The Bible says that God has equipped us to tear down strongholds, demolish arguments, destroy high things, and bring every thought into subjection to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).

Strongholds are fortresses that support military operations. People, including Christians, have strongholds within their minds that give Satan power over them. Satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy, and if he has a stronghold within us, he can drag us down. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil, we must tear down these strongholds through the power of Jesus Christ.

Arguments defend strongholds. Evil arguments attempt to justify thoughts or behaviors that are not according to God. When a person has a stronghold in his life, he will usually be full of evil arguments as to why the stronghold is okay and can remain.

High things are attitudes that are at the root of these arguments. These attitudes are high because they are based on pride. They are exalted against the knowledge of God and refuse to submit to the truth. 

Evil arguments, high things, and strongholds are three separate things, but they are closely related.

All humans have free will. Neither God nor Satan can control our thoughts. As Christians, if Satan has a stronghold in our lives, it’s not because he forced us; it’s because we ourselves chose to allow the stronghold to be there. If we want to be free, we need to choose to tear these strongholds down.

Arguments Defend Strongholds

When a stronghold is under attack, evil arguments will arise to defend it.

A simple example is telling a child to wear a coat because it’s freezing and snowy outside. The child may have many arguments as to why he doesn’t need to wear a coat. 

“It’s not that cold.” 

“It will look dumb if I wear a coat.”

“I won’t get sick.”

“None of my friends are wearing coats.”

These arguments reveal high things within the child, like pride or stubbornness. They may reveal that the child has a stronghold within him, like rebellion, that may manifest in a bigger way later.

A more complex example would be a person who is defending his right to sin. There are clear lists of sin in the New Testament, like adultery, drunkenness, and homosexuality, among many others. A person may defend his right to sin with evil arguments like these:

“Those Biblical prohibitions were just for that time, they’re not for today. It’s different now.”

“Those Greek words mean something different.”

“It doesn’t really matter as long as my heart is right.”

“A lot of Christians think these things are okay. You don’t have a monopoly on the truth.”

Through arguments, the person defends strongholds in his life. He thereby defends Satan’s ability to attack him. 

When arguing to defend a stronghold, people can become very passionate, exhibiting strong emotions. This is because the stronghold has become part of their identity, so any confrontation of a stronghold may feel like a personal attack. However, as Christians, we have a new identity in Christ. Our identity is in Christ, not in the old man or the things of the flesh.

Tearing Down High Places

In the Old Testament, the people of God had high places where they worshiped evil spirits. These high places represent the strongholds that God’s people have in their lives today. If someone in ancient Israel went to a high place to tear it down, many people would become angry because of their attachment to that high place. Similiarly, if someone confronts a stronghold today, people often become angry and volatile because they don’t want it to go.

When Gideon tore down the demon’s altar, the people were so mad they wanted to kill him (Judges 6:25-31). But Gideon went on to deliver the entire nation of Israel because he was willing to confront the high places.

The truth will set people free. The word of God is the truth. God’s word is the sword of the spirit (Hebrews 4:12) which can cut down lies, destroy arguments, and bring down high things.

Jesus said that when a demon is armed, he protects his position within a person (Luke 11:21-22). Arguments are evil armor that defend the demon’s stronghold. But when these things are stripped away, the stronghold can be torn down and the demon will have to go. 

The battleground is the mind. We must bring all thoughts into the captivity of Christ. Arguments, high things, and strongholds are all in the mind. “As a man thinks, so he is” (Proverbs 23:7). If we think thoughts according to God, we will experience God and salvation. If we think thoughts according to Satan, we will experience problems.

There’s no point in arguing with Jesus or his word. When God’s servants speak truth, there is no point in resisting. We can let the strongholds go.

Heavenly Arguments Destroy Strongholds

Throughout the New Testament there was a clash of ideas, thoughts, and concepts. The apostles went throughout the ancient world persuading, convincing, convicting, arguing, and debating.

Acts 9:29 The apostles argued with the Greeks in Jerusalem.

Acts 15:2 They argued with false teachers about circumcision.

Acts 17:2-3 They argued with Jews in Thessalonica that Jesus is the Christ.

Acts 17:17 Paul argued with people in Athens.

Acts 18:4 Paul argued with people in the synagogue every Sabbath, persuading both Jews and Greeks.

The teaching style of the New Testament is often described as dialoging – hearing the arguments of others, and then showing why they are false. Throughout the New Testament, the apostles systematically dismantled arguments, high things, and strongholds that were against the knowledge of God.

A servant of God must be able to refute those who contradict the apostolic teachings of the New Testament (Titus 1:9). We must share the truth in love and not become harsh or mean (2 Timothy 2:24-26).

There are two types of wisdom – wisdom from heaven and wisdom from the earth (James 3:13-18). Wisdom from heaven is pure, peaceful, gentle, easy to inquire about, and merciful. The wisdom from the earth is demonic, soulish, full of envy and strife. Arguments that defend strongholds are based on wisdom from the earth and have demonic attributes like irrationality. Arguments that demolish strongholds are based on wisdom from God and have divine attributes like love and peace.

The truth of God, brought by the Holy Spirit, can be very effective in smashing a stronghold. 

Miracles Destroy Strongholds

Miracles from God can also destroy strongholds. Paul said that he did not use persuasive words of man’s wisdom (wisdom from the earth) to convince people, but he used miraculous demonstration of the Spirit and power (1 Corinthians 2:4). 

Paul had experienced miracles in his own life. He once thought he should do many things to destroy the church (Acts 26:9). He had many arguments and reasons for this. He thought Jesus was an imposter. He thought the church was a cult. He thought he had to patriotically defend his nation.

But when Jesus met Saul (who was later named Paul) on the Damascus Road, Saul was knocked to the ground. Jesus said, “Try to kick against this.” He was struck blind. Suddenly, all his arguments were shattered. The stronghold in his mind fell, and he acknowledged Jesus Christ is Lord.

Miracles are powerful to destroy strongholds. When someone sees a miracle, it’s very hard to argue against it.

But not everyone will be convinced after seeing a miracle. Many people saw the miracles of Jesus, but hardly anyone wanted to follow him. Maybe that’s because he demanded their all, and they weren’t willing to give it.

Both godly arguments and miracles can demolish strongholds, but neither is a guarantee of deliverance. People have free will, and they often choose to reject God even after hearing a powerful argument from God or seeing a mighty miracle.

Jesus concluded that because miracles are often insufficient to convince people, the Scriptures are actually sufficient. If someone doesn’t believe the Scriptures, they won’t believe even if they see a miracle (Luke 16:31).

Importance of Repentance

Repentance means changing one’s mind. It means giving up wrong thoughts and arguments that defend a stronghold. When a person repents, a stronghold falls. 

We need humility to repent and admit where we were wrong. The humble will tear down strongholds.

We can help others tear down strongholds. If we love others, we will seek to set them free.  If there is a prisoner whose freedom has been bought and paid for, but he’s still sitting in the dark corner of the prison with ropes around him, the loving thing is to try to set him free.

May God’s power operate to demolish strongholds, both in our lives and in the lives of others, for Jesus has died to set everyone free.

by Peter

It’s important for us to understand ourselves according to God’s word. Understanding basic things about ourselves will help us to fulfill our divine purpose.

The Bible says that there are three basic parts of each of us – spirit, soul, and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23). 

The body is the material part of us. 

The soul and the spirit are the invisible and immaterial parts of us.

The three parts of man can be seen in the creation of Adam. God formed Adam’s body from dirt. Then he breathed into him the breath of life (spirit), and Adam became a living soul (Genesis 2:7). Adam was comprised of a spirit, a soul, and a body.

Soon after he was created, Adam sinned. The result of sin is death (Romans 6:23). When Adam sinned, he died. His body and soul didn’t die, for he lived another 1,000 years. Instead, his spirit died. He was physically alive but spiritually dead, separated from God.

All people apart from Christ are spiritually dead, separated from God. A dead spirit is in bondage to sin. All of us were once spiritually dead before we knew Christ (Ephesians 2:1). 

When we were born again, we became spiritually alive (John 3:6). At the moment of spiritual birth, the Holy Spirit comes into us, freeing us from the dominion of sin and connecting us to God. We are born again through faith in the gospel.

The first disciples initially doubted the gospel. They refused to believe that Jesus would die on the cross, and they didn’t understand that he would rise again. But after Jesus was resurrected, they finally believed the gospel, and at that moment they were born again, and Jesus breathed on them and gave them the Holy Spirit (John 20:22). When Jesus breathed spiritual life into his disciples it was similar to the creation of Adam, when God breathed into him the breath of life.  

When we believe the gospel, God breathes the Holy Spirit into us and makes our dead spirits alive. Then the Holy Spirit is joined to our spirit (1 Corinthians 6:17), and we are able to know and access God.  

The spirit is the most important part of ourselves because we interact with God through our spirits.

The Soul

The soul is the sum of who we are. It includes our heart – desires and emotions, and mind – thoughts and plans.

The soul is like a vessel to be filled, and our souls were created to be inhabited by God. When we are born again, the Holy Spirit comes inside us, and when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit, our souls are filled with the Holy Spirit for the first time. After this, God tells us to be repeatedly filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). God wants the Holy Spirit to fill our souls, occupying all parts of our hearts and minds, renovating us on the inside.

Evil spirits also seek to live in souls. If God doesn’t dwell in our souls, evil spirits will dwell in them (Mark 12:45). 

Our souls are like land. The word of God is like a seed to be planted in the land of our souls (Matthew 13:18-23). When the word of God is planted and grows strong within us, it will bring forth the fruit of the Holy Spirit. 

Bad seeds, which are lies from Satan, can also be planted in the soul. False words produce weeds that hinder us from bearing fruit.

Our souls are to be like gardens that bear abundant fruit for God (Galatians 5:22-23). When bad words or evil spirits influence our souls, then bad fruit is produced – bad emotions, sinful thoughts, etc.

Relationship Between the Spirit and the Soul in Proverbs

The spirit of man is like a lamp, searching all the inner chambers of the soul (Proverbs 20:27). Souls have rooms or chambers. In the rooms of the soul, there are various thoughts and desires, agendas and plans, likes and dislikes. The spirit of man (whether alive to God or dead in sin) searches these rooms of the soul as the person decides what he is going to do and how he is going to live his life. A dead spirit is bound up in sin and dominated by Satan, and therefore he chooses evil. A living spirit is free from the bondage of sin and is able to choose God. Whether dead or alive, the spirit of man will search the rooms of the soul, and depending on what it finds in those rooms, the man will live according to those things.

As Jesus said, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things” (Matthew 12:35).

Proverbs 25:28 says that he who has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls. When our spirits were dead in sin, we were overrun by evil spirits (Ephesians 2:2). Even after being born again, many Christians still do not have rule over their own spirits because they lack self-control. When a person does not rule his spirit, the soul has no protection, and evil words and evil spirits invade the soul like enemy forces invading a city which has no wall.

After we are born again, we begin a process of casting evil things out of our souls. Jesus described this process as possessing your souls (Luke 21:19), which takes patience. Possessing the soul is like possessing a land, and this takes time and effort.

The Body

The body is the material part of man. The body is compared to a tent (2 Peter 1:14). The body houses the inner man (spirit and soul) and enables the inner man to interact with the world. Dead people cannot interact with the world because they do not have bodies. Death kills the body but does not eliminate the soul. After death, the soul continues to exist, whether in heaven with God or in hell in torment.

The body is closely related to the flesh. Passions of sin reside within our body, and they cause us to sin (Romans 7:5). This is why the flesh and the spirit are opposed to each other (Galatians 5:17). As the Holy Spirit possesses our souls, he will also impact our bodies. The Holy Spirit can give us victory over the sins of the flesh, and he can also cause our bodies to be physically healed (Romans 8:11).

Spiritual, Soulish, or Carnal?

There are three types of people – spiritual, soulish, and carnal. Everyone is one of these three types, depending on which part of the man is predominating.

 The three types of people are described in 1 Corinthians 2:11-3:1. (The word “natural” in this passage is literally “soulish”).

The Spiritual Man

A spiritual person is dominated by the spirit. Only a person who is born again can be a spiritual person, because only he has a living spirit that is connected to God. God calls all Christians to be spiritual people, who live in the spirit. We are to be led by the Spirit and walk in the Spirit (Galatians 6:1). We are to be led by God and his word, led by the Spirit, not by the soul or the flesh. 

The Soulish Man

A soulish person is dominated by the soul— his heart and mind. A soulish person may be intellectual or emotional. He may try to follow a moral or man-made religious code. He might be a cultured or refined person. However, a soulish person cannot understand the things of the Spirit of God, and they are foolishness to him (1 Corinthians 2:14). The things of God can only be known by the Spirit. Soulish wisdom is actually demonic and contrary to God (James 3:15). False teachers are soulish (Jude 19). They cause divisions in the body of Christ because their ministry comes from their souls, not from the Holy Spirit.

Sometimes the soul is very loud and distracting. It is full of vain imaginations, fears, worries, or suspicions. A loud soul can lead a person astray. The Psalmist said he behaved and quieted his soul, and his soul was like a weaned child (Psalm 131:2). A Christian needs to control his soul so its noise does not dominate his life.

The word of God is able to separate between the soul and the spirit (Hebrews 4:12). Sometimes it’s difficult to distinguish between our soul and our spirit. What are our own emotions or thoughts, and what is the leading of the Holy Spirit? The more we embrace God’s word, the more we will be able to distinguish between our soul and the moving of the Holy Spirit. In addition, the fact that the word of God separates between soul and spirit means that God’s word has power to divide off from us evil spirits.

The Carnal Man

A fleshly person (or a carnal person) is dominated by his body. He is living to satisfy the lusts of his flesh. He may be driven by food, alcohol, drugs, sex, or other bodily pleasures. Most immature Christians are carnal (1 Corinthians 3:1). They are living more according to the flesh than according to the Spirit. 

Walking in the Spirit

Romans 8:1-9 says when we focus on the Spirit, we will be able to walk in the Spirit, but when we focus on the flesh, we will walk according to the flesh. God calls us to focus on what the Spirit is saying, not what the flesh is saying. When we mind the Spirit and walk according to the Spirit, we are not in the flesh and we are free from the Law.

The Bible helps us understand who we are and how God created us. When we understand this, we are better equipped to grow to maturity. God calls us to be spiritual people who are dominated by the Spirit, and then we will better be able to fulfill our divine purpose as God’s humans. 

by Peter

God sometimes asks us to take risks. He calls us out of our comfort zone. 

Throughout history, God’s people have taken risks for him. Noah took a risk for God when he built a massive boat. When his boat was completed and torrents of rain began to fall, Noah’s risk paid off, and he and his family were kept safe while the world was destroyed.

Abraham took a risk when God told him to go out to the Promised Land. He went out, not knowing where he was going.

Mary took a risk when she said “yes” to bearing Jesus Christ. She could have been stoned for getting pregnant outside of marriage, but she cared more about God than herself.

Peter, James, John, Andrew, Matthew, and probably all the other apostles took a risk when they left their jobs to follow Jesus.

Thomas risked everything when he left the comfort and safety of his homeland to travel to India to share the gospel.

All these people took risks, but their risks paid off, both in this life and in the age to come.

Jesus said that there is no man who has left everything to follow him who will not receive a great reward, both in this life and in the age to come (Mark 10:28-30). Everyone who takes a risk for God will be blessed.

Following God seems like a risk because God is invisible. His ways are higher than our ways. We walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). Walking by faith is a risk because you can’t see where you are going.

It always seems safer to take zero risks and just stay in our comfort zone. But if we want to see forward progress for God’s kingdom, we’ll have to take risks.

God likes it when we take risks for him because that proves our faith. Taking risks for God shows we trust his word. It shows we believe that he will take care of us and that his plans will succeed. Taking risks for God shows that we value him above all else.

Taking risks for God actually keeps us safe. God is the one who keeps us safe, not the government, a business, other people, money, or anything else. We need God. God never changes. His word contains divine power that protects people. When we do something “risky” according to God’s word, he will protect us. 

If God be for us, who can be against us?

On the other hand, disobeying God is extremely unsafe. If God has called us to take a “risk” and we refuse to, we put ourselves in danger. Disobeying God makes us contrary to God, and if God is against us, who can help us? God is merciful, but we don’t want to be against him.

Taking Risks for Jesus

Throughout history, people have taken risks to follow Jesus. 

Nicodemus took a risk to meet with Jesus at night and hear the gospel. 

In the first century, Jews took a risk to believe in Jesus, and Gentiles took a risk to trust in Christ and forsake their idols. 

Today, in many Muslim countries, people risk their lives to believe in Jesus. 

In China, people take a risk to go to a house church rather than to a government-approved church building.

People may not understand it when we take risks and are radical for God. They may think we’re a bit crazy. But we can’t let that stop us. We’re not living for people, we’re living for God. It’s possible that someday the very people who criticize our risk-taking will be blessed by the radical steps we take. 

The only way to bless others is to obey God ourselves.

YOLO

Many people today are bored with the mundane life that the world has laid out for them. The world says we have to get an education, get a job, make money, get married, have kids, buy a house, go on a cruise, then die in a nursing home. 

What’s the point of this?

There’s a saying today called You Only Live Once. This saying has become an acronym – YOLO. It basically means, “Life is short, so make the most of it!” 

People today with a YOLO mindset are taking risks. They are jumping off cliffs into the ocean in Bali, piling all their money into meme stocks, splurging on expensive toys, and traveling around the world. They think they only live once, so they need to take risks and make the most of life.

But all these things are passing away, and they have little or no eternal value. Instead of “YOLOing” off a cliff into the sea, we need to “YOLO” into more of God. God is worth taking risks for, and since we only live once, let’s live all out for God’s kingdom and be radical for him! Then we will be rewarded in this age and in the age to come. If we’re going to risk our lives for something, let’s risk our lives for God, not for worldly trinkets or for more Instagram likes.

Be Sure to Hear From God

But we must be careful when taking a risk “for God.” We have to be sure that we are actually hearing from God. Some people take risks and do things that God never told them to do, and this can end badly. Don’t come up with a crazy plan and then blame God when it doesn’t work out. 

To be clear about what God is saying, pray, read the Bible, and receive counsel from mature believers. When you’re sure you’ve heard from God (and only then), go for it. 

The Season is Changing

We are living in unusual times. An exponential rise in technology is causing AI to transform the world, and humanoid robots are not far behind. A global government, global economy, world religion, the Antichrist, and the mark of the beast are coming. God is looking for holy risk-takers to meet these challenges. “The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong on behalf of those who trust in him” (1 Chronicles 16:9). God is calling forth a remnant who will be spiritually and materially prepared for what’s coming. They will be strong and do exploits at the end of the age (Daniel 11:32).

New Testament Church is the Only Ark of Safety

The only place of safety at the end of the age will be inside the true church. The church is God’s house. The blueprint of God’s house is found in the New Testament. We must put everything we have into the manifestation of the bride of Christ according to this divine pattern.

Noah put everything he had into his boat, and Jesus said, “As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man.” Like Noah gave up everything for God’s plan, so there will be people at the end of the age who will risk everything to see God’s house (the church) built. 

A group of people must take risks for God together. Individuals are not going to make it, only the body of Christ will make it. We need each other. Joshua and Caleb, through the strength of their united faith, brought the entire nation of Israel to the Promised Land. Praise God for their unity. There is multiplied power when believers are united together. We must work together to see God’s plans happen.

The House Church Model

Many Christians today think house church is only an alternative form of church – they think it’s one way among many. They say, “house church may be great for you, but it’s not for me.” 

But church is an objective reality, not a subjective reality. Church is defined by God, not by us. House church is the only model of church given by God in the NT. We can’t just do church however we want; we need to do church the way God told us to in the NT. 

The NT Church Pattern

We must follow the teachings and examples of Christ and his apostles in the New Testament. Specifically, we need to follow the pattern of church found in Acts 2 and 4. This is the basic form and function of the bride of Christ. 

The Bible says the early church in Jerusalem continued faithfully in the apostolic teachings (Acts 2:42). The early Jerusalem church perfectly reflects what the apostles taught, and this is the divine standard for the church today.

The NT reveals that the church in each city was comprised of multiple house church communities. These house church communities met daily to break bread. They prayed together often. They had fellowship regularly. They shared everything. They sold their excess properties for the benefit of others. They even lived together.

People have all kinds of excuses as to why we don’t need to do such “radical” things in church today. 

Theological Excuses of Cessationism and Micro-Dispensationalism

Many Christians say, “That was just for them and then. It’s not for us today. It was for the beginning of the church but not now.” This is cessationism, a false theology that says the teachings of the New Testament don’t apply to us today. 

God never said we could change the New Testament. The instructions of the NT are our instructions today. We need to reject cessationism, whether it’s regarding spiritual gifts or regarding NT church practices.

We are not micro-dispensationalists either, believing that the church started one way in Jerusalem, and then God began working a different way through another church model 30 years later. The church pattern of Acts 2 and 4 is the church pattern that was followed throughout the entire NT apostolic period. 

Early Christians in each city followed this model to greater or lesser degrees, depending on their levels of spiritual maturity and dedication to God. No later apostolic teachings in the NT contradict this early Jerusalem model; instead, these later teachings build upon this initial blueprint and reveal its intricacies.  Apostolic instructions to the church given later in the NT (in Corinthians, Timothy, etc.) expand and build upon the basic church pattern recorded in Acts 2 and 4. The entire NT fits together perfectly to reveal a cohesive picture of what God’s house (his church) is to look like today.

God never changed the model of his house (the church), and we shouldn’t change it either. God owns his house and wants it built according to his blueprint. We have no right to make random alterations to God’s house. 

Cessationism and Dispensationalism are often just fancy-sounding theological excuses to justify disobedience to God.

“But It’s Too Risky to Do Church Like That!”

Most Christians today don’t want to do church like they did in early Acts. They think it’s too hard. They say, “IT’S TOO RISKY! What if we all have no food and die?”

In the parable of the sower, Jesus said there are three main things that choke God’s word (Mark 4:19).

1. Cares of life (worries about health, safety, security, etc.)

2. Deceitfulness of riches (chasing money)

3. Lusts for other things (wanting things that are not God’s will)

These three things choke the word of God and block people from obeying it. They hinder the construction of God’s house.

But if God is number one in our lives, we will be willing to sacrifice these things and just do what he says. These things are nothing compared to God. 

“No, I’m Not Coming to the Wedding Supper!”

Jesus says everything is ready for the wedding supper. He invites people to come to this glorious supper, but they refuse. This is why the bride of Christ is still not ready for the marriage even after 2,000 years (Rev. 19:7). She’s not ready to be married because she refuses to submit to her head and husband, Jesus Christ! She doesn’t want to do what he says because she thinks it’s too hard (or for other reasons).

Jesus said people have three primary excuses as to why they don’t want to come to the marriage supper (Luke 14:16-20).

1. Some say, “I have to focus on my business.” But God is more important than business.

2. Others say, “I need to take care of my investments.” But God is more important than money.

3. Others “say, I have married a wife, and therefore I can’t come”. But the newly-married status is not at all incompatible with focusing on Christ in community. Instead, the apostolic pattern of church is the best place for ALL Christians in ALL stages of life – singles, newlyweds, couples with young children, families with teenagers, and empty-nesters. God’s plan is the best for everyone!

When we submit to God’s word, we will become part of the bride of Christ. When the bride is ready, then the marriage supper will occur. The invitation to the wedding supper is really just an invitation for a group of people to fully submit to God. And until the church does this, the wedding supper won’t happen because the bride is not ready.

The End Times Rise of House Church Communities

As we approach the end of the age, radical saints will force their way into the kingdom of God (Matthew 11:12). They will seize the apostolic instructions of Acts 2 and 4. They will create house church communities, even if they have to go through fire and water to get there. These homes will be arks of safety, communities of refuge, and tabernacles of protection from the natural and spiritual troubles that are coming on the earth (Isaiah 4:5-6). Radical saints will sacrifice their own dreams and ambitions for the sake of God’s grand vision of his glorious bride (Ephesians 5:27).

To see such communities arise, we will have to take risks. Every step of obedience involves some form of risk, and larger steps of obedience will require greater risks. But these steps of obedience are actually NOT risky because obeying God is the only place of real safety. The safest place in the universe is in the center of God’s will. 

The growth of the church will cause our growth as individuals. Our individual spiritual maturity is wrapped up in the maturity of the bride of Christ. God is not going to give us a lot of personal revelations if we are not first obeying the general instructions in the New Testament for his church. The church is the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Timothy 3:15), and it is the means of our own maturity.

The steps to reach this glorious destination may seem hard. But someday soon, everyone in the world will see that it is actually far more risky to be outside a house church community than inside one. 

And like in the days of Noah, when the trouble begins, many people will seek to enter into this bridal position. They will frantically begin knocking at the door for it to open. But it will be too late, and the door will be shut (Luke 13:24-27). 

Let’s take risks for God now, so we get inside this place of safety before it’s too late.

by Peter

Christians are called to be generous. We are not to be miserly or stingy, but we are called to give freely to others. When we are generous, we reflect the nature of God, who is generous with us. 

Generosity leads to supernatural results. 

“There is one who scatters, yet increases more; And there is one who withholds more than is right, But it leads to poverty” (Proverbs 11:24).

According to this verse, the person who gives generously will end up with more, but the person who does not give will end up with less.

This is different from the laws of mathematics. Math says that if you give things away, you will have fewer things. But God says, if you give away things, you will end up with more things. Math says that if you don’t give anything away, you will have the same amount you started with. But God says, if you don’t give anything away, you will end up with less.

God’s economy may not seem to make rational sense, but it leads to abundance. The ways of the world may seem to make more rational sense, but they lead to poverty. God wants us to live above the limitations of natural laws and the confines of mathematics. This is possible when we walk in the Spirit.

This is not only about money. We can be generous with money (and we should be), but we should also be generous with time, energy, possessions, etc. When we are generous with these things according to God, we will increase.

Spirit-led generosity leads to abundance. This is a supernatural principle that operates by God’s power. Christians are called to tap into divine principles like this by living according to God’s word. When we obey God, we will tap into these heavenly principles, and then we will be blessed.

Jesus wanted to feed a crowd of people, but there were only 7 loaves and a few fish. The disciples knew this wasn’t nearly enough for the crowd, for they were operating on the basis of earthly mathematics. But Jesus was above these earthly laws because he was walking by the Spirit. Jesus broke the loaves and the fish and gave them to his disciples and told them to place the food before the people. They fed thousands of people and had several baskets of food left over. 7 loaves and a few fish were transformed into thousands of loaves and fish by the act of generosity. The laws of the Spirit realm are greater than the laws of the natural realm.

Jesus calls us to be generous. He says, “give, and it shall be given to you, pressed down, shaken together, and running over shall they give to you” (Luke 6:38). Generosity leads to miracles. Abundance will come into our lives when we are generous. As we give, it will be given to us. God WILL give to us, for he will be a debtor to no man. Whatever we give in obedience to God, we are giving to God, and he will repay us abundantly.

The New Testament says that if we sow sparingly, we will reap sparingly; but if we sow bountifully, we will reap bountifully (2 Cor. 9:6). If we have some seed but never sow it in the ground, the seed may get spoiled and we may end up with nothing. However, if we sow a seed in the ground, we will end up with many more seeds.

God gives seed to the sower (2 Cor. 9:10). The sower is a person who is sowing seed. God does not say he will give seed to the hoarder. If we want more seed, we need to sow the seed. God says he will multiply the seed that is sown. No multiplication will happen if the seed is not sown; that will only lead to loss. Something supernatural happens with generosity, and we are called to tap into that as Christians.

Generosity does not come naturally. Most people want to keep things for themselves. They follow Satan, who is not a generous person. Satan wants to take things, he doesn’t want to give. The devil comes to steal (take things), kill (take life), and destroy (ruin stuff).

God comes to give abundant life. Real generosity comes from God. We will learn true generosity from God because God is very generous.

God gave us his only Son, the most valuable person in the Universe. If God gave us Jesus, he will give us all things (Romans 8:32). The death of Jesus on the cross is a promise that God will take care of us. If he gave us Jesus, why would he not give us whatever else we need? We can trust him. “My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).

God promises to give us material things (Matthew 6:33) as long as we seek first his kingdom and righteousness. God also promises to give us spiritual things. He gives us salvation, righteousness, the Holy Spirit, spiritual gifts, and eternal life. These are the things we really need. The material stuff is passing away, but the spiritual things will remain forever. This is true wealth. It’s treasure in heaven.

God gives generously, without reproaching (James 1:5). God doesn’t blame us when he gives to us. He doesn’t tell us that we don’t really deserve things because we have so many problems. He doesn’t give grudgingly, blaming us for the problems he has to bail us out of. God gives freely, without any strings attached. We don’t do anything to earn these things or become worthy of the abundance that God gives to us. We don’t receive things from God by work, we receive it by grace.

Generosity comes from agape love. Agape love is not based on exchanging love for something in return. Agape love is able to love the other person, regardless of who they are or what they have done. This is why agape can even love enemies. Enemies do many terrible things to us, but Jesus says we should still love our enemies. Agape can do good to those who hate us. Agape can cause us to overcome evil with good. We can bless those who curse us. Agape love is ultimate generosity, and it is the source of true generosity.

Jesus said we should do to others as we want them to do to us (Luke 6:31-36). Agape love is proactive rather than reactive. Agape leads the way. It gives first. It reaches out. It gives before the other person is worthy of the gift. 

“By this we know love, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). God hates sin. But even when we were enemies of God and doing many bad things, God loved us (Romans 5:10). When we were enemies of God, he sent his Son to die for us, giving us the most precious gift. This is how we know agape love.

Generosity is the basic gospel message. God so loved the world that he GAVE his Son. We have freely received from God, we are called to freely give (Matthew 10:8). There are no strings attached to God’s love for us, and we should have no strings attached to our love for others.

Finally, generosity is connected to a good eye, which is the opposite of an evil eye. When we have a good eye, we look generously and kindly toward others. A generous eye is simple and uncomplicated. It doesn’t have a hidden agenda. It is not wrongly suspicious or jealous of others. It gives freely.

On the other hand, an evil eye is wrongfully complex. It has hidden agendas. It is jealous and hateful. It is ungenerous. It wants to take from others and tear them down. Jesus said ungenerous people have an evil eye (Matthew 20:15).

Generosity is a basic principle of Christianity. Generosity is supernatural and causes supernatural things to happen in our lives. If we believe that, we will be generous so we can receive these blessings from God. But if we don’t believe that, we won’t be generous. May God help us to walk in generosity.

by Peter

Matthew 13:44–46 compares the Kingdom of Heaven to a hidden treasure and a pearl of great price. In both parables, the discoverers gladly sold everything they owned to obtain what they had found. Jesus teaches that the Kingdom of God is so valuable that it is worth giving up everything else to possess it. 

Earthly Treasures Cannot Satisfy 
Jesus warned against storing up treasures on earth because they are temporary and passing away (Matthew 6:19–21). He also declared that no one can serve both God and mammon (Matthew 6:24). Earthly treasure cannot save the soul, secure eternal life, or bring lasting satisfaction. 

Scripture repeatedly warns about the danger of trusting in riches. The rich fool stored up wealth but lost his life before he could enjoy it (Luke 12:20–21). Solomon observed that those who love money are never satisfied (Ecclesiastes 5:10). Earthly treasures “fly away like an eagle toward heaven.”.

Heavenly Treasures Are Eternal 
Jesus commands believers to store up treasures in heaven and to seek first God’s Kingdom (Matthew 6:20, 33). Heavenly treasure is secure, eternal, and far greater than anything this world can offer. 

Those who surrender their lives to Christ gain what can never be taken away. Moses chose the reproach of Christ over the treasures of Egypt (Hebrews 11:24–26), and believers are called to set their minds on things above rather than earthly things (Colossians 3:1–2). True wealth is found in knowing God and living for His purposes. 

Choosing Between Earthly and Heavenly Treasure 
The Bible gives examples of people who made different choices. Some chose earthly treasure. The rich young ruler walked away from Jesus because he loved his possessions more than following Christ (Matthew 19:22). Judas betrayed Jesus for only 30 pieces of silver, and Demas abandoned the faith because he loved the present world. Their stories remind us that earthly gain can lead to spiritual loss. 

Others chose heavenly treasure. Paul counted everything as loss compared to gaining Christ (Philippians 3:8). Peter and the other disciples immediately left their nets to follow Jesus. Zacchaeus responded to Christ by generously giving to others and righting his wrongs, and Abraham left his homeland in obedience to God. Their lives demonstrate the blessing of putting God’s Kingdom first. They were seeking heavenly treasure. 

The Example of the Early Church 
The early church is a perfect picture of what it will look like when each of us is independantly seeking heavenly treasure. The early church lived out the principles of the Pearl of Great Price. Believers devoted themselves to God’s Word, fellowship, prayer, and caring for one another (Acts 2:42–47). They held their possessions loosely and willingly shared with those in need. 

Their unity and generosity showed that they valued God’s Kingdom above personal wealth. As a result, the church became a powerful witness to the world. 

Conclusion 
Every believer must answer the question: What is my treasure? Jesus taught that where our treasure is, there our heart will be also (Matthew 6:21). We cannot serve both God and mammon, and we cannot follow Christ while clinging to the things of this world. 

The Pearl of Great Price is Jesus Christ and His Kingdom. Those who fully surrender to Him receive eternal life, lasting joy, heavenly treasure, spiritual fruit, and the privilege of living for God’s eternal purposes. 

The Kingdom of God is worth everything, and wholehearted surrender is the only right response.

Matthew 6:31-33 

“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

I Timothy 6:6-8 
“Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.

by Matthew

Christianity is to be practical and have real results in our lives. God wants to affect our lives not just in eternity, but now on this earth. The Holy Spirit is here to change our lives in profound ways – impacting our spirits, souls, and bodies.

One of the basic ways God moves in our lives is through the laying on of hands. The laying on of hands is a physical act that has profound spiritual results. We need to understand and practice the laying on of hands in order to experience the practical power of Christianity.

The laying on of hands happens when one believer lays hands on another believer. This is a physical act that can only be done in person with other believers. It cannot be done online or through a screen. Laying on of hands involves physically touching another person. In order for this to happen, we must be willing to touch other believers and to have them touch us.

Physical touch is very important, and many scientific studies prove this. Touch is important for both mental and physical health. For babies, touch is important for their development. For example, in one study, preterm babies who received touch therapy gained 47% more weight than those who did not receive touch. For babies, touch helps regulate stress hormones, temperature, respiration, and even liver function. It promotes a sense of security and trust.

It’s similar for adults. In adults, touch can be used to treat anxiety, depression, and even physical pain. Touch deprivation in adults leads to increased stress, weakened immune function, a decreased sense of well-being, and difficulties in forming and maintaining relationships.

Laying on of hands for Christians is primarily not about physical benefits, but it’s about spiritual benefits.

Laying on of hands is one of the basic principles of Christ (Hebrews 6:1-2). It is an elementary principle of the Christian faith, and it’s part of the foundation of our spiritual life. It is part of the milk of the word that we need to grow into spiritual maturity. If we don’t understand and practice the laying on of hands, we will remain as spiritual babies, lack a firm foundation of our faith, and be unable to move past elementary school in our spiritual growth. Laying on of hands is vitally important and essential to become spiritually mature, according to the New Testament.

There are times when we will need people to lay hands on us, and times when we will need to lay hands on others. We need to be able to recognize when these times are, and what is accomplished by the laying on of hands.

In the Old Testament, the laying on of hands was used to impart blessings (Genesis 48:14). It was used to impart spiritual wisdom (Deuteronomy 34:9). It was used to equip people spiritually for ministry (Nehemiah 8:10).

The New Testament builds on this understanding and reveals what is the purpose of the laying on of hands today for Christians. Throughout the New Testament, there are many examples of the laying on of hands. Jesus frequently laid hands on people. He laid hands on people to bless them (Mark 10:16). He laid hands on the sick to heal them (Luke 4:40; 13:13). One of the most basic miracles in Jesus’ ministry was to lay hands on the sick to heal them (Mark 6:5). The apostles often laid hands on people to heal them (Acts 28:8).

There are many reasons for us to lay hands on people today. First of all, it’s a basic principle of our Christian faith. In addition, when we lay hands on people, we’re following the example of Jesus and the apostles. Furthermore, Jesus commanded us to lay hands on the sick to heal them (Mark 16:18).

The laying on of hands accomplishes many things spiritually. It is a powerful spiritual tool for us as Christians. The New Testament reveals that the laying on of hands is used to accomplish primarily four different things:

1. The laying on of hands causes physical healing. 

2. It causes people to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. Throughout the New Testament, when people needed to be baptized in the Holy Spirit, this often happened through the laying on of hands (Acts 8:17; 9:17; 19:6). 

3. The laying on of hands can impart spiritual gifts (1 Timothy 4:14; 2 Timothy 1:6).

4. The laying on of hands can launch people into ministry (Acts 6:6; 13:3).

These four things are very important parts of our Christian life, and they often happen through the laying on of hands. It’s no wonder that laying on of hands is such a basic and important part of the Christian faith.

There will be times when we need to ask for the laying on of hands. Maybe we’re sick or we need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. At this time, we should approach the church or mature Christians and ask them to lay hands on us.

There will be times when the church recognizes the need to lay hands on someone. Maybe the church feels God leading to impart a spiritual gift to a person or launch a person into new ministry.

The laying on of hands is an essential part of our Christian lives. As we understand and practice the laying on of hands, we will receive new blessings from God.

Paul writes about the thorn he had in his flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). This wasn’t an actual thorn, but it was something that caused him suffering. Theologians over the years have wondered what this thorn was, speculating that it might have been bad eyesight, a disease, a stutter, or maybe even a difficult wife. 

But Paul clearly tells us what the thorn in the flesh is. He says the thorn in the flesh was an angel of Satan. The word “messenger” is literally “angel” in Greek (2 Corinthians 12:7). Paul had a fallen angel that regularly attacked him. We wrestle against principalities and powers— against fallen angels (Ephesians 6:12).

This fallen angel attacked Paul by stirring up people to persecute him wherever he went, causing him great suffering. 

Here are some examples of these attacks:

Acts 9:29 Some people that Paul was arguing with about spiritual things tried to kill him.

Acts 13:50 Paul was kicked out of a city.

Acts 14:5 Leaders plotted to stone Paul to death.

Acts 14:19 Paul was stoned and left for dead.

Acts 16:22 Paul was stripped naked and beaten with rods.

Acts 21:36 A mob attacked Paul and shouted out to kill him.

Acts 23:10 Paul was attacked by a mob and almost torn in pieces.

Paul said he wasn’t fighting against people, but against fallen angels (Ephesians 6:12). The thorn in his flesh was a specific fallen angel that stirred people up against him, opposing his ministry.

Paul did not fight back against these people because he knew that he was facing a spiritual problem.

The Bible doesn’t say that Paul rebuked the fallen angel directly, commanding it to leave. Instead, he prayed and asked God to take this fallen angel away from him. Why didn’t Paul rebuke this fallen angel directly? This is because fallen angels have to be dealt with by God. We see this from an example about Michael the archangel. Michael is a very powerful angel, but when he fought with the devil (a fallen angel) he did not rebuke Satan directly, but he said “the Lord rebuke you” (Jude 9). If Michael needed God to intervene in a battle against a fallen angel, how much more do we? While we have power to rebuke and cast out demons in the name of Jesus, fallen angels are different than demons. Fallen angels have bodies, but demons seek to inhabit bodies. Fallen angels are more powerful than demons, and to defeat them we require the direct intervention of God.

In response to Paul’s prayer, God did not take away the fallen angel. Instead, God told Paul that divine strength made perfect in his life when Paul was weak.

As a result of this revelation, Paul got a new perspective. He began to take pleasure in these sufferings. These struggles were not fun, but they gave Paul an opportunity to do battle and win. They increased the power of God operating in his life. It’s like Paul was going to the spiritual gym and picking up spiritual barbells. When someone lifts weights, he doesn’t rejoice when the barbell sits on his chest and suffocates him. Instead, he rejoices when he bench presses it and lifts it, because that causes his muscles to grow. Paul was growing his spiritual muscles by facing these problems, and he was overcoming them by the power of God. He rejoiced in this.

We are not to take pleasure in suffering for suffering’s sake. The goal is not pain and suffering, the goal is growth, strength, power, and maturity. Suffering is a means to that end. We are not to be like medieval monks, beating ourselves for no purpose or to pay for our sins. This is pointless. Jesus already paid for our sins. But when we go through challenges for Christ, we are undergoing spiritual training so that his power can operate in our lives.

Like Paul, we can take pleasure in suffering FOR CHRIST because when we overcome challenges by the power of God, we become spiritually strong. We are not reveling in weakness and defeat. We are enjoying the possibility of winning. It’s about using spiritual challenges to become stronger. Strength is the goal (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Facing trouble for Christ is spiritual training. It causes us to grow in the ability and power to reign in life through Jesus Christ. Enjoying trouble when going through training may sound a bit crazy. But for a person who is serious about improvements, training is important. 

For example, some people like running. They really look forward to getting up early in the morning and running 5 miles. To some people this sounds crazy, but to the runner, he looks forward to exhausting himself in this way and becoming weak at the end of his run, because this training will ultimately make him faster, stronger, and healthier. Some people like going to the gym and lifting iron weights, pulling on heavy machines, tugging tires around the parking lot, and jogging on conveyor belts. At the end of this they are weak, but they know they are training to ultimately get stronger. To some people this frenzy of activity sounds crazy, but the weightlifters know it will ultimately help them. 

Many people enjoy physical training. 

Paul liked spiritual training. 

Paul enjoyed facing problems because he knew that God would give him victories and answers through divine operations of the Holy Spirit. This would cause him to grow spiritually and become more powerful in God. Then he could be more effective for his kingdom.

Paul described the spiritual training that he went through (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). He buffeted his body and led it captive. He did not want his flesh dominating his life; he wanted the Holy Spirit to dominate his life. He knew that if he didn’t control his flesh, he might be disqualified from the race. The Christian life is like a race, and to run in this race, we must run according to the rules. We are to run in order to win. The prize at the end of this race is full maturity (Philippians 3:12). No one has won this race yet, for no Christian has reached full maturity. But we are to press toward the goal. Someday, this goal will be reached, and then it will be the end of the age.

To run the Christian life well, we must be willing to undergo spiritual training like Paul did.

James had the same mindset Paul did regarding troubles. James told us to be happy when we fall into various trials (James 1:2). These troubles test our faith and strengthen us in the Lord. This spiritual training is essential to becoming spiritually capable. 

In eternity in heaven, there is no trouble. There will be no problems. Eternity will be wonderful! At the same time, it also means that in eternity there will be no opportunities to grow through sufferings. Whatever position we have attained on this earth spiritually will be reflected by our eternal state. Our life on the earth is the only opportunity we will have to lay up treasure in heaven. It’s our only chance to lay up eternal rewards. Someday we will stand before God, and we’ll get a new body. This glorified body will reflect our level of dedication to the Lord on this earth (2 Corinthians 4:17). Whatever tests we go through now will be worth it in light of eternity. We are saved by grace through faith. But we lay up rewards in heaven as we obey God in this life. 

What kind of Christianity is never tested? It’s a lukewarm Christianity that is merely existing and floating along with the stream of life. Many Christians who are just coasting along will be vomited out of the Lord’s mouth (Revelation 3:16). This is the church of Laodicea. They thought they were rich and prosperous, but they didn’t recognize their miserable spiritual condition.

What if a person never exercises physically? They’ll become unhealthy and sick. 

What if a person never exercises spiritually? They will become weak and spiritually unhealthy.

Paul rejoiced in suffering for Christ, even when it involved facing severe opposition as a result of a fallen angel. This was because these challenges were opportunities for him to overcome by the power of God, and they made him stronger in Christ.

May God open our eyes to see this life in a new way, and understand that the challenges we face can have a larger purpose, as we allow Christ to carry us through. When we are weak in ourselves, God is strong in us. Let’s be willing to undergo spiritual training. This type of training is the most important, for it will have eternal results.

God has called us to reign in his kingdom, experiencing victory over death, Satan, sin, hell, curses, and other works of darkness. In order to experience these victories, we must suffer with Jesus. In order to reign in life, we must suffer (2 Timothy 2:12). The call to suffer with Christ is not a popular teaching today, but it is a clear principle of the New Testament. It is important to understand.

Suffering and reigning sound like opposite things, but both are true and essential parts of a healthy Christian life. If we focus too much on reigning but ignore the call to suffer, we will go into error. Similarly, if we focus too much on suffering but ignore the call to reign, we will also go into error.

There are two sides to many truths about God, and we need both sides.

Is God three (Trinity) or is he one? He is both.

Is Jesus God or man? He is both.

Is predestination or free will true? The Bible teaches both are true.

Are we called to reign or to suffer? We are called to do both.

Although these doctrines appear contradictory, both sides are true, and we must recognize this in order to have a more complete understanding of God. Being too extreme on one side or the other will lead to error. The more we mature in God, the more we will see how these apparently contradictory truths fit together.

The first apostles reigned for the kingdom of God. They experienced great spiritual victories. They saw thousands of people saved. They cast out demons, healed the sick, and wrote Scripture. They heard from God, saw visions, walked with angels, and saw many powerful miracles. These supernatural things are clear evidence of reigning in life through the divine power of Jesus Christ.

At the same time, the apostles also suffered. They were beaten, imprisoned, slandered, mistreated, and taken advantage of (1 Corinthians 4:8-13). Paul said that the apostles went through so much trouble that they were like the offscouring of the world. Their troubles were so bad that they became a spectacle.

Jesus said that his kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36). Reigning with Christ does not look like reigning as an earthly king, with worldly wealth, comfort, ease, and prosperity. The church in Laodicea was rich and had a comfortable existence, but they were not reigning in a spiritual sense for they were spiritually poor, wretched, miserable, blind, and naked (Revelation 3:17). God calls us to reign spiritually, not materially.

Reigning with Christ in his kingdom is not the prosperity gospel. When we reign with Christ we will not be rich, drive luxury cars, live in luxurious mansions, or have comfortable lives. Some false teachers suppose that material gain is the equivalent of godliness, and they believe that the more faithful we are to God the more money we will have. This is a false doctrine. We are commanded to separate from those who promote this false doctrine (1 Timothy 6:5).

Christians will face painful challenges as we follow Christ, for we live in a world that is hostile to the gospel. It has been given to us by God to suffer for the kingdom of God (Philippians 1:29). Jesus commanded us to take up our cross (Matthew 10:38). When a person takes up his cross, he is going to die. The cross is an instrument of suffering. Jesus said if we don’t take up our cross, we can’t be his disciples. 

To take up the cross means to obey God and be willing to face hostility for our obedience. As we walk in the Spirit, we will be contrary to the forces of darkness, and therefore these evil forces will come against us and stir up trouble against us. Taking up the cross means going through trouble for the sake of Christ and his kingdom. 

Taking up the cross is a specific kind of suffering that we go through for the sake of Jesus. Taking up the cross does not refer to the problems that come to us as a result of our own bad choices or the general brokenness in the world. For example, if a person gets drunk and falls and breaks his arm, he will suffer, but he is not suffering for Christ. He is suffering because he made a dumb choice to get drunk. If a person gets mugged on the streets of Chicago, he is not suffering for Christ, he is just suffering because he lives in a broken world. If a person catches a cold from our neighbor and suffers for three days, he is not suffering for Christ, he is just suffering because he got sick. Although these things are not suffering for Christ, God can use these things for our good (Romans 8:28). 

Suffering for Christ is a specific subcategory within the larger category of “suffering”, and it refers to those challenges we face because we obey God. For example, if a person shares the gospel with a gang in an inner city and gets attacked, he is suffering for Christ. If we share truth with our neighbor and then they hate us, we are suffering for the gospel. If we stop going to parties and getting high, and then people don’t like us anymore and say mean things about us, we are suffering because we are obeying God.

The cross leads to the crucifixion of the flesh or of the old man, and we experience this as we obey God. To the extent that we obey God, to that extent we will take up our cross. The more radically we obey God, the more we will take up our cross and suffer for the sake of Jesus. 

The apostles obeyed God radically; therefore, they suffered a lot. They were living at the edge of conflict between the kingdom of God which was expanding in the earth through their efforts, and the kingdom of darkness which was resisting them. 

Jesus obeyed God fully, and therefore he suffered more than anyone. He was marred more than any man (Isaiah 52:14) when he went to the cross. However, this was the pathway to resurrection.

When we are crucified for the sake of Christ, then the resurrection power of God can operate in us. Resurrection happens after crucifixion. There can be no resurrection unless there is death first. The old man must be crucified with Christ. The flesh must be put off, and we must put on the new man of the Spirit. The apostles suffered a lot for Christ; therefore, they reigned powerfully. Jesus suffered more than anyone for the sake of God; therefore, he reigns more completely than anyone and will do so forever.

When we take up our cross and suffer for the sake of Christ, we become weak, but then we are actually strong. When we are spiritually strong, we can reign in life by Christ and experience victory. Our experience of suffering for Christ is directly related to our experience of reigning for God’s kingdom.

Suffering for Christ leads to reigning for several reasons.

When we suffer for Christ, we learn to lean on God. We know we can’t get through the problem ourselves, but we must trust in God to get through. Our faith increases as we experience his strength, and with increased faith we can reign more for his kingdom.

When we suffer for Christ, we will see miracles to help us overcome things that we cannot overcome in our own strength. This will give us a testimony. Our testimony will encourage others and help us overcome the devil. Testimonies will help us to reign.

When we suffer for Christ, we will see our need for other Christians. We know we can’t get through these troubles alone, but we need each other in the body of Christ. We are stronger together. When we are rightly related to the body of Christ, we are better equipped to reign.

True ministry will happen by the Spirit, not by our own abilities. When we suffer, our own abilities are shown to be weak; then, we rely on God’s gifts. This enables true ministry to happen, for we get out of the way and let God do his thing through us. When spiritual gifts operate, we reign.

Suffering purifies us (1 Peter 4:1-2). When we are purified, we get the victory over sin. This will enable us to reign for Christ in his kingdom, for Christ reigns through holy people.

For all these reasons (and more), suffering leads to the ability to reign by the Holy Spirit. To know the power of his resurrection (which is the power to reign), we must know the fellowship of his sufferings (Philippians 3:10-11). 

If we suffer with him, we will be glorified with him (Romans 8:17).

We are called to reign with Christ in life. Therefore, we are called to suffer for him. When we are willing to take up our cross and suffer, we will reign, both in this life and in the life to come.

God calls his people to reign with him (Romans 5:17). We are priests and kings (Revelation 1:6) in the kingdom of God, and we are called to represent God’s kingdom to the world. When we represent God’s kingdom well, we reign with Christ in life.

The kingdom of God is a kingdom of light and life, and it dominates over darkness and death. The kingdom of God is contrary to death and to everything associated with death – demons, fallen angels, curses, sin, witchcraft, sickness, depression, lack of basic necessities, etc. Jesus won the victory over death and over everything connected to death through his resurrection. It is possible for God’s people to walk in victory today over darkness through the power of the Holy Spirit.

God’s will is for his kingdom to prevail. He wants the power of darkness completely shattered. When victory over the power of darkness is manifested through supernatural power, God’s kingdom advances. God wants his kingdom to advance. Jesus commanded us to seek to expand the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33). We are to pray for God’s kingdom to come (Matthew 6:10) into the places it is not. God wants us to pray for heaven to invade the earth (Matthew 6:10). It is possible for this grand prayer to be answered, and for God’s kingdom to completely take over the world. At the end of the age, the kingdom of God will dominate the entire world. Then the glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14). There will be no more pain or suffering (Revelation 21:4), and everything associated with death will be destroyed.

We are called to reign in this life. Jesus said he gave us authority over demons (Luke 10:19). We can have victory over sin, for sin will not have dominion over us in Christ (Romans 6:14). We can have victory over the flesh (Ephesians 4:22). We can be healed, physically and mentally (Matthew 8:17). Jesus died in order to heal us, both spiritually and physically (Isaiah 53:4). When Jesus walked on the earth, he healed every sick person who came to him (Luke 4:40). 

Of course, at this time, the kingdom of God is not here in fullness. So we reign only in part over these things. This explains why some people are not healed. God’s perfect will often does not happen in this broken world. The New Testament says it’s God’s will for everyone to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4), but everyone is not saved. God’s will is for everyone to know the truth (1 Timothy 2:4), but many people reject the truth and believe lies. God doesn’t want any of us to sin, but we sometimes do, and that means we are not doing God’s will. Sin is not God’s will. 

God’s will often does not happen in this broken world due to various factors, primarily due to the fact that he gave humanity free will, and people make bad choices which unleash evil on themselves and others. 

When God’s will is done, his kingdom comes. To the extent that the will of God is done, to that extent his kingdom expands. When people perfectly walk in union with God, they will perfectly represent God’s kingdom to the world. Jesus was the perfect representative of the Kingdom of God, and we are called to follow in his steps.

We can only reign by one, Jesus Christ (Romans 5:17). We can’t reign in our own strength or power; we can only reign by him. Only Jesus has the power to reveal the kingdom of God. Christ’s words, along with the words of the apostles in the New Testament, provide the form and function of the kingdom of God. Only as we submit to these words will we be able to walk in God’s kingdom. The religious traditions of men have no divine power behind them. These vain traditions do not release the kingdom of God. Instead, they create religious confusion. Only the teachings of Christ have the power to unleash the kingdom of God, because only Jesus is the KING. We will not be able to reign in life by religious traditions that we or others create. These vain traditions will actually hinder us. All religious activity that is not based on the Bible is actually working against the manifestation of the kingdom of God.

We cannot reign by material or natural means. The kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom, and it can only come by spiritual power. Guns and bombs will not expand the kingdom of God. The weapons of our warfare are not material weapons, but they are spiritual weapons that demolish spiritual strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:4). 

Furthermore, the kingdom of God will not advance by taking over earthly governments. Human governments cannot expand the kingdom of God. At the end of the age, when the kingdom of God dominates the world, all other governments will cease to exist. History shows us that human governments cannot expand the kingdom of God. Some Christians took over the Roman Empire around 300 AD and passed laws to force everyone to become a Christian. But this led to terrible apostasy, and this new “Christian” government began ruthlessly persecuting and murdering true believers who refused to go along with the arbitrary laws of this “Christian” state. Many early colonists in the USA were humble believers who were fleeing religious persecution from “Christian” nations in Europe. These “Christian” national governments in Europe thought they were advancing God’s kingdom, but actually they were working against it. The separation of church and state preserves our religious liberty, and we should thank God for it.

We will reign in life by Jesus Christ as we receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness (Romans 5:17). To the extent that we receive grace and righteousness, to that extent we will reign. Grace is divine empowerment to live for God. It takes supernatural power to reign spiritually. We cannot reign by our own wisdom or strength; we need God’s grace. Righteousness means being aligned correctly with God.

Grace reigns through righteousness (Romans 5:21). Righteousness puts us in a position to receive God’s grace so that we can reign and represent his kingdom. 

Some Christians will overcome, and they will sit down with Christ in his throne (Revelation 3:21). They will walk in his authority and manifest his kingdom by reigning with him.

Reigning looks like this: The powers of darkness are under you. You are not giving footholds to the devil. You don’t make provision for the flesh to satisfy its lusts, and you are not a slave of sin. You are not falling repeatedly into temptation. Demons are being cast out. The gospel is being shared effectively so people are saved. Prayers are being answered. One’s marriage and family are in order. Miracles are happening. 

Isn’t this the normal Christian life described throughout the New Testament, particularly in the book of Acts? We must recover this.

In order to reign, we must put ourselves in a position to reign. We are saved by grace through faith, and now we need to live according to God. It says in Proverbs 31:4 that it is not for kings to drink wine. If a king is drunk, he is not able to reign effectively. Getting drunk is just one example of how we can allow things into our lives that hinder our ability to reign with Christ and represent the kingdom of God. 

In order to reign effectively in life, we need to be in a good relationship with the main Monarch, Jesus. He is the King of kings, which means that he reigns over us, and we are his regents on earth. We can reign only as we are rightly related to him and do things in his name. 

In addition to being in a good relationship with Jesus, we should also be in a good relationship with our co-rulers who are other mature Christians. We should be able to function well within the body of Christ, for we are called to reign together.

The kingdom of God is advancing. Let’s participate in its grand progress. Someday the great spiritual kingdom of God will reign over all, and the glory of the Lord will wash over everything. We are called to live prophetically and press into this glorious future.

by Peter

Jesus commands us to seek two things – God’s kingdom and righteousness (Matthew 6:33). When we center our lives around these two things, our lives will come into divine order. But when we put other things first, our lives will be in disorder.

Most people spend their lives seeking other things first – worrying about material things like money, food, and clothing. Most people order their lives around pursuing these things. They spend the bulk of their lives (most hours each day) seeking these things. 

But Christians are to be different. Jesus said if we seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, we won’t need to worry about these other things. If we seek first the two things God told us to seek, then everything else we need will be added to us by God. When we put God first, he will give us whatever material things we need. 

This doesn’t mean we’re supposed to sit around doing nothing, waiting for God to provide for us. Instead, we’re supposed to actively do the specific things that God tells us to, working hard to expand his kingdom. Only then, God will provide for all we need.

The Psalmist says, “I have never seen the righteous forsaken, nor their seed begging bread” (Psalm 37:25). Even in the Old Testament, righteous people were taken care of by God. From the beginning of the world, God has been faithful to provide for the needs of his people. He fed people in the Old Testament with birds and in other supernatural ways. How much more will he take care of his people in the New Covenant, now that Jesus has come? Our Father will take care of us. But in order to see this divine provision, we must fulfill the condition for receiving it – we must seek first his kingdom and righteousness.

Two of the biggest themes in the New Testament are the kingdom of God and righteousness. Jesus frequently talked about the kingdom of God in his parables. Righteousness is a regular theme throughout the books of the New Testament. God wants us to understand these two concepts so that we can build our lives around them.

What is the Kingdom of God? The kingdom of God is the place where God is king. It’s the place where he rules and his authority prevails. The kingdom of God is God’s government. We enter the kingdom of God when we are born again, and after that, we are to live inside the kingdom of God. The church is the beginning of the current manifestation of the kingdom of God upon the earth, and it is to reveal the government of God’s throne in the world. God wants his kingdom to grow on the earth. He wants us to increasingly submit to his authority, and he wants us to increasingly manifest his kingdom to the world. 

What is righteousness? Righteousness means being aligned with God. It means being according to God’s word. We are made righteous when we first trust in Christ and are born again, as we receive the righteousness of Christ as a free gift. After that, we are to continue to seek righteousness so we grow into being more according to God.

As born-again Christians, we have already found the kingdom of God and his righteousness. But we have not found them in fullness. We are not yet perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect, and the kingdom of God is not yet dominating the world. To fulfill our purpose upon this earth, we must continue to seek these things. This pursuit will continue until the kingdom of God is everywhere, and we are completely righteous, seeing Christ face to face. We have not yet attained full maturity, and therefore, we must continue to seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

Let’s look more closely at righteousness.

We are made righteous by faith, just like our father Abraham. Abraham believed God, and this faith was accounted to him as righteousness (Romans 4:3). God has an accounting book, and in God’s accounting book, the column for righteousness is empty for everyone who is apart from Christ. Apart from faith, no one is righteous (Romans 3:10). But when Abraham believed God, his faith was accounted as righteousness. Next to Abraham’s name in God’s accounting book, the column for righteousness was no longer empty because Abraham had faith. This faith was accounted as righteousness. So it is for us. When we believe in Christ, our faith is accounted by God as righteousness.

There is an equivalency in God’s economy between faith and righteousness because faith makes us righteous. It’s not by what we have done, but it’s through the gift of Christ which is received by faith.

Through the gospel, righteousness is revealed from faith to faith (Romans 1:17). Our Christian lives begin by faith, and they continue by faith. We are not supposed to just get our tickets punched to heaven and then live in our own strength. Instead, we live by faith in Christ. This is why the Bible repeatedly says, the just (righteous) shall live by faith (Romans 1:17). In order to increase in our experience of righteousness, we must increase in our faith.

The Bible commands us to pursue righteousness (1 Timothy 6:11; 2 Timothy 2:22). This is a command to Christians. We are already righteous and headed to heaven, but we must grow in our experience of righteousness. Some Christians may grow more in righteousness than others, for some may pursue righteousness more than others. Some Christians live more according to God than others. Jesus said blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled (Matthew 5:6). Some Christians are hungrier for righteousness than others, and therefore they will be filled with more righteousness than others.

When we increase in righteousness, then we will bear the fruits of righteousness (Philippians 1:11). These fruits will glorify God. These fruits are holiness and the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).

Whoever practices righteousness is righteous (1 John 3:7). Our righteousness is shown by our works, just as our faith is shown by our works. Works do not save us, but they are a sign that we are saved. In a similar way, our righteous works are a sign that we are righteous. Those who do not live righteous lives are not righteous. It’s important not to be deceived about this (1 John 3:7), and think that those who live unrighteous lives are actually righteous.

In order to increase in righteousness, we must walk in the Spirit (Romans 8:4). Walking in the Spirit means walking by faith. Walking by faith means seeing invisible things from God and walking according to those things. When we walk according to faith, we are increasingly aligned with God. Therefore, as we walk by faith, we experience more righteousness.

The word of God gives us training and instruction in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16). God’s word instructs us about righteousness by showing us God’s divine standard. As we believe and obey the word of God, we are increasingly aligned with God, which means we are increasingly living righteously.

Jesus was perfectly righteous because he did the Father’s will at all times. He was always in line with his Father. When Jesus died on the cross, he freely gave us his righteousness. Our eternal position is one of righteousness, but we are working out this righteousness of Christ as we live on this earth. The righteousness of Christ is increasingly manifested in our lives (in our words and actions) as we walk according to faith.

There is a connection between the kingdom of God and righteousness. When we are righteous, then we are under God’s authority, and we can live and operate in his kingdom. The more righteous we are in our day-to-day lives, the more we will experience the kingdom of God.

We are commanded to receive righteousness so that we can reign in life by Jesus Christ (Romans 5:17). We will reign in life, representing God’s kingdom, through the power of righteousness.

May God give us grace to build our lives around the pursuit of the kingdom of God and righteousness.

(by Peter, not A.I.)

The gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God to save (Romans 1:16). It takes great power to save people from sin and hell, and only God has this power. This is why only God can save. The awesome power of salvation operates through the gospel.

All miracles operate by spiritual power. Miracles like healing the sick, casting out demons, and raising up dead people all require great spiritual power. But being born again is the greatest miracle of all, and being born again requires the most spiritual power. If God can make a person who is dead in sin alive, then he can do anything. He already did this great miracle in our lives, causing us to become born again, and he can do more miracles in our lives today.

The power of God to save is contained within the gospel. The gospel is the message about Jesus dying for our sins and rising up again. It is the announcement that Christ has won victory over evil and given that victory to us. The gospel is the truth, and the truth sets us free. 

The power of the gospel operates in our lives when we believe it. “By grace you are saved through faith” (Ephesians 2:8). If a person doesn’t believe the gospel, he won’t be saved (John 3:16).

Salvation is not only a one-time event when we are born again, but it is ongoing. We are BEING SAVED (1 Corinthians 1:18) from Satan, from sin, and from the flesh. This process began when we became born again, and it continues as long as we are on the earth. God’s salvation is to impact all aspects of our lives. 

We are called to grow into full maturity. No Christian has yet reached full maturity, and even Paul had not yet attained to it (Philippians 3:12). Paul kept pressing toward that goal as long as he lived on the earth, and so should we. 

We grow into spiritual maturity as we believe the word of God. We are saved by grace through faith. Faith unlocks the power inherent in God’s word. The more of God’s word we believe, the more divine power we will experience. To the extent that we believe God’s word, to that extent we will experience salvation. 

Faith in God’s word is shown by obedience. After hearing the word of God, we must act upon it. If we believe what God says, we’ll do something about it. If we don’t believe God’s word, we won’t act. Obedience is the litmus test of faith – it reveals whether we actually believe God or not.

We need the power of God to operate in our lives to save us, because we are dealing with spiritual powers against us. We need to walk in victory over sin, which is like a master who has dominion. We need to walk in victory over Satan, who is the prince of the power of the air. We also need to walk in victory over the flesh and over the world. We can only walk in victory through the spiritual power of God.

God’s word is the sword of the spirit, and we need the word of God in order to win spiritual battles. Apart from the word of God, we are fools and blind, and we will believe lies. When we believe lies, we defeat ourselves. We need to believe the truth of God’s word so that we are set free.

The kingdom of God is not in word but in power (1 Corinthians 4:20). There is a difference between the word of men, which does not contain power, and the word of God, which does contain power. We need to adhere to the word of God so that we can experience divine power.

Jesus said that the kingdom of God is within us (Luke 17:21). The kingdom of God is within us because the Holy Spirit is within us. The Holy Spirit is the beginning of the current manifestation of the kingdom of God upon the earth. Whenever the Holy Spirit operates, the kingdom of God has an opportunity to expand. The kingdom of God is the spiritual government of God that operates through spiritual power.

God says we have not received a spirit of fear, but of power (2 Timothy 1:17). Divine power is the opposite of fear. Fear is weakness, and that which we fear has power over us. The things we fear can ultimately lead to slavery or even idolatry. Fear can lead to idolatry because we may worship that which we fear. Throughout many cultures, people fear fallen angels or demons, which is why they worship them. As Christians, we are to only fear God. When we fear God, we will worship him. 

The Book of Ephesians tells us a lot about the power of God. 

God’s power is working in us. This is the power that raised up Christ from the dead. We need to have our eyes opened to see this great power (Ephesians 1:19-20).

The power of God is for all believers. God wants each Christian to be strengthened with power in his inner man (Ephesians 3:16).

The power of God that works in us is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20).

How do we get this power?

In order to receive this divine power, first of all, we must be born again. When we are born again, the Holy Spirit comes inside us, making our dead spirits alive. This is the beginning of the power of God working salvation in our lives.

Second, we need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. Jesus defines baptism in the Holy Spirit as receiving power from God (Luke 24:49, Acts 1:8). Jesus told his disciples to wait in the upper room until they received this power. We cannot minister effectively for God without spiritual power. 

Denying God’s Power

God warns us that in the end times, many people will have a form of godliness but deny the power of God (2 Timothy 3:5). They will have a dead and empty form of Christianity, and we don’t want that.

Dead “Christianity” comes from three primary errors.

1. False teaching that people don’t need to be born again causes many to deny God’s power. Some very large “Christian” groups and churches never teach about being born again. They believe that people are saved as babies when they are sprinkled with water by a priest. This is a false doctrine, and it prevents people from becoming born again and receiving the Holy Spirit through faith. This false teaching denies the power of God.

2. False teaching about the baptism in the Holy Spirit causes “Christians” to deny God’s power. Many large denominations teach that Christians do not need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. Other large denominations teach that every Christian is baptized in the Holy Spirit the moment they are born again. Both of these false doctrines cause Christians to deny the power of God. If a person believes Holy Spirit baptism is not for today, he will not seek God for the baptism in the Holy Spirit, and he will therefore lack power. Conversely, if a person believes that everyone is baptized in the Holy Spirit the moment he or she is born again, then he will not seek for the true baptism in the Holy Spirit because he thinks he already has it simply because he is born again. Both of these false teachings cause Christians to deny the power of God.

3. Resisting God causes Christians to deny God’s power. Even a Christian who has been baptized in the Holy Spirit can resist God. God may speak to him and tell him what to do, but he resists conforming to God’s word. Because he does not believe the word of God enough to obey it, he will not experience its power to save him.  Disobedience to God’s word leads to the denial of God’s power.

God commands us to separate from those who deny the power of God (2 Timothy 3:5). Why does God want us to separate from them? It’s because he doesn’t want us to become cold to God by putting ourselves in a spiritually dead religious environment. He also doesn’t want us to become corrupted by false teaching. He wants us to be blessed by his power, so we can experience its saving results.

God wants us to walk in his divine power. He wants us to go from strength to strength. He wants our eyes to be opened to see the power that is working in us. When we see this power, we can experience it and become sanctified and grow into maturity. May God open our eyes to see more of his word, walk in it, and unleash God’s power through faith and obedience.

It is important for every Christian to be aware of spiritual warfare. The devil is like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). He particularly wants to devour Christians. He attacked Jesus, and he will attack us.

We must not be ignorant of the devil’s tricks (2 Corinthians 2:11). We need to know basic things about how the devil operates so that we are not tricked, tripped up, wounded, or destroyed. We need to be able to defeat his attacks.

The Bible says that a curse will not come without a reason (Proverbs 26:2). A curse is spiritual power that operates to destruction; it is the opposite of a blessing. Whenever a curse operates, there is a reason for it; it doesn’t happen randomly. It’s similar with spiritual attacks. For Satan to defeat us in a battle, there must be a reason for it. We must not give any cause or reason for the devil to win victories over us.

When Satan came to attack Jesus, he could find nothing in him. Jesus said Satan had nothing within him (John 14:30). The devil looks for ground or territory within people to attack them. To the extent that he has ground or a right over someone’s life, to that extent he will defeat them. Satan had no right over Jesus, therefore he could not defeat him.

We need to cleanse our lives from things that give the devil advantage over us.

Jesus explained spiritual warfare through a simple parable. He said when a strong man is armed, he keeps his palace. But when someone stronger than he comes upon him, he takes away all his armor, defeats him, and divides his spoils (Luke 11:20-22).

The strong man is the evil spirit.

The palace is the human.

The stronger man is Jesus Christ.

The armor is that which protects the devil’s position within a person’s life. In order to defeat the evil spirit, his armor must be taken away.

The spoils are all the things about the man’s life that can be now used for God after he is delivered from the evil spirit.

Jesus is the stronger man. The name of Jesus is above every other name (Philippians 2:9). Jesus has crushed Satan’s head (Genesis 3:15). He stripped fallen angels of their power (Colossians 2:15). He cast out demons and gave us authority to cast out demons.

We fight spiritually in the name of Jesus, with his authority. We have no strength over evil spirits in ourselves, but our power over them is through the name of Jesus Christ (Luke 10:19).

According to Jesus, when we are dealing with evil spirits, the first thing to do is to take away their armor. Armor defends a position. It defends territory. To attack a position, the evil spirit’s armor must first be overcome and then the territory can be taken. 

The Israelites had to take territory in the Old Testament. They had to defeat cities like Jericho. Jericho was surrounded by a massive wall. This wall was like its armor. As long as the wall stood, Jericho could not be taken. But when the wall fell down, then their defense was gone and the city could be taken.

We are called to possess our souls. “In your patience, possess your souls” (Luke 21:19). Our souls are like land that needs to be possessed by God. The Holy Spirit should occupy the full extent of our soul. There should be no ground in our souls for the devil.

Satan has armor that protects his right over our lives. Sometimes we have Satanic strongholds within us that defend his position. A stronghold is a fortified position like a castle that is impervious to attack. These strongholds can be in our hearts or minds. They defend the devil’s right to hinder us.

We must demolish these strongholds. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal or material weapons, but they are spiritual weapons that are mighty to God to demolish strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:4). Strongholds are demolished as defensive positions are broken. Until these defenses are broken, no amount of offense will work, and the stronghold will remain. We can shout at the devil all day long, but as long as he defends his position in our lives with Satanic armor, this shouting won’t work.

God has provided us with divine armor to protect us in spiritual battles (Ephesians 6). This divine armor protects God’s position within us and enables us to be spiritually strong against the enemy. The devil’s armor is the opposite of the armor of God, and it protects Satan’s right to oppress us. Instead of the shield of faith, it is unbelief. Instead of the belt of truth, it is lies. Instead of salvation, it is lostness. Instead of the word of God, it is thoughts from the devil. Instead of righteousness, it is unrighteousness. This is Satanic armor that protects the devil’s position.

Satan’s armor can manifest in our lives in many diverse ways. Sin opens the door to evil spirits. Entertaining ourselves with sin or with evil opens the door to the enemy. Sin should not be entertaining for God’s people. Sin is what drove the nails through Jesus’ hands and feet. God’s people should not entertain themselves with the very things that killed the Son of God. We should not enjoy sin; instead we should hate it. Lyrics of most popular songs today glorify evil. Most movies today entertain people through sin— lust, violence, or horror. Horror movies in particular open people up to demonic attack. Romance novels and sinful images and videos are wrong. Video games that glorify murder and mayhem are destructive to our souls. We should not derive pleasure from killing people, whether in real life or on a screen. This is perversion. False religious rituals from other religions create spiritual problems. Even false Christian traditions that are not based on the Bible can open us up to Satanic attack. 

These things give the devil ground within us. They are Satanic armor. 

The presence of these things in our lives is often defended through lies or vain imaginations. 

“These things don’t really matter.” 

“It’s just for fun, it’s not THAT serious.”

“Demons only operate in Third World countries, not in the good ole USA.”

“The devil won’t attack me because I’m a Christian.”

“I just don’t think about the devil, therefore he doesn’t bother me.”

In order to destroy Satan’s power to drag us down, we may need to first demolish vain imaginations or lies that protect his position within us. As long as these lies remain, Satan’s armor will remain; his position being defended by our own thoughts and choices.

In Acts 19:19, many people came to the Lord. They gathered together their occult books and burned them. They didn’t leave these books hanging around their lives, but they got rid of them. What was the content of these books? These books probably contained magic spells. They likely contained details of interactions between evil spirits and people— some real and some fictional. They probably contained testimonies of people who used magic and the results they obtained, whether real or fictional. Our culture is awash in demonism today, and this is particularly affecting young people. We need to throw this out of our lives and burn it if necessary.

When the armor of Satan is destroyed, then the person can be set free from the devil’s rights over his life. The soul of the man can be clear from demonic influence. Jesus will be the victor. And then Jesus will divide the spoils. The spoils of the man’s life are his time, money, energy, talents, relationships, and possessions. Everything about the man can now be used for God and his glory.

May God open our eyes to see the spiritual battle raging around us. May the Holy Spirit destroy lies that protect the devil’s position within us. May God help us throw Satanic armor out of our lives so that he does not have ground within us.

Everything we need is found in Jesus Christ. 

It’s not found in the world, for the world is passing away. It’s not found in ourselves, for our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). It’s not found in money, nor in what money can buy. It’s not found in people or relationships. 

All we need is found only in Christ.

The phrase “in Christ” is used over 200 times in the New Testament. It’s used over 160 times by Paul. We need to know what it means to be in Christ in order to be healthy and successful Christians.

Christ fundamentally changes us. He gives us a new nature and identity. We become new people in Christ, and old things pass away. Who are we now? We are who God says we are, not who the devil or the world says we are. We will only know who we really are by the word of God. We need God’s word to renew our minds and give us accurate information about who we are in Christ. There’s no point in believing lies about ourselves. The devil will lie and put us down. We need the truth of God’s word to set us free from these lies so we can live out our new identity in Christ.

Jesus Christ is a person (God-in-the-flesh) who walked the streets of Palestine 2,000 years ago. But Christ is not just a person; he’s a place. We need to be inside him. A person can be inside Christ or outside of Christ. Jesus told his people to remain in him. We need to live in the spiritual place of Christ.

We become a part of Christ when we are born again. We are baptized into Christ, and we become part of his body. Christ is a many-membered body (1 Corinthians 12:12). The moment we were born again, God put us into Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 1:30). 

When we are in Christ, God sees us in Christ. He looks at us as if we are covered by Christ. When we are in Christ, God accepts us, because the blood of Jesus covers and protects us. When we are in Christ, the devil is afraid of us, because we have spiritual authority in Christ. We can cast out demons in the name of Jesus and use his name effectively when we are in Christ.

There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ, who walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh (Romans 8:1). As we walk in the Spirit, we will remain in Christ.

We are seated in heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 2:6). Heaven is a spiritual place, and we are located in heaven when we are in Christ. Our spirits are in heavenly places in Christ, even though our bodies are upon the earth. We are to live out from our position in the heavens, not from a place of worldliness.

God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). Our spiritual inheritance is in Christ, and all spiritual resources we need are found in Christ. In Christ, we have all we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3).

All good things are found in Christ. We must seek these things (Colossians 3:1). These are heavenly things, far above the things of the earth. We need to use diligence in order to seek and find these things. Let’s rise up spiritually and see things in Christ, in heaven. Let’s not just live lives that are mired in the flesh and in the world.

Our life is hid with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). In Christ is life, and apart from Christ is death. Our life is hid in Christ, which means it is unknown by the world. We know this life by the Holy Spirit as God reveals this life to us. We are drawing on a hidden spiritual life that the world knows nothing about, and this will cause us to live above the world. We are to live by faith, drawing on supernatural resources.

In Christ are hid all treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3). Christ is the word of God, which means he is the communication of God to us. Christ is wisdom – he tells us what to do. We don’t need advice or counsel from A.I. or from worldly people, we need wisdom from God. The wisdom of the world is foolishness with God. The world through its own wisdom does not know God. No one can truly know God apart from Jesus. All true wisdom begins with Christ.

In Christ is all true knowledge. God gives us perfect information. The false knowledge of the world contradicts the Bible. People believe something is true for years, but then they find out it is false. Children are often taught lies in school, and then schools teach the opposite “facts” a decade later. What’s the point of believing this false knowledge in the first place? This just produces confusion and bondage. We need true knowledge from God, and this is only found in Christ. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

True wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ. The world has no access to this true knowledge because they don’t have the Holy Spirit. We can only know things in Christ by the Holy Spirit, as God reveals these things to us.

We are complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10). Christ makes us complete because he connects us to God. We are made to be in a relationship with God, and our souls are created to be indwelt by God. Until we know God, we are incomplete. Christ makes us whole and gives us all that we truly need. If we have any lack, the solution is Christ. All problems can be resolved by Jesus Christ. 

It is possible for Christians to live inside Christ or to not remain in Christ. Jesus tells his people to abide in him. We need to live in the Spirit, and then we will remain in Christ. We must keep his word. Christ is the word of God, and as we keep the word, we will abide in him and he will abide in us. 

We should meet regularly to break bread with the saints of God in a Biblical church. Breaking bread is important to abide in Christ. If there is no Biblical church where you are located, don’t join a false church that does not line up with the standards of the Bible. Pray, and God will help you find like-minded people at the right time.

When we abide in Christ, the spiritual sap of God’s life will flow into us and cause us to bear fruit. Apart from Christ, we can do nothing. But in and with him, all things are possible.

The word of God contains power to release God’s presence into our lives. The power of God’s word operates when we believe it and do what it says.

The word of God is more valuable than gold (Psalm 19:10). Throughout history, people have risked their lives to find gold. They dive to the depths of the ocean, cross continents, and wage warfare to get gold. Gold is valuable because it can be used to buy things. But gold is limited because it cannot buy the most valuable thing – God’s presence and blessing. God is the most valuable person in the universe. The word of God is what causes the presence of God to be manifested in our lives, and that is why the word of God is more valuable than gold. 

Sometimes people throughout history have risked their lives to obey God. This is better than risking one’s life to get gold, because God is better than everything else. God is looking for people today who will risk their lives to obey him.

In Nehemiah 8, Ezra and other priests read the Old Testament Law to the people and explained what it meant. As they read the Law, the people began weeping because they knew they had disobeyed God’s word.

As Ezra read God’s word, they found out that they needed to dwell in huts made out of tree branches during the Feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:39-42). They were supposed to cut down branches from trees, make huts, and live in those huts for 7 days.

Since that time they had gathered together to read the Law actually was the time of the Feast of Tabernacles, they decided they needed to make huts at that very moment and start dwelling in them. 

Obeying God’s word is a healthy and normal response. When we see something in the word of God that we are not doing, we should just do it.

Dwelling in huts was a new thing for them. For 1,000 years, Israel had not dwelled in huts during the Feast of Tabernacles (Nehemiah 8:17). For 1,000 years, they had ignored this important instruction. 

That is shocking. People often ignore the word of God and do their own religious thing. They think they can worship God however they want to, rather than how God wants them to. This problem is still happening today in the church.

Why did Israel not obey this instruction about dwelling in huts for so long? There are probably many reasons. 

1. They didn’t read the word of God or take it seriously. They didn’t know the Bible told them to dwell in huts, so they didn’t.

2. Their religious leaders didn’t tell them to dwell in huts. They just blindly followed what their religious leaders told them to do, and they didn’t really think for themselves. They probably thought, “the rabbis know more about the Bible than I do, and if they don’t think we need to dwell in huts, then we don’t need to.” 

The religious leaders probably gave the people many excuses as to why people shouldn’t dwell in huts:

“That’s just a minor detail in the Law that doesn’t really matter.”

“It doesn’t matter where you dwell, as long as your heart is right with God.”

“That was just for Joshua’s time. It’s not for us today. Things were more simple back then, so they needed to dwell in huts in those days.”

“They were poor, so they needed huts because they didn’t have permanent homes.”

“They were often traveling, so being able to put up a temporary hut made of branches was an important skill for them to have.”

3. No one else was doing it and dwelling in huts. It’s hard to do something that no one else is doing. In addition, if no one else is doing something, it’s easy to convince yourself that it doesn’t really matter. 

4. It’s too hard to make huts. To go out into the forest, cut down branches, and make huts is difficult. It takes a lot of sawing and cutting. It’s a lot of work to make a hut just to live in for one week.

5. It’s too uncomfortable to live in a hut. There’s not much privacy in a hut, for there are holes to see through. There’s not much protection from rain. The wind might blow, and it will get cold. Bugs may crawl into the hut. 

6. It’s fearful to live in a hut. It’s not safe. It’s risky and dangerous. Snakes and scorpions may come into the hut and bite a person. Thieves may break through the hut and steal your stuff. A kidnapper may come in and steal a child. A murderer may break in and kill someone. Wild animals may break through the hut and devour someone.

7. It’s irrational to live in a hut. It doesn’t make any sense to live in a hut when you have a comfortable house to live in. 

8. It’s too weird to live in a hut. Imagine making a hut in front of your house and living in it. People would have thought you were a little crazy. Society would have scoffed at those who tried to live in huts. 

While the congregation of Israel as a whole did not dwell in huts for 1,000 years, a few people probably did anyway. Maybe some of the prophets or holy people lived in huts. Others probably thought these people were a bit silly, and possibly even crazy. They probably thought they were misinterpreting the Bible and taking it too literally. Society probably thought these extremists needed to go to the Pharisees and get a proper understanding so they know what the Bible actually means.

Even though people came up with many excuses to disobey the word of God, God wanted them to dwell in huts anyway.

When they finally recovered this instruction and dwelled in huts in the time of Ezra, they were full of great joy. They were blessed with God’s presence. The blessing of obeying God outweighed all their fears. God kept them all safe.

Today, we don’t need to dwell in huts during the Feast of Tabernacles because we are living in the New Covenant, not the Old Covenant.

However, there are other, even more radical instructions in the New Covenant, given by Jesus and his apostles. The church does not obey some of these instructions today. Some of these instructions have not been kept since the first century.

People have come up with many excuses for not doing these things.

They say it’s too hard, too risky, was only for that time, is not for today, is too weird, etc. 

As George Whitefield said, “Various are the pleas and arguments which men of corrupt minds frequently urge against yielding obedience to the just and holy commands of God.”

Let’s be willing to be radical for God. We only have one life, and then we’ll stand before his throne. Let’s embrace his words, which are more valuable than gold. In the coming years, as the world is transformed by AI and robotics, the word of God will become essential for God’s people in order for them to survive. God’s word may seem hard, but so what? It’s the only way forward.

Message by Peter (Not by A.I.)

In order to know our own future as Christians upon the earth, we need to understand the future of the church. Our future as individual believers is connected to the future of the church. The church actually determines the future of the world, and when the church is ready, the world is going to be transformed by God’s power. (“Church” means the faithful remnant of God.)

God said, without vision, my people perish (Proverbs 29:18). We need vision in order to know where we’re going. When we see the way ahead, we can move into that. But if we lack vision and can’t see where we’re going, then we will perish. We must see what God’s plans are for the church so we know the direction we are going and what the church is ultimately going to be.

God also said, my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6). Knowledge is essential to avoid spiritual destruction. Knowledge is the way to accomplish the vision. When we have knowledge, we know the practical steps we need to take to fulfill the vision.

For example we may have a vision of a great dinner made at home, but without a recipe we won’t be able to achieve that vision. The recipe is the knowledge we need to create that wonderful meal.

We may have a vision of taking a road trip to the Grand Canyon, but we need to know how to get there. We need a map. The map provides us with the knowledge we need in order to reach the destination, or to achieve the vision.

Knowledge and vision are connected. Knowledge is the way to accomplish the vision. Without knowledge, the vision will not be accomplished.

Both knowledge and vision come from God. He has shown us in his word a vision of where the church is going, and he has also given us the knowledge of what steps we need to take in order to get there.

The only place to find out what the future of the church is in the Bible. God has shown us his plans for his church in his word.

Three Pictures of the Church in the New Testament

There are three pictures of the church in the New Testament. These three pictures show us a clear vision of the future of the church, and they also give us knowledge in order to achieve this vision.

Picture 1. The church is compared to a house. 

The church is God’s house (Ephesians 2:20-22). He is the owner and occupant of this house. The goal of a building a house is to complete that house. When the house is completed, the owner of the house will move in. The church is now being built into a dwelling place for God. God already dwells within his church, but when the church is built according to his standard, the church will be complete.

The vision of the house is to complete it. 

We need knowledge to complete the house according to the owner’s design. 

When a person builds a house, he creates a blueprint. The blueprint gives all the details of what he wants his house to be like. The blueprint of the church is found in the New Testament. The apostolic teachings and examples in the New Testament show us exactly how God wants his house to be. This divine blueprint is the knowledge we need in order to bring the vision of God’s completed house into manifestation upon the earth.

All of us have a role to play in the building of this house. The process of building God’s house is called edifying the church. The word edify just means to build. All of us are called to edify the church of God, or build it, until it is completed.

Jesus said that he would build his church (Matthew 16:18). That word build is the word edify. Jesus builds his church as he works through his people. His Spirit flows through us, and spiritual gifts operate through us so the church can be built.

A good builder will take the blueprint and execute it with precision. He will not deviate from the blueprint in any way. He will precisely follow the blueprint so he can build on the earth the exact house that the blueprint demands.

A sloppy builder may ignore the blueprint and build however he wants to. He may add an addition over here or remove some details over there. But these things will be rejected by the owner. 

People have been careless with the church over the years. They have created church however they wanted to. They followed their own personal preferences or the culture around them, rather than following God’s word. All of these deviations from the blueprint of God’s word are hindering the building of God’s church. God rejects all these deviations. We must follow the word of God precisely, not adding to or taking away from God’s divine blueprint, so his house can be completed.

When a house is completed, the owner moves in. 

When God’s house is complete, he will move in. He will come into his church in fullness.

Then it will be the end of the age.

Picture 2. The church is a body. 

The church is the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27).

A body is to grow into maturity. This is the vision of the church. The church is to grow into maturity. When a body becomes mature, it becomes capable to do many things it could not do before. When the church becomes mature, the church will become capable to do things it could not do before. The church will be able to fulfill its purpose of manifesting God’s order upon the earth.

The church as a body is growing until it becomes a “perfect man, the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:30). When this happens, the mature church will be able to fulfill its divine purpose of manifesting God’s kingdom in fullness upon the earth.

The church has not yet reached this stature, but it is growing into this. The church is growing according to the word of God, which is the divine DNA contained within the seed, Jesus. Jesus was the seed of God that was planted into the ground and died (John 12:24). He rose again and ascended into heaven, and we have become a part of him, of his flesh and of his bones. Now the body of Christ is growing up as a many-membered body in the earth.

The knowledge the church needs to in order to achieve the vision of full maturity is found within the word of God. The word of God is like divine DNA that controls the growth of the body of Christ. As God’s people obey his word, then the church will grow according to God’s plan. 

People have often deviated from the divine DNA of God’s word. They have invented many things in church that are not based on the Bible. Many things in the Bible they have ignored.

All of this human tampering with the church is like genetically modifying the church’s DNA. As with all genetic modifications, these alterations often have good intentions, but they have unintended harmful consequences. We cannot improve upon the word of God. Jesus and his apostles gave us a perfect revelation recorded in the New Testament that tells us exactly how God wants his church to be. We need to stick to that. All deviations from that word are mutations within the church that will deform the body of Christ and prevent it from fulfilling its divine purpose.

When Christians build up the church according to the divine pattern of the word of God, then the church will be able to fulfill its purpose. She will accomplish her calling of manifesting God’s kingdom to the world. Power and heavenly capability will flow through the church in order to manifest God’s divine order upon the earth. Then it will be the end of the age.

Picture 3. The church in the New Testament is a bride.

The church is the bride of Christ, according to Ephesians 5.

The vision for a bride is to get married. The church is currently getting ready for the marriage supper of the lamb. She is being cleansed from spots, wrinkles and everything like that. The church is being made holy as God is holy. 

The Bible says that the church is going to prepare herself for this marriage (Revelation 19:7). Someday, the church will have fully prepared herself for being married to Jesus. Then the marriage supper of the lamb will begin. This will be the end of the age.

Knowledge in order to achieve this glorious vision of the prepared bride of Christ is found in the New Testament. The church needs to specifically obey the teachings of Christ and his apostles, neither adding to nor taking away from these instructions, and then she will be prepared.

According to Ephesians 5, the church is being prepared to become the glorious bride of Christ by the washing of water of the word. As the church obeys the word of God, she is cleansed from defilement. She is delivered from spots and wrinkles. The church needs to be cleansed from all traditions of men and false teachings, in order to be pure and ready for the marriage supper.

At the marriage supper, what happens? The bride and groom become one (Ephesians 5:31-32). So it will be at the end of the age. The church and Christ will become one. The two will become one. Jesus will fill the church with his Spirit in fullness, and then his glory will radiate out from the church into the world.

And as it is written, in two places in the Bible, in both Habakkuk (2:14) and Isaiah (11:9), the glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.

This will happen at the end of the age.

These three pictures of the church give us a vision of where the church is headed. 

The church is a house which is being built into completion so God can dwell in the church in fullness.

The church is a body which is being built into maturity so that she is capable to manifest God’s order upon the earth.

The church is a bride who is being prepared for the wedding supper, so she can be filled with God’s glory and radiate that glory into the earth.

All of these pictures of the church refer to the same thing, and show us the coming glory of God through his people.

Knowledge to achieve this glorious vision is found in the word of God. As we keep the blueprint, the house is built. As we follow the divine DNA of God’s word, the body of Christ is built. And as the church washes herself with God’s word, she is prepared for the marriage supper.

May God help us to achieve this glorious vision, by walking according to the knowledge found in his word.

God wants us to know Jesus well. The more we know Jesus, the closer our relationship with God will be. And as our knowledge of Jesus increases, the more we can access the riches of heaven and manifest God’s kingdom upon the earth.

In order to know Jesus, we need revelation from God. Apart from the help of the Holy Spirit, it is impossible to truly know Jesus. 

Praise God for the Scriptures. The Bible gives us a perfect picture of who Jesus is, and therefore it gives us a perfect revelation of God. In the Bible, God often uses symbols in order to reveal Jesus Christ to us. Jesus is symbolized by many different things, including plants and animals. These divine symbols are chosen by God to help us understand Jesus better.

Here are 20 symbols of Jesus in the Bible. As we meditate on these symbols, we will get a greater revelation of Jesus. And this increasing revelation of God’s Son will help us be transformed into his image, for when we see Jesus as he is we will be like him (1 John 3:2). 

1. Road (John 14:6)

Jesus is like a road. A road is a way to move from one place to another. When a person is on a road, he is moving to a destination.

Jesus is the spiritual road by which we access the Father. When we believe in Jesus, we begin moving toward our divine destination in the New Jerusalem in heaven. There is no other road to get to heaven. Jesus is the only road to be saved, and he is the only road for us to progress spiritually after being saved. God’s words show us this way of Christ, for Jesus Christ himself is the Word of God.

2. Door (John 10:9)

Jesus is like a door. A door leads to a new place. It marks a transition from one place to another. A door can keep people out, or it can let people in. To enter a house, one must go through the door. To go from one room to another within a house, one goes through a door. 

Jesus is the door to the Father’s house, which is the church (Ephesians 2:20-22). He determines who comes into heaven and who stays out. The only way to enter the house is through the door. In addition, Jesus is the door by which we go to new positions within God’s house. For example, after being born again we will be baptized in water and baptized in the Holy Spirit. These steps of obedience help us access new realms in God.

3. Light (John 8:12)

Jesus is like light. Light helps us see where we’re going, live in this world, and accomplish things. Without light, we cannot move around, go anywhere, or do much of anything. Jesus is spiritual light that dispels spiritual darkness. He reveals God, shows us who we are, and interprets the world to us so we know how to live in this current age.

4. Sun (Malachi 4:2)

Jesus is like the sun. The sun is the source of light for the world, giving it heat and energy. 

Jesus shines his grace to the world, affecting everything and everyone, upholding the earth by the word of his power (Hebrews 1:3). He shines his grace particularly on believers, giving them grace to live for God and his kingdom in the midst of the present darkness.

5. Morning Star (Revelation 22:16)

The morning star is the first star seen in the sky in the morning before the sunrise. Jesus is the beginning of the shining of fullness of heaven into our lives.

6. Bread (John 6:33)

Jesus is like bread. In the Bible times, everyone ate a lot of carbohydrates in the form of bread. Almost every meal included bread. Jesus is the spiritual nourishment we need. His words feed us and give us energy. Without Jesus flowing into our lives, we will be exhausted and burned out.

7. Rock (1 Corinthians 10:4)

Jesus is like a rock, stable and strong.

8. Cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20)

Jesus is like a cornerstone. The cornerstone is the main stone in a a building that determines its direction. The cornerstone is the main foundation stone. Writing on the cornerstone often reveal who the building is dedicated to or belongs to. Jesus is the cornerstone of the church. His words determine the form and function of the church, and he is the owner of the church.

9. Foundation (1 Corinthians 3:11)

Foundations carry the weight of entire buildings. Jesus is the foundation for our lives, and he is the foundation for the church. Only that which is built on Jesus will last forever, but everything else will pass away.

10. Ransom (1 Timothy 2:6)

Jesus is our ransom. A ransom is the amount of money paid to a captor to will release a captive. Jesus’ life is of infinite value, because he is God, and he gave his life as a ransom for us. Therefore we are set free from captivity to sin and Satan. We are now free to choose God and live righteous lives.

11. Head of the body (Colossians 1:18)

Jesus is the head of the church, his body. The head tells the body parts what to do. All body parts are connected to the head, and this connection with the head is the basis of their union with each other. When Christians obey Christ’s words, they are united with each other. But when they disobey God, they are disconnected from the head and therefore disconnected from each other. A body part that moves spastically on its own apart from the instructions of the head has a problem, and so it is for Christians today who do religious things “for Jesus” that he never told them to do. Similarly, a body part that doesn’t move even though the head tells it to move is paralyzed, and so it is for Christians who do not follow God’s commands. To be healthy members of the body of Christ, we need to listen to and follow the instructions of our head, Jesus.

12. Rod (Isaiah 11:1)

Jesus is like a rod. A rod disciplines and punishes, and Jesus might chasten us. A rod can be used to protect, and Jesus’ rod is used to chase away the wolf. In ancient times, rods were used for measurement, and Jesus measures the church to see if it is built according to his standard.

13. Alpha (Revelation 1:8)

Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, and this letter represents Jesus. Jesus is the beginning of all God’s works because he is God’s word. The universe was created when God spoke his word. God’s life begins inside any person when that person hears the gospel and believes it. 

14. Omega (Revelation 1:8)

Omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet, and this letter represents Jesus. Jesus is the end of God’s works because he is God’s word, and at the end of the age he will judge the world according to God’s word.

15. Lamb (John 1:29)

Jesus is like a lamb. A lamb is gentle, meek, compliant, and was often used as a sacrificial animal. Jesus was humble. When people shouted at him, beat him, or attacked him, he did not fight back. Ultimately, he laid down his life for our sins.

16. Lion (Revelation 5:5)

Jesus is like a lion. A lion is the strongest animal that dominates other animals. Lions live in groups, and the male lion is the leader. The primary job of the male lion is to protect the pride and maintain territory. Satan is like a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8), seeking whom he may devour, and Jesus is our strong lion who defends us.

17. Vine (John 15:5)

Jesus is like a vine. A vine is full of nutritious sap that feeds the branches. We are like branches who are attached to Jesus the vine. As long as we abide in Jesus, drawing on his nourishment, we will bear fruit.

18. Seed (John 12:24)

Jesus is like a seed. Seeds contain DNA which is complex information that guides the growth of the plant. The word of God is like DNA that causes the growth of the church according to the will of God. As long as the church follows God’s word, it will fulfill God’s purpose, but if the church deviates from the word of God it alters its DNA and becomes a mutant church.

19. Root (Revelation 5:5)

Jesus is like a root that supports the plant of the church. Christ takes nutrients and provides it to the church so she can grow.

20. Branch (Isaiah 11:1)

We are the branches, but Jesus is the main Branch. He is the branch that completely fulfills its purpose, and he bears perfect fruit. We are to follow his example.

As we meditate on these symbols of Jesus, we will gain an increasing revelation of him. In this way we can become more like him. This is God’s goal, for Jesus is the firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8:29). God gave us these divine symbols of his Son in the pages of the Bible in order to transform our lives into the image of his glorious Son.

Cities of refuge were important places in the Old Testament. According to the Old Testament Law, if a person killed someone, he would have to be killed (Exodus 21:12-14). The avenger of blood was tasked with chasing after the murderer until he killed him. But if anyone killed someone accidentally, he was called a manslayer, and he was innocent. To escape the avenger of blood, the manslayer could run away to a city of refuge in order to find safety. There were 6 cities of refuge in ancient Israel, and they were the only places of escape from the avenger of blood.

Like everything else in the Old Testament, the cities of refuge contain important symbolism for us today. Everything that happened to the Israelites in the Old Testament is an example to teach us spiritual lessons (1 Corinthians 10:11). The Law contains shadows that represent the work of Christ in the New Covenant (Hebrews 10:1). What do these cities of refuge represent?

Hebrews 6:18 says we have “fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.”

This NT verse is referring to the concept of the cities of refuge. It says that in a spiritual sense, all Christians have fled for refuge. This means that all Christians are like the manslayer. We are like people who killed someone accidentally, and we need to find safety, otherwise, we will be killed by the avenger of blood.

“The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). When we sinned, we brought death to ourselves. When we sinned against others or led them into sin, we brought death into their lives. Sin leads to spiritual death, which is separation from God. When we sinned, we probably didn’t try to kill someone, but death was a byproduct of our sinful action. This is what happened to Eve in the garden. She wasn’t trying to die when she ate the forbidden fruit; instead, she was trying to live forever. But she disobeyed God, and therefore, she spiritually died. 

As a result of sinning and causing death, we gave a right to the avenger of blood to chase after us and kill us. Satan is like the avenger of blood. He will pursue us and try to destroy our lives because of sin, and he won’t rest until we end up in hell.

We must flee away from Satan and from the consequences of sin. Sin has terrible consequences in this life, and it causes eternal suffering in the age to come. Sin causes much trouble, pain, and heartache now, and it will lead to hell in eternity. When we gain the knowledge of God, we want to flee from the fire of hell.

Satan is the accuser of the brethren (Rev. 12:10). He has the right to accuse us because of our sin, and he has the right to torment us, kill us, and drag us to hell. He is the destroyer.

We must flee away from Satan before he destroys us. There is a limited window within which we must flee, before he swallows us up, catches us, and destroys us. In the Old Testament, the avenger of blood was a person, usually a close relative of the person who had been killed. The manslayer may have had a hope that this avenger of blood would trip and fall, get tired or sick, or be somehow incapacitated and unable to chase after him. However, in the New Testament, our avenger of blood is an evil spirit, the devil. He will not stop until he has dragged a person into hell. Therefore, we must flee quickly from him when we have an opportunity. 

We must flee to our city of refuge. The refuge is the place of safety. Christ is our place of safety. Jesus shed his blood for us, so our blood does not have to be shed. He paid for our sins so we don’t have to pay for them. Christ is our city of refuge today.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1).

God is our refuge and fortress (Psalm 91:1).

He is our rock, fortress, and deliverer (Psalm 18:2).

Because of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, we can be free from the power of Satan, who is the avenger of blood.

The city of refuge not only represents Christ, it also represents a Biblical church. In the Old Testament, the cities of refuge were run by the Levites (Numbers 35:6), the priests. Today, every Christian is a priest (1 Peter 2:5), and Christians gather together in churches, which are to be the manifestation of the body of Christ upon the earth.

In the New Testament, church was seen as an essential part of each believer’s life. In fact, it was so spiritually essential that not being allowed to be a part of church was the equivalent of being delivered over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh (1 Corinthians 5:5). This punishment was inflicted by forbidding someone to break bread with the believers during church, and being kicked out of the common meal that happened during church meetings (called the love feast – Jude 12) (1 Corinthians 5:11). In the New Testament, the church meeting was a time of eating both spiritual and natural food (Acts 2:46; 20:7). To not be able to partake of Christ in his church caused great harm and opened a person up to Satanic attack. Church in those days was seen as a true city of refuge. 

Today, this understanding has been lost to most Christians. Church is generally very different from how it was done in the first century. Many churches have deviated from God’s word. Spiritually sensitive Christians can sense that God does not want them to be part of such churches. This may contribute to the casual attitude people have towards church today. 

Indeed, it is more spiritually healthy to be part of no church at all than to be part of an unbliblical “church.”

Although God does not want us to be part of an unbiblical church, he does expect us to be part of a Biblical church that is following the apostolic teachings of the New Testament. At least we should choose to be part of a church that is open to following those teachings and moving in the direction of becoming the spotless bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:27). If we can’t find such a church in our area, then we should seek to be joined with other believers so that we can create such a church in our locality.

A Biblical church is like a city of refuge on the earth today because it is the manifestation of the body of Christ on the earth. If we have Christ, we will seek to be part of a Biblical church.

In the Old Testament, the manslayer had to remain within the city of refuge in order to stay safe from the avenger of blood (Numbers 35:26-28). If he remained within the city of refuge, then the avenger of blood would not be able to attack him. However, if the manslayer ever left the city of refuge, the avenger of blood would gain a right to attack him.

So it is for us. We must remain within Christ in order to be safe. We must seek to be part of a Biblical church on the earth in order to be safe. We should never wander away from Christ, or forsake meeting in a Biblical church (Hebrews 10:25) for then we will become susceptible to spiritual attack from the enemy.

In the Old Testament, the roads to the cities of refuge were well marked and well maintained (Deuteronomy 19:3). These cities were accessible from all Israel, so a manslayer would be able to escape to one of these cities without hindrance.

These roads represent Jesus. Today, he is the way (John 14:6). We flee through Jesus. He is the way of our salvation and deliverance. He will lead us to the place of spiritual safety, both in him, and among his people in a Biblical church.

We are fleeing to lay hold of the hope set before us (Hebrews 6:18). We have hope of deliverance and sanctification in this life— growth in God and increasing victory over the devil. We also have hope of ultimate deliverance from all enemies: when we get our glorified bodies. In the New Jerusalem (the ultimate city of refuge), there will be no more sorrow, crying, pain, or tears.

To learn more about the powerful spiritual symbolism of the cities of refuge, we can look at the meanings of their names. In the Bible, names often have powerful symbolic spiritual meaning. 

Yahweh means “I am that I am.” 

Jesus means “Yahweh saves.” 

Abraham means “father of a multitude.” 

The names of cities in the Old Testament also have symbolic spiritual meaning.

Bethlehem means “fruitful house of bread.”

Jerusalem means “teaching of peace.”

The names of the six cities of refuge in the Old Testament have important spiritual meanings.

Kedesh means “holy place.” Jesus is our holy place. The church is the holy place and is called God’s temple (Ephesians 2:20-22). When we partake of God’s holiness, we are under his protection.

Shechem means “back or shoulder.” Jesus put us on his shoulders and brought us to a place of refuge. He put the lost sheep on his shoulders and brought it home (Luke 15:5). Jesus carries the young (Isaiah 40:11). When we are young in the Lord, we often need to be carried.

Hebron means “seat of association.” Hebron was once called Kirjath Arba, which means “the city of four giants.” This points to the fact that when the enemy is overcome, the church of God can be built. When giants are defeated, fellowship can happen. There will often be spiritual opposition to Christians coming together effectively, but when this is overcome, Christians can come together and possibly reveal a Biblical house church.

Bezer means “gold ore.” Gold represents the presence of God. When we are in Christ and in a Biblical church, we will have fresh revelations of God.

Ramoth means “heights.” When we are in Christ, we are seated in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). There we will be safe from the ravages of the enemy.

Golan means “captive.” Paul was the prisoner of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 3:1). This refers not only to the fact that Paul was literally in prison for Jesus, but it also refers to the fact that Paul had become a prisoner to do God’s will and follow his words. This speaks of an advanced position in God, where we are willing to do whatever he tells us to do, even if it seems dangerous or risky. Though it may not seem like it, being a captive of God in this way will keep us spiritually safe.

The cities of refuge were important places in the Old Testament where God’s people could flee to in order to find safety from the avenger of blood. In the New Testament, they represent our spiritual place of safety in Christ and in a Biblical church. May we find our place of safety in Christ and remain there.

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The word of God was preached to ancient Israel, but it did not really help them. The reason for this is that the word of God was not mixed with faith inside them when they heard it (Hebrews 4:2). They didn’t really believe what God said. 

The word of God contains infinite power. But the power within the word of God is only unlocked in our lives when we believe it. When people do not believe the word of God, then its power will not operate in their lives.

Two ingredients are necessary – the word of God and faith. These two ingredients need to be mixed together in our hearts in order for the power of God’s word to be unleashed in our lives.

Without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). It is possible to hear God’s word all the time, but if we don’t believe it, then it won’t help us. 

If you think about it, faith is important for almost everything we do. I trust the car will start if I turn the key. I trust that the food I had for lunch was good to eat. I trust that the chair I’m sitting on won’t suddenly collapse. I trust that my refrigerator will keep the food cold. Operating in this world depends on faith at a basic level.

Just like we need faith to operate in the material realm, so we need faith to operate in the spiritual realm. We must believe that God exists, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him (Hebrews 11:6). God will do us good and not evil. When we keep his word, he will bless us. The word of God is the pathway to abundant life. When we believe this, we will keep God’s word.

When we believe in material things, like the stability of our chair, we will experience its support. When we believe in the spiritual things of God, we will experience God’s power.

All spiritual things are experienced through faith. Faith unlocks the power of God’s word.

The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. The gospel has the power to cause spiritually dead people to come alive and be born again. But this power only operates when people believe it. When we believed that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose again, then we were born again. We experienced the power of God’s word. 

Jesus wants to baptize all his children in the Holy Spirit. But we will only experience the baptism of the Holy Spirit when we believe his word about it. If we don’t believe him, we won’t experience this.

With God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). All things are possible to the one who believes (Mark 9:23). When we unite faith with God’s word, then the infinite power of God’s word is released and miracles will happen. This is what the Bible says. God does not lie. But we must first know what God is saying, and then we must believe what he said.

The word of God is invisible, spiritual, heavenly reality. We cannot see the word of God with our natural eyes, but we can see it with our spiritual eyes. Faith is evidence of the unseen spiritual reality of God’s word (Hebrews 11:1). It is a substance of this heavenly reality upon the earth. Faith is a hint, sign, or indication that this invisible reality exists and that it will impact the earth. Faith is the beginning manifestation of heaven upon the earth.

The Bible says that we are to walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). We are to live according to invisible, heavenly reality, not according to what we see with our 5 natural senses. 

Four times in the Bible, it says “the just shall live by faith” (Habakkuk 2:4, Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, Hebrews 10:38). Righteous people are those who see invisible things with God and walk according to those things. They do not lean on their own understanding. They rise above that to live supernaturally by communing with God.

Abraham went out, not knowing where he was going (Hebrews 11:8). He dwelled in tents, refusing to live in an earthly city, for he looked for a city that was going to be built by God. That city that he was looking for is the New Jerusalem. Abraham labored well for the manifestation of that city on the earth, although he didn’t see it revealed on earth in his lifetime. That city is the bride of Christ (Revelation 21:2), and today we are much closer to its revelation upon the earth. Let us seek for that city like Abraham did, by walking in faith in God’s word.

We are called to look at unseen things (2 Corinthians 4:18). We will see these things through God’s word, which reveals these things to us. The material things around us are temporary, but the spiritual things are eternal. These invisible things are revealed to us by God’s word. The things that we do on earth according to God’s word will have eternal results, and they will ultimately endure forever. All other works will be burned up. Let’s labor to fill the earth with eternal, heavenly realities.

We have a spirit of faith that first believes and then speaks (2 Corinthians 4:13). The spirit of faith sees things in and with God, and then it speaks according to these things. It does not speak out from the carnal mind. The power of life and death is in the tongue (Proverbs 18:21). We are to speak out the word of God. We are not to speak out carnal things. We believe God, and therefore we speak. Then our words are powerful and will bring life rather than death.

With the heart, man believes, and with the mouth, he confesses unto salvation (Romans 10:9-10). Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. When we believe God’s word in our heart and speak it out with our mouths, then we will experience salvation. Salvation is a big word that encompasses many things like health, wholeness, eternal life, and divine blessing. We should not speak out words from Satan, cursing ourselves – “I always fail. I never do anything right. This will never work.” This will produce spiritual death. Instead, we need to believe God’s word first, and then speak. This is operating in the spirit of faith. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I am the righteousness of God in Christ. I have all I need according to the riches of Christ’s glory. I am more than a conqueror through Jesus.” We need to believe and speak truth, releasing the power of salvation.

Whatever we bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven. Whatever we loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven (Matthew 18:18). In the original Greek, the tense of the verbs is important. The binding in heaven has already happened, but the binding on earth has not yet happened. Through faith, we see what has already been bound or loosed in the heavens. Then we bind or loose those things on the earth, according to pre-existing heavenly reality. We are not binding and loosing according to our own will, but according to God’s will. Miraculous actions upon the earth begin in God, not with ourselves. We are to speak them out and release God’s kingdom upon the earth.

Peter and John did not have silver and gold to give to the lame beggar. But they had something better – a revelation from God that he would be healed. Peter said, “What I have I give you – in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk” (Acts 3:6). What did Peter have? He had a revelation of heavenly reality that caused a miracle to happen upon the earth. If we can get a revelation of words God wants us to speak or works he wants us to do, then supernatural things will happen .

Faith comes by hearing. But people hear the word of God all the time, but it often doesn’t profit them. We need to mix faith with our hearing. We must not just be hearers of the word, but we must be doers of the word. When we do the word, it shows that we believe it. We need to hear the word with the understanding that God is speaking to me, this is vitally important, and I need to change my life because of it. This is mixing our hearing with faith, and it will cause supernatural results to happen.

Throughout the New Testament, God’s people gathered in house churches. In fact, the only place where church meetings happened in the New Testament is in homes (Acts 2:46; Romans 16:3-5; 1 Corinthians 16:19; Colossians 4:15; Philemon 2). There are no examples of any NT church meetings happening anywhere else. Sometimes the early Christians evangelized in synagogues or in the temple, but they only met for church meetings in homes.

The first church buildings were built much later, in approximately 300 AD. Neither Jesus nor the apostles ever told anyone to build a church building. 

Today, however, there are many church buildings. In fact, most Christians today meet for church in church buildings, and house churches are rare. 

Some people say there are good reasons why Christians today have “moved beyond” house churches into church buildings today. 

Let’s examine some of these reasons.

1. Too Few People. Some argue that the early church did not have many people, but today there are many more Christians, and therefore we need buildings to accommodate them all. However, the early church had thousands of converts (3,000 people converted to Christ on one day alone in Acts 2), but all these people did not need a building to meet in. Instead, they met in several homes throughout each city.
2. Too Poor. Some say that the early church was too poor to build buildings, but we have more money today, therefore we can build buildings. However, the early church had a lot of resources, as many people sold their houses and lands and brought the money to the apostles. But instead of using the money to build religious buildings, they used it to support servants of God and poor people. 
3. Persecution. Some say that the early church was too persecuted to build church buildings, but we are not persecuted today, and therefore we can build church buildings. However, the Roman Empire only began to systematically persecute Christians only after 250 AD, during the reigns of Emperors Decian and Diocletian. (The earlier persecution under Nero was limited to the city of Rome.) Ironically, during this time of intense persecution, the first church buildings were constructed – around 300 AD. There was less persecution earlier, but they didn’t build buildings during this time. Furthermore, the apostles never let persecution stop them from obeying God. If God wanted them to build church buildings, they would have done so, regardless of whether they were facing persecution or not.
4. Too Weak. Some believe that the early church did not build church buildings because it was too weak; but now that the church is stronger and more established, we should build church buildings today. However, the early church was full of the Spirit and power of God, and the Bible says they turned the world upside down. The church of the 1st century was far stronger than the church of the 21st century, and they didn’t need buildings.
5. Times Have Changed. Some say that times have changed, and therefore we can now build church buildings. But the Bible never said that we should start building church buildings when the culture changes. We have no authority to change the form and function of church that was given by God in the New Testament.

Instead of these reasons, there is a more obvious reason that the early church did not build church buildings – Jesus never told them to build any! Rather, Jesus (through his apostles) told them to meet in homes. The reason the early church met in homes is because they were following God’s plan.

There are many advantages to meeting for church in homes.

1. Eating Together. Sharing a meal was a basic part of early church meetings. Whenever the first Christians came together for church, they shared a meal and partook of the Lord’s Supper. This common meal was also called a love feast. Eating together regularly in homes is easy, but in religious buildings, it’s harder.
2. Participative. In the early church, each believer had an opportunity to participate in the church meetings (1 Corinthians 14:26). People could ask questions and discuss things in church. In a building, it’s hard to discuss, participate, or ask a question. In fact, in most large church buildings today, if you stand up to say something, you risk being escorted out by security guards. Furthermore, there are too many people in many churches today for people to meaningfully participate. In a church of 500 people, if everyone were to share something, the meeting would last all day. Furthermore, in church buildings, there is a stage where people speak, and an audience which is supposed to sit quietly. This spectator format prevents meaningful participation and produces a clergy/laity mindset.
3. Growth in Spiritual Gifts. The New Testament says that every believer has a spiritual gift (1 Peter 4:10; 1 Corinthians 12:7-11). As we operate in our spiritual gifts, the body of Christ will grow. In a house church, believers can be encouraged to operate in and grow in their spiritual gifts. It’s a comfortable place for people to develop in their own ministry. But in a large building church on Sunday morning, multiple people operating and growing in spiritual gifts is usually seen as disruptive.
4. Effective Discipleship. In a house church, the specific spiritual needs of each person can be identified so individuals can receive specific ministry and grow rapidly. But in a large building, the specific spiritual needs of most people are generally unknown.
5. Accountability. In a house church, people can truly know each other, and this means that they can keep each other accountable. Error and sin can be more easily confronted. But in a religious building, relationships are often superficial, and people often remain anonymous. This produces a lack of accountability, and sins may never be dealt with.
6. Avoid Hypocrisy. When a person is on a stage or hiding in an audience, it’s possible that no one really knows what’s going on in his life. But in the informal setting of a house church, in which people actually know each other, masks will come down and reality will be exposed, eliminating hypocrisy.
7. Bear Burdens. In a house church, it’s possible to share your struggles and receive prayer, counsel, and help. But in a large building, there is generally no opportunity to share burdens or request prayer during church services.
8. Avoid Persecution. House churches are low-profile. When the government seeks to control churches or shut them down, they will start with the church buildings. House churches can stay under the radar, which is why house churches survive today in Communist China or Muslim Iran. As we prepare for the end times and the Antichrist, we will need to get back to house churches for our own survival.
9. Saves Money. Buildings are expensive to buy, build, and maintain. But people already have houses, and they can use these houses as meeting places for the church of God. Instead of spending money on religious buildings, money can be spent supporting servants of God and poor people.
10. Rapid Growth. House churches can expand rapidly and are not limited by the need to raise funds for building projects. When the church outgrows one home, it can multiply into more homes throughout the city.

In the New Testament, the apostles only did house churches. They never met for church anywhere else, and they never built any church buildings. They never told anyone to build such buildings. As we have seen, there are many good reasons for house churches. The apostolic model of church is the only one that is really going to work. We need to follow this example today. It’s Biblical, spiritually healthy, and the means by which the church will be prepared for the end times.

Knowing how much God loves us is foundational for our spiritual health. We need to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that we might be filled with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:19). We can only know the love of God, which is beyond our knowledge, through the help of the Holy Spirit. We need the Holy Spirit to reveal to us how much God loves us. The reason we need to know the love of Christ is so that we can be full of ALL the fullness of God. That’s a lot of God.

Our souls were made to be full of God. There is no one and no thing that can satisfy us like God. God loves us and wants to dwell inside us. We are the temple of God. In the end of the age, at the marriage supper of the lamb, the bride of Christ will be full of God. We can only be filled with God to the extent that we know God’s love. We need a greater revelation of God’s love throughout our Christian lives so we can increasingly be filled with God.

How will we know God loves us? There are several ways.

First of all, God created us because he loves us. He wanted us to exist. We are not an accident. We didn’t just appear because of our parents. We’re here because God wants us to be here. He purposely made us in our mother’s womb, knitting us together. 

Second, God knows all details about us. He knew us from the foundation of the world. He takes care of us, keeping us alive in this world. He counts the hairs on our head and knows all our thoughts. He is so attentive because he loves us.

Third, the Bible tells us that God loves us. Jesus said that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but should have eternal life (John 3:16). As the song says, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”

These are all good ways to know the love of God. But the best way for us to know the love of God is through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross.

By this we know love, that Jesus laid down his life for us (1 John 3:16).

God demonstrates and shows his love for us in that while we were sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

In this, the love of God was revealed, that God sent his Son into the world to be a sacrifice for our sins (1 John 4:9-10).

Jesus is the lawgiver. He gave perfect laws, and he expects us to follow them. We were criminals who broke his law, and his law says we must die. But in a shocking twist, the lawgiver himself, Jesus Christ, died. Why? Because we broke his law, which demands death, and he loves us and wants us to live.

Jesus is the judge. Someday, we will all stand before his throne to be judged. The judge should have declared us guilty and sentenced us to death. But instead of that, the judge took the sentence upon himself. The judge stepped down from his judgment seat, went onto trial, and was condemned to death. Why? Because Jesus loves us and wants us to go free.

Jesus is the officer who would have carried out the sentence against us and sent us into hell. But instead, the officer (Jesus) died instead of us, and then he went into hell instead of us (Acts 2:27; Ephesians 4:9; 1 Peter 3:18-20). Then he rose up again. 

Can you imagine a lawgiver who gave a perfect law, a perfect and all-powerful judge, and an omnipotent officer all dying in your place so you can be free from condemnation? This is what Jesus did for us, and he did this because of his great love for us. 

Not only this, but Jesus went through an agonizing death on the cross for our sins. Crucifixion is an excruciating way to die. The cross is not only a means of death, but also of torture. The very word “excruciating” comes from the words “ex cruce,” which is from the cross.

Being crucified involves nails being driven through sensitive nerves in the hands and feet, and great loss of blood. It involves being naked, exposed to the public view, and being humiliated. It involves birds plucking out eyeballs and picking at wounds. When people were crucified, they died by suffocation as the weight of their bodies collapsed their lungs. Why did Jesus endure all of this? It’s because of the horrible nature of our sins, and the fact that he loved us. 

Jesus gave up everything for us. He gave up his glory. He gave up his comfort in heaven and took on the flesh and pains of humanity. He gave up his reputation and was made of no reputation. Jesus even gave up his closeness to the Father, for he cried out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” 

Jesus didn’t want to condemn us; he wants us all to be saved. He doesn’t want anyone to perish but to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).

God is just, and our sins had to be paid for. On the cross, Jesus paid our complete debt to God, and there is nothing more for us to pay. Praise God!

If we know God’s love, then how will we live? What will we do?

First of all, we’ll believe that God loves us. We won’t doubt it. We’ll be confident that God will take care of us (Romans 8:32). We’ll know that God is working all things out for good in our lives (Romans 8:28). And we can overcome whatever the world, the flesh, or the devil throw at us (Romans 8:37-39). NOTHING can separate us from the love of God.

If we know God loves us, then we’ll love him. We’ll be so thankful for what he did for us. We owe him our lives. If he tells us to do something, we’ll do it. If he’s written something in his Word that we don’t understand, we’ll do it anyway, as a sign of our love to him. We’ll keep his commandments (1 John 5:3). We’ll want to please him. We’ll love others, especially the children of God.

The love of God doesn’t justify disobedience, lawlessness, demonism, sin, or the religious traditions of men. Instead, we’ll run away from this garbage into the arms of our heavenly Father so we can have life.

John the apostle had a special revelation of how much God loved him. John called himself “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 20:4; 21:7, 20). Jesus loves all his children, but John in particular knew how much Jesus loved him. Because John had a revelation of God’s love, he was full of God. He was mightily used by God and had great revelations of God.

When we know God loves us, we have security. We have confidence in our relationship with him. We won’t run away from him; we’ll run toward him. We’ll embrace his word. We’ll run away from vain religious traditions, knowing that these things don’t please him. The closer we are to a fountain, the more we can drink from it. The closer we are to a river, the more we can swim in it. We want to know God’s love so we can be close to him, and so we can be filled with our awesome God.

Jesus tells us we should not just hear God’s word, but we should do it. We should do what God says because he told us to do it. He is our Lord and Master, and therefore whatever he says is what we should do. It’s healthy for us to obey God: it blesses us, and it conforms us to the image of Jesus. When we follow God’s word, we bless other people, because God’s word causes us to love others.

When we hear God’s word but don’t do it, we deceive ourselves (James 1:22). We may expose ourselves to God’s word in many different ways – through reading the Bible, listening to messages, watching videos, listening to Christian podcasts, or going to church. Exposing ourselves to the word of God is very good. But if we hear the word of God and don’t do it, we deceive ourselves because we may think we’re in a position we’re not.

Jesus says many people will call him Lord but not do what he says (Luke 13:24-27). These people are deceiving themselves. They heard his teachings and thought they were in his presence. They are sure they’re saved, but they’re actually headed into hell.

The word of God should transform us. It should change our lives. But if the word of God is not having an effect on us, then what’s the point of hearing it?

It’s possible to become hardened to the word of God or even bored with it. We’ve heard it so often that we get used to not doing what God tells us. Becoming accustomed to hearing God’s word and not doing it is a very dangerous habit.

Jesus once asked his disciples about this. “Why do you call me Lord and don’t do what I say?” (Luke 6:46). Jesus seems puzzled. The very definition of a Lord is a Master – someone who is to be obeyed. There is no point in calling Jesus “Lord” but not doing what he says. Jesus’ disciples had this problem in the first century, and many Christians have this problem today.

There are several reasons people may hear God’s word but disobey it. Maybe they think it’s too hard to obey his word. Maybe they don’t know what God wants them to do.

But there is another reason people hear God’s word and don’t do it. There are many different voices today, and many people who claim to represent Jesus. Many ministers teach contradictory things, and Christianity is divided up into thousands of denominations. We can’t obey all of these people, because they contradict each other. For example, some people teach baby baptism, and others say that’s wrong. Some teach that pastors should wear vestments, others say that’s wrong. Some say we need candles, incense, altars and other things in church worship, and others say these things are wrong. Some say there is pre-trib rapture, some mid, and some post, and others say there is no rapture. It’s impossible to obey all these contradictory teachings.

Since we are inundated with all kinds of “Christian” teachings, we have learned that we should not obey all teachings, for many of them are wrong. This is healthy, and comes from discernment. But the danger of this is that we may train ourselves to hear Jesus’ own teachings and not do them.

There have always been false teachings around, and we need to reject them. But at the same time we need to discern what Jesus actually wants us to do. Then when we find that out, we need to actually do what he says. This is basic Christianity.

How will we find out what our Lord Jesus Christ wants us to do?

We need to read the Bible for ourselves. LIke the noble Bereans, we need to look things up for ourselves and see what Jesus and the apostles told us to do in the New Testament. Many errors have crept into Christianity over the centuries, and we need to line all church practices up with God’s word. If it’s a religious practice not originating in the Bible, then who made it up? We are under no obligation to follow such things, but must reject them so we don’t engage in vain worship like the Pharisees.

We need to be full of the Holy Spirit, who is our teacher and will lead us into all truth. Spiritual things must be spiritually discerned, and Holy Spirit will help us. When we are born again, the Holy Spirit comes inside us. Then we need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit, so the Spirit will become richer and fuller in our lives, helping us know God’s will.

We need to recognize and receive from true servants of God. God has anointed some people to minister for him, and these true ministers are essential for building up the church (Ephesians 4:11). We must discern who is serving God and who is not. The best way to discern is to line up their lives and teachings with the Bible. Are they teaching and promoting the apostolic teachings of the New Testament? It’s time to cut through the noise and confusion and discern what is God’s house and what is not God’s house, and who is serving God and who is not serving God.

We must pray. God knows the truth, for he is the truth, and he wants us to know the truth as well. When we know the truth, we will be set free (John 8:32). We can pray, “God, show me the truth! What do you want me to do?”

We need to exalt God above ourselves. Christianity is not about what we want, it’s about what God wants. If God tells us to do something in his word, we should do it. It doesn’t really matter how we feel about it. 

Jesus is to be our Lord. He’ll be our Lord as we do what he says. Let’s not just say he’s our Lord and then disobey what he says. 

Jesus said there will be many people in the end times who call him Lord but don’t do what he says (Matthew 7:21-28). They are those who build their spiritual lives on the sand of their own desires, human traditions, or culture, rather than on the rock of God’s word. When trouble hits (and it will!) Jesus warned they will be swept away into hell. Jesus’ words will be the only way to survive the reign of the Antichrist (and he’s coming).

May God give us grace to follow his words, for his words are spirit and life. He wants to give us abundant life, and this abundance will come as we lay our lives down and say “God, do with me whatever you want.” Let’s be willing to lose our lives in this age that we may keep them unto eternity.

As God’s people, we need to stir ourselves up to take hold of God. We should not be spiritually lazy and passive, just waiting to be acted upon by God or by other people. We need to exert ourselves spiritually. 

Sometimes no one stirs himself to take hold of God (Isaiah 64:7). No one rouses himself, awakens himself, or gets excited about God. They don’t seem to care about God anymore. When this happens, we may wonder where God is. Why does he seem far off? Where is his power? God’s power is there, but he’s not going to force us to experience his miracles. He’s waiting for us to exercise our free will and stir ourselves up to take hold of him; he’s not going to force himself upon us.

People may try to take hold of someone for various reasons. We may take hold of someone because we need help getting out of a mess. If we are in a pit, we will take hold of someone’s hand to help us get out. We need wisdom, guidance, and deliverance, and we will experience these things from God as we take hold of him.

Taking hold of someone shows affection. Children take their parents hands or give them a hug. Spouses will hold hands. This shows that people love each other. Since we love God, we should take hold of him to show we love him.

God is our strength, and the Holy Spirit is divine energy. We need to touch the living power of God. When we take hold of God we will be strong. We will be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Lack of spiritual power is connected to a lack of stirring ourselves up. When we don’t stir ourselves up to take hold of God, we will be spiritually weak. Paul told Timothy to fan the flames of the gift of God in him (2 Timothy 1:6). This is something Timothy had to do himself. God lit the fire in us, but we have to actively tend this fire.

How do we stir up ourselves to take hold of God?

We must awaken when we read God’s word. The Bible is the most powerful book there is. It is not dull and boring, but it is full of divine life and power. Satan lies to us so we don’t want to read the Bible, or he tries to put us to sleep when we do read it. We need to stir ourselves up to the power of God’s word. Even if we’ve read the Bible 10 times through, there is still more we can get out of it because it is infinite. There is spiritual power in the Bible, and as we focus on it we can be filled with that power.

So it is with church meetings. We can always glean something from the word of God that is being shared. There is power when we come together, for Jesus is among us. The Lord’s Supper happens within church, and we need this for our spiritual health. When we stir ourselves up in church, others are benefited.

In prayer, we need to stir ourselves up to take hold of God. We don’t need dead prayers that have no life. Instead, we need effective, fervent prayers that avail much (James 5:16). 

When the early church prayed, the fire of God fell upon them (Acts 2). When they prayed again, the building where they were praying was shaken (Acts 4:31). It was like a small earthquake when the early Christians prayed. Paul and Silas prayed, and another earthquake happened (Acts 16:25-26).

Stirring up ourselves is a spiritual operation. It begins in the spirit, and then it affects our souls and our bodies. There are signs and symptoms of being stirred up. We will be able to see when others are stirred up, and we will know it when we ourselves are stirred up. Remember, we have to stir ourselves up, no one is going to do this for us.

if we put forth this effort and stir ourselves up, we will take hold of God. We are not to just wait, but we must exert ourselves.

Jesus said violent people seize the kingdom of God (Matthew 11:12). We need zeal, vehemence, and energy regarding spiritual matters.

At the end of the age, there will be a people who will stir themselves up to take hold of God. The bride of Christ will prepare herself for the wedding supper of the lamb (Revelation 19:7). God’s people will arise and shake themselves from the dust of the earth (Isaiah 52:1-2) and be prepared for his return.

Even though God already took hold of us through Jesus Christ, he expects us to stir ourselves up to take hold of him. When we do this, we show that we understand and appreciate the great things he has done for us. 

In conversations, when one person is not really listening to the other person, it gives the impression that that person doesn’t care about the other person. To maintain a healthy relationship with someone, we need to show interest and make time with that person a priority. Sometimes we can give an impression that we don’t really care about God. We correct that by stirring ourselves up to take hold of God.

We are to praise God. We are to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. But we can’t do these things if we don’t care.

Praise God that he loves us and gave his life for us. Now let’s stir ourselves up to take hold of God. As we do, he will bless us.

All Christians are wearing spiritual garments. In fact, everyone in the world is wearing a spiritual garment of some sort, whether he is a believer or an unbeliever. These clothes reflect our spiritual condition, but they are invisible and can only be seen in the spiritual realm. God can see these garments, angels and demons can see these garments, and believers can see them when they are in the Spirit. When we are wearing garments that are according to God, then we will be blessed, but when we are wearing dirty garments or garments with holes in them, we will face challenges.

Adam and Eve were clothed with the glory of God before they sinned. But when they sinned, they lost this spiritual covering and became naked. Their physical nakedness reflected their spiritual nakedness, and they were sinful, guilty, and under God’s judgment. They tried to run away from God and hide.

This is the condition of all people in the world apart from Christ. They are in bondage to their sins, exposed, shameful, and vulnerable. So they try to make garments for themselves to cover their spiritual nakedness. Adam and Eve tried to solve the problem of their nakedness by sewing leaves together and wearing them. This feeble attempt failed, and they were still spiritually naked.

The fig leaf shirts of Adam and Eve represent the different ways that people try to cover over their spiritual nakedness. Some people try to cover over their spiritual nakedness with pride – “I don’t have a problem, I’m perfectly fine.” Others may be hypocrites, pretending to be someone they’re actually not. They may be self-righteous, thinking they’re good in and of themselves. Others may try to cover their spiritual nakedness with righteous works. But the Bible says that all our righteous works are like filthy garments (Isaiah 64:6).

These garments that people use to try to cover their spiritual nakedness are all inadequate and filthy. These garments do not cover us spiritually but leave us naked. It’s like trying to cover yourself from the cold with a blanket that is too small (Isaiah 28:20).  Even Christians may be spiritually naked, covered over with a garment that really doesn’t cover them (Rev. 3:17).

To be clothed spiritually, we need clean garments from God. Only God can give us the spiritual garments that can cover over our sin.

After Adam and Eve sinned, God provided them with the skin of an animal as clothing. This implies that blood must be shed, and someone must die, in order to atone for sin. Without the right sacrifice, there is no real spiritual covering.

Jesus is the true lamb of God, slain on the cross to take away our sin. He took our sins, so that we can take his righteousness. Now he lovingly offers us the gift of his righteousness as the only covering for our spiritual nakedness.

The soldiers gambled to see who would get Jesus’ shirt while he was being killed on the cross. But we can receive Jesus’ cloak of righteousness freely through faith. On the cross, he took our cloak of sin, and we can take his cloak of righteousness.

When we first trust in Christ, we are born again, and our sins are taken away. We “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:14). He is our spiritual clothing that we are supposed to wear, that will protect us. When we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ, when God looks at us, and he sees Jesus instead of our sins. We are clothed with righteousness (Psalm 132:9).

We are commanded to put off the old man and put on the new man (Eph. 4:24). This is like taking off the old, dirty shirt and putting on a clean, new shirt. The old man is corrupt because of the flesh and sin, and the new man is who are in Christ. We are to live and walk in Christ, and not in the flesh. 

We are to wear the garment of salvation (Isaiah 61:10). We are to wear the garment of praise. We don’t need to walk around wearing the clothes of depression and oppression, but we can be clothed in God. We are no longer lost and aimless. We are found by God and have a purpose for our lives. This is because we are clothed in Jesus Christ. Let’s praise him for his goodness.

We are also to put on the clothing of compassion, kindness, and humility (Colossians 3:12). We don’t need to be clothed in greed, rudeness, and hatred like the world. We can be clothed in the spiritual garments of Christ.

When we wear clean garments, we will walk according to the Spirit, confess our sins, bear the fruit of the Spirit, and be humble.

Clothing serves many purposes besides covering our nakedness. It protects us from cold, heat, rain, and wind. The right clothes enable us to do work— hard hats for construction, gloves for gardening, heat shields for welding. 

Spiritual clothing protects us in the spiritual realm. It protects us from guilt and shame, and also from demonic attack (Revelation 16:15). Spiritual clothing enables us to accomplish things for God. Spiritual clothing is essential for us to live in Christ in this broken world. Our spiritual garments reveal our identity as children of God. We belong to Christ, not to the world.

Even after we trust in Christ and have clean garments, our garments can become defiled (Rev. 3:3). Sometimes Christians defile their spiritual garments through sin or walking in the flesh (Jude 23).

When Christians defile their spiritual garments, we need to clean them. Only Jesus can clean our spiritual garments. He can remove their stains and spots. We need to confess our sins, tell God specifically what we did wrong, repent, and turn away from those sins. We may need to seek accountability and make restitution wherever possible. Then the blood of Jesus Christ will cleanse us from all sin.

We must keep our spiritual garments clean by reading the Scripture, maintaining accountability in relationships, being in a healthy community, encouraging each other, and breaking bread together.

Even if your garments are dirty, there is always hope. Unbelievers can turn to Christ and they will receive a garment of righteousness. For Christians, if our garments become defiled, we can clean them again in the blood of Jesus. There is no stain or spot that the blood of Jesus cannot remove, because he died to take away all of our sins.

The Bible says that everyone who believes in Jesus is a priest (1 Peter 2:5,9). There is no clergy and laity distinction in the New Testament, but every Christian is a priest. Being priests is one of our basic identities, and it’s who we are in God. Being a priest is a high calling, and it’s important for us to understand what we’re supposed to do as God’s New Testament priests, so we can fulfill our priestly duties well.

One main thing priests do is offer sacrifices. Throughout the Old Testament, priests continually offered sacrifices to God to pay for sin. Today, we don’t offer sacrifices for sins, because Jesus has already laid down his life as the final sacrifice for all sin. Instead, there are other sacrifices that we are called to offer today.

What sacrifices do we offer as New Testament priests?

We are called to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God (1 Peter 2:5). In order to offer such sacrifices, we must find out what they are. It’s important for every Christian to know what we’re supposed to sacrifice as priests, because we want to do our job as priests well.

1. Broken and Contrite Heart (Psalm 51:17). We should be broken for our sins, contrite, and humble about our condition. We recognize our helplessness and utter dependence upon God. This type of heart is an acceptable sacrifice to God because God wants to dwell in our hearts by his Spirit.

2. Lifting Up Hands (Psalm 141:2; 1 Timothy 2:8). The lifting up of hands is a physical posture that reflects our inward condition. The lifting up of hands shows surrender. It shows neediness. It shows that we are receiving something. When we do this in prayer or praise to God, we show God that we are relying on him. God says the lifting up of hands is a sacrifice that pleases him, because it represents a proper condition of our heart.

3. Bodies (Romans 12:1). We are to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to God. Our sinful flesh is to be put off, and our Spirit-man is to be renewed. Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. We are members of Christ’s body. We are to lay aside our own will and do God’s will, speaking his words and doing his works. Our bodies are owned by Jesus, who bought them at the price of his life, and it is only reasonable to give them over to God and allow him to live his life through us. We are not to yield our bodies to sin, but unto God to serve him. Our bodies are an acceptable sacrifice to God.

4. Our Life (Philippians 2:17). Paul poured out his life in ministering to people, and it was like a drink offering that pleased God. When we pour out our lives in service to God, we offer God a sacrifice that pleases him.

5. Faith (Philippians 2:17). Our faith is a sacrifice that pleases God. Faith shows that we trust God, rely on him, and are willing to serve him and others. When we are strong in faith, we open the door for God to act. Faith is an acceptable sacrifice, and without faith we cannot please God. 

6. Support to Servants of God (Philippians 4:18). When people donate support to servants of God, it is like giving a sacrifice to God. Supporting the ministry of true servants of God means supporting the works of Christ, and the Bible says such donations are sacrifices that are pleasing to God.

7. Praise and Thanks to God (Hebrews 13:15). God is worthy of receiving our thanks and praise, for he is good and all he does is good. Every good gift we have is from him. It is reasonable to praise God, and it is spiritually healthy to offer such sacrifices to him. 

8. Doing Good and Sharing (Hebrews 13:16). When we do good and share our resources with those in the body of Christ, we offer an acceptable sacrifice to God. Jesus said if we do something good to the least of our fellow-Christians, we do it to Jesus. This is because Christ is a many-membered body (1 Corinthians 12:12). We are called to share our resources in the church, for we are all members of Christ and united with each other. These sacrifices will bless God and help others.

We are priests, and one of our main jobs as priests is to offer sacrifices to God. We don’t offer sacrifices for our sins, because Jesus’ blood has paid for our sins once for all. Instead, we are called to offer spiritual sacrifices that are listed in the Bible. As we offer these sacrifices to God, we will please him and fulfill our calling as priests.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into a furnace. They were three men who refused to compromise their faith in God. They refused to bow down to false religious practices, even it was going to cost them their lives. They knew that false religious activity that is not based on God’s word is demonic, and they wanted no part of it. If God would keep them alive through the fiery furnace, praise him. But even if they got burned alive, they were not going to bow down to false religion. They would reject it and refuse to go along with the crowd. They were thrown into the furnace, but God brought them out again. This is an example for us. God is refining his remnant, purifying them, and preparing them.

Peter said our faith is being tested like gold (1 Peter 1:7). There is a refining process in the Christian life. When metal is refined, and large chunk of it is put into the fire. Then impurities are separated, and the pure gold remains. During this refining process there is separation. Things are distinguished from each other. The good is separated from the bad. Before the refining process there is too much – it’s a large lump of metal that is not useful. After refining the lump is smaller. An uneducated person may look at the large lump of unrefined metal, compare it to the smaller lump of refined gold, and say that the unrefined lump is more valuable. It is heavier and bigger. But the smaller lump is more valuable because it is pure.

Our faith needs to be refined because it is often mixed up with other things. We have faith in God, but we also have faith in ourselves. We have faith in God’s word, but also in the world. The fire will refine our faith because it will separate faith in God from faith in other things because these other things will fail. After going through the fire, our faith will be purified so it is in God alone.

Jesus tells us to buy gold tried in the fire (Revelation 3:18) so we are ready for the end times. To buy means we must be willing to pay something. This spiritual gold may be expensive. We’ll have to give up something in order to get this pure gold. It will cost us time and energy. But it will be worth it.

For non-Christians, the fire is random and destructive. They don’t see a purpose in it. They become angry, frustrated, and bitter. They ask, “Why did that happen?” They blame God and blame other people. They say their childhood caused the problem, or its their parents’ fault. They say they are just victims, and life is unfair.

For Christians, it’s different. The fire can fulfill a higher purpose. All things work together for good in the lives of those who love God (Romans 8:28). Fire can help us grow.

Mature saints will embrace the fire. Peter said we should rejoice in the fire (1 Peter 4:12). James said we should count it all joy when we go through the fire (James 1:2). Mature saints know that the fire of God will produce things in them that cannot be produced in any other way, and that the fire will deliver them from things that they could not be delivered from otherwise.

The good news is, God is greater than the fire. He promises that when we go through the fire we will not be burned (Isaiah 43:2). This is because he is with us in the fire. Just like he was with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego as the fourth man in the furnace, so he will be with us. 

Things are going to be removed from our lives when the fire comes. Sin will be cleansed. Wrong thoughts will be removed. We need to believe the truth to get through. We will stop relying on ourselves but will rely on God, because we see only God can handle the challenge we’re facing. We will stop relying so much on the world, because the fire shows that the world will fail us. Only God will stay the same. Even hobbies and time-wasters will be eliminated. Some of our relationships will not abide the fire.

Job lost many things in the fire, but he said he would come forth as gold (Job 23:10). Gold is a metal that represents God. The fire will eliminate the flesh and strengthen the spirit. It will help us be conformed to the image of Jesus.

After the fire, things will get smaller. There may be less options. Our lives won’t be the same. But the things that were removed were a hindrance, and now we are free to run forward farther in God.

Fire will come to the church to purify the church and cleanse it from evil. Judgment must begin at the house of God (1 Peter 4:17). The judgment begins at the church in order to cleanse the bride from evil and prepare her for the marriage supper of the lamb. The end times will be a time of fire all over the world, as the fire of God comes into the world to test everything. The bride must abide the fire of the end times. She must contain the fire of God and release the fire of God. The bride must go through fire now so she is ready to fulfill her calling.

There will be a refining – both in our individual lives and in the church. We should not be surprised by this. Some things will be destroyed. Other things will be exposed.

Malachi says the Lord will suddenly come to his church, and he will purify his people (Malachi 3:1-6). The Lord will first cleanse the church. The temple will be prepared for his coming, and it will be cleansed from evil. Vain religion will be thrown out. Man-made traditions will be rejected. The pure radical apostolic words will ALL be embraced, and then the church will be ready for the coming of Jesus. Until then, the church will continue to be refined.

Jesus is cleansing his church out of love. He wants his people to survive the tribulation. He wants his faithful remnant to be prepared. He is purifying his remnant now, so they are strong and do mighty works at the end of the age (Daniel 12:10). 

When the fire comes, some people will give up and fall away. They won’t abide the fire. Someday, all the wood, hay, and stubble will be removed from God’s house (1 Cor. 3:13). This process is already going on. A remnant will come through the fire. They will be equipped to face the future by God’s power.

Jesus often mentioned how the old religious system is a hindrance to what God is currently doing in the earth. Throughout his ministry, Jesus clashed with religious leaders who felt threatened by his radical teachings. This clash between true and false religion has happened throughout history, and it happens still today. It’s important to understand the nature of this clash.

Jesus once told 3 short parables about this (Luke 5:36-39).

1. Jesus said no one will cut a piece of cloth from a new shirt to patch a hole in an old shirt. He gives three reasons for this. First of all, the old and new cloths won’t match. Second, the new shirt will be ruined because it will now have a hole in it. And third, when the new patch shrinks, it will tear the old shirt even more (Matthew 9:16).

The old shirt is the old religious system. It is old, wearing thin, and has holes in it. It can’t provide any real spiritual covering or protection. The new shirt is true religion. You can’t take a part of the new work of God to try to patch up the old system. These systems are incompatible. If you try to do this, both will be ruined.

2. Jesus said new wine (grape juice) can’t be put into old wineskins. The old wineskins are dry and brittle. They won’t bend or flex. When the grape juice begins to ferment, it will break the old wineskin and the grape juice will be spilled. Grape juice has to be put into a new wineskin which can bend and expand. Then when it begins to ferment, the wineskin will expand along with it. 

The old wineskins are the hard, inflexible, dry, and worn out religious systems of man. These religious systems are unable to hold the new wine of the Holy Spirit. Even if God was to pour out his Spirit on them, they would just break under the influence of God’s presence. New Wineskins are needed – churches and religious works that are ordered according to the word of God. These will be able to hold the new wine of the Holy Spirit.

3. Jesus said that if a person drinks old wine (alcoholic), he will not immediately want to stop drinking that and start drinking new wine (grape juice). He will say the old alcoholic stuff tastes better.

People who are involved in an old, dead religious system are often like those who drink alcohol. Many of them are unable to think or see clearly, and they do irrational things. However, they really enjoy the taste of the old wine, and they don’t want to leave it and start drinking of the Holy Spirit. This is because they say their old system is better than the work of the Holy Spirit. They have invested their lives into this old system, and they don’t want to leave it.

Through these three examples, Jesus describes how true and false religious systems are incompatible. 

Both claim to serve Jesus. But the true religion does things according to God and his word. The false system does religious things according to their own minds.

Those who represent the true religion will tell people to get back to God’s word and forsake man-made religious traditions. Those who represent the false system will defend man-made religious traditions and become offended when these traditions are criticized. They will often say that we shouldn’t be too rigorous with the word of God, that we have to “bend” a little here and there.

True religion is holy. The false system is sinful.

The false religious system has many people in it. Most of God’s people have been ensnared in a false religious system throughout history. 

The true is only a remnant, with only a few people who follow it.

The false religious system is the establishment. It is firmly entrenched. It often has worldly power and influence on its side. 

The true is outside the established religious system.

When there is a clash, sparks fly. There are arguments, debates, contentions. We see this throughout the book of Acts and the rest of the Bible. There are big debates and people leaving each other. 

Often the true is just trying to quietly mind its own business, but the false comes up and attacks it.

Religious wars are terrible. They are the most powerful conflicts upon earth. This is because there are powerful spiritual forces behind these conflicts.

Man fights against the true religion. 

God fights against the false religious system.

Victory for the true religion may take longer, but it will endure.

In about 4000 BC, the brothers Cain and Abel offered a sacrifice to God. Abel shed the blood of an animal to atone for his sins, following the ancient example given by God in Genesis 3:21. But Cain just offered a bloodless sacrifice of vegetables. Abel followed God’s word, but Cain did whatever he wanted. Abel had true religion, but Cain represented a false religious system that was based on man’s ideas.

Cain’s religion was exposed as false, whereas Abel’s was true. Then the clash began. Abel was just quietly worshiping God, but Cain was angry at him. He killed Abel. They were brothers. They should have gotten along. But the religious conflict was too great, and the false system killed the true. This is a pattern that is repeated. The false system sometimes becomes enraged in a Satanic frenzy and turns against the humble people of God.

Around 1080 BC, Eli was the high priest who represented an old and dead religious system that was devoid of God’s presence and power. He was fat, lazy, and unable to hear from God. He allowed sin to come in among God’s people.

Samuel was a young boy who stayed in the presence of God. He represented true religion.

The clash between these systems began when God told Samuel that Eli and his sons would die because they had forsaken God. Soon, they all died, and the ark of God was taken. This was Ichabod – as the glory had departed from Israel. After this Samuel became a mighty prophet and judge.

Around 1040 BC, Saul was king in Israel. He represented the old religious system. David was a young man anointed by God who represented true religion. Saul began consulting witches because he couldn’t hear from God. David killed Goliath and began walking in his calling. Saul tried to kill David. He threw spears at him. He sent the Philistines against him. David was just trying to obey God, but this mad king Saul and his demonic religious system came after him. David didn’t kill Saul when he had an opportunity. Soon, Saul died, and  David became king.

In approximately 930 BC, Jeroboam became king over 10 tribes of Israel. He put some shiny golden cows up, and called people to come worship. 90% of God’s people enthusiastically ran to worship Yahweh using these golden cows, showing how most of God’s people can be easily deceived by crazy religious ideas. King Rehoboam of Judah represented true religion, but only 2 tribes of Israel followed him. Centuries of conflicts and wars between the people of God followed.

In about 33 AD, Jesus Christ had many conflicts with the Pharisees. Jesus is the Son of God, and he is true religion. The Pharisees were the false religious system who dominated Israel. They didn’t obey God. They made up their own ways of worshiping God. Jesus called their traditional worship styles vain. There were many arguments and debates between Jesus and the Pharisees. Finally, the Pharisees killed Jesus. Dead religion killed God’s Son.

But Jesus rose up from the dead. He’s still alive. He is an eternal witness against dead religion. And someday soon he’s coming back to put an end to false religion once and for all.

In the early church, there were conflicts between those who wanted to stick to the purity of the apostolic teachings, and those who wanted to introduce things from the Old Testament. Thankfully, the apostolic purity was preserved in the New Testament.

In the future, at the end of the age, there will be a great clash between true Christianity based on the word of God and lawless Christianity that is based on man-made traditions and ideas. True Christianity will follow the word of God alone. False Christianity will compromise, adding and taking away from God’s word. True Christianity will be a faithful remnant, but false Christianity will sweep over the entire world. And like it has done throughout history, false religion will attack the true, trying to kill it. But the true will prevail, and the false will be destroyed.

It’s important to recognize the reality of this clash. No clash is pleasant. But this clash is unavoidable because of the power of God’s word.

We should not be surprised when there is a clash among Christians. Some Christians will want to follow the Bible, and some will want to follow man-made traditions. These two things are incompatible. We should not be discouraged or alarmed when conflicts arise in the church about such things.

We must discern true religion from the false. We need to recognize which ministers represent true religion, and which ministers represent false religion. We will discern these things by God’s word. What did the apostles do in the New Testament? Let’s do that. What religious traditions in the church are not based on the Bible? Let’s throw those things away.

We must choose the right side. We don’t want to choose to be a part of the wrong system, like the vast majority of God’s people have done throughout history.

Finally, if you choose true religion, be prepared for the false system to attack you. Persecution, slander, and even threats will come against true religion from the old system. The clash between true and false religion is real and long-standing. It will continue until Christ returns. Stay on God’s side. Stick to his word. Though you may face some trouble now, you’ll be on the winning side.

The name of God is very high, but the word of God is higher than his name (Psalm 138:2). 

We will explore how God’s word is higher than his name in this important message.

What is God’s name? 

The name of God refers to his nature and person. It is who he is. The name of God is how God is seen and understood. It’s the way he is known and perceived. God has many different names, because he has many different aspects and characteristics. He has revealed himself to his people in many different ways. He is El Shaddai, Almighty God. He is Adonai, which means Lord. His proper name is Yahweh, which means I am that I am. 

Jesus is also the name of God. The name Jesus means God saves. The name of Jesus is above every other name (Philippians 2:9-10). Everyone will bow down to the name of Jesus. There is no other name higher than the name of Jesus. His name alone is exalted (Psalm 148:13).

The name of God is powerful. Through the name of Jesus demons are cast out.

Yet as high as God’s name is, there is something higher – his word.

God has magnified his word above all his name. To magnify means to make great, important, or large. 

How can the word of God be greater than his name?

The word of God is the communication of himself. Jesus is the word of God made flesh. Jesus is the communication of God to us. If we want to know God, we find out about him through Jesus, the word. The word of God includes things that God wants us to know or do. God has spoken to us through the Bible, which is his word. If we want to know about God, we need to look in the Bible. 

To accept the word of God is to accept him. To reject the word or communication of God is to reject him.

When Jesus walked the earth and spoke his words, people had a clear opportunity to accept or reject him. If they believed his word, they believed him. If they rejected his word, they rejected him. The people in Capernaum rejected his words, therefore they rejected him. Therefore Jesus left them. 

If Jesus met us, and said something to us, then we would have a direct opportunity to accept or reject his word. Our response to his word is the same as our response to him. Once Jesus spoke a word to a rich young man. The young man did not want to obey Jesus’ word, so he went away from Jesus. You can’t have Jesus without having his words.

The word of God Is higher than God’s name because the word of God leads to his name. If you have the word of God, you will automatically have the name of God. But if you don’t have the word of God, you will lack God’s name.

The word of God makes the name of God powerful. Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The word says he is the eternal Son of God. He has all power in heaven and in earth. These words make his name powerful.

In a worldly sense, it’s similar. The name Bill Smith is a fairly ordinary name. There may be many men who have this name. But if you find out that a specific Bill Smith is the mayor of the city and owns several large businesses, suddenly the name Bill Smith carries more weight or power in the world. These words about Bill Smith make his name powerful.

So it is with God. God’s word shows us who God is and what he does. It tells us what to do. This revelation of God’s word gives power to his name.

Jesus is the name above all names because the word of God tells us that Jesus has infinite power.

There are many people named Jesus in the world. Jesus is the 4th most popular name in Mexico for boys. We need to know the words about these Jesuses in order to determine the power of their names.

If you’re drowning in Mexico City, and there are many men on the shore named Jesus, you need to call out to the right Jesus in order to be saved. Many of the Jesuses on the shore may not know how to swim. And maybe only one Jesus knows how to swim well enough to rescue you. You need to call out to that specific Jesus in order to be saved.

In the spiritual realm there are also many different Jesuses (2 Corinthians 11:4).

There is the Roman Catholic Jesus, who tells us to pray to his mother Mary in order to be blessed.

There is the cessationist/fundamentalist Jesus who forbids us from speaking in tongues or being baptized in the Holy Spirit.

There is the charismatic Jesus who wants us to dance around to rock music and wave banners on Sunday mornings.

There is a pop culture Jesus who tells us to buy chocolate bunnies and colored eggs for the kids on Easter.

These different Jesuses share the same basic name, but they are distinguished from each other by their words.

The true Jesus, who is God himself, has spoken to us in the Bible. His words are recorded in the gospels in the New Testament. HIs apostles gave us further revelation of his word in the letters. If we want to know the true Jesus, we need to know his words in the New Testament.

Other Jesuses have different words than the true Jesus. We can easily distinguish between Jesuses by looking at what they say. The true Jesus never talked about praying to his Mother Mary, or about bunnies and eggs. If any Jesus is talking about these things, it is another Jesus.

Paul said the Jesus whom we preach is the real Jesus (2 Corinthians 11:4). The pronoun we in this verse refers to the apostles. The apostles told us words from the true Jesus. We need these original apostolic words in order to know the real Jesus. They are found in the New Testament.

Using the name of Jesus in religious activity is no protection from deception. Many people use the name of Jesus, including Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses, but the words they believe about this Jesus are not according to the Bible. They know another Jesus, who is not God.

If we abandon the word of God, we render Jesus’ name powerless. Keeping the word of God keeps his name powerful, and it makes sure we are connected to the real Jesus.

The sons of Sceva used the name of Jesus but did not have any power (Acts 19:13-14). When they tried to cast out a demon, the demon stripped off their clothes and sent them running away. They lacked the power of Jesus’ name because they did not keep his words. 

If we know Jesus, we’ll keep his words. If we don’t, we won’t.

“Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:3-4). 

To know God’s name, we must keep his word. 

The word of God is fundamental to a true revelation of the name of God. To know the name of God, we must know his word. This is because the word of God is exalted above his name.

Throughout their journeys, God provided all the Israelites needed. They had miraculous food everyday, and water flowed for them out of a rock. Their sandals did not wear out, even though they were walking through hot deserts for years (Deuteronomy 29:2-6). They saw the pillar of cloud and fire every day and night, and God worked miracles to overthrow their enemies.

Yet, in spite of all these daily miracles, the Israelites were unable to understand the main message that God was trying to tell them. 

God’s message was simple – “I love you.”

God wanted Israel to know that he loved them. He took care of them faithfully, year after year. He worked  many miracles that proved his love for them. And yet, in spite of all of this, Israel just could not believe it. They didn’t believe that God loved them. They didn’t believe he would continue to be good to them. They didn’t believe he would keep taking care of them. They doubted his love so much that they accused him wanting them to starve. When times got tough, they even accused God of wanting to kill them. They hated God so much they wanted to run away from him and go back to slavery in Egypt.

Loving God by Knowing his Love

We need to know that God loves us. This is the starting point of our spiritual lives. The first and greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength (Matthew 22:36-40). In order to obey this command, we must first know the love God has for us. God loves us with supernatural, agape love. Agape love originates only in God. To know agape love, we must receive it first from God, for there is no other source of agape love. If we don’t know how much God loves us, then we won’t be able to have any agape love whether for God or for anyone else. We love God because he first loved us (1 John 4:19). 

God has done so many good things for us, including sending his Son to die for our sins. He did all this because he loves us. 

Love Causes us to Enter Rest

If we don’t know God’s love, we won’t be at Rest. The Israelites could not enter into God’s rest (Hebrews 4:10) because they kept doubting God’s love for them. God wanted them to rest and relax in his love. But they didn’t want to. They were frenzied with worry and anxiety. This is because they didn’t believe that God loved them and would take care of them. They thought, “We have to run around and do all these things because God doesn’t love us. He won’t take care of us. He won’t provide for us.”

The Israelites couldn’t enter God’s rest because of unbelief (Hebrews 3:19).

Jesus told us that if we seek first his kingdom and righteousness, he will give us food and clothing and whatever we need (Luke 13:29-31). If we believe this, we can enter into rest. But if we don’t believe this, then we won’t be at rest. Instead we will chase after all these things and be dominated by mammon (the god of money). This is what the rest of the world is doing. God wants us to live differently. Jesus wants us to be at rest in him. He wants us to stop stressing out. This is only possible when we believe that he loves us.

Experience is Insufficient

How will anyone learn about the love of God? 

Some people want a miraculous sign to prove God’s love for them. “God, just show me a sign that you love me. Let me feel your presence. If you do that then I will know that you love me.” This doesn’t work. The Israelites saw many miracles day after day. They felt his presence, saw his glory, and heard his voice. Yet, in spite of all these miracles, they still didn’t believe he loved them. They had many experiences, yet they had no faith. No matter what God did for them, it didn’t convince them. No wonder Jesus said that some people won’t believe even if they see someone rise from the dead (Luke 16:31).

God’s Word is the Basis of True Faith

God’s word must be the basis of our faith. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). We don’t need experience in order to have faith. This is because God doesn’t want our faith to be limited. We can believe God’s word for things that we’ve never experienced.

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). We don’t see it yet, but we believe it. This is true faith. True faith comes first, and it makes experiencing God possible. We walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). Walking by sight will hold us back, but walking by faith will open doors for us to move forward.

Faith is powerful. It opens doors for us to access God’s infinite grace and resources.

Joshua and Caleb believed God before they had experience. God told them he would defeat the giants in the Promised Land. They had not seen that happen yet, but they believed God’s word. Therefore they had faith that made that possible.

Connection Between Love and Faith

There is an important connection between love and faith. Faith and love go hand in hand. When we know how much God love us, we can believe his word. We believe that he won’t lie. We know that he will take care of us and provide for our needs. He won’t forsake us. But if we don’t know that God loves us, then we won’t be able to believe him.

Knowing God’s love is the basis for our faith.

Faith works through love (Galatians 5:6). Faith has an energy or power that operates because of love. The basis of faith is love. Love never fails (1 Corinthinas 13:13). Love sustains faith. Love makes faith possible. 

Israel didn’t have faith in God because they didn’t have love. Without love for God, they couldn’t believe God’s word. This is why love for God is the first and most important commandment, because it is the starting point for obeying all others.

The reason Israel didn’t have love for God because they didn’t know that God loved them.

It all starts with knowing that God loves us. 

When we know that God loves us, we can believe God’s word. Then we will enter into his Rest.

“When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8)

Jesus told a parable about a woman who was being harassed by an evil person. The woman sought justice from a judge. The judge wouldn’t help her for a while, but the woman kept knocking at his door and didn’t give up. After a while, because she kept bothering him, the judge helped her overcome her enemy.

Jesus told this parable to teach us to keep praying and not give up. The woman represents the church, and at the end of the age the enemies of the church will be very strong and threatening. Through prayer, God will act on behalf of his people and deliver them, even though it may take a while.

Then after telling this parable, Jesus asked, “When I come back will I find faith on the earth?”

Looking for The Faith

Jesus is looking not just for any faith, but for the faith. In Greek, there is a definite article before faith, which indicates that Jesus will be looking for the specific faith when he returns. This is the specific faith that was given through Christ and his apostles.

Jude told us “to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.” (Jude 3)

The original faith was delivered to God’s people through Christ and his apostles, once for all. We don’t need to add anything, and nothing should be taken away. Jude says we have to fight for this faith because it is under attack from Satan. There are many alternative faiths and false forms of Christianity, but we need the original version delivered through God in the first century. This is the version that Jesus will be looking for when he returns.

In other words, Jesus was asking something like this: “When I return, will I find original Christianity in the earth, or will I find counterfeits?”

When a group of people follows the original faith of Christianity,  they please God, but Satan hates them. They will be persecuted and face trouble. They will need deliverance, which is why they cry out to God for help like the woman cried out to the judge. Will there be Christians at the end of the age who are willing to go through trouble for the sake of God and his kingdom? Will they be willing to follow the teachings of the New Testament even if it leads to intense persecution?

If we were to ask Jesus’ question today, and look around for the original version of Christianity anywhere on the earth now, we might have to admit we can’t find it very easily. Do we see many Christians following the New Testament principles completely? Do we see many churches obeying all the commands and instructions of the NT?

The original faith is not easy to find, hence Jesus’ question.

The Answer to Jesus’ Question

Jesus answered his own question in other parts of the gospels. In other places he makes it clear that when he comes back he will find the faith in the earth. He said two will be in the field – one will be taken (and destroyed), and the other will be left. Some virgins won’t have oil in their lamps, but some will. Not just the tares, but the wheat will also yield a harvest. All these are pictures of some who are faithful to God even when most  people aren’t. And of course the bride of Christ will be prepared, and the wedding supper of the lamb will occur. This can only happen when people are fully conformed to the original faith of the New Testament.

If Jesus already knows that the answer to his question is YES, then why does he ask it? He asks because he’s trying to make us understand that it will only be a few who will be faithful to him at the end of the age, and even for them it won’t be easy. Jesus wants us to prepare to follow him even when it gets hard.

The remnant will need courage, bravery, and steadfastness. They will have to wait for God. They must not compromise, not let their love grow cold, nor be deceived. They must press onward, taking new spiritual ground for years if necessary. We can’t give up when things get hard, and we can’t lose heart when we see things take time.

In summary, from Jesus’ poignant question we learn the following important points:

1. We need to understand the original faith and follow it. Jesus is not looking for any Christianity, but he’s looking for the real thing that is based on his word.
2. There will only be a small group of people who are faithful to God at the end. We should not be dismayed nor discouraged by this fact.
3. We need to pray with persistence, never giving up, especially as things get harder.
4. We need to trust our vengeance to God, and let him deal with our enemies.
5. We need patience, for things may take a long time.

At the end of the age the Lord will come through and deliver his people. He will answer their prayers, Babylon will fall, and the remnant will become the bride of Christ through whom God radiates out into the world, swamping it with his glory. 

Let us endeavor to get there from here.

Jesus sympathizes with us (Hebrews 4:15). He feels the same things we do – if we’re sad, Jesus is sad. If we’re happy, he is happy. He shares in our emotional state. 

Jesus is able to sympathize with us because he took on our flesh (Hebrews 2:16-18). He went through what we did while he was upon the earth, and he faced the challenges common to all humanity. He got the victory over these challenges, and he never sinned or gave in to temptation. Therefore Jesus both knows the struggles we face as we are in the flesh, and he knows how to overcome these struggles.

When we face hard times, Jesus will comfort us. We can turn to him in prayer and tell him our troubles. We can find comfort in his word – especially the Psalms. After being comforted, we can encourage and comfort others with the comfort that we received from God (2 Corinthians 1:4).  

Sympathy Among God’s People

We are to be sympathetic like Jesus – “rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15). In a Biblical church, if one member suffers then all members will suffer. If one member rejoices, then the others will rejoice (1 Corinthians 12:26). This will happen especially within a Christian community where believers are sharing things, for their lives are interconnected and they stand or fall together. The Christians who comprise the bride of Christ at the end of the age will be characterized by great love and sympathy for each other. 

Jesus Knew When to be Sympathetic 

When Lazarus died, Jesus wept (John 11:33-35). He cried out of sympathy for Lazarus’ family, not hopelessness in the face of death. Jesus was about to raise Lazarus from the dead, and knowing that Lazarus was about to be resurrected, Jesus could have been happy or excited. But instead Jesus was sad because he entered into the emotional state of the mourners.

Another time Jesus came to a house where a girl was dead, and the house was full of weeping and wailing people (Mark 5:39-40). However, this time Jesus did not enter into the mourners’ emotional state. Instead he rebuked them and told them not to cry. Jesus knew there was something wrong with their sad emotions, and this is apparent because after Jesus rebuked them, these people suddenly began laughing at him. They quickly changed their emotions. This is probably because their sorrow wasn’t genuine, and Jesus discerned this. Jesus threw them out of the house and then raised the girl from the dead. We need to be led by the Holy Spirit as we discern how to be sympathetic.

Lack of Sympathy

Sometimes a person needs sympathy but finds none. This world is often very unsympathetic. When there is no sympathy, it is like taking away someone’s coat in the cold weather (Proverbs 25:20). A person faces a problem but another person refuses to sympathize, then troubled person feels “out in the cold.” Lack of sympathy means there is a lack of human warmth. This leaves a person feeling unprotected and worse than before.

Without sympathy, it is like vinegar mixed with baking soda (Proverbs 25:20). There can be a violent reaction. It may spark an argument – “You just don’t understand!” “You just don’t get it!” 

When we face a lack of sympathy from others, we don’t need to have a violent reaction or suffer as if out in the cold. We can turn to God. He will sympathize with us.

Healthy Limits to Sympathy

As we seek to be sympathetic, it’s important to recognize that there are necessary limits on sympathy. Sometimes a person may have sinful emotions like bitterness, anger, jealousy, or hatred. We don’t enter into these emotions and share them, because that would be wrong. Instead, we try to help people come out of these sinful emotions.

At other times healthy emotions can be misapplied. For example, we are commanded to refrain from rejoicing when our enemy falls (Proverbs 24:17). Joy is good, but if someone is joyful about the destruction of their enemy, then that is sin. We should not enter into the emotional state of joy regarding this. Instead we should try to help others love and forgive their enemies.

Sometimes a person is in an unhealthy emotional state. For example, a person might be mired in a pit of depression and always be complaining. To help that person, we don’t need to climb into the pit with them and start wallowing in the mud. Instead we need to pull them out. We can encourage that person to trust in the Lord, recognize God’s goodness and power, and take steps to praise and thank God.

We are commanded to be sympathetic, following the example of Jesus. We will do this as we are led by the Holy Spirit. True sympathy is spiritual and comes from God. It begins in the spirit, not in the soul. It starts with God, not with ourselves. As God leads us, we can show divine sympathy to others. This will help others and comfort them. And it will cause us to be more conformed to the image of our sympathetic high priest Jesus Christ.

This is a message from Matthew:

The name of Jesus is central to the Christian faith. It represents not only the identity of the Savior but also His divine authority, power, and ability to transform lives. Throughout Scripture, we see that Jesus’ name holds unparalleled significance, offering believers access to God’s power, healing, salvation, and victory. In this article, we will look at Jesus’ name, examining its significance, authority, power in prayer, and its role in salvation.

Jesus’ name is more than a title; it is a symbol of His divine authority and power. In Philippians 2:9-10, we are reminded that God has exalted Jesus and bestowed on Him “the name that is above every name,” declaring that “at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth.” This passage highlights the supreme significance of Jesus’ name, demonstrating its power to command the reverence of all creation.

The Authority of Jesus’ Name

The name of Jesus carries supreme authority over all creation. In Matthew 28:18, Jesus Himself declares, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” This establishes His sovereignty over all realms, both spiritual and physical, confirming that His name holds unmatched power.

Throughout the New Testament, we see Jesus’ name associated with healing and miraculous works. In Acts 3:6, when Peter encounters a beggar unable to walk, he boldly declares, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” The power of Jesus’ name was at work in the apostles, bringing healing and restoration to those in need. Jesus’ name continues to be a conduit for miracles today.

Jesus’ name brings healing, restoration, and miracles, demonstrating His continued power and love for His people.

The Name of Jesus in Prayer

One of the most powerful aspects of Jesus’ name is the access it gives us to God the Father. In John 14:13-14, Jesus assures His followers, “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” This promise invites believers to approach God in prayer with confidence, knowing that when we ask in the name of Jesus, our prayers are heard and answered.

In John 16:23-24, Jesus further emphasizes the power of His name in prayer: “Whatever you ask of the Father in my name, He will give it to you.” Jesus’ name not only opens the door to communication with the Father, but it also provides believers with the confidence that God will respond to their requests.

Jesus’ name is our access to God in prayer, offering us the assurance that He will answer our petitions according to His will.

Salvation Through Jesus’ Name

The name of Jesus is the only name by which salvation is found. Acts 4:12 declares, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” This truth is central to the Christian faith, as Jesus’ name is the key to eternal life and reconciliation with God.

In addition to bringing salvation, Jesus’ name is also associated with the forgiveness of sins. Luke 24:47 reveals that “repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all nations.” Through Jesus’ sacrifice and the power of His name, we are offered forgiveness and a fresh start in our relationship with God.

Jesus’ name is the only name that can bring salvation and forgiveness, offering the hope of eternal life to all who call upon it.

Victory in Jesus’ Name

Jesus’ name carries authority over the forces of darkness. In Mark 16:17, He promises, “In my name they will cast out demons.” Believers are empowered to confront spiritual opposition and demonic forces through the authority of Jesus’ name, which remains a powerful weapon in the spiritual battle.

Jesus’ name is also a source of strength and victory in times of trial and difficulty. In Luke 10:19, Jesus reassures His followers, “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.” This promise underscores the protection and power that believers have in Jesus’ name, enabling them to overcome the challenges and attacks of the enemy.

The name of Jesus provides believers with victory over spiritual forces of darkness and the strength to endure life’s trials.

Living in the Power of Jesus’ Name

As believers, we are called to proclaim the name of Jesus boldly. In Acts 5:40-42, when the apostles were arrested for preaching in Jesus’ name, they boldly declared, “We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” Despite persecution, the apostles remained faithful to sharing the power and truth of Jesus’ name, demonstrating the boldness that comes from living under His authority.

Colossians 3:17 encourages us, “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus.” This verse highlights the importance of living in alignment with Jesus’ name, ensuring that every action and word reflects His authority and love. When we live under the authority of Jesus’ name, we glorify God and reflect His character to the world.

The name of Jesus empowers believers to boldly proclaim the gospel and live in a way that honors God in all things.

Reflecting on the Power of Jesus’ Name

The name of Jesus is not just a historical title; it is a living, powerful force that continues to transform lives today. From salvation to healing, from victory over the enemy to boldness in witnessing, Jesus’ name offers believers a source of divine authority and power. As Romans 10:13 reminds us, “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Let us continue to call upon the name of Jesus, trusting in His power to bring salvation, healing, and victory into our lives.

In the name of Jesus, we find hope, strength, and eternal life. May we never take lightly the privilege of invoking His name and living under its power.

Jesus calls out to the people of the world – If you are hungry or thirsty, come to me and be satisfied (Isaiah 55:1). The only one who can truly satisfy us is God. Everything else in the world will leave our souls empty.

God calls out to the poor of the world – if you have no money, come and eat! A poor person doesn’t have resources. He has run out, and now he lacks things. He can’t buy any more from the world because maybe he’s already spent all that he had. It’s like the bleeding woman who spent all of her resources on doctors who didn’t make her any better, but she only got worse. The world operates on the basis of money, and if you want to have any fun in the world you’ll have to pay for it, and it can be expensive. But God says that when the poor and needy seek water and there is none, God will satisfy them (Isaiah 41:17-18). When we’ve tried all there is to try in the world and found out that it’s empty, God is willing to receive us, heal us, and fill us with himself.

We can come to God and don’t have to pay any money, and he will give us true satisfaction. 

God asks why do you spend money for things that don’t satisfy? Why spend so much time and energy doing things that will ultimately only leave you empty? You buy things, but they don’t nourish or feed you. You do things, but they leave you empty and hurting. God asks, “why do you do this?” He says we need to come to him.

God tells us to listen to him. We need to hear God’s word. Jesus is the one who will satisfy us, and he is the word of God. His word is revealed in the Bible, and this is the bread by which we will live. The word of God is like food. It is like bread (Matthew 4:4), honey, milk (1 Peter 2:2), and meat. This is the food that we need. Maybe we’ve known this, but we haven’t really believed it or experienced it, and that is why we’re looking for satisfaction elsewhere. But God says that true satisfaction is only found in him, specifically in his word. We need to actually believe this and turn to the word of God to fill us.

We need the new wine. The new wine is God’s love (Song of Solomon 1:2,4). There is nothing better than experiencing the love of God. And this love is available freely to all who come to Jesus. He loves us so much that he gave his life for us on the cross.

We are to delight ourselves in God. God wants us to delight in him and find joy in him. Our greatest happiness is in God, it’s not in anything else. No hobby, no relationship, no entertainment is a substitute for God. If we can draw on God, then we won’t need these other things to satisfy us. We can become a source of life and blessing, rather than needing things from the world.

Jesus is the bread of life (John 6:35). He said if people come to him, they will never be hungry or thirsty again. He is the living bread who came down from heaven. He shouted out to people, “If you’re thirsty, come to me and drink!” (John 7:37). 

Once Jesus met a woman who was chasing after all kinds of things that only left her empty. Jesus told her that if she keeps drinking dead water she’ll be thirsty again, but if she drinks the living water of heaven she will have a living fountain of water inside her. We need the living water of the Holy Spirit. Jesus gives us living bread and living water. The world provides dead food that has no nutritive value, and we don’t need this. We need the living food that comes from God so we can be spiritually alive and full of vitality.

God’s people sometimes turn to the broken pots of the world that can hold no water (Jeremiah 2:13). Like parched people in a desert, they press their dry lips against the broken things of the world, trying to satisfy the longing of their souls. They turn from God and waste hours of their lives in empty and vain pursuits, only to feel drained at the end.

This leads to spiritual dryness because the world can never satisfy (Jeremiah 17:5-8).

It’s ok to have hunger in our souls, because this hunger tells us we need God. We need to guard this hunger. Don’t feed it with other things. If you’re hungry at 11:30 and eat 2 donuts, then you won’t be able to eat the healthy food available for lunch. If you’re hungry and fill your soul with the meaningless things of the world, then you won’t have any hunger left for God. We don’t need spiritual junk food. We need God.

The world is empty and it is passing away (1 John 2:16-17). We are not to love the world neither the things in the world, for these things feed our flesh, not our spirit. The flesh needs to be crucified, not fed. It doesn’t make sense to feed our flesh and weaken our spirit. The world is like a desert for the spirit-man, and so we need to starve ourselves of the world so we can glut ourselves on God. Why would we waste time on anything else? What would be the purpose?

As the deer pants for the water, so my soul pants for you oh God. My soul longs for you, as in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water (Psalm 42:1-2). We need to turn our hungry souls to God and allow him to feed us. May our eyes be opened to see how good God is. He is the most awesome, glorious, and majestic person in the universe. 

Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in him (Psalm 34:8).

When the Israelites came through the Red Sea, the water was a wall on both sides of them, and they walked through on dry land. The Egyptian army chasing after them was drowned. This was an astounding miracle.

After this, they said, “God is our strength and our song, and he has become our salvation” (Exodus 15:2).

When we know God as our strength and our song, we put ourselves in a position to experience his salvation. We are already saved eternally when we trust in Christ, but salvation is more than a one-time deal. In our lives, there are specific times we need deliverance from God – we need to be saved out of trouble. These specific manifestations of salvation will come to us more readily when God is already our strength and our song.

Strength is the consistent ability to do something. A song reflects our joy in the Lord.

We need God to be both our strength and our song. “The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).

God Our Strength

The Lord is our strength. Apart from God we have no real strength. We will falter and fail, but God can do anything. He is all-powerful, and there is nothing impossible with him (Luke 1:37). Jesus declared and proved that “with God nothing is impossible” (Matthew 19:26). 

Sometimes we want God to do things he doesn’t want to do, and then when he doesn’t do those things, we think God doesn’t care about us. But God has his own timeline for doing things, and our timeline is not his. We need to learn to wait patiently for God, because he may be working something out during this time. Let’s not be disappointed in God when things don’t work out in the time or the way that we want them to. We can trust that he knows what he’s doing, and we can praise him that he is God and we’re not.

“Those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength” (Isaiah 40:31). 

One of the keys to tapping into the strength of the Lord is waiting upon him. When we wait on the Lord our strength is changed from our own ability to God’s ability. 

Waiting on God doesn’t mean wasting time on worldly or carnal things, or lazing around doing nothing. It means waiting actively, alertly, and expectantly upon God. It’s like a waiter at a table in a fine restaurant – he will alertly look to the tables to see if the diners need anything, and if they call for him or make a signal that they need something, he will come promptly to give them what they need. So it is when we are waiting at God’s table. When we wait on God, we actively look to him to see what he is saying and what he is doing. We are quick to respond to him as he leads us. We serve him in the small things while we wait for the big thing, and if we are faithful with little, he will entrust us with more.

If we can actually tap into God’s strength, we will find an inexhaustible fountain of power. This power will enable us to do all things. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). Christ is in us, he can do all things, and therefore we can do all things. We need to rise above the normal into the supernatural.

Strength from the Word of God

The word of God is our strength, because it is living and active. It is full of spirit and life – the life of God. We need to believe that, because if we believe the word of God is alive, then we will experience its life and power, but if we don’t believe that we won’t experience it. Our experience of God is often determined by our level of faith.

Satan will attack our reading of the word, but we need to overcome this inertia and spiritual deadness in order to spend time in the word of God. When we are strong in the Lord, we will read his word, but when we are weak in the Lord we won’t. Our interest in the Bible is a good barometer to measure our spiritual condition. If we are going through a phase of weakness in the Lord, then other things will seem more attractive than God’s word – we will fritter time away on videos, movies, podcasts, video games, or infotainment. This is not our strength, rather these things will weaken us. The word of God is our necessary food, and we can’t really live without it.

Strength from the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit will help us by imparting to us spiritual strength. We are to be “strengthened with all might by his Spirit in our inner man” (Ephesians 3:16). The Holy Spirit is power. When we were born again, the Spirit came into us, and this gave us a taste of this power. When we were baptized in the Holy Spirit we received much more divine power (Luke 24:49), and we were able to function more in the body of Christ. As we continue in our Christian life there are times we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit afresh (Ephesians 5:18). These times of filling are to be fresh impartations of God’s power. 

Strength from the Body of Christ

We can also draw on the strength of the Lord in the body of Christ. In fellowship with our brothers and sisters there is a flow of divine power, for the river of the Lord flows through his city. There are spiritual resources within the body of Christ that we can draw upon – there is counsel, there is power, and there are divine words. As we look to Christ in his body we will receive these things and draw them out so we can be blessed (Proverbs 20:5). A singular person will not be able to overcome, the body of Christ is required for successful forward movement. Lone individuals will dry up, burn out, and be left on the wayside. The body together will move forward to inherit the land. This is the Lord’s requirement for forward progress especially in the end times – and it may not be easy. It will crucify our independence and self-reliance. But the only way successfully forward into the challenging future is in unity with the body of Christ.

The Lord Our Song

The Lord is our strength, and he is also our song. We sing about what we care about, about our dreams, and about what makes us happy. The world sings about sin, illicit love, revenge, and even demonic power. These songs that spew forth from the radio reflect the cares of humanity, and they further affect the subconscious minds of the masses, hypnotizing them with the spirit of this age. We need to tune these songs out and tune into the songs of God – spiritual songs from the Holy Spirit. We care about God because we know he is the most awesome, majestic, and amazing Person in the universe, and therefore he is our song. The Holy Spirit can cause a melody to bubble up in our hearts to God (Ephesians 5:19), and when our hearts are full of this song we will be full of joy.

Songs have become a very important part of many people’s lives, and they listen to songs almost all the time. We need to take this desire for a song and turn it to the Lord. A spiritual melody can be birthed in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. This holy song can sustain us throughout the day, and when we come together as a church, we can sing this melody and join together in a spiritual song to the Lord. This powerful symphony of voices to God will greatly edify the church.

The Lord is our Strength and he is our Song. 

We need the Lord to be our strength and song now, before the problem hits. If he is not our strength and song now, then we may not experience the level of deliverance we need later.

When he is our strength and song now, we will surely declare like the Israelites did, “He has become our Salvation!”

In the beginning, God placed Adam in a beautiful garden. This garden was full of delicious fruits, beautiful plants and flowers, precious stones, and rivers. God also planted a unique tree in this garden – the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was a portal to evil, but it was a beautiful tree. Like the other trees, it was full of delicious fruit. It was part of God’s good creation. But this tree was poisonous: God said if Adam ate of this tree he would die.

Why was this deadly tree even created by God? Why was it put in the middle of the perfect garden?

The tree of knowledge of good and evil was placed in Eden to make sure people had freedom to choose. People could choose to follow God or not. They could reject him if they wanted to. God values human free will so much so that he was willing to risk the loss of Eden in order for people to have free will. Free will was so valuable to God that it was worth the life of his Son.

Eve saw the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and she desired it (Genesis 3:6). Her desire for that tree became so strong that she just had to have it. Finally she ate it.

Free will is powerful. Free will destroyed the garden of Eden. It ultimately killed Jesus Christ.

Our choices can unleash either life or death (Deuteronomy 30:19).

In the New Testament Jesus accentuated the importance of the freedom of our will. It is for freedom that Christ has made us free (Galatians 5:1). Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom (2 Corinthians 3:17). God wants us to choose him so we unleash the cascading power of Life.

But people often choose to fulfill their own desires which brings death instead.

The Israelites in the wilderness really wanted some meat. For years they had only been eating manna, and they were sick of it. It was so boring – the same old thing day after day. They wanted some flesh to eat. They probably cried out to God: “Give us meat! Give us some flesh to eat!”

God had a timing for everything. He was going to bring them into the Promised Land, and then they would have plenty of good food. But they didn’t want to wait. They wanted to satisfy their desire NOW.

God saw their desire and heard their prayer. He gave them what they wanted, but sent leanness into their souls (Psalm 106:13-15). Sometimes a person may get what he wants, but it causes spiritual poverty.

God caused a wind to blow and rained quail down upon them. There was so much quail that it was over a couple feet thick (Numbers 11:31-35). The Israelites were overjoyed. They thought God answered their prayers and gave them just what they wanted. It was an undeniable miracle! They ran out of their tents and were swimming in meat. They gathered up the quail and began stuffing their faces with fat birds from heaven. 

But the judgment of God came upon them while they were stuffing their mouths. 

They died. Their strong desires killed them (see Psalm 78:25-31).

Strong desire can cause a person to not fulfill his calling. He might fall away from God in order to fulfill his desires.

Once Israel wanted a king. They saw other nations had a king, so they wanted a king too. They wanted a king to fight their battles for them.

God didn’t want to give them a king. He told them they would be oppressed and have many problems if they had a king. But they didn’t listen.

So God sent his prophet and gave them what they wanted. He selected a king for them. God did a supernatural work to bring this to pass. He sent his word and picked out a man to become their king. That person was taller than everyone else. He was good looking. It was a miraculous selection. But it was not God’s perfect will.

God may work miracles to help us fulfill our desires. Surprisingly, there may even be prophetic words to encourage us. 

But that doesn’t mean our desires are good.

Esau once wanted some food so badly he thought he would die if he didn’t get what he wanted. “If I don’t get what I want then I’ll die!” Maybe he thought, “If I don’t get what I want, then it shows God doesn’t care about me!” Statements like this show that a person’s desire has become dangerously strong.

Esau sold off his calling for a bowl of soup. Many people today abandon their high calling for something they desire. It may not be a bowl of soup, but something in their life has become too important – higher than God. 

After this, Esau became bitter. He knew he had made a bad choice that would block him from fulfilling God’s plan. He became angry. He wanted to kill his own brother! But he couldn’t go back from his choice. It was too late.

Throughout the Bible, we see examples of God giving people what they want – even working miracles to make it happen – but the fulfillment of these desires leads to their own destruction.

Why would God work miracles to fulfill a person’s lusts?

Sometimes a person’s desires may be so strong, that the only thing God can do is give them what they want. The fulfillment of this desire becomes a judgment on them.

Our God is a jealous God. He wants us to have strong desires for him. If a person’s desires for other things are too strong, then God may judge that person through a miraculous fulfillment of his own desire. 

God wants us to crucify the flesh with its passions and lusts (Galatians 5:24). We need to kill our overly strong human desires before they lead us away from God and destroy us.

We need to recognize and regulate our desires. We can do this through the Holy Spirit. The Bible will tell us what we need and what we don’t need. 

Desire the things of God rather than the things of the flesh. Desire God and his word. Desire to accomplish God’s purpose. Desire to build his church and fulfill your calling. Desire spiritual gifts. As we desire these things and seek first for his kingdom, he’ll give us everything else we need.

In the beginning, Adam’s wife Eve chose to disobey God and doomed the creation. But this isn’t the end of the story. At the end of the age, God’s holy bride will choose him in the midst of a broken and dark world. Through her obedience God’s kingdom will be unleashed, and the creation will be set free from the bondage of corruption. 

Then Eden won’t just be a small garden. It will be everywhere.