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“And Thy House”

May 17, 2024 by Admin

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Scripture reading: Acts 16:19-34

“…Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”  (Acts 16:31)

“AND THY HOUSE.” The jailer had only asked for salvation for himself, but Paul offered him also for his whole household. Upon what authority was this offer made and was it biblical? It was upon the authority of Exodus 28. Of all the apostles of the Lamb, Paul was more versed in the typology of the Law and its meaning in Christ than any other. In verse 33, he baptized the whole family. This was no exception—this was the rule.

The jailer was the priest of his family, just as it was in the whole Jewish society that the head of the family was considered the priest of that family and he was spiritually accountable before God for his family. Upon the authority of this word therefore, Paul and Silas baptized the jailer and his whole family.

When the jailer knelt before God, the Lord saw his whole family represented and the curse of sin was removed from the family at that moment. The spiritual principle underlying this is that we are a covenant people. God has established His covenant with us through His Son as our High Priest so that all those with whom we have covenant, He recognizes them as covenanting with Him by proxy. When the devil takes a family, he has power over the third and fourth generation of those who are disobedient. The blood covenant of Jesus Christ with us makes our families blood-covenanted to Christ by proxy. As it was in the old Levitical covenant, the priest would go into the Holy of Holies once every year with the blood of the lamb and when his sins were forgiven all of Israel’s were also forgiven.

In our experience, we see God moving among our families. When one gets saved, then there is a domino effect and God begins to move in the whole family, especially and first among those who are obedient and willing, but even the unwilling are moved by the mercies of God. In the case of my own family, God saved me first, then my brother, then my sister and their families, then another brother’s family, then another brother, then my father and my mother. In my wife’s family the same thing is occurring and also in our children and their families, and the process still continues. There are some basic reasons for this, but it must be made clear that before God a covenant is a very serious matter.

The covenant must be exercised; it cannot be assumed that it will work without exercising it. I am sure most of us have stories of how God moves in our families. This is no coincidence. For those who do not have these stories of salvation of their families, then be assured they are in the making for God will honor his word.

(Excerpt from The Omega Message, October 1990, pg. 6-8)

Thought for today: Remember that the promise of salvation is not only to you but also to your house. Do not get discouraged by what you see today with your natural eyes. Exercise this family covenant and take God at His Word. You will NOT be disappointed.

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God’s Family Covenant

May 16, 2024 by Admin

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Scripture reading: Exodus 12:1-14

God moves in His people through the families. He ordained the family structure for His own purpose. It is the will of God that we do not go to heaven alone, but that we should take our families with us; and He makes it a responsibility of each born-again family member. In Exodus 12:3, we read:

“Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house.”

The word “a lamb for an house” tells us that God expected the head of each family to be responsible for the saving of the life of his own household, because the death angel would be passing through that night, and any household that did not have the blood on the door, their firstborn would be slain. It is important for us to understand that in a spiritual sense God holds every head of a household responsible for his family. Therefore, when we appear before the Lord we cannot say as the murderous Cain did, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” because God is saying to us, “Yes! You are your brother’s keeper!” and we had better know it and recognize it before it is too late.

In reading this chapter in Exodus, we see that the lamb is to be chosen on the tenth day and slain on the fifteenth. The type and shadow of the Word of God says that this lamb did not choose himself or volunteer for the position, but even as God chose Israel, He is now choosing a lamb for each household. We now stand in the breach for the family, then we will be called to stand in the breach for the Body of Christ (spiritual family), and then we will be called, chosen, and made worthy to stand in the breach for the world.

(Excerpt from The Omega Message, October 1990, pg. 1)

Thought for today: If you have been washed by the Blood of Jesus Christ, you have become a lamb for your family. Stand in the breach so that they, too, may find their Savior. And as you are faithful in this matter, He will surely make you worthy to stand in the breach for the world.

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Christ in the Soul

May 15, 2024 by Admin

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Scripture reading: John 12:20-26

When we accepted Jesus Christ, we received life. The Blood of Jesus Christ is the life of God. This is what we received in our souls which were dead in trespasses and sins. This life had to help us die to the alien life of sin which had occupied the soul. Then, we had the self-life, which also had to die. So we see that when we accepted Christ as our Savior, it was a matter of submitting to death in order to receive life. When that process is completed, then we begin to enter into Christ. Paul, speaking to the Corinthian Christians in I Corinthians 12:13, declares, “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body.”

We are not baptized into the body of Christ until the body of sin and self is given a death-blow. If sin is still reigning in our members, then it was not fully dealt with. The grain of corn cannot bring forth a new life until it has given up its own life. We must die to live and that life does not begin until the death is complete. This is all done by faith.

The divine order of the entering into Christ is shown in the tabernacle of Moses by the three veils. The first veil is called the Gate, the second is called the Door, and the third is called the Veil. The door is Christ, and the entering in is preceded by the washing at the Laver, which is death to self and a complete surrender to Christ. Self cannot be on the throne and, at the same time, Christ be crowned as King. One King must depose the other. Even more than being deposed, ONE KING MUST SLAY THE OTHER so that there is no further possibility of a coup to regain the throne.

THE ENTERING IN OF CHRIST INTO THE SOUL of man is a conscious act of man’s will, which is preceded by the three BAPTISMS of death.

There must be a death before there can be a resurrection. The three baptisms are:

  1. Baptism in water, the baptizer being human
  2. Baptism in the Holy Ghost, the baptizer being Jesus Christ
  3. Baptism into Christ, the baptizer being the Holy Ghost

Christ enters into us, then we begin to enter into Christ. Just as the Holy Ghost enters into us, then we begin to live in the Spirit.

When Christ enters the soul as King, He begins His rule on earth within the individual. HE MUST REIGN TILL ALL ENEMIES ARE PUT UNDER HIS FEET, even death. We see, therefore, that He brings life and immortality to light by the gospel (II Timothy 1:10). The beast nature of man is being changed to the nature of the Christ.

We can see then that we can have Holy Spirit occupying our spirits, but not our souls as the five foolish virgins had in Matthew 25. This stands to reason why, although we receive the Holy Spirit, we still have the power to reject His counsel and have our own way. It also is the reason why we still fall into sin though having the Holy Spirit of God within us. The process of the Kingdom of God gently seeps into every area of our lives with our own free will consent, just as the leaven that leavens the whole three lumps of the woman’s meal in Matthew 13:33.

(Excerpt from The Pattern, pg. 148-149)

Thought for today: Let us give way in our souls to the Holy Spirit so that He may fill our vessel and conquer every sin in our lives.

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The Written Word

May 14, 2024 by Admin

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Scripture reading: II Timothy 3:10-17

The Word of God is explicit, direct, and without ambiguity. It is the life of the believer and a chart and compass to those who would walk in truth. Without it, the church would be confused by the voice of many spirits and men and would lose her way in a maze of lights not knowing which beam to follow.

There are basic principles of belief which are vital to the believer, which will, under the vigorous testing which follows the acceptance of Jesus Christ as Savior, be the very life-blood of the Christian and the determining factor as to whether he or she will overcome or fail. The most important basic principles are:

(1) The Bible is written by God and is the Word of God.

(2) There are no mistakes in the Bible.

(3) The truth of the Word is contained in its meaning and not in human interpretation of what the Word means.

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (II Timothy 3:16).

“For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (II Peter 1:21).

These tenets are like the foundation of a very large building which must be laid deep down in the heart of the believer so that when the storms come, the winds blow and the billows roar, he will stand and not fall. So many mighty men have fallen and are falling. The reason is that their building was not founded on the Word of God, but in most cases on what they thought about the Word of God. We have to understand that thoughts about a thing are not necessarily the truth about the thing.

(Excerpt from The Omega Message, December 1993, pg. 13-14)

Thought for today: As we read our Bibles, let us remember that the foundation of the Word of God must be firmly established in our hearts so that we would be able to withstand the storms of life.

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Life and Death – the Power of the Tongue

May 13, 2024 by Admin

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Scripture reading: Matthew 12:22-37

Words can carry both life and death. This is so because we are not just dealing with natural things. A person who can get angry and wish another dead will have many evil spirits taking his word and going forth to accomplish that which was spoken. We live in a spiritual realm and no word falls to the ground. The spirits of God will obey every word of Christ that comes out of your mouth or your thoughts, but the spirits of the devil will also obey every evil thought and every evil word. As matured Christians we have learned not to speak any negative words or harbor any negative thoughts. Negative thoughts will come and we will see a thing to be totally negative, but we are the balancing force in the world and we are expected to reprove the darkness wherever we see it.

If you can see a negative thing about a person and not have the love and compassion to earnestly pray for that person, then it is the devil that showed you and not God. God will never show anyone anything about anybody unless he knows your love for that person. If He shows you, it means that you are being recruited to pray for that person.

The battle in the realms of the spirit goes back and forth upon these principles. If a man is guilty, then devils claim him, but another can drive that devil from him by the power that God gives us. Therefore, if we deride the guilty, we encourage the devils that have a claim on him to exercise their claim. Many times we see one continuously oppressed of devils and we might feel in our hearts, “It serves him right.” We have unwittingly joined the forces of the devil which are oppressing him and have failed God in the rescue effort which he needs.

We have a word that is like a flashing sword of light when it strikes evil spirits. This means that Jesus Christ, our Lord, who is Himself the Logos, has given us the rhema (or, the word of command) to use as one uses a gun or a sword.

Once I was attacked by what seemed to be a prince of darkness. His power was so great that when he held me, I could not physically move my hands, head, or tongue. At that moment, Jesus appeared to me and gave me instructions. I obeyed and my tongue was released to speak the word of rebuke. When I did so, the thing was thrown from me by the power of God. The rhema, therefore, was the command I spoke, but without Christ, the Logos, my words would be ineffective. Jesus Christ said, …the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life (John 6:63). This simply means that when Jesus speaks, spirits go forth from Him to do His bidding and from what we have learned, we are being brought into that same realm where we speak with the voice and authority of God.

The power of the spoken word should, however, be understood by the believer. When we abide in the Spirit, a certain authority goes along with the words we speak. We have seen it in action and the only way we can describe it is that it comes like a ray of light flashing from the believer to the enemy. In the case of the creative force, it is like a spirit that goes forth and creates the object spoken into being. This same force from God works in the preaching of the Word. If the person who delivers the Word is speaking with the authority of the Spirit, then the hearers must be blessed and lifted up towards Christ. All of God’s activity in the Church moves the believer towards becoming more and more like Christ; the spoken word is a creative force which not only attracts the spirits of heaven to us, but buoys us up into the heavenlies. The spoken word drives away the spiritual forces of the enemy and not even evil men can stand being around anyone who speaks the Word of God. Yes, we do overcome the enemy by the word of our mouth and the Blood of the Lamb.

There is, however, what I would call, a backup, provided of God in the person of the angels that are constantly guarding us:

“Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?”  (Hebrews 1:14)

Angels of God are appointed around every believer to minister for him. We are partners with God, but can only do a certain part of the work (that which pertains to the physical). The angels, however, are appointed of God to do the spiritual. Therefore, when we speak that which pleases God, His spirits act on our behalf. The place of function between man and God as one unit is described in the Word as the lampstand in the Tabernacle of Moses. It is depicted as one of the seven churches as well as one of the seven works of grace that will bring us into perfection (the Man Child Church). In Solomon’s Temple the lampstand was multiplied to ten and was made much larger than the one in Moses’ tabernacle. This shows that there would be a mighty increase in the ministry of God and man working together as well as that the magnitude of light in the Holy Place would be increased ten-fold.

The power of God in the Church has increased immensely, but because of the overspreading of iniquity and abominations, it is not very apparent to us. Nevertheless, we should understand that without this great power it would be impossible for us to even survive the present onslaught of Satan and his hosts.

(Excerpt from The Omega Message, December 1993, pg. 11-13)

Thought for today: The spiritual world is waiting to hear our words and thoughts so that they can carry out their purposes – whether good or bad.

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