Getting Personal With God

 The God of Israel

Book of Deuteronomy Chapter 6

What is Spiritual Maturity? If we had one word to describe Spiritual Maturity that word would be "assurance".

This assurance comes by just believing everything God has to say!

1Pe 1:21  Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

1Pe 1:22  Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: 

1Pe 1:23  Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. 

1Pe 1:24  For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: 

1Pe 1:25  But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. 

1Pe 2:1  Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, 

1Pe 2:2  As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: 

1Pe 2:3  If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. 

1Pe 2:4  To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, 

1Pe 2:5  Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. 

Even when we think we know all there is to know about our Savior, there is still much more to learn and we will not know all about Him until we meet Him in the clouds.

As long as we are in this body of flesh, we will feel the need to get closer to God and we had better pay attention to that need!

Israel had lived in the presence of God for some time now.

He walked with them, and He talked with them, and God does this same thing with each and every believer today.

He provided all their needs as He does for each believer.

Remember a believer is someone who believes "all" the Word of God not just bits and pieces.

We cannot select what we believe and what we do not believe.

He kept them safe from danger in ways they could not understand.

As Christians we have angels watching over us.

God gave them laws to set them aside from all other nations.

Those laws are still good laws to help us in this life!

God was faithful to this tiny nation of Israel.

God is faithful to every true believer!

The first thing we need to clearly understand about our God is that there is no other God in this universe.

Oh, there are many so-called  little gods who are only figments of the imagination.

There is only the One God, Jehovah and it does not matter what the world has to say about it or what the world believes!

We have a Living God who has given to us His Living Word!

*****Deu 6:4  Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: 

Deu 6:5  And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. 

We always forget what God says here. If we love Him in this manner, then we will certainly believe Him.

The Hebrew word "Elohim" is used to say that Jehovah is One God in three persons.

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit which Israel still has not understood.

1Co 8:6  But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

1Ti 2:5  For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 

1Ti 2:6  Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. 

That word "Hear" means to hear "with the intent of believing what God says is true", and this is to be applied to all the Word of God!

Moses was God's "messenger: just as every true man "called of God".

1Co_1:9  God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

1Th_2:12  That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.

1Pe_2:9  But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

1Pe_5:10  But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.

1Jn_3:1  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.

God has made a covenant with humanity and this covenant began with the Ten Commandments, which are now hated by the world because they teach us things not to do and the world refuses to be obedient to God.

We must understand that it is hatred not love, that guides this world today!

Have you noticed that even the "judges" of today look upon crime with a soft touch and none of us can understand it. Where did this come from?

It is a complete lack of observing the covenant with God! The Ten Commandments.

Most judges of today are not about laws but only their own interpretation of the laws which they should always avoid!

The Ten Commandments must be followed even today, and we need the Ten Commandments because we refuse to love one another!

There is no true brotherly love in America today.

Every group of people are trying to get what they want off the backs of all other groups of people!

God made this covenant with the Israelites who believed, after He freed them from the tyranny of Egypt!

Exo 19:5  Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: 

Exo 19:6  And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. 

We should not miss the fact that God demands obedience!

God had saved and delivered them, and He expected them to follow His laws.

We see God expects the same for all those He saves!

God made this covenant! 

This covenant was not something dreamed up by humanity!

There is no excuse for any child of God to be confused about the Word of God! 

With those things that we do not understand, we are to just accept them for what they say!

We are to just accept the Word of God and be obedient to it!

It is all those who pervert the Gospel who instill confusion in the many believers.

Moses became a type of Christ as the Mediator of these commandments.

1Ti 2:5  For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 

1Ti 2:6  Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. 

When we are obedient to our Almighty God, then we become His personal possession, but:

He will treat us a king.

He will treat us as priests.

He will treat us as holy, sanctified, pure, righteous, the consecrated people of God!

These are all things that show us just how much God loves us if we love Him!

*****Deu 6:6  And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 

You see, it is our Holy God who produced those Ten Commandments and not some man or some group of men.

God will never change these commandments, nor will we ever find them useless as long as we are in these bodies of flesh.

These commandments work because they come from God!

Exo 20:1  And God spake all these words, saying, 

Exo 20:2  I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 

Jehovah is the source of all things good and proper!

God simply says, "I Am That I Am", our self-existing God!

He is the source of all life because He is the source of all beings, and the source of all His creation!

Remember God created using nothing but His will!

This is why there are no true creators today, because they only use the things that God has already created for their creations

He created us.

He loves us.

He will save us.

He will deliver us.

He will redeem us if we love Him!

Isa 33:22  For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us. 

We must understand the Word of God as God's Divine Revelation of His Creation and of Himself.

We must have the proper view of the Word of God, to experience the enormous truth that God has given to us!

Though much of the world ignores the Word of God, for we who love Him, we do not know what it would be like to not know the truth of our creation!

Once you know the truth of God then it is easy to see the lies of this world!

Our God is not far off in outer space, unreachable or unapproachable, He is very near to those who love Him, even residing within us!

Deu 5:29  O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever! 

My God hears me even when I whisper to Him!

Jehovah is direct! 

He Himself saved the children of Israel, He did not need help from some other source.

The Lord Jesus Christ gets personally involved with those who love Him!

When we study the Word of God, we can see that the Mosaic Covenant is a continuation of the covenant with Abraham.

The Church is a continuation of the covenant with Abraham!

The entire world had rejected God and God chose one man Abram to forsake the world and follow our Creator.

God is still fulfilling the promises He made to Abraham and his descendants!

There is still a "promised land" to the people of God, but it is not of this earth.

Abraham is a picture of salvation!

Moses is a picture of walking with the Lord according to His Word after salvation!

Today we have the Old Testament (Covenant) and the New Testament (Covenant).

The Lord Jesus Christ instituted the New Covenant, all by the hand of Jehovah God, the One God.

Mat 26:26  And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. 

Mat 26:27  And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; 

Mat 26:28  For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 

Mat 26:29  But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new "with you" in my Father's kingdom. 

It does not end with us, because we are to pass this information on throughout our families and our friends.

*****Deu 6:7  And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

Deu 6:8  And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. 

Deu 6:9  And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. 

Notice God makes it our duty to instruct our own children. 

***We must first place the Word of God in our own hearts.

The commandments of God must be real to us. 

We are to cherish the Word of God as the actual "Words of God" because they are!

We must be committed to obeying what God has revealed to us!

God insists upon this, not because He is some tyrant, but because by being obedient to the Word of God we will live a better life also full of joy.

Our own hearts are wicked!

Jer_17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

When we carry the Word of God within our hearts, it will replace that wickedness with the love of God.

God will look into our heart to see if His words are there.

Rom 10:8  But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 

Rom 10:9  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 

Rom 10:10  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 

***We must next teach the Word of God to our children.

Some of the Word of God was at one time taught to our children until we allowed certain foolish people to rewrite certain laws to suit themselves.

Our Founding Fathers approved the Word of God.

The original Constitution of these United States is mostly ignored by a certain group of politicians as they seek their own failed glory.

We all understand that educating children is a necessity but indoctrinating our children is a crime!

Today we battle those who are perverted who try to teach even three- and four-year-old their own perverted sexual opinions.

America has surely become the new Sodom and Gomorrah. 

We must stand up against these things no matter what names we are called!

Obeying the Word of God does not make us bigots or racist. In fact it is just the opposite!

Teaching is taking the truth of God and then living the truth of God, so our children will understand why.

We must be examples of what the Word of God teaches!

This is the greatest of all teaching methods and we must take the world out of the focus of our children, and place the Word of God in clear focus.

We need to take back control of our school systems and rid those systems of the entrenched perverted minds of immorality.

This may have to begin with school boards. Rid these boards of perverted people and replace them with Christians.

Our children need to know what God has to say, not what the world has to say.

We need to think upon the Word of God as we walk, as we work, when we are laid down, when we get up and when we are around our children and grandchildren.

We are to live by the commandments of God!

Eph 6:4  And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. 

***We are to use the Word of God as our strong witness while we are in the eyes of the public.

What has happened is there is so much evil in the world, that some of the things taught in schools now seem minor but they are not.

When the children of Israel were out in public, they were bind the commandments of God on their hands and their head.

It is important that we look more like Jesus Christ every day!

In fact, we cannot be Christians unless we begin to look like Him in our everyday walk in this world.

This is called repenting from our old life. Now people just want to cling to their sin yet receive the benefits of God and He is their JUDGE, and He has already JUDGED them! 

Jesus said "ye must be Born Again"!

We should not call ourselves Christians.

It is our enemies who should notice that we are trying to be like the Lord Jesus Christ.

Orthodox Jews practice these things.

We must understand that the home is to be the center for our testimony of the truth of God and His Son!

1Pe 3:15  But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: 

1Pe 3:16  Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. 

Psa 66:16  Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul. 

God's blessings come to those who love Him and who are trying to be like Him!

*****Deu 6:10  And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not, 

Deu 6:11  And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full; 

Deu 6:12  Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 

It is the simple thing of obedience where we fail the most in our relationship with our Heavenly Father!

No matter what we think, God owns all of His Creation and can do with it as He pleases!

He does not need our permission to take our land and give it to someone else! 

Remember God had told Abraham that everywhere his feet would touch would belong to His children.

It is the residents of Canaan Land who were the trespassers!

What worldly gifts did God offer these people?

1) God gave them the land promised to Abraham.

2) God gave them cities that were prosperous.

3) God gave them houses already stocked with good things.

4) God gave them wells that were full of water.

5) God gave them plenty of food.

What do we learn from these things knowing that God will not do for one that He will not do for others?

The believer who is obedient to God will be blessed by God!

Greatly blessed in this life and even greater blessing in that eternal life to come.

Jas 1:25  But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. 

Moses also taught these who would receive all these blessings, that there was a downside to so many blessings.

Owning so many treasures of this world can lead to the danger of forsaking God, and this is where the Church stands today.

Rev 3:17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 

Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

We have this tendency to get so relaxed after receiving such blessings, that we forget that they came from our Savior and begin to put ourselves before God which is a great sin.

Sudden prosperity can be fatal to Christians!

A Christian can not only forget his salvation, but they can in fact forget God after He has blessed us so much.

As Christians we are to openly declare the Lord our Savior.

Prosperity can put us in a position of compromise!

Again, this is a sign of today's Church who have compromised with the world and allowed what God has called an abomination into the pulpits of the Church.

When we begin to think too highly of ourselves, we begin to forsake God!

We may even think that we are so high on God's list that we will never chastise us.

No one can get too high for God not to act against them!

Remember God loves those He chastises!

We may drift too far from God and feel nothing, and we must certainly never test God nor test the love of God!

We are to never give back the control of our lives to this world!

We must be incredibly careful if it seems we are making demands of God!

The fear of God from the heart is the most powerful principle of obedience!

Pro 30:8  Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: 

Pro 30:9  Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain. 

We must always remember our righteousness comes by our faith.

No one can keep all those old laws, and no one can keep the law perfectly.

It is by Jesus Christ that we are accepted by our Heavenly Father.

BUT once we have been accepted by Him we must seek to be obedient to Him and fulfill the commandments of God which is based upon our relationship with Him and with each other.

Mat 22:37  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 

Mat 22:38  This is the first and great commandment. 

Mat 22:39  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 

Mat 22:40  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. 

And these things will never change!

Amen

Realizing Spiritual Reality

Knowledge of Spiritual Reality

Book of 1 John Chapter 3:1-10

Last week we had a lesson on Apostasy so today we see more of the truth.

What is reality? Reality is the truth. It is fact. It is real as compared to false!

What is it to be spiritual? Spiritual things are things taught to us by the Holy Spirit as compared to natural things, things that are taught to us by the world.

1Co 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

1Co 2:14 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.

1Co 2:15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.

1Co 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Only the child of God can know the reality of the Holy Spirit and the Spiritual truths in the Word of God.

What is the greatest truth of the Bible? The Bible is God's love letter to those who love Him!

The Bible is God's instruction manual on how to live in this world until it’s time for us to go home!

The truth is, if God loves us then, He must be very near to us and a loving God is not some deity who does not care about His creations.

What is the truth of our loving God? God does not do bad things even though He is accused of everything that happens that is bad and seldom gets the credit for the good things!

God is always available to help those who love Him in return!

We will never experience the true love of God unless we return to Him the love that He deserves!

*****1Jn 3:1 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.

What a privilege it is to be called the children of God even if we are His adopted children. Those who are adopted know they have been chosen!

As a child of God, we know that our Father is the most powerful, the Supreme Majesty of this cosmos we call creation.

Not an accident as so many boasts of, but a calculated creation that operates according to the law of God and overseen by His Holy Angels!

Psa 91:9 Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;

Psa 91:10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

Psa 91:11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

Psa 91:12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Psa 91:13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

Psa 91:14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.

You know what? Even in these things God is no respecter of persons!

There is only one thing we can do to become a child of God and this to believe the things He has caused to happen for our salvation.

We must have faith in the truth of the Word of God!

We know because we were once a part of them that the natural man has chosen to go their own way without God.

It is their belief that God will restrain them from seeking their own way and this is true! To be a child of God is to be an obedient child!

They do not realize, or they don't care that the benefits of being a child of God, far outweigh the loses that come by being a child of this world!

The world cannot understand believers because the world never understood the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now I do not profess to know everything about my Savior, but I am certain that one day soon He will return to take me home if the end of my days does not come first, where some Angels will carry me home to Heaven to be with my Savior!

*****1Jn 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

It should be very clear to us, that we are already the adopted children of God. Being a child of God is not in our future because it has already happened! God has just not picked us up yet!

It is not "that we shall be", we are already in the family of God if we have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior!

When we give our life to Jesus, we are accepted into the family of God!

We should say this over and over again until it sinks in!

We have no idea what a glorified body will look like!

We have no idea what perfection does for our soul!

We do know that when we meet Jesus in the clouds, we will be conformed to the exact image of Him!

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Col 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

2Co 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Will we be equals of the Lord? No this will never happen. We will never be gods! We will be like Jesus Christ in perfection!

We should remember, Jesus still had nail scared hands and feet and His side still showed the marks of a spear.

Most all these things go past our ability to understand, but this flesh we now have will no longer exist as it does today!

Our new body will not be corruptible!

Our new body will be a Spiritual body!

Our new body will be a heavenly body!

Our new body will be eternal!

Our new body will never age!

Flesh and blood will never be allowed in heaven!

1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Today we rest in the promises of God and our hope is always in the Lord!

1Th_2:19 For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?

If you cannot love the Lord Jesus Christ, you can never get to Heaven!

*****1Jn 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

What are we to be doing? You see God wants a people who are just like Him!

This is why Jesus is to be our example in everything!

God wants us to be pure.

God wants us to be holy.

God wants us to be righteous.

These are the reasons Jesus paid the price for our salvation!

It is His purity, His holiness and His righteousness and especially His love, that we are to strive for today!

Mat 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

We will never be pure until we are working the hardest to keep from sin even if it is impossible!

God blesses effort, He does not bless failure!

*****1Jn 3:4  Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

The "law" in this passage would represent all the Word of God. Jesus Christ came to fulfill all the law of God, "all the Scriptures" and He is the only One who could do this.

The fact remains that any transgression of the law, the laws that Jesus kept, then would be sin!

Any violation of the law of God means a rejection of the authority of our Most High God!

Most of us do not see sin the way God sees sin.

We will say we made a mistake.
We will say we came up short.
We will say we had a momentary brain flaw.
We will say we made a bad decisiuon.
We will say we became irrational.
We will say it is just a social thing.

Sin is a far more serious thing to God!

Sin is a transgression of His law!

It is sin that caused Him to leave His throne room and come to this earth to die!

Sin is choosing to ignore our Supreme God!
Sin is living your way instead of living like God has commanded!
Sin is disobedience, not doing what God has but doing what God says not to do!
Sin is ignoring God and neglecting His Word!
Sin is an outright rebellion to a Holy God!
Sin is denying God and denying His remedy.

God is a perfect God and He only accepts perfection!

If God allowed any imperfection into the New Heaven then it would be imperfect.

Sin is imperfection!

Sin had to have a perfect remedy!

*****1Jn 3:5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.

We see that word manifested in the Bible and it means that the way to take away our sins has been plainly shown to us!

Why did the Lord come to this earth? To take away our sins!

We had a great need for deliverance and the Lord Jesus Christ came to deliver us!

Until the Lord Jesus came to this earth the first time there was no means available for deliverance from sin and reconciliation with God!

Of all who walk upon the face of this earth not one was ever free of sin. In Jesus there was no sin!

If we are in Jesus, then we are also sin free!

Rom_13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Jesus did not have to come to this world to see how things were coming along with His creation. He could see everything from Heaven!

There was only one reason He had to come, and to do this He had to be born like men and then be put to death for our sins. He had no sin himself!

In order for any of us to make it to the glory world, then we had to be made like Christ, that is we had to be made free from sin!

This is something that we all must know and understand and believe!

Jesus always existed but He had to become visible to the human eye. He had to leave the Spirit world and enter into the physical world!

There was only one reason He would do such a thing, and this is because God loves us, and God wants us to join Him in eternity in His Spiritual world!

To show we love our God then we need to turn from our sin and turn toward the sinless Son of God!

2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

It is now, before the Lord returns for the second time that we must accept these truths!

2Co 6:2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)

In reality the world is running out of time till the day of the wrath of God, toward all those who reject His Son!

*****1Jn 3:6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.

1Jn 3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.

Most all the world and many in the Church reject this statement. (Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not)

Today many in the church have no problem believing we must not sin, but when it comes to those who believe that God makes mistakes and some girls are in a man's body and some guys are in a lady's body and this is not sin, are fools.

God does not make mistakes!

If you are in a boy's body, then you are a boy!

If you are in a girl's body, then you are a girl!

These things are reality and to do different is abiding in sin, just like abiding in any other sin!

It is obvious that none of us are perfect and we can only be perfect in if we abide in Jesus Christ!

This is the only proof of deliverance!

To love the Lord Jesus Christ is to be obedient to all the Word of God, rightly divided.

Rightly divided means God wrote about sin and the sinner.

Rightly divided means God wrote how to be saved and teaches us about His Savior.

We cannot truly say we know Christ and reject the Word of God!

To do differently is to be deceived and many deceivers have entered the church today leading many souls to Hell!

We have to do more than profess Christ we must accept all of Christ!

We have to do more than be baptized!

We have to do more than join some church!

We have to do more than attend some church regularly!

We have to do more than fellowship with Christians!

We have to do more that read the Bible!

We have to do more than pray, for without Christ that prayer will never be heard!

When we live according to the world's temporary pleasures and seek more and more of the world’s temporary comforts and temporary possessions, and still believe that God will receive us, we live in a deceived frame of mind and are still bound for Hell!

We must deny ourselves of our lust and desires, to be acceptable to God!

Rom_8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

To mortify is to go ahead and place the deeds of our sinful flesh in a casket and bury them to be clean from them forever!

We must walk away from our old lifestyle, which by the way is to repent, which is not taught much in the church today!

Col 3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

Col 3:6 For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:

Col 3:7 In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.

To be righteous is to do all things the right way and the right way is according to the written Word of God, rightly divided!

God does not ever do anything that goes against His own written words!

It is only in the Lord where we can have righteousness!

Isa 45:24 Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.

The object of being like Christ is to have no sin to keep us out of Heaven!

Psa 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Unless we have faith in the Lord and have picked up our cross to follow Him, we will never be filled with the Holy Spirit who will dictate our lives until the Lord takes us home!

Hint: Without the Holy Spirit you will never understand the truth of the Bible nor be able to teach others the truth of God!

The Bible is a "Spiritual Book" which the world will never understand!

You will never be acceptable to God, until you know right from wrong and live right or live righteous! Righteous according to what God says is right!

For those who reject this truth God has these words:

*****1Jn 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

All those who think it is acceptable to hold on to their sin and be acceptable to a Holy God, who are of the Devil!

It cannot be much plainer than these words written here!

Jesus Christ is a Deliverer! If you have not been delivered, then you have not accepted the truth of Jesus Christ!

Every place you see the Devil you will see death!

Satan was the very first sinner and he will never repent. Everyone who rejects the work of Christ Jesus belong to Satan and they are bound for Satan's death!

Remember Hell and the Burning Lake of Fire were created for the Lucifer (the Devil, Satan, the Deceiver) and for all Luciferians!

Jesus Christ came to destroy the works of the Devil!

Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

Heb 2:15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

What is the reality of sin?

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death;

What is the reality of Jesus Christ?

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; "but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord".

There is no battle of good and evil because all the world is evil, and no one is good enough to get to Heaven!

The Devil is a real person, much more than just our fallen nature, much more than just than just our sinful actions!

The Devil has brought death all these years, but Jesus Christ is our substitute for death!

Satan, the Devil, no longer has the power to cause us to be separated from God, we can now make this choice ourselves because of the work of Jesus Christ!

1Pe 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

All we need do is to open up the doors of our heart and let the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ enter in and cleanse us from all sin!

Rom 8:10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

Rom 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

This is what being "Born Again" is all about!

*****1Jn 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

What is the result of being "Born Again"? We have an Advocate who pleads His own righteousness in our favor every day that we remain upon this earth if we ask forgiveness for the errors that we still commit.

Spiritually speaking as the children of God, we must remain in Christ who cannot sin!

What is the truth?

Joh 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Joh 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

When we have faith in the works of Jesus Christ for our salvation, He gives us the power to become sons just like He is the Son of the Father!

When we come from the flesh, we will be like the flesh.

When we come by the Lord Jesus Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit, we will be like our Savior, spiritual, holy and heavenly a complete blood bought child of God!

God the Holy Spirit is the author of all the Word of God!

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the author of our salvation!

This is the seed that must be planted in our hearts and allowed to grow as it is watered by the Holy Spirit!

Jesus cannot sin and those who are in Christ cannot sin!

So to live in sin, is contrary to the nature of Christ!

Sin is the greatest of all evil!

Holiness is the highest of all good!

So how can we be made free from sin? We must be "Born of God"!!!!!!!

We must have the seed of the new of the New Birth!

Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Joh 3:4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

We must have the seed of the New Creature!

2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

2Co 5:18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

We must have the seed of the New Man!

Eph 4:23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

Eph 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

We must put on the New Man!

Col 3:9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;

Col 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

We now have a divine nature!

2Pe 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

This is what the Holy Spirit will do when He is allowed to do His work within us!

*****1Jn 3:10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

In other words, do we truly love God like we say we do?

Do we really share the love God has given to us with "all" those we come in contact with?

Do we wear the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ?

We should see that there are only two groups of people in this world!

There are the children of the Devil.

There are the children of God.

These two groups encompass all the people of our world.

So which nature are we going show?

God is love!

God is Holy!

God is righteous!

God is pure!

God is perfect!

Now we cannot be God, but we certainly should be showing these same qualities as best we can!

Jesus said we can wrap all these qualifications up in one and that one is "Love"!

1Co_13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

The key we are to store in our heart is: "whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God".

This is our goal for learning today, and tomorrow, and the next day and every day until we go home to be with the Lord!

This is Spiritual Reality!

Amen

Let's Pray!

Being a Mature Christian

The Blessing of Spiritual Maturity

Book of Ephesians 4:1-13

That word maturity means being in a complete state.

An example would be that an apple is not mature until it has completed the ripening process.

We must work toward becoming "mature Christians".

Today in our lesson we could say that Paul was not only imprisoned for his own sake, but he was imprisoned for our sakes.

If Paul had not been imprisoned, he would have never taken the time to write all these epistles to the Church.

We may also think that it was just by accident that we have the job we have but this is not true.

After our salvation our own home will be our first missionary field and our job the next place to share the Word of God.

In our lessons so far, the Apostle Paul has laid out the Doctrine of Salvation. This doctrine is our only means of being in harmony with God.

The Word of God is never complete in our lives, no matter how much we learn, until we have made application of it to our daily walk!

The lessons we have learned so far have been:

The eternal plan of God for Christian believers.

The great blessings of God.

The work of God's mercy and the gift of God's "Grace".

Our reconciliation and peace becoming a child of God.

The true Church, the Body of Christ, our Heavenly Citizenship.

Note: none of these things have been given to us as theories but as actual fact!

Now we can take what we have learned and make application to our lives to grow in God's "grace".

The bottom line, we owe God much more than we could ever pay and He would chastise us if we tried to work toward trying to pay Him for what He has already done.

There are no works to be saved and there are no works to keep us saved.

A true gift is never to be repaid!

God works according to His great love and it is in this same manner He expects us to live and work!

So, let’s begin.

*****Eph 4:1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,

We must understand that the Apostle Paul was not imprisoned to perform some great act in Rome, or to Caesar, or even to the Roman people.

The Apostle Paul was imprisoned for his sake, and our sake, and for the sake of the "Gospel"!

We know that we are all to be witnesses, (missionaries) once we become a child of God.

We should also understand that God will have some specific calling just for each of us and He will equip us for that calling!

God has already honored us as much as we can be honored. One day soon we will actually get to sit at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ in Heaven.

There are many promises of God, that we have not seen yet but we know we will get to see them.

The Lord Jesus is right now building a perfect world that we will be a part of. throughout eternity.

We have nothing else to do until He gets ready but one thing and that is to walk worthy of the calling of God!

We are in an honored position and we need to be walking according to the honor God has given us!

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

When we join the ranks of men such as the Apostle Paul we must remember, the message of Jesus Christ and the "gospel" are the only hope for all humanity!

This is Holy stuff!

This is Heavenly stuff!

This is Serious stuff!

Jesus Christ is the only hope for all humanity for eternal life.

2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

2Ti 1:10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:

No matter our calling we are all to carry the same message!

So how are we to walk?

*****Eph 4:2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;

The most important characteristic of all God's children is "Faith". "Faith" in the salvation message and "faith" in the One who gave us this message!

"Faith" in the truth!

When we begin our walk for the Lord we must remember a child taking their first steps and know that we cannot walk with the Lord without holding on to His hand.

Before our walk begins, we must decide then, that our walk will please the Lord.

After "faith" we must be free of pride. As one preacher use to say, we need to get out of God's way. We cannot exalt ourselves and please God!

We can be sure where there is "lowliness" (a lack of pride), there will also be "meekness".

Meekness is humility, submitting to the Divine will of God. We could also say, gentleness.

Next, we see that word "patience" that drives so many crazy, but we must be patient in love toward one another and patient with that one we are trying to lead to the Lord.

2Ti 2:24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,

2Ti 2:25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;

2Ti 2:26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

So, we have "faith", loss of pride, humility, and patience so far.

What can be next?

*****Eph 4:3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

It is because every Christian is endowed with the Holy Spirit that we can, and we should be in unity, all having the same mind of Christ.

This is a far reach from what the church is today but, this is because the Church has forgotten how to walk worthy of the Lord.

This passage says, we must endeavor to keep unity of the Spirit and we fail miserably in this trait of how to walk worthy of the Lord!

We must know that each person is precious in the sight of God.

If even one soul goes to Hell, then God has lost a very valuable and precious soul.

Why will God judge the Church first? It will be because there is no unity in the church, which means there is no peace in the church, even though we all carry the same Holy Spirit!

This is not a problem with the Holy Spirit, this is a problem that is in that gap between our ears and a cold, cold heart!

To endeavor, is to do our best to walk in the ways of Jesus.

There is no One else in the Scriptures that has the words of life! There is no other means of salvation period!

The modern-day church is trying its best to remove the Lord Jesus who is the corner stone, the foundation of the Church.

What are they thinking?

What did Jesus pray to His Father?

Joh 17:21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

Joh 17:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

Joh 17:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

It is the Holy Spirit that unites us to Jesus Christ and when we go against the Words of Christ, we will quench the Holy Spirit!

1Co 1:9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

1Co 1:10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

To be saved is to show that first sign of faith in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ and this faith must remain with us all our days asking God to grow our faith!

*****Eph 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;

Eph 4:5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,

Eph 4:6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

There are many so-called denominations !"But only those who have named the Lord Jesus Christ as their very personal Savior" comprise the true Church!

***There is only "One Body" of Christ!

When any person in any denomination, places his or her trust in Jesus Christ, God does certain things.

**First there is a new birth, they are "Born Again".

Joh 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Joh 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

This takes place by the Holy Spirit.

Tit 3:4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,

Tit 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

Tit 3:6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;

In many places it seems that there must be some sign that the Holy Spirit lives within the believer but there is truly only one way to tell.

Jas_2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

1Pe_2:12 Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

As believers we must do the works that Jesus gave us to do! This is the only way the world will know that we belong to Christ Jesus and full of the Holy Spirit.

**God makes a new creature, we become something brand new.

2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

**God places His Divine nature inside the believer.

2Pe 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

**God places His Holy Spirit in of us that have "faith".

1Co 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?

1Co 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

**God then causes each of us to produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

**God places us in His Church.

1Co 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

There is only "One" body "the Body of Christ".

The body of believers that understand these things of God, will be in unity!

***There is only "One" Spirit.

The "Body of Christ" will all have the same Holy Spirit(Holy Ghost).

The Spirit of God will separate us from the world and place us in the family of God!

Rom 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

It is God's Holy Spirit that decides where we will be placed in the "Body of Christ".

It is the Holy Spirit that calls us out of this lost world.

It is the Holy Spirit that gives the gifts to us to be able to do the work, the Lord has given to the Church.

1Co 12:7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

***There is only One Hope for each of us that believe.

Every Christian has the same hope, which is the day the Lord Jesus comes to redeem His purchased possession.

We do not live a life of uncertainty, once we are saved.

In Heaven we will live a life of love, and peace, and joy!

We will live a life of perfection, because each one of us will then be perfect.

It will be a perfect love, a perfect peace, and a perfect joy and this will last throughout a perfect eternity!

We are at peace because we know that this "One" Hope is a reality!

We will all live in harmony with the Lord!

Tit 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

Tit 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Tit 2:15 These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.

***There is only "One Lord"!

Just so we all know; the true Church consist of only those who call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in "faith"!

Php 2:9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:

Php 2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

Php 2:11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

God is very serious about this thing:

Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

The will of our Father is for every human being to steer away from sin and steer toward God and His Words.

Mat 21:28 But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard.

Mat 21:29 He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.

Mat 21:30 And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not.

Mat 21:31 Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.

This is one of the best descriptions of repentance in the Bible!

***There is only "One Faith"

This one truly breaks the world up! There is only "one faith", not two faiths, not many faiths, that leads to God's presence and it is the faith we have in the Lord Jesus Christ!

Jud 1:3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

Isa 45:22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.

Act 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

All those who place their trust in false religion need to give the Lord the chance to show them the truth!

***There is only "One Baptism".

It is true that all believers have given public witness to their faith by submitting to water Baptism as commanded by the Lord.

Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

Water Baptism means we are identifying ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, in His death, His burial, and His resurrection and His Church.

Even the Lord Jesus Christ was baptized by John the Baptist, to be our example!

Water baptism is to be an outward sign of an inward change!

Note: Water baptism does not produce a spiritual change!

Water baptism is not a method of salvation!

**Then there is the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

1Co 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

1Co 12:14 For the body is not one member, but many

This baptism of the Holy Spirit will come only in the "Church Age" and He the power behind the local church and the universal church!

Gal 3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Gal 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

Gal 3:29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit unites us with the Lord Jesus Christ!

Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

We should note that this work of the Holy Spirit takes place at the very moment of salvation, but it is a continuous work until God calls us home!

1Th 4:7 For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.

1Th 4:8 He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.

Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

All these things are true because there is only One God, who is the Father of us all!

***One God, who is our Father if we trust in His promises.

Joh 17:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

Joh 17:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

Joh 17:24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

God is the Father who presides over all His child by the Lord Jesus Christ and indwelled by the Holy Spirit!

These things being true (and they are) then all those who worship some other being are not following the "Only God"!

We could also say our Father is the giver of gifts!

*****Eph 4:7 But unto every one of us "is given grace" according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

Big faith, much "grace", Little faith, little "grace" and the same goes for blessings!

When you become a Christian (like Christ) you have already received so many gifts from our Father that we are truly blessed even if He did nothing else for us.

If He was just God like so many say, He would not care for what happens on this world but to the Christian, He is our Father!

Gal_4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

These gifts of the Spirit do not mean a natural ability or a talent that you are born with but even these will be increased if they are used to promote the "Gospel"!

These are gifts that build up each of us that are Christian. We all have received a very personal gift by the Holy Spirit, to carry out the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ!

It should be obvious the Lord Jesus Christ provides us the "grace" to use gifts of the Holy Spirit.

This "grace" means the strength, the motivation, the concern, the love, and the power to use these gifts.

There is not one Christian that God finds not to be useful!

Rom 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

We must understand that the Lord Jesus had to ascend back to the right hand of God for the Church to move forward!

Joh_16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

*****Eph 4:8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.

Eph 4:9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?

Eph 4:10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)

When the Lord ascended back to Heaven, witnessed by at least 120 people, it was Christ's declaration that even the grave could not hold Him!

We, who were once enslaved by Satan, are set free only because Our Lord triumphed over all His enemies, (Satan, sin, death)!

In these times of the Lord, a conquering king would lead those he conquered out of that city chained one to another.

These slaves, along with the riches of that nation, would be given to other high-ranking citizens, at their return from victory.

Psa 68:18 Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them.

Psa 68:19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.

As believers who once were in bondage to Satan, we are now owned by the Lord Jesus Christ but as belonging to the Lord, He provides wonderful gifts for every one of us!

One of our greatest gifts is, freedom!

Joh_8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

Notice not set free as releasing on the side of the road and could be captured again but "made" free never to be in bondage again!

The Lord has given to us, along with our freedom, a great future, a purpose for our life.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the giver of "life"!

This life can only come if we are willing to face death!

Luk 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

Luk 9:24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.

Before the Lord ascended, He had to go to that grave.

Psa 139:15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

Psa 63:9 But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth.

All the riches and the power of the God in Heaven or earth could not pay our sin debt, the Lord Jesus had to die to pay that debt that we could not pay!

He had to first be declared dead and buried in that borrowed tomb before He could show the power of God at His resurrection!

He had to fill all things!

Which means that Christ's descent into the lower parts of the earth might mean more than just descending into Abrahams bosom!

The truth is the Lord Jesus Christ had to die and having gathered all the sin of this world past, present, and future, had to take that sin and also experience our hell that we could be saved!

Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

Heb 2:15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

And of all those that believe these things, Jesus has given us a new purpose!

*****Eph 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

For there to be a church, then there must be those who would begin the church.

We know the Holy Spirit gives great and wonderful gifts and these gifts will blend with those whom Christ Jesus has chosen!

There were only 12 Apostles that were specifically chosen by the Lord. The word "apostle" means "to send out".

The qualifications to be an Apostle were such that they had to die out.

They had to have seen the Lord Jesus Christ.

For this reason, there can never be any more apostles.

There some who were Prophets, and these too had to die out because we now have the complete Word of God and there is no need for "Prophets".

The Lord Jesus has specifically chosen every evangelist, and pastor and teacher since that time, so these must remain Divine appointments!

Just as prophets testifies of things to come, the evangelist testifies of things from the past and therefore they spread the "Gospel".

In many ways the evangelist is like the missionary.

Act 21:8 And the next day we that were of Paul's company departed, and came unto Caesarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him.

We also see here that Philip had been one the first deacons as one of the seven.

Normally the Pastor was the shepherd of one flock and the teacher would help with this one flock.

The Pastor is to be pastor and teacher.

The teacher is not the same as the pastor.

What had Jesus told Peter and made sure he understood.

Joh 21:15 So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.

Joh 21:16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

Joh 21:17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

We can notice how Peter passed this information on, in the places where he had begun a church.

1Pe 5:1 The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:

1Pe 5:2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;

1Pe 5:3 Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.

To be the shepherd of a local flock, is a special calling of God which will bring a specific reward.

1Pe 5:4 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

Note the shepherd of the church was to feed his sheep even if he had to pick them up and carry them, if he tried to be like Christ.

Isa 40:11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

Always understanding that he was not the Chief Shepherd!

Psa 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

The shepherd is to seek and save:

Mat 18:11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.

Mat 18:12 How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?

To be a shepherd over a flock of God's sheep is a very special calling!

It is the teachers job to instruct the believers in the Word of God!

It can be said that the teacher bears one of the largest responsibilities given by God and will have to give a strict account to God for his faithfulness to the Word of God!

Jas 3:1 My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.

In this passage a master is a teacher!

God commands the teacher to study the Word of God, be not ashamed of the Word of God and, rightly divide the Word of God.

2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

In the end all these positions in the church have only one job.

*****Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

Eph 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

We can see that accepting the gift of the Holy Spirit in any of these 5 gifts, had a threefold purpose.

For perfecting that body of Saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ.

It is the job of the church to make disciples who will also go out and make disciples.

Not everyone, does God call for any one of these 5 positions, but the truth is:

Every child of God is to do the work of the apostle using the gifts God has given to them.

Every child of God is to do the work of the prophet daily proclaiming the Word of God.

Every child of God is to do the work of the evangelist in reaching out to the lost.

Every child of God is to do the work of the Pastor, caring for that flock that God has given to them.

Every child of God is to do the work of the teacher, teaching the truth of the Word of God to all those he knows.

This is the invisible power of God of God, at work in this world!

Isa_55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

If every house of God practiced these things the Church would be in unity of the faith.

If you want to measure the growth of the church, it is not in numbers but how these sheep are equipped to be local missionaries!

Spiritual growth is gradual, and some will grow at a faster pace than others and though this growth is silent, it is still the most effective force in this world when properly applied!

We live in a world where some think there should be a variety in the Church and some seek that variety, but the absolute truth is there is only one message from God, and only one Gospel of Jesus Christ!

The Church is the hospital for lost and broken souls, while also being the school for Heaven!

The Holy Spirit is the school bus, but sometimes He must be the emergency vehicle.

We should understand that the Apostle John said Jesus Christ was the Word of God.

Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The closer we get to the Word of God the closer we get to perfection and the more we will resemble the Lord Jesus Christ who is already Perfect!

Jesus Christ is still our only model for the Christian life, though far too many have rejected this!

Amen

Let's Pray!