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Note: J. Preston Eby, in order to continue to devote his full energy to writing, no longer works in the office and does not receive email. He does, however, respond to any urgent correspondence via snailmail. |
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KINGDOM
BIBLE STUDIES
"Teaching
the things concerning the
The
Book
Three
By J.
Table of Contents
Chapter
Title
Page
28. The Principles of the
Kingdom
3
29. The Principles of the
Kingdom (cont.)
16
30. The Principles of the
Kingdom (cont.)
28
31. The Principles of the
Kingdom (cont.)
42
32. The Principles of the
Kingdom (cont.)
55
33. The Principles of the
Kingdom (cont.)
69
34. The Keys of the
Kingdom
82
35. The Righteousness of
the Kingdom
96
36. The Righteousness of
the Kingdom (cont.)
105
37. The Peace of the
Kingdom
118
38. The Joy of the Kingdom
132
39. The Power of the
Kingdom
141
40. The Power of the
Kingdom (cont.)
153
41. The Power of the Kingdom (cont.) 168
Chapter 28
THE
PRINCIPLES OF THE KINGDOM
In
the new order of the
Jesus
broke every tradition and violated all accepted standards, procedures, norms, orders,
methods and systems. He
demonstrated the ways of the
When
the hour arrived for supper, no one’s feet had been washed. Although
no one mentioned it, there was an uncomfortableness about them because the service had not
been rendered. Then
it happened! Jesus, fully aware that the Father had put everything into His hands, and
that He had come from God and was returning to God, got up from supper, took off His
garments, and taking a servant’s towel, He fastened it around His waist. Then He
poured water into the washbasin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe
them with the servant’s towel with which He was girded. Peter
watched, astounded. They
knew in their hearts who He was. They had confessed Him as the Messiah, the
Christ, the Son of the living God. He was the deliverer prophesied by all the
holy prophets since the world began. He was the promised son of David destined to
rule all nations, Emmanuel, God with us, who was the King of earth and the universe. And He
was washing feet!
Peter’s
blood was boiling, beads of perspiration stood out on His flushed face, and His thoughts
raced wildly. This
isn’t the way to rule over men, this isn’t a demonstration of power! Caesar
doesn’t wash the feet of his soldiers, not even his generals! Power
would mean that they would wash his feet if he so ordered! Power
means that you are served, that your orders are obeyed, that your rank, position, and
prestige is respected, bowed to, even cringed before. What was Jesus doing! Jesus
came to Judas, gazed gently into his shifty eyes, and humbly washed and dried his feet. Peter was
horrified and his mind was going crazy. Jesus can’t do this, it isn’t right; what kind of a
King is He if He assumes the role of a servant; what is the dignity and power of this
Kingdom if its King serves His subjects instead of ruling over
them. And
what will be our role as administrators in this Kingdom if we are
to wash feet instead of barking orders! It all seemed so contradictory.
When
Jesus came to Peter, Peter had his thoughts collected and said to Him, “Lord, are my
feet to be washed by you? Is it your place to wash my feet?” Jesus met
Peter’s gaze and replied, “You do not understand now what I am doing, Peter, but
you will understand later on.” Peter said to Him sharply, “You shall
never wash my feet!” Jesus calmly answered him, “Unless I
wash you, you have no part with me —no share in my Kingdom.” Shocked,
Peter said to Jesus, “ If that’s the case, then Lord, wash not only my feet, but
my hands and my head, too!” Jesus said, “Anyone who has had a bath
needs not to wash except his feet, but
is clean all over except for where he has walked through the dust. And you
are clean — but not entirely
clean — your walk must
be cleansed, purified.”
The
disciples took their places at the table. Their damp, cold feet testified against their
pride and condemned them from beneath the table. A holy hush fell over them as they tried to
digest the full meaning of the event that had just occurred. Their
concepts of the Kingdom were disintegrating, and their quest for power and position was
trembling beneath their feet. Jesus looked from one to the other and said,
“Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Master and the Lord, and you are
right in doing so, for that is what I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed
your feet — if I have
ministered to you in meekness and humility, and by my words and actions have cleansed your
walk — you ought, it is
your duty, you are under obligation, you owe it — to wash one
another’s feet! For
I have given this to you as an example, so that you should do in your turn what I have
done to you.”
The
Gospel of Luke gives additional insight into the events of the last supper. According
to Luke an eager contention arose between the disciples as to which of them was considered
and reputed to be the greatest, and Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles
are deified by them and exercise LORDSHIP, ruling as emperors and tyrants over them; and
those in authority are elevated above the people and called Benefactors. But
this is not to be so with you. On the contrary let him who is the greatest
among you become as the youngest, and him who is the chief and leader as one who serves. For which
is the greater, he who reclines at table (the master of the house), or he who serves? Is not
he who reclines at the table the greatest? But I am in your midst as the one who serves.
See,
I have esteemed you better
and greater than myself.” With those words Jesus laid down one of the
greatest principles of the
THE
UNSTRUCTURED KINGDOM
Jesus
came to change the world, transform the world, and rule the world by the power of the
Spirit of God. Yet,
while on earth, He seemed to have no program, no method, no system, no organization, no
instrument, no structure to accomplish such a feat. He
expended His energies on individual cases, teaching and healing all who were drawn to Him,
but forming them into no cohesive movement. Christ’s life had no other program than
that of personal influence, the transformation of individuals. When
Jesus ascended, He left behind Him no system of doctrine, no instructions for the
organization of the ministry, no specified chain of command, no detailed guidance about
worship. Oh,
yes, on the day of Pentecost He founded the church, but He founded it neither as an
organization nor with a hierarchy. The commission laid upon the church with
respect to the world was to go out and make disciples of all nations and continue His work
upon individuals. Christ’s
definition of a church had nothing to do with a group of people submitted under a pastor,
a board of elders and deacons, with board meetings, Sunday School, church buildings,
fellowship halls, recreational facilities, committees, youth programs, crusades and the
like. The
Lord’s own definition of church is given in Matthew 18:20, “For where two or
three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them.”
Our
long years of captivity in
The
apostles of the church age are not the same order of apostle as the original twelve. The
twelve apostles were ordained apostles by Jesus during
the days of His flesh, while He was still on earth. They were
already apostles when the day of Pentecost arrived. The apostles of the church age are given by
the ascended Christ, after He
had ascended on high. “When
He ascended up on high, He led captivity
captive, and gave gifts unto men.” After Christ ascended He gave to His church a
new order of apostles and they were given along with prophets, evangelists, pastors and
teachers and therefore have been a continuing ministry in the body of Christ throughout
the age. Let
all who follow on to know the Lord understand the undeniable truth that there is an
infinite difference between a gift-ministry and an organizational hierarchy. The
gift-ministries are just that — gifts to the body of Christ — not lords over God’s heritage. As a
teacher I am myself a gift to the people of God. I have a
divine commission to teach, exhort, reprove, counsel, instruct, beseech, encourage and
strengthen the body of Christ in any and all ways He leads and empowers me to do. But I
have no right to subject any man or group of men to my ministry,
to form them into a movement around myself, to rule over them, dominate them, control
them, or become a lord or master over them.
Let
not those who have received the call to sonship imagine even for a moment that some minister or ministry is
able to usher them in to the fullness of Christ. There is a great error propagated in the land
that says that the five-fold ministry has been
ordained of God to bring the Lord’s people into perfection, unto maturity as a
perfect man, and unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ — manifested
sonship. Now
should someone reply that the scripture itself declares that God gave the five-fold
ministry for the perfecting of the saints,
and to bring us all unto a perfect man and to full stature in Christ, I must respond
kindly but firmly that the scripture says no such thing. A faulty
translation and faulty punctuation has spawned that erroneous and absurd notion. But that
is exactly what all the self-appointed
apostles want you to believe so that they can bring you under their dominion. We are
living in an hour of great deception,
and the land is full of self-proclaimed apostles and prophets who will tell you that only their ministry, or their revelation, or their church, or their movement can bring you to perfection, immortality, and
sonship.
You
see, my beloved, there is no punctuation in the original; the punctuation is supplied by
the translators as part and parcel of their translation. There
should be no comma between the phrase, “for the perfecting of the saints,” and
the phrase that follows, “for the work of the ministry.” The
perfecting of the saints and the work of the ministry are not two separate functions of
the five fold ministry. It
should read, “And He gave some
apostles...prophets...evangelists...pastors...teachers,
for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry...” A
number of translations have corrected this error and given the accurate sense of the
Greek. I will quote just a few. “And
He gave some. for the equipping of the saints for ministering work” (Wuest). “And
the same one gives these...toward the adjusting of the saints for the work of dispensing”
(Concordant Literal). “And
He gave some...with a view to the fitting of the saints for the work of ministering”
(
It
should be a self-evident truth that no man can bring another man into something that he
does not himself possess. You cannot give what you don’t have, neither can you bring
anyone into a place you have not entered. The five-fold ministry cannot bring God’s
elect saints into something they have not themselves experienced. It is
impossible for the five-fold ministry to perfect the saints unless
the five-fold ministry itself IS PERFECT.
It
would be an effort in futility for any ministry to try and make me a PERFECT MAN IN CHRIST
except that ministry should have already attained
perfection. How
could any apostle or prophet bring saints unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ except that apostle or
prophet has already reached that position of absolute fullness in Christ? I cannot
lead men to Christ if I have not myself experienced Christ. Preachers
who have not been filled with the Holy Spirit do not go around laying hands on people,
imparting the gift of the Holy Ghost. A teacher cannot successfully teach science
or mathematics unless he is proficient in those subjects. ONE
CANNOT MINISTER OR IMPART WHAT HE DOES NOT POSSESS. If an apostle or prophet is to bring you
into immortality, he must first become immortal himself. No sick,
aging, or corruptible servant of God can minister incorruptible life to your body. If a
ministry can bring you into fullness, that ministry must first be filled with fullness. Can we
not see by this that only one who is perfect
can bring men to perfection, and only a manifested son of God is able to bring men into
sonship. Thank
God, there is ONE! “But we see Jesus...crowned with glory and honour...for it became
Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons
unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through
sufferings” (Heb. 2:9-10). That is why Jesus is called our great
forerunner — He has entered in
before — therefore HE is
able to draw us in!
The
five-fold ministry are indeed ministers to the body of Christ for the blessing and
edification of the body. But notice the limitation of the perfection
they minister. “And
He gave some...for the perfecting of the saints FOR THE WORK OF THE MINISTRY.” These
gift-ministries are placed in the body of Christ to perfect the saints in the area of ministry. The
five-fold ministry is just that —MINISTRIES! Any ministry can take people only as far as
that ministry has gone, reproducing itself. The disciple is never above his
master — it is enough that
he be as his master. Therefore ministry can only perfect you in
ministry. They
can bring you into what they themselves posses and which they are able to impart. You can
become as that ministry in the experience of Christ. All the
knowledge, wisdom, anointing, power and ability of that ministry can be reproduced in you.
But
they cannot bring you to full Christ
perfection and stature because they are not
themselves perfect or fully mature as sons of God. They cannot bring you to manifested
sonship because they are not manifested sons.
The
five-fold ministry continues “TILL we all come IN THE UNITY OF THE FAITH AND OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE
SON OF GOD UNTO a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of
the fullness of Christ.” There are three key words in this passage:
TILL, IN, and UNTO. The
five-fold ministry is only valid TILL. Then it is IN the unity of the faith of the Son of God and the
knowledge or knowing of the Son of God that
we arrive at the measure of the Christ’s full stature. The
“till” is the dividing point. All before the “till” is what the
five-fold ministry can do for us. It can edify us and equip us for the work of
ministering in the present “in part” realm of church experience. That
is all. Everything
after the “till” is what the unification
of His faith and knowledge within ourselves
can do for us! Since
HE is the only one thus far to enter into the perfection and maturity of sonship, it
becomes obvious that only by HIS FAITH, and only by KNOWING HIM in intimacy of fellowship
and vital union, are we enabled to enter in! J. B. Phillips, in his translation, has
beautifully and accurately expressed the truth of these words: “His gifts were made
that Christians might be properly equipped for their service, that the whole body might be
built up UNTIL THE TIME COMES, when in the unity of common faith and common knowledge of
the Son of God, we arrive at real maturity — the measure of
development which is meant by ‘the fullness of Christ.’”
The
Kingdom is established by the power of the Spirit and it is ruled by the ministration of
the Spirit — not by men in
hierarchical positions of authority. Do I mean by this that I am opposed to
brethren meeting together as the church or the body of Christ, with elders, pastors,
teachers, prophets, apostles, evangelists, and the various gifts and ministries the Spirit
would bring forth among them? Not at all! Let me be
understood very clearly. It is not a question of whether brethren come
together as a local expression of the Lord’s body to encourage, strengthen, bless and
edify one another — it is altogether
a matter of the spirit in which they
assemble, and the attitude, agenda and role of those who minister. God is
not the author of organizational structures, man-made dominions, or hierarchical lordships
over His people. But
He is in the midst of His people, and He does move
among His people, and He does flow through spiritual ministry to the members of
His body. If
I didn’t believe that I would put away my pen, for whether I write the
counsel of God via articles and personal correspondence to a vast, scattered “invisible
congregation” of God’s elect, or whether we meet together and I speak the
word of God to a local “visible congregation” of saints — THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE! The idea that a local congregation with
physical and visible ministry is
The
Spirit flows through men in a fluid way, ministering as Christ ministered, touching lives,
healing, delivering, teaching, instructing, encouraging, counseling, correcting, rebuking,
and any other needed service — all as a ministry
of the spirit and life, as a gift to men, not out of title, delegated authority,
organizational design, or hierarchical position. The Kingdom is thus an unstructured kingdom, for it is the kingdom
of the Spirit — who is like the
wind — you hear the
sound thereof, but cannot tell from whence it comes or whither it goes. The
Kingdom is the rule of God in our hearts, activities, and relationships. The Spirit
teaches us Kingdom ways and manifests through us in Kingdom grace, mercy, wisdom, glory
and power.
When
I say that the
The
Kingdom of God is an unstructured Kingdom because it cannot be “built,” “assembled,”
“formed,” or “produced” by the wisdom or ability of man nor by any
external exercise, handicraft, workmanship, management, control, administration or
governance. The Kingdom is only by life and out of life. Though
the word of the Kingdom be spoken and imparted into your life by man, just as the seed is
planted in the earth by man, the germination, growth, development and result is all the
work of life. Both
the foundation and superstructure of the Kingdom are the result of the reign of God within
our hearts. The
Kingdom is not, nor will it ever be, a political institution or outward organization
controlled and dominated by a president, prime minister, senate, parliament, mayor,
council, police force, army, pastor, apostle, bishop, or organizational headquarters. The
dominion that God uses in His theocracy is something altogether different. The
Kingdom is God’s authority by the
Spirit versus
If
you were Jesus and realized that you were going to leave the earth and return into the
heavens, surely you would have made arrangements with those who were going to carry on
your work and establish your church. It would seem to us, naturally and
religiously speaking, that after His resurrection, when the Lord Jesus planned a special
meeting with His chosen apostles on a mountain in
One
would think the Lord would need to schedule a three week work-shop with His disciples. But to
our amazement, instead of a three week work-shop, He appears but briefly and delivers an
88 word memo! “And,
behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of
That
was the first conference after the resurrection of Christ, and the only one that related
to the future church agenda! The Lord Jesus was so simple. He wasn’t
concerned about external things and outward structure — He was only
concerned that they be filled with the power
of the Holy Spirit! There
was no need for Him to tell them so many things, or to give them a book on theology, a
minister’s manual, or a church discipline. There was only the need for them to possess
the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit and to be led by the Spirit. The
Spirit Himself would guide and teach them day by day as to where to go, what to do, and
how to do it. They
would not need to write a book about it to guide those who would come after them, but all
God’s ministers, throughout all generations, would need the very same credentials and
qualifications — the power and
wisdom of the Holy Spirit, and to be led by the Spirit. “For
as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”
And
the Lord would probably never do the same thing in the same way twice, for God is a God of
infinite variety and diversity. One of our difficulties in doing the work of
the Lord is that we think only in terms of established patterns. We want
to know how God has done it, so that we
can follow the pattern. We
think that when God does something by His Spirit once or twice that He is revealing a
system for us to embrace and use. But it is impossible to limit God to a fixed
pattern, to any method He has used in the past, or anything He has done before. Sometimes
saints get the notion that if they fast for forty days
—because Elijah and Jesus fasted forty days — they will receive the ministry of a prophet or become a
manifested son of God. But
copying patterns is wrong. Just because God blessed someone when they
did a certain thing a certain way doesn’t mean that is His purpose or requirement in
our life. God
doesn’t usually do the same thing twice, in the same way, in our own experience! Just as
soon as we think we have found the “groove” or discovered the “method”
or laid hold upon “the way it works,” we
discover that this is not His groove, but our
rut. Unless
we are ready to follow the Lord along the new and strange paths of HIS PURPOSES,
discovering that His ways are inexhaustible, we might become buried in this rut. As wind,
those who are born of the Spirit cannot tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth (Jn.
3:8). Ever
try figuring out the wind? Where did it start, where is it going? Can I
detect some sort of pattern so that the next
time I can predict its movements? There are
no precise patterns for those who
are born of God! There
are no precedents for the on-going ministry of the Spirit of God!
Our
God is spontaneously creative; He is not systematically creative. What I mean is that God does not employ a
program in His purpose; God is a God of
spontaneity. God
moves not by system, method, or organization, but by the creative power of His life. God is
speaking in this hour by His life. His words are words of life. God is
quickening, energizing and transforming by supernatural life. The life
of God is the creative instrument of His nature. God is infinite in all of His thoughts,
abilities, actions and ways. God in creation is ingenious beyond
comprehension. Everything
God creates is unique. God
is a God of unlimited diversity, of infinite variety, of inexhaustible capacity, and we
behold the blessed wonder of this fact displayed gloriously in creation.
There
are billions of trillions of stars in the heavens and no two stars are equal in their
glory. With
my finite human brain I can’t even comprehend the understanding, wisdom, knowledge
and power that is able to create a billion trillion stars and make each one of them
unique, giving each an unduplicated glory and naming
them! Oh!
The wonder of it. How
many snowflakes do you suppose have fallen upon the vast plains and towering mountains of
earth through the measureless ages of time? And yet they tell us that no two snowflakes
are alike! What
kind of a mind is the architect of this marvel of nature? There are
more than six billion people walking the face of this globe today, and no two fingerprints
match — no two people
are identical. God
has established it all by His creative word of life. When God speaks the superlative comes into
existence. And
the varieties are as infinite as His divine mind.
The
Lord builds His church and establishes His Kingdom, not in a human way, but in a divine
way; not in an organized way, but by His life-giving, transforming Spirit. There is
no so-called “divine order” pattern or system for God’s church — what He does in
one place or at one time will be totally different from what He does in another place or
at another time — if it is by His
Spirit! The
way He deals with you may not be the same as the way He deals with me. What He
requires of me in specific acts of obedience may not be the same thing that He requires of you. The way
the Spirit moves and directs His people to worship, minister, and the structure He brings
forth in their midst, will not be carbon copies of what He did in Jerusalem, Ephesus,
Colossae, Corinth, or in the body of Christ today in the next city, state or nation.
Jesus
never made any arrangements or left any schedule. He left a bunch of men in charge who only
weeks before had abandoned Him, who cursed and swore that they didn’t even know Him,
and who fled in terror into hiding. What a faithless, unpredictable, undependable
group! From
our natural viewpoint, what He did was a mess. Everything occurred as a kind of accident. Jesus did
everything without any revealed plan or any appointments or any pre-arrangements or
apparent method. When
He wanted to speak to His disciples after His resurrection He just came. He came
in a way that was absolutely different from the religious systems of today.
Even
during His three and a half years of sonship ministry He never called a formal meeting — there never was one. Never did He announce that He would be
preaching and ministering to the sick on a certain day, at a particular place and time. He held
no organized crusades. He
did no advertising, nor mailed out any announcements. He rented no halls, stadiums, auditoriums,
and pitched no revival tent. His meetings had no announced time of
beginning or ending. He
hired no campaign manager and appointed no song or worship leader. Peter
didn’t open the meeting with prayer, James didn’t lead the worship, John didn’t
make the announcements or take the offering. Think of it — no prayer, no singing, no worship service, no Bible reading,
no stirring of the emotions, no form of preliminaries, no order of meeting, no hype of any kind! There
were absolutely NONE of the activities or structure without which modern-day traditional
evangelistic, revival, crusade and church meetings could
not function. There
was certainly nothing religious. Only His
preaching and teaching as one having authority, and the spontaneous manifestation of the
power of God — that was all Jesus used — that was positively
all!
Sixty
seconds is all it takes. When sponsors of a television program want to
entice viewers to tune in next week, a one-minute preview of the most exciting scenes is
all it takes. If
you like what you see in that brief encounter, you will surely love the complete version — or so they hope. In a
similar way, the Lord Jesus provided His disciples and the nation of
Jesus
raised Lazarus at the cemetery and Tabitha in her home. Blind
Bartimaeus was healed on the street and Zaccheus was saved in a tree. A cripple
was healed in the synagogue and another at the pool of
That
is how Jesus ministered, and He is the pattern, the prototype of the life of sonship and
the realm of the Kingdom. Jesus ministered wherever He was, day or
night, here or there, with one person, two, ten, a thousand, five thousand — it mattered not. He
preached by the sea and in the fields; He ministered on the streets, in the homes, in the
desert, in the temple, in the synagogues, in the mountain, by a well. This is not the
order of the modern-day church systems, but this is how the
Recently
a brother shared with me a little article he wrote in which he gave the following example.
A
gentleman was on a plane that was in serious trouble. Someone on board the plane suggested
that all the passengers on board the plane bow their heads in prayer. One man
didn’t. Others
asked why. He
said, “I don’t believe in prayer.” They said, “Well, do something religious!” So he
took up a collection. The firstborn Son of God opposed religion and
all that went with it. He
broke the Sabbath, He companied with harlots and ate with sinners, and He sat at meat with
unwashed hands. He
acted so clearly “un-religious” before His disciples, showing them by example
His attitude toward religion. They all saw it. By
example He taught them the ways of the UNSTRUCTURED KINGDOM. And when,
after the day of Pentecost, the apostles went out into all the world preaching the name of
Jesus and the
The
twelve apostles and Paul and the other apostles all preached and did mighty signs and
wonders among the people. This they did on the streets, in the temple,
in the synagogues, by the rivers, in the deserts and fields, in the homes and places of
business, in the shadow of pagan temples, on ships and in chariots — but never in
an organized “crusade.” Read the book of Acts and you will see. They
rented no halls, established no system, made no program, announced no schedule, built no
platform. They
required no hour of “worship” to
create an “atmosphere” for God to move! God was in them equally at all times and in
every place to spontaneously reveal the power of Christ. They didn’t
have to preach for two hours in order to get spiritually “primed” so their
“gift” would work! Their ministries were not traditional “Christian”
ministries, they did not do things the way they are done today, but they had the goods
even in this in-part realm and they turned
the world up-side-down!
While
I was still writing this message brother Bob Torango’s paper arrived in the mail. He has
written some words so poignant and powerful that I am compelled to share them here. He speaks
of the manifestation of the sons of God in terms of the
“New Millennium Ministry,” and says, “A millennial mind-set is one that
does not allow the world to dictate death and destruction to it, but the world must line
up to the order of this Millennial Ministry. Their order dictates the blessing of God in
the earth and they are the representatives of an everlasting kingdom that will never pass
away. They
are the shining lights of God’s presence and are His express will in the earth. They are
not preachers, teachers, bishops, prophets or any other labeled office of ministry, but
they are a new order, a company that is totally re-programmed from the six-day mind-set. They do
not rely on the intellect of learned knowledge, but they operate out of a millennial
mind-set of newness. They
do not feel compelled to line up with the church system and know that the armor of Saul
will never fit them in the upcoming battle with Goliath.
“God
has a ministry to minister to this Millennium! We are being initiated into it even now and
our heart-mind is teaching us the order of it. One thing is certain. This New
Millennial Ministry will not rely upon the smoke and mirror methods of the passing church
age to meet the challenges of this Day. Kiss your Sunday morning religion good bye. You can
also kiss your dead, structured, lifeless, Bible thumping, pulpit pounding, money pulling,
program driven, people pleasing ministry good bye. While you are at it, why don’t you kiss
your philosophical, theological, pseudo-psychological, metaphysical, intellectual,
holistical, rational, logical, apocalyptical, twice dead, plucked up from the roots,
doctrinal dogmas good-bye, also. None of these things will do anything for you
or anyone else if the collapse (of the world system and economy) comes.
“The
only thing we can rely on, the only thing that will save us is the Spirit of the living
God. Anything
else that we have used in the past to try to describe that Life...will be utterly useless
to us. Only
the real McCoy, the 100%, concentrated, undiluted, unmanufactured, true blue, pure,
undefiled, unpolluted Life of God will help us in that case. All
temporary, maintenance type of ministries will not be Millennial ready. The five
offices of the church, namely the Apostle, Pastor, Prophet, Teacher, and Evangelist are
for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, and for the edifying of
the body of Christ, UNTIL we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of
the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of
Christ. The
offices of the church are a maintenance
ministry, necessary and needful to KEEP THE CHURCH MAINTAINING, but in view of the
arrival of this new millennium, they are not Millennial ready! I say
that there is coming forth out of our midst a New Millennium Ministry that will not be
molded out of the old mold of the church maintenance system, but will start a new lineage
of priestly and kingly ministry” — end quote.
THE
SERMON ON THE MOUNT
The
fame of Jesus’ miracles and teachings increased until vast multitudes followed Him. He began
to teach in the open air. Once He taught the people from the bow of a
boat, while the multitude stood on the shore. At another time He spoke on a grassy knoll. But on
one wonderful occasion He climbed into a high place in the mountain and sat, undoubtedly
on the ledge of a rock, and delivered His wonderful words of wisdom. It was a
plain, simple address. It
was but a few direct words. There were no oratorical flights of
eloquence. There
were no stately rhetorical periods. There was no emotional appeal, no animated
theatrics, no soulish stirring of the crowd to respond with “Amen’s,”
“Hallelujah’s,” or “Praise the Lord!” But in
its simplicity and unpretentiousness it was one of the mightiest and most momentous
proclamations of history. It was potent because it came with divine
authority. It
was a message from God. It
was delivered by His chosen messenger. A great company of people sat listening,
silently, hushed by the power of the message which they heard. Today it
is called “The Sermon on the Mount.”
The
crowd assembled before Jesus resembled the multitude of
What
must have been their astonishment when the first sentence fell from His lips, “Blessed
are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the
The
Lord began His sermon on the mount by describing the citizens of God’s Kingdom. The men
seated immediately around Him had seen things that no man before them had ever seen. Their
ears had caught the sweet sounds of a message so transcendingly glorious that even the
soldiers exclaimed, “No man ever spake like this man!” And now
their ears heard with joy His manifold blessings pronounced upon those who had the spirit
of the
Never
could man devise such a Kingdom as this! This is how the citizens of the Kingdom live,
this is how the citizens and rulers in the
“Upon
the mountain Jesus sat; the hillside by the beach
Grass-carpeted cathedral where He could speak, and teach
Those flaming, burning words of truth that priest and demagogue
Would never tolerate at all in church or synagogue.
His
own cathedral He had built; had built it by His word,
And ‘neath its vaulted panoply the glory of the Lord
Would pale the light of noonday sun; for what He said that day
Would blaze and shine eternally, when worlds had burned away.
Back
to their tasks the crowd had gone, and He was left alone
Save for a little company that He could call His own.
What
use was there for restless crowds — the worldly,
giddy throng
Might
listen to the music, but never hear the song.
Blessed
are ye,
the tones rang out, repeated o’er and o’er!
And from her heaving bosom rose the music of her waves,
For heaven was calling earth to tell that only Jesus saves.
For
can the sermon on the mount be lived by human life?
Can
sinful man ascend so high above his sin and strife?
Is
there the possibility that he can strive and strain
Through
a thousand consecrations that life to attain?
Forgive
us, Lord, if such we think, for this is not the way.
Oh, give us ears to really hear what Thou didst say that day!
We want life. Oh,
vision blessed, from us, Lord, never part,
For we can only live it when Thou livest in our heart.”
Charles
S. Price.
At
that time only Jesus knew how to love His enemies; only Jesus knew how to pray for those
who would despitefully use Him. No one but Jesus knew how to seek the
Chapter
29
THE
PRINCIPLES OF THE KINGDOM
(continued)
Every
nation on earth has a Constitution. The Constitution of a country is its supreme
law. The
Constitution is the basis of the national government. The Constitution establishes the branches of
government with their respective powers, as well as the rights and privileges of the
citizens. In
the
If
we admit that the
There
is an old saying that things are not what they seem; that is to say our faculties are not
infallible. The
testimony they give is not always dependable on its face value. The world
is packed full of illusion. The earth looks as if it were flat but we
know it is not. The
sun looks as though it rises and sets, but we know it does not. We say
that seeing is believing, but when we say that we forget the curious tricks our senses
play. Scientists
speak of the phenomena of nature, but phenomena is a Greek word and simply means
appearance. The
appearance of things is not the reality; the reality is infinitely more wonderful than the
appearance. To
the eye the firmament is studded with fixed points of light but to the soul these points
are celestial worlds sweeping by at a breathless velocity. I have
met men who say there is no God, simply because they have never seen Him. But then,
my friend, have you ever seen any of the really great things about you? Have you
ever seen any of the cosmic forces? Have you ever seen a single motive that
impels you? Have
you ever seen love or hate or joy or peace or patience? Have you
ever seen music? A
visible God would not be our God. A visible God would have limitations. God, to
be God, must be invisible. No man can see thought but thought can be clothed in speech. No man
can see truth but truth can be communicated. The seeming is not the real. The real
is the intangible, the eternal, the spiritual. When I say that the Constitution or laws of
the
The
Sermon on the Mount is the Constitution of the
Jesus
repeated again and again, “Take no thought, be not anxious,” meaning “Don’t
worry, don’t fret yourself,” or as one brother put it, “Save your nerves
for an emergency!” Jesus
was teaching us that life in the Kingdom is free from worrying, that life in the Kingdom
is free from anxiety, that life in the Kingdom is free from fretting. You have
such a relationship with the King, you are so very close to Him, so very one with Him, and
you are convinced of His ability to rule your life and to rule the nations, that there is
no concern in you at all. These are spiritual principles — the principles
of the
There
are, therefore, spiritual principles that govern the
God
is a God of principles. The
law given to
When
God’s law is written in our heart, His nature — how He is — is inscribed upon the tablets (genetic code) of our inner
life. There
would never be a broken home, a heartbroken wife or husband, or deserted and destitute
children if the nature of God was written in all men’s hearts. There
would be no bigotry, no hatred, no crime, no war, no evil or trouble anywhere on earth if
the nature of God was written in the heart of every man, woman and child, giving them a
heart in the likeness of His own and a mind as the mind of Christ. From the
redeemed and transformed heart the law (nature) of God flows forth as a river of life. The law
of life within us is the principle of the external law. The
Sermon on the Mount enunciates the underlying principles of the
Under
principles we are free — we can do what
we want. Nobody
is telling us that we can’t do this or that, or we must do the other. There are
still those among us who thunder the letter of the law from Sinai’s mount and would
impose the penalties for breaking it, but I do not hesitate to tell you that Moses’
law has no authority or power in the
Therefore
it is in the Sermon on the Mount that we find the complete statement of the Charter or
Constitution of the
Jesus
assumed an authority above that of Moses. The character of His teaching stood in sharp
contrast to the teaching of the priests and rabbis which relied upon the authority of earlier rabbis. Nor did His teaching follow the style of the
prophets who said, “Thus saith the Lord!” The prophets, including Moses, spoke on behalf
of God. But
Jesus’ message was grounded in His own authority and is repeatedly introduced by the
words, “I say unto you!” “It
has been said by them of old time (Moses and the prophets)...but I SAY UNTO YOU!” Jesus did
not speak for God, He spoke as God. Jesus was not speaking as a prophet, He spoke
as the Lord Himself. And
that is the order of sonship. Sons are
not mere messengers for God, sent by God — sons are
themselves, within themselves, the Voice of God, the righteousness of God, the wisdom of
God, the authority of God and the power of God. As we move out of the old order of the
in-part church ministries into the reality of manifested
sonship we will no longer use the gift of
prophecy which says, “Thus saith the Lord.” God will speak to humanity out of us as us —
“I SAY
UNTO YOU!”
In
the Kingdom we must be able to discern what is constructive to spiritual character in our
lives and the will of God in the earth. That is the way of sonship! It’s
not a matter of whether it’s good or bad, right or wrong, but is it constructive to
the life of God being raised up in men? Is it in conformity with the principles of
His Kingdom? When
we walk in the ways of the Kingdom we are BLESSED! If we sow to the flesh, we shall of the flesh
reap corruption. There
is no avoiding that. But
we are not under a law. We
are blessed if we do the Father’s will, and not blessed if we don’t. “Blessed
are they that...” It’s
that simple. Only
those who understand and live within these Kingdom principles shall be qualified
to rule and reign in the
A
MESSAGE TO THE SONS OF GOD
The
underlying thrust of the Sermon on the Mount is revealed by the word “Father”
which pervades it. That
word, along with the word “sons”, beyond anything else, is its prominent
feature. It
is here that the name “Father” is first revealed in the word of God. And it is
here that the principle of “sonship” is first established. The
Sermon on the Mount sets forth the lifestyle, not of Israelites under the law, nor yet of
subjects of the
The
Sermon on the Mount reveals the divine characteristics of the sons of the Kingdom. In fact,
some of the principles specifically state that this divine kind of nature sets them apart
as sons of God, and to have this kind of disposition means they are in the
It
is not true that the church is for the Gentiles, as some teach, and the
The
Sermon on the Mount is the most important word in all the scriptures given to the sons of
God who are the sons of the Kingdom. It is the Manifesto of the King, it is the
Constitution of the Kingdom. Today there are multitudes of believers who
claim to be born again and children of God, but they live lives that contradict the
principles of the
The
Sermon on the Mount is the picture of the Perfect Man. It is the portrait of one who has fully put
on the mind of Christ which is the mind of the Father. It embodies all the deepest yearnings of the
heart of the man or woman who has been apprehended to live and walk and rule by the divine
nature. The
man that Jesus describes in that sermon is poor in spirit, humble and meek, always
thirsting after righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, a peacemaker, suffering for
righteousness’ sake, yet rejoicing in it, the salt of the earth, the light of the
world, devoid of anger in human relationships, using no contemptuous words, having the
spirit of quick agreement when opinions clash, without lustful thinking, relentless
against evil, happy in family relationships, truthful in speech and motive, ready to turn
the other cheek, giving sacrificially, going the second mile, giving to those who ask,
loving his enemies, blessing and praying for those who hate and persecute — being perfect as
the Father in heaven is perfect. What a
word!
“It
was said by them of old time...but I say unto you...” If
anyone doubts the power and authority of this teaching of Jesus as the Constitution of the
Kingdom, let him recall what the Lord Himself said at the conclusion of His teaching on
the mount. “Therefore
whosoever heareth these saying of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man,
which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the
winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And
everyone that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a
foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods
came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of
it. And
it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at His doctrine: for He taught
them as one having authority, and not as
the scribes” (Mat. 7:24-29).
The
Holy Spirit also bears witness to the significance of the Lord’s teaching. “God,
who at sundry times and in divers manners spake
in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed
heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds” (Heb. 1:1-2). The
prophetic mysteries spoken by Moses himself give testimony to the blessed fact that our
Elder Brother, the firstborn Son of God, brought a new and higher word than any word
delivered to
Christ
was the prophet like unto Moses in that He spoke the words of God to a people whom God had
set apart for Himself. When
Jesus said, “It was said by them of old time,” it is abundantly clear that He
referred to the word and law of Moses. “It was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill.” “It
was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not
commit adultery.” “It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give
her a bill of divorcement.” “Again, ye have heard that it hath been
said by them of old time, Thou shalt not
forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths.” “Ye
have heard that it hath been said, An eye
for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.” “Ye have
heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt
love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.” Can we not readily see from the above
quotations how each and every one of these is right out of Moses’ law, including the ten commandments?
Now
listen to what Jesus says following each of the above: “BUT I SAY
UNTO YOU!” “I SAY!” Ah, there is a word that is higher than Moses’
word. There
is a commandment that transcends, as the heavens are high above the earth, the commands of
Moses. There
is an authority that is greater than the authority of Moses. There is
a law that supersedes and replaces the law of Moses. “But I say unto you” is indeed a very impressive claim
of the King of the Kingdom. And His word always goes beyond Moses’ word, and sometimes completely reverses Moses’
law. See
how radically and powerfully the Son of God repudiates the commandment of Moses: “Ye
have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy
(Lev. 19:18; Deut. 23:3-6). But I say unto you, Love
your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you...”
Moses
gave an outward law to the people of
The
Sermon on the Mount was not spoken to the careless and promiscuous multitudes on the plain
below. To
enjoy the unspeakable privilege of hearing the laws of the new order of the
Father
had a higher purpose in mind than just to minister to some needy people. If Jesus
would have healed their sick and cast out devils and done signs and wonders all that day,
all we would have of it would be the record of some wonderful works done in a far away place on
a long ago day. God’s
plans and purposes go beyond meeting physical and material needs. His
concern is for the whole man — that men might
be sound in mind, pure in heart, kind and merciful and loving in disposition, holy in
character, joyful in spirit, powerful in life, helpful and redemptive in actions, honest
and upright in motives, filled with righteousness, wisdom and power. God sees
the overall plan, while we may see only the immediate problems. It is His
plan to bring the blessings and benefits of His Kingdom to all the earth. The earth
shall be filled with His glory and all nations shall come and worship before Him. The
tabernacling of God in His sons shall be with men, and He shall dwell with them, and they
shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God
shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. And all men shall be righteous for there
shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain:
for the former things shall pass away and all things shall be made new. It is
only as we are led by the Spirit that we can be right on target and right on time in
God’s great Kingdom program of redemption and restoration. When
Jesus taught the Kingdom principles to His disciples, He set forth a plan for His Kingdom
that would raise up many more sons, just like the first Son. And when
His vast family of sons was complete, matured and equipped, they would set the whole creation free from the curse
of sin and death. That
hour is now upon us for in our own generation, in the midst of the sound of a mighty wind
from heaven, as God has again visited His people in great power and authority, the mouth of the Lord has spoken it!
The
scriptures record for our instruction the two great and wonderful occasions in the history
of the world when men heard the voice of God Himself giving them the divine Constitution
for their age. What
a marvelous contrast there is between those two occasions! At mount
Sinai there were terrifying sights and sounds. The mountain was aflame because the Lord, the
consuming fire, descended in glory upon it and the smoke of His presence hung like a thick
fog over the craggy peak and the desert floor beneath; the whole mount quaked violently. There
were blackness and darkness and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet which waxed louder and
louder. But
the hardest of all for the people to endure was the voice of the Lord Himself which was
powerful and full of majesty, which so terrified them that they begged that the word
should not be spoken to them any more. “And all the people saw the thunderings,
and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the
people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us,
and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die” (Ex. 20:18-19).
How
different it was at the other mount, concerning which it is written, “And seeing the
multitudes, He went up into a mountain: and when He was set, His disciples came unto Him: and He opened
His mouth, and taught them, saying...” Because of His miracles great multitudes
followed Jesus from Decapolis, and from
Why
did they come to Him now and not shrink back and stand afar off as when the same Lord gave commandments to a fleshly
people at mount Sinai? Why
did they climb that mountain and listen unterrified to His words? He was
not working miracles on the mountain, nor dispensing loaves and fishes. He was
giving a new order for a new age, just as He had done at the other mountain. Yet His
disciples came unto Him and quietly and reverently drank in His words while He revealed
the heart of the Father who had sent Him for this very ministry. Ah, at
Sinai we see man shrinking from the presence and the voice of God, and standing afar off. That was
LAW. But
on the Mount of Beatitudes we have Immanuel, God with us, the King of glory, the blessed
Saviour, come in the form of a servant, made flesh like unto His brethren, to redeem,
lift, and transform into the image and likeness of God. That is
the KINGDOM.
Those
disciples, in response to a heaven-sent impulse, made their way up the mountain, away from
the distracting sights and sounds of earth, to that quiet place where the Christ’s
own voice might be heard speaking the words His Father gave Him to speak, that they might
be the sons of their Father in heaven. Those who ascended the mount with Jesus heard
His call by the spirit and separating themselves from the noisy crowd, followed Him in
silence. On
reaching the summit, Jesus sat down and they gathered around Him. They had
come not to be entertained, not to be blessed, nor to see a sign and wonder, but to be
taught by Him of the
Today,
as then, it is necessary for every son of God, in order to hear the words of the Kingdom
of God, to leave the level of the crowds,
even of those crowds that sing Hosannas and glory in the signs, wonders, and miracles of
the Christ in their midst. Is it not sadly true that the multitudes still follow Him for the healings, for the miracles, and for the
loaves and fishes? They
follow Him for the blessings, the meeting of their immediate physical and emotional needs,
the answers to their prayers about earthly
things. Few
there are who leave the noise, the clamor, the excitement, and the experiences of the religious fervor below, to climb the mountain, and to come to Him. The
difference between those who ascend into the high place, there to sit at His feet, and
listen attentively to His words, and the
“crowds” who follow Him for various causes, is entirely a matter of being called to sonship and called to the Kingdom.
It
is certainly high time for the saints of God to stop playing
church and come apart
instead to be taught by the King of kings. There is a place closer to Him than the
multitudes that throng to churches on Sunday mornings. There is much subtle truth in the words of
the Gospel writer where he records, “And as Jesus was going up to
Our
Lord loved the people, yearned after them, and met them compassionately and powerfully in
their need. But
how often do we read of His going away from them for a season. Every
time there was something truly important and superlative to be done He withdrew from the
crowd. So
He went up, up to symbolically get near to His Father and to be alone with Him. He was
always stealing away at evening to the hills. Most of His ministry was carried on in the
towns and cities by the seashore, but He loved the mountains best and oftentimes when
night fell He would climb into their peaceful embrace. And I cannot help feeling that what the sons
of God need today, more almost than anything else, is that they should go apart with their
Lord and sit in silence
and holy solitude at His feet in the sacred privacy of His blessed presence.
Consider
with bowed head and shoes removed from your feet the secrecy of true relationship with the Father. Sonship
is preeminently a personal matter; it is a strictly close and familiar relationship; it is
a sacred association. There
is something about the walk of sonship that was never intended for the vulgar gaze, just
as the relationship between a husband and a wife. Sonship is different than brideship, but
sonship can only be learned in the presence of the Father. In order
to know intimacy of fellowship and vital union with our Father it is necessary to find a
state of retirement from the throng. “Come,” says the Master, “come
ye apart into a desert place, come with me into the height of the mountain,” and He
did not mean by that a vast waterless, treeless, grassless, flowerless waste or a place
with nothing but rocks and boulders, but rather a place deserted by the people, a place of
tranquil and undisturbed and intimate communion.
We
all know that there is a strange strength that is conceived in solitude. The
noblest creatures of the field and the air are not sociable. Crows go
in flocks and wolves in packs, but the cougar and the eagle are solitaires. When we
study the history of the church we find a great deal said in it about a certain class of
people, some of whom were called saints and others mystics. They were
men and women who seemed to have genius for the unseen. They had
a strange passion for seclusion. They loved to go apart. They were
a company of God’s elect children who even in this dark age pilgrimed on the heights — St. Francis,
Loyola, St. Teresa, Thomas a Kempis, Jacob Boehme, George Fox, Jane Leade, Praying Hyde,
and a long glorious chosen band on whom the Spirit came. What a
shining group they are as they walk the great white lonely way! And the
particular point just now that impresses me is that they all loved the secret place. They
lived in the shadow of the Almighty. The heavens were opened to them and they saw
things none other saw, and experienced the Lord in measures beyond all the divines of the
church age. They
sang songs in the night.
In
relation to mystics George Hawtin once wrote, “Though some may disbelieve it, the
truth is that all spiritual men must and will appear to be mystics. It is not because they try to
be so, but it is because they are so. They
cannot help being oddities and misfits here because they do not belong to this world. Jesus
said, ‘Ye are not of this world, even as I am not of this world.’
Therefore,
because we are not of this world, we will always be strangers to it. We are foreigners and wanderers in a strange
country. Our speech will
always betray us. Our actions and customs will
always reveal us. Our
communications with the spiritual realm will mark
us. The
things we love will unmask us. Our lack
of interest in all that belongs to this present realm will give our identity away. We will
always feel that we do not belong in this realm and that we neither can belong
nor wish to belong. ‘They that speak such things declare
plainly that they seek a country. And
truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have
had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that
is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He hath prepared
for them a city’” — end quote.
We
are living in a very wonderful age. It is an age of drive and hurry and stress
and storm. One
would not go far afield today in describing our age as an age of impatience and unrest. The
tragic fact in the life of the American people at the present time is the absence of
apartment or repose. We
believe in “drives.” We slavishly pursue our careers and social
involvements, we meet our husband or wife in the hall and say, “Hi!” and we are
gone. It
takes great effort and tenacity in order to find a
few minutes to spend “quality time” with the children. If
nothing else is going on we have the television going to keep our mind engaged lest we
discover the silence. We
are in too great a rush for repose. We have little or no time for the inner
chamber. We
prefer the limelight and the crowds, the hustle and bustle. Nothing
appeals to us but the strenuous and the thrilling. Repose is too tame a thing entirely for this
atomic space age.
The
sad part of it is that it is no different in the church world. The
church is imitating the world. Christians regulate their devotion by the
clock. The
church schedule is packed with flesh-appeal programs and activities that run day and
night. They
feel that a ministry that does not cry aloud in the streets, and does not advertise in
every newspaper in glaring headlines is an ineffective thing. They have
the strange idea that nothing is being done unless somebody is talking. So they
fairly swarm to conferences and seminars and committee meetings and platform discussions
and concerts and programs and workshops and conventions. The
inquiry that is nearly always made concerning a religious gathering is, “Was there
much of a crowd there?” They take it for granted that if the speaker
was a good talker and the building was crowded, the meeting was a big success. Do you
remember in “Pilgrim’s Progress” the conversation between Christian and
Talkative? “I
thought we should have a great deal of talk by this time,” says Talkative. The
moments when he was pursuing his journey in silence seemed wasted.
The
church systems are reaching out their hands to society around them but their hands are so
full that their hearts are empty. What do busy preachers or busy Christians
know about the secret place of the Most High?
The
churches are filled to overflowing with members who are so busy running hither and
thither, on errands of mercy and ministry it may be, that they are never alone with God. Undoubtedly
they think that their heavenly Father is proud of them and their “Christian success,”
their “religious career” and their eternal, unceasing busi-ness for the Kingdom
of God, never giving thought to the fact that they are not unlike the successful child who
is so absorbed in his pursuit of position, fame and prosperity that he never finds a
moment to stop by and chat with Dad who made it
all possible.
The
churches that don’t have great programs often specialize in the noise of
emotionalism, forgetting that their true power is out of sight. Today we
have the noiseless gun. The
noise is eliminated by the use of a muffler called a silencer; it being a well-known fact
that the noise which goes with an explosion is not produced by the actual discharge but by
the sudden escape of the gas. There is no real power in noise. There is
never any real power in noise. The prophets of Baal discovered this
long ago on
Oh,
for the culture of the secret place! It is in solitude that we catch the mystic
notes from the depths of God within. It is deep down in the depths that the
righteousness and power and glory of the Kingdom are known. By going
apart one gets a vision of eternal realities. How vast the soul becomes when in the
presence of the Infinite! But ours is an age of fuss and trumpet
blowing. Most
Christians have more faith in the noise and swirling activity of the whirlwind than in the
still small voice. I have learned by arduous experience
that God usually speaks in whispers but we cannot hear these whispers for the clamor of
the street. We
are called to heavenly places, far above the clamor of the world and the
Amid
all the religious ruckus of the hour there is a little
flock that has climbed the mount with
Jesus. They
care not for the flamboyant humbug of the hour, but, having beheld the glories of the
Kingdom afar off, they are pressing through surging waves of humanity to come apart
to receive instruction from the King of the Kingdom. At His
feet they hear the call to the heavenly mark and find a door opened for them to enter in
to lay hold upon the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. These are
they who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. They lean hard upon Christ. The
spirit of His sonship dwells within them. They are partakers of His mind. They have
been given the knowledge of His will. They comprehend His plan and purpose in the
earth, in His sons, and in the universe. They have laid aside every weight and the sin
which does so easily beset them. They are running the race with patience. They
esteem the hope that is set before them higher than all the pleasures of
I
will close this message by quoting some pertinent words from the pen of George Hawtin. “Men
and women must abandon this mad rush of religion and come before God in quiet meditation and prayer, looking to God and
looking to His word that they might clearly see how far away from God this sectarian
religion has led them. God
has no pleasure in it. He has
pleasure only in those who love Him and seek to know Him. ‘The ox knoweth
his owner and the ass his master’s crib, but
“Let
not those who enter into the secret place of God’s presence imagine even for a moment
that other Christians will understand, for they will not. Tell them
ever so earnestly, but they cannot hear. From this day forth the spiritual man will be a speckled bird (Jer. 12:9). Even while he tells them, their eyes will be heavy with sleep and he will seem to them as one who has taken leave
of his senses. The
hour is coming and now is when the sons of God, who are coming into the image of the
firstborn Son, Jesus Christ, will find themselves living in a spiritual realm completely independent of the bondage of all that is
earthly. It
is clear to be seen that Jesus, even while He lived among men being found in fashion as a
man, proved that sons of God are in all
things independent of the bondage and power
of this present world system. Always after the hour of His baptism in the
Chapter
30
THE
PRINCIPLES OF THE KINGDOM
(continued)
The
The
principles of the Kingdom are not the way to enter the Kingdom, but reveal to us the lifestyle
of the Kingdom. Our
King is not asking us to live any differently than the way He lives Himself. The more
we yield ourselves to the Spirit to live the Kingdom lifestyle, the more Christ-like we
become. The
Sermon on the Mount is not a teaching for those who expect the end of the world someday,
and a Kingdom to follow, but for those who have
experienced the end of the world within themselves
and the coming of the
1. The
Principle of Kingdom Attitudes (Mat. 5:1-2).
2.
The
Principle of Rewards (Mat. 5:13-16).
3.
The
Principle of Outward Righteousness (Mat. 5:17-26).
4.
The
Principle of Inward Purity (Mat. 5:27-32).
5.
The
Principle of Integrity (Mat. 5:33-37).
6.
The
Principle of Non-Resistance (Mat. 5:38-42.
7.
The
Principle of Divine Love (Mat. 5:43-48).
8.
The
Principle of Almsgiving (Mat. 6:1-4).
9.
The
Principle of Prayer (Mat. 5:5-15).
10. The
Principle of Fasting (Mat. 6:16-18).
11. The
Principle of Kingdom Priorities (Mat. 6:19-23).
12. The
Principle of Faith (Mat. 6:24-34).
13. The
Principle of Mercy and Judgment (Mat. 7:1-6).
14. The
Principle of Persistence (Mat. 7:7-11).
15. The
Principle of Discernment (Mat. 7:15-23).
16. The
Principle of Hearing and Doing the Father’s Will
(Mat. 7:21-27).
To
walk in the
Paul
makes this very plain. “Wherein
in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of
the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: among
whom also we all had our lifestyle in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the
desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as
others” (Eph. 2:2-3). Again, “Mortify therefore your members
which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, sensual appetites, unholy desires, and
covetousness, which is idolatry: for which things the wrath of God cometh upon the
children of disobedience: in the which ye also once walked, when ye lived in them”
(Col. 3:5-7). Paul
doesn’t tell us that all these things have passed away, that they no longer exist in
us, that they are dead or were crucified two thousand years ago on the cross. The
command is, “Mortify — kill, put to death, execute, slay, assassinate, liquidate,
do away with, wipe out, put an end to, waste, finish off — the evil desire, the animal impulse, the earthly disposition
lurking in your members!”
May
I here point out that within the Lord Jesus Himself, in the days of His flesh, dwelt two
souls. We
know that within Him were two wills, for
on that dreadful night in the agony of
When
a man is born of the Spirit he inherits from his heavenly Father the soul of the Spirit. The soul
of the Spirit is simply the mind of the Spirit, the will of the Spirit, the emotions of
the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit. With the mind of the Spirit we think the
thoughts of God, thoughts of peace, thoughts of righteousness, thoughts of wisdom,
knowledge and understanding. The mind of the Spirit is the vehicle of revelation. By the will of
the Spirit we are motivated to act as sons of God, to fulfill all of Father’s purpose
in us. The emotions of
the Spirit are love,
joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. By the desires of
the Spirit we are drawn to spiritual and heavenly realities and seek the
I
doubt that any child of God would deny that there is also within him another soul — the soul of the
flesh. The
soul of the flesh is simply our own natural
mind, our own human will, our fleshly emotions and carnal desires. If we say
we have not this soul of the flesh we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. E.
Stanley Jones has given the following illustrations. The
Chinese have a character for “peace” which depicts a house roof and one woman
under it. The
character for “strife” or “contention” is the same house roof with two
women under it! A
mother said to her little girl as she was all flustered and flurried with indecision:
“Now, hurry up, Mary, and make up your mind.” To which
the little girl replied with a sigh, “It’s easy for you to make up your mind,
mother, for you’ve got only one mind to make up, but I’ve got lots of minds to
make up!” There
is age long wisdom gathered up in those stories. Where there is unity of purpose and action
there is peace and power, but where there is inner division in loyalty and purpose there
is strife and contention and consequent weakness and breakdown.
The
double-souled man that is unstable in all of his ways is the man who constantly vacillates
back and forth between God’s will and his own, between the emotions of the Spirit and
those of his flesh. Back
and forth, back and forth, seeking God’s will today and his own tomorrow. He can
never make up his mind, can never maintain constancy in his experience, is like a wave
driven by the wind, and never becomes established in the will and ways and life of the
Spirit. That
is the two-souled man. The
spiritual man, in all things, says with the firstborn Son of God, “Not my will, but Thine be
done!” The
spiritual man denies— not the movie
house, not the liquor store, not the dance hall — he denies
HIMSELF! His
own flesh-soul is brought under subjection to the spirit-soul. Our
heavenly Father never functions out of any soul except that of the Spirit, for He is Spirit. God’s
soul is a spirit soul. Man’s
soul is a flesh soul. Therefore
there is omniscient wisdom beneath His determination to
subdue our
soul unto His.
The
following quotation from George Hawtin will plainly illustrate what our true position
should be. “There
is coming a day when the sons of God will subdue all
things and bring everything into subjection unto the Father. Christ must reign
until all enemies are under His feet (I Cor. 15:24-25). Let us
therefore face this solemn fact that all who
reign with Him must first of all be subject to Him and be ruled by Him. Those who
will be used of God to subdue all things must first
of all be subdued. Those who
are to subdue the enemies of Christ must first
of all have all the enemies of Christ
subdued within themselves. Never let this truth depart from you
either day or night, for, if God should give men power to subdue who
have not themselves been subdued, they
would not be one whit superior to all those tyrannical dictators of the past, who in their
lust for power trod their enemies under their bloody feet, rejoicing only in their
bombastic and
dictatorial spirit and the groveling servitude of the people.
“Before
God can launch us into the breadth and sweetness of His service and entrust us with great
things for Himself, we must be perfectly subdued in every part of our nature to His will
and the disposition of His mind. We must be subdued in our hearts, in our
minds, in our words, in our tempers, in our manners: subdued through and through so
thoroughly that we will be flexible to all His purposes and plans. We must
be subdued that harshness, severity, criticism, sluggishness, laziness, impetuosity, and
all wanting our way, even in spiritual
things, must be subdued out of us. Conversion will not finish this work and
perhaps not in one case out of a thousand will a second work of grace produce this
complete condition of teachable subjugation to God’s will. Being
able to preach strong sermons on sanctification will not do it, or having charge of camp
meetings, or conventions, or Bible schools, or the writing of books and editing of papers
on Christian holiness will not prove adequate for this.
“We must be subdued, not merely in our opinion,
not merely think ourselves subdued, not only in the esteem of our friends and
fellow-workers, but subdued so perfectly that the all-seeing eye of God can look us through
and the omniscient One knows that we are subdued. God must conquer the man that He can trust
with His great thoughts and plans” — end quote.
It
is here that we meet the powerful principles of the
When
Jesus uttered those words about the house divided against itself, He was speaking to
Pharisees. They
themselves were what He meant by the futility of living a life in two different
directions. They
were not consciously bad men — just
hypocritically divided men. They were
trying to please God while they pleased
themselves. They
were trying to fulfill the law of God by being self-righteous.
They
drew around themselves a set of religious scruples which fit into their outward form of
what religion was, and rejected things that were closer to the heart of God. ‘Ye
tithe mint and anise and cumin and pass over justice and the love of God.” These men
were so zealous for the law that even if in their patio or on the roof top they raised a
very small patch of spices for their personal use in cooking, they tithed it! They were
legalists to the penny. But
mercy, goodness, helping the needy, forgiveness, love, and compassion would mean they
would have to share and consider the feelings and circumstances of others, and that they
felt no responsibility to do. On the side of the law they served God, but
on the side of mercy, forgiving, loving, lifting and blessing creation they served
themselves. They
were divided in their religion, majoring in minors, and minoring in majors. They were
double-souled, and their religious house doomed to collapse.
When
Jesus enumerated the principles of the
1.
Don’t
try to give your alms with the divided motive of pleasing God and getting credit from men
(Mat. 6:1).
2.
Don’t
pray to God and at the same time try to impress men with your sanctity (Mat. 6:5).
3.
Don’t
fast before God and at the same time try to build up a reputation for self-abnegation and
spirituality (Mat. 6:16).
4.
Don’t
try to make the best of both worlds by attempting to lay up treasure in two
directions (Mat. 6:19).
5.
Don’t
try to be divided in your loyalty by attempting to serve two masters — God and mammon
(Mat. 6:24).
6.
Don’t
be anxious in two directions — today and
tomorrow — concentrate on
today (Mat. 6:34).
7.
Don’t
try to judge in two directions — yourself and
others — concentrate on yourself (Mat. 7:1-5).
8.
Don’t
try to bring forth good fruit out of an evil heart (Mat. 7:15-18).
9.
Don’t
try to give lip service saying, “Lord, Lord,” without doing the
will of God (Mat. 7:21).
If
you try to live with a dual motive, Jesus says, then there will be one sure result — you will be like
a man building his house on sand, and when the pressures of life come, when the winds blow
and the floods come, there will be a great crash! In these examples Jesus was not preaching
what men call “morality.” He was expounding how life in the
When
I speak of Kingdom laws I do not mean external rules and regulations. True,
Jesus enunciates these principles of the Kingdom as an instruction, as a teaching, but He
does not demand legalistic obedience in the way Old Testament laws were obeyed. That is
merely external righteousness. And that is why Jesus didn’t say, as
Moses said, “Thou shalt and thou shalt not.” He said,
rather, “Blessed are they that...” Someone
may say, “I find it almost impossible to love that person, but I am going to love them because Jesus says I must.” That is
not the Kingdom! That
is not sonship! That
is just plain law, and the person who
attempts it is still divided within himself and his attempt will fail. You
cannot love people by any human effort. The
principles of the Kingdom can only be lived out by a new
nature, not outward conformity. If you have to bite your tongue and count to
ten, you are still divided and living under law. And I am not preaching condemnation to you,
precious friend of mine; I am merely pointing
out how the life of sonship is.
The
law of the Kingdom is the law of the spirit
of life in Christ Jesus. Jesus is
not instructing us as to what commandments we are to obey, but about what nature we must
receive. “If
ye know that He is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of
Him. Whosoever
is born of God does not practice sin; for God’s seed abideth in him: and he cannot
practice sin because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and
the children of the devil...” (I Jn. 2:29; 3:9-10). Nature is
inherited. Moses
was the giver of laws; Christ is the
giver of life! Those who
fulfill the law of the Kingdom are not servants, slavishly obeying, but sons, born of His
life, possessed of His heart. The righteousness of the Kingdom can be lived
only by the man who has experienced the powers of the
THE
POOR IN SPIRIT
We
come now to the first principle of the
To
be poor in spirit does not mean to be lacking in spirit, but indicates an attitude of
heart. The
Greek word used for poor is PTOCHOS. It is one of two words for “poor”
in the Greek language. While
the other word, PENES, is used to describe one who has fewer possessions, and has to work
hard for a living, the word PTOCHOS describes the man who has absolutely nothing at all. It means
a pauper or a beggar. It
has connections with the root word PROSSEIN which means to couch or cower. It
describes the poverty of one who has been beaten to his knees. To be
“poor in spirit” is to become like Jesus, who “made Himself of no reputation” (Phil. 2:7). For,
“though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became
poor (ptochos), that ye through
His poverty might be rich” (II Cor. 8:9). Deeper
yet, this term “poor in spirit” in the original speaks of bankruptcy. I like to
translate our Lord’s words this way, “Blessed are the bankrupt — they who have
come to the end of themselves — for theirs is the
Ah,
we cannot come to be taught of God feeling within ourselves that we are
understanding, we are power, we are creators, we are kings and rulers, or that we have
anything that commends itself to God. We must be poor in spirit, poor in attitude — unclothed of
self. The
word “spirit” is used many times to describe an attitude of heart or a state of
mind. If
we say of someone, “He has a good spirit,” we don’t mean that he has an
holy angel or a well-mannered ghost living inside of him. We mean
that he has a good attitude, disposition, temperament, personality, demeanor, and
expression. The beatitudes
are just that— attitudes of being. They are the BE-ATTITUDES, the very attitudes
the sons of God must become. Jesus
said in effect, “The attitude of a poor person is the same attitude that will help
you to inherit the
Poor
in spirit means “renounced in spirit.” Yielding up everything of self — selfishness,
self-assertiveness, self-interest — that we may gain
Christ. Right
on the threshold of the
he saintly George MacDonald has beautifully
expressed the
truth in these inspiring words: “The poor, the beggars in spirit, the humble men of
heart, the unambitious, the unselfish; those who never despise men, and never seek their
praises; the lowly, who see nothing to admire in themselves, therefore cannot seek to be
admired of others; the men who give themselves away — these are the
freemen of the Kingdom, these are the citizens of the New Jerusalem. The men
who are aware of their own essential poverty; not the men who are poor in friends, poor in influence,
poor in acquirements, poor in money, but those who are poor in spirit, who feel themselves poor creatures; who know nothing to be pleased with themselves for,
and desire nothing to make them feel well of themselves; who know that they need much to
make their life worth living; these humble ones are the poor whom the Lord calls blessed. The gate
of the Kingdom begins to open to such a man.
“Whatever
such a man has attained to, he straightway forgets; it is part of him and behind him. His
business is with what he has not, with the things that lie above and before him. The man
who is proud of anything he thinks he has reached, has not reached it. He is but
proud of himself, and imagining a cause for his pride. If he had reached, he would already have
begun to forget. He
who delights in contemplating whereunto he has attained, is not merely sliding back; he is
already in the dirt of self-satisfaction. The gate of the Kingdom is closed, and he is
outside. The
man who does not house self has room to be his real self— God’s
eternal idea of him. He
lives eternally; in virtue of the creative power in him, he is. How should there be in him one thought of
ruling or commanding or surpassing! He can imagine no bliss, no good in being
greater than someone else. He would lift every man to the embrace of the
Father. Blessed
are the poor in spirit, for they are of the same spirit as God, and of nature the
The
following quotation by Paul Grubb further illuminates this wonderful Kingdom principle of poor in spirit. “When
Jesus said, ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit,’ in essence He was saying, Blessed
are they, who in spirit reckon that they possess nothing. Blessed
are those who in their spirit are conscious of the fact that they do not possess one
thing. It
all belongs to the Father. If the automobile has their name on the
title, it does not belong to them. If the house has their name on the deed, it
does not belong to them. If the million dollars in the bank is
deposited in their name, it does not belong to them. It belongs to the Father. If
humility is demonstrated through their lives, it does not belong to them. It
belongs to the Father. If
righteousness is manifested in them, it does not belong to them. It
belongs to the Father. If
goodness is exerting its influence through their lives, it does not belong to them. It
belongs to the Father. If
power flows through them to the needs about them, it does not belong to them. It
belongs to the Father. Anything
valuable that they possess either spiritually or materially is not their own. They are
conscious that a man does not really possess any righteousness. Any he
thinks he possesses is self-righteousness. He does not possess any humility or goodness.
He
does not possess any power, for ‘all power is of God.’
“Until
we come to know we are poor in spirit, we are not in the Kingdom. Anyone
who thinks he has righteousness is far from the Kingdom. He who
thinks he has humility, goodness or power is far from the Kingdom. Jesus
never boasted of humility, goodness, righteousness or power. But you
never saw Him with anything less! Jesus declared that even the words which He
spoke and the deeds that He did were not of Himself. The very words that He spoke belonged to the
Father; they were the Father’s words. The works that He did were not His own works,
they were the works of the Father. What He heard from His Father He spoke, and
what He saw of His Father He did. As sons of God we must be brought to the
place where we know the words are not ours, the works are not ours, the results are not
ours, the humility is not ours, the gifts are not ours, the calling is not ours, the
ministry is not ours, the
automobile is not ours, the house is not ours, the family is not ours, the children are
not ours, the parents are not ours. Everything belongs to Him. ‘Blessed
are the poor in spirit for theirs is the
Brother
Bob Torango adds this testimony from a recent article: “Don’t be anxious! Look not
on the outward evidence of the vessel. You are only a container, a bottle in which
the Lord of glory abides. The container is only as holy as what it contains. It is not
the container that this Day depends upon, but what is contained within it. This
Kingdom has nothing to do with you, with your righteousness, with your power, with your
ability, with your holiness; but it is totally reliant and dependent upon the Righteous,
Holy One who embodies us. It is not up to us to perform these things,
it is His plan, His ministry, His salvation, His conciliation; it is Him and only Him that
this Day is about. You
are His vehicle through which He will express Himself, but the ultimate work of change,
the melting of the elements, the burning of the heavens and earth, the passing away of the
old and the rising up of the new, all of this cannot and will not be done by mortal
man — but we do
contain the Lord of lords, and the Logos of His will is in us to will and to do of His
good pleasure! Our
only challenge is to expect, believe, yield, disappear, get out of the way, lose our self,
avail our self, and ultimately just to hang on when the ride begins!”
THEY
THAT MOURN
Jesus
gave the second principle of the Kingdom in these words: “Blessed are they that
mourn: for they shall be comforted” (Mat. 5:4). Let all who read these lines understand — Jesus is not
merely putting a premium on mourning. He is saying that the man who can mourn and
is able to know sorrow is to be thought of as a blessed man because he shall find comfort
in his sympathy for his brethren.
Nowhere
is this principle seen with greater clarity than in God’s Royal Priesthood company
being selected and trained in God’s school of sonship dominion to restore all
creation back to God. Of
these King-Priests it is written, “Thou...hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of
every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto
our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth” (Rev. 5:9-10). This
passage is one of rare beauty. It is like a precious diamond, the effulgence
of whose radiance dazzles the mind. It must be engraved deeply upon the heart of
every son of God. There
is so much depth to that text that I am afraid we often do not perceive it. It is
like a beautiful star-studded sky on a bright clear night and one cannot even begin to
grasp the vast depth that lies above us. So it is with these marvelous words: “Thou
hast made us TO BE KINGS AND PRIESTS!” Can you
say that? As
we plumb its depths a little more I hope that you will ask yourself the question more
carefully, “Am I being made a priest unto
God? Is
the process of transformation into the kingly and priestly
nature practically taking place in my life?”
The
wonderful book of Hebrews is literally packed full of mysteries, types, shadows, and
allegories, all pointing to the ministry of the sons
of God who
are God’s Royal Priesthood. These are
only unfolded by the Holy Spirit as we are able to bear it. Hebrews
chapter five sets forth the qualifications that the typical High Priest under the law, and
therefore Christ Jesus, the anti-typical High Priest of the new order of the Kingdom, must
possess. All
the members of the Royal Priesthood, the Kings and Priests of the Kingdom who are, with
Him, “partakers of the heavenly calling,” must also have the same
qualifications, for they are the body of the High Priest.
“For
every High Priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God,
that He may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins: who
can have compassion on the ignorant, and on
them that are out of the way, for that he
himself is compassed with infirmity” (Heb. 5:1-2). Here we
have defined the intrinsic nature of the priestly office. First, he
must be “taken from among men,” that is, he must partake of both the nature and
the circumstances of those on whose behalf he acts. Second, he acts not as a private individual,
but as a public official: “is ordained for men.” Third, he
came not empty-handed before God, but furnished with “gifts and sacrifices for sins.”
Then,
he himself must not be exempt from infirmity, so that he might the more readily succor the
distressed and distraught.
All
this is important for it points to Jesus’ qualifications to be our great High Priest.
A
High Priest must know and experientially understand the problems and limitations of those
he represents. “Who
can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with
infirmity.” On
three different occasions Matthew tells us that our Lord was “moved with compassion”
on the multitudes. Frankly,
when you read the Gospels you read of Jesus doing miracles, healings, signs and wonders;
but Jesus never went around looking for a miracle to perform. HE WENT
ABOUT DOING THE FATHER’S WILL. The Father brought Him to a place where His
heart could be moved with compassion. It was not a gift of compassion that came to
Him by the Holy Spirit; it was the compassion wrought out in His life by His
many sorrows, sufferings, and testings. He had suffered loss, He had suffered pain,
He had suffered reproach. Coming to a town He sees a funeral procession
and as a Son, having suffered the loss of Joseph and friends and family members, and
shared in the sorrow of His mother at the loss, thereby developing the nature of a Priest,
He is filled with compassion when He sees the widow and her dead son. There was
no Social Security in those days, and the boy was the only person to look after the widow,
so He stops the procession, raises the boy, hands him over to the mother, and goes about
the Father’s business. I find that the basis of the sonship ministry
of Jesus was not power — IT WAS
COMPASSION!
When
He saw the multitude He was moved with compassion. They were hungry, and He had known gnawing
hunger, so He said, “Let us feed them.” When He met the leper He was moved with
compassion, for He had experienced pain and shame, and He laid His hands upon him and
healed him. He
could have spoken a word to heal him, but that man needed the touch of somebody’s
hand on him, he had been separated from people so long, he needed more than to be healed
from his leprosy, he needed the sense of the hand of God upon him. When
Jesus looked upon the careworn faces of the toiling, tax-ridden multitudes — taxed by cruel
priests; taxed by Herod; taxed by Pilate; taxed by their own sins and sorrows; wearily
burdened, wounded at heart, and heavy laden — He was not
looking for a chance to show off His power — He was moved with
compassion.
“Who
can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; FOR THAT HE
HIMSELF ALSO IS COMPASSED ABOUT WITH INFIRMITY.” The condition which develops compassion in
us, is that we ourselves get compassed — surrounded,
hedged in — by the problems,
the difficulties, the needs that are going to be represented in the people to whom we
minister. So
many of us are intolerant in certain areas of our lives because we have not gone through
the pressure, we have not been compassed by that particular infirmity, weakness, sorrow or
need. Priesthood
demands suffering, trial, testing, tribulation, and pressure. Sonship
demands relationship with God. He sends the Spirit of the Son into our
hearts and we cry, “Abba, Father!” Now God intends that all of us who have been
called should be sons of God, and that all of us should be a
John the Revelator said, “And I saw thrones,
and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them...they shall be priests of
God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years” (Rev. 20:4-6). Here you
see that it is not the sons who are reigning — it is the
PRIESTS! What
about the sons? “He
that overcometh shall inherit all things;
and I will be his God, and he shall be my
son” (Rev. 21:7). The sons inherit, for they are heirs of God and joint-heirs
with Christ (Rom. 8:17). Who, then, is destined to reign? THE SONS
WHO ARE PRIESTS! Christ
was a Son before He was a Priest. He was not a Priest during His years in the
flesh, although He was qualifying to be one, but He was a Son. Christ in
His ministry from the heavens today is not merely the Son of God. As a Son
He is “heir of all things;” but to become the great High Priest and provide the
priestly ministry on our behalf the Son had, as a Son, to go through the experience that
was necessary to perfect Him for the understanding heart of the Priesthood. “We
have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities; BUT
WAS IN ALL POINTS TEMPTED LIKE AS WE ARE, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15). “Though
He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered; and being made perfect, He became...AN HIGH PRIEST AFTER THE ORDER OF
MELCHIZEDEK” (Heb. 5:8-10). “Every High Priest...must be compassed
with infirmity.”
Ah,
Jesus could have been a son without being so totally compassed with infirmity,
BUT HE COULD NEVER HAVE BEEN A PRIEST WITHOUT IT. He might have been perfect in character,
noble in motive, and desirous to help us; but, if He had never tasted death, how could He
allay our fears as we tread the verge of
There
have been those precious folk who have said to me, “Brother Eby, I don’t
understand. Since
I came into this Kingdom message things have gotten worse — all hell has
broken loose.” That
is just what you need — IF YOU WOULD BE A
PRIEST! Have
you not known some beautiful saints to whom you naturally betake yourself in time of trial
and sorrow? They
always seem to speak the right word, to give the very counsel you are longing for; you do
not realize, however, the cost they had to pay ere they became so skillful in binding up
gaping wounds and drying tears. But if you were to investigate their past you
would find that they have suffered more than most. They have watched the slow untwisting of some
silver cord on which the lamp of life hung. They have seen the golden bowl of joy dashed
at their feet, and its contents spilt. They have stood by ebbing tides, and drooping
flowers, and darkened skies; but all this has been necessary to make them comforters and
healers, the priests of men.
The
only persons on earth who really understand our sorrow are the persons who have traveled
the same valley of despair. Only those who have been bereaved know what
bereavement really is. They
alone can shed the sympathizing tear and intercede in power with God, for they alone truly
understand. Others
may kindly and with feeling offer their condolence, but they can do little more than that,
for they have not experienced the pain and loneliness of our loss. The
reason our blessed Lord is touched with the
feeling of our infirmities is that He knoweth our frame. He
remembereth that we are dust. He knows this not by revelation
or by divine omniscience, but He Himself was a “man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” He knew
what it was to be despised, afflicted, and rejected of men. He knows
what it is to be misunderstood, to be dragged from prison and judgment with no man to
declare His generation. He
knows what it is to be tested in all points as we are tested, and the sympathizing tears
flow from His eyes as He extends His nail-pierced hand to lift us from the shades of our
gloomy night to the ineffable light of the plain on which He dwells.
If
you are going to be a manifested son you must first get bound because God wants His sons
to be Priests, kingly Priests who show forth both authority and redemption.
You
must not only have the authority of Kingship, but also the compassion of Priesthood. Let me
say now, I DO NOT RECOMMEND PRIESTHOOD — I RECOMMEND
SONSHIP! When
you are a son you have an inheritance, great wealth, blessings from the Father’s
hands, and freedom. As
a son you have power to do things, but the moment you become a Priest, they put you in
chains: compassed, surrounded, hedged in, pressed on every side by infirmity. Infirmity
is weakness. I
pray that as God deals with His sons in these days that we will not despise our
limitations, our infirmities, and our sufferings, but look
unto Jesus who has pioneered the way of
Royal Priesthood before us.
Christ
was tempted as a Son, but after that there came a temptation in testings that had nothing
to do with Him, but were preparing Him for the perfection of the Priesthood. As sons
of God, with full inheritance, we should be blessed beyond measure, we should have no
problems, by rights we should be in perfect health, have good jobs, money in the bank, and
everything coming to us. And we can
demand our rights! Vast
numbers of Christians today choose to walk only in their Kingdom privileges of blessing,
health and prosperity. And
they do not know it, but they SHALL NOT REIGN WITH CHRIST. It is the
priests that reign! “And they shall be priests of God...and
they shall reign.” To
the Priests God says, “No, I am going to limit you here, put you through pressure
there, subject you to suffering, hedge you in and compass you about with infirmity, not
because you have no rights, but that it will work a compassion, an understanding, a mercy,
a grace, work something in you so that out of you will flow a river of love, forgiveness,
tenderness, redemption — and then a flow
of power, enabling and ability.
Now
can we understand the depth of the principle of the Kingdom that teaches, “Blessed
are they that mourn: for they shall be
comforted” — and they shall be comforters!
There
is, however, a further dimension to the mourning of the sons of God! In the
true and eloquent words of another, “When Jesus says, Blessed are they that mourn,
for they shall be comforted, He is not talking about someone who is hired to mourn. Of
course, in Jesus’ day, the Eastern custom at funerals was to have just such as that.
With cruel, yet merciful swiftness, the hour arrives for interment. The
lamentation, that was passionate before, became tumultuously defiant. Relatives
lost all self control, and refusing to let the pall- bearers discharge their sad office,
had to be forcibly removed. A procession was then formed and on the way
to the cemetery the wailing was increased by those who joined in to show their respect to
the family. After
the family and neighbors became weary with wailing, they hired professionals to continue
it. This
highly hysterical type of mourning continued for days!
“The
foregoing is just a description of the Oriental custom for mourning. That
certainly was not what Jesus had reference to in the beatitude. As we
look to another scripture or two, we will be able to determine what Jesus had in mind when
He said, Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. John
16:4-6, ‘But I have said these things to you that when the hour comes you may
remember that I told you of them. I did not say these things to you from the
beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to Him who sent me. Yet none
of you ask me, Where are you going? But because I have said these things to you,
sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless I tell you the truth, it is to
your advantage that I go away. For if I go not away, the Comforter will not
come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” And then in verse 20, “Truly,
truly I say to you, you will weep and lament (mourn), but the world will rejoice. You will
be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.” And then
in verse 22, “So you will have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts
will rejoice and no one will take your joy from you.”
“The
mourning Jesus is referring to is a mourning over the absence of the presence of God, or
of Christ. That
is the godly mourning that Jesus had in mind. And that is the mourning that is
representative of the sons of God. The only time that Jesus mourned was when He
mourned for the absence of the presence of God. Twice we find Him weeping. He wept
at Lazarus’ tomb. It
was because of the absence of the presence of God. “When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews
who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled; and He said,
Where have you laid Him? They said to Him, Lord, come and see. Jesus
wept. So
the Jews said, See how He loved him! But some of them said, Could not He that
opened the eyes of the blind have kept this man from dying? Then
Jesus deeply moved came again to the tomb” (Jn. 11:33-38).
“His deep mourning here is for the absence of
God. Lazarus
had died. In
the first place, that signifies the absence of God. Life is of God and God is life. Death is
the absence of the presence of God. Where God is, there is life. Death is
the opposite to it. The
mourning here is because there is death and not life. Jesus was not mourning
because He thought that Lazarus would not come back to life. He knew
exactly what He was going to do. In part, Jesus was mourning because there was
the presence of death and the absence of the presence of God. But the
absence of faith in God grieved Him also. The unbelief was expressed by the mourning
scene and the expression of the sisters. The unbelief was undoubtedly the influence of
their past teaching. Although
the doubt was the expression of the emotional disturbance and grief in the hearts of these
women, it displayed the absence of God’s assurance and faith. God’s
presence is faith. God’s
presence is life. The
mourning of Jesus was for the absence of God in this situation. He
mourned because they did not believe. Satan had beclouded their minds to cause them
to believe a lie rather than the truth. After all that He had said to them, they
still could not believe. Although Martha said, ‘I know that my brother
shall rise in the resurrection at the last day,’ they still did not believe. Jesus
said, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. If a man believes, though he were dead, yet
shall he live; and
if you live and believe, you shall never die.’ Jesus did not see that kind of faith there! So He
mourned because of the absence of the presence of God.
“On
one other occasion Jesus mourned — when He beheld
“That
is one of the ways in which the sons of God enter into the fellowship of Christ’s
suffering. It
first begins in our own lives and then it goes out to the others. Our first
revelation is how little of the King is embraced in our own lives. There
comes a mourning in our spirit, when we recognize how little of the
“Jesus’
promise in the beatitude is that this mourning will not be permanent. This
mourning of the sons is going to climax with a comfort when Christ fully rules in our
lives and finally rules in all the earth. The
“Our
mourning is because there is sin in the world. There is sickness. There is
sorrow. Christ
is not ruling in the lives and affairs of men. But we live in assurance that the day is
coming when all of the kingdoms of this world will give way to the
Kingdom of our God and His Christ! Then all of the mourning of the sons will be
comforted and shall be turned to joy. This mourning is the kind of mourning
experienced by the firstborn Son of God. It is mourning because God has been displaced
and is denied His rightful place. Likewise, all the sons of the Kingdom mourn
because of it. I
am sure that Christ is mourning today in the lives of the sons of God because many
multitudes of people, including the religious ones, are rejecting His Kingship and His
Kingdom in their lives. The
common people heard Jesus gladly. They welcomed the gospel of the Kingdom and
the King. They
had lived in distress and hardship long enough. They wanted to see God! They
welcomed a Kingdom in which there was peace and joy and plenty, righteousness and health
and perfection.
“The
present world condition distresses our spirits. It gives us a mourning within. But Jesus
promised that this mourning is going to be changed. We shall be comforted because we are going to
see in fullness what we now see in part. What we are seeing on a small scale in a
local manner, we are going to see on a mighty scale, in a world-wide visitation. We are
going to see this glorious Christ come to His rightful place. We are going to see the
Kingdom come in its power and come in its glory. Then shall we rejoice with joy unspeakable
and full of glory!” — Paul Grubb.
Chapter
31
THE
PRINCIPLES OF THE KINGDOM
(continued)
Of
all the beatitudes, or the be-attitudes of the sons of the Kingdom, the third is the one
that seems to bear the greatest contradiction. “Blessed are the meek: for they shall
inherit the earth” (Mat. 5:5). After all, isn’t it the high-energy,
self-motivated, grasping, ruthless, promoter, wheeler-dealer, fast talker, power broker
who really gets super rich, famous, and powerful, and inherits the earth? What did
Jesus mean when He said that the meek shall inherit the earth? Wouldn’t
it have made more sense if He had said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit heaven?” That we
could understand. But
inherit the earth? To the natural mind that doesn’t seem to add up. And it
doesn’t add up until with the spiritual mind we understand what it means to be meek
and how the principle of meekness works in the
Let
me give you an illustration. “Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon
the face of the earth” (Num. 12:3). Moses, when he first felt the call of God
upon his life, sensed that God was with Him and had raised him up to be the deliverer of
His people. God
had called him to this deliverance ministry. One day it happened that he went out among
his brethren, the Israelites, and looked at their burdens; and he saw an Egyptian beating
a Hebrew, one of Moses’ brethren. At the sight something rose up within Moses’
spirit and he rushed over and smote the Egyptian with his fist. Moses was
a real macho man! I
do not doubt for one moment that he worked out in the palace and had bulging, rippling
muscles. He
was no jelly fish or wimp. He grabbed that Egyptian and slew him and
buried him in the sand.
He
went out again the next day to observe his brethren. On this occasion he saw two Hebrew men
quarreling and fighting. He said to the unjust aggressor, “Why
are you mistreating your comrade” The man snarled at Moses and said, “Who
made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me, as you killed that
Egyptian yesterday?” Then Moses realized that his actions had been
observed and the news of what he had done was spreading among the people, and he was
afraid. And
sure enough, in due time the news reached the ears of Pharaoh. Pharaoh
was furious and put a price on Moses’ head. So Moses fled the
The
Hebrew word for meek is ANAV which can be translated this way, “He was the most worn out man
on the face of the earth.” God drew Moses to the backside of the desert
and there He wore him out. He conquered him. He broke him. He took
all the fight out of him. He purged all the arrogance and self-reliance
and self-sufficiency and self-defensiveness out of him. He
stripped him of all his spirit of retaliation. He brought him to the place where he was worn
out and meekness was the hallmark of his life. God changed him. God
prepared Him to be a deliverer. Today God is preparing us to be deliverers,
to deliver all creation from the bondage of corruption
— self,
rebellion, sin, sorrow and death. God is preparing us to rule and reign with
Him in His Kingdom. And
He is wearing us out, bringing us to the end of ourselves!
One
day Jesus was up in
King
David prophesied, “But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves
in the abundance of peace” (Ps. 37:11). The word “meek” in both the Hebrew
and Greek conveys the idea of being humble or saintly. And indeed, God’s firstfruits shall be
just that. The
spirit of the firstborn Son was the spirit of humility and virtue. Paul
wrote, “Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count
others better than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own
interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind within you, which also was in
Christ Jesus who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a
thing to be grasped or held onto, but emptied
Himself, taking the form of a servant,
being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form He humbled Himself
and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Phil. 2:3-8).
Two
striking statements stand out: “He emptied Himself,” and “He humbled Himself.”
The
most startling thought of all is that GOD HUMBLED HIMSELF! We can
hardly conceive of such a thing. The high and holy One, The omnipotent Creator
and omniscient Lord of the universe humbled
Himself! Yet,
it could not be otherwise. Let me state it this way: God is humble! Have you
ever thought about that? If God were not humble there would have been no babe in
Furthermore,
God requires humility of all His sons and daughters. “Humble
yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up” (James 4:10). “Yea,
all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and
giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God...”
(I pet. 5:5-6). “Put
on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved...humbleness of mind...” (Col. 3:12). God does
not require an attitude of mind or a state of being of
His elect that He does not
Himself possess. Nay!
“He
humbled Himself.” In
Jesus Christ we behold the meekness and humility of God!
And
now comes the word: “Have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being
in the form of God emptied Himself, and
as a man humbled Himself.” The sons
of God must be like Christ in His self-emptying and self-humiliation. The first
great act of self-abnegation in which as God He emptied Himself of His divine glory and
power and laid it aside, was followed up by the no less wondrous humbling of Himself as a
man, to the ignominious death of the cross. And in this amazing twofold humiliation, the
astonishment of the universe and the delight of the Father, the Word with utmost
simplicity tells us we must, as a matter of course, BE LIKE CHRIST.
People
have great difficulty understanding an abstraction or a force. It must
be personalized. And
that is why God has come in the person of Jesus Christ, so that we might see Him and see what God is like. The only
begotten Son, He hath revealed Him, hath led Him forth and made Him visible. God has
been personalized in Jesus Christ, and this personification, this embodiment of God
Himself, HUMBLED HIMSELF! That One who walked by the sea of Galilee and
through the dusty roads of
God
said, “I will invade humanity and come down in the person of my Son, limit myself to
a human, physical body just like man has, with all its appetites, emotions, possibilities
of suffering hunger, pain, weakness and death, and I will demonstrate the character, the
life, the love and the power of God on the human level.” The
incarnation was God manifesting Himself within the limitations of a human body. As a man
Jesus could not fly, He could not see further than anybody else, He could not run faster
than the other young men in Nazareth, He got as tired as anyone else, He got as tempted as
anyone else, He got hungry and thirsty and weak, fell asleep, they could spit on Him and
finally kill Him. Yet
in Jesus Christ you have the perfect expression of God. The
meaning of the incarnation is that God could drink out of a bottle if Jesus drank out of a
bottle, God in Him learned to crawl before He learned to walk, God learned a language and
stumbled over the words before He got it straight, His mind could increase.
When
God invaded humanity in the body of Jesus Christ, He took upon Himself human nature and
limitation. He
was made in the likeness, not of glorified flesh, but of sinful flesh, and for
thirty-three and a half years lived, walked, slept and died in that body, manifesting God
in the scope of humanity. God was not in Christ as a separate entity,
as a separate personality and reality dwelling in His body. No, God
was in Christ as Christ, as the
personality of His life. Being mocked, God was living in Him. Asleep in
the boat, God was living in Him. Hungry, and He goes to a tree and finds
nothing to eat on it, God was living in Him. When He was weary, pressed, persecuted,
hated, reviled, slapped, His back beat, His brow crowned with thorns, His hands and feet
nailed to a cross, His side pierced, yet, dying on the cross in agony with the blood and
spittle running down His face, GOD WAS LIVING AND MANIFESTING IN HIM — God was in
Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself!
Do
you see what God did? He
made it possible for Himself to be at home in human bodies. “The
tabernacle of God is with men”
(Rev. 21:3). Not
with angels, with man. “And
the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld
His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth”
(Jn. 1:14). Oh,
the mystery of it! The
wonder of it! It
means that God can, by His Spirit, Jesus can, by His Spirit, come in and live in these
human bodies of ours, grow up in the fullness of His nature, mind, and power within us,
becoming the personality and reality of our lives, living in us, loving in us, and
manifesting Himself in us, yea, as us,
until with Christ we can say, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father; I and
the Father are one.”
Described
negatively, meekness is the opposite of self-interest and self-assertiveness. In
keeping with this Ricky Evans wrote, “Meekness is the state of being where we have
lost self-interest. How
hard it is to lose this self-interest! We have all our lives been taught to set
goals and strive for those goals. Find what it is you want in life and go for
it. Choose
a worthy vocation and make it the center of your life. Plan around it. Let
nothing stand in the way. For role models we are given examples of
those who have worked hard and become ‘successful.’ Meekness
doesn’t fit into the modern person’s life-style. Ask
people today and you will soon discover they have everything well planned out. They know
what they want and how to get it. They have their five year, ten year, and
twenty year plan. All
of this is geared to enjoying the ‘good life’ and being ‘successful.’
“People
who have been born of the Spirit, and yet have not had their soul realm dealt with, are no
different. One
only needs to take a drive around their community some Sunday morning for it to be obvious
that born again people are most often still full of self-interest. One can
see the great buildings filling with people whose one great interest is to get blessed. ‘I come here because I get fed, I get a
blessing, I like what Dr. So and So preaches...’ Self is still the motivation behind what is
being done. Those
who build the great buildings and great ministries, for the most part, are simply those
who have redirected their self-interest into religious areas, saying, ‘Let us make a
name for ourselves’ (Gen. 11:4). Turn on your television and soon you will
find Brother So and So’s or Sister So and So’s ministry. Does not
all this reveal that there is yet self-interest involved in our lives? When we
see those who promote their ministry, their books, their tapes, their meetings, does this not speak of the self-interest behind such
actions?
“Ah,
meekness. Meekness
says, ‘I do only what I see the Father do’ (Jn. 5:19). ‘I
seek not my own will, but the will of Him who sent me’ (Jn. 7:16). These
statements show a lack of self-interest. The interest is not in self, but in the
Father and His purpose. We
are not learning and growing in the spirit so we can preach better or prophesy better. Oh, no. We are
learning and growing into a mature relationship with the Father, that we might be led by
the Spirit as mature sons of God (Rom. 8:14). Maturity is not measured by the amount of
knowledge we
may attain about God and His Kingdom; maturity is measured by the degree that we are led by the Spirit. Meekness
means no self-interest, no self-assertiveness, not occupied with self, every vestige of
self pushed aside for the will of the Father. The Father’s will becomes our only concern. We now find a new freedom from all that
religion would impose upon us. We are now free to be led by the Spirit, and
not by religious rules and regulations. Meekness finds its expression toward God. When we
learn the meekness of our Lord Jesus Christ we find developed in us the attitude that is
interested only in the will of the Father. Those who have meekness developed in them seek first the
Another
adds yet a further depth of meaning to this principle of the meekness of the sons of God. “Meekness
is not timidity, as some suppose. If you review the life of Jesus, you will not
find any timidity about Him. Yet, He was meek and lowly. The
personal life and ministry of Jesus demonstrated great meekness associated with great
boldness of character and fearlessness of opposition. He was never plagued by fear or timidity when
brought to verbal blows with the pharisaic religionists of His day. Well
aware of the opposition being incurred by His utterances and the logical outcome to which
it would eventually lead Him, Jesus never compromised a principle, or declined a
declaration. He
had no misgivings about the reactions even from the king of
“Meekness
is a relationship between Father and son. The son senses a meekness in His fellowship
with the Father. The
Father gives the command — the son
performs it. The
Father administers discipline— the son submits to it. The Father instructs the son in wisdom — the son receives enlightenment with thanksgiving. The acid
test of true meekness comes
when the Father uses someone else to bring His discipline to us. If we are
truly meek, we will not only rejoice in submitting to the Father’s process, but will
level no blame or accusation against the one who is the immediate instrument through whom
the correction reaches us. Meekness as an attitude of soul toward the
Father results in an attitude of love, humility and kindness toward those who despitefully
use us, recognizing that Father does all things well although we may not understand at the
moment why it is done in the manner in which, and by the instrument with which, He
performs it. But
we meekly submit to it. This
is the most difficult test of sonship meekness! Jesus displayed it as He hung upon the cross.
Rather
than silently or openly cursing or retaliating against His murderers, in meekness He
prayed, in essence, ‘Father, you do all things well. I am on
this cross because it is your will. These fellows are not putting me here. It is the
fulfillment of your plan that I am here. And Father, because it is your will, forgive
them, for they do not know what they do.’ That was nothing short of perfect meekness in submission to the will of His Father. ‘Not
as I will, but as Thou wilt.’ That is true meekness.
“These
are the kind of meek ones who are going to inherit the earth. It looks
impossible! Man
says, ‘It is the strong who will inherit the earth.’ Surely it
would seem that those who are skilled in the art of warfare should inherit the earth. The human
attitude declares that might makes right.
Not
so! God
the Almighty’s principle is different. Meekness brings dominion and rulership, the
son of God assures us. What does ‘inherit the earth’ really mean? Jesus
took the phrase from the Old Testament scriptures. It was not a new phrase with Him. It is
found in Isaiah 60:21 and in many other passages. Psalm 37:9 declares, ‘For evil doers
shall be cut off. But
those that wait upon the Lord, they inherit the earth. For yet a little while and the wicked shall
not be. Yea,
thou shalt diligently consider his place and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit
the earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.’ The 29th
verse reads, ‘The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell therein forever.’ The 34th
verse continues, ‘Wait on the Lord and keep His way and He shall exalt thee to
inherit the land: when
the wicked are cut off thou shalt see it.’ Those who become submissive (meek) in their
spirit shall enjoy this inheritance of the earth. This does not forego their possession of the
heavens. Some
seem satisfied with inheriting heaven, and some with inheriting the earth. But the sons of God will possess both.”
“The
meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the Lord that seek Him: your heart
shall live forever” (Ps. 22:26). The meek are those who eat the bread of God,
which is the bread that is come down from heaven as the Christ of God, and are abundantly
satisfied. Their
heart, their inner, deepest self, their very nature and life are quickened by the bread of
God, for the bread of God is the life of God in Christ. The sons of God are right now
experiencing this precious reality from day to day, as God spreads a table and gives us
spiritual, heavenly bread that the world knows not of and of which the church systems have
absolutely no conception. By this bread they shall LIVE FOREVER. What a
wonderful promise of abundant life!
There
shall be a marvelous result of this celestial bread of life manifested in a
company of “meek ones,” the sons of God. When mankind finally sees the
pure and abundant revelation of the fullness of life in the son company, it shall cause
them to remember a state they once possessed and enjoyed in union with God.
Like
a person who catches a glimpse of someone from out of his distant past, and the
recognition brings a sudden flood of memories of wonderful events of another time, so it is that
when mankind sees the full revelation of divine life and glory upon the sons of God there
shall come instant recognition and recall
of a time when GOD WAS THEIR LIFE. The very next verse following the one I
quoted above declares, “All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord; and all the kindreds of
the nations shall worship before Thee. For the kingdom is the Lord’s: and He is
the governor among the nations” (Ps. 22:27-28). If all the peoples of the earth are to “remember”
something, it means that they have already heard the voice of the Lord, they have at some
previous time seen His glory, and have in some distant eon experienced His life! Certainly
that was before the race fell into the futility of sin and death! And when
“the meek” shall eat of the heavenly life of God until they are “satisfied,”
until they have appropriated all of His
divine life, nature, and power — it is then that
all the kindreds and nations of the earth shall be caused to remember and turn unto the Lord! And
I am convinced by the Spirit of God that we are right now standing wonderfully close to
that very day!
It
would be of utmost profit if every Christian would diligently study the oft repeated
scriptural term “in Christ” or “in Him.” I will
now quote one passage that appears to teach that our Lord Jesus Christ is the Creator of
all things. He
is, of course! But
that is not the truth set forth in these particular verses. I will
quote this first from the King James version, since it is in this translation that the
apostle Paul seems to say that all things were created
by Jesus Christ. “Who
is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature; for by Him were
all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all
things were created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and by Him
all things consist” (Col. 1:15-17). From this scripture we would be led to
believe that the creation was made by the Son; but it is important to note that the word
translated “by” here in the first instance is the Greek word EN, and means in, not by.
And
this is the way that nearly all other translations render it: “For IN HIM were all
things created.”
Words
are totally inadequate to articulate a truth so sublime, so I must leave this ultimately
to the Holy Spirit of Truth to unfold within your spirit. You see,
when God planned the universe, He planned it in and around His Christ. The
Christ is the center and the circumference of it all. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning
and the end, the first and the last. The whole vast creation, including the spirit
of every man, was made in Him and for
Him. It
all began in Him because He
is the beginning; and it will all end in Him because He is the
end. The
Christ was the beginning of the creation of God, the firstborn of every creature; that
doesn’t mean that He was personally created before everything else, but that
originally ALL WAS CREATED IN THE BEGINNING IN
HIM. “These
things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, THE BEGINNING OF THE CREATION OF GOD”
(Rev. 3:14). You
see, beloved, creation began in Christ. Christ is the origin of all things, including all men. That was the first reality of the universe. He will
also be the end, for all things must not only begin in Him, but all must end in Him, for
this is the Father’s purpose for His Son. Everything that can possibly exist or be, is
included in the scope of both creation and redemption in that wonderful passage in
Colossians 1:16-20. Within
the compass of five verses we read no less than eight times that the things created in Him and for Him are
all-inclusive and all-pervading. He is the firstborn of every creature. All is created in Him, and all is
created through and for Him. He is before all. All is
bound together by Him. In all He
is becoming first, having preeminence. All
fullness, or the fullness of all,
dwells in Him. He
reconciles all through the blood of His cross and on two occasions
this is amplified and defined as all that is in the heavens and all that
is on the earth. It
is said to include both visible and invisible — all matter and all spirits! Nothing is omitted and nothing can be left
out. It
certainly includes ALL MEN!
Our
God and Father has been pleased to leave us in no doubt or uncertainty as to how or where
all things began, but in clear, unequivocal language stated the source and goal of all
things for our assurance and joy. All originated IN HIM, created from the
substance of His own divine energy and being, and held together in a harmonious wholeness in His
eternal Word, or the Christ. But, for His own wise purposes, all did not
remain that way. The
scriptures are clear that all did not remain in that pristine state “in” Him. We are
assured that there was initiated another stage of activity whereby all things were brought
“out” of Him. Nothing can be clearer than the fact that “in” and
“out” are opposites! You
cannot be both in and out of any place or thing at the same time. It
indicates a COMING OUT of. The Word of God declares that not only were
all things created in the Christ, or in God, but there was a process by which the same all
things came out of God. Let us read it: “We are aware that an
idol is nothing in the world, and there is no
other God except One. For even if so be that there are those being
termed gods, whether in heaven or on earth, even as there are many gods and many lords,
nevertheless to us there is but one God, the
Father, O-U-T OF WHOM ALL IS, and we for Him” (I Cor. 8:4-7).
And
again, “O, the depth of the riches and of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How
inscrutable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways! For who
knew the mind of the Lord? or who became His adviser? or who gives to Him first, and will
be repaid by Him? seeing that ALL is OUT of Him and through Him and for Him: to Him be
glory for the ages! Amen!”
(
In
that primeval and pristine glory the spirits of all men were one with God. All began
in the bosom of God and all came out of God. In the glory of that celestial beginning
there was no trace of sin, no evil, no adversity, no death, and no darkness or discord at
all. Everything
everywhere existed in Christ and every spirit stood forth in its full majesty,
pulsating the dynamic anthem of exulting creative glory. It was
preeminently a spiritual creation, vibrating as a symphony of unutterable
beauty, a triumphant masterpiece of dynamic harmonious accord. What a
song!
O
my Father, Thou that dwellest
In a high and glorious place;
When shall I regain Thy presence,
And again behold Thy face?
In Thy holy habitation
Did my spirit once reside;
In my first primeval childhood,
Was I nurtured at Thy side.
For
a great and glorious purpose
Thou hast made me here on earth;
and withheld the recollection
Of my former friends and birth.
But at times that secret something
Whispers, “You’re a stranger here;”
And I feel that I have wandered
From a more exalted sphere.
O
my Father, Thou that dwellest
In a high and holy place
Yet shall I appear before Thee,
And again behold Thy face
Day by day Thy Spirit leadeth,
Ever onward up to Thee;
Till at last I find contentment
In Thy pure reality!
And
now, Oh the wonder of it! — “The meek shall
eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the Lord that seek Him: your heart shall live for ever. All the
ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord; and all the kindreds of the nations
shall worship before Thee. For the kingdom is the Lord’s: and He is
the governor among the nations.” And that is how the meek shall inherit the
earth — the meek, the
sons of God, are first restored in their remembrance and enter back into their inheritance
in God; then as all creation is quickened to remember the sons shall restore every man and
every thing back into God again. What a plan!
To
be the instrument of God to restore all things unto Him requires that we be changed. We must
become meek in all our ways, for the ministry of Christ is specifically directed to the
meek and through the meek. Our own hearts have been won by the
forerunner of meekness, the Man of Galilee now exalted in the heavens. The
prophet declared of this firstborn Christ, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me;
because the Lord hath anointed me TO PREACH GOOD TIDINGS UNTO THE MEEK” (Isa. 61:1). The good
tidings of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the joyous message of the
THEY
THAT HUNGER AND THIRST AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS
“Blessed
are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled”
(Mat. 5:6). This
is a great saying. It
is so great that we will never be able to grasp it in its rich and rounded completeness
except by the illumination of the Holy Spirit. It speaks of being satisfied; it speaks of
the only thing that can satisfy — righteousness. And the
article is used in the Greek, the righteousness, the one real righteousness, the
righteousness of the
Now
to hunger and thirst after a thing is to feel that we need it and need it badly, and need
it so badly that we are determined to have it, whatever the cost. The Lord
Jesus takes the most familiar of physical cravings, the appetite for meat and drink, and
applies these to the cravings of the soul. He is not asserting the blessedness of
righteousness in itself, but the blessedness of those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. The Lord
looks upon the heart. It
is not a question of what we are, but of what we are called to be, and therefore want to
be. He
promises to fill the sons of God, not with the elementary blessings and benefits of free
grace, but with that high and holy thing we desire above all else. Our
deepest longings shall become our greatest possessions! And this
is the principle of His promise to the sons of the Kingdom! Blessed
are they that hunger and thirst after the righteousness of the
One
scholar says that the Greek expresses it this way, “Blessed are those who hunger for
the entire loaf and thirst for the entire pitcher.” God is
raising up a people that is not satisfied with the firstfruits of the Spirit, that is not
satisfied with the Spirit by measure, that is not satisfied with mere gifts and blessings, that is not satisfied with just
the feast of Passover or the feast of Pentecost, who will not settle for salvation and
speaking in tongues and a few healings and miracles along the way — they want the
whole package. They
want the fullness of God. They want perfection, the mind of Christ,
maturity, and incorruptible life and glory. Some think these are extremes, pipe dreams,
things that are too high for us. But such desires are “blessed” in
the words of the first manifested son of God! Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for the fullness of
God! Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for the Holiest of
all! Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for the feast of
Tabernacles! And
these are blessed simply because they shall
be filled!
The
The
greatest curse of religion is that it settles,
it forms its dogmas and creeds, its rituals and forms, it institutions and programs, and
builds its fences around them and there is nowhere to go beyond that. But the
Hunger
and thirst after God is not a condition that comes at will. We cannot will ourselves
to be hungry. We
cannot put an edge on appetite if the appetite is not there, except by some questionable
temporary stimulant; just as at the old Roman feasts men would drink bitter mixtures to
make them thirsty and regurgitate their food to regain their hunger. Only God
can give man a hunger for the Kingdom, just as it is only God who can satisfy the hunger. We pray
for our loved ones, we cry out to God because we are concerned, dismayed, or alarmed that
they have no hunger for the depths of God. It distresses us that they are satisfied with
the husks that the swine eat in the pig pens of the world or the church systems of man. And yet,
they cannot hunger until God’s time for
them arrives and He Himself creates within them the hunger. They
cannot will to hunger. Nor
does God command us, “Hunger! Thirst!” Jesus
merely explains the way of the Kingdom, the principle of the Kingdom — Blessed are
they that do hunger and thirst! Happy are they! We are happy because we
hunger, and we hunger because our heavenly Father sovereignly laid His hand upon
us and apprehended
us to His Kingdom. Yes!
WE
ARE BLESSED!
And,
furthermore, the quest for righteousness is the only quest that is certain of fulfillment.
In
this blessed crusade there can be no disappointments, no failures. We have
our Lord’s own word for it. If you are truly hungering and thirsting
after the fullness of God, my beloved, it is not possible to fail. “They
shall be filled” is the promise. Fed,
Filled, Satisfied! The
peacemakers are going to be called the sons of God; the merciful are going to obtain
mercy; the mourners are going to be comforted; the meek are going to inherit the earth. All of
these are divine certainties, absolute principles of the
Only
righteousness can satisfy. That is the law of the Kingdom. Should
you be given power without righteousness, it would not satisfy. Would not
it have been surprising, for instance, if Jesus had said, “Blessed are they that do
hunger and thirst after knowledge.”
How
great a thing is knowledge! “Knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly
to heaven,” said Shakespeare. There is not much danger these days of
underrating knowledge. The
pursuit of truth, the unveiling of nature’s secrets, the development of technology,
the exploration of the universe is mind-boggling. Alexander the Great so valued learning that
he used to say that he was more indebted to Aristotle for giving him knowledge than to
Philip his father for giving him life.
“Knowledge
is power,” said another; on which yet another comments that knowledge is power in the
sense that wood is fuel. Wood on fire is fuel and knowledge on fire is
power. There
is no more power in knowledge of itself than there is in pieces of sticks or lumps of
coal. Knowledge
is not power until it burns and sparkles in some earnest, consecrated life. When such
a life hungers and thirsts for knowledge then it becomes power. If we
desire the knowledge of God and the knowledge of His Kingdom only for the sake of knowledge, then we will never
be conformed into God’s image, we will never attain unto incorruptible life, nor will
we ever rule in the
“They
shall be filled.” “Whosoever
drinketh of this water shall never thirst.” Filled with righteousness means that they
shall be righteous. They shall be like Him. God has
made man’s spirit so great that no created thing can possibly feed it, much less fill
it. There
is a vacuum in the soul that nothing can fill but the life of God Himself. The world’s
concoction is like rich confectionery to a starving man. Only
spiritual realities can satisfy the spiritual life. “My soul thirsteth for the living God.”
I
believe that I would be correct in saying that the soul thirsts and the spirit hungers after God. And we
who hunger and thirst after God and His Kingdom and His righteousness in this hour are
being filled! To
be sure, this reaches far beyond the present. It can only be true in its literal
completeness when
we stand on
George MacDonald once put it so well: “To be filled with
righteousness is to forget even righteousness itself in the bliss of being righteous, that is, a son of God. The
thought of righteousness will vanish in the fact of righteousness. When a
creature is just what he is meant to be, what only he is fit to be; when, therefore, he is
truly himself, he never thinks what he is. He is that thing; why think about it? It is no
longer outside of him that he should contemplate it or desire it.” That is
what it means to be “filled with righteousness.” Filled
goes beyond hungering and thirsting. How blessed is the one who is filled!
All
through His ministry, Jesus emphasized the great value of eternal things, in contrast to
the material or visible things. The “blessed” one must be just as
hungry for righteousness as he would be for food if he had had none for days or weeks. All men
can understand this, for all of us have at one time or another had this experience in the
physical body. Jesus
insists that blessing is never attached to mere hungering and thirsting after natural things. Those who
seek wealth and prosperity in this world’s goods, those who say the “King’s
kids” should have the finest homes, the fastest cars, the best jobs, the most
expensive clothes, and the largest bank accounts know nothing of the blessing of the
Kingdom of God. “Seek
ye first the
To
hunger to add something more to our stature, some finer clothing to our wardrobe, or a
swimming pool to our place of dwelling promises no satisfaction or blessing. Even
those who seek after signs are hungering after externals and not after the
The
deepest meaning of righteousness is obedience to the will of God. Jesus
said, “My meat (the thing I hunger after, that sustains me) is to
do the will of Him that sent me.” That is true righteousness. It was
demonstrated in the life of the firstborn Son of God. The basic principle of His life was phrased
by the Psalmist, “Lo, I come to do Thy will O God.” He did
not come to save lost souls primarily. He did not come primarily to heal sick
bodies. He
did not come primarily to perform miracles, to feed the multitudes, to still the raging
sea, or to produce tax-money from the mouth of a fish. His sole mission on earth was to fulfill the
will of the Father.
The
sons of God must have this same testimony. Our all-consuming passion must be to
perfectly perform the will of God in our lives, whether that be working or waiting,
winning or losing, suffering or recovering, prospering or being impoverished, going or
staying, preaching or carpentering, or living or dying. We feel
helpless beside a truth so great and eternal. God must teach us these things. He sets
before us the example in Jesus. He hungered to be in the center of, and
perfectly obedient to, the will of the Father. He learned this obedience by the things which
He suffered (Heb. 5:8). The
sons of God today are learning this righteousness through the things which they suffer in
their maturing experience. Their personal action in the process is
merely to hunger and thirst after this righteousness. God wisely and sovereignly “sets us up”
by causing the circumstances to so arrange themselves into the suffering
by which He teaches us righteousness.
He
brings us into conformity with His will by the pressure of our environmental experiences. Our steps
are ordered by the Lord. And the righteousness thereby effected within
our lives is the righteousness of God. This is
exactly what the sons of God are hungering and thirsting after today. They are
bowing low before the Father and saying “Amen!” to the will of God. It is not
an external demonstration of righteousness that someone might behold and commend to exalt
our ego. It
is not a set of standards established by a group of religious churchmen. It is not
the observance of outward rules and regulations called holiness. We are
hungering after a deeper righteousness. We are hungering after the very life, the
very nature, the very substance of Christ that we might
become “the righteousness of
God in Christ Jesus.” Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after
this righteousness!
Chapter
32
THE
PRINCIPLES OF THE KINGDOM
(continued)
The
fifth beatitude, or principle of the
This
fifth principle of the
Mercy
is an aspect of the perfection of the Father’s nature. This is
to be found also in the sons. For sons it cannot be something we learn to
do, or something we do out of obligation because we are commanded to do it, but it must
flow out of the heart of the Father birthed within us. Many years ago there was a song titled,
“Doing what comes naturally.” That is
what all of Adam’s race is doing — what comes
naturally! In
Adam it is natural to sin, natural to doubt, natural to fear, natural to lust, natural to
strive, natural to fight, natural to hate, natural to cheat, natural to war, natural to
retaliate. All
these things and many more are natural because they spring out of nature. That is what natural means — nature-al. People just do what comes nature-ally! But the
sons of God are made partakers of the divine
nature. When
a son of God does “what comes naturally” he is acting just like his Father! Ah, yes,
we are putting on the mind of Christ, the law of God’s life is being inscribed within
our hearts, and we are coming to that place where we now think as God thinks, we now speak
as God speaks, we now walk like God walks, and we act like God acts. To be perfect
in character, to be pure in mind, to be kind, generous, faithful, loving and merciful is
becoming NATURAL! In
the words of the country song:
“I’m
seein’ my father in me,
I guess that’s how it’s meant to be,
And I find I’m more and more like him each day;
I notice I walk the way He walks,
I notice I talk the way He talks,
I’m startin’ to see my father in me.”
A
brother related the following experience. “I recall one time when I had laryngitis,
the doctor wanted to take a throat culture to see if I had an infection. He took a
long Q-tip and reached way back into my throat. I gagged and coughed. When he
withdrew the Q-tip he said, ‘I need to do this one more time.’ I said,
‘Okay. But
this time I won’t gag. I am going to practice positive thinking.’
He
shook his head and assured me that, in this case, positive thinking would not work. I
insisted that it would. And
so he explained, ‘Bob, the gag is a reflex.
A
reflex comes from the spine, not from the brain. I’ll put pressure on the back of your
tongue and you will gag. It’s that simple.’ Then he
demonstrated by having me cross my legs. He hit my knee. My leg
kicked. Then
he challenged me, ‘Okay, try positive thinking.’ I did. He hit my
knee again. My knee
kicked again. Then he
summarized, ‘The brain doesn’t control the spinal cord. And the
spinal cord is the source of a reflex. So, thinking,
be it positive or negative, won’t do you any good in this situation.”
The
nature of the sons of God works like a reflex. There is a realm beyond the mind and beyond
the will where the nature of God makes us
like our Father without conscious thought or effort. Children often walk or talk or laugh or
manifest some other mannerism just like one of their parents or some other ancestor. These are
inherited traits that have nothing to do with thought, training or effort. It is the
way we are. The
nature of God must be so formed in us by the operation of the Holy Spirit that the
attributes of God become our nature. If we are
still thinking about how we should act and react, if we are still trying to bring ourselves to the point where
we can manifest God’s life, then the nature of the Father has yet to be fully formed
in us. There
is no condemnation if you fall short; but trying will not do the job. Nature is
inherited on the basis of relationship,
and as we are truly born again from experience to experience, from realm to realm, we are
made partakers of the divine nature. When the Father’s life has truly become our life, the attributes of God will flow
naturally and effortlessly and powerfully from our lives!
Mercy
is not measured by outward demonstrations of kindness and goodness. As
wonderful as visible acts of kindness are, they do not guarantee the
possession of mercy in the heart as a true revelation of the Father. Any of us
can force our actions to conform outwardly to the standard we believe God requires of us. And even
though externally we appear to be kind and gracious and good and merciful, we are not yet
doing “what comes naturally.” Mercy by
revelation is the transmission of the very heart of God to the son. When
mercy flows out of our state of being,
every attitude and activity is merciful. There is no other possible way for the son of
God to act or react. Because
the Christ within cannot act in any other manner, the son of God cannot act in any other
manner. He
is merciful because he is filled with and possessed by the SPIRIT OF MERCY. “Blessed are the merciful!”
All
who rule and reign with Christ in His Kingdom rule in mercy. The
throne of God is the Throne of Mercy. “And
in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth...judging, and
seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness” (Isa. 16:5). In mercy
shall the throne be established, saith the Lord. God has come to our lives in mercy. The only
reason we are breathing today is because of His mercy. God didn’t have to wake us up this
morning in our right mind, but He did. Mercy is an aspect of God’s nature that
flows out to all men, for our heavenly Father causes His sun to rise on the evil and on the
good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. Man does not know how to be so merciful!
The
Greek word for throne is KICCE. It means the place or seat of authority. The
throne of God is not a golden chair somewhere out in outer space, nor is it a seat in
Before
David became king, while Saul was seeking to kill him, God put mercy in David’s
heart. David
and his men hid in many places in the mountains of
At
one time David was hiding with a few men in a great cave near the
When
Saul heard these words, his old love for David came back to him and he cried out, “Is
that your voice, my son David?” And Saul wept and said, “You are a
better man than I am, for you have done good to me, while I have been doing you harm. May the
Lord reward you for your kindness to me this day! I know that it is God’s will that you
shall be king, and you will rule over this people. Now give me your word, in the name of the
Lord, that you will not destroy my family, but that you will spare their lives.” And David
gave his promise to Saul in the name of the Lord; and Saul led his men away
from hunting David to his place at Gibeah. David is a type of the greater son of David
who was prophesied to reign in righteousness over the people of
The
greatness of a man is measured by his attitude toward his enemies. While
living here on earth, our Lord was extremely kind. He picked up little children and blessed
them. He
healed all who were suffering with disease and pain. While relatives were weeping over dead loved
ones, He raised four of them to life again. The Saviour of ALL men said to the woman
caught in adultery, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and sin no more.” His kindness made
an evangelist out of the licentious woman at the well. Because Jesus really loved the weak, helpless
creatures whom He had created, He wept over them, prayed for them, succored them, and
taught them continually. Except those religious Pharisees, Jesus never
spoke one cross word to the multitudes of people, saint or sinner. He was
very tender and kind and merciful in all His dealings with men. His
approach to them was very gentle, delicate and considerate. Surely,
then, we are safer in His hands than anywhere else! The things He has in store for every one of
us are far greater than we could plan for ourselves.
Does
God expect His sons to be either better or less than Himself? In Luke 6:35-36 we read, “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend,
hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be THE SONS OF THE
HIGHEST; for HE IS KIND UNTO THE UNTHANKFUL AND TO THE EVIL, BE YE THEREFORE MERCIFUL, AS YOUR FATHER ALSO IS MERCIFUL.” In this
instance Jesus plainly says that if we desire to be the
sons of the Highest, we must be merciful as He is merciful. THE
HIGHEST IS MERCIFUL TO ALL!
The
question follows: Why should the Highest be merciful to the evil and the unthankful? The
answer is clear — that the evil
one and the unthankful one may come to know the mercy and goodness of God! They
would never know that mercy in any other way. If Jesus teaches us that we are to be kind to
those who mis-use us, reproach us, curse us, and make themselves our enemies, then what
kind of a God and Father would He be, whose words Jesus taught us, who would hate His enemies, refuse to be kind and merciful to those who
oppose Him, and cast them into merciless eternal hell to burn forever —even
if they deserve it? If
such a thing were to be, then God would require us to be better
than Himself! Jesus
teaches us that we are to be kind and merciful to the most despicable of men. Do we
then have a Father whose nature is entirely opposite to ours? Impossible!
The
sons of God are sent, as was the Son, to reveal the nature of our Father to all — not merely in words, but by our actions.
If
we see a God who loves only those who love Him, then we have a very small and fickle God
indeed. But
Jesus taught us the principles of the
Are
we to suppose that God requires us to behave in one way toward the unrighteous, while His
own disposition toward them is exactly the opposite? Are we to believe that our Father commands us to
love our enemies, bless them that curse us, do good to them that hate us, and pray for
them that persecute us...while He banishes His enemies to everlasting damnation, torturing
endlessly those that curse Him, meeting
out eternal vengeance upon those that hate Him,
and shutting up all mercy from those who persecute Him?
But
that is exactly what the churches tell us. What great nonsense! What
horrible blasphemy! “Oh,”
they say, “God does not send men to hell; they take themselves there.” What an
absurd, unspeakable cop out! It is God Himself who has all power over
every creature and over every event that transpires in the whole universe. There is
no power but of God. He
is the Judge of all. None
can go into hell except that He banishes them there. Men do not go down into hell on their own
volition. No
man would! Adam
didn’t leave the Garden of his own volition, God Himself drove the
man from the Garden. The
serpent didn’t do it; God did. And the devil certainly isn’t the one
who takes men to hell! No
scripture says that.
God
in infinite wisdom has ordained judgment for His corrective purposes, but blessed be His
name, He always makes a way for His banished to return. Is it not
obvious that if even one ounce of that infinite
love, of that unequaled goodness, of that unending mercy, of that omnipotent
power of the heavenly Father and His sons
in His image, were to reach these people — the goodness of
God would ultimately triumph and lead all men to repentance; and hell would eventually freeze over! And it is
so! Hallelujah!
It
is so! How
do I know? The
Bible tells me so. Furthermore,
the mind of Christ and my Father’s nature and heart within my own ransomed spirit tell me so! That is
why God Himself is the Saviour, the Deliverer, and the Redeemer. He loves
the sinner enough to be patient even for long ages with him; He loves the sinner enough to
forgive him any depth of vileness, insult, or injury; He loves him enough to pardon,
cleanse, and transform him by His Infinite Grace and Omnipotent Power. He hates
sin enough to deal with it, He hates death enough to destroy it, and He hates hell enough
to empty it! It
cannot but be true, David’s testimony of Him, “His mercy endures for the ages...”
God
not only reigns in
righteousness, He reigns in mercy. Mercy is
the activity of His authority and power. “And in mercy shall the throne be
established” (Isa. 16:5). The Hebrew word for throne also means “a
canopy; something that is covered.” The mercy seat in the tabernacle in the
wilderness was covered by the skins and the veil of the
The
world today is full of people who excel in so many virtues, and live in a state of
holiness so far as their conduct is concerned, and yet spoil it all with an unmerciful
disposition. It
has been said that there are only two kinds of sin: there are the sins of the body and the
sins of the disposition (soul). Christians have been conditioned to condemn
the sins of the body as far worse than the sins of the disposition. But listen to this, O
sons of God: No form of vice, not worldliness, not greed of money and possessions, not
foul language, not drunkenness or drug abuse, not adultery or sexual perversion, does more
to shut up God from men than unmercifulness.
For
embittering life, for splitting churches, for breaking up communities, for destroying the
most sacred relationships, for devastating homes, for alienating friends and loved ones,
for withering up men and women, for perverting the innocence of childhood, for fostering
hostilities and warfare, in short, for sheer misery-producing power, lack of love and
unmercifulness take the lead.
The
sins of the body and the sins of the soul (disposition) are illustrated by the story of
the Prodigal Son and his Elder Brother. But, ultimately, which was worse? And how
many prodigal sons are kept out of the
The
writer to the Hebrews put it this way: “Forasmuch then as the children (of God) are
partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same. For
verily He took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore
in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a
MERCIFUL AND FAITHFUL HIGH PRIEST in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for
the sins of the people” (Heb. 2:14-18). When the Word of God consented to be made
flesh, to strip Himself of the glory He had before, and become a man, a human being, to
live among the vileness of the sinful, rebellious, and dying, to be touched by the same
infirmities, weaknesses, and feelings that touch us, to suffer being tempted in all points
like as we are, to be rejected and suffer the agony of false accusation and the
humiliation of ridicule, the pain of the stripes received from the Roman lashes, and the
suffering of the cross itself — why did He submit
to all this? The
stock answer to this is that He had to become a man and suffer and die in order to
purchase our redemption. This is true. This is a
part of the reason He became a man, but only
part of it; there is much more to the reason He became a man, much more.
Not
for one moment would I detract from His great love for us in the sacrifice He made for our
salvation. Such
love, such wondrous love! Words fail to express the wonder of all that
was transacted at
Let
all men know that God is a GOD OF MERCY! “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow
to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will He
keep His anger for ever” (Ps. 103:8-10). “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all
ye lands. For
the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth unto all generations”
(Ps. 100:1,5). “Be
ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful” (Lk. 6:36). “Blessed
are the merciful...” (Mat. 5:7). SONS OF THE HIGHEST will be merciful even as
their Father! It
is the mark of sonship.
The
following words by Paul Mueller are precious truth for this hour. “The
basic principle of mercy in the
“Most
certainly, what most Christians believe is far from the basic principles of the
“All
who receive of the Lord’s salvation and enter His house do so by the abundant mercies
of the Lord. The
Psalmist said, ‘I will come into Thy house in the multitude of Thy mercy’
(Ps. 5:7). And
all who dwell continually in His house are surrounded by His goodness and mercy. David
said, ‘Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I
will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever’ (Ps. 23:6). The basic
principle of the
“The
Lord has had mercy on His elect in
Demonstrations
of mercy, such as the world has never known, are now upon the horizon, ready to be
manifested at our Father’s appointed time. Ah, darkness covers the earth, and gross
darkness the people, but God is forming a body of His own nature with a message of mercy and hope, and in them the light of His glory
shall arise upon all the ends of the earth. God is preparing a merciful priesthood to
minister unto all the kindreds and nations of mankind. It is a light arising in the darkness and out
of the darkness to swallow up all the darkness everywhere. It is a theatrical of mercy in a world of wrath and violence and degradation.
My
earnest prayer to God is that all His dear sons shall learn this one grand truth: “Judge
not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be
judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again” (Mat.
7:1-2). That
is but a negative way of saying, “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.” Note the
words: Shall be judged — shall be
measured. There
are two kinds of judgment. One is of condemnation; the other is of
mercy. The
one is according to appearance and accusation of evil; the other is righteous judgment and
according to truth and mercy. Jesus commands to “Judge not according
to appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” He warns against the judgment which arises
from faultfinding and condemning. The warning is just this: You will be judged with your
own judgment, and you will be measured with, or in, your
own measure. The
measure that you use for others is the very same measure that shall be used for you — until you learn! Until you become a merciful one!
How precious this inworking of His grace whereby we
are being transformed to become HIS MERCIFUL ONES. How long we have walked with God without
learning what it means to “have mercy,” to become a vessel or channel
through whom His mercy is poured forth. There has been far too much fight in us, a
demand for justice according to what we perceived to be justice. “And
that He might make known the riches of His glory on the
vessels of mercy, which He had afore prepared unto glory, even us, whom He
hath called...” (
Merciful
priests! The
priestly heart is above all things a sympathetic, compassionate, merciful heart, in which
the love of Christ constrains us to express His goodness unto men. If a
vicious serial killer is caught and slain, or some homosexual activist is murdered, there
is that deceitful self-righteous spirit within us which silently judges, saying, “Good...there
is one less murderer or one less pervert in the world.” That is
not the Spirit of God, and it is not the judgment of a Priest of God. A
priestly heart! Oh,
Spirit of God! Write
upon my heart, with indelible letters, the merciful heart of my High Priest! It is my
deep conviction that it is more important to manifest the nature of Christ in meeting a
person’s need, than in witnessing to people about the “plan of salvation.” Christians
have become so conditioned to the idea that they aren’t “doing anything for God”
unless they go out and witness, skillfully using the sword of the Word of God. But, my
precious brother, my dear sister, when you are merciful and encourage and help people in
their desperate need, you become a living
word to them that says, “I care and
God cares for you!” Jesus speaks His word through us in actions,
we become a word that is alive to them, not a dead, printed word, or doctrinal word, or
religious word, but a Living Word. This is a life to be lived, as Jesus did, and
it is more important than witnessing, quoting scripture verses, teaching or preaching. Instead
of witnessing, we BECOME THE WITNESS of what our Father is really like.
There
is no need to be skilled in the wisdom and ways of this world, no need to attend a Bible
School or Seminary; no special talent is needed, no training, no education, no wealth, no
power, or attainment in order to BE A VESSEL OF MERCY. Any saint of God can be a merciful priest any
day, because there are people who need help every day! When we care for them, we are bringing the
heart of God to them in the place of their need. Our Father cares for every soul that has ever
seen the light of day upon this planet. The way that He has chosen to reveal that He
cares is through His MERCIFUL PRIESTHOOD. That is why it is so important for us to know
what our Father is like, that He is a God of justice and a God that is filled with
kindness and tender mercies that endure throughout all ages.
It
is the property of God to always have mercy, and mercy triumphs over judgment. His mercy
is above the heavens. It
is from everlasting to everlasting. He has provided a way that the banished may
always return. There
can be no limits to God’s mercy. Men have limits to their mercy, but our
Father has none. The
mercy of God is not only mercy, it is tender
mercy. It
is mercy of the utmost tenderness and compassionate love and infinite kindness. It is
mercy that reaches to all, to the darkest sin, and to the lowest hell. Christ
Himself manifested that mercy. It is mercy without any alloy, pure, and
without any restraint. It
is mercy without any remembrance of the transgression. It is the blotting of it out. The
record is erased. It
is the casting of it into the deep sea of eternal forgetfulness. It
extends through all time and into eternity. Those who would be priests of the Most High
must exercise His mercy. When you exercise mercy it must be in great
tenderness; not grudgingly, not by compulsion, but because it is your nature to do it. Gentle
and heavenly mercy is of God. When God speaks of mercy, He uses a figure
which is of the sublimest character. He says not only that His mercy endures for
all ages, but that His mercy is above the heavens, as if it were the dome of Infinite Love
over all. Matters
not where are the heavens of His justice and wrath; His mercy is higher than all! It shines
brightest in the fair crown of God Himself. It seems as if it were the celestial diamond
in the diadem of heaven. On the brows of all God’s sons there is
no brighter gem. He
sets a crown of forgiveness and tender mercy upon our brows. When we
are compassionate and kind and merciful, we are most like God, the very sons of the
Father.
THE
PURE IN HEART
The
sixth principle of the
This
truth is powerfully expressed in one of the writings of George Wylie. He
writes, “Some years ago, at a camp meeting I attended, there was a lovely flow of
teaching. There
was very little prophecy, but wonderful teaching. The people, and especially the young people,
expressed their appreciation of the teaching. ‘This is just what we need,’ they
said. When
it came to the last meeting, and the teaching ministry had not reached its climax, one of
the brethren said to one who had taken it on himself to direct the meetings, ‘Don’t
you think we should let the teaching ministry finish?’ ‘No,’
he answered, ‘we want to pray and prophesy over some people, we want to impress some
who are here from a certain area.’ I won’t mention any names, but the idea
was to try and impress those present with the greatness of our prophetic ministry. We wanted
to let them see how we could do it. So we got some people up on the platform
where all could see and prophesied gifts and ministries to them. I don’t
think they were the least impressed, as we never saw them again.
“One
wonders, when such things are done, how much of God is in it and how much of the fleshly
nature; how much of the prophecy was from God, and how much came from the mind of man. We have
seen some poor earnest souls struggling to exercise a gift, and fulfill a ministry that
was prophesied to them, that didn’t seem to be there. How we
need to make sure that our deeds are wrought
in God. ‘Lord,
Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name...and in Thy name done many wonderful
works...depart from me, ye workers of
lawlessness.’ How
we need to make sure that our hands are clean, that when we carry into the temple our
sacrifice of praise and service, to present it to the Lord, that it is not defiled with
the uncleanness of the works of darkness, the corruption of the flesh, and the pride of
self. Are
we ministering unto the Lord in pure love or are we looking for praise and acclaim from
men, trying to impress others with our ability and greatness.
“‘Who
has the right to climb the
“Our
heart is our inward man and when we first invite the Saviour in, our heart is not pure;
besides the Lord being there, there is a lot of the old self nature. We have
dual personality, a mixture of self and the Spirit of Christ. These two
are at enmity with one another. There is constant conflict between the flesh
and the spirit. Whether
we call it self, the flesh, sin, the carnal nature, or the old man, it is all one and the
same and is contrary to God and doing His will. ‘For the desires of the flesh are
against the spirit, and the desires of the spirit are against the flesh; for these are
opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you would’ (Gal. 5:17, R.S.V.).
If
one is careless, and not overly concerned about pleasing the Lord, he may not be too
conscious of this conflict and most of the time he will be living after the flesh; but if
your heart’s desire is to do the will of God you will certainly know of this war in
your inward parts. When
we desire to do the will of God, the old self is there to oppose. Sometimes
we know when the flesh has had its way, but many times we have been doing the will of self
and are convinced we have done the will of God. ‘The heart is deceitful above all
things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it?’ (Jer. 17:9). It is so
deceitful that one can even commit murder and think he is doing God’s will. Jesus
said, ‘They shall put you out of the synagogues; yea, the time cometh, that whosoever
killeth you will think that he doeth God a service’ (Jn. 16:2). Can you
imagine a man being so deceived? It is easy! Many
today, even among the professed elect, are committing character murder, slandering a
brother in Christ, desiring to kill his ministry and destroy his influence with God’s
children, and are convinced they are doing God’s will.
“The
pure in heart is one in which only one
personality dwells. Paul
described the pure in heart when he said, ‘I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I
live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me.’ Paul’s old self nature had been brought
to death, it no longer existed, only the Christ lived within him. Paul’s
old nature was gone and the divine nature controlled his being. If we are
to have a heart pure enough to be able to stand when He appeareth, we will have to come to
this place also.
“If we are to arrive at the place God wants us
to attain, and be what He wants us to be, the old self nature has to go. If from
us a pure stream of the water of life is to flow to the restoration
and life of the rest of creation, this river must be unpolluted. I think
we should all be conscious of the fact that in the course of our ministry we may receive
something pure directly from God, but after flowing through a carnal vessel what comes out
of our mouth may not be all that pure. It could, and usually does, pick up some
impurities along the way. It is like running pure water through a dirty
pipe. The
water may be pure when it enters the pipe, but what comes out the other end has very
likely picked up some of the impurities left by what formerly flowed through the pipe. We have
been contaminated with sin and self, and even though saved and washed in the blood, there
is still fleshliness in us and we are still possessed with selfish and carnal desires;
some of our own thoughts and desires can be mixed with what God has given us as it flows
through us to others. My
prayer for years has been, ‘Lord, as I minister what you have given me to give to
your people, please let it be a pure stream; let it not be polluted with my own thoughts
or desires as it flows through my mind. Cleanse my mind, renew my mind that I may
only have the mind of Christ.’ Every time I sit down at the computer to
write, my last prayer is, ‘Lord, I am your vessel; I want you to use this vessel. I want to
be like your firstborn Son who said, I speak only the words I have heard from my Father; I
want to do the same. Give
me the words to write and help me to write only what you have given me, no more and no
less; prevent any of my own thoughts or feelings from entering into this writing’” — end quote.
The pure heart
is the heart that thinks only redemptive thoughts toward all mankind, regardless of
their race, their religion or lack of it, or the degree of sin in their lives. God loves
them all, God was in Christ reconciling them all, not imputing their trespasses unto them,
and God shall deliver and change them all, in their due order (I Cor. 15:23). We are
the elect who are now being changed in our order, for this Day is the Day of God’s
choosing in our lives to change us into the image and likeness of Christ. The
process of our change requires a new heart. We shall have a heart that wills only the
purposes of God and His Kingdom. It is the heart that counts all men and all
things as reconciled unto God. It is the heart that embraces the power of
the
This
may, in some respects, be called the greatest of the beatitudes; for surely of all things,
the most sublime is seeing God. “Blessed
are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” The word “see” in the original
tongue is interchangeable with the word “know,” and must be so understood. “Blessed
are the pure in heart: for they shall know
God.” It
is better to know God than even to see Him by the eyes of sense. There were many who saw
Jesus who did not know Him. They saw the Christ, but they knew not that
He was the Christ. They
saw His miracles, but they did not know Him. They thought that He was a great Teacher or
Prophet, but they did not see God in Him. They even rejected Him and hated Him, some of
them. You
could see Christ Himself in bodily form today, but unless you had purity of heart you
could not know Him to be the Christ. I do not mean that you must be sinless, with
never a wrong thought or deed. No, that is not what I mean by pure in heart.
Your
heart must be single, unmixed, turned
wholly to the Lord, the Spirit. Then you will know God when you see Him. Only such
purity of heart gives purity of sight.
As
one has written, “The nature of Jesus Christ will be demonstrated in the lives of the
sons of God. His
characteristic conduct will be reproduced again through them. Even as
the holiness of His conduct is to be reproduced in this company, also His pureness of
heart shall be duplicated within them. He does not declare, “Blessed are the
pure in deeds: for they shall see God.”
Frankly,
one can have exemplary conduct and yet not have purity of heart. We can
manifest good deeds without having them spring from pure motives. With a
sinister purpose and evil motive men can look good and act good at times. So we
conclude that the pure in heart are not necessarily detected by good deeds.
“Knowing
now by this instruction of Jesus that sons of God must have purity of heart, our next
consideration is how to obtain it. The beatitude states that the pure in heart
shall see God. There is
no higher, no more glorious reward than to see God. It is not here making reference to a natural
view of God with physical eyes, visualized as some ancient prophet with long flowing locks
of snow white hair, or as a cloud of brilliant haze, or devouring fire as beheld by the
Israelites throughout the wilderness journey, and by the High Priest in the Holy of
holies.
“The
apostle John tells us that ‘No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son
who is in the bosom of the Father, He has revealed Him, has made Him known’ (Jn.
1:18). Paul
supports this truth, saying, ‘I command you to keep the commandments unstained and
free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. And this
will be made manifest at the proper time by the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of
kings, and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light
whom no man has ever seen or can see’ (I Tim. 6:15-16). John and
Paul are both writing about visibly seeing God with the physical eyes of man. Jesus
affirms this same fact when He says, ‘And the Father who sent me has Himself borne
witness to me. His
voice you have never heard. His form you have never seen’ (Jn.
5:37). He
repeats the thought in John 6:46 by the reference, ‘Not that anyone has seen the
Father except Him who is from God. He has seen the Father.’ In I John
4:12 there is another reference to the fact that the Father is not beheld in physical form
by man. ‘Beloved,
if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No man has ever seen God. If we
love one another God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.’
“Perhaps
these scriptures are sufficient to show that man is not to expect to see God with his
human eyes, nor to expect to behold Him in the form of a man. Therefore,
this promise of Jesus to the pure in heart, does not indicate a physical beholding of a
material form of God. He
promises to the pure in heart the view of the Father which He, Himself, always
experienced. The
word ‘see’ used in the beatitude is specifically indicating SPIRITUAL
PERCEPTION. In
John 3:3, the word ‘see’ is used in this sense. ‘Jesus
answered him, Truly, truly, I say unto you, Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the
“Jesus
was not saying, ‘Look
at Jesus of Nazareth, son of Mary, and you see the Truth and the Life.’ It was
the eternal God speaking through the human lips of an earthly tabernacle who could lay
claim to being the I AM who is the Way and the Truth and the Life. Many had
seen and known the earthly tabernacle of Jesus of Nazareth after the flesh, or from the
human viewpoint, who never saw the eternal Christ, the Deity, the God within Him. Likewise,
many are now beholding the earthly tabernacles of the sons of God today after the human
viewpoint, who never see the Christ, the Deity, the God within them. They have
never seen Him who spoke through Jesus’ lips to declare, ‘Before Abraham was, I
am.’ They
neither knew Him nor had seen Him, although Jesus had walked in their midst for over
thirty years. They
saw with physical eyes and understood with human comprehension and thereby knew only after
the flesh and not after the spirit. Only those who came to know Him after the spirit had truly seen
the Father.
“‘Beloved,
we are God’s children now. It does not yet appear what we shall be, but
we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And
everyone who has this hope within him,
purifies himself even as He is pure’ (I Jn. 3:2-3). The
‘hope’ which is making us purify ourselves is the hope of this glory coming to
us, the hope of seeing God as He is. Millions
who only hope to see Jesus coming in clouds are doing nothing about purifying themselves
as He is pure. But
a company that has become anxious and hungry to see
God as He is is setting to work to purify
themselves. When
we receive the revelation that God plans to again fully manifest Himself in some human
tabernacles, we immediately make ourselves candidates for that demonstration, and begin to
purify ourselves (become single, unmixed, unadulterated), as He is pure, that we might
qualify to see God as He is, and be of the company of sons in whom He will be glorified,
and through whom He will manifest Himself to the waiting world. When you
inspect the company that today is attempting a purification of themselves in the inner
man, you will find it to be the people that has this blessed hope — that God once
more is going to descend into tabernacles of flesh. This time it will not be just one Son, but a
company of ‘many sons brought to glory’”
— end quote.
George
MacDonald adds these inspiring words: “It is not because we are created and He
uncreated, it is not because of any difference involved in that difference of all
differences, that we cannot see God. If He
pleased to take a shape, and that shape were presented to us, and we saw that shape, we
should not therefore be seeing God. Even if we knew it was a shape of God — call it even God
Himself our eyes rested upon; if we had been told the fact and believed the report; yet,
if we did not see the Godness, we should
not be seeing God, we would only be seeing the tabernacle in which for the moment He
dwelt. In
other words, not seeing in the form what
made it a form fit for Him to take, we
should not be seeing a presence, a reality which could only be God. To see
God is to stand on the highest point of being. Not until we see God —no
partial and passing embodiment of Him, but the abiding reality — do we stand upon our own mountain-top, the height of the
existence God has given us, and up to which He is leading us. That
there we should stand is the end of our creation. This truth is at the heart of everything,
means all kinds of completions, may be uttered in many ways; but language will never
compass it, for form will never contain it. We not only may, but we must so know Him, and
it can never be until we are pure in heart. Then shall we know Him with the infinitude of
an ever-growing knowledge.”
I
could see God tonight,
if my heart were right.
If all the rubbish in my soul
were cleared away, I’d be whole.
My breast then would thrill in glad surprise
of all the wonders before my eyes.
If my heart were right,
I could see God tonight,
and the radiance of His face.
I’d fling with light and fill this place
with beauty and the world would know
the face of God down here below
tonight;
if my heart were right.
Chapter
33
THE
PRINCIPLES OF THE KINGDOM
(continued)
Matthew
5:9 gives us the seventh principle of the
Jesus
Christ, the firstborn Son of God, is the Prince of Peace. Jesus Christ, the Prince of
Peace, resides within His elect, the body of Christ. Can we not see by this that with Christ in
our lives God has given us the role of peacemakers in this world? Has it occurred to you what it is a
peacemaker does? A
peacemaker is expected to MAKE PEACE! If you fulfill what Jesus said about
peacemakers, you will be blessed indeed. You will be called the
sons of God! The
nature of your Father will be recognized in your life, and acknowledged. In order
to be
a peacemaker you must become involved in legitimate conflicts. In this
world, if you truly want to be blessed in the Kingdom dimension of the term, you have to
encounter crises and conflicts and get involved in them so that you can change the
conflict into a peaceful situation. You can do it even now, for the spirit of
sonship is already within you! If you are not willing to become a peacemaker
in the nitty-gritty of everyday life, don’t think that in some future blaze of glory
you will suddenly become qualified to be a peacemaker on behalf of nations and
principalities and powers. Many have no desire to become involved in
conflict and problems. We
would just as soon stay at home, laid back in our Lazy Boy recliner, with a glass of iced
tea, watching our favorite television program, and say, “Thank you, Lord, for that
wonderful word you gave me, that you will make a son of God and a peacemaker out of me. I
feel so peaceful here! May
everyone know this deep peace that I have come into.”
Comfort
does not make peace. The
peace that we experience in the absence of conflict is
While
writing on this blessed subject of the principles of the
“The
Hebrew word ‘shalom’ is the word that is translated peace when the prophet says
that Christ is the Prince of Peace. But the Hebrew word means much more than the
English word, ‘peace,’ would imply. The word ‘shalom’ also means to be
safe, well and happy. It
means that every person who comes into the kingdom or dominion of Christ will also be
healthy and prosperous, and will live on this earth in peace (Lk. 2:14). By the
anointed power and divine leadership of the sons of God, who will be moving in the Spirit
and functioning at their Father’s direction in this world, every person of every
nation shall enjoy the many blessings implied in the word shalom. The sons of God are peacemakers, just like
their Prince or Head, for they bring everything around them into a peaceful state. In Father’s
time, He shall raise us up to proclaim peace to all.
Yea,
our message shall be more than peace, for we shall decree ‘SHALOM’ and all that
it means to all mankind. And if this sounds like too much of a task
for us to envision, much less fulfill, we should remember that ‘the zeal of the
Lord of hosts will perform this.’ That which is impossible with man is always
possible with God!
“To
become peacemakers, we must have the peace of God inworked within us. The
anointed prophet said, ‘Lord, you will
ordain peace (God’s favor and blessings, temporal and spiritual) for us, for you have
also wrought in us and for us all our works’ (Isa. 26:12, Amp.). In order
for us to have peace and be peacemakers, the Lord must establish His peace within us. And it
should give us great peace just to know that He is doing it! All the
work necessary to make us what we must be in His kingdom is the Lord’s work. He has
wrought all our works in us and for us. All the work necessary to make us Melchizedek
kings and priests unto God is the Lord’s work. And He is doing it within us for His glory” — end quote.
The
word that Jesus used for “peace” reached to the very heart of what He meant when
He spoke of the “peacemakers” who are the sons of God. This
important term involves harmony not merely with man, but especially harmony with God. Let us
remember that in all of Jesus’ teaching, the paramount issue was man’s
relationship with God. Man’s
relationship with his fellow man always took a secondary place. He said that we must love
God first, and then love our neighbor as our self. We can only manifest to men what we have
first of all experienced and appropriated in our relationship with the Father. Every
teaching of Jesus was God-centered first. It cannot be otherwise! And thus
it is in relationship to peacemaking — we, and all
creation, must first be brought into harmony with our heavenly Father before peace can
reign between men and nations on the earth.
The
word peace is used approximately 90 times in the New Testament, and in the vast majority
of cases it is used in reference to harmony with God. It has become clear to me that this principle
of the Kingdom is related primarily to harmony with God. “Blessed
are the peacemakers” — those who have
within themselves entered into peace with God, and have launched upon a mission to bring all men into
that same harmony with God. When men can be brought into harmony with the
Father, concern about their relationship with one another becomes unnecessary, for the
peace of God out of the heavenly realm flows into them and through them, bringing peace on earth, goodwill to men!
Yes,
our Lord Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace. He came to bring peace. Peace is
alien to earth. When
sin entered, peace fled. The moment that sin entered man removed
himself from harmony with God, and peace fled. Adam and Eve themselves were at strife with
God and each other, so that their firstborn son had the spirit of the devil and was a
murderer from the beginning. He slew his own brother. The
second Man, the last Adam, was the Lord from heaven. When He was once rejected, in the days of His
flesh, His disciples, with indignation, besought Him to command fire to come down from
heaven and destroy those wicked people. His answer comes down to us through the ages:
“Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s
lives, but to save them” (Lk. 9:55-56). The
firstborn son of Adam was a murderer, but the firstborn Son of God was a Saviour. One was
the peace breaker shedding his brother’s blood, the other was the peacemaker
shedding His own blood that He might make peace with God. Yet the
Christ had power to destroy men’s lives, if He had the will. When He
stood there with the cross in full view, He said to His persecutors that it was in His
power to call twelve legions of angels. If that heavenly host which hovered about
that Son could have once made itself manifest, oh, how they would have swept that doomed
city, that accursed conclave of false priests, and those wretched, blind and filthy-minded
heathen soldiers! How
the breath of those heavenly angels could have swept the life out of them and swept them
down into hell and the grave. But that is not God’s way in redemption.
That
is not the mission of the Son of God nor of the sons of God.
“For
by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth,
visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or
powers; all things were created by Him and for Him: and He is before all things, and by Him all things
consist. And,
having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to RECONCILE
ALL THINGS UNTO HIMSELF, by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in
heaven. And
you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled” (Col.
1:16-17,20-21). “And
all things are of God, who hath reconciled
us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath
given to US the ministry of reconciliation;
to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling
the world unto Himself by Jesus Christ, and
hath given unto US the word of
reconciliation. Now
then we are ambassadors for Christ (the representatives of His Kingdom), as though God did
beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead,
be ye reconciled to God” (II Cor. 5:18-20).
Here
we see the great truth that reconciliation is first and foremost unto God. And it is utterly impossible for any man or
any creature on earth or in heaven to exclude himself from this most precious provision — the reconciliation of all unto God. Before
the reader can shut himself, or any other man or being out from the application of this
grace, he must prove that he does not belong to earth, for all things in earth are
reconciled; he must prove that he does not belong to heaven, for all things in the heavens
are reconciled; he must prove that he does not belong to the “all things” that
are created, because all created things are reconciled; and since he has no identification
with any of the all things created, the all things in earth, and the all things in heaven,
therefore he is excluded from being reconciled! This he cannot do. Every foot of this earth
and every man upon this earth belongs to Christ, for the earth is the Lord’s and the
fullness thereof: the world, and they that dwell therein. On that
wonderful day when God created “all things” in earth and in heaven He also said,
“Let us make man in our image, and after our likeness.” God made
every man and Christ tasted death for every
man, and therefore every foot of the earth and every man on the earth belongs to
Christ my Lord, first by right of creation, and second by right of redemption.
Far
too many Christians testify like this: “Thank God I’m saved, sanctified, and
baptized in heaven’s sweet Holy Ghost — but it’s
too bad for the rest of you people. Thank God He laid His hand on me, so I
believed and am on my way to heaven — but it is going
to be hell for the rest of you. Come quickly, Lord Jesus, and take me out of
this sin-cursed world, and let it go to the devil.” Few
people, even if they had the authority, would condemn anyone, even their worst enemy, to a
burning, scorching, tormenting, eternal hell. Yet they expect God to do it! Some, as
we have spoken of the good consolation and everlasting hope we have for all men, have
said, wistfully, “I wish it were true.” But sadly they confessed that their own sense
of hope and mercy obviously exceeded that of God’s. Other
folk would never be satisfied for God to judge the world in a way that would bring the
world back to Himself. Their
attitude is, if men have spurned God’s love, if they have lived in sin, if they have
done wickedly, if they have drawn their last breath blaspheming His name, or even if they
have carelessly neglected so great a salvation, then let them burn in hell — they deserve it!
And
these so-called followers of the Lamb of God who died to take away the SIN OF THE WORLD
would personally join in shoveling the coal and seeing to it that they get
everything they deserve — and perhaps a
little bit more! I
have no hesitation whatever in saying that people who hold that attitude are not
Christians at all. They
are devils.
Reconciliation
brings harmony and peace. “And having made peace
by the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile
all things unto Himself.” “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself.” The
distinguishing characteristic of a son of
God is that he is a peacemaker above all
things. How
are we to be peacemakers? We are peacemakers, first of all, by being at
peace with God. We
cannot make peace; we cannot assist in ministering God’s peace, unless we are
ourselves at peace. If
I am to be an ambassador for the
The
Lord is trusting His sons with the job of seeing to it that the lost men and
women of the world and out of all ages know that God has reconciled them unto Himself, not
imputing their trespasses unto them. The Christians in the church systems today
cannot fulfill this awesome task, because they are still imputing men’s sins unto them. When they
say, “You are headed straight for eternal hell,” they are imputing men’s
sins unto them. When
they shun men because of their evil or wickedness, they are imputing men’s sins unto
them. When
they say a person who died without Christ is eternally doomed, they are imputing men’s
sins unto them. Every
time we think judgmental thoughts against people for their sins and errors, we impute
their sins unto them. The
sons of God are not sent to threaten men with damnation if they do not receive Jesus — there are
plenty of God’s immature, mis-guided, deceived, naive little children who are doing that! The sons
are sent with the message that all men and the whole world are reconciled to God on God’s part, and to convince them, not that
they are going to hell, but that they should be
reconciled to God within themselves. The church world has a ministry of
threatening men and coercing them by fear of hell-fire; the sons of God are the sons of
peace and love and mercy who speak the word of reconciliation into men’s lives by the
Spirit.
Now,
as representatives, as ambassadors of Jesus Christ and His eternal Kingdom, you and I are
to minister this reconciliation to the world. The debt of sin has been paid in full. The books
are balanced so far as God is concerned. Divine righteousness is theirs also, when
they will finally lay down their rebellion and surrender, believing God’s word of
love, and accepting the life He offers them in exchange for their death. As Ray
Prinzing once said, “Not charging them with guilt, to heap upon them loads of
condemnation, but simply giving them the GOOD WORD, namely, that God loves them, forgives them, and is ready to
receive them back to Himself. All is well, come home — forsake your
wayward course, the Father waits to receive you. No word of condemnation, not imputing a list
of sins against you, but a word of hope, of grace, of love.” And the
sons will never give up, for God’s heart of infinite love will never give up. He will
seek the sheep as far as they have strayed, and carry them home. Jesus did
the work, and now God is making His appeal through us. God shall make a full and lasting peace with
the world through His sons, His peacemakers. Blessed are those through whom God brings the
world to peace with Himself! That is the ultimate of the ministry of the
sons of God. The
ministry of Jesus is a pattern picture of the ministry of the sons. Amazing
grace! Stupendous
and glorious plan! What
a ministry!
THE
PERSECUTED
The
final principle in this preamble to the Constitution of the Kingdom is the eighth. “Blessed
are they that are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven” (Mat. 5:10). Sometimes we take a mistaken attitude toward the “blessedness”
that comes from fulfilling these principles of the
Jesus
did not evaluate things the way we evaluate them. We measure success and blessedness by the
effectiveness of our ministry. We use the world’s system in determining
“blessedness.” Jesus used the divine instrument of measure — divine evaluation
of what constitutes blessedness. Blessedness, He asserts in this case, is
experienced by those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, and the
Righteousness
means “right-ness”. To be persecuted for righteousness’ sake
is to be persecuted for that which is right. But even then it doesn’t involve just
any kind of right-ness! A
person may be persecuted because they are politically
right, that is, on the right side of some political issue, but that certainly would
not qualify them as a possessor of the
People,
including professed Christians, are persecuted for various reasons. Sometimes
the cause of persecution is ignorance. But Jesus does not promise, “Blessed are
they that are persecuted for ignorance,” any more than, “Blessed are they that
are persecuted for wrong doing.” I have met a great number of people through
the years who are filled with self pity because they are being persecuted for their
Christian walk, when the fact is they are being persecuted for saying or doing
unwise, ignorant, outlandish, ridiculous, bizarre or stupid things in the name of the
Lord. They
have supposed that they were doing righteously and being led by the Spirit, but they were
misguided or deceived and made a display of themselves to the public through ignorance. They have
suffered tremendous persecution because of it, and don’t realize that they were
acting out of the carnal mind and have therefore been persecuted for foolishness’ sake. It is
obvious that if we are ignorantly performing foolish things that are bringing undue
persecution, we experience no blessedness in it! The blessedness that Jesus promised is not in
manifestations of spiritual immaturity and ignorance, or in demonstrations of the flesh by
those who think God is speaking out of every rock and tree and happening, and speak in
riddles and do weird things, or in displays of excessive emotional feelings in the soulish
realm of their nature. Persecution
for the righteousness of the Kingdom is on a plane higher than all this!
The reward for
sonship persecution is — BLESSEDNESS! “Blessed are they that are persecuted for righteousness’
sake.” But
what is this blessedness? Ah, the blessedness is just this: “for
theirs is the
Well
has George Hawtin written: “I would to God that all God’s elect might see that
everything everywhere is working tirelessly and endlessly to produce sonship in
those who are the called according to His
purpose. Everywhere!
Everything!
Temptations,
tears, heartaches, unfaithful friends and brethren, loss of property, loss of business,
perils, hateful neighbors, fiery furnaces, dens of lions, rugged crosses, and isles of
exile! All
things! All
things! All
things, too numerous to mention, are working for the good of God’s elect, and are
adding, though unseen now, an exceeding and eternal weight of glory to us.”
We
who have endured our share of the persecutions of Christ shall be abundantly blessed of
the Lord to receive our inheritance in the
Paul
Mueller bears wonderful witness to this same blessed truth in the following testimony. “To
be persecuted for righteousness’ sake gives one the right and privilege to inherit
the
“Those
who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, shall inherit the kingdom. Jesus
clearly qualified the type of persecution that would gain us an inheritance into the
“Jesus
was persecuted by the world because He was of another Spirit, even the Spirit of His
Father. He
was not of this world, and neither are we! The world hated Him, and we can expect to be
treated as He was. The
servant is not greater than his lord. Our Lord was persecuted for righteousness’
sake, and we shall be also. They treat us the way they do for His name’s
sake, for they do not know our Father, who sent us on this mission for the
“Being
persecuted for His name’s sake brings rewards undreamed of. Persecution
for righteousness’ sake identifies us with Christ. The
sufferings of Christ that we have gone through made us one with Him and linked us with Him
in Father’s eternal purposes. And now we are one with Christ — united and
identified with Him in the eternal purposes of His kingdom. Because
of our union and identification with Christ, the world shall surely hear us when we speak
forth His anointed word. Jesus said, ‘The servant is not greater
than his lord. If
they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you;
if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also’ (Jn. 15:20). Think of
that! Just
as people of the world kept the sayings of Jesus, so also shall they keep our sayings. They will
respect the word we speak! The persecutions and trials that we endured
have removed from us all personal, egotistical and exalted ideas and carnal desires. We are
being set free of old Adam that we might fully glorify the Lord. When the
Lord has finished His work in us, He shall say of us as He did of His first Son, ‘This
is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased; hear
ye Him’ (Mat. 17:5). The authority and power of God’s word
spoken by one of Father’s anointed sons may be beyond the scope of our present
understanding, but God shall bring it to pass. If the world kept the sayings of Jesus
Christ, the first manifested Son, they will keep our sayings also, for we are also sons of
God and members of the same purified and anointed Christ body” — end quote.
THE
PRINCIPLES OF THE KINGDOM
In
addition to the eight beatitudes we have considered over the past months, there are almost
three whole chapters and one hundred and seven verses in this Constitution of the
All
these are the marks of sonship. All these
are the principles of the
In
reading the Sermon on the Mount we must learn to distinguish between the letter of the command and the
spirit of truth that it expresses. For even
of Christ’s own words it is true — the letter
killeth, but the spirit giveth life. I do not mean that we are to so “spiritualize”
these laws of the Kingdom as to make them of none effect. I do not
mean that we are to so etherealize our Lord’s commands as to get rid of the obvious,
practical applications. What
I mean is, we must make allowance, for instance, for Jesus’ methods of teaching. The
Eastern mind loved the parabolic and proverbial form of speech. He was
fond of stating his truth in bold, picturesque, illustrative and metaphorical ways. Our Lord
was typically Eastern in this respect. He opened His mouth in parables, and without a parable spake He not unto them. In this
sermon His teaching is again and again in proverbial form. Only by
that wisdom that comes down from above are the sons of God able to separate the spiritual principle from the literary
form in which it is expressed. Jesus was
not giving us maxims to which we are to give slavish obedience, but sets forth principles
that we must apply and walk out under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. He did
not come to give a second and more minute external law, but to create a disposition, a
spirit, a new attitude and state of being which should be the law of nature within
ourselves.
Let
me illustrate what I mean by taking just a few precepts out of the Sermon on the Mount for
our reverent consideration. Take first that staggering precept about
“turning the other cheek.” “Whosoever smiteth thee on thy right
cheek, turn to him the other also.” Now what kind of a spineless individual would
do a thing like that! I
think many of us would be like the little boy in the Sunday School class. His
teacher had been teaching the class some of the teachings of Jesus, and she said to
Johnny, “Johnny, what would you do if Tommy slapped you on the right cheek?” “Teacher,”
said Johnny, “I would turn the other cheek.” Then after pausing and thinking for a moment
he added, “But, boy, if he hit that one, I would beat the daylights out of him!”
We
have our rights, you know, and we are pretty good at sticking up for our rights. If we
think the mechanic has cheated us on the repairs on our car, we would like to tell him so.
If
we haven’t had the service we think we should have had, we are tempted to raise our
voice and give them a piece of our mind. We at least reduce the amount of our tip or
leave no tip at all! That
is natural. But
sons of God are not natural! We are
ordained to be spiritual. And
spiritual is not some religious exercise or worshipful appearance, it is simply expressing the nature of the Spirit. It is
just as “spiritual” to keep our cool under pressure as it is to sing in the
Spirit or prophesy — yea, even more
so!
Although
there are times for literally turning the other cheek, Jesus was speaking of a spiritual
reality that transcends the physical act. He did not give a literal obedience to the
precept Himself! When
He was smitten on the face in the High Priest’s hall, He did not turn the other
cheek, He gently but firmly rebuked the smiter for his injustice and violence. And
besides, a literal obedience would sometimes defeat the very object at which Christ was
aiming. To
do this literally to an angry man would in some instances so infuriate him that it would
bring even harsher recriminations against you. The “letter” in this case “killeth.”
We
must get at the “spirit” of the command, and the spirit is just this: that we
must meet rage and violence not with rage and violence, but with meekness, compassion, and
forgiveness. Retaliation
and revenge are the practice of the world — forgiveness even
until seventy times seven is the practice of the sons
of God.
Ah,
these things are against human nature. It is impossible for the natural man to do
these things! Oh,
we might try, but trying isn’t good enough in the Kingdom. Even if
we did walk out these things, just because Jesus said we should, it would still be a
forced action out of a sense of duty, and not because we felt like doing them. Though
outwardly we may obey, inwardly we would rebel against them. Unless
our obedience emanates from our nature, it isn’t Kingdom
obedience! Isn’t
that why Jesus said, “Except your righteousness exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no
wise enter into the
Take
the next precept which says, “Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would
borrow of thee turn not thou away.” As it stands it sounds almost like an order
to indulge in indiscriminate charity. Now indiscriminate charity when it is
indulged in is not a blessing to men, but a curse. If you give to every one who would bum off of
you, you turn people into economic leeches. It is a direct encouragement of sloth and
irresponsibility. It
disintegrates the character; it degrades more than it helps and delivers. The
apostle Paul tells us that if a man will not work, neither shall he eat. The spirit of
what Jesus is telling us is that we must have the spirit of self-sacrificing generosity! As a son
of God I cannot turn a deaf ear to any cry of need. It does not follow that we shall give money
to every beggar who stops us on the street, or to every supposedly homeless person holding
a sign at the intersection. By so doing we may be only confirming in
idleness men who ought to be compelled to work, or giving another bottle of liquid
damnation to a man already drinking himself to death. We simply impoverish ourselves to injure
others. That
is not what Christ meant!
We
do not give even to every brother in Christ who asks our help. Solicitations
arrive in the mail almost daily to help this person and that, to support this ministry and
the other, to give to this and that cause. If we gave to everyone that asks what an array of worldly methods and spurious
ministries and deceitful causes we would be supporting! Sons of
God are led by the Spirit even in their giving. How much
better to seek the Lord about what we should give, and to whom, and receive His guidance
by the Spirit, than merely to dole out money to every one who presents a need! Where we
know need to be urgent and real, our help will always be forthcoming, even if it is an
unspeakable sacrifice. A
loving heart and a ready hand, guided by the Holy Spirit of wisdom and understanding, are
the marks of the son of God. And sometimes we give even when no one has
said anything about a need, simply because the Spirit of the Lord speaks to us to give. HE knows
every need, and just how He will meet the need. We become His channels of blessing. This is
the way of the Kingdom!
Now
let us look at another principle. “And if any man will sue thee at the law
and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And if any man shall compel you to go a mile,
go with him two.” Of
this principle George Wylie wrote, “This is a reference to a custom in the East, and
which we saw in
“The
custom in
“We
think we have done pretty good when we have done some of the things commanded us, let
alone all things. If
we only do the things required of us, and that which is our duty to do, we are still
unprofitable servants. If we are to be the sons of God, we have to
go way beyond what is required of us, if we are to be profitable unto God. He that
does only what is required is a servant,
not a son. He has no
initiative of his own, he is not a ruler in the kingdom, he has no authority to act
unilaterally, he merely obeys orders and does what is required. What this
really means is, that what we do is not really that important, and doesn’t count
for that much. What
really matters is what we are, who we
are becoming, not what we do by commandment. When the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount gets down into our
deepest heart as the law of being, then
the Kingdom of God operates within us in the realm of sonship” — end quote.
Take
one more example. “Lay
not up for yourselves treasure upon the earth.” It reads like a prohibition of thrift and
provision for the future. Taken literally, it would seem to forbid the
farmer to store his harvest in the autumn for the coming winter; it would seem to put the
seal of its approval on those who squander their money as soon as they get it, who spend
up to their means and perhaps beyond it; it would seem to say that one should not make any
provision for a rainy day, one should not pay into Social Security or any pension
fund, one should not invest in properties, stocks, bonds, or make any provision for
security or retirement. But
that is not what Jesus meant! What Jesus is saying in the Spirit is that
our hearts should be entirely emancipated from the love of wealth — that our care
should be not so much about our balances at the bank as about our standing in the
heavenlies. We
are understanding by the carnal mind if we read this as if Jesus were encouraging
irresponsibility; what He is bidding us do is to put first things first, to seek first the
We
cannot cease striving to lay up treasures on earth until we come to the point of absolute trust in our heavenly Father. He will provide! If He
does not provide by natural means He will provide by supernatural means. Testimonies
to God’s unfailing faithfulness could be written by millions of saints throughout the
ages. In
our own family we have seen the car battery charged by the power of God when the ignition
key had been left on overnight and the battery was absolutely dead. There was
need to be in a meeting that Sunday morning and with prayer the impulse came to go out and
try it one more time. The
car started immediately and the battery was better
than before! Lorain
and I drove many miles through the Ozark mountains in the late night darkness and early
morning with no gas in the tank, only praying that God would get us to our destination, as
there were no gas stations open in that wilderness at that hour of the night. We have
had so many miraculous provisions that to us it is no longer a question of whether the
Lord will provide — merely when and how! This is merely a small sampling of life in
the
No
one
has more clearly and eloquently articulated the power and glory of this blessed dimension
of Kingdom reality than George Hawtin when he wrote: “We can see and point out some
very important examples of Christ’s heavenly citizenship which show us as nothing
else can that all the time of His earthly ministry He lived and moved on the plane of a son of God. He lived
in a higher realm. He lived
in the realm He preached about, even the realm of the
We
have only superficially touched this realm of the
And
so I might go on illustrating — but enough has
already been said. The
first thing to be done is to disentangle Christ’s spiritual meaning from the form of
its verbal expression. The
difficulties about the practicability of the Sermon on the Mount arise from a carnal and
too literalistic interpretation of its principles. These principles are not exact rules — they embody divine
nature. It
is the spiritual principle we must get at — and blessed is
the man or woman who does! These words are the mere husk, the eternal
truth they contain is the kernel. The letter killeth, but the
spirit giveth life!
Chapter
34
THE
KEYS OF THE KINGDOM
“And
I will give unto thee the keys of the
kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven:
and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Mat. 16:19).
With
the words of this passage in view, let us suppose that a king of incredible wealth decides
to do something wonderfully beneficent for his people — something no
other king has ever done. He decides to take all the wealth he has
amassed and share it fully with each and every subject of his kingdom. There are
great treasures, vast sums of money, gold, silver, precious stones, houses, lands, huge
warehouses full of grain and rations of various kinds, and a multitude of other
commodities. Why
all this generosity? Because
the king is good, he has a pure spirit and a loving
heart, and justice is the essence of his character. He wants
his people to be happy, to know joy, to prosper and experience the best of what life has
to offer. He
wants them to live on his own level of wealth and abundance.
Of
course, there must be a means, a method for the distribution of all these blessings and
benefits. Certain
rules have to be established, and specific guidelines put in place. For
instance, the king must appoint a select company of men to have the oversight over the
distribution of his wealth. These men must be completely trustworthy — honest,
unselfish, faithful, industrious, skilled, conscientious and efficient. They must have
only the will of the king and the best interests of the people at heart.
One
bright morning you are called with a chosen group of men to appear before the king. A
background check has been done on each one and only those who have met the rigid
qualifications have been selected. “To you,” the king says to these
men, “I entrust the keys of my kingdom. It is obvious that you understand my heart
and share my purpose. Take
these and do what you should. My palace is available to you twenty-four
hours a day, and all my houses, warehouses, treasuries, and gates will open and lock by
these keys I give you. The
future success of this venture rests with you. Now, I must be about other important matters!”
What
an honor! What
a responsibility!
What
would you do? Would
you use the keys carelessly, selfishly, or dishonestly? Would you
brag to everyone you meet that you are one of the select persons in the kingdom who has
the final say as to who gets what and who doesn’t? Would you
walk about haughtily with an air of superiority because you have privileged access to the
realms of riches of the king? Would you conceal the full intent of the king
to share his wealth with every man, from
the pauper to the prince, and prevent certain individuals who appear unworthy, or whom you
don’t like, from getting their fair share? Or would you let everyone know of the king’s
benevolence, while at the same time protecting the interests of the king by making known
and enforcing the few stipulations and procedures he established? I do not
doubt for one moment that the king would be interested in whether or not the people were
receiving and enjoying his gift! Should some people refuse to believe his
generosity, they must be convinced, because it is the decree
of the king that they have their part in
his kingdom. If
they don’t know the proper protocol for receiving the gift, they must be instructed. If they
have neither the wisdom nor the ability to properly use the gift, they should be taught,
or someone appointed to administer the gift on their behalf. That all
this is accomplished is of vital interest to the king — but the
importance and power attributed to you, the holder of the keys, would be far less
significant to him.
Within
this illustration lies the divine secret to the keys of the
“You
understand me, Peter,” the Lord seemed to be saying, ‘you are someone to whom I
can entrust the keys of my Kingdom!” What a day of days it must have been for
Peter, who had already seen so much beyond what other men had seen, to now be given the
keys of the
But
beyond this — what was Jesus’ intent in
giving the keys of the
The
sun is now setting on the church age with its ministry of apostles, prophets, evangelists,
pastors and teachers. The
transcendent glory of that brighter and greater age when the body of Christ has been
brought to its fullness in the manifestation
of the sons of God is even now dawning upon
us. We
know this, not by claiming a scripture or by embracing a doctrine, but because the Holy
Ghost has powerfully spoken and testified of it among vast numbers of the Lord’s
elect in recent years. It
is a revelation “come down from heaven” and proclaimed in the “power of the
Spirit.” Those
who cannot see the change in dispensations, nor the implications of it, have not heard
from God. The
present work of the Spirit has to do with the
God
has prepared His holy remnant, who are all sons of God, those whom He has formed for His
purposes and called to sonship for such an hour as this. Our
Father has made us what He wants us to be, and that is what we are. He has
called us, separated us unto Himself, laid His hand upon us, broken us to pieces, purged
and purified us out of the world and out of the religious systems of men, in the furnace
of affliction, and led us in the strange paths of His dealings, that He might raise us up
by the power of His Spirit and make us a blessing unto all the ends of the earth. We now
desire to do all the will of our Father in the earth! Our expectation is to use the keys
of the
It
is now time for the apostles of the Kingdom to be sent forth. These
apostles of the Kingdom are the firstfruits company. In these firstfruits the foundations of the
Kingdom are being laid. It
is to these— to the elect
remnant of the Lord — that the first
dominion or reign of the
There
shall again be a true witness of God in the earth when the holy sons of God fully possess
the keys of the
RECEIVING
THE KEYS
“When
Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, Whom do
men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John
the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremiahs, or one of the prophets. He saith
unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art
the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed
art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my
Father which is in heaven” (Mat. 16:13-17).
How
was it that Peter suddenly realized who Jesus was? He got a revelation from the Father that
Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God! He received a revelation of who this Christ was. If there
is one thing in the world that you and I and all men everywhere need to know it is who this Christ is. Without a
revelation of who the Christ is we will never attain anything in God. But one
cannot receive a revelation of who the Christ is without getting something else to go with
it. Let
me show you what that something else is. “Thou art Peter (Petro, small
rock, fragment), and upon this rock (
It
was upon this revelation of who the Christ is that Jesus said to Peter, “And I will
give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” A key is
an instrument that closes or opens something which without that key cannot be closed or
opened. Spiritually,
it may be a word that opens a hidden mystery which cannot be
otherwise discovered, or a power by which a state or condition or circumstance may be
revealed, dealt with, or changed, which could not otherwise be effected. Jesus
spoke of keys several times. To the astonished John on the isle of Patmos
He declared, “I have the keys of hell and of death” (Rev. 1:18). To John
there came One who announced Himself as “the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last.”
At
His girdle hung “the keys of Hades and of death.” Ah, the
enemy usurped control over mankind, ruling with fear, and bringing creation into bondage
to the whole dreadful realm of death. Death was the adversary’s “trump
card,” his final victory. He beguiled man into sin, and “sin when
it is finished, bringeth for death” (James 1:15). After all the beguilement, which the
adversary has exercised with ruthless working and deception, causing man to become
perverted and corrupt, sinking into the quagmire of fear, sorrow, and hopelessness, the
final result was death with its habitation in Hades.
When
Jesus came into the world in the humiliation of the Incarnation, He started on a route of
conquest that took Him through the lonely years prior to His introduction at the muddy
waters of Jordan, where the bony prophetic finger of John the Baptist was pointed at Him
and those significant words were uttered, “Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away
the sin of the world” (Jn. 1:29). For some thirty-three and a half years He
overcame and lived an impeccable life so that it was said of Him that “He was tempted
in all points like as we, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15).
Jesus’
flawless life was followed by a decisive death. He went to Calvary to endure inexplicable and
incomparable suffering: suffering of which we can only have a hint; suffering we can only
look at curiously with a sob in our throats; suffering veiled in the mystery of the
bearing of sin: suffering surrounded by torn rocks and a sun that refused to shine, and an
earth that writhed in agony. As He hung there alone, God reached down His
giant fist and gathered the accumulated sins of men and placed them upon Him. In the
awful agony of
And
then He arose the conquering Christ! What a marvelous turn of events! He took
control of the situation as with one exultant shout He grasped the keys of death and hell
from him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; stripped away the power of
death, burst asunder the bars of hell, stalked boldly out in eternal triumph over all the
dread powers of that unseen realm, entered back into His body in the garden tomb, passed
through the walls of rock as water passes through a filter, ascended up far above all
heavens, stepped up to the Father’s throne, and presented the tokens of His
redemption. The
Father said, “Sit down, Son, at my right hand until all your enemies are made your
footstool!”
Nearly
two hundred years ago the world was in chaos because “The Scourge of the Earth”
(we know him as Napoleon Bonaparte) almost conquered the world. Everything
fell before him. The
British feared that soon their homeland would be invaded by the troops of
There
is a great hero whose name is Jesus. On a hill outside the city wall of
Jesus
has the keys; He proved that He has the keys of both death and hell, for He unlocked both
and arose Victor. Death
could not hold its prey! Hell could not hold its captive! Oh
Christ! Thou
Son of the living God! Thou
art the resurrection and the life. Thou wast alive. Thou wast
dead. And,
behold, Thou art alive forevermore and in Thy nail-pierced hand dost hold in triumph the
keys of hell and death. Oh, death, where is thy sting! Oh, grave, where is thy victory! Oh gates
of hell, thou shalt not prevail, thou shalt one day be empty, for the Redeemer of Israel
and the Saviour of the world holds in His triumphant hand thy key.
Who now has
the key of death? OUR
LORD JESUS CHRIST. Who now has
the key to hell? OUR
LORD JESUS CHRIST. Praise
God, no one passes through the gates of either of those two, hell or death, except the
Lord open or close those gates. The devil has no authority there. And now
Jesus proclaims, “FEAR NOT — I have the keys
of death and of hell.” Think about it! What
reason do we have to not fear? He was dead, but behold, He is the living One. He is
living for the ages of the ages. And this ever living One HAS THE KEYS. We
commonly think of keys being used to lock or unlock doors, but there is another sense in
which the word key is used. Many times when we say that we have the key
to a thing, we mean that we have the solution to a problem. Jesus was
saying to John and to us all that HE HAS THE SOLUTION TO THE UNSEEN WORLD. He has
all the problems connected with it unraveled and solved. He had
worked out the problem for Himself, overcame in it, and now stands to proclaim to all men
everywhere the GREAT EMANCIPATION. Through His death and resurrection, Christ
took away from the adversary his power of death, and from hell its’ power of
containment. No
longer can negation claim the final victory over any man — CHRIST HAS THE KEY, and shall ultimately bring every man into
the fullness of His life. Christ has the power to
redeem, and He has the keys of death and hell.
Praise
God! Not
only does the firstborn among many brethren possess the keys of death and hell, but He
shares them with His OVERCOMING ONES IN WHOM IS INWROUGHT THE TRIUMPH OF HIS LIFE. Jesus
said to Peter, “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock shall I build my church; and the
GATES OF HELL SHALL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST IT” (Mat. 16:18). The gates
of hell have not prevailed against our Lord Jesus Christ, and they shall not
prevail against His Church. What are the “gates” of hell? Gates are
used either to bar entrance or prevent exit. What does it mean that the gates of hell
shall not prevail against Christ’s Church? I used to erroneously imagine the conflict
between the Church and Satan as a game of “cat and mouse.” Satan was
the cat and the Church was the mouse! Satan was big and powerful — the Church was
small and weak, always on the defensive. But that’s not what that passage means! Far from
it! The
picture instead is of a VICTORIOUS CHURCH laying siege to hell and breaking down its gates
to release its prisoners! The Lord Jesus Christ Himself is the example
and prototype! The
key of hell gives Christ and His sons the spiritual power to open the “door” of
Hades to set every captive free. Death is literal and spiritual death, and
includes the second death, for in the
end there shall be “no more death” — first death,
second death, any death! And the key of death gives the Christ company
power and authority to conquer all death in every man. What joy shall be ours when we fully possess the keys of the
Jesus
also declared that He has the “key of David.” There was
a day when God called a man by the name of Eliakim to rule Judah, and the Lord said of
him, “And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall
open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open” (Is. 22:22). The key
of the house of David speaks of the divinely-invested power and authority given to Eliakim
to rule and reign over the house of
It
is interesting to note that God told Eliakim that He would lay the key of the house of
David “upon his shoulder.” The Hebrew word translated “shoulder”
in this passage indicates the area where burdens are placed. When a
man like Eliakim is commissioned by the Lord to reign over an earthly government or
kingdom, none can deny that such responsibility is indeed a burden. One has
only to consider how quickly our recent presidents of the
Another
aspect of keys is revealed when Jesus reproved the Jewish leaders, saying, “Woe unto
you, lawyers, for ye have taken away the key
of knowledge” (Lk. 11:52). This they had done by killing the prophets
and traditionalizing their teachings, for to them had been revealed the mysteries of God. As it is
written, “Surely Yahweh will do nothing, but He revealeth His secrets to His servants
the prophets” (Amos 3:7). “To the acknowledgment of the mystery of
God, and of the Father, and of Christ; in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge” (Col. 2:1-3). These hidden treasures are made known by the
Holy Spirit in the power of inspiration, revelation, and spiritual understanding. The key
of knowledge opens the door of spiritual perception by which we understand by the Spirit
the true and spiritual meaning of all things that are written in the scriptures. If our
understanding of the things of God is on a literal and carnal level, then this blessed key
of knowledge has been taken away. Woe unto all who see only the letter of the Word!
Keys — what blessings,
benefits and opportunities they open up! Who would not like to be given the keys to a
new Lexus or Rolls Royce! You will notice that every key is formed with
a series of notches. The purpose of those notches is that when you insert the key into the
lock they turn some things there which you cannot see, called tumblers. A key
that doesn’t have the notches that correspond to the tumblers won’t open the
lock. That
is why a key will generally open only one door. My car key will not unlock my house, neither
will my house key open my Post Office box. If you are given the keys of the
USING
THE KEYS
The
keys of the Kingdom provide us with all the authority and power of the
The
message is clear — whatever a son
of God binds on earth must have already been bound in the heavens. Whatever
you bind in the outward world must already be bound in the spirit world. It is
impossible to bind something on earth that is loosed in
the spirit realm! If
it is not loosed in the spirit realm you will never have enough power to loose it in the
physical world! How
much do we know about what has been loosed in the spirit realm? Only with
the mind of Christ can one know what the Spirit of God has bound or loosed from the
heavenly realm, and therefore only by the glorious mind of Christ can we, like the
firstborn Son, do only those things that we see the
Father doing. The
heavens must be opened to us so that we can clearly see the will and purpose of God on
earth from that high realm of divine wisdom and understanding. I am not
talking about learning a set of scriptures or a doctrine, but I speak of seeing and knowing by the Spirit the will and purpose the Father in every situation.
This
is what Jesus meant when He said, “I do only those things I see my Father do.” “As
I hear, so I speak.” “The Father shall show me greater
things.” Jesus
saw by eyes of spirit into the spiritual world of His Father and there He saw what His
Father in heaven was doing. He perceived by the spirit the plans and
purposes and will of the Father and then acted upon what He saw. And that
is why Jesus had 100% perfect results! When He saw the Father healing a blind man,
He touched the eyes of that blind man and he received his sight. When He
saw His Father feeding the multitude, He multiplied bread and fish. When the
Father showed Him Lazarus alive and well coming out of the dark tomb of death, He went and
raised Him from the dead. Jesus had 100% faith and 100% results because
He only bound and loosed things in the earth realm that He saw and knew were already bound
or loosed in the spiritual world.
You see, beloved, contrary to popular thinking,
Jesus did not heal every sick person He met, He did not cast out every devil that passed
before Him, nor did He stop every funeral procession in
Now
if this would have been in one of our modern healing meetings the preacher would have
shouted, “Glory to God! The power of God is here, the Lord is present
to heal all who are sick,” and he would have immediately gone throughout all of
Solomon’s porch and laid hands on everything that moved or didn’t move. And do
you know how many would have been healed? Only the paralyzed man would have been
healed! All
the rest would have gone home in the same condition they arrived, because in the heavens only one man was being loosed that day. Jesus saw
the Father healing this one man and He made His way there and did exactly what He saw His
Father doing — no more and no
less! As
an obedient Son He healed the one man and walked away. Jesus had the keys of the
How
often do we pray for things that are not God’s will? How often
do we speak things that we think are good and profitable and worthy, but about which we
have no personal word or direction from the Lord? Many years ago I heard Oral Roberts confess
that he considered his ministry successful if only one person in five who passed through
his healing lines received a touch from God. What a confession! It means
that he was praying for five people, but the Father was healing only one. It is
obvious that he neither saw nor knew what the Father was doing, therefore he tried to
loose five people on earth for every one that had been loosed in heaven. How much
time and energy we waste trying to do things the Father isn’t doing! And I’m
not condemning Oral Roberts — we’re all
just as guilty.
“Oh,”
you say, “it
is God’s will to heal everyone!” The truth is, beloved, He doesn’t heal everyone. Evangelists and pastors may try to
loose every person they minister to. But how many of us have healed every sick
person we have prayed for? How many of us have had every demon we
adjured to leave to come out? How many of us have had every prayer we
prayed answered? I
do not believe I will be contradicted when I say
— not one of us! Is it not because we failed to see what the Father was doing? We
thought we had a blank check to write in anything we wanted, not realizing that God has a time and
away for everything and everyone. We must
know what God is doing today, right now. When we
truly understand these three things — His will, His
purpose and His timing, we will speak His words and not one
word we speak will fall to the ground! Everything we touch will turn into a miracle!
Jesus
had 100% results just because He never wasted time and energy ministering to those He knew
the Father was not ministering to. He did only what He saw
His Father doing! He
carried within Himself the keys of the
Did
you know that if you are praying to stop something that in God’s plan has to happen,
you’re wasting your breath? The disciples of Jesus, when He spoke to them
of how He must go to
My
friend Franklin Fitzjerrel told about an event in the state of
People
sometimes ask us to pray for folks, situations, or nations that are under the dealing hand
of God. It
is time for God’s elect to clearly understand that we cannot always pray for
everything people request prayer for. Ah, we will pray, but sometimes not the way
people would desire, but according to what we sense in the spirit. If God is
purging, correcting, breaking, refining, teaching, or judging a person and has thrust them
into the fires of tribulation and the waters of trouble, putting them under pressure of
His making, how can we beseech God to save them out of it and abort His necessary work? It is
impossible to loose on earth what is bound in heaven! Furthermore, it is spiritually irresponsible
to try and do so. It
is mutiny, yea, treason against the
It
is only when we know by the spirit what God’s purpose is, it is only when we see by the spirit what the Father is doing, it is only when we hear from the spirit the counsel of God’s voice, that we can go
forth and do the works of God. Those works may be small or great, visible or
invisible, but we will be found doing our Father’s will in the earth. When some
Kingdom purpose is wrought, first in heaven and then on earth, it is completed and
finished, it is totally fulfilled, and the glory of God is manifested in the earth! The will
of God is then done on earth as it has already been decreed and fulfilled in the heavens! What
power and authority shall be ours when we have fully received the keys of the
When
Peter perceived who the Christ really was, Jesus told him, “Flesh and blood hath not
revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.” Ah,
herein lie the keys of the
That
loved one for whose salvation you have been praying — I tell you he or
she will be saved! You can count on it. God has
an appointed time and a prescribed order to deal with that one and bring him or her to His
salvation. That
appointed time could be today, tomorrow, or in another age. Only by
the spirit can we know. Only
God can teach us these things. Ah, yes, do pray for them! Do not
hesitate, do not fail to do so, do not faint, never give up! for prayer is a vital part of
the redemptive and restorative processes of God. But seek God at the same instant for that
holy understanding by which you can know WHEN HIS HOUR HAS ARRIVED so that you can
cooperate in wisdom with Him to do your part, if indeed you have a part, in bringing it to
pass. Only
then can you loose on earth what has already been loosed in heaven!
Within
the living revelation of the Spirit of God is found THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN! Keys are
of no use unless we use them. And if we mis-use them we will get into
trouble. Instead
of trying to save, bless and deliver the whole creation today, or even your own family,
wait humbly before God in holy submission to hear His voice, to know His ways, to
understand His will and to see His works. Then go forth and speak and do those things that
you have heard and seen of your Father in the secret place. As you go
you will hold in your hands the keys of the
Kingdom!
I will close this message by sharing the following
words of godly instruction from the pen of our beloved brother Paul Mueller. “Luke
tells the story of a certain centurion who had a servant who was dear to him. The
centurion’s servant was sick unto death. When he heard about Jesus, the centurion sent
word through the elders of the Jews, beseeching Jesus to heal his servant. So Jesus
started to go to the centurion’s house. But when the centurion heard that Jesus was
coming, he sent his friends to tell Jesus, ‘Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not
worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof: wherefore neither thought I myself worthy
to come unto thee: but say in a WORD, and my
servant shall be healed. For I also am a man set under authority,
having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and
he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it’ (Lk. 7:2-8).
“This centurion understood the power and
authority that belonged to Jesus the Christ. This story shows the power and authority of
the
“We are living in a greater and more glorious
Day than did the centurion. We are living in the great Day of the
“‘When Jesus heard these things, he
marveled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say
unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And they
that were sent, found the servant whole that had been sick’ (Lk. 7:9-10). The
servant that once was sick unto death was now healed and made whole by the power of God. But how
was that power manifested? Obviously, Jesus did not go to the centurion’s
house. But
did Jesus pray the prayer of faith? Did He speak a word commanding the sickness
to leave that servant? There
is no record that Jesus said or did anything! When He heard the centurion’s plea for
help, Jesus Christ saw the Father doing that
work in the Spirit, and lo, it was done. Just a thought in harmony with the Father’s
will, sent on the winds of the Spirit, is all it took to heal that servant. And that
is all that is necessary to bring deliverance to the groaning creation, and bring forth
the new earth. Just
a thought or a word in harmony with the
Father’s will, sent on the winds of the Spirit, is all that is necessary to
change us from the earthbound worms that we are into that glorious body, bearing the image
and likeness of Christ. As
sons of God, we can see and hear in the Spirit. And so we await our transformation” — end quote.
Chapter
35
THE
RIGHTEOUSNESS
OF THE KINGDOM
The
Many
who read these lines can confess with me that the mighty seed of the Kingdom, which is
Christ, has been sowed within our hearts by the Holy Spirit. That
Kingdom seed is daily growing within us and is bringing forth the increase of Christ the
Lord in our experience. The
“For
the
Paul
knew of a blessed plane of existence, a glorious sphere of life, known as “the
liberty of the sons of God” (Rom. 8:21). He knew that there was another and better
realm entirely beyond the earthly realm where men dwell and toil under the unrelenting
spell of natural things, and beneath the weight of sorrow, limitation, fear, sin and
death. It
is the realm where men are delivered from the bondage of this passing world, and are
translated into a heavenly land of life and immortality in the spirit. The
moment God is given the throne of our life and is glorified in His sons, at that very
moment, straightway, we begin to
dwell in God and glorification begins its work in us. It is not
where we dwell in the natural that counts, but where our spirit dwells. If our
dwelling place is in God, then we begin to live out of the power of God which is the
atmosphere of this new world. Where grace is needed for any trial, we
steadfastly draw upon His grace. Where peace or joy is needed, it must flow
forth from Him, for peace and joy are the fruit of His Spirit within. Where
life and health are needed, we draw upon the life and power of the resurrection, which He is, and which through Him dwells
within us, that the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead should quicken our mortal
body by His Spirit that dwelleth in us.
We
know that Christ Himself from His riches in glory is the supplier of all our need. Here in
this blessed land of the
“In
my opinion whatever we may have to go through now is less than nothing compared with the
magnificent future God has in store for us. The whole creation is on tiptoe to see the
wonderful sight of the sons of God coming
into their own. The
world of creation cannot as yet see reality, not because it chooses to be blind, but
because in God’s purpose it has been so limited — yet it has been
given hope. And
the hope is that in the end the whole of
created life will be rescued from the
tyranny of change and decay, and have its share in that magnificent liberty WHICH CAN ONLY BELONG TO THE SONS OF GOD! It is
plain to anyone with eyes to see that at the present time all created life groans in a
sort of universal travail. And it is plain, too, that we who have a
foretaste of the Spirit are in a state of painful tension, while we wait for that
redemption of our bodies which will mean that we have realized our full sonship”
(Rom. 8:18-23, J. B. Phillips). ALL CREATION SHALL HAVE ITS SHARE IN THE
We
are sometimes confused about this idea of freedom and liberty. To some
it means no limitations, nor restrictions, no holds — anything goes! I have
met men who thought that because they were “free” from the law that they could
therefore indulge their flesh and do any perverse or licentious thing
their carnal heart desired. But there are two sides of liberty! The
apostle Paul reveals these two sides of liberty in Romans 6:14-18. “For
sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What
then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God
forbid. Know
ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye
obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto
righteousness? But
God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that
form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the
servants of righteousness.”
There
is a freedom from and there is a freedom unto. Should I drive on a highway where there is no
speed limit I am free from the law, free from any legal
limit on
how fast I can drive. Am
I then free to drive as fast as I wish? Should I then on bald tires and a wet road
travel at 120 miles an hour simply because there is no speed limit? By no
means! Though
I am free from the legal restraint of the speed limit, I am now limited by a number of
other factors — road conditions,
visibility, safety and how fast the car will go. There is no absolute freedom anywhere in the
universe! Absolute
freedom could not be a liberty that guarantees ones rights or secures ones happiness — it would be anarchy.
When
people live without any form of government it is called anarchy. Some
people believe that all forms of government are unnecessary. They are
called anarchists, and what they believe
is called anarchism. An anarchist says
that government or any kind of control does more harm than good. He
believes that people will cooperate with each other and behave themselves without rules of
any kind. Anarchism
is as old as history. The
Stoics, a group of philosophers in ancient
As
a
As
a citizen of this country I am aware that there are boundaries, there are restrictions and
limitations. I
must pay taxes. There
are speed limits and stoplights. If I am a felon I cannot run for the office
of president. Zoning
laws do not permit me to build just any kind of house or put up a business just any place
I choose. THE
What
happens when we go beyond the bounds of our liberty? It is called trespassing. As you
have walked along some street or road have you not come upon a “No Trespassing”
sign? You
have all the liberty you can want to walk all around that property. You can
stand just outside that property line and enjoy yourself to the fullest. But the
moment you step over the property line you have trespassed.
And
so it is in the
SOULISH
VS. SPIRITUAL
It
is important to be able to distinguish between things that differ, for appearances are not
to be relied upon. Things
which seem to be alike may yet be opposite of each other. A serpent
may be like a stick, and a stone like an egg; but they are far from being the same. Like may
be very unlike. Especially
is this the case in spiritual things, and without this understanding properly applied it
is impossible to discern the righteousness, peace, joy and power of the
Every man is both soul and spirit, and each has its
own set of expressions and powers. Only the two-edged sword of the Spirit, which
is the living word of God, is able to divide and separate soul and
spirit —distinguishing between what is the expression of the soul
and what is the manifestation of the spirit. In this discernment between soul and spirit a
man will need the mind of Christ, or he will soon deceive his own heart. I do not
hesitate to tell you that many are already mistaken, and will never discern their delusion
till they lift up their eyes unto God on bended knee, with a broken heart, and a contrite
spirit, to humbly and earnestly seek that wisdom which comes only from the heart of God.
Righteousness
holds a very dominant position in the
As
we look upon the sad earth today, it is plain for every eye to see that, flowing from the
corrupt minds of the corrupt rulers of every corrupt government on earth, taught in the
schools, practiced in business and in the courts and propagated on every hand, we find the
evil fruit of death manifesting itself in lies, deceit, oppression, cheating, injustice,
variance, murders, adultery, uncleanness, drunkenness, perversion, idolatry, heresies,
bigotry, crookedness and sin of every kind. Everywhere on the planet, in every nation
under heaven, mankind is being overwhelmed by its evil until the earth is filled with
violence and the thoughts and imaginations of men’s hearts are only evil continually.
Only
with the mind of the Spirit may we imagine a world ruled by a government such as is
prophesied in the ninety-sixth Psalm, “Say among the heathen that the Lord Reigneth:
the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: He shall judge the people righteously. Let the
heavens rejoice, and the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof. Let the
field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice
before the Lord: for He cometh, for He cometh to judge the earth: He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the
people with His truth” (Ps. 96:10-13). Isaiah adds his prophetic voice, speaking of
the many-membered Christ of God, “And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon
Him...and shall make Him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and He shall not
judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears: but with righteousness shall He judge the poor, and reprove with equity for
the meek of the earth...and righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness
the girdle of His reins” (Isa. 11:2-5).
THE
RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE KINGDOM
“For I say unto you, That except your
righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no
case enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Mat. 5:20). The
righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees consists in following rules and regulations
that seek to govern actions in every conceivable circumstance of life. The
Kingdom requires a righteousness that exceeds that and is not founded on any rules or regulations
imposed from the outside. It must be a righteousness of heart and
nature. What
is righteousness? Is it
obeying every little law, dotting your “i’s” and crossing your “T's”?
Is
it when you avoid every temptation to sin that comes your way, and live an absolutely
flawless life, pure in every thought and deed? In my opinion that is a very negative
definition of righteousness!
If
you want a positive definition, look at the Gospel — the GOOD NEWS! Scrutinizing
everybody's life to make sure they don’t make one single mistake is definitely not good
news! It
genders fear, intimidation, and condemnation. Don’t look at what you shouldn’t do, look at what you should do!
If
you are so busy doing what you should,
you won’t have the time, energy, money, or will to do what you shouldn’t.
Righteousness
is having the attitudes of Jesus. How full He was of mercy, love, compassion,
kindness, goodness, forgiveness and graciousness! Righteousness is saying, “What can I do
to make a difference? How
can I help, lift, encourage, heal, restore, and bless mankind? How can I
make the world a better and more beautiful place around me? How can I
practice righteousness?”
The
Kingdom of God is not meat and drink, it is not a matter of whether you eat pork or drink
wine, it is not a matter of whether you take communion on Sunday, it is not external
religion at all; it is not outward laws, forms, rituals, traditions or observances; it’s
not what you take off your face, what you take off your ears, what you take off from
around your neck; it’s not clothes, make-up, or jewelry; and it’s not diet. Then,
what is it? Religion is man trying his best to please God. Do you
know something? That
is exactly what religion was trying to do in Jesus’ day! It was
trying its very best to please God! But
except your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, except your
righteousness goes beyond all your sincere and earnest efforts to please God, you will in no wise enter into
the
In
Isaiah 45:19 we read, “I the Lord speak righteousness, I declare things that are
right.” God
is righteous. That
means He is always right, He is never
wrong. That
is what righteousness is — it is right-ness.
God
is always right in everything He says and does. He never makes a mistake. Sometimes
we wonder why God does things the way He does, and we may sometimes question why; but He
is never wrong, He is always right. He cannot be wrong because He is absolute
righteousness. He
acts out of divine wisdom, knowledge, understanding, goodness and love. What a
wonderful God! What
a marvelous Being to be able to trust in, to have as our God and King, and to commit
everything to Him, knowing He can never be wrong, He cannot make a mistake, and all of His
doings stream from His loving concern, from His inscrutable wisdom, and His
divine ability to do always and only what is best for us. THIS IS
THE RIGHTEOUSNESS HE IS ASKING US TO SEEK. THIS IS THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF HIS KINGDOM. THIS IS
THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF HIS THRONE. THIS IS THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF EVERY SON OF GOD
WHO SHALL REIGN WITH CHRIST IN HIS KINGDOM! What a goal God has set before us! We must
be like Him in all of our ways — that, precious friend of mine, is righteousness!
Why
should men doubt the wisdom and love of God? How dare they place a question mark after His
beneficence? Sometimes
men’s doubts have arisen because they have listened to the ambiguous oracles of
nature, rather than the revelation of God in Christ Jesus. Nature
impresses men with the awful mystery, power and sovereignty of God. The storm
with its jagged lightnings and rolling thunders, the proud mountains with their dizzy
heights mantled in snow, the heaving bosom of the ocean with its foam-crested waves, yes,
and the tiny violet on the hillside — these
eloquently proclaim a God of infinite power, wisdom and riches; but they do not convince
the unconverted heart of God’s infinite love. The forces in nature that sometimes work for
our good often turn about and seem to work for our ruin and destruction. The sunlight
that warms our fields to produce the golden harvests also beats down unmercifully upon the
earth and produces a dust bowl making thousands homeless and hungry. The warm
rains that help to germinate the seed that has been sown sometimes come in ruinous
abundance, producing floods in whose wake are destruction, disease, despair and death. How
apparently contradictory! Possibly in the midst of some tragedy you,
too, are asking the question, “Is God loving? Is God just? Is God righteous?” “Why
does God permit war?” you ask. If He is a loving God, if He is
all-righteous, why does He permit the roar of bombers and the barking of guns to silence
the joyous laughter of innocent children? If God is a God of love and righteousness,
why does He not stop it all?”
We
do not have the answer to many of the dark questions of life, for our vision is so
limited, and unlike God, we cannot see the end from the beginning. Ah! If only
we could see the end — God’s glorious end, then we
would understand all the “whys” and “wherefores” and how even all
these things WORKED TOGETHER FOR OUR GOOD. We do not have the answer to many of the dark
questions of life because we cannot fully understand the wonderful interplay of God’s
justice, chastisement, training, and mercy. We only know that man has sinned, the whole
planet is in rebellion, mankind continually rejects the ways of the Lord and spurns the
love of God, and sin takes its awful toll, and all of nature is thrown into chaos in the
process. The
ambiguous testimony of nature alone cannot supply you with an adequate answer. Only
those elect saints who are spiritually enlightened can discern the love and wisdom and
righteousness of God, even in the adverse and fearful demonstrations of nature, in the
cruel and violent actions of men, and in the terrible judgment that stalks through the
earth. Ah,
let us turn from these oracles with their double and confusing answers and turn to the only
LIVING DEMONSTRATION of the loving, wise, and righteous nature of God — a demonstration that all the ages have not been able to
contradict, namely, the great fact of the incarnation;
the deathless, eternally glorious fact that “God was in Christ, reconciling the world
unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them: and hath committed unto us the word
of reconciliation...for He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him”
(II
Cor. 5:19-21). “Herein
is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son...beloved, if God so
loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love
one another, God dwelleth in us, and HIS LOVE IS PERFECTED IN US” (I Jn. 4:10-12). Can words
make it any plainer that God’s love in Christ is given to pass into us and to become
our life? We
shall then love God as He loved us. And we shall then love the world with the
same love which God in Christ revealed upon the cross! This, my beloved, is righteousness! This is
the righteousness, the right-ness, that exceeds
the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees! This is the righteousness by which God shall
judge the world through His sons! Hallelujah!
The
righteousness of the Kingdom, therefore, can be experienced only by the man who has
submitted to the rule of God by the indwelling spirit of holiness, and who has therefore
experienced the nature and powers of God’s Kingdom authority. It is by
the power of the inward reign of the spirit of HIS LIFE that the righteousness of the
Kingdom is to be attained! And contrary to what many preachers preach
and most Christians think, righteousness is not first of all soul winning, preaching,
prophesying, speaking in tongues, healing, casting out devils, establishing churches,
doing good works, nor any of the thousand and one other things mistakenly imagined to be
“fruit.” Righteousness
is, first and foremost, a state of being.
Righteousness
is, above all else, a nature. Righteousness
is not merely what a person does, but what he is.
It
follows, however, that there is a doing of righteousness which springs from the being of
righteousness.
I
have already pointed out that righteousness is RIGHT BEING...right living, right attitude,
right desire, right motive, right actions, a total rightness in all things according to
God’s standard and as an expression of God’s nature. That is
what God is — righteous,
right. We
are exhorted in the Word to seek and receive this same attribute. And to be
right doesn’t mean that all our doctrines must be absolutely correct, or that we
dress in a particular fashion, or that we don’t smoke, drink or cuss, or that we
observe certain religious traditions! It means that you think, know, and act like
God! When
you receive a new spirit, or right spirit, or Holy Spirit, you are destined to right being
and right doing; you are destined to righteousness. David prayed, “Create in me a clean
heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (Ps. 51:10). Ah, that
is what we want! The
right spirit. That
is righteousness! Right
being and right doing are attainable on this earth right now because of the right spirit. Who is
the right spirit? Christ
is the right spirit, a new spirit, the Holy Spirit, God’s Spirit, the spirit of righteousness.
The
gospel that Jesus preached was the gospel of the Kingdom. He
announced that He had come to found a Kingdom; He claimed the title of King for Himself;
and in the Sermon on the Mount He gave us the laws, the principles, the very constitution of that Kingdom. Well, what kind of a Kingdom is it? Across
millenniums of time the answer of the great apostle Paul rings clear: “The
Let one thing be abundantly clear — it is not just
righteousness by man’s standard, not external obedience to law, not outward
conformity to society’s norms, not observance of religion’s demands, not mere
human goodness. There
is more than one kind of righteousness. Paul says, “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to
establish their own righteousness, have
not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God” (Rom. 10:3). I tell
you the truth when I say that most of the “righteousness” taught by the church
system is a righteousness imposed and exacted by the traditions of the elders and by the
commandments of men. It
has nothing to do with the righteousness of God, being rather the religious man’s own righteousness. It is the
same old righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees accommodated to Christianity. The
righteousness of the Kingdom is found only in
the Holy Ghost. And
it is found there today, right now, for the
Chapter
36
THE
RIGHTEOUSNESS
OF
THE KINGDOM
(continued)
The
miracle of what God has done through Jesus Christ ravishes my heart. I am
enthralled beyond measure that He has translated me out of the kingdom of darkness, and is
clothing me with the fullness of the Son of God. Daily I am putting on the Lord Jesus Christ
who is my robe of righteousness and my house from heaven, the new man, the spiritual body,
and the new building of God, eternal in the heavens. Just as the life within a lamb produces its
covering of wool, so does the life of Christ within each son of God create the garments of
our full salvation. We
put on the robe of Christ’s righteousness, not by putting it on from outside of
ourselves, by our own self-efforts and good works, but by the working and power of His
life within.
Some
time ago Jody Dragoo shared with me a beautiful experience the Lord gave him in vision in
which he saw the glory of the robe of righteousness as the spiritual body of the new man. The
following is his account of this manifestation. “The events that I now share are none
other than the sons and daughters of God coming into their own, having overcome
through the blood of the Lamb and having put on the incorruptible, immortal, and
resurrected body of the Lord Jesus Christ.
“It
was about 7:00 o’clock one morning when I awoke to get ready for work. I didn’t
stay awake long as the next thing I knew I found myself in a foreign land. The name
of the land was not revealed, but it may have been in
“After
he spoke of the greatest need of the village being rain, immediately my hands and arms
raised upwards toward the Father. It was at this point that I began to notice
my garment. I was
wearing a white robe with a small belt around the waist. There
were no wrinkles or spots within the robe, and no sand on it. The robe
kept out the effects of the climate and I felt no heat at all. As for my
feet, I don’t recall them as touching the ground at any time. One
aspect of this robe that has deeply impressed me is the fact that it felt different from
the clothes or ‘robes’ we normally wear. With the clothes we usually wear we can feel
the separation from our body. Furthermore, the fact that we have to change
them daily, testifies to us that they are not really a part of our being. They are
only temporary coverings until the permanent garment is put on. This
robe, however, was part of my being. It was
inseparable from my body. There was no sense of division or
separateness. Is
this not the picture of the corruptible putting on the incorruptible, the mortal putting
on the immortal — the putting on
the Lord Jesus Christ who is formed within us! Is this not but the fulfillment of Romans
8:23 in regard to the complete redemption of the body? The sons and daughters of God
clothed with the incorruptible, immortal, resurrected body of Christ, covered with the
glory of God! And
these go forth ministering from that incorruptible realm of pure spirit, delivering creation from the
bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God.
“From
this we should understand that putting on the robe — the
incorruptible, immortal glory of God — is actually our union with the robe, making us complete,
perfect, and lacking nothing! It is interesting to note that the robe comes
forth from the inner working of the Father Himself. It is He who weaves each and every strand
into a whole, complete unit. It is brought forth from within as the Lord
Jesus Christ is formed within us, revealed in fuller detail day by day. This is
the Father’s work, and it is beautiful to behold! The robe is out of our innermost being and
part of our entire being.
“The
next thing I noticed was my thought processes and how they worked. The mind
seemed to operate on a completely different realm from what we are accustomed to. This
reveals that the mind of Christ was in full operation. This is the new mind and heart promised by
the Father. The
mind that was in Christ Jesus was the mind of the Father. And it
was this mind that was in operation within me. This is the renewed mind of which Paul spoke.
It
is this mind that the Father is perfecting within His sons and daughters. And it is
this mind that sought the Father for rain for a dry village!
“As
I raised my hands upward and intercession for the people began, the Father was seen in a
large white cloud which began producing rain clouds. Almost immediately these clouds began pouring
rain down upon the village. It was rain in abundance that watered the
ground and filled their wells. I can’t say what the words I spoke were,
but they had so much power and authority in them that the elements themselves were brought
to obedience. As
the rains came, the man who guided me through the village had an astonished look upon his
face. He
asked, ‘How did you do this?’ It was at this point that I awoke.
“As
I have continued to meditate on this it has begun to transform my attitude, my
understanding, my life, and all that is within me. It has become strong meat in times of
testing. The
scripture which states that ‘it does not yet appear what we shall be,’ comes to
mind in reference to this dream and witnesses to my spirit about the things shortly to
come to pass. How
beautiful it is when the Father pulls back some of the veil and shows us these things! To see
the ministry of the sons and daughters of God coming into their own, being clothed with
the glory of God, and delivering creation from the bondage of sin and death is wonderful
to behold. I
will never forget the robe which He revealed, and how it was part of my being, and covered
and protected all of my being. Ah, the sons and daughters with the mind of
Christ shall lack nothing!” — end quote.
POWER
WITHOUT RIGHTEOUSNESS
“I
the Lord speak righteousness, I declare things that are right” (Isa. 45:19). God is
righteous. That
means He is always right. He is
never wrong. That
is what righteousness is — it is
rightness. God
is always right in everything He says and does. He never makes a mistake. He cannot
be wrong because He is absolute righteousness. God’s rightness is not based on a set of
laws or a code of ethics, but is rooted within His very nature. He acts
out of divine wisdom, infinite knowledge and understanding, unbounded goodness and
unconditional love. Righteousness
is right attitude, right desire, right motive, right living, right actions, a total
rightness in all things according to God’s standard and as the expression of God’s
nature. The
sons of God are called, set apart, taught, processed and transformed to be like Him in
all of our ways —that,
precious friend of mine, is righteousness! This is the righteousness that we hunger and thirst after! This is the righteousness that we now seek! This is the righteousness by which the sons
of God shall judge the world! When you receive the spirit of sonship you receive the right
spirit, or Holy Spirit, and you are destined to right being and right doing; you are
destined to righteousness. Christ is the right spirit, the spirit of
righteousness. What
a goal God has set before us! What a calling!
Righteousness
is the first and foremost stone in the foundation of God’s Kingdom. We can
only qualify to rule and reign with Christ in His Kingdom as we thoroughly understand and
gladly embrace the great truth that “the throne is established by righteousness”
(Prov. 16:12). “Unto
the Son He saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of Thy kingdom” (Heb. 1:8). The
Only with the mind of the Spirit may we imagine a
world ruled by a government such as is prophesied in the ninety-sixth Psalm: “Say
among the heathen that the Lord reigneth: the world also shall be established that it
shall not be moved: He shall judge the
people righteously. Let
the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fullness
thereof. Let
the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the forest
rejoice before the Lord: for He cometh, for He cometh to judge the earth: He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the
people with His truth” (Ps. 96:10-13). God shall indeed judge the whole world in
righteousness, and this He shall do through His sonship company. It is of
this many-membered Christ, God’s glorious Christ, Head and body, that the prophet
speaks when he says, “And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him...and shall make
him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight
of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for
the meek of the earth...and righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness
the girdle of his reins” (Isa. 11:2-5).
Many
well-known ministers have gone down the tubes during the last fifty years because the
righteousness of the
From time to time I meet these folk who call
themselves sons of God. They
can discern what God is doing in this hour, they see beautiful revelation truths. They can
thrill your heart with the message they preach. They understand the deep mysteries of
the
The one who preaches and teaches, but does not
partake of what he gives forth, who testifies to one thing and lives another, has little
or no influence when he attempts to share with others the life of Christ. None
judge our relationship with God by our knowledge of the Bible, by our revelations,
experiences, or our testimonies. The Christ life must be walked out
in our lives, manifested in our daily walk in the home, on our block, at the job,
and before those who see us the most.
In the wonderful Song of Solomon the Shulamite’s
beloved says to her, “How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince’s
daughter!” (S. of S. 7:1). The word for feet is in the Hebrew PAAMAH
meaning not only feet but also steps or footsteps. It comes from the word PAAM which means
“to impel or agitate; to move.” Ferrar Fenton translates, “How fine your
steps are in your slippers!” Goodspeed renders, “How beautiful are
your steps in sandals, O rapturous maiden!” Another translation says, “How beautiful
your steps have become in your sandals, O willing daughter!” “Steps”
indicate action which is taking place. It is not a matter of the beauty of her feet, but
of her steps, or her walk. This is the beauty of her action and her
movement. Praise
God, He is beautifying the steps of His chosen ones as He enables them more and more to
walk out in the external realm the living word that He has planted deep within the inner
man. It
requires the quickening and sanctifying power of HIS LIFE WITHIN, and the enduement of the
Holy Spirit in the mind of Christ to enable us to BE OUR MESSAGE, our whole life
surrendered to manifest that message, a state of being that proclaims the truth as we walk
whether we ever utter a word or not. We praise God for the teaching and preaching
of the word of the Kingdom by faithful ministries, this is an aspect of God’s
working, but remember, dear ones, God must not only anoint our ear to hear and our mouth
to speak, but He must anoint our feet to so walk out the life of the Kingdom that every
action, every deed, every expression, all that we are becomes a declaration of HIM, manifesting HIM,
revealing HIM.
Ah,
the problem has been that throughout long ages men have sought the power of
the
Let us now take heed to the exhortation of Jesus,
the pattern Son. “But
seek ye first the
The righteousness of the Kingdom is neither a moral
standard nor a code of ethics. God’s righteousness is JESUS CHRIST. Apart
from the inworking of His holy nature and His beautiful character all our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags and putrefying sores. Christ is made unto us righteousness (I Cor.
1:30) and we are made the righteousness of God in Him (II Cor. 5:21). When we
talk about the righteousness of the
“Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness...he staggered not at the promise
of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith giving glory to God; and being fully
persuaded that, what He had promised, He was well able to perform. Therefore
it was imputed unto him for righteousness. Now it
was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; but for us also, to whom
it shall be imputed, if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead”
(Rom. 4:3,20-24). So
by believing in Yahweh who raised our Lord from the dead we have righteousness imputed unto us. It is
wonderful to have our sins forgiven and not imputed against us any more, and to have the
righteousness of God reckoned to us by faith! But having righteousness imputed to us doesn’t
MAKE US RIGHTEOUS. We
are only counted as righteous for
His sake. We
can have His righteousness imputed to us and still be very unrighteous in our nature,
thoughts and actions, doing many things wrong, and few things right.
God
loves all His little children unto whom He has imputed the righteousness of Christ by
faith. And
they are His no matter how they are living today. But He doesn’t want to leave us in this
unrighteous state! He
wants to make us righteous! He want
to impart His righteousness to us, not just impute it.
“For
He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be MADE THE
RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN HIM” (II Cor. 5:21). There is a world of difference between being counted righteous and being made
righteousness. Every
son of God is to possess and become the righteousness of God, to be righteous as He
is righteous, to be holy as He is holy. Who wouldn’t want to become this
righteousness? Who
would not desire to always be right in all we think, in all we say and in all we do — to never again
think anything wrong or have any wrong ideas, desires or motives; but to always be right
in everything. What
a blessed state! Impossible?
Not
at all! It
is what God has planned for us and is working on in us. Of this
very truth the Psalmist wrote when he said, “He leadeth me in paths of righteousness
for His name’s (nature’s) sake.” He leads me in the paths that will bring me
to this glorious state. Blessed
be the Lord!
Salvation
begins with imputed righteousness. Most Christians, however, stop right there
and never press on in God to know the blessedness of imparted righteousness. Imputed
righteousness is like money charged to your account in the bank. But
imparted righteousness is like money paid out of the account into your hands. Imputed
righteousness is potential righteousness, whereas imparted righteousness is actual
righteousness. You
can know the joy of sins forgiven and the wonder of being a child of God with imputed
righteousness, but only by the INWARD POWER OF IMPARTED RIGHTEOUSNESS can one be brought
into the image of Jesus Christ, which is the image of God. What is
imparted righteousness? Our
beloved brother Peter explains the wonderful process, saying, “Besides this...ADD TO
YOUR FAITH virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge self-control, and to
self-control patience, and to patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness, and
to brotherly kindness love. For if these things be in you and abound,
they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord
Jesus Christ...for so an entrance shall be ministered to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ” (II Pet. 1:5-11).
Why does he say, “Add to your faith?” Peter is telling us that once we have believed, we are at the point of beginning in righteousness. Imputed righteousness is enough to save us from hell, but it is not sufficient to give us an abundant entranc
