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WHAT KIND OF MUSIC IS TRULY CHRISTIAN MUSIC?

I am putting this 4 lesson series as one lesson for our IF YOU COULD KNOW site of Born Again Lessons.  It seems that the one thing that most new Christians don’t realize is that their music is one of the biggest things that keeps them from moving as in our original illustration from the world on the left of our illustration to the right which represents being a Christian and SOLD OUT TO GOD.  Many times Christians change in every way but the thing that brings them down is their desire for the music of the world.  It has gotten so bad that when Larry Norman wrote the song, “Why Should the Devil Have All The Good Music,” that the whole “Christian” world decided that they did not need true Christian music and a new kind of music was developed called CCM music.  This is a video of Larry Norman destroying all that is good and right in music and replacing it with a new form of music which is clearly on the side of the world.  Don’t let CCM fool you with their “Christian Words.”  When you watch this video you will see that  there is nothing “Christan” about this kind of music and this lesson on the NEW SONG of a Christian will explain it very clearly by definitions from the Bible and also from the Music World.  The four lecctures entitled THE SYMPHONY OF LIFE SEMINAR are delivered by Dr. Frank Garlock of BOB JONES UNIVERSITY.  If there is anything that a Christian needs more than anything else besides prayer and reading the Bible, it is a NEW SONG as explained in this LESSON 28 of our series.

There are four lectures listed below:

1.  You’re Putting Me On

2.  The Message Is The Music

3.  Pop Goes The Music

4.  A New Song

(From notes on the SYMPHONY OF LIFE SEMINAR by Frank Garlock of Bob Jones University)

LECTURE – 1

“YOU’RE PUTTING ME ON”

If a person is carrying water from one place to another and they have a hole in the bottom of the bucket, they will lose all the water, even if the hole is small. Proverbs 17:14 says, “The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water…” We live in a generation where we have a hole in the bottom of our spiritual buckets. Hebrews 2:1 says, “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.” Christian young people in our day have punched a hole in the bottom of the bucket and all the water is running out. Unsaved people there is no bottom to the bucket.

When you go to a Christian school, (or church for that matter) and you got little or nothing out of prayer and reading the Bible, you have a hole in the bottom of your spiritual bucket. Our spiritual lives are leaking out because something is punching holes in our bucket of faith and convictions.

We will use the Bible and draw charts and if what I say cannot be backed up by the Bible, I’ll take back what I have said. Let’s look at Ephesians 5:10 – “Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.” Please try to memorize this verse and read Ephesians 4, 5, & 6.

Ephesians 4:22 says, “That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts.” In this lecture we are calling it “You’re Putting Me On.” We see three things being said here in Ephesians. 1) Put off the Old Man. 2) Be renewed, and 3) Put on the New Man.

The Bible has a lot to say about new things in our lives. In II Corinthians 5:17 it says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” When the Bible talks about all things becoming new, it is also talking about music. We as Christians need to realize that when we got saved, God wanted us to have a new kind of music in our lives. Whenever the Bible tells us what to do it also tells us how.

Ephesians 5:10 gives us the key to all that God wants to teach us because He will show us how through the word of God. “Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.” Proving means testing. God wants us to test everything in our lives by the Word of God. If it does not measure up, we need to make a change. Imagine if you will that you get on a plane to fly to a distant town. Then imagine how you would feel if you found out that the plane had never been tested. Imagine further if you found out that the pilot had never flown a plane before. How long would you stay on the plane?

It is the same thing with spiritual things. Daniel 1:8 says, “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.” In verse 12 Daniel said, “Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink.” God always tests us beyond what He requires of us. God wants to see what we are made of and how dedicated we really are to Him.

People always say that music is a mater of personal taste. They have the mistaken impression that there is different music for different types of people. They think that young people have young music, and old people have old music. The question is not whether we are young or old but WHAT KIND OF MUSIC DOES GOD WANT? Again we get back to Ephesians 5:10 which says, “Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.” Imagine if you will two circles. Between those two circles is a line connecting the two circles. The one circle represents being sold out completely to the world. Ephesians 6:12 says, ” For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” When one is sold out to the world they are at the mercy of the rulers of that world and they are serving Satan. The other circle represents being completely sold out to God. Anyone who is a Christian is supposed to be sold out to God and opposed to the world. That means that we Christians are to DO WHAT GOD SAYS. Let me ask you a question. DO YOU WANT TO DO WHAT GOD WANTS YOU TO DO?

Suppose that I could take the Bible and show you in the Bible that rock music * is wrong and that it is the world’s music. Suppose that I could show you that rock music * does not belong in the life of a Christian. Would you say, “If you could show me that rock music * is wrong, I’ll have nothing to do with it.”?

Our problem is not that we do not know what to do, but that we do know what to do and we do not do what we know and it becomes a hole in the bottom of the bucket that lets all the water run out of our spiritual lives. Teenagers today love sound more than they love God, they love the sound of the world’s music more than they love God. I would hate to think that it was my love for the music of the world that made a hole in the bottom of my spiritual bucket. I would hate to think that it was my love of rock music * that kept me from the will of God for my life. I would hate to stand before God some day and have to say, “I couldn’t serve you because I love the rock music * sound.”

A young man came to Frank Garlock and asked him the question, “Why do I hate myself?” Mr. Garlock took him to the chart described above and asked him where on the line between the two circles he would place himself between being totally sold out to the world, and being totally sold out to God. He placed himself in neither circle but at some point on the line between. You who are reading this article, place yourself between the two circles that we have drawn in your mind. Where do you stand?

Now, in your mind, draw a circle around the whole area between the two circles. Revelation 3:15,16 says, “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.” We as Christians need to fear the Lord. We need to fear the presence and power of God in our lives. The story is told of a girl who was playing a prank in class. She was drawing an ugly picture of the teacher on the board at the front of the class. The teacher sneaked into the room behind the piano. She kept drawing and drawing. The rest of the class was cracking up because they knew the teacher was there all that time. When the bell rang, she started to go back to her seat. As she walked by the piano, the teacher stood up, RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER. She turned every shade of red and the expression on her face was that of horror and dismay, BECAUSE OF THE PRESENCE AND POWER OF THE TEACHER.

When you become aware of the presence and power of God you will realize that you cannot hide anything from Him and you will suddenly have the fear of the Lord come into your mind. The reason that people do not fear the Lord today is that they have forgotten that God is a holy and righteous God that cannot stand the sight of sin. When you become aware of that fact, you will have the fear of God. If you don’t have this reverential fear, then you don’t know God.

The verse above in Revelation says that when we are in the middle, God wants to spew us out of His mouth. Revelation 3:17 says, “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” Do you see what happens? When you are not either sold out to God or the world, you are in the middle. That means you are lukewarm. That means that you are wretched and miserable, and poor and BLIND, and naked. God actually says that when you are neither cold nor hot, you have become blind. Let’s learn the principle of blindness.

I Corinthians 2:7,8 says, “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:” The strange thing about the wisdom of God is that the Devil is blinded by his own evil. The very place where he thought he was winning, Christ won instead. But after all these years, he still has not changed. He thinks that he will win. II Thessalonians 2:10-12 says, “And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.” Read these verses again and answer the question, who sends them the strong delusion? The answer is, God does. When you will not receive the truth that God has for you, He will send you a strong delusion to believe in, a lie. Anton Levay, minister of the Church of Satan in California a few years back, had 5,000 members of which 2,000 members came from fundamental Bible believing churches. These are all people that heard the truth but did not act upon the truth that they heard. Because of that, they are worshiping the devil.

When you study the field of rock musicians shows the same thing. Alice cooper said that his father was a preacher. Elvis Presley grew up in church. Joe Cocker and Tad Stevens have the same story. James Taylor said “Don’t give us any of the cop out, ‘The Bible tells me so,’ we don’t want that kind of thinking.” There is a group that sings “Heaven is a four-letter word.”

You may be reading this or some other things that have been said about rock music *, and you may say, “I just don’t see it.” WATCH OUT! John 3:3 says, “Except a man be born again, he CANNOT SEE the kingdom of God.” Maybe you’re thinking, “He has some good points, but I’ve got some good points too.” Then James 4:17 is true, “To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” There is a difference between not being able to see, and seeing it and not doing it. If you can see it and still won’t do it, it is a sin.

In II Peter 1:1 the phrase “like precious faith” is talking about people that are saved. Then in verse five it says, “add to your faith.” Ephesians 4:15 says, “But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.” God is teaching us in these verses that we should be growing, never standing still as a Christian. You are either getting closer to God or getting further away. Peter says in II Peter 1:9 “But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.” This is talking about a Christian that doesn’t obey the truth. This means that a person has become blind because he is lukewarm. He is neither how nor cold. He is neither sold out to the World, nor sold out to God.

Here is a statement that you should write down and remember: Character is a set of beliefs that result in consistent behavior.

The Mafia has character, but it is bad character. They are, at least, consistent. Christians should also be consistent. Have you ever heard someone that cannot carry a tune? If they cannot tell what is wrong but they say that they will sing right just for the teacher, they will sing wrong again when they leave to go home. If the teacher can get the student to hear what he hears, then the student will be like the teacher. That is what Christian Character is all about. We get close to the Lord and he teaches us through the Word of God and after awhile we begin to think like God does.

You can be born again but remain lukewarm if you never learn Christian Character. The way to get Christian Character is to say, “I want God’s best for my life, I want to be sold out for God.” The interesting thing is that people who are sold out to God know what is going on. Also people that are sold out for the world have better eye sight than those that are lukewarm. Let me show you what I mean.

Harper Valley Magazine, April 1972, in an article by Joan Pazer who writes for the Sunday New York Times and also writes for Rock magazines, rock books and is not opposed to rock music * but is in favor of it, makes some statements. She was asked to go to New York City, not some southern town in the Bible Belt. She interviewed music students who were studying to be musicians. After several weeks and thousands of students at schools like Juliard, she had a report. Of all the thousands of music students, she found only ONE student that liked rock music* named Marty. She told him that she had not found one student that had come to SERIOUS MUSIC from ROCK. He answered, “The problem with Rock is that it’s defining limits are visceral rather than cerebral.” Visceral means physical or sensual. Cerebral means intellectual or mental. He says, “It is a visceral form of self expression and volume is often used to cover up a lack of technique.” He says this and likes it. Conclusion? Real serious musicians in New York City say that rock music* is junk, not worth having. They can see better than lukewarm Christians.

YOU CANNOT USE ROCK MUSIC* TO REACH OUT TO THE WORLD BECAUSE IT DOES NOT COMMUNICATE TO ALL THE WORLD. Norman Nadel, when talking about “Jesus Christ, Superstar” says, “Jesus of Nazareth deserves far better.” Time Magazine said of the rock opera, “Rarely has so much conceit, commercial cynicism, bad taste, musical ignorance, and all around incompetence been within the grooves of a single LP, it has something to offend everyone.” Time Magazine of July 30, 1973 in talking about the film version of Superstar called it, “an epistle from the Philistines.” Newsweek Magazine in July 9, 1973 talking about Superstar says, “It’s one of the true fiasco’s of the modern Cinema. It has fatal foolishness everywhere. We danced and sang and Jesus was crucified and a good time was had by all, Lord forgive them, they knew not what they were doing.”

That was years ago. At that time there were stupid Christians that thought of the rock opera as a way to get the Gospel out to the lost world, while the world was saying that it was trash. They were obviously lukewarm Christians.

There was a book out a few years ago called THE GREENING OF AMERICA. In that book, it talks of a revolution in our country called, “Consciousness Three.” Charles Ryke of Yale University wrote it. He talks about two things that give away who is in the revolution. On page 251, he says, “A good place to begin is clothes, for the dress of the new generation expresses a number of the major themes of Consciousness Three in a vary vivid and immediate way. The clothes are earthly and sensual.” DO YOU KNOW HOW TO DRESS PROPERLY AS A CHRISTIAN? There are five standards that God gives us. Men should dress like men, and women should dress like women. Men ought to look like a man without any question, and a woman ought to look like a woman without any question.

I Timothy 2:9 says, “In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;” Shamefacedness means being embarrassed toward men and with meekness toward God. Sobriety means having good sense. I Peter 3:3 says, “Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel” (4) “But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.” Here, notice the words, “meek” and “quiet spirit.” God is saying that we should dress to draw attention to our character. The reason that the world dresses like it does is that they don’t want you to see their character. What part of the body shows your character? The answer is your face. You should dress to draw attention to your face.

Continuing the quotation from the book above, “The clothes are extremely expressive of the human body. They make one conscious of the body. The new clothes make the wearer conscious of his own body. They are a declaration of sensuality.” Continuing on page 254 it says, “These costumes do not hide the real person, they show a state of mind and thus reveal him to us.” Page 257 says, “The new clothes express a new set of shared attitudes and values.” This is Charles Ryke of Yale University. He is describing the dress and attitudes of the world. IF CHRISTIANS DO NOT BELIEVE LIKE THE WORLD, THEY SHOULD NOT DRESS LIKE THEM. The world says that if you dress like them, you share their attitudes and values.

Don’t you hate a hypocrite? The worst ones are people that are born again Christians to try to look and dress and act like the world. You are trying to tell the world that you are not different from them. Dr. Jack Hyles was with two long-haired hippies that claimed to be saved. He made the statement that he could not tell by appearance. “That is the trouble with you fundamentalists, you are always judging by appearance,” they said. “How did you know I was a fundamentalist?” Dr. Hyles said, “That’s the trouble with you hippies, always judging by appearance.” About that time a Sailor came walking by. “Hello, soldier.” Dr. Hyles said. “That’s a Sailor, not a Soldier,” replied the hippies. “That’s the trouble with you hippies, always judging by appearance.”

Isaiah 3:9 says, “The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! For they have rewarded evil unto themselves.” What the Bible is saying here is that their appearance is a DEAD GIVEAWAY. A mature Christian can tell who are the rebellious teens in a church by their countenance. Picture, if you will a person trying to describe joy with a frown on their face. How convincing do you think that they would be? Picture again a guy walking like a girl and claiming to be a real man. IF YOU SAY THAT YOU ARE A BORN AGAIN CHRISTIAN THEN YOU BETTER LOOK LIKE IT.

What else does Charles Ryke from Yale University say will tell who is in the revolution? Page 260 says, “When we turn to the music of consciousness Three, we come to the chief medium of expression, the chief means by which inner feelings are communicated. Music has become the deepest means of communication and expression for an entire culture. It expresses raunchy, sweaty sex.”

We live in a country that has become sensual in every aspect of their lives. The way they dress, the way that they talk, the things that they read, their music, and even their religion has become sensual. Romans 13:14 says, “…make not provision for the flesh.” The truth is that as Christians, WE SHOULD BE DIFFERENT FROM THE WORLD. I John 2:15 says, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” James 4:4 says, “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”

Matthew 7:13,14 says, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” It is not popular to dress like and have the music of a Christian. The world is going down a broad road to destruction. We should not be like them. We will be thought to be strange. But it does not matter. People can see what we are by the way we dress and the type music that we like.

In the 70′s the musicians that were influencing the teens were Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones, and Alice Cooper. Alice Cooper would take a couple of live hamsters and squeeze them in his hands unto the blood runs out through his fingers. He would take a doll and pour out what looked like blood, chopping off the arms and legs and throwing them out to the audience. He even did a simulated hanging of himself. People said, “I know that is wrong.” But they were not against the Partrige family, Bobby Sherman, Jackson five, who is now Michael Jackson. Today we have Madonna, Ozman Brothers and others.

You say that it has some elements of good along with the bad. Let me ask you a question? What if you had a steak and it was 50% steak and 50% salt. Would it be good? How about 75% steak and 25% salt? Both would be bad, wouldn’t they?

Parade magazine, in January 21, 1973 said, “Young girls are attracted to safe figures with whom they can engage in sexual fantasies.” Talking about the Ozmans, it says, “the Ozmans provide that safe, secure, non threatening image. That’s why the teeny-boppers identify with them, their music and their by-products. The basis of it all, without Michael (Jackson) and Donny (Ozman), the Jackson five, and the Ozmans would lack the Sexual catalyst to attract that breed of pre-teens, so eager to buy their own records, attend their concerts, and indulge their preconscious sexual fantasies, that basis of it all.”

Mild rock * is the Marijuana of the rock field, and the step mother to the harder stuff. Soft rock is the step to the harder stuff, and so is Christian Rock*. Even melancholy music, moody blues, has the world’s philosophies, and country music is where rock used to be.

We do not get what is going on. A man was trying out chauffeurs. He decided to test them to see who was the best. He took them to a mountain road with a steep drop off. He asked the first one how close he could get without going off the edge. He said within two feet. The second said that he could get within one foot. But when he asked the third one, he replied, “I don’t know about the other two, but I am going to stay as far away from the edge as possible.” We as Christians should not want 50%, 25%, 10%, or even 5% salt. We need to get all the way back to God’s standard. WE NEED TO STAY AS FAR AWAY FROM THE EDGE AS POSSIBLE.

II Corinthians 10:12 says, “For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.” We are so stupid. We can always find someone worse than us. The problem is that if we do that we are not wise. WHAT WE NEED TO START DOING, IS TO MEASURE OURSELVES BY WHAT GOD WANTS. “Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.” Ephesians 5:10.

DO YOU WANT WHAT GOD WANTS FOR YOU? Then you need to be willing to be Sold out to God, EVEN IF IT MEANS CHANGING YOUR MUSIC AND STYLE OF DRESS.

(Written from lecture one by Frank Garlock)

(From Symphony of Life Seminar by Frank Garlock)

LECTURE TWO

THE MUSIC IS THE MESSAGE

There is nothing wonderful about having a hard heart and not being able to be moved by God or by things that move normal people. The more you let the Devil give you an emotional, synthetic experience with Rock* and that kind of thing, the less you will be able to respond to God. It is the hyper-emotional synthetic experience that will keep you from that which is real and genuine. Remember the verse that was used in the first lecture, Ephesians 5:10. “Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.”

A pastor in Birmingham turned on a Christian station that was playing hard rock. He could not believe what he was hearing. He then turned on a secular station that had good music playing on it. The Christian station was far worse than the secular station. You may say, “That was his opinion.” Let me ask you a question. What kind of music does God want us to have? Ephesians 5:11 says, “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” The Bible is telling us that we are to reprove evil. Ephesians 5:6 says, “Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.” God says that we should not allow “vain words” to deceive us.

What the Devil does in rock music* is to take the words and empty them of their meaning. This means that no real communication exists. There is a book called The Treasure of Our Tongue, which says, (written by Lincoln Barnett) “The trend in all art forms has been AWAY FROM COMMON EXPERIENCE and common understanding and in the direction of the indefinable, the liking for the ambiguous and mystical. This is at the bottom of a love of confusion. The key word in our day is confusion. No one seems to understand what is going on, (and we know that God is not the author of confusion). Words do nothing if they are emptied of meaning. Words work only when men agree what their components mean….John Cage says, ‘I have nothing to say and I am saying it, and that is poetry as far as I need it.’ If you were to ask a neo-orthodox person or a neo-evangelical person about the inspiration of the Bible, they would say that Shakespeare was just as talented. If you ask them if Jesus is the Divine Son of God, they will say we are sons of God too. We even need to define Jesus and being born again.

In this lesson we will show you how this is happening with rock music*. The rock musicians* are taking away the meaning of words deliberately and they do it deliberately to trick young people. What is happening to us today is like taking a frog and placing him in a tank that is heated so gradually that the frog will not jump out and he boils to death. In the same way Christians have compared themselves with the world by staying a certain “safe” distance but they don’t realize that the world has moved and now they are where the world used to be. When we do that and fail to compare ourselves with the Bible, we make a big mistake.

John Lennon said, “It’s the same message, but now it’s sugar coated. It’s anti-religious, anti- nationalistic, anti-conventional, and anti- capitalistic, but now I understand what you have to do, PUT YOUR MESSAGE ACROSS WITH A LITTLE HONEY.” They call this sweet rock or soft rock*. It is sugar coated, with honey on it, so even Christian people will swallow it and think it is good, but don’t realize that the message is still the same and that they have changed things around so that the Christians won’t catch on. Lennon says, “People have always turned to music to express their feelings about the problems of life. Music has served as an expression and reflection of the problems of life. Music has served as an expression and reflection of the problems of our society. Music tells you what is going on. You study the music and you can realize what is happening.”

In Readers Digest Magazine, June, 1973, it says, “What sound to us like expressions of futility and despair, are to the young lyrics speaking about freedom, if freedom may be taken to mean a rejection of responsibility. It is a defiant tongue that takes pleasure in this language, primitive, vulgar, undisciplined.” What they are saying is that the language of rock music* is the language of rebellion. Language of rebellion is not something that a Christian should desire in his life, because it is also rebellion against God and the Word of God. Because of that we Christians should want nothing to do with it. We seem to think that it is bad only if the words are bad, but I would say that if rock music* is good, then prove what is right with it. We think that it is bad only if the words talk about illicit sex or drugs and then it is wrong. NO, IT IS THE MUSIC ITSELF THAT IS BAD. THE WORDS ONLY LET YOU KNOW WHAT THE MUSIC ALREADY SAYS. Even if excellent words are put with a rock beat, the music changes the meaning of the words.

A recording is played during the lecture of a famous hymn of the “Lord’s Prayer.” The music is so overpowering that the words can scarcely be distinguished. Frank Garlock has to explain that this is the “Lord’s Prayer.” He shows by demonstrating how the music cancels the words. You could demonstrate the same thing if you were to stand in front of a crowd with a big frown on your face and then say that you are happy. In the rock opera Godspell, which is played by way of illustration, (sound bites only) all are dressed like clowns, with faces white and lips and cheeks red. Steven Schwartz, who wrote it says that “Christianity is the biggest myth around, and I am going to show what a myth it is by making a joke out of it.” What he did is to take the words of Scripture and made them into a joke by putting them with a rock music* beat. (Ad this point in the lecture Frank Garlock plays parts of “Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord,” “God Save the People,” and “Day by Day.” This is what is called sweet rock*. It is one of the early attempts at putting Christian words with the devil’s music and the whole purpose was always to make a joke on Christianity. The words are not bad because they are taken out of Scripture, but the music is saying the exact opposite of the words and that is what the writer intended to do. It is a clever and funny dirty joke. This is just as much blasphemy as if someone stood and cursed God to the face. This music is not a means of getting the Gospel out but of bringing God down and blaspheming Him to His face.

In a book called “Rock music*” by William J. Shaeffer, it says on page 13, “We must look at rock as one principle dialect in the language of culture.” He says that the music is a language that tells you what is going on. On page 25, he says, “There is no separation of form and content in Rock since they are fused as a continuous experience, a package of simultaneous impressions and feelings.” You cannot take sacred words and put rock music* to it because it does not work. He says, “You cannot separate the message of the rock music*.” On page 61, he says, “Rock commentators often describe the music as a sharing of consciousness, a connection of sensibilities beyond the verbal level; communication without words, without verbal conceptualization.” They view Rock as an organic nucleus of culture, a part of the basic tissue of their lives. On page 62, he says, ” Rock as a mythopied force, a tool for altering consciousness.” What he is saying is that the music is a tool to alter the consciousness, it is actually a way of thinking on its own. IF YOU WANT TO LEARN TO THINK LIKE THE WORLD, THEN LISTEN TO ROCK MUSIC*. On page 73, he says, “Regardless of what ideology is inserted into the music, rock’s effect is to concentrate the listener’s reactions on THE INSTANT, ON HIMSELF INCLOSED IN THE INSTANT, rock shows an EXISTENTIAL ATTITUDE, it is home made existentialism.” On page 75 he says, “What the music says is at a level below words.” He is saying, don’t listen to the words because the words don’t matter. “The mythology of rock has communicated itself through the music itself. They exist as powerful states of consciousness, for the young who will hear rock through their flesh and bones. Rock has acted as a catalyst, a force uniting ideas and feelings, it is a medium, rock is a cult of irrationality, a reverence for the instinctual, the visceral (sensual), and a distrust of reason and logic. This form of anti-intellectualism can be highly dangerous, and can lead to totalitarian modes of thought and action. Linked with this anti-intellectualism is an interest in the occult, magic, superstition, exotic religious thought, anything contrary to the main currents of Western thought. Also directly connected is an obsession with the unconscious mind. The force of drug culture has been its promise to reveal the hidden instinctual man, to free the individual from restrictions and limitations of his conscious mind and his gross physical body.” He is saying that rock music* is closely linked to the occult and thus the very essence of rock music* would fit in the realm of idolatry which is an abomination to the Lord.

In the book “Greening of America,” after talking about how words mean nothing, he says, “music, on the other hand says all the things they want to say or feel.” For a Christian, having rock music* with Christian words is their last link with the world. The Scripture teaches that we are dead to the world in Christ. Rebellious Christians know that drinking, drugs, smoking, and sex are bad, but won’t give up their evil music. IF YOU WANT TO REALLY BE SOLD OUT TO GOD, THEN GIVE THE MUSIC UP. THEN YOU CAN REALLY BE SOLD OUT TO GOD. Don’t put your rock music* in a closet, destroy it. The only thing that should be done with trash is to destroy it. Ephesians 5:17 says, “Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.” AS LONG AS YOU HANG ON TO THE WORLD AND IT’S MUSIC, YOU WILL NEVER KNOW GOD’S WILL FOR YOUR LIFE. YOU NEED TO MAKE A COMPLETE BREAK.

There are three ways that music affects you. We see examples over and over in the Scripture. In I Samuel 16:23, it says, “and it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.” Here we see three things:

1. Saul was refreshed – a physical response. Music affects your body. If you play a march or a college fight song you can feel your foot moving to the beat of the music. In an article, “MUSIC IS GOOD MEDICINE FOR CURING ULCERS,” the author writes, “Music is good medicine for curing ulcers and other illnesses caused by stress.” In DISTRAUGHT MUSICIANS, it says, “musicians who perform works that are too loud, they involve loud electronic sounds, can expect to suffer stomach ulcers, heart problems, and insomnia. 60% of musicians in major orchestras suffer considerable discomfort from performing such works.” Music affects your body. With an electroencephalogram they found that a musician will move every muscle in his body, just sitting in his chair listening to an orchestral work.

a. Ultrasonics – sounds above your hearing range. Newsweek Magazine says “The Virginia Electric and Power Company has come up with a novel experiment for keeping fish away from danger. The company has installed four underwater loud speakers, near the water intakes in its plant on the James River in Surrey, Virginia. The program, raucous rock music* from a local rock station and blaring twenty-four hours a day.” The fish can’t stand it. The thing that does it is Ultrasonics. Only a jet engine or an amplifier can produce ultrasonics. One can buy an amplifier strong enough to produce an earthquake, and to hear a rock band twenty miles away. Be careful about ear phones. Symphony orchestras are not that loud but the sound from an amplifier can permanently damage ear cells. Some teenagers have 65 year old ears from listening to too much rock music* and playing it too loud. b. Infrasonics – sounds that are below your hearing range. If you get the sound to 7 cycles per second it will greatly affect you, giving you a high, getting you stoned without drugs. Your body will produce some drugs of its own just from hearing the sound. “The scientists said that the test nearly cost us all our lives, luckily we were able to turn it off fast. All of us were sick for hours, everything in us was vibrating.” This is an article about a scientific experiment using Infrasonics. When the vibrations were down to 7 cycles per second, they found that they thought they could kill people up to five miles away with nothing but sound. (Read about the new technology called “EMP”)  That is what is happening to the new music with bass so loud that it shakes houses as the cars with speakers in the trunk pass by. Just watch “American Bandstand” or “Soul Train” with the sound turned off. Look at the movement that is caused by the music. MUSIC AFFECTS THE BODY. If that is the standard, then what type of motions go with your music. Is it tapping the foot, or moving like “Soul Train.” And then ask yourself if you could move your body like that “as unto the Lord” just because there were some Christian words thrown in to make it alright.

2. Saul was made well – music affected his mind. “Rock is a method for altering consciousness.” Psychotherapeutic music is played in mental hospitals as a medicine for the mind, to help mental patients. Autioanalgesia is a way of using music or sound in such a way as to limit pain during an operation. It is used by dentists instead of pain killer. With a set of ear phones and a dial in your lap, he asks you to turn the dial when he starts drilling until you cannot feel the pain. 80% of people can do this and never feel pain. One badly burned boy was able to kill his pain with this but it damages the ears. A rock station manager was asked a question one time, “How could you clean up rock music*?” He said, “Eliminate the repetition, the beat, and the volume.” They responded, “Then it wouldn’t be rock music*.” Rock music* can be defined as REPETITION, BEAT, AND VOLUME. Repetition is alright in music as long as it is in STRICT CONTROL. Frank Garlock tells about someone making chili and instead of putting 7 teaspoons of chili into the mix, they put 7 ounces. He makes the point that chili powder is ok as long as it is under STRICT CONTROL. He plays a number by “Grand Funk” where a phrase is repeated endlessly throughout the number. He mentions a number by the “Monkeys” where the number lasts 2 minutes and 15 seconds and the words “going down” are repeated 85 times.

That would be equivalent to your mother saying, “Make the bed,” over and over and over for one LOUD HOUR. What would you do? The reason that you would go crazy is the repetition. One of the key things that is used in hypnotizing people is repetition, and that is what the Devil does through the music and then he feeds you with all kinds of devilish philosophy. When someone is hypnotized you can give him subtle suggestions, and he will not remember getting the suggestion but he will do what you told him to do. Sex, drugs, and other things are fed to your mind when you don’t expect by rock music*. The Devil anesthetizes your will, your mind, and your spirit. Prayer, Sunday School, and other things cannot cancel the rock music* in your mind. The average teen listens to rock 4-6 hours a day according to Ralf Nader. Listening to rock music* is what makes you a fool. You are being brainwashed by your worst enemy. In the book, “Rock music*” on page 79 it says, “What is undeniable about rock is its hypnotic power, it has gripped millions of young people around the world and transformed their lives.” You cannot study better and listen to rock. The very root word of music is muse which means to think. Amuse means not to think. “Rock is auto- intellectual music. One either fights it and leaves, or loses oneself in it in a trance-like state.” Even those that write the music are telling us here that rock music* is hypnotic music to keep you from thinking. Let me challenge you. Try to go thirty days with ABSOLUTELY NO ROCK MUSIC*. Spend the time that you would have used with the music reading the Word of God. If you are a teenager, your grades will definitely improve.

3. THE EVIL SPIRIT DEPARTED FROM HIM. Music affects you spiritually. MUSIC HAS SPIRITUAL POWER. Donovan says, “Rock is the perfect religious vehicle.” The book “Rock Beyond Woodstock” says, “Rock became a religion, a way to God.” The Devil is out to get you spiritually. He wants you to worship him even if it means using his music with some Christian words in it. Occult music with Christian words does not mean it is Christian. We will show in the next lecture what the basic elements of music are and how Christian music differs from rock music*. Romans 12:1,2 says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” God says “present your bodies” because he knows that you cannot go anywhere without your body. When young ladies learn this they will keep their bodies properly covered, because their bodies do not belong to the men on the street, but they belong to God. We are to be a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. As we said in Ephesians 5:10, “Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.” Are you keeping yourselves acceptable unto the Lord? “And be not conformed to this world.” Many Christians are like Jell-O. “And be ye transformed,” which means metamorphosis, “by the renewing of your mind.” God wants your mind. What if your mind had a television screen that showed what you think? Would you want people to see your thoughts?

Isaiah 26:3 says, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” Philippians 2:5 says, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 4:23,24 says, “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

All these verses have to do with the mind. What you think about is what you will become. You can control your mind if you want to. You can live without the hypnotic influence of rock music* if you want to. “That ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” “Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.” When you give your body, mind, and spirit to God, you will then know what the will of God is for your life. The questions that you have had up to now will start to be answered.

ARE YOU WILLING TO FIX THE HOLE IN THE BOTTOM OF YOUR SPIRITUAL BUCKET?

(From notes on the Symphony of Life Seminar by Frank Garlock)

(Notes from the Symphony of Life Seminar, by Frank Garlock)

Lecture 3

POP GOES THE MUSIC

I am going to give you something that you can use that will be a tremendous help to you. We as Christians should have songs of testimony that are filled with God and what He has done. Even songs of testimony should be directed to God and not centered in me. We should have songs that are not primarily about our feelings. This lecture is called “Pop goes the Music.” Galatians 5:16 says, “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.”

THE REASON THAT SO MANY PEOPLE LIKE ROCK MUSIC* IS THAT IT APPEALS TO THE FLESH. Rock music* appeals to the ADAM or carnal nature. There is a story told by an old Indian man that talks of the two natures within each of us. When asked which one wins the battle, the old Indian said it was the one that is fed the most. That is true, but what God wants us to do is not to feed the old man but to crucify him. Galatians 5:24 says, “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” When we do that, we will not like or listen to the wrong kind of music.

WHAT ARE THE PRINCIPLES OF GOOD MUSIC? This is what we are going to talk about. The one word that symbolizes all good music is VARIETY or BALANCE, not necessarily equal proportions. The two main elements of music are:

TENSION

RELAXATION

Symphony music has a mixture of tension and relaxation. As one listens to any major symphonic masterpiece, they can hear the balance between tension and relaxation. There are times when the music builds to a climax and then there are other times that it gets soft and relaxed. All good music is like that in balancing tension and relaxation. The elements of tension are always under strict control. Remember the illustration that we used about something being 50% salt. That would be too much. In the same way, music with too much tension is out of balance. It needs to be under strict control.

EVEN THOUGH THERE ARE MANY KINDS OF ROCK MUSIC*, THEY ARE ALL BAD BECAUSE THEY ARE ALL SENSUAL. Rock music* is like taking a basket of bad apples and putting one good one into the basket with the bad ones. The good one will never make the bad ones good, but the bad ones will make the one good one bad. Rock music*ians have even taken classical music and put a rock beat to it to make it more appealing. I heard “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” with a rock beat. It completely destroyed the music. They have done the same with Bach, the New World Symphony, Gospel music, Master the Tempest is Raging, and even children’s Sunday School songs.

Galatians 5:17 that we read earlier says that the flesh and the spirit are contrary one to another. Good music has the elements under strict control. Here are the elements of tension and the elements of relaxation:

TENSION

1. Rhythm 2. Repetition 3. High tones 4. Dissidence 5. Volume

RELAXATION

1. Melody 2. Variety 3. Low notes 4. Consonance 5. Softness

THE TROUBLE WITH ROCK MUSIC* IS THAT IT IS MADE UP ALMOST ENTIRELY OF TENSION (99%). Rock music* has taken the elements of tension from several previous popular styles:

1. Blues 2 Rag Time 3. Dixie Land 4. Bee Bop 5. Jazz

Rock music* takes the elements of tension out of these styles and combines them all into one style which is 99% tension. One musician spent one whole week listening to 1000 rock record long-play albums and found only three songs with a legitimate modulation in them. Most never even changed keys.

An article on rock music* says, “Rock is so loud that you can’t disturb it, it creates its own environment, creating its own surroundings, it’s over powering, and it’s primitive ritualism. One either fights it and leaves, or immerses oneself in it in a trance like state. Rock is more than just music, it is connected with a number of political, sociological, aesthetic and other questions.” They are saying that rock is built almost completely on tension, it overpowers those who listen to it. NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO TO IT, IT WILL STILL AFFECT YOU. IT IS GARBAGE. It is deliberately written to be sensual, it is calculated by the Devil and the world to trap you.

We have seen what the Bible said in I Samuel 16:23 about the effects of music upon King Saul when David played for him. Every human is made up of three parts and they are placed here in the order of importance in spiritual life:

1. Spirit – the most important part of a man. 2. Soul – the nest in importance. 3. Body – the least important

When these are in the proper perspective a man will have freedom and walk in the Spirit. The spirit of a man is where the Holy Spirit dwells. The Soul and Body are to be in subjection to the spirit and ultimately the Holy Spirit. True freedom in Christ comes from following the laws of the spirit and submitting to the authority that is over us. What would it be like if all the motorists on the freeways were allowed to travel at any speed that they wanted? Would that be freedom? No, it would be disaster. What would happen in our lives if the body was in authority with the soul and spirit being second and third in the line of authority? The Bible calls it Sensuality. Ephesians 4:17-19 says, “This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart.”

The result of walking in the flesh is 1) having the understanding darkened, 2) being alienated from the life of God, and 3) having the heart blinded. Romans 1:24 describes the state of those that walk in the flesh and away from God, “Wherefore God also gave them up unto uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:” The end result will be that God will give a person up to uncleanness in defiling their body, and to vile affections in craving things that are wrong. God is not looking for talent as much as He is for faithfulness. Anyone can be good and faithful. Romans 1:28 says that God gave them over to a reprobate mind. Because they lived sensual lives, they polluted their mind and their spirit.

THE TYPE OF MUSIC YOU RESPOND TO SHOWS WHAT IS INSIDE YOU AND WHAT PART OF YOU IS IN CONTROL IN YOUR LIFE. Ephesians 5:18,19 says, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” We are to be filled with the Spirit. We are to be singing and making MELODY. The melody is the part in music to which your spirit responds. The word MELODY comes from two Greek words that means a singer of praises, or odes to God. Even the word melody means to praise God. This means that our MELODY should be as accurate as the Christianity that it portrays.

What are some perversions that are used even in the singing of a melody in Christian music? 1) Using the technique of a jazz musician to scoop into the notes rather than hit them dead on. This also goes along with a tenant of the rock culture that there are no absolutes. 2) Singing Christian music with a breathy voice. One can picture a woman singing with a breathy voice singing into the mike in almost a whisper, and slurring the notes as she sings. This is a sensual form of music. It makes the listener too close to the singer. One is in the intimate zone of a person that has to whisper. The melody should be as accurate as the music it portrays.

The MIND responds to the HARMONY, just as the spirit responds to the MELODY. The Soul is the joining place between the spirit and the body. If you know what a scale is in music, try to imagine a scale being played up to the seventh note, and never arrive at the final, or eighth, note or the root. The result is that you cringe at the sound. The human ear requires the harmonic sound to conclude with the tonic note or the eighth note of the scale.

The RHYTHM is the part that appeals to the BODY. Any music that is worth listening to has rhythm that is no different than the pulse in the body. When the pulse becomes either dead or over worked it becomes out of balance. Christian music should be that which has the pulse under strict control. When you have wild Christian music where the beat is out of control, then it ceases to be Christian music no matter what words are placed with the music. At that point it becomes sensual. The beat or sensuality completely cancels out any message that the words are trying to portray and it literally becomes blasphemy. Real Christian music is FIRST MELODY, THEN HARMONY, and THEN RHYTHM and all of these under strict control.

A rock song that illustrates how the basic premise of rock music* is sensual because of the beat is as follows:

“Give me the beat boys and fill my soul. I want to get lost in your rock and roll, And drift away. Don’t want no melody, don’t want no harmony, But give me the beat boys and fill my soul I want to get lost in your rock and roll And drift away.”

THEY GAVE IT AWAY!!!! They don’t want any melody, THAT IS THE SPIRITUAL PART. They don’t want any harmony, THAT IS THE INTELLECTUAL PART.

ROCK MUSIC* IS ANTI-SPIRITUAL and ANTI- INTELLECTUAL music. THEY WANT THE BEAT. They want the FLESH that they can get lost in. THEY WANT TO GET LOST IN SENSUALITY. A Christian should not want this if he is a new creature in Christ as the Bible says. We should be new creatures with new desires and that means that we should want a NEW SONG. A Christian should only want God’s best, that which makes him be what God wants him to be. It makes all the difference in the world. The question is, “WHAT DOES GOD WANT ME TO HAVE?” What we need to do is to ask God to change our desires. Do as it says in Ephesians 5:10 – “Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.”

(Written from notes taken from the Symphony of Live Seminar by Frank Garlock)

LECTURE 4

A NEW SONG

We want to call what we are talking about in this section learning to use the “principle of replacement.” Ephesians 4:22-25 says, “That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.” God is telling us here to put off the old man, the old ways, the old clothes, the old ideas, the old principles, and the old music. God wants our lives to be different.

We are also told to redeem the time because the days are evil. Ephesians 5:16 says, “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Life is short and we have a huge battle to fight. We cannot fight that battle with no armor. Ephesians 6 talks about how we are to stand because we are in the evil days. Ephesians 5:10 says, “Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.” In the day that we live and with the battle on our hand on every side, we need to have a new song in our hearts unto the Lord. God told us to put off some things, and He also told us to put on some things. God wants us to put a NEW SONG into our hearts.

Ephesians 2:1 says, “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; (2) Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:” God says that the old man is dead and we have been given new life. That new life is to be different. Galatians 2:20 says, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” When we are crucified with Christ the old man dies. We put off the old man with his desires and ways. We put off the old man with his music as well. God does not want us to be like the world. Ephesians 2:2,3 says, “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.” God wants us to not have the spirit of the world, but be filled with the Spirit of the Lord.

Ephesians 2:4,5 says, “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)” God has done a wonderful thing to those of us who were dead in sins. He has made us alive in Christ. There is a story of a man who was rich. When he died, he was buried in his Cadillac sitting behind the wheel. As the Cadillac was being lowered into the grave someone said, “Boy, that’s really living.” As ridiculous as that sounds, we as Christians are doing the same thing. We look at the world and what it has to offer. We can see that it is dead and has nothing to offer us, and yet we say, “That is really living.” Two drunks will come out of a bar, be fortunate to make it home without being killed on the highway, wake up the next morning with a hang over and say, “That is really living.”

Christians are the only ones that really experience life as God wants us to experience it. But since we have been saved and the old man has died, we need to learn the principle of replacement. That means, whenever you take something away from yourself, never leave yourself with a vacuum, always replace it with something better. When young people give rock music*, they go back to it because they do not replace it. If you were to come to a table with steak and baloney on it, would you drool over the baloney or the steak? The reason that you drool over the Devil’s baloney is because you have never developed a taste for steak. If you take away the sensual from most people and give them that which is wholesome, they would not appreciate it because they have never developed a taste for that which is wholesome.

Hebrews 5:13 says, “For every one that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.” If all you as a Christian can digest is milk, you are still a baby. Many people get saved but only live on pre-chewed milk. They get nothing for themselves, and they never grow to where they can eat steak. Do you ever get tired of the saliva?

Hebrews 5:14 says, “But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” Strong meat is for those who are mature. You cannot eat good meat without chewing it, which takes work. The Devil tries to make his junk slide down easy, but that doesn’t mean it is good.

I Timothy 6:11 says, “But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.” There are some things that we should flee and forsake as Christians, but there are other things that we should follow and acquire. God is showing us that we give up some things and we begin some things.

Galatians 5:19 says, “Now the works of the flesh are manifest….” and verse 22 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is……” As Christians we are to take away the works of the flesh and replace them with the works of the Spirit.

Colossians 3:8-15 says, “But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all. Put on therefore, as the elect of God holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.” God is saying to put off fleshy things and put on Spiritual things. But it never fails that Christians argue against what the Bible says. They always have an excuse for that they are doing and what they like.

James 4:15 says, “This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.” You can argue against mature Christians all you want to, and you can argue against the fact that rock music* is wrong even with Christian words, but your wisdom is not from above. What we need to do is apply the principle of replacement to music. CHRISTIANS NEED TO DECIDE THAT THEY WILL COMPLETELY FORSAKE ROCK MUSIC* AND REPLACE IT WITH GOD’S MUSIC.

Psalms 40:3 says, “And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.” WE NEED TO PUT A NEW SONG INTO OUR HEARTS. What is a new song? PRAISE TO GOD. Our problem is that we base everything on subjectivism; we say “I” or “me” which means our lives are centered on ourselves. We don’t realize that the Devil is a counterfeiter and he is trying to give us what is not real in our lives. Bank tellers are trained to detect counterfeit money. The way that they do it is by handling real money all the time. That way, when they get the counterfeit, they know the difference. We should be that way with the Word of God. We should study and memorize it so much that when we hear something that is the Devil’s counterfeit, we will know that it is wrong and why from knowledge of the Word of God. When you argue against some of the principles that we have discussed in these lectures you are revealing your own lack of knowledge of the Word of God. You may say that your experience does not match the word of God, but it is always dangerous to base what we believe on experience. IF YOUR EXPERIENCE DOES NOT MATCH THE WORD OF GOD, YOUR EXPERIENCE IS WRONG, NOT THE BIBLE. Objectivism is putting our faith in the Bible and in the Lord Jesus, and in God himself no matter what the experience says. One of the problems with modern music is that it is based on experience, not on the Word of God. Let’s find out in the Bible what God says.

Exodus 15:1 says, “Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.” Here we find Moses and the children of Israel strike up a song and the song that they sing is sung UNTO THE LORD. They told what God had done, and what He is. They sang unto the Lord, not unto a crowd.

I Samuel 2:1 says, “And Hannah prayed, and said My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, mine horn is exalted in the Lord: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation…” Here we find Hannah singing to the Lord and praising Him for what He is and what He has done.

II Chronicles 5:13 says, “It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord.” This is the occasion of the dedication of the Temple in the Old Testament for the nation of Israel. They had musicians, 288 teachers of music, an orchestra of 4000 instruments. There were 200,000 musicians and 123 trumpet players. They were as one praising and thanking the Lord. They sang how good the Lord is and His mercy endureth forever. THEN THE GLORY OF THE LORD FILLED THE HOUSE. THE MUSIC WAS SO GREAT IN PRAISING GOD THAT THE PRIEST COULD NOT PREACH HIS SERMON AND MINISTER TO THE PEOPLE BECAUSE OF THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD.

When we do what God says, then God honors us with his presence, His power, and His glory.

Ephesians 5:19 says, “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” Here we have the New Testament Church singing to the Lord. Colossians 3:16 says, “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” Here again we have songs that are sung TO THE LORD. What this verse shows us it that when we are filled with the Word of God, we will sing songs unto the Lord.

Acts 16:25 says, “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.” Here their singing to the Lord was heard by the prisoners. GOD JOINED IN TO SING BASS AND IT SHOOK THE JAIL WHICH RESULTED IN THE SALVATION OF THE JAILER AND HIS HOUSE.

What kind of song do you sing? A girl who had listened to rock music* for years stopped listening to it because she felt she should stop. She wrote a letter from a mental hospital to a preacher saying that though she had not listened to it in six years, she could still hear the music in her mind and could not get rid of it from her head. She continued to have this problem until she learned to replace the old songs with praised unto the Lord. As we read in Psalm 40:3 above, she put a new song in her heart. When she did that, she was cured.

You should get some good Hymns of the faith and memorize them. When you are alone, you should sing them unto the Lord. Here are some examples of songs to the Lord you could memorize and sing:

1. Great is Thy Faithfulness. 2. How Great Thou Art 3. To God be the Glory 4. God of Our Fathers (for examples of this kind of music played on the violin, visit DAVID WILLIAMS VIOLINIST.)

Sit down right now and make a list of songs that you can sing unto the Lord. God wants you to have the best in your life. Quit listening to rock music* and when the old songs try to come back into your mind, SING A NEW SONG UNTO THE LORD. Then when you get the new song, you will be able to be a soul-winner. Psalms 40:3 says, “And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.” IT SAYS THAT WHEN YOU SING THE NEW SONG THAT GOD WANTS YOU TO SING PEOPLE WILL COME TO JESUS AND TRUST IN HIM.

Learn God’s new song and how to meditate on the Word of God and you can solve some of the emotional problems that destroy your life. Give yourself to God and let Him give you that NEW SONG SO MANY SHALL SEE IT, AND FEAR, AND SHALL TRUST IN THE LORD.

(This is the last lecture on the Symphony of Life Seminar by Frank Garlock, from notes based on the tape series.)

 * Since CCM is a derivitave of the movement started by Larry Norman and others, we include that in every refere to “Rock” or “Rock and Roll.”

How to Know Jesus

MEETING JESUS

The whole purpose of life is summed up in the wonderful truth that anyone can know God personally in the person of Jesus Christ.  In order to know Him, one needs to be introduced to him and to see what it is that makes him so special.  Let me try to make a case for the intrinsic value of Jesus who is called the Christ.

“The officers answered, Never man spake like this man.”  (John 7:46)

“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.”  (Hebrews 1:1-9)

“In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by 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 might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled.”  (Colossians 1:14-21)

“For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.”  (Colossians 2:9)

“For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house.”  (Hebrews 3:3)

“Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.”  (Hebrews 5:10)

“So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.”  (Hebrews 5:5-6)

“Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;”  (Hebrews 5:8)

What are these verses talking about?  They are talking about Jesus!  Well, you say, what is so special about Jesus?  I have a little list in one of my sermons that goes like this:

1. To the artist Jesus is the One Altogether Lovely.
2. To the architect Jesus is the Chief Cornerstone.
3. To the astronomer Jesus is the Sun of Righteousness.
4. To the baker Jesus is the Living Bread.
5. To the banker Jesus is the Treasure of all Treasures.
6. To the biologist Jesus is the Life.
7. To the builder Jesus is the Sure Foundation.
8. To the carpenter Jesus is the Door
9. To the doctor Jesus is the Great Physician.
10. To the educator Jesus is the Great Teacher.
11. To the engineer Jesus is the New and Living Way.
12. To the farmer Jesus is the Sower and the Lord of the Harvest.
13. To the florist Jesus is the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valley.
14. To the geologist Jesus is the Rock of Ages.
15. To the horticulturist Jesus is the True Vine.
16. To the judge Jesus is the Righteous Judge, the Judge of All Men.
17. To the juror Jesus is the Faithful and True Witness.
18. To the jeweler Jesus is the Pearl of Great Price.
19. To the lawyer Jesus is the Counselor, the Lawgiver.
20. To the newspaperman Jesus is the Good Tidings of Great Joy.
21. To the oculist Jesus is the Light of the Eyes.
22. To the philanthropist Jesus is the Gift of God.
23. To the preacher Jesus is the Word of God.
24. To the sculptor Jesus is the Living Stone.
25. To the servant Jesus is the Good Master.
26. To the student Jesus is the Incarnate Truth.
27. To the statesman Jesus is the Desire of All Nations.
28. To the theologian Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our Faith.
29. To the toiler Jesus is the Giver of Rest.
30. To the sinner Jesus is the Lamb of God Who Takes Away The Sin of The World.
31. To the saint Jesus is the Son of the Living God, the Savior, the Redeemer, and the Lord.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.”  (Matthew 13:44)  There is something about knowing Jesus that does this to people.  It is like the treasure in the field to know Him.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.”  (Matthew 13:45-46)  What is it worth to you to have the Lord of the Universe actually live in your heart?  It is definitely worth selling all in order to purchase the pearl.

The point that we are making here and will continue to make as we move further in this book is that there is intrinsic value in knowing Jesus.  There is enough intrinsic value to turn from a life of selfish living to serving Jesus as a life-time servant.  Regeneration is what happens to a man when his vision of life is changed by meeting Jesus face to face.  There is a  blind song writer that put the concept into words that paint a true picture.  Her name was Fanny Crosby.  Read this poem which is also a famous hymn:

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

1. O soul, are you weary and troubled?

No light in the darkness you see?

There’s light for a look at the Savior,

And life more abundant and free!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face;

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim

In the light of His glory and grace.

2. Through death into life everlasting

He passed, and we follow Him there;

Over us sin no more hath dominion

For more than conquerors we are!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face;

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim

In the light of His glory and grace.

3. His Word shall not fail you-He promised;

Believe Him, and all will be well;

Then go to a world that is dying,

His perfect salvation to tell!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face;

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim

In the light of His glory and grace.

What is it that is so special about Jesus?  It is His love!  Jesus has what is called  disinterested benevolence which is how we describe the love of God as well.  His love is like none other!  It is something that will change you forever:

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  (Romans 8:35-39)

“For the love of Christ constraineth 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.”  (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)

“That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:17-19)

“Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”  (Jude 1:21)

The love of God and of Jesus does something that none can explain but it certainly changes a life completely.

“But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”  (Philippians 3:7-14)

Let’s read the testimony of Charles G. Finney, revivalist

At an early hour I started for the office.  But just before I arrived at the office, something seemed to confront me with questions like these:  indeed, it seemed as if the inquiry within myself, as an inward voice said to me, “What are you waiting for?  Did you not promise to give your heart to God?  And what are you trying to do?  Are you endeavoring to work out a righteousness of your own?”

Just at this point the whole question of Gospel salvation opened to my mind in a manner most marvelous to me at the time.  I think I then saw, as clearly as I ever have in my life, the reality and fullness of the atonement of Christ.  I saw that his work was a finished work; and that instead of having, or needing, any righteousness of my own to recommend me to God, I had to submit myself to the righteousness of God through Christ.  Gospel salvation seemed to me to be an offer of something to be accepted; and that it was full and complete; and that all that was necessary on my part, was to get my own consent to give up my sins, and accept Christ.  Salvation, it seemed to me, instead of being a thing to be wrought out, by my own works, was a thing to be found entirely in the Lord Jesus Christ, who presented himself before me as my God and my Savior.

Without being distinctly aware of it, I had stopped in the street right where the inward voice seemed to arrest me.  How long I remained in that position I cannot say.  But after this distinct revelation had stood for some little time before my mind, the question seemed to be put, “Will you accept it now, to-day?”  I replied, “Yes; I will accept it to-day, or I will die in the attempt.”

North of the village, and over the hill, lay a piece of woods, in which I was in the almost daily habit of walking, more or less, when it was pleasant weather.  It was now October, and the time was past for my frequent walks there.  Nevertheless, instead of going to the office, I returned and bent my course toward the woods, feeling that I must be alone and away from all human eyes and ears, so that I could pour out my prayer to God.

But still my pride must show itself.  As I went over the hill, it occurred to me that some one might see me and suppose that I was going away to pray.  Yet probably there was not a person on earth that would have suspected such a thing, had he seen me going.  But so great was my pride, and so much was I possessed with the fear of man, that I recollect that I skulked along under the fence, till I got so far out of sight that no one from the village could see me.  I then penetrated into the woods, I should think, a quarter of a mile, went over on the other side of the hill, and found a place where some large trees had fallen across each other, leaving an open place between.  There I saw I could make a kind of closet.  I crept into this placed and knelt down for prayer.  As I turned to go up into the woods, I recollect to have said, “I will give my heart to God, or I never will come down from there.”  I recollect repeating this as I went up-“I will give my heart to God before I ever come down again.”

But when I attempted to pray I found that my heart would not pray.  I had supposed that I could only be where I could speak aloud, without being overheard, I could pray freely.  But lo!  When I came to try, I was dumb; that is, I had nothing to say to God; or at least I could say but a few words, and those without heart.  In attempting to pray I would hear a rustling in the leaves, as I thought, and would stop and look up to see if somebody were not coming.  This I did several times.

Finally I found myself verging fast to despair.  I said to myself, “I cannot pray.  My heart is dead to God, and will not pray.”  I then reproached myself for having promised to give my heart to God before I left the woods. When I came to try, I found that I could not give my heart to God.  My inward soul hung back, and there was no going out of my heart to God.  I began to feel deeply that it was too late; that it must be that I was given up of God and was past hope.

The thought was pressing me of the rashness of my promise, that I would give my heart to God that day or die in the attempt.  It seemed to me as if that was binding upon my soul; and yet I was going to break my vow.  A great sinking and discouragement came over me, and I felt almost too weak to stand upon my knees.

Just at this moment I again thought I heard some one approach me, and I opened my eyes to see whether it were so.  But right there the revelation of my pride of heart, as the great difficulty that stood in the way, was distinctly shown to me.  An overwhelming sense of my wickedness in being ashamed to have a human being see me on my knees before God, took such powerful possession of me, that I cried at the top of my voice, and exclaimed that I would not leave that place it all the men on earth and all the devils in hell surrounded me.  “What!” I said, “such a degraded sinner as I am, on my knees confessing my sins to the great and holy God; and ashamed to have any human being, and a sinner like myself, find me on my knees endeavoring to make my peace with my offended God?”  The sin appeared awful, infinite.  It broke me down before the Lord.

Just at that point this passage of Scripture seemed to drop into my mind with a flood of light:  “Then shall ye go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.  Then shall ye seek me and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”  I instantly seized hold of this with my heart.  I had intellectually believed the Bible before; but never had the truth been in my mind that faith was a voluntary trust instead of an intellectual state.  I was as conscious as I was of my existence, of trusting at that moment in God’s veracity.  Somehow I knew that that was a passage of Scripture, though I do not think I had ever read it.  I knew that it was God’s word, and God’s voice, as it were, that spoke to me.  I cried to Him, “Lord, I take thee with all my heart, and that I have come here to pray to thee; and thou has promised to hear me.”

That seemed to settle the question that I could then, that day, perform my vow.  The Spirit seemed to lay stress upon that idea in the text, “When you search for me with all your heart.”  The question of when, that is of the present time, seemed to fall heavily into my heart.  I told the Lord that I should take him at his word; that he could not lie; and that therefore I was sure that he heard my prayer, and that he would be found of me.

He then gave me many other promises, both from the Old and the New Testament, especially some most precious promises respecting our Lord Jesus Christ.  I never can, in words, make any human being understand how precious and true those promises appeared to me.  I took them one after the other as infallible truth, the assertions of God who could not lie.  They did not seem so much to fall into my intellect as into my heart, to be put within the grasp of the voluntary powers of my mind;  and I seized hold of them, appropriated them, and fastened upon them with the grasp of a drowning man.

I continued to pray, and to receive and appropriate promises for a long time, I know not how long.  I prayed till my mind became so full that, before I was aware of it, I was on my feet and tripping up the ascent toward the road.  The question of my being converted, had not so much as arisen to my thought; but as I went up, brushing through the leaves and bushes, I recollect saying with great emphasis, “If I am ever converted, I will preach the Gospel.”

I soon reached the road that led to the village, and began to reflect upon what had passed; and I found that my mind had become most wonderfully quiet and peaceful.  I said to myself, “What is this? I must have grieved the Holy Ghost entirely away.  I have lost all my conviction.  I have not a particle of concern about my soul; and it must be that the Spirit has left me.”  “Why!”  thought I, “I never was so far from being concerned about my own salvation in my life.”

Then I remembered what I had said to God while I was on my knees-that I had said I would take him at his word; and indeed I recollected a good many things that I had said, and concluded that it was no wonder that the Spirit had left me; that for such a sinner as I was to take hold of God’s word in that way, was presumption if not blasphemy.  I concluded that in my excitement I had grieved the Holy Spirit, and perhaps committed the unpardonable sin.

I walked quietly toward the village; and so perfectly quiet was my mind that it seemed as if all nature listened.  It was on the 10th of October, and a very pleasant day.  I had gone into the woods immediately after an early breakfast; and when I returned to the village I found it was dinner time.  Yet I had been wholly unconscious of the time that had passed; it appeared to me that I had been gone from the village but a short time.

But how was I to account for the quiet of my mind?  I tried to recall my convictions, to get back again the load of sin under which I had been laboring.  But all sense of sin, and all consciousness of present sin or guilt, had departed from me.  I said to myself, “What is this, that I cannot arouse any sense of guilt in my soul, as great a sinner as I am?”  I tried in vain to make myself anxious about my present state.  I was so quiet and peaceful that I tried to feel concerned about that, lest it should be a result of my having grieved the Spirit away.  But take any view of it I would, I could not be anxious at all about my soul, and about my spiritual state.  The repose of my mind was unspeakably great.  I never can describe it in words.  The thought of God was sweet to my mind, and the most profound spiritual tranquility had taken full possession of me.  This was a great mystery; but it did not distress or perplex me.

I went to my dinner, and found I had no appetite to eat.  I then went to the office, and found that Squire W-had gone to dinner.  I took down my bass-viol, and, as I was accustomed to do, began to plan and sing some pieces of sacred music.  But as soon as I began to sing those sacred words, I began to weep.  It seemed as if my heart was all liquid; and my feelings were in such a state that I could not hear my own voice in singing without causing my sensibility to overflow.  I wondered at this, and tried to suppress my tears, but could not.  After trying in vain to suppress my tears, I put up my instrument and stopped singing.

After dinner we were engaged in removing our books and furniture to another office.  We were very busy in this, and had but little conversation all the afternoon.  My mind, however, remained in that profoundly tranquil state.  There was a great sweetness and tenderness in my thoughts and feelings.  Everything appeared to be going right, and nothing seemed to ruffle or disturb me in the least.

Just before evening the thought took possession of my mind, that as soon as I was left alone in the new office, I would try to pray again-that I was not going to abandon the subject of religion and give it up, at any rate; and therefore, although I no longer had any concern about my soul, still I would continue to pray.

By evening we got books and furniture adjusted; and I made up, in an open fire-place, a good fire, hoping to spend the evening alone.  Just at dark Squire W–, seeing that everything was adjusted, bade me good-night and went to his home.  I had accompanied him to the door; and as I closed the door and turned around, my heart seemed to be liquid within me.  All my feelings seemed to rise and flow out; and the utterance of my heart was, “I want to pour my whole soul out to God.”  The rising of my soul was so great that I rushed into the room back of the front office, to pray.

There was no fire, and no light, in the room; nevertheless it appeared to me as if it were perfectly light.  As I went in and shut the door after me, it seemed as if I met the Lord Jesus Christ face to face.  It did not occur to me then, nor did it for some time afterward, that it was wholly a mental state.  On the contrary it seemed to me that I saw him as I would see any other man.  He said nothing, but looked at me in such a manner as to break me right down at his feet.  I have always since regarded this as a most remarkable state of mind; for it seemed to me a reality, that he stood before me, and I fell down at his feet and poured out my soul to him.  I wept aloud like a child, and made such confessions as I could with my choked utterance.  It seemed to me that I bathed his feet with my tears; and yet I had no distinct impression that I touched him, that I recollect.

I must have continued in this state for a good while; but my mind was too much absorbed with the interview to recollect anything that I said.  But I know, as soon as my mind became calm enough to break off from the interview, I returned to the front office, and found that the fire that I had made of large wood was nearly burned out.  But as I turned and was about to take a seat by the fire, I received a mighty baptism of the Holy Ghost.  Without any expectation of it, without ever having the thought in my mind that there was any such thing for me, without any recollection that I had ever heard the thing mentioned by any person in the world, the Holy Spirit descended upon me in a manner that seemed to go through me, body and soul.  I could feel the impression, like a wave of electricity, going through and through me.  Indeed it seemed to come in waves and waves of liquid love; for I could not express it in any other way.  It seemed like the very breath of God.  I can recollect distinctly that it seemed to fan me, like immense wings.

No words can express the wonderful love that was shed abroad in my heart.  I wept aloud with joy and love; and I do not know but I should say, I literally bellowed out the unutterable gushings of my heart.  These waves came over me, and over me, and over me, one after the other, until I recollect I cried out, “I shall die if these waves continue to pass over me.”  I said, “Lord, I cannot bear any more;”  yet I had no fear of death.

How long I continued in this state, with this baptism continuing to roll over me and go through me, I do not know.  But I know it was late in the evening when a member of my choir-for I was the leader of the choir-came into the office to see me.  He was a member of the church.  He found me in this state of loud weeping, and said to me, “Mr. Finney, what ails you?”  I could make him no answer for some time.  He then said, “Are you in pain?”  I gathered myself up as best I could, and replied, “No, but so happy that I cannot live.”

We could go on with the narrative, but shortly after the above mentioned meeting, a serious man from the church came in and began to laugh with a holy laughter and then a young man who had used Charles Finney as his reason to remain an unbeliever came in only to hear the testimony of Charles and his change of life.  He was immediately convicted and on His knees gave his own heart to God.  You can read it all in the book Charles G. Finney, An Autobiography. The life of Charles Finney was drastically changed from that day to the day of his death.  He became one of the greatest revivalists history has ever known and profoundly influenced the early years of our country in having many Senators, Congressmen, Lawyers, and Judges converted to Jesus Christ.  The reason is that regeneration, as we are discussing here, made a remarkable change.  Charles G. Finney was truly “born again.”

I have studied the Bible on this subject and have found that much that is preached and taught seems to miss some of that the Bible teaches regarding the subject.  Before a person accepts Christ, or believes, repents of their sins, commits their life to God or any number of other things that are described in the Bible, they are unsaved, or lost.  They have a selfish end in view for their motive for living.  At that time they own their own life, follow their own will, and are spiritually dead in sin.  The day a person accepts Christ, as seen in the testimony of Charles G. Finney, he does more than to mentally believe, as Mr. Finney describes in his testimony, that the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ are facts, but he exercises a heart faith and confidence which in effect passes ownership of his life over to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  The Bible says in John 3:16 that “…whosoever believeth in him…” and when we look at the Greek for that phrase, the word in is a Greek word eis which actually means into. The Greek prepositions are placed on a chart to show just how they affect the subject in a sentence.  The diagram for eis appears as presented below:

As one can see, there is movement from one side to the other.  No one that believes in Jesus Christ stays where they were prior to salvation and no one loves the same things.  The meaning of believing in Jesus actually is more accurately said believing into Jesus Christ.  It is being immersed in the love of God as Finney told in his conversion experience.  It is definitely life changing.  It is not mental acknowledgement but life changing waves of the love of God.  The after effect is a new outlook on all that you had once held dear in life.  Nothing looks the same and peace floods your soul.  You are definitely born again, born into a new world and dead to the old one once and for all.  The old man is crucified and the resurrection life of Jesus Christ comes to dwell in the new believer, he is now a new creation in Christ Jesus.

What I found in studying this further is an astounding fact.  The Dana and Mantey Greek Grammar of the New Testament had an interesting footnote in the definition of the word.  It said, essentially, that to believe into or to be baptized into the name of Jesus Christ was to renounce ones self, selfishness and self-gratification, and consider ones self a life-time servant of Jesus Christ.  Nothing is clearer by way of illustration than the testimony of Charles G. Finney in this respect.  The circle on the right, in the illustration above, represents all that Christ stands for.  When a person is regenerated, they pass from the left-hand to the right-hand circle.  They are placing themselves in the hands of God, Jesus Christ specifically, by faith.  When you view the chart you can picture in your mind all the things that we have been saying in this book, the attributes of selfishness on the left, and all the things that relate to disinterested benevolence are on the right.  The left circle is the world of the unsaved; all things are viewed from a self-centered viewpoint.  The right circle is a new world of knowing God through Jesus Christ.  As Charles Finney indicated, there are baptisms of love that no one can describe that come over a new Christian.  He can never be the same.  His position has changed.  He has moved from the left, sometimes without even realizing it, over to the right.  The left feels most uncomfortable now and the right seems most peaceful and tranquil.  On the left a person feels that his life is owned by himself; on the right the person feels that his life is owned now by God.  On the left the person has self as lord; on the right, Christ is now Lord with no problem.  Some seem to cringe at the term “Lordship Salvation” but that is precisely what happens whether there is conscious thought of it or not.  A new Christian is slain by the Love of God and He is Lord of the heart by that same love.  The truth is that regeneration is a drastic change, it is being born again.  The position has changed, as far as the perspective that one has concerning his place in the world and in his place in his relationship to God.  That is just a fact of regeneration that cannot be denied, it is a fact that cannot be otherwise if a person comes to know God.  Is it any wonder that the moral law has this, knowing God, as the number one goal of every human being and of every being in the universe?  There is nothing that can substitute for the thrill and yet the peace and contentment that comes from having a personal relationship with the God of love, the lover of our souls.  So as we have said above, there is a part that the sinner plays, as Charles Finney testifies in his book, and there is a part that God plays as well.  It has happened to all that have come to know God, their perspective is altered in such a way that they can never return to the old life.  Truly old things have passed away and all things have become new.  Here is a list of things from the Bible that show conditions that existed in the left circle and what they are changed to in the right circle:

“This is Life Eternal ….that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”  John 17:3

• Is God the end & scope of your life? Who owns your heart?  If you died right now, do you know 100% sure that you will be with Jesus in Heaven?
• Do all your friends and family know you as a life-time servant of Jesus Christ?
• Is there any part of your life that you would say does not belong completely to God?
• What would it profit you to gain the world and lost your soul or what would you give in exchange for your soul?
• God’s Wonderful Plan of Salvation is right here in four simple but powerful truths.  Read them carefully and cry out  to God with your mouth and with all your heart!

“If you could know that Jesus loves you,

If you could only understand

That Jesus thought of you when dying,

And paid the price that guilt demands.

I know your heart would then adore Him;

I know His voice you would obey.

He calls you now with tender pleading!

Obey His voice and follow Him today.”

(Continued below)

FIRST, You Are A Sinner!

• Romans 3:10,11 says, “As it is written, there is none righteous, no not one.  There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.”
• When the Bible talks about sin it means to miss the mark of the end and scope of life which is God. Could you say that the goal of your life is the glory of God?
• Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
• There is one thing that separates between man and God and that is sin.
• Romans 7:19-20 says, “For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.”
• We find that we are in bondage to sin, unable to break it’s power.  Anyone that is in bondage to sin does not glorify God.
• Do you admit that you have sinned?  If so, move to the next point.

SECOND, The Price on Sin Is Death!

• Romans 5:12 says, “Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”
• The first people in the world were Adam and Eve.  Their sin was that they decided to make “self” their goal rather than God. Does that sound familiar?
• Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
• Serving Self makes us all the enemies of God.  The bondage of our flesh to lust and sin has made what we thought was pleasure into a mirage of doom, physical death and separation from God in hell.
• Revelation 20:14 says, “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.  This is the second death.  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”
• Do you admit that you are headed for hell if you don’t break the bondage to sin?  If so, go on to the next point.

THIRD, Jesus Paid the Price for your sins!

• Romans 5:8 says, “But God commendeth his love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
• The greatest story ever told is of Jesus, come to earth, born in a lowly manger of the virgin Mary, living a life without sin, and then dying on a cross to pay the penalty for all mankind.
• He did more than that, He took us with Him, thereby breaking our bondage to sin by His death and resurrection. Glory to God!  When you give up your life to Him, you get His resurrection power!
• Do you believe enough that He died and rose again for you, that you would be willing to trust your life and future to the One that can raise the dead?  Go on to the next point!

“If you could know the joy of pardon;

If you could know the peace it brings.

When Jesus speaks, “DIVINE FORGIVENESS,”

The saddest heart with rapture sings.

I know your heart would then adore Him;

I know His voice you would obey.

He calls you now with tender pleading;

Obey His voice and follow Him today.”

LAST, Ask Jesus To Come Into Your Heart! Give Him ALL YOUR LIFE!

Romans 10: 9,10 & 13 says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. . . . .For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

• It almost seems too simple, yet the Bible says we must be like little children to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
• Do you see what the verses say? To believe is to give up your life to Him because He gave His life for you.  He only wants the best for you.  Being His servant is to be free from the bondage of sin. You will have a new  yoke, a bondage of love to Jesus.
• Wouldn’t you be willing to just tell Jesus that you will surrender your life to him today and let Him come into your heart to take control?
• Great!  If Jesus would take you just like you are, would you take Him? You will do it won’t you?  He will make the changes but you must give him all!  Don’t hold back!  It’s all or nothing!
• So, simply bow your head and say a prayer something like this, as you picture placing your life in God’s hands now and forever:

“Dear Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and deserve hell for my sins.  I believe that you died for me and rose from the dead the third day and am willing to surrender all my life to you right now.  Take away all my sins!  Take me to heaven when I die?  I now receive you as my Lord and Savior.  Thank-you for saving me!  In Jesus Name I pray, Amen!”

If you pray that prayer while viewing the pages on this site, please write to us and let us know about your new life in Jesus Christ and then follow all the lessons from Lesson #1 to Lesson #27 so that you can be the best Christian one can possibly be and invite all your friends and family as well as many others that cross your path to find the same Savior that you have found.

1. 1

   9:48

   WATCHED 01 Welcome by Brother Denny and Sister Jackie Kenaston

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2. 2

   41:02

   WATCHED 02 The Holy Art of Training Children by Denny Kenaston

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3. 3

   39:40

   WATCHED 03. The Foundation of a Godly Home by Denny Kenaston

   by sermonindex 625 views

4. 4

   45:11

   WATCHED 04. The Eternal Value of a Child by Denny Kenaston

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5. 5

   45:25

   05. A vision That Motivates by Denny Kenaston

   by sermonindex 246 views

6. 6

   46:01

   06. A Godly Heritage Today by Denny Kenaston

   by sermonindex 123 views

7. 7

   48:14

   07. Pictures of Promise in the Bible by Denny Kenaston

   by sermonindex 114 views

8. 8

   45:37

   08. More Picture of Promise by Denny Kenaston

   by sermonindex 66 views

9. 9

   45:06

   09. Whole-Hearted Households by Denny Kenaston

   by sermonindex 168 views

10. 10

    45:37

    10. The Key to Obedience is Blessing by Denny Kenaston

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11. 11

    46:58

    11 The Hearts of the Fathers Must Turn by Denny Kenaston

    by sermonindex 188 views

12. 12

    46:07

    12 The Rod is Love by Denny Kenaston

    by sermonindex 357 views

13. 13

    45:04

    13 A Sacred Exercise by Denny Kenaston

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14. 14

    47:49

    14. The Training of the Will by Denny Kenaston

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15. 15

    43:37

    15. The Bondage of Foolishness by Denny Kenaston

    by sermonindex 411 views

16. 16

    45:28

    16. Father The Anointed Teacher by Denny Kenaston

    by sermonindex 988 views

17. 17

    44:42

    17. Train up a Child by Denny Kenaston

    by sermonindex 183 views

18. 18

    47:20

    19. The Mysterious Influences in the Home by Denny Kenaston

    by sermonindex 165 views

19. 19

    45:11

    18. A Quite Ordered Life by Denny Kenaston

    by sermonindex 288 views

20. 20

    45:51

    20. Children A Dwelling Place for God by Denny Kenaston

    by sermonindex 105 views

21. 21

    44:47

    21. Father is a Watchman by Denny Kenaston

    by sermonindex 186 views

22. 22

    45:13

    22. The Hidden Woman (Part 1) by Denny Kenaston

    by sermonindex 516 views

23. 23

    44:46

    23. The Hidden Woman (Part 2) by Denny Kenaston

    by sermonindex 262 views

24. 24

    48:06

    24. Where are the Men by Denny Kenaston

    by sermonindex 565 views

25. 25

    45:29

    25. Fighting Battles For the Next Generation by Denny Kenaston

    by sermonindex 195 views

26. 26

    45:58

    26. Godly Men Have Radiant Wives by Denny Kenaston

    by sermonindex 807 views

27. 27

    45:17

    27. Joining th Next Generation by Denny Kenaston

    by sermonindex 157 views

28. 28

    1:03:07

    28. The Overtaking Blessing on the Second Generation by Daniel Kenaston

    by sermonindex 499 views

29. 29

    42:54

    29. Youth Anointed Disciples of Jesus by Denny Kenaston

    by sermonindex 185 views

30. 30
    48:12

    30. Housholds on Fire by Denny Kenaston

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FRESH OIL – The pouring out of the Holy Spirit in Power on the believer.

(Chapter 5 from Dr. Hyle’s excellent book, Meet The Holy Spirit) This is the same as the sermon FRESH OIL

A pastor requested that I bring my message on “Fresh Oil” to his people. I refused to do so using as an excuse that the sermon was more adapted to preachers rather than to laymen. After the service that night I returned to my room and the Holy Spirit began to convict me and rebuke me for limiting to preachers the doctrine about Himself. He reminded me that His fulness was for everybody, and He led me to reexamine Joel 2:28, 29, “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out My Spirit.” He especially pointed out to me that He would pour out His Spirit on all flesh. That would include our sons and daughters, our old men and young men and even servants and handmaids. I fell to my knees asking His forgiveness and promised Him that I would make the doctrine of His fulness as plain as I could so that young men and old men, sons and daughters, handmaids and servants could understand. This blessed truth is for the busy housewife who goes about her duties. It is for the mother who rocks the world in her lap. It is for the steel worker at the blast furnace. It is for the service station attendant who pumps gas. It is for the maid at the motel who cleans rooms. It is for everybody. So, in simple language, understandable by the layman and the clergy, I approach this vital truth.

First came the light. Then came the firmament. Then God lit the starry host of the nighttime. After that came the fist of the sea and then all the tribes of the animal kingdom. Now God was ready for man. He made man in his own image, and it was marvelous. Man walked in the garden of Eden fellowshipping with his Creator. They walked in splendor. Every tree that grew was pleasant to the eyes. Rivers flowed peaceably through verdant valleys. Every sound was a melody. Every scene was a delight. There was no war to unrest the beast. There was no sickness to cause a fear of death. The leaf never withered; the wind never chilled. No perspiration moistened the brow. No profanity cursed the ear. There was no weariness, no heat and no cold. No blossoms were smitten by a tempest. Man had not yet learned to sigh or weep. There was no withering frost to chill the rose. There was no shadow of guilt ever known. Choirs of birds serenaded man. It was wonderful!

Yet something was missing. There was no kindred creature on earth with whom man could share this beauty and this wonder. Then there she comes, dressed in all the beauty a human being could possess. Grace was in her step. Heaven was in her eye. Every gesture possessed dignity and love. Perfection was stamped upon her. The sons of God shouted for joy. The morning stars sang together, and Eden was transformed.

How wonderful it was! Man and woman, made for Him, sharing fellowship with God in Edonic splendor. They knew not the definition of sorrow. They had never seen a funeral. There were gardens of perpetual bloom, orchards that surrendered their fruit daily. No child was dying with leukemia. Garlands of flowers covered their path. Brows never furrowed, faces never wrinkled, hands were never palsied, the step was never offensive.

All the while the Lord Jesus was with the Father in Heaven. Torches flared as He walked the golden streets. Trumpets announced His every arrival. Demonstrations dogged His heels. Multitudes adored Him; worshipers bowed before Him. Angels ministered to Him. The planet sang His praises. All of the earth’s diamonds could not fill His scepter. All of earth’s gems could not fill His crown. He was always in the presence of the Father. The sun and the moon obeyed His voice, and the four living creatures sang His praises!

Then one day it happened! There were groans heard in Heaven because something tragic had happened on earth. God’s race had fallen. Ruin had blighted His creation. Now the winds howl, the serpents hiss, the brow furrows, the shoulder stoops, the hands tremble, the eyes grow weary, the mind grows dull, the hair turns gray. Sin had blighted the human race.

God’s mercy wanted restoration, but God’s justice would not allow it until the penalty was paid. The only was the inhabitants of earth could be salvaged for God was for the Lord Jesus Christ to go to earth. This He did. He fled to a virgin’s womb. There was no welcome for Him. The only open door to Him was a barn door. He was born in another man’s stable, ate at another man’s table rode another man’s beast, slept on another man’s pillow, cruised in another man’s boat and was buried in another man’s tomb.. He was King of kings, but He had no throne but a cross, He had no crown but a crown of thorns, He had no scepter but a walking stick, He had no royal robe but a borrowed coat from a soldier. He had no subjects but a jeering mob. He was despised and rejected of men. He was a man of sorrows; He was acquainted with grief. He bore our griefs, He carried our sorrows, He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities. He was oppressed, He was afflicted, He made His grave with the wicked, He gave his soul an offering for sin, and worst of all, He became sin and stood before the judgment of God bearing the sins of the whole world! He was pronounced guilty by His Father, and on the cross He paid the penalty for the sins of mankind. He was buried and rose after three days and three nights. Now the message is complete. It is time to send that message out to a lost world. Twelve men are chosen to begin this task.

But there is still a problem! The message is unbelievable! Imagine twelve common men starting out to convince a world of unsaved people that Jesus was born of a virgin! Imagine how that will be received by the natural ear, the natural mind, and the natural heart! Imagine trying to convince a sinful world that Jesus lived for 33 years and never committed one sin! Imagine how difficult it would be to convince the world of the vicarious death and bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ!

So God made it possible for Someone to accompany these men Who could talk to people from within as these missionaries told the story from without. This One talking from within would be the Holy Spirit. God would make it possible for these preachers and missionaries to be so filled with the Holy Spirit that while they preached the message from without, the Holy Spirit would convince the listeners from within that the message is true.

For example, a preacher who is filled with the Holy Spirit stands in his pulpit and preaches. While he is preaching the truth, a voice talks from within to the congregation saying, “That’s right! What the preacher says is true. Jesus was born of a virgin. He did live a sinless life. He did die on the cross to pay the penalty for your sins. He did rise again after three days and three nights. He did ascend back to the Father. He is at the right hand of the Father interceding even now. He is coming again.” The preacher keeps preaching. He says that those who accept Christ go to Heaven. From within the Holy Spirit says “He’s right. He’s right. Listen to him. He’s telling you the truth.” the preacher preaches about Hell and judgment. The Holy Spirit from within says, “He’s right. Believe him. He’s telling you the truth. Listen to what he says.” Ah, what a blessedness it is to preach in the power of the Holy Spirit so that while the words come from the lips of the pastor to the ear of the hearer, the Holy Spirit comes to the heart of the hearer and confirms what the pastor is saying!

Ah, this will transform a Sunday school teacher! The Spirit-filled teacher can stand before his class and teach the Word of God. What would have been a boring lesson suddenly becomes life-changing because the Holy Spirit is saying to the pupils, “Listen to your teacher. He loves you. That’s right. Believe him.” This is the need for our Sunday schools.

Imagine a Spirit-filled soloist singing in the public services and as the song is sung and the message is heard by human ears there is a Voice from within speaking to each member of the congregation saying, “That song is right. Jesus does save. He does comfort. His is your need!” This would transform the music program of our churches. While Spirit-filled choirs sing, a Voice from within speaks to the congregation saying, “That choir is right. Believe them.” Their hearts begin to burn. Conviction settles in and decisions follow.

An organist or pianist is playing the offertory on Sunday morning. That organist is filled with the Holy Spirit after having paid the price in fervent prayer and after having met the conditions for His fulness. the organist plays the offertory and as she plays a song like “Sweet Hour of Prayer,” a Voice speaks to the hearts of those in the congregation: “That’s right. Prayer is sweet and it does call you from a world of care. It is the answer for your life.” The Voice continues to say, “You should pray. You should pray often. You should pray before you eat. You should pray before you start the day. You should have seasons of prayer.”

The Spirit-filled Christian school teacher stands before his or her class, and as the teacher teaches, the Holy Spirit says to the pupils, “Your teacher is right. Believe what your teacher is saying. Listen carefully.” Ah, that will help the deportment and behavior in the classroom.

Imagine a Spirit-filled soul winner knocking at the door of a house. A person comes to the door and suddenly the holy Spirit speaks from within. The soul winner begins to tell the wonderful story of Christ and from within the heart of the hearer there is this Voice saying, “Believe him. The man is from God. He is telling you the truth. This is the way to Heaven. This is your only hope.

At Pentecost that Voice even spoke different languages so that people who could not understand language that was used in the preaching could hear the message of Christ and be saved!

Oh, preacher, this is your answer! Sunday school teacher, this will transform your class. Singer, this will give life to your special numbers. Instrumentalists, this will multiply your effectiveness. Christian school teachers, this will help us to produce dedicated young people. Nursery worker, this will help the children even in the nursery. Imagine a nursery worker telling a baby about Jesus; the Holy Spirit can even speak to that little heart. Mothers, this will help you rear your children properly.

The question immediately comes: How may this power be obtained? Of course, there are obvious steps such as separation from the world, faithfulness to the cause of Christ, hours of studying the Word, obedience to the commands of God and to the will God, etc., but the main thing is for a Christian to be so sincere that he pays the price in agonizing and pleading and tarrying, begging God for His power. Notice Luke 11:5-13, “And He said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, saying unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? And he from within shall answer and say, trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?” The word “importunity” in verse 8 means “much begging.”

This chapter is being written at my desk. On my desk I see the words, “Pray for power.” Behind my desk I see the words, “Pray for power.” In the Bible that is in my lap I see the words, “Pray for power.” On the mirror where I shave I see the words, “Pray for power.” On the door leading from my office into the hallway I see the words, “Pray for power.” Hundreds of times a day I plead with God for His power. Then, of course, there are seasons of prayer when I go alone with God to plead for the power of God.

I am commanded in the Scripture to be filled with the Spirit. Ephesians 5:18, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.” Notice that in the same passage about Spirit-fulness, drunkenness is mentioned. It would seem then that it is just as wicked for a person to do God’s work without the fulness of the Holy Spirit as it would be to do God’s work drunk with wine wherein is excess.

As a child I was very nervous. We were very, very poor. My father was an alcoholic. He left our home when I was a boy. Through a series of events, God called me to preach His Gospel. I was very sincere. When I was 21 years of age, I began to pastor. For one lonely year I pastored with no results. No one walked the aisle for salvation, no one walked the aisle to transfer membership. It was a long, barren year. I decided to find the answer. I went to a library at a Baptist college. I began to read the biographies of great men. I read how Dwight Moody was filled with the Holy Spirit while walking down Wall Street one day. I read how his ministry was changed and how he would preach the old sermons where he at one time had five conversions and then he had fifty! I read how his ministry was transformed,, and my heart began to burn from within. I wondered, “Could that be available for me? Could that which Dwight Moody received when he was filled with the Holy Spirit be available for a little Texas preacher?” I continued reading. I read about Savonarola, who went to his pulpit one day and realizing he was powerless refused to preach until thee power of God came upon him. For five hours he sat and waited until the power of God came, and then he was filled with the Holy Spirit as he preached. I read about Christmas Evans, who was riding his horse on his circuit one day and suddenly the power of God came upon him. He knew for the first time in his life that he was filled with the Holy Spirit. I read about Charles G. Finney and his Spirit-filled life. I began to ask God as a young preacher, “Is that for me? Is that for today? Is there actually a power that can come over me where the Holy Spirit can speak to people from within as I speak from without?”

I read about John Wesley, who at three o’clock in the morning on October 3, 1738, after having prayed with a number of preachers for most of the night was filled with the Holy Spirit. His ministry was never the same. I read about George Fox, who went alone for two weeks begging for the power of God, and how his life was transformed. I read about Peter Cartwright, who had been filled with the Holy Spirit and mighty power came upon him. I read of George Whiitefield, who on June 20, 1736, was ordained to preach. As he knelt at the altar, Bishop Benson laid his hands on the young preacher and George Whitefield know then and there that he was filled with the Holy Spirit! I read about George Muller, who was filled with the Holy Spirit the first time he ever saw Christians on their knew in prayer. I read how Billy Sunday used to preach every sermon with his Bible open to Isaac 61:1 and how the Spirit of God came on him. My heart began to burn from within! “Was this for me as well as for them? Was that power that Moody had and Wesley had and Whitefield had and Billy Sunday had available for little Jack Hyles, a poor country preacher in east Texas?”

I began to walk in the woods at night. Night after night I would walk and cry and pray an beg for power. My heart was hungry. I got a Cruden’s Concordance and looked up the terms, “Holy Ghost,” “Spirit of the Lord,” “Spirit of God,” etc. I looked up every Scripture in the Bible that had to do with the Holy Spirit. I read in Judges 6:34 that the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon and in Judges 14;6 how the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson in and in I Samuel 11:6 how the Spirit of God came upon Saul. I read in I Samuel 16:13 how the Spirit of the Lord came upon David. I read in Acts 9:17 where Paul was filled with the Holy Ghost and in Luke 4:1 where Jesus was full of the Holy Ghost. My heart burned! I needed something. I needed the blesses power of God. I needed the fulness of the Holy Spirit. I didn’t understand all the Scriptures. I read in Luke 3:16 the words, “He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.” I read in Acts 1:4 the mention of the “promise of the Father.” In Luke 24:49 I found the words, “be endued with power from on high.” In Acts 1:8 I found the words, “after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” In Acts 2:17 I learned of the “pouring out of the Spirit” and in Ephesians 5:18 I found the term, “filled with the Spirit.”

I was no seeking sinless perfection nor was I trying to name what I wanted God to give me. I had no desire to speak in tongues not did I even desire to have some kind of an experience. I just wanted God to work in the hearts of the people while I preached and witnessed. Could it be for me? Yes, it was for Samson, for Gideon, for Torrey, for Moody, for Billy Sunday, for Jonathan Edwards, for Muller, for Whitefield, for George Fox, for Christmas Evans, for Savonarola, for Peter Cartwright, for John Rice, for Bob Jones, for Lee Roberson, but was it for me? I was just a country preacher. I can recall how my eyes fastened on Isaiah 40:31 and Acts 2:4 and Acts 4:31. I was hungry!

“I must have results. I must have power.” I can recall saying to God, “I’m not going to be a normal preacher. I’m not going to be a powerless preacher.”

Night after night I would walk through the pine thickets of east Texas, up and down the sand hills, begging God for His power. If you had driven down Highway 43 outside Marshall, Texas, on the way to Henderson, Texas, in the wee hours of the morning, you could have heard me praying, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” and begging God to give me power.

I was losing weight. I couldn’t eat. What I did eat came back up! My family was worried about me. My deacons got together and said to me, “Pastor, you’ve got to take care of yourself. You are going to get bad sick.”

Then came May 12, 1950. All night I prayed! Just about sunrise I fell to my face in some pine needles and told God I would pay the price, whatever it was, for the power of God! I did not know what I was saying. I did not know what that meant.

In less than four hours, my phone rang in our little country parsonage. The operator said that it was a long distance call for Reverend Jack Hyles. She put the call through and a voice said, “This is Mr. Smith. I work with your dad. Reverend Hyles, your dad just dropped dead with a heart attack.” I put the phone down. I could not believe what I had heard. Just a few months before I had preached to my Daddy, but I was powerless. He did not get saved. I had witnessed to him, but once again I was powerless and he did not get saved. He had promised me the first of January, 1950, that in a few months he would come back to east Texas and receive Christ as his Saviour. He never made it. As far as I know, he died without Jesus under the influence of alcohol. We drove to Dallas to the same funeral home that later embalmed President Kennedy when he was killed. On May 13, 1950, Mother’s Day afternoon, we had a little service in the chapel. We then followed the hearse about 50 miles south to a little cemetery on the northeast corner of Italy, Texas, where two of my little sisters were buried. Down near the creek was a hole in the ground. They lowered my daddy’s body in the grave. Not long after, I returned to that grave and fell on my face and told God I was not going to be a powerless preacher any more and that I was not going to leave that grave until something happened to me. I don’t know how long I stayed. It may have been hours; it may have been days. I lost all consciousness and awareness of time. I did not become sinlessly perfect nor did I talk in another language nor was I completely sanctified, but my ministry was transformed!

To God be the praise, there has not been one single Sunday since that day without conversions in the churches I have pastored. That’s been over 31 years now, and though I’m not the preacher I ought to be, I have seen the mighty power of God over and over and over again. Over a quarter of a million people have walked the aisles in the churches I have pastored professing faith in Christ. I am no great preacher. I am no giant of the faith. I just found out there was a way that a person could be filled with the Holy Spirit, enabling Him to speak from within as I preached from without.

One of the great mistakes that Christians make, however, is believing that fulness of the Spirit is a one-time happening. The truth is that the New Testament church was filled with the Spirit over and over again. They were filled with the Spirit in Acts 2:4, “And they were filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Again they were filled with the Spirit in Acts 4:31, “And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the Word of God with boldness.”

Several years later I was called to pastor the Miller Road Baptist Church of Garland, Texas. Twenty-one people voted on me-eighteen voted for me, two voted neutral and one voted undecided. The church enjoyed unbelievable growth. What a ministry God gave us, and how blessed was the Holy Spirit’s power! The church grew so fast that it was too big for me and I felt that I must resign. On December 31, 1954, I went to my study on New Year’s Eve. I went alone with God and told Him the church was too big for me and that I would have to resign and let someone more qualified and capable continue the ministry. I would be content to go to some smaller church and start over again. I wrote out my resignation, laid it on the floor of my study and told God that unless He gave me a new power I would have to read the resignation on January 1, 1955. I did not want to resign, because I loved my people dearly, but there was no other choice. I prayed from 9:00 until 10:00; from 10:00 until 11:00; from 11:00 until 12:00; from 12:00 until 1:00. Sometime past midnight, there was a knock on the door of my study. I went to the door. It was one of my deacons. He was weeping. He said, “Pastor, what’s wrong?” I said, “Why do you ask?” He said, “The Holy Spirit told me something was wrong with my preacher tonight. I called your house and they did not know where you were, so I thought I would come to the study. What’s wrong?”

I showed him the letter of resignation and told him that God was going to have to give me something more than what I had I f I stayed, He said, “Pastor, let’s pray.” We prayed from 1:00 until 2:00; from 2:00 until 3:00; from 3:00 until 4:00; from 4:00 until 5:00 and sometime between 5:00 and 6:00 in the morning the sweet power of God settled upon us, and I knew that God had given me some fresh power,, some fresh oil, as spoken of by the Psalmist in Psalm 92:10, “But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: Ishall be anointed with fresh oil.” I tore up the letter of resignation. My deacon and I danced for joy and hugged and lifted our hands in holy praises to God. Oh, the sweet years we had after that!

Then in December, 1958, I received a letter from Hammond, Indiana. For months I wrestles with the possibility of becoming Pastor of that Chicagoland church. I did not want to go, but the Holy Spirit led in that direction, and I became Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Hammond in August of 1959. Soon the problems mounted. The church and I were different. It seemed there was no way I could continue pastoring that church.

I was preaching for a week at the Bill Rice Ranch. Every night I wrestled with the calls from other churches to return to Texas. It just seemed that I was not cut out for the First Baptist Church of Hammond. On Friday night I could not sleep. The Holy Spirit kept me awake. About ten o’clock I knelt to pray beside the bed in room 11 of the Widner Inn at the Bill Rice Ranch. I told God I was going to resign the church the next Sunday, but God wrestled me through the night. All night long I pleaded for God to give me something I must have if I were to stay in Hammond. After a night of prayer and a night of wrestling with the Holy Spirit, that “something” came. Again I knew that I was filled with the Holy Spirit in a new and fresh way. Fresh oil had come! The rest of the story is legend. The great First Baptist Church of Hammond was born that night.

It has been over 21 years since that all-night prayer meeting but I find myself again and again needing a new fulness of fresh oil. That’s my only hope. I need that Voice talking to people as I preach. I need Him to speak from the inside as I witness from the outside.

Dear reader, you too need that fulness. Dear music director, you need that power; and so do you, choir director, choir member, Sunday school teacher, bus worker, Christian school teacher, Christian school administrator, instrumentalist, youth worker, and Sunday school worker; and, blessed be God, it is available for you! It’s for sons and daughters, for young men and old men, for bondmaids and servants. Joel says it is for all flesh! Praise the Lord!

Won’t you now bow your head? Promise God several things. Promise Him that you are going to be clean and separate from the world. Promise Him that you are going to live in His Book. Promise Him that you are going to be sure that He gets what is His financially and in every other way. Promise Him that you are going to work hard and be faithful and loyal to Him. Then promise Him that you are going to pray and plead and wrestle with Him. Don’t be concerned about having some kind of an experience, just be concerned about the Holy Spirit talking from within as you talk from without. It may be that that power will come upon you the next time you preach or teach or sing. It may be that it will be a gradual thing and that more and more you will be aware of His presence and power as you serve. Don’t be concerned about having some kind of stereotype experience and don’t be concerned about getting up and telling what happened to you. Just yield your self; sanctify your self; pray an pray and pray and pray until you see people moved as you speak by that Voice that speaks from within! When you see this, continue to pray, continue to ask Him for His fulness and continue to love Him and serve Him. Crown Him, honor Him, and praise Him until the veil is pulled and we shall se Him as He is!

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written by Pastor Trieber on the topic of Articles by Pastor Trieber on December, 2008

Today, I have the privilege to draw to your attention the New Testament local church. The church is under attack in this day in which we live. It is certainly under attack by the world and the flesh, but I also find that it is under attack from within. We have diluted our position and have become very worldly, unfruitful, and self-centered hearers of the Word of God.

For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
- Acts 20:29-30

Therefore, because of the apostasy that is so prevalent in our churches today, I am desirous to come to you as the book of Jude says in vs. 3-4:

Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

As we consider the New Testament local church, I want to remind you of the importance of our name. We are not a—

• Fellowship
• Center
• Association

We are a church. That means we are a called-out body of saved, baptized Christians.

Jesus did not give His life for the association, center, or the fellowship; but rather, He gave Himself for the church. Let us not become weak concerning our name.

In addition, I want you to remember our Leader.

For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the Saviour of the body. (emphasis mine)
- Ephesians 5:23

Our Leader is neither a charismatic and persuasive individual nor a denominational headsuch as an organization, a Bible college, etc. Our Leader is the Lord Jesus Christ.

I also want to remind you of our responsibility.

That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
- Ephesians 5:26-27

We are not to be a worldly church, but rather a sanctified church—a glorious church without any spot, wrinkle, or blemish. We are to be holy. May I remind you what the Bible says:

But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.
- Ephesians 5:3-4

Our purpose is to take the Gospel to a lost and dying world.

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
- Acts 1:8

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 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. Amen.
- Matthew 28:18-20

Our financial program is that of tithes and offerings.

Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.
- I Corinthians 16:1-2

I am so burdened for the New Testament local church. I see us wavering on so many fronts. In addition, I am very concerned with the philosophy that has invaded our churches.

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
- Colossians 2:8

Somewhere along the line, we developed the idea that we can listen, read, and study neo-evangelicals and separate the bad from the good. It is not possible.

For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.
- Acts 4:20

Many of us are witnessing the influence of user-friendly preaching, music, terminology, dress, and appearance that is not becoming of saints. May I remind my readers that we will never reach this world and rescue a nation for Christ by becoming like the world, but rather by being separate from the world. Why in the world would anyone want to be like the world? If a Christian were going to be just like the world, what would be the reason for leaving the flesh to come to a compromising church?

My prayer is that we will fall in love again with God’s institution, the church. We need to protect it and realize that, according to the book of Jude, the historic doctrines of the faith have been deposited into our care.

FOR A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH FROM THE TIMES OF CHRIST – The Trail of Blood

THE TRAIL OF BLOOD CHART THAT GOES WITH THE BOOK ABOVE- The Chart 

Read THE CHURCH ONLINE by my childhood hero -

1. Part 1
2. Part 2

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The Church,

And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church. And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons,

For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Acts 20:17, 18, 27-29

The word elders is plural and the word church is singular. We know that the church in Ephesus had more than one pastor. Luke asked them to come to Miletus to meet with him.

There is a doctrine that teaches that the church consists of all believers who also form the body of Christ. It is popular because we have listened to inter-denominational people teach the Bible. The Bible clearly teaches that all believers do not form the body of Christ. The local church is the body of Christ. We have developed a total misunderstanding of what the term the body of Christ means.

There are three titles given in the Bible for the position of pastor.

The fourth chapter of Ephesians refers to the title of pastor, which means shepherd.

The second title for that position is the title elder, meaning protector and feeder of the sheep. It implies that a pastor should have experience and that he should be able to counsel and lead wisely.

The third word is the word bishop, which is the word for overseer. It is his job as the bishop to oversee all the work of the ministry of the church.

The church at Ephesus was a large church. It was the church to which other churches looked for leadership and guidance. It had several pastors. Paul called for the elders (plural) of the church (singular). This could not be the invisible church, because it had elders. The flock spoken of here was the church members. The word overseers, in the Greek, is the same as the word bishop. God says to feed the local church over which the Holy Ghost had made them the overseers. These men or pastors could not have overseen every Christian in the whole world. It is not talking about all Christians. It is talking about the local church at Ephesus. So it is speaking in this passage about one church, not a worldwide invisible church.

Note what is said about this church in this passage.

1. Jesus purchased the church at Ephesus with His own blood. That does not mean that Jesus did not die for everybody. In this passage He is referring only to the church at Ephesus. There are so many things that happened on Calvary. We will never know all of them. For example, our healing was on Calvary. The Bible says: By his stripes we are healed. We know that Jesus died for all sinners. He also paid the penalty and shed His blood for the church at Ephesus. You cannot refute that.

Paul called for the elders of the church in Ephesus and told them to take heed that they feed the church of God, which He had purchased with His own blood. He was referring only to the one church. Jesus purchased that local church with His blood. This was not a reference to all Christians, although He did die for all people. He also died to purchase the individual church.

2. He chose to call the local church His body.

And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body the fullness of him that filleth all in all. Ephesians 1:22, 23.

This word church is the word ekklesia, which means a called-out assembly. All believers have not yet been called out and assembled. They will not be assembled until the rapture when the church of the firstborn will be assembled in Heaven and all believers become a church. All believers are not now a church. He is referring to the called-out assembly or local church in the city of Ephesus.

He calls it His body because Jesus purchased the church, so He owns it. He calls it a body. The word body means, a complete instrument. Jesus was talking about ownership. It is His body. He owns it. He purchased it with His own blood. The local church is not the body of Christ in the sense that it is His arms and legs. It is the body of Christ in the sense that He bought it and owns it. So, the church and the body are the same.

The same thing then is true about each individual local church. Each church on earth is His body that is to carry out the work of God. That is why we should do His business. It is His church. We have no right to organize it like we want to organize it. We have no right to do things we should not do. We have no to make His church into a social club. It is a place where God’s people come to be strengthened to go out in the world and tell the people about the Saviour.

And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. Colossians 1:18

Since Jesus owns the church, and it is His body, He should be the own who gets the preeminence in all things. He should have preeminence in the choir. He should have preeminence in the church-school. He should have preeminence in the college. He should have preeminence in the youth program. He should have preeminence in every single ministry of the church.

Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church: Colossians 1:24

This is referring to the church at Colosse, one church. Again in both of these verses, the word church is the word ekklesia, or a called-out assembly. Again, the Bible refers to the church as the body of Christ. He owns it. Jesus owns only one body. He owns only one organization. He does not own any other institution except the church. It is His body.

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; Ephesians 5:25

If anything refutes the invisible church, this is it. Jesus compares Himself and His church to a man and wife. Consequently, if there an invisible church, then a man has an invisible wife. Jesus does not love an invisible church. He could have chosen another relationship to compare it with. He could have chosen angels because they are invisible to us. He could have used spirits or souls, but He chose to use the visibility of a man and his wife. Jesus is talking about a visible organization which is His church and His body.

Here are several observations in light of these things.

1. His body is His called-out assembly.

2. He purchased it with His own blood.

3. It is His only body.

4. He loves it dearly.

It is a tragedy how many Christians place outside Christian organizations over their own local church. I have seen it happen all over the country. If Christ feels the way He does about the church, then each one of us should likewise recognize its importance. Many Christians are more offended when their pastor tells the truth about the decay of a parasite organization than they do when a similar organization criticizes or speaks ill of their local church. The New Testament church is the institution He loves, and we are to love it and be an active part of it.

For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. I Corinthians 12:12

A called-out assembly is the same as the church. The church is the same as the body. The body, called-out assembly, or local church has many members, and all members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. We do not belong to the body that He purchased just because we are saved, because He purchased the local assembly. What difference does all of this make? It makes a big difference because there are many Christian people who are not a part of a local church. There are Bible colleges where most of the faculty and students are not actively involved in a local church. I am not talking about liberals. I am talking about fundamentalists. They believe that the church is not as important as the college.

You are as right with God as you are with the institution for which He died. All over the country there are Christian people who minimize the importance of the church, His body. Hyles-Anderson College has a right to continue to live only as long as it stays under the thumb of the First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana.

For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because Jam not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because l am not the eye, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. I Corinthians 12:13-23

What does it mean by one spirit? Are we all baptized into one body? He is talking to the church at Corinth, and telling them that the Holy Spirit immersed them into that church.

People like to say that we should go to the church of “our choice.” That is not right. We should go to the church of the Holy Spirit’s choice. The Holy Spirit is supposed to lead us where we go. People choose to leave churches for the wrong reasons. The Holy Spirit puts us into the body. The ekklesia, or called-out assembly, is His body. He purchased that body with His own blood. The Holy Spirit will show us what body we are to go to and will immerse us into that body.

Each of us has our own place in the body. Each part of the body has a particular function. Each part is important to the overall functioning of the body. No part should look at another part as being of less importance. I cannot say to the PA man, “I have no need of you.” I cannot say to the organist and pianist, “I have no need of you.” I cannot say to the custodians, “I have no need of you.” Each of us has been placed there by God. That means that it is important that we be where God wants us to be. We have need of every single person in the church. Every person in a church needs every other person in a church. God has put us there.

The part of the body which is the weakest is the one that needs our attention the most. If you cut your finger, you will suddenly pay more attention to that finger. In the church we want to cut off the finger. If a member backslides, we cut him off. We treat him as if he were not worthy to be in the body. None of us is worthy to be in the body.

When a part of the body is less attractive to us, we should give the most attention to that part to help make it more attractive. We should not ignore it. We do not need to pamper the part that is working right. We need to pamper the part that is not working right.

That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret? But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way. I Corinthians 12:25-3 1

We have been influenced by this invisible church idea. We need to get back to the fact that the local ekklesia is the called-out assembly, and that all believers have never been a called-out assembly. All believers are not members of the church. If people are going to be reached, it will be through the ministry of local churches.

The military of this country is a good example. When a man joins the army, he does not go visit a camp in North Carolina this week, a camp in Wyoming the next week, and then a camp in Virginia the next week. No. They put him in a working unit, and that unit is a body of soldiers that belongs to the United States Government. It is the body of the army, and the individual fighting unit. If you allowed soldiers to go where they want to go, you would never win a war. Men are placed in a division, in a battalion of that division, in a company of that battalion, in a platoon of that company, and in a squad of that platoon. That is the way you win battles, and that is the way you win wars.

The church is God’s institution, for which Christ died. He purchased it to be His body. It is that body to whom He has given the responsibility to take the blessed Book and spread His message to a lost and dying world. That is the way to get the job done by being a part of the local body, called the church, for which He died.

THE BODY OF CHRIST – by Watchman Nee

Scripture Reading: Eph. 1:23; 4:11-13; 5:29-30; Gen. 2:21-24; 1 Cor. 10:16-17; 12:12-30; Rom. 12:4-8

Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.  (Ephesians 1:23)

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: (Ephesians 4:11-13)

For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. (Ephesians 5:29-30)

And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. (Genesis 2:21-24)

The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread. (1 Corinthians 10:16-17)

For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked: That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?

(1 Corinthians 12:12-30)

For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness. (Romans 12:4-8)

I. THE CHURCH BEING OF CHRIST

Genesis 2 shows us that God took a rib from Adam and made Eve out of it. This typifies the relationship between Christ and the church. Just as Eve came out of Adam, the church comes out of Christ. God made Eve out of Adam. Likewise, He created the church out of Christ. God gave us not only the grace, power, and nature of Christ, but He also gave us the Body of Christ. God has given us His bones, His flesh, and Himself, even as He gave Adam’s rib to Eve. What then is the church? The church comes out of Christ. The Bible shows us that Christ is the Head of the church and the church is the Body of Christ. Individually speaking, every Christian is a member of the Body of Christ and comes out of Christ.

There is one thing we must take note of: The Body of Christ is on earth, but it is not earthly. It is heavenly, yet it is on earth. When Saul was persecuting the church, on his way to Damascus, the Lord Jesus asked him, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” (Acts 9:4). The Lord’s word was quite strange. He did not say, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting My disciples,” but “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” He did not say, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting My church,” but “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” This showed Paul that the church and Christ are one. The church is one with Christ, so much so that when a man persecutes the church he is persecuting Christ. This shows us also that the Body of Christ is on earth, because no one could persecute it if it were in heaven. The Body of Christ is on earth. Therefore, Paul could persecute it. Because the Body of Christ is the church on earth, Paul’s persecuting of the church was his persecuting of the Lord Himself. Many people say that the manifestation of the Body of Christ is something that will occur in heaven. They say that one has to wait until he is in heaven before he can see the manifestation of the Body. If this were the case, Paul’s persecution of the church could not have been considered as his persecution of the Lord. The Lord said that Saul persecuted Him when he persecuted the church. Therefore, the Body of Christ is manifested on earth, not in heaven. The church as the Body of Christ is on earth. We have to express this Body while we are on earth. Although the Head is in heaven, the Body and the Head are one. The Body on earth and the Head in heaven are one. To persecute the Body is to persecute the Head. To persecute the church is to persecute the Lord. The two are one, and there is no way to separate them.

Some may ask, “How could the Body of Christ be expressed on earth during Paul’s time? From the time Paul was on earth until now, one thousand nine hundred years have passed. Every year countless numbers of people throughout the world are saved and added to the Body of Christ. Many more will be added in the coming days and years. How could the church at Paul’s time be called the Body of Christ?” One brother in the last century gave a good answer. He said that the church is like a bird. When it first hatched, the feathers were not well developed. Yet we can say that it was a bird. When it becomes full grown, we still say that it is a bird. Feathers from elsewhere are not added to the bird; they grow from the bird itself. The growth and maturity of the bird are the result of the inward activities of the bird’s life. This is how the church grows on earth today. Although Paul persecuted the church in its infancy, it was nevertheless the Body of Christ. From that time on until today, nothing has been added to it; it has only become more full grown.

Although the church on earth today is still very small in size, it is nevertheless perfect within. The growth of the church issues from within itself. It grows out of Christ. The church on earth today is the Body of Christ. Apparently, saved ones are being added to the church. But as far as its spiritual reality is concerned, no one has ever joined the church. The Body of Christ grows by itself from within. It grows continually out of the Head. The church is simply the extension of the Body of Christ on earth. The church dwells on earth but comes out of the heavenly Head. At the same time, it is a Body in oneness with the Head.

We must be clear about what the church is in the eyes of God. The church is the Body of Christ. Therefore, anything smaller than the Body cannot be the basis for the formation of a church. We cannot establish a church based on doctrines, systems, or rituals. Neither can we establish a church based on the name of a founder or a place of origin. All these are smaller than the Body of Christ. If we want to start a church in a locality, we must learn to stand on the ground of the Body. We must welcome and accept all the members who have fellowship in the Body of Christ. Whoever is in the Body and of the Body is a brother or sister in the church. If we stand in the position of the Body of Christ, our number may be small, but we will still have a proper basis for forming the church. However, if we do not stand on the position of the Body of Christ, we will have no basis to form any church, even though our number may be very great.

Once a church which takes the Body of Christ as its basis is established in a locality, no one should separate himself to set up another church under the pretense of differences in doctrines, views, or opinions. The basis of the church is the Body of Christ. The desire to uphold a certain doctrine is not a justifiable basis for forming a church. If the basis of the first “church” is not the Body of Christ, one can, of course, set up a church that is based on the Body of Christ. But if the basis of the first church is indeed the Body of Christ, we must fellowship with it. We cannot walk away and form another “church” of our own.

A local church should include all the children of God in that locality. The church takes the Body of Christ as its basic unit. If other brothers and sisters will not come, that is their own concern. But the church should not impose any condition upon anyone other than the need to acknowledge the Body. The Body is the only condition for forming a church. A church cannot be smaller than the Body of Christ. In other words, whoever is of Christ should be in the church; whoever is in the Body of Christ may not be rejected.

However, to accept anyone who is not in the Body of Christ or to embrace unbelievers is to go beyond the Body of Christ. That would no longer be the church of Christ; it would be an organization of confusion. In conclusion, whatever falls short of the Body of Christ or goes beyond the Body of Christ is not the church.

II. THE CHURCH BEING ONE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT

First Corinthians 12:12-13 says, ” For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.”

We have seen that the church comes out of Christ. Now we want to see how the church is one in the Holy Spirit.

The church comes out of Christ. This speaks of its origin. Every Christian possesses a new life. The one life of Christ has become millions of Christians. John 12 speaks of a grain of wheat which falls into the ground and dies and bears much fruit. All the grains which are produced from the one grain have the same essence as the original grain. One grain has become many grains, and the many grains come out of that one grain. How then can the many Christians who possess the same life become the one Body of Christ? This is where the work of the Holy Spirit comes in. The one Christ has become millions of Christians. Now the Holy Spirit baptizes these millions of Christians into one Body. This is the fundamental teaching recorded in 1 Corinthians 12:12-13. The Body is one, yet it is composed of many members. How can the many members become one Body? “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body.” In other words, this Body comes into being through baptism. Through baptism in the Spirit, the many Christians are immersed into one Body. Every Christian is like a piece of stone hewn out of a big rock. The Holy Spirit is like the cement which cements the stones back together to become one rock.

The Body of Christ has two basic principles: First, apart from that which comes out of Christ, there is no Body of Christ; second, apart from the operation of the Holy Spirit, there is no Body of Christ. There must first be the baptism of the Spirit and the infilling of the Spirit; God’s children must all be baptized by the Spirit in order to become the Body. This was what happened at Pentecost in Acts 2. Many had received the Lord’s life and had become His many members. Then the Lord baptized these many members through the Holy Spirit into one Body. Those who know the Lord and the Holy Spirit also will know this one Body. There are many members in the human body, but the head rules over them all through the nerves. Likewise, the Head of the church joins the many members into one Body through the Holy Spirit.

The church is out of Christ, and it is formed into one Body in the Holy Spirit. Christian fellowship and communion should be based on one’s standing in the Body of Christ. We have no relationship other than this relationship. We are not bound together because we are Jews or Greeks. We commune with one another because we are all members of the Body of Christ. Our communion with one another is based on the Body.

There is only one basis for our fellowship in the church—our being fellow members with one another in the Body. We cannot have any fellowship that is based on any other foundation. Any fellowship outside the Body of Christ is a division. Any fellowship that is not as large as the Body, that is in fact smaller than the Body, is not the fellowship of the Body. Any boundary that is different from the boundary of the Body, though it may not contradict the boundary of the Body, is a hindrance to the Body boundary. Such a variation in boundary will always hinder the fellowship of the Body. We cannot accept any fellowship that is different from the Body. We are here to maintain the fellowship of Christians, the fellowship of the Body, not any fellowship that is smaller than the Body.

III. SERVICE IN THE BODY

First Corinthians 12:14-21 says, “For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.” Verses 28 through 30 go on to say, “And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?”

There are many members in the Body of Christ, and the Holy Spirit dispenses all kinds of gifts and ministries to them according to the need of the Body. The Lord grants the members different kinds of gifts and ministries for the purpose of supplying the need of the whole Body. The Lord knows that He will not make the whole Body the eyes or the whole Body the ears. The Lord gives the members different gifts and ministries to supply the whole Body. As the human body needs all the members, so the church needs the different kinds of gifts and ministries for its spiritual service. Some serve in the ministry of the word. Some serve by performing works of power. Some exercise the gift of healing. Some render helps. Some speak in tongues and some interpret tongues, etc. The church must provide ample opportunity for all the brothers and sisters to serve. All the members, including the uncomely ones, are useful in the ministry of the Spirit. It is impossible to have a useless member in the Body. Every brother and sister is a member in the Body and every member has his or her function and service. As long as you are a Christian, you are a member of the Body of Christ, and as a member in the Body, you must have your own service before God. We must honor such a practice of universal service. Every Christian must have his or her respective function and must serve the Lord according to this function.

Every member in the church should find a place to serve. Everyone should serve and there should not be any monopoly. A member or a few members should not replace all the members in doing everything. Any system that does not provide opportunity for all the members to function is surely not of the Body. In the physical body, the eyes, the mouth, the feet, and the hands may all be very busy. Yet they do not contradict each other. Something is wrong if only the eyes function while the mouth, feet, and hands do not. If the eyes, mouth, feet, and hands all function together and coordinate as one entity, we have the body. If some serve and others do not or if only one or a few serve, we do not have the Body of Christ. We must be very clear about this principle.

Romans 12:4-8 says, “For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.”

Another matter which requires special attention in the Body is that both the grace and the gift that everyone receives are different. The passage in 1 Corinthians 12 emphasizes the ministry of the word and the miraculous gifts. The passage in Romans 12, in addition to speaking of the ministry of the word, includes ministries of other services in the church as well. Some give, some lead, and some show mercy. All these can be considered works of the Levites. They are services that pertain to practical affairs.

Romans 12 shows us that everyone who is gifted must function according to the gift which God has given him, whether it is in the ministry of the word or in the ministry of service. He who prophesies, let him prophesy. He who serves, let him serve. He who teaches, let him teach. He who exhorts, let him exhort. He who leads, let him lead diligently in the church. In other words, everyone should serve. Everyone should have his or her specific service and should be faithful to this function. Everyone should know what he can do before God and what gift he has received from the Lord. This knowledge should direct him to function in a specific way. No one should go beyond his own function to take over the service of others. No member should take the place of another member, and no member should relinquish his own function. All should serve together, and everyone should fully apply himself to his own work. In this way the Body of Christ will be expressed.

The Body cannot allow one member to neglect his duty. The whole Body is in darkness if the eyes do not see. The whole Body cannot walk if the feet refuse to walk. The eyes should see and the feet should walk. Even though the gift that you have received from God may be small, you should not hide your gift. Even if the gift you have received from God is just one talent (Matt. 25:14-30), you should not keep it or neglect it. Whether one’s gift is big or small, whether it is “five talents,” “two talents,” or “one talent,” he should exercise what he has and serve accordingly. If he refuses to give himself to his service and instead buries his “one talent,” the church will suffer. If a few members in the Body refuse to function, the Body will suffer great loss.

It is not easy to find five-talented ones in the church. Yet every child of God, no matter how small his gift may be, has at least one talent. If all the one-talented ones will rise up to serve, they will be more effective than the few who have five talents. If all the one-talented ones will rise up to serve, the church will surely flourish. All those with one talent should rise up to serve. Whether or not the church will prosper depends on whether the one-talented ones will rise up to serve. If only a few people are laboring and working, we do not have the church. If all the brothers and sisters are working and laboring, it will be the church serving and the Body functioning. A few members no longer will take over the function of the whole Body. We hope everyone who has “one talent” will dig out his talent from the earth. Everyone who has the “mina” should realize that the handkerchief is for wiping sweat, not for wrapping up his mina (Luke 19:20). We must learn to serve according to our ability. When everyone rises up to serve and no one passes his responsibility to someone else, we have the church.

IV. THE BUILDING UP OF THE BODY

Ephesians 4:11-13 says, ” And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: ”

The kinds of people spoken of here are slightly different from those spoken of in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12. The people here are all ministers of the word. God’s intention in giving the church these ministers of the word is for the building up of the Body of Christ. The ministers of the word have a special place in the building up of the Body of Christ. For the building up of the Body of Christ, we should ask God for more ministers of the word.

At the same time, the church should provide ample opportunities for new believers to manifest themselves, to see whether they are ministers of the word. We should not hinder the gifts that God has given them. We should not take away their opportunity to manifest themselves as ministers of the word. For the Body of Christ to be built up, the church must ask God for more ministers of the word. It must also provide ample opportunities for each one to manifest himself as a minister of the word.

V. THE TESTIMONY OF THE BODY

First Corinthians 10:16-17 says, “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.”

The church is the Body of Christ. Therefore, its mission on earth is to express this Body and to manifest the oneness of this Body. It should show everyone that the Body is one. The church does not need to wait until it is in heaven before expressing the oneness of the Body. It expresses the oneness of the Body while it is here on earth.

“For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.” In the New Testament the breaking of bread is a very important matter. Whenever we come on the Lord’s Day to break bread and remember the Lord, we acknowledge that the Lord has broken His body for us. We also express that the Body is one. The breaking of bread signifies the Lord’s giving of Himself in love on the cross for us; the oneness speaks of the union among God’s children. Every Lord’s Day we come to the Lord to acknowledge that His body was broken for us and that all of God’s children are one. On the one hand, we testify that the Lord’s body was broken for us. On the other hand, we testify that the church is the Body of Christ and that this Body is one. We who are many are one bread and one Body. We express this oneness. Whoever understands the Body of Christ renders this testimony on the Lord’s Day. On this day he testifies that there is only one bread. In the eyes of God, this bread is the center of all the meetings. God’s children should gather together for the purpose of breaking bread and fellowshipping with one another. The more one understands the Body of Christ, the more he will testify of the oneness of the Body through the breaking of bread. The breaking of bread is a remembrance of the Lord’s death, and it is an expression of the oneness of the Body. “For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.” We do this to show the world, the universe, and the whole creation that the church is one Body!

May the Lord be gracious to us, and may He show us clearly that the basis for forming the church is the Body of Christ. We are members one of another in the Body. Through the baptism of the Spirit, we are constituted as one Body. Thus our fellowship should be based only on the Body of Christ. In the Body every member has its function and every member should serve. We should ask God for more ministers of the word on behalf of the church, ministers who will perfect the saints to the work of the ministry unto the building up of the Body of Christ. We should also express the testimony of the oneness of this Body through the breaking of bread. May God bless all of us!

Jesus and the Church – By Jack Hyles

When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall riot prevail against it. Matthew 16:13-18

It is amazing how we accept things as true just because we have always heard them taught a certain way. For example, most people have always heard that the church is the body of Christ. We have been taught that Christ is the head of all Christians and that all Christians form His body. The Bible does not mean it in that way. Much of this has come from the Scofield Bible. It is not true, and I am going to show you that in this chapter. If you believe the Bible, you will understand exactly what the church is all about.

1. Jesus is the founder of the church. The church was not founded on Pentecost. The Bible says in Acts 2 that they added to the church those that were saved. You cannot add to something that is not there. I do not know how long the church was there, but it was there before Matthew 18, where it speaks of taking something to the church. Mr. Scofield says that is the future church, but God does not say that. You cannot take something to a future church. You can take something only to a present church.

And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. Matthew 10:1

Whenever the church was started, it was started with a called-out assembly. The first place in the Bible where I find such a statement is in Matthew 10:1. I feel the church was started here or before here. I know it was started some time in the personal ministry of Jesus Christ.

2. Jesus is the foundation of the church.

And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Matthew 16:18

The rock he was speaking about was not the pope. The church was not built on the Pope. The church was built on the foundation of Jesus. Jesus was the rock being referred to, not Peter. The word Peter means little pebble. The word rock means a strong. big rock. They are not the same word. Peter was a little pebble, but the rock is Jesus.

3. Jesus is its builder.

He said, upon this rock I will build my church. Our job is not church growth. Our job is soul winning. Jesus said that He would build the church. Jesus is in the church-building business. He never told us to build a church. He told us to go soul winning, and He would do the building of His church. We are witnesses. He never told us to go into all the world and build churches. Our job is to obey the Great Commission and His job is to build the church.

4. Jesus attended it, and sang and preached in it.

But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will! sing praise unto thee. Hebrews 2:9-12

We see here that Jesus went to church. He was quoting from an Old Testament prophesy by saying that He would declare God’s name in the church. Luke 4 says that it was Jesus custom to go to the synagogue on the Sabbath Day. He was in a habit of going. When He went to the cross all the things attached to the synagogue were nailed to the cross with Him. In the place of the synagogue He gave us the local church.

Jesus preached in the church. I am not talking necessarily about a church building. They may have met under a tree, in a barn, or in a house, as they often did in the Bible. But, the fact remains that Jesus went to church and preached in the church. Jesus also said that He was going to sing God’s praises in the church.

Did Jesus need to go to church? Absolutely. The Bible says He emptied himself of deity and became a man. He did what He did, not as God, but as man. Otherwise, He could not have been our pattern. Jesus needed to go to church because He was a man. It was not to keep Him from sinning, but for encouragement and fellowship, the same reasons we need to go to church.

5. Jesus is to be preeminent in the church.

And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the first born from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. Colossians 1:18

Jesus must have the preeminence in every organization of the church. He is to have the preeminence in the preaching. He is to have the preeminence in the singing. I believe that songs about Jesus should be sung in the church, rather than the high-brow anthems that are used in so many circles today. Jesus is to have the preeminence in the Christian school. Jesus is to have the preeminence in the Women’s Missionary Society. Jesus is to have the preeminence in the bus ministry. Jesus is to preeminent in all of the ministries of the church.

6. Jesus is the head of the church.

And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. Ephesians 1:22, 23

And he is the head of the body, the church … Colossians 1:18a

Jesus is the head of the body. The church is the body of Christ. The word head is similar to the President of a business. It means that it is his body in the sense of ownership or control, not in the sense of being a physical body. The word head means authority. He is the authority of the church. He is the head of the church like the owner of a store is the head of that store. The church is a body of people that belongs to him.

If the body of Christ is all believers, then the church is all believers, but the church cannot be all believers, because the word church means a called-out assembly. All believers are never called out, so the church could not be His body in that sense. There will be a day when all Christians will be a member of the church, but that will not be until all Christians are called out. Hebrews 12:23 refers to a host assembled in Heaven. All believers will not be the church until all believers are raptured.

And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns… Revelation 13:la

That word head is the same word found in Colossians 1:18 and Ephesians 1:22 where Jesus is called the head of the church. These heads are kings. A king has authority. A king is the head of his nation and the people which they control form the body. These kings are called the head just like Jesus is called the head of the church.

And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: Colossians 2:10

Jesus is the head of all principality and power. That is referring to governments and rulers. Jesus puts up kings and sets down kings. Jesus is the head of all of the governments and all government leaders in this world. They cannot do anything that God does not allow them to do.

He is called the head of principalities and powers just like He is the head of the church. He is listing something over which He has control. The world’s governments no more make up His body, then Christians do. It merely signifies authority. He is the authority of the church, and He is the authority over the world’s leaders.

Wives submit yourselves to your own husbands as under the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife. Ephesians 5:22, 23

A man is the head of his wife, but that does not mean she is his body. It means that he is the authority of the home. This is not talking about a male head on a female body. As the husband is the head of the wife, so is Christ the head of the church. What does it mean? As the wife obeys her husband, so the church is to obey Christ. He is the head or the authority. In that sense Jesus is the head of the church and the church is His body. Consequently, the church cannot be an invisible church of all believers because the body is the church and the church is a called-out assembly.

This doctrine of all believers being members of the body of Christ is an attempt by Satan to unite us with people with whom we are commanded not to unite. It is an effort to say that we are all members of this body when, in reality, we are not.

7. Jesus is building a church.

But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the first born, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect. And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. Hebrews 12:22-24

All believers will be called out and assembled in the sky. They will be called unto Jesus, and then all believers will become a church. God is now in the process of building an army of people which someday will become a church.

Let me give you three extreme positions regarding this issue.

1. That the church is the bride of Christ. Some men teach what we call the doctrine of the Baptist Bride. They believe that the only people who will be a part of the bride at the marriage of the Lamb will be Baptists, and all other saved people will merely be wedding guests. Of course, that is not true. These people get the body mixed up with the bride. The bride will not be a bride until we get there, so it will include all believers. The future church will be the bride. The present church is not the bride; it is the body.

They are also wrong because many Baptist churches are liberal. How can all Baptists form the bride when there are hundreds of American Baptist churches that do not even believe that the Bible is the Word of God. There are some churches that do not call themselves Baptist which are New Testament churches. If Baptists form the bride, these New Testament churches will not be in the bride. So, according to them, a liberal American Baptist church would be in the bride, but a fundamental church that is not Baptist will not be in the bride. That is totally untrue.

2. The term the rapture of the church is unscriptural.

We will not become a church until we assemble in the sky. At the rapture we will form a church because then we will assemble, but right now all believers are not yet a church.

3. All believers do not belong to the church. Somebody needs to set Baptists straight and stop them from being influenced by the inter-denominational crowd. I am not opposed to inter-denominational Christians, but I am opposed to their doctrine about the church. In the average inter-denominational school, many of those who are preparing for full-time Christian work are studying to start orphanages, or to be missionary pilots, or to do Christian drama or Christian movies.

At Hyles-Anderson College we are training men to start churches. We are training young women to go out and teach in the Christian schools started by those churches. We are training young men to go out and lead the singing and be bus directors in those churches. That is the hope for America.

The Purpose of Going to Church

Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for the fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:

Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.

And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst and said, Peace be unto you. John 20:19-23, 26

Not many people know the true reason why Jesus started the church. Let me give a couple of things which are not legitimate reasons, even though most people think they are.

1. The church was not started to be a place of worship.

You can worship God better alone than you can with others. You can also pray better alone than you can with others. When two people pray together, their prayers will too often be designed to impress each other. Every Christian should worship God in the beauty of His holiness. We should adore Him, worship Him, magnify Him, and honor Him. The idea that the church is a place to worship God came from Rome, not from the New Testament. There is only one place in the New Testament where the word worship is connected to a public service, and that deals with worshipping the Devil. There is no example in the entire New Testament of a Christian worship service.

God told the people in Amos 5:21-23, 1 hate, I despise your feast days, and! will not smell in your solemn assemblies…. I will not accept them…. Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs…. The church was not made to be a place of worship.

2. Jesus did not start the church as a place of evangelism. The evangelistic church is not in the Bible. The soul-winning church is. I am not against people getting saved at church, nor am I against an occasional evangelistic sermon. But, that is not the main purpose of the church, nor was it why the church was started. The New Testament church was a soul-winning institution where all of the members won people to Jesus.

And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. Acts 5:42

Some people believe that the New Testament church won the lost in the church and in house-to-house soul winning. That is half true. They did go house-to-house soul winning. The temple, however, was not the church, nor did they have church in the temple. The temple was the location of the big gala occasion when they had their feasts and when all of the people would gather in Jerusalem. The temple was also the place where they conducted their daily business. It was like our business district. This was not talking about witnessing in church, but about witnessing in public places as well as in people’s homes.

And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles. Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word. Acts 8:1, 4

They witnessed everywhere. There was no place they did not go. The jail is part of everywhere. Downtown is part of everywhere. The street corner is part of everywhere. Rest homes are a part of everywhere. Neighborhoods are a part of everywhere. The homes where the poor, the lame, the halt, and the blind live are parts of everywhere. The New Testament church was not an evangelistic church. It was a soul-winning church, and they went everywhere doing so.

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 16:15

Jesus gave the Great Commission on several occasions. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Acts all give different phrasings of the Great Commission. That does not mean that Jesus spoke it only one time, and that each of them gave it in their own words. They each quoted Jesus. He did not just give it once. One of those times was quoted in Mark. It is not talking about standing behind a pulpit and preaching. It is not directed to a congregation. It is directed to every creature.

An evangelistic church is where a preacher gets up and preaches on salvation. I am not against that, but it is not why the church was started. The evangelism was not to be done at the church. Soul winning was to be done where the people were.

Paul said For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified. Some preachers take that as a mandate to preach on nothing except Jesus. That is not true. Paul wrote Timothy and said, Preach the word, but he said something else. He said to exhort. He said to rebuke. Sometimes the preacher is to preach the Word. Sometimes he is to be lovingly stern and rebuke. Sometimes he is to give advice, or exhort. God wants more than just the plan of salvation preached in the church.

Jesus said in Matthew to teach all nations. That word in Matthew is the Greek word “ethnos” which means ethnics or races. Mark 16:15 says, to go into all the world. The word “kosmos” is the word arrangement. When Jesus started the church, he started a soul-winning church. Soul winning was not the purpose of the church, it was the fruit of the church and the result of the church.

In the first century the local churches were soul-winning churches. They were scattered abroad everywhere with everybody preaching or soul winning. Peter did not preach the evangelistic sermon on Pentecost as many think. The Bible says that every nation under Heaven was represented at Pentecost and every man heard the Gospel. Many people were doing the soul winning. It was not just Peter. I am not against having an evangelistic service, but that was not why Jesus started the church, nor was it the way the New Testament church operated.

In the first century, our churches were soul-winning churches. The people came to church for the real purpose of the church. Then they went out from the church and won folks to Christ in the public places and neighborhoods and brought them back to church. Something happened shortly after the early church. The churches became evangelistic rather than soul winning. What is the difference?

A soul-winning church is where the people go out and win them and bring them back in to make a public profession.

An evangelistic church is where you invite sinners to come and the preacher tries to get them saved through his preaching. There is nothing wrong with that except the people go unfed.

For 1900 years the soul-winning church was lost.

In our generation the soul-winning church has been rediscovered. The First Baptist Church of Hammond has had a big part in that. All across America preachers are baptizing more converts than Spurgeon did. I am not nearly the preacher Spurgeon was, but First Baptist Church is a better church than Spurgeon had because we discovered the soul-winning church instead of the evangelistic church.

Evangelists have been being forced to change their ministries.

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Ephesians 4:11, 12

The word perfecting means maturing. God gave apostles for the maturing of the saints. God gave prophets for the maturing of the saints. God gave evangelists for the maturing of the saints. God gave pastors and teachers for the maturing of the saints. All these were given for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry. Every saint is commanded to do the work of the ministry. Every Christian is commanded to be a soul-winner. It is the evangelist’s job to mature the Christians so they will better do the work of the ministry.

For many years evangelists were men who traveled across the country and preached revival meetings. These were actually evangelistic crusades, and they basically preached on salvation. I believe that God raised them up, but I do not believe that God had this in mind for the New Testament church. Evangelists were given for the perfecting or maturing of the saints, so the saints could do the work of the ministry. Nobody in the New Testament went around preaching to great crowds of people in churches just to get people saved. They taught, exhorted, rebuked, and perfected them so that the saints could do the work of the ministry.

I am not against the evangelists who went into churches and preached on Heaven, Hell, salvation, the great white throne judgment, etc. Thank God for them, but they had to do it because churches were not doing the job of soul winning. God raised up these evangelists to go to churches and get people saved.

In our day, the evangelist is a preacher who does more of what the Bible says he is to do, the perfecting of the saints. We have lived in the age of the rediscovery of the soul-winning church.

Let us now look at the reasons for the starting of the church.

1. The church was started for comfort.

Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and said unto them, Peace be unto you. John 20:19

These people went to church because they were scared. That is one reason Jesus started the church. It was the place they could receive comfort in the midst of persecution.

Jesus met in the upper room the night that he was betrayed. (John 13 & 14) From there He went to the garden of Gethsemane where he was betrayed that night. It was on Wednesday that our Lord was crucified, so the church meets on Wednesday. Sunday was the day that our Lord rose from the dead, so the church meets on Sunday.

It had to be a church that met in the upper room because they had the Lord’s Supper, which was given by the local church. It was also in the upper room that they met when He rose from the dead. (John 20:19 & 26) Consequently, they came to church for comfort. Our Saviour met with the apostles and said: Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. He was comforting them.

The church is a place to dispel the fears of the people. When somebody comes with an incurable disease, the church is supposed to help him dispel his fear. When people have a fear of financial reversal, the church is to help dispel their fear. The reason they assembled in the upper room was for the fear of the Jews. Coming together gave them more courage and strength than being alone.

2. It is a place for encouragement. Often people will not come to church because they have problems or because they are discouraged. That is why the church was started. That is why we are supposed to come. When you want to be alone is usually when you do not need to be alone. That is the time we most need to be in church.

Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. Hebrews 10:25

That means we are not to forsake the churching of ourselves together. It is especially true as we see the second coming of Jesus Christ coming closer. Why? Because there is a certain element of fear there. You come to church to be comforted in the fact that we are all going up together. When we come to church we get encouraged.

For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? James 2:2-4

There is one place in this world where a poor child can go and be just as important as the children of the Pastor, the deacons or the Sunday school teachers. The church is a place of encouragement for those who are looked down upon or despised in this world.

3. It is a place to give tithes to God.

Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in the store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when! come. I Corinthians 16:1

They tithed on the first day of the week, which is when they went to church. Sundays we are to bring our tithes and offerings to the church as well. The tithe or tenth is the smallest portion given in the Bible. Consequently, we go to church to give.

4. It is a place for maturing.

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: Ephesians 4:11-15

The body of Christ is the local New Testament church. He owns it. God has given us the church, so that every time someone tries to deceive us with a false doctrine, we will not fall prey to the error. God has given us the church in order for us to become mature. He wants us to grow up. That is what it is all about. We are to come to church to mature. We will never outgrow the church. The church is there to help us to grow up. The preacher is there to help us grow up. The evangelist is there to help us to grow up. The quickest way to be deceived by false doctrines is to become unfaithful to church.

5. It is a place for inspiration to go soul winning.

And when they were assembled with the elders

Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All powers is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever! have commanded you: Matthew 28:12, 16-20a

The church is to inspire and instill in us the importance of going soul winning. Most people will never walk inside the church, but we can go to them. Most people where we work will never walk inside our church, but we can take the message where they are. As a pastor, I am to inspire everybody to go soul winning. Four thousand people go soul winning from First Baptist Church every week. I am not satisfied with that. I want everybody to go soul winning every week. It is not the preacher’s job to preach the unsaved down the aisle. It is the preacher’s job to preach and inspire the individual Christians to go soul winning. That is God’s plan.

6. It is a place for fellowship, to take the Lord’s supper, to learn the Bible and to learn how to pray.

Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added to them about three thousand souls. And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Acts 2:41, 42

The word fellowship means communion. It is not referring to the typical fellowship of the church. It is referring to a communing in Christ with one another. It is a place where we share a “God Bless You” and “1 am praying for you” as we unite in the work of God. It is a place for the breaking of bread in the Lord’s Supper as we remember together the price Jesus paid for us on Calvary.

These are the real reasons for the church. When we get away from these, the church fails to do that which we were called by the Saviour to do, and we look to church to be something different than what God ordained it to be.

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THE PRIESTHOOD

The Bible speaks of the ministry of the priesthood. This ministry consists of a group of people wholly separated from the world to serve God. They have no other occupation or duty other than to serve God. Such people are called priests in the Bible.

I. THE HISTORY OF THE PRIESTHOOD IN THE BIBLE

Beginning from the book of Genesis, we find God calling men to be priests. Melchisedec was God’s first priest. In Abraham’s time, Melchisedec separated himself and gave himself solely to God’s service.

A. From Genesis to the Period after the Lord’s Ascension

From Genesis to the forming of the nation of Israel and thereafter, the priesthood was always present. At the time the Lord Jesus was on earth and even after His departure from the earth, the priesthood did not cease. The priesthood has been on earth for a long time. The Bible shows us that even the Lord Jesus became a priest before God after His ascension to the heavens. He is there now fully consecrated for God’s service.

B. In the Dispensation of the Church

The priesthood continues throughout the dispensation of the church; there is no interruption of any kind.

C. In the Millennial Kingdom

At the beginning of the millennial kingdom, those who share in the first resurrection will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years (Rev. 20:6). God’s children will continue to be God’s priests and Christ’s priests for a thousand years. They will be kings to the world and priests to God. This priesthood will remain unchanged; they will still serve God.

D. In the New Heavens and New Earth

In the new heavens and new earth, the term priest will cease to exist. At that time, all of God’s children as His servants will do nothing except serve Him. In the New Jerusalem “and his servants shall serve him:” (22:3). In other words, God’s children will continue to serve Him.

Here we must point out a most wonderful thing. The priesthood commenced with Melchisedec, the one who was without father, without mother, without genealogy, who had neither beginning of days nor end of life (Heb. 7:3), and it extends to the end of the millennium, which means that it extends to eternity.

II. THE KINGDOM OF PRIESTS BECOMING THE HOUSE OF PRIESTS

According to the revelation of the Scripture, God’s purpose is not to have only one or two persons as His priests. His purpose is to have all His people as His priests.

A. God Choosing the Israelites to Be a Kingdom of Priests

After the Israelites came out of Egypt, they came to Mount Sinai. God charged Moses to speak to the Israelites, saying, “And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.” (Exo. 19:6). God told the Israelites that they would be a kingdom of priests. This expression is somewhat difficult to understand. Why did God say that they would be a kingdom of priests? He meant that He wanted the whole nation to be priests. No one in the nation would be an ordinary person; the whole kingdom would be priests. This was God’s purpose.

When God chose Israel to be His people, He set this goal before them. This nation was to be different from all other nations on the earth. It was a kingdom of priests. All the people of this nation would be priests. This meant that every person in the nation would have one unique occupation, the occupation of serving God. God delights in separating men from the earth for His service. He delights in seeing men live solely for His affairs. God wants all of His children to be priests and to serve Him.

God told the people of Israel when they reached Mount Sinai that He would make them a kingdom of priests. This is a wonderful calling. We call England “the kingdom of the navy,” the United States, “the kingdom of gold,” China, “the kingdom of manners and virtues,” and India “the kingdom of philosophers.” But here is a kingdom which is called “the kingdom of priests.” This is a wonderful thing. Everyone in this nation is a priest. Men, women, adults, and children are all priests. Everyone in this kingdom serves only God. Both adults and children have only one thing as their occupation—offering sacrifices and serving God. This is a wonderful picture.

After God promised to establish Israel as a kingdom of priests, He told Moses to go up the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments which were written upon two tablets of stone. Moses remained on the mountain forty days while God wrote the Ten Commandments on the stone tablets. The first commandment says, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” The second says, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image” (20:3-4). It seems that God was dictating the commandments one by one.

B. The Israelites Serving the Idols

While Moses was up on the mountain, the people at the foot of the mountain wondered about his delay. They said to Aaron, “Up, make us gods, which shall go before us” (32:1). Aaron succumbed to their words, collected gold, and made a golden calf. The people then worshipped the golden calf and said, “These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” (v. 4).

They began to worship the idol. They sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. They indulged in great celebration. At last they had found a visible golden god for themselves. The God that Moses taught was mysterious; one could not identify where He lived or where He could be located. Even Moses, the one who worshipped this God, was nowhere to be found. Now there was a visible golden calf which they could worship. God had appointed them to be priests, but even before they were able to be His priests, they became priests to the golden calf. God’s desire was for them to be a kingdom of priests. But even before they could do that, they had turned to idol worship and served the golden calf. They established other gods and other forms of worship apart from Jehovah their God.

This is man’s concept of God. Man always tries to make his own god and worship according to his own ways. Man likes to worship a god created by his own hands. He does not accept God’s sovereignty in His creation. He does not like to acknowledge Him as the Creator.

C. God Assigning the Priesthood to the Tribe of Levi

While Moses was on the mount, God told him to go down. Moses turned and went down with the two tablets of testimony, the Ten Commandments, in his hands. As he drew near to the camp and saw the condition of the people, his wrath waxed hot and he cast down the two tablets. Standing at the gate of the camp he said, “Who is on the Lord’s side? let him come unto me” (v. 26). All the sons of Levi gathered around him. He said to them, “Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor” (v. 27). Regardless of whom they saw, they had to kill them all. Because the people had worshipped the idol, the golden calf, those who were faithful had to draw their sword and slay them, no matter what kind of relationship they had with them.

Many people think that this order was too cruel. Who can slay his own brother? Who has the heart to kill his own friends? Eleven of the twelve tribes did not move. They felt that the cost was too high. As a result, only the tribe of Levi drew their swords, went to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slew about three thousand men on that day. Those slain were the brothers, relatives, and friends of the Levites.

Let us consider this a little. After the incident of the golden calf, God immediately told Moses that from that time on the nation of Israel could no longer be a kingdom of priests. Although nothing was said explicitly to that effect, God had reassigned the priesthood to the tribe of Levi alone. The priesthood was originally for the whole nation of Israel. Now, the priesthood was limited to the house of Aaron of the tribe of Levi.

D. God’s People and God’s Priests Becoming Two Separate Groups

From that time on, there were always two groups of people in the nation of Israel. One group were God’s people and the other were God’s priests. God’s original intention was for all His people to be His priests. God had no intention of separating His people from His priests. He wanted the whole nation to be a kingdom of priests. God’s people and God’s priests should have been one. Whoever were God’s people should have been His priests. As long as a person was one of God’s people, he should have been God’s priest. To be His people meant to be His priests. All His people were to be His priests. However, many loved the world and succumbed to human affection and turned away from faithfulness to worship the idol. As a result, God’s people and His priests became two separate groups. Henceforth, if a man did not love the Lord more than his father, mother, wife, children, brother, sister, and all, he became unfit to be a disciple of the Lord. Many could not meet this requirement or pay this price. From that day forward, the nation of Israel was divided into two groups—God’s people and His priests.

E. The Priesthood Becoming the Privilege of a Household

From that day forward, the kingdom of priests became a tribe of priests. The scope of the priesthood was reduced from a kingdom of priests to a household of priests. The priesthood became the matter of a household instead of a nation. God’s people and God’s priests were one and the same in the tribe of Levi; that is, His people were His priests. In regards to the other eleven tribes, God’s people were only God’s people; they could no longer be God’s priests. This was most serious. It is serious for a person to be a believer, one of God’s people, and yet not be a priest.

III. THE CHARACTERISTIC OF THE PRIESTHOOD—BEING A MEDIATORIAL CLASS

From Exodus until the time of the Lord Jesus on earth, no other tribe could function as priests except the tribe of Levi. They could not offer sacrifices to God. Their sacrifices had to be made through the priests. They could not even come to God to confess their sins; they had to confess them through the priests. They could not separate themselves from the world because they had no authority to touch the anointing oil. The priests alone could anoint and sanctify a person. All the spiritual services had to be carried out by the priests on their behalf.

One special characteristic about the Israelites in the Old Testament was that God was far away from them. Not everyone could contact Him. In the Old Testament we find the evolution of the priesthood, which I call an intermediary class. Man could not go to God directly. God’s people had to go through the priests before they could draw near to God. They could not commune with God directly. God came to man through the priests, and man also went to God through the priests. Between God and man, there was a mediatorial class. Man could not come directly to God, and God could not come directly to man. Between God and man there was a mediatorial class.

This class was not found in God’s original design. God’s original intention was to approach His people directly and for them to come to Him directly. But now there were three parties. The people had to come to God through the priests, and God had to approach His people through the priests. God and man could no longer commune with each other directly. All contact became indirect.

IV. THE CHANGE IN THE PRIESTHOOD

For about fifteen hundred years, from the time of Moses to the time of Christ, God’s people were unable to come directly to God. Only one household was qualified to be the priests. A man had to belong to this household to come to God. If he drew near to God directly, he would die. During that period, the ministry of the priests became a very powerful ministry. Man could not come to God directly; he needed the intercession of the priests. How noble and great the priestly ministry was! There was no way for man to come to God without the priests. But with the coming of the New Testament age, we find salvation and redemption reaching all men. Now we hear the word: “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” (1 Pet. 2:5).

A. Every Redeemed One Being a Priest in the New Testament Dispensation

In 1 Peter 2:4-7 Peter tells us that Christ is the foundation of the church. He was the stone rejected by the builders who has now become the head of the corner. We have become the living stones and are joined and built up to become a spiritual house. We also have become a holy priesthood to God. It is as if a voice from heaven burst forth announcing, “All who are saved are now God’s priests. All the living stones, those who are part of the spiritual house, are now priests of God.”

B. The Church Recovering the Universal Priesthood Again

Right then a promise which had been set aside for fifteen hundred years was recovered by God. What the Israelites lost has been recovered by the church. The universal priesthood was lost to Israel. In the New Testament age, it is as if a voice from heaven bursts forth with the promise that the universal priesthood is with us once more. All the saved ones are called to be priests.

C. The Church Being a Kingdom of Priests

The same word can be found in Revelation 1:6, which says, “And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” Originally, the whole nation of Israel were priests. Later, this changed. But what about today? Today the church is a kingdom of priests. What the Israelites lost in the presence of the golden calf, the church has fully regained through the Lord Jesus. Today the entire church has become priests. God’s ordained kingdom of priests has now been fully restored.

D. The Unique Occupation of a Christian—Serving God

What God could not secure among the Israelites, He is now securing through the church. The church today is the kingdom of priests. The church is a priesthood. What does this mean? It means that everyone who has tasted God’s grace has only one occupation left, that of serving God. I have said this before to the young people: If a person is a doctor before he believes in the Lord, his occupation is medicine; if he is a nurse, his occupation is nursing; if he is a teacher, his occupation is teaching; if he is a farmer, his occupation is farming; if he is a businessman, his occupation is business. But the moment one becomes a Christian, his occupation completely changes. Every Christian has only one occupation—serving God. From the time we were saved, we became priests to God. Henceforth, we have to serve God in His presence. This is our lifelong spiritual goal.

Every Christian has only one occupation, that of serving God. A Christian doctor can no longer expect to make a name for himself as a famous doctor; his practice as a doctor is only useful in sustaining his living. His real occupation is to be a priest to God. A professor or a teacher can no longer strive to be a famous or outstanding academician. Rather, he must now strive to be a proper priest before God. His teaching becomes merely his vocation; his main occupation is to serve God. Craftsmen, businessmen, farmers, and all the other professionals are no longer living for their own professions. There is now only one profession for everyone, that of serving God.

E. Only One Ambition—Pleasing the Lord

Every brother and sister should set aside their old occupation on the day they are saved. I hope that you will give up all your ambitions and aspirations the day you begin your Christian life. You should no longer aspire to be someone special. You should no longer strive to be someone outstanding or distinguished in your field or line of occupation. You should learn from Paul, who had only one ambition—to be well pleasing to the Lord. You should not have any ambition other than this. All worldly occupations should be put aside. You should no longer have any aspiration to be great or outstanding. You should only aspire to serve the Lord in His presence.

V. THE GLORY OF THE PRIESTHOOD

During the early years of my Christian life, I always felt that it was a hard job to exhort young believers to serve God. It seemed that I had to try very hard to beckon, beg, and plead with others to serve God. But God’s view is totally different from ours. God took the priesthood away from the Israelites when they sinned. In God’s eyes service is a great privilege and a high honor. If a man fails or backslides, God takes away the priesthood from him. God has no intention to persuade or beg man to serve Him. He has no intention of seeking man’s approval. It is man’s glory, not God’s, for him to be called to be God’s priest.

A. God Honoring Us by Calling Us to the Priesthood

Those who offered strange fire in the Old Testament were burned to death. Some died when they entered the holy place. Others died when they tried to offer sacrifices to God. God would not allow anyone except the priests to come to Him. In God’s eyes the priesthood is a trust He has placed upon man. He is bestowing glory and honor to man and uplifting man when He calls him to the priesthood. A person would die if he volunteered to take up the priesthood according to his own will. Uzzah, who stretched out his own hand to steady the ark when it tilted, was immediately smitten to death.

B. Foolish Men Considering Service to Be a Favor to God

There are many people who think that they are granting God a favor by offering themselves to Him. Over the past decades, I have always felt uneasy when preachers pleaded with believers in revival meetings to give themselves to serve God. Many people give a little money to God and think that they are doing Him a special favor. Many people offer themselves to serve God and think that they are doing Him a favor. Some people think that they are bestowing honor upon God when they give up a little position in the world. Their hearts seem to be saying, “I give myself, someone as important as I, to serve God today!” Some give up their little positions and think that they are exalting the Lord. But this is blindness! This is nothing but folly and darkness!

C. Our Greatest Honor Being to Serve God

If God in heaven has called us to be His priests, we should be on our knees before Him to receive His calling. This is our greatest honor. God has elevated us. We do not say that we can give anything to God. We say that our greatest honor lies in God’s acceptance of what we offer to Him. What a tremendous honor that persons such as ourselves can serve God. This is pure grace! This surely is the gospel! It is not only a gospel about Jesus’ salvation; it is a gospel that even persons such as ourselves can serve God. This is indeed the gospel, a great gospel.

VI. UPHOLDING THE PRIESTHOOD

A. There Being No Church without the Universal Priesthood

In the church today the priesthood is no longer restricted to only a few people; it has become a universal priesthood. The nation of Israel failed; the church cannot fail again. The nation of Israel failed in that God’s people and God’s priests became separated. May the Lord have mercy on us. May there be no separation between God’s people and His priests in the church today. In the church God’s people are His priests. All the people of God are priests of God. There must be as many priests as there are brothers and sisters. Everyone must come to God to offer up spiritual sacrifices and sacrifices of praise. Everyone should take part in spiritual service. This is not a selective ministry. Everyone should come to God to serve Him. A church that comes short of universal and direct access to God is not a church.

Please bear in mind that there is no church if the priesthood is not universal. The nation of Israel failed; the church should not fail again. During the past two thousand years, the scope of the priesthood has never been recovered to include all the people of God. The two thousand years of church history show us a frequent separation between the people and the ministry of the priests. An intermediary class has time and time again come between God and His people. This is the work and teaching of the Nicolaitans.

B. No Longer Tolerating the Intermediary Class

We can no longer tolerate an intermediary class. We can no longer accept a hierarchy. We can no longer allow priests to stand between God and His children; we can no longer accept an intermediary class. We need to see what the church is. The church is the place where every child of God is a priest. We cannot have one person or a few persons monopolizing spiritual service. They cannot be the only ones through whom God speaks or the only ones through whom we approach God to settle spiritual matters. Such an intermediary class cannot exist in the church.

Our controversy with denominations is not a matter of outward forms but a matter of inward content. Today there is a hierarchy in the denominations—one group of people is serving God, while the rest are merely pew members. One group of people is serving God as a profession, while the rest of the pew members, though equally born to be God’s children, need to approach Him through them. This hierarchical practice is tolerated by many organizations in Christianity today. But we cannot accept any intermediary class. We cannot set aside the grace given to the church in the New Testament. We cannot forsake it as the Israelites did.

C. The Intermediary Class Abolished When Everyone Serves

We need to abolish the intermediary class. In order for us to abolish this class, we all have to become part of it. When all of us become a part of that class, the hierarchy is gone. How can we make the three groups two groups? How can we turn three-way traffic into two-way traffic? How can these three—God, the priesthood, and the people—become two? There is no other way except to kneel down before the Lord and say, “Lord, I am willing to serve You. I am willing to be a priest.” When all of God’s children become His priests, the three parties will be reduced to two.

Hierarchy comes from the world, the flesh, idol worship, and the love of the world. If all the brothers deny the world and reject idolatry from the beginning, they will all offer themselves up to God. They will say, “From this day forward, I will live on earth for the sole purpose of serving God.” Then hierarchy will disappear spontaneously. If all the brothers realize that their sole occupation is to serve God and if all of them will serve God in coordination, the intermediary class will disappear!

D. One Needing to Be a Priest As Long As One Is a Christian

I hope you will not allow any intermediary class to come in. Uphold this from the very beginning. Only among the fallen and backslidden ones and among those who walk according to their own way could there be the resurgence of an intermediary class. Among those defeated ones, it is natural for some to serve the Lord and some not to serve the Lord. Those who do not serve the Lord attend to their own affairs, while those who serve the Lord take care of spiritual affairs. Those who do not serve the Lord, at most, offer some money to support those who serve. They may be businessmen, teachers, or doctors, but they all attend to their own affairs and walk their own way. They do not seem to have anything to do with God’s service. In this kind of setting, what does a person need to do to qualify to be a good Christian? He only needs to set aside a little time every week to attend a worship service. If he has some money, he only needs to offer a small portion of it. But this clearly makes God’s people and His priests two classes of people! Today we should realize that either we are not Christians at all or we have to be those who consecrate everything to the Lord. As long as we are Christians, we have to be priests to God.

VII. THE RECOVERY OF THE PRIESTHOOD

A. There Being No Problem in the Early Churches

The danger that haunted the nation of Israel is the same problem that has confronted the church over the past two thousand years. From the time of the Lord’s departure until the time of the writing of Revelation and a little beyond that point, all of God’s children were priests. Everyone who considered himself a child of God was a priest of God. There was no problem then. There was no problem from the first century up through the third century. Individually, there were isolated problems here and there, but as a whole there was no problem. Here and there some of God’s children refused to be priests, but as a whole we did not see any problem. As long as a person was a child of God, he was a priest of God.

B. The Church’s Nature Being Changed after the Roman Empire’s Acceptance of Christianity

When the Roman Empire endorsed Christianity, many people began to creep in. There were material benefits in believing in the Lord; one became a fellow believer of the emperor and a brother of Caesar. Originally, the Lord’s charge was, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s” (Matt. 22:21). Now both the things of Caesar and the things of God were rendered to God. This indeed was a big victory for Christianity. Constantine was converted to Christ. The result was a gradual but significant shift for the church. Believers were no longer the same as those who professed their faith at an earlier age. During the ten periods of persecution under the reign of Rome, tens of thousands of Christians suffered martyrdom. It was not easy to pretend to be a Christian. But then the situation totally changed. It became fashionable to be a believer and to share the same faith as the emperor and to call him one’s brother. When this shift occurred, many decided to join Christianity. As a result, the number of people increased, while the number of priests remained the same. It is easy to creep into the Christian fold, but it is absolutely impossible to creep into God’s service.

C. A Separation between the Spiritual Ones and the Worldly Ones

The church witnessed a drastic change in the fourth century. During that period, many who joined the church were either unbelievers or half believers. They appeared to be believers, yet they held worldly power in their hands. They had no desire to serve the Lord in the church. At the most they were saved, but they could not serve the Lord. Spontaneously, some spiritual ones rose up to take care of the affairs of the church. The others then said, “You do it! Go and serve the Lord. We are the secular ones.” The word secular was introduced in the fourth century. Some would attend to earthly affairs, while others would attend to spiritual work. As a result many served God, but many more no longer served.

At the time of the apostles in the first century, every believer served the Lord. From the fourth century on, men began to say, “We are merely God’s people. We attend to our own affairs in the world and keep our positions in society. Once in a while, we give a little money. This should qualify us as Christians. Let the spiritual ones take care of the spiritual things for us.” From that time forward, the church followed the footsteps of the nation of Israel; it worshipped “the golden calf” and created an intermediary class. No longer were all of God’s people priests. Some became merely His people but not His priests.

Today, clergymen in the Roman Catholic Church are called priests. In China they are known as fathers. These so-called fathers are actually called priests. Some state churches follow the example of the Roman Catholic Church and give their pastors the title of priests. Those who tend to earthly affairs are called God’s people, while those who manage spiritual things are called priests. The church has been divided into priests and people.

D. The Lord Taking the Way of Recovery

There is something I would like all of us to see: In this end time, God is doing a work of recovery; He is taking the way of recovery. I believe God is leading all of His children up to this position in this last age. Here is one segment of the pathway of the church that is waiting for a fundamental recovery—the universal priesthood of God’s children. As long as a person is one of God’s people, he should be a priest. There are priests today. In the kingdom to come, there also will be priests. God wants to secure His priests. He wants all of His people to be His priests.

VIII. THE SERVICE OF THE PRIESTS

As soon as you become a Christian, you become a priest. If you want to be a Christian, you have to be a priest. Do not expect anyone to be a priest for you. You have to be a priest yourself. There is no intermediary class among us. No one will attend to spiritual affairs for us. No one will work for us. Among us we must not have another class of people called workers.

A. The Need for the Whole Church to Serve

If God is merciful to us, all the brothers and sisters will spontaneously be working, preaching the gospel, and serving the Lord together. The more universal the priesthood is, the more visible the church will be. Once the priesthood becomes non-universal, we have failed and our pathway has been corrupted.

B. God Honoring Us by Allowing Us to Serve Him

We are poor, weak, blind, and crippled. For the Lord to accept persons such as ourselves to be priests is an honor to us. In the Old Testament, such people could not be priests. All who were disabled, lame, or blemished could not be priests. However, today the base, the unclean, the blind, and the disabled have all been called by God to be priests! He is the Lord. I have said this before: We should gladly give ourselves to His service even if it means crawling to His feet to beg for service. We should be happy to kneel down to beg for this honor. I am happy to crawl on my knees and plead with the Lord, “Lord, I want to serve You. I gladly offer myself to Your service. You honor me by allowing me to come to You.” To be a priest is to draw near to God. To be a priest is to have no distance between us and God; it is to be able to enter in directly and to wait for no one. To be a priest means that we can touch God ourselves.

C. God’s Kingdom Realized When Everyone Serves

If one day all the brothers and sisters in all the churches rise up to serve, the kingdom of God will come among us. It will be a kingdom of priests; all the people will be priests. This is glorious. I look forward to the day when all idols are removed from among us. Before the Lord, we should pay whatever price it takes to achieve this. The Levites paid the price; they were faithful in setting aside their personal affection. Only such people can have a share in the priesthood.

D. The Basis of the Priesthood—God’s Acceptance

In order to fully understand the priesthood, we need to understand the way God dealt with the priests in the Old Testament. It is a great matter for God to allow a person to draw near to Him without being smitten. Only the priests could eat the showbread, serve at the altar, and enter the holy place. Only they could offer the sacrifices. Others died when they entered the holy place. God’s acceptance is the basis of the priesthood. Since God has accepted us, should we not enter in today? Formerly, anyone would die if he dared to enter in. But today God says, “You can come!” How strange it is if we still feel reluctant to come.

E. God’s Mercy Enabling Us to Serve in Grace

We need the Lord to open our eyes. It is grace in its highest form for a person to be given the privilege to serve Him. Those who really know God will say, “The grace that allows me to serve God is greater than the grace which brought me to salvation.” The dog under the table can eat the crumbs underneath the table, but it cannot serve at the table. To be saved by grace is relatively simple, but not everyone can serve by grace. Today in the church, everyone who is saved by grace can also serve. It is foolish not to consider this to be a great grace.

F. Rejecting the Principle of Having an Intermediary Class

Today’s Christianity acknowledges the presence of an intermediary class. Christianity as we see it today even divides God’s priests and God’s people into two classes. We look forward to the day when there is no more hierarchy among us. There may be one or two persons in the church who have failed. But the principle does not change. Today it is fashionable in Christianity to compromise principles. In principle, today’s Christianity has fallen and has taken the way of the Israelites—the people and the priests have become two. May we not fall into such a system!

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(Note – In the historical Baptist Church that has existed since the time of Christ, the pastor is the shepherd of the flock and then there are deacons and members. The pastor is similar to the High Priest of Israel.  This is God’s only hierarchy.  Every member is still a priest and they all have different gifts that are used in the service of God.  Even in Israel, the priests all had different jobs.  Some did the music, others offered sacrifice.  Some made and cared for the articles of the temple, and the HIGH PRIEST was the one that entered into the Holy of Holies once a year with the blood for the sins of the people.  Even though there were different positions and a hierarchy, they were still all priests.)

(Written originally by Watchman Nee in China during the Chinese revolution and died in a prison camp but these lessons have been the foundation of my life for 38 years.  David Williams – site Admin.)

LOVING THE BROTHERS

Scripture Reading: John 5:24; 1 John 3:14

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.  (John 5:24)

We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.  (1 John 3:14)

The Gospel of John was the last Gospel written, and the Epistles of John were the last Epistles written. Before the Gospel of John there are three Gospels, the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, which cover many acts and teachings of the Lord Jesus. The Gospel of John shows us the highest and most spiritual things concerning the coming of the Son of God to earth. It tells us clearly what kind of people can receive eternal life. It repeatedly says that those who believe have eternal life. The Gospel of John is full of the matter of believing. A person receives eternal life when he believes. This is the subject and emphasis of the Gospel of John. The Gospel of John pays special attention to things that the other Gospels do not cover. John 5:24 says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” In other words, those who hear and believe have passed out of death into life. Here the door of the gospel is very wide.

When we come to the Epistles, Paul, Peter, and the other apostles also explain faith in a very clear way. They show us that every believer can receive grace. Yet when we come to the final Epistles, the Epistles written by John, we find the emphasis shifting to other things. While the other Epistles pay much attention to a man’s faith in God, John emphasizes one aspect of practical conduct before God. His Epistles speak of love. The other Epistles say that those who believe are justified, forgiven, and cleansed. But John’s Epistles say that a person’s faith must be evidenced by his love.

If we ask someone, “How do you know that you have eternal life?” he may answer, “God’s Word says so.” But this is not quite enough. He may have spoken it out of his mental knowledge; he may not have truly believed in God’s Word. Therefore, John shows us in his Epistles that if a man says that he has eternal life, he must prove it. If a man says that he is of God, others must witness some kind of manifestation or testimony in him.

A person may say, “I have believed; therefore, I have eternal life.” He may say this based on his knowledge. He can make the process of believing and having eternal life a formula: First, one hears the gospel; second, he understands; third, he believes; and fourth, he knows that he has eternal life. But this kind of formulaic “salvation” is not trustworthy. The Bible tells us that at the time of Paul there were false brothers (“In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;”(2 Corinthians 11:26); “And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage:” (Galatians 2:4)). False brothers are those who call themselves brothers but are not actually brothers. Some claim to be of God but are actually void of life. They make their way into the church through doctrines, knowledge, and certain regulations. How can we know whether or not a person’s faith is genuine? How do we know whether a person’s faith before God is living or merely a formula? What way is there to prove who is of God and who is not? The Epistles of John settle this problem. John gave us a way to differentiate between true brothers and false brothers, between those who are born of God and those who are not born of God. Let us look at John’s way of discernment.

I. THE LIFE OF LOVE

There are only two passages in the Bible which contain the phrase out of death into life. One is in John 5:24, and the other is in 1 John 3:14. Let us make a comparison between these two portions.

John 5:24 says, ” Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” Here it says that he who believes has passed out of death into life.

First John 3:14 says, “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.” This verse speaks of the proof of one’s having passed out of death into life. The proof is love for the brothers.

Suppose you have many friends and you like them very much, or you admire many people and respect them very much. There is still a difference between your feelings toward them and your feelings toward the brothers and sisters in your own family. Somehow, there is a difference. If a person is born of your mother, if he is your brother, there is spontaneously a special and inexplicable feeling toward him. It is a feeling of instinctive love. This feeling proves that you and he belong to the same family.

The same holds true for our spiritual family. Suppose there is a person whose appearance, family background, education, disposition, and interest are totally different from yours. Yet he has believed in the Lord Jesus. Spontaneously, you will have an inexplicable feeling toward him. You will feel that he is your brother. He will be dearer to you than your brother in the flesh. This feeling proves that you have passed out of death into life.

First John 5:1 says, “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.” This is a very precious word. If you love God who has begotten you, it is only natural that you will love those who are begotten of God. It is impossible to say that you love God and yet have no feeling toward your brothers.

This love is proof that the faith we have acquired is a genuine faith. Such unspeakable love can only issue from genuine faith. This love for the brothers is something very special. A person loves for no other reason than the fact that the other person is a brother. He does not love because there is a common bond of interest. He loves simply because the other person is his brother. It is possible for two persons with different educational backgrounds, temperaments, family backgrounds, opinions, and views to love each other simply because both are believers. Both are brothers, and spontaneously they have fellowship one with another. There is an unspeakable feeling and taste toward each other. This feeling and taste is the proof that they have passed out of death into life. We know that we have passed out of death into life if we love the brothers.

It is true that faith brings us to God. Through faith we pass out of death into life, and through faith we are made members of the household of God and are regenerated. But faith brings us not only to the Father but also to the brothers. Once we have this life, we will have a feeling for the many people throughout the world who also have this life. Spontaneously, this life will draw us toward those who have the same life. This life takes pleasure in their presence; it delights in communicating with them and has a spontaneous love for them.

The Gospel of John and the Epistles of John show us God’s ordained order: First, faith brings us out of death into life, and then those who have passed out of death into life have this love. By loving the brothers, we know that we have passed out of death into life. This is a very reliable way to ascertain the number of God’s children on earth. Only those who love one another are brothers; those who do not love one another are not brothers.

Brothers and sisters! We must realize that in the eyes of God our love for the brothers is a test of the genuineness of our faith. We have no better way to tell whether a person’s faith is true or false. In the absence of this discernment, the more perfectly the gospel is preached, the greater will be the danger of counterfeits. The more thoroughly the gospel is preached, the easier it will be for false ones to come in. The more the gospel is preached with grace, the more careless ones will creep in. There must be a way to discern and recognize genuine faith from counterfeit faith. The Epistles of John show us clearly that the way to differentiate true faith from false faith is not through faith itself but through love. There is no need to ask how great one’s faith is. It is necessary only to ask how great his love is. Where there is genuine faith, there will be love. The lack of love proves the absence of faith. The presence of love proves the presence of faith. When we approach faith through the gateway of love, everything will become clear to us.

Whether or not a person is a genuine Christian depends on whether he has a special taste for and attraction toward other children of God. The life which God has given us is not an independent life. It is a life which spontaneously draws us toward those with the same life. It loves and desires mutual intimacy. Those who have such feelings have passed out of death into life.

II. THE COMMANDMENT OF LOVE

First John 3:11 says, “For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another..”

Verse 23 says, “And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.”

Loving one another is a commandment from God. God commands us to do two things: to believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and to love one another. We have already believed. Now we also should love. God gave us this love, and He also gave us the commandment to love. God first gave us this love and then He gave us the commandment to love one another. Today we must love one another according to God’s commandment. We must also love one another with the love which God has given us. We must exercise the love which God has put into us. We must apply it according to its nature. We should never quench it or hurt it.

First John 4:7-8 says, “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”

We must love one another, because love is of God. Those who have love are begotten of God. Those who do not love have not known God because God Himself is love. When God begot us, He also begot love in us. We were without love, but today we have love. Today the love we possess is from God. God has begotten love in everyone who is born of God. God has given love to both you and others. This is why we can love one another.

Those who are begotten of God have received a life—a life which is God Himself. God is love; therefore, those who are begotten of God have such a love begotten within them. The life which we have received from God is a life of love. Everyone who is begotten of God has love in him, and everyone who has love in him spontaneously loves the brothers. It would be strange if we could not love one another. God gave every Christian a life of love. He also gave him the commandment of love based upon this life of love: “Let us love one another.” God first gives us the love, and then He tells us to love. He first gives us a life of love, and then the commandment of love. We should bow our heads and say, “Thank You! God’s children can now love one another.”

III. IF ONE DOES NOT LOVE THE BROTHERS

Now let us consider all the verses under this category in 1 John.

First John 2:9-11 says, “He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.” Are you clear? Whether or not a man is a brother and whether or not he walks in the light and turns away from darkness are determined by whether or not he loves his brother.

If a person knows that you are a brother and yet he hates you in his heart, it proves that he is not a Christian. If he has seen five brothers and says, “I love four of them, but I hate one in my heart,” it proves that he is not a brother. We must realize that we do not love a brother because he is lovable but because he is a brother. We love him because he is a brother. This is the only reason for us to love. If a person knows that you are a brother and are of the Lord yet still hates you, it proves that he has no life in him. Here it says, “But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.” He is in the darkness and he walks in the darkness. In other words, the Bible denies the possibility that anyone can hate his brothers; it does not accept this as a possibility at all. If you know that a person is a brother and yet hate him, you must say, “Lord, I am not walking in the light. I am in the darkness and am walking in the darkness.”

First John 3:10 says, “In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.” He who does not practice righteousness outwardly is not of God. In the same way, he who does not have an inward love for his brother is not of God. He who does not love his brother is not of God, because this love and this feeling are not in him. In this the children of God are manifest.

Verse 14 says, “He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.” This love does not refer to ordinary love but to the love with which one loves his brothers. If a person does not have such a love for the brothers within him, the Bible says that he “abides in death.” We can understand why a person has no feeling or attraction for other believers before he believes. But it would be very strange if, after believing, he still has no feeling or attraction toward other believers. His faith may not be that genuine. “He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.” Formerly, such a person was dead. I am afraid that he is still dead because faith is based on love. Whether or not a person’s faith is genuine depends on whether there is love. Those who believe in God have a love for the brothers. If love is absent, it proves that the person still abides in death.

Verse 15 says, “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” We cannot imagine that any person would still murder after becoming a believer. The Bible tells us that to hate one’s brother is to murder. A person who has eternal life should never hate his brother. Hating the brothers proves that there is no love in him. It means that eternal life is not in him.

God’s children can be in many different conditions, but they can never hate. If there is a brother who is offensive in certain ways, we may not like him in our heart. If there is a brother who has committed a sin worthy of excommunication, we may deal with the matter with indignation. If there is a brother who has done something extremely evil, we may ask him to come to us and rebuke him severely before the Lord. But we can never hate our brothers. If a brother hates another brother, eternal life is not in him.

Every child of God has a life rich enough to love all the brothers and sisters. As long as a person belongs to the Lord, he deserves a believer’s love. Our love for any one brother should be the same as our love for all the brothers. The brotherly love that is applied toward one brother should be equally applicable to all the brothers. This kind of love for the brothers makes no distinction. As long as one is a brother, he deserves this love. If anyone hates a brother, it proves that he does not have eternal life in him. He does not have to hate all the brothers. As long as he hates one brother, it is enough to prove that he does not have brotherly love in him. The brotherly love that we are speaking about is a love that loves all the brothers.

This is a very sobering thought. If a believer does not love his brother but hates him instead, or if he threatens or attacks his brother, we can say only, “May God be merciful to him! Here is a person who thinks that he is a believer and yet he is not saved at all!” As long as he hates a brother, it proves that he is not of the Lord. This is a serious matter!

Under normal circumstances, if a brother has done things which irritate you, you can exhort him and rebuke him, but you cannot hate him. If he has done something which provokes you, you may be angry with him and rebuke him severely. But there cannot be any hatred in you. Even if you “tell it to the church,” according to Matthew 18, your intention should still be to gain him and restore him. If you have no intention of restoring him and if your goal is only to attack him and tear him down, it proves that you are less than a brother. The brother spoken of in Matthew 18 told the church because he wanted to gain his brother. The whole issue is whether your goal is to tear down your brother or to gain him. This is quite a serious matter. We must not take it lightly!

Concerning the fornicator in 1 Corinthians 5:13, Paul said, “Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.” At the beginning Paul delivered such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh in the name of the Lord Jesus and with the power of the Lord Jesus because the Corinthians did not do anything to cast him out. Is this kind of dealing too severe? It was indeed extremely severe. But Paul did this so that the man’s spirit would be saved in the day of the Lord (v. 5). The purpose for his flesh being destroyed in the present time was so that he would not suffer eternal loss. The purpose of telling it “to the church” in Matthew 18 is for restoration; the removing in 1 Corinthians 5 is also for restoration.

When Joshua judged Achan, he said, “My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me.” (Josh. 7:19). Though Achan had committed a great sin, he spoke to Achan with such a spirit and such brotherly love.

David took hold of his clothes and tore them when a young messenger brought the news of Saul’s death to him. He mourned, wept, and fasted until the evening (2 Sam. 1:11-12). When someone told David about Absalom’s death, David was much moved. He wept, saying, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!” (18:33). Saul was a king who hated David, and Absalom was David’s rebellious son. Yet David wept when they died. He had to fight the battles, and he had to judge, but he could not restrain his tears. He had to judge, and he had to condemn, but he could not hold back his tears.

Brothers and sisters, if a person can only judge and condemn but has no tears or sadness, it proves that he does not know anything about brotherly love. If anyone rebukes a brother only for the purpose of tearing him down, such a one has no love in him, only hatred. To hate the brothers is to murder them! This is a very serious matter!

A brother once wrote to J. N. Darby about the matter of excommunication. Darby’s first words were, “I think it is the most dreadful thing for a sinner whose sins have been forgiven to excommunicate another sinner.” There is nothing more dreadful than for a sinner whose sins are forgiven to excommunicate another sinner. Mr. Darby’s reaction was something that issued from a life of love. No doubt, there are many things which need to be addressed. We can excommunicate a sinful brother or sister from the church if it becomes necessary to do so. But we must never harbor any hatred in dealing with them.

First John 4:20-21 says, “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.” Here John shows us that to love one’s brothers is equal to loving God. He who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. We should love our brothers if we want to love God. This is the commandment which we have received from God.

We must be careful not to do anything that will offend love. We should not offend our brothers lightly. We must love one another and must honor the brotherly love that has been placed in our hearts. We should not put aside such a heart. God has placed this heart in us so that we can use it to serve and help the brothers. We should allow this brotherly love to grow, to be strengthened, and to be empowered.

First John 3:17 says, “But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?” John did not say, “How does the love of the brothers abide in him?” He said, “…how dwelleth the love of God in him?” because the love of God is the love of the brothers, and the love of the brothers is the love of God. The love of God does not abide in a person who shuts up his love for his brother. He cannot deceive himself by saying, “Although I do not love my brother, I love God.” Our relationship with the brothers comes from our relationship with God. If we are not related to the brothers, it means that we are not related to God. If we reject our brothers, the love of God is not in us.

IV. HOW TO LOVE THE BROTHERS

First John 3:16 says, “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” What does it mean to love the brothers? John goes on to explain it. We do not know what love is until we see how the Lord laid down His life for us. John continues by saying, “And we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” A love for the brothers is a willingness to lay ourselves aside to serve them. It is a willingness to deny oneself for the perfection of others, and a heart that will even lay down one’s very own life for his brothers.

Verse 18 says, “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. ” Brotherly love is not just empty words; it is manifested in deed and truthfulness.

First John 4:10-12 says, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us…..” This shows us that our love toward God and our love toward one another cannot be separated. The love of God is perfected in us if we love one another. Today God has put many brothers before us for us to practice our love for God. The love of God is perfected in us if we love one another. We should not say in a vain way that we love God. We must learn to love the brothers in a real way. It is vanity to merely talk about love. Our love for God must be expressed in our love for the brothers.

First John 5:2-3 says, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.” If we love God, we must keep His commandments. Likewise, if we love God’s children, we must keep His commandments. For example, God’s commandment says that we should be baptized by immersion. But many of God’s children hold different opinions. They say, “I do not agree with baptism by immersion. If you love me, you should not be baptized by immersion. This will hurt me.” What should we do? God commands us to leave the denominations and not remain in any sects; however, many of God’s children promote the denominations. They say, “You should not leave the denominations. You will hurt us if you leave the denominations.” What should we do? We must leave the denominations if we want to love God, and we should stay in the denominations if we want to love our brothers. This puts us in a dilemma. But verse 2 says, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.” In other words, we cannot say that we love God’s children if we do not keep God’s commandments. Suppose a brother is touched by God to be baptized by immersion. He should be baptized if he loves God’s children. If he is not baptized, he will affect other children of God; they also may choose not to be baptized. This will hinder them from obeying God. This is not the way to love them. If we keep all the commandments of God, we will know that we have loved His children. We will have taken the way of obedience. Now other children can take the same way. If we choose not to obey just because we are afraid that we may hurt them by our obedience, we will have no way to go on, and they will have no way to go on as well. We must learn to love God, and we must keep all His commandments. It is by loving Him and keeping His commandments that we know we love His children. We must keep all the commandments of God. This is the only way to lead God’s children to the way of obedience. Consider another illustration: Suppose your parents do not allow you to believe in the Lord. What should you do? Would you deny the Lord for the sake of loving them? If you listen to them and deny the Lord, you are not practicing love at all! If you do not listen to them and instead believe in the Lord, they may be angry with you for a time, but you have opened a way for them to believe in the Lord. This is love!

However, we must not offend our parents in attitude or in words. It is right for us to obey and follow God’s commandments, but we must not offend our parents in our attitude and our words. We need to hold fast to God’s truth, and at the same time, we need to maintain love. We must learn to be righteous from the very beginning of our Christian life. At the same time, we must not give up love. Do not emphasize the holiness of the life of God at the expense of the love found in His life. These two aspects should balance one another. We want to obey God, but we must obey in an attitude of meekness. Do not offend love in any way. If something needs to be done, do it. But never do anything which offends love. We must be gentle in our attitude. Even when there are differences of opinion among the brothers, we must still remain gentle. We must be full of love when we tell our brother, “Brother, how I wish to see what you have seen. But God has shown me otherwise, and I have no choice but to obey Him.” Do not lower the standard of God’s Word; neither offend love. On the one hand, be obedient to God. On the other hand, love. We must show our brother that we are not doing something for ourselves; we are doing it because God has said so. Our attitude must be right, and we must be full of meekness. This will gain many brothers and sisters.

V. THE RESULT OF LOVE

First John 4:16 says, “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” This is the second occurrence in this Epistle of the phrase God is love. Because God is love, He wants us to love the brothers and abide in love. As long as we abide in love, we abide in God.

Verses 17 and 18 say, “Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” First John 4 is the only place in the entire Bible that tells us how to stand boldly before the judgment seat. It tells us the secret: Abide in love. To abide in love is to abide in God. We will have boldness in the day of judgment when this love is perfected in us.

We must have only one thought toward our brothers and sisters—love. We must gain them and seek their highest benefit. There must be no hatred, only love. This practice is an exercise for us. One day our whole being will abide in love, and love will also abide in us. Then our lives on earth will be free from all fear. There is no fear when we love. When we stand before the judgment seat, we will not be afraid of anything. This life of love will operate among us until fear is gone. The fruit of the Spirit—love—will give us the boldness to stand before the judgment seat.

We have already seen that to love the brothers is to love God. Our love for the brothers will cause the love of God to be perfected in us. We can love the brothers to such an extent that there is no more fear in us toward the brothers. Loving God and loving the brothers always go together. We must love the brothers on earth if we want to love God. If we do, love is perfected in us, and we will have the boldness on the day of judgment. This is a wonderful thing.

May we all give ourselves to learn to love the brothers from the very beginning of our Christian life. May the life of love find an outlet in us.

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(Written originally by Watchman Nee in China during the Chinese revolution and died in a prison camp but these lessons have been the foundation of my life for 38 years.  David Williams – site Admin.)

WITHSTANDING THE DEVIL

Scripture Reading: James 4:7; 1 Pet. 5:8-9; 2 Cor. 2:11

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  (James 4:7)

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. (1 Peter 5:8-9)

Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.  (2 Corinthians 2:11)

The devil is known also as Satan (Rev. 12:9- “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”). He was first a cherubim, created by God (Ezek. 28:12-14 – “Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.”) and he was an archangel (Rev. 12:7 – “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,”; Matt. 25:41 – “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:”). Later, he rebelled against God by uplifting himself to be equal to God. Because of this, God judged him (Isa. 14:12-15 – “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.” [In versions after the KJV, especially the NIV the word Lucifer is removed and replaced with “Morning Star” which is a name for Jesus.]; Ezek. 28:15-19 – “Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.”) and he became Satan, the adversary of God. In the original text the word Satan means “an opposer, an adversary.” The devil opposes everything that God does. In addition, he always sets himself against God’s children.

We want to look at the way the devil attacks God’s children and how they withstand him.

I. SATAN’S WORK

We will look at Satan’s work in four aspects.

A. Satan’s Work in the Human Mind

Second Corinthians 10:4-5 says, “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;” This shows us that Satan uses every high thing as a stronghold to surround man’s thought. In order for the Lord to gain us, He must first overthrow the strongholds of Satan. He must do this before He can charge into man’s thought and take it captive.

1. Satan’s Reasonings and Temptations

What are reasonings? This word in Greek can be translated “imagination” or “thought.” Satan often surrounds us with many imaginations. Men are foolish; they think that these thoughts are their own. Actually, they are the strongholds of Satan, and they prevent the mind from submitting to Christ. Often Satan injects a kind of imagination into our mind. If we think this imagination is from ourselves, we fall into his snare. Often thoughts develop which have no basis in fact; they are merely imaginations. Many so-called sins are imaginary in nature; they are not real. Many of the so-called problems among the brothers and sisters come from our imagination; they have no factual basis. Often Satan injects a wild thought into our mind, and we are completely oblivious to his work. When he injects a sudden thought into our mind and we accept it, we are accepting his work. If we reject this thought, we reject his work. Many thoughts are not our own; they are actually concocted by Satan. We must learn to reject these thoughts from Satan.

Most of Satan’s temptations come through the mind. Satan realizes that God’s children will rise up and withstand him vehemently if he attacks openly. This is the reason he tempts us by sneaking in stealthily and planting a thought in our mind unconsciously. Once the thought gets into us, we begin to think about it. If the more we dwell on a thought the more we feel justified and right, we have fallen into his snare. The thought that we have accepted is Satan’s temptation. If we reject Satan’s attacks in our mind, we will shut off the most vulnerable entrance of his temptations.

Many problems among God’s children are problems in the mind; they are not real problems. Sometimes when you see a brother or a sister, you may feel that he or she has a problem with you or that there is a distance between you. This may result in a barrier between you. Actually, there is nothing between you. The so-called problem is merely Satan’s attack in your mind or the mind of your brother or sister. Such problems are unnecessary problems. God’s children must reject sudden thoughts and sudden feelings. They must learn never to give in to Satan.

Here, we need to issue a warning. We should not be overly concerned about thoughts from Satan. There are people who go to one extreme of paying no attention at all to Satan’s thoughts. There are also people who go to the other extreme of paying too much attention to thoughts from Satan. A person can easily be cheated if he is not alert to thoughts from Satan. At the same time, a person can lose his mental sanity if he is obsessed about thoughts from Satan. If a person pays too much attention to Satan’s temptations, his mind will become confused, and he will easily become a prey to Satan’s snares. As soon as a person’s eyes are not focused on the Lord, he will find himself in trouble. On the one hand, we need to see that Satan does attack our mind. On the other hand, we need to realize that as soon as we reject his attacks, that is the end of them. If a person has to reject Satan day and night, something is wrong with his mind; he is heading down the wrong road. On the one hand, we must be familiar with his wiles; if we are ignorant of them we will be cheated. On the other hand, we cannot be overly concerned because that will also lead us into deception. As soon as our eyes are set on him, he has gained what he wants. This distraction will render us useless, and we will become obsessed with his thoughts day and night. Any brother or sister who is overly concerned with such thoughts has already been deceived. We must learn to maintain a proper balance. An excessive concern is wrong. If a person’s mind is constantly worried about thoughts from Satan, he is in reality giving ground to Satan to enter into him. We must never go to the extreme.

2. How to Reject Thoughts from Satan

How do we reject thoughts from Satan? It is easy to reject these thoughts. God has given us our mind; it is ours, not Satan’s. We are the only ones who have the right to use our mind; Satan has no authority over our mind. All we need to do is not allow him to think. Satan can only usurp our mind with deception. He will give us a thought, and we may think that this thought is ours. Actually, it is from Satan. As soon as we recognize that it is not ours, we have overcome.

Satan always tempts and attacks a person by stealthy, surreptitious, and covert ways. He does not shout loudly, “Here I come!” Instead, he deceives with lies and falsehood. He does not let us know that he is the one who is doing the work. Once we are aware of an attack from Satan and expose him and his disguise, it will be easy to withstand him. The Lord Jesus said, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32). The truth is the fact. We will be set free once we know the fact. The power of Satan is in his lies; once his lies fail, his power is gone. Therefore, as soon as we realize that Satan is attacking us and that this is the fact, we are freed. Some children of God say with their mouth that Satan is the instigator behind everything, but their spirit has no assurance that those things are actually from Satan. Although they say that they are withstanding Satan, they do not know the reality of Satan’s work. As a result, they cannot withstand him. However, as soon as they identify Satan’s work, they can withstand him, and as soon as they withstand him, he flees.

Satan attacks our mind mainly through deception. He makes us think that his thoughts are ours when in reality they are from him. Once we expose his lies, we will reject the thought from him. To withstand means to refuse. When Satan gives us a thought, we should say, “I do not want it.” This is what it means to withstand. When he injects one thought into us, we should say, “I do not take this.” When he injects another thought into us, we should repeat, “I do not accept this.” If we do this, he will not be able to do anything with us. One servant of God in the Middle Ages said, “You cannot stop birds from flying over your head, but you can at least stop them from nesting in your hair.” This is a good word. We cannot stop Satan from tempting us. However, we can stop him from nesting, from gaining a beachhead in us. This power is ours. If we ignore the thoughts that enter our mind, these thoughts will stop.

On the positive side, we need to exercise our mind. Many people have lazy minds. This makes it easy for Satan’s thoughts to lodge in them. Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” We can take account of spiritual matters. We need to exercise our mind concerning spiritual matters. If a person always sets his mind on sinful things, Satan can easily inject his thoughts into him, because his thoughts and Satan’s thoughts are not much different. But if we always set our mind on spiritual things, Satan will not be able to inject his thoughts into us easily. Satan is able to inject his thoughts into many people because they are passive, because they have too much spare time, or because their thoughts are unclean in the first place.

There is another point that deserves attention: Our mind must not be attracted to satanic thoughts. There are many people whose minds are attracted to satanic thoughts. They have no interest in the wonderful, spiritual experiences of other brothers. Yet they become very interested when it comes to gossip. Since they love Satan’s work, they cannot reject satanic thoughts. We need to hate Satan’s work in order to reject his thoughts. All filthy thoughts that damage one’s fellowship with the Lord and love for the Lord are from Satan. These thoughts will not come to us if we are not attracted to them in the first place. But if we incline our heart toward these things, they will come to us easily. Therefore, we must learn to reject everything that comes from Satan.

We must pay special attention to rejecting all filthy thoughts. Satan always places filthy thoughts in man to induce man to sin. The starting point is one filthy thought. If we allow it to continue, it will bear the fruit of sin. Therefore, we must refuse any thought that comes from Satan.

However, there is a great problem: What should we do if the thought refuses to leave after we have rejected it? We need to realize that we only need to withstand unwanted thoughts once. Withstanding is a one-time act; we should never withstand twice. James 4:7 says, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” This verse says to withstand the devil and the devil will flee. We must believe that when we withstand the devil, he will flee. It is wrong to continue withstanding for fear that the devil is still around. Whose words do we believe? The Bible says, “Resist…he will flee…” If there is a voice within that suggests that he has not fled, whose voice is it? It is Satan’s voice! Many people choose to believe Satan’s words. Therefore, they lose. We must declare after we have withstood him, “I have already withstood the devil. He is gone from me.” The feeling that he is still lurking around is a lie; it is not real, and it is not from the Lord. He must run. He has no ground to stay. We must be clear that it is right to withstand once, but wrong to withstand a second time. The first withstanding glorifies God’s name. The second withstanding questions God’s Word.

Many people make the mistake of checking with their feelings after they have withstood the devil. They ask, “Is the devil gone?” Their feeling tells them that he is not gone, and they try to withstand him again. Once there is a second withstanding, be sure there will be a third, a fourth, even a hundredth, and a thousandth. In the end we will feel as if we are completely helpless in rejecting it. But if we ignore him completely after we have withstood his temptation once, we will experience victory. We must care for the fact of God’s Word and ignore our own feelings. The fact is that as soon as we withstand the devil, he flees. If we think that he has not fled after we have withstood him, we are being deceived by our feeling. If we believe this feeling, the devil will come back. We must learn to believe God’s glorious words. Once we have withstood him once, there is no need to withstand him a second time because the matter has been settled already.

These are the issues relating to Satan’s work in man’s mind. We must realize that Satan attacks man’s mind. We should reject any thought from Satan. At the same time, we should realize that once we reject his thoughts, the matter is finished. Furthermore, we must not be overly concerned with his attacks. Otherwise, our mind will be thrown into confusion, and we will be ensnared by the devil.

B. Satan’s Work on Man’s Body

The Bible shows us clearly that many physical diseases are the result of Satan’s attack.

The fever of Peter’s mother-in-law was an attack from Satan, and the Lord Jesus rebuked the fever (Luke 4:39 – “And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her: and immediately she arose and ministered unto them.“). Something must have a personality before the Lord can rebuke it. We cannot rebuke a cup or a chair; we can only rebuke something that has a personality. Fever is a symptom; the Lord could not rebuke the symptom. But Satan was behind the symptom with a personality of his own. Therefore, as soon as the Lord rebuked the fever, it was gone.

In Mark 9 we see a dumb and deaf child. In man’s eyes dumbness and deafness are sicknesses. But the Lord Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, saying, “Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.” (v. 25). The dumbness and deafness of the child were outward symptoms of his demon possession; they were not ordinary illnesses. We must realize that many sicknesses are medically defined diseases. But there are many sicknesses that are actually attacks from the devil. The Bible does not say that the Lord healed the sickness but that He rebuked it. The boils on Job’s body could not be healed by medicine; they were not medical illnesses; they were attacks from the devil. Unless one first deals with the devil, he has no way to deal with such sicknesses.

We admit that illnesses often occur through man’s negligence of natural laws. However, it can quite often be the result of Satan’s attack. In such a case one only has to ask the Lord to rebuke the sickness, and it will go away. This type of sickness often comes and goes away suddenly. It is an attack from Satan rather than an ordinary illness.

The complication lies in the fact that Satan does not want us to uncover and expose the illnesses he has inflicted. He always hides behind natural symptoms and makes us think that every sickness is the result of natural causes. If we allow him to hide behind these natural symptoms, our illness will not go away. Once we expose his work and rebuke him, the sickness will go away. One Christian had a very high fever and suffered greatly. He could not sleep and did not understand what was happening to him. Later, he was convinced that it was Satan’s work. He prayed to the Lord about it, and the next day the fever went away.

When a Christian becomes sick, he should first find the cause for his illness. He should ask: Is there any proper reason for this sickness? Is this out of natural causes or is it an attack from Satan? If there is not a proper reason for the illness and you discover that it is indeed an attack from Satan, you should withstand him and reject him.

The work of Satan on man’s body results not only in illness but also in death. Satan was a murderer from the beginning, in the same way that he was a liar from the beginning (John 8:44 – “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”). We should withstand not only Satan’s sickness but also his murdering. All thought of death is from Satan. Every notion of death as a means to escape from anything is from Satan. Satan made Job think of death. He did this not only to Job but also to every child of God. All notions of suicide, death wishes, and premature death are temptations from Satan. He tempts man to sin, and he also tempts man to die. Even thoughts of danger during one’s travels are Satan’s attacks. We must reject these thoughts whenever they come and not allow them to remain in us.

C. Satan’s Work on Man’s Conscience

Revelation 12:10 says, ” And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.” This shows us that part of Satan’s work is to accuse us. This work is carried out in man’s conscience. As soon as a person is saved, his conscience is quickened, and he begins to know sin. Satan knows this. He knows that the Holy Spirit touches the conscience of God’s children concerning sin. He knows that He guides them into confession and prayer for forgiveness before God. Consequently, Satan steps in to counterfeit the Holy Spirit’s work. He accuses man in his conscience. Such an attack is found frequently among God’s children, and it causes much havoc.

Many children of God cannot differentiate between the Holy Spirit’s reproach and Satan’s accusation. As a result, they are hesitant to withstand anything. This gives Satan further ground to exercise his accusations. Many children of God could have been very useful in the hands of God, but their conscience has been weakened to the uttermost by Satan’s attack. They are bombarded constantly with the accusation and feeling that they have sinned in this and that matter. They are unable to stand up before God or before men. As a result, they become spiritually handicapped for the rest of their lives.

It is true that we should pay attention to the reproach of the Holy Spirit once we become Christians. However, we also need to withstand Satan’s accusation. We need to pay attention to the difference between the Holy Spirit’s reproach and Satan’s accusation. Many so-called reproaches are counterfeits; they are, in fact, Satan’s accusations.

1. The Difference between Satan’s Accusation and the Holy Spirit’s Reproach

What is the difference between Satan’s accusation and the Holy Spirit’s reproach? We need to distinguish between them.

First, all reproaches from the Holy Spirit begin with a small feeling from within. This inner feeling becomes stronger and stronger and convicts us of our mistakes. Satan’s accusation, however, is a continual nagging within. The reproach of the Holy Spirit grows stronger and stronger as time goes on; the accusation of Satan is the same from beginning to end. As time passes, the inner sense of the Spirit ascends by degree; but the accusation of Satan is a constant, muddled nagging that stays the same from beginning to end.

Second, each time we yield to the rebuke of the Spirit, we find the power of sin diminishing in us. Each rebuke of the Spirit diminishes the power of sin a little. Therefore, any rebuke from the Spirit weakens the power of sin; it results in a diminishing of sin. This is not the case with Satan’s accusation. Every time he accuses us, we find the power of sin to be just as great as before.

Third, the reproach of the Holy Spirit brings us to the Lord, whereas Satan’s accusation brings us disappointment. The more we are reproved by the Holy Spirit, the more we are strengthened within to deal with our problem before the Lord. But Satan’s accusation brings about despair and resignation. The reproach of the Holy Spirit causes us to come before the Lord and to rely on Him; Satan’s accusation causes us to turn back to ourselves and to be disappointed.

Fourth, if it is the reproach of the Holy Spirit, confession before the Lord will follow. This confession will result in at least peace, if not joy. There may or may not be joy, but there is always peace. Satan’s accusation, however, is totally different. There is no joy and no peace, even after one confesses his sins. This is like coming out of a major illness or going through a theatrical performance—nothing remains after the act is over. The reproach of the Holy Spirit has a result—peace, if not joy. However, Satan’s accusation leads us nowhere.

Fifth, the reproach of the Holy Spirit reminds us of the blood of the Lord. With Satan’s accusation, there is always the Satan-injected thought: “There is not much use. Perhaps the Lord will not forgive you.” This thought will be there even when we know that we have the blood. In other words, the reproach of the Holy Spirit leads to faith in the Lord’s blood, while Satan’s accusation causes us to lose our faith in the Lord’s blood. When a certain feeling comes, simply check whether we are reminded of the blood as a result of this feeling or whether we have been distanced from the blood. This will tell us whether the feeling is a reproach of the Holy Spirit or an accusation from Satan.

Sixth, the result of the reproach of the Holy Spirit is power from God; one will rise up on his feet and run faster. He will go on with renewed zeal, cast aside his trust in himself, and have more faith in God. However, the result of Satan’s accusation is the debilitation of the conscience. The conscience of such ones is smitten before God. They have no faith in themselves, and they have no faith in God either. It is true that the reproach of the Holy Spirit takes away our strength and our trust in ourselves. But at the same time it causes us to have more faith in the Lord. Satan’s accusation is not like this. It takes away our confidence in ourselves as well as our faith in the Lord. The result is that we become a debilitated person.

2. How to Overcome Satan’s Accusation

Revelation 12:11 says, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” Him here refers to Satan, who accused the brothers. How do we overcome him?

First, we overcome by the blood of the Lamb. On the one hand, when we sin before the Lord, we must confess our sins. On the other hand, we must say to Satan, “There is no need for you to accuse me! I come before the Lord today by the blood of the Lord!” To overcome Satan, we must show him that we are forgiven through the blood of the Lamb. All our sins, major or minor, have been forgiven through the blood of the Lamb. This is the Word of God: “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7).

We must realize that the blood of the Lamb is the basis of our forgiveness before God as well as the basis of our acceptance in Him. We should not be so presumptuous as to think that we are good. Neither should we be so foolish as to condemn ourselves from morning to evening. It is foolish to be proud, and it is also foolish to keep looking at oneself. Those who consider themselves to be good are foolish, and those who are blind to the saving power of the Lord are foolish as well. Those who believe in their own power are foolish, and those who do not believe in the Lord’s power are foolish as well. We must see that the blood of the Lamb has already fulfilled all the demands of God. It has also overcome all the accusations of Satan.

Second, we overcome because of the word of our testimony. This word of our testimony declares the spiritual facts; it declares the victory of the Lord. We must tell Satan, “There is no need for you to trouble me! My sins have been forgiven through the Lord’s blood!” We need to exercise our faith to declare that Jesus is Lord and that He has won the victory. We need to speak out the word of our testimony and let Satan hear this word. We must not only believe in our hearts but also declare it to Satan with our mouth. This is the word of our testimony.

Third, we must not love our soul-life even unto death. “The blood of the Lamb” and “the word of their testimony” spoken of previously are two conditions for victory over Satan. The refusal to love one’s soul-life even unto death is an attitude. No matter what Satan is doing, even if he is putting us to death, our attitude should be such that we still trust in the blood of the Lamb and still declare His victory. Satan’s accusation will stop if we stand fast in this way. He cannot overcome us. Instead, we will surely overcome him!

Some brothers and sisters receive so much accusation from Satan that they can no longer discern whether it is an accusation from Satan or a reproach of the Holy Spirit. They should stop confessing their sins for a while; the Lord does not want us to do things foolishly. Instead, they should pray to the Lord and say, “If I have sinned, I will confess my sins and ask for Your forgiveness. But now I am under Satan’s accusation. I pray that You cover all my sins. From this point on, everything is under Your blood, and I will not be bothered by anything anymore, whether it be sin or otherwise!” Those who are in such a condition must forget about everything for a while before they can differentiate clearly between Satan’s accusation and the Holy Spirit’s reproach.

3. How to Help Those Who Are under Satan’s Accusation

We must never add to the burden of the conscience of those under Satan’s accusation. First, we should help them to do only what is within their ability to handle. If we ask them to do what is beyond their ability, they will fall easily into condemnation. We must be sure that they have enough strength before the Lord to go on before we give them stronger advice or urge them to move ahead. Second, where there is the clear work of the Holy Spirit, we should raise the standard a little, for with the clear operation of the Spirit of the Lord and the spirit of revival, the Lord’s word has the ability to uplift the capacity of a person. If we raise the standard very high when the Spirit of the Lord has not done anything, we are not helping these accused ones to go on; rather, we are giving Satan opportunities to accuse them even more.

We must not be careless in pointing out the failures of others. Suppose a brother has failed in certain areas, yet he can still pray, read the Bible, and attend the meetings. As long as you have the assurance within that you can help him, a little push may be all that is necessary to bring him through his trouble. But if you do not have the assurance within and you do not have the power to uplift him, your exposure of his failures will only quench his prayers, his reading of the Bible, and his meeting life. The smoking flax must be rekindled; it must not be smothered. The bruised reed must be supported; it must not be broken. We should not make ourselves the standard and put the conscience of others under condemnation. We must learn not to do things that would offend the conscience of others.

We must point out Hebrews 10:22 to those who are under Satan’s accusation: “Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience.” With such a sprinkling, our conscience should no longer feel guilty. The principle of the Christian life is a life free from any condemnation in the conscience. When a Christian is condemned in his conscience, he will be weak before God and will be debilitated in all spiritual matters. Satan’s goal is to derail us from this principle. This is the reason he accuses us unceasingly. We need to lay hold of this principle by applying the blood. The more Satan tries to make us feel guilty, the more we should apply the blood to all of our sins. The brothers overcame him not by their own strength, but by the blood of the Lamb. We can declare, “Satan, I admit that I have sinned. But I have been redeemed by the Lord! I have never denied that I am a debtor. I am in debt, but the Lord has paid my debt!” We do not need to deal with Satan’s accusation by denying that we are debtors. We can deal with him by declaring that our debt has been paid.

D. Satan’s Work in the Environment

All circumstances are arranged by God. However, there are many things in our environment which, though permitted by God, are the result of Satan’s direct and active work.

Take Job’s experience as an example. His oxen and donkeys were taken away, his house collapsed, and his children were killed. These were all things in the environment. Though they were permitted by God, Satan was the one directly instigating the attacks.

Peter’s failure was another example. The cause of his fall was partly due to himself, but partly due to Satan’s attack in the environment. The Lord said, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:” (Luke 22:31). Peter’s fall was the direct result of Satan’s work. Yet it was something permitted by God.

Paul’s thorn was clearly the work of Satan. Paul said, “…there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.” (2 Cor. 12:7). This is the work of Satan. It is Satan who attacks God’s children in the environment.

An even clearer example can be seen in Matthew 8, when the Lord Jesus ordered the disciples to depart to the other side of the sea. He knew that powerful demons had to be cast out on the other side of the sea. After He and the disciples stepped into the boat, suddenly a great tempest arose in the sea so that the boat was covered by the waves. The Lord was asleep. The disciples came near and roused Him, saying, “Lord, save us: we perish.” (v. 25). A few of the disciples were fishermen; they were very experienced sailors. However, they realized that the waves were more than they could handle. The Lord Jesus rebuked their little faith; then He rose and rebuked the winds and the sea. The winds and the sea have no personality of their own, yet the Lord rebuked them because the devil was behind them. Satan had stirred up the winds and the waves.

In conclusion, Satan not only attacks our body, our conscience, and our mind, but also attacks us through our environment.

How should we react to Satan’s attack in the environment?

First, we must humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. Both James 4 and 1 Peter 5 tell us to withstand Satan. These two portions also tell us to humble ourselves before God. When Satan attacks us in the environment, our first reaction should be to submit to God. We cannot withstand the devil if we do not submit to God. Our conscience will condemn us if we withstand the devil without submitting to God. Therefore, our first reaction should be to submit to God.

Second, we should withstand the devil. When God’s children encounter unreasonable and inexplicable things in the environment and have the clear sense within that these are attacks from Satan, they should withstand him. Once they withstand, the attacks will be behind them. On the one hand, they need to humble themselves under the hand of God. On the other hand, they must withstand Satan’s work in the environment. When they humble themselves, and their attitude before God is firm, God will show them that it is not Him but Satan who is doing the work. Thus, they will be able to differentiate God’s arrangement from Satan’s attack. Once they are clear and once they withstand the devil, the attacks will go away.

Third, we must reject all forms of fear. Satan has to find a lodging ground before he can work on God’s children. He cannot work where he has no ground to work. Therefore, his first attack is to gain a beachhead. He then attacks us from this beachhead. We should not give any ground to him. This is the way to victory. There is one area which can become Satan’s greatest stronghold—fear. When Satan tries to put us through trials, the first thing he does is to put fear into us. An experienced sister once said, “Fear is Satan’s calling card.” Once you accept fear, Satan steps in. If you reject fear, he will not be able to come in.

All thoughts of fear are attacks from Satan. Whatever you are afraid of, you will surely experience. Job said, “For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.” (Job 3:25). Job experienced everything that he feared. Satan’s attack in the environment comes mostly in the form of fear. If you withstand the fear, the things that you fear will not come. But if you allow the fear to remain, you will give Satan the opportunity to do the very things that you fear.

Therefore, in order for God’s children to withstand the work of Satan, the first thing they have to reject is fear. When Satan puts a fear in you for this or that thing, you must not give in to this fear. You should say, “I will never accept what the Lord has not measured to me!” Once a person is delivered from fear, he is delivered from Satan’s realm. This is what Paul meant when he said, “Neither give place to the devil” (Eph. 4:27).

Why do we not need to fear? We do not fear “because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” (1 John 4:4). If we are fearful, it is because we are ignorant of this fact.

II. WITHSTANDING SATAN BY FAITH

First Peter 5:8-9 says, ” Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.” God’s Word shows us clearly that the way to withstand Satan is by faith. There is no other way to withstand him. What should our faith rest on? How should we exercise our faith to withstand him? Let us consider what the Word of God says concerning this.

A. Believing That the Lord’s Manifestation Is to Destroy the Works of the Devil

First, we must believe that the Lord was manifested for the purpose of destroying the works of the devil (1 John 3:8 – “He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.”). The Son of God has come to the earth; He was manifested. When He was on earth, He destroyed the work of the devil wherever He went. Often Satan’s work was not obvious; he hid behind natural phenomena. However, the Lord rebuked him every time. It is clear that He was rebuking Satan when He rebuked Peter’s speaking (Matt. 16:22-23 – “Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.”), when He rebuked the fever of Peter’s mother-in-law (Luke 4:39-“ And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her: and immediately she arose and ministered unto them.”), and when He rebuked the winds and the waves. Although the devil hid behind many natural phenomena, the Lord Jesus rebuked him. Wherever the Lord went, the power of the devil was shattered. This is why He said, ” And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges.” (Matt. 12:28). In other words, wherever the Lord went, Satan was cast out, and the kingdom of God was manifested. Satan could not remain where the Lord was. This is why He said that He was manifested to destroy the works of the devil.

We should also believe that in manifesting Himself on the earth, the Lord not only destroyed the works of the devil, but also gave authority to His disciples to cast out demons in His name. The Lord said, “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” (Luke 10:19). He gave His name to the church so that His church might continue His work on earth after His ascension. The Lord used His authority on earth to cast out demons. He also gave this authority to the church.

We must distinguish between what the devil has and what we have. What the devil has is power. What we have is authority. All that Satan has is power. But the Lord Jesus has given us authority, which can overcome all the power of Satan. Power cannot prevail over authority. God has given us authority, and Satan will surely fail.

Consider an illustration of how authority overcomes power: A traffic light on a road controls traffic. When a policeman turns on the red light, all pedestrians and cars have to stop. No one is allowed to dash through a red light. The pedestrians and cars are much more powerful than the red light in terms of power. However, no pedestrian or driver will dare dash through the red light because of the presence of authority. This is an example of authority prevailing over power.

Authority prevails over power; this is God’s established policy in this universe. No matter how strong Satan’s power is, one fact remains sure—the Lord Jesus has given His name to the church. This name stands for authority. The church can cast out demons in the name of the Lord. We can invoke the Lord’s name to deal with Satan’s power. Thank God that no matter how great Satan’s power is, the Lord’s name is immeasurably greater. The authority behind the Lord’s name is strong enough to overcome all the power of Satan.

The disciples went out in the name of the Lord. They were surprised when they returned. They told the Lord, “Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.” (10:17). The Lord’s name spells authority. His giving of His name to us means that He has given His authority to us. The Lord said, “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” (v. 19). Whoever desires to withstand Satan must learn to know the difference between the Lord’s authority and Satan’s power. No matter how great Satan’s power is, the Lord’s authority is able to overcome him. We must believe that God has given this authority to the church. The church can cast out demons and withstand the devil in the name of the Lord Jesus.

B. Believing That the Lord’s Death Has Destroyed Satan

Second, we must believe that through death the Lord Jesus has destroyed him who has the might of death, the devil (Heb. 2:14 – “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;”). The manifestation of the Lord Jesus destroyed the works of the devil, and the death of the Lord Jesus destroyed the devil himself.

The Lord’s death pronounces the greatest defeat for the devil because the Lord’s death is not only a punishment but also a way of salvation. In Genesis 2:17 God spoke of death: “… for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” This death is surely a punishment. Satan was delighted at this word. Since man would die if he ate the fruit, Satan tried his best to seduce man to eat it, so that death would reign in man and he could claim the victory. However, the Lord’s death constitutes the greatest way of salvation. It is true that God said, “For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” This death is punishment. But the Lord has another death. The second death is a way of salvation. Death can punish those who sin. Death can also save and deliver those who are in sin. Satan thought that death could only punish the sinner. He seized upon this fact and reigned through man’s death. However, God saves and delivers man from sin through the death of the Lord Jesus. This is the most profound aspect of the gospel.

The Lord’s death on the cross takes away not only our sins but also the whole old creation. Our old man has been crucified with him. Although Satan reigns through death, the more he reigns through death, the worse his lot becomes, because his reign stops at death. Since we are already dead, death can no longer sting us. He has no further reign over us.

“For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” God said this so that man would not eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But man ate it and sinned. What then should be done? The result of sin is death; there is no way to change this. However, there is a way to salvation, a salvation which goes through death. When the Lord Jesus was crucified on the cross for us, the old creation and the old man were both crucified with Him. This means that Satan’s authority can only go as far as death. The Scripture says, “…that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;” (Heb. 2:14).

Thank and praise the Lord. We are those who are already dead. If Satan attacks us, we can say to him, “I am already dead!” He has no authority over us because we are already dead. His authority extends only to the point of death.

(Note – When I learned this truth years ago, God gave me this song:

Thank God I am dead, I’m freed from sin.

The Lord Jesus Saved Me and He cleansed me within,

He searched ‘til he found me and He gave me life anew,

And the life that He gave me, He’ll give to you.

So go tell your brothers and sisters alike.

Tell them of Jesus and this wonderful life.

Tell them of heaven and glory to come,

Of Christ dead and risen God’s only Son.)

Our crucifixion with Christ is an accomplished fact; it is God’s doing. The Bible does not say that our death with the Lord is something that belongs to the future. It is not some experience that we hope to attain one day. The Bible does not tell us to pursue death. It shows us that we are already dead. A person is not dead if he is still pursuing death. However, our death with Christ is a gift from God in the same way that His death for us is a gift. If a man is still pursuing crucifixion, he is standing on fleshly ground, and Satan has full control over those who stand on fleshly ground. We must believe in the Lord’s death. We must also believe in our own death. Just as we believed in the Lord’s death for us, so also we should believe in our death in Him. Both are acts of faith, and neither has anything to do with human pursuits. As soon as we strive to realize these facts, we expose ourselves to Satan’s attack. We have to lay hold of the accomplished facts and declare: “Praise and thank the Lord; I am already dead.”

We must see that, in the eyes of God, our death with Christ is an accomplished fact. Once we see this, Satan can no longer do anything with us. Satan can deal only with those who are not dead. He can rule over only those who are facing death and who are on their way to death. But we are no longer facing death; we have already died. Satan can do nothing about us.

In order to withstand Satan, we must realize that the Lord’s manifestation was a manifestation of authority, and the work of His cross has released all those who are under Satan’s hand. Satan no longer has any authority over us anymore. We are above him. We are those who are already dead. Satan’s way is terminated by death, and there is nothing more that he can do.

C. Believing That the Lord’s Resurrection Has Put Satan to Shame

Third, we must believe that the Lord’s resurrection has put Satan to shame. Satan no longer has any way to attack us.

Colossians 2:12 says, “Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.” This verse speaks of death as well as resurrection. Verse 13 tells us how we died and resurrected; verse 14 tells us what the Lord did at the time of His death; and verse 15 says that the Lord Jesus stripped off the rulers and the authorities and “….having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” Verse 20 says, “Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ….” and 3:1 says, “If ye then be risen with Christ,” These verses begin with resurrection and end with resurrection, and the verses in between speak of triumphing in the cross. We stand in the position of resurrection, and we triumph in the cross.

Why can we do this? The statement we made earlier explains this: The Lord has died, and we also are dead in Him. Satan, who has dominion over the old man, can follow us only as far as the cross. Resurrection is beyond him. Just as Satan had nothing in the Lord Jesus while He was on earth (John 14:30), so also he has nothing in Him in resurrection. Satan has no place at all in the new life. He has no authority at all in the new life and cannot touch our new life!

When the Lord was hung on the cross, it seemed as if myriads of demons were surrounding it. They thought that they could destroy the Son of God. It was to have been their greatest victory. Little did they realize that the Lord Jesus would go into death, come out of death, and overcome the authority of death! Here is the glorious fact: The Lord has come out of death! Therefore, we have the boldness and the confidence to say that the life of God is well able to cast away death!

What is the resurrection life? The resurrection life is a life that cannot be touched by death. It is a life that transcends death, that is beyond the boundary of death, that comes out of death, and that death cannot hold. Satan’s power extends only as far as death. The Lord Jesus proved how great the power of His life is through His resurrection. He dismantled the power of Satan. The Bible calls this power the “the power of His resurrection” (Phil. 3:10). When this resurrection power is expressed through us, everything of Satan is cast down!

We can withstand Satan because our life is a life of resurrection. This life has nothing to do with Satan. Our life issues from the life of God; it is a life that comes out of death. Satan’s power only goes as far as death. Whatever it does to us is limited to this side of death. But our life has come out of death. We have a life which he cannot touch. We are standing on resurrection ground, and we look back in triumph through the cross. Colossians 2 speaks of triumphing in resurrection. It is a chapter on resurrection, not death. We do not triumph in death through resurrection; rather we triumph in resurrection through death.

In order to withstand Satan, every child of God must declare with a strong faith, “Thank God, I have resurrected! Satan, what can you do? What you can do goes only so far as death. But the life that I have today has nothing to do with you! This life has been tested by you already. What else can you do? You are powerless! This life has transcended over you! Satan, get away from me!”

We cannot deal with Satan on the ground of hope. We can only stand on the ground of resurrection, the ground of the Lord. This is a very basic principle. Colossians 2:12 tells us that we must believe in “faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.”

We need to take the same position before Satan as that which we take before God. The Bible tells us to put on the robe of righteousness when we come before God (Isa. 61:10; Zech. 3:4-5). Our robe of righteousness is Christ. We need to put on Christ to come before God. In the same way, we need to put on Christ to come before Satan. God cannot find our sins when we put on Christ. Likewise, Satan cannot find our sins when we are in Christ. When we take this stand, Satan can no longer attack us. We are perfect before God and perfect also before Satan. What a glorious fact!

We must not be afraid of Satan. If we are afraid of Satan, he will laugh at us. He will say, “What a fool there is on earth. How can this one be so foolish?” Anyone who is afraid of Satan is foolish, because he has forgotten his position in Christ. We have no reason to fear him. We have transcended over his power. We can stand before him and say, “You cannot touch me! No matter how strong and resourceful you are, you are still one step behind!” On the day of the Lord’s resurrection, He led the enemy captive and openly shamed him. Today we are standing on the ground of resurrection, and we triumph through the cross!

D. Believing That the Ascension of the Lord Is Far above the Power of Satan

Fourth, we must believe that the ascension of the Lord has put Him far above the power of Satan. Ephesians 1:20-22 says, “And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.” This means that the Lord Jesus is already seated in the heavenlies and is far above all the power of Satan.

Ephesians 2:6 says, “And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:” This is our position, the position of a Christian. The Lord Jesus is resurrected; He is seated in the heavenlies far above all the power of Satan. We are raised up together with Christ and are seated together with Him in the heavenlies, far above all the power of Satan.

Ephesians 6:11 to 13 says, ” Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” Chapter two shows us that we are seated together with the Lord in the heavenlies. Chapter six shows us that we need to stand firm. Chapter two says that we need to sit, while chapter six says that we need to stand. What does it mean to sit? To sit means to rest. It means that the Lord has overcome and that we can now rest in His victory. This is what it means to depend on the Lord’s victory. What does it mean to stand? To stand means that spiritual warfare is not a matter of assault but of defense. To stand does not mean to attack; it means to defend. Because the Lord has overcome completely, we have no need to attack again. The victory of the cross is complete, and there is no further need to attack. Here we see two attitudes: One is to sit, and the other is to stand. To sit is to rest in the Lord’s victory, while to stand is to withstand Satan and to stop him from taking away our victory.

Christian warfare is a matter of warding off defeat; it is not a matter of fighting for victory. We have already overcome. We fight from the position of victory, and we fight to maintain our victory. We are not fighting to win a victory. We fight from victory; victory is something that is in our hands. The warfare spoken of in Ephesians is the warfare of the overcomers. We do not become overcomers through fighting. We need to distinguish between these two things.

How does Satan tempt us? He causes us to forget our own position and our victory. He blinds our eyes to our own victory. If we give in to his tactics, we will feel that victory is far away and beyond our reach. We must remember that the victory of the Lord is complete. It is so complete that our whole life is included in this victory! Once we believe, we overcome. Satan is defeated and we have overcome in Christ. Satan wants to steal away the victory which we have gained. His work is to taunt us to secretly find out if we still have the faith. If we do not know that victory is already ours, we will fail. But if we know our victory, his work will fail.

Therefore, we counter the work of Satan with the work of the Lord Jesus. We withstand Satan through the Lord’s manifestation, death, resurrection, and ascension. We are standing today upon the accomplished work of the Lord. We do not need to try to overcome in any way when Satan attacks us. Once we have the slightest thought of trying to overcome, we have failed, because our position is wrong. How great is the difference between a person who tries to overcome and one who withstands by knowing that he has already overcome. To withstand the devil means that we withstand him by the victory of Christ.

This matter indeed needs revelation. We need to see the manifestation of the Lord. We need to see His death, resurrection, and ascension. We need to know all these things.

As Christians we must learn to withstand the devil. We must say to Satan under all circumstances, “Get away from me!” May God be gracious to us so that we may all have such a faith. May we have faith toward the four things the Lord has accomplished for us, and may we exercise strong faith to withstand Satan and reject his work upon us.

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(Written originally by Watchman Nee in China during the Chinese revolution and died in a prison camp but these lessons have been the foundation of my life for 38 years.  David Williams – site Admin.)

THE DISCIPLINE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Scripture Reading: Rom. 8:28; Matt. 10:29-31; Jer. 48:11; Gen. 47:7-10

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

Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:29-31)

Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.  (Jeremiah 48:11)

And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou? And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh. (Genesis 47:7-10)

We have believed in the Lord and have received a new life. But there are many habits which we acquired before we believed in the Lord. Many character traits and aspects of our disposition were part of us before we believed in the Lord. Those habits, character traits, and disposition have now become a frustration to the expression of the new life. This is the reason many people do not touch the new life or experience the Lord when they meet us. Often, others touch our old person. We may be very clever, but our cleverness is an unregenerated cleverness. We may be very warm, but that warmth is an unregenerated warmth. We may meet someone who is very gentle or very quick, but their gentleness and quickness are unregenerated gentleness and quickness. These old traits frustrate others from touching the Lord.

From the day we were saved, the Lord has been doing two things in us. On the one hand, He is tearing down our old habits, character, and disposition. This is the only way for Christ to express His life freely through us. If the Lord does not perform this work, His life will be frustrated by our natural life. On the other hand, the Holy Spirit is creating a new nature and a new character in us little by little, with its new living and new habits. The Lord is not only tearing down the old but also constituting us with the new. There is not only a negative tearing-down work, but also a positive constituting work in us. These are the two aspects of the Lord’s work in us after our we are saved.

I. GOD BEING THE ONE WHO DOES THE WORK

After they are saved, many believers realize that their own person needs to be completely torn down. Yet they are too clever; they try to use artificial means to tear down their old nature, character, and habits. But the first thing God will tear down is our artificial means. Brothers and sisters, it is futile and even troublesome to use human energy to try to tear down the very nature, character, and habits which were built up by human energy in the past. We must realize from the very beginning that everything of the past must be torn down. But we cannot tear it down ourselves. Man’s own effort to tear himself down will only result in outward adornment; it will only hinder the growth of the spiritual life. We do not need to tear ourselves down; God will do it for us.

We must be clear that it is God who wants to do this and God who does it. We do not have to come up with a way to deal with ourselves. God wants us to commit the entire work into His hands. We must be firmly impressed with this fundamental concept. God will work on us if He is merciful to us. God will order an environment that tears down our outward man. God knows how much there is that needs to be destroyed. He also knows our stubborn and strong spots. We may be too fast, too slow, too loose, or too legal in certain areas. Only God knows our need; no one else knows, not even ourselves. God is the only One who knows us thoroughly. We must allow Him to do the work.

In order to clarify the breaking and constituting work in us, we will use the phrase the discipline of the Holy Spirit for now. Although our whole environment is ordered by God, it is the Holy Spirit who applies this arrangement to us. God arranges the outward environment, but the Holy Spirit translates this arrangement into something inward and applies it to us. This conversion of outward events to inward experience is called the discipline of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, God orders the environment through the Holy Spirit; He does not order our lives directly but rather does so through the Holy Spirit. The dispensation between the Lord’s ascension and His coming again is the dispensation of the Holy Spirit. In this dispensation all of God’s work is carried out through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit arranges everything in the environment and provides inward guidance to God’s children. There are a few passages in the book of Acts which say that the Holy Spirit prompted, stopped, and forbade. We call the environmental arrangements of the Holy Spirit and the inner prompting, stopping, and forbidding “the discipline of the Holy Spirit.” This means that the Holy Spirit is disciplining us through all these experiences.

This discipline is not only for our guidance but also for our disposition. It involves not only our ways but also our character. We have a new life within us; the Spirit of God is dwelling in us. He knows what we need, and He knows the kind of experience that will bring us the most benefit. The discipline of the Holy Spirit is God’s ordering of the proper environment through the Holy Spirit in order to meet our need and accomplish His work of breaking and constituting us. Thus, the discipline of the Holy Spirit destroys our natural disposition and habits and brings in the constitution of the Holy Spirit in maturity and in sweetness.

Our environment is altogether arranged by God. Even our hairs are numbered. If no sparrow falls on the ground without our Father’s permission, how much more is our environment under His caring hand? A harsh word, an unkind gesture, a misfortune, an unfulfilled wish, a sudden loss of health, an abrupt departure of loved ones—all these are measured by the Father. Whether it be happiness, affliction, health, sickness, joy, or pain, everything that comes our way is approved by the Father. God arranges the environment for the purpose of destroying our old character and disposition and reconstituting us with a new character and disposition. God arranges the necessary environment for us, and unconsciously, we are broken and the Holy Spirit is constituted into us so that we acquire a character and disposition that resembles God. This God-like character and disposition will be expressed through us day by day.

As soon as we believe in the Lord, we should be clear about a few things: First, we need to be torn down, and then we need to be built up again. Second, we do not do the tearing-down and building-up work ourselves; God arranges the environment to tear us down and build us up.

II. HOW GOD ARRANGES EVERYTHING

How does God arrange everything for our good?

Everyone is different in nature, character, living, and habit. This is why we all need a different kind of breaking work. The kinds of discipline that God arranges are as varied as the number of people there are. Everyone is put into a different set of situations. A husband and a wife may be very close to each other, yet God will arrange a different environment for each of them. A father and a son, or a mother and a daughter, may likewise be very close to each other. Yet God arranges a different environment for each of them. In operating through our environment, God measures discipline to each one of us according to our individual needs.

Every arrangement of God is with the view of training us. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” In Greek all things means “everything.” All does not mean a hundred thousand things or even a million things. We cannot tell how big the number is. Everything, all things are arranged by God for our good.

Therefore, nothing comes to us by accident. With us there is no coincidence. All things are arranged by God. From our point of view, our experience may seem confusing and puzzling; we may not see the intrinsic meaning behind everything, and we may not understand what it means. But God’s Word says that all things work together for our good. We do not know what thing will bring us what kind of good. Neither do we know how many things are waiting for us and what good we will gain from them. But there is one thing we do know: Everything works together for our good. Nothing will happen to us that does not bring us good. We must see clearly that God’s arrangement is to produce holiness in our character. We do not work out this holiness in ourselves; God is the One who creates this holy character in us through our environment.

One illustration will serve to explain how all things work together for our good. In Hangchow there are many silk weavers. Weaving involves many threads and colors. If one looks at the fabric from the back, everything seems to be a mess. An outsider will be puzzled; he will not know what pattern is on the other side of the fabric. But if he turns the fabric right side up, he will find beautiful figures, flowers, mountains, or rivers on it. Nothing is clear while the fabric is being woven; one sees only red and green threads moving back and forth. Likewise, our experience seemingly moves back and forth like a puzzle. We do not know what design God has in mind. But every “thread” which God uses, every discipline from His hand, has its special function. Every color is there for a purpose, and the design is prearranged. God arranges our environment for the purpose of creating holiness in our character. Every encounter is meaningful. We may not be clear today, but one day we will be clear. Some of the things may not look that nice at the moment. But when we look back after some time, we will surely know why the Lord has done what He has done and what His purpose was for doing it.

III. OUR ATTITUDE

What should our attitude be when we face all these things?

Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” In other words, when God works, it is possible for us to receive the good, and it is also possible for us not to receive the good. This is quite related to our attitude. Our attitude even determines how soon we will receive the good. If our attitude is right, we will receive the good immediately. If we love God, everything that is of God will work for our good. If a man claims that he has no choice of his own, that he asks nothing for himself, and that he only wants everything that God gives to him, he should have only one desire in his heart—to love God. If he loves the Lord with all his heart, all of the things around him will work together in love and for his good, no matter how confusing they may seem.

When something happens to us and we do not have the love of God within us, when we crave and seek things for ourselves, or when we pursue private interests apart from God, the good that God has reserved for us will not come. We are very good at complaining, struggling, murmuring, and groaning about many things. Brothers and sisters, please bear in mind that although all things do work together for good, we will not receive the good immediately if our hearts do not love God. Many of God’s children have indeed encountered many problems, but they have not received any good. They experience much discipline, and God has arranged many things around them, but these things do not result in any riches on their part. The only reason for this poverty is that they have other goals besides God. Their hearts are not pliable towards God. They do not feel God’s love; neither do they love God. They have a wrong attitude. As a result, they may have received many dealings, yet nothing remains in their spirit.

May God be merciful to us that we learn to love Him from our hearts as soon as we become Christians. Being short in knowledge does not mean much, because the way to know God lies in love, not in knowledge. If a man loves God, he will know God even though he may lack knowledge. However, if he knows much but does not love God in his heart, all of his knowledge will not help him to know God. There is a good line in one hymn: “To bring thee to thy God,/Love takes the shortest route” (Hymns, #477). If a man loves God, whatever he encounters will turn out to his good.

Our heart must love God, and we must learn to know His hand and humble ourselves under it. If we do not see His hand, our eyes will be distracted by men. We will feel that others are wrong or have betrayed us. We will feel that our brothers, sisters, siblings, parents, and friends are all wrong. As we condemn everyone, we fall into disappointment and disillusion ourselves, and nothing works to our good. When we say that the brothers and sisters in the church are all wrong and that nothing is right and everything is wrong, we are gaining nothing for ourselves except anger and criticism. If we remember the Lord Jesus’ word, that “…and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.” (Matt. 10:29), and if we realize that everything is of God, we will humble ourselves under His hand and receive the good.

Psalm 39:9 says, “I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it.” This is the attitude of one who obeys God. Because God has done it and because God has allowed it to come upon us for our good, we humble ourselves and say nothing. We will not say, “Why did that happen to others, and why is this happening to me?” When we love God and know His hand, we will not open our mouth. In this way we will witness God’s breaking and constituting work in us.

Some may ask, “Should we accept everything from Satan’s hand too?” The basic principle is that we will take whatever God allows to come upon us. As for attacks from Satan, we have to resist.

IV. BREAKING AND CONSTITUTING

The Lord causes many things to come our way, few of which are according to our preference. This is why the Bible charges, “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.” (Phil. 4:4). We should rejoice in the Lord. This is the only way we can rejoice always. Besides the Lord, what can make us rejoice always? Why does God allow all the bad things to come upon us? What is His purpose for doing these things? His goal is to break down our natural life. If we read Jeremiah 48:11, we will be clear.

Jeremiah 48:11 says, “Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.” The Moabites were the descendants of Lot (Gen. 19:36-37). They were related to Abraham but were of the flesh. Moab was at ease from his youth and never experienced any tribulation, trial, blow, suffering, or pain. Nothing happened to him that would cause him to shed tears; nothing ever rent his heart or frustrated his way. In man’s eyes this is such a blessing. But what did God say about the Moabites? He said, “…he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel.” For wine to settle on its lees means that the liquid is a mixture. When wine ferments, the top part becomes clear liquid, while the lees sink to the bottom. As soon as the vessel is shaken, the lees and the liquid mix together again. In order to have a clear liquid, one has to pour the wine from one vessel to another. In the old days there was no filter, and the only way to remove the lees was to pour the liquid from one vessel to another. The liquid and the lees were originally mixed together. By pouring the liquid from one vessel to another, the lees were left behind. Sometimes some lees would escape with the liquid to the other vessel, and there would be the need to pour the liquid to yet another vessel. This would go on and on until all the lees were gone. Moab was never emptied from one vessel to another. He was like wine settled on its lees. His “lees” were not yet removed. This is why it says that “…therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.” Moab always tasted like Moab. His scent remained the scent of Moab. His condition had not changed since the first day. But God is not after the old scent. He wants to change the scent.

Some have been believers for ten years, yet their taste remains the same as it was ten years ago. They are like Moab, whose taste remained and whose scent was not changed. Some people were sloppy when they first believed in the Lord. After twenty years they are still sloppy. They lived in ignorance and foolishness the first day, and they still live in ignorance and foolishness today. Their taste remains the same, and their scent is not changed. God does not want this. God wants to remove our old habit, nature, and character; He wants to remove every undesirable element in us. He wants to empty us from this vessel to that vessel and from that vessel to another vessel. After being emptied a few times, our “lees” will be left behind, and the original taste will be gone.

Moab had an easy life, but as a result, “his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.” Perhaps our life is not as easy as Moab’s. Perhaps we have not been “at ease from…youth.” Perhaps we have had to go through “many tribulations” like Paul (Acts 14:22). If so, we should realize that the Lord is removing our lees and our original taste. The Lord wants to take away our own taste and natural scent. The old things must be torn down. The Lord has to uproot them all. He is pouring us from one vessel to another and then to a third. He allows this to happen to us today and that to happen to us tomorrow. The Lord turns us from one environment to another, from one experience to another. Each time He arranges an environment around us and breaks us, we will shed some of our old taste and scent. Time after time we will be purified of our old taste. Every day we will be a little different than the day before, and the next day we will be different still further. This is the way the Lord works in us; He tears down a little today and a little tomorrow, until all our lees are gone, our taste is lost, and our scent is changed.

God is not only breaking us on the negative side but also constituting us on the positive side. From the life of Jacob in Genesis, we can see the meaning of constitution.

Jacob’s life began from a low point. He struggled with his older brother in his mother’s womb and strove to be the firstborn by holding on to his brother’s heel. He was crafty and greedy, always deceitful and taking advantage of others. He deceived his own father, brother, and uncle. But in the end he was deceived by his uncle and his sons. He tried his best to prosper, but in the end he found himself in a famine. We can say that Jacob’s way was fraught with suffering. Some people spend their lives in ease and comfort, but Jacob’s life was full of affliction.

While he was going through his sufferings, God was breaking him down again and again. He suffered one thing after another. Every experience he went through was a suffering to him. But thank God, after going through so much suffering in His hand, he finally acquired a touch of God’s holiness. We see this when he was in Egypt. There we see a gentle, humble, bright, and dignified man. He was so meek and humble that he could ask for grace and mercy from his son. Yet he was so crystal clear that he could utter prophecies which Abraham could not utter. He could give blessings which Isaac could not give. He was so dignified that even Pharaoh bowed his head to receive his blessing. This shows us that through God’s breaking work, the lowly Jacob had become someone God could use. Jacob had become a man of God!

After years of breaking, God constituted Jacob with Himself. This is why we can see such a beautiful picture at Jacob’s deathbed when he leaned on the top of his rod and worshipped God. Though he was sick in bed, he could still lean on the top of his staff and worship God. This proves that he still remembered his pilgrim life and had not given up his pilgrim characteristic. At first he struggled to sit up, put his feet down by the bed, and prophesied. After prophesying, he gathered up his feet, gave up his breath, and died. The way he died was beautiful! This is indeed a beautiful picture.

We can muse carefully upon the whole life of Jacob. At the time he was born, I am afraid no one had a worse “taste” than he had. But when he left the world, his old taste was gone altogether. What we see is a man fully constituted by God.

We must realize that everything that comes upon us is for our edification one way or another. God tears us down through all kinds of sufferings. The tearing down can be quite painful. But after we pass through these trials, something will be constituted into us. In other words, when trials arise, it may appear that we are failing, but His grace will always carry us through. In the process of overcoming our trials, something is wrought into us. As we overcome our trials again and again, the constitution within us grows day by day. On the one hand, God puts us through difficult circumstances and tears us down through our trials. On the other hand, something is added into us as we rise from our trials.

Thank God that we have the discipline of the Holy Spirit. May God have mercy on us. May He break us and constitute us through the discipline of the Holy Spirit so that we may reach maturity.

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(Written originally by Watchman Nee in China during the Chinese revolution and died in a prison camp but these lessons have been the foundation of my life for 38 years.  David Williams – site Admin.)