#511 – Defining The Foundations Of The Kingdom Life And Why They are Essential.

March 4, 2012

Whatever God does is built upon an Eternal Truth. In other words, God is not busy doing irrelevant things but is working to fulfill His Eternal Purpose. This Eternal Truth is designed to lead us into Eternal Life and all this is summed up in an Eternal Reality which is defined as God’s Eternal Purpose. Within His Eternal Purpose is the Eternal Kingdom Government that finally expresses, in human experience, God’s Absolute Sovereignty and His Government, His Ultimate Design and His Absolute Authority over all peoples and all things.

The foundations, that are absolute Truth/ Light/ Life, that have been prescribed as essential to EVERY Christian life are basic to function within the Kingdom Government of God. Why? Whatever will hinder us in living within His Government must be removed in the Foundations and everything that will assist us in living in the Matthew 5-6 & 7 dimension will be added to us, experientially, by the Foundations. Trying to build up ANY assembly but ignoring the Foundations established from the foundation of the World is extremely ignorant. Why? Laying foundations, as experiences, are the ONLY alternative to failure and a wasted life of ministering things that are irrelevant in preparing for eternity. I wish someone would have explained this to me 40 years ago. Maybe I could have been an effective minister of the New Covenant and produced more that is eternal.

The implied emphasis of these required foundations is that they are what has been prescribed to bring us out of darkness into His marvelous light. Different conditions are being contrasted in the scriptures to reveal to us what we were and what we must become! For example; life and death; light and darkness; flesh and spirit; the visible and the invisible; We are shown the type to reveal the reality; The temporal is set against the eternal, etc. It is the purpose of the foundations to provide the experience of the eternal side of all of these things and to lay aside the original, temporal side of these things inherited from first Adam. It is by experiencing the Eternal side of these things that He becomes our LIFE. After we fully understand that when we first come into this Christian experience, we are living by the life of first Adam and that life is NOT eternal that the foundations become essential to Christian Growth.

It is amazing that the difference between success and failure in ministry may just be in whether we lay proper foundations or not. The astounding thing is that none of this is a mystery that is hidden in dark sayings. The difference between building something that remains AFTER the trials and storms comes or losing it all is just defined by the kind of foundation that was laid. This is certainly NOT complicated!

Luke 6:46 “And why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? 47 “Everyone who comes to Me, and hears My words, and acts upon them, I will show you whom he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation upon the rock; and when a flood rose, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49 “But the one who has heard, and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house upon the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”

Listening to what the Lord said and doing that exact thing He said is “building upon the

rock.” Ignoring what He said and doing what is right in our own eyes is building on a slippery slope that will guarantee failure. Therefore, when we see something falling apart we should examine the foundations to see if there was ANYTHING laid that would make up a firm foundation. If there was NONE of the specified foundations laid, we should not be frustrated or accusing others when everything falls apart. We should just repent and acknowledge that we didn’t build in the prescribed way.

1Chron 13:9 When they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzza put out his hand to hold the ark, because the oxen nearly upset it. 10 And the anger of the LORD burned against Uzza, so He struck him down because he put out his hand to the ark; and he died there before God. 11 Then David became angry because of the LORD’s outburst against Uzza; and he called that place Perez-uzza to this day.

1Chron 15:11 Then David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab, 12 and said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers’ households of the Levites; consecrate yourselves both you and your relatives, that you may bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel, to the place that I have prepared for it. 13 “Because you did not carry it at the first, the LORD our God made an outburst on us, for we did not seek Him according to the ordinance.”

When we think we can do whatever we want to build the church because we were given

 

“free will” we can get into serious trouble. It was David that decided to bring the Ark back. David was the KING so he could do whatever he wanted and the people followed. After all he was the leader so the people were supposed to be obedient. It seems reasonable that it should have been David that got killed rather than Uzza who was just following orders. However, Uzza was a priest and should have known better than try to transport the Ark on an Ox cart. Uzza died because “we did not seek Him according to the ordinance.” This seemed like a simply error on Uzza’s part and not worthy of death but God looked at this much differently.

If God evaluated the absence of foundations inn the believers lives by the same measure today, we might all be in trouble. Nevertheless, this error of ignoring the prescribed foundations today is VERY serious and also has consequences.

In this study we will attempt to identify one of the major failures of the ministries that have been given responsibility for the preparation of the church. Hopefully, this will not be seen as just more criticism but a possible solution. This is an original Bible solution to the problem of carnality in the church. However, we have just discovered the essential nature of the foundations after wondering what is wrong in the growth of the congregations for over 30 years.

The main failure I see in my own of the ministry was in NOT being careful by laying the foundations experientially in my own life. Because of this failure, therefore, I was unable and unqualified to lay foundations in the believers lives! Most of the current problems that can be found in the present church system can be traced back to neglecting to lay the proper foundations in the leader’s experience.

It is the failure of the leader’s preparation, within the experience of the foundations, that becomes the SOURCE of failure of the life experiences in the believer’s preparation. Why? Because the flesh and these other contrasting things above were not properly dealt with.

This is of primary importance because the LEADER’S inner life development becomes the source of ministry that is, at last, effective in the believers experience. Why? Because no leader can be expected to lay a foundations in others experience if no foundation has been laid in his life experience. If the “leader” is still dealing with the Adam Syndrome in his own life he will be totally unequipped to help the assembly conquer the Adam Syndrome in their life.

The response I sometimes hear is this; “Well, I baptized them but if they didn’t get anything that is their problem. I refuse to take the blame for their carnality.” If I ask if the ministry had laid ALL the foundations in the believers “experience,” their response reveals an offence, shock or rejection. The reaction is “Are you accusing me of ineffectiveness after I have laid down my life for these people and have only lived to serve them?” Yes! What I am saying is this; If I have NOT built according to the pattern, who else can I blame for my failure?

When we think we can build something eternal without proper foundations, we will soon discover what it means to NOT “build according to the ordinance” that has been prescribed. Our “structure,” which we worked so hard on, just falls down! I thank God that He let me live until I could discover why what I did fell apart.

I was speaking to a pastor last week and asked him if ANY foundations were ever laid in his life BEFORE he went out to pastor churches? He said as soon as I learned the doctrines I was sent out. This represents a tremendous problem in the visible church system. We have “Apostles”, “Prophets”, “Evangelists”, “Pastors”, “Teachers” and “elder / leaders” that have NEVER had any foundations laid as life experiences. What is the outcome of not building according to the ordinance? EXACTLY what we see in the visible church system. Is this just more criticism? Probably! However, I am trying to learn from my failures and help a few others so they will not make the same mistakes I made.

The Kingdom is like; a man who wanted to serve God and build something eternal. He gathered up a good assortment of material from many different sources. The material was fine and substantial but when he began to build he failed to lay any foundation but just built it upon the sand. When the first real storm came, the building began to slip and slide and eventually it collapsed.

Immediately, the man was angry and frustrated and began to accuse the material he had gathered because it failed. The material was really confused because the material was carefully selected and had the potential of becoming a great structure. Since the man judged the material defective, he set what was left on fire because he considered it as unfit and rejected material. To this day he still thinks the material was defective and testifies to the disaster that was someone else’s fault. Now his new goal is to gather new and different material to attempt another structure. Of course, we anticipate another disaster. Why? Because, that is what I did.

This is not just a local problem in a few locations but is a universal problem. When a work collapses we hear all the accusations against the terrible people the pastor had assembled together. In the beginning he called them “his work in the Lord.” He was very excited about “the work” and laid his life down for the work. However, one day, it became obvious he was not able to build anything that could endure the storms that would certainly come. Therefore, nothing he could do would be eternal.

The Kingdom is likened unto; A man who wanted to build something for his family as an inheritance AND also for God. God had done so much for him that he wanted to do something for God. Since many “Christians” were doing NOTHING but sitting in a pew, He assumed God would be pleased with ANY effort he expended in “the work.” He wanted this “work” to be his worship of the Lord. However, this time he decided to build a foundation first.

He saw how other churches were winning souls and filling the pews so he did the same. Why try to improve upon anything that looks successful?

Luke 14: 28 [“For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? 29 “Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’]

Since this man wanted to build something fast and impressive, he started immediately to prepare a proper foundation. After many years of trials and testing it became apparent that he could Not finish the structure. Why? It had a foundation like some churches today but there was NO ABILITY to build ANYTHING on the foundation. Then everyone began to mock him saying “ He began with a flourish but wasted his life in worthless activity. Why should we listen to him because he has no idea what he is doing?”

Then how is the Kingdom like this man? The Kingdom will reject ANYTHING that is not built exactly according to the pattern God has established. There is an Eternal King who is absolutely Sovereign over the work and He has predetermined what building according to the pattern means. This New Covenant work must grow to perfection because it must become the Lampstand Church and also become body of the High Priest. To accomplish this “perfection,” every detail of growth and development MUST be decided by the King, who is High Priest. Human opinion, tradition, culture, nor man’s design is NOT acceptable.

The Kingdom is like this man that decided how he would build the church but after spending a lifetime in “the work” discovered nothing he built was according to the pattern. After MANY years he discovered he had wasted his life building but nothing was permanent. Why? Because “the work” was built with wood, hay and straw and was Not built exclusively out of the Eternal Christ that relates to the Pure Gold of the Lampstand Church. Therefore, it could NOT be accepted as valid or an eternal work! Does that mean that God will reject all those who only come to the “silver realm” of perfection? Certainly not. In Solomon’s Temple there were BOTH silver lampstands and gold lampstands. Our calling is NOT to gather together silver (redemption only) lampstand churches.

1Chron 28:14 for the golden utensils, the weight of gold for all utensils for every kind of service; for the silver utensils, the weight of silver for all utensils for every kind of service; 15 and the weight of gold for the golden lampstands and their golden lamps, with the weight of each lampstand and its lamps; and the weight of silver for the silver lampstands, with the weight of each lampstand and its lamps according to the use of each lampstand; 16 and the gold by weight for the tables of showbread, for each table; and silver for the silver tables; 17 and the forks, the basins, and the pitchers of pure gold; and for the golden bowls with the weight for each bowl; and for the silver bowls with the weight for each bowl;

2Chron 4:7 Then he made the ten golden lampstands in the way prescribed for them, and he set them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left.

2Chhron 4:19 Solomon also made all the things that were in the house of God: even the golden altar, the tables with the bread of the Presence on them, 20 the lampstands with their lamps of pure gold, to burn in front of the inner sanctuary in the way prescribed; 21 the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs of gold, of purest gold; 22 and the snuffers, the bowls, the spoons, and the firepans of pure gold; and the entrance of the house, its inner doors for the holy of holies, and the doors of the house, that is, of the nave, of gold.

We are not told where the Silver lampstands were placed but we do know where the Gold Lampstands were placed. That is just before the Holies of Holies. (the lampstands with their lamps of pure gold, to burn in front of the inner sanctuary in the way prescribed;)

All this is just information unless we can see that God has designed EVERYTHING out of His absolute Sovereignty and has detailed these things that we might have understanding. While the Pure Gold Lampstand has tremendous significance it is not the Bride of Christ or the mature body of the High Priest. Those of that perfection will not be BEFORE the Sanctuary but on the Throne as the body of the High Priest. Then where are these Silver Lampstand Churches? In some other location that has not been detailed for us. Why? Our calling, under the New Covenant is, at very least, to the Pure Gold Lampstand Church. If we overcome at that level we can ascend to the Body of the High Priest.

2Chron 9:20 And all King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; silver was not considered valuable in the days of Solomon.

Silver was in such an abundant supply it was considered as common and not of great value. Silver was used as the redemption price to redeem the first born of Israel. Since EVERYBODY in the eternal Kingdom MUST be born again and redeemed, the silver (perfection) will NOT be considered as extremely valuable or unique because everybody in the eternal realm will be redeemed. To the person who is not redeemed, silver is of extreme value! Are there groups today that ONLY seek for the basic redemption, silver? Yes! Will they be “saved? Yes! Is that our calling? No! We have been called to the higher calling! How is that defined? By the Gold measuring rod.

Num 8:17 “For every first-born among the sons of Israel is Mine, among the men and among the animals; on the day that I struck down all the first-born in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for Myself.

Num 18:16 “And as to their redemption price, from a month old you shall redeem them, by your valuation, five shekels in silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.

All the first -born of Israel belonged to the Lord because God saved all the first-born of Israel when He destroyed all the first born of Egypt! However, they could be redeemed (bought back) with silver. It may be considered that all those who were redeemed in Christ could also be participants in the Silver Lampstand Church but that is NOT the one He is building, which is Pure Gold!

While silver is related to a valid redemption, the Pure Gold is related to maturity / perfection. ALL the finished foundations, as experiences, that remove everything connected to first Adam become absolutely essential when we consider the Pure Gold Lampstand Church. However, the Pure Gold indicates that we must, at that same time, receive EVERYTHING that is related to Christ. It is, therefore, essential that we both PUT OFF THE FULNESS OF ADAM AND PUT ON THE FULNESS OF CHRIST! It is the FULNESS OF CHRIST that is related to the Pure Gold. Our potential of coming to this perfection is inherent within the SPERMA, which IS the Living and Abiding Word of God or CHRIST IN US, OUR HOPE OF GLORY!

To be told we are “saved” and then continue to live in first Adam and by his life is the deception promoted by the groups that have not yet passed out of the darkness into His marvelous Light. Why do these “ministers” even exist? Because they have ignored their need for ALL the foundations prescribed by God for their deliverance from death and the darkness, from Adam, from the flesh, and from the temporal so we can fully live in the eternal.

Multitudes have never been instructed in eternal things, so they can be excused. However, how can we excuse the “ministers” who have ignored the clear teaching of the Scriptures? We can warn them but only they can respond! DON”T WASTE YOUR LIFE, BEGIN AGAIN, BUT THIS TIME ACCORDING TO THE ORDINANCE!