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Posts Tagged ‘Jesus Christ’

The Voice of God without

Posted in Spiritual Food, tagged , , , on March 18, 2013| Leave a Comment »

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Scripture reading: 1 Samuel 3:1-10

We have been talking about the voice of God speaking within the believer, but we have to know that we also have the voice without. GOD HAS A VOICE. I do not know if many people know that. I heard a preacher say that God cannot speak, that He has spoken already and He is finished speaking. He said that these last 2,000 years God has not spoken anything. I feel sorry for that preacher. I do not know where he would get a message to tell me if there is no one giving him a message. That means that he is making up the message himself. I say, brethren, that God has a voice. I have heard the voice of God many times. It is not His usual way but sometimes He speaks. Remember the boy Samuel? He never knew God. He did not know God’s voice. He was in bed and he heard, “Samuel, Samuel,” and he ran to Eli. Eli sent him back to bed. After this happened a few times, Eli said, “If he call thee (again), that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth.” He knew that it was God speaking to Samuel (1 Samuel 3:9).

In Matthew 28:19-20 we read the words of Jesus as He was leaving. The last thing He said to the brethren was, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am WITH YOU alway, even unto the end of the world.” He said, “I am with you.” Christ is with us, not just in us. Christ is in the Body, speaking through prophecies, words of encouragement, and preaching. Jesus Christ is right in our midst, when we sit down together. Matthew 18:19-20 says, “Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, THERE AM I IN THE MIDST OF THEM.”

It is necessary for us to learn to feed on Christ in all three dimensions – Christ in the church, Christ within, and Christ in Jesus among us. Then we will begin to grow strong in the Lord. Feeding on Christ is the fourth seal. When the fourth seal begins to break forth, some other things are going to happen in the world. This seal is already broken and is available to us to walk in the truth.

(Excerpt from The Book of Revelation, Volume 1, pages 122-123)

Thought for today: Our strength lies in feeding upon Christ in all three dimensions.

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Moving into the Spirit

Posted in Body of Christ, tagged , , , , , , on February 15, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Scripture reading: Ephesians 1:9-12

I often hear people ask, “How do I get into the Spirit?” First, remember that the Spirit is in you, and you must get into the Spirit. I cannot get into the Spirit by enjoying the music, but I can by listening to the words of the song. Sometimes I listen to you sing, and the praise is good, but it is not high praise. It could be higher. When you get to high praise, you are entirely out of self. You lose yourself completely and you are gone into the heavenlies. We get there by the Word of the Lord. Never sing a song that is unscriptural, and when you sing a scriptural song, think of the words. Think about what you are singing. I hear you singing a beautiful scriptural song, and then you go on to sing the last part, “Amen, Amen…” for a thousand times. I listened to the brethren, and they were singing beautifully. The music was good, the feeling was good, the Spirit was there, but they were not entering into the words of the song. If you dare to enter into those words, you lose yourself. You will either start to weep, or to confess God, or to confess your sins, or all of the above; and to move into God.

There is a “moving in God.” Do you know why? You have to be inside of the High Priest (Who is Jesus Christ) in order to get in the Holy of Holies through the veil. The Bible says the veil was His flesh. The High Priest (Christ) eats the bull with the bread (from the Table of Shewbread) and then goes into the Holy of Holies. That is the only way that a lowly bull would get into the Holy of Holies and into the presence of the Almighty. He has to be inside of the high priest, and I want you to understand that being “in Christ” is a different position than “Christ in you.”

There is a mystery in Christ, and the mystery in Christ is inside of Jesus Christ Himself. You ask yourself the question, “What is Jesus Christ?” To be exact, it cannot be explained, but for us, it is being in the body of Christ. Let us see if we can understand this: Something is happening “IN CHRIST.” First, there is a gathering, a coming together, so that everybody who is “in Christ” is coming together with everybody else who is “in Christ.” There is no separation “in Christ” (see Ephesians 4:13-16).

There is at present, however, separation in the Church; and the separation will increase, for those who are not “in Christ” will find some reason to withdraw. Nevertheless, we are exhorted in the verses in Ephesians 4 to endeavor to strive and to make every effort to “…keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,” and that this is accomplished through “longsuffering,” and “forbearing one another in love.”

On the other hand, in Matthew 13, the Scriptures also speak of a separation and of bundles being put together for the fire. Verse 42, “The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend (everything that is offensive), and them which do iniquity.”

The Body is going through a purge. Many people are dropping out and their reasons are varied. Dissension and separation should not come because of disagreements over the time and place of worship, or the how and why, because if we are moving in one Spirit, as it says in the verses from Ephesians 4, “the unity of the Spirit” will bring us into “the unity of the faith.” Everything in Christ, whether in this realm or the other realm, will move together as Christ brings His Body together into one from every tribe and nation.

Have you ever wondered what happened to Jesus Christ at night, when everybody had gone to sleep? He was able to see into the heavenlies, hear the heavenlies, and understand every movement of the Spirit. He had perfect communication with the Father from day to day. THIS IS A REALM INTO WHICH GOD IS MOVING THE BODY. He is lifting us up together with Him into heavenly places, making us one with Him. John in Revelation 5 declares that he heard all heaven and all earth giving glory, and praise, and honor to the Lamb. Then he himself joined them to cry out praises to the Lamb; and heaven, earth and even hell heard him.

(Excerpt from The Omega Message, April 1997, pg. 10-12)

Thought for today: Let us move into the Spirit by the Word of the Lord so that we may be able to see into the heavenlies, hear the heavenlies, and understand every movement of the Spirit.

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The Judgment Has Begun

Posted in Christian Walk, tagged , , , on February 14, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Scripture reading: I Peter 4:12-19

The word I am hearing is, “The judgment has begun [not “is going to begin,” but “has begun”] at the house of God.” If you do not feel the judgment of God working within you and around you, ask God what is wrong, because the first judgment we will feel is the judgment upon our status as a person. God does not want any other status for us but “to know Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (I Corinthians 2:2). God does not want your degrees, your specific abilities, your pride, or your human achievements. All God wants is a man or woman whose ambition is to please Him.

It is the Holy Ghost that takes one into the Holy of Holies. As we move “in the Spirit,” He takes us into Christ. You need to understand that I am not speaking about the Spirit moving in you, but about you moving in the Spirit. The Spirit of God can move in a person, but it is with the intention that the person would get “into the Spirit”—that is, allowing the Spirit to control his actions. Every move of the Spirit is to profit withal—that is, to bring forth whatever gift or the ministry that the Spirit wants to express in the congregation. When the praise reaches the point of touching heaven and the people of God begin to move, the very air around you becomes rarefied and one feels lifted in the Spirit. Some start stomping their feet, some shout praises to God, and the Spirit is moving on you and in you. That is, however, not the ultimate. The ultimate is for you to move “in the Spirit.” That is, you do not move until the Spirit moves. “Moving in the Spirit” is when your mind and your heart conforms to the Lord, and the thing which God wants to be done at that specific time, in that particular place, is being done.

(Excerpt from The Omega Message, April 1997, pg. 9)

Thought for today: God is looking for a man or a woman whose ambition is to please Him. Will you hear the call and answer it?

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Food for the Bride

Posted in Christian Walk, tagged , , , , , on January 21, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Scripture reading: John 6:48-58

Have you ever thought about who the Holy Place congregation is? (We are talking about types and shadows as we see them in the Tabernacle of Moses: Outer Court, Holy Place, and Holy of Holies.) Let me tell you: the Holy Place congregation are people who have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. That does not mean that if you have not received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, you cannot be in the Holy Place congregation, because that generally is where you go to get it. But the Holy Place people are the people who walk in the Spirit or are being taught to walk in the Spirit. I want you to notice that it is Holy Place and Holy Spirit. You cannot be holy without the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that makes the church holy, for by nature we are not holy.

Let us go on a little step further. We say that there is a Holy Place congregation. This Holy Place congregation is ministered to by a special Spirit, by a special ministry. That is, that if God has not ordained men to the ministry of the Holy Place, they cannot minister to Holy Place people. Do you understand that? We have been listening to people who are not ministering to us. We have been getting food from tables that are not our table.

How would you like to be getting an Outer Court feeding while you are pressing on in the Holy Place seeking to become like Jesus Christ? You need something stronger. You need stronger food. The men and the women who participate in strenuous sports like running, jumping, etc., have to be fed special food in order to give them the energy to do what they are doing, or else they will be losers. Sometimes the difference between the winner and the loser is the food they eat. This is what God is saying to us: there is a food for the bride in the holy place and God calls it the wedding feast.

If you are expecting to come forth at midnight in the nature of Jesus Christ – why are you found eating food out in the potluck area? We call it potlock, but it really is luck, potluck. You may get it or you may not. Somebody may drop a little Halloween in the pot, and when you go out there it is all sweets, all candies. It is the same in what people are feeding on in the spiritual areas. They are feeding on nice things. They say, “Come, let’s sing a beautiful song and let’s dance.” They sing and dance and have a good time. They are entertained. But God is saying that there is a bride that must have special food, because she must come forth at midnight and bring forth a son; she needs strength for midnight.

At midnight the mighty men are going to fail. At midnight many who think they are the bride will find they have no oil in their vessels. They will have to go out into the darkness to get oil when it is going to be rough business.

(Excerpt from The Warfare in the Holy Place, an audio message #1984-11-04)

Thought for today: Feed on the right food and walk in obedience to God so that you are not found lacking when the Bridegroom comes for His bride.

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The Beginning of the Third Temple

Posted in Christian Walk, tagged , , on January 18, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Scripture reading: John 2:18-22

Jesus Christ is the beginning of the construction of the THIRD TEMPLE. In Christ, we are that third temple and the final fulfillment of all that has been written about temples in the Bible. Jesus Christ told the Jews, in effect, that Herod’s temple was not the true temple, but that His body was the true temple.

John 2:18-21, “Then answered the Jews and said unto Him, What sign showest thou unto us, seeing that Thou doest these things? 19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. 20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt Thou rear it up in three days? 21 But He spake of the temple of His body.”

Paul speaks of this temple in I Corinthians 6:19, “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?”

It is very interesting to note that this teaching is believed even in modern Israel. There is, however, one exception in Israel’s belief – it being that they think they are that third temple. In a natural sense they are, but in the spiritual sense we, the Israel of God, which includes both Jew and Gentile, are that temple.

The story is told of the reference to the third temple being made by a high-ranking Israeli when things seemed very dark for Israel during the 1973 October war. His words to Premier Golda Meir were, “This is the end of the Third Temple.” In that dark hour for Israel, he would not be playing with words had the meaning not been fully known to the Premier. He was referring to Israel in no uncertain terms.

For a long time, our colleges and seminaries have been teaching that the symbolic meaning of the word Canaan is a glory land beyond death, and thus fostering a doctrine of a faraway heaven on some faraway planet. Now, through the revelation of the Holy Spirit and the Christ within us, we know for sure that the experiences of heaven are ordained of God for us to have here and now while we are in this life. Jesus, through His life, demonstrated that He dwelt in heavenly places while on earth. For example:

“No man hath ascended up to heaven but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.” John 3:13.

This passage and many others clearly say that Jesus, though He was on earth, also was in heaven. Not just heaven in us, but us in heaven.

TRUE ENOUGH, most Christians have to die before God can get them still enough to bring them into the reality of the Spirit, but now we are understanding the ways and purposes of God, and we know that God will bring heaven down to earth (terra firma) as soon as the saints allow the Kingdom of God to come within them.

“Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10.

We can be like Jesus. This will happen not because we are trying hard to be; as a matter of fact, we will never be by trying, but because we are learning to step out of the way and LET HIM MAKE US LIKE HIMSELF.

JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD is God’s final pattern of that which He is creating with His word in the earth. “He spoke and it was done.” By the anointed word of God, we are being recreated in His image and likeness. There is a teaching which would disarm you, which says that you can do nothing about it. You have been given of God a free will, and you can prevent God to the point of going to hell if you desire. On the other hand, you can give God the right of way in your life to bring you into conformity with His image. Romans 6:16 states that whatsoever spirit YOU obey, his servant you will become. Thus God expects you to exercise your franchise in submitting yourself to Him that He might put you in alignment with Christ.

(Excerpt from The Pattern, pg. 5-6)

Thought for today: Let us yield today to God and ask Him for his grace to overcome our very selves. Let Him make us like Himself so we will be in alignment with Christ.

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