BEAUTY FOR ASHES PART IV

CHAIN REACTION IN REALMS OF THE SPIRIT

George H. Warnock

First Printing: April, 1989

Second Printing: March, 1994 (Printed in the U.S.A.)

Printed by Pinecrest Publications -- Salisbury Center, NY 13454

 

"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." Romans 8:2

"That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 5:21

 

C O N T E N T S

Introduction

Chapter 1: This Gospel Of The Kingdom

Chapter 2: A Chain Reaction Of Death

Chapter 3: Chain Reaction Of The Law Of Life

Chapter 4: Two Men-Two Kingdoms

Chapter 5: Discovering Our Cross

Chapter 6: Led By The Spirit Of God

Chapter 7: The Law Of Life In Our Lord Jesus

Chapter 8: The Law Of Life In The Early Church

Chapter 9: God’s Desire For The Latter Day Church

Chapter 10: Chain Reaction In Jezreel

Chapter 11: The Light Of Seven Days In One

Chapter 12: Rend The Heavens, O Lord, And Come Down!

 

INTRODUCTION

The Kingdom of Saul was not God’s way...

Nevertheless God ordained it...

Because the people wanted it...

They learned through bitter experience that God was right...

And God brought it all to nought...

In the meantime God was diligently preparing David and his company to be the true shepherds of Israel in the day of sudden calamity, which was sure to come. But let us learn from David what our attitude should be toward the kingdom of Saul:

Respect the anointing that God has put there.

Love God’s precious anointed ones who are doing what they can in the best way they know, and seeking to serve God in a tottering kingdom.

And do nothing to harass or hinder what they are doing.

But we know it is to be a short-lived regime, and we want to encourage those who are beginning to recognize that God must surely have a better way.

David never at any time sought to bring the faltering kingdom of Saul down. He had ample opportunity to do so. He knew God had a better plan, and he knew he was to be a part of God’s new order, even though in times of great stress and trial he often felt he was going to be wiped off the face of the earth. And when the old kingdom came falling down, and Saul and Jonathan were killed, it was a cause of great lamentation for David. He sincerely loved these two anointed ones in Israel, and it was not a case of mock humility as he sat down and composed "The Song of the Bow" in memory of Saul and Jonathan. He meant it. He loved the people of God... even the rebellious people of God. It was totally devastating for him to see how God’s anointed ones were slain in battle, and their kingdom shattered:

"The beauty of Israel

Is slain upon thy high places:

How are the mighty fallen! "I am distressed for thee, My brother Jonathan:

Very pleasant hast thou been unto me..." (2 Sam. 1:19, 26).

The inevitable had happened. And distressing though it was, it was the beginning of a new day for Israel. They were not to be scattered like Saul and his army upon the mountains of Gilboa, as sheep not having a shepherd. God had already been preparing a new kind of leadership, rejected and despised until that hour, but groomed of the Lord for a place of loving rulership in the kingdom of David. It was not a case of one self-willed regime giving way to another. It was a case of a rebellious leadership giving way to the leadership of the Holy One of Israel. For it is evident throughout all the prophetic psalms of David that his role as "shepherd of Israel" was to turn the hearts of the people unto the LORD, and not merely to regiment them for His own purposes.

Herein is revealed the fundamental weakness of the present Church system. It operates much the same way as in the world. The leaders are dependent upon the people for their support, voted in and out by the people, and answerable to the people for whatever they want to do. And because they are subject to the pressure of the people in so many cases it seems they must compromise if they are to keep the people contented. To maintain a semblance of unity in his kingdom, Saul had to yield to the pressure of the people. He was suited for the task, and I believe that is why God set him up as king. The people were minded that way, and God simply gave them a king who would be compatible with the erring reins of their own hearts.

Nevertheless there were many God-fearing men in Israel who longed for something better. All the true ones did not forsake Saul for David. Many of them remained with Saul to the bitter end. But as the old kingdom came crashing down they recognized what God was doing and they began to gravitate in large numbers to the kingdom of David. The same thing is evident throughout the land today. There are many out there who truly love God, but they cannot find true rest in that old regime. Many are growing weary of it all but they seem to know of no other way but the one they were born into. If their hearts are open they will find their true placement in the Body of Christ, in the Kingdom of God, where they too will be able to come into His sanctuary, and sit before the Lord, and say--

"One thing have I desired of the LORD,

That will I seek after..." (Ps. 27:4).

Please understand then, in all that we are saying in this writing, that it is not by way of criticizing any of God’s servants who are faithfully doing what they feel God has told them to do. But God wants us to know that the present system in the Church is not His way, and He is going to bring it to nought. God’s heart is grieved with the way man has usurped the authority of the Holy Spirit, and robbed Christ of His Lordship in the midst of His people. He wants us to know He is arising out of His holy habitation to deal with the self-will and the rebellion of His people. He comes in great power and anointing--"to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down." But that is not the end of it. God’s purpose is very positive: "TO BUILD, AND TO PLANT" (Jer. 1:10).

To build a temple for His glory, and--To plant a garden that will flourish with the fruit of His Spirit.

This writing actually grew out of the previous one called The Journey of the Bride. Before I had finished that writing I found myself getting involved with this matter of interaction in the Body of Christ, and the chain reaction of God’s movements that come out of that. I was going to leave it as a chapter at the end of the book, until it was confirmed to me that there was to be another writing, covering the matter more fully.

I know there is repetition in this writing, but I do not feel I can avoid it. It is the way of truth to repeat over and over, but each time the Word comes forth it ought to be fresh and new. It is like the rain from heaven-it comes again and again, but it is always new and fresh and life-giving IF IT COMES IN THE RIGHT SEASON! And so in the pattern of Truth it is God’s way to repeat it again and again, not because God’s people do not know it, but because they know it. This is what John said as he wrote words of love and truth to the people of God:

"I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it..." (1 Jn. 2:21).

For truth imparts life every time it goes forth; and knowledge must give way to the truth before it can be meaningful and liberating. If it is a mere repetition of knowledge, it will slay more and more; but if, like the rain and the sunshine, it comes to your heart in the seasons of growth, it will nurture and bless and unfold in your life with the beauty of the living Christ.

FOR THIS IS GOD’S TOTAL PURPOSE IN SENDING FORTH THE WORD OF TRUTH.

--George H. Warnock

 

CHAPTER 1

THIS GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM

In this writing we want to talk about the spiritual dynamics of the gospel of the Kingdom of God. The gospel of the Kingdom is much more than a "message." Our Lord Jesus promised His disciples that there would be a powerful demonstration of the gospel of the Kingdom before the end would come. THIS MUST YET HAPPEN:

"And THIS gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and THEN shall the end come" (Matt. 24:14).

Notice He said, "THIS gospel of the Kingdom." I think one would have to be extremely blind to think that our Lord was talking about this kind of gospel preaching that is generally pouring forth from the Church in this hour. Certainly He is talking about the kind of gospel that shone forth from His ministry, and that of His apostles, and not the sterile kind that is going forth today from our many pulpits, and through the mass media of radio and television. "THIS" gospel of the Kingdom is much, much more than a message. It is a dynamic Word that works mightily in the hearts of those who hear it:

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the POWER [dunamis] of God unto salvation to every one that believeth..." (Rom. 1:16).

Bible colleges and seminaries can give one a lot of instruction in the scriptures--and God certainly wants us to know the scriptures. But going forth to the nations with this knowledge and understanding, and preaching it to men and women, IS NOT THE PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM. Paul’s gospel was much more than that:

"For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance... (1 Thess. 1:5).

Man’s thirst for knowledge and understanding has been insatiable ever since our foreparents partook of "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." And somehow, even in the Church, if we know what God has said we get the feeling that we know the truth. But truth is a dynamic working of God in the hearts of men and women. The letter of it is in the Bible, that is true-and we love the written Word. But it must be deeply imbedded within us, and spring forth from our hearts in a mighty working of His Spirit before we really know God, and before we can truly declare Him, and make Him known to others.

Sent By God--Or Sent By Man

The great commission, as it is called, ("Go ye into all the world...") was never given to the Church as a mandate to organize missionary programs. It was given to a handful of His disciples who had walked with Him and learned His ways. But even then they were not equipped. They must first tarry at Jerusalem, at home base, until they were "endued with power from on high" (Lk. 24:49). Even then, having received this mighty baptism of fire they continued to linger in Jerusalem-for how many years we do not know exactly--awaiting God’s time. Let us not accuse them of lethargy, negligence, or cowardice. They braved the storms of persecution and stayed in Jerusalem even when the Church was scattered far and wide. (See Acts 8:1.) Why did they not obey the Lord and "go into all the world and preach the gospel"? They did, but they walked with God, and knew God, and they knew that He had a time for everything, and a way, and that they must walk in His way. They had learned much of God’s way as they walked with their Lord. They knew they must wait for God’s TIME.

GOD NEVER SENT HIS PEOPLE FORTH IN MISSIONARY ACTIVITY EXCEPT AS THEY OPERATED IN THE REALM OF KINGDOM-OF-GOD DYNAMICS. AND WHEN HIS PEOPLE WERE READY GOD DID THE SENDING.

Whenever I get one of these little slips that comes in the mail, I quickly throw it in the waste basket: "I can’t go to the mission field, but here is my donation of $___ to help support someone that can."

I CAN GO, if God sends me. So can you. God has made no provision for substitutionary service in the Kingdom of God. If God tells you to go and you reply, "I can’t Lord, but here is my $100 for someone that can," YOU ARE TOTALLY DISOBEDIENT TO THE WILL OF GOD.

May God quickly bring His people to the realization that He is still Lord of the Church, and that He knows how to prepare vessels for ministry, and when to send them forth. The presence and the Lordship of the Holy Spirit has been completely ignored in most of our programs and endeavors to reach the nations of the world. Our Lord is still capable of saying to a handful of believers who are walking with Him, "Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them" (Acts 13:2). Even then they did not get up and run. They waited on God in fasting and prayer, and for the blessing of the Church. And when they went forth they were "SENT FORTH BY THE HOLY GHOST..." (Acts 13:4).

I am not saying that what happened in Antioch must in any sense be a pattern for the Church. For God always moves in different ways as He may choose. We are simply emphasizing that God wants to speak distinctly to His people in this hour, as He did in her early beginnings.

I know it is all so different now. The Holy Ghost is no longer expected to speak in this emphatic manner. BUT THE COLOSSAL BLUNDER OF THE CHURCH RESTS IN THIS VERY FACT, THAT IF GOD IS NO LONGER SPEAKING DISTINCTLY WE WILL SIMPLY DO THE BEST WE CAN WITHOUT HEARING HIS VOICE. It is even taught that it is our responsibility to act boldly without waiting for God--waiting with such an intensity of commitment and devotion that we know we dare not go forth except as we hear from Him. We have a right, and a responsibility, to know what the will of the Lord is. "Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is" (Eph. 5:17). If God wants us to have this understanding, then we must seek for it, and wait, till we know for sure what the will of the Lord is. I am not denying that there may be seasons of perplexity as we struggle to know clearly what He is saying. But this is all in the learning process. In such times it is important that we learn patience and trust, rather than to act in haste. The hasty spirit generally moves in the wrong direction. Jesus said that if we would but walk with Him in His yoke, we would find rest unto our souls.

A Divided Heart

Saul was prepared to do what God told him to do as long as it would not endanger his own reputation, or his exalted position in the eyes of the people. He feared they might not continue to stand by him if he fully obeyed the word of the LORD, and this became his downfall.

In the battle with Amalek Saul had a clear word from God: "Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not..." (1 Sam. 15:3). Saul was confident that he did what God had told him to do. "I have performed the commandment of the LORD" (v. 13) was his confident boast. But what did the prophet have to say about it? "Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD...?" (v. 19). What was the trouble? A divided heart! He would do the will of God and destroy the Amalekites, but not those good things that belonged to the enemies of God. That would be so unreasonable. He would save these as an offering for God! (See 1 Sam. 15:15.)

Does all this sound familiar? We certainly want to do God’s will, but not if it doesn’t make sense-not if it offends too many people. We might come up with a hundred different options if we make doing the will of God a conditional matter. But if and when we come to the place where the doing of God’s will is our one and only desire, then there are no options.

I am convinced that our inability to hear the voice of God distinctly is, in most cases, because we are looking, expecting and insisting that His will must fit into the framework of what we have already set our hearts upon doing, and which we are not prepared to abandon to the will and the wisdom of God. It is just not reasonable to contemplate that God’s will might lead us in a pathway that could mean the forfeiting of all our plans and hopes and ambitions for the future.

I am not suggesting that these desires are necessarily wrong in themselves. They may even have sprung from a certain knowledge of what God has revealed for one’s life. But whatever the case may be, you cannot wave these before the Lord and say, "Lord, I want to do Your will, but You promised me this. Lord, I cannot go the way You are leading me, because then Your promise could not come to pass." No, we would not blatantly accuse God of breaking His promises. But this is what He hears when in the secret corners of our hearts there lingers that opposition to go God’s way if it seems to mean the cancelling of all our plans and ambitions in life.

How deep is our love? Can we not lay down everything we think we know about His promises, out of love for the God who gave them? God told Abraham to do exactly that: to lay on the altar of burnt offering the very promise that God had given him, and Abraham obeyed--SIMPLY BECAUSE HE LOVED GOD MORE THAN HE LOVED THE PROMISES. At the same time he knew that the God who had promised would be faithful to do what He said, and would bring his son back to life again--if need be--by resurrection power.

We are going to emphasize much this matter of the will of God, because I believe it is of vital importance in this hour to walk in His explicit will. I am confident that God is apprehending a people who will come to such commitment to Him, that He will be able to use them for the unfolding of His wonderful plan and purpose for this hour. We are not talking about God’s people becoming active in a lot of good, worthwhile things--trying to use their gifts and talents, trying to do something profitable for the Kingdom of God. We are talking about coming to the place of such commitment to the Lord, that we know explicitly what He wants us to do. For when God finds for Himself this kind of a people, ‘He will be able to send them forth with power and anointing to do ANYTHING He wants them to do, and NOTHING SHALL BE IMPOSSIBLE to this willing people.

God tells us about the Day of His Power, and He lets us know that He is preparing a "willing people" for that hour-a people who will be accounted worthy to move in the splendor and glory of the exalted King who reigns from Zion:

"Thy people shall be willing

In the day of Thy power…" (Ps. 110:3).

But before we continue with this thought we want to consider briefly, just to form a background, man’s Day of Power, and what it has brought us to.

 

 

CHAPTER 2

A CHAIN REACTION OF DEATH

Back in the early part of this century a very notable scientist by the name of Albert Einstein came up with a remarkable formula. History has proven that his formula was correct, but for many years it remained but a "theory." He expressed it in a very short equation:

E=MC²

And translated it means,

"ENERGY EQUALS MASS TIMES THE VELOCITY OF LIGHT SQUARED."

Well, this is still quite incomprehensible to most of us, but in those days it made quite an impact upon the scientific world. It was a theory which, if true, carried with it a tremendous potential for the release of energy such as mankind had never dreamed of. Nobody knew for sure if it was valid until other scientists developed it, and out of it came what is known as "nuclear energy" which has revolutionized the whole realm of power and energy, particularly as it relates to the military resources of the nations. The awesome implications of this discovery has terrorized the whole human family; and because of it the whole world today stands on the brink of annihilation.

There are two kinds of nuclear chain reactions: the one is called nuclear fission, such as we have in the atomic bomb, where the atoms are divided; and with every dividing of the atom there is a release of energy, again and again, until there is a massive blast of death. But in the second kind, nuclear fusion, there is an even greater release of energy, as one particle is fused with another, and still another, and still another, releasing the kind of energy that even now is taking place in the sun. It is said that the core of the sun is a mighty nuclear reactor, and that what man has brought about in the hydrogen bomb is just a tiny replica of the same process of fusion that has been going on in the sun--for how many millennia we do not know.

Even now we are told that scientists of many nations are looking for a breakthrough in technology as to how they might harness the energy of nuclear fusion for the good and the benefit of mankind. They feel they are on the verge of a tremendous breakthrough. If they succeed in their quest, all other forms of energy will become obsolete. One scientific observer has this to say:

"The production of power will be efficient and clean, the current nuclear plants wrapped in glass and buried. The Arabs will trade in their Rolls Royces for camels. The Persian Gulf will possess no strategic value. Automobiles will run on electric batteries, charged by hydrogen-produced energy. Coal, oil, and gasoline, and of course uranium fission, will be ancient history..."

But man dreams of still greater accomplishments, if and when he discovers how to convert large amounts of mass into energy on a controlled and sustained basis. One scientist puts it this way:

There is little that would not then be conceivable for him to accomplish, from changing climatic conditions on his planet to shoving other planets into new orbits around the sun."

This may all sound so exciting, so RIGHT in the eyes of man. But what does God say about man’s ways?

"There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death" (Prov. 14:12).

God says man’s way is going to end in death. God says there is no way by which man can extricate himself from the law of sin and death that has overwhelmed the family of MAN--NO WAY, BUT THE WAY THAT GOD HIMSELF BROUGHT INTO BEING THROUGH THE CROSS AND THE RESURRECTION, BY THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS.

When men in their rebellion sought to build a city and a tower that would reach into the heavens in order to make a name for themselves, God said it was enough; and He came down to scatter the crowd. (Gen. 11:9).

What do you suppose God is thinking when men start speculating about changing the climates of the earth, or shoving planets into other orbits. You can be sure He is going to come down again, and bring to nought the wisdom of man.

I have a chart that I clipped from a newspaper a few years ago, arranged by men who understand the situation as it relates to the nuclear armaments of the nations. It shows in graphic form how the nuclear weaponry of all nations combined is equal to 6,000 times the total firepower of all nations involved in World War II. It is stated that one percent of the U.S.A. or Soviet arsenal would be sufficient to bring on the nuclear winter, in which the sun would be so blocked out by the dust that filled the atmosphere that our planet would soon be uninhabitable for plants, or animals, or humans. They stated that one new Trident submarine alone had the firepower equal to eight times all the firepower used in World War II by all nations, and that it would have the capability of destroying every major city in the northern hemisphere.

We are talking about the kind of power that man has discovered in the atom; and how man, in his great "wisdom" now holds in his hands the power to annihilate all forms of life on this planet. Our Lord Jesus told us that if God did not intervene, "no flesh" would be saved; but He promised, "...for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened" (Matt. 24:22). Men might have wondered in times past if Jesus was speaking in hyperbole, for how could any kind of war or natural disaster annihilate all flesh? But now the awesome implication of a suicidal holocaust hovers over the whole human family. It is good to know that somewhere in the midst of all the devastation that is coming, God is going to cut it short "for the elect’s sake." Man continues to look for the way out, but he is caught in the net of his own making. He does not have the wisdom, even if he had the will, to prevent the using of his own inventions of destruction, for the simple reason he does not have the "grace" that comes only from God.

But entirely apart from the threat of a massive nuclear holocaust we are now in a state of global emergency because of the pollutants that are destroying our land, our seas, and our atmosphere. Even as I write there is an international conference underway in England which they hope will initiate a massive cleanup campaign among the nations, in an effort to save planet earth before it is too late. I thought it very timely that the final issue of National Geographic’s centennial year pictured on the front cover a hologram of our planet in a state of collapse, like a glass globe that was shattering to pieces, and under it the question:

"CAN MAN SAVE THIS FRAGILE EARTH?"

Last-Day Scoffers

The apostle Peter tells us that "scoffers" would abound in the last days, "walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation" (2 Pet. 3:4). This scoffing has been going on for a long time, but please note: NO LONGER ARE THEY SAYING, "ALL THINGS CONTINUE AS THEY WERE..."

No man of ordinary understanding is saying it. No fool in his perverted mind is saying it. No scientist, no politician, no environmentalist is saying it. We are actually further along in God’s timetable than the time Peter envisioned when he spoke of "the last days." Somewhere in the last 50 years or so we slipped by that period of time that Peter spoke about; and we are now living in a time-frame that would more properly be described as the last hour, or the last minutes.

The tragedy of all this, as far as God’s people are concerned, is that most Christians today are as "willingly ignorant" of the times we are in, as were the scoffers that Peter spoke about. Nobody knows the time of the end, that is true. But Heaven s timetable is definitely far beyond what it was just about 50 years ago when the Church lived with a certain sense of expectation for the Lord’s Appearing. At that time there was no thought of planet earth starting to fall to pieces. But somehow today, 50 years further along, all this does nothing to arouse the Church to seek the face of God. The thought is much the same as it was in the days of Isaiah the prophet, when Jerusalem’s fate hung in the balances, and the people seemed to care less:

"And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth: and behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we shall die" (Isa. 22:12-13).

Jesus Said, "Occupy Till I Come"

God’s people continue to plan and purpose and speculate, and are very much engrossed with the affairs of the world, hoping somehow that they might accumulate just a little more of earth’s vanishing toys before the holocaust. But are we not told to "occupy" till the Master returns? Certainly, but "Business as Usual" is not what the Lord was saying. He gave His servants precious gifts and graces and told them to "trade" with these till He returned. He was not telling them to fill out their days much as they have in the past. He bids us to be occupied with Heaven’s treasures, not with earth’s vanishing toys. To trade with these, that when the Master returns they might not be ashamed at His coming, but could say: "You gave me five talents, I have gained five more. You gave me faith, You gave me Heaven’s treasures, I have invested these in the lives of Your people by Your enabling grace, and now, behold the fruit of it in the lives of my brethren."

Chain Reaction Of The Law Of Sin And Death

Frightening as it may be we are inclined to admire the genius of the human species, not only because he discovered the formula for this kind of nuclear energy, but because he found out how to make it work. However, in the light of what has happened, I think we should change the formula a little, and write it this way:

E=MC²=D²

Because THIS NEW FOUND ENERGY EQUALS DEATH MULTIPLIED BY ITSELF, DEATH ON A MASSIVE ACCELERATING SCALE.

For man created nothing; all he did was discover secrets that long lay hidden in the purposes of God, and which God would not reveal until man had descended to the very depths of apostasy. For what has man accomplished but the ability to accelerate the Law of Sin and Death that has been working in the human family ever since the Fall! Let us no longer admire the genius of man; but let us rather be solemnized by the fact that man’s wisdom has brought about such an acceleration of the Law of Sin and Death that he now has the capability to set in motion a chain reaction of devastation that could annihilate the whole human race, and obliterate all forms of life on this planet, if God would let him do it. How wonderful an achievement! How wise is man, that he can bring about his own destruction in almost a moment of time!

"Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made FOOLISH the wisdom of this world?" (1 Cor. 1:20).

We are not so foolish as to charge that man wants to bring about a nuclear war and all this devastation. Man certainly wants to maintain his place as lord of this planet. But we know that there is NO PEACE to the wicked, and that man will never find PEACE until he bows at the foot of the Cross, and acknowledges Christ to be the Lord and Prince of Peace. Only in the wisdom of the Cross is life to be found. Only by the blood of His Cross did God make peace for mankind, and reconciled man to Himself. And of course this is deemed to be foolishness to the wise of this world:

"For the preaching of the Cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the POWER OF GOD" (1 Cor. 1:18).

We are talking about the reign, the rule, and the dominion of death. We are talking about this cruel king who took hold of the human family when Adam sinned; and from that point on there has been a chain reaction of this law in the human family, right down to this day. But now in the end of time, in just this last 50 years or more, there has come about such an acceleration of this terrible law that man has discovered the secret of annihilating five billion of earth’s inhabitants in a matter of a few moments of time. And how did he accomplish this achievement? He came to this exalted place because he gave himself over to the god of this world in a vain attempt to be his own god. It was not by way of "evolution" but in "retrogression" that he said:

"I will not acknowledge God, nor give Him thanks."

Then he descended further in his apostasy and said, "I do not need God, I am sufficient in myself," and worshipped the creature rather than the Creator.

And finally in his last downward step of apostasy he said, "I do not want God in my thoughts." (See Rom. 1:21-28.)

And with every downward step on the ladder of apostasy he gave greater and greater acceleration to the Law of Sin and Death, so that now in the "height" of his wisdom he has brought himself to the brink of extinction. And it is all because of his inherent sin that spurs him on to acknowledge God less and less, and to despise His Lordship more and more.

Now what we have said concerning the Law of Sin and Death is merely to form a background for what we are going to say about a different kind of chain reaction: the chain reaction of the Law of Life.

 

CHAPTER 3

CHAIN REACTION OF THE LAW OF LIFE

We have no problem recognizing the far-reaching implications of the kingdom of death. We live in that realm, and death is about us on every side. Every generation of man has been witness to it. But this generation in which we now live has been compelled to acknowledge the acceleration of the Law of Death beyond anything that was thought possible up until about 50 years ago.

But there is a new law that God set in motion when Jesus died on the Cross and rose from the dead, The new law was designed of the Lord to swallow up the old law. For it was there on the Cross that the Prince of Life destroyed the Law of Sin and Death, and began to impart anew law to the members of a New Creation order. They are the ones whom the Lord has apprehended from the clutches of the old law and introduced into a new order, a new sphere of life, a new realm, a new kingdom. It, too, embraces a whole race of beings, all those who by faith have been snatched as firebrands from the burnings of the old race, and brought into the new. They are not brought in by going through a process of reformation or reconditioning, but they are brought into new life by the outworking of a new Law: the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus.

"For the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the Law of Sin and Death" (Rom. 8:2). There has been a confrontation of the two laws, and the Law of Life has prevailed where the Law of Sin once reigned. The Law of Life not only defeated the Law of Death, IT HAS REPLACED THE OLD LAW AS THE MOTIVATING AND ENERGIZING PRINCIPLE OF THE NEW MAN. This is a bit staggering, and only by faith and the revelation of the Spirit are we able to receive it. Death REIGNED--it was in supreme control. There was no one that could escape its dominion IF SO BE HE WAS BORN INTO ADAM’S RACE. The Law of Death is inherent in all of Adam’s family, and no man can be released from its tentacles except it he by the new Law of Life. Then, having been released from the old law, there is a new law that takes its place:

"THAT AS SIN HATH REIGNED UNTO DEATH, EVEN SO MIGHT GRACE REIGN THROUGH RIGHTEOUSNESS UNTO ETERNAL LIFE BY JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD" (Rom. 5:2 1).

Can we grasp it? That as "sin reigned" so now grace must "REIGN unto eternal life." That as sin dominated, and brought about a chain reaction in realms of death, even so GRACE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS AND LIFE MUST NOW DOMINATE, and by a chain reaction of God’s workings bring about the REIGN OF LIFE!

It is really not difficult to flow along with the logic of what the apostle is saying by the Spirit. But we would draw back in fear when we come to the implications of it all. And what is the fear? THAT BY THE OPERATION OF THE NEW LAW OF LIFE WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO FORFEIT IN OUR MEMBERS THE WORKING OF THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH, AND HAVE IT REPLACED WITH THE WORKING OF THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS!

And why do we shrink from this clear declaration of the Word? It must be because as creatures subject to sin and death we feel more comfortable in that realm. Like insects hiding under a rotting tree, we lift it and they scamper for the cover of darkness. Why? Because they are creatures of the darkness, and the darkness has blinded their eyes. Jesus said,

"For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind" (Jn. 9:39).

If we are partakers of the kingdom of darkness and come to the light, we are fashioned anew so that we begin to rejoice in the light. But if we are content to abide in death, and to rejoice in the darkness, then the light that shines upon us makes the darkness still more intense than it was before, For if the light that is in us be darkness, Jesus said, "How great is that darkness!" (Matt. 6:23).

Let us never fear to come to the light. It may be fearful, I know, for by nature we are the children of darkness and would choose to remain in that state. The light is too strong, too brilliant for the eyes of our fleshly understanding. We fear it might blind us. And it will, just as Jesus said--if we continue to resist it. But as we come to the light, the light will dispel the darkness of death, and cause us to walk in the light of a new day. The shining of the light of God into our lives will produce a chain reaction for good or for evil. It will set in motion an increasing brightness of His glory as we choose to walk in it, or it will set in motion an increasing measure of spiritual blindness, if we choose to resist it. The Sun of Righteousness will blind our eyes, as He did to Saul of Tarsus in his rebellion; or that same Light will bring healing and restoration, and an increase of greater and greater glory, as we find ourselves like Saul praying and seeking God with great repentance and heart-searching. Let us never fear to come to the light, no matter how unworthy we might feel, or how fearful we might be to stand in the brightness of His all-seeing eye. For light is inseparable from life, and as we come to the light so shall we come into realms of new life, where Life will be the Lord dwelling within us, And He comes to remove the sin, and to remove the death, and to dethrone the king of darkness, and to rule and reign in his place.

Implications Of The Reign Of Life

We have talked about the kingdom of death, and the formula that brought about the acceleration of the Law of Death in the human family:

E=MC²=D²

But there is also a formula for life, and it has been functioning in the earth in a certain measure ever since the Prince of Life visited this planet. Without getting too scientific about it, let us summarize it in this equation:

W C=L²

THE WISDOM OF THE CROSS BRINGS A PEOPLE INTO LIFE MULTIPLIED BY ITSELF.

This multiplication of life produces light:

"In Him was Life; and the Life was the Light of men" (Jn. 1:4).

This life came into manifestation when Jesus visited this planet, as He submitted Himself to the way of the Cross, to the wisdom of the Cross, But the Church, for most of her history, has missed the way because she has been deceived into thinking that the formula applied only to Jesus. He died on the Cross, so we do not need to die on ours.

We have missed the way because we have failed to realize that the Cross was not only an instrument of cruelty upon which Jesus died for our sins, BUT IT WAS A CROSS THAT HE BORE ALL THROUGH HIS LIFE, A CROSS THAT WAS INEVITABLE SIMPLY AND ONLY BECAUSE HE DID THE WILL OF THE FATHER. Jesus was born under the shadow of the Cross. Even at His birth, the Prince of Death set in motion an evil device to kill the Prince of Life. Daily He was in confrontation with the world that resisted the light of God.

Once we understand what the Cross means we will cease our boasting that Jesus died on His Cross, so we do not need to die on ours. If we intend to do the will of God, it will be impossible to avoid the Cross, BECAUSE THE CROSS IS THE EMBODIMENT AND THE EXPRESSION OF MAN’S OPPOSITION TO THE WAYS OF GOD, AND OF GOD’S OPPOSITION TO THE WAYS OF MAN. And so our Lord Jesus bore His Cross daily, not because He went about looking for trouble, BUT SIMPLY AND ONLY BECAUSE HIS QUEST WAS TO DO THE WILL OF THE FATHER. To say that I do not need to suffer the Cross because Jesus did it for me, is to say that I do not need to walk in obedience to the Father because Jesus did it for me. IF WE ARE GOING TO GO GOD’S WAY WE ARE GOING TO KNOW THE HATRED, THE REBUKE, AND THE OPPOSITION OF THE WORLD ABOUT US, AND THIS IS WHAT CONSTITUTES OUR CROSS. We do not go about manufacturing self-inflicting forms of penance in order to somehow identify with the sufferings of Jesus. This is a deathly way of trying to contravene death. Only as we walk in the pathway of life are we going to contravene death. As truly as we seek to do the will of the Father and are committed to walk in obedience to His will, are we going to know and experience the opposition and the hatred that is heaped upon those who love God more than the ways of the world.

There can be no meaningful cross in our lives as long as we live an ordinary religious kind of life. But darkness will quickly react when the light shines forth. Jesus said to His religious brethren, "The world cannot hate you; but Me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil" (Jn. 7:7). The religious world of that day co-existed quite well with the world about them; but when Jesus came on the scene THERE WAS A BROADSIDE COLLISION OF DARKNESS WITH LIGHT, OF HATRED WITH LOVE, OF INIQUITY WITH RIGHTEOUSNESS, OF EVIL WITH GOOD, OF SATAN WITH GOD; AND IT WAS THIS COLLISION OF THE LIGHT WITH THE DARKNESS THAT PROPELLED JESUS TO HIS CROSS.

But rather than the darkness destroying the light, it was the light that destroyed the darkness. Rather than death destroying the life, it was the life that destroyed the death. Rather than hatred destroying the love, it was the love that destroyed the hatred.

And so our Lord Jesus died for us that we might not die, but LIVE. But as we embrace the LIFE, we are enabled to walk in the same LIFE that Jesus walked in, in the same obedience that Jesus walked in. It was this obedience that brought Jesus to His Cross, and if we walk in it, surely it will bring us to ours. Notice this, it is His obedience that we must walk in, if it is to be glorifying to God. Nothing less than the obedience of Christ will honor and glorify the Father. And what, explicitly, is the nature of His obedience?

"Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of Me,) to do Thy will, O God" (Heb. 10:7).

"I can of Mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and My judgment is just; because I seek not Mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me" (Jn. 5:30).

Is our concept of the will of God related only to doing all kinds of noble things: preaching, evangelizing, writing, establishing churches, etc., etc.? Or have we come, in our commitment to do the Father’s will, to the complete renunciation of all our thoughts, ambitions, desires, pursuits in life, whether it be in natural or in spiritual things? THIS MUST BECOME THE FIRST STEP IN OUR DESIRE TO DO GOD’S WILL--RENOUNCE OUR OWN THOUGHTS IN THE MATTER, CANCEL ALL OUR PLANS, AND BY HIS GRACE COME TO THE PLACE WHERE WE KNOW WE CAN DO NOTHING. AND THEN WE CAN EXPECT TO LEARN WHAT THE WILL OF GOD IS ALL ABOUT.

Now if the obedience of Christ is intended to lead us in paths of truth that will culminate in our cross, how important it is that we guard our hearts and minds from those subtle temptations of the Enemy that would sidetrack us from the pathway of learning this kind of obedience. Jesus "learned obedience." This is not to say that He was ever disobedient. But in the many tests to which He was subjected, day by day He learned the voice of the Father. We too must learn this kind of obedience.

JESUS CAME INTO THE EARTH TO DO THE WILL OF THE FATHER... AND THIS BECAME HIS TOTAL PURSUIT IN LIFE OR IN DEATH ...HE HAD NO OTHER AGENDA.

The Will Of God--Or Man’s Agenda

It is important for us to understand this. As God’s people our lives can become cluttered with so many worthy projects, all in the name of doing the will of the Father. And I think we come to this kind of involvement primarily because we fail to recognize that DOING THE WILL OF GOD, RATHER THAN DOING MANY GOOD WORKS, IS THE WHOLE DUTY OF MAN. God has some very wonderful plans and purposes yet to be fulfilled--we know that. He has great and wonderful objectives in mind--great things that He wants to accomplish in His people, and in the earth.

BUT WE TOTALLY MISS GOD’S WAY WHEN WE START TO ASSUME THAT WE ARE SUPPOSED TO WORK ON GOD’S OBJECTIVES, RATHER THAN IN BEING TOTALLY COMMITTED TO DO HIS WILL AND WALK IN HIS WAY.

AND THE REASON WE MISS GOD IS SIMPLY BECAUSE OUR WAYS ARE NOT GOD’S WAYS, NOR ARE HIS THOUGHTS OUR THOUGHTS.

And so what do we do? If we know God wants to feed the five thousand, we will organize a committee to raise the funds and get the job done. If we know God wants to reach the nations with the Gospel, we will organize the crusades and raise the pledges to get the job done.

BUT IF WE KNOW AND UNDERSTAND THAT WALKING IN HIS WAY IS ALL HE REQUIRES, THEN GOD DOES ALL THE PLANNING, AND WE ARE IN A POSITION WHERE WE CAN SIMPLY RESPOND TO WHAT HE SAYS--AND GOD IS TRULY GLORIFIED.

IF WE ARE TOTALLY COMMITTED TO DO HIS WILL, THEN HE WILL SHOW US HIS WAY, AND HIS OBJECTIVE IS GLORIOUSLY REALIZED. BUT IF WE SEEK TO PURSUE GOD’S OBJECTIVE WE TOTALLY MISS WHAT GOD HAS IN MIND.

Now God does give us from time to time a little glimpse into His plan, and a little understanding of His objective. BUT HE DOES THIS TO PROVE US, TO TEST US, TO GET US SEEKING HIM, AND NOT TO GET US INVOLVED WITH PLANS AND STRATEGIES. (See Jn. 6:6.) God will show His servants what He wants, to get us seeking Him for His way, His anointing, His methods. But how quick we are to ignore His ways, and to move out in the arm of flesh in an attempt to do WHAT GOD ALONE CAN DO BY THE POWER OF HIS ANOINTING AND PRESENCE.

Jesus’ life was therefore totally devoid of clutter and innovative devices to get the job done. He had but one thing on His agenda: "Lo, I come to do Thy will O God." And because this ONE THING pervaded His whole being, and totally occupied His thoughts, His life was completely uncluttered. He simply moved along in the predetermined pathways of God, whatever might be involved: healing the sick, raising the dead, witnessing to a devastated woman at the Well of Samaria--ministering to one or two, or to multitudes as God might choose--and finally laying it all down because the Father said, "Now, go back to Jerusalem, and lay down Your life…"

Now Satan knows a little about God’s plan too, and how he would like to get us involved IN ANY WAY OTHER THAN GOD’S WAY, AND TO OFFER US THE RESOURCES THAT WE THINK WE NEED FOR THE ACHIEVING OF GOD’S PURPOSES IN THE EARTH.

Jesus was therefore subjected to a three-fold temptation at the very beginning of His earthly ministry, For in God’s will He must overcome Satan right here on Satan’s territory before the Father would allow Him to go forth in power and authority to establish the Kingdom of Heaven in the hearts of men. We have mentioned this temptation several times before; but briefly we must mention it again. Satan was saying in effect:

I will give You the key to your daily bread: "Turn this stone into bread..."

I will give You the key to popularity and acclaim before the crowds: "Cast Thyself down from the wing of the temple..."

I will give You the key to all the resources of earth’s kingdom: "All these things will I give Thee..."

The Church of this hour has succumbed to this three-fold temptation on all counts, and no wonder the Law of Sin and Death continues on its rampage in the Kingdom of God. As long as Satan can continue to deceive the people of God with thoughts that success, and achievement, and the accumulation of man s resources, and grasping for political power, and economic power are things that God needs for the extension of His Kingdom, the Law of Sin and Death will continue to reign in the midst of God’s people.

Is it really true that Jesus overcame the Devil back there through much test and trial, so you and I can find the key to easy living, to find popularity and acclaim, and to take over the resources and kingdoms of the earth for the benefit of the gospel? That Jesus resisted this temptation back there, so that the Church can now yield to it? That He suffered the Cross by refusing to accept Satan’s challenge, so that we can now escape the Cross by yielding to it? That He overcame the Devil, so now we do not have to?

LET US BE ASSURED OF THIS, THAT ANY POWER THAT WE ACQUIRE IN THIS LIFE, APART FROM WALKING IN TOTAL OBEDIENCE TO THE WILL OF GOD, IS SELF-GLORIFYING BY NATURE, AND SELF-DESTRUCTIVE IN CONSEQUENCE.

LET US BE ASSURED FROM THE WORD OF GOD, AND FROM THE LIFE OF JESUS, THAT HIS CROSS WILL BECOME OUR CROSS IF WE ARE TRULY COMMITTED TO WALK IN GOD’S WAY.

Church history bears abundant witness to what happens when a people of God, moving in realms of obedience, and bearing their cross, are suddenly exalted to places of economic, material, or political strength. Very quickly their testimony is gone, and they are captivated by a worldly, Babylonish system. And then it happens, as history bears witness, that the once-persecuted Church becomes the persecutor, under the deceptive notion that God had vindicated them and given them ecclesiastical authority and political and economic power to establish the Kingdom of God in the earth. God’s way they totally miss, and the kingdom and reign of sin and death continues to hold sway over the hearts and minds of nations.

God’s Way Is Effectual And Mighty

We are not talking about a theory which may or may not work. We are talking about God’s Way, GOD’S ONLY WAY TO REACH THE HEARTS OF MEN--TO REACH ALL NATIONS WITH THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL. He has done it before in measure, and He will do it again, this time in full measure.

It was first given as a promise to Abraham: "And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed…" (Gen. 22:18). Inherent in the promise was the fact, revealed to the apostle Paul, that "the Seed" was Christ (Gal. 3:16); and that out from this Seed there would come a harvest that would fill all the earth with the Seed of the living Christ.

Do not underestimate the law of the seed, and the potential of the seed. It produces a mighty chain reaction of life, as one seed reproduces hundreds more, and each of these produces hundreds more, each in its own season, And it is all because the life that is inherent in the seed reproduces itself as it submits to the process of dying in the will of God.

When Life visited this planet there was a "fusion" of God with Man. This Divine "fusion" released Divine energy; and this release of energy continues to generate more and more and more energy in a mighty chain reaction of life that would very quickly fill the whole earth with God’s glory and presence were it not for the disobedience of God’s people.

But we say this in the context of God’s purposes. We know that God always allowed this mighty working of power to fade away, until the times were ripe for the full measure of the Law of the Spirit of Life to be revealed in the final harvest of the ages. The Husbandman has continued to look for that day. And because He is patiently waiting for that day, He speaks to His servants, whose hearts are molded after His heart--"The Husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it... be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh" (Jas. 5:7-8).

Patient? Be patient in harvest time when the need is so great? That’s what the apostle said. For God’s servants who know the reality of the formula for the Chain Reaction of Life are not caught up with man’s devices to reach as many people as they can, as fast as they can, with all the human resources they can muster, because time is running out. Now only ONE THING matters. The only way to "redeem the time" is to understand "what the will of the Lord is" (Eph. 5:16-17), and to faithfully do what He says. You do not become more spiritual by seeking out some "spiritual" kind of employment. Do what God places in your hands to do, and do it faithfully, serving God in the menial tasks of daily living; but in it all be sure you EARNESTLY SEEK HIM, AND LONG FOR THE INTERACTION OF THE HEAVENLY WITH THE EARTHLY. For it is right where you are, in the pathway of God, even in the midst of the menial, ordinary tasks of life that He has given you to do, that Heaven comes down and touches the earth, and the mighty God of Heaven becomes FUSED with His servants in the earth.

It happened with Abraham... It happened with Joseph... It happened with Moses... It happened with Joshua... It happened with Caleb... It happened with Shamgar... It happened with Deborah and Barak... It happened with Gideon... It happened with David. It happened with the prophets... with Isaiah... with Jeremiah... with Ezekiel ... with Amos... and with all the rest who knew God’s ways. It happened with Zechariah in the temple, in the ordinary course of his duties, doing the will of God. It happened with John the Baptist, who remained in the desert, doing the will of God where God placed him. He was not studying under the capable scribes and Pharisees of the temple, in order to make himself more proficient for the task that lay before him. But he was waiting... waiting... waiting for God... waiting for the interaction of the heavens with the earth, and he was not to be disappointed. The Word of God came to him right where he was, in the wilderness, doing God’s will, and waiting for Him.

And finally, it happened with our Lord Jesus...

But now we have come to the true Seed. His precious disciples thought He came to bring about the great harvest that the prophets spoke about, and His death was the most devastating thing they had ever experienced. They did not know that He came to be the "Seed" that must be planted in the earth, and that He would then become the "firstfruits unto God" as He rose from the dead in resurrection life. But soon they were to make this glorious discovery. He had to die that the "fusion" He had known with the Father might react in His brethren in a mighty chain reaction of spiritual life that would RELEASE ALL THE ENERGY OF THE SON OF GOD IN A WAY THAT WOULD PERMEATE THE WHOLE Body of Christ. His enthronement in the heavens would in no way limit this great and mighty chain reaction of Life, BUT HIS ENTHRONEMENT WOULD RATHER BE THE MEANS OF BRINGING IT ABOUT. For this Man, perfected through His sufferings in the earth, would then be fused back into God with glory greater than He ever had before. And now from this fusion of a glorified Man with the Father of Glory, more and more of the divine energy would be released upon His people in the earth. A Man of the earth is fused into the heavenly Glory, and the energy of that glory begins to pour forth upon His waiting disciples in the earth, and chain reaction after chain reaction takes place as earth responds to Heaven, and Heaven responds to earth. Humble and devastated disciples are fused with the glory of God, and begin to move in the earth as Jesus did when He was here. He went away for this purpose, that He who was the Light of men when He was here might now radiate that same Light in the earth, through His people who have learned His ways, and walk with Him.

And so the chain reaction of the Law of Life accelerated in greater and greater and still greater measures, until in a very short period of time the whole earth was saturated with the gospel of the Kingdom of God.

I stand amazed at times at the glory and reverence that God’s people will ignorantly bestow upon the kingdom of sin and death, how they marvel at Satan’s awesome powers, and at man s awesome achievements, and yet give such little respect to the Law of the Spirit of Life, and think it to be impossible for the Sovereign Lord to create a people for Himself, who shall come forth into the full stature of Christ. I am confident there is yet to be revealed from the heavens such an interaction of the Kingdom of Heaven in the affairs of men that not only will the earth be shaken, but the very heavens will know the mighty impact of the Word of Truth, as it sounds forth from the enthroned Christ, through the lips of His anointed servants in the earth; the purpose of which is to destroy all that which is destructible in the earth, and to leave in its place the indestructible, unshakable Kingdom of Christ:

"For if they escaped not who refused Him that spake on earth, MUCH MORE shall not we escape, if we turn away from Him THAT SPEAKETH FROM HEAVEN: Whose voice then shook the earth: but now He hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, YET ONCE MORE, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain" (Heb. 12:25-27).

Our God is able, in the very midst of the very worst that man or Satan can do, to bring about in His people such a massive acceleration of the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus that the achievements of men will be blown away like the dust of the threshingfloor, and the harvest for which the Husbandman is waiting will come to the full measure of the stature of Christ. Or, are we going to confess that the Law of the Spirit of Life is WEAKER than the Law of Sin and Death?

That God has allowed Satan to bring his evil devices to the fullness of maturity, and the mystery of iniquity to perfection... BUT WILL NOT BE ABLE TO BRING TO FULL EXPRESSION THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS?

The New Law Of Life... That Will Nullify The Old Law Of Death?

"For the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the Law of Sin and Death" (Rom. 8:2).

God’s people have been very quick to lay God’s Word to one side, if it doesn’t "work." Theoretically they are compelled to believe it, for after all they are Christians. But they are not going to get carried away with it-if it is unreasonable--if it doesn’t "work."

But God tells us that when He sends forth His Word into the earth He will not take it back, until it has performed the desire and the intention of His heart (Isa. 55:10-11). If much of it doesn’t seem to work, we need to know God’s patience. We need to understand the law of the seed. It may lay dormant for many years, BUT IN THE RIGHT SEASON WHEN IT IS PLANTED IN THE EARTH IT WILL GERMINATE AND GROW, AND BRING FORTH THE FRUIT THAT GOD INTENDED.

God’s plan is that sin and death are to be totally dealt with and subdued in His people, by the outworking of the Cross of Christ in their lives, by the Holy Spirit. We are not talking about coming to a state of immortality in this present life. Nevertheless, even in the midst of our mortality it is God’s desire that our bodies are quickened with more and more of His life. It is a case of the resurrection life of Jesus taking hold upon us, even as we walk in an environment that has been overcome by sin and death and corruption.

"And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the spirit is life because of righteousness" (Rom. 8:10). Now is the apostle really saying, especially in this wonderful context of the life of the Spirit, that "sin is operating in your bodies, but no matter... the Spirit of God is your righteousness, and He dwells there as well"? Is he really saying that we must continue to walk in sin, even though our spirit partakes of His righteousness?

Suppose a fire sweeps through the city, and the buildings are weakened and left tottering because of the fire. But help is on the way. Firefighters come on the scene and extinguish the blaze that did the damage; and then other rescue teams arrive, bringing food and clothing, and they begin the work of restoration, and renewing of the city. The buildings are weakened because of the fire. But extinguishing the fire does not restore the buildings to their original soundness. This will happen later; but first of all the fire must be put out.

And so, because of the invasion of sin into the human family away back in the beginning, all in Adam’s family DIED; and our bodies remain "dead because of sin"--dead because of the sin we inherited from Adam. We have a little problem, emotionally speaking, when we see that innocent little babe snatched away in death. It did nothing wrong. It was so beautiful and innocent! Why did it happen? This little one was born with the Law of Sin and Death that he inherited from Adam, and he did not die because he himself was living in sin. He died because of the "fire" of Adam’s sin. And so our physical bodies, whether we be Christian or otherwise, are in a state of mortality because of the devastating "fire" of Adam’s transgression. It is all over now, for those who are in Christ Jesus. Sin has been fully dealt with, and the fire has been extinguished by the fires of the Cross of our Lord Jesus. But our bodies remain in a state of mortality and death, because of the sin we inherited from the Fall.

The redemption we have in Christ Jesus is full and complete. And there is a new Law of Life that begins to function within us, when the Holy Spirit is given His Lordship in our lives; so that even now there is not only a renewing of our spirits, there is also a quickening of these mortal bodies:

"He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you" (Rom. 8:11).

Paul makes a distinction between the mortal body, and the corruptible body. He is not talking about the resurrection of our bodies that have gone back into decomposition. The mortal body is a living body, undergoing a process of death. But the corruptible body is a dead body, that has undergone the process of decomposition. Hence our Lord Jesus did not see "corruption," for His body had lain in the grave somewhat less than three days, and corruption begins on the fourth day. You will recall Martha’s statement to Jesus concerning her brother Lazarus, that his body was now corrupt, "for he hath been dead four days" (Jn. 11:39).

Even now, then, it is God’s desire that His people begin to partake of this new Life, that will bring not only healing, but strength and life to these mortal bodies. The "sting of death is sin," and the sting has been removed, but the restoration and the renewing of these devastated "buildings" is an ongoing process. God has a certain order that He is following in His wisdom: first He would quicken our spirits, then our souls, and finally our bodies. (See 1 Thess. 5:23.) This is God’s order, and He purposely leaves us in a state of mortality that we might have the capability of experiencing in our mortal flesh, "the dying of the Lord Jesus," and His resurrection life.

In the history of the Church we have observed a lot of presumption in this area, as men have "claimed" this new life, and sought to reach out for immortality here and now. God does want to liberate His people from the Law of Sin and Death, and from all the "diseases of Egypt"; but His intention is not to make us immune to death in the days of our flesh. He leaves us rather in a state of mortality, so that we may experience what Paul describes as "the dying of the Lord Jesus." Do we really want to escape this "dying of the Lord Jesus" in our mortal flesh? And be denied the fullness of life that He has for those who would suffer with Christ?

"For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh" (2 Cor. 4:11). Where does God want to manifest the life of Jesus? "In our mortal flesh." And God’s purpose is this, that by death working in us He might bring forth life in others. (See 2 Cor. 4:12.)

But how could we presume to say that dying of tumors, and cancers, and heart diseases--and we could go on naming a host of other diseases of Adam’s family--how could we say that in succumbing to these we are experiencing "the dying of the Lord Jesus"? Rather, it is simply a case of the Law of Death that we inherited from Adam exercising its power and its authority in these bodies that are not yet changed and made immortal. We are quite aware that we are in the process of dying, even as we live. But I do not believe God wants His Church to be victimized by "the diseases of Egypt." We are partaking of these sicknesses in the Church equally as they are in the world. Even in the Old Covenant God made a very clear promise to His obedient people: "I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee" (Ex. 15:26).

The Dying Of The Lord Jesus

What is this? We know He died for us in a substitutionary way, and in that sense we cannot die for others. Nevertheless, the SAME LOVE THAT DROVE JESUS TO HIS CROSS IS INTENDED OF THE LORD TO BE IN OUR HEARTS, THAT AS HE LAID DOWN HIS LIFE FOR US, SO "WE OUGHT TO LAY DOWN OUR LIVES FOR THE BRETHREN." (See 1 Jn. 3:16.)

If we are going to lay down our lives for others we must first of all become partakers of the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. THE CORN OF WHEAT THAT FALLS INTO THE GROUND AND DIES MUST BE ALIVE BEFORE IT CAN DIE AND BRING FORTH FRUIT. It may remain dormant for many years, and unable to reproduce itself. But if it is alive and planted in the earth in the right season it will come forth in new life. We can only bring forth life in others if we ourselves are walking in this new Life of the Spirit. Then we are OVERCOMERS, even in death. Our pursuit would have to be a very selfish one if we just wanted to enjoy this abundant Life of Jesus, and go on living in immortal flesh, while multitudes of men and women, in the Church as well as in the world, are held in bondage under the Law of Sin and Death. If the true Spirit of Jesus filled our hearts we would consider the "dying of the Lord Jesus" to be our highest calling.

Our "Dying" Should Be "Sacrificial"

"Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus..." (2 Cor. 4:10).

Paul’s death was a sacrificial death because of the Law of Life that brought him to a death that was fruitful for the Body of Christ.

"For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand" (2 Tim. 4:6). The Greek word for "offered" is "spendo," meaning "to devote one’s life as a sacrificial offering." Paul used the same word in Philippians 2:17, "Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all." He would rejoice if he could pour out his life in death as a drink-offering unto God--poured out on the sacrificial offering of faith that was rendered to God by the saints at Philippi. He would rejoice if his sacrifice in death was mingled with the same sacrificial spirit that was manifested by the Philippians in their faith and service unto God. Some of David’s mighty men risked their lives out of love for David, as they broke through the Philistine ranks to fetch David a drink of pure, refreshing water from the Well of Bethlehem. They had procured this water for David at the risk of their lives. They had poured out their lives for David whom they loved. It was a great sacrifice to God, and David felt he must make their sacrifice still more meaningful, by pouring the water they had brought him back unto God as a drink offering. How could David consume this fresh water for his own thirst, in view of their great sacrifice? And how can we hope and pray for good health and long life merely to enjoy it for ourselves when we consider how others in the Church have given their lives in martyrdom that we might enjoy the life of Christ flowing forth in our midst as a river of living water?

"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. 12:1). Paul calls this a "living sacrifice." I believe God wants to give us health and life-physical as well as spiritual. It is our heritage in Christ Jesus. The only time the children of Israel suffered sickness and evil diseases in their 40-year pilgrimage in the wilderness, was when they walked in rebellion. God was their strength and their life. He was the LORD that healed them, and kept them healthy. Moses’ testimony was that they "lacked nothing" (Deut. 2:7). Are we not to expect greater things under Grace, than under the Law?

But because of God’s abundant grace, and because of His mercies, He bids us to present our bodies unto Him as "a living sacrifice"--these mortal bodies-but bodies that are quickened with the life of Christ.

God help us to understand that we are only pursuing "the power of His resurrection" if at the same time we are pursuing "the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death" (Phil. 3:10). Once we understand God’s way, we lay aside any selfish hopes for our own spiritual or physical well-being, and seek only the welfare of others. The corn of wheat can only find true fulfillment as it submits to the process of "dying." And so the physical and the spiritual life that God wants to impart to His people is not for our own selfish enjoyment, but a life that is to be laid down in sacrificial love for others.

Whenever God quickens the truth to the hearts of His people, invariably we have ambitious teachers who presumptuously begin to "claim" the promises "by faith" and some kind of disaster inevitably follows. Can we not claim "the promises of God"? We can, if it is by "the faith of God." But there is a vast difference between the "faith" we presumptuously claim, and the "faith of God" that comes to our hearts when we hear Him speak a LIVING WORD. We are always totally dependent upon God--and His timing, and His purposes--for the measure of faith that He is pleased to impart to us. And our hope in this writing is not that men and women will be inspired to reach out and appropriate "faith" to do signs and wonders and exploits in His Name, or to experience immortality in the days of their flesh, BUT TO START WALKING IN OBEDIENCE TO THE WILL OF GOD.

When God begins to deal with a corporate people, as He is doing today, we are no longer an island unto ourselves. When one man sinned in Israel THE ARMIES OF ISRAEL WERE ROUTED IN BATTLE. (See Josh. 7:5-12.) It should not seem strange, then, that many of God’s people are being tested and tried beyond measure in this matter of sickness and disease, and all kinds of devastation of one kind or another. We thank Him for His mercy, and for what He is doing in the lives of many, but we are not going to see any real measure of spiritual and physical health in the Body of Christ until God deals with the sin and the folly of His people in forsaking Him, the Fountain of Living Waters. And so we should not judge any individual for their failure to appropriate the full blessing of redemption, by way of walking in physical or in spiritual health. We have to come back to the Fountain. We have to make Him to be the Lord IN OUR HEARTS AND IN OUR ASSEMBLIES, before that Fountain of Life can flow freely from one member to another in the Body of Christ.

 

CHAPTER 4

TWO MEN-TWO KINGDOMS

Paul speaks in Romans 5 of TWO RACES OF MANKIND--JUST TWO. And the one is the figure or type of the other. Nor is it left to our imagination as to the manner in which the first Adam prefigures the Last Adam, for the apostle expounds all this in great detail. But as we consider this let us note the COMPARISON as well as the CONTRAST, in all that the apostle is saying. Just as we might compare the darkness to the light, a blade of grass to a mighty tree, a pebble on the beach to a rocky mountain dazzling in its splendor, a shooting star to a galaxy, so does the apostle mention the attributes of the first Adam, and how we inherited all this from him, and then he proceeds to magnify the contrasting attributes of the Last Adam, and all that we inherit from Him.

The Two Men (v. 14)

Sin and death entered the world through the first man, so that in the first man all are afflicted with his sin and death... But Adam was a "figure" of another "Adam," who would likewise birth a generation of men, in whose family all would partake of Life.

Two Initial Causes (v. 15)

One trespass was the first cause, and this brought death to the whole race of Adam... But the grace of God was the second cause, and this brought the gift of life to all in the new race of the Last Adam.

Two Effects (v. 16)

The effect of the one trespass was condemnation to the whole family of the first Adam... But the free gift follows on the heels of condemnation, with the free gift of justification to all who are born anew into the family of the Last Adam.

Two Dominions (vs. 17)

The first man’s offense brought into being a kingdom in which death became supreme lord over all in Adam’s realm... But grace and righteousness have overtaken the old kingdom, and have brought into being a kingdom of life, so that now life becomes the Lord and Monarch in the new realms of the Last Adam.

Two Judgments (v. 18)

It took just one act by one man to bring a sentence of condemnation and guilt on the whole family of man... So also it took just one act of righteousness by One Man, who by His sacrifice on the Cross brought a decree of justification to the whole family of the New Man.

Two Pathways (v. 19)

This one offending act sprang from disobedience, a deliberate choice by the first Adam... and this made sinners out of the whole race... So one act of righteousness sprang from obedience to the will of the Father, a deliberate choice by the Son, and this brought forth righteousness to all in the new race of the Last Adam.

Two Chain Reactions (v. 20)

The chain reaction of sin and death was greatly accelerated by the law, so that sin abounded in still greater dimensions of its dominion... God’s ultimate design being that when sin had abounded beyond all imaginable proportions, then He would reveal His grace that would abound far beyond all the realms of the dominion of sin and death.

Two Reigning Monarchs (v. 21)

In consequence of all this, SIN became the KING, and he would co-reign with DEATH as lord on the throne, and would overtake and consume the whole family of Adam...

BUT GOD’S DESIGN WAS THAT WHEN SIN HAD RUN ITS DEVASTATING COURSE, AND HAD CONSUMMATED ITS REIGN OF TERROR--THEN GRACE WOULD FOLLOW ON ITS HEELS AND REIGN IN RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND CONSUMMATE HIS KINGDOM IN ETERNAL LIFE, IN THE WHOLE FAMILY OF THE NEW ADAM!

How can we miss the "logic" of the Holy Spirit as He sets forth in this comparison the overwhelming attributes of the Kingdom of Grace and Righteousness and Life that is inherent in the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus?

What is our problem then? Simply this: We know the power and the authority of the Law of Sin and Death. We know from experience how effective it is. But the other Law--the Law of the Spirit of Life--well, it still seems to be rather vague, impractical, unworkable, and intangible. We would probably be very happy to discover the Law of Life working within us that would be EQUAL to the authority and the power of the old Law of Sin and Death. But can we not hear what the apostle is saying--NOT ONCE, BUT FIVE TIMES IN THIS CHAPTER--

MUCH MORE...

MUCH MORE...

MUCH MORE...

MUCH MORE...

MUCH MORE...

This is the way it is in Adam--there is a chain reaction of overwhelming, devastating dimensions-Then, if this be so, WE ARE TO HAVE MUCH MORE EXPECTATION--TO BELIEVE AND TO ANTICIPATE THAT THERE WILL BE A CHAIN REACTION OF LIFE, THAT WILL HAVE FAR GREATER DIMENSIONS THAN WE HAVE SEEN IN THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH.

For not only did the old law have great power... IT HAD DOMINION! IT RULED AND REIGNED! But now we have been delivered from that old monarch, and have become the subjects of a new Kingdom, ruled over by a new Monarch, and subject to a new Law-a Law that functions in grace and in truth. God tells us that His grace is not only to be revealed--IT IS TO REIGN IN RIGHTEOUSNESS UNTO LIFE! GRACE IS TO BE IN SUPREME COMMAND AND CONTROL! WHERE SIN WAS ONCE IN CONTROL, RIGHTEOUSNESS IS TO BE IN CONTROL! WHERE DEATH ONCE HAD DOMINION-LIFE IS NOW TO HAVE DOMINION!

Now it is for this very reason that God sent His Holy Spirit to abide in His people in the earth, THAT HE THE HOLY SPIRIT MIGHT TAKE FROM CHRIST AND BESTOW UPON HIS PEOPLE IN THE EARTH, ALL THE RICHES AND TREASURES THAT ARE HIDDEN IN CHRIST JESUS, THAT AS MEMBERS OF HIS BODY WE MIGHT HAVE THAT DIVINE ENABLEMENT TO MINISTER LIFE ONE TO ANOTHER, ACCORDING TO THE EFFECTUAL WORKING OF THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE THAT FUNCTIONS IN EACH MEMBER.

AND THE TRAGEDY OF ALL THIS IS THAT GOD’S PEOPLE ARE WILLING TO BOW TO THE KINGDOM OF SIN AND DEATH, AND GIVE THIS CRUEL LORD ALL GLORY AND HONOR, AND YET REFUSE TO BOW TO THE LORDSHIP OF CHRIST, WHO DESIRES TO BRING ABOUT A CHAIN REACTION OF LIFE THAT WILL FLOW FROM ONE MEMBER TO ANOTHER--AND STILL ANOTHER--BY AN OPERATION OF THE SPIRIT THAT FAR SURPASSES IN ITS EFFECT THE AUTHORITY AND THE POWER OF THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH.

Are we saying, then, that if God’s people will humble themselves and BOW TO THE KING OF LIFE, AND GIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT HIS LORDSHIP IN THEIR LIVES, AND IN THEIR GATHERINGS TOGETHER IN HIS NAME, THAT WE CAN EXPECT TO SEE THIS KIND OF CHAIN REACTION THAT WILL PERMEATE THE WHOLE BODY OF CHRIST? AND MAKE THEM TO BE A PEOPLE WALKING ACCORDING TO A NEW LAW, IN A NEW REALM, AND IN A NEW ENERGY OF SPIRITUAL LIFE? Yes, this is what we are saying, for I believe this is what God is saying. And the reason we are not seeing it is because we are content to move in dimensions of REVERSE ACTION, to merely drift along with the momentum of a Church that is drifting--drifting further and further away from the ways of God, and trying to draw our attention to their vain promotional schemes, rather than having us focus on the ONE THING THAT REALLY MATTERS, THE ONE AND ONLY THING THAT WILL REVERSE THE TREND OF OUR APOSTASY--SUBMISSION TO THE LORDSHIP OF CHRIST IN HIS HEAVEN, AND TO THE HOLY SPIRIT IN OUR MIDST.

 

CHAPTER 5

DISCOVERING OUR CROSS

The Holy Spirit, when He is Lord in our lives, will cause us to focus on the Cross as the pathway of life. Not merely on that cruel instrument of torture that brought Jesus to His death, BUT ON THE CROSS AS THE PATHWAY OF LIFE.

God "condemned sin in the flesh" when Jesus died on the Cross. But our struggle has always been to find how to put an end to sin in our flesh, here where we are now--2,000 years removed from the Cross on which Jesus died, And the answer is clear. It is by the functioning of the Law of the Spirit. And we can be sure that NOT UNTIL WE GIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT HIS LORDSHIP IN OUR LIVES, AND IN OUR GATHERINGS TOGETHER IN HIS NAME, ARE WE GOING TO EXPERIENCE THIS MIGHTY WORKING IN OUR MIDST.

Now the Law of the Spirit will lead us IN THE SAME PATHWAY OF OBEDIENCE THAT JESUS WALKED IN, AND THIS WILL MAKE HIS VICTORY OVER THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH TO BE EFFECTUAL IN OUR LIVES. The victory is in His Cross, but it is the Spirit who makes it effectual in our lives. This is what our baptism in water is all about--"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. 6:4). Do we hear what He is saying? "THAT LIKE AS CHRIST- EVEN SO WE ALSO..."

But how can we expect to discover this vital witness of the Spirit in water baptism, if in our baptism we are not experiencing the life of the Spirit? If in our baptism we are not experiencing "the washing of water by the Word"? If in our baptism we are not saying, "From this moment on, Lord, I am Yours. I hereby die to my own thoughts, to my own will, to my own desires, to my own way of life. Lord, this is what the Cross meant to You, and this is what it must mean to me, from this day forward."

The "water" is a witness. The "blood" is a witness. For the "water" is our witness that we believe in the "blood" and in the "cross" which caused the blood to flow, BUT THE SPIRIT OF GOD MUST QUICKEN TO OUR HEARTS AND MINDS WHAT GOD DID AT THE CROSS IF WE ARE GOING TO EXPERIENCE AN EFFECTUAL CLEANSING OF THE BLOOD IN OUR LIVES.

"This is He that came by WATER AND BLOOD, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by WATER AND BLOOD. And it is THE SPIRIT that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth" (l Jn. 5:6). Oh, that we might be caught away in THE FLOW OF THE SPIRIT, IN THE FLOW OF THIS CLEANSING STREAM!

We know what Jesus accomplished at the Cross, because we believe His Word. BUT ONLY HIS SPIRIT CAN MAKE IT VITAL AND REAL IN OUR LIVES. For just as a bird was slain for the cleansing of the leper, and its blood mingled with pure, running water in an earthen vessel (and this became a cleansing stream for the leper in Israel)--so when the blood of the Lord Jesus was shed, there issued forth from His sacrifice a cleansing stream of BLOOD AND WATER: "But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and forthwith came there out BLOOD AND WATER. And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true..." (Jn. 19:34-35).

BLOOD AND WATER! BLOOD AND WATER! This is the stream that cleanses--not the sterile water of the baptismal tank or font. ONLY THE PRESENCE OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD CAN MAKE OUR BAPTISM IN WATER TO BE EFFECTUAL AND MEANINGFUL. In saying this I am not minimizing the importance of water baptism, but seeking to elevate it. MERE RITUAL ACCOMPLISHES NOTHING. Whatever we do in obedience to the Lord must be accompanied by His Presence and Spirit if it is going to be effectual. The water that the children of Israel drank in the wilderness was "spiritual," because it was impregnated with the Life of Christ (1 Cor. 10:4). The bread they ate in the wilderness was "spiritual" because it was prepared in Heaven and endued with the Life of Christ (1 Cor. 10:3). The Water of the Word is "spiritual" when it is endued, impregnated, and anointed with the Holy Spirit. If it is a mere doctrinal position it is all in vain. It must be a flowing stream. The water of purification that God ordained for the cleansing of the leper had to be "running" water, or "living" water. And it was effectual because the living bird was dipped in the water and in the blood, and released to soar into the heavens and over the fields. (See Lev. 14:4-7.)

Now our baptism in water is a testimony to all that we are washed in the blood, and are committed to walk in the way of the Cross. The Holy Spirit is the faithful Witness, as He soars in the heavens... with Blood and Water dripping from His wings. Hear Him, as we soar with Him in heavenly places. "There is cleansing, perfect cleansing from all sin and defilement! His blood has made us clean! The water of truth applies the blood to our hearts!" And the Spirit is witness to the truth, for He was there when Jesus died, and He bears witness "that the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." He knows that there is nothing more pure, in Heaven or in earth, than the sinner who is washed in the water and the blood of the Lord Jesus.

Now I am confident that God wants His Holy Spirit to bear witness to the cleansing of the blood in our hearts and minds, AS TRULY AND AS EFFECTIVELY AS CHRIST BEARS WITNESS BEFORE THE THRONE OF GOD THAT OUR REDEMPTION IS COMPLETE. BUT HOW ARE WE GOING TO HEAR THAT CLEAR WITNESS THAT STANDS BEFORE THE FATHER IF THE SPIRIT OF GOD IS NOT GIVEN HIS LORDSHIP AND AUTHORITY IN OUR MIDST TO SPEAK TO OUR HEARTS THAT SAME LIVING WORD THAT CHRIST OUR MEDIATOR SPEAKS BEFORE THE THRONE?

The Three Witnesses

The blood and the water flowed from His side,

And sprinkled the earth below,

For earth was the vessel that God did provide

To receive this cleansing flow.

And the Spirit of truth was there on that day,

God’s Witness, so faithful and sure

That our sins are removed and taken away,

And the heart of the leper made pure.

His pinions are stained with the blood of the Son,

As He soars o’er the hills and the fields.

O hear His clear witness, "The work has been done,

You are cleansed in the stream that heals!"

For the Spirit is witness that water and blood

Flowed from His wounded side,

That we might be cleansed in the streams of God,

Ever with Him to abide.

There is nothing more clean on the earth below,

Nor in Heaven’s pure realms above,

Than the children of men who abide in the flow

Of the streams of His mercy and love.

O plunge and be clean in the River of God,

And soar on the wings of the Dove,

Immersed in the Fountain of Water and Blood,

Redeemed by the Son of His love!

I am confident that there are multitudes of believers who have the witness of the Word that they are "accepted in the Beloved," but who lack that clear witness of the Spirit that they are buried with Christ, cleansed by the Blood, and risen with Him to walk in newness of life. Submitting to another baptism will not do it. Knowing more about the doctrines of the Word will not do it. Understanding more of the mysteries of the New Covenant will not do it. We must return to the Lordship of Christ! His Spirit must become the Lord in our midst!

"IT IS THE SPIRIT THAT BEARETH WITNESS BECAUSE THE SPIRIT IS TRUTH."

When God’s people, even just a nucleus of them, will come to this kind of commitment: "Lord, I will do what You say--I will go Your Way--as You give me the grace and the power to do it," then we are going to see a "nuclear" spiritual reaction that will set in motion THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE in the Body of Christ, in ways that will exceed our fondest expectations. But where is that passionate longing and desire for the return of His Lordship to our midst? As long as we are content to know that blessed state of justification by His blood--without having a passionate desire for Christ to be Lord of His Church, without knowing that earnest commitment to walk in His way and become identified with His Cross--we are not going to experience that mighty presence of the Spirit in our midst that will bring cleansing and deliverance and holiness to the people of God.

I am confident that the Lord is rising up in His Church in this hour with those burning "eyes of fire" to sweep away the dross from His people, and to bring us back to the Cross from which we have strayed; and that He is going to set in motion the forces of resurrection life in the Body of Christ that we might know and experience in our daily lives the blood of His Cross, and the power of His resurrection. But do we really desire this to happen? Do we really desire to discover our cross?

If we do, this must bring us to the place where we are ready to cancel our plans, desires, pursuits, ambitions--be they base and worldly, or noble and spiritual. THE ONE MOTIVATING PRINCIPLE THAT GUIDED OUR LORD JESUS WAS NOT GOD’S PLAN FOR THE WORLD, OR GOD’S PLAN FOR THE KINGDOM, OR GOD’S PLAN FOR THE PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL--IT WAS SIMPLY AND ONLY A PASSION AND DESIRE TO WALK IN THE WILL OF THE FATHER. Everything that He did--everything that was good and righteous and beautiful--sprang out from this simple commitment:

"I CAN OF MINE OWN SELF DO NOTHING: AS I HEAR, I JUDGE: AND MY JUDGMENT IS JUST; BECAUSE I SEEK NOT MINE OWN WILL, BUT THE WILL OF THE FATHER WHICH HATH SENT ME" (Jn. 5:30).

I am confident that the heart of God is heavy and grieved as He listens in to the cries of a very zealous, but a very wretched and miserable Laodicean Church, for more preachers, and more church buildings and temples, and more seminars, and more television, and more radio, and more music, and more money, money, money, "to get the job done." If we had ears to hear what He is saying, we would sense the grief of His heart, and His longing for a people who would come to stillness, and hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches...

"My son, give Me thine heart."

"My people, will you not become broken bread in My hands, that I might do as I will?"

"Where is the house that ye build unto Me? and where is the place of My rest? For all those things... have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at My Word" (Isa. 66:1-2).

The Accusation Of The Lord Jesus

"And they crucified Him... and set up over His head His accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS" (Matt. 27:35, 37).

Jesus seemed to be a little evasive when Pilate asked Him if He was a king. Not because He was unwilling to tell the truth but because His Kingdom was vastly different from what Pilate understood about kingdoms. But when Pilate insisted, "Art thou the King of the Jews?" Jesus gave a very direct answer: "My Kingdom is not of this world: if My Kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight… Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth..." (Jn. 18:36-37).

Our Lord Jesus never promoted His Kingdom except as it related to proclaiming the Truth, walking in the Truth, living the Truth; for this is the whole character and ultimate essence of the Kingdom of God.

Once again as in the days of Jesus there is a lot of expectation concerning the Kingdom of God; and it is still as greatly distorted and misunderstood by God’s people as it was back then. Jesus made it clear that His Kingdom did not relate to eating and drinking, to the economy, to political movements, or to externally getting involved with the kingdoms of this world. On one occasion they even tried to force Him to be their King. BUT WHEN THEY FULLY UNDERSTOOD THAT HE CAME TO CHANGE THEIR HEARTS RATHER THAN THEIR GOVERNMENT, THEY WERE QUICK TO CRUCIFY HIM. The Jewish Sanhedrin understood the nature of His mission much more than most of our Christian leaders do today:

"If we let Him thus alone, all men will believe on Him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation" (Jn .11:48).

And then there was a very remarkable prophecy by the High Priest in which He not only prophesied the death of Jesus, but went on to say things that he himself did not understand: that this One would not only gather together the people of God there in their own nation, but would reach out and gather together the people of God wherever they were in all nations.

THIS PROPHECY BECAME THE CRUX OF THE WHOLE MATTER, for we are told: "Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put Him to death." (See Jn. 11:48-53.)

What was the sentence, and what was the accusation of the Lord Jesus? THAT WHICH JESUS CLAIMED TO BE, THAT WHICH HE ACTUALLY WAS--THIS BECAME THE ACCUSATION AGAINST HIM. Pilate wrote it out in bold letters for all men and all nations to read, for it was written "in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin" (Jn. 19:20). I believe the Lord wanted it in the language of all men, for His Cross was to have great implications for the whole world. Pilate would not change the reading of it, even though the Jews pressed him to revise it to read: "This is Jesus who claimed to be the King of the Jews."

For here was One crucified for an apostate but very religious people--the Hebrews.

Here was One crucified for the intellectual and the wise--the Greeks--and by His Cross He would bring all their wisdom to nought.

Here was One crucified for the strong and the mighty--the Romans--but by that Cross He would bring all their power to nought.

For the Hebrews professed to have knowledge and truth, yet walked in darkness.

The Greeks were noted for their quest after wisdom and knowledge, yet they never found God in all of their searching.

The Romans had become that powerful empire that Nebuchadnezzar had seen in his vision-strong as iron--but by the Cross their kingdom would be crushed and scattered like the dust of the threshing floor.

"THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS."

This became His accusation.

I emphasize these things, because once again there is great expectation for the Kingdom of God, and rightly so. The truth of God is beginning to shine afresh in the hearts of men. But once again it is shining forth in the darkness. God knows how to sort it all out. He still knows how to divide the light from the darkness, as He did in the beginning. It looks like a polluted mixture-and it is. Nevertheless God is preparing a people for His Glory. He is preparing--

A Glorious Church...

A Holy and Cleansed Bride...

A Godly Remnant...

A Firstfruits People...

Sons of God...

Kings and Priests...

Overcomers...

And perhaps we should mention one more, although no one is laying claim to it, But the great apostle Paul used it much--Bondslaves! Jesus Himself took this role, even though He was the firstborn Son, and highly exalted over all creation. Not that we as God’s people are called to be "bondslaves." We are called to sonship and to liberty--and foreordained to be conformed to the image of the Firstborn.

But what we are by calling--And how we attain to this high calling--These represent two different things.

For the "calling" is according to God’s plan and purpose...

But the attainment of it is according as we learn obedience and walk in His ways.

How important it is that we recognize God’s WAY. Certainly God wants us to know the "hope of His calling." BUT HE ALSO WANTS US TO KNOW THE WAY INTO THAT CALLING. Our Lord Jesus was KING, but He took the position of a bondslave, and discovered in this pathway of obedience THE HIGHWAY TO THE THRONE. "Wherefore God hath highly exalted Him, and gave Him a Name which is above every name--" Why? Because He emptied Himself, made Himself of no reputation, and came in the form of a BONDSLAVE. (See Phil. 2:8-9.)

Getting involved in "the ministry" is not the high calling. This could very well lead to conceit, high-mindedness, and a sense of superiority and achievement--especially if one is successful. But the "high calling" is achieved by seeking out the pathway of God that would identify us with the sufferings of Christ. (See Phil. 3:8-10.) In this pathway you might find yourself walking in a very unexciting, very ordinary, very unpretentious, very restrictive, very unfulfilling pathway. If you had to write your biography it could be very boring, as you would talk about working in shops and factories, about tending the children, about washing pots and pans, about tilling the field, or hammering nails, or bending tin. And in it all, of course, experiencing the ordinary joys and sorrows of ordinary people. BUT IF THIS BE GOD’S WILL FOR YOU, IT IS GOING TO BE RIGHT THERE IN THE PATHWAY THAT GOD ORDAINED, THAT YOU WILL COME TO KNOW HIM IN A VERY MEANINGFUL WAY, AND BECOME THAT SPECIAL TREASURE THAT HIS HEART IS LONGING FOR.

On the other hand, you might choose to walk in some kind of a "spiritual ministry," and if you have certain ministerial qualities you might become very successful in that. BUT IF IT IS NOT BY GOD’S APPOINTMENT YOU WILL NOT COME TO KNOW AND EXPERIENCE THE HIGH CALLING OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS. FOR THIS "HIGH CALLING" IS RESERVED FOR HIM THAT IS PREPARED TO LAY DOWN HIS LIFE, IN ORDER THAT HE MAY FIND THE LIFE OF CHRIST THAT PROCEEDS FROM A WALK OF TOTAL OBEDIENCE TO HIS WILL.

But we are talking about the accusation of the Lord Jesus, because it is in this context that we want to speak about our accusation, if we truly walk in identification with Him.

What Jesus was, a King of righteousness and truth, this became His accusation at the hands of a world He came to reprove. It was a perverted charge, of course; but it was because of who He was, and who He claimed to be, that He was crucified.

Now who are you? Who am I? Part of a glorious and triumphant Church? Members of the Holy Bride of Christ? Overcomers? Sons of God, being prepared and groomed for manifestation? Kings and Priests unto God? I trust we are...

BUT IF YOU AND I ARE ANY OF THESE, NOT IN OUR DOCTRINE ONLY, BUT BECAUSE WE HAVE COME TO VITAL UNION WITH CHRIST, THEN THESE TITLES OF THE HIGH CALLING WILL BE THE CAUSE OF OUR ACCUSATION. AND IF WE WALK IN THE PATHWAY OF OBEDIENCE TO THE WILL OF GOD, THESE TITLES OF HONOR WILL BE NAILED ABOVE OUR HEAD ON OUR CROSS BY MEN WHO SEEK TO PERVERT THE TRUTH IN ORDER TO BRING ABOUT OUR DESTRUCTION. It is not because we live in a "democracy" that we are free from persecution. It is because we are bringing no vital reproof to the world of darkness about us.

"But we had the SENTENCE OF DEATH in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead" (2 Cor. 1:9). Paul was sentenced to death. He was on death-row. Not by the Roman Government-not yet. But right there in His walk with God--the word he preached, the word he lived, brought him into collision with the world about him; with his brethren in Judaism, and with false brethren in the Church, He was "crucified unto the world." The world was "crucified unto him" (Gal. 6:14).

For men of truth, who not only know the truth but walk in it, are always nailed to the very cross they are constrained to declare. Paul carried his cross around with him wherever he went--NOT BECAUSE HE MINISTERED DEATH, BUT BECAUSE HE MINISTERED LIFE. He didn’t carry a gold cross on a chain about his neck; but he was nailed to one wherever he went. It had to be this way because he spoke the truth and walked in it. He didn’t try to make a cross so he could boast he was like Jesus. The world made it for him, and nailed him to it, because he walked as Jesus walked.

We might continue on as we are--teaching, preaching, evangelizing, establishing churches, healing the sick, writing books, singing songs--and we could go on and on enumerating the various areas of service that God has committed into the hands of His servants in the House of God--And all this may be bringing joy and blessing and deliverance to many of God’s people--BUT BE PREPARED, IF YOU WANT TO BE TOTALLY COMMITTED TO THE WILL AND THE WAY OF GOD--BE PREPARED FOR THE DAY WHEN MEN WILL TAKE DOWN YOUR BANNER OF HONOR, AND NAIL IT ABOVE YOUR HEAD ON YOUR CROSS--Because the truth of God is sterile as long as it remains a teaching or a doctrine; but it becomes offensive to the world about us when we begin to walk in it.

 

CHAPTER 6

LED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD

"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God" (Rom. 8:14).

Being led by the Spirit of God is the sign of sonship. Not to say that we are not born of God if we have not come to this kind of sensitivity in the Spirit where we are flowing along in the movements of God. But this is God’s desire, and this is the sign of being a mature son of God--simply to flow along in the movements of His Spirit, in the winds of His guidance and influence.

We are "born again" by the blowing of the winds of God. We know not whence they come, or whither they go. (See Jn. 3:8.) How then can we plan and arrange and predetermine our course of life? We are born into the Kingdom of God in a way we cannot understand; and the same winds of Heaven will carry us along in the currents of His will--if we are not afraid of those heavenly currents. We can neither plan the day of our birth, nor choose our calling in life. It is all according to the sovereign moving of His Spirit in our lives, revealing Christ, and making us to know that we are born into an entirely new realm that is not subject to natural law.

But there is growth in this realm, and there is much need for the discipline of the Lord to bring us away from the old man we are in Adam, and to cause us to walk in the new life that we find in Christ. And so the apostle John speaks of a three-fold expression of those who are born into the Kingdom of God--Little Children, Fathers, and Young Men; and he wrote loving words to all of them. (See l Jn. 2:12-14.)

You will notice in this order set forth by the apostle that the category of "Young Men" is last on the list, and not second as most people would make it to be. And he repeats this same order, giving us a double witness. This is different from the natural order, for God’s desire for His children is that their last days should be their strongest, their very best. True, their mortal frame may be in a state of decline; but God has provided a quickening by His Spirit, where our weaknesses are overshadowed with His strength, and the resurrection life of Jesus actively functions within us. And as the "outward man" perishes; so there is to be a renewal of the "inward man... day by day" (2 Cor. 4:16).

"Young Men." These are the sons of God. They are "strong" because like the Son of God, their elder Brother, they can do NOTHING OF THEMSELVES. They are totally dependent upon the Father for the direction, the guidance, and the strength they need in all that they do. They do not walk in this way for lack of wisdom, but because of it. The wisdom of God teaches them that if they want to find themselves flowing along in the eternal purposes of God they must lay aside all their own desires, thoughts, pursuits, and ambitions in l