CyberBlessed

Partakers of Divine Nature

Just because you can’t feel something or you can’t explain it, does not mean something cannot be real, genuine, or experienced. My being seated at this desk and you seated out there, can you feel the air around you? No. But it must be real and genuine for we are still experiencing life and we’re still breathing. How about light? Can’t feel it and yet we’re here in this room; we can see, we can make our notes, like some of you are doing, and look at your Bibles.

You know we have, from birth, been so conditioned by our five senses that we have erroneously come to believe that only what we can see, hear, smell, taste or touch is real; when in truth it is not.

2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 18:
2 Corinthians 4:18: While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
The man of the five senses – the natural man – no matter how intelligent, has never produced a civilization that it did not ruin; nor has it developed an educational system of philosophy and metaphysics that did not corrupt and destroy.
And the reason for that is given in 1 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 14:
1 Corinthians 2:14: [For] the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them,…
The natural man – the man of body and soul – who gets all of his information via the five senses; seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting or touching; he just cannot know God. He can’t know. He can’t receive things of the Spirit, of God.
As a matter of fact, all of those things are…
1 Corinthians 2:14: … foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Star of the Show Sound Track

Star of the Show

Seven Characteristics of a Faithful Minister

There is an exhortation of each characteristic given in this second chapter of II Timothy. The number seven, people, is the number of perfection, and this is the only place in the Bible where all the seven characteristics of a faithful minister are put together in one chapter. So all you need to do is understand this chapter, and you’ll always be able to judge from the Word of God (let the Word of God do the judging) of whether the ministry of a twig coordinator or any other individual is according to the Word of God. It is these seven characteristics that I listed on your paper, because I thought you might be able to write in other things, but these seven are: 1. Son, be strong in grace. 2. Son, be strong in service. 3. Son, be a strong athlete. 4. Son, be a strong husbandman, a cultivator. 5. Son, be a strong workman. 6. Be a strong vessel. 7. Be a strong servant, a doulos. Those are the seven characteristics given in II Timothy, chapter 2, with an exhortation on each one of the characteristics. Tonight I want to go through this second chapter with you, verse by verse. II Timothy 2:1: Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in [whom?] Christ Jesus.

Timothy was not Paul’s physical son, but he was his spiritual son. Paul was the one who had taught him the greatness of God’s Word and led him to the Lord Jesus Christ and the great truths of God’s Word. The first chapter of I Timothy gives a real great insight on this word “son.” II Timothy 1:2: Unto Timothy, my [what?] own son [true child]:... The literal of those words “own son” are “true child.” “Unto Timothy my true child in the faith.” That is basically the meaning of chapter 2, verse 1. II Timothy 2:1: Thou therefore, my [true] son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. True son be strong in the grace. Grace is God’s divine favor, perpendicular from God to man, unmerited and that grace is in what Christ Jesus accomplished for us. (1). The first requirement of a faithful minister is that he is to be strong in grace, divine favor, perpendicular. He is not to be strong in his own mental acumens or the seminaries he graduated from; that’s all secondary. The primary is that he remembers to be strong in what? Grace, divine favor. That’s why a true minister of God is never critical in a negative sense. He’s not raising hell with people. The only people who ever raise hell with people are people who forget the grace of God and the love of God and forgiveness of God. A true son is one who remembers that it’s by grace that he is a minister of the Word, and that he is to be strong in that grace. And if he remembers that, and, verse 2: II Timothy 2:2: The things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses,… In other words, a true son stands faithful with the one who taught it to him. Paul taught Timothy, and Paul said, “The things that thou hast heard of me [Paul] among many witnesses [other people heard the same thing]...”A true minister, a faithful minister, a son strong in the grace, is concerned about “committing to faithful men” that same truth: II Timothy 2:2 continued: ...who shall be able to teach others also. So that is the exhortation about a son who is strong in grace.

The Royal Household of God

God’s Dream of the Ages: The Royal Household of God

I have something burning in my heart tonight I’d like to share with you. It’s been in the process of jelling for some time, and it’s a piece of research that I’d like to open to you people here at this weekend. And the title that I’d like to put it under, the topic is: “God’s Dream of the Ages: The Royal Household of God.”
The freedom of will to believe to receive is perhaps one of man’s greatest privileges. God started everything and gave man freedom of will. And He started everything with one individual – Adam – and, of course, his wife Eve. They, having freedom of will, chose not to follow. Then God, after an individual, got himself a nation: Israel. They, too, had freedom of will, and they did not succeed at carrying out the greatness that God had made available to them. And then, finally, God got a household: sons of God, men and women who have Christ in them, who have eternal life, that no matter how badly they blow it they still have eternal life because of their sonship. And it’s that household, as sons of God, that was God’s dream of the ages.
In Genesis Chapter 3, we have a record of how God lost the first Adam in the Garden of God, and what occurred then. In verse 23:
Genesis 3:23, 24: 23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
God regained the second Adam. Christ Jesus, also in a garden, but this was the Garden of Gethsemane. In Matthew 26, and in verse 39, we read this record:
Matthew 26:39: 39 And he [Jesus] went a little further, and fell on his face, and [he] prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless [as I…] not as I will, but as [what] {thou wilt}
That’s how God regained the second Adam in the Garden of Gethsemane, when Jesus Christ said, “not my will, but thine, O God, be done.”
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, who was Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ so loved the world that he became the ultimate sacrifice. People, Jesus Christ endured and withstood all the adversary’s fiery darts. All that the cohorts of Satan could deliver of hell’s agonies, Jesus Christ, by the freedom of his will, withstood, and he said, “not my will, but thine be done.”

Alive To Christ

Tonight I would like to sharewith you God’s predictions for all eternity. And that specifically for God’s sons and
daughters who are dearly beloved in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 1:17 - The text reads “...may give unto you the spirit plus, that is to say, wisdom
and revelation in the acknowledgement of him.”
Ephesians 1:18 - is for this reason: understanding - that you may know 1) what is the hope of his calling, 2) what is the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints and 3) what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe. Now, at this point (in verse 19) there begins a parenthesis. The parenthesis goes all the way to the end of the chapter. Then, in 2:1, the “And you” is outside of the parenthesis. The text would read “Even you.” Then a parenthesis. And this one terminates after the word “sins” in verse 5. Then at the end of the verse you have another parenthesis which is in King James already. This is singularly significant and very remarkable. What I am going to teach you tonight, I knew 12 years ago and then forgot about it. It just never crystallized within me again until I was in New York. I had been working on it because we are doing Ephesians with the Corps this year, and I was trying to find again the documentation that at one time I had. And about two or three weeks ago I found it, and I prepared it and shared it with our wonderful people in Albany. It is simply electrifying.

In these verses, 17, 18 and 19, there are some great truths that I want to set and show you and then we will put this whole thing together in a wonderful way that will really bless you. There are three things that you are to know - 1) the hope of his calling which deals with the return of Christ, 2) the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints and 3) what is the exceeding greatness of his power, which is greatness plus of his power, to usward who believe. (Then go to 2:1.) “Even you” (go to verse 5) “quickened together with Christ.” That is the whole context.

Now, the reason that this is so significant is because all of us thought that Ephesians 2:1 read “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in-trespasses and sins.” We teach our people from the integrity of the Word that the Word interprets itself in the verse, in the context or where it has been used before, and every word has to be understood in the light of the verse
and so forth. This whole thing deals with the church. It ends up in verse 23 of chapter 1 talking about the church “which is his body, the fullness of him who filleth all in all.” This high calling of the church is indicated in that verse, and it goes right on with “Even you.” “Hath he quickened” is in italics in the King James.

Ambassadors for Christ

Disciplined Living

Another great principle in the outreach of the ministry of reconciliation is disciplined living. Most people are so undisciplined they never live—they merely exist. Living comes in discipline. That’s why the word “disciple,” a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, means “a disciplined one.” There is no Living—with a capital L—in abundance until you get that discipline. No one can force it on you. You, by your own choice, discipline your life out of love for God and others. That self-discipline is fantastic, and that’s what being an ambassador is all about.

The ambassador has the joy of serving. They learn to serve. They learn to receive by giving, because all the laws of receiving are contingent upon the laws of giving. For example, if I want to receive strength in this arm, I don’t let it hang and say to it, ‘‘Arm, get strong.’’ If I want strength in this arm, I give. I give, I give—and as I give by exercising it; and I build up all the muscles. The laws of life are like that. To be an ambassador you have to be giving in order to be receiving, and you have to enjoy working and serving, and you have to have the discipline that goes with it if you’re going to succeed.

Living with and for God

There is a time for all things, but there is one thing for all times, and that is Living With and For God.

The God of all time and history has so arranged it that everybody must acknowledge the birth of His Son every time a letter is dated, believer or unbeliver. The name of His Son, Jesus Christ, produces various reactions in the hearts of men, most of the time great fear and great trepidation.

Colossians 3:16:
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly....
That verse means the written Word of God. We are to let it dwell in us richly.
Colossians 3:17:
And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all [do everything you do] in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him [Jesus Christ].

Everything we do in word or in deed we do in the name of Jesus Christ. And then in II Thessalonians we read:
II Thessalonians 1:11, 12:
Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith [believing] with power:
[For what reason?] That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Red Thread

Take your Bibles and turn to the book of Colossians, chapter 1. Tonight I’d like to open the Word with you. And, if I were to give this a topic or a title of what I have in my heart to share with you tonight, I would call it “The Red Thread.” You find him everywhere in the Word.
It has been sin-consciousness plus condemnation that has robbed Christians in the past of their believing. It has robbed Christians in the past of their sense of worthiness before God. It has robbed Christians in the past of the joy, of their sonship. We, as believers, just had not been taught, and consequently and subsequently we did not know the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. We did not know we were more than conquerors through him who loved us and who gave himself for us. We did not know that we could do all things through Christ who strengthens us. We did not know that we were complete in Christ. We did not know that we were seated in the heavenlies now. People, we just did not know. For no one taught us.
In Colossians chapter 1, in verse 13 we read:
Colossians 1:13
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness [Past tense. He hath delivered us from the power of darkness...], and hath translated [The word for “translated” in the Sanskrit is the word “given us citizenship.” He “hath given us citizenship” in ]...the kingdom [the text reads “in His kingdom,” in His, God’s, kingdom “by the work”...] of His dear Son [Jesus Christ];

The Mark Of Quality

Take your Bibles please and go to the book of Galatians. Tonight, I really felt that I wanted to share with you from God’s Word what I believe God’s Word indicates as the great “Mark of Quality.” The record in the 5th chapter of Galatians sets the pattern for me of this mark of quality. Galatians 5, beginning with verse 22. The “fruit of the Spirit”, the “fruit” of it, the “fruit.” Fruit, is the result of the operation of the manifestations spiritually. Like you don’t get apples until you have a tree. If you’re going to get the fruit of an apple, you have to have the tree. If you’re going to get the “fruit” of the spirit, you’ve got to have the spirit.

Now the fruit; things that you can see in evidence.
Galatians 5:22-26
…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such things there is no law.

And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live by the Spirit, let us walk by the Spirit.

Stones of Witness

Because you have Christ in you the hope of glory. That stone whom the builders rejected, who is the living stone, is now living within you. That’s why you have power.
I Peter 2:5-8:
...are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by [whom?] Jesus Christ.
Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture [it says in the scripture:], Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe [or, who believe] he is precious: but unto them which be [are] disobedient [the unbelievers], the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,

And a stone of stumbling, and a rock [he is that rock] of offence, even to them which stumble at the word [they stumble at the Word], being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.

Look once more at Verse 8: “And a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence, even to them which [who] stumble at the Word.” Jesus Christ and anyone who believes in Jesus Christ will be a stone of stumbling. He will be a rock of offence to those who stumble at The Word, who don’t believe God’s Word, who don’t want to come back to God’s Word. What are they going to say about us? Every name in the book. Everything that will degrade. Everything that will – you know, say nice things badly about you, or bad things as nicely as they can about you – just to degrade. Because, they are stumbling at The Word. You know, people, stones are sort of interesting. You can either fall over it, or you can get crushed under it, or you can stand on it. As for me and my house, we stand on it.

Now I started out with Acts 1:8 tonight. The manifestations of the spirit are the witness, it says. The witness of what? Of that stone who the builders rejected, who is a living stone, who now lives within me, for I am born again of God’s spirit. I have Christ in me the hope of glory. Now what proof? The manifestation. The manifestation. “Ye shall be” a witness, witness, witness. Stones of witness! The manifestations set as a witness. Set as a witness. That manifestation – or those manifestations – are set as a witness against those who disbelieve, and it is set as a witness for those who believe. That’s the Word.