#495 – What IS The Reality of Christian Experience?
What Is Pseudo-Christian Activity?
What Is God’s Evaluation From His Eternal Viewpoint?
What is the Relationship Between The Doctrine And The Life
August 15, 2011
It is when we begin to ask questions like these and then search for answers based upon the whole Bible that we suddenly discover that what we learned about Christianity from the pulpit preaching was only half truths. Possibly even a much smaller portion of truth than half depending upon who is preaching. If we are going to use the scriptures to base the authenticity of our faith then we should use ALL the scriptures and not one or two. For example; we are all familiar with the gospel of salvation based upon Romans 10: 9 and 10. Because we read that in the Bible we assume it is a true definition of salvation. If we just read this one verse it appears to be the whole package of salvation.
Rom 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; 10 for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
Of course this is “true” but is it “exclusively true”, meaning does it take precedence over all other scriptures? Is it the whole TRUTH or just one aspect of a whole Truth about salvation? When we read the whole Bible we find many other scriptures about salvation that speak of other requirements than to just believe something about resurrection and then confess that Jesus is Lord. Since this one scripture has become THE single definition of salvation we should research if this is ALL there is to justification, reconciliation, salvation, conversion and sanctification. Why? Because, if we place our whole eternal destiny into this one verse we better be sure it presents to us the whole package of “being saved.”
Rom 10:13 for “WHOEVER WILL CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”
In this context you don’t have to believe anything or confess anything! The “thief” called upon the name of the Lord and he was “saved” is given as proof that “salvation” is very easy and simple to experience and VERY little is required except to believe something, confess something or just ask God to save you. Of course this is basically true but is it the WHOLE truth? This is the question we need to ask if we are going to base our eternal destiny upon this verse.
One of the revelations or understandings that has been neglected by teacher / preachers is the seven basic Feasts of the Lord. The reason given is “that is Old Testament and has been done away with now.” The Book of Isaiah, Joel, Malachi, the Book of Daniel and many other Books are also Old Testament but the New Testament includes many of these Scriptures to explain God’s Purpose and are given as our examples. The three basic “times of the Lord” related to the Feasts are (1) The Feast of Passover in the first month (2) The feast of Pentecost (Ingathering) 50 days later (3) The Feast of Tabernacles in the seventh month. Each of these Feasts were times of Harvest. The other five months were for preparation, planting and growing or the maturing of the crop. Why is this important? Because Jesus said the End Time IS the Harvest. The real question then is this; are we supposed to relate salvation to planting or to Harvest? Why is any of this relevant? Is “salvation” a past experience or a future experience? What relevance does the Old Testament scriptures have for us in New Testament times?
1Co 10:1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 and all ate the same spiritual food; 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness.
1Cor 10:11 Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
Jude 1:5 Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.
Israel was in the process of being saved from Egypt and predestined to inhabit the land of Canaan that was given to Abraham. Between three and six million Israelites were “saved” from Egypt but of those over 20 years only two entered into Canaan. The others were “destroyed” in the wilderness. Each of these seven Feasts of the Lord are connected to these “experiences” of Israel coming out of Egypt to inherit the land.
Mat 9:36 And seeing the multitudes, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and downcast like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then He *said to His disciples, “The
harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. 38 “Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to
send out workers into His harvest.”
If we ignore the Harvest of the Earth in the end time we will miss the reason for the very existence of the church. However, each generation is responsible for the Harvest in their dispensation. What is the purpose of sowing if there is no harvest? Why is that relevant? Because all our messages are about planting but few are about harvest. “Harvest” is considered as those who respond to the message with faith and NOT to full harvest growth.
The Gospel of the Kingdom is NOT just about sowing but also growth, weeds, soil, weather and mature harvest. Jesus links the Harvest to the workers that have been “sent out” into the harvest field! However, lets us not be so ignorant that we think sowing seed is the same as the harvest. Even if the seed sprouts that cannot be used as harvest. ONLY the full wheat in the head is ready for harvest. A multiplication of one hundred fold is what we call Kingdom Harvest.
Mat 13:37 And He answered and said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, 38 and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels. 40 “Therefore just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. 41 “The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, 42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 “Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
Now if we begin to define “salvation” by the “end of the age” and the “harvest of the earth” we get a completely different viewpoint of “salvation.” We see that those who were “in the Kingdom” but that became “stumbling blocks and lawless,” were burned up. These obviously were “believers.” These are the ones who are called “tares or weeds” or those that produced nothing but still took up their space upon earth. After “saving” a people God destroyed those who didn’t believe. But, brother, you are preaching fear and doubt. True! But what if this is true and you have based your “salvation” up one verse?
Mat 7:38 The good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the
evil one; The Son of Man sows the good seed but pay close attention to WHAT He sows. It is the sons of
the Kingdom. The Word of the Kingdom is also “good seed” but that is what produces the sons
of the Kingdom. The sowing of the sons of the Kingdom is what produces the final harvest of the
earth. The feasts reveal a continuous harvest or a sequence of harvests from the first month to the
seventh month. The Feast of Tabernacles was the final harvest for the year. Not every thing that
is planted will produce a crop but these fruitless “trees”, fields or vineyards receive no
compassion or mercy in the Kingdom.
Luke 13:6 And He began telling this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it, and did not find any. 7 “And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’ 8 “And he answered and said to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; 9 and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down."
The only option given for NO FRUIT is wait one year and destroy it if it doesn’t produce anything. Now let us “interpret” this parable from the Kingdom viewpoint. Here we see a “believer” that was taking up space in the Master’s Vineyard but was producing NOTHING. God asks “If this believer is producing NOTHING here what good will he be in my Kingdom?” This believer is rejected if he does not produce anything usable to God because he is not worthy of the Kingdom. Now Kingdom Salvation begins to look much different from what we have heard preached as “evangelism.”
If we can accept the false concept that “forgiveness of sins” IS the whole gospel of salvation we can ignore all these other Kingdom verses about growing to full harvest maturity and producing something for the Kingdom of God. What we understand is that “the forgiveness of sins” is related to our past. It forgives what we have done! However, Salvation is related to our future and extends into eternity. This “salvation” is related to God’s purpose! Therefore, forgiveness of sins is an event that we can look back on. We may even have a specific date in mind.
1Cor 1:18 For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
2Cor 2:15 For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing;
The scriptures say “SHALL BE SAVED” and “ARE BEING SAVED” or “YET SHALL BE SAVED” are in the continuing tense.
1Pet 1:5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
To be VERY generous we could concede that “forgiveness of sins” could “save” you from hell but we still have to deal with these scriptures about being rejected because we have produced nothing and therefore, we are “cut down” or bearing no fruit (harvest) for the Kingdom and are burned up. OR “Are destroyed on the journey!” We might wonder why these verses are never preached in evangelistic services. Why do we think of salvation as a past experience rather than a process? Does that mean that there are NO scriptures dealing with salvation in the present tense? No! We can say “we are saved, we are being saved and we shall yet be saved” but these are dimensions and are not all referring to the a past event! Eternal Security is related to “eternity” not the earth dimension. That is why some who are “saved” end up getting burned simply because they did not get serious about “being saved” into God’s Purpose and for His predestined end!
It is for that reason that we must redefine everything we have heard preached as “salvation” and learn what the Kingdom viewpoint really is concerning the “reality of the Christian Experience.” Why? Because, what we see everywhere we go is some “pseudo Christianity” or even a “counterfeit Christianity” that is just taking up space on the earth but is producing NOTHING. The tiny percentage of “good mature wheat ready for harvest” in proportion to the amount of the “tares” in the “churches” that is ready for fire is discouraging.
We need to begin our investigation by defining “salvation” by the “harvest of the earth” at the end of the age. It is the “son of man” that has been given the responsibility for sowing the good seed. It is the devil’s responsibility to sow the tares while the leaders are sleeping. Since the leaders are sleeping, the devil has been doing a very good job. He even uses the carnal preachers and TV to help him sow tares and call them good believers because they attend the meetings or give to the ministries.
This process of sowing “seed” began when the only begotten “SON OF MAN” began to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom but now this responsibility is given to the “sons of man” (US) to sow the good seed. But what if I am not ordained? That lack of “ordination” is a good “church excuse” to produce nothing but that is not a valid excuse for not sowing in the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom does not accept excuses!
Even if Romans 10:9-10 is good seed, that seed still has to produce a full grown harvest that can be gathered in His barns to complete His Purpose! That seed still must produce something for the Kingdom or what good is it for God’s Purposes? This “harvest of the earth” must have produced a crop that has grown to His standards of maturity and NOT just that had forgiveness of sins or a little green growth. Even if we produce a church with 10,000 acres of tares that will NOT impress God one little bit. God is not harvesting the “seed” we are sowing but a mature crop that the seed was supposed to produce. Therefore, the “seed” must grow in GOOD GROUND to produce a “good crop.” Sowing “seed” is NOT the same thing as reaping a mature harvest but these two stages are really being confused by the visible church. It should suddenly be clear that the Gospel of the Kingdom is NOT good news to the casual believer!
Mat 7:19 “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 “So then, you will know them by their fruits.
Mat 7: 21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.
Mat 7:22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’
Mat 7:24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock. 25 “And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock. 26 “And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. 27 “And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and it fell, and great was its fall.”
These few verses begin to put ALL things into a Kingdom perspective. Here we begin to see from the Eternal, God designed Viewpoint. For a believer to “do the will of God” is NOT optional. Hearing and then acting upon what we hear of HIS WORDS is related to “Building upon the Rock.” Hearing His Words and NOT acting upon them is related to building upon the sand with a temporary structure which is destined to fall or to “be destroyed.”
Building either upon the rock or upon the sand is not another Christian option! Either is possible and even normal but sand is not PROPER building material for the Kingdom and will be rejected. Of course, if we are NOT hearing His Words and, therefore, NOT acting upon THEM there is NO ROCK upon which we can build. It seems that “hearing” is not another option.
If we evaluated Christianity from the Kingdom / Scriptural viewpoint it will be easy to see that what we are doing in the visible church is NOT working. Why? Because, we should see a mature crop developing. Why is the crop defective? It is my opinion that we are sowing the wrong seed and helping the devil do his work. Sowing irrelevant verses on Sunday to stony hearts is NOT producing Kingdom results. When we spend time on Sunday NOT sowing the Kingdom Seed, what we produce is an irrelevant church with pews filled with tares.
This Kingdom viewpoint can now be compared with the popular gospel of “believing in Jesus as personal Savior.” The “personal Savior message” is considered as synonymous with “Building upon the Rock.” All those who hear but do not ACT upon what they hear are just Building upon the SAND and what is built is temporary and irrelevant. Why? It will certainly FALL. If “great was its fall” is related to the “Depart from Me I never knew you because you practice lawlessness” then “salvation” as it is being packaged and preached may just be another cliche, a big deception or another big lie.
The Matthew 5-6-and 7 chapters along with Matthew 13 and MANY other chapters are speaking about “the Kingdom of God.” Why do these Kingdom demands sound strange to our ears today? Maybe because all that we have heard preached is the COUNTERFEIT GOSPEL of accept Jesus as personal Savior and you are “saved by grace.” They assure us that nothing is required of us because we are living in the dispensation of GRACE when God overlooks or just does NOT see our lawlessness or our unrighteous acts. They must assume that God will also accept a sand foundation for His eternal building because of His mercy and abundant grace. He is really not INSISTING upon mature fruit or any Kingdom harvest because we are living in the dispensation of grace.
Is it really possible to spend our life working in the “gospel,” doing ministry, prophesying, casting out demons, healing the sick and doing miracles and still have the Lord say “I never knew you?” These “ministers” were obviously “saved” by today’s standards or they could not have done this apparent “ministry.” To cast out demons you must be a “believer” because these “signs” follow those who believe. Could we reasonably say these people who were doing these things were unbelievers or imposters right out OF THE WORLD SYSTEM? Of course NOT! We would probably all agree if we saw people doing these things that they were “Christians” and what we saw as “ministry” was authentic “fruit bearing.” The Eternal Security groups will say they are still “saved” but will lose their reward. How? They boldly say their reward will be burned but not the person.
However, most of the evangelical community will insist that these “ministers” were NOT saved. Why? Because Jesus didn’t accept them. They would say these were imposters who were pretending to be Christian. All of a sudden it seems that it does NOT all depend upon us accepting Jesus but upon Jesus accepting us. DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS’ means that Jesus did NOT accept them!
Mat 13:25 “But while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares also among the wheat, and went away. 26 “But when the wheat sprang up and bore grain, then the tares
became evident also. 27 “And the slaves of the landowner came and said to him,’Sir, did you not
sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28 “And he said to them, ‘An enemy
has done this!’ And the slaves *said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’
29 “But he *said, ‘No; lest while you are gathering up the tares, you may root up the wheat with
them. 30 ‘Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say
to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather
the wheat into my barn.”’”
The question is NOT does the visible church have BOTH wheat and tares growing in it but can the tares cast out demons and do miracles? Why are the “tares” such an offence to God that He would burn them up? Are they not part of God’s creation as the liberals ask? Surely they believe at least something about Jesus just to be in fellowship with the Wheat and using up the ground the Master set apart for His needs and His Purpose.
Even all the Good Kingdom Seed that is sown does not grow to harvest stage. In the “gospel of the half-price sale” we can rejoice if the seed just sprouts because this “proves salvation” and eternal security. We ignorantly call sprouts “salvation!” However, to those who are ignorant of the Kingdom demands, growth to full harvest BEFORE the wheat can be brought into His barns is considered as optional. This strange “gospel” believes that God will accept ANYONE who be believes something about Jesus. They imply that God is so lonesome in His big heaven that He will accept anyone who accepts Jesus as personal Savior. The scriptures do NOT support this concept!
Mat 13:5 “And others fell upon the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. 6 “But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
The point I am making is this; When we compare the “Word of the Kingdom” with this timid “gospel of salvation,” ( the gospel of the bargains) that is being preached, we should easily see a great difference. It is this “difference” that is a matter of life OR death to multitudes. While the Bible mentions the “gospel of salvation” once that does NOT make it the authorized gospel. The “Word of the Kingdom” is what we are supposed to be preaching but it seems that too often this “SEED (the WORD OF THE KINGDOM) falls on soil that produces NOTHING ETERNAL and is rejected. These “rejected branches” still are welcome in the visible church. My opinion is that any system that has produced NOTHING eternal is irrelevant!
Since this “gospel of salvation” is the main gospel today we need to understand what that means and if it has been twisted into another pulpit error. If it is possible for the “Word of the Kingdom” to fall on bad soil and produce NOTHING what can be our confidence in sowing this “other gospel of salvation” on ANY soil and expect a harvest. That is NOT even Kingdom Seed but in many instances it is just more tares!
Eph 1:13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation--having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the (future) redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.
This is the ONLY time the term the “gospel of salvation” is found in the Bible. Of course the Kingdom is mentioned 150 times but who is counting? If we see the context of what Paul is referring to, it radically changes the outcome of what the “Gospel of your salvation” means. Paul is reminding the church at Ephesus of how they began when they first heard the “gospel of their Salvation.”
Acts 19:1 And it came about that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper country came to Ephesus, and found some disciples, 2 and he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “Into John’s baptism.” 4 And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 And when they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying.
The “gospel of your salvation” takes on a much different meaning than “accept Jesus as personal Savior.” Apollos’ gospel includes repentance, forgiveness of sins or believe in Jesus, and get wet in baptism. (THIS was Apollos’ ministry message). When Paul came he added proper Water Baptism and the Baptism in the Holy Spirit! All this was included as part of Paul’s “salvation message!” Did Paul just add to the real gospel something that was optional? What was the defect in Apollo’ message that required that he be taken aside and to be made aware of his misunderstanding? After all he was preaching and teaching “accurately” the things pertaining to Jesus. He had already made some disciples so he had “ministry fruit.”
Act 18:24 Now a certain Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the Scriptures. 25 This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus, being acquainted only with the baptism of John; 26 and he began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.
The disciples that Apollo made at Ephesus were obviously believers so we would say “they are saved” but Paul knew something was wrong. He asked them if they had received the Holy Spirit and they said they had not even heard about the Holy Spirit. Before Calvary or before Pentecost, neither when John baptized nor when Jesus baptized nor when the disciples baptized was the Holy Spirit received even though they all “got wet.” This might be confusing because Paul was recalling this exact time and said “having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.” So we need to ask “what did they believe or what should they have believed?” They obviously believed in Jesus to become disciples or “students” but did NOT receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit because their baptism in water was wrong? They were disciples (students) so they must have believed something about Jesus because but were not yet “sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.”
We might even ask “What exactly did they receive” when Apollos preached to them? Apollos even had gotten them wet in baptism when he took them to the water but they were not properly baptized according to the New Covenant. How did Paul know that? Because they had NOT received the Holy Spirit. To Paul, what they had when he came to Ephesus was not full salvation. Nevertheless, they were “disciples or students.” This same error is practiced by the great majority of Evangelical and Fundamental churches today. They get people wet but NOT baptized. Today many Pentecostal churches do exactly the same thing and don’t seem to know the difference. Their “believers get wet” but they don’t receive a valid New Covenant baptism in the Holy Spirit. Maybe they just get an Old Covenant “washing” like Aaron and his sons. Why is this ignorance still practiced when we have these scriptures? It appears to be simply because the New Covenant provision is not known or practiced. Revelation and a more accurate understanding come to us out of the New Covenant provision.
Apollos was preaching Jesus correctly and they believed. Acts 19:25 This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus. Therefore, his message about Jesus was received but THAT faith did NOT SEAL them in Christ Jesus with the baptism in the Holy Spirit. However, it did qualify them to become “students.” Now Paul baptized them in water and laid hands on them and they were sealed in Christ with the Holy Spirit that was promised by Jesus. It DOES NOT say that he RE-BAPTIZED them. They had gotten wet but had NOT received a New Covenant baptism in water or were they sealed in the Holy Spirit.
Now then, why didn’t Paul just acknowledge that these were “saved” because they believed in Jesus and call that good enough? Because Paul was NOT preaching the gospel of salvation but the Gospel of the Kingdom. What was Paul’s message at this same time and place? Let us see this in Acts 19 when he was in Ephesus!
Act 19:8 And he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.
The reason we take so much space to detail these things is because what is being preached as “the gospel of salvation” is certainly NOT accurate and many times just another deceptive lie. Sometimes it is just a planned deception in order to preserve a bad doctrine. Receiving Jesus Christ, the Word of God, is NOT the same thing as receiving the Holy Spirit and being “sealed in Christ with the Holy Spirit of promise.” Receiving the Holy Spirit is a different experience than believing in Jesus. Why? Because, receiving BOTH the New Spirit ( the Spirit of Christ) and then His Spirit (the Holy Spirit) is part of the New Covenant provision.
Our question then is NOT “were they saved” when Paul came but “why did Paul not leave them in that condition “of grace?” The correct answer is that these “disciples / students” were not yet equipped to fulfill the Purpose of God or bear fruit for the Kingdom. They believed “something” about Jesus but were NOT yet New Covenant believers. They were “believers” but NOT believers in the dimension of the Kingdom of God and NOT New Covenant believers. But wasn’t the Baptism in Water and the Baptism in the Holy Spirit optional or of very slight importance? Not at all! For Paul these experiences were essential for the church at Ephesus to become New Covenant believers. Why? Because, they were not yet able to produce ANYTHING for God and to meet or fulfill His need in the creation.
Thank God, Apollos evidently stopped preaching that partial message of “believe in Jesus and washing them in water” because “when Priscilla and Aquila heard what he was sharing they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.” We need MORE Priscilla and Aquila’s kind of ministry today to help the church understand the Kingdom, the New Covenant and the Purpose of God more accurately. If God was just interested in having a Kingdom of “believers” instead of a Kingdom of Priests, Apollos’ message might have been acceptable.
When I was in Merida, Venezuela last year they called a special meeting after the Pastor’s Conference and asked me to explain this “confrontational message.” I hardly knew how to answer because there were 150 “pastors” in that “special meeting.” I assumed they had all read the Bible. The Chief Apostle had a ministry like Apollos and obviously his “students” preached the same message. They had a large area in the front of the 1000 seat seating area about 50 feet by 150 feet that was just used for one hour of dancing and rejoicing. Their music and their message was similar to “WE GOT IT ALL” or “WE ARE THE KING’S KIDS” or “WE ARE ENTITLED TO THE VERY BEST.”
This seemed to be a “happy go lucky” group that really believed that casual Christianity and rejoicing is the goal! Their message was; “I AM IN JESUS AND SINCE HE IS ON THE THRONE I AM ALREADY ON THE THRONE.” “I AM IN JESUS AND SINCE HE HAS OVERCOME I AM ALREADY AN OVERCOMER.” “ I AM PERFECT AND COMPLETE IN JESUS.” “THERE IS NOTHING MORE THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE SO LET US DANCE AND REJOICE.” Most of these pastors seemed to be “believes,” at least in this pseudo-gospel. Still, the pastor’s wife and several others knew something was lacking and ask us share in their private meetings. One of the pastors, who had a “Doctor in Theology” degree, and his wife looked after Luis and I for 10 days and provided for our hospitality and security. He was the head of their Seminary but refused to discuss anything about the scriptures with us. We never understood why but now we think he was shocked by the “confrontational gospel” ( the Gospel of the Kingdom) that we preached.
I have discovered this error (in my opinion) in many places. This is the “error” of evaluating eternal things from an earth environment and out of a natural / carnal viewpoint. This “dirt” viewpoint is promoted by a “religious training” that has a denominational based theology rather than a Bible based theology. Too much of the “denominational” theology has been influenced or established by soulish men with earth ambitions but with NO revelation of God’s final and ultimate purpose. Once the final “doctrines” have been recorded they can never be changed.
I was with a group several years ago that were teaching the soul and the spirit in a reverse position based upon the Old Testament understanding. When I asked an Apostle of that group about this he told me he knows it is wrong but he teaches it that way also because “it is essential that we all teach the same thing or the believers will get confused.” He said, in effect; “We teach error to eliminate confusion.”
This is what has happened to the we are “in Jesus” doctrine and EVERYTHING that is attributed to Him is also attributed to us.” Since He overcame, and we are in Jesus, God attributes His overcoming to us. Since Jesus is on the throne in the second highest position in heaven, and I am in Jesus, I am also ALREADY on the Throne. Since Jesus is now ruling until every enemy is put under His feet, and I am in Jesus, I am also ruling.
I put into my Bible search program “IN JESUS” to see if we really are “IN JESUS.” Out of the 10 references we learn that we have faith “in Jesus” but NO PLACE does it say we are “in Jesus.” Of course it does say that we are “IN CHRIST.” There are 88 references found of “IN CHRIST.”
Christ, the Living and Abiding Word of God, always was. He was with the God in the beginning and He is God. He became flesh and dwelt among us! The One who is begotten is “the man Christ Jesus” who was born 2000 years ago. His mother was Mary! He is now resurrected and has taken His seat at the right hand of God. He is one of us! He was the son of man but also is the Son of God!
The True Church is The BODY which is the “body of Christ!” The “body of Jesus” was crucified and placed in the tomb for three days and three nights and was resurrected to fulfill the scriptures and the Purpose of God. This resurrected body of Jesus is seated at the right hand of God. We are “IN CHRIST” the Living and Abiding Word of God.
The problem is magnified when we write books about being “IN JESUS” and have established our church doctrines (which are permanent) based upon all believers being “IN JESUS.” If we, at last, discover that being “IN CHRIST” or “CHRIST JESUS” is different than being “IN THE MAN, CHRIST JESUS” how will we change all the books that are in print? We just have to hold to the error, even if we know it is wrong. So we continue to preach that we are “IN JESUS” and EVERYTHING that is attributed to Him has been attributed to me so nothing more needs to be done.
For one “apostle” to believe that is not too serious but to teach that to a hundred churches and also in other countries might affect the eternal destiny of thousands of “believers” who think they are already “perfect in Jesus” and nothing more needs to be done except to sing and dance and rejoice. This makes a “happy go lucky church” but is it approved by God? If it is one that He vomits out of the Body of Christ Jesus, ( NOT the body of Jesus) that is NOT good news.
It has always been a mystery why some can read the exact same Bible and come up with opposite and conflicting doctrines. Many interpretations of certain verses may vary depending upon the growth of the inner man but if ALL were New Covenant ministers the church doctrines should be very close to each other. Otherwise it looks like the church is a disaster area and everybody is contradicting everything someone else has taught. Why cannot everybody read the same Bible and come up with the same doctrine? Some in the world system are asking the same question and assuming that Christianity is a big confusion.
I am NOT implying that I am living in a continuous revelation and neither am I experiencing a continuous participation in Christ but at least I see that THIS PARTICIPATION IS the hope of the Holy Place Life and Ministry. In other words, in the Holy Place dimension of the seven Spirits of God there will be continuous illumination / revelation and since the priests all eat from the same Showbread there should be the same understanding and therefore the same doctrines. If everything in the Holy Place is also part of the ONE PURE GOLD LAMPSTAND CHURCH that is hammered out of one piece of Gold there will be a Divine unity present in ministry.
If this is really true why do we have all these conflicting doctrines? Because, the leaders have stopped short of the Holy Place Life and Ministry and are studying the same scriptures but in the NATURAL LIGHT of the outer Court. For that reason they see and interpret the scriptures from a natural / earth perspective and from just the human, man centered viewpoint. The human viewpoint produces many more silly questions than valid answers. These “man centered doctrines” originate in the Adam man who always wants to be central and have God revolve around him. These doctrines are promoted by the Adam / natural man ministries that can only see from the earth / dirt viewpoint. This combination results in an irrelevant church system that bears NO kingdom fruit and will be rejected by God. Therefore, participating in this “fruitless system” is dangerous and a big waste of time!
If every leader was himself a participating member of the Eternal Church that He is Building ( the Pure Gold Lampstand Church in the Holy Place) and functioning under the one Head, even Christ, there would NOT be all this confusion. God’s non-negotiable plan is for EVERY leader to qualify to become a “Priest / minister” in the Church He is Building. This is NOT possible until the minister, himself, has made the transition to the Holy Place dimension and come under the discipline and teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Kingdom is actively involved in the Holy Place Priesthood function because that is the location of the Kingdom of Priests. A “Kingdom of Priests” implies that the Kingdom Government of God has already been established in them and they are obedient to the Laws of the Kingdom embodied in us by the New Covenant provision. That means they are “NOT LAWLESS,” or disobedient sons or believers. It also implies their ministry is bringing forth a Kingdom Harvest of mature sons / crops acceptable to God and that can be gathered into His barns. That means these are able to take up their predestined positions in the World yet to Come!
All these substitute religious systems, rituals, traditions and concepts are just fantasy and are a big waste of time because they produce NOTHING eternal. Why? This conflicts with God’s Pattern for a Pure Gold Lampstand Church and a Kingdom of Priests! What is gathered into His barns is wholly for His benefit, to meet His need in the original creation and to fulfill His Eternal Purpose in each time period! Building for any other purpose is worthless!