By: J.Farrell Fisher, July 25-28, 2018

In late July, 2018, on television, I heard Jeff Sessions speak about America’s ‘liberals’, addressing them as “supercilious snowflakes”; in other words, ‘temporary voices in crucial times’! And when I heard that I had to think, consider, resolve, for myself, whether many ‘church folk’ today are the same in their divided allegiances as “supercilious snowflakes” professing allegiance in God’s Kingdom as they ‘try to serve both Spirit and ‘flesh’!’

In the ‘world-wide’ Christian communities, without a doubt, one will find the “supercilious snowflakes” or the “set-apart saints of God’s birthing”, ‘supercilious snowflakes” or “sons and daughters of the Eternal Father”; pretenders with divided allegiances know nothing about ‘forsaking all and following Christ’! But there are “solid-rock citizens of God’s Kingdom”! There are “foundation-stones in God’s Holy Temple”! There are “redeemed witnesses of the Lord’s Saving Grace”!

In the modern-day religious world of ‘professing Christianity’ one will be able to discern the differences between ‘presumptuous estimations’ or “Prince of Peace Declarations, revelations, and manifestations”, “partial compromise and commitment or Sold-Out Allegiance”!

Some ‘religious folk’ are good at ‘self-imposed allegiance’ but choose it rather than “Christ in you the hope of glory” willingly yielded daily to His Sovereign Will”! Jeweled flesh is NOT Eternal Presence and Anointing and Empowering of the Holy Spirit!!!

In Luke 16:14-15 Jesus said to the Pharisees, Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard these things, and they despised Jesus. And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but GOD KNOWS YOUR HEARTS. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.” And Holy God knows all, sees all, and is able to discern in religious men true devotion or ‘flesh pretence’!

BY: J.FARRELL FISHER, MAY 20-21,2019

HOW AWARE ARE “YOU” OF HEAVENLY VISIONS OR,YES,THE TESTIMONIES OF OTHERS OF VITAL MOMENTS WHEN THEY “KNEW” HOLY GOD WAS SPEAKING INTO THEIR LIVES? HIGHLY INTERESTING VERSES ARE FOUND IN ACTS 26 AS WE READ ABOUT PAUL SHARING WITH KING AGRIPPA! VERSES 13-23 SAYS: “AT MIDDAY, O KING, I SAW IN THE WAY A LIGHT FROM HEAVEN, ABOVE THE BRIGHTNESS OF THE SUN,SHINING ROUND ABOUT ME & THEM WHICH JOURNEYED WITH ME.

AND WHEN WE WERE ALL FALLEN TO THE EARTH, I HEARD A VOICE SPEAKING UNTO ME, & SAYING IN THE HEBREW TONGUE, “SAUL, SAUL, WHY DO YOU PERSECUTE ME? IT IS HARD FOR YOU TO KICK AGAINST THE PRICKS.” AND PAUL SAID, “WHO ARE YOU, LORD?” AND HE SAID, “I AM JESUS WHOM YOU PERSECUTE. BUT RISE, & STAND UPON YOUR FEET: FOR I HAVE APPEARED UNTO YOU FOR THIS PURPOSE, TO MAKE YOU A MINISTER & A WITNESS BOTH OF THESE THINGS WHICH YOU HAVE SEEN, & OF THOSE THINGS IN THE WHICH I WILL APPEAR UNTO YOU;

DELIVERING YOU FROM THE PEOPLE, & FROM THE GENTILES,UNTO WHOM NOW I SEND YOU:TO OPEN THEIR EYES,& TO TURN THEM FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT, & FROM THE POWER OF SATAN UNTO GOD, THAT THEY MAY RECEIVE FORGIVENESS OF SINS, & INHERITANCE AMONG THEM WHICH ARE SANCTIFIED BY FAITH THAT IS IN ME.” WHEREUPON, O KING AGRIPPA, I WAS NOT DISOBEDIENT UNTO THE HEAVENLY VISION:

BUT SHOWED FIRST UNTO THEM OF DAMASCUS, & AT JERUSALEM, & THROUGHOUT ALL THE COASTS OF JUDEA, & THEN TO THE GENTILES, THAT THEY SHOULD REPENT & TURN TO GOD, & DO WORKS MEET FOR REPENTANCE. FOR THESE CAUSES THE JEWS CAUGHT ME IN THE TEMPLE, & WENT ABOUT TO KILL ME.

HAVING THEREFORE OBTAINED HELP OF GOD, I CONTINUE UNTO THIS DAY, WITNESSING BOTH TO SMALL & GREAT, SAYING NONE OTHER THINGS THAN THOSE WHICH THE PROPHETS & MOSES DID SAY SHOULD COME: THAT CHRIST SHOULD SUFFER, & THAT HE SHOULD BE THE FIRST THAT SHOULD RISE FROM THE DEAD, & SHOULD SHOW LIGHT UNTO THE PEOPLE, & TO THE GENTILES.” THAT, MY FRIENDS, IS AN AMAZING, CONVICTING, LIFE-CHANGING REVELATION! WHAT GOD DID FOR PAUL, HE STILL DOES TODAY, & WILL DO FOR YOU ALSO!!

GOD’S CALLING THROUGH “HEAVENLY VISIONS” “IS” PERSONAL & PREEMPTIVE & POWERFUL & PERSUASIVE, TAKING EVEN DOUBTING MEN & WOMEN OUT OF THEIR SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS INTO “ETERNAL REALITY” OF HOLY GOD’S COMPASSIONATE, LOVING, MERCIFUL HELP, FROM ‘SINNERS’ TO “SAINTS”, FROM EARTHLY, SELF-CENTERED BEINGS INTO HEAVENLY CITIZENS OF CHRIST’S ETERNAL KINGDOM LIVING & MINISTRY, FROM TEMPORARY,EARTHLY ALLEGIANCE TO THE CROSS, TOMB, & RESURRECTED PRESENCE OF THE INDWELLING CHRIST, ALIVE & WELL ON PLANET EARTH IN THE HEARTS OF “BLOOD-WASHED”, TRANSFORMED, ‘MADE-ALIVE-IN-CHRIST’ SERVANTS, FOOT-WASHERS, MESSENGERS, AMBASSADORS OF THE KING OF KINGS & LORD OF LORDS!!!!

OH, BUT THEN IN 1 CORINTHIANS 11:23a, PAUL SAID: “FOR I HAVE RECEIVED OF THE LORD THAT WHICH I ALSO DELIVERED UNTO YOU.” DO YOU SEE,SENSE,& SEPARATE YOURSELF UNTO THE MISSION & MINISTRY OF CHRIST IN TOUCHING OTHERS AROUND YOU WITH CHRIST’S LOVE, GRACE, & MERCY? ARE “YOU” CHRIST’S AMBASSADOR IN & AROUND WHERE YOU LIVE? LET’S EXAMINE GOD’S CALLING!

FIRST: THERE IS THE CALL OF GOD UPON EVERY BORN-AGAIN DISCIPLE THE,YES, ‘MINISTRY’ OF IMPACTING A LOST & DYING WORLD WITH GOD’S, THE HOLY SPIRIT’S, & CHRIST’S DESIRE TO ‘SAVE THE WORLD’! DID PAUL SAY TO KING AGRIPPA, “I WAS NOT DISOBEDIENT TO THE HEAVENLY VISION”? QUESTION! AS A ‘PROFESSING’,OR ‘CONFESSING’, OR ‘POSSESSING’ DISCIPLE OF CHRIST IN THE 21^ST CENTURY, OF,YES, HIS CALLING YOU IN YOUR HEAVENLY VISION, ARE YOU DISOBEDIENT OR OBEDIENT? IN GALATIANS 2:20-21a, PAUL WROTE: “I AM CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST; NEVERTHELESS I LIVE;YET NOT I, BUT CHRIST LIVES IN ME; & THE LIFE WHICH I NOW LIVE IN THE FLESH I LIVE BY FAITH IN THE SON OF GOD, WHO LOVED ME, & GAVE HIMSELF FOR ME. 21a, I DO NOT FRUSTRATE THE GIFT OF GOD.”

IN GALATIANS 4:19 PAUL SAID, “MY LITTLE CHILDREN, OF WHOM I TRAVAIL IN BIRTH AGAIN UNTIL CHRIST IS FORMED (FULLY) IN YOU.” SALVATION IN CHRIST IS INITIAL IN BIRTHING BY THE SPIRIT, IT IS PROGRESSIVE FROM BABES, CHILDREN, & YOUTH, IT IS ULTIMATE IN ONE TRULY, FULLY, YIELDINGLY, BEING AVAILABLE AS THE “TEMPLE” IN & THROUGH WHICH CHRIST CONTINUES HIS MINISTRY “THROUGH YOU”!!

AND IN THAT PROGRESSIVE SPIRITUAL STATE OVER THE YEARS AS ONE MATURES, IN THE BOOK OF ACTS YOU LEARN ABOUT DISCIPLES THAT WERE “STORM-TOSSED”, “SHIP-WRECKED”, & EVEN “SNAKE-BITTEN”, BUT THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST INSPIRED THEM, UPLIFTED THEM, & CROWNED THEM AS FAITHFUL SOLDIERS OF THE CHRIST OF THE CROSS & EMPTY TOMB!!

ACTS 1:8 SAYS, “BUT YOU SHALL RECEIVE POWER, AFTER THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT IS COME UPON YOU; & YOU SHALL BE WITNESSES UNTO ME BOTH IN JERUSALEM, & IN ALL JUDEA, & IN SAMARIA, & UNTO THE UTTERMOST PART OF THE EARTH.” TELL ME ABOUT YOUR RECEPTION OF CHRIST’S CALLING OF YOU TO BE HIS “CHOSEN WITNESS”! THE MASTER’S MANDATE INSTILLED BY GOD IN HIS SON BY THE HOLY SPIRIT IS “YOUR” MANDATE IF TRULY YOU ARE CHRIST’S NEW-BORN CHILD OF FAITH EMPOWERED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT!

SECOND, THERE MUST BE THE AWARENESS IN YOU, BY THE HOLY SPIRIT’S PRESENCE, THAT YOUR ‘CALLING’ IS THE CONSIDERATION OF THE NEEDS OF THOSE WE ENCOUNTER, & THAT THE ONE’S WE “WIN” TO FAITH IN CHRIST ARE NOT A NOTCH ON A CERTAIN CHURCH’S GUN! LOST,ALIENATED,SEPARATED,WANDERING ‘SHEEP’ ARE TO BE RECONCILED TO “THE TRUE SHEPHERD”, CHRIST JESUS! SPURGEON, IN HIS WRITING ENTITLED “SOUL-WINNING”, (P.13) SAID: “DO NOT CONSIDER THAT SOUL-WINNING IS OR CAN BE SECURED BY THE MULTIPLICATIONS OF BAPTISMS & THE SWELLING SIZE OF YOUR CHURCH…WHAT DO THESE DISPATCHES FROM THE BATTLEFIELDS MEAN? LAST NIGHT 14 SOULS WERE UNDER CONVICTION, 15 WERE JUSTIFIED, & 8 RECEIVED FULL SANCTIFICATION.’ I AM WEARY OF THE PUBLIC BRAGGING, THIS COUNTING OF UNHATCHED CHICKENS, THIS EXHIBITION OF DOUBTFUL SPORTS. LAY ASIDE SUCH NUMBERINGS OF THE PEOPLE, SUCH IDLE PRETENSE OF CERTIFYING IN HALF-A-MINUTE THAT WHICH WILL NEED THE TESTING OF A LIFETIME.”

GOD ISN’T INTERESTED IN YOUR’S OR A CHURCH’S STATISTICS – HE’S INTERESTED IN THEIR TRUE CONVERSIONS BASED UPON GENUINE REPENTANCE & GRACED SALVATION; GOD’S NOT INTERESTED IN OUR RANKING IN ONE’S STATE OF LIFE IN COMPARISON TO OTHERS – HE’S INTERESTED IN OUR RESCUE, OUR RENEWAL, & OUR RELEASE AS THE “AMBASSADOR OF CHRIST”!! GOD ISN’T INTERESTED IN YOUR ‘SPIRITUAL PRIDE’ ABOUT THE ‘JOB’ YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING FOR HIM – HE’S INTERESTED IN THOSE SAVED WHO’VE SENSED THE URGENCY OF THEIR CALLING, & THEN HUNGER FOR THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT UPON THEM & THROUGH THEM WHO,YES, GUIDES THEM IN THEIR ‘WITNESS’ TO THOSE STILL SEPARATED FROM GOD!

ACTS 26:15-19 TELLS US OF PAUL’S EARLY CONVERSATION WITH THE LORD: AND I,PAUL, SAID, “WHO ARE YOU, LORD?” AND HE SAID, “I AM JESUS WHOM YOU’VE BEEN PERSECUTING. BUT RISE, & STAND UPON YOUR FEET;FOR I HAVE APPEARED UNTO YOU FOR THIS PURPOSE, TO MAKE YOU A MINISTER & A WITNESS BOTH OF THESE THINGS WHICH YOU HAVE SEEN, & OF THOSE THINGS IN THE WHICH I WILL APPEAR UNTO YOU;

DELIVERING THEM FROM THE PEOPLE, & FROM THE GENTILES, UNTO WHOM I NOW SEND YOU: TO OPEN THEIR EYES, & TO TURN THEM FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT, & FROM THE POWER OF SATAN UNTO GOD, THAT THEY MAY RECEIVE FORGIVENESS OF SINS, & INHERITANCE AMONG THEM WHICH ARE SANCTIFIED BY FAITH THAT IS IN CHRIST.” THEREUPON, O KING AGRIPPA, I WAS NOT DISOBEDIENT UNTO THE HEAVENLY VISION.” LOOK CAREFULLY AT VERSE 18 AGAIN!! THAT’S AFTER THE LORD SAID:

• HE WAS SPEAKING ABOUT PROCLAIMING SAVING TRUTH!
• HE WAS ENCOURAGING WITNESSING, PREACHING, TEACHING, EVANGELIZING, WITH ‘FIRE IN YOUR BONES’!
• HE WAS ALERTING TRUE DISCIPLES OF POSITIONING THEMSELVES AS A ‘WITNESS’ IN THE FULLNESS & ANOINTING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT: RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT,LIVE IN THE SPIRIT, WALK & WITNESS IN THE SPIRIT!
• HE WAS SAYING: HAVING POSITIONED YOURSELF UNDER THE SPIRIT’S ANOINTING,PRACTICALLY STAND ON FAITHFULNESS OF THE WORD & THE SPIRIT PROCLAIMING THE NECESSITY OF REPENTANCE TOWARD GOD & FAITH IN THE FINISHED WORK OF CHRIST! IN ACTS 20:17-24 PAUL TESTIFIED:AND FROM MILETUS HE SENT TO EPHESUS, & CALLED THE ELDERS OF THE CHURCH. AND WHEN THEY WERE COME TO HIM, HE SAID UNTO THEM, YOU KNOW, FROM THE FIRST DAY THAT I CAME INTO ASIA, AFTER WHAT MANNER I HAVE BEEN WITH YOU AT ALL SEASONS, SERVING THE LORD WITH ALL HUMILITY OF MIND, & WITH MANY TEARS, & TEMPTATIONS, WHICH BEFELL ME BY THE LYING IN WIT OF THE JEWS:

AND HOW I KEPT BACK NOTHING THAT WAS PROFITABLE UNTO YOU, BUT SHOWED YOU, & HAVE TAUGHT YOU PUBLICLY, & FROM HOUSE TO HOUSE. TESTIFYING BOTH TO THE JEWS, & ALSO TO THE GREEKS, REPENTANCE TOWARD GOD, & FAITH TOWARD OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. AND NOW, BEHOLD, I GO BOUND IN THE SPIRIT UNTO JERUSALEM, NOT KNOWING THE THINGS THAT SHALL BEFALL ME THERE:SAVE THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT WITNESSES IN EVERY CITY, SAYING, THAT BONDS & AFFLICTIONS ABIDE ME.

BUT NONE OF THESE THINGS MOVE ME, NEITHER COUNT I MY LIFE DEAR UNTO MYSELF, SO THAT I MIGHT FINISH MY COURSE WITH JOY, & THE MINISTRY, WHICH I HAVE RECEIVED OF THE LORD JESUS, TO TESTIFY THE GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD.

SPURGEON USED TO PREACH ABOUT, “TRUE BELIEF & TRUE REPENTANCE ARE TWINS,” BUT AS I READ THE WORD OF GOD, I SEE, FOR HIS TRUE SERVANTS, TRUE BELIEF, TRUE REPENTANCE, TRUE ETERNAL LIFE, & TRUE FAITHFUL WITNESS TO ALL THE SPIRITUALLY NEEDY!! SPURGEON ALSO SAID: “IDLE ARE THE BOASTS OF A MAN WHO HARBORS WITHIN HIMSELF THE LOVE OF ANY TRANSGRESSION. HE MAY FEEL WHAT HE LIKES, & BELIEVE WHAT HE LIKES, BUT HE IS STILL IN THE GALL OF BITTERNESS & THE BONDS OF INIQUITY WHILE A SINGLE SIN RULES HIS HEART & LIFE. TRUE REGENERATION IMPLANTS A HATRED OF ALL EVIL. WHERE ONE SIN IS DELIGHTED IN, THE EVIDENCE IS “FATAL” TO A SOUND HOPE. A MAN NEED NOT TAKE A DOZEN POISONS TO DESTROY HIS LIFE; ONE IS QUITE SUFFICIENT.”

• PAUL WAS SAYING: “YOUR CALLING “IN CHRIST” IS THE CALL OF DIVINE EXPERIENCE & DIVINE EXPRESSION! AGAIN ACTS 26:16-18 AS A REFRESHING REMINDER: “RISE,&STAND UPON YOUR FEET; FOR I HAVE APPEARED UNTO YOU FOR THIS PURPOSE, TO MAKE YOU A MINISTER & A WITNESS BOTH OF THESE THINGS WHICH YOU HAVE SEEN, & OF THOSE THINGS IN THE WHICH I WILL APPEAR TO YOU.

DELIVERING YOU FROM THE PEOPLE & THE GENTILES, UNTO WHOM I NOW SEND YOU:TO OPEN THEIR EYES, & TO TURN THEM FROM THE DARKNESS TO LIGHT, & FROM THE POWER OF SATAN UNTO GOD, THAT THEY MAY RECEIVE FORGIVENESS OF SINS, & INHERITANCE AMONG THEM WHICH ARE SANCTIFIED BY FAITH THAT IS IN CHRIST!

THIS ALSO TELLS US THAT OUR CALLING IS A CALL OF TRUST & DEPENDENCE! ACTS 26:22 SAYS, “HAVING THEREFORE OBTAINED HELP OF GOD, I CONTINUE…” & CONTINUING TO BE FAITHFUL & OBEDIENT, IT LED HIM TO BE MARTYRED FOR THE FAITH.

THAT, MY FRIENDS, MAY AWAIT YOU OR ME, WHEN GODLESS MEN & NATIONS DETERMINE YOU’RE TOO GREAT A RISK TO ALLOW YOU TO CONTINUE! BUT “TRUTH” NEVER DIES – IT’S JUST TRANSFERRED TO A BETTER PLACE OF ETERNAL REST IN CHRIST!! AMEN?

REV.J.K.ALWOOD WROTE THE HYMN “THE UNCLOUDED DAY” IN THE OLD BROADMAN HYMNAL PUBLISHED BY BROADMAN PRESS IN NASHVILLE, TENN., IN 1940! IT SAYS: “O THEY TELL ME OF A HOME FAR BEYOND THE SKIES, O THEY TELL ME OF A HOME FAR AWAY; O THEY TELL ME OF A HOME WHERE NO STORM-CLOUDS RISE, O THEY TELL ME OF AN UNCLOUDED DAY.

O THEY TELL ME OF A HOME WHERE MY FRIENDS HAVE GONE, O THEY TELL ME OF THAT LAND FAR AWAY, WHERE THE TREE OF LIFE IN ETERNAL BLOOM SHEDS ITS FRAGRANCE THRO’ THE UNCLOUDED DAY.

O THEY TELL ME OF A KING IN HIS BEAUTY THERE, & THEY TELL ME THAT MY EYES SHALL BEHOLD WHERE HE SITS ON THE THRONE THAT IS WHITER THAN SNOW, IN THE CITY THAT IS MADE OF GOLD.

O THEY TELL ME THAT HE SMILES ON HIS CHILDREN THERE, & HIS SMILE DRIVES THEIR SORROWS ALL AWAY; & THEY TELL ME THAT NO TEARS EVER COME AGAIN, IN THAT LOVELY LAND OF AN UNCLOUDED DAY.

O THE LAND OF CLOUDLESS DAY, O THE LAND OF AN UNCLOUDED DAY; O THEY TELL ME OF A HOME WHERE NO STORM-CLOUDS RISE, O THEY TELL ME OF AN UNCLOUDED DAY.”

HAS YOUR ‘SORROW’ MELTED BY YOUR SAVIOR’S SWEET VOICE? HAS YOUR ‘PAIN’ BEEN ARRESTED BY CHRIST’S FAITHFUL PRESENCE? HAS YOUR ‘HEART-ACHE’ BEEN TRANSFERRED INTO A HALLELUJAH CHORUS BECAUSE OF YOUR LORD’S HELPING HAND?

“IN CHRIST”,EVERYDAY SHOULD BE A SONG OF PRAISE, EVERY TRIAL THE RINGING OF HIS TRIUMPHANT VICTORY EVEN THROUGH HIS CROSS, EVERY TESTING,TROUBLING MOMENT SHOULD ERUPT IN YOUR HYMN OF PRAISE FOR HIS SUSTAINING, ABIDING, OVERCOMING PRESENCE, EVERY TRIBULATION MUST BE “EYES OFF SELF –EYES FULLY ON JESUS ONLY”!

“IN CHRIST”, EVERYDAY SHOULD BE A DISCIPLE’S CELEBRATION OF THE “VICTORY IN JESUS”! FANNY CROSBY & ROBERT LOWRY WROTE THE OLD HYMN “ALL THE WAY MY SAVIOR LEADS ME”,( THE AMERICAN HYMNAL, PUBLISHED BY BROADMAN PRESS, NASHVILLE, TENN.) THAT SAYS: “ALL THE WAY MY SAVIOR LEADS ME; WHAT HAVE I TO ASK BESIDE? CAN I DOUBT HIS TENDER MERCY, WHO THRO’ LIFE HAS BEEN MY GUIDE? HEAVENLY PEACE, DIVINEST COMFORT, HERE BY FAITH IN HIM TO DWELL! FOR I KNOW, WHATE’ER BEFALL ME, JESUS DOES SLL THINGS WELL.

ALL THE WAY MY SAVIOR LEADS ME, CHEERS EACH WINDING PATH I TREAD, GIVES ME GRACE FOR EVERY TRIAL, FEEDS ME WITH THE LIVING BREAD. THOUGH MY WEARY STEPS MAY FALTER, & MY SOUL ATHIRST MAY BE, GUSHING FROM THE “ROCK” BEFORE ME, LO! A SPRING OF JOY I SEE.

ALL THE WAY MY SAVIOR LEADS ME; OH, THE FULLNESS OF HIS LOVE! PERFECT REST TO ME IS PROMISED IN MY FATHER’S HOUSE ABOVE. WHEN MY SPIRIT, CLOTHED IMMORTAL, WINGS ITS FLIGHT TO REALMS OF DAY, THIS MY SONG THRO’ ENDLESS AGES; JESUS LED ME ALL THE WAY. AMEN?

By J.Farrell Fisher, August 10-12, 2017

It was John Greenleaf Whittier who wrote: “In simple trust like theirs who heard beside the Syrian sea the gracious calling of the Lord, Let us, like them, without a word Rise up and follow Him.” Have YOU risen up out of spiritual death to follow Christ, being willing and obedient to whatever the Lord and Savior tells you to do? In Luke 6:46 the Lord Jesus spoke to a large gathering who had been following Him, saying to them, “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord’, and not do the things which I say?”

In Luke 6:47-49 we read Christ Jesus’s further unveiling of false and true disciples! He said: “Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”

How would you define the distinguishing trait of true ‘religious’ faith? “ Well, in Jesus I’m set free from the penalty of my sin – and, thank God, He continues to forgive me as I continue to sin.” Really? And one feels that way when Jesus clearly said to His new disciples, “Go, and sin no more”?

It was Henri Frederic Amiel who wrote: “The distinguishing mark of religion is not so much liberty as obedience, and its value is measured by the sacrifices which it can extract from the individual.” Is ‘a sacrifice’ “the taking of the sentence of death daily to my old man so that day by day I might walk in victory over the old sin nature that was crucified with Christ?”

What did the beloved John write in 1 John 3:9? “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.” That will go over well for those who believe Christians can’t stop sinning until they get to heaven in the “sweet by and by”, RIGHT? WRONG!

Here’s how Oswald Chambers addressed it in his book, “My Utmost For His Highest.” “Do I seek to stop sinning or have I stopped sinning? To be born of God means that I have the supernatural power of God to stop sinning. In the Bible it is never – Should a Christian sin? The Bible puts it emphatically – “A Christian must not sin.” The effective working of the new birth life in us is that we do not commit sin, not merely that we have the power not to sin, but that we have stopped sinning. I John 3:9 does not mean that we “cannot” sin; it means that is we obey the life of God in us, we “need not” sin.”

Without a doubt, if one is interested in determining “Kingdom of God rule”, the evidence is one of a “new birth” relationship to Holy God, a “new gift of Holy Spirit presence within”, and, yes, willing to walk in the Biblical revelation that one, through the blood and Indwelling Life of Christ, takes the sentence of death to himself/herself daily that the Resurrection Life may be manifested in mortal flesh – and His Eternal Life is void of the sin nature or the desire to sin! Does Christ Jesus LIVE within YOU as His earthly “Temple Presence” where “sin” has been washed away through His shed blood and you’ve chosen to, yes, die daily to your old sin nature?

In Psalm 16:7-9 David wrote: “I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel; my heart also instructs me in the night seasons. I have set the Lord ALWAYS before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will rest in hope.” Paul said in Philippians 1:21, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” And, to me, I don’t see the ‘dying’ as ultimate physical death, but that daily sentencing of the death of the old sin-nature that Christ’s Resurrection Presence have ‘holy ground in and through me washed in the blood of the Lamb,’ unveiling His awesome victory at the Cross over sin and Satan!

And, certainly, this without a doubt is why Paul wrote in Romans 15:13, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing (trusting, adhering to, relying upon), that you MAY ABOUND IN HOPE by the power of the Holy Spirit.” And when it comes to “joy and peace” in the life of true believers, notice what the Lord Jesus said in John 15:10-11! Jesus said:

“IF you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.” (HOW MANY “JOYFUL CHRISTIANS” DO YOU REALLY KNOW TODAY?). Are YOU abounding in hope over your sin and sin-nature?

Is it possible that in modern-day churches that there are those who teach “Great blessings in Christ” but oppose loving obedience to Him as unattainable and unnecessary, describing it as “salvation by works”, when obedience is a reality of having been saved, not to be saved or born again? There IS a ‘closed door to God’s abiding presence’ if one determines for himself, “Obedience to God’s every command is not expected but is simply uninformed stupidity!” And a lot of folks stand on that foundation-less frame of reference to “knowing God”!

What was Paul speaking about when in 2 Corinthians 6:12 he wrote: “O Corinthians! You are not restricted by us (the apostles), but you are restricted by your own affections,” stating further in Verses 14-16, “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial (the ‘wicked’ or ‘ungodly’)? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God.”

As “the temple of the living God” are we thus declared free from sin’s penalty if we willfully choose to “sin as I please because Jesus understands my nature?”, even though He crucified sin and its nature in Himself on the Cross? What did Samuel tell us in 1 Samuel 15:22-23? “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For REBELLION is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.” I know Samuel was speaking to Saul, but I also know the Word declares repentant believers “kings and priests”.

Therefore, take notice, “kings and priests”! Willful sin and disobedience will be faced with two doors! One, being true repentance and a forsaking of sin with a wide-opened door into His Abiding Presence, or Two, willful sin and disobedience without repentance facing God’s “door-closing” to you into His Presence and a cancelation of your Royal Ambassadorship! And that’s serious!

Consider! Is “fleshly ambition” idolatry if one omits Holy God’s eternal intention for that life? It was Thomas Southerne in his writing “The Loyal Brother” who said: “Ambition is our idol on whose wings Great minds are carried only to extremes; to be sublimely great, or to be nothing.” But ‘ambition’ is not evil when one desires to be fully available in honoring one’s Lord and Savior in his/her chosen occupation or lifestyle or relationships! ‘Greatness’ without God ends empty – ambition without God breeds sublime ‘nothingness’!

In Luke 12:41-46 is a sharp, awakening, convicting story Jesus interpreted for Peter AND US about “faithful servants” or “Unfaithful servants! Get ready! Get geared up! Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, do you speak this parable only to us, or to all people?” And the Lord said: Verses 42-46, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season?

Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. BUT if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, AND WILL CUT HIM IN TWO AND APPOINT HIM HIS PORTION WITH THE UNBELIEVERS.”

Does what I’ve just read from the lips of Jesus ring the bell of remembrance with Jeremiah 34:17-20? Therefore THUS SAYS THE LORD: “You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and every one to his neighbor. Behold, I proclaim liberty to you, says the Lord – to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine! And I will deliver you to trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth. And I will give the men who transgressed My covenant, who have not [performed the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between the parts of it – the princes of Judah, the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people who passed between the parts of the calf – I will give them into the hands of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life. Their dead bodies shall be for meat for the birds of the heaven and the beasts of the earth.”

Does that sound serious to you about those who do not walk in submission and obedience to every Word of the Lord’s declaration to His followers who are called to be servants to their Master, Lord, and Savior? Is “partial obedience” to King Jesus a satisfying response for you OR are you permanently committed to a permanent separation from the world, the flesh, and to Satan, and a “Lord, what would You have me to do?” He tells you in His Word – AND YOU DO IT WITHOUT HESITATION!

Isaiah 1:9-20 is one of the most helpful, hopeful, holy Word of Scripture anywhere, anytime, for anyone hungry for more than his/her flesh has been able to produce, even at their “flesh-inspired, gut-level best”! It says: “Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; give ear to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah; [That’s the high priests of Israel’s ‘religious faith’, the kings and priests, and regular attenders in the sanctuary!]; To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?” says the Lord.

“I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs or goats. When you come to appear before Me, who has required this from your hand, to trample My courts? Bring no more futile sacrifices; incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies – I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting. Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; they are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them.

When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil. Learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.

“Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. IF you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword”; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Are you fully aware of the amazing grace of our Lord when one truly repents, takes the sentence of death to his old sin nature daily, receives the anointing and abiding of the Holy Spirit, and, yes, feeds on the bread, milk, and meat of the Word daily, willfully following Christ Jesus in “offering Himself without spot to God”, then seeing God “cleansing your conscience from dead works to serve the living God”? Are you ‘dying daily’ to the old sin-natured man, yes, “permanent separation” from what you once were TO TODAY HONORING CHRIST JESUS IN THE “NEW MAN” WASHED IN THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB, ANOINTED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND COMMISSIONED AS HIS ROYAL AMBASSADORS IN OUR NEEDY WORLD?

“Partial obedience” can result in permanent separation from God, but I pray you clearly understand that after one’s disaster of “Partial Obedience”, and because he/she receives the conviction of the Holy Spirit, that the ‘forgiven sinner’ can turn to permanent separation from ‘partial obedience’ to a fully surrendered, Christ-honoring life!!