Walking in the Promises of God

Someone said there are about 21,000 promises of God in the Bible. I have not counted them but I know there are much more promises of God than we ever know. What I do know is, most of God's promises are conditional and only few are unconditional.

An example of an unconditional promise of God is His love - His love for sinners (John 3:16) and His love for Israel (Jer. 31:3).

An example of a conditional promise of God is found in the 28th Chapter of the Book of Deuteronomy - The promised blessings of God are for those who obeyed His voice.

"Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observed carefully all His commandments .... The Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth, and all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God" (Deu. 28:1, 2 NKJV).

God promises to keep His promises

"God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill" (Numbers 23:19, NIV)?

"Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it" (Isaiah 46:11, NKJV).

"He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it" (1 Thess. 5:24, NKJV).

"For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us, ..." (2 Cor. 1:20).

"... for He who promised is faithful" (Heb. 10:23).

God will never fail to keep His promises because He is a covenant keeping God:

"My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips" (Ps. 89:24).

God's promises for those who fear Him

The following promises of God are obviously conditional; the condition is that we fear the Lord.

Here are some amazing promises of God for those who fear Him:

Walking in God's path and in God's way

"Who is the man that fears the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses" (Ps. 25:12, NKJV).

God has a plan for your life. For a person who fears the Lord, God will show him the path He has chosen for him to walk in. God will turn on the light and he who fears Him will see and will come to the path of the just as a shining light that shines more and more unto a perfect day (Prob. 4:18).

Keeping one's life clean forever

"The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether" (Ps. 19:9, emphasis added).

The word "clean" comes from the Hebrew word "tahor" which means pure, unadulterated and holy. Not only the fear of the Lord cleanses and purifies, but as you walk in the fear of the Lord your life shall be kept clean and purified at all times - it endures forever.

The secret of the Lord is revealed

"The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant" (Ps. 25:14).

Solomon said, "It is glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter" (Prob. 25:2).

Believers are made kings and priests to God the Father (Rev. 1:6). So it is the glory of believers to seek and to understand the secret of the Lord. If you want to understand the deep things of God start to walk in the fear of the Lord.

Hidden in the secret place of God's presence

"Oh, how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear You, which you have prepared for those who trust in You in the presence of the sons of men! you shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the plots of man; You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues" (Ps. 31:19, 20, emphasis added).

There is nothing worst than having the wagging tongues of Christians against you. If you are walking in the fear of the Lord, the Lord will hide you in the secret place of His presence and no other Christians can touch you.

Protection of the angel of the Lord

"The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him and delivers them" (Ps. 34:7).

"For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways" (Ps. 91:11).

There shall be no lack

"Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him" (Ps. 34:9).

Compare this with Psalm 23, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want ..." (Ps. 23:1).

Desires fulfilled

"He will fulfill the sesire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them" (Ps. 145:19).

If you have unfulfilled desire in your heart, God promises to fulfill your desire as you walk in the fear of the Lord.

Live longer

"The fear of the Lord prolongs days, but the years of the wicked will be shortened" (Prob. 10:27).

God will add years to your life if you walk in the fear of the Lord. We are not talking about those unbelievers who live longer than believers. God has a different plan for them.

Strong confidence of God's protection

"In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, and His children will have a place of refuge. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to turn one away from the snare of death" (Prob. 14:26, 27).

The fear of the Lord sets you free from the fear of death.

Free from the visitation of evil


"The fear of the Lord leads to life, and he who has it will abide in satisfaction; He will not be visited with evil" (Prob. 19:23).

The visitation of evil is most undesirable; it includes all forms of evil circumstances and situations - calamities (fire, earthquake, drought or flood), accidents (road, air, rail or sea), sicknesses, diseases, sudden-deaths, thefts, murders, rapes and you name it. No believer wants the visitation of evil. We desire the visitation of God's goodness, loving kindness and mercies.

Riches, honor and life

"By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life" (Prob. 22:4).

These are promises that every one of us desires - financial security, good name and good health!


Prosperity and blessings for future generations


"Who is the man that fears the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses. He himself shall dwell in prosperity, and his descendants shall inherit the earth" (Ps. 25:12, 13, emphasis added).


"In the way He chooses" speaks of the wisdom of God. "Dwell in prosperity" speaks of the peace of God. "Descendants shall inherit the earth" speaks of the blessings of God for future generations.

The above three promises of God are promises that every one of us desires.

In the midst of God's presence

"Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name" (Malachi 3:16, emphasis added).

God's presence will be in the midst of those who walk together in the fear of the Lord. God listens to their conversation and He has a book of remembrance prepared for them. We usually have a book of remembrace for VIP's who attended our functions. In other words, those who walk together in the fear of the Lord are being treated like VIP's!

Candidates for God's healing grace

"But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; ..." (Malachi 4:2).

The sun is a symbol of righteousness. The sun speaks of God Himself who is always righteous.

The psalmist said, "For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good things will He withhold from those who walk uprightly" (Ps. 84:11).

Healing is one of the good things provided by God for those who walk uprightly. To walk uprightly is to walk in the fear of the Lord. If you walk uprightly, love righteousness and hate wickedness you are a candidate for God's healing grace.

Like the clear morning sun

This is a promise of God for kings and for those who are in the leadership positions, including Church leadership.

Here are some dying words of David and I believe the most important words spoken by a person are his dying words:

"The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me; 'He who rules over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be like the light of the morning when the sun rises, a morning without clouds, like the tender grass springing out of the earth, by clear shining after rain'" (2 Samuel 23:3, 4, NKJV).

God desires that all leaders, including Pastors, Elders of the Local Church be just and righteous and fear God as they shepherd the flock of God.

"But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day" (Prob. 4:18, NKJV).

Our just leaders will arise and shine; and the glory of the Lord will be risen upon us, the Church (Isaiah 60:1)!

Walking in the Fear of the Lord

At the close of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said to His disciples:

"Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48, NKJV).

The word "perfect" comes from the Greek word "teleios" which basically means "matured", "full grown", "full stature", "upright", "blameless" or "complete".

In fact the whole messaged (all the epistles) of the apostle Paul was basically exhorting believers to move on toward perfection and come to a place of full stature. And yet recently I heard a theologian who said that it is impossible for believers to be perfect. It is unfortunate that this theologian failed to understand that "to be perfect" is a command of Christ! Ask yourself, would Jesus give you a command that is unachievable?

Relations between being perfect and the fear of the Lord

Chapter 5 of Hebrews is the foundation for the theme of walking in the fear of the Lord. We cannot walk in the state of being perfect in the eyes of God unless we are walking in the reverent fear of God.

The writer of Hebrews wrote about our Lord Jesus Christ:

".... who (Jesus), in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which he suffered, and having been perfected, he became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, ..." (Heb. 5:7 - 9, NKJV, emphasis added).

The Lord is looking for a people whose heart is perfect toward Him:

"For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him" (2 Chron. 16:9, KJV).

The Lord found such a person in Job:

"There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil" (Jobe 1:1, NKJV, emphasis added).

Job was upright (perfect) because of these two qualities - he feared God and hated evil. Similarly we can be perfect in the eyes of God if also fear God and hate evil.

The psalmist said, "Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him" (Ps. 33:8)

The phrase "stand in awe of Him" means "to honor and to show reverence of Him".

Solomon said, "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil" (Proverbs 8:13).

Therefore, to fear God and to hate evil is a key to leading an unright and perfect life.

Types of fear

The phrase "fear not" or its equivalent appears 365 time in the King James Version of the Bible - one "fear not" for everyday of the year. Surely the Lord is saying some important thing to us. God does not want us to fear anything apart from having a reverential fear, honor and respect for Him. Once you come into a place at fearing and honoring the Lord you will automatically find youself being set free from all tyes of other fear.

The following are undesirable types of fear that are gripping the lives of many God's people today.

1. Demonic fear

Paul wrote to Timothy, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind" (2 Tim. 1:7, NKJV).

The spirit of fear does not come from God but comes from demons. On the other hand God has given us the right type of Spirit in three forms:

a. Spirit of power - Power to encounter foes and danger; power to endure under trials and power to triumph over persecutions.

b. Spirit of love - Love toward God and toward the souls of men, natural love and the love of the brethren. "Perfect love cast out fear" (1 John 4:18). In other words, God's perfect love and demonic fear cannot co-exist.

c. Spirit of sound mind - The NIV says "Spirit of self-discipline". A self-disciplined person has a sober mind, a mind that is well balanced and under the right influence. A man with the Spirit of sound mind is a man of prudence and discretion.

2. Religious fear

God was speaking to His people through Isaiah:

"Inasmuch as these people draw near whith their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their heart far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men, ..." (Isaiah 29:13).

This is quite similar to what Jeremiah said, "You (God) are near in their mouth but far from their mind" (Jer. 12:2).

This is religious fear - fear taught by the teaching of man. Many people, even believers, are bound up by religious fear. The best way to be set free from religious fear is to be found walking in the fear of the Lord.

3. Fear of man

Solomon said, "The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trust in the Lord shall be safe" (Proverbs 29:25).

The writer of Hebrews said, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me" (Heb. 13:6)?

Many believers are living today under the dominating influence of men or women. Many in the Body of Christ fear Pastors, Pastors' wives, leaders instead of trusting and showing reverential fear toward the Head of the Church.


Moving in the Wisdom and Knowledge of God

Psalmist David said, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments" (Ps. 111:10).

Solomon said, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction" (Porb. 1:7).

That mens we cannot begin to move in the wisdom and the knowledge of God unless we know something of the fear of the Lord.

The Path of Wisdom

Job said, "That path no bird knows, nor had the falcon's eye seen it. The pround lions have not trodden it, nor has the fierce lions passed over it" (Job 28:7, 8, NKJV, emphasis added).

In Scripture, "bird" or "fowl" (KJV) speaks of "prince of the the power of the air" (Eph. 2:2) or the demon spirits.

In the parable of the Sower Jesus said, "And so he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them" (Matt. 13:4, emphasis added).

It is obvious that demon spirits "devour" things.

When the Bible talks about "falcon" or "vulture" (KJV) you can be sure that it refers to the Devil himself. Vulture is a bird that comes sweeping down on the flesh. When there is a demonstration of the flesh in a Christian meeting the vulture will come in and have a heyday! That is the reason why all Christian meetings must be led by the Holy Spirit. Christians must not be led by the flesh.


But there is a path that the fowl of the air knows nothing about and the vulture's eyes cannot see. And that is the path of wisdom where those who fear the Lord will follow. You can walk safely on this path because it is hidden from the Devil's knowledge.

Job quoted what the Lord said further down in the same Chapter, "Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding" (Job 28:28).

As we walk in the wisdom of God with the fear of the Lord in our life, the fowls don't know what we are up to and vultures can't see us. This was precisely what Jesus experienced. He come up out the Jordan Riven after Water Baptism, driven to the wilderness, tested by Satan and ministered in the power of the Spirit throughout His earthy life. He walked in the fear of the Lord and on the path of Wisdom. Satan could not touch Him or find anything in Him at all.

Jesus walked in the fear of the Lord with 7-fold Anointing

Jesus was the Son of David and David was the son of Jesse. This was how Isaiah said about Jesus:

"There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots, the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. His delight is in the fear of the Lord, and He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears; ..." (Isaiah 11:1 - 3, NKJV, emphasis added).

This 7-fold perfect anointing was to make Jesus quick understanding in the fear of the Lord so that He would not judge after the sight of His natural eyes, neither would He reprove after His natural eyes.

Powerful Anointing

The psalmist revealed the secret of Jesus ' powerful anointing in His earthly life:

"You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than Your companions" (Ps. 45:7, emphasis added).

Some of us might think that God anointed His Son with such powerful anointing simply because He is the Son of God. But the Bible does not teach that. Jesus was powerfully anointed because of two things - He loved righteousness and hated wickedness! In other words, He feared the Lord.

Spirit without measure

Anothing thing about Jesus that set Him apart from all people of God was that He had the Spirit without measure:

"For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure" (John 3:34).

Some might think that we have already been given the Spirit without measure and we would be able to speak the Words of God without any error now. But this is not the case - Paul said:

"Who (God) hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts" (2 Cor. 1:22, KJV, emphasis added).

All Christians have received "the earnest of the Spirit" as a deposit. But God is getting us ready to enter into the fullness of our inheritance by getting us to walk in the fear of the Lord.

Fear of the Lord in the early Church

"Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied" (Acts 9:31, emphasis added).

"..... submitting to one another in the fear of God" (Eph. 5:21).

Forget about man's method of Church growth, for they will not be effective. Attending Church growth conferences is a waste of time! The local Church will grow automatically if all members are walking in fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. And also with all members submit to one another in the fear of God.

The early Church were walking in the fear of the Lord they and were serving the Lord with fear. The did exactly what the psalmist said:


"Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling" (Ps. 2:11).

One of the main problems of the contemporary Church is that the people have learned to rejoice in the Lord in their meetings. But very often they rejoice without the fear of the Lord (trembling fear), their rejoicing becomes very fleshly and carnal in nature. Instead of getting the visitation of the Holy Spirit they might get the visitation of the old vulture himself - the Devil! A good example is the so called "laughing revival" meeting.

Perplexity in the Last Days

I believe this is a timely message for the Body of Christ. We are living in the End-time hour and a lot of things are happening in the world. Even in the Church life these things are perplexing us. Tremendous disasters are happening daily - extreme weather conditions, floods in unusual places, droughts, earthquakes; buildings and bridges collapsing, tunnels and mines collapsing, airplane, train, buses, cars accidents; senseless kidnapping, murders and rapes; new cases of cancers and other incurable diseases and you name it. Our lives are being visited by evil on the daily basis!

Jesus Himself said people will experience perplexity in the last days - prior to His second coming:

"And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the power of the heavens will be shaken" (Luke 21:25, 26, NKJV, emphasis added).

I have said it before and I say it again - the Bible is more up-to-date than today's Newspapers. It also contains reports of things yet to come because all Bible prophecies are going to be fulfilled. It is so encouraging to read the Words of jesus realizing that He said in the last days we would know perplexity. Perplexity is here to stay and everyone will experience it some time in his life.

Learning to trust God

Thank God, the Bible has the only real answer - We must learn to trust God for who He is and not what Hes does in any given situation. Look around you and you will not fail to notice that there are so many professing Christians who only trust God for what He does. And when God does not do for them what they feel He should do for them at the time in which they wanted done, many of them get so disillusioned and discouraged that they start to depart from the Lord and ultimately stay away from all spiritual involement!

But God wants His people to have the ability to go forward from strength to strength, from faith to faith and from victory to victory even there are things happening round about you to cause perplexity to come into your life.

Hear the Words of Jesus again: "Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved" (Matthew 24:11 - 13, emphasis added).

Not only many false prophets will rise up and deceive many in the last days, but also false teachers and Pastors - like the homosexual "pastors"with their partners ministering to homosexual churchgoers. There is also a "pastor" who prayed over the body-parts of female churchgoers to make them sexier. It is totally beyond our imagination how depraved the human mind could become!

The good news is, God is forming into us His endurance so that in the midst of tremedous perplexity we might hold on, be overcomers, and come through into a mighty resurrection! God's people who have the endurance of Christ written in their life are people who trust God for who He is. God is a God of integrity and it is impossible for God to fail us. But we have to learn to trust Him in the midst of perplexity.

All true servants of God trusted God for who He is

The majority of Charismatic Christians generally throughout the world have only learned to trust God in what He does and when He doesn't do what they expected Him, they tend to feel discouraged, despondent and they begin to blame God, blame the Pastor, blame the Pastor's wife and blame the elders of the Church and even blame themselves.

The Bible tells us that all true servants of God went through a period of perplexity at some stage of their life, but they learned to trust God for who He is. Here are some examples, beginning with Jesus.

Jesus Christ

I believe Jesus Himself was perplexed at that moment when He hung on the cross, and cried out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me" (Matt. 27:46).

The psalmist (David) depicted the perplexity of Jesus when he wrote:

"My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My groaning" (Ps. 22:2).

But Jesus held on and "endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2).

Jesus could have called upon His Father to "provide Him with more than twelve legions of angels" (Matt. 26:53) to deliver Him, but He held on and in the midst of perplexing situation came forth to a glorious resurrection.

Job

Job was perplexed when he saw the wicked prospered and he complained:

"Some remove landmarks; they seize flocks violently and feed on them, they drive away the donkey of the fatherless; they take the widow's ox as a pledge. They push the needy off the road; all the poor of the land are forced to hide" (Job 24:2 - 4).

Later on Job repented after he learned to trust God for who He is:

"Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:3, 6).

The Psalmist

The psalmist was perplexed when he spoke to God regarding the prosperity of the ungodly and the wicked:

"Behold, these are the ungodly, who are always at ease; they increase in riches. Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence. For all day long I have been plagued and chastened every morning" (Ps. 73:12 - 14).

It speaks to us today about the prosperity of the people who do not know God but make money their god. But when the psalmist started to seek and trust God for who He is, he began to understand:

"When I thought how to understand this, it was too painful for me - until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understand their end" (Ps. 73:16, 17, emphasis added).

Notice that God is very concerned about the end of people, both His people and the people of the world.

When Israel was tested in the wilderness, Moses said: ".... who (God) fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you that He might test you, to do you good in the end ..." (Deut. 8:16, emphasis added).

Moses

Moses was perplexed and started to blame God after his first encounter with Pharaoh. Instead of letting Israel go, Pharaoh oppressed them, set taskmasters over them and gave them extra labor.

Moses complained: "So Moses returned to the Lord and said, 'Lord, why have You brought to this people? Why is it You have sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all;" (Exodus 5:22, 23).

God assured Moses that at the appointed time Pharaoh "will drive them out of his land" (Exodus 6:1).

Have you ever wondered why God waited 4000 years to send His Son Jesus Christ? The Bible gives us the answer!

Paul said, "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who are under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons" (Gal. 4:4, 5, emphasis added).

Timing is very important in God's perspective. Many of us have received prophetic words over our life concerning our future ministry, but many of those things have not come into existence yet. While waiting (with perplexity) for that divine moment, God wants us to wait upon Him, spend time in His temple, continue on walking by faith, serving Him and we'll find in the fullness of time, even in our own life and experience, God will bring into existence that which He has spoken over our life.

God commanded Ezekiel to speak to His people:

"Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God: 'None of My word will be postponed any more, but the word which I speak will be done,' says the Lord God'" (Ezekiel 12:28)

Habakkuk

If there was a prophet who had truly learned to trust God for who He is, it was Habakkuk. The message of Habakkuk began with a burden (Hab. 1:1, 2) and turned into a song in the end (Hab 3:19). Right at the beginning we see Habakkuk was so perplexed, so weighed down with heavy burden concerning the nation of Judah which was enjoying a time of prosperity. But as the material prosperity was up the moral level gone down (Please read my earlier message - "An area of the Nature of God").

Habakkuk went forth and declared the Word of the Lord faithfully to the people but God did not respond in doing what God said He would do at that time, and Habakkuk became perplexed.

He was full of questions at the beginning - why Lord? Oh God how long? Wherefore? After God answered him, he decided to take some time out to wait upon the Lord:

"I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected" (Hab 2:1).

The lesson learned is, when we take time out to wait upon the Lord, in time of perplexity or pressure, the Lord will always answer.

The Lord answered, "For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry (Hab. 2:3, emphasis added).

Every vision or prophetic Word of God has a primary and a secondary fulfillment. Part of the vision was revealed: "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea" (Hab. 2:14).

This vision, being secondary, is still waithing to happen. We have not seen it yet, but it will come very soon - at the end of this age!

Take a look at Joel's prophecy: "And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh ...." (Joel 2:28, emphasis added).

All flesh means all un-regenerated flesh, un-regenerated Jews or Gentiles.

The primary fulfillment happened on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon about 120 people in a prayer meeting. The secondary fulfillment wil take place soon - upon this end time generation. But before God does that, He is going to have a people who are ready as His instruments to bring in the harvest. We are part of this generation!

Habakkuk, though perplexed, decided to keep silence and waited upon the Lord by faith, for he knew that, "The just shall live by his faith" (Hab. 2:4).

Habakkuk said, "But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him" (Hab. 2:20)

Habakkuk knew that God was teaching him how to trust God for who He is. Similarly every time you are perplexed and have many unanswered questions concerning the nations of the world today and wonder why God allows these things to continue on, you can be sure God is teaching His people how to trust in Him for who He is and not just what He does!

What happened that brought about the change? The circumstances were still the same but Habakkuk was clearly changed!

By faith he said, "Though the fig tree my not blossom, nor the fruit be on the vines; ... Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation" (Hab. 3:17, 18).

Some Christians only experience joy in what God does. They get really exited when somebody gets saved or healed or deliverd. Of course it is good to get exited and joyful. But the highest form of joy is in the Person of God Himself!

Walking With God

Every believer should walk with God even as Enoch walked with God. But before we go on to study the life of Enoch and to find out why Enoch speaks of the type of the end-time believers that God seeks after, we begin by looking at some passages of Scripture of Isaiah's prophecies concerning the end-time.

"Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, 'Come, and let us go to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His path'" (Isaiah 2:2, 3, NKJV, emphasis added).

"Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising" (Isaiah 60:1 - 3, emphasis added).

God gave Isaiah a picture of the last days, and He caused him to see something that is going to happen in the world - at the time we are living right now. Isaiah saw a vision of the last days on earth when deep spiritual darkness basically is covering the whole earth. But he saw a people who are different, who are not in darkness but are walking in the glorious light of God. These people are walking with God, walking in God's way and God's path.

As we walk in the way of the Lord we will arise out of darkness, set free from areas of darkness in our lives. We, as God's people, walking with Him are going to arise and shine and His glory is going to be revealed in us. And many unbelievers will be drawn to us.

The people who are walking with God

Enoch was a man who walked with God. In fact he had such a powerful walk with God that one day God just took him right up into glory (Gen. 5:24). He was a man who escaped the appointment of death.

The writer of Hebrews said, "And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment" (Heb. 9:27).

Destiny of God's people who are walking with God

It is interesting to note that Enoch was not the only person ever lived who escaped the appointment of death. The Bible tells us that there is a day yet to come, there will be a certain company of God's people on earth who are walking with God will also be loosed from the appointment of death.

The psalmist said, "You (the Lord) will arise and have mercy on Zion; for the time to favor her, yes, the set time, has come. For Your servants take pleasure in her stones, and show favor to her dust. So the nations whall fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth Your glory. For the Lord shall build up Zion; He shall appear in His glory. He shall regard the prayer of the destitute, and shall not despise their prayer. This will be written for the generation to come, that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord. For He looked down from the height of His sanctuary; from heaven the Lord viewed the earth, to hear the groaning of the prisoner, to release those appointed to death, ..." (Ps. 102:13 - 20, NKJV, emphasis added).

Here are some statements of truth:

1. When the Bible speaks of "Zion" it does not refer to a geographical location over the land of Palestine, but refers to corporate company of people called out to be totally abandoned to God's eternal plan and purpose. In other words, "Zion" simply means collectively the true Church of Jesus Christ.

2. God is in the building program. He is building us together as a Church. We are living in a period of time where God is building into our lives the very nature and character of Jesus Christ. A day will come when the Lord will appear in His glory to take His Bride with Him (Ephesians 5:26, 27).

3. What the psalmist said here was for a particular generation of people, the end time generation created to praise the Lord.

4. A day is coming when the Lord in His divine moment is going to loose a company of His people from the appointment of death.

The life of Enoch - a man who walked with God

Very little is written concerning the life of Enoch in the Bible. But if we are careful to search the Scripture diligently we will discover gems of truth.

Genesis 5 describes the first ten generations from Adam to Noah. Enoch represents the seventh generation from Adam whereas Noah the tenth. Every man listed in Genesis 5 apart from Enoch died in faith. Enoch, who did not see death, is a very real type of the last day Church on earth. He was a type of your life and of my life - provided of course we walk with God as he walked with God.

The importance of names

Names in the Old Testament, including Adam's family to the tenth generation, give a picture of the character and personality of the persons. Adam means earth or earthly in the Hebrew language; Seth means appointed of God; Enosh means mortal; Cainan means sorrow; Mahalalel means praise of God; Jared means descending and Enoch means dedicated. I will surprise you with the meaning of Methuselah's name later.

Uniqueness of Enoch and his son Methuselah

"Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughter. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. Methuselah lived one hundred and eighty-seven years, and begot Lamech. After he begot Lamech, Methuselah lived seven hundred and eighey-two years, and had sons and daughter. So all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years; and he died" (Gen. 5:21 - 27, NKJV, emphasis added).

Here are some statements of truth:

1. Enoch lived the youngest (365 years) of all those in Adam's family to the tenth generation.

2. Something happened to Enoch (a dedicated man) when his son Methuselah was born. He began to walk with God in a much higher dimension than he had walked with God in those first 65 years of his life. I believe, because of his heritage, Enoch was a man during the first 65 years had an intimate relationship with the living God. Something transformed his lifestyle at the age of 65 and it had something to do with the birth of his son Methuselah.

3. Methuselah lived (696 years) longer on earth than any man ever lived as recorded by the Bible. I believe the numbers 9 and 6 have great significance. 9 is the number of the Holy Spirit; it speaks of fullness, finality and fruitfulness. And we know there are 9 gifts and 9 fruit of the Holy Spirit. 6 is the number of man. Therefore I have the reason to believe Methuselah walked with God just like his father Enoch walked.

4. Now, the question is why God kept Methuselah alive longer than any other man on earth? I think it has something to do with his name. Methuselah's name had a very unusual meaning in Hebrew - "In the year that he died the Flood came" (Fausset's Bible Dictionary). In other words, whe Methuselah is dead the Flood would come! Quite incredible!

5. Methuselah was born when Enoch was 65 of age. He was told prophetically by God what to call his son! He knew that when the son dies the Flood is going to come. I believe because Enoch was aware of the coming of the Flood he began to change his lifestyle and he walked before God in total dedication to Him for 300 years! I think his son Methuselah also changed his lifestyle and began to walk with God in a more intimate way.

Enoch was a type of God's end-time people

We have seen that Enoch missed his appointment to death because he walked with God in total dedication. Another reason, revealed by the Scripture, is that he pleased God.

"By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, 'and was not found, because God had taken him'; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please Him, ..." (Hebrews 11:5, emphasis added).

So, on the basis of the above Enoch was a man of faith who pleased God and walked with Him.

Enoch and Methuselah were signs to every generation

Enoch and Methuselah who walked with God by faith were signs to their generations and our generation.

I believe God has marked every one of us, who are walking with God by faith, to be signs and wonders in the midst of a people who are living in gross spiritual darkness.


To be signs and wonders are far more wonderful than seeking signs and wonders or even having signs and wonders following the ministry of the Word.

Isaiah said, "Here am I and the children whom the Lord has given me! We are for signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells in Mount Zion" (Isaiah 8:18).

Enoch and Methuselah were disciplined people

As we have seen earlier both Enoch and Methuselah were warned of the coming Flood, it is understandable that they feared God and became disciplined people. Genesis 6 tells us that God sent the Flood because the people were corrupted, evil, undisciplined, going their own way and doing their own things.

Many God's people today, even they are born again and baptized in the Holy Spirit, still love their own ways and yet they ask God to bless them in the way they are going and doing - totally lack of discipline. But God is looking for a people who will lay down their own way, seek after His will and be obedient to Him. He is looking for a people who are disciplined and who will walk in His way because His way is so much higher.

The most amazing prophecy of Enoch - Jesus' Second Coming

"Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men (apostates) also, saying, 'Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him" (Jude 14, 15, NKJV).

Amazing! How did a man living hundreds of years before the Flood and hundreds and hundreds of years before Jesus was born, was given a vision from the Almighty God, not of the birth of Jesus, not even the life of Jesus on earth and His death on the cross and His resurrection; but God gave to Him a revelation of the second coming of the Lord Jesus?

To me this revelation is staggering! There was a prophetic mental picture upon Enoch's life and his eyes were opened to the coming again of the Lord Jesus. To me Enoch was a type of a man who made preparation for the coming again of Jesus Christ. And in that preparation he was walking with God, dedicated, disciplined, pleasing God, moving in faith and he was preaching everywhere concerning the second coming of the Lord Jesus with ten thousands upon thousands of His saints and the judgment which would follow if men and women did not turn to Him! God is looking for a people like Enoch in our days!

Among these ten thousands upon thousands of His saints will be some of us who have walked with God even as Enoch walked with God by faith. Just like Enoch some of us will never see death! This coming event was made clear by Paul:

"Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord" (1 Thess. 4:17, NKJV).

Definition of being a Christian

Most Bible dictionaries define "Christian" as an adherent or follower of Christ. A Christian is a believer of Jesus Christ the Messiah. However the term Christian is a Gentile designation for believers because the word "Christ", upon wich the term was constructed, suggests recognition of the Messiah, which no unbelieving Jew (who denied that Jesus is the Chrsit) was prepared to do. Consequently the Jews called fthe followers of Christ as the "Nazarenes" (Acts 24:5).

The word "Christian" occurs only three times, all in the New Testament. It was first given to disciples at Antioch, where Barnabas and Paul visited:

"And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch" (Acts 11:26, NKJV).

The other two times are:

1. "Then Agrippa said to Paul. 'You almost persuade me to become a Christian'" (Acts 26:28).

2. Peter exhorted, "Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter" (1 Peter 4:16).

Someone correctly said, "A Christian is not one who does certain things for God, but one for whom God has done certain things. He is not so much one who conforms to a certain outward manner of life as he is one who has received the gift of eternal life. He is not one who depends upon a hopelessly imperfect state but rather one who has reached a perfect standing before God as being in Christ".

Therefore we need to look at "Christian" from two perspectives - one, from man's perspective and two, more importantly, from God's perspective.

Being a "Christian" - from man's perspective

Before the early disciples of Christ were called Christians they called themselves "believers" (Acts 5:14), "brothers" or "brethren" (Acts 6:3; 10:23), or "saints" (Acts 9:13; 9:32; 9:41). These names, together with other names, continued to be used in the epistles of Paul and Peter and in the Church today. These are, "believers" (1 Tim. 4:12), "saints" (Romans 1:7), "the elect" (Col. 3:12; 2 Tim. 2:10), and "servants (slaves) to God or to Christ" (Rom. 6:22; 1 Peter 2:16; Phil. 1:1).

In modern times the name Christian has been somewhat emptied of its true meaning as a follower of Christ. He is more of a follower of a Christian denomination than a follower of Christ after the Protestant Reformation. He is linked with the denomination where he belonged - Lutheran, Anglican, Baptist, Brethren, Methodist, Pentecostal, Full Gospel and you name it. Some even called a Christian as comeone who worships in a Church building. To some today, Christian even means little more than just a "Western" religion.

Being a "Christian" - from God's perspective

God looks at the "Christian" in a much higher divine standard. God expects a Christian, as someone saved by grace, someone who received the gift of righteousness and the gift of eternal life, to live the Kingdom life and be changed by it - a Christian being a member of the household of God and His Christ.

Christians are expected to walk in the light because:

"He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins" (Col. 1:13, 14, NKJV).

Christians are chosen people of God:

"But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy" (1 Peter 2:9, NKJV, emphasis added).

Biblical Truth concerning true Christians

The following is a list of five passages of New Testament Scripture concerning the mark of a true Christian. The list is by no menas complete but is considered sufficient for the purpose of this message.

1. A true Christian is a disciple of Christ who does the will of God

When Jesus was with his disciples, He replied the one who told Him His mother and brothers were looking for Him:

"Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My borther and sister and mother" (Matthew 12:49, emphasis added).

If you are a brother of Jesus or a brother of any true Christian you are yourself a Christian. If you are someone who Jesus would not name as a brother you are not a Christian. This is but simple logic.

Here Jesus laid down two conditions for being a Christian:

I. You must be His disciple. If you are not a disciple of Christ you are not a Christian. But the contemporary Church assumes Church members are Christians and tries to make disciples out of them who might not be Christians in the first place. A water-baptized Christian might not be disciple of Christ.

II. You must do the will of God. This is a really tough one. Not many self proclaimed Christians are doing the will of God. In the contemporary Church you can hardly find even a Pastor doing the will of God! A Pastor who pleases men is not doing the will of God. A Pastor who compromises the truth of God's Word in his preaching, teaching and counselling is not doing the will of God. Why? Jesus never, never pleased any man and He never, never compromised the truth of God's Word! He did the will of God at all times when He was with His disciples. God's will is in His Word and the entire Bible is His Word. Anyone who does any thing contrary to what the Bible says is not a true Christian.

2. A true Christian departs from iniquity

Paul said, "Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: 'The Lord knows those who are His,' and 'Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity'" (2 Tim. 2:19).

The Lord knows who the true Christians are and He puts His seal on them. Everyone who names the name the Christ must depart from iniquity; that is, he must be above reproach and be blameless. Sometimes we name the name of Christ without actually knowing it. We usually complete our prayer by saying - "In Jesus' Name we prayed". If we do not depart from iniquity our prayer might not even be heard, let alone being answered!

The psalmist said, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear. But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer" (Ps. 66:18, 19).

3. A true Christian is led by the Spirit of God

Paul said, "For as many are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs - heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if we indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together" (Romans 8:14, 16, 17).

To be led by the Spirit of God, a Christian not only needs to be baptized in the Holy Spirit but also be constantly filled with the Holy Spirit in his Christian walk. The Holy Spirit in him will then bear witness that he is God's child and his destiny is to be glorified together with Jesus. And if he continues to walk in the Spirit he will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

"Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh" (Gal. 5:16).

4. A true Christian has no perverted desire

Paul said, "And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires" (Gal. 5:24).

Fleshly passions and desires are perverted desires as explained in my earlier message - Partakers of the Divine Nature".

A true Christian has applied the cross to his life as Paul had applied the cross to his life:

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Gal. 2:20).

5. A true Christian hears God's voice and follows Him

Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand" (John 10:27, 28, NKJV).

Jesus Himself told us very clearly and briefly who are the true Christians and what is the basic requirement for being a Christian. What He said was very precise and very practical. All He wanted from His people is to hear His voice and to do what he says. Therefore, it is very clear that a believer who does not hear the voice of the Lord and does not do what He says cannot be classified as a Christian! The believer can go to Church every Sunday or Saturday, sing a few hymns, listen to a sermon but it makes no difference to Jesus. A believer who refuses to hear His voice and does not do what the Lord says, he does not belong to His fold, he is not His sheep!

Jesus also said, if you are truely His sheep no one will be able to snatch you out of His hand. You have probably heard of "sheep stealing" in the Local Church. A Pastor of a Local Church accuses the Pastor of another Local Church for sheep stealing when a Church member from his Church joins another Church. But Jesus said, the only sheep stealer is the Devil!

Summary

The above list of Scriptural passages gives us a good ideal of God's perspective of being a true Christian. In summary, a true Christian is a disciple of Christ who does the will of God. He has been crucifed with Christ by applying the cross in his life. He has been set free from the bondages of sin and iniquities and at all times led by the Spirit of God in his walk with God. He hears the voice of God and follows Jesus, the Good Shepherd.

God has given His people a tall order. You will notice that according to the New Testament Scripture only Paul, Peter, John and James were couted as "true Christians". Most of us have fallen short of God's requirements.

The Good News

The good news is - all Christians, "true" or otherwise, are deliverd from condemnation! The question most belivers would like to ask is - are all Christians, including those who have fallen short of God's requirement of being a true Christians, saved? I have given my comments in my earlier messages - "Judgment of True Christians" and "Christians do Sin".

According the the Scripture the judgment of Christians will not be a judgment of condemnation. This assurance came from Jesus Himself:

"He who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God" (John 3:18).

Later on Jesus gave the same assurance:

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life" (John 5:24).

Notice that Jesus gave a three-fold assurance to every believer who accepts by faith His Word:

1. Every believer has everlasting life.

2. He has passed from spiritual death into eternal life.

3. He will never come into judgment for condemnation.

Paul gave the same assurance of freedom from condemnation (Romans 8:1).

Judgment of Christians is for the purpose of assessing their rewards:

Paul said to Christians, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad" (2 Cor. 5:10, emphasis added).

In other words, the things which will be brought up for judgment will be "the things done in the body" - when believers are still alive on earth. These are the acts, ministries, service, attitude, character and behavior of every believer during his life on earth. All these are classified into two categories - good or bad.

Partakers of the Divine Nature

Christians are at the receiving end of God's precious promises. Through receiving these promises we may be partakers of the divine nature. Everything has been given to us without us having to ask for it!

Peter said, ".... His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust" (2 Peter 1:3, 4, NKJV, emphasis added).

Here are some statements of truth:

1. Even though God has already given us everything it does not mean that we will automatically receive what is in God's promises. The provision of God is in His promises. We need to discover His promises before we can claim them.

2. Our divine destiny is to become increasingly partakers of the Nature of God. The more you become a partaker of His Nature the less room there is for corruption in you. This is because the Divine Nature is incompatible with corruption.

3. You can only be a partaker of the Divine Nature if you have escaped the corruption that is in the world.

Corruption is in the World

The world is corrupted through lust. The word "lust" in the New Testament has a specific meaning. It means perverted desire or inordinate desire.

Man was created with good desires. But when he turned against his creator and rebelled against Him those good desires became perverted. And in order to satisfy those desires he became corrupted.

Look around you, you'll find anywhere people are doing the most senseless things - They are destroying their own bodies. Take a very simple example like smoking. It is a lust or a perverted desire. I don't condemn them but I do feel sorry for them. They are destroying themselves. This form of corruption brings lung cancer, cancer of the tongue and other related diseases.

The three basic forms of Lust

John said, "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life - is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever" (1 John 2:15, 16, 17, NKJV, emphasis added).

The three basic forms of lust are of the world and not of the Father. The Father and the world are incompatible and it is not the will of God for anyone to love the world. The world with its lusts is passing away.

Lusts are Satan's weapons of temptation against humanity

If you analyze temptation through the Bible it always takes those three basic forms of lust. In fact they are Satan's major weapons against you and me.

Temptation started with Eve.

Genesis 3:6 says, "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and eat. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate" (Emphsis added).

Here are some statements of truth:

1. The three forms of lust are: "The tree was good for food" - lust of the flesh. "It was pleasant to the eyes" - lust of the eyes. "Desirable to make one wise" - pride of life.

2. The word "saw" indicates that Eve moved out of the faith realm into the sense realm. That was the beginning of her problem, Adam's problem and our problem. Everything about Christianity is by faith and through faith. Any believer who moves out the faith realm into the sense realm is in danger of being deceived.

The Nature of Temptation

If you analyze the nature of temptation you will notice that the initial temptation was not the desire to do evil. This was true not only in the case of Eve but also in any other temptation a believer may encounter. The essence of temptation was the desire to be independent of God. This is also the essence of sin. As long as you desire in your heart to be independent of God you are in a dangerous position. Nothing in this universe has any right to be independent of the Creator!

Many people think by acquiring knowledge and education they could be independent of God. They say, "I can manage my life without God. If I'm in real emergency I'll pray, but generally speaking I can handle the situation myself". But this sort of attitude does not please God. We are created to live hour by hour, day by day, moment by moment dependent on the Spirit of God.

Jesus was tempted by Satan

Satan used the same three basic lusts to tempt Jesus. The devil said to Him:

1. "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread" (Luke 4:3) - Lust of the flesh was tested.

2. "All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it whomever I wish" (Luke 4:6) - Lust of the eyes was tested.

3. "If you are the Son of God, throw Youself down from here ..." (Luke 4:9) - The pride of life was tested.

The essence of these tests was to see whether Jesus would act independent of God the Father.

It is without doubt the last emptation was the most dangerous - to show how much power you have. To use your Spiritual Gifts to promote yourself is the subtlest of all temptation. It is the essence of pride. All religious errors are motivated by pride - eg. the religious pride of the Pharisees. Through pride, all errors come into the door of the Church!

God's Plan to replace the World

God is not going to improve this world; He is going to replace the world instead - contrary to what many people think, Christians or unbelievers. Just like His plan for people, God is not going to improve the "old man" in us, but to replace the old man - to be born again by the Spirit of God. This old world also needs to be "born again"!

Jesus said to His disciples, "Truly, I say to you, in the new age - the Messianic rebirth of the world - when the son of man shall sit down on the throne of His glory, you who have (become My disciples, sided with My party and) followed me will also sit on twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matt. 19:28, The Amplified Bible, emphasis added).

The NKJV of the Bible uses the word "regeneration" instead of the word "rebirth". Notice that the phrase "The Messianic rebirth of the world" is the same as "The regeneration of the world" - the same word used to mean "being born again" of people.

An important spiritual truth revealed is - You can never get into the Kingdom of God but through a birth, whether for you as an individual person, or for the entire human race (the whole world).

It is going to take a birth to bring forth the Kingdom. What is going to be born is the new age because the present (old) age is passing away. What is going to be born is the new world for the present world is passing away. God is not going to patch the world up, He is not going to prolong it, He is going to replace it. We are living in the labor pain (birth pangs) now. The world is in labor pain out of the fact that it is corrupted - and corruption is irreversible! It must come to the God appointed climax. True Christians are looking forward to a new heaven and new earth!

A Kingdom not from this World

God is establishing a Kingdom that is not from this world.

Pilate asked Jesus if He was the King of the Jews. Jesus did not answer him explicitly but said:

"My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here" (John 18:36, NKJV).

There is a king for every kingdom otherwise it would not be called a kingdom. In the case of Jesus, He is the King of His Father's Kingdom. This is the Kingdom where all believers belonged.

Christians should not fight to establish this Kingdom. A Christian is under obligation to serve his country and to perform military duty. But this has nothing to do with the Kingdom of God. You cannot establish the Kingdom of God using military power.

God's Remedy for Humanity

Unless you are a believer you are of the world and Satan is your god and master (refer to last week's message). Your life is controlled by the god of this world and you are likely to do the will of Satan. The only answer to this problem is to apply the cross of Jesus Christ to your life.

Paul said, "And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires" (Galatians 5:24).

Here are some statements of truth:

1. The above verse is a definition of being a Christian. People who are described as "Those who are Christ's" are Christians.

2. Fleshly passions and desires are perverted desires as explained early.

3. Every Christian's flesh with its perverted desires has been crucified; every Christian has applied the cross to his or her life.

Paul had applied the cross to his life - he said:

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Gal. 2:20, NKJV).

The above was Paul's personal confession of applying the cross to his life. Every Christian should also make the same confession - confessing that he has taken the position with Christ on the cross.

Paul's glory is in the cross - he said:

"But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world" (Gal. 6:14).

In other words, by the cross Paul died to the world. Instead of being in love with the world we should be like Paul, die to the world!

Believers and their Relationship to the World

In Scripture "The World" has a special application; it is defined as: "A social world order in rebellion against God". Through man's fall Satan has become the ruler of this world. Jesus called him that three times - John 12:31; John 14:30 and John 16:12.

Satan and the spirit of the World

Here are some brief statements of truth concerning Satan and the World:

1. Satan controls the world through deception.

2. Satan rules over all rebels including Christian rebels. Denominations do not affect Satan - it is the attitude of the heart.

3. If you are not submitted to God, then Satan is your ruler. The good news is, God loves the world and gave Jesus to die for it (John 3:16).

4. The cross was God's judgment of Satan and the world. The cross resulted in Satan's defeat. That is the thing Satan regretted most in all of history - getting Jesus crucified. He does his best to keep the Church ignorant of what Jesus did to him.

5. The world does not recognize Jesus or His disciples. The world hates Jesus and His disciples.

6. The Spirit of God and the spirit of the world are opposed to each other.

7. The Spirit of God in believers is greater that the spirit of the world (1 John 4:4).

8. When you study all that the New Testament says about the world and spirit of the world what you have got is "humanism".

Contrasts between the Spirit of God and the spirit of the world

1. The Spirit of God is the Spirit of truth. The opposite is the spirit of error; the spirit of the world is the spirit of error.

2. The Spirit of God reveals the things of God; the spirit of the world ridicules the things of God.

3. The Spirit of God focuses on Jesus; the spirit of the world focuses on man and makes man his god.

4. The Spirit of God focuses on the eternal and always makes us conscious of a world beyond time. The spirit of the world focuses on on the temporal.

5. The Spirit of God convicts a person of sin, righteousness and judgment (John 16:8) and tells man he is accountable to God. The spirit of the world blinds man to the three eternal realities of sin, righteousness and judgment. It says all things continue as they were (2 Peter 3:4); all going to go on; there will never be any intervention of God in judgment.

6. The Spirit of God is a Spirit of power over evil, of love, of sound mind and of self control (1 Tim. 1:7); the spirit of the world is a spirit of subjection to evil.

7. The spirit of the world is a spirit of strive, hatred and division. It is a spirit of rashness, self-indulgence and arrogance.

8. The Spirit of God is a Spirit of supernatural grace; the spirit of the world is a spirit of fleshly effort. When the spirit of the world comes into the Church, Pastors and leaders will do things with fleshly effort independent of God instead of being led by the Spirit of God.

Believers and their relationship to the World

I believe if the following basic Biblical principles are adhered to, the contemporary Churches all over the world will experience a total revolution. However, I am unable to claim the following list is at all complete or exclusive. You will probably discover more principles. Seeing the situation in the contemporary Church I believe God is amazingly patient that He does not bring us to a day of reckoning yet!

Believers are the Light of the world

Jesus said, "You are the light of the world" (Matthew 5:14, NKJV).

God and His people are the only source of light in this darkened world. Do not confuse education (secular or seminary) with light. You can be highly educated and totally in the dark (spiritually) at the same time. Similarly you could have obtained the highest degree in theology and is still in total darkness.

Paul said, ".... you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, ..." (Phil. 2:15, 16, NKJV, emphasis added).

Notice that we only shine in so far as we hold forth the Word of life. Each one of us in some area and in some measure is responsible to hold fast the Word of life. The more the Word of life (God's Word) we have, the more light we are going to shine forth. Very oftern human wisdom and knowledge derived from education is a stumbling block to the understanding of the Word of life (1 Cor. 1:18 - 25).

Believers represent Jesus in the world

You are the only Bible somebody is ever going to read - he can be somebody whom you work with or he can be somebody living in your neighborhood. He might never open a Bible but he will certainly look at your life.

John said, "... because as He is, so are we in this world" (1 John 4:17).

The world does not see Jesus but they see us and they should see us being like Jesus.

Believers are obligated to proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom

Believers are obligated to proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom to the whole world before Jesus comes again.

Jesus' disciples asked Him: "What will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age" (Matt. 24:3, emphasis added)?

Jesus didn't answer them immediately but told them many other signs have to come to pass first. Then He finally gave them the last sign, "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come" (Matt. 24:14).

The destiny of the world hinges on us - our fruitfulness in proclaiming the Gospel. We are the ones who are responsible for seeing the present evil age is brought to God's appointed climax. Jesus commanded us not only to proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom but also to make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:19).

Unfortunately we got it all wrong -we try to make Church members of all nations. So we build more Churches not knowing that too many Churches with the wrong kind of people will not help. The real problem is our Chruches are full of members who are not disciples. Opening new Churches will not bother the Devil at all. As long as the Devil sees these Churches keep their members harmlessly occupied with Church activities he is happy.

Jeus said to His eleven disciples, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe; ..." (Mark 16:15 - 17, emphasis added).

Notice that two conditions need to be fulfilled before you can see signs following. One is the believer must go; and secondly, he must believe. No signs (miracles) will follow anyone who does not go. Someone has said, "It is hard to follow a parked car and the Chruch is a whole lot of cars parked at the parking lot". Furthermore, there are lots of unbelieving believer sitting in the Church pews!


Believers must use and not abuse the World

James said, "... and to keep oneself unspotted from the world" (James 1:27).

The world is dirty; every time you touch it you need to wash yourself. Don't let those dirty, greasy marks of the world come on your beautiful fine linen robe of righteousness (Rev. 19:8). If you have got a greasy mark you must us one detergent that truly cleanses - the Blood of Jesus (1 John 1:7).

James said, "Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself and enemy of God" (James 4:4).

In the Eyes of God those who are friends of the world are adulterers and adulteresses - and they are enemies of God. You can't be friendly with the world system. You can be friendly with unbelievers and love them, but do not fall in love with the world system because it is wicked and controlled by the prince of darkness.

Believers must expect tribulation in the World

Jesus said, "In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).

Paul and Barnabas were with a group of new converts in a city they had visited; Paul said to them, "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22).

This is one of the hard facts of the Christian life.

The Good News

The good news is through faith believers are victorious over the world.

John said, "For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believer that Jesus is the Son of God" (1 John 5:4, 5, emphasis added).

The use of the phrase, "overcomes the world" indicates there is a conflict with the world. You don't overcome something unless it is opposing you. But we do overcome the world by our faith - if we keep on exercising our faith and don't cop-out. That is precisely the reason why Jesus said, "Many are called, but few are chosen" (Matt. 22:14).

There are endless different ways the Devil can divert you from God's purpose for your life. He doesn't mind what means he has to use provided he is able to get you out of line with God's purpose for your life. You won't be a lost soul, but you have a much smaller reward in glory than you could have.

Paul said, "I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:14, NKJV).

Paul fulfilled his calling, for he said, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" (2 Tim 3:7).

I believe one major requirment to fulfill your calling can be summed up in just one simple phrase: "Single mindedness".

James said, "... let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways" (James 1:7, 8).

In other words, unless you are single-minded you are unstable in all your ways. Anyone who is unstable in all his ways will not fulfill his calling!

The Nature of God's Gifts

This message is a brief study of the nature of God's gifts to believers. It is not a study of Spiritual gifts as described in the Twelve Chapter of 1 Corinthians although references will be made from it. References will also be made from the Fourth Chapter of Ephesians concerning the five ministry gifts.

The Grace Gifts of God

A good Concordance will show you that there are nine different Greek words equivalent to the English word "gift". One of the Greek words translated is "charisma". The real meaning of the word "charisma" is derived from a basic Greek noun "charis" which means "grace" in English. Therefore in New Testament teaching all God's gifts are "grace gifts".

The Grace of God

Biblically, grace is the the free unmerited favor of God toward the undeserving and the ill-deserving. It is not merely that we do not deserve good, we actually deserve evil. And in place of evil God offers us good. The only reason is that God chooses to give us grace. First of all, grace is free and can't be earned; no one ever earned the grace of God. If you can earn it, then it isn't grace. Secondly, it is sovereign. God is absolutely entitiled to do what He will with His grace; He owes no one any account or explanation of His grace. The gospel (good news) is simply the manifestation of the grace of God to the undeserving sinners.

Here are some statements of truth about God's grace as revealed in the New Testament Scripture:

1. God gives grace to the human race through only one channel. That channel is His Son, Jesus Christ.

John said, "For the laws was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17, NKJV).

Apart from Jesus Christ, God offers grace to no one.

2. Grace is only offered to one kind of person - the humble. Both James (James 4:6) and Peter (1 Peter 5:5) in their epistles quoted Proverbs 3:34: "Surely He scorns the scornful, but gives grace to the humble" (NKJV).

3. There is only one way by which grace can be appropriated, by which you can have it in your life and your experience - by way of faith.

Paul said, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast"(Ephe: 2:8, 9, emphasis added).

Notice that both salvation and faith are grace gifts of God.

4. There is only one administrator or dispenser of the grace of God - He is the Holy Spirit. He is called the Spirit of grace (Hebrews 10:29).

The Gifts of God

All gifts of God are grace gifts given freely by Him. The following statements are made by Paul in his epistles:

Spiritual gifts

"For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gifts, so that you may be established ...." (Rom. 1:11).

Notice that no specific gifts were mentioned. But we know that these spiritual gifts are meant to establish the Church of Jesus Christ.

Ministry gifts

Christ Himself established the five specific ministries (offices) for the Church:

"And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers" (Ephesians 4:11, emphasis added).

These five ministry gifts came from the hand of the exalted and glorified Christ at the right hand of the Father in heaven. They are His own provisions for the continual maturity of His Church through the ministries of those who are called, chosen and ordained of God.

Gift of righteousness

"For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who recieve abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:17, emphasis added).

The majority of professing Christians completely failed to realize we are offered righteousness as a gift - we can't earn it, we can't work for it, we can't strive to attain to it, we simply accept it as a gift.

"For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor. 5:21).

We are made righteous with the righteousness not our own but the righteousness of Christ. All we need to do is to receive it by faith.

Connection between life and righteousness

"And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness" (Rom. 8:10).

Life comes in by the Holy Spirit because we are reckoned righteous. God cannot give life to the unrighteous.

The difference between wages and God's gifts

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 6:23).

Paul was drawing a deliberate contrast between wages and grace gifts. Wages are the due reward for what you have done. If you work with a monthly fixed salary, at the end of the month you collect your wages. Paul said that the due reward for the sins we have all committed is death. If you want justice you can have it because God is just. Since your "work" is sin, He who is faithful and just, will pay your salary and you will recieve death as your wages. Death is therefore your due reward! His alternative is grace gift of eternal life! The choice is yours.

The Gifts and Calling of God

Paul said, "For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable" (Rom. 11:29, NKJV).

The Amplified Bible puts it more vividly - "For God's gifts and His call are irrevocable - He never withdraws them when once they are given, and He does not change His mind about those to whom He gives His grace or to whom He sends His call".

Paul gave a very brief statement but it speaks volumes. It is one of few Bible verses which still hold true whether it is in the context or taken out of context.

In the entire Chapter 11 of Romans Paul spoke about how Israel rejected the gifts and calling of God. And as a result salvation came to the Gentiles. God, in His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel), chose Israel as His own Bride. You can find many references in Isaiah Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Notice also that God had also chosen His Church as the Bride for His Son. God's gifts and calling for both Israel and the Church are irrevocable - cannot be withdrawn. He will never change His mind - God never changes (Malachi 3:6).

The logical meaning of "gifts"

Many believers fail to understand why when God has given a gift to someone He does not subsequently change His mind and withdraws it. Let us apply some simple logic. For example, if you give your son a fast car, and if it is a gift you can't subsequently withdraw it if he misbehaves. Otherwise it is not a true gift. It is but a conditional loan.

Similarly, when God gives you and me gifts, He gives them but He does not take them away even if we misuse the gifts. We are accountable for what we do with them, but because they are gifts and not loans, God will not withdraw them. This is true for both gifts and the calling of God.

Take the case of an evangelist (a called minister), every time he preached and subsequently gave an altar-call, sinners would respond and be saved. But in many other aspects this man's life is all together crooked, out of order and found wanting. People say how a man like that can be used by God. The explanation is that God is sovereign and He gave him a gift and being a just and covenant keeping God He will never takes away what He has given, because if He does, it will not be a gift.


But, it does not mean that this evangelist will never lose his gift. If he keeps on disobeying God and keeps on leading an unholy lifestyle, subsequently his ministry will not be effective. If I give my son $100 for him to keep, and if he is careless and loses $50 the next day, he cannot turn around and say I have taken back $50 from him. He is accountable to keep the money safely.

God's Purpose will stand

In Isaiah God said of Himself: "I am God and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient time, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please" (Isaiah 46:9, 10, NIV).

God is sovereign and knows what He is doing; His prophecies concerning His people come true cover the entire Bible, from Old Testament to New Testament and from Israel to His Church.

Concerning Israel

We have seen that the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable but it doesn't mean that all Israel will be saved.

In Romans Paul quoted a prophecy from Isaiah 10:22 concerning Israel: "Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, the remnant will be saved" (Rom. 9:27, NKJV, emphasis added).

God spoke through Zephaniah concerning Israel: "I will leave in your midst a meek and humble people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. The remnant of Israel shall do no unrighteousness and speak no lies, nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth ..." (Zeph. 3:12, 13, emphasis added).

It is true that all Israel received their gifts and calling but only the remnant will not lose them. God is looking for a meek and humble people who will trust in the name of the Lord, a people who is righteous and speak no lies.

Concerning the Church

I believe God's purpose for His Church is the same. He is also aiming to produce a meek and humble people who will trust in the Lord.

Several Scripture passages, concerning the Church, seem to depict a remnant that has fulfilled certain conditions:

1. Jesus addressed the question: "Are there few who are saved?"

"Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open for us,' and He will answer and say to you, 'I do not know you, where you are from.' Then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.' But He will say, 'I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.'" (Luke 13:24 - 27, NKJV).

2. Jesus gave a similar warning at the Sermon on the Mount:

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you, depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'" (Matthew 7:21 - 23, NKJV).

These people who were given the grace gifts of God (working of miracles, prophesying, casting out demons) were not lying, but they failed to measure up to God's requirement - the nature of the Lamb (Jesus), meekness, purity, holiness and never to compromise the truth of God's Word!

An Empty Cistern or a Full Reservoir

God's people both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament have a choice - either be an empty cistern which cannot hold God's Living Water or be a Full Reservoir of God's Living Water.

God spoke through Jeremiah, "For My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hew themselves cisterns - broken cisterns that can hold no water" (Jeremiah 2:13, NKJV).

Here are some statements of truth:

1. God was saying that Israel had committed two evils: One evil was they forsook God, the God of living waters. The second evil was they hewed out for themselves cisterns - broken cisterns which could hold no water. In other words, they left God's plan and made their own plans. And because their own plans were man-made, they couldn't prosper.

2. God is speaking the same thing to the contemporary Church. We need to follow God's plan for everything we do so we won't be empty, broken cisterns that can hold no water. God doesn't want His people to be empty cisterns; He wants them to be full reservoirs able to hold much living water of the Holy Spirit. Believers won't be able to be full reservoirs without the anointing of God upon their lives. When all believers are anointed the entire Church will be anointed to fulfill God's plan.

Anointing for the Office of Priest and King

In the Old Testament anointing oil was used to commission men to stand in the office of a priest. A good example was the anointing of Aaron and his sons as priests:

"And you shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister to Me as priests" (Exodus 30:30, NKJV).

Anointing oil was also used to commission men to stand or function in the office of a king - for example the anointing of David.

"Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him (David) in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward" (1 Samuel 16:13).

God said, "I have found My servant David, with My holy oil I have anointed him" (Psalm 89:20).


All believers have already been made kings and priests unto God

The New Testament Scripture clearly says we have been made kings and priests and we should be reigning as such in this world now:

"To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen" (Rev. 1:5, 6, NKJV, emphasis added).

".... and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth" (Rev. 5:10).

Paul said, "For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:17, emphasis added).

Here are some statements of truth:

1. Christians are "Those who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness" and they should be reigning through Jesus Christ at the present time - not during the next age!

2. All believers are called to be priests and kings. Because of this fact, all believers are expected to function as intercessors (priests) and rulers (kings).

God desires His Church to be a Full Reservoir

I believe God wants every one of His children to be a full reservoir to His glory. But believers won't be able to be full reservoirs without the anointing of God upon their lives.

You may say that you are already an anointed of God because you are baptized in the Holy Spirit, you speak in tongues and you have it all. But the sad truth is that one initial filling with the Holy Spirit years ago is never enough and you need continuous filling if you want to do God's work effectively.

Someone once said, "People living on past experiences are living on stale manna".

A Spirit baptized Christian without the flesh anointing or unction of the Holy Spirit is living on stale manna. By the way, the word "unction" means "The continuous act of anointing of the Holy Spirit" according to my Greek Dictionary. In short, "unction" means "flesh anointing".

The psalmist said, "But my horn You have exalted like a wild ox; I have been anointed with fresh oil" (Ps. 92:10).

Here are some Scriptural incidences of refilling (fresh anointing) of the Holy Spirit:

1. Peter and John arrested (Act 4)

Peter and John were arrested by the Jewish leaders. Later they let them go after forbidding them to speak or teach in the Name of Jesus. Then they gathered the disciples to pray for boldness (Acts 4:29).

"And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness" (Acts 4:31, NKJV, emphasis added).

These early Christians were initially filled with the Holy Spirit (in Acts Chapter 2). But now they received the unction of the Holy Spirit - the fresh anointing.

2. Christians in Ephesus (Ephesians Chapter 5)

Paul said to the Christians in Ephesus, "And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, ...." (Ephe. 5:18).

In saying this, Paul was not telling these Christians to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit again; they had already received the Holy Spirit as recorded in Acts 19:1 - 6. Paul was telling them to maintain a constant experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit.

Unction is generated through the Word by the Holy Spirit

The divine unction of God is always associated with the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. The spoken Word must be quickened and anointed by the Holy Spirit to give power.

The writer of Hebrews said, "For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Heb. 4:12, KJV, emphasis added).

The Word is quickened and made powerful because of the anointing. The anointing is a divine quickening that is released from the Holy Spirit through the one speaking as the Word is communicated to bring life and reality to the hearers. In other word, unction gives power to the preacher and this unction ministers the Word to the spirit (heart) of the hearers. Without the anointing and the unction the Bible and the messages preached are just words without power. Some Bible teachers called the spoken Word as "rhema" Word - but this is not a Biblical sord and you cannot find it in any version of the Bible.

Paul said, "... that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheitance in the saints, ..." (Ephe. 1:17, 18).

You can listen without hearing and you can look without seeing. Truth can be truth on fire or truth on ice. The difference lies in the unction of the Spirit working through the one who speaks and the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon the listeners.

John said, "But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him"(1 John 2:20, 27, emphasis added).

Taking what Paul and John said together, the "all things" actually means "the revelation in the knowledge of Jesus". Furthermore, Jesus is the Word (John 1:1). To abide in Jesus means also abide in His Word - quickened (anointed) by the Spirit of God.

Breaking the Yoke with the Anointing

In Scripture the word "Yoke" speaks of bondage, burden and pressure upon God's people - both literally and figuratively (spiritually).

Israel was under the yoke of bondage of the Assyrians:

"It shall come to pass in that day that his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil" (Isaiah 10:27, emphasis added).

God allowed Israel to come under the heel of Assyria, a nation He called "the rod of His anger" (Isa. 10:5), because of their disobedience, neglect, willful refusal to listen to God. Notice that God did not only take the yoke away, but He destroyed it because of the anointing. The power of the enemy was broken and God's people were set free.

God is also doing the same thing to Christians today. His anointing will break the yokes of religious and traditional bondage. God wants us to return to the understanding that when the Son sets us free, we are free indeed. Knowing the truth of this is what sets us free. God wants us to live by His light, not by our own light. He has an anointing and a flow of life and power for His people so that all Christians can live in freedom and without fear of bondage.

The Yoke of relationship with Christ

Jesus said, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light" (Matthew 11:28 - 30)

Jesus is telling us that while there is a yoke of bondage, there is also the yoke of relationship with Him. He wants us not to be yoked with the world, but to be yoked with Him. In other words, He will carry our burden. The world's yoke gives us burden and pressure, but His yoke is easy to bear.

In Christ all yokes of bondage are already broken

Paul said, "Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee" (2 Cor. 1:21, 22, NKJV, emphasis added).

We need to live in this truth - God has anointed us, we have the Anointed One (Jesus) within us. Christians are sealed with the same Holy Spirit that came upon Jesus:

"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; ... " (Isaiah 61:1).

We are living in the last of the last days and end-time prophecies are being fulfilled - earthquakes, terrible floods, terrible droughts and all kinds of natural disasters, famines, new diseases, global-warming, wars and rumors of wars, devastating accidents causing the loss of hundreds of lives, senseless killings and uprisings and rampant evil.

One of the strongest yokes of bondage that people are living under today is fear which is linked to the bondages of pressure, stress and anxiety. The divine answer to fear is found in - 1 John 4:18 and 2 Tim. 1:7, 9.

God wants us to live in victory over our circumstances that the curse has brought upon this world. The curse came through Adam, but the victory comes through Christ. We can rejoice in the midst of all our troubles for the yokes that Satan put upon us are already broken because of His anointing over our lives.

Be full reservoirs, and never settle for empty cistern which cannot hold the Living Water of God!