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©1995 - 2024
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©1995 - 2024
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It is the Glory of Kings to Search out a Matter. Proverbs 25:2 "But
we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which
God ordained before the world unto our glory: 1 Corinthians 2:7 Which
none of the princes of this world knew: (2:7) for had they known it,
they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 1Co 2:9 ¶ But as
it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered
into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them
that love him. 1Co 2:10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his
Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things
of God. Tools specific to 1Co 2:11 For what man knoweth the things
of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things
of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God." But the
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they
are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned. 1 Cor. 2:14
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 concept but proved 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. 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, It self the greatest mystery as suggested above. 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. My referances do little more than introduce the topics of God's mysteries. There remains, more, much more, to be gleaned as one reads and rereads the word of God. There are greater and greater mysteries and mysteries within mysteries which will be revealed in due time. Revelation is progressive and continues to deepen as His truth is being revealed by God's Holy Spirit in God's divine time. God withholds 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 do you say that I am?
The
Age of Grace is the current dispensation of how God interacts with humanity.
It is the time that Jesus presented as the "acceptable year
of the Lord" or the time of God's favor. This dispensation
was introduced when Jesus, Yeshua of Nazareth, proclaimed that the Scripture
he read, written by Isaiah in Isaiah 61, was fulfilled. Paul the apostle was chosen by Christ to declare and expound the message of grace to the nations, (goyim). In the first century of the 'church age' there was only a small remnant of Jews who were converted from Torah into the endowment of God's grace and power. For the most part, however, Paul was resisted and threatened by those Jews who considered Jesus to be a false messiah. This hostility to the gospel of Grace followed Paul from city to city; from country to country throughout his life of ministry to his death in 67 a.d. Paul described the Gospel, the good news of salvation without works, as the "Gospel of Power." In this church age, or age of Grace. It is God's power that saves a soul supernaturally and changes the believer into a spiritually reborn creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). We who are born of the Spirit are now "the children of God." We are persevering in faith until the day that the church age comes to a close with the removal of believers from the world. Judgment will follow and the final years will close the age as described in John's prophetic document, "Revelation." Paul writes about the gift of salvation by grace in the book (epistle) of Galatians. In it he makes a powerful admonition that those who are saved by grace (a supernatural act of God) must be matured and perfected by the save process, God's work within the soul and spirit of every believer. Religion has committed grievous error requiring additional conditions for redemption by requiring "man made" requirements or sacramental duties. This turns the gospel of grace into works about which was emphatic in saying. "Let them be accursed" anathema." Such religions are non Christian cults according to biblical Truth. Grace
Works Through Faith Jesus
brings the principle of Grace sharply into focus when he proclaimed,
"I in myself can do nothing, It is the Father in me who does the
work." and; "Why do you call me good? There is none good but
God." What predominates in church activity today are individuals who are greatly gifted in knowledge and personal skills but this is not the same as being empowered by Grace through the Holy Spirit. "If any speak let him speak as the oracle of God, if any minister let it be by the ability that God provides. 1 Peter 4:11" Human abilities may be rich, charismatic in the literal sense, but we see too little of the abilities that God supplies. It is the anointing and its numerous manifestations (See the 7 Spirits of God_)that attest to the Power that God supplies. The Word of Faith movement may have taken Biblical Faith and gone a step too far, turning faith into a method or process that has the effect of removing God's hand from the ministering believer. The kingdom of God in reality expresses, "It is the work of God to will and to do... " all things on our behalf. The faith-filled Christian must not lose sight of the fact that, as Jesus himself said, "In himself he can do nothing - -" It is still the Father that does the work. It is through GRACE that is God's action, which works on our behalf through Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Grace
in common Christian terminology has been given a limited theological
meaning. Essentially that grace is the gift of God that saved us. We
believed and confessed unto salvation. This occurrs once when we believe
and are born into the kingdom of God. This is the first act of grace.
Grace is present of course in this blessed moment. The Spirit of Grace
brought us to salvation. But grace continues in a dramatic sense for
any and all of the children of God. As we read in the book of Acts,
"Great grace was upon all the believers." This is the continuing
endowment of Power to those who believe. Growing in (through) grace
and truth is the mechanism of maturing as believers. The activation
of grace in our inner spirit is enabled through the study and understanding
of the Word of truth. i.e. Scripture.
A Bible Example of Faith in Action To continue the idea of response to God or his Word, we can find it portrayed in the Gospel story in Matthew 14:28. In this account, Peter sees Jesus walking upon the surface of the water, an act quite impossible in the natural world unless of course the water be frozen. Peter, always adventurous, tells Jesus that he would like to join him in walking on the water, but only if it truly is Jesus. The faith sequence is portrayed by Jesus telling Peter to "come." Peter himself, then proceeds to approach Jesus, walking on the water. When he removes his eyes from the master and begins to sink, Peter began to notice the waves and the storm, when his faith was replaced by reason and doubt, Peter began to sink. An indispensable element of the equation is the fact that Jesus spoke directly to Peter and said, "Come." Jesus spoke this Rhema, or spoken word, and Peter acted upon that word from the Lord. It was not Peter's ability to transcend the laws of nature but the power of the Word of God, which formed all of the natural world in the beginning. This Word held Peter up miraculously. This was faith in action. In
the present day we do not often get rhemas to walk on water but if His
voice tells you, "Walk." you should respond. If it tells you, "Sing."
you should resound. If it tells you "Go." you should respond. If it tells
you, "Stop."you should respond. This is acting in response upon faith.
The natural human mind, emotions and will (the human soul) would not seek God, could not believe, and it has no inherent goodness in itself. Though not all of our souls are that of arch villains or wholly reprobate, everyone in the human race " -falls short of the glory of God." Therefore our faith is first given to us by God. His provision or spiritual endowment is GRACE. Grace is everything which God has provided and will provide, working (spiritually) on our behalf. Grace is what God does! Yielding and obeying is what we do! In the beginning all of Paul's epistles, Paul pronounces a certain phrase. I believe these words were written by the Spirit of God to provide a living rhema capable of empowering our faith as we read. This by the apostle and charged with Spiritual Power, that phrase is, "Grace be unto you -," sometimes it is accompanied by "and Peace -- " This "invocation" has come to be ritualized in church ceremonies but in its initial form, I believe it was Paul's intent that it be, a prayer of faith. A prayer of faith is a spoken proclamation which is intended to achieve a Spiritual result. (Link above is to my video commentary, less than 5 minutes, Prayer of Salvation.) Grace is the working of a Spiritual God on our behalf. Grace is linked to the term "anointing", which is the manifestation of power and presence of God working upon one of his servants at a certain time. It is the Father in heaven who sends His Spirit to help us in every way including to believe. This is an act of GRACE. Grace is that which God does or supplies freely on our behalf. Grace too is spiritual. It is a "Spiritual Fuel" which allows faith to work. Salvation through grace and faith is described in Ephesians 2:8, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:" Faith Grows as a Fruit as we study the Word of God Faith grows as a consequence of studying the Scriptures which are the repository of God's mind and wisdom. The entrance of God's word brings "life" and "light" as the psalmist declares. God's Word begins to redirect our thought processes and renews our minds to conform to God's thought. If we have little understanding of the Word, it follows that we can not be persons of faith. But again I promise you, God provides Grace and anointing to follow Him and know His word. Faith is cumulative, like a living entity it grows and develops. Hearing the Word of God spoken builds faith. (Faith comes by hearing.) Reading the Scriptures aloud is a powerful faith building exercise. Speaking the Word of God with our own mouths builds and activates faith. For example when it says in Scripture, "Fear not, for I the Lord am with you." We may activate faith by saying aloud, "I will not fear for you Lord, are with me." If we believe we shall see the glory of God. If we do not believe, we can not see God's manifested glory. Unbelief does not activate faith. God does not violate our unyielding will and unbelief. As we move toward God in faith, he moves toward us. Though
some may wish to argue that Jesus born in the image and likeness of God,
the very Son of the Father, was thus exempted from the life of faith that
is required of us. I do not believe that this was the case. I believe
that Jesus of Nazareth, acting as the "son of man," exercised faith
continuously from His youth onwards. It is said of Jesus, that he
was full of Grace and Truth. Two things are evident here: First
that Jesus lived by the Word (Scriptures) and the Scriptures are the source
of Faith. The son of God did not operate as God in this world but as the
son of man, thus he operated under faith which pleases God and so demonstrated
this principle to all of us! "This is my beloved son in whom I am well
pleased." (Matthew 3:17, Luke 3:22) Jesus from his youth up was aware
of who he was but thought it not "robbery" to equal himself
with God. Jeshua accessed the Father with intimacy and developed this
to a level we can not imagine. He said the things I see my Father do,
I do. The things I hear my Father say, I say. He also said to his disciples, "If you had faith as a mustard seed you would say . . . " So, faith is saying and believing that the things you say will come to pass. A second obvious proof that Jesus walked in faith is the Scripture which we quote from Habakuk 2:4, " - -the just shall live by his faith." Whose faith we may ask? The answer I believe, is the faith Christ (the Lord.) Therefore if it is his faith which empowers us, he must therefore be preeminent in the exercise and use of faith. Jesus
obeyed the word of the Father with whom he was in Spiritual union.
It was the Father's voice and Jesus' response to his Father's voice, the
Rhema, which characterizes Christ's life of faith for all of us, his disciples.
Jesus likewise, demonstrated faith by action. Thus both Jesus' words and actions initiated a life under God's control. His spoken words were with the tone of authority, they brought a result which was often miraculous. Miracles are spiritual intervention in the natural order, thus they are considered supernatural. To receive any manifestation from God we must act upon faith. We must say or do something. (Romans 10:9,10, we see the principle of Faith described that results in the new birth "for with the heart we believe and with the mouth we confess.") Only true and sincere belief causes God to honor faith. God looks upon the heart of man. We can not in faith through another's belief. We can not walk on water because Jesus told Peter to come forth. Our faith must be personal and it must be sincere knowing with assurance that his Word was given to us. Finally,
friend of God, to summarize: All spiritual promises are reached through
the door of faith. To see the promises of God actualized requires faith.
With faith all things are possible. " Resources:
Understanding Home Fellowships
"If
you believe you will see the Glory of God. "
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Introduction to Mysteries of God
The
Rapture of Believers, Part 1 Mystery of the Cross, Crucified with Him Mystery of Faith Believing God's Word Mystery
of Grace, God's Hand Stretched Forth Mystery of Power and Divine Enablement Mystery
of Spoken Words of Covenant Mystery of Righteousness in the Beloved Mystery of the Word -.Bible is a Living Force
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