, and he had accepted them in his fellowship. But look what happens
here.
Verse 19 - "Howbeit Jesus
suffered him not, but said unto him, Go home to your friends, and tell them how
great things the Lord has done for you, and has had compassion on
you."
Jesus Christ was moved with
compassion for the man and he said, "Go home to your friends,"
because he knew by revelation (word of knowledge, word of wisdom) how to guide
the man. He knew what to tell him. He had answers that would bless and help the
man down the road in life.
Verse 20 - "And he
(the delivered man) departed, and began to publish (by word of mouth) in
Decapolis (a region of about ten cities) how great things Jesus had done
for him and all men did marvel. "
Later Jesus Christ followed up on
the man.
He returned to where the man
lived.
Mark 7:31- "And again,
departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he (Jesus) unto the sea of
Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis."
Jesus
Christ followed up with him. He ministered with him. He followed up on people.
Read the Gospel of Mark and see how he worked.
Jesus Christ carried out his ministry
basically through fellowships.
You've got to have open meetings,
meetings for those who are advanced in the word, advanced studies and other
functions, but you see a lot of variety within Jesus Christ's own Fellowship.
You can have the same.
Go
out and have your own fun.
Go
calm a typhoon or something in your own back yard.
Remember everything that's
happened, and Jesus is still moving on.
Mark 5:21a - " And when
Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side...."
A literal translation of verse
21a reads "And Jesus, having passed back over again in the ship unto the
other side.... "
Verses 21b-23 - ".. .
much people gathered unto him: and he was nigh (beside) unto the sea.
And, behold, there comes one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name;
and when be saw him, be fell at his feet (This indicates complete
surrender, humility.), And besought him (Jairus besought Jesus) greatly,
saying, My little daughter lies at the point of death: I pray (ask) you,
come and lay your hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall
live."
Here is a ruler of the synagogue
who believes that before his daughter can be healed, Jesus must make physical
contact - lay his hands on her.
However, there's a man in Matthew
chapter 8, a centurion, a soldier that had other soldiers under him, who says
in
Matthew 8:8-10 - "The
centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under
my roof but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man
(also) under authority, having soldiers under me and I say to this man,
Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my servant (my
slave), Do this, and he does it. When Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said
to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith
(believing), no, not in (all) Israel."
The
ruler of the synagogue has got to have the laying on of hands,
but
healing is not in the laying on of hands; it's in believing.
Mark 5:24-30 - "And Jesus
went with him (because he knew that's where the man's believing was - he
had compassion on him); and much people followed him, and thronged him. And
a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, And had suffered
many things [treatments] of many physicians [they'd "taken her
to the cleaners"], and had spent all that she had, and was nothing
bettered, but rather grew worse [and worse, and worse], When she had
heard of Jesus, came in the press (crowd) behind, and touched his
garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And
straight way the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body
that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself
that virtue [some power] had gone out of him, turned him about in the
press [crowd], and said, Who touched my clothes?
Jesus is looking up. "I know
somebody touched my cloths, I felt some of my power go out of me. I know he's
here; now which one was it?" Had he een God, how come he didn't know?
Verse 31 - "And his
disciples said unto him, You see the multitude thronging you, and you say, Who
touched me?"
The woman touched the hem of his
garment. Jesus Christ knew this. But the disciples said, "Who touched
me?" That's not what Jesus Christ said. He said, "Who touched my
clothes? "
Verses 32 & 33 - "And
he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman
fearing and trembling [having great respect and rejoicing], knowing what
was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the
truth."
Her conscience was eased. She
shared. She was so blessed. No longer was she an outcast. No longer did she
have an issue of blood; she was overjoyed. She knew she had been healed.
Verse 34 - "And he said
unto her, Daughter, your faith [believing] has made you whole; go in
peace and be whole of [freed from] your plague. "
That's
fantastic. Think what that must have done for her heart.
Verse 35 - "While he yet
spoke, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said,
thy daughter is dead: why trouble you the Master any further?
Jesus overheard. He must have had
a stayed mind. Situation upon situation is coming up, back-to-back, over
lapping. Look how he switches spiritual gears.
Verse 36 - "As soon as
Jesus heard [overheard] the word that was spoken, he said unto the ruler
of the synagogue, be not afraid, only believe."
He fought for the man. He didn't
give up on it. He spoke with inspired utterance.
Verse 37a - "And he
suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John....'
Here you start to see him
separating out leadership. Peter, James and
John were responding more than some of the other grads.
You've
got to know what to look for in your fellowship.
As
you get to know your people,
You'll
be able to give them more responsibility.
That's what Jesus Christ is
doing. All three times he raised the dead, Peter, James and John were with him.
He was preparing them to take over the ministry later when the Fellowship would
split because there were to many people. So, the Fellowship was divided it into
smaller groups with different fellowship leaders but the same Master.
You've got to do the same things in your
Fellowship as God adds the increase. As you stand on the Rightly Divided Word
of Truth, God will add and add and add to the Fellowship as you go out and
share God’s Rightly Divided Word with others along with doing signs, miracles
and wonders.
Verses 38-40 - "And he
come to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and sees the [great] tumult,
and them that wept and wailed greatly. [They hired these people to wail and
cry when they had a funeral. The more wailers you had, the richer you had to
be.] And... he said unto them, Why do you make so much ado, and weep? The
damsel is not dead, but sleeps. And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had
put them all out, he took the father and the mother of the damsel, and them
that were with him, and entered in where the damsel was laying"
He kicked the unbelievers out of
the house. They laughed, but they didn't laugh too much when he ran them out
the front door. He put them all out except the father and the mother, because
in the case of a child who needs deliverance, the father and mother have to be
present to believe for their child
Verses 41&42 - "And
he took the damsel [child] by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi;
which is, being interpreted, Damsel [child], I say unto you, arise. And
straight way the damsel arose and walked [began walking]; for she was of
the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great
astonishment."
Let
me establish a great truth here
Peter, James, and John were
astonished with a great astonishment, not the mother and father of the child
because they already believed that Jesus Christ could and would heal her.
Verse 43 - "And he
charged them [a military command] straitly that no man should know it;
and commanded that something should be given her to eat."
Look at the attention to detail
Jesus Christ had for people. After all that, he's still sharp, still walking,
still carrying out to the minutest detail whatever would bless someone.
You
can walk with God, day after day after day as leaders in the world.
You've got the touch of the
master’s Hand. You can have the stamina that he had as you learn to discipline
your life in love.
The
greatest discipline in life is the discipline of love.
Remember I Corinthians 13
("Think no evil.")? That takes discipline.
Getting up at four or five might
take some discipline, but thinking no evil?
That's a little harder. Jesus
Christ burned himself up in a day's time, but he never burned out.
You also can burn yourself up in
a day's time, and you should. You should pour your life out for people. Let
people walk on it. Give 100 percent of what you've got to give in a day.
You
can burn yourself up, but you cannot burn yourself out
- not if you're walking in love.
When you walk in the love of God,
you've got the ability; God replenishes.
Whatever you give, you shall receive. If you burn yourself up today,
tomorrow you are going to have it to give again. You can reach forth with the
touch of the master's hand because he is in you - inside your being.
A day in our life should
exemplify the Master. We've got the ability to dream our Fellowship, to think
them, to feel them, to be sensitive to needs, to put ourselves in someone
else's shoes; to bless people.
So,
stretch forth your hand; the master is in you!!!
Under Shepherding
How Jesus Christ under shepherded
one of his Fellowship members. As a Fellowship coordinator he was able to
cultivate the Word in this believer's life to the end the good seed yielded
fruit. This believer grew from follower, to disciple, to apostle - a pillar of
the Church, a great man of God. The man's name was Peter.
We read in John chapter 1 that
Peter was called to the Fellowship; Andrew witnessed to him and then led him to
Jesus' fellowship that evening. As Jesus Christ beheld (emblepo - used of
mental vision, to know by inspection) him, God must have worked in his heart as
he said, "So you're ol' Simon, son of Jonas. You're the little moveable
grain of sand (petros) that's here today, gone tomorrow, blown about with every
wind of doctrine."
Peter was squirming in his
sandals. His first direct contact with the man was reproof, you could say, a
speaking of the truth in love. Jesus Christ stood right up to him, measured him
up with the Word and told him where he was spiritually. God worked in Jesus
Christ to help His Son lead successfully in each situation. He does the same
for you today as you walk.
Mark chapter 1 records that Peter
followed Jesus Christ throughout the region of Galilee. He heard him teach. He
saw the signs, miracles and wonders which Jesus performed. He saw him work with
people, he saw the compassion in his life, his renewed mind believing and the
love of God in his heart. So, Jesus Christ challenged him to decide.
Mark 1:16&17 - "Now
as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting
a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And Jesus said unto them, come you
after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men [fishers with the
Word]"
Jesus Christ said, "Follow
me and I will make you to become fishers with the Word. You'll be skillful in
the Word, so skillful you'll be able to catch men by the words that you speak
for the Lord Jesus Christ."
Nimrod, in the Old Testament
tried to catch men with words. He was a mighty man in the earth. He was the
first one that tried to develop a one-world government in Babylon. Words have
always been used to catch men and lead them to God or His adversary, the Devil.
Ideas, which are expressed in words, are what capture men. Nimrod understood and utilized this.
Later on, Israel was being
"caught" with the words of another man. Jesus Christ told them, with
the Word he shared with them, that they would be able to catch men with truth
to the end that they would follow God. Peter heeded the call. He followed Jesus
Christ. He left his nets to follow him.
In Mark 3:13 we see that after a
period of time during which Jesus Christ had been working with these men, Jesus
went up into a high mountain and called unto him those he knew were the right
men for the job.
Mark 3:14-16 - "And he
ordained (handpicked) twelve, that they should be with him [for
intense training and fellowship], and that he might send them forth to
preach [kerusso, to herald the Word, to witness], And to have power to
heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils: And Simon he surnamed Peter."
At this time, he surnamed Simon
"Peter. " Then in verse 17 through 19 he called the rest of his
original twelve disciples. Once Jesus Christ had some committed disciples, the
Adversary started lining up his forces. That's when the pressure really started
in the ministry and the intensity of the battle increased. Jesus' family
thought he was nuts. The neighbors thought he was nuts (Mark 3:21). The
Pharisees and Sadducees got in on the act and said he was of the Devil. Because
the flack really began to fly, Jesus started painting for his disciples the
picture of what was going on in the world. He showed them that it was a
spiritual fight between two spiritual kingdoms. It was this vision that he endeavored
to build for his people.
He went through that great day of
teaching the multitude with his disciples and then, in Mark 4:37 we read, there
was a great storm of wind. The
disciples, scared to death, shook the Master to wake him.
Although he was in the boat with
them, although they had heard the Word he had taught, they were still afraid,
and Jesus Christ reproved them for their un-belief.
Mark 4:40 - “And he said unto
them, Why are you so fearful [cowardly] How is it that you have no faith
[believing]?”
They had heard the Word, they
should have believed.
In your Fellowship there are also
going to be people who respond slowly at first. It's going to take time. You'll
have to confront them with the truth in love and then be there to pick them up
when they fall. You must always stand for God and His Word - not using or
abusing people, not hurting people, not being hard, but simply standing in the
love of God. That's one of the great things that finally helped Peter come
around as much as he did during the Gospel period. Jesus Christ continued to
work with him from the original call until the time that he was ordained and
sent out.
The early reproof was not quite
as severe as it became later after Peter had been taught more and became more
responsible for what he knew. You'll see that the reproof grew in its intensity
because Jesus Christ expected more from those he allowed to become more
intimate with him.
As you grow in the Word and you
want to serve, more is expected of you because you're the crack troops, you're
the green berets, the black-boots- and-green-fatigue believers of God. You're
God's dog soldiers, His douloses, (sold out to God and His Rightly Divided Word
of Truth) because you've accepted the challenge to go all the way. Peter
accepted that call.
He didn't know what he was
getting himself into, but he accepted the call. And because he loved God as
much as he knew how to love, he got to the place where he saw some phenomenal
events in Jesus Christ's fellowship.
In Matthew chapter 14, after
miraculously feeding the multitude, Jesus Christ sent his disciples out to sea
while he stayed back on shore.
Matthew 14:24-29 - "But
the ship was now amid the sea, tossed with waves for the wind was contrary. And
in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And
when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It
is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
But straight way Jesus spoke unto
them, saying, be of good cheer; it is l; be not afraid. And Peter answered him
and said, Lord, if it be you, bid me come unto you on the water. And he said,
Come. And when Peter was come down out the ship, he walked on the water, to go
to Jesus."
This man had great potential
ability. He wasn't afraid to do something for the first time. He walked on
water to go to Jesus. He took the first step.
Leaders
take the first step. They're not afraid of falling on their faces.
Perhaps Peter didn't stay up but
he took the first step. True leaders are willing to walk out. Maybe they
witness, and they don't do it all right, maybe they make mistakes, maybe they
blow it, but you must look at people's hearts, you have to see where your
people have come from and then have the vision to see where you can lead them.
Love them into success. - Inner vision. - Jesus Christ always believed in his
men. He saw the potential that was in their hearts and lives and where they
could go. First, they had to desire to be made whole with the greatness of
God's Word. Then they had to be trained.
When Peter took his eyes off the
Master and began to fall, Jesus stretched forth his hand to catch him -
Matthew 14:30& 31 - "But
when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he
cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand,
and caught him and said unto him, O You of little faith [believing], wherefore
did you doubt?
Isn't that something? Jesus
Christ was reproving him, but was it,
"YOU SURE BLEW IT, PETER,
LOOK AT YOU, CAN'T YOU EVER WALK RIGHT"? No. Jesus Christ stretched forth
his hand, he met Peter where he was, and with the love of God he helped him
back up.
Peter started pointing out where
Jesus was wrong Jesus was doing his best to prepare his men for what was
coming, and Peter interrupted, "Wait a minute, Lord, just can't be, it's
wrong." He spoke this openly. Disciples were everywhere. Jesus was trying
to teach them something when Peter questioned him, causing others to consider
and doubt Jesus also.
They may have thought to themselves,
"Maybe Peter's got something here. Do you really think Jesus is going to
be killed? He’s, our redeemer. He's the king we've been waiting for. He can't
die!" I can imagine the unbelief starting to spread among the disciples.
That's why Jesus Christ had to do what he did. Peter left him no choice.
Mark 8:33 - "But when he
had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get
thee behind me, Satan: for you savor not the things that be of God, but the
things that be of men." (In other words, "You're not thinking of
the good of the ministry and the movement of the Word, you're only thinking of
your own stupid self, Peter!")
Mark 8:34 &35 - "And
when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto
them, whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his
cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but
whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save
it."
Jesus Christ is really nailing
commitment here. Where's Peter's commitment? Jesus is challenging him in front
of everybody. Peter was reproved time after time. Because he received it with
meekness, he changed.
On the other hand, Judas was
reproved, only one time. But because he never received it with meekness, he
never changed; he later went out and betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ.
Reproof is positive, it's loving.
It builds men to serve God. And if they're leaders, they'll receive it with
meekness. Maybe they won't like it, but if it's God's Word they'll listen.
Peter listened. He had his ego
flattened like a run-over paper cup, but because he had the inner desire to
excel (he loved God and his heart's yearning was to bless God and His people),
when he was wrong, he accepted accountability for his actions.
If
you blow it, you blow it. All you must do is say, "Yup, you're
right."
That's it. You don't have to
explain your way out all the time.
Mark 8:36-38 - "For what
shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul [his life]? Whosoever
therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words.... "
That is what Peter was - ashamed
of Jesus Christ's words.
The
spiritual fight is not a fleshly battle.
The
spiritual fight is fought with God's Word.
If people reject the Word you speak, they
reject God. In this instance Peter was off the Word, and nobody touches the
Word. It doesn't matter how intimate some body is with you, he doesn't touch
God's Word and get away with it.
Mark 8:38 - "Whosoever
therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful
generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he comes in the
glory of his Father with the holy angels."
Jesus Christ nailed Peter pretty
good, not off in a corner somewhere, but out in front of everybody. And Peter
was the leader of the other disciples! Think how ashamed he must have been. He
must have thought, "I made a mistake. I'll never lead again!" No,
that's not it. When you blow it, you pick yourself up, keep walking, and you
become stronger because you determine that you won't blow it in the same place
again.
Corinthians talks about godly
sorrow. When you blow it, you ought to feel kind of bad, but it doesn't say
condemn yourself. Condemnation is wallowing in self-pity.
You never learn anything. That
was Judas. That's the counterfeit. But godly sorrow is getting so spiritually
upset inside you don't want to ever make the same mistake again - like Peter.
Peter had godly sorrow to the end that it worked in his life to make him
stronger, to the end his character became firmer, to the end he didn't make the
same mistake twice.
How could anybody walk and never
feel bad about anything? People think renewed mind is getting to the place you
can sin and renew your mind to it so you don't feel bad about it. That's not
renewed mind. If you do something wrong, sure it is going to get to you. But
you must control your thoughts to stay in bounds according to the Word. Learn
from it and forget it. Peter was such a man. He received his lord's reproof
with meekness, then he stood with renewed conviction on the truth of God's
Word.
In Mark chapter 9 we read about
the occurrence on the Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus went up into the
mountains with Peter, James and John in verse 2. Jesus took them apart by
themselves and, according to the Book of Luke, these three fell asleep - they
fell asleep! - and they missed the most important part of the
transfiguration. When they woke up they
saw Elias and Moses and Jesus, and Peter got up and said, "Yup, pretty
good we were here, Lord. Gonna build a tabernacle for you, one for Elijah and
one for Moses. Sure, good you brought us along." About that time they were over shadowed with
a cloud and they heard a voice come out of the cloud "This is my beloved
Son in whom I am well pleased.
Shut up listen to him. " I
can see Peter now: he falls on the ground, nose-diving once again in his walk.
Jesus goes over and helps him up again. "It's okay Peter, get up; be not
afraid, come on, it's all right."
First Peter was reproved by Jesus
Christ in front of all the disciples. Then he was reproved by God Himself! The
guy's got to have natural leadership ability. Anybody else would have cratered
by now.
During the last weeks of his
life, Jesus dealt with pride among the twelve. James and John came to Jesus
wanting to know if one of them could sit on his right hand and one on his left
hand in glory. Jesus said, "Well, I don't think I can give you that."
When the other ten heard what James and John had asked for, they were a little
hot because they wanted the same commissioning. They wanted the same promotion.
We read this record in Mark chapter 10
beginning right after James and John have approached Jesus with their
request.
Mark 10:38-45 - "But
Jesus said unto them, you know not what you ask, can you drink of the cup that
I drink of? And be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? And they
said unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, You shall indeed drink of the
cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall you
be baptize But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine
to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared And when the ten
heard it, they began to be much displeased [very indignant] with James
and John. But Jesus called them to him [he got the whole group together,
had a little grad session], and said unto them, you know that they which are
accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their
great one’s exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you but
whosoever will [or desires to] be great among you, shall be your
minister [a diakonos, one who runs to serve by his free will] And
whosoever of you will [or desires to] be the chiefs [showing degree
of commitment], shall be servant [doulos, bonded slave] of all. For
even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to
give his life a ransom for many."
There are several incidents in
the last weeks of his life where Jesus Christ had to sit down with a child and
show his disciples the meekness of a child, the commitment of a slave. He had
to sit down with them and lay into them because they were still full of
pride. At the last supper Jesus was
still dealing with their pride. The last night of his life he had to reprove
and instruct them. And these men had to
carry the things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth,
but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
The night Jesus Christ was
arrested, Peter cut into the ear of the high priest's servant. But Jesus Christ
reproved Peter and healed the man's ear.
Then Peter and the other
disciples split, and Jesus Christ was led alone to Caiaphas, the high
priest.
Mark 14:53-55 - "And they
led Jesus away to the high priest: and with him were assembled all the chief
priests and the elders and the scribes. And Peter followed him afar off, even
into the palace of the high priest and he sat with the servants and warmed
himself at the fire. And the chief priests and all the council sought for
witness against Jesus to put him to death; and found none."
While Jesus was paying this
price, Peter was denying him - six times - and every time he denied him, it got
worse. "I don't know the man, I told you that. I told you I don't know the
man, leave me alone." Then all over again: "Look, I told you I don't
know the man, what do you want from me anyway?" It went on and on. The
last time it says he cursed, "Damn it, I told you I don't know the man.
What do you want out of me anyway?" And they took the sack off Jesus
Christ's head and he looked Peter straight in the eye. How would you like to
have been Peter and have the lord look at you at a moment like that, just after
he'd had his face beaten to a pulp? It says Peter went out and wept bitterly.
I'm sure he never forgot.
Even after Jesus Christ got up
from the dead, he still had to go to his disciples and reprove them for the hardness
of their hearts. Sometime after the resurrection Peter said, "I'm going
fishing." He and the other disciples were out on the lake fishing all
night and caught nothing. But this time Jesus decided to go fishing too, and he
met them out at the lake early the next morning in his resurrected body.
John 21:4-7 - "But when
the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not
that it was Jesus. Then Jesus said unto them, Children [fellows!], have
you any meat? They answered him, No. And he said unto them, Cast the net on the
right side of the ship, and you shall find. They cast therefore, and now they
were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. Therefore, that disciple
whom Jesus loved said unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard
that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was
naked,) and did cast himself into the sea."
That's impetuous Peter, always in
the midst of it. He swam to shore, the boat followed.
John 21:12,14,15 - "Jesus
said unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples dare ask him, Who are
you? Knowing that it was the Lord. This is now the third time that Jesus showed
himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead. So, when they
had dined...".
Jesus took old Peter aside and he
said, "Hey, Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, love you me more than these?"
And Peter answered, "Sure, lord, you know I love you." Jesus
questioned Peter two more times, then Jesus came right up to Peter - I can just
see him thumping on his chest, toe to toe, eye to eye with him - and said,
John 21:18 - "Verily,
verily, I say unto you, When you were young you girded thyself, and walked
wherever you would: but when you shall be old, you shall stretch forth your
hands, and another shall gird you, and carry you whither you would
not."
In other words, "Look,
before you had the ministry, you did what you darn well pleased. You went where
you wanted, dressed yourself, made up your own mind. From now on, you let God
lead you. From now on, you follow God. I've been trying to teach you this the
whole ministry. It's about time you started following. You say you love me so
much, let me see some proof. " And then Jesus said (verse 19), "You
follow me." Do you think Peter
ever forgot that? I don't. I've been in similar situations with other men and I
never forgot any of those. I doubt Peter ever forgot either.
Jesus Christ had been the
Fellowship leader. At Pentecost, Peter rose up and took over the Fellowship. He
became successful because God planted the seed in him that He had upon Christ.
All the quality resident in that little ol' mustard seed was now in Peter.
Peter finally rose up to accept the original challenge, "Follow me, and
I'll make you to become fishers of men."
At Pentecost Peter caught about
3,000. The man who had been reproved often, the man who had made many mistakes,
finally rose up when he was born again with the power of the holy spirit,
filled with all nine manifestations, and walked out on his believing. He had
the natural leadership ability, he had the integrity and accuracy of the Word,
he had the intimate fellowship with his lord and savior, Jesus Christ.
Now
there was nothing to stop Peter. He had God in Christ in him.
Jesus Christ was not with Peter
in the boat any more, he was in him, and he was filled with all the power of
the holy spirit. The same man who had walked intimately with Jesus Christ was a
changed man, for he had "snapped" at Pentecost. He had snapped out of
all his fear, condemnation and previous shortcomings when he stood up and
followed Jesus Christ.
Today, when we look back to
Pentecost, we can see what changed Peter.
As we also have intimate fellow
ship with God and each other in our Fellowships, men's lives can change. Now I
know what Peter was thinking about in Acts when he said, "We ought to obey
God rather than men." He had something in his heart he'd never
forget.
Today God has called you, He's
prepared you. He's caught you. He fellowships with you. He speaks to you. He
walks with you. You're the one He has called out. Christ built his church.
Today you help to build the Church as God's fellow laborers.
As Jesus Christ led his
Fellowship to victory in his day, we have the ability to succeed today. As we
build on the principles of God's Word, believing in our people, speaking the
truth in love, forgiving and forgetting, and encouraging each other day after
day, our Fellowship will grow just as Jesus Christ's did.
Think of your Fellowship as a
garden full of mustard seeds (one of the tiniest seeds of all herbs, yet with
the quality to produce the largest of herbs). With God you are a fellow worker
tilling the hearts of men, preparing for a maximum-yield harvest. Don't faint
due to the labour. Don't be discouraged
with drought or flood. Stand faithfully and God will give the increase. All of
the mustard trees of all the tomorrows are resident in the mustard seeds of
today.
Without Script nor Purse
The scriptures are divided into
seven different time periods or administrations. The three that are of the
greatest importance to us are The Law Period, Christ’s Administration and The
Grace Period.
The Law Period started on
the day the Ten Commandments were given unto Moses for Israel to live by and
ended when Christ gave up His life. Exodus
20 to Acts 2:1
Christ’s Administration
over-lapped the last part of The Law Period starting with His public ministry
and ending when he died on the tree. Matthew
1:1 to Acts 1:9
The Grace Period Began on
the Day of Pentecost, Acts 2:1, and ends when Christ comes back. This is the
Period we are now living in, at present with new set of Heavenly directions to
live by.
Throughout the Law Period the
“Men of God” were looked after through the people who gave to the church or
tabernacle that they may be blessed.
Malachi 3:7 & 8 - "Even
from the days of your fathers you are gone away from my (God’s) ordinances
and have not kept them. Return unto me (God), and I will unto you, says
the Lord of hosts. But you said, wherein shall we return? Will a man rob God?
Yet you have robbed me. But you say how have we robbed you? In tithes and offerings."
Throughout the Law Period God's
People were instructed to give to the "storehouse" of God ten percent
of ALL their increase. For the most part, this consisted of the seed of the
ground, fruit of the trees, herds, flocks, corn, wine, oil, and honey.
The word "offerings"
was translated from the Aramaic (Old Testament Hebrew) word "terumah"
which means "heave offering." A heave offering was done by lifting
their offering up towards heaven in their arms, so that, that which they held
might be blessed by God. These consisted mainly of rams, meat, leaven bread,
grain off the thrashing floor, dough, the best of their oil, wine, and wheat,
the first ripe fruit in the land, cattle, asses, sheep, and their first-born
son so that the first born could be committed to the service of God.
The men who looked after the
Tabernacle or Church were of the Tribe of Levi better known as the Levites as
recorded in - Numbers
18:23 - “But the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle ...” they
also had what is called "Free Will Giving" this was given unto the
church of the time. This consisted
usually of jewelry, gold, chains of silver and gold, bracelets, rings,
earrings, and money. The money giving started in -
Nehemiah 10:32 - "Also we made ordinances for us, to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel for the service of the
house of our God. "
In Christ’s Administration we
learn in –
Luke 10:4 - “Carry neither purse, nor
scrip, nor shoes and salute no man by the way”
Some seem to think that because
Christ told His disciples not to take provisions with them that He was giving
them a license to be professional beggars.
Some Western “Scholars” have said
the reason He instructed them not to salute any man by the way was that the
Eastern people spend to much time chatting when greeting each other. These
scholars also say Jesus did not want His disciples to waste time in this
way.
These explanations simply are not
true. Jesus did not want the disciples to carry money and provisions because He
wanted to teach them that God Almighty is the supplier of every need. So rather
than “Salute no man by the way.” the accurate translation should read “solicit
no man by the way.” In other words don’t beg from those they meet along the
way.
Matthew 6:31-33 - “Therefore take
no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or,
Where-withal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles
(non-believers) seek) For your Heavenly Father knows that you have need of
these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness. and ALL THESE THINGS SHALL
(automatically) BE ADDED (given) UNTO YOU.”
Did
you notice that all their needs would be met ... NOT their greed
In The Grace Period, which
started on The Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit of Promise was given unto
the World and ends when Christ comes back, which is right now in our day and
time the rules and regulations are
different again. 2 Thessalonians 3:8 & 9 -
“Neither did we eat any man’s bread for nought (nothing) but wrought
(worked) with labor and travail (to the point of weariness if necessary)
night and day (this night and day is a figure of speech meaning for as long
as it took) that we might not be chargeable to any of you to make - an
unto you to follow...”
The reason for this example is
found in - 2
Thessalonians 3:10 - “For when we were with you, this we commanded
(instructed) you, that if any would not work (these are those who could
work and wouldn’t) neither should he (they) not eat.”
Even the “Earthly Leader” of
the First Century Church - The Apostle Paul - worked -
Acts 18:1-3 - “After these things
Paul departed from Athens and came to Corinth.
found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from
Italy. with his wife Priscilla. ........ and came unto them. And Aquila was of
the same craft, Paul abode (lived) with them and wrought (worked) for by their
occupation they were tent makers.” (The custom and culture of that time
dictated that only the women were tent makers. The men were saddle
makers.)
In our day and time things
have changed tremendously. Whenever a “Person of the Cloth” gets offered a
church to “run” One of the first things they ask is How much money do I get
paid and what about the benefits and housing.
It’s no wonder that the
Conventional Churches and most T.V. Evangelistic Ministries are always asking
money to support them. Maybe they should try applying the principles in the
Word of God and try working for a living like everyone else.
Now, on top of supporting
yourself the first century church shared everything they had with others - and
gave to the church as they were taught.
Throughout The Law Period the
“Men of God” were looked after through the people who gave to the church or tabernacle
that they may be blessed.
Malachi 3:7 & 8 - "Even
from the days of your fathers you are gone away from my ordinances and have not
kept them. Return unto me, and I will unto you, says the Lord of hosts. But you
said, wherein shall we return? Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me. But
you say how have we robbed you? In
tithes and offerings."
In this the Grace Period God has
made a few concessions
I’m
sure that right now you are asking yourself
“If
I work to make a living then how can I do God’s work,
where
will I get the time?”
The book of Acts answers that
question -
Acts 2:46 - “And they,
continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house
to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
Acts 5:42 - “And daily in the
temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus
Christ.
Acts 20:20 - “And how I kept
back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught
you publicly, and from house to house,
PLUS
Acts 18:4 - “And he (Paul)
reasoned (discussed or talked the Rightly Divided Word) in the
synagogue every sabbath ......
Make
Time To do God’s Word and God will make time for your work
it’s
a fifty / fifty deal – Everyone Wins.
The Noble Act
Speaking the Word of God to
another human being is a son of God's most noble act.
Action requires decision.
Decisions are made between the ears, in that deepest part of man which God's
Word calls the "heart."
Matthew 12:34 - "O
generation of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of
the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks."
For us, the "abundance"
Christ spoke of is the Word which we hide in our hearts (minds) by studying it
and then control our thoughts to make them his thoughts. Thoughts determine
actions. What can you do with your head to get your mouth open? One thing is
for sure we should not allow fear to seal our lips and subject ourselves to the
subsequent miseries of self-condemnation.
We are seated in the heavenlies,
but we need some down-to-earth keys to take full advantage of our son-ship right
of the ministry of reconciliation, since it is our primary purpose as long as
we reside on earth.
Taking
full advantage of our son-ship right of the ministry of reconciliation brings
the other four son-ship rights into manifestation in our understanding.
In sharing some of these keys, I
will also set forth some things you can say to people when your mouth does
open. It is my prayer and believing that will absolutely change your life. How can,
I be sure?
I Corinthians 10:13: - "There
has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful,
who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able; but will with
the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear
it."
What I am about to share with you
has changed my life and made witnessing/sharing the word with others the JOY
God intends it to be for every one of His children. I know from the previous
verse that what I am learning is most important to you too.
The
law of giving and receiving is throughly woven into the fabric of life.
Giving
is living. One can only give what he has.
The greatest thing you have is
the Rightly Divided Word of God. So what is the greatest thing you can give?
Speaking the Rightly Divided Word of God is the highest form of abundant
sharing. Giving away copies of the
Rightly Divided Word in the Vatican
might be difficult but listen to this: You hold the keys to every good thing
everyone in the world wants! Do they want peace of mind? How about good health?
Purpose in life? Love? Of course, they do, and God is the only true source of
"every good gift" as recorded in -
James 1 :17 - "Every
good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the
Father of lights with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of
turning"
God promises us that there are
plenty of people who will believe. This is something you can do with your
head:
EXPECT
EVERYONE TO BELIEVE.
However,
they can’t believe if they don't hear.
Romans 10: 14 - “How then
shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they
believe in him of whom they have not heard?... “
Let me explain something, there
are thousands upon thousands of people in the world who confess that they are
teaching God’s Word. However, if the
Word of God is not rightly divided then all they are really doing is sharing
man made religion which constitutes the lies and hypocrisies of man.
When someone says no to the Word you speak.
All he really means is “Based upon what
I understand so far, (which is mainly man-made religiosity) I am not interested."
OK, you simply give them more information based
on the rightly divided Word to enable
him to make another decision based upon this additional information.
Who
would turn down what you are offering
if
they really understood what's available?
Thus, our goal is communication,
which involves more than just talking. A
radio station may be broadcasting all day but only those tuned to the right
frequency get the message. We can help people to "tune in" to us so
we can get God's rightly divided Word to them. This requires skillfully
wielding the sword of the Spirit (which is God's rightly divided Word) with love
and boldness so as to pierce the crust of fear and pride encasing most
people's hearts. The very design of a sword ensures that it will pierce an
object when it is aimed properly, and enough force is provided.
Hebrews 4: 12 - "For the
Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing
even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow,
and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."
Can you make a frog? Don't feel
bad, neither can anyone else. But perhaps you know the One who can. How did you
come to know Him? By reading His autobiography, which is composed of words -
basically the only way to communicate anything.
Have you ever had someone tell
you he already believes in God? I say, "Great! I'm always interested in
learning. Tell me one thing you believe about God."
The response is usually in one of
three categories:
1) After a period of silence,
"I guess I can't really tell you what I believe."
2) "It's too personal; I
don't care to discuss it." (They can't.)
3) "God is energy" or
some equally groundless theory to which I reply,
"Says Who?"
All beliefs are thoughts. All
thoughts are expressed in words. People may believe that there is a God; but
without an accurate knowledge of what He says about Himself, they cannot
believe in God.
If
one cannot speak about his beliefs, he has none.
If those he has do not agree with what God
says, he is dead wrong - unless he can make a frog.
Thus, many people exist by a
vague, self-generated "standard" of behavior. "I have my own
philosophy."
I
know you've heard that one. It's like. "I have my own religion."
The root of such insanity is
man's pride. Such a position makes him God, which has been his hang-up. There
is a wonderful Bible verse for such people but, mercifully, I usually don't lay
it on them right away.
Proverbs 28:26: "He that trusts
in his own heart is a fool: "
Often, I say, "Since you
have your own philosophy and since you believe it, that makes it right for you,
may I have my own philosophy?"
"Sure." Is it OK with
you if I sacrifice chipmunks on a Tupperware altar?' I guess so."\
"How about if I sacrifice a human?" Well...." "How about if
I sacrifice YOU?" He has no basis to say I'm wrong.
Without
God's Rightly Divided Word there is no absolute standard of truth.
Without an absolute standard of
truth, life is chaos. "Oh, you believe that something is right because you
feel it's right, huh?" '"yes" "Well I feel you're
wrong." "You have your own religion? Then make me a frog."
Even a hurried glance at the
wonders of creation reveals an infinite precision which no mind could possibly
attribute to chance. The "Big Bang" theory? That's a sensible
conjecture upon which to base one's whole life.
Give
me a break!
An inventor begins with an idea which includes
a specific purpose or for what he invents. Take, for instance, the electric
dog. When the invention is marketed, does the inventor includes a book of
instructions written by an irresponsible test pilot. No, he writes the book
himself because it's his invention.
GOD invented life. He had a
purpose for the invention, so He gave us a book of instructions to go with it.
To be certain we would know how to operate the invention, He sent a factory
representative Jesus Christ to show us how to use it.
Most people will readily admit
that they know almost nothing about the Bible. When they do, you have them in a
logical vice and, although people generally, make decisions based upon emotion
rather than logic, you can get them honest with themselves to see that they are
in a fog and can't make a frog. They know they are not God and that they know
nothing about the book you say is God's Word. Even if they don't admit it, they
also know that "their philosophy" has not gotten them "every
good gift" which they can see in your life if you are walking the talk.
The closer they look; the better God looks. That brings us to the first thing
you can do with your head to get your
mouth open - LIVE THE WORD. This convinces you that it is truth and that
people really will benefit from what you share with them. Then you are
motivated to confront them to the point of decision. If you are afraid to put
people on the spot, it is because you are afraid to put God on the spot. If so,
such un-belief must also be reflected in your personal walk.
In conjunction with this truth,
let me touch upon the twofold witness of
WORDS
and WORKS,
which Jesus Christ set as an
ideal example and which we find whenever we are moving the rightly divided Word
of God.
John 14:9-11 - "Jesus
said unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet have you not known
me, Philip? He that has seen me has seen the Father; and how said you then,
Show us the Father? Believe you not that I am in the Father, and the Father in
me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that
dwells in me, he does the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the
Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake."
When you speak the rightly
divided Word, people can hear and then believe. If they do, they receive. Hey,
you are speaking for God. and that it is
not church doctrine, theological aspects of the Word, or manmade ideas.
Mark 16:20 - “And they
(the Apostles) went forth and preached everywhere, God working with
them and confirming the (rightly divided) Word (that’s all they had
man hadn’t time to screw up The Word yet) with signs following.”
Acts 5:12 - “And by
(through) the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought (done)
among the people ...”
1 Corinthians 2:4 - “And my
speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom (manmade
religion) but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power (signs,
miracles and wonders).”
Hebrews 2:4 - “God also
bearing witness both with signs and wonders and with divers (many) miracles
and gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His (God’s) own will.”
You will no doubt see a young
bird on his initial solo flight. You know how he got started? His old lady
kicked him out of the house. Instinctively she knew he was built to fly.
What mental nests have you
constructed? Why not at least scoot over to the edge and take a look out at
what's available in the "freedom of flying" category? You can boot
yourself out of the nest.
When you do, you will see that
you are BUILT TO FLY! You may flutter
around a little at first, but soon, because of your spiritually aerodynamic
design (Christ in you), you will be soaring to limitless heights.
So,
flap your gums and take off.
Fear
is wrong believing. Action cures fear. WITNESSING is the fastest way
I know to spiritually grow up.
Why? Because when you give life, you receive life. Remember the three R's - receive, retain
release?
Releasing opens the doors to more
receiving. How often have you been witnessing to someone when, after they
raised a question or objection, God laid on you the perfect answer and, in so
doing, gave you a whole new insight into the Word? Witnessing builds spiritual
versatility. Or how about later when you are by yourself with God, pondering
what better reply you will give the next time you hear the question you believe
stumped you today? In this context you are not in the "heat of the
battle," but cleaning your weapon behind the lines, and once again God
shows you the answer.
When
you witness, you learn. You and God are a team.
The
DYNAMIC DUO!
God's greatest desire is that
people know Him, for when they do, they will love Him. They can only know and
love Him by hearing His Word.
When you speak it, picture God
cheering you on just as He did his only begotten son, Jesus Christ.
Matthew 17:5 - "While he
yet spoke, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of
the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear
you him."
A very important thing you can do
with your head is to consciously think about or tell yourself how much You LOVE
the person to whom you are speaking. The "real you" is Christ in you.
As you witness, picture him witnessing to and loving the person.
I John 4:18 - "There is no
fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear: because fear has torment.
He
that fears is not made perfect in love."
Why does it work? Because you are
thinking of the other person. Rather than being self-conscious. People can
somehow sense the difference. And guess what? They will tend to see You as you
see yourself.
Once
more, from the top: YOU ARE NOT A FREAK
- because you believe
God's Word. It is the unbelievers who are
life's mutations.
YOU ARE EVERYBODY'S PAL! Tell
yourself this out loud as often as you need to until you believe it. It's one
of my favorites. IT IS SO EASY TO TALK
TO PEOPLE! You know they're going to love you, because you love them.
I hesitate to share this hard-to
believe incident with you, but at the calculated risk of exploding the
credibility I have established thus far, I will do so. Please believe me, it really
happened - two unbelievers struck up a conversation! Immediately a born-again
believer filled with the Holy spirit and a true knowledge of the rightly
divided Word of Truth, ran to them crying, "Where did you get the
boldness? “ (Time out for some practical application. Since you are everybody's
pal and absolutely the most important person they've ever met, here's an opener
for you the next time you spot an aimless soul loitering at Wonder Mall.
Hurriedly approaching with your loving smile that's what you can do with your
face to get your mouth open and an out stretched hand, he bubbles, "Gosh, I’m
sorry it took me awhile to get here. Have you been waiting long? Looks like
about 25 years" (or whatever is your estimate of their age). "Has
anyone ever shared with you anything about God that makes any sense?"
Delivered with all the love,
concern and honesty in your heart, this is a good opener also. As you witness and think about it, God will
show you many more. He is infinitely diversified. Hey, since you're every
body's pal, you could even open with a funny line. Then you really are a
witness. As you may recall fear is sand
in the machinery of life. Perhaps the foremost fear that stops believers from
witnessing is fear of being rejected by another human being. God's perspective
in your mind should eliminate this fear.
I Samuel 8: 7: "And the
Lord said unto Samuel, hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they
say unto you:
for
they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me,
that I should not reign over
them."
God says you are a messenger. You
are in sales. If someone does not like the product, tell them to complain to
the management.
Here's the arrangement: You speak: People believe; God gives the
increase.
As recorded in -
1 Corinthians 3: 5 &6 - Who
then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as
the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the
increase.
Convenient, huh? If you open your
mouth, God will open their hearts as recorded in -
Acts16:14 - "And A
certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which
worshipped God, heard us, whose heart the lord opened, that she attends unto
the things which were spoken of Paul."
Fear of failure also laces your
lips. Wait a minute, it's not up to you whether people believe, it's up to
them! True Success is doing the will of God.
That's why you cannot fail when you witness, because WITNESSING IS
SUCCESS!
You are on a treasure hunt with
God. Very few people have a placard pasted on their foreheads indicating
whether or not they are called of God to believe His Word.
Then how do we tell? SPEAK the rightly divided word of truth in
love to them and they will identify them-selves. It is exciting to welcome home
a new babe.
God tells us in I John 3:13 that
not everyone will believe. But some will.
So we simply expect everyone to believe, and we're not at all
discouraged if they do not. Wouldn't you love to meet someone called of God?
Speak the Word and you will. "But
what if they think I'm weird?"
First of all, someone will think you're weird no matter what you
believe. You could believe nothing, but that wouldn't solve the problem,
because I think that's weird. So, you might as well believe (which is action)
what's RIGHT and let those who believe otherwise think you are strange.
The Word says that anyone with
thoughts other than God's thoughts is mentally ill. There you are, about to
leave the psychiatric ward where you've been visiting with your best friend,
currently straitjacketed and duck-taped to his bed, because he thinks he's a
boll weevil and has eaten six sets of sheets. As you leave, he says, "I
think you're a boll weevil too. Can I offer you a T-shirt?" Later that day
you begin to worry. "Maybe I am a boll weevil." (Farmers terrify
you.) Thoughts of devouring your handkerchief race through your mind. You feel
the urge to bore through a rack of summer suits. I doubt it. You wouldn't give his opinion a
second thought.
Why? HE'S NUTS! So are people who
do not believe God's Word.
"What if someone overhears
me witnessing?"
Let's quickly analyze the "logic" of
that fear. You see, you're speaking the Word so people will hear.
Lots of people have gotten into
the Word by over hearing a witness.
Go,
stand and speak.
Witnessing with another believer
is about the fastest way I know to knit
hearts together. There really is something
to be said for the camaraderie of being in the fight together, especially when
you're on the winning side.
Even witnessing by yourself, you
can be motivated by picturing specific brothers and sisters doing likewise.
We're all in this together -
Romans 1:12 - “That is, that I
may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and I.”
That's why a fellowship in which
each member witnesses boldly is dynamite. Otherwise, you have nothing but a
circle of hap-hazard individuals, otherwise known as "church." Then,
each non-witnesser drags all his "needs" to fellowship to pile them
upon his non-witnessing
Fellowship leader whose spiritual
knees are buckling under the weight of trying to live everyone else's lives for
them. Such a selfish attitude leads to
division. A fellowship is not a group of people sitting around getting their
needs met - it's a bunch of believers whose primary goal is to crack house
walls by overcrowding rooms.
God
Can't Add to the Church Daily
if
You Witness Weakly.
If you have "problems,"
I dare say you ain't speakin' the Word -
There's one more thing you can do
with your head, and I'd best go ahead and share it. Someday we are going to be
"sitting where we're seated."
Jesus Christ is coming back. Every time You speak the truth in love. You
lay up for yourself rewards for that day. The Word doesn't say much about what
the rewards are, but if they come from God, I'd say they're well worth
having.
I Corinthians 3:8: - "Now
he that plants and he that waters are one: and every man shall receive his own
reward according to his own labor."
As we're on the way up, we'll be
able to see first-hand something the Word already tells us - there is no life
on any other planets. In Genesis God says He oriented all the universe to the
earth. Why? Because that's where He put man, who was to love Him.
Forget
witnessing at the "Star Wars" nightclub.
The only place you will ever see
a flying saucer is in the kitchen of an enraged housewife.
Using his earthly power, Satan produces
"phenomena" and the non-believers “reasoning" falls right in
line to develop a counterfeit hope, not to mention what the Word of God states
in - Isaiah 66:4 - "I (God) shall
also chose their delusions and bring their fears upon them: because when I
called, none did answer, when I spoke they did not hear, but they did evil
before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not."
2 Thessalonians 2:11 -
"And for this cause (Greek διά (dia), meaning the ground or reason by
which something is or is not done) God shall send them strong delusions
(comes from the Hebrew ta`aluwl which means holding idiosyncratic beliefs or
impressions that are contradicted by reality or rational argument, typically as
a symptom of mental disorder). that they should believe a lie. That they all
might be damned who believe not the truth. But had pleasure in
un-righteousness."
What's the hope for star-gazing
natural man who is devoid of solutions to the problems on earth? That a being
of higher "intelligence" will take pity on us earth creatures and
deign to save us from our planetary plight.
One review of "Close Encounters of the
Third Kind" called it "an electronic Second Coming."
The savior has already come with
the eternal solution for man. He is coming again to consummate this premiere
plan. God's Word tells us all about it. The earth is where it's happening. YOU
- the tabernacle of God's Word - are what's happening on earth. So, if you meet
a little green man, tell him to come to fellowship. That's your God given
privilege and honour.
WELL:
What are you waiting for?
CHAPTER TEN
About the Author
Since 1976 I have been taught by
or studied the following teaching of some of God’s greatest teacher’s available
on this planet.
- Revelation from my Heavenly
Father as I needed it.
- Dr. Ethelbert W. Bullinger and
his works on the supernatural design of Numbers
in Scriptures, along with his New Testament Greek Words and their meanings.
- Dr. George M. Lamsa, The
Aramaic Scholar with his Aramaic translations from The Peshitta Text into
English.
- Dr. F. Max Muller, The German
Master Orientalist.
- Dr. K.C. Pillai,
Bishop-At-Large, Indian Orthodox Church, Antiochean Succesion, Madras, India
and his Orientalisms of The Bible.
- Fred. H. Wight, and his Manners
and Customs of Bible Lands.
- Dr. V.P. Wierwille and his
Biblical Research and Rightly Dividing Programs
- Rev. John R. W. Stott, Honorary
Chaplin to The Queen of England and his research on How to Understand the
Bible.
- R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer,
Jr., and B.K. Waltke and their works on Old Testament Hebrew Word Meanings.
- Merrill F. Unger and his Bible
Dictionary
- Robert Young, LL. D. and his
works on Hebrew and Greek Word Translations
- Wikipedia - Online
encyclopedia
- John Hurt - Online Bible Study
and Bible Dictionary by– KJV
- Along with many, many others.
- Not to mention the examining of
the teachings and doctrines of over twenty-five T. V. Evangelistic Ministries.
- Pictures Curtesy of Google
Images and its Contributors
Have a God Blest Future
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