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Foundation 6.5 Our Life Union with Christ

The Seven Spirits of God Working Within Our Life Union With Christ.

The Abiding Life and Bearing Fruit.

The Fruitless Church and the Ultimate Failure

The New Covenant Fruit is Much Different from the Popular Concept

24 February, 2014

There have been thousands of sermons preached from this "Truth" concerning "fruit bearing" but few, if any, fruit bearing was the result of these thousands of sermons.

This is one of the misconceptions about "preaching" and the confusion about "fruitless groups."

This "fruit" is not the result of doctrine or the result of physical activity or church outreach.

This "Fruit" can only be produced or identified when it is produced by a Continuing Life-Union with Christ Jesus.

Accepting Jesus as personal Saviour is quite different from Abiding in Him in a Life exchanging Union.

This "Abiding Life," in this dispensation, is by the Spirit of Life which we have identified as the Spirit of Christ.

In other words, our intimate Union is NOT with the Man, Christ Jesus, Who is at the right hand of God, the Almighty, but with the Spirit of Christ, the Living and Abiding Word of God.

Christ Jesus has now become the Living and Abiding Word of God because He was born of that Sperma.

Nevertheless, it is the Holy Spirit Who officiates at this Union with the Eternal Christ.

Example; To say that a man has a "relationship" with his wife may be true but much too shallow to speak of the "union" implied here in John 15.

This Union implies a state of harmony and ultimate agreement.

It implies that kind of intimacy which is assigned to marriage.

It means to hold to a common interest and ultimate purpose.

To be involved in the same things.

To say this is a "relationship," implying a union, is much too shallow!

To open the full context John 15 is beyond human evaluation or natural comprehension.

A certain amount of revelation is necessary and this REALITY can only be understood by the actual Experience of a Life Altering Union and NOT by a perceived doctrine.

(this is not a just another parable)

Thousands of sermons presenting "the doctrine of abiding" has produced NOTHING. Why?

Only the Vine-Branch Union can produce anything Eternal or the Fruit which remains.

John 15:5] "I am the Vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can "do nothing."

Without THIS Union nothing can ever be accomplished, no matter how successful it appears in the visible realm.

We can also can "BE NOTHING" apart from Him!

If we really had the revelation of this Truth [the ultimate Reality] we would understand that gifts, grace, blessings, fruit or even Christian maturity are not "a thing given" but a Life developed by union with Him.

Gifts that try to operate outside of a Life Union with Him and by the Holy Spirit are soon recognized as suspect, counterfeit or a temporary help.

Even though God may permit people to receive blessings through a ministry which is not in perfect union with Him, our Holy Place Function can only be in this Vine-branch Union.

We are attempting to identify this "union" as it relates to the Body of our High Priest.

The focus of the Union is not with other "members" but with the Head.

Branches connected to other branches will bear NO fruit of this kind.

The concepts in the "Body of Christ" relate us to other members, the many members, but this to too shallow for the reality of "LIFE UNION."

Without a Life-changing Union with Christ we can do nothing and without union with the Holy Spirit we also can be nothing.

However, long after we break our union with the Vine we can still fake ministry, the gifts, the appearance of grace and preach with excitement and acceptance.

We may even fake character and love but the (Zoe) Life manifested will not be His Life.

Manifesting the True Love requires that Christ be formed in us.

We can never manifest the True Love without this Life Union with Him.

God's Agent to the church is the Holy Spirit!

He was sent to form the Eternal Christ, the Living and Abiding Word of God, in us.

The fact that the Holy Spirit was only released, in the New Covenant dimension, after Christ ascended to the Throne of God should speak volumes to us about:

· His Kingdom,

· the New Covenant,

· the Priesthood and

· the work of the Holy Spirit

during the church age.

There is a false concept that the power, the gifts and work of the Holy Spirit is something that has just recently been restored with the Pentecostal movement of 1906.

This error ignores the very truth that Jesus taught in John 14, 15 and 16.

This fact, as Jesus stated it, is that when the Holy Spirit comes, He will be with you forever.

The fact that the gifts, miracles, and manifestations of the Holy Spirit were very rare before 1906 is, of course, true.

However, we must not conclude that was because the Holy Spirit or His gifts were withdrawn.

It just means the visible church totally ignored Him and lost His manifestations.

I am speculating that the church lost interest in the Holy Spirit because the first 5 Foundations for the Christian Life were ignored.

UNTIL the Holy Spirit is given to us personally, as a life-changing experience, we are NOT restored to basic biblical Christianity!

Neither have we acquired the practical Truth required nor have we given Him the very place that Jesus gave Him in His announcement of the coming Holy Spirit!

Neither will we receive the fulness of the Promise of the Father which includes the New Covenant provisions.

This ignorance of ignoring the Holy Spirit shows a lack of understanding about His dispensation and His relationship with the Eternal Purpose of God, and His work of preparing a Bride for Christ Jesus.

This reveals a "church" that is devoid of revelation and a leadership that is slothful of duty and an arrogant rejection of Bible truth.

Placing a "dead spin" on why we no longer see the manifestations of the Holy Spirit is still popular among the ignorant!

Today it seems so many are seeking a "new Word" or a "now Word" from God.

It might not be wrong but new concepts can never replace that "old state of being converted" and being integrally "connected" in a Life Union with the Vine".

By first having a Life Union with Christ, the Living and Abiding Word of God, the "now word" will surely come. This is normal!

HOWEVER, seeking the "now word" from God outside of Life Union with the Living Word of God will result in a counterfeit word and more carnal speculation.

Even that kind word may be basically true but it is not the voice of God for our dispensation.

The Voice of God can only be Living Truth when we hear it from His mouth.

At Mount Sinai many heard God speak but thought it thundered.

Those who had a genuine "Covenant experience," heard and knew what God said and understood.

In other cases the Word was carried by Angels.

That method is not supposed to be necessary today because God speaks within us.

The angels still function but in a different order now.

Heb 1:13 But to which of the angels said He at any time, Sit on My right hand, until I make Thine enemies tHy footstool? 14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

The Character and Attributes of God have never changed and are the same today as before creation began.

The seed of "His Godliness" was set into Adam at the creation.

Man was made in God's Own Image and likeness.

Then man began a downward spiral until he no longer even resembled the original image.

Some men totally lost all experience of that "seed of God" and are identified in Romans 1 and 3.

From the moment that man sinned he became totally unrecoverable through his own efforts and death was the consequences.

Since EACH of us begins in such a depraved state, what method has God chosen to REVERSE our total corruption and to recreate us into the Image of Christ?

Some conclude that all we need is forgiveness.

This obviously is too shallow when we can clearly understand God's evaluation of mankind.

Rom 1:20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools,

23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them.

25 For they exchanged the Truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, Who is blessed forever. Amen.

26 For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, 27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. 28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper,

29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,

31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; 32 and, although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

Rom 3:9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; 10 as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; 11 THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;

12 ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE." 13 "THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING," "THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS";

14 "WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS";

15 "THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD, 16 DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS, 17 AND THE PATH OF PEACE HAVE THEY NOT KNOWN."

18 "THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES."

If every Christian understood that "God's Salvation" seeks to reverse every one of these corrupt things in order to "perfect" us into a Kingdom of Priests, the "salvation message" would change to include much more than forgiveness of sins.

For that reason salvation had to come solely from God by His Grace through our faith.

Still even faith had to come from God because dust can generate no faith.

In fact everything that we have or hope to have must come from Him.

Salvation is this process where man is recovered back into God's Life to fulfill God's Eternal Purpose.

This process is by a series of births.

We must be:

· born again,

· born of the water and

· born of the Spirit and

· birthed into Zion.

Bible faith that saves, heals, sanctifies and sets our course on God's Eternal Purpose must be firmly set upon God alone.

HAVE FAITH IN GOD!

There seems to be a futile faith that focuses upon man or ministries to provide those things that only God can provide.

This "futile faith" in a "system" undermines the personal and real faith in the indwelling God Alone.

Personal, real faith must come from God while "futile faith" is generated by man based upon logic and carnal desires inherent within the senses.

Horizontal faith is revealed when we hear this; "If I can just get to a mega–meeting where the big ministries are ministering, I will be healed."

This may even be true but real faith must be in God Alone.

If the church is focused upon horizontal faith in men and God still heals and works miracles, the danger is that the focus of the church may never change and be properly directed toward God Alone!

The fact that God does heal evangelistically and uses men, ministries and gifts should not be viewed as "normal for the redeemed church" that is growing by ascending into God.

I am speculating that "healing in the believing church" should be reevaluated as coming from a Life Union with the Vine!

The Priesthood ministry is certainly according to Power that is out of the Indestructible Life Realm.

Heb 7:14 For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, a tribe with reference to which Moses spoke nothing concerning priests.

15 And this is clearer still, if another Priest arises according to the likeness of Melchizedek, 16 Who has become such not on the basis of a law of physical requirement, but according to the Power of an Indestructible Life.

If my thesis is correct the church must be taught to maintain the Vine-branch Union with Christ because all "fruit" (and priesthood ministry) is produced out of that Life Union.

IF being birthed into Zion IS a birth into this Vine-branch Union, then the Lampstand church becomes a clear possibility.

When this Life Union is real, the Pure Gold Lampstand can begin to function and the Seven Spirits of God will find a place to rest.

Divine illumination within the church will be a continuing experience and the Showbread will yield the now Word (Rhema).

With the now Word of God directing, the Incense will be a properly offered and the Will and Purpose of God will be the central focus.

If we could accurately comprehend the difference between how God evaluates mankind as it stands and the Pure Gold Lampstand Church as He designed it, we could speculate upon the tremendous transformation that must take place within each believer.

These "believers" who have been predestined to the Ultimate Destiny are supposed to be in the process of tremendous growth, change and transformation.

The fact that multitudes are just sitting in a comatose state in a church pew on Sundays is an indictment against these pointless and irrelevant ministries.

IF my thesis is correct, the next move of God MUST produce this Vine-branch Union because the next "revival" MUST produce more than a "visitation," it MUST produce "habitation."

The Vine-branch union is "habitation" and not just "visitation."

He in us and we in Him, with a constant flow of His Life, is the basis for the Pure Gold Lampstand Church.

The "form or system" of the visible church without the Life of Christ will just produce a "lampstand religion," burning candles, but without inner illumination.

Zec 4:2 And he said to me, "What do you see?" And I said, "I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold with its bowl on the top of it, and its seven lamps on it with seven spouts belonging to each of the lamps which are on the top of it; 3 also two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on its left side."

4 Then I answered and said to the angel who was speaking with me saying, "What are these, my lord?" 5 So the angel who was speaking with me answered and said to me, "Do you not know what these are?" And I said, "No, my lord." 6 Then he answered and said to me, "This is the Word of the LORD to Zerubbabel saying, 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the LORD of hosts.

This vision of Zechariah reveals these Two Spirits pouring of themselves into the Pure Gold Lampstand Church.

There is a continuous flow of:

· Life,

· Ability,

· Anointing,

· Grace, and

· Revelation

into the Church He is Building.

These TWO, Who are pouring of themselves, are the Spirit of Christ and the Holy Spirit!

What a disappointment if we, after these years of preparation, just end up in some counterfeit earthly system and not part of this Lampstand Church!

We must be careful and NOT just settle for just another dead religion.

To penetrate the "Veil of Truth" we will certainly require "the Spirit of Truth" to be our Guide to lead us into all Truth.

It is He Who must assemble us as part of this Lampstand Church and become:

· the Spirit of Revelation and

· the Spirit of Truth

in our midst.

He, Alone, must guide us THROUGH the Veil of Truth. Why?

That is His job and one of the reasons He was sent.

The whole "structure of the church" along with the "government of the church" is irrelevant IF this Vine-branch Union is not a reality.

Outward structure and men's government in the church can only result in more "structured but dead religion."

The danger is the emergence of an even greater and more deceptive religion than the popular "one man show" we see today.

This is because more people are involved in this departure from reality.

If we read John 15 with a clear spirit we will see there is no other alternative to the Vine-branch Union.

I'm not even presenting this as "another level" but just as a basic, required level for all Lampstand candidates.

I am insisting that The Pure Gold Lampstand Church is the NORMAL Christian Life and NOT a personal theory.

The doctrine of eternal security that proclaims that once we have received an impartation of His Life in the new birth it can never be lost, is not even logical and certainly not scriptural. Why?

That is because there MUST be a continual flow of His Life into each of us to maintain our redeemed state.

Beside that "every branch IN ME that does not bear fruit" is taken away.

Every branch that does NOT abide in Me "is thrown into the fire and is burned."

It is fruit or fire.

This fact clearly says something that is fiercely rejected by the visible church.

There is a strained insistence that "forgiveness of sins" is all the fruit required.

However, the Kingdom Message is not based upon human sentiment, human pity or some perceived mercy.

There is no forgiveness offered for the lack of fruit when the Vine-branch Union is not maintained.

There is no other Throne that the fruitless believer can appeal to find mercy or ask for another opinion.

Salvation then must be a continual state of recovery from our fallen state.

This is called "working out our salvation" with fear and trembling.

If salvation is a once for all time experience, we certainly wouldn't have to work it out over time.

If salvation is a process in which God recovers us from our fallen state and perfects us for His Eternal Purpose then the Vine-branch Union is essential to this process.

If this is correct then the Vine-branch Union is basic salvation and the only alternative to being thrown into the fire.

Adam was created in God's Own image and likeness and God breathed into Adam the breath of Life.

Still Adam needed a continual flow of Life that was readily available to him in the very middle of the garden!

This source of Continual Life is by continually eating the Fruit from "the Tree of Life."

Without a continual flow of Life from that Tree of Life, Adam was in deep trouble.

Forgiveness was not the solution to Adam's problem.

When sin cut him off from that Tree, the possibility of a Life Union for Adam ceased, while his life {psuche} continued.

The application is this:

Just for "the church" to be a "basically normal church" it must be in a state of the continual flow of His Life that can only be maintained through this personal "Life Union with Him."

Otherwise the "church" is just a group of people living by their natural "life" {psuche}.

To be led by {psuche} is the disgrace of the current "church" system.

Even to be "led by the Spirit" requires this Vine-branch Union with the Divine Life.

JOHN 15:7 "If you abide in Me, and My Words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you.

8 "By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.

Praying, fasting and repenting {following forgiveness of sins} but without this Vine-branch Union is an exercise in futility.

The problem is that in the beginning we saw answers to prayer when we didn't even know there was a Vine-branch Union.

However, now we understand that God is drawing us away from that "measure or beginning faith" into the Life of Faith.

This kind of faith only comes when we are living in this Life Union with the Ultimate Source of Faith.

The Vine-branch Union is the reason Paul could say "it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me".

Paul was saying that the continual flow of His Life has now formed Christ in me and I no longer live by my original life, I am living by His Life.

This is the meaning of "Life Union."

JOHN 15:9] "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. [10] "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love.

This Life Union is abiding in His Love because He is Love.

However, we cannot "ABIDE" outside of obedience to His commandments.

The argument of whether this is "faith or works" is ludicrous.

In Life Union we don't have to worry about proper doctrine. Why?

That is because we just Live by His Life and are directed by that Life.

Living by our original life sets our focus upon doctrines and an outward living in the visible realm.

Living by His Life sets our focus upon Him and not secondary issues.

Is God really concerned about the accuracy of our doctrines or is He insisting upon our obedience to His commandments and abiding in His Love?

John 15:4] "You are My friends, if you do what I command you. [15] "No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.

The minimum requirement to be called "a friend of Christ" is to do what He commands.

We generally think of a slave as being obedient and following commands but we think of friends as doing whatever makes them happy.

In the Kingdom it is the friends who follow and obey His commands and know what is going on and it is the slaves who are uninformed and don't know what He is doing.

I, for one, am tired of not knowing what He is doing, but I thought that being a slave was the highest calling.

If the "friends" are receiving the "now Word" it seems that what we need in our assembly are more friends than we need more slaves.

Maybe the slaves can get away with more than a friend but He lays down His life for His friends.

John 15:13] "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.

But what if HE is our Friend?

Does that mean that we have to lay down our life for Him?

Yes!

This is part of the Seventh Foundation called "the Consecration Offering."

This signals the change from slave to Friend, to Bond Servant.

Is there some way we can know if we are living in this "blessed state" of abiding in Him?

John 15:16] "You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He may give to you.

Receiving answers seems to be this "blessed state."

If we take this out of the context of Vine-branch Union we might as well create another doctrine of why this doesn't work.

If we expect this to be "our divine right to ask in His name and then to get whatever we ask for" our doctrine may need some modification.

It seems to indicate that producing the fruit precedes the asking.

In other words, IF you:

· live in Life union with Me,

· obey My commandments,

· bear fruit,

you will be My friend and you will hear the now Word –

THEN whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He may give it to you.

During the Charismatic Renewal we heard the "King's Kid Doctrine," which proclaims "I deserve the very best because I am the King's kid. Where have you ever heard of a king's kid that did not have the very best of everything?"

Of course this was just more doctrinal foolishness!

This "concept" never even considered the requirement of first being united with Him in Union Life before we ask.

Many of these errors have turned these Charismatic concepts into a perversion of name it and claim it and to keep "saying it" until you get it.

The continual union with Christ by sharing His Life should be recognized as essential to the blessing indicated in the "He may give to you!"

Any "goodness or Godliness" that we receive by union with Him can only be maintained through a continual Life flow within that union.

If we break union with Him our "goodness" soon turns to a religious nothing {dust} because the Life has been lost.

Even though our doctrine of "goodness" remains, it is only doctrine by the letter.

[I'm using "goodness" instead of using the term "salvation" because some are offended if salvation can be in jeopardy.]

This separation from God can be seen in Satan's fall and rejection.

Satan had a tremendous place and position with glowing attributes but separation from God's presence soon turned him into the devil.

The separation preceded the fatal fall and was the cause of it.

This immediate, drastic and eternal change demanded by the Kingdom should teach us the necessity of staying in this Vine-branch Union as our first priority in any age.

Even nature teaches us about God.

If we take a healthy growing plant and set it in darkness it will soon die even if we create a doctrine that once it has life it can never die.

It must remain in the light just to maintain its life.

In addition it must have moisture, nutrients, soil and a certain amount of care.

For some spiritual and eternal things God depends upon the assembly to nurture and care for His seed.

It is still God Who causes the growth.

Some plants can be dried up and they retain their form and sometimes some color but their life has gone.

The evidence of this same outward form but without Life can be seen in the church.

Even fellowship depends upon God's Light.

From John 1:4 we saw that Life and Light are the same.

John 1:4 In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men.

1 John 1:5 And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. [6] If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the Truth;

[7] but if we walk in the Light {Life} as He Himself is in the Light {Life}, we have fellowship with one another, and the Blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

True Christianity can only be maintained by continuous dependence upon Him and in Life-Union with Him.

The very best kind of Christian that is without His Life {Zoe} can only be identified as another religious person.

No person can generate Christian character or holiness because these are imparted by the infusion of His Life.

Trying to create holiness by outward dress and religious form is the error of the holiness groups.

Trying to generate agape Love is fruitless because there is only one Source and we have to obtain Agape from Him by His indwelling Presence.

This Agape is infused through His Life and by our Union with Him.

Dust can do nothing, produce nothing and be nothing, except dust.

1 Cor 4:7] For who regards you as superior? And what do you have that you did not receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

If we have anything eternal it is because we got it from God and not because we generated it.

Did we receive that which is eternal by the laying on of hands or by listening to a pulpit message?

No! We can receive the eternal things ONLY by our Vine-branch Union with Him.

Salvation then must be by the infusion of His Life and not by some agreed upon doctrine or saying these words after me.

Salvation then is received as His Living Seed engrafted into our inner man.

1PET 1:22 Since you have in obedience to the Truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart,

[23] for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the Living and Abiding Word of God.

Luke 8:11] "Now the parable is this: the Seed is the Word of God.

In this parable not all seed sown produces anything because all the proper growing conditions must exist.

Light, water, nutrients and care are not mentioned but we can assume they are necessary for harvest.

Even reading the Scriptures leaves us empty unless we maintain a Life union with the Living and Abiding Word of God.

The Scriptures can tell us where to go to get Life but we still must come to Him to receive Life.

John 5:39] "You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life {Zoe}; and it is these that bear witness of Me;

[40] and you are unwilling to come to Me, that you may have Life.

It is a very controversial statement to say that we cannot get His Life from Scriptures, but only from Him!

The "Imperishable Seed" that produces our great salvation must be imparted by the Holy Spirit and then nurtured by the inspiration and revelation of the same Holy Spirit Who planted the Seed in us.

The fruit of the Spirit is the harvest of His work in us and not something we can produce apart from Him.

While reading the Scriptures may give us insight and understanding into the principles of God, just reading the words will seldom change us into what we must become!

None of this takes place except for the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in us.

It is through His discipline and the sanctifying work of the Spirit that we share God's holiness.

2Thes 2:13 But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the Truth. 14 And it was for this He called you through our Gospel, that you may gain the Glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The carnal emotion that is evident in much preaching excites the soul but little seed is sown and the spirit is not edified.

In many of these outward ministries the flesh may get excited but the spirit is left starving. The Tree of Knowledge certainly gave new direction to Adam but had no Life.

More head knowledge does not change the person, only the infusion of His Life.

Since so much change is necessary for Christ to be formed in us, and then so much rectification in various areas of our life, it will require a continuous infusion of His Life.

This continuous infusion requires this Vine-branch Union along with the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.

Trying to exhort believers into bringing forth fruit is disappointing because it doesn't produce the expected results.

We think that if we inform believers so they know they are required to produce fruit, that is all that is necessary for them to do it.

Everybody needs to know without Him they can produce nothing except weeds.

Our counsel to all believers must always be to stay joined to the Vine in a genuine Life-Union. Why?

That is the ONLY thing guaranteed to work.

We should be convinced that we cannot present the Harvest of the First Fruits, which we have produced by our own effort, as an offering to God. Why?

That is Not an acceptable sacrifice and that will be met with the same enthusiasm as Cain's offering.

Gen 4:2 And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. [3] So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground. [4] And Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering;

[5] but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell.

JUDE 1:10] But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed. [11] Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain,

We can only really offer to God what has come from God.

Cain obviously didn't understand God's acceptable sacrifice and offered the work of his hands, produced by his own effort and ability.

Abel's sacrifice obviously had the divine stamp on it.

Adam was formed from the dust of this earth into a clay-like form, but that form had no life from itself or in itself.

If it had rained right then "he" would just have melted back into the earth from which "he" came.

After God breathed into this lifeless form the breath of Life, Adam became a living soul.

God knew that Adam required a continuous supply of His Life in order to live.

Therefore, God put the Tree of Life right in the middle of the garden where it was handy.

God told Adam he may freely eat {without restriction, eat all you want}.

However, eating from the Tree of Knowledge will not sustain Life so you will die the same day that you eat.

If God had said you will die one year after you eat from that tree, we might discern a grace period.

But death set in immediately when there was no intake of His Life.

This is an extreme warning for us to take this Vine-branch Union very seriously.

The "doctrine of salvation" never saved anyone or sustained anyone without the impartation of the Life of the One Who IS our Salvation.

John 1:4 In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men.

Without His Life there is no revelation {Light} but we can still retain knowledge, preach knowledge and exhort with knowledge.

Some can even prophesy with knowledge!

We may have a well-informed "church" about a lot of irrelevant stuff but without His Life it will face the fire!

A well informed church may make proclamation that "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," because WE ARE THE KING'S KIDS.

Still, you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. We might add stupid!

In the Eternal Kingdom, The Tree of Life is still required because our only Life source is still in Him.

It is the Tree of Life that bears fruit every month while just the leaves of this Tree of Life will provide healing for the nations of the New Earth.

Rev 22:2] in the middle of its street. And on either side of the river was the Tree of Life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the Tree were for the healing of the nations.

In John 14-15 & 16 Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will deliver the things to us that belong to Jesus.

If we use medical terms to describe the transaction, we could say:

"the administration of the attributes of Jesus Christ are delivered to us by the Holy Spirit."

Christ is the "intravenous bag" that contains His Life and the Holy Spirit is "the hose" to deliver the inner Life to us personally.

This is the position of the Holy Spirit in John 14-15 & 16.

He connects us to and imparts to us the things of Jesus.

The revelation that Jesus gives of:

· the person,

· the work and

· the position

of the Holy Spirit in the church is so much clearer than the revelation of the Messiah given in the Law, the prophets and the Psalms.

Still Jesus fulfilled:

· the Law,

· the prophets and

· the Psalms.

If Jesus had not come, the Law, the prophets and the Psalms would just have been information and history.

Our Messiah gave life and reality and illumination to these O.T. Scriptures.

The Scriptures announced the Messiah and they spoke of Him.

Then He introduces the Holy Spirit Who was coming in a much fuller way!

Then in Acts one Jesus speaks of Him coming to baptize or immerse them with the Holy Spirit.

Then forty days before He was taken up, Jesus, the Messiah, announced the Kingdom of God and indicated that it is now!

As the Messiah came and fulfilled the O.T. Scriptures, so also the Holy Spirit has come to fulfill the demands of the Gospel of the Kingdom.

However, He must be in us in a whole new way. Why?

To create a body so that through us the Gospel of the Kingdom can be seen in the church.

The Old Testament Scriptures were fulfilled in Christ but the New Testament Scriptures must be fulfilled by us. How?

By the Spirit!

If He leads us into "all Truth," that is not the doctrine of Truth but the Reality and experience of that Truth which is Christ.

If our vision and goal is to fulfil the N.T. Scriptures, that cannot be by human effort but only by the Holy Spirit working this TRUTH into our Life experience.

Fulfilling the Scriptures is so much more than reading the Scriptures!

The Old Testament saints had the law, the prophets and the Psalms, but could not fulfil them.

We have the New Testament Scriptures, but without the Holy Spirit and our Union Life with Him, the Living and Abiding Word of God, we cannot fulfil them either.

By the New Covenant provision we have the laws of God written upon our hearts and minds, but how do we:

· interpret them,

· discern them and

· understand them and

· then OBEY and

· DO them?

Only by the Holy Spirit!

John 14:23] Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him.

For us to qualify for the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit to continually dwell in us, the requirement is to keep His Word and to love Him.

Nothing even similar to this was available to the Old Testament saint.

Christ provided for our total redemption at Calvary and this was the preparation for the indwelling of God in each redeemed man.

As we keep repeating, this indwelling is pictured in the Vine-branch Union.

Another picture is "I in you and you in Me."

This is surely a better Covenant built on better Promises.

Heb 8:6] But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the Mediator of a better Covenant, which has been enacted on better Promises.

This better Covenant demands a greater consecration and greater responsibility on our part but provides for us a much greater inheritance!

This is why the least in the Kingdom is greater than John the Baptist.

Mat 11:11 "Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.

Those who hold to the letter of Scripture but deny or ignore the Holy Spirit will always neglect the Power and Truth of the Scripture.

They assume that knowing the Scripture intellectually is all that is required.

Knowing every detail of Scripture can certainly not be a substitute for the indwelling of the Father, the Christ and the Holy Spirit!

Loving Jesus and keeping His Word is not the same thing as studying the Scriptures.

The difference is that the Scriptures do not contain that essential Life which identifies Christianity!

That Life Union can only be received by a direct connection with Christ, Who IS and Who gives this degree of Zoe – Life.

The function of Scripture is to inform us and instruct us to lay aside every aspect of the old Adam and to come into a Life Union with Christ.

The Scriptures point us to the only Source of eternal Life, of Love, Holiness and everything needed to function in the Kingdom dimension.

Those who hold to the infallibility and inspiration of Scripture and use it to establish "sound doctrine" but then reject or deny the working of the Holy Spirit in our day, deny the very Scriptures they hold to be the Word of God.

They hold firmly to the letter of Scripture but ignore the Life of the Word that is clearly revealed by the same Scripture.

This error produces the "Fighting Fundamentalist" who are so bold they prohibit the speaking in tongues in direct opposition to the exact same Scriptures they say are the inspired Word of God.

Some are so bold they say God no longer speaks to men except through the Scriptures even though the same Scriptures say "My sheep hear My voice." {Rhema}.

When we eliminate the need for the Holy Spirit to work daily in our lives, we cut ourselves off from all that Jesus said He would do.

It is the Holy Spirit Who prepares the Bride for Jesus.

Some boldly say that the dispensation of the Holy Spirit was in the early church until the cannon of Scripture was complete.

This error proclaims that "the Scriptures are the Spirit of Truth that leads us into all Truth.

The Scriptures are our comforter and the Scripture takes the things of Jesus and reveals them to us. That the Scriptures abide with us and shall be in us. That the Scriptures will teach us all things!"

In other words they proclaim that the written Word is all that is valid today and has taken the place of the Holy Spirit as the Revelator of Truth.

If we have accepted that all that God has purposed for this life is that we receive forgiveness of sins, then we must adjust our doctrine.

If forgiveness of sins qualifies us to take our place in eternity, then the real experience of the Holy Spirit would be optional.

However, if we consider:

· the Eternal Kingdom of God,

· the Government of God and

· the New Jerusalem

as our ultimate goal, we would understand that man is helpless in himself to meet those demands.

This one demand should convince us we need HIM.

Mat 5:48 "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

If we understood that God is preparing us today for our place in eternity, we would understand more of the work of the Holy Spirit.

The servants that prepared both Esther and Rebekah for their husbands are a picture of the Holy Spirit's work.

Unless the Holy Spirit is actively breathing Life into the Scripture, the words remain just as letter that produce death rather than Life.

1 Cor 1:7] so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, [8] Who shall also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

To say that the gifts have passed away with the cannon of Scripture or when the last apostle died is gross ignorance and promotes this error.

The gifts will be with us until Jesus Christ comes again.

The logic is: If the gifts are not working in our church that means they have passed away, regardless of what the Scriptures say.

Or maybe we don't want the problem of gifts so let's just say they ceased and that will solve the problem.

The things that eye has not seen or the ear has not heard are still being revealed by the Spirit.

1Cor 2:10 For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. [11] For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. [12] Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit Who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God,

[13] which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.

Of course the explanation is that this promise was only for the early church and was necessary until the things revealed by the Spirit was recorded in N.T. Scripture.

However, Paul revealed the real reason behind this ignorance!

1 Cor 2:14] But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. [15] But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no man.

The man or minister without the indwelling Holy Spirit is just a natural man and cannot understand the things of the Spirit of God because they are foolishness to him.

Some of those who have definitely received the Spirit of Christ and are born again assume that the Spirit of Christ is the Holy Spirit.

Since they have received the Spirit of Christ they loudly proclaim they received the Holy Spirit when they were saved.

Since they manifest none of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit they assume the Gifts have passed away.

They even preach by the Spirit of Christ and think they are preaching by the Holy Spirit.

1 Pet 1:8] and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, [9] obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.

[10] As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful search and inquiry, [11] seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. [12] It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from Heaven - things into which angels long to look.

Even the Old Testament prophets prophesied by the Spirit of Christ Who was in them.

There is nothing wrong with prophesying by the Spirit of Christ.

However, in the New Covenant we preach by the GOSPEL by the Holy Spirit Who was sent down after Jesus ascended.

It may still be right to prophesy by the Spirit of Christ Who is also in us but the preaching of the Gospel of the Kingdom is by the Holy Spirit.

Rom 8:9] However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. [10] And if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. [11] But if the Spirit of Him Who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He Who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit Who indwells you.

Of course it was the Holy Spirit Who raised Jesus from the dead.

It is by the Spirit of Christ that we recognize God as our Father. [The Spirit of the Son]

Our new spirit is birthed and comes alive when receive the Spirit of Christ in the born-again experience but our body is still assigned to death.

However, when the Holy Spirit comes He will give Life (make alive or cause to live, in presence tense) in our bodies now.

The death, burial and resurrection that is experienced in water baptism is looking toward these things.

If the Scriptures are the inspired Word of God then these things are still true.

To me it seems apparent that in John 20:22 the disciples received the Spirit of Christ, Who is also a Holy Spirit, and were born again.

This was the first opportunity they had since the resurrection to be born again.

However, they had to wait for the Feast of Pentecost 50 days later to receive the Holy Spirit.

They were forbidden to preach until they had received the Holy Spirit because that is how the Gospel of the Kingdom is preached.

Too many are preaching "A" gospel of salvation by the Spirit of Christ and ignoring the Holy Spirit!

The Anointing to preach the Kingdom is by the Holy Spirit.

Acts 10:38] " You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with Power, and how He went about doing good, and healing all who were oppressed by the devil; for God was with Him.

Jesus of Nazareth {Who is the Spirit of Christ in bodily form} was anointed with the Holy Spirit at the Jordan River baptism before starting His ministry.

The Living Word of God still must have the Anointing of the Holy Spirit to preach and do miracles.

It is only logical that we also must have the Spirit of Christ AND the anointing of the Holy Spirit to preach and do miracles. Why?

As the Father sent Him, He also sends us!

If education was the key to ministry, Jesus should have stayed around and opened a Bible school.

Instead He said I must go away so the Holy Spirit will come.

What the Holy Spirit supplies is far superior to "education".

He leads into all Truth but not through the intellect and education but by a subjective knowing in the intuition within the new inner man who is of a different species from the first Adam.

1 Cor 3: 5 but our adequacy is from God, [6] Who also made us adequate as servants of a New Covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives Life. [7] But if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, [8] how shall the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with Glory? [9] For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in Glory.

The ministry of righteousness is directly linked to the ministry of the Spirit.

The ministry of death is directly linked to the ministry of the letter.

In other words, we are either ministering the Spirit of the Scripture OR we are ministering the letter of the Scripture which ministers death even though we thought it ministered life.

Even the ministry of death has a certain glory connected to it, but the ministry of the Spirit has more Glory.

Then "Glory" is not the measure for evaluating our ministry because both letter and Spirit have glory.

The Glory of His Life is the measure of our New Covenant ministry.

Glorying in the "Letter" of Scripture seems to be a universal ignorance.

I also began that way because that is what I was taught by men.

While memorizing and quoting Scripture has always been a measure of the ministry, there is no assurance that will minister the necessary Life, Zoe.

It is time we evaluated the wisdom of men by comparing it with the letter of Scripture.

In all the learned wisdom of men and religious training, they haven't learned the difference between the letter and the Spirit.

Therefore, letter has been accepted as Spirit and death has substituted for Life.

The "letter" has never been "the Sword of the Spirit" and never can be.

The Bible without Spirit is a still a "good book" but it lacks Life.

Black words on white paper is not what God had in mind to minister Life.

John 6:63] "It is the Spirit Who gives Life; the flesh profits nothing; the Words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and are Life.

Preaching this "Spirit and Life" must surely be the goal of the New Covenant ministry of the Word.

However, we have discovered something in our own ministry and the ministry of others.

Not only can a man in the flesh preach irrelevant things, that has become the rule rather than the exception.

In every ministry there is this contrast between flesh and spirit and difference between the letter and the Life nearly everywhere we go.

The disturbing thing is that for the greater part most believers cannot discern the difference.

What Bible School or School of Theology can we go to learn how to minister Spirit and Life?

This is not a matter of higher learning but a genuine Union Life with the Living Word of God!

That Spirit and Life can only be delivered to us by the Anointing of the Holy Spirit.

I would guess that it is most probable that the most refined intellect can NEVER minister Spirit or Life.

Therefore, the natural man is limited to just minister letter.

This is not an indictment of the believers but this points directly to the ministers that have failed to participate in the New Covenant provision of the Indwelling Holy Spirit.

It is HE that brings Life and Reality to Light.