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It
is the Glory of God to Conceal a Matter,
It is the Glory
of Kings to Search out a Matter.
Proverbs
25;2
MYSTERIES
OF GOD
Introduction
Revelation, inspiration, searching, knocking,
asking; these are all pathways that lead a
seeker into the knowledge of the mysteries
of God. "God is a Spirit," says the
scripture. His divine existence is one that
can only be perceived, believed on a non-sensing
level. If I say that I know God, whom you neither
know nor see, you can only judge my assertions
on the basis of my personal credibility. Some
spokes persons for God or more credible than
others. The early apostles did not so much
argue the existence of God as a theory or concept
but to prove His existence by supernatural
attestations, demonstrating the Power of God.
(1Corinthians 2). So we have the matter of
proving to a materialistic non believing world
that God is real and that He still has a part
in the day to day affairs of this world and
its occupants.
Progressive Revelation
God is a god of mysteries
and hidden things. The parables taught by Jeshua
(Jesus) had within them truth at varying levels,
plain story-level truth and higher spiritual
level revelation. There is and always was that
matter of hidden truth. To Christ's disciples
it was given to know the secrets of the Kingdom
of God while others received no more than a
moral homily. God reveals himself to some and
not to others. Heaven and its mysteries are
not laid bare for any to intrude upon as there
are defining limits between darkness and heavenly
light. The Bible truths and hidden mysteries
are not delineated as point by point, topic
by topic facts and realities. Thus the key
to unpacking and deciphering the Word of God
can not be achieved strictly by academic skills
and study alone. Without the Holy Spirit which
is the teacher and discipler of truth we are
limited pretty much to the moral homily level
of the listener.
We
are given understanding in the light of Jeshua
(Jesus) in a line by line, precept upon precept,
understanding that Jesus is the Word of God,
Itself the greatest mystery. For when the Scripture
is made known in its completeness we
shall See Him as He IS.
The
following writings deal with the subject of
Mysteries. They do little more than introduce
the topics of God's mysteries, some of the
mysteries. There remains, more, much more to
be gleaned within these domains of study. Moreover,
there are likely more and more mysteries and
mysteries within mysteries which will come
into our field of view in due time.
Revelation
is progressive and always deepening as His
truth is being revealed by God's Holy Spirit
in God's divine time. God is withholding
certain things from us because it is not yet
His time. Contrary to some ecclesiastical authorities
we do not have all the answers (facts) as to
Who God is and what His complete plan is for
His Body, The Church (another mystery).
Matthew
16:16 But who say ye that I am?
Jesus asks his disciples, "Who do you
say that I am?" Peter, answers and says,
"You are the Messiah, the son of the Living
God." Jesus then tells Peter, "-
- - Flesh and blood have not revealed this
to you, but my Father who is in heaven. This
is an example of how we receive knowledge of
hidden things,
Mysteries revealed by God
1Corinthians 2:0 - -"Eye has not seen
nor ear heard, neither has entered into the
heart of man, the things which God has prepared
for those that love him. 10:
But God has revealed them unto us by his Spirit:
for the Spirit searches all things, yes, the
deep things of God. 11.
For man knows the things of a man, save the
sprit of man which is in him? Even so the things
of God, know man knows, but the Spirit of God.
THE
BODY OF CHRIST
MINISTERING
ON THE EARTH
"You
can access the life of God
without
being sidetracked by the pitfalls of religious
tradition."
Charles
Pinkney
The
Body is the Church
An
Encounter With God
Characteristics
& Definitions of Religion
The
Church is Not a Building
The
Church is the Living Body of Christ on Earth
The
Body Manifests Christ's Love
Our
Heart's First Call is to Fellowship with God
The
Church's First Call is to Fellowship
Who
Ministers "The Gospel?"
Growing
into the Stature of Christ
What
is the nature of fellowship in God? How does the concept
of "The Church" relate to the life of believers? What
is the importance of ritual and programs in the life
of a "Church?" The following will address the question
of the nature of the true church and the nature of
the fellowship of all believers. Institutional Christianity
has done disservice to us by presenting the life of
God as being predicated upon church activities or
services that occur inside a physical edifice!
The
Church is a Spiritual Body of Believers
Christianity
is not a philosophical belief system. Christianity
isnot an ideology. Christians are not Christians by
virtue of their attending a particular church or denominational
fellowship. We are not a Christian because our mother
or father told us that we were. We are not Christian
by default because we are not Buddhist, Hindu or Muslim.
God has no second generation Christians. We are not
even a Christian by virtue of an act of your own will
or choosing! We are a Christian because Almighty God
in heaven enabled you to believe through His Grace
and with his hand upon you, brought you into the fellowship
of the son of his love, Jesus the anointed.
An
Encounter With God
The
Gospel message teaches that believers are supernaturally
joined into an elect (elected) spiritual body, after
our names have been written in the Book of Life.
Our names are not written in the Book of Life by God
in heaven without our knowing it! The day we become
a believer is the day that we encounter God! In this
encounter he touches us, he begins to transform us,
and he fills us to overflowing, we will never walk
in the darkness of unbelief again! "Behold all
things become new!" (2 Corinthians Chapter 5;17.)
In the years that we live in this world we see a lot
of religious behavior and a great amount of 'church-related'
activities but we have witnessed very little of the
'manifestation of God,' within the context of the
'church.'
Forms
of Godliness without Power
Writing
in the second letter to the Corinthians in Chapter
6.14, Paul exhorts believers not to 'yoked' to unbelievers,
idolaters, the domain darkness or the devil. The admonition
concludes that we should dis-attach ourselves from
that which has an appearance of Godliness but is without
(spiritual) Power!
Most
of what we see in our culture as representing Christianity
in no more than formalistic, tradition-bound religion
it does not teach either the power of God or the reality
his fellowship with us.
Here
are some practical definitions of religion. Man's
attempt to explain God or God's ways; Second hand
or third-handed accounts about God or the truth revealed
in his Word; Rituals and customs which are seen to
gain favor with God; Forms of Godliness without manifesting
God's presence or power; Things that happen inside
of church buildings The
Church is not a Building
The
Greek word "Ecclessia" is the word translated "church."
Its definition refers to those who are called out,
"the called out ones." In the writing of Peter's letter,
Peter a disciple and apostle declares: " You are
a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a special and peculiar people, that may proclaim the
praises of Him who called you out of darkness into
His marvelous light." (1 Peter 2:9.)
The
"Church" is this special called out people. The word
church to most of us has come to refer to a building
or a place of worship. Some habitually call the church
building "God's house." However, the true church is
a NOT a building but the spiritual body to which we
gave reference. The apostle said, "Do you not know
that you are the temple?" When believers come
together even as few as two or three, and we gather
in Jesus' name, he promises to manifest himself in
their midst. Thus the body of Christ gathers itself
together in fellowship. This is the church, the body
of believers.
The
Body is the Living Body of Christ in the Earth
Jesus
walked the earth and ministered in the flesh. He is
now walking in the flesh in us who believe. Any
who do not believe that Jesus has come in the flesh
is anti-Christ.(1John 4:2,3)
Jesus
has come to live and manifest his life within
us!
Jesus
has come to live and manifest his life within
us!
Jesus
has come to live and manifest his life within
us!
Sometimes
things have to be repeated to jolt us out of our lethargy.
The reality of Christ in the flesh has got to impact
our theology! It is so amazing so full wonderment
that for it to be a mere concept is to indicate a
kind of spiritual deadness.
The
Body of Christ is comprised of many members, many
parts and many useful giftings which God chooses to
impart. Each member has a part to play, each member
is needed and has significance. We are members of
him. Each is a part of Jesus Himself. He loves his
Body. He is one with it as a husband and his bride
are one. The union of the body is a great mystery.
Christ is the head over it. The fullness of the spirit
which filled Christ is fully and freely available
to every member of The Body. We honor the Body. We
love it. We do not declare war against ourselves by
speaking evil against a brother or sister in Christ.
We also are given the task of sharing in its growth
and edification, therefore each of must contribute
of our gifts and substance to its health.
A
Mystical and Spiritual Life
The
true church is a spiritual body selected from heaven
and connected to heaven by the Holy Spirit to the
enthroned Christ. In the book of the Acts, people
heard the Gospel, believed the word preached, and
made a public witness confirming that they believed
that Jesus was the one begotten Son of God who was
given as a sacrifice for them. They were given power
and authority to become "sons of God".
When
this public confession was made the Spirit of God
came upon them with transforming power and they experienced
the miracle of the New Birth. Old things changed and
passed away and new things came, (2 Corinthians 5;17.)
New
love came, new fellowship came. They gathered into
houses and praised and worshipped God, men and women
prophesied, The Scriptures were read with enlightenment
and they knew God and Christ were in their midst.
This was the church of the Book of Acts. Since that
day his body has never left it was only added-to.
It is the same spiritual body that we may join.
The
Body Must Manifest the Love of Jesus
"Behold,
what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon
us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore
the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not."
(1 John 3:1) "Hereby perceive we the love of
God, because he laid down his life for us: and we
ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."
(1 John 3:16)
The
power and redemptive quality of God's love has to
have a place to manifest and to shine as a light.
It is in this body of believers that it shines. Those
who see enlightened believers who are Spiritually
aflame see kindness and affection, that is unlike
the rest of the world.
In
the fellowship of Christ there is openess (or bond)
of affection among true believers not mere civility.
There is a sense of care and sharing because we have
the nature of God's love within us. Perfect love,
the Scripture says, casts away all fear.
The
self consciousness of the unredeemed man or woman
does not allow freedom and openess in shared affection.
While the unredeemed person is fearful of being hurt
or looking foolish of such openess and vulnerability,
these fears vanish in the life of the Spirit of Christ.
Our
Heart's First Call is to Fellowship
For generations
the church institution has been exalting leadership
while fellowship has been impoverished and neglected!
All
of us crave companionship and fellowship. Believers
crave and hunger for the fellowship of others of like
faith. It is not only this inner desire fueled by
God's nature but the fact that "we are edified
through love" in this fellowship. Thus all
are prepared to share this common life with others.
This is why that fellowship is essential.
The
word for this fellowship that God initiates in us
is called in the Greek "Koinonia."
Koinonia
has several important meanings associated to it; sharing,
fellowship, communion, support, and participation.
All of these things describe the fellowship we have
with God and through God.
Because
of the power and grace which God supplies we are first
able to share his Spirit and his nature, we therefore
have fellowship with Him. We become partakers of the
Divine nature of God. We become "bone of his bone
and flesh of his flesh," an expression used to
describe 'marriage.' It is this "Bond of Love"
that is Jesus' description of the church, His Body
(Ephesians 4) and His Bride, (Revelation 21).
The
Church is First Called to Fellowship
Secondly
to Service (to minister Christ)
We
are each are given the ability through supernatural
enablements to do the works that Jesus did. (For this
purpose the son of God was manifested, that He might
destroy the works of the Devil,.)
This was the mission that God gave to Jesus. Jesus
announced his mission by reading the prophetic text,
in Isaiah 61 as recorded in Luke 4:18, "The Spirit
of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me
to preach the Gospel to the poor; he hath sent me
to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to
the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty them that are bruised,"
No
Believer is Expected to Minister or Live the Christian
Life by His Own Strength or Native Ability
The
power from God (the Holy Spirit baptism at Pentecost)
empowered or enabled all of the disciples to
receive supernatural abilities: Many theological traditions
exclude this divine enablement and see the life of
disciples at the time the Bible book of Acts as different
from God's operation in the present day. This 'cessationist'
doctrine is extremely unfortunate. Any doctrine that
is denied or excluded, can not be received by faith.
Please, my friends be assured. Take the word of one
who has seen, touched and tasted the reality of the
present manifestation of God's power, that this spiritual
enablement exists today. Spiritual enablement exists
for anyone who can set aside his or her own natural
abilities to seek, with faith, and to receive the
"down payment of our divine inheritance,"(read
Ephesians 1:13,14). regarding the giftings from the
Holy Spirit.
Who
Ministers the Gospel?
The
disciples of Jesus saw and heard many wonderful things
as they walked with the Master, the Son of God. But
after 3 years of walking with Him and seeing all the
wonders and hearing all the teaching, they were told,
" - wait in this city (Jerusalem) until you are
supplied with POWER from heaven.-" Jesus' disciples
needed a power which was above their own, a power
divinely enabled by God, to minister with the intentions
that Jesus required of them.
With
there natural abilities they could have they could
have told amazing stories, recounting Jesus' life
and teaching, but the Lord wanted something nore than
this to qualify these disciples for ministry. He wanted
them to share in the same mission and vision proclaiming
the gospel of the Kingdom
and in the same manner of executing the Gospel in
which he himself was sent. The disciples were to be
equipped with a new kind of love a love empowered
by God to perfectly love one another. The disciples
were to be equipped with the same Spirit which was
in the messiah.
The
Holy Spirit provided power, love and a new mind. The
disciple who was to minister needed a Spiritual transplant
so they could be after His image.
Making
Disciples
Disciples
were chosen by Jesus as He walked the shores of Galilee.
He is still making disciples today. He chooses men
and women. He reveals himself to them. He changes
their nature. He prepares them with wonderful gifts
from heaven, freely given by grace.
Growing
into the stature of Christ
Disciples
reach out to make other disciples, Christ's Spirit
works in them to reveal a love nd compassion which
cares about the lost and the hurting; to have a heart
for those who are oppressed and bound.
We
do not minister with the objective that we are enrolling
a candidate for church membership. We meet their needs
and share the promises of Christ. Love is God's best
for each person. Ministry is what we do to provide
or make possible for God's best for each person.
We
follow the doctrine of the apostles; the way of demonstrating
the reality and power of the Kingdom of God.
We
are invested with Powers granted through Christ Jesus,
the power of the Holy Spirit. We share a bond of fellowship
with those who we rescue from the fire.
We
bless them and instruct them in the way of God. We
remove the grave clothes from their lives just as
Jesus instructed his disciples to do after Lazarus
was called forth still bound from the tomb.
We
share the joy of salvation with singing and rejoicing,
and making melody in our hearts. We praise God with
songs, hymns and spiritual songs. We share and rejoice
in the wonderful testimonies of deliverance.
We
lay on hands to heal the wounds of the afflicted and
we take authority over demonic powers which would
attempt continued harassment of a the fledgling believer,
who is still struggling to sort out things which are
spiritual from things which are soulish or psychological.
We
feed the young with milk and the old share meat. We
are not owned by any other but hold another's interest
in common with our own. We know the ruthless operations
of a spiritual enemy who is always at work to enter
into the fellowship, to steal the glory, to divide
and conquer, to steal our confidence and our joy.
We
are not ignorant of the devices of the enemy. We stand
against him. The zeal of the father's house has
eaten us.
Church
should not a matter of scheduled meeting times
for the believer, the doors are never closed
in the temple of the human heart. The altar
is not mortar or wood, it is a place within
us, a holy place sanctified by God by the blood
of a lamb most Holy, A lamb without spot or
blemish.
A
DEFINITION OF LOVE
LOVE
is God's best for each person.
MINISTRY
is What We Do
To
Make it Possible for Someone
to
Receive God's Best for Them
"Knowledge
makes arrogant, love edifies."
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