BY: J.FARRELL FISHER, NOV. 21-22, 2017

In addressing, affirming, and alerting the young disciples of Corinth, and us ‘young disciples’(?) in our modern-day, in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18, Paul wrote: “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? 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 God has said:

‘I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.’ Therefore ‘Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters,’ says the Lord Almighty.” That’s collectively all the truly repentant, faith believing and trusting, all the “soldiers of the Cross”, and individually, yes, “the least of these”!

As a result of awareness of one’s true repentance, then exercising the gift of faith by the Holy Spirit, yes, CHOOSING to “rest” in Christ alone, in 2 Corinthians 7:1, Paul also said: “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” Do YOU see yourself as a Foundation Stone of the Holy Temple of Christ?

Come with me to 2 Corinthians 5:17-21! Buckle yourself in tight to Biblical Truth about our identity “in Christ”!! It says: “Therefore, if anyone in IN CHRIST, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become NEW. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us THE WORD OF RECONCILIATION.

Now then, WE (In Christ!) are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He (God the Father) made Him (Jesus the Son) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

“Foundation Stones of the Holy Temple of Christ”? God’s ministry to us and through us? In 2 Corinthians 4:3-7 Paul lays a strong foundation upon which “true temples” are birthed, survive, and prosper! He said: “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.

For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” Are YOU aware of “commanded light shining in you and through you to reveal to others ‘the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ’ as The Holy Spirit, yes, “forms” Christ in you by your submission and obedience to the Living Word”?

A foundation stone of the Holy Temple of Christ’s presence is a “blood-bought vessel”, and Paul says the ‘treasure stone’ is your earthen life, an earthen vessel, (2 Corinthians 4:7), “that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” And, “a bondservant”, as His earthen vessel presence, radiates “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ”!

You’re aware that early disciples were of Jewish descent, and, no doubt, were looking or hoping for a new physical tabernacle to be rebuilt, because of prophecy, they knew the “Temple” in Jerusalem would soon be destroyed, but, immaturely, they hadn’t seen themselves as the True Temple of the Resurrected Christ! In Hebrews 8:1-2 we read: Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest (Christ Jesus), who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary AND of the true tabernacle (or Temple) which the Lord erected, and not man.”

Have YOU ever considered the “revelation-truth” that redeemed, born-again lives, become, by His grace, His mercy, His eternal intent, that “redeemed lives” become holy temples with each new man or woman of faith being a “foundation stone” of the ‘over-all structure of His abiding Presence in us’ as “true temples”? It’s THROUGH YOU, man or woman of true faith, that the Light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who IS the image of God, should shine in you and through you!

Reflect upon Hebrews 3:5-6! “And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house (Is that the ‘wilderness’ tabernacle”?) as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, BUT CHRIST as a Son over His own house, whose house we are IF we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.”

YOU must examine the Holy Word and reflect upon whether or not you are a true son or true daughter in God’s Holy Family! The Hebrews author continued expanding understanding about “Holy Temple soundness”! In Hebrews 3:7-19 we read, examine, and determine to what or Who we are truly committed!! It says:

“Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: ‘Today, IF you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’” THEREFORE:

Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another DAILY, while it is called “Today”, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ IF we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, while it is said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, DO NOT harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

For who, having heard, rebelled? Did the Hebrew author speak of those who possess evil hearts of unbelief and willfully depart from the living God? Did he also alert us to mind, will, and heart-hardening through the deceitfulness of sin? Oh, and is there also the tragedy of hearing the Word, knowing the Word, but it didn’t and doesn’t profit some because of “Not being mixed with faith IN those who heard it”? Remember, Jesus said to some, “Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord’, BUT you do not do what I say”??!!

Do you see “obedience to the Word of God in Christ” as evidence that one has been born again? In Romans 16:25-27 we read, “Now to Him who is able to establish you (or ‘make you to ‘stand in Him’ completed, obedient, and Christ-honoring!!) according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept since the world began but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, FOR OBEDIENCE TO THE FAITH – to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.”

You do understand: “obedience is not an option disciples of Christ hold”, but it is the outward expression of Who healed us, honored us by choosing us for Himself, and Who reminded disciples then and disciples now: “Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord’, BUT you do not do what I say?” Do you do what Jesus says as His earthly mediator between Holy God, King Jesus, and His Holy Spirit to the unredeemed around you, even to your own family and friends?

In Colossians 1:9-18 we’re given another ‘wake-up call’ to true disciples. Paul was concerned that some in the Colossians community had very little understanding of the “preeminence of Christ in them”. It says: “For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience (or steadfastness) and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has QUALIFIED us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

He is the image (exact likeness!) of the invisible God, the firstborn over all (new) creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.” (I’d be amiss, off-track, deceived, uncaring for you, if I didn’t ask you: “Does Christ Jesus have preeminence in you, over you, through you, leading you to let Him have His way in your heart and life?”).

“Foundation Stones of the Holy Temple of Christ?” And those are “living stones”, but so valuable in unveiling Christ to all those who come in contact to the “Holy Temple of Christ,” YOUR redeemed, born-again, Spirit-filled life, walk, and personal testimony! I’m sure it’s why in 1 Peter 1:13-16 we read as a “wake-up call” in our Spirit-Kingdom Presence: “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober (or serious minded!), and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation (or unveiling) of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also BE HOLY IN ALL YOUR CONDUCT, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” AND THAT’S NOT AN OPTION YOU HOLD BUT A VISIBLE DEMONSTRATION OF AN INWARD REALITY OF THE WORKING OF SOVEREIGN GRACE AND MERCY!

“Foundation Stones of the Holy Temple of Christ?” Continue in 1 Peter 1:22-2:10!! It says: “SINCE YOU HAVE PURIFIED YOUR SOULS IN OBEYING THE TRUTH THROUGH THE SPIRIT [Can’t you hear the ‘naysayers’ rising up? “That’s ‘salvation by works’!” NO! That’s obedience to the Word because one has been ‘born again’ by faith in Christ’s Work at the Cross and empty tomb!] in sincere love of the brethren, love one another with a pure heart, HAVING BEEN BORN AGAIN, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God WHICH LIVES AND ABIDES FOREVER, because

‘All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, BUT the word of the Lord endures forever.’ Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.”

1 Peter 2:1-10 follows, convicting, educating, and inspiring us: “THEREFORE, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, and evil speaking, (That, my friends, IS what true, born-again, yes, maturing children of True Faith DO!), as newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word, that you may GROW THEREBY, IF INDEED you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.(“IF”? Does that mean true discipleship is ‘conditional’?).

Coming to Him AS A LIVING STONE, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, AS LIVING STONES, are being built up a spiritual house, (THAT IS, “a holy temple, an earthly kingdom of grace and mercy and love, Holy God’s spiritual family of “blood-bought faith”), a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Therefore it is also contained in Holy Scripture: (Isaiah 28), “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.” Therefore, to you who believe, (trust in, rely upon, adhere to!), He is precious, but to those WHO ARE DISOBEDIENT, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,” (Psalm 118), AND “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.”

They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they were also appointed. (2 Timothy 2:19!). BUT you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but ARE NOW the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now HAVE OBTAINED MERCY!”

There’s an old, old hymn that was written by Julia H. Johnston, who entered high school in about 1865, but started writing hymns and songs when she was about nine years of age. It was 1911 when she wrote the following hymn: “Marvelous grace of our loving Lord, grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt, yonder on Calvary’s mount out-poured, there where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.

Dark is the stain that we cannot hide, what can avail to wash it away! Look! There is flowing a crimson tide; Whiter than snow you may be today.

Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace, freely bestowed on all who believe; you that are longing to see His face, will you this moment His grace receive?

Grace, grace, God’s grace, Grace that will pardon and cleanse within; Grace, grace, God’s grace, Grace that is greater than all our sin.”

It was Dwight L. Moody who once preached: “The world has yet to see what God can do with a man fully consecrated to Him.” And to the ‘fully consecrated man’? In Ecclesiastes 2:26 the “wise man” wrote:

“For God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight; (That’s the man whose daily aim, ambition, and faithful desire IS to Please God!) but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting, that he may give to him who is good (or godly) before God.” HOW SWEET IS THAT?

In John 17:1-5 Christ Jesus prayed to the Father, lifting up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”

The hour that came in the life of the Son of God, on earth, birthed in the Virgin Mary, cared for by Mary and Joseph for many years, watched over by Father-God and the army of angels appointed and anointed by Holy God, did “the appointed hour” come, having been established before the world had even been created, that God, through the “Son”, would invade this world to reconcile a rebellious world unto Himself? Of course He did!

Not only, “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” but before its beginning, Holy God saw the “Fall” and determined “The Fall’s” reconciliation to Holy God through the sacrifice of God’s only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ!

And IF God did it for Adam and Eve, if God did it for a Moses or a prophet, if God did it for all of fallen humanity, was it just simply for them alone in the past, or is there “a finished Work”, an “It is done” for every birthed individual past, present, or future?

In Acts 10:34-43 Peter declared: “In truth I perceive THAT GOD SHOWS NO PARTIALITY. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him. The word which God sent to the children of Israel, PREACHING PEACE THROUGH CHRIST JESUS – HE IS LORD OF ALL – that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging Him on a tree. Him God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly, not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be the Judge of the living and the dead. To Him all the prophets witness, that through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.”

But a “fallen world”, without an awareness of the need of “reconciliation” to Holy God, will manufacture, invent, substitute, all kinds of human inventions to seek to appease their guilty, alienated from, blinded, sinful hearts by multitudinous, impotent, self-assertive ways of improving, over-looking, or excusing their sinful state!

And in spite of many of fallen mankind’s ‘fleshly innovations’ of ‘spiritual disciples’(?), even man-made religious systems, God overlooked, God intervened, God proved His love for fallen mankind, through the blood sacrifice of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, on Calvary’s Cross!

Do you remember God “testing” Abraham in Genesis? Follow the Word! [Genesis 22:1-18], Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”

Then God said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off.

And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.” [“We will come back to you”? “WE”? Abraham and Isaac? You mean he understood, even before the sacrifice of his son on the altar, that , though willingly offered as the sacrifice, Holy God was able to raise his son from the dead?!?].

So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here am I, my son.”

Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.

Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.” And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”

Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the name of the place, ‘The-Lord-Will-Provide’; as it is said to this day, ‘In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.’

Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son – blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, BECAUSE YOU HAVE OBEYED MY VOICE. “

What was God’s intent in His testing of Abraham? If there is a willingness to obey, God sees the heart through which He can reveal Himself! In fact, In Matthew 4:19, Jesus said to Simon Peter and his brother Andrew, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men”, but that was after He had said in Matthew 4:17, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Matthew 4:23 then tells us that Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom…”. Do you know what Isaiah 52:7 says? “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaim peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’”

And Abraham, and Jesus, or you as His disciple and follower and servant? Do you know about “beautiful feet”, about “proclaimers of good news and peace” and about those “who proclaim salvation”, saying, “God reigns” – will you allow Him to reign over your life, your home, your family, your business, your community, your nation? Jesus said what? “It is finished – It is done!”

FIRST, NOTICE, NO MORE UNAWARENESS OF GOD’S CONCERN FOR HIS CREATED WORLD! I remind you of what Paul said to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 because it relates to every follower of Christ in the time period of his/her present existence in whatever nation, state, or circumstance: “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; (So) that the man of god may be adequate, equipped for, (or thoroughly furnished) for every good work.”

And if that is true, and it is, then are you and I to be alerted to what Jesus has to say, not only to the Israelites in Jerusalem or the nation of Israel, but to every disciple, regardless of his present residence – the U.S., Europe, Asia, Africa? What did our Lord say in Luke 21:10-28?

Then He [Christ Jesus] continued by saying to them (but not to you?), “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be earthquakes, and in various places plagues and famines; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.

But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for My name’s sake.

It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony. So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves; for I will give you utterance (or a mouth) and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute.

But you will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death, and you will be hated by all on account of My name. Yet not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives (or souls).

But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is at hand. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are in the midst of the city depart, and let not those who are in the country enter the city;

Because these are days of vengeance (for the blood covenant), in order that all things which are written may be fulfilled. Woe to those who are with child and to those who nurse babes in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land, and wrath to this people,

And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles be fulfilled. (That’s the “Present Age” to the Advent!!).

And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth dismay among the nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, (or a flood of words), men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

And THEN they will see The Son of Man Coming In a Cloud with power and great glory. “But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

LOOK UP! YOUR REDEMPTION DRAWS NEAR! LOOK UP! JESUS CHRIST IS ON THE THRONE, RULING AND REIGNING, AND HIS KINGDOM HAS COME AND HIS RULE ASSURES YOU OF YOUR VICTORY IN YOUR WORLD OF TODAY! God cares about YOU, and has never taken His eyes off of you or your circumstances in your world!

SECOND, NO MORE UNAWARENESS OF GOD’S CARE FOR THE LOWLIEST OF MANKIND, FOR THE WORLD’S INSIGNIFICANT, FOR THE ONE NO ONE CARES ABOUT BUT GOD HIMSELF!

I think Daniel 4 was eternally sealed by the Spirit for this very point: “No unawareness of God’s Care for the most insignificant of mankind, but His care for the ‘least’, or the most well-known of all mankind?”

Daniel 4:1-17 is an amazing declaration and illuminating Word from Holy God: Nebuchadnezzar the king to all the peoples, nations, and men of every language that live in all the earth: “May your peace abound!

It has seemed good to me to declare the signs and wonders which the Most High God has done for me. How great are His signs, and how mighty are His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion is from generation to generation.

I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and flourishing in my palace. I saw a dream and it made me fearful; and these fantasies as I lay on my bed and the visions in my mind kept alarming me.

So I gave orders to bring into my presence all the wise men of Babylon, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream. Then the magicians, the conjurers, the Chaldeans, and the diviners came in, and I related the dream to them; but they could not make its interpretation known to me.

But finally Daniel came in before me, whose name is Belteshazzar according to the name of my god, and in whom is a spirit of the holy gods; and I related my dream to him, saying, ‘O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, since I know that a spirit of the holy gods is in you and no mystery baffles you, tell me the visions of my dream which I have seen, along with its interpretations.

Now these were the visions in my mind as I lay on my bed: I was looking, and behold, there was a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great. The tree became large and became strong, and its height reached to the sky, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth.

Its foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it, and the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches, and all living creatures fed themselves from it.

I was looking in the visions in my mind as I lay on my bed, and behold, an angelic watcher, a holy one, descended from heaven. He shouted out and spoke as follows: ‘Chop down the tree and cut off its branches, strip off its foliage and scatter its fruit; let the beasts flee from under it, and the birds from its branches.

Yet leave the stump with its roots in the ground, but with a band of iron and bronze around it in the new grass of the field; and let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let him share with the beasts in the grass of the earth.

Let his mind be changed from that of a man, and let a beast’s mind be given to him, and let seven periods of time pass over him. This sentence is by the decree of the angelic watchers, and the decision is a command of the holy ones, in order that the living may know that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whom He wishes, and sets it over the lowliest of men.”

King Nebuchadnezzar knew of the sovereignty of Holy God and God’s concern for the “lowliest of men”, yet a humble spirit was unknown to him, and God removed his sovereignty from His life, even though he ‘professed’.

But in Ezekial 34:31 Holy God declared that days were coming when He would establish a “new covenant” – and we know that “new covenant” was the blood covenant through the sacrifice of God’s only begotten Son, Emmanuel, which means “God with us”, not like the old covenant which the Israelites willingly broke, even though they’d entered ‘marriage’ with Him.

Jeremiah gave us even a clearer picture of this “new covenant”. Jeremiah 31:31-34 says: “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,

Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord.

But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. And they shall not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know Me, FROM THE LEAST OF THEM to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and THEIR SIN I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE.”

How is that? BECAUSE YOU AND YOUR OLD SIN NATURE WERE “CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST”, PUT TO DEATH, AND YOU THROUGH REPENTANCE AND FAITH BECAME THE RECIPIENT OF RESURRECTION LIFE, RESURRECTION POWER, AND RESURRECTION HOPE! Through the blood of the Lamb, from the “least” to the greatest, new life has come!

THIRD, NO MORE UNAWARENESS OF GOD’S COMPASSION FOR THE LONELIEST OF THE ALONE! Ecclesiastes 4:7-12 is a powerful, piercing, heart-wrenching explanation of individuals who, yes, more than not, CHOOSE to walk through life alone, unaware of the Greatest Friend the lonely have ever known! It says:

Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun: There is one alone, without companion: he has neither son nor brother. Yet there is no end to all his labors, nor is his eye satisfied with riches. But he never asks, ‘For whom do I toil and deprive myself of good?’ This also is vanity and a grave misfortune.

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up. Again, if two lie down together, they will keep him warm; but how can one be warm alone? [Insert! How many ‘alone’ people have crossed your path and you’ve witnessed their ‘cold’ nature?]. Verse 12, Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”

Who is the third cord in the two-fold relationship of friend to friend or husband to wife or wife to husband or parent to child or child to parent? Consider that two-fold union plus the presence of the Resurrected, Reigning Christ Jesus!

Consider even Jesus Himself! Even his intimate disciples left Him & He stood alone often, yet He said in John 8: 16b, “…for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me,” and in Verse 18 The Lord Jesus said, “I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.”

You do not have to walk through life alone! God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit has “knocked on your heart’s door before and still does now”! Revelation 3:18-22 says, Jesus speaking, “I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

There’s an interesting verse in Jeremiah 49:31 where the Lord says, “Arise, go up to the wealthy nation that dwells securely,” says the Lord, which has neither gates no bars, dwelling alone.” Dare I tell you that the man rich in himself with his personal determination of wealth in himself without God, living in a false security state of mind, dwelling alone, and God says, “That’s the man I love, that’s the man I want to be One with, The loneliest of the alone – I love him, I seek him, I find him, and I say to that lonely man, – Matthew 11:28-30 –Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

FOURTH, NO MORE UNAWARENESS OF GOD’S COMPASSION FOR THE ‘LEAST-SENSING ‘ INDIVIDUAL! To say, like some, “Your God doesn’t care”, is without a doubt a senseless assertion, but in a time of great stress, even men like David, could complain, (Psalm 142:3-5), “When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then You knew my path. In the way in which I walk they have secretly set a snare for me. Look on my right hand and see, for there is no one who acknowledges me; refuge has failed me; NO ONE CARES FOR MY SOUL.”

But then, at least King David, had the saneness and senseness of “I cried out to You, O Lord”; I said, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.” But there are ‘senseless’ individuals whose hearts, minds, and brains are totally dead to the compassion and care of Holy God!

There are times in life’s pilgrimage when affliction deadens some’s ‘faith’, troubles and temptations harden their hearts, disappointments, rejections, betrayals, a serious sickness, a horrific betrayal of wedding vows or betrayal of what seemed to be ‘a true friendship’, hardens some hearts and lives, and they never consider “God’s compassion” for the sin-bound, the troubled, the lonely, or the fearful – they just stiffen in their dumb-foundedness of His love, grace, and mercy. Perplexity becomes their ‘cry’ rather than redemptive faith in the Lord’s ability to transform trouble into triumph!

It was Peter who was given a wise word in 1 Peter 5:5-11, “Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ Therefore humble yourselves UNDER the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever.”

Holy God, Mighty God, Omnipotent God, is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or even think! And though YOU may sense, “NO ONE CARES FOR MY SOUL,” GOD DOES! LOOK AT THE CROSS AND THE EMPTY TOMB! The ‘least-sensing servant’ Jesus cares for and proves His love!

LASTLY, NO MORE UNAWARENESS OF GOD’S COMPASSION FOR THE CITIZENS OF EVEN REBELLIOUS NATIONS! Do you ever reflect upon, study, search out Psalm 2? The psalmist wrote about “the realness of rebellion”, but then amplified the Coming Messiah’s victory and triumph and Kingdom rule over sin and death! It says:

“Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, AGAINST THE LORD AND AGAINST HIS ANOINTED [The PROMISED MESSIAH!], saying, “Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.” He (Holy God) who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His displeasure: Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, “You (Jesus) are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.” Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. BLESSED ARE ALL THOSE WHO PUT THEIR TRUST IN HIM (THE PROMISED MESSIAH!).”

Rebellious nations may rage, unbelieving leaders plot ‘vain things’, senseless rulers and self-centered individuals pool their foolish thoughts against God, but the Father begot the Son, and the Son lived and died in our place, and still reigns in Resurrection Life, Resurrection Power, and Resurrection Hope! And 2 Corinthians 7:10 declares, “For godly sorrow produces repentance LEADING TO SALVATION, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.” Oswald Chambers wrote in “My Utmost For His Highest,” (p.254-255), “The marvels of conviction of sin, forgiveness, and holiness are so interwoven that it is only the forgiven man who is the holy man, he proves he is forgiven by being the opposite to what he was, by God’s grace. Repentance always brings a man to this point: I HAVE SINNED. The surest sign that God is at work is when a man says that and means it. Anything less than this is remorse for having made blunders, the reflex action of disgust at himself. The entrance into the Kingdom is through the panging pains of repentance crashing into a man’s respectable goodness; then the Holy Ghost, Who produces these agonies, begins the formation of the Son of God in the life. The new life will manifest itself in conscious repentance and unconscious holiness, never the other way about. The bedrock of Christianity is repentance.”

Repentance is not the license to continue sinning, but the freedom to walk in holiness and purity! Hebrews 10:14 the author superbly declares: “For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” Are YOU?

Holy God, through the offering of Jesus on the Cross, offers the rebellious life through the sacrifice of Christ, a new life, a new hope, an eternal future with Him around the Throne forever and ever, but if one sins willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, “there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries”! Are you an “adversary” or true friend of the Christ of the Cross and the Christ of the Empty Tomb? “Blessed are all those who put their trust in “The Promised Messiah”!

By J. FARRELL FISHER, June 5-6, 2017

In 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 Paul challenges us, “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal (fleshly or according to the old Adam-nature!). For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and BEHAVING LIKE MERE MEN?”

It was Fenelon who once said: “There is practically nothing that men do not prefer to God. A tiresome detail of business, an occupation utterly pernicious to health, the employment of time in ways one does not dare to mention. Anything rather than God.” A number of lessons I need to deal with in these moments:

1. MERE MEN WALK AND WANDER APART FROM GOD! In 2 Corinthians 5:11 Paul said, “Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men…”. In fact, in Proverbs 1:7 the ‘wise man’ wrote: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” And the ‘persuasion of men’?

A. Though they’ve been ‘lost’ to God, “In Christ” they are found! B. Though they’ve been separated to God, “In Christ” they’re made one with God in and through Him! C. Though they were without Christ mortal only, “In Christ” they become immortal in Him! D. Though they were dominated by an old sin nature, “In Christ” they’ve become partakers of the divine nature!

Genesis 5:24 tells us, “And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for GOD TOOK HIM!” In 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 and Verses 17-21 we read: 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.

Verses 17-21, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He (God) made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” That, my friends, is a Glory to God Word!

2. MERE MEN THOUGH SUBSTITUTE THEIR BEST FOR GOD’S BEST! In Genesis 2:15-17 we read, Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord commanded the man, “of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

I love Jose Desalzo’s comment in his writing, “God’s Frontier” when he wrote: If God is lacking, nothing a man does is of more consequence than the acts of a mouse.” Your best as a ‘mouse’ or God’s best as a “man in Christ”?

In Galatians 2:20 Paul wrote: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Christ Jesus said in John 15:4-5, “Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.”

3. MERE MEN WALK DIVISIVELY, NOT IN A UNIFYING MANNER! Again 1 Corinthians 3:3, “for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?”

In Psalm 133 we find a powerful, unifying theme! It says: “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of (Mt.) Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion; For the Lord commanded the blessing – Life forevermore.”

Do YOU love the ‘brotherhood’? I’ll never forget doing a meeting in southern India in Coimbatore years ago – I had insisted outreach to every church, every pastor or priest, every gathering regardless of denominational affiliation! After four or five days together, I saw men truly “love one another”!

4. MERE MEN WALK IN THE FLESH, NOT IN THE SPIRIT! In 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 says, “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, not thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”

I love what the blind Helen Keller said before her death. “Never consent to creep when you feel the impulse to soar!” But again, Paul in Ephesians 5:17-21, said: “Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.”

5. MERE MEN WALK WITH FLESHLY AMBITIONS ONLY – NOT TO PLEASE GOD! In 2 Corinthians 5:4-9 we read: “For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God; who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.” But not unbelieving men consumed with fleshly ambitions! It was Pierre Duplessis who said: “Surely, if all the world was made for man, then man was made for more than the world.” Do YOU know what that is?

6. MERE MEN WALK WITH AN AFFIRMATION OF THEIR LIVES APART FROM GOD – THE MASTER’S MEN HAVE NO TRUST IN THEMSELVES! In 2 Corinthians 1:9-10 Paul wrote: “Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, Verse 10 who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us…”

Paul enlarged our understanding in 2 Corinthians 3:5 when he said, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.” Proverbs 3:5-8 is so essential in living a victorious, overcoming life. It says: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him (Giving God His rightful place as Sovereign Administrator over your life!) and He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh, and strength to your bones.”

It was Thomas a Kempis who once wrote: “God never deceives; but a man is deceived whenever he puts too much trust in himself. MAN PROPOSES BUT GOD DISPOSES.” The prophet Hosea gave a call to repentance to the nation Israel, and, yes, to all across our world today: Hosea 10:12-13, “Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness on you. You have plowed wickedness; you have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, because you have trusted in your own way…”

7. MERE MEN WALK WITH BLINDED EYES – GOD’S MEN WALK WITH SPIRITUAL, HEAVENLY VISION! Again, Paul made it so clear by the anointed writing through the Holy Spirit! In 2 Corinthians 4:3-7 he said, “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. For it is God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

Men with blinded eyes? Epictetus, in his writing, “Fragments”, wrote: “Man is a little soul carrying around a corpse.”

8. MERE MEN WALK ON THE BASIS OF THEIR PERSONAL PERFORMANCE – GOD’S MEN WALK ABOUT STANDING ON THE PROMISES! In 2 Corinthians 7:1 we read, “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”

In Daniel 11:32 the prophet tells us, “Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.”

Oswald Chambers wrote in “My Utmost For His Highest,” (p.239), “The promises of God are of no value to us until by obedience we understand the nature of God. We read some things in the Bible three hundred and sixty-five times and they mean nothing to us, then all of a sudden we see what God means, because in some particular we have obeyed God, and instantly His nature is opened up. “All the promises of God in Christ are Yes, and in Him Amen.” The “yes” must be born of obedience; when by the obedience of our lives we say “Amen” to a promise, then that promise is ours.”

9. MERE MEN WALK EARTHBOUND – GOD’S MEN LIVE IN THE HEAVENLIES! In Ephesians 2:4-10 we read, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

Mere men earthbound or Holy Men of God living in the heavenly kingdom now? Mere men or Messengers of God? Mere men or Mighty Men of valor? Mere men or Ambassadors of Christ? Mere men or sons and daughters of God our Father? Mere men or ministers of reconciliation? Mere men or Witnesses of Saving Grace? Mere men or the Elect, the Chosen of God? Mere men or the Apples of God’s eyes? Mere men or God’s workmanship? Mere men or Partners with God? Mere men or Vessels of honor before Holy God?

Mere men or clay in the hands of the Potter sculpted in His Holy Image? Mere men or partakers of the divine nature? Mere men alone in emptiness or One in Him the fullness of Him who fills all in all?

10. MERE MEN WILL WALK RELIGIOUSLY – BUT NOT RE-BORN! In John 3, If Jesus says, “You must be born again,” does that mean “best effort” or “Amazing Grace”? It was Max Depree who wrote: “We cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are.” And that means all of fallen mankind must accept the crucifixion of their “old man” with Christ at Calvary’s Cross, and the “new-birth” resurrection life in Christ!

Mere men or the new born? “In Christ” has profound, life-changing, eternal realities! Her Me! “I’m chosen of God to bear His Name! A royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own special person!

I’m the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, born again into the Holy Family of God. “in Christ” we’re sons and daughters of our heavenly family, our lives have been “hidden with Christ in God,” and He’s raised us up to be seated with Christ in Heavenly Places, declared to be ministers of reconciliation, ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ, entrusted with the Gospel and counted worthy to walk with Christ.

Jesus is the Bridegroom – we’re the Bride of Christ, witnesses of His Redeeming Grace, trustees of the mystery of godliness, and God says we’re “priests and kings unto Him”, the very fragrance of Christ, His peace-makers, His disciples, His soldiers of the Cross.

And “in Him” we’re more than conquerors, new creations, living sacrifices, epistles, poems of the grace, mercy, and love of God – apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, disciples, “Followers of Christ”, servants of the King, bearing the image of the Heavenly Man, the called, the separated, the anointed, indwelt by the Fullness of God, Messengers, Proclaimers, Heralds of the Gospel,

The Glorious Body of Christ and members of that Holy Body in particular, Vessels through which God reveals His Son, the salt and light, the Symphony God sings about, the music of His heart, and over us He sings the sounds of joy and sweet pleasure!

There’s an old hymn by Charles Wesley and John Zundel published in”The American Hymnal” in 1933 by The Broadman Press in Nashville, Tennessee. It says: “Love divine, all love excelling, Joy of Heaven, to earth come down! Fix in us Your humble dwelling; All Your faithful mercies crown. Jesus, You are all compassion, Pure, unbounded love You are; Visit us with Your salvation; Enter every trembling heart.

Breathe, O breathe Your loving Spirit Into every troubled breast! Let us all in You inherit, Let us find that second rest. Take away our bent to sinning; Alpha and Omega be; End of faith, as its beginning, Set our hearts at liberty.

Come, Almighty to deliver, Let us all Your life receive; Suddenly, return, and never, Nevermore Your temples leave; You we would be always blessing, Serve You as Your hosts above, Pray, and praise You without ceasing, Glory in Your perfect love.

Finish then Your new creation; Pure and spotless let us be; Let us see Your great salvation, Perfectly restored in You; Changed from glory into glory, Till in heaven we take our place, Till we cast our crowns before You, Lost in wonder, love, and praise.” AMEN?

FAITHFUL DISCIPLES!”

(BY:J.FARRELL FISHER)……

APRIL 30 -MAY 1,2018

HAVE YOU EVER CONSIDERED ‘PROVIDENCE’?IT IS A HIGHLY INTERESTING WORD. IN THE “RANDOM HOUSE COLLEGE DICTIONARY”, PUBLISHED IN 1975 BY RANDOM HOUSE INC., DEFINING IT AS,”THE FORESEEING CARE AND GUARDIANSHIP OF GOD OVER HIS CREATURES..A MANIFESTATION OF DIVINE CARE OR DIRECTION: PROVIDENT OR PRUDENT MANAGEMENT OF RESOURCES…”!

AND WHEN I READ THAT DEFINITION, I CONSIDERED, “BIRTHED INTO THIS WORLD BY THE PLAN AND MANAGEMENT OF GOD,IS IT WRONG TO SAY, “GOD HAS NO PLACE IN PLANNING OR MANAGING ME”? UNBELIEVERS, SINNERS, BOSSES OF THEIR OWN LIVES ARE NOT AT ALL INTERESTED IN “GOD’S PROPERTY- MANAGEMENT” OF THEIR LIVES!THEY SEE ‘SELF’ AS “OK” ON THEIR OWN TERMS & DEFINITIONS OF WHAT “I CHOOSE – NOT WHAT YOUR GOD TELLS ME, BUT WHAT I CHOOSE FOR MYSELF!” AND WHEN YOU FULLY CONSIDER THE “PRIDE OF A MAN’S CHOICE OF ‘SELF-WILL, ‘SELF-PLEASURE’, ‘SELF-PURPOSE’, WITH NO INTEREST OR AWARENESS OF THE ABSOLUTE NECESSITY OF BEING ‘RECONCILED TO GOD’ SINCE THEIR ATTITUDE IS, “I’M OK – YOU’RE OK”, WITHOUT ALLEGIANCE TO SOME GOD, IS BETTER KNOWN & UNVEILED AS ‘SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS’, ‘SPIRITUAL PREJUDICE’, ‘SPIRITUAL RESENTMENT OF ANYTHING PERTAINING TO HOLINESS’!!” SO, ‘FALLEN MEN’, FALLEN AWAY FROM GOD, NEED TO BE “RECONCILED” TO HIM! IN 2 CORINTHIANS 5:17-21 PAUL WAS INSPIRED BY GOD HIMSELF TO WRITE, “THEREFORE IF ANY MAN BE ‘IN CHRIST’, HE IS A NEW CREATION, OLD THINGS ARE PASSED AWAY;BEHOLD, ALL THINGS ARE BECOME NEW.

AND ALL THINGS ARE OF GOD, WHO HAS RECONCILED US TO HIMSELF BY JESUS CHRIST, AND HAS GIVEN TO US THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION; TO WIT, THAT GOD WAS IN CHRIST, RECONCILING THE WORLD UNTO HIMSELF, NOT IMPUTING THEIR TRESPASSES UNTO THEM; AND HAS COMMITTED UNTO US (ALL BORN-AGAIN DISCIPLES!) THE WORD OF RECONCILIATION.

NOW THEN WE ARE AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST,AS THOUGH GOD DID BESEECH YOU BY US:WE PRAY YOU IN CHRIST’S STEAD, BE YOU RECONCILED TO GOD. FOR HE (GOD) HAS MADE HIM (CHRIST JESUS) TO BE SIN FOR US, WHO KNEW NO SIN:THAT WE MIGHT BE MADE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN HIM.” GLORY! GLORY BE TO GOD ALMIGHTY, OUR LOVING HEAVENLY FATHER, WHO GAVE HIS OWN SON,JESUS, TO BE THE SAVIOR OF FALLEN MANKIND!

WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING, MOST SINNERS, MOST UNBELIEVERS,MOST ‘DEAF-EARRED’ & ‘HEART-DISEASED’ & ‘SELF-AND-SIN DEVOTEES’, MUST EXPERIENCE THE MIRACLE OF GOD’S GRACE & MERCY THROUGH HOLY SPIRIT CONVICTION TO OPEN THEIR HEARTS AND MINDS TO EVEN THE ‘CONSIDERATION’ OF WHETHER OR NOT THEY WANT UNDER DIVINE MANAGEMENT & DIVINE MERCY & DIVINE MISSION! IN PROVERBS 1 ARE SOME HIGHLY INNATE,INTERESTING, INFORMATIVE VERSES. VERSE 5 SAYS, “A WISE MAN WILL HEAR, AND WILL INCREASE LEARNING; AND A MAN OF UNDERSTANDING SHALL ATTAIN UNTO WISE COUNSELS.” OH, THEN VERSE 7 SAYS, “THE FEAR OF THE LORD IS THE BEGINNING OF KNOWLEDGE; BUT FOOLS DESPISE WISDOM AND INSTRUCTION.”

THERE IS A ‘SPIRIT OF WISDOM’ THAT CRIES OUT TO EVERY MAN WHO HAS EVER EXISTED! BUT PROVERBS 1:23-24 SAYS: “TURN YOU AT MY REPROOF; BEHOLD, I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT UNTO YOU, I WILL MAKE KNOWN MY WORDS UNTO YOU.

BECAUSE I HAVE CALLED, AND YOU REFUSED; I HAVE STRETCHED OUT MY HAND, AND NO MAN REGARDED;” AND THAT’S NOT ALL THE GOD OF WISDOM HAD TO SAY! EXAMINE VERSES 25-33! “BUT YOU HAVE SET AT NOUGHT ALL MY COUNSEL, AND WOULD NONE OF MY REPROOF: I WILL ALSO LAUGH AT YOUR CALAMITY; I WILL MOCK WHEN YOUR FEAR COMES; WHEN YOUR FEAR COMES AS DESOLATION, AND YOUR DESTRUCTION COMES AS A WHIRLWIND; WHEN DISTRESS AND ANGUISH COME UPON YOU.

THEN SHALL THEY CALL UPON ME, BUT I WILL NOT ANSWER; THEY SHALL SEEK ME EARLY, BUT THEY SHALL NOT FIND ME: FOR THAT THEY HATED KNOWLEDGE (THAT’S SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE!), AND DID NOT CHOOSE THE FEAR OF THE LORD;

THEY WOULD HAVE NONE OF MY COUNSEL; THEY DESPISED ALL MY REPROOF. THEREFORE SHALL THEY EAT OF THE FRUIT OF THEIR OWN WAY, AND BE FILLED WITH THEIR OWN DEVICES. FOR THE TURNING AWAY OF THE SIMPLE SHALL SLAY THEM, (THE TURNING AWAY OF THE SIMPLE? “GOD CALLED – THEY REFUSED TO COME TO HIM!),AND THE PROSPERITY OF FOOLS SHALL DESTROY THEM.

BUT WHOSO HEARKENS UNTO ME SHALL DWELL SAFELY, AND SHALL BE QUIET FROM FEAR OF EVIL.” DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT? THE WISEMAN,SOLOMON, ALSO SAID, IN PROVERBS 3:5-6,&VERSE 8, WE READ: “TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART; AND LEAN NOT UNTO YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING. IN ALL YOUR WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE THE LORD, AND HE SHALL DIRECT YOUR PATHS.” & VERSE 8? “IT SHALL BE HEALTH TO YOUR NAVEL, AND MARROW TO YOUR BONES.”

“GODLESSNESS” PRODUCES A “THIRST”, A “SPIRITUAL ILLNESS FROM THE ‘SIN-DISEASE’, AND A SPIRITUAL ‘HUNGER’THAT ONLY GOD HIMSELF THROUGH CHRIST CAN QUENCH OR SATISFY”! ISAIAH 55:1-3,6-7, & VERSE 11 SAYS:

“TRUST?” IN HIS WRITING ENTITLED “HYMN”,

(ST.5),HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW WROTE: “O HOLY TRUST! O ENDLESS SENSE OF REST! LIKE THE BELOVED JOHN TO LAY HIS HEAD UPON THE SAVIOR’S BREAST, AND THUS TO JOURNEY ON!”

IS YOUR ‘JOURNEY OF LIFE’ A LIFE OF TRUE BIBLICAL TRUST? IS YOUR JOURNEY ‘A WALK OF SPIRITUAL ‘REST’? YOUR ‘JOURNEY’, YOUR ‘EARTHLY WALK’, YOUR ‘SPIRITUAL’ (?) PILGRIMAGE, IS IT ‘FULL’, ‘DRAINING’, OR ‘DROWNED’ IN THE SEA OF SELF-INDULGENCE, SELF-DETERMINATION, SELF-‘FLESH’ OR ‘SIN-NATURE’ SATISFACTION? OH, BUT THEN UPON “CONVERSION, THE NEW BIRTH, RECONCILED TO GOD, AND COMMISSIONED BY HIM”, ARE “YOU” A “MISSION-MINDED MAN AS A FAITHFUL DISCIPLE”, OR ARE ‘YOU’ A ‘SELF-INDULGING, SATAN-BLINDED,WARPED WORLD WANDERER FROM GOD AND HIS WORD AND WILL, FROM JESUS AND HIS LOVING WAY, FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO CALLS, CONVICTS, AND SO DESIRES TO CONVERT THE REPENTANT HEART & MIND, BECAUSE, FOR “YOU”, IT’S YOUR WAY, NOT GOD’S WAY OF “THE CROSS THAT LEADS ONE HOME” TO SHARE LIFE WITH COMPASSIONATE GOD, MERCIFUL JESUS, AND LOVING HOLY SPIRIT?!?

AND, IF YOU’RE “SHARING LIFE IN CHRIST”,LET US GO BACK TO READ ALSO 2 CORINTHIANS 5:14-15! PAUL WROTE: “FOR THE LOVE OF CHRIST CONSTRAINS US; BECAUSE WE THUS JUDGE, THAT IF ONE DIED FOR ALL, THEN WERE ALL DEAD: AND THAT HE DIED FOR ALL, THAT THEY WHICH LIVE SHOULD NOT HENCEFORTH LIVE UNTO THEMSELVES, BUT UNTO HIM WHICH DIED FOR THEM, AND ROSE AGAIN.”

AND, “IF THE LOVE OF CHRIST HAS CONVICTED US, CONSTRAINED US, CONVERTED US, DOES THE LOVE OF CHRIST ALSO COMMISSION US AS NEW DISCIPLES TO BE ONE WITH CHRIST IN “WORLD OUTREACH” TO PREACH THE GOSPEL, PROCLAIM IT’S SAVIOR AND LORD, AND PROVIDE EVEN FINANCIALLY AND PRAYER-SUPPORTED BY EVERY ‘BORN-AGAIN’BELIEVER, EVERY PASTOR, AND EVERY CHURCH?

“IN CHRIST” DISCIPLES LIVE FULLY AWARE OF “AMAZING GRACE” THAT IS NOT TO BE HIDDEN AWAY IN THEIR MINDS OR HEARTS, BECAUSE, “BIRTHED IN HIM TRULY”, THEY ARE “MISSION-MINDED MEN” AS FAITHFUL DISCIPLES!!! ARE YOU?

BY: J.FARRELL FISHER, AUGUST 27-28, 2018

Have you ever heard it from a friend, a family member, a neighbor, a casual acquaintance, or an “all-out enemy of even the Name of God, Son, or His Holy Spirit”?: “Whether I’m right or whether I’m wrong, I’ve got to BE me”?

And through the merciful, caring, love and grace of Holy God, some truly are “sickened” by their ‘spirit’ of trust in themselves, overwhelmed by, yes, “Holy-Spirit-Conviction”, will turn and surrender, and THEN, WILL turn from allegiance to ‘self’ to devotion and dependence upon the Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus, “resting” in the Love of God, which IS proven, and become convinced, persuaded, fully aware, that it was their sin and rebellion that led Satan and ‘religious freaks’ to CRUCIFY KING JESUS, THE “BLOOD-ATONER” flowing from the heart, the will, and the grace of MERCIFUL, CARING, LOVING GOD, though not wanting Him EVER to be crucified again, will ‘deny’ Him His rightful place as Savior and Lord, but consider, though converted, that I “since I’m still living in a ‘fleshly body’, though committed to Christ, He’ll ‘excuse’ my ‘fleshly indulgence at times”. Really?!!!

In Romans 5:1-11 and Verses 17-21, Holy God inspires us with His Truth of abiding, proven, and eternally demonstrated love and grace through, yes, the sacrifice of Christ Jesus, His only Son! HEED! AND, BE MADE WISE IN THE WORD TO BE ABLE TO DISCERN BETWEEN ‘SOUL-DETERMINATION OR SPIRIT-DEPENDENCY”!

Paul wrote: Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God, THROUGH our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we HAVE ACCESS BY FAITH INTO THIS GRACE WHEREIN WE STAND, and (as a result!) REJOICE IN HOPE OF THE GLORY OF GOD.

And not only so, (But maturing ‘in Faith’!), we glory also in tribulations : knowing that tribulation works patience (or steadfastness); patience, experience; and experience, hope; And hope makes one not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which IS GIVEN to us.

For when we were yet without strength (spiritually immature?), in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. BUT God commends His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, CHRIST DIED FOR US!!!! Much more then, being now JUSTIFIED BY HIS BLOOD (that’s ‘just as if we’d never sinned!!!), we shall be (being saved continuously) from wrath through Him.

FOR if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, MUCH MORE, being reconciled, WE SHALL BE BEING SAVED BY HIS (RESURRECTION, RESIDING, REIGNING LIFE) IN OUR INNER MAN!!!!.

And not only so, (what you’ve just read and received!), BUT we also JOY IN GOD THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, by whom we have now received the ATONEMENT (or “washed in the blood of the Lamb”!!).

Verses 17-21, For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one (Adam); MUCH MORE, they which receive abundance of grace AND the GIFT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, (they) shall reign in life by one, JESUS CHRIST.”

Soul Determination? At least for some, atheists, agnostics, or unbelievers, or ‘partial, temporary believers’, or, as I see them to be, by me, “MERCURIAL MIDGETS”, that are volatile, erratic, ‘fickle’, changeable, ‘flighty’… sometimes seemingly ‘normal’ as a ‘professing disciple’, but THEN, explosively, instantaneously, ready to ‘erupt’ or ‘explode’ in abnormal, ‘devil-like’ anger, falling away as an indulger in the ‘likeness’ of ‘flesh’, ‘sinners’, or the ‘devil’ himself!

“Soul-Determination?” Have you ever been, as a faithful disciple of the Master, trying to discern if one you care about as a ‘professing believer’ or ‘fellow church member’ is a ‘pretender’ through ‘ludicrous loyalty’, or is he/she truly one who lives ‘in the life-blessed love of God but momentarily lead astray, momentarily deceived, or momentarily ‘walking with ‘dark glasses’ rather than’ “the eyes, heart, mind, will of Christ in them their only hope of glory”?

Soul-Determination? Have you ever seen unassured believers, even unequipped, untrained attenders to some of the “Truth” but are susceptible to doubts, a ‘blow-viator’ as a ‘wayfaring child’ of the truth or a ‘led-astray-traveler, easily making a wrong turn’, spiritually ‘childish’ as a ‘stranger or uninformed ‘child’ to Truth’, immature in ‘true-disciple-identity’, and are, yes, “disciples” but often never “discipled” by assigned ‘mentors’ who “major on minors, not the Mission of the Master”??!!!

Soul-Determination? Many, in spiritual paralysis, as ‘modern Christians’, have been, yes, BLINDED, after being ‘birthed’, but allowed, or encouraged to “make it on your own” without any of the ministry of “nurturing the children of Faith into spiritually mature sons and daughters, unveiling Father-God, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit Mentor, who so wants to see them “guided into all the Truth”!” Unlearned Biblical Truth can fast-become a ‘deadly enemy’ to an uninformed, untrained, ill-equipped child of God! Sadly, untrained ‘disciples’, fending by themselves in a harsh world-battleground, end up “unarmed”, “fleshly defenseless”, and “ill-informed” that there’s no one to help against the powers of darkness, WHEN…

Almighty God has said, still says, and will say, if YOU listen, Jeremiah 33:3 telling us of Jeremiah, shut up in prison by God’s enemies, and the Lord God Almighty spoke to him, saying, “Call on Me, and I WILL ANSWER YOU, and show you great and mighty things you don’t know about!”

The prophet Isaiah heard God also when, in Isaiah 41:10, concerned about the enemies of God angry with him, God spoke: “Fear not, Isaiah; for I AM with you; be not dismayed; for I AM your God: I will strengthen you; yes, I will help you; yes, I WILL UPHOLD YOU WITH THE RIGHT HAND OF MY RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

Soul-Determination? Have you ever witnessed, ever heard, about ‘true children’ who, too often, turn ‘deaf ears’ to parental authority? Of course, many never consider “ears to hear” what Father God has clearly spoken, even unconcerned, after “praying the sinner’s prayer and surrendering”, then decide, “it’s OK if I walk on my own!” Really?

In Psalm 81:10-14, we read: God Himself speaking, “I AM your Lord, the God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, (out of the world around you and its strong influence!); OPEN YOUR MOUTH WIDE, and I (your loving, merciful, caring Father!) WILL FILL IT!” (He says, “I’m not leaving you!”). He continued:

But My people would not hearken (they didn’t listen and obey!) to My voice, My Holy Word, My divine, eternal Truth; they WOULD NONE OF ME! SO…

I gave them up UNTO THEIR own hearts’ lust; and they walked in their own counsels. (It BROKE God’s heart again!). Oh, that My people had hearkened unto Me, and Israel, My people, had walked IN MY WAYS! I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned My hand against their adversaries!”

Soul-Determination through the Word of God IS clearly seen as, yes, even ‘believers’, day in day out, often choosing the “self-motivated life” rather than daily denying ‘self’, surrendering willfully to God’s Sovereign control, optioning in worldly influences to honor and submit to Christ’s abiding Presence, His power, discarding ‘pretenses’ and willfully obeying, submitting, and daily yielding to the awesome power of the Holy Spirit’s control, manifestations, and “fruit”!!

How inspiring, how encouraging, how empowering do you find God speaking in Isaiah 40:17-31 saying, (Thank God!!!): “All nations before Him are as nothing; and they are counted to Him less than nothing. To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare unto Him?

The workman (‘flesh devotees’!) melt a graven image, and the goldsmith spreads it over with gold, and casts silver chains. He that is so impoverished that he has no oblation chooses a tree that will not rot; he seeks for himself a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved. Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you FROM THE BEGINNING? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?

It is He that sits upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretches out the heavens as a curtain, and spreads them out as a tent to dwell in: that brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth as vanity.

Yes, ‘their vanity’ shall not be planted; yes, it will not be sown to deceive My people; yes, their roots will come to nothing, He’ll ‘blow’ upon them, they’ll wither, and His whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. To whom then will you liken Me, or shall I be just your equal? Says the Lord. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who has created these things, that brings out their host by number: God calls them all by names by the greatness of His might, in that I AM strong in power and authority; not one fails.

Why do speak like yourself, O Jacob, and say, O Israel, ‘Our way is hid from the Lord, and our ‘judgment’ is passed over, yes, even from God Himself.’ So… Have YOU not known? Have YOU not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, never faints nor ever grows weary? There is no searching of His understanding. (It’s as clear as, yes, both ‘night’ AND ‘day’.) He gives power to the faint-hearted; and to them that have no might He increases His strength graciously. Even the youths shall faint and be weary; and the young men shall utterly fall:

BUT they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

Soul- Determination? What about “HOLY SPIRIT DEPENDENCY”? Do YOU not understand? Kingdom of God citizens were AND ARE “birthed in and by the Spirit” for ANY man to “enter His Kingdom reign and Kingdom rule! A disciple’s life is ‘convicted by the Spirit, convinced in the Spirit, converted by the Spirit, consecrated by the Spirit on God’s Holy Altar, and sent by the Spirit in full anointing to share Christ, preach the Word, testify to Truth, and to call all around you to accountability before Holy God, sharing His “gift of repentance”, His “gift of understanding”, His “gift of anointed authority as His witness”, and His faithful “gift” of interpreting for you God’s Divine Truth!

I close with a blessed hymn of praise and thanksgiving entitled “Holy Ghost, With Light Divine”, out of “The American Hymnal”, published in 1933 by Broadman Press, Nashville, Tennessee. It says:

“Holy Ghost, with Light divine, Shine upon this heart of mine; Chase the shades of night away, Turn my darkness into day.

Holy Ghost, with power divine, Cleanse this guilty heart of mine; Long has sin without control, Held dominion over my soul.

Holy Ghost, with joy divine, Cheer this saddened heart of mine; Bid my many woes depart, Heal my wounded, bleeding heart.

Holy Spirit, ALL DIVINE, Dwell within this heart of mine; Cast down every idol throne, Reign supreme – and reign alone.”

THERE IS NO “FLESHLY CO-REIGN WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT”, but, “TRUE DISCIPLES, DAILY, TAKE THE SENTENCE OF DEATH DAILY THAT, BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, CHRIST IS EXALTED, MAGNIFIED, YES, GLORIFIED IN A BLOOD-REDEEMED, REDEEMED, REIGNING, VICTORIOUS LIFE THROUGH THE RESIDING HOLY SPIRIT!!!

“SURE TESTS FOR BLOOD-REDEEMED

LIVES ‘IN CHRIST’!

SEVERAL VERSES TO LAY THE FOUNDATION FOR THIS MESSAGE ARE FOUND, FIRST, IN LUKE 10:38, WHERE THE CONVERTED PHYSICIAN SAID, “HOW GOD ANOINTED JESUS OF NAZARETH WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND WITH POWER, WHO WENT ABOUT DOING GOOD AND HEALING ALL WHO WERE OPPRESSED BY THE DEVIL, FOR GOD WAS WITH HIM.”

THEN WE READ IN ACTS 19:11, “NOW GOD WORKED UNUSUAL (OR “EXTRAORDINARY”) MIRACLES BY THE HANDS OF PAUL.” BUT ARE YOU AWARE THAT OVER THE CENTURIES THE “GOOD NEWS” WAS SO ‘WATERED’ DOWN THAT ‘BELIEVERS’ COULDN’T SEE CHRIST WANTED TO BE HIMSELF “IN THEM” SO THAT THROUGH THEM HE COULD EXTEND & EXPRESS & UNVEIL “THE GOD OF SIGNS AND WONDERS”?

ARE THE “PROMISES” AND MULTIPLE “ASSURANCES” IGNORED, OR WILLFULLY BLINDED TO, OR WIPED OUT THROUGH ONE’S ‘SELF-ASSURANCE THAT I’M FORGIVEN, AND THAT’S ALL THAT I’M CONCERNED ABOUT?’, WHEN ONE, A MAN OR WOMAN, BOY OR GIRL, IS,YES,(ROMANS 3:24) “BEING JUSTIFIED FREELY BY GOD’S GRACE THROUGH THE REDEMPTION THAT IS IN CHRIST JESUS,” WE, THEN, ARE FREE TO ENJOY OUR ETERNAL BLESSINGS WITH NO CONCERN FOR THOSE AROUND US WHO DON’T KNOW ABOUT “GOD’S SAVING GRACE & MERCY THROUGH CHRIST JESUS”?

RECONCILIATION TO HOLY GOD, BUT NO REACHING OUT TO THOSE WHO NEED HIS RECONCILIATION PROMISE? “RE-BIRTH” THROUGH REPENTANCE AND FAITH, BUT NO CONCERN OF EXTENDING THE FAMILY OF FAITH? THE DOOR OPENED BY CHRIST TO HIS ETERNAL KINGDOM YOU WERE WELCOMED INTO, BUT BLINDED TO OTHERS WHO NEED THE SAME GRACE, MERCY, AND LOVE? YOU, “CLOTHED IN HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS”, BUT “you”HAVE NO DESIRE TO CLOTHE OTHERS IN “CHRIST’S MINISTRY” TO BIRTHED, NATURAL SEEDED BABIES, DESPERATELY NEEDING TO BE RAISED OUT OF SPIRITUAL DEATH INTO THE EVERLASTING REALMS OF ETERNAL LIFE & CLOTHED, YES, AS THE HOLY WORD SAYS IN REVELATION 16:15b, “BLESSED IS HE THAT WATCHES, AND KEEPS HIS GARMENTS, LEST YOU WALK NAKED, AND THEY SEE YOUR SHAME??” EXAMINE CAREFULLY 2 CORINTHIANS 5:4 WHERE PAUL SAID: “FOR WE THAT ARE IN THIS (PHYSICAL) TABERNACLE DO GROAN, BEING BURDENED; NOT FOR THAT WE WOULD BE UNCLOTHED (ANY LONGER!), BUT CLOTHED UPON, THAT MORTALITY WOULD BE SWALLOWED UP OF LIFE”, WHICH MEANS MORTAL BEINGS WHO REPENT AND FAITH CHRIST WILL BE CLOTHED IN THE “GARMENTS OF HIS SALVATION” PLUS THE FRUITS OF HIS HOLY SPIRIT ‘JUICING US UP’ TO THE GLORY OF GOD!!

“IN CHRIST” ARE YOU “A VESSEL UNTO HONOR, SANCTIFIED, AND MEET (OR PREPARED, EQUIPPED, DRESSED) FOR THE MASTER’S USE?” ARE YOU “CLOTHED IN CHRIST’S GARMENTS” OF HIS “GRACED PRESENCE WITHIN”,“GRACE GIFTS”, “GRACE CALLINGS & ORDERS”, PLUS, “GRACE EXPOSURES WHEN THE REDEEMED DISCIPLES THINK THEIR ‘EFFORTS ARE SURELY ACCEPTABLE WHEN’, (IF THEY WERE CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST), EVEN THEIR BEST EFFORTS BECOME POOR SUBSTITUTIONS FOR JESUS’ RESURRECTED, REIGNING, RULING,AND JESUS WILL REACH THROUGH THE STUNNED PRETENSE OF ‘THE GIVE-IT-YOUR-BEST ATTITUDE’, ‘OR DOES A DISCIPLE’S GRIT, HIS BEST EFFORT, AND HIS MENTAL ABILITIES’ CARRY HIM/HER ON LIFE’S HIGHWAY, BUT SHAMING CHRIST BECAUSE HE/SHE WALKS NAKED, NOT CLOTHED IN THE FULLNESS OF HIS HOLY PRESENCE IN SPIRIT-ABIDING WITHIN, AND CERTAINLY NOT IN “HIS ARMOR” TO PROTECT ONE WHO GOES OUT INTO DARKNESS TO SHARE THE “LIGHT”, UNVEILING THE ‘SINNERS’ DARKNESS’ AND HOPING “CHRIST IN YOU & THROUGH YOU” IS ALIVE AND WELL & THAT HE WILL BE IN YOU, YES, “AS YOU TRIED SHINING HIS “LIGHT” BUT THOSE BEFORE YOU WHO “MUST BE BORN AGAIN” NEED THE RESURRECTED CHRIST, NOT A ‘BEST-EFFORT DISCIPLE’ WITH ‘NATURAL LIGHT’ BUT NOT “SPIRIT-ANOINTING” TESTIFYING THROUGH TRUE VESSELS, THAT ARE “VESSELS”,BUT HIS PRESENSE WITHIN YOU, YES, ISN’T SPEAKING TO THE NEEDY THROUGH YOU BECAUSE ‘YOU’ “TRY” BUT AREN’T “TRUSTING” TO BE HIMSELF THROUGH YOU?

“SURE TESTS FOR THE BLOOD-REDEEMED ‘IN CHRIST’?” IN MATTHEW 9:31 JESUS SPOKE TO HIS DISCIPLES, [LET ME PAUSE BEFORE I READ]: (IF “YOU” ARE A TRUE DISCIPLE OF CHRIST, DO “YOU” HEAR HIM SPEAK TO “YOU” THROUGH HIS WORD, HIS HOLY SPIRIT WHO “GUIDES YOU INTO ALL TRUTH”, AND THROUGH “YOUR” SCRIPTURAL AND “YOUR” MIND AND HEART-UNDERSTANDING THAT, HAVING REDEEMED YOU BY HIS OWN BLOOD, BOUGHT & FREED YOU FROM SATANIC BONDAGE, POURED INTO YOU HIS HOLY SPIRIT, AND COMMISSIONED YOU TO BE HIS WITNESSES, HIS MESSENGERS TO THE ‘UNSAVED’, YOU ONLY SEE THAT, AS A ‘CHURCH MEMBER’, IT’S THE RESPONSIBILITY OF PREACHERS, EVANGELISTS, AND MISSIONARIES, BUT NOT “YOU”?)

MATTHEW 9:31? “BUT THEY, WHEN THEY WERE DEPARTED, SPREAD ABROAD HIS FAME IN ALL THAT COUNTRY.” OH, BUT THEN LOOK AT MATTHEW 9:35-38, “AND JESUS WENT ABOUT ALL THE CITIES AND VILLAGES, TEACHING IN THEIR SYNAGOGUES, AND PREACHING THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM, AND HEALING EVERY SICKNESS AND EVERY DISEASE AMONG THE PEOPLE. (PAUSE! QUESTION: “DO YOU THINK ‘DISEASE’ INCLUDES “DIS-EASE”, OR TROUBLED, BLINDED, DARKENED BY SIN, CAPTURED BY THE LOVE OF THE WORLD, THE ‘FLESH’, OR DEVILISH, DEMONIC ACTIVITIES?”).VERSES36-38,”BUT WHEN HE SAW THE MULTITUDES, ‘HE’ (JESUS) WAS MOVED WITH COMPASSION ON THEM, BECAUSE THEY FAINTED, AND WERE SCATTERED ABROAD, AS SHEEP HAVING NO SHEPHERD.

THEN SAID JESUS UNTO HIS DISCIPLES, “THE HARVEST IS TRULY PLENTEOUS, BUT THE LABORERS ARE FEW; PRAY YOU THEREFORE THE LORD OF THE HARVEST THAT HE WILL SEND LABOURERS INTO HIS HARVEST.”

“SURE TESTS FOR THE BLOOD-REDEEMED IN CHRIST?”

1! “ARE THE BLOOD-REDEEMED IN CHRIST FAITHUL WITNESSES COMMISSIONED BY CHRIST?” IN MATTHEW 28:18-20, JESUS CAME (AND HE STILL COMES!!), SAYING, “ALL POWER IS GIVEN UNTO ME IN HEAVEN AND IN EARTH. GO YOU THEREFORE, AND TEACH ALL NATIONS, BAPTIZING THEM IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, & OF THE SON, & OF THE HOLY GHOST: TEACHING THEM TO OBSERVE ALL THINGS, WHATSOEVER I HAVE COMMANDED YOU; AND, LO, I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS, EVEN UNTO THE END OF THE WORLD.”

2! “ARE THE BLOOD-REDEEMED ‘OBEDIENT’ SONS AND DAUGHTERS, FOLLOWING THE LORD’S GREAT COMMISSION?” IN ACTS 22, UPON SAUL’S CONVERSION BY CHRIST “SEEING (THE “LIGHT”!), WHO BECAME PAUL, WROTE: VERSES 10-15, SAYING, AND SAUL SAID,”WHAT SHALL I DO, LORD?” AND THE LORD SAID, “I AM JESUS OF NAZARETH, WHOM YOU JEWS PERSECUTE.” AND THEY THAT WERE WITH ME SAW INDEED THE LIGHT, AND WERE AFRAID; BUT THEY HEARD NOT THE VOICE OF HIM THAT SPOKE TO ME.

AND I SAID, “WHAT SHALL I DO, LORD?” AND THE LORD SAID TO ME, “ARISE, AND GO INTO DAMASCUS; AND THERE IS SHALL BE TOLD YOU OF ALL THINGS WHICH ARE APPOINTED FOR YOU TO DO.”- (HAVE “YOU” RECEIVED “YOUR DIVINE APPOINTMENT”?). AND WHEN I COULD NOT SEE FOR THE GLORY OF THAT LIGHT, BEING LED BY THE HAND OF THEM THAT WERE WITH ME, I CAME INTO DAMASCUS.

AND ONE, ANANIAS, A DEVOUT MAN ACCORDING TO THE LAW, HAVING A GOOD REPORT OF ALL THE JEWS WHICH DWELT THERE, CAME UNTO ME, AND STOOD, AND SAID UNTO ME, BROTHER SAUL, RECEIVE YOUR SIGHT. AND THE SAME HOUR I LOOKED UP UPON HIM. AND HE SAID, “THE GOD OF OUR FATHERS HAS CHOSEN YOU, THAT YOU SHOULD KNOW HIS WILL, AND SEE THAT “JUST ONE”, AND SHOULD HEAR THE VOICE OF HIS MOUTH. FOR “YOU” SHALL BE “HIS” WITNESS UNTO ALL MEN OF WHAT YOU HAVE SEEN & HEARD.”

ARE “YOU”, HAVING BEEN SAVED, A “PROCLAIMER OF TRUTH”? WERE “YOU” COMMISSONED BY CHRIST? ARE “YOU”, ACCORDING TO 2 TIMOTHY 2:15, “STUDYING TO SHOW YOURSELF APPROVED UNTO GOD, A WORKMAN THAT NEEDS NOT TO BE ASHAMED, BUT RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD OF TRUTH”?

“SURE TESTS FOR THE BLOOD-REDEEMED ‘IN CHRIST’?”

3! “ARE THE BLOOD-REDEEMED “IN CHRIST” THOSE WHO FAITHFULLY ‘PROTECT & PERFECT’ THEIR TESTIMONY OF ‘FAITH IN CHRIST’?” HEAR 2 PETER 3:13-14!! “NEVERTHELESS WE, ACCORDING TO “HIS” PROMISE, LOOK FOR NEW HEAVENS AND A NEW EARTH WHEREIN DWELLS RIGHTEOUSNESS. WHEREFORE, BELOVED, BRETHREN, SEEING THAT YOU LOOK FOR SUCH THINGS, BE DILIGENT THAT YOU MAY BE FOUND OF HIM IN PEACE, WITHOUT SPOT OR BLEMISH.”

DO “YOU” WALK IN PARTIAL PURITY SINCE CONVERSION, OR IN THE PURITY OF CHRIST? DO “YOU” WALK IN PARTIAL OBEDIENCE SOME OF THE TIME, OR SOLD OUT TO BE AN OBEDIENT SERVANT OF THE KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS?

4) “ARE THE BLOOD-REDEEMED “IN CHRIST” THOSE WHO,YES, WALK IN CONFIDENCE & BLESSED ASSURANCE”? IN HEBREWS 3:1 & 6-14 WE FIND CHALLENGING WORDS: 3:1 “WHEREFORE, HOLY BRETHREN, PARTAKERS OF THE HEAVENLY CALLING, CONSIDER THE “APOSTLE AND HIGH PRIEST” OF OUR ‘PROFESSION’, CHRIST JESUS.”, FOLLOWED BY VERSES 6-14! “CHRIST AS A SON OVER “HIS” OWN HOUSE;WHOSE HOUSE ARE WE “IF” WE HOLD FAST THE CONFIDENCE AND THE REJOICING OF THE HOPE FIRM TO THE END. WHEREFOR (AS THE HOLY SPIRIT SAYS, ‘TODAY IF YOU WILL HEAR HIS VOICE,

HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS, AS IN THE PROVOCATION, IN THE DAY OF TEMPTATION IN THE WILDERNESS: WHEN YOUR FATHERS TEMPTED ME, AND SAW MY WORKS FORTY YEARS. WHEREFORE I WAS GRIEVED WITH THAT GENERATION, AND SAID, ‘THEY DO ALWAYS ERR IN THEIR HEART; AND THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN “MY”WAYS. SO I SWORE IN MY WRATH, “THEY SHALL NOT ENTER INTO MY WRATH, THEY SHALL NOT ENTER INTO MY REST.)

TAKE HEED,BRETHREN, LEST THERE BE IN ANY OF YOU AN EVIL HEART OF UNBELIEF, IN DEPARTING FROM THE LIVING GOD. BUT EXHORT ONE ANOTHER DAILY, WHILE IT IS CALLED “TODAY”; LEST ANY OF YOU (BELIEVERS) BE HARDENED THROUGH THE DECEITFULNESS OF SIN. FOR WE ARE MADE PARTAKERS OF CHRIST, IF WE HOLD THE BEGINNING OF OUR CONFIDENCE STEDFAST UNTO THE END.”

IN THE OLD “AMERICAN HYMNAL”, PUBLISHED IN 1933, (BY BROADMAN PRESS, NASHVILLE, TENN.),P.21, IS A HYMN ENTITLED, “HAIL, JESUS ONCE DESPISED”,SAYING, “HAIL, YOU ONCE DESPISED JESUS! HAIL, YOU GALILEAN KING! YOU SUFFERED TO RELEASE US; YOU DID FREE SALVATION BRING.

HAIL, YOU AGONIZING SAVIOR, BEARER OF OUR SIN AND SHAME! BY YOUR MERITS WE FIND FAVOR; LIFE IS GIVEN THRO’ YOUR NAME.

OR THE ETERNAL TRUTH: “GOD LOVES ME”!”

APRIL 25-26, 2019 BY J.FARRELL FISHER

IN THE DOCTOR’S OFFICE FOR AN APPOINTMENT TODAY, AS I WAITED I BEGAN TO READ A CURRENT “SPORTS ILLUSTRATED” MAGAZINE. THERE WAS AN ARTICLE ENTITLED “DONTE’S EPIC” WITH AN EARLY MAGAZINE ADVERTISEMENT CALLED “WRANGLER” WITH A STATEMENT: “STAY IN YOUR ELEMENT: EVERYDAY VERSATILITY, OUTDOOR CREDIBILITY”.

I WAS STARTLED,DISTURBED,AGITATED,‘BECAUSE’, I WONDERED,WHAT DOES ‘EVERYDAY VERSATILITY OR OUTDOOR CREDIBILITY’ HAVE TO DO WITH “RECONCILED TO GOD”,BY BIBLICAL REPENTANCE AND TRUE FAITH, WHERE ONE FINDS “RECONCILED” TO GOD BY THE CONVICTION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE HOLY SPIRIT GUIDING US INTO ALL TRUTH, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT SEEING TO IT THAT OUR HEARTS HAVE BECOME FERTILE GROUND OF THE FRUIT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE RESURRECTED CHRIST, AND THE THRONE OF GOD ERECTED IN THE TRUE DISCIPLE’S HEART!

HOW EASY, YET STRONGLY POISONOUS IN THE HUMAN HEART AND MIND IT IS TO LIVE WITHOUT GOD’S LOVE, GRACE, AND MERCY, OR THE TREE OF DIVINE LIFE SURELY PLANTED, THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT NOT BEING PRODUCED IN THE CONVICTED HEART, PLUS FAILING TO ALLOW THE INDWELLING GUIDANCE OF GOD HIMSELF TEACHING US BECAUSE, THERE IS NO FERTILE SPIRITUAL SOIL FOR THE SCHEDULED ERUPTION OF THE SEED PLANTED!?! “FLESH”, ONE’S OLD SIN NATURE IS UTTERLY UNABLE TO ‘PRODUCE’ THE LIFE OF GOD WITHIN APART FROM BIRTHED,MATURED,&GUIDED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT!

I’M SURE IT’S EASY IN DECEIVED MINDS AND HEARTS TO RELY UPON ONE’S ‘INNER SOCIAL AGENDA’ – TRYING TO BE THE FRIEND OF GOD WITHOUT “TRUSTING”, RELYING UPON A SOCIAL INNER SPIRITUAL ADVENTURE WITHOUT GOD ENLIGHTENING A TRUE REPENTANT, TRUSTING HEART! “BEST EFFORT” IS MAN’S ‘SICK THEOLOGY’ WHILE GOD’S DIVINE CONVICTION, GRACIOUS “GIFT”, AND, HAVING TRULY REPENTED, TO THEN KNOW THAT HE,GOD,OPENED THE DOOR OF ONE’S HEART, AND THEN THEY HEAR JESUS SAY: “I’LL COME IN!”

I’M NOT OPPOSED TO ‘OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES’, BUT ‘EPIC’ LIVING APART FROM “RECONCILED TO GOD”? NO DOUBT MILLIONS AND MILLIONS ACROSS THE WORLD, INCLUDING AMERICA,ARE FLOUNDERING, DROWNING, IN SOCIAL,PHYSICAL,& SELFISH SATISFACTION, WITHOUT BEING CONVICTED,CONVERTED,COMPOSED, FULLY AWARE OF CHRIST’S PRESENCE WITHIN THE HEART AS HIS NEW TABERNACLE OF “PRESENCE” AFTER OPENLY REPENTING& TRUSTING IN A HEART, MIND, & SOUL,

WHO WANTS “RECONCILED TO GOD” BY HOLY SPIRIT CONVICTION, “RE-BORN” BIRTHED BY THE SPIRIT, NURTURED, MATURED, & REVEALING CHRIST IN THE “NEW-BORN LIFE”, & IN EVERY “NEW-BORN LIFE”,REVEALING WHAT THEIR CALLING, MISSION, & MINISTRY IS IN HONORING THE “RESURRECTED CHRIST” WITHIN THEM!

IN HEBEWS 12:28 WE READ: “WHEREFORE WE RECEIVING A KINGDOM WHICH CANNOT BE MOVED, LET US HAVE GRACE, WHEREBY WE MAY SERVE GOD ACCEPTABLY WITH REVERENCE & GODLY FEAR!” THIS REMINDS ME OF SOLOMON, IN 1 KINGS 3:5-15! IT SAYS: “IN GIBEON THE LORD APPEARED TO SOLOMON IN A DREAM BY NIGHT: & GOD SAID, ‘ASK WHAT I SHALL GIVE YOU.’ AND SOLOMON SAID, “YOU HAVE SHOWN UNTO YOUR SERVANT DAVID,MY FATHER, GREAT MERCY,

ACCORDING AS HE WALKED BEFORE YOU IN TRUTH,&IN RIGHTEOUSNESS,&IN UPRIGHTNESS OF HEART WITH YOU; &YOU HAVE KEPT FOR HIM THIS GREAT KINDNESS,

THAT YOU HAVE GIVEN HIM A SON TO SIT ON HIS THRONE,AS IT IS THIS DAY.AND NOW,O LORD MY GOD,YOU HAVE MADE YOUR SERVANT KING INSTEAD OF DAVID MY FATHER;& I AM BUT A LITTLE CHILD:I KNOW NOT HOW TO GO OUT OR COME IN. AND YOUR SERVANT IS IN THE MIDST OF YOUR PEOPLE WHICH YOU HAVE CHOSEN, A GREAT PEOPLE,THAT CANNOT BE NUMBERED NOR COUNTED FOR MULTITUDE.

GIVE THEREFORE YOUR SERVANT AN UNDERSTANDING HEART TO JUDGE YOUR PEOPLE, THAT I MAY DISCERN BETWEEN GOOD & BAD: FOR WHO IS ABLE TO JUDGE THIS YOUR SO GREAT A PEOPLE? AND THE SPEECH PLEASED THE LORD, THAT SOLOMON HAD ASKED THIS THING. AND GOD SAID UNTO HIM, BECAUSE YOU HAVE ASKED THIS THING, & YOU HAVE NOT ASKED FOR YOURSELF LONG LIFE;NEITHER HAVE ASKED RICHES FOR YOURSELF, NOR HAVE ASKED THE LIFE OF YOUR ENEMIES;BUT HAVE ASKED FOR YOURSELF UNDERSTANDING TO DISCERN JUDGMENT; BEHOLD,I HAVE DONE ACCORDING TO YOUR WORDS; &LO, I HAVE GIVEN YOU A WISE AND AN UNDERSTANDING HEART; SO THAT THERE WAS NONE LIKE YOU BEFORE YOU, NEITHER AFTER YOU SHALL ANY ARISE LIKE UNTO YOU.

AND I HAVE ALSO GIVEN YOU THAT WHICH YOU HAVE NOT ASKED, BOTH RICHES & HONOR:SO THAT THERE SHALL NOT BE ANY AMONG THE KINGS LIKE UNTO YOU ALL YOUR DAYS. AND IF YOU WILL WALK IN MY WAYS, TO KEEP MY STATUTES & MY COMMANDMENTS, AS YOUR FATHER DAVID DID WALK, THEN I WILL LENGTHEN YOUR DAYS!” OH,! WHAT A WORD OF CONVICTION,

CONVERSION, CONSECRATION, COMFORT&CHALLENGE! AND “YOU” MUST REMEMBER 2 TIMOTHY 3:15-17 AS PAUL CHALLENGED A YOUNG SPIRITUAL SON & US!! HE SAID: “AND THAT FROM A CHILD YOU HAVE KNOWN THE HOLY SCRIPTURES,WHICH ARE ABLE TO MAKE YOU WISE UNTO SALVATION THROUGH FAITH “WHICH IS IN CHRIST JESUS”.ALL SCRIPTURE IS GIVEN BY INSPIRATION OF GOD, & IS PROFITABLE FOR DOCTRINE, FOR REPROOF, FOR CORRECTION, FOR INSTRUCTION IN RIGHTEOUSNESS: THAT THE MAN OF GOD MAY BE PERFECT, THOROUGHLY FURNISHED UNTO ALL GOOD WORKS.”

ARE “YOU” LIVING IN THE DECEPTION OF A FALLEN WORLD?” OR DO YOU KNOW THAT HOLY GOD “KNOCKS” ON YOUR HEART’S DOOR & MIND &WILL, TO SAY TO YOU, “OPEN THE DOOR & I WILL COME IN & I WILL GUIDE YOU INTO ALL BIBLICAL TRUTH!”?? I WROTE WORDS OF POETRY RECENTLY THAT SAYS: “STRANGERS IN A GOD-BLESSED LAND,SELFISHLY LIVE AS ‘SLAVES’ TO A WORLD, A DEVIL, & A ‘FLESHLY’ BAND;IGNORING GOD & SINGING THEIR OWN SONG, ‘OFF-KEY’, THEY’RE LOUD & SINFULLY STRONG.

STRANGERS TO “TRUTH” & ALL THINGS “RIGHT”, THEY WANDER ON EARTH IN THEIR ‘SOULISH NIGHT’ IGNORING THE GOD OF LOVE & LIGHT, DANCING &PRANCING & JUMPING IN THEIR SIN, THEY EASILY TUTN AWAY FROM “GOD’S MIGHT HAVE BEEN”.

“NEW LIFE IN CHRIST” IS TO THEM A ‘BORE’, BECAUSE LIFE ON THEIR OWN IN SINFUL PLEASURE, VOID OF GOD IS THE SIN-NATURE’S ‘LEISURE’:SO DAY BY DAY IN THEIR SELFISH WAY, THEY WILLFULLY LIVE BLINDED TO GOD’S “BEST DAY”; THE DAY OF REDEMPTION FOR SOULS N SIN, BUT MANY WILLFULLY CHOOSE WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN!”

ARE “YOU” LIVING IN “THE DECEPTION OF A FALLEN WORLD-CULTURE OR “LIVING IN” THE TRUTH: “GOD LOVES ME & SO WANTS TO REDEEM ME,RECONCILE ME,& RE-TRAIN ME ABOUT “TRUE DISCIPLESHIP”, SO THAT I,YOU, THE “BODY OF CHRIST” IN EVERY CONTINENT & NATION, STATE & CITY, MAY TRULY BE HIS “ROYAL AMBASSADORS” EXTENDING THE KING’S MINISTRY!!!

“GOD LOVES ME, THIS I KNOW, FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO; LITTLE ONES TO HIM BELONG, THEY ARE WEAK, BUT HE IS STRONG! YES, JESUS LOVES ME,YES, JESUS LOVES ME; YES, JESUS LOVES ME – THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO!” IN THE OLD “THE AMERICAN HYMNAL”PUBLISHED IN 1933 BY ‘THE BROADMAN PRESS’, NASHVILLE,TENN.,IS A HYMN ENTITLED, “O COULD I SPEAK”,(P.11), THAT SAYS: “O COULD I SPEAK THE MATCHLESS WORTH, O COULD I SOUND THE GLORIES FORTH WHICH IN MY SAVIOR SHINE, I’D SOAR, &TOUCH THE HEAVENLY STRINGS, AND VIE WITH GABRIEL AS HE SINGS IN NOTES ALMOST DIVINE, IN NOTES ALMOST DIVINE.

I’D SING THE PRECIOUS BLOOD JESUS SPILT, MY RANSOM FROM THE DREADFUL GUILT OF SIN, & WRATH DIVINE: I’D SING HIS GLORIOUS RIGHTEOUSNESS, IN WHICH ALL-PERFECT, HEAVENLY DRESS MY SOUL SHALL EVER SHINE, MY SOUL SHALL EER SHINE.

I’D SING THE CHARACTERS HE BEARS, & ALL THE FORMS OF LOVE HE WEARS, EXALTED ON HIS THRONE:IN LOFTIEST SONGS OF SWEETEST PRAISE, I WOULD TO EVERLASTING DAYS MAKE ALL HIS GLORIES KNOWN, MAKE ALL HIS GLORIES KNOWN.

WELL,THE DELIGHTFUL DAY WILL COME WHEN MY DEAR LORD WILL BRING ME HOME, AND I SHALL SEE HIS FACE; THEN WITH MY SAVIOR, BROTHER, FRIEND, A BLEST ETERNITY I’LL SPEND, TRIUMPHANT IN HIS GRACE, TRIUMPHANT IN HIS GRACE.”

FOR YOU,YOUR CHOICE! SELF OR THE SAVIOR,LUST OR HIS LOVE, MY WORLD OR HIS KINGDOM, MY FLESHLY PLEASURES OR HIS ETERNAL PEACE, MY DARKNESS OR HIS LIGHT, MY ‘TRYING’ OR HIS WORD OF “TRUST”, MY SELF-EFFORT OR HIS SAVIOR’S LOVE EXCELLING, MY NATURAL BREATH OR HIS BREATH OF THE LOVING SPIRIT, MY ‘SPOTS’ AS SATAN’S MARKING OF SIN-CAPTURED LIVING OR HIS “SPECIAL GRACE” OF ‘NEVER-FAILING’ PRESENCE & POWER TO LIVE AS “MORE THAN CONQUERORS, BUT ETERNAL VICTORS” BECAUSE OF HIS BLOOD, HIS DEATH, HIS RESURRECTION, HIS ASCENSION, & HIS ETERNAL EYE ON YOU TO MAKE SURE YOU WALK IN HIS VICTORIOUS CONQUEST OVER SATAN, OVER SIN, & OVER PHYSICAL DEATH! CAN “YOU SAY, ‘HALLELUJAH! GLORY TO THE NAME OF KING JESUS!”