In his book entitled “Inklings of God”, Kurt Bruner used a quote by Winston Churchill in his Introduction that says: “Man will occasionally STUMBLE OVER THE TRUTH, BUT MOST OF THE TIME HE WILL PICK HIMSELF UP AND CONTINUE ON,” and I say, totally ignoring ‘divine intervention’!

But do YOU realize how true that statement is? And, especially when confronted by Christ Himself saying to us all, “You MUST be born again, born from above, born of the Spirit,” but many are offended, resentful, and continue on in unbelief.

I was impressed by Kurt Bruner when later in the same book, (p.147), he said, “Frankly, I embrace the Christian faith because it points to a God who expects us to behave ourselves but who also knows we can’t.” But do YOU also know that God KNOWS we can’t ‘redeem’ ourselves? Yet, man-made ‘religions’ worldwide think and act ‘synthetically’, thinking they are ‘authentically’ worshipping, even though like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day, deny Christ, the Promised Messiah, and deny His calling: “You must be born again”, and still today the ‘synthetic’ denies the “authentic”, “eternal reality of the Crucified, Resurrected Lord and Savior”!

And, sadly, many modern-day, so-called ‘Christian churches’, live in the façade of even active denial of “new birth” when they believe ‘church membership’ is the same!

Walter Chantry, in his writing, “Today’s Gospel,” (p.13), wrote: “Products of modern evangelism are often sad examples of Christianity. They make a profession of faith, and then continue to live like the world… ‘Decisions’ for Christ mean very little. Only a small proportion of those who ‘make decisions’ evidence the grace of a transformed life.”

But sadly a large number of American churches AND some preachers major on a “you can do it” mentality rather than “Christ in you the hope of glory”! No wonder Socrates became a well-appreciated philosopher! He once said: “To move the world we must first move ourselves.” Where do you find that in the Word of Almighty God? Didn’t Paul tell us, 2 Corinthians 1:9, [New Chain Reference Bible], “But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raises the dead”?

Most humans all across the world in their nations, or here in the USA, are mostly oblivious to the state of their spiritual death and separation from Holy God! Spiritual success in life is not by the mental philosophy of ‘whatever you sense, you can succeed,’ which may have some ‘truth’ for the ‘flesh’, but has no relevance at all to the spiritual dimension that most know nothing about!

So many today, yes, even worldwide, are locked into the philosophy of ‘self-achievement’ so strongly that rewarding ‘self’ with pats on one’s back blocks, denies, ignores, or starves any Word, leaning, or turning from that ‘self’ to the “Savior”! Life is not a ‘do what you can’ mental philosophy, but an eternal opportunity to be ONE with God Himself through Christ alone!

It’s amazing to me, and exciting, as I read a statement by Benjamin Franklin. He said several hundred years ago,(?), “There is perhaps not one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride. Beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive. Even if I could conceive that I had completely overcome it, I should probably be proud of ‘my humility’.” That’s Why we were “crucified with Christ”!

Are you aware though, at times, of the “embarrassing encumbrances” that are brought on a lot of ‘church folk’ who are swamped by ‘self-importance’, who are drowning in ‘self-worth’ that Christ crucified, and stubbornly, stupidly, studiously in pagan teachings, devote themselves to “what we’ve become” apart from the revealed knowledge of God as to the Way, the only Way, to their salvation, healing, deliverance, and completion?

David F. Wells, in his book, “No Place For Truth,” [Wm.B.Eerdmans Publ. Com., Grand Rapids, Mich., & Inter-Varsity Press, Leichester, England, 1993], so unveiled for me a story that encouraged this message! [Introduction, p.10}” Wells wrote: “In saying that I am a staunch disbeliever in the modern world, I do not wish to appear immodest, as if I come finished with the knowledge of a new discovery. In fact, I do not. In this connection, I will remember G.K.Chesterton’s story about the restless yachtsman who set sail from England with the intention of arriving at an exotic South Sea Island. After many days, he sighted land and, as soon as he could, beached his boat and ventured inland. Before him stood a dreadful pagan temple. Undaunted, he decided to claim it for England. He scaled its walls and bravely planted the Union Jack [flag] at its pinnacle. Only then did he realize that what he had scaled was the Brighton Pavilion on England’s south coast! He thought he had sailed a straight line, but because of an unfortunate miscalculation he had ACTUALLY TRAVELED IN A CIRCLE. He imagined that he was first in the land, but it turned out that he was the last.”

Do you realize, sense, or discern, that many, many people begin their “religious journeys” on the basis of men’s speculations about what they think God expects rather than Jesus’ declaration: “You MUST be born again”?

Do you remember Paul saying in Romans 12:2, “And do not be conformed to this world, [and I would say also, “and don’t be conformed to a man-made religious world”!], but be {being} transformed by the renewing of your mind.” And what the Holy Word through Christ Jesus teaches is not simply a ‘mind change’ but a mind changed by the birthing of a new heart through our Lord’s love, grace, and mercy, AS A RESULT OF HOLY-SPIRIT-CONVICTION AND HOLY SPIRIT CONVERSION!

Several verses from John 3 that I want to use in the foundation and overview of this message: John 3:5-7 says: (Amplified Bible), Jesus answered, “I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, except a man be born of water (that’s the “water of the Word”!) and (even) the Spirit, he cannot [ever] enter the kingdom of God.[Ezekial 36:25-27].

What is born of [from] the flesh is flesh – of the physical is physical; and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not – do not be surprised, astonished – at My telling you, “You must all be born anew (from above).”

Oh, and then in John 3:16-21 (Amplified Bible) we read: ‘FOR god so greatly loved AND dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only-begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts, clings to, relies upon) Him shall not perish – come to destruction, be lost – but have everlasting life.

For God did not send the Son into the world in order to judge – to reject, to condemn, to pass sentence on – the world; but that the world might find salvation and be made safe and sound through Him.

He who believes on Him – who clings to, trusts in, relies on Him – is not judged (he who trusts in Him never comes up for judgment; for him there is no rejection, no condemnation; he incurs no damnation). But he who does not believe (not cleave to, rely on, trust in Him) is judged already; (he has already been convicted; has already received his sentence) because he has not believed on and trusted in the name of the only begotten Son of God. – He is condemned for refusing to let his trust rest in Christ’s name.

The [basis of the] judgment (indictment, the test by which men are judged, the ground for the sentence) lies in this: that the Light is come into the world, and people have loved the darkness rather than and more than the Light, for their works (deeds) were evil. [Isaiah 5:20].

For every wrongdoer hates (loathes, detests) the light and will not come out into the light, but shrinks from it, lest his works – his deeds, his activities, his conduct – be exposed and reproved. BUT HE WHO PRACTICES TRUTH – who does what is right (according to God’s Word, will, and His ways!) – comes out into the light; so that his works may be plainly shown to be what they are, wrought with God – divinely prompted, done with God’s help, in dependence upon Him.”

“EVIDENCES OF NEW BIRTH CONVERSIONS”? FIRST, NO LONGER IS THERE THE DENIAL OF ONE’S ‘OLD MAN’ SIN NATURE AND SEPARATION FROM GOD BUT A PASSIONATE LONGING OF RECONCILIATION!

Sometimes it takes a Holy Word from God to release His deep conviction in one’s lost, alienated, separated from Him awareness in unbelieving hearts; and I believe 2 Peter 2:4-5 can be that ‘shock awareness’ in some hearts and minds! It says: [Amplified Bible], “For God [even] SPARED NOT ANGELS THAT SINNED, BUT CAST THEM INTO HELL, DELIVERING THEM TO BE KEPT THERE IN PITS OF GLOOM TILL THE JUDGMENT AND THEIR (FINAL) DOOM. And He spared not the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven other persons, when He brought a flood upon the world of ungodly [people].”

Notice! GOD DIDN”T EVEN SPARE ANGELS WHO SINNED BUT CAST THEM INTO HELL! GOD DIDN”T SPARE EVEN THE ANCIENT WORLD, EVEN ‘RELIGIOUS PRETENDERS’ CALLED “JUDAIZERS”, OR ‘PROMINENT’, WELL-KNOWN NATIONAL POLITICAL LEADERS, OR THE “DO MY BEST” CROWD OF the ‘self-anointed’ who worship and are devoted to their old sin natures as personal points of admiration to which they yield themselves!

In fact, Hebrews 10:25-31, my prayer is that “IT WILL SCARE HELL OUT OF YOU, IF NEEDED TO!” It says: “Not forsaking or neglecting to assemble together [as believers], as is the HABIT OF SOME PEOPLE, but admonishing – warning, urging and encouraging – one another, and all the more faithfully as you see the day approaching.

For if we go on deliberately and willfully sinning after once acquiring the knowledge of the Truth, there is no longer any sacrifice to atone for [our] sins – no further offering to which we look forward. [There is nothing left for us then] but a kind of awful and fearful prospect and expectation of divine judgment and the fury of burning wrath and indignation which will consume those who put themselves in opposition [to God]. [Isaiah 26:11].

Any person who has violated and [thus] rejected AND set at naught the Law of Moses is put to death without pity or mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. [Deut. 17:2-6]. How much worse (sterner and heavier) punishment do you suppose he will be judged to deserve who has spurned AND [thus] trampled under foot the Son of God, and who has considered the covenant blood by which he was consecrated common and unhallowed, thus profaning it and insulting the (Holy) Spirit (Who imparts) grace – the unmerited favor and blessing of God? {Exo.24:8}.

For we know Him Who said, Vengeance is Mine – retribution and the meting out of full justice rest with Me; I will repay – I will exact the compensation, says the Lord. And again, The Lord will judge and determine and solve and settle the cause and the cases of His people. It is a fearful (formidable and terrible) thing to incur the divine penalties AND be cast into the hands of the living God!”

IF you were “crucified with Christ”, does that not mean He took YOU, your old sin nature, your old godless-living life, and PUT IT TO DEATH on the Cross with Him as He shed His blood that ALL YOUR SIN AND MINE MIGHT BE WASHED AWAY? Why ‘resurrect’ what Jesus crucified?

SECOND, “EVIDENCE OF NEW-BIRTH CONVERSION”? “NO LONGER A DEEP, ABIDING LOVE OF THE WORLDLY INFLUENCES OR PEACE WITH ALL THE DEVILISH AND DEMONIC INFLUENCES AND CONTROL”! Here’s how John relates this, as we read his anointed exposure and heavenly challenge in 1 John 2:2-6!

“And He – that same Jesus Himself – is the propitiation (the atoning sacrifice) for our sins, and not for ours alone but also for [the sins of] the whole world. And this is how we may discern [daily by experience] that we are coming to know Him – to perceive, recognize, understand and become better acquainted with Him: if we keep (bear in mind, observe, practice) His teachings (precepts, commandments).

Whoever says, I know Him – I perceive, recognize, understand and am acquainted with Him – but fails to keep and obey His commandments (teachings) is a liar, and the Truth [of the Gospel] is not in him.

But he who keeps [treasures] His Word – who bears in mind His precepts, who observes His message in its entirety – truly in him has the love of ‘and’ for God has been perfected (completed, reached maturity). By this we may perceive and know and recognize and be sure that we are in Him;

Whoever says he abides in Him ought – as a personal debt – to walk and conduct himself in the same way in which He walked and conducted Himself.”

Christ Jesus was so aware of both the religious influences of false Judaism (not the true “remnant”!) and the darkness of devilish, demonic activities through man-made ‘religious expressions’, when in John 6:57-69, He said, with Peter then grabbing hold and holding on to “Jesus Only”:

“Just as the living Father sent Me, and I live (by, through, because of) the Father, even so whoever continues to feed on Me – who takes Me for his food and is nourished by Me – shall [in his turn] live through and because of Me. This is the Bread which came down from heaven. It is not like the manna which our forefathers ate and yet died. He who takes this Bread for his food shall live forever.

He said these things in a synagogue while He was teaching at Capernaum. When His disciples heard this, many of them said, This is a hard and difficult and strange saying – an offensive and unbearable message. Who can stand to hear it? – Who can be expected to listen to such teaching?

But Jesus, knowing in Himself that His disciples were complaining and protesting and grumbling about it, said to them: Is this a stumbling block and an offense to you? – Does this upset and displease and shock and scandalize you? What then [will be your reaction] if you should see the Son of Man ascending to the place where He was before?

It is the Spirit that gives life – He is the Life-giver; the flesh conveys no benefit whatever – there is no profit in it. The words (truth) that I have been speaking to you are spirit and life. But [still] some of you fail to believe and trust and have faith. For Jesus knew from the first who did not believe and had no faith, and who would betray Him and be false to Him.

And He said, This is why I have told you that no one can come to Me unless it is granted him – unless he is enabled to do so – by the Father. After this many of His disciples drew back – returned to their old associations – and no longer accompanied Him.

Jesus said to the twelve, Will you also go away? And do you too desire to leave Me? Simon Peter answered, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words (the message) of eternal life. And we have learned to believe and trust; and [more], we have come to know [surely] that You are the Christ, the Anointed One, the Son of the living God.”

There is such a vast difference between ‘religious’ individuals who WILL FALL AWAY and the vital picture and reality of a regenerated soul, indwelt by and led by the Holy Spirit! In John 6:63 Jesus said: “It is the Spirit that gives life – He is the Life-giver; the flesh conveys no benefit whatever – there is no profit in it. The words (truths) that I have been speaking to you are spirit and life.”

I love Watchman Nee’s word in his book, “Ye Search The Scriptures,” [Christian Fellowship Publishers, Inc. New York, Copyright 1974], (p.16), “Canst thou by searching find out God”, challenges the Book of Job (11:7). God is never arrived at through research. He is found by one way only – through the regenerated spirit.”

In 1 Corinthians 2:1-4, “As for myself, brethren, when I came to you I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony and evidence or mystery or secret of God [concerning what He has done through Christ for the salvation of men] in lofty words of eloquence or human philosophy and wisdom;

For I resolved to know nothing – to be acquainted with nothing; to make a display of the knowledge of [nothing] – among you except Jesus Christ, the Messiah, and Him crucified. And I (passed into a state of) weakness and was in fear (dread) and great trembling [after I had ] among you.

And my language and my message were not set forth in persuasive (enticing and plausible) words of wisdom, but they were in demonstration of the [Holy] Spirit and power of God, operating on me and stirring in the minds of my hearers the most holy emotions and thus persuading them.”

An unbelieving world, a self-indulgent flesh, and a demonically, devilish controlled mind will create and establish all kinds of ‘religious mannerisms’ but oppose “You must be born again”! For the most part, fallen humanity and the devil’s crowd and, yes, ‘church pretenders’ will settle for religious entertainment but highly oppose no longer living for yourself but living for Christ alone!

What did Paul write in 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1? Don’t miss, overlook, or casually kind of knod at his word!! It says: [Again, Amplified Bible!], “Do not be unequally yoked up with unbelievers – do not make mismated alliances with them, or come under a different yoke with then [inconsistent with your faith]. For what partnership have right living and right standing with God with iniquity and lawlessness? Or how can light fellowship with darkness?

What harmony can there be between Christ and Belial [the devil]? Or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? What agreement [can there be between] a temple of God and idols? For (In Christ!) WE ARE the temple of the living God; even as God said, I will dwell in and with and among them and will walk in and with and among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

SO, come out from among (unbelievers), and separate (sever) yourselves from them, says the Lord, and touch not [any] unclean thing; then I will receive you kindly and treat you with favor. And I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.

7:1, Therefore, since these great promises are ours, beloved, LET US CLEANSE ourselves from everything that contaminates and defiles body and spirit,, and bring [our] consecration to completeness in the (reverential) fear of God.”

I have no doubts that even most ‘church folk’ easily accept the blood of the Cross for their forgiveness but will rebel, excuse, accuse faithful men of the Word for lying when they even share Jesus saying, “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord’, but you do not do what I Say?” Dare I tell YOU that obedience is not an option in the age of grace?

Spiritual focus, even in a religious setting, is more often on fleshly concerns rather than divine revelation or the ultimate Will of God’s eternal intent? I love what Charles Stanley wrote in his booklet, “In Touch”, [April,2016, p.13], “The Lord isn’t looking for people who change a few habits by sheer force of will; He’s calling people to surrender to Him…We don’t evolve into a saved people by deleting old habits and instituting better religious ones; we are transformed by the saving power of Jesus Christ when we believe [trust in, rely upon, adhere to] Him.”

Many ‘church folk’ are highly appreciative of ‘compromisers’ because they ‘believe’ that “fleshly indulgence is justified because, though one is ‘saved’, he/she cannot do anything but sin until Christ comes again – so they blame God rather than trust His Truth! They are euphorically violent to those who uphold Jesus’ Word, like when He said, “Go, and sin no more,” but they believe sin in a believer is ‘normal, and that without ‘guilt’, because “God is love”.

There’s even by some a ‘ministerial’ maligning of the Holy Word because they feel ‘justified’ in ungodly behavior though a professing believer. And in the world around you there is philosophical rationalization because of spiritual ‘brain-tumors’ called resistance to Holy Truth! “Who needs a ‘Savior’? We’re OK , you with or without Christ are OK”! Really?

But I can tell you without hesitation that to continue sinning as a ‘believer’ is to deny Jesus’ Victory at the Cross and to refute Jesus’ words in John 15:22, “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but NOW they have no excuse for their sin.”

Do you remember Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 15:34? “Awake (from your drunken stupor and return) to sober sense and your right minds, AND SIN NO MORE. For some of you have not the knowledge of God – you are utterly and willfully and disgracefully ignorant, and continue to be so, LACKING THE SENSE OF GOD’S PRESENCE AND ALL TRUE KNOWLEDGE OF HIM. I say this to your shame.”

But, in Isaiah 41:8-15, there is a powerful word of hope to, ‘sometimes’, discouraged disciples who’ve ‘tried’ to live the overcoming life, (with no ‘discipleship’ training), but only a sad pastoral “do your best”. IF YOU DIDN’T KNOW, at the Cross Jesus took YOUR worst and YOUR best, and it was “crucified with Christ”! Look at Isaiah’s ‘Word of Hope’!

• Isaiah 41:9, “I have chosen you and not cast you off.” 2) Verse 10, “Fear not…for I am with you.” 3) Verse 10, “I AM your God…(Elohim), meaning the “high and lifted up, the mighty One,” and He’s ‘able’ to sustain us, strengthen us, and guard us (if we let Him) against the world you face, the “old man” trying to resurrect, AND even victorious over Satan! 4) Verse 10, “I WILL STRENGTHEN AND HARDEN YOU TO [DIFFICULTIES]…”. This is probably why Paul shared, “When I am weak, then I am strong,” because he did not lean on ‘fleshly abilities’ but Holy Presence – ‘Christ in YOU the hope of glory’! 5) Verse 10 again – “I will hold you up and retain you with My victorious right hand of rightness and justice.” God said in Isaiah 42:13, “The Lord will go forth as a mighty man; HE WILL ROUSE HIS ZEALOUS INDIGNATION AND VENGENCE LIKE A WARRIOR; HE WILL CRY, YES, HE WILL SHOUT ALOUD, HE WILL DO MIGHTILY AGAINST HIS ENEMIES.” 6) Verses 11-13 – “Behold, all they who are enraged and inflamed against you shall be put to shame and confounded; they who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall PERISH. You shall seek those who contend with you, and shall not find them; they who war against you shall be as nothing, as nothing at all.” 7) Verse 15 – “Behold, I will make you to be a new, sharp, threshing instrument having teeth…” In 2 Corinthians 13:10 Paul wrote: “So I write these things while I am absent from you, that when I come to you I may not have to DEAL SHARPLY in my use of the authority which the Lord has given me, [to be employed, however] for building [you] up and not tearing you down.” The “SHARP TOOL” of Holy Truth will ‘shape’ you in His image or ‘silence’ your voice if you betray Him!

“Evidence of NEW-BIRTH CONVERSIONS”, sharpened in life by His Word, Will, and Work OR slicing to threads the disobeying, compromising, contented disciple who “plays” on both sides of the street? WHICH LEADS US TO NUMBER THREE AND LAST: “NO LONGER DEVOTION TO WALK OUT ONE’S LIFE OF ‘FAITH’ (?) ON THE “STREETS OF SELF-INDULGENCES AND SELF-FLESH EMPHASES,” BUT STEPPING FAITHFULLY ON THE HIGHWAY OF HOLINESS!

In Colossians 2:5-10 Paul so strongly lays the foundation of a truly birthed and overcoming ‘Life In Christ’! “For though I am away from you in body, yet I am with you in spirit, delighted at the sight of your [standing shoulder to shoulder in such] orderly array and the firmness and the solid front and steadfastness of your faith in Christ, [that leaning of the entire human personality on Him in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom and goodness]. As you therefore received the Christ, [even] Jesus the Lord, [so] walk – regulate your lives and conduct yourselves – in union and conformity to Him.

Have the roots [of your being] firmly and deeply planted [in Him] – fixed and founded in Him – being continually built up in Him, becoming increasingly more confirmed and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and abounding and overflowing in it with thanksgiving.

See to it that no one carries you off as spoil or makes you yourselves captive by his so-called philosophy and intellectualism, and vain deceit (idle fancies and plain nonsense), following human traditions – men’s ideas of the material [rather than the spiritual] world – just crude notions following the rudimentary and elemental teachings of the universe, and disregarding [the teachings of] Christ, the Messiah.

For in Him the whole fullness of Deity (the Godhead), continues to dwell in bodily form – giving complete expression of the divine nature. AND you [in Christ] are in Him, made full and have come to fullness of life – in Christ you too are filled with the Godhead: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and reach full spiritual stature. And He is the Head of all rule and authority – of every angelic principality and power.”

Don’t you think this foundation of the true “Evidence of New-Birth Conversion” is seen in what Paul wrote to us? And it strongly agrees with what Christ Himself said when in John 7:37-38 we read: “If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink! He who believes in Me – who cleaves to and trusts in and relies upon Me – as the Scripture has said, Out from his innermost being springs and rivers of living water shall flow (continuously).”

Even in the walk of redemptive faith there are doors before us – some to condemnation, frustration, and captivity, while others are Christ’s ‘door’ to liberty, freedom from bondage to the old sin nature and ‘birthed’ to the freedom of everlasting life in the here and now, in and through Christ alone! SO…it’s either:

Self-directed in one’s ‘walk of faith’ OR “born-again to new LIFE IN CHRIST”; it’s either a ‘kingdom rule’ that is fleshly rich in sensual satisfactions or the Holy Spirit-enriched life in the very wealth of Holy God and Heaven’s Son, better known as “Emmanuel”, or “God With Us, God in Us, God through Us”, because of Resurrection Life in Christ, Resurrection Power through Christ, and Resurrection Hope instilled within us by His Holy Presence!

It’s ‘philosophically-wise’ in godless ways or personally and intimately blessed with the very “mind of Christ”! It’s either trained by the best of a world’s ‘master’ deceivers, even the devil himself, or Sovereignly guided by the Holy Spirit, truly enriched by the treasures of His Holy Word, and “Master-led” disciple makers who “feed” us on the “bread of life,” the “milk of the Word,” and upon the very “meat” of God’s Holy Truth!

The claim of Christ that He had come that we might have life and that abundant was not a fictitipous claim of a ‘false prophet’ but from the Creator of mankind and the Savior and Lord over mankind!

Jesus said: “I AM THE DOOR” to reconciliation with God, the door of divine forgiveness, the door to abiding presence of God within repentant and faith-filled hearts, and the door of receiving, walking in, and being blessed by the fruit of His Holy Life and His Holy Spirit!

Don’t you find it sad and heart-breaking that you see around you, yes, multitudes who are ‘satisfied’ with the ‘flesh-life’ and all it has to offer, closing the door on the love, grace, and mercy of God. But time will unveil for many the fundamental reality that vocational and financial successes fall short of filling the inner hunger that only Christ Jesus meets and fills!

In Catherine Marshall’s book, “Something More,” [COPYRIGHT, 1961, by Catherine Marshall, Published by Chosen Books, Lincoln, Va. 22078], (p.3), she wrote about “the famous Hollywood actress, Mary Astor, (who) has known the fairy-tale of movie stardom. An Academy Award, glamourous marriages, two children, several Beverly Hills mansions, furs, jewels, publicity – what more could any woman want? Yet Mary Astor admitted in print that ‘for years – even in the midst of fame and glamor – I yearned for contentment, happiness. It took me almost twenty years to go from idle curiosity about religion…to meeting God as a Person and a Father, and knowing that walking in (redemptive) faith meant growing up.”

AND THAT “GROWING UP” IS “FALLING DOWN” before the King of kings and Lord of lords, REPENTING, TRUSTING, RESTING IN HIS FINISHED WORK AT THE CROSS< AND EXPERIENCING THE REALITY OF HIS INDWELLING PRESENCE THROUGH THE “EVIDENCES OF A NEW-BIRTH” RELATIONSHIP!

IS YOUR BODY NOW THE “HOLY TEMPLE”?

By: J. Farrell Fisher, July 24-25, 2017

A craving, fleshly heart is because of all lives birthed in the ‘natural’ world void of the “new creation miraculous birth” through the free gift of God Himself through the shed blood of the Redeemer! Didn’t Jesus say to the ‘religious’ Nicodemus, in John 3:3, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is BORN AGAIN, he cannot see the kingdom of God”?

In fact, in John 3: 5, Jesus unveiled the process of redemptive faith! He said: “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water (the water of the Word,) AND the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God,” saying also in Verse 6, “That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Peter amplified the eternal ministry of “blood redemption through Christ” when in 1 Peter 1:22-23 he wrote: “Since you have purified your souls IN OBEYING THE TRUTH through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the Word of God which lives and abides forever.” Are YOU SPIRIT-BIRTHED by the living and abiding Word of God?

A craving, fleshly heart? A life lived independent of the Word, satisfying the impulses of a fleshly mind and heart, fitting in to the natural world of sin, deceit, and fleshly indulgences, yes, disobedient to the revealed Word of God, consumed by fleshly lusts warring against one’s soul and God Himself, living in the biblical ignorance of foolish men, camouflaging devilish hearts with “beautiful and handsome appearances”, embracing one’s appearance in its sinful nature as the height of fleshly wisdom, even openly and willingly denying the revealed Word of God, accepting of fornication, uncleanness, covetousness, even disobedience to the revealed will of God while stating “I’m a believer”, but drunk on the ‘wine’ of self-will and self-pleasure assuming falsely, “God understands”! Really?

Craving, fleshly hearts for the most part live in opposition to the good, acceptable, perfect will of God, ‘satisfied’ that as they disobey, “God understands and continually forgives,” as if in all our ‘fleshly dispensations’ or understanding, God just wipes, wipes, keeps on wiping, because forgiving through the blood of Christ is capable of changing ‘my nature’ – No! He crucified your sin nature with Christ!

Holy God was not fashioned, nor ever needed to be, because God IS Holy God – always has been and forever will be, but men birthed in the image, likeness, and nature of Adam, Jesus says, “These MUST be born again, born of the Spirit, born in and through His revealed Word”!

Mortal men are not like God, nor God like mortal men! God is not flesh but Spirit, not sin-natured but divine holiness and perfect righteousness, not striving but speaking who and what He is, always has been, and forever will be, the Way, the Truth, and the Life! But mortal men too often rest in themselves and lose out on the eternal blessing of “Christ in them the hope of glory”! And how many do you know or have heard speak about their own abilities, and how blessed God must feel to have them on His team, with no consideration of what and who Christ took to the Cross with Him!

If God made us for Himself, making us free to choose how and in whom we choose to live, having been created ‘free to choose’, sadly many choose to live independently of God, reasoning, “my best effort should be acceptable to God”, but reconciliation is by His terms, not fallen men’s terms! Fallen men announce from the mind and heart of “fallen flesh”, while Holy God announces His “finished work” and only way of reconciliation in and through the “shed blood” of Christ alone! It is dangerous grounds on which men stand if they fail to heed the voice of God: “Only guiltless blood redeems, regenerates divine life within, or restores men to My eternal will, plan, and power, in overcoming the world, the flesh, and the devil!”

It was J. Wilbur Chapman who wrote years ago these words: “I know of a name that is sunk in shame, where hearts often faint and tire; But I know a Name, a precious Name, That can set that world on fire: Its sound is sweet, its letters flame. I know a Name, a precious Name, It’s Jesus!”

But, how many really live unashamed in Christ Jesus’ Name? Are there still a few “Judases” who will sell Him for a “few pieces of silver” or a “few indulgences in my fallen flesh” or a “few transgressions understanding there is no consequence for a ‘believer’”? In the “modern-day” of “church life” the modern-mind of “professing Christians” must be reminded: “The wages of sin IS death”! When did that change? Or how many ‘church folk’ do you hear refuting that Biblical declaration? Fallen human natures ‘professing faith in Christ’ are more likely than not what the Duke of Wellington said: “Men who have nice notions of religion have no business to be soldiers (of the Cross of Christ)!” So true!

A craving, fleshly heart, baptized or not, has no business declaring their dependence upon God when they live with a declaration of independence from Holy God as they willfully choose to indulge the “flesh” He crucified! It was John Bunyan, in “The Pilgrim’s Progress” (Pt.11), who wrote: “One leak will sink a ship; and one sin will destroy a sinner;” and, I add, “One sin will sink a ‘saint’ if there is no repenting and forsaking of sin and the sin nature Christ took to the Cross”! How many “Christians” do you know who truly possess a repugnance about sinning “after choosing to be Christ’s disciple” yet excuse their ‘sinning tendencies’?

1 John 3:5 says, “And you know that He (Christ Jesus) was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin,” understanding that a ‘good tree’ birthed by Christ Jesus, according to Matthew 7:18, “cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.” It certainly doesn’t mean a full tree of fruit cannot witness even “one bad apple” – it happens! If you examine studiously I John 3:5, you’ll discern at least four truths:

• Jesus was manifested to take away our sins; and in Him is no sin.”
• Christ within you is the eternal presence and manifestation of Holy God who is senseless, only abiding and never changing in eternal Truth.
• Being one with Christ means, yes, we’re to live senseless lives.
• It is the height of absurdity to profess allegiance to the Sinless Savior and Lord but believe it’s OK without any awareness of or conviction about sinning as an evidence one never knew Him! “in Him is no sin.”

If that is true, and it is, what does Paul tell us in Romans 6: 5-11? “For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, KNOWING THIS, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that WE SHOULD NO LONGER BE SLAVES OF SIN. For he who has died (were YOU crucified with Christ?) has been FREED FROM SIN. (Has YOUR body of sin been crucified with Christ?).

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, DIES NO MORE. Death no longer has dominion over Him. FOR THE DEATH THAT CHRIST DIED, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Dare I tell you that Jesus not only took our sins and sin nature upon Himself to wipe out the disgrace of sinful hearts and minds, but through His shed blood also to vanquish sin’s grip – and if we’re “joined to Christ by grace and mercy”, what spirit is it that has deceived us if we ever get to the place we say, “sinning is Ok as long as we ‘believe’ in Jesus”, when ‘belief’, true belief, true scriptural evidence, doesn’t introduce an ‘OK’ to sin!!

But some ‘compromising believers’ disavow victory in and through Jesus concerning their old sin natures! In 2 Corinthians 4:2-7 Paul tells us: “But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending every man’s conscience in the sight of God. But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age (Satan and/or the ‘false religious leaders of the day who are ‘tools of the devil’!’) 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 Christ Jesus.” Counterfeit lights in ‘self-made followers of Jesus’ are not the Salvation Light of the Indwelling Disciple who has lived with a truly repentant heart toward God and faith only in the Christ within them, not their cheap imitation!

A.W. Pink wrote in his book “An Exposition of 1 John”, (p.115), commenting about “whoever sins has not seen Him, nor known Him,” saying: “Between abiding in Christ and sinning there is such an absolute incompatibility, that whoever sins (And keeps on saying, I JFF say!) is for the time not merely in the position of not abiding in Christ, but in the position of not having seen or known Him. In so far as he is sinning, his is virtually the very same case with that of the man who has never either seen or known Christ. The statement is very emphatic and very categorical. It is more than a mere assertion of a sort of moral inconsistency or incongruity, a certain manifest unsuitableness, in the view of common sense and right feeling. It is an assertion of absolute incompatibility, in the nature of things; and it is a very strong assertion of that, put in two forms, positively and negatively, to make it all the stronger.”

Did YOU “die with Christ”? And are YOU “abiding in Christ” through the conviction of the Holy Spirit, confession of your sin and sin nature through the Spirit, and guided by the Holy Spirit that Christ Jesus only is YOUR WAY, YOUR TRUTH, and YOUR LIFE? You “live resurrection life” because of the Spirit of the Resurrected Christ in you, yes again, “the hope of glory”! It’s not “servile pretense” but “Spirit of Christ presence”, being Himself in and through your convicted, broken, cleansed heart by the Blood of the Lamb, washing you, resurrecting you to be Christ’s resident Temple of Holiness! If you live with a faithful heart, you live your life of faith apart from sin and your old sin nature! It’s clear, at least in the Word! “If YOU are Christ’s child of faith you’ve offered your life to be dead from and in sin so the Victorious Christ will have an earthly home to be Himself! And, IF SO, “Go and sin no more!”

Again, John, in 1 John 3:7-10, in a convicting declaration states: “Little children (which can include 80-year-olds who’ve just believed!), let no one deceive you. He who practices (and keeps on practicing!) righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil. For the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. (It’s extremely sad that some choose Satan’s works over God’s grace and mercy, but they do!). Whoever has been born of God (in the spirit-realm) does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.”

And, some just laugh, saying: “Well, I guess I’ll just have to show Jesus!”, as they rebel, deny, AND choose to do as they please rather than as God decrees and declares: “The wages of sin IS death, but the gift of God IS eternal life in and through Christ Jesus only!!”

Sadly, around you flourishes a ‘society of sinners’ under the rule of Satan that see their sin-tendencies as blessings not curses, because of sinful mind and heart, dictated to by Satan, yes, desires to satisfy their ‘flesh-nature’, failing to understand it exposes their true identity of godlessness! Yet, at the same time, “confession booths” are open doors for many to ‘feel’ forgiven as they walk out, but intent on doing the same things over and over! There isn’t a ‘heavy-heart’ of brokenness about how their sin breaks God’s heart, but a ‘confession’ without any desire to be delivered from their bondage!

“Natural, worldly, self-centered, Satan-influenced individuals,” are spiritually bankrupt when it comes to understanding, receiving, reaching out to, or resting in the Word of God – they are part of societal madness, void of spiritual discernment, and blind to the grace, mercy, and love of God demonstrated in and through Calvary’s Cross!

Is it for you a craving, fleshly, God-forsaking heart or are you willing to be another “new creation miracle” out of the overflow of God’s heart and out of the abundance of Christ’s promises and fulfillment in millions and millions of lives?

There is: A new blood-covenant, the promise of a “new name”, the eternal miracle of a “new heart”, a “new door or new gate of entrance into the fullness, the brightness, the glory of God’s presence in you, the hope of glory,” a “new drink of eternal blessing – the wine of Truth, mercy, and love”, a “new spirit, attitude, outlook, and fulfillment”, a “new creation”, a “new man”, a “new and living way”, “all things made new by His eternal creative powers”, a “new vision, a new dream” not figments of one’s sleepy dreams but the formulated plans of God for your destiny as clay in the hands of the Master-Potter!

The prophet, Joel, wrote in Joel 2:28-29, God speaking: “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.”

Dare I tell you that apart from God’s visions and dreams for every individual soul, mankind lives only with the best or worst of fallen men’s fleshly ambitions apart from eternal intent! It was James Russell Lowell who once said: “The wicked and the weak, by some dark law, have a strange power to shut and rivet down their own horizons round us, to unwing our heaven-inspiring visions.” So absolutely true, but then I came across Peter Marshall’s word in “Mr. Jones, Meet the Master,” when he said: “Give us clear vision that we may know where to stand and what to stand for, because unless we stand for something (and I say, FOR SOMEONE EVEN CHRIST!), we shall fall for anything.”

But how many do you know who willfully and intently stand, yes, opposed to God’s heavenly vision unveiled in and through Christ alone? But we have the Word of God in Christ – and it is not an old Aladdin’s lamp with ‘flickering, dying flames”, but eternal Truth “setting the captives free” and appointing them to extend His Kingdom and express His love, and exercise and prove His eternal power in bringing Heaven and the Kingdom of God to earth in the repentant, believing, trusting hearts of His disciples! ARE YOU ONE OF HIS DISCIPLES?

Milton Littlefield and E.M.Wren, in the old “American Hymnal” of 1933, wrote this hymn entitled, “Follow Me, the Masrter Said” – it says: “Follow Me”, the Master said; We will follow Jesus: By His word and Spirit-led, We will follow Jesus. Still for us He lives to plead, At the throne He does intercede, offers help in time of need: We will follow Jesus.

Should the world and sin oppose, We will follow Jesus; He is greater than our foes; We will follow Jesus. On His promise we depend, He will succor and defend, help and keep us to the end: We will follow Jesus.

Though the way may dark appear, We will follow Jesus; He will make our pathway clear; We will follow Jesus. In our daily round of care, As we plead with God in prayer, With the cross which we must bear, We will follow Jesus.

Ever keep the end in view; We will follow Jesus: All His promises are true; We will follow Jesus. When this earthly course is run, And the Master says, Well done!” Life eternal we have won: We will follow Jesus.”

Tell me! Who or what has your heart and on what path are you following? Are YOU “following” Jesus, anywhere, everywhere, any time, any place, any battle field He’s already fought and won for His glory, His honor, His praise alone? Dare I tell you, “the way of the Cross leads home”!

“BLAND-SOME, HANDSOME, OR

AWESOMELY TRANSFORMED?”

It was really interesting when I read casually a statement written anonymously but included in a major book called “The Encyclopedia of Religious Quotations.” The encyclopedia was a Fleming H. Revell Company publication. The statement? “Beware of no man more than yourself.” And I’m sure without hesitation that there ought to be at times the necessity of looking to ourselves, examining ourselves, and determining if we’re responsible and accountable to God about our ‘present state’, mentally, emotionally, health-wise, and certainly spiritual evaluation about ourselves, whether under our own control or moving daily through life under God’s agenda and not our fleshly anticipation!

It was Alexander Maclaren who once said, “All along the Christian course, there must be set up altars to God on which you sacrifice yourself, or you will never advance a step.” So true!

When there is no inward analysis about where we presently are in the inner man, it is so easy in making turns more and more away from God but centering and surrendering and classifying ourselves as our own ‘man’ able to determine one’s own spiritual destiny or as an ‘asserting believer sure of one’s ‘salvation’ because they attend ‘church’ regularly yet bear “no fruit” of a redeemed, Spirit-led walk of true discipleship!

Shockingly I read where Benjamin Franklin once said, “God helps those who help themselves.” NO! A THOUSAND TIMES, NO! God helps those who empty themselves of self-control, choosing death daily to our ‘old man’ and being filled with and controlled by the Holy Presence of Christ and His “guiding” Holy Spirit, by the reality of Resurrection Life, Resurrection Power, and Resurrection Hope!

A paraphrased statement of Charles Caleb Colton says: “Heroism, magnanimity, and self-denial, in which they do not spring from the foundational truth of “death to self and pure life only in Christ’s Resurrection Presence within”, may be religious in their tendencies, but are only on the ‘personal altar’ of sacrifice of one kind of self-love to another kind of self-love,’ with no glory to God and no honor to the pretender,” but just promotes attention to ‘self-gratification”!”

Have you ever heard people in religious circles encouraging those in their circles having a hard time adjusting to their ‘profession of faith’, “You must TRY HARDER”! And the true disciple understands that it’s not a matter of ‘trying harder’ but “trusting more and more”, like we read through Paul’s teaching, led by the Holy Spirit, “Take the sentence of death daily that the Resurrection Life of Christ may be manifested in your mortal flesh”!

Daily denial of the “old self” willfully explodes”(!*) in the reality of the heart’s open door to the “Master-ing” of Christ Himself through you! Holy God longs and looks for those who willfully deny themselves and are filled and over-flowing with the Holy Presence of the Resurrected Christ, yes, Him reigning as the Victorious King in one’s humble heart, daily dead to self and the old man but living in “the fullness of the blessing” of His moment by moment “reign in victory” over your life, even over all your trials, temptations, and troubles! Sadly, in much of modern-day Christianity, many know nothing of “the joy of the Lord”!

Modern-day ‘humanity’, the general public, the national or international make-up of men, includes often rulers with no allegiance to “King Jesus”, business owners and some of their employees, State leaders with some having NO allegiance to the will of God, even universities or local school employees or state governments who’ve decided the “Sacred Scriptures” have no place in their communities, even doctors, nurses, and hospitals who have no desire or place for the ministry of the Great Physician! And even more sad is when some churches are ‘ruled’ by some pastors and elders who major more on their personal philosophies than they do “Preaching and Teaching the Word of God”, yes, excellent in its history but void and empty of its message to “go into all the world and preach the Gospel”, or validating His Presence in them by witnessing, evangelizing, loving and caring for the lost community that surrounds the local gathering and ‘smart’ preacher (?)!

Let’s examine “The Bland-some”! In “The Random House Collegiate Dictionary”, Revised Edition of 1975 by Random House Inc., the word “bland” is described as follows: “pleasantly gentle or agreeable, (and I have to ask, “With anything and everything”?), non-irritating,lacking in interest (of what doesn’t fit their mind or heart-set?,lacking liveliness, lacking loveliness in what miraculously blesses it?),unemotional, indifferent, casual, possessing either a softness, or harshness, or irritating.”

The bland-some? That’s individuals being consumed in their self-awareness that they do not like, but indifferent to the “knock” at their hearts’ doors to a caring, merciful, able God, Savior, and Lord, able to do exceedingly above All that one might consider or think, even miraculously producing a “new man”!

The bland-some, un-governed, have no desire to be governed by Another who IS the Master of an individual’s destiny! The bland-some, though within their minds and hearts are often encouraged by even a human touch or a fleshly encouragement, are strongly minded against anything Holy God has to say about them! That’s why Jesus said about the rulers over the religious Pharisees, in John 12:43, fearful of being put out of the synagogue, “for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God”!

Even from the time of beginning, by God, of man’s earthly residency, many of natural mankind had an aversion to God! And because of, and even being created “in the image or likeness of God”, and really for His glory only(!), some of natural mankind had and has no desire to be birthed again (in the Spirit!) and see their ‘seed’ becoming “servants of God”! And buried in the recesses of their minds and darkened hearts was and is, by some, was and is, resistance to obedience to God’s will or purpose for their lives! That attitude is still paramount across our known world! (That’s why true believers are called by Christ to be “witnesses to their world” of saving grace, love, power, and purpose!).

The bland-some? Have you ever read through early Exodus about Moses’ encounter with the Pharaoh of Egypt? Holy God sent faithful Moses as a witness, but Pharaoh’s heart was “hardened by God” because of his resistance to divine truth, the divine Way, and the divine purpose, exactly the ‘spiritual disease’ of the bland-some!

In 1 Samuel 8 we find the historical record of ‘bland-some’ folk who have no desire to even know what God thinks about the purpose of their existence! Follow carefully the historical record, beginning at Verse 4 through Verse 9! It says: “Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.” [Please consider!! What would happen worldwide if nations declared allegiance to Jesus’ saving grace and Jesus’ eternal purpose for lives, homes, cities, states, and nations?].

But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, THAT I SHOULD NOT REIGN OVER THEM. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day – with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods – so they are doing to you also. Now therefore, heed there voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them.” [Tell me of the present result in your life of the results of the “bland-some king of flesh” ruling in you, through you, for his hellish ‘academy award’ of deceit reigning over you presently!].

OH, BUT THEN, BEYOND THE BLAND-SOME, LET’S EXAMINE THE HANDSOME, THE ‘HOLLYWOOD’ PRODUCTION OF SELF-BEAUTIFIED, SELF-GLORIFIED, SELF- CELEBRATING!!

In, yes, the context of human existence, beyond the ‘bland-some’, there are the ‘handsome’ who truly are ‘successful’ in what most consider to be “successes, academy award winners of the best efforts of ‘flesh’, best efforts of godless men, best efforts of human achievements.” And the world around them celebrate, rejoice, and are giddy about their achievements – but GOD LAUGHS and opens the door to Hell’s celebration of their self-centered, godless existence!

Are you familiar with Pharoah of Egypt’s handsomeness, his impressiveness in ascending to national leadership, and his allegiance to his ‘handsome way’ of leadership(?)? He had ‘the peacock-pride’ of self-will, self-rule, self-preeminence! He was ruler, he was ‘master’ over slaves, he owned Egypt (he thought), and lived a self-centered, wealthy, prosperous life-style while his citizens hungered! Some consider ‘pride’ as the beginning of sin, when in reality it is only the bad fruit of what is already there, thus reigning ‘in sin’ as he ruled over his people! What are You ‘reigning’ in as you live, yes, independently of the Indwelling Christ as He makes a man’s redeemed life the center of His Earthly Throne and His Heavenly Presence?

The ‘handsome back-slappers’ have no awareness of the sin of pride, of hypocrisy, and of, yes, their vain-glory! The ‘fallen’ are spiritually blind and need the miracle of God’s saving grace to “open their eyes” to see eternal opportunity!! I was reading somewhere, not sure where or even by whom, but I wrote down a reference to the words of Charles Churchill in his writing “Independence” about William Warburton, Bishop of Glouchester, in England, many, many years ago. The statement? Speaking about the Bishop:

“He was so proud that should he meet the Twelve Apostles in the street he’d turn his nose up at them all and shove his Savior from the wall.” Wow! What an illuminating statement! Can YOU believe that even some national church leaders have been ‘pretenders’, imitators, comical ‘showboats’, shaming their profession of Christ without an ounce of possession of “the fullness of the blessing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ”? Was it pride that shamed some angels even before human creation?

Do you even grasp the absurdity of ‘fallen’, ‘professing’, ‘religious’, ‘pretending’, supposedly ‘righteous men’, celebrating their ‘religious faith’ (?), but they hold out, yield to a ‘heaven-inspired’ (?) of their ‘salvation’ when the historical, living testimony, is a Christless life never yielding to the Christ who desires to indwell them, but they profess that on their terms! YOUR “BEST” IS NOT HIS BLESSED PRESENCE!!!

You don’t seek to understand so that you may believe, you TRUST what Jesus says He’s already accomplished through His death, His Resurrection, and His Throne-Reigning in Heaven, graciously granting His Holy Spirit’s residence in you to “guide you into all truth” in “the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ”!

Valiant, blessed, fulfilled, rejoicing individuals, though having “embraced the darkness of their old sin natures” COME TO THE LIGHT OF CHRIST IN AND THROUGH And BY HIS GRACE AND MERCY THEY ARE ETERNALLY CHANGED INTO SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF A TRUE, LIVING, TRANSFORMING FAITH – It’s “JESUS ONLY”! THIS BRINGS US TO:

THE DIVINE REALITY, THE HEAVENLY MIRACLE OF GRACE OF AWESOME TRANSFORMED LIVES THROUGH THE SHED BLOOD OF CHRIST!! In John 1:14, 16 we read: “And the Word (that’s Jesus!) became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth”, with Verse 16 telling us, “And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.” Are you trying to live the Christian walk by ‘grit’ or by God’s grace?

Patiently read and follow with me Ephesians 1:15-2:10!! It says: “Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; that the God (and Father!) of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, they eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, ACCORDING TO THE WORKING OF HIS MIGHTY POWER WHICH HE WORKED IN CHRIST WHEN HE RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD AND SEATED HIM AT HIS RIGHT HAND IN THE HEAVENLY PLACES, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And God put all things under Christ Jesus’ feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Ephesians 2:1-10, “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in 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.” Can you say, “Glory, Hallelujah”?

Do you know and understand what Paul was saying in Ephesians 3:19? He was praying for Ephesian believers and us in the 21^st Century in America and the world over that we should “know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Oh, and then in Ephesians 5:17-21 we read:

“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.” Is there a continuous song of praise in your heart, spirit, and mind, even when it may be the darkest moment of your life, walk, and journey of faith and trust?

I AM TRULY ALWAYS AWED WHEN I READ PAUL’S ANOINTED ASSETMENT OF THE “PREEMINENCE OF CHRIST JESUS” IN COLOSSIANS 1:9-18! 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 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 (Christ Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all 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 preeminence.”

Question! “If Christ Jesus is meant to have preeminence IN ALL THINGS, in your life and walk, does He have preeminence in who you are and what you do? Does He have ‘preeminence’ in determining the streets upon which you walk? Your education, your training, who you date, who you marry, your evaluation and commitment of your ‘best effort’ to what you consider your spiritual, eternal calling?” What did the Word just say? “that in all things He may have the preeminence”! DOES JESUS HOLD PREEMINENCE IN YOUR LIFE’S JOURNEY? Fanny Crosby and Robert Lowry wrote the following hymn words: “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 all 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, and 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 of love. (Now, not someday, ABOVE in the after-life!).When my spirit, clothed immortal, Wings its flight to realms of day (Actual Heaven’s abode!), This my song thro’ endless ages: JESUS LED (IN ME) ALL THE WAY; (EVERY DAY IN THE STILL ETERNAL DAY, IN THE ENDLESS AGES OF NO DEATH, NO SORROW, NO PAIN, NO SEPARATION)!” And His “Eternal Light” in us never dims, never fades, never darkens! AMEN?

ARE YOU ENJOYING AND CELEBRATING AND CONTINUALLY REJOICING AND PRAISING HIM THAT BY HIS GRACE, MERCY, AND LOVE, THROUGH REPENTANCE AND FAITH, YIELDEDNESS AND SURRENDER, YOUR “NEW-BORN” LIFE IN CHRIST BECOMES HIS HOLY TEMPLE OF ABIDING PRESENCE, YES, HEAVEN ON EARTH!??!

By J.FARRELL FISHER, SEPT. , 2017

‘Soul Travel?’ Is that one person, maybe, leaning toward God or leaning further away from God? ‘Soul Travel?’ It was Aristotle, in his writing “Nocomachean Ethics”, who wrote: “As sight is in the body, so is reason in the soul.” And when I read that statement I wondered if Aristotle’s writing was “No-Common-Sense-Spiritually- If-God’s-Truth-Is-Avoided”? Reason in the soul can be the ‘traveling’ PhD professor who desires to live intellectually as far from God as his dense and empty and dried-up and rebellious mind will allow him, but he ‘travels’, and daily his ‘bright light’ of intellectualism grows darker and darker each step he takes!

‘Soul Travel?’ “Fate will carry me wherever fate wants to take me”! Would that be ‘soul-stupidity’ speaking? “I roll the dice, go with the flow of the world around me, determined by my own soul to succeed in life, yes, without your God!” ‘Soul Travel becomes Soul Tragedy’ when one has heard and determined ‘Soul Transformation’ by the blood of the Lamb of God is his/her only hope but is unnecessary for a man who knows he can prove himself worthy by his “best effort” way of life, saying, “Jesus didn’t have to die – we all have ‘worthiness’ in our bones!”

Would it amaze you to learn that most astronauts are true believers , that early mathematicians, even scientists of their day before our space crowd, saw God as the mathematical genius He is, and sought the mind of God in what they were unveiling in space travel, even in its infancy? Yes, there are still many like David’s song of praise in Psalm 19:1-2 that say: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork; Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge.”

“Soul Travel” is not a new thing, although modern, spiritually blinded men and women still try to omit Holy God and a Loving Savior from “their world”, from the beginning of earthly humanity, through Old Testament days, even still in New Testament times, down to our modern day! In Romans 1:16-32 the Apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wisely and with a broken heart for the unredeemed, shared the Truth! He wrote: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for IT IS the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For IN IT the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,

Because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man – and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, [The lie? “You can sin, it’s OK, you’ll not die!”], and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

For this reason GOD GAVE THEM UP TO VILE PASSIONS. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

AND even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, THAT THOSE WHO PRACTICE SUCH THINGS ARE DESERVING OF DEATH, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.”

That, my dear friends, ought to “scare” Hell right out of you, if even a ‘hair’ of Hell hangs around your head or heart! It’s sad when, whether public or private, fallen mankind insists on thrusting their fists in the face of God, unaware of the Judgment Day that comes, and Jesus Himself faces them to say, “Depart from Me – I never knew you, you who continue in your sin!”

You’re aware in our natural world of government relationships with the general public, if a citizen fails to file their tax returns, that impending judgment is close at hand! I was reading again Chuck Colson’s book, “Burden of Truth”, when he said: (p.241-242), “Finding psychological disorders to excuse human behavior has become a cottage industry in America today”, and he was speaking of lawyers filling out tax returns for their clients, but failed over and over to file their own returns! Could it be that some pastors are faithful in teaching “being reconciled to God through repentance and faith” yet in themselves confession and forsaking sin seldom occurs?

As a result, yes, across America, in ‘church life’ today, numberless pastors “preach the Word” while they practice acceptance in the sinful world, doing what God has already condemned! Would you even, as an American citizen today, think that our spiritual, social, political, economic, religious liberty hangs by a thin thread? If you don’t, you’re descending into the deep grave of death to all Holy God holds onto for you, yes, Him reaching out to you to pull you, your family, your business, your city, county, state, and nation out of the grave of despair in the hands of Satan, intent on bringing you and yours down with him, but compassionate God proving His love for you and yours in the sacrifice of His Son as, yes, our only Savior and Lord!

A life, a family, a government, a business, a school, a church even, can find itself ‘divorced’ from union with Holy God and His eternal purposes! And the heavy majority of those being dismantled from His eternal foundations have no awareness at all of being “reconciled to God” – they think they’ve already determined the best way: “Us at our best for Him”, when He crucified ‘us’, ‘our worst and our best’, with Christ at the Cross, and they live ‘blinded’ to the “fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ” and absent of the redemptive truth, “Christ in you the hope of glory”!

Are you aware of spiritual jaded times when, for many, there are no consequences to human godlessness, or even no consequences for ‘church-member’ emptiness of an independent heart, and a lack of spirit loyalty to the Lordship of Christ? Are you aware of the ‘self-declared-intellect’ of man who assumes he’s “redeemed” because upon his soulish mind upon which he, not God, has printed, “I’m a believer”, while in his so-called ‘walk of faith’ he rejects God’s “Highway of Holiness”, and God responds, “I never knew you”?

Are you aware of the masses of humanity, world-wide, who major on the importance of the education of the mind but never consider the condition of the heart? As a major representative of King Jesus, in 2 Corinthians 10:3-6, Paul wrote: “For though we walk in the flesh, (that’s the human body), we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience (in yourself!) when your obedience is fulfilled (in your constant yielded-ness to the Indwelling, Resident Christ!).”

Our “old man sin-nature” was “crucified with Christ”! But Satan, the world around us, AND our own crucified sin-natures will seek to impose upon the lives He purchased with His own blood, and will seek to “take you down” to the disaster of “old-life domination”! What did Paul say in 2 Corinthians 10:5? “Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”

SO…!! Rather than “Soul Travel”, there must be in our hearts the reality of, yes, “Soul Transformation”! If, which all fallen men live with, there is the deep, devilish, and demanding ‘natural’ fallen nature, is there “Hope” for lives that are slavish to the natural, enslaved to a ‘world spirit’, and bound by the power of Satan and his slavish demons? And when you do come to Christ in repentance and redemptive, saving, regenerative faith, are the wars over? Hate to tell you, but they’ve just begun!

But in Galatians 6:14-15 Paul gives us a strong word for the foundation of our ‘born-again-lives! He said: “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. FOR in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.” There’s an amazing word from Oswald Chambers in his book, “My Utmost For His Highest,” (p.266), where Chambers wrote under the powerful anointing of the Holy Spirit great Truth. He said:

“The Gospel of Jesus Christ always forces an issue of will. Do I accept God’s verdict on sin in the Cross of Christ? Have I the slightest interest in the death of Jesus? Do I want to be identified with His death, to be killed right out to all interest in sin, in worldliness, in self – to be so identified with Jesus that I am spoilt for everything else but Him? The great privilege of discipleship is that I can sign on under His Cross, and that means death to sin. Get alone with Jesus and either tell Him that you do not want sin to die out in you; or else tell Him that at all costs you want to be identified with His death. (JFF: I dare to ask you: ‘How many ‘church folk’ do you know who understand the ‘old sin-man was crucified with Christ’?’ Not many, because they’ve been convinced they can’t do anything but sin until they get to heaven!).

Chambers wrote on: Immediately you transact in confident faith in what our Lord did on the Cross, a supernatural identification with His death takes place, and you will know with a knowledge that passes knowledge that your “old man” is crucified with Christ. The proof that your old man is crucified with Christ is the amazing ease with which the life of God in you enables you to obey the voice of Jesus Christ.” WOW!

Do you rest in the reality of Biblical Truth? Colossians 3:3 says, Paul declaring, “For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Glory! My Holman Study Bible (NKJV) says in the footnotes of Colossians 3:3, “The Greek verb form of “hidden” connotes that God fully completed the action in the past with permanent results.” Are YOU ‘exposed in your old sin nature’ or “hidden with Christ in God”? Are YOU accepting of the historical fact that YOU “were crucified with Christ, nevertheless you live (victoriously)” because the Resurrected Christ resides, reigns, and continuingly raises you up in His fullness? Were you, through Christ, delivered from the domination of the world, the flesh or old sin nature, and from Satan’s deceit and domination of your ‘former’ life without Christ?

Do you know “the peace that passes all understanding”? Do you know “I am more than conqueror through Christ”? Have you “been raised up into heavenly places”, yes, living in His Kingdom under His Sovereign reign? Have YOU, because of His shed blood and resurrection, because of the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, been made free from the law of sin and death? Are YOU ‘spiritually minded’, living in His life, His peace, and His purposes in you and through you? Are YOU “led by the Spirit of God”, unveiling you as a true son of God?

What was it Paul recorded in Romans 8:28-32? “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”

What HAS God GIVEN TO US WHO REPENT AND REST IN CHRIST ALONE? I close with Ephesians 1:3-14 where Paul defines our “gifts”, not our “trying our best”: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which HE MADE US ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED (THE LORD JESUS!).

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He MADE US ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED.

In Him (In Christ Jesus) we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth – in Him.

In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

In Him you also “trusted”, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” CAN YOU SAY “AMEN” TO WHAT YOU’VE JUST HEARD?

In the old “Broadman Hymnal” of 1940, there’s a hymn entitled “Seal Us, O Holy Spirit.” It says: “Seal us, O Holy Spirit, Grant us Your imprint we pray; We would be more like the Savior, Stamped with His image today.

Seal us, O Holy Spirit, Help us Your likeness to show; Then from our lives unto others Stream of rich blessings will flow.

Seal us, O Holy Spirit, Make us Your own this hour; Let me be useful, dear Master, Seal us with witnessing power.

Seal us, seal us, Seal us just now, we pray; Seal us, O Holy Spirit, Seal us for service today.” I ask you: Do you daily choose the altar of sacrifice to your “old man” that the Resurrection Life of Christ may be manifested daily in you and through you to His honor, His glory, and His praise? Let’s choose “empty tomb” living releasing Christ in us and through us!