Meta-more-foo-may-I
Declaring good news of real change out of, through, and into the Spirit of Jesus Christ Rom. 12:2, Rom. 11:36
Faith
(Part 11)
Believest thou this?
“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the rising again, and the life; he who is believing in (eis--into) me, even if he may die, shall live; 26. and every one who is living and believing in (eis—into) me shall not die—to the age; 27. believest thou this?’…” John 11:25-27, Young’s Literal Translation.
Life of the ages, commonly translated as eternal or everlasting in the King James Version is perhaps the greatest and most misunderstood promise that Jesus gave to us as believers into Him. I will be honest; I could not begin to do the living reality of the Logos word justice in an attempt to open this up to you. Further more, that is not the point of what I am trying to convey. This life is literally one subject that has neither beginning nor end. This Logos word is truly eternal. You see, Jesus is the Logos word; He is the life. Check out John’s Gospel, chapter one, verses 1-4; see what I mean! “In the beginning, was the Word, (Logos) and the Word (Logos) was with God, and the Word (Logos) was God…4. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.” And while the Logos, is truly eternal in the sense of neither beginning or ending, the life of the age or ages, because it is given to and pertaining to us, is more correctly translated and interpreted to incorporate a sense of time. The Greek word used here is aion, and it is the same word from which our English word eon is derived. We need only to look at any good dictionary to begin to understand the meaning of this word. My Funk and Wagnalls Standard Desk Dictionary gives this description, “ Eon, 1. An incalculable period of time; an age; eternity. 2. Geologic, A time interval including two or more eras.” And yet, even here, because of that one little word, eternity, we find two contradictory ideas. Why is this, and how do we decipher the truth of the matter? “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: But the honour of kings to search out a matter.” Proverbs 25:2. KJV “However, when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but will speak only what he hears; and he will make known to you what is to come.” John 16:13 The Revised English Bible.
Traditionally Speaking
We have two contradictory thoughts found in this word aion—Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance—Greek # 165, because of the misguided traditions of a wayward, rebellious, man-made, church system. Just as the church system teaches eternal life, it also teaches the doctrine of eternal damnation. Both of these teachings contain this word aion in some fashion, yet popular religion has persisted in mistranslating this particular word. Why? The answer may surprise you! Woe unto those who will neither enter themselves, nor allow others to enter, woe to you scribes and Pharisees!—Paraphrase of Matt. 23:13
There are several warnings in the epistles of Paul, James, Peter and John about the uprising of the Nicolaitanian doctrine of separation and domination of the “clergy” over those considered to be “laity”. These faithful brethren teach us that we should place others above ourselves, love and serve each other. We need only remember the horrors of the Dark Ages to understand why this doctrine is so hated by our Lord Jesus. One of the tools power hungry individuals use, to subdue and dominate others, is fear in ignorance. So to instill an ignorant, fearful, and thus worshipful attitude of the minister, bishop or king, people were denied access to literature and scripture, the skill of reading was gradually minimized to a ruling class (kingly and priestly—a poor earthy representation of the heavenly reality to which we are called), and people were spoon-fed corrupted doctrines by the rulers of the age out of desire to hold on to power. AND WE have something in us, laziness, or whatever, that likes it this way. This is the easy way, rather than hearing from God for ourselves, (Moses you go, we will listen to you.) and having God be our final decision maker. We serve kings (presidents) as rulers so we don’t have to be responsible for governing ourselves; and priests are to hear from God, so we don’t have to be accountable for our hearts and minds in the presence of the Holiness of God.
Quoting Preston Eby, “…names (names represent the nature of the name-Author’s note) are symbolic of the heresies they represent. When a name appears in the scriptures its meaning sheds light upon the spiritual reality behind the name. What was this thing God hated but man loved and would not stop doing? What are these Nicolaitanes? We’ll understand it when we know what the name means! The word comes from two Greek words: nikao, which means ‘to rule over, or to conquer,’ and laos, which means ‘the laity or the people.’ Put these definitions together and you get a domineering ruling class within the body of Christ whose main agenda is to get the upper hand, conquer, subordinate, and subdue those who they consider ‘less gifted,’ ‘less knowledgeable,’ and ‘less qualified’ than themselves!”—ENDQUOTE--J. Preston Eby FROM THE CANDLESTICK TO THE THRONE Part 33 THE CHURCH IN EPHESUS.
But how does all this relate to the fear-factor I was talking about earlier? If people are led to believe that hell and the lake of fire are an eternal judgment upon the wickedness of sin as has been taught for so many generations, then many, in fear for their very souls, will heed the words of those seeking to rule over them. Ex-communication was a very real threat during the dark-ages. In fact, hell and the lake of fire ARE judgment upon the wickedness of our sin condition; but when we begin to come into the light and life of Jesus Christ within, we then begin to walk in the righteousness of God in Christ, and we come into union with the fire of God within us. It is written, even in the King James Version, that our God is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:29), and that His ministers are a flame of fire (Heb. 1:7). Judgment, which must first begin in the House of God, which we are, (1 Pet. 2:5, 1 Pet. 4:17) then begins to work and show forth victoriously in our lives. God will purify every word, Logos and Rhema, spoken unto us, within us and that comes from us. He uses the fiery furnace of earth (Ps. 12:6), the smith which bloweth upon the coals (Isa. 54:16) and the very fire of His Holy Spirit (Matt. 3:10-11) to purify us, in and into, righteous separation unto Him. So then it becomes apparent that God’s righteous judgment is for the purpose of correction, to bring us into union with Him through Jesus Christ. Once a problem is corrected, the need for correction is over. When we are in union, in the Spirit of Jesus Christ, with our heavenly Father, we no longer require judging. So then this correction is not eternal as it has been taught to us for so long, but for an age, age-abiding. It is an aionian or aionial judgment which finds fulfillment as we come into that perfect union in the Spirit. Scripture bears this out, as the word aion in various forms is always connected with scriptures relating to quote-unquote “eternal judgment.” Furthermore, it is this same judgment/correction which will eventually be brought to bear in the lives of all. Don’t believe me; check out 1 Cor. 15:22, Rom. 11:36, Rev. 21:5, John 12:32, and so on and on. This doctrine of God’s salvation and reconciliation unto all is throughout the entire written word. You must be free of tradition to see it, as it is revealed in the Holy Spirit; but it is repeated over and over again. It is men, in a lust for power and earthly authority, who want God’s judgment to last forever. But God tells us plainly that, “A just weight and balance are the Lord’s…” and that, “A false balance is abomination to the Lord: But a just weight is His delight.” (Prov. 16:11, Prov. 11:1) Even a very long, full life of say 100 years cannot begin to equal an eternity of judgment upon that life. Oh how telling it is when we say we walk in love and yet would be willing to believe a doctrine of eternal damnation. 1 Cor. 15:22 tells us that, “as in Adam all died, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” Also Jesus said: “If I be lifted up…I will draw all men unto my self. John 12:32 So, the question is, “believest thou this?” God is love, “believest thou this?” God is all-powerful, believest thou this?” God will have all men to be saved, “believest thou this?” God’s judgment is judgment unto correction, “believest thou this?” God has given unto His Son Jesus, who is The Christ, the keys of death and hell, believest thou this? God has hidden the mystery of life, His life, in us so that we would seek Him with our entire being, spirit, heart/soul, and body as a logical, logistical and reasonable service unto Him, “believest thou this?”
The Great Escape
Another tool used to control and thus subvert people to the will of an earthy master is found in the idea of suffering with a hope of escape. It is not hard to recognize the difficult times that we all endure. Each generation believes that it has suffered as has no other, while Jesus told us that, “…Sufficient for each day is its own trouble.” (Matt. 6:34—The Amplified Bible) But if you offer all those suffering people a way of escape, however distant into the future, you will have a large percentage of them willing to believe whatever you tell them. When God delivered the Children of Israel out of the bondage of Egypt, the people were, at first, very ready to be delivered and thus happy to be leaving; but they later found out that they were still in love with that world system (Egypt), and would have, at several points during their journey through the wilderness, just as happily, returned there. I submit to you that it would be no different today. Perchance God would take all of His believers off of this earth, I would venture to guess that ninety percent of them would grumble and complain about wanting to return just as did the Children of Israel to Moses. God does call us to come out of the world (spiritual Egypt), but not to come off of the world. But the idea of some kind of escape from our troubles, or from some great cataclysmic event yet to unfold, the very idea of escape in such circumstances does have a certain appeal, in its way, to those presently without victory/judgment working in their lives.
A lot of people believe salvation is like some kind of “fire-insurance” in which they will be able to escape from the fires of hell and eternal damnation. And just like insurance sold, you can get the cheap kind, salvation only “by the skin of your teeth”, or with a little extra effort and devotion you can get the deluxe insurance. Do this, read that, sing in the choir, don’t forget to witness and tithe; and some, in fear and hope, will go along with every word. And we allow this to continue; because somehow we have gotten the idea that those in charge are more spiritual, knowledgeable and capable of hearing God. This is that doctrine of the Nicolaitanes that Jesus hated so much.
Lest we forget, we are called to overcome. If you haven’t already guessed, there is no great escape. (For a deeper, more complete study on the rapture belief, log on to www.godfire.net and look up the article entitled The Rapture Question by Elwin Roach.) Oh, I know what the system teaches; but the bible is either spiritually, discerned and understood; or, it is the letter that kills in accordance with the will and purpose of God, its Author who is Spirit. We will either overcome, or be overcome. Just as worldly insurance cannot prevent a fire from happening; neither can a “fire-insurance” understanding of God’s redemption prevent the believer from the reality of the lake of fire of God’s Holy presence. If you die physically, the soul is eternal, Jesus Christ holds the keys of death, the judgment will continue until you are found in Him. If you can hear this in His Spirit, this is good news. We can quit worrying about our poor, lost forever (?), loved ones and focus on His presence within us. We are told that all wood, hay and stubble will be consumed. Is there any wood (the carnality of Adam) left in your nature? Hay? Stubble? Even the gold, silver and precious stones of God’s nature, redemption and workings in our lives will go through the fire of God’s presence and essence for purification and refinement; how much more then those things which have their origin in our carnal Adamic nature. God is after a people who will seek HIM with their entire being, and desire of Him only one thing, to be like Him. And He will have this from all; but we have this thing about time. If you don’t accept and believe while you are alive physically then it is too late after you physically die. What utter hogwash! Men want you to believe this to keep you bound to them, to make them feel important. The question is are we overcomers, or being overcome? Jesus said, “my yoke is easy, my burden is light”, believest thou this? It is the glory of God to hide a thing, believest thou this? It is the wisdom of kings to search out a matter, believest thou this? Our Lord Jesus Christ holds the keys of both death and hell, believest thou this? His judgment is judgment unto correction and not revenge and punishment, believest thou this? His judgment is age-abiding, believest thou this? God will have all men to be saved, believest thou this? The sacrifice of Jesus of Nazareth as the perfect Lamb of God was sufficient for all, believest thou this? Our God is a consuming fire, believest thou this? Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God, our heavenly Father, believest thou this? God is love, believest thou this?
Riches and Glory
Another tool that men use to bind and subjugate others to themselves is greed. Now, this one is tricky, so pay attention. Outwardly, they will teach and preach a message of giving, living within your means and a denying of the lust of worldly treasure. And that is right and proper; yet they will, at the same time, teach a message which will allow you to transfer your earthly greed and lust to a heavenly locale for some later date. Store up your treasures in heaven, right? Talk to most Christians, and it isn’t five words into the conversation until they want you to day-dream with them about their mansion in glory. Streets paved with gold; in fact gold so common and prevalent that they pave the streets with it. Forget simple economics which says that the more you have of something, the less valuable it becomes. And forget overcoming, they prefer to wait for the treasures they think they will get later rather than know the treasure, the pearl of great price, which is God in man.
Tradition tells us there will be jewels, a big mansion and golden harps to play on. And the food, I mean wow, a table spread with the choicest (must be kosher) meats and wine, bread, milk and honey, not to mention the best of the harvest, the first-fruits, all these things with Jesus at the head of the spread. And yet, we do have some understanding that meat in scripture is speaking of deep heavenly revelation of the word of God, and oil and wine both refer to the Holy Spirit in some capacity. So why is it so difficult for us to see that mansions speak of and refer to US as the habitation/dwelling place of God’s presence within us? “In my Father’s house there are many mansions…” Whose house? Not Larry’s mansion, Larry the mansion of God. Do you see? It is difficult for us because of our greed, and that’s the way we are taught, to be greedy.
Rev. 21:9-10, 21 “…’Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.’ 10. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, (the bride) descending out of heaven from God, 21. …and the street of the city was pure gold…” How can a bride be a city, when we know that our regenerated souls are the bride of Christ? How can a city have only one street? Look it up for yourselves, it says street, not streets. These are spiritual realities. They relate to earthly counterparts only in some small degree. The earthly parts are for identification purposes, only; they are not the final say so of the matter. These things are only types and shadows of the true things of the heavenly realm. They cannot be understood literally, because the literal mind is the earthy carnal mind which is in need of transforming (Rom. 12:2). The street of gold, in the city who is the bride of the Lamb, would be Jesus Christ. He is the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the earth, who is the way (John 14:6). Do you see? And as Jesus is the perfect, express image of the character and nature of God (Heb. 1:3), it is no wonder that the way, the street is of gold.
All the pearls and diamonds, sapphires, jasper, emerald and chalcedony, beryl, topazes and amethysts, etc. (jewels) are spiritual representations of the precious and beautiful qualities which God in Jesus Christ through His Holy Spirit works into our lives. We are indeed rich, but not with earthly riches, neither do we have a heavenly retirement home; but we have, at least in part, the reality of God in us. What more do we need? It is men who seek to be rich in this age and world because they know not the fullness of joy which can be theirs in union with their heavenly Father through our Lord Jesus Christ. It is men who desire the riches of this world because of the power it brings them. Also, it is men who wish to transfer earthly greed and lust to the heavenly realm so they continue to be or start to be rich there. So the question is, God is working His precious golden nature into us by the power of His Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ our Lord, believest thou this? All of our needs are met in Him, believest thou this? God gives good gifts to those who ask in the name (nature) of Jesus Christ, believest thou this? We are the dwelling place, the mansion if you will, of the greatness of our God, believest thou this? We are not of the earthy any longer, but belonging to and in the heavens as we have been raised and seated together within Him, believest thou this? God is love, believest thou this? God’s working in your life is the greatest treasure, the pearl of great price, for which you will sell all you have, believest thou this?
Clergical Procedure
Again, I quote from Preston Eby’s work. “In the religious world there are those who are called ‘clergy’ and those who are called ‘laity.’” These are titles that have “come to us from religious Babylon!” The ‘clergy’ are “the people who have the power, authority, and lordship! The rest of us poor folks are just ‘laity.’ We have here a ‘caste system’ of ‘clergy’ and ‘laity’ which has been clearly and soundly repudiated by the firstborn Son of God! The firstborn Son, the pattern Son, the proto-type of what the life of sonship is all about, said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men hold them in subjection; but it must not be so among you. On the contrary, whoever desires to be first among you must be your slave; and whosoever may desire to take rank among you, let him be your servant: just as the Son of man came not to be served, but to serve. You are not to be called teacher, for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth father, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. And you must not be called leaders, for you have one Leader, the Christ. He who is greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whosoever humbles himself shall be raised to honor (Mat. 20:25-27; 23:8-12, Amplified & Ferrar Fenton). Men love to rule, even though God has called all of us to SERVE one another. How many churches or groups can we point out today who observe these words of the Lord Jesus? THINK ABOUT IT!”—END QUOTE J. Preston Eby—FROM THE CANDLESTICK TO THE THRONE-Part 33-THE CHURCH IN EPHESUS
Using fear, greed, pride, envy and doubt like the fingers of some ghastly hand of human understanding, those who like to think of themselves as a spiritual somebody will inadvertently, or more seriously on purpose, squeeze the Life of Christ out of the heart believing but without understanding; the heart believing but with many cares; and the heart believing but unable to see past the curse of Adam. They can use these “tools-fear, greed, pride, envy and doubt” because they reflect what is abundant in their own hearts. It has been said that “misery loves company.” And it is true! People who are miserable will often times spread their misery around. Have you ever noticed this? Religious minded people are the same way in that they will look for every opportunity to lay their heavy chains of a belief system on others to have someone to share their burden with. Jesus said it like this, “The scribes and Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat [of authority]. 3. So observe and practice all they tell you; but do not do what they do, for they preach, but do not practice. 4. They tie up heavy loads, hard to bear, and place them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves will not lift a finger to help bear them. 5. They do all their works to be seen of men…” Matt. 23: 2-5. And, honestly, most people do not even know the depth of deception into which they have been led. (This goes double for most who consider themselves to be “clergy.”) They go to church, and listen to what the preacher says, and they go home and try to do what he tells them. But they miss the entire point. God wants them to hear from Him. Six hours of church duty a week, (if you are really dedicated) and most people believe they have their God time at quota. From then on, they are free to go about the rest of their lives. They will tell themselves, “I don’t steal; I don’t cheat on my wife/husband; I haven’t murdered anyone; I must be alright.” Never mind the still small voice that says: “turn-off the TV so I can tell you of who I am and just how much I love you and how special you are to me.” So the question is God is speaking to us, believest thou this? I, as a lay-person, am just as capable of hearing God speak as is the preacher, believest thou this? We are brothers and sisters, equal in the eyes of God, believest thou this? It is in the secret place (the closet) within my own heart where I can hear God speak to me, believest thou this? I have no need for any MAN to teach me, only His Spirit, believest thou this? God loves you, believest thou this? You are special and unique, peculiar even, in the Body of Christ, believest thou this? God is Spirit, believest thou this? We worship Him in spirit and in truth, believest thou this? God is love, believest thou this? God will be all in all, believest thou this?
Belief System?
It is not hard to see and understand that there have been many “belief systems” in the not too distant past. A friend of mine compared the linear progression of God’s moving in the hearts of believers to a train on a track. God is the engine, the Holy Spirit is the fuel, and Jesus Christ is the track upon which the whole thing goes, but then you have all of these different compartments, different cars. And depending on which car you are in, you can actually journey through time. You can start out on the Judaic car, and try to live by the laws given to Moses. People, in that car, look for the Rock which is Christ, even though it follows them around, without ever finding it. Then you have those on the car of the great (?) Roman Church, and in going into that car, you can journey back into the belief system of the dark ages. Then you can travel through the different stages (cars) of the Protestant Reformation, until you come to the main churches of today. Baptist, Methodist, Holiness, Assemblies of God, Church of God, Seventh-Day Adventists, all of these have been, and even now are being used by God to hide His truth. What-What! You read it, I said it. It is the Glory of God to hide a thing; it is the wisdom of Kings to search out a matter. God has hidden a part of His life in every one of these bodies of death. His desire toward us though is to bring us into union with Him through the power of His Holy Spirit in Jesus Christ. This would take you past, above and beyond the train, (linear) mentality, into that which is truly eternal. He would have us seek Him, and not some system of beliefs. So the question then is, we are called to abandon the temporal in exchange for the living expression (Logos) of God life found in Jesus Christ, believest thou this? He means us to love Him as He loves us, believest thou this? His burning desire is toward us, believest thou this? Jesus has drawn all men, believest thou this?
Humbled
Jesus Christ came to seek and to save those which were lost. That is all of us. His judgment upon the cross at Calvary was a judgment upon the sin condition inherent in man because of Adam’s sin. Jesus did not come to condemn the sinner, only the sin. Neither do I condemn anyone in the things that I have written about in this article. Very few understand the trap in which we all were or are held captive, let alone how to get out. It takes a genuine unveiling of your mind to begin to see the nature and subtlety of our carnality. It is when we say that we are not carnally minded; that we, like the Pharisees, prove that we are. The father of that sick boy in Mark 9:17-27, knew that he did not have the faith to believe in the wellness of his son. He knew that Jesus’ admonition of “O faithless generation…” was spoken to him. The tears streamed down his face as the evil spirit tore into his son. While his son lay writhing and foaming at the mouth, in obvious anguish, but unable to speak, the father cried out for help. Plaintively, “Lord I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” It takes this kind of cry, this kind of understanding of our own helplessness, to really begin to know that Jesus does not condemn us, He came to help us.
The word repentance in the Greek, according to the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance # 3341—metanoia, pronounced met-annoy-a, is a word which means compunction, reformation, and reversal. It carries with it a connotation of a change of heart and a new way to think, “ACHANGE OF MIND. Yet that itself can miss the mark. A better rendering would be TO TAKE ANOTHER MIND. A man may change in the conceptions of his mind, thus bringing himself to another viewpoint, but with the possibility of being just as mistaken in his new opinion as he was in his former. But to TAKE ANOTHER MIND brings into being A NEW CREATURE, one who cannot revert back to the old viewpoint or adopt another faulty reasoning out of the limited powers of the old mind. So let us see that repentance has to do with the taking of another mind, a mind beyond us, not simply a new decision of our old carnal mind. It means putting on the mind of Christ! There is to be no mixing of the old leaven with the new bread.” (J. Preston Eby FROM THE CANDLESTICK TO THE THRONE-Part 33-THE CHURCH IN EPHESUS)
Lest we forget, it is godly sorrow which works repentance unto salvation (2 Cor. 7:10). This sorrow comes from seeing that which is beautiful, strong, holy, righteous, peaceable, joyous, meek, in short, that which is of the Spirit of God compared to that which is not; and knowing ourselves to be that which is not. With a sincere desire, we seek those things of God from a pure heart, not to consume them upon our own lusts, but to be in right standing and relationship with God. In humbleness, we cry Lord I believe, help my unbelief. We cry, Lord I am weak, be my strength; or Lord I am unholy, be my holiness. In broken hearted desperation, we turn from that which we are shown of our selves, and turn to that which we are shown of Him. This is godly sorrow which works metanoia, which works true repentance. The other connotation to this word metanoia is that it is a complete turning of the body, not just a turning of the eyes, or of the head swiveling on the neck, but a following of the head with the rest of the body, turning to go in an altogether different direction. Of course at first just the head turns, but the body must follow. This is a turning from our own ability and inability, a turning from ourselves, and a turning to God through Jesus Christ.
I am humbled to write such words, sometimes harsh or seeming to rail on popular belief, because I am deeply aware that, but for the grace of God, there go I. I would call all who read to enjoin themselves into a relationship, an intimate love connection with the only one in all the realms of heaven and earth who can truly love you in return, Jesus Christ. It is with all meekness and humility that I say: if you have ears to hear, then hear what the Spirit is saying to you and turn. Turn from your self; turn to your heavenly Father. Lay aside every weight of the doctrines of men, and the false beliefs of your Nicolaitanian overlords, and turn. God is love, believest thou this?
Joy and peace to all who read in Christ Jesus…Larry
References: Young’s Literal Translation; The Companion Bible with the King James Version; Funk and Wagnalls Standard Desk Dictionary; The Revised English Bible; Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance; J. Preston Eby FROM THE CANDLESTICK TO THE THRONE—Part 33—THE CHURCH IN EPHESUS; The Amplified Bible; and Elwin Roach The Rapture Question.
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