November 2000

[Part Twenty-five]

                While men continue to partake of the “Tree of the knowledge of good and evil” rather than the Tree of Life and Peace, they occupy the “Cheer and Boo” bleachers of judgment. As long as man’s putrid flesh is enthroned in our hearts, we judge by the lusts of our eyes, our flesh and our pride of life! When anything tantalizes or gratifies our senses, we loudly cheer; but if something discomfits our carnal nature, we reject it with a lusty “Boo!” Godly Wisdom teaches believers that we must accept ALL things thankfully as being from God’s Hand! Not just pleasant things, but unpleasant things (by carnal standards). He says, “Beloved, don’t be surprised or caught off guard when fiery trials come to test and purify you, as if something strange had happened. Rather rejoice that you are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; so when His Glory is revealed in you, you will then be overjoyed!!” (1 Pe 4:12-13) “To share in His Glory” means we must “share in His suffering”! Through much tribulation,we must all enter the Kingdom of heaven!” (Ac 14:22) “Tribulation” is translated: ”pressure” as in a strong squeezing! In a recent gathering of our local body, the Lord gave me a vision from the movie, Ten Commandments, that graphically demonstrated this pressure. In one scene, an old female Hebrew slave was being used to grease the ground between two giant blocks of stone they were pushing together. Her sash accidentally caught under one of the stones and she hadn’t the strength to free herself. Had Moses not come to her rescue, she’d have been crushed between the two blocks. Then Father took my thoughts to Gen 2:21 where the man’s soul (lit. “chamber”; incorrectly translated as “rib”) and its components (intellect, emotions and will), was divided from his spirit and the chasm between was filled and sealed with flesh! That mountain of flesh has been eclipsing man’s soul view of the spirit ever since. But for the past 2000 years, the Lord has been recalling and drawing some of those segregated souls back to Himself which has resulted in His squeezing out that fleshly middle to be consumed by His Fiery Presence! Although this has been a painful, frightening process, when that great union of soul and spirit is completed, these two shall never again contend with, nor be separated by, FLESH! In this Body of sons it shall be fulfilled, “He who is born of God does not commit sin; because his Seed (“Christ” Gal 3:16) remains in him (is not prostituted in manmade religious systems); and because he is born of God, HE ‘CANNOT’ SIN!” (1 Jn 3:9) This is not like a New Year’s resolution where man’s free will tries to forsake a bad habit; this is the foreordained act of Father’s Will to release those who were “Subjected, not willingly, to vanity” (Ro 8:20); “Shut up in the prison of unbelief” (Ro 11:32); and made to be “Sold into slavery to sin” (Ro 7:14) just so He could reveal His great Mercy and Power of deliverance! When Jesus Christ said to an adulteress, “Go and SIN NO MORE” (Jn 8:11); He wasn’t simply turning a phrase of well-wishing or offering good advice, He was releasing her soul from bondage to sin! What gave Him authority to set her free? He was tChrist, the Lord of Glory! This was the same Lord to whom David confessed: “AGAINST YOU ONLY, HAVE I SINNED!” (Ps 51:4) We may intend to aim our poison arrows of sinful thoughts, words and deeds at other men of like flesh, but here we see that it is “CHRIST”, that is the true target! Jesus told His disciples, “If the world hates you, it is because THEY HATE ME!” (Jn 15:18) Remember that “To be carnal minded is HATRED against God!” Men want to strike out at the SOURCE of their troubles, but they can only reach outer flesh; so they strike at what they can see and touch!
                It is impossible for natural man to do anything truly good, without evil being attached to it. However the spirit man, when anointed by the Holy Spirit, can only do good! If we wish our lives tochange from death to Life, we are going to have to receive ALL the Christ Life- even suffering for Righteousness’ Sake. As Preston Eby said in a recent sharing, “We cannot tell Him what portion of Him we will receive and what portion we will not receive. We will receive and manifest Him in fullness, without any reservations or preconceived ideas, or we will not receive Him at all!“ Selah!

[TO BE CONTINUED]