Thursday 31 January 2013

Salvation has 3 tenses

“Salvation”

The term salvation is misleading because it’s meaning is so vague. We can be “saved” from a burning building or even bad company…

Salvation has 3 tenses

1.   I am saved
2.   I am being saved
3.   And I will be saved

What does that mean?

1. I am saved – refers to Justification
2. I am being saved - refers to Sanctification
3. And I will be saved - refers to Glorification

1.   Justification is Past tense is the separation from the Penalty of sin.
2.   Sanctification is Present tense is the separation from the Power of sin
3.   Glorification is Future tense is the separation from the Presence of sin.

1. Justification

Justification is past tense and it is a gift in Christ alone and by Grace alone. Justification means that I have been saved from penalty of death, as can be seen in Ephesians 2. You can’t loose your justification through sins you commit because you didn’t earn righteousness (right-standing with God) it in the first place. Everlasting life is a free gift and is not conditional to our behavior; it is only conditional to our faith in the fact that Jesus is our Savoir.

• Justification was done for us by Jesus
• Justification declares us righteous
• Justification removes the penalty of sin

Ephesians 2:8 (AMP)
8 For it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God;

2. Sanctification

Sanctification is the present tense of salvation. Sanctification means behavior counts - Sin need not rain in your life anymore. You have the power to overcome it through the Holy Spirit. (Book of Romans deals with this topic)
Sanctification is progressive; it is a work in progress that involves the faith and works of the believer. Your sanctification will be manifest by your behavior. Behavior matters! Behavior is not important for justification but once you have been justified, behavior counts! Sanctification leads to glorification, which is yet in the future. Know that some believers will have more glory than others – (book of Hebrews deals with this topic.)

• Sanctification happens inside of us
• Sanctification makes us to be as righteous as we have been declaired
• Sanctification removes the growth and power of sin

2 Timothy 2:21-26 (NKJV)
21 Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. 22 Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 23 But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. 24 And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, 25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, 26 and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.

3. Glorification

The dictionary says: Glorification is to be lifted into the glory of God’s presence. Moses on the mountain, Jesus at His transfiguration on the mount (and countless others who are not recorded in the Bible) have literally shone white light (called the shakinah glory) from their skin, as they have come into the presence of the Almighty God.

• Glorification is of God
• Glorification makes us perfect
• Glorification takes place in the absence of sin altogether

1 Corinthians 2:7 (AMP)
But rather what we are setting forth is a wisdom of God once hidden [from the human understanding] and now revealed to us by God—[that wisdom] which God devised and decreed before the ages for our glorification [to lift us into the glory of His presence].

- Based on the teachings of Dr. Chuck Missler

Thursday 24 January 2013

Ark of the Testimony

Few people appreciate the amazing design and inhuman planning that went into the writing of the Bible. The entire Old Testament was written in the form of a promise or a prophecy, foretelling God’s Plan to save mankind, as well as the proof of how incapable mankind is to handle the responsibility of our own redemption, perfection and righteousness.

I think we often misunderstand Jesus when He said in Matthew 5:17 that He did not come to do away with the Old Testament.

Matthew 5:17 (AMP)

17 Do not think that I have come to do away with or undo the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to do away with or undo but to complete and fulfill them.

He was not saying that we should put ourselves under the Old Testament Law because in Galatians 3:10 it says that doing so we are putting ourselves under a curse.

Galatians 3:10 (AMP)

10 And all who depend on the Law [who are seeking to be justified by obedience to the Law of rituals] are under a curse and doomed to disappointment and destruction, for it is written in the Scriptures, Cursed (accursed, devoted to destruction, doomed to eternal punishment) be everyone who does not continue to abide (live and remain) by all the precepts and commands written in the Book of the Law and to practice them.

What I believe Jesus was saying is that every new thing that came after and because of His death, was foreshadowed in design through the Old Testament. That is what He came to “fulfil” instead of “do away with”.

Easy examples are:

1. The Passover Lamb that foreshadowed the sacrifice of Jesus also called “The Lamb”.

2. The crossing of the Jordan River foreshadows our rebirth from our old sinful life (represented by Egypt) into the Promised Land or God’s Kingdom (represented by Canaan).

3. The incident of the bronze snake on the wooden stick that saved the Israelites in the dessert. They where bitten by snakes and God’s plan for their salvation was for them to set their eyes on the snake (that represents sin) on a stick (which represents the cross).  Interestingly this is still today the international sign for medical institutions, just look at your medical-aid bracelet on your wrist.

There are literally thousands of these shadows that prophecy the coming age of the rain of Christ but it also proves that God’s plan has always been in the making to save us from our spiritual death through grace.

A while ago I got an amazing revelation on an Old Testament type or shadow of the “Ark of the Covenant” also called the “Ark of the Testimony”. It was when I heard this alternative name, “The Ark of the Testimony”, that I had this revelation.

“The Ark of the Covenant” The Hebrew word for it is: Aron Habrit, also known as the “Ark of the Testimony”. It is a chest described in the Book of Exodus:

Exodus 37:1-5 (AMP)

1 Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood—two cubits and a half was the length of it, a cubit and a half the breadth of it, and a cubit and a half the height of it.
2 He overlaid it with pure gold within and without and made a molding or crown of gold to go around the top of it.
3 He cast four rings of gold for its four corners, two rings on either side.
4 He made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.
5 He put the poles through the rings at the sides of the ark to carry it.

Now if you go and look at the Ark, it had images of two angels, also called cherubim on its lid, both protecting the mercy seat on which God revealed himself to the High priest once a year, in a cloud.

This is a bizarre piece of history…

No other man made object has ever housed such Godly Power. This is what the New Testament says about it:

Hebrews 9:1-15 (AMP)

1 Now even the first covenant had its own rules and regulations for divine worship, and it had a sanctuary [but one] of this world.
2 For a tabernacle (tent) was erected, in the outer division or compartment of which were the lampstand and the table with [its loaves of] the showbread set forth. [This portion] is called the Holy Place.
3 But [inside] beyond the second curtain or veil, [there stood another] tabernacle [division] known as the Holy of Holies.
4 It had the golden altar of incense and the ark (chest) of the covenant, covered over with wrought gold. This [ark] contained a golden jar, which held the manna and the rod of Aaron that sprouted and the [two stone] slabs of the covenant [bearing the Ten Commandments].
5 Above [the ark] and overshadowing the mercy seat were the representations of the cherubim [winged creatures which were the symbols] of glory. We cannot now go into detail about these things.
6 These arrangements having thus been made, the priests enter [habitually] into the outer division of the tabernacle in performance of their ritual acts of worship.
7 But into the second [division of the tabernacle] none but the high priest goes, and he only once a year, and never without taking a sacrifice of blood with him, which he offers for himself and for the errors and sins of ignorance and thoughtlessness which the people have committed.
8 By this the Holy Spirit points out that the way into the [true Holy of] Holies is not yet thrown open as long as the former [the outer portion of the] tabernacle remains a recognized institution and is still standing,

(In other words religious acts will keep you from gaining access to the Holy of Holies, where the Glory resides.)

9 Seeing that that first [outer portion of the] tabernacle was a parable (a visible symbol or type or picture of the present age). In it gifts and sacrifices are offered, and yet are incapable of perfecting the conscience or of cleansing and renewing the inner man of the worshiper.
10 For [the ceremonies] deal only with clean and unclean meats and drinks and different washings, [mere] external rules and regulations for the body imposed to tide the worshipers over until the time of setting things straight [of reformation, of the complete new order when Christ, the Messiah, shall establish the reality of what these things foreshadow—a better covenant].
11 But [that appointed time came] when Christ (the Messiah) appeared as a High Priest of the better things that have come and are to come. [Then] through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with [human] hands, that is, not a part of this material creation,
12 He went once for all into the [Holy of] Holies [of heaven], not by virtue of the blood of goats and calves [by which to make reconciliation between God and man], but His own blood, having found and secured a complete redemption (an everlasting release for us).
13 For if [the mere] sprinkling of unholy and defiled persons with blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a burnt heifer is sufficient for the purification of the body,
14 How much more surely shall the blood of Christ, Who by virtue of [His] eternal Spirit [His own preexistent divine personality] has offered Himself as an unblemished sacrifice to God, purify our consciences from dead works and lifeless observances to serve the [ever] living God?
15 [Christ, the Messiah] is therefore the Negotiator and Mediator of an [entirely] new agreement (testament, covenant), so that those who are called and offered it may receive the fulfillment of the promised everlasting inheritance—since a death has taken place which rescues and delivers and redeems them from the transgressions committed under the [old] first agreement.

Basically…

Without Jesus being your righteousness, you cannot come before God unclean and not die…

Some of you might never have thought on this, but it explains why we need righteousness to be able to become filled with the Holy Spirit. Some historians say that the High Priest used to have a rope tied to his ankle when he went into the Holy of Holies, because he would literally drop dead if he had un-repented sin before God and nobody was allowed in there to remove his body or they would also die.

Whether this be true or not, the fact is that without ritualistic cleansing, “death” was a real option when appearing in an unrighteous state in the presence of God.

Can you see how it would be life threatening for us to become Spirit filled Christians without the right standing and un-blemished reputation of Christ?

Leviticus 16:2 (AMP)

2 The Lord said to Moses, Tell Aaron your brother he must not come at all times into the Holy of Holies within the veil before the mercy seat upon the ark, lest he die; for I will appear in the cloud on the mercy seat.

The veil separating us

From the moment of Jesus’ death, when the veil separating us from the Holy Spirit was torn, we became the Arks of the Testimony in the place of or instead of the wooden man made box called the Ark. We became the official carriers of God’s Spirit.  We became the Arks of His Testimony, we became the Body of Christ.

In Revelation 12:11, it says that in the last days we will overcome Satan with the blood of the Lamb and our testimony.

Revelation 12:11 (AMP)

11 And they have overcome (conquered) him by means of the blood of the Lamb and by the utterance of their testimony, for they did not love and cling to life even when faced with death [holding their lives cheap till they had to die for their witnessing].

What was carried in the Ark of the Testimony?

(1)         Manna
(2)         Aarons budding staff
(3)         The 10 Commandments.

What is the testimony that we should be carrying?

Lets look at the symbolism of the 3 items?

1. Manna

Manna is bread and bread represents the Word of God.

If you read Exodus 16:9-20 the Israelites had to pick up new manna every day (except for the day before the Sabbath where they had to pick up enough for two days) otherwise it became rotten. Hording Word without consuming it will lead to decay.

• In other words: Manna represents Fresh Word not accumulated but rather, digested Word.

2. Aaron's budding staff

The 12 tribes each brought an almond staff carved to represent their tribe head. Only Aaron’s became alive over-night and produced Almonds and flowers. This was done to stop people form rebelling (as can be seen in Numbers 17:4-10).

• “The budding staff,” is a foreshadowing of Jesus being nailed to dead wood and sprouting life from that wood. The budding-staff also represents the signs and wonders that will follow those who believe in the resurrected Christ as well as the authority they possess to overcome those who are rebellious. This can also be seen in the book of Mark.

Mark 16:17-20  (AMP)
17 And these attesting signs will accompany those who believe: in My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages;
18 They will pick up serpents; and [even] if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will get well.
19 So then the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and He sat down at the right hand of God.
20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord kept working with them and confirming the message by the attesting signs and miracles that closely accompanied [it]. Amen (so be it).

3. The 10 commandments

2 Chronicles 6:11 (AMP)

11 In it (the temple) have I put the ark [the symbol of His presence], in which is the covenant of the Lord [the Ten Commandments] which He made with the people of Israel.

These are the 10 basic things God asks of us as part of the covenant agreement, which will inevitably lead to a successful society:

1.   I am your God
2.   You cannot serve any other gods
3.   You cannot use the name of God in vain
4.   Keep the Sabbath holy
5.   Honour you father and mother
6.   Do not murder
7.   Do not commit adultery
8.   Do not steal
9.   Do not bear false witness against people 
10. Do not covet what others have

Jesus simplified it even more by summing it up as just one word – “LOVE”, love for one another and love for God, yet we still fail at it…

There are no “conditions” per se, other than believing that Jesus is Lord and Saviour, but there are “requirements” to the covenant relationship with God.

• In other words, The 10 Commandments represents the Heart of God

THE BODY OF CHRIST

God calls us, the righteous believers, THE BODY OF CHRIST we are the earthly holders of an unworldly Spiritual Being. The “Ark of the Testimony” is the closest foreshadowing of the “Body of Christ” to be found in the Old Testament - an ungodly vessel, carrying the testimony, and power of an All-Mighty God.

1 Samuel 6:1-11 (AMP) – Uzzah’s story

1 Again David gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, 30,000.
2 And [he] arose and went with all the people who were with him to Baale-judah [Kiriath-jearim] to bring up from there the ark of God,
which is called by the name of the Lord of hosts, Who sits enthroned above the cherubim.
3 And they set the ark of God upon a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, drove the new cart.
4 And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill, with the ark of God; and Ahio went before the ark.
5 And David and all the house of Israel played before the Lord with all their might, with songs, lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals.
6 And when they came to Nacon’s threshing floor, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled and shook it.
7 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for touching the ark, and he died there by the ark of God.

Uzzah’s story is proof that we would have died being filled with the Holy Spirit if we where not worthy by the righteousness of Jesus to be able to “touch God”.

What happens when people come into touch with you?

Does that which has its root in evil, like illness and depression, leave on contact with you “The Ark” that carries the Glory and Testimony of God?

It is told that John G. Lake (the famous healing preacher) was taken into a laboratory where a scientist put germs on his skin under a microscope and it would just instantly die because of the healing anointing lingering on his skin.

The Ark’s presence in an ungodly environment…

1 Samuel 5:1-4 (AMP) – Dagon’ story

1 The Philistines brought the ark of God from Ebenezer to Ashdod.
2 They took the ark of God into the house of Dagon and set it beside Dagon [their idol].
3 When they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon had fallen upon his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and set him in his place again.
4 But when they arose early the next morning, behold, Dagon had again fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord, and [his] head and both the palms of his hands were lying cut off on the threshold; only the trunk of Dagon was left him.
19. Are you an Ark to the systems of the world? Can your mere presence, bring down false gods - face down? The Ark was never God. We are not allowed to build things made of earthly matter and call it God, yet the so-called “god” Dagon had to bow.

Why did Dagon have to bow?

It was because of the authority the Ark represented and carried, the testimony it bore.

• Do you carry fresh, “one day old manna” or Word in you?
• Do you carry the testimony of dead wood that produced life?
• Do you bare testimony of the heart of God, the Great I AM?
• Do you bare testimony of how God saved you?

The power that resided in the Ark

Joshua 3:8-17 (AMP) - Parting the Jordan River

8 You shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.
9 Joshua said to the Israelites, Come near, hear the words of the Lord your God.
10 Joshua said, Hereby you shall know that the living God is among you and that He will surely drive out from before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites.
11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan!
12 So now take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe.
13 When the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord of all the earth shall rest in the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan coming down from above shall be cut off and they shall stand in one heap.
14 So when the people set out from their tents to pass over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant before the people,
15 And when those who bore the ark had come to the Jordan and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were in the brink of the water—for the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest—
16 Then the waters which came down from above stood and rose up in a heap far off, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt [Dead] Sea, were wholly cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho.
17 And while all Israel passed over on dry ground, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.

We are the Arks of the Testimony!

If we are the New Covenant Arks of the Testimony, then it is our divine duty to place ourselves in the Jordan River of every other person that has not yet crossed over from death to life in Christ. From the wilderness to Canaan, no matter how wide or rough anybody’s river “of things that hold them back from a life in Christ” may be, you can stop that river, you can break through that barrier with your testimony.

You do not have to try and stop the river’s flow in your own strength, all you have to do, is carry the testimony of a living God in 3 ways:

1. Through His Word  
(Which is represented by the manna)

2. By the authority of His Resurrection - Power and Miracles (Which is represented by the budding staff)

3. Whilst being carriers of His heart
(Which is represented by The 10 Commandments)

His Word, His Power, His Heart! That is when you get to walk into the Jordan River of a potential new believer, knowing that you can part that river for a moment in time, just enough so that they can cross from death to life, from the wilderness to Canaan.

Saving a Satanist…

My sister in law went on a tent crusade in the eighties. She wasn’t anybody of real importance she just assisted as an usher. They had travelled to Namibia and she was walking outside the tent when she passed a lady dressed in a long skirt and flip-flops. She had a sudden urge to stop this lady and she put her hand on the woman’s shoulder. All she felt led to say was: “Jesus loves you”, and went on her merry way.

That night, the pastor phoned my sister-in-law and told her to urgently come and help them pray for a lady, who was a top level Satanic Priestess who had come to them for deliverance. The Satanist said that someone had placed their hand on her shoulder earlier that day and told her that  “Jesus loves her”, at that same instance she felt the supernatural love of God flow through her body and it led her to instantly repent. She became a formidable preacher in Namibia after her salvation.

What advantage do we have above every other religion on earth?

They have to save people by persuasion and empty promises. We can supernaturally lead them to salvation on dry ground, through His Word, by the authority of His resurrection power and Miracles, whilst being a carrier of His heart.

1. If Jesus is called “the Word” and is represented by the Manna,
2. The budding staff represents God’s miraculous power on earth – associated with the Holy Spirit,
3. And the 10 Commandments represents God’s heart - God calls Himself "Love" 

Looking at all 3 types or shadows: The “Ark of the testimony” ultimately testifies of Jesus, the Holy Spirit and God the Father…

1.   Manna = the Word = Jesus
2.   Budding staff = the Power = Holy Spirit
3.   The 10 Commandments = Love = God the Father

Fathers and leaders as Arks of His Testimony

As fathers of households, and leaders as well as potential leaders of congregations, we are supposed to be the fire at night and the cloud by day that keeps our families and our congregations guarded against the heat and darkness of this world. You should be walking in front as true Arks of the Testimony of Who God is.

You should cover your families and congregation in prayer and lead them by the comforting love of the Holy Spirit. Never be too busy to pray for your members and never neglect the move of the Holy Spirit.

Wednesday 23 January 2013

Talking to God about Take-Aways and Caves

I admit to the fact that I am a complete Word Nerd

I have discovered that the more I read my Bible the more questions I have and the more questions I have the more amazing answers I find. I have even thought in the silence of my bedroom that, if I could choose my own life and make my own plans, I would choose to sit in a cave somewhere and analyze every word the Bible contains until I have exhausted every level of its meaning, but then I discovered an exhaustive concordance and the urge passed to a certain degree…

A funny moment

When I had just started reading my Bible with the advantage of revelation, I just could not get enough Word in me so I became a little OCD and carried my Bible everywhere, just in case I found a moment to read.

So one day I realized that I had been running around like a headless chicken and felt so hungry around noon, after skipping breakfast, that I decided to get myself a pizza. Whilst waiting for my pizza I sat reading my Bible in the Take-away and just as I got to an amazingly interesting part somewhere between Deuteronomy and Song of Solomon, the stupid pizza was done and my running had to commence again.

As I walked out of the Take-away with my pizza in my one hand and my enormous Bible in the other, I looked up to heaven and said to God: “Don’t You just want to lock me in a cave until I finished reading this Book?” and as I did this I felt God smiling at my freakish behaviour.

I got into my car and realized that I probably didn’t have enough cash on me for the parking meter attendant. I opened my wallet and there it was… R2.75 stacked from the largest to the smallest coin one on top of the other, ready for me to just hand it over.
I smiled and laughed out loud and I asked God if He had done this because of my crazy “cave comment”.

It was the end of the month and my hubby had asked me to get 3 months bank statements from FNB and I realized that the bank would be a madhouse. I only had 6 minutes to go into the bank before I would be late picking up my kids from school.

As I drove past the bank, there was a parking spot right in front of the bank, in the shade. Just too amazing to resist, I ran in to see if I could (now with only 5 minutes left), get those bank statements. The line at the information desk was around “20 people long” with just 2 ladies on duty and I saw a gap to run up to one of the seated consultants. She told me that she could not help me and that the “20 people” line was my only hope.

I considered running out the bank when a little voice convinced me to just get into the line. I stood there for no longer than 30 seconds when the bank manager came out of his office and asked if anybody needed to have bank statements printed… bank statements printed?

That’s not normal…usually they ask, “Who has cheques to deposit?” I was the only one who put up my hand. The irony is that he took me to the same consultant who told me that it could not be done and instructed her to print them for me. I was out of there in less than 5 minutes. I felt like I was on a joyride through town with my invisible friend helping me. So now you know why I like joking about reading the Bible in a cave.

Since then I’ve learned to balance my love for my God my family and my church without neglecting any one of the 3 and I just indulge in the moments God speaks to me about His Word and when He gives me fresh manna (Word) to play with, to learn from as well as to implement in my life.