Appreciating our position in God

The Word of Truth Ministries

Appreciating our Position in Christ

As John the Baptist had sent his disciples to Christ with his question (Are you the one or should we look for another?) Jesus sent them back with his answer: "Go tell John what you see here....and blessed is he who is not offended in me." [Mat 11:4-6]

To bear the cross of Christ as it should be borne is not always a pleasant sight in the eyes of men, even in the eyes of many churchmen. In many churches there is a routine and tradition that is elitist and fallacious; it is not a routine and tradition that is born of God or anything his apostles ever taught. Indeed, Jesus said that the traditions of men made ineffective the word of God. They transgress the word of God by their traditions, and they teach men to do so. [Mat.15:1-9]

When one bears the cross of Christ as he should, he will often be an offense to ungodly men who hold themselves out as godly, even as they transgress the word of God. For many of these churchmen who are really ungodly men, they have gone so far away from the word of God, while still maintaining their positions in the church, that they cannot be brought back to God. They falsely assume that being as they are, God will accept them in their ungodly conditions. And they never do as Paul admonishes, "Let a man examine himself to see if he be in the faith." And since they have gone away from the faith years ago, and won't return, regardless of what word God sends them and by whom, God has sent them, as the Apostle Paul said, the strong delusion that they might believe a lie and be damned. [1 Cor. 11:20; 2 Cor. 13: 5; 2 Thes. 2:11]

If a minister will bear the cross of Christ, that minister must be even as John the Baptist: He must be fearless in the face of all but God. Yet today, we have a class of preachers and church members who are taught to be, and are in fact, afraid of pastors. And usually the pastors many are so afraid of are ungodly men in positions they should not be in. But all godly men teach the fear of God, never the fear of man. In Matthew 15, Jesus said they teach for doctrine the commandment of men; godly men do not make themselves lords over God's heritage. [1 Pet.5:3]

No pastor or preacher, godly or ungodly, indeed, no person, godly or ungodly, can affect your standing with God. You are the only one who can affect your standing with God. And be careful to understand, there is no enchantment against Jacob. So why is there a fear of man? Has Jesus not said, fear not those who can only destroy the body but cannot destroy the soul? Only God has such power, not a man. We have allowed pastors to teach the fear of themselves. Such a pastor is compromised and does NOT know God's word. This is as old as Balaam. [Num.22:23; Ecc. 12:13; Lk. 12:4-5]

Jesus exhorted John the Baptist to preach the word and not to be ashamed of it. Let us not forgetful, Jesus is the word, and when one has gone away from the word, he has gone away from God; when one is ashamed of preaching the word, he is ashamed of Christ. A preacher who preaches the true word of God will always encounter wicked men IN GOD's HOUSE who would attempt to ensnare him, belittle him, and they will vaunt themselves, even when God has not vaunted them. These are evil doers, Satan filled ministers who have a seat in God's house. [Rev.2:13] Remember, Paul said that love or those filled with God's love, hence God, will not vaunt themselves. [ICor. 13] The minister of God must preach the true word of God, the total counsel of God, and he must preach it fearlessly in the face of all others, for he preaches in the sight of God. AND he must not be ashamed of being the only one who is preaching the truth of God's word. Jesus said, broad is the gate and narrow is the way, and few there be that find it; so if the majority of ministers are not preaching the truth, don't be deterred by their compromised state--it's normal for this way of God! [Mat. 7:13-14] He must not be ashamed of going against ministers or pastors who hold sway at a particular assembly. Blessed is he who is not offended in Christ, but damned is he who is ashamed and/or not preaching the word of God. Paul said if another, even an angel from heaven, preach not this gospel, let that one be accursed of God. [Gal. 1:8] Yes, Satan/sin compromised preachers, and many are they, have the floor, but God's ministers, who are saints in light, have the word and heart of God.[Col. 1:12]

The encouragement Jesus sent back to John the Baptist at the time of his death was to be strong, not in the eyes of men, but strong in the power of His might. John had to believe God's word and continue believing it even unto death. That is the only way we will receive the crown of life. If we are just, we will live by faith in God's word. [Habk. 2]

For carnal men, the words Jesus spoke of John after his disciples were gone would have been the only antidote to their weakened faith. But weaken faith cannot be made strong by any appeal to human sentimentality. Faith is made strong by the hearing of God's word. Indeed, the very reason there are weaken saints is because they are not hearing the total counsel of God's word. Like Martin Luther, they are receiving only small portions of God's word. Those small portions can only allow a saint to be malnourished, faint, and eventually to go into arrested development and retardation.

Jesus said that man shall not live by bread alone, but by EVERY WORD that proceeds from the mouth of God. Because of this truth, I, by God's command, rail against ungodly ministers and pastors who have long ago left off the word of God and fallen to their traditions as a substitute. But tradition, human and man-made procedures are never a substitute for God's word. Holy men cannot live by that, they must live by EVERY word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. I note the word EVERY, not partial truth. God said every word; that is the whole counsel of God. [Mat. 4:4]

Paul said, "I have kept back nothing from you that was profitable unto you...I showed you all things...I have not shunned to declare unto you ALL the counsel of God" [Acts 20:20-27] This is the only way saints can grow, with the total counsel of God preached to them regularly. The man of God must be thoroughly furnished unto every good work. [2 Tim. 2:21; 3:17] The man of God must be fearless in preaching the total gospel, not a partial gospel. For to preach a partial gospel is to hide the gospel, and if the gospel is hidden, it is hidden to those who are lost, in whom the God of this world has blinded the minds of those who believe not, lest the light of this glorious gospel we preach, which is of Christ, shine into their souls. [2 Cor 4:3] To not preach the total gospel is to be ashamed of Him.

The carnal man cannot survive off what Jesus told John, he would need more because he is carnal. But Jesus knew John was not carnal and that what he gave him was enough. Believe the word of God, John!!! But what He total John, He also tells us.

After John's disciples departed, Jesus extolled John to the highest. He asked what had the people gone out to see as they went to hear John? John was like a wild man to many, yet Jesus talked of him as if he were a child of God. John's clothing certainly was not up to the standard of traditional ministers. Jesus said those who wear such soft clothing are in kings' palaces. We have many such ministers who have made the house of God their kings' palaces, living delicately, and are clothed with gorgeous apparel, while many in those congregations cannot afford a decent pair of shoes. Job, years earlier, indicated that all the actions of man are written with the iron pen of God. Many fare sumptuously now and claim it to be the blessing of their god--and it is--but their deeds are recorded and God will remember such deeds and their gods. [Job 19:24-25; Lk. 16:19]

In Luke 7, Jesus went on to say that John was much more than a prophet. He was the very messenger of God who came just before God to prepare the way of God. Jesus was God in human flesh in the earth. [John 1] God did not walk on the earth as God, but as the Son of God. John was the greatest of prophets and of men because he ushered in the very God of very God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal God from glory; the great I AM; the maker and creator of all things.

Furthermore, Jesus made this startling statement about John and about us, His New Testament people: "Verily I say unto you, among them that are born of women there has not risen a greater than John the Baptist: not withstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."

It is clear from Jesus' extolling of John that John was the greatest of the prophets. For all other prophets merely received a word from God to deliver to the people. John did more; he was born for the specific and single purpose of introducing the very God of gods into the world upon mankind. He and he alone was God's messenger heralding to the world that the long-awaited King of Glory, Shiloh was here. No other prophet had been able to do this; they could only carry the word of God. John introduced God in flesh to the world. His whole life had been commissioned for this single purpose, hence, there has not arisen a greater than John the Baptist, Jesus said.

In spite of his greatness, Jesus classified and quantified that greatness as being the greatest among a certain class of human beings--the class of men who are only born of women. That class was the class of all until Jesus came and brought about a new birth and a new class. John was atop of his class in that class of once-born men--men born into this world through the natural portals of a woman. Of that class, he was unequalled, unparalleled; he was greatest--not Elijah, not Elisha who took Elijah's place; not David, a man after God's own heart; not Enoch who walked with God and was not because he had a testimony that he pleased God; none of the old prophets--only John was the greatest.

Jesus said, in spite of this high standing in the class of human beings, God was about to create a new class of human beings. A class of twice-born men. Men not only born of women, as we all come into this world, but a class of men who are born out of this world by being born into the kingdom of heaven.

The new birth is a process of being born out of this world into another one. Jesus told Nicodemus that he could not see or enter the kingdom of heaven/God unless he was born again. This new birth is the process that will make us twice born men: men initially born of a woman and men who have been born of God into the Kingdom of God. [John 3:3-5] And the Kingdom of God is not a natural kingdom with food, drink, and the things of this world, but righteousness, peace and joy IN the Holy Ghost. [Rom. 14:17]

Of those in the twice-born class of men--men born into the Kingdom of God according to God's word--even the least saint in this class is greater than John the Baptist, who was the greatest among men before Christ. There are two classes of men Jesus delineated: Once born men--men born of women, and men born into the Kingdom of God--twice born men.

These two classes still exist today. But the classes are positionally different in the sight of God. The first class is the class of men who are born into sin and shaped in iniquity, as David stated. [Psa. 51] These are men born outside the Garden of Eden, and all such men are born into a state of sin. There were no children born in Eden; all children of Adam and Eve were born after they were expelled from the Garden into sin. David as well as other prophets argued that the very nature of man became sinful after man was expelled from Eden. That sin was passed through and upon the children: The fathers ate sour grapes and the children's teeth were set on edge. [Psa. 11;14; Isa.59; Ezek. 18:2] This was the class of men John was in, but Jesus promised to bring another class. [Jer. 31:29]

The newborn man, the man Jesus told Nicodemus he had to be born again into, is in another class, not the John the Baptist class. This class can only be entered into one way--being born of God! Even as we cannot naturally be born into this world but one way, through a woman giving birth to us, we cannot be born into the Kingdom of God unless God gives birth to us.

The aspects that make our birth different and higher than that of John's is that we are born not of man but of God. Second, we are not born by sin or into sin, but out of sin; third, we are born into the Kingdom of God, pure and mighty, not into this world. And since our birth and all birthrights appertaining thereto are greater than any of those birthrights of men born of a woman, the class of twice-born men is greater and higher in every way than the class of once born men.

The birthrights of once-born men are death, sickness, and disease; the birthrights of twice-born men are eternal life, exaltation, our presence with God in his glory and power throughout all eternity. These two classes are so far apart that Jesus said, the person who is the very least in the second class is greater than John the Baptist, in the first class

In some parts of the world, there are those who can only find shelter in mud-built shacks; these shacks keep the wind and the rain from beating down upon the people, allowing them to survive. But in other parts of the world, there are those so rich that their houses are kings castles; the opulence is so great that they require servants to keep their rich castles, and they pay those servants enough money that they can have houses that the mud shack dwellers would think are castles. For those who live in mud houses, one room in the servant's house would house their entirety family in what they would see as splendor. The classes of wealth are totally different, and so it is with these two classes Jesus declared--the second class of twice born men is higher than once born men.

Knowing, therefore, the highness of our class and the birthrights appertaining thereto, we must maintain ourselves circumspect to our class. We must appreciate, understand and see the depth of our class and its obligations upon our behavior.

A few days ago, I was talking to my son, who is a US Marine; he stated that when he was going through basic training, he didn't think he could make it, but he remembered the class of people from which he came and of which he was. He knew he could not let us down; we were all depending on him, supporting him, and praying for him. He was of a certain class--he was a Jones, and there were certain obligations and responsibilities associated with that family nature. He knew others in this family had successfully been in the military, and he was obligated to measure up to his birth-family's standard. This is what being in a certain family is about.

God has blessed me with a fine education, so that I was atop my class, and my children know the class of family they were born into and what their birthrights and obligations are. We placed that truth within them many years ago, and today some ask how we got our children to all become doctors, lawyers, bankers, etc., as they have become. The answer is this: We told our children that they were born into a family, and they are obligated to measure up to or exceed the achievements of that family. This is what God is telling his people.

As God's people, we must appreciate the class we are in. We are in the class of twice-born men, men made in the image of God; men whose father is God. And, as I demanded that my children measure up to my standards, He demands that we measure up to His standards. The Bible says that Christ left us an example that we should follow in his steps. [ 1 Pet.2:21] What has happened today is that saints have failed to appreciate the standards of the family they were born into.

To appreciate means to assess and understand; to comprehend the fullness of one's situation. Many saints have failed to comprehend the family they are in and the standards demanded of that family; consequently, instead of measuring up to the standards of twice-born men, they have measured down below the standard even of once-born men. We were born into the Kingdom of God and we are to grow into the express image of Christ, who is the express image of God. In short, as newborn babes, we are to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. But most saints do not understand, appreciate, comprehend what that means. [Eph. 4:15; Heb. 1:3; 2 Pet. 3:18]

We must do more than just live a saved life; indeed, most church members and preachers are not living that. We are to grow in THIS LIFE to perfection; a perfection defined and delineated by God's word. That is God's standard of behavior and growth for all those who have been born again. [Mat. 5:48; Eph. 4:11-16; Heb. 6:1-3] Anything less than that is not appreciating, understanding, and comprehending the class/family you are in.

In the market place, my children are looked to and respected because they are of a certain class and there are obligations they must live up to. The younger are influenced and propelled into becoming as the older children are because they appreciate the class they were born into and must measure up to it. This principle is spiritually true, and when we allow the family of God to be corrupted by compromised ministers and church members--preachers, pastors, ministers and saints who are living unholy lives and not preaching the whole counsel of God's word--new born babes are harmed and also compromised because they see the ungodly behavior of corrupt pastors and saints so called, and they do what others do who have been in the church long--they sin too. But these new born babes are unaware that these compromised models are NOT AT ALL SAVED! They may have once been saved, but they are not saved today.

The church and its members need to understand and appreciate who we are and the nature of our births. Only when we do that will we see the obligations and demands of our birth. Only then will we see and measure up to the birthrights that attached to us at our birth.

We who are born of God are born of and by righteousness; we were born of God, and being born of God, we are a royal nation, a holy priesthood, a peculiar people who are zealous, from birth, of good works [1Pet. 2:9] An appreciation of our birth would have us to know that this world is not really our home, but we are pilgrims and strangers here. We actually are looking and waiting for a city whose builder and maker is God; a city Jesus declared he was preparing for us and would come to take us away with him. [John 14;Heb. 11:10]

We need to appreciate that now we are the sons of God and it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as he is. And since we have this hope in us, we purify ourselves, even as he is pure. This is the essence of the believer's hope in Christ. [1 John 3:1-3] Once we understand our position in God, that understanding informs our behavior and fashions of walk and conversation in this life. Peter said it tells us what manner of persons we aught to be. [2 Pet. 3:11-13]

God is our father from birth into the kingdom of God. Our sonship was purchased at a great price to Him. He loved us so much that He gave his only begotten son Jesus that he would give his life so God would have other begotten sons--US!!!

Since God is our father, and we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, we must, therefore, grow up, GROW UP, GROW UP, into the measure of the STATURE of the fullness of CHRIST. We must look like our father--GOD! And that is to look like Christ. [Eph. 4:13] To appreciate our position in Christ is to inform our behavior as children of God.

In closing this message, I refer you to Luke 15: 11-32. This is a passage often called the prodigal son. My attention, however, is with the elder son. This particular son had done all that his father desired of him; he had lived up to the family's name; he had made his father proud, but he was unaware of the significance of who he was and what his growing up into his father meant.

The younger son had played the fool--he separated himself from his father and the family to simply live a life that had no structure and defiled the family's name and shamed his father. Not so with the elder son of wisdom. One day, time and situation caught up with the younger son and brought enlightenment to him. With that enlightenment finally upon him, he determined that he would arise and go back home--go back to his essence, back to his father. And as he decided, he did. His father, disappointed at his waywardness, his uncontrolled living, and the disgrace brought upon the good name and household, was nevertheless happy to take him back, and he did.

But the older son, the good son who unaware of what his goodness merited and wrought in him, saw the merriment made for his young, foolish brother, and was angry because of his waywardness and his father's ease in accepting him back, and he was also angry at what seemed like his father's non-appreciation of his having been a faithful and good son many years. He spoke to his father and said, "All these years, I do serve thee, and you never gave me a kid that I might make merry with my friends." His father, no doubt, looked into his soul and saw that this beautiful, faithful, loving son who had grown into him, but had not realized his growth, his position in his house, and what that position merited him.

The father said to his son tenderly, "SON, [notice his father immediately moved him away from a servant position to a son, which is the greater position] ALL That I HAVE IS THINE!" This faithful son had grown into his father, and the father had made him heir and joint heir with him--possessor of all things. Everything that the father had was the son's. He never needed to ask; it was his for the mere taking. This poor, but beautiful son, had not seen that he had grown from a servant to a full son of that household, a possessor of all that house was. He had not understood and appreciated what his position in the house meant and the rights and privileges of that position. All the father had was the son's as well; there was no need to ask, just enjoy, just use. He had already fulfilled the obligations of his father as a good son would and knew not that he, therefore, possessed all.

We lose much of the promises of God that are our rightful possessions because we fail to understand, to comprehend, and to appreciate who we are in Christ, and we, therefore, fail to fashion our behavior as Sons of God that we may possess all that the father has. Instead, we have set our affections on things down here; on the beggarly elements.

Of men born of women, there has not arisen a greater than John the Baptist, but he that is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than John the Baptist. Do you know your position in God and are you honoring the name of Christ or dishonoring it? Are you functioning as the younger son, simply wanting the things of God prematurely, before doing the hard work of the senior son so that the father can say, all that I have is yours? []

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