PRESUMPTIONS

PRESUMPTIONS

                Over the centuries since the church was born, or technically conceived on the day of Pentecost we have gone through many changes. Let me break that down a bit since I mentioned it. Mary did not give birth to Jesus when the Holy Spirit came upon her as in Luke 1:35. On that day she conceived by the Holy Spirit and the birth took place 9 months later. Likewise, the church was not born on the day of Pentecost, but was conceived by the Holy Spirit and the purpose of the church from that time on has been to bring many sons to glory. Hebrews 2:10. 11

                This is true in our personal lives as well. Receiving the Pentecostal infilling of the Holy Spirit is not the new Birth. We were born again when we received Jesus Christ as the seed of promise. The subsequent baptism of the Holy Spirit is to clothe us with power for witnessing… power to live the Christian life with more than a list of laws and traditions, in fact we become living temples of the Holy Spirit and since the Law has put us to death, we must now relate to God in a new and living way.

                As such our obedience is no longer to the Law on stone, but our obedience is to the Holy Spirit and to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But this being the case, we as Christians need to press on to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit within us and to obey. We may talk about the Law being done away since it has put us to death, but a Pentecostal is not lawless. We are not just out here doing our own thing. We live by the Word and we walk in the Spirit which is to be obedient to the Holy Spirit.

                The idea is that when the Holy Spirit prompts you to give, to share, to witness to someone, to walk in the truth… to live in this world as Christ and if we shrug it off and we don’t do the thing that the Holy Spirit is prompting us to do, then we are being lawless. We have not only done away with the Ten Commandments but we have also done away with the power of god that has come to bring to us the life that the Law could not produce in us.

                The law of the Holy Spirit, or what Paul called in Romans 8:1-4 the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus is far more demanding than the Law on stone could ever be. Whereas we only needed to refrain from killing someone in the past to satisfy the Law… now we are called upon to love that person and to give our life for that person.

                So the Holy Spirit in us deals not only with the infraction of the Law, but with our motives, with our very innermost being. And as Jesus said, out of our innermost being will flow rivers of living water and if we are not living by that which flows from our innermost being, then, in truth, we are both lawless and we are living a rebellious and careless life.

                But here is the stark and earth-shaking truth… if we are not living in and operating in this vital connection with Jesus Christ through His Holy Spirit, how can it be said that we are even Christians. The Holy Spirit conceived in us is the very essence of Christianity. Jesus is the Vine and we are the branches. IF we are connected to Him, then our life is derived from that which flows from Him to us and that is His Holy Spirit. If we ignore the Holy Spirit in favor of our traditions, holding to a form of godliness but denying the power therein, then we have become a dead branch and ready to be pruned and cast into the fire.

                Casual Christianity is a very serious matter. We are either living by and walking in and obeying the Holy Spirit as our vital connection to Jesus, or we are living in rebellion and we are being lawless… disconnected from God’s will.

                So when a person tells you that they are a true remnant person because they have the right set of doctrines or that they keep the Law on stone, or whatever thy think makes them a remnant person and yet they manifest no vital connection with Jesus through His Holy Spirit, then he is not who he thinks he is. Christ is being formed in us because we have been conceived by the Holy Spirit and He is forming the man child in us. He is molding us and making us into His image. He is constantly at work giving us the mind of Christ.

                As such, the Bible has more or less ceased to be a repository of information, and has become an instrument of transformation. It is living and active and sharper than any two edged sword and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

                In other words, at one time I used the bible to prove my doctrines only to discover later on that I did not have this vital and living connection with Jesus Christ through His Holy Spirit. I only cared that I had the right information. I had the right religion. I had the proof until some Spirit filled people prayed for me and that Holy Spirit probing found a virus in my software so to speak. Satan had entered in and corrupted my files, giving me the illusion that I was a Christian, even as he was eating away the fabric and vitality of my life.

                So when I finally gave my life fully to Jesus, He sent His Holy Spirit into my heart to clean up those corrupted files and to get rid of the spyware and He kicked the devil out and as long as I maintain that vital connection, the devil can no longer operate in me undetected. The Holy Spirit has become my fire wall and my virus detector and He also lets me know right away if I am being phony concerning the Word of God or if I am living the life.

                A vast number of Christians today, neither spend time in the Word, nor pray in the Spirit, nor do they seek with God’s help to hear the voice of God within them. In truth, many do not want to hear the voice of God because the voice of God crucifies the flesh and reveals our motives and calls us to repentance and obedience and we don’t want to hear it. We want to have a king like the rest of the world has. We want to live a “normal” life… just being good citizens in the world. But having a vital connection with Jesus through His Holy Spirit is so much more than that and we are either dying to the flesh and living by the Spirit on a daily basis, or we are losing our connection with Jesus.

                The great falling away that is taking place in the world today is more subtle than people may suspect. In any given church, there are those who are falling away and those living and moving and having their being as the life of Christ flows through them. All around us are fellow Christians that we

love and care about, but only God knows if they are falling away in the inside or if they are living in vital connection with Jesus. The life of a church depends upon how many people in that church are vitally connected and living by the power of Jesus Christ.

                It is the Pastor’s job in part to keep His church family vitally connected and most people do not comprehend the prayers and the tears and the weeping before God that a pastor does because it is sometimes like trying to fill a tire with air that has a big hole in it. It is not that the people are going to the bars and the brothels so much as it is our proclivity to live somewhat short of the vital connection that would turn us into dynamic and living stones in the Body of Christ.

                Jesus calls this being lukewarm and He doesn’t like it any more than we like cold coffee. We think we are wheat when we are actually tares and harvest is on its way. Are we diligently seeking a vital connection with God or are we just sitting around waiting for the rapture?

                Jesus gave His message to the church in the form of seven letters to seven churches and while the messages to the seven churches may represent various ages and stages of the church, one thing is abundantly clear. Jesus made His special promises only to him that overcomes.

                We have oversimplified the harvest so that everyone that names the name of Christ is all swept up together to rule and to reign with Jesus, but that promise was only given to him that overcomes. This is not to say that others will be lost. They may be saved yet as through fire, but it is only those who overcome who will actually reign with Christ.

                In the times of Israel there were types and shadows given that apply to today. When a single trumpet blast was given it was to call only the leaders together, but if two trumpets blasted, then that was a call to the entire congregation. We don’t like to make distinctions today, but these two separate trumpet blasts may represent two resurrection… the first being a single trumpet blast to resurrect the dead in Christ… that is to say, not only those physically dead and in the grave, but those who have died

to the flesh in order to live by the Spirit. These then become the first fruits of a much larger harvest to come at the general resurrection when all who are in the graves will come forth together, some to salvation and some to judgment.

                We can’t make doctrine out of these things, because we don’t really know, but Paul was striving for a better resurrection … that resurrection out from the dead... of those as mentioned in Revelation 20:4 that will be a part of the first resurrection who will come to life and reign with Christ for a thousand years.

                These things are in the Bible, but we largely ignore them because they do not fit our present traditions, but in truth, I think that God has reserved some of His great revelations for the last days just before His coming. He even says so in the book of Daniel. He mentions a certain time that can only refer to our day when many sealed prophecies will come to light and it will help those who aspire to be the sons of God to press into these things by God’s grace.

                We have become satisfied with our traditions to the point of complacency. We no longer feel the need to search the Scriptures for new understanding because we have become set in our ways.

                In Luke 19:17 Jesus gave a parable in which the faithful servant was made ruler over ten cities while another was made ruler over five cities. But the one who did nothing with what he had received lost even what he had received and it was given to those who had done something with their investment.” So this parable seems to parallel, what Jesus said to the seven churches as He promised those that overcame positions of authority in His coming kingdom.

                Some may say that they do not seek power in the age to come, but only to be there and to be with Jesus… but these rewards are not for what we might call the power hungry as the world may define it, for indeed in the Kingdom of Christ, if we want to be great in His kingdom, we must become the

servant of all. We must have a servant’s heart if we want to reign with Christ… for knowing that all authority had been given to Him in heaven and on earth, Jesus girded Himself with a towel and washed His disciple’s feet. This is what it means to rule and to reign with Christ.

                Just some food for thought today. Have a blessed day and use this day to know Jesus better and to hear His voice and to walk in vital connection with Him throughout the day. We are the people of the covenant that is signed in in Jesus’ blood and sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise.

                The bottom line is: Are we taking an active part in Jesus’ program to bring many sons and daughters to glory? Are we pressing in to know and to grow or are we just along for the ride? As for Paul in Phil. 3, He was leaving everything else behind and pressing on toward the mark of his high calling in Christ Jesus.