THE TRUTH IN

HD
September 2012 Volume 2, Issue 9

The
Inside this issue:
Holiness and Separation 2

The Danger of O.S.A.S.

I would like to point out that no one can lose their salvation; you can lose your car keys, your cell phone, or even your hair, but you cannot lose your salvation. That is a willful choice, something you willfully choose to set aside for your own selfish reasons. There is great danger in saying, Once Saved Always Saved. First, words have meaning. The words used here imply that once a person comes to Christ that they are saved and can do as they will and never lose their salvation. That may or may not be what is meant, but, that is what is being said, and goes against sound biblical teaching. Imagine hearing those words from a friend or from the pulpit on your first or second visit to a religious function. What would you believe?

by Kenny Seidler

Revival In the Truth

practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God (Vs. 9-11). As for the statement; they were never really saved, if false teaching is brought into the church, believers can depart from the Truth, and the unrighteous, those not living right, will not inherit the Kingdom of God! And the bible clearly states that those who are saved can turn their backs on God and go their own way. For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. What the true proverb says has happened to them: The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire (2 Peter 2:20-22 ESV). Then we have Hebrews 6:4-6, For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt (Hebrews 6:4-6 ESV emphasis mine). Notice that this speaks clearly of the saved, those who shared in the Holy Spirit and tasted the goodness of God and the powers of the age to come and had repented of their old way of life.

A Better Today

Blessed Are the Poor In 7 Spirit

The Throne of Our Hearts

10

The Bible clearly teaches that you can forfeit your salvation through deliberate actions on your part; that God will turn you over to sin if you desire it more than Him (Rom. 1). There are many believers who will fall away through temptation, as Jesus explained in the parable of the sower: Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away (Luke 8:11-13 ESV Emphasis mine). Then there are the ones who willfully depart from the faith: Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared (1 Timothy 4:1-2 ESV). We are warned not to be deceived into allowing the ways of the world to be brought into the church, the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 6 tells us, Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who

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The Truth in HD

Holiness and Separation

But I said to you, " ou will possess their Y land; I will give it to you as an inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey."I am the LORD your God, who has set you apart from the nations (Lev 20:24 NIV). The book of Leviticus is largely limited to material revealed to Moses at Mt. Sinai after the Exodus and before the wilderness wandering (Lev. 27:34). Leviticus is the law book par excellence. Its laws deal primarily with Israel's worship of God and the instructions for the priests. In the midst of recording the law, God makes it clear that there is a reason for these "laws of worship." It is for the nation of Israel because God wants them, and them alone, "set apart" for Him, for His glory, so that His holiness could be bestowed upon them. There are some principles that we must understand to grasp what God is talking about. Then we will be able to apply these truths to His church today. The first principle is that SEPARATION IS NOT HOLINESS. Although there can be no holiness without separation, there can be separation that is not holiness. Not what I am or do or give is holiness, but what God is and gives and does to me is where holiness comes from. There is nothing we can do or nothing we are that in and of ourselves can make us holy. Holiness is on Gods terms and it is His to give through the blessed work of sanctification. This can only be produced after a full surrender to Jesus Christ. God's purpose in choosing this nation of Israel was that they should be like Himself, holy, because He is holy. There are eight references in Leviticus regarding this thought: Lev. 11:44, 45, 19:2, 20:7, 26, 21:6, 8. Separation is only the "setting apart" and taking possession of the vessel to

by Bruce Wilson
chosen people is the same as the saved in Jesus Christ, we are indeed His chosen people today. The Bible says, A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God (Rom 2:28-29). For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, " veryone who calls on E the name of the Lord will be saved (Rom 10:12-13). There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Gal 3:28). Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. Therefore, as God's chosen people (Col 3:11-12) However we are still living and existing in the world, so the question would be, How can we be separate? When Jesus was praying for His disciples in John 17 He prayed to the Father, My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified (John 17:15-19). Notice how Jesus was not asking them to be taken out of or removed from the world, but He was asking the Father to sanctify, or set them apart, from the world. I think a good illustration of that point would be that when you are

be cleansed and used; it is the filling of it with the precious contents we entrust to it that gives it real value. Holiness is the divine filling, without which, the separation leaves us empty. Separation is not holiness but holiness is what leads us to separation. The second principle is that SEPARATION IS ESSENTIAL TO HOLINESS. God wanted to separate the Israelites unto Himself when He brought them out of Egypt. By giving them His covenant and His law that He might have them under His control and power to work out His purpose of making them holy. This could not take place until He had them apart and awakened to the fact that they were His peculiar people, wholly, and only His. Joshua got the message when he was preparing to lead the Israelites to the promised land when he said, But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD (Joshua 24:15)." Several places in the Scriptures God warned the Israelites to come out from other nations and peoples and be separate i.e. Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing! Come out from it and be pure, you who carry the vessels of the LORD (Isa 52:11). Now make confession to the LORD, the God of your fathers, and do His will. Separate yourselves from the peoples around you and from your foreign wives. The whole assembly responded with a loud voice: " ou are right! We Y must do as you say (Ezra 10:11-12). The application for us today is that we are also separate with respect to being set apart unto God and for Gods purpose. The principle that God used with respect to the Israelites being His own

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in a body of water in a boat you are still in the water, but you are separated from the water by the boat. As long as you stay in the boat you will not get wet and the water will not hurt you. The same is true for us, Jesus is our lifeboat. As long as we stay in Him we will be separate from the world and we will be protected. Jesus asked the Father to protect His disciples. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one (John 17:15). The third principle is that WE MUST KNOW THE NEED AND PURPOSE FOR SEPARATION. Separation is no arbitrary demand of God, but it is grounded in the very nature of God and His purpose. Our human powers are limited; if God is to take full possession, and if we are to enjoy Him fully, separation is nothing but a simple, natural, indispensable requisite. GOD WANTS US ALL TO HIMSELF THAT HE MAY GIVE HIMSELF COMPLETELY TO US!!!! God said, in Leviticus 20:26, ...I have set you apart from other nations to be my own." God has separated us for Himself that He might enter into us, by way of the Holy Spirit, and show forth Himself in us. His holiness is the sum and the center of all of His perfections. It is so He may make us holy like Himself that He has separated us. This separation, what we call sanctification, happens as God takes full possession of us. As the eternal life in Christ has the mastery of the whole being, and the Holy Spirit flows fully and freely through us, we dwell in God and God in us. That separation will be, not a thing of ordinances and observances, but a spiritual reality based on a RELATIONSHIP!!! God wants us to be separate or set apart from all that does not lead us into His holiness and fellowship. Sin, the Bible says separates us from God. Isaiah told the people of Israel, But your iniquities have separated you from your God;

your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear (Isa. 59:2). John 9:31 says, We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will. And in his epistle John wrote, Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does-comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever (1 John 2:15-17). It should be our hearts desire to want to avoid anything that would tear us apart from our Lord and Savior. The fourth principle is that WE NEED TO KNOW THE POWER OF SEPARATION. The consciousness of God's indwelling presence, making and keeping us His very own works true separation from the world and its influence, and from ourselves and our own will. Thats the power of God! As we accept that we are not our own person anymore, that God has had that kind of impact on and in our lives, His holiness will enter and take possession. The power of separation means that God, in the power of His Holy Spirit, fills our being, our affections, and our will with His own life and holiness. Thats the power of God! He separates us for Himself and sanctifies us to be His dwelling place. Paul said, Do you

not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body (1 Cor. 6:19-20). He comes Himself to take personal possession by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit through the saving power of Christ in the heart of the believer. When the soul enters into fellowship with God, it feels the need of external separation, sometimes from what even appears harmless, anything that would take first place other than God. Separation begins and ends in love, Gods love for us and our love for Him. The spirit of separation is the spirit of selfsacrifice, and of surrender to the love of God. Jesus said, "f you love me, you I will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-- the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you (John 14:15-17). He also said, "f I anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it (Luke 9:23-24). How utterly amazing it is for Christians to have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and for God to provide the opportunity for us to be set apart for His purposes. We are indeed a blessed people.

How utterly amazing it is for Christians to have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit...

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The Truth in HD

Revival In the Truth

The setting was England of 1959 and the assessment of the country and faith in that time by Martyn Lloyd-Jones was the desperate character of the situation; it was urgent. In some ways others saw there was a problem but they maintained a different view of it. During that time the religious world was looking to philosophy and psychology for solutions, along with a pooling of all faiths to discover answers. The description of 1959 has a few similarities to 2012. People believe answers will be found with the professionals and that all faiths should come together and pool their resources to try and do some good. You might take our situation and compare it to that of Isaac when

by Henry Scoff

out everything the Philistines had thrown in the wells and started using the proven source again to supply the need of water for himself and his family. Today in America while some local congregations are doing well, the statistics as a whole arent so great. We are told that the church is in decline. The church is being inundated with all the cultural changes that have come up and often the discussion is how to accommodate these needs. One major topic today is sexuality and the cultures impact on the church. Dan Kimball states, I sometimes wish this [homosexuality] werent a sin issue because I have met gay people who are the most kind, loving, solid, and supportive people I have ever met. As I talk to them and hear their stories and get to know them, I come to understand that their sexual orientation isnt something they can just turn off. Homosexual attraction is not something people simply choose to have, as is quite often erroneously taught from many pulpits (They Like Jesus But Not the Church, 138). These statements and ideas do sound rather desperate and quite similar to Lloyd-Jones day. People like Kimball are saying we need new answers. Kimball, like many others, looks at the social interaction of people, their ability to be nice people and hold a different view on sexuality, must mean to Kimball that their niceness verifies that the traditional Christian view has to be wrong. In no way do we support a mean, unkind approach to stating the position of the Word but neither do we assume because the person with the alternative sexuality can be a socially nice person that that

automatically casts doubt on the understood position of the Word. Look at Kimballs statement again, I come to understand that their sexual orientation isnt something they can just turn off. Lets accept that at face value, they of themselves cannot change their sexual orientation, then what is the issue? Consider what Romans 8:5-6 has to say about orientation, The mind set on the flesh ends in death. That "being set on the flesh," according to Greathouse, is orientation. The analysis is correct that they cannot just turn this off is true, but it doesnt mean it cant be changed. So there must be another answer besides Kimballs. I believe we can find the answer in the path the Church at large has been on for a number of years. Ignoring holiness and judgment has provided the opening for thinking like Kimballs to gain a foothold. We should never forget that the truth ignored is forgotten. In Acts 20 Paul is speaking to the elders of the Ephesus Church and the Holy Spirit states through him that, Anything that was profitable was declared to them," in verse 20 and later in verse 27, the emphasis was the whole counsel of God. The message of the Word of God is huge and touches every aspect of life. It is only hindered when men, through selfdesigned planning, ignore some part of the truth because it is too negative or some other similar reasoning. David was a man after Gods own heart, (Acts 13:22) because he would do all of Gods will. Ignoring the truth has provided the opening for alternative ideas to be heard and given acceptance. The alternatives

Isaac dug again the wells of water which had been dug in the days of his father Abraham.
he was entering the land of Gerar. His first and foremost need was water for all his family and their flocks. He didnt look at the moment as a time to go attempting something new but he chose to follow a well known and proven path. Genesis 26:18 says, "saac dug again the I wells of water which had been dug in the days of his father Abraham. Isaac looked at something proven and cleaned

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only serve to emasculate the Church and in that condition she looks for ways of conforming to the world to find acceptance. Lloyd-Jones points out that always those who have denied or covered over certain truth in the past have also opposed revival and they had to, to be consistent with themselves. The Catholic Church in Northern Ireland openly declared opposition to the outbreak of the revival of 1859. Why would they oppose revival? Because they taught that they alone were the dispensers of salvation, the Catholic Church, so they couldnt support revival outside of themselves. Listen carefully today to those who introduce alternative truth lifestyles. They reduce the council of God into a small little human package void of any power and designed around manageable visions. A local pastor has been quoted as saying that he doesnt care what people believe just as long as they support the vision and that, of course, is his vision. Maybe that is the first step away from the whole council of God, a man-made vision that puts the Lord Jesus in a position that is symbolic but He isnt the head of the Church. Let Jesus reign in authority and things can become humanly unmanageable because the Holy Spirit is set free and then the unthinkable just might happen, revival will break out. When John Wesley came alive in the Spirit of God and his ministry originated from the overflow of the Spirit of God, then revival came to England and many credited that revival as saving England from destruction. When the Church of God Reformation Movement came on the

scene, it wasnt because D.S.Warner had his own humanly devised vision, but that he experienced the truth that God can fully save and truly defeat sin and began to proclaim it, calling people to step out to follow the message of holiness and unity. When the whole council of God is declared, then the Spirit of God is set free to move. Proclamation isnt about the person proclaiming, its about the Lord who calls us to proclaim and in obedience all glory is given to the Lord who calls us through His Spirit. We have heard a lot about hope over the last four years. Hope is sometimes expressed as a wistful thought longing for a better day, but we can have an assurance of hope based on the reality of salvation. A revival of the truth provides us with a restoration of real hope in Jesus Christ. When truth is marginalized through human interpretations that weaken it through compromise, the light is slowly extinguished and the Church becomes a place of human weakness instead of the Body of Christ surrendered to the truth. Romans 8 tells us our minds are to be set on the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of God set free in us has this unbelievable goal in mind, For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers (Rom. 8:29). The purpose of coming into this relationship with God through Jesus Christ has tremendous impact on us in character, morals and values. We are no longer to take our lead from the world and its ideas, but now we are to be students of the Word led by the Spirit of God. All along the path as we

walk with God there is a continual work going on. The Spirit of God with the Sword is shaping us into the image of Jesus. When people come up with human rationalizations for sin, the real issue has to be are we talking about the same faith that the New Testament is proclaiming? Paul, in declaring the resurrection to the Corinthian Church, said if there is no resurrection, then our faith is vain or void, empty of any power. If we are proclaiming a faith that cannot transform then we are talking about a religion not the faith the Bible is proclaiming. We arent doing people captured in a lifestyle of sin any favor when we compromise the truth, we are simply setting them up to die in their sin. Revival in the Truth means first and foremost that we come back to the transformative power of the Gospel to change us and set us free from sin and death. Romans 1:16 tells us, For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek, and then 2 Corinthians 5:17, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has passed away; behold, the new has come. The reality of salvation is that it isnt an accommodation to our sin, it is transformation out of our sin. Truth proclaimed and stood on will do its work. We must be the warriors of the Spirit and the Word to stand in this day, believing in faith, that God will do His part and provide people with the opportunity to believe.

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The Truth in HD

A Better Today

by Josie Davis

Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that (James 4:13-15). I dont particularly like thinking that my life is a mist. I think of the mornings that I get up early enough to see the fog still lying near the ground, the dew left on the ground barely lasts the morning. If youre not a morning person, you may never experience it. Our lives are compared to a short lived water droplet. This is reality: our lives are short lived compared to eternity. James writes this as an urgent plea for his readers to evaluate their time management and reconsider where God has a role in it all. Does He? James talks to businessmen when he mentions where time is spent. They go from town to town looking for profit. There are those who are overloaded with work and those who are idle. On either account, there is a problem - ignoring God. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living (2 Thessalonians 3:11-12). Busybodies do not consider the plans I have for you (Jeremiah 29:11). They spend their time as they desire, spending what they have on their own passions and making friendship with the world (James 4:3-5). The result of which we see in scripture is that God is not glorified in them, and thus He cannot fellowship with a busybody. By reading Psalm 2, we see the process and effects of making plans as if God is not factor. It is complete vanity to leave out God in our planning and preparation in whatever we do. The uncertainty of tomorrow is far too great to continue in our vanity and selfish living. James writes earlier about how self ambition is the foundation for disorder and vile practices (James 3:16). If we live in self ambition today, how can we be sure we have a tomorrow to turn our lives around? Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring (Proverbs 27:1). It seems that even in our early history, we needed to be reminded that our destinies are in Gods hands, and that we should not try to control our own lives. In other words, true faith is putting our tomorrows into Gods hands. Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life

more than food, and the body more than clothing?... But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you (Matthew 6:25, 33). We do not know what tomorrow will bring, therefore only worry about what the Lord wills for you today. We must fulfill the Lords will, now. I found this particular passage very urgent the more I read over it. James 4:17 states, So whoever knows what the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. Sin can be present in someones life when they put off the things of God to live for the things of the world. There is no other time but the present, otherwise we live in sin. For he says, In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you. Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2). There is a devastating reality that many living today that are caught in the sin of secularism: moving God into a tiny corner, where He is not really a factor in their plans anymore. We may praise him with our lips and weekly nods in worship, but out in the real world we dont need Him. There is not a more urgent time than now to make our lives right with God and fulfill His calling for us. We must live for a better today, not a better tomorrow. We need to be mindful that busybodies only drift away and we may only have today to live for God. Lord, We pray for urgency. We pray that Your church would be shaken into action from any idle state we have been in. Let Your fire fall on us; moving us to act on Your will. We pray you would be glorified in all our thoughts, motives, and actions. In Your Sons Name, Amen

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Blessed Are the Poor In Spirit

The beatitudes taught by Jesus in the 5th chapter of Matthew reveal to us a culture. They teach a culture that is contrary to that of the world, one that could be considered a counter-culture to any that society has ever known. The doctrine and lifestyle Jesus teaches here takes the values of the world and turns them upside down. On the mountain that day, the Son of God revealed to His people a culture that transcends all the temporal things that are subject to this material world and turned their attention back to the spiritual things of God. Jesus began this process by saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit When He made this statement He had a very specific purpose and intent. Jesus was not saying as some have taken Him to mean that people are blessed simply for being poor materially. There are some who have found it a blessing to have fewer things tying them down in this life, but that is not what Jesus Christ was referring to. He did not mean that we are to have a poor spirit. There are some who arent ever going to be happy about anything. They complain when things do not go so well, and then when they are better they complain even more because they have more to lose. They enjoy being angry and finding things to murmur about, forgetting that Scripture generally calls us to be content. This spirit can become contagious, and before we know it the poor spirit of a few has rubbed off on everyone and we have a whole group of people who are looking for things that just dont suit them so they can complain. This has become so common in the church that there is really no need to give examples. It seems at times like some are happier as their complaints become more petty. Maybe these

by Nick Wilson

people feel like they have been blessed with things to complain about, but nobody else feels blessed by it. This is certainly not the blessing of the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus did not mean the spiritually poor either. There are some whose spiritual life is nonexistent. They come to church week after week, sing the songs, and if pressed may even say a prayer. They will not acknowledge God when they leave the service on Sunday and some of them rarely acknowledge Him there. Their Bible sits at home collecting dust on a bookshelf because, I just know how God would want me to live. They live this arrogant lifestyle assuming their mind is so much like Gods that they dont really need His involvement in their lives. If there were ever a poor spiritual life it would be this one. But these are not the lives that have received the blessing of the Kingdom of God. When Jesus said, Blessed are the poor in spirit, He was talking about those who stand humbly before their God, crying out for His mercy and love. He was referring to those who seek His will in all that they do and cant go on without Him. These are the people God is seeking, and those whom He will bless. Isaiah 57:15 says, For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit In this context, the word poor literally means a beggar. God will bless those whose spirits cry out for His presence, those who beg to see His power and are desperate to live within His will. These are they who inherit the Kingdom of God. Jesus refers in this verse to those who

have come face to face with God and realize the gravity of such an experience; people who understand the power and the majesty of the One in whose presence they stand. Consider the response of those who have met God in a very real and intimate way throughout history: Isaiah: And I said: Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts! (Isaiah 6:5) The Apostle Paul: And falling on the ground he heard a voice from heaven (Acts 9:4) The Apostle John: When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead (Rev. 1:17) When we really begin to experience the presence of God it will be met with feelings of awe and humility. How can we not stand in wonder and amazement of the One who created the world around us and filled it with life? We walk with One who created something that man for all His advancements cannot create in a test tube, conjure with magic, or even explain. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote, If one feels anything in the presence of God save utter poverty of spirit, it ultimately means that you have never faced Him. Too often our pride causes us to forget the greatness of God. It causes us to look away from His divine otherness that separates Him and raises Him above all of creation. As long as we measure ourselves against others in this world we can feel pretty good about the way we live and the things we value. We can feel alright about the culture we create in our homes and the culture we carry to the

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The Truth in HD

work place. Jesus is referring to those as poor in spirit as men and women who have ceased to measure themselves against one another and the things of the world and have once again recaptured the command of scripture to, Be imitators of God. They look to God as their standard and their measuring rod, and though they know we cannot literally be like God continue to seek His presence in their lives and submit to His Spirit in their hearts. They have consecrated their lives to His purposes and no longer seek the things of the world that will boost their ego and give them notoriety among man. They seek to let God be God so that they also may be what they were created to be His Kingdom. William Greathouse tells us, If to blur the distinction between Deity and ourselves is the root of all sin, to let God be God is the root of all holiness. The poor in spirit are those who are content with their purpose in Christ. The reward of this poverty of spirit is the Kingdom of God. The beatitudes tell us that this kingdom is theirs. When we cease to look within and begin looking to God to keep us and provide for us we find a blessedness that we cannot create for ourselves. Thats why Jesus said, Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness When we are seeking His Kingdom and His righteousness we are fulfilling our purpose. That passage in Matthew 6 tells us that God provides for all the animals and life that He created. They all fulfill their purpose and He gives them what they need. Many times we find that we do not have what we need because we fail to fulfill that which God created us to do. If we will seek His Kingdom and righteousness above wealth and riches we will find all that God desires for us. Oswald Chambers explains this, The bedrock of Jesus Christs kingdom is poverty, not possession; not decisions for Jesus Christ, but a sense of absolute futility, I cannot begin to do it. Then, says Jesus,

Blessed are you. Christianity does not value the things of the world, but the things of God. We do not seek the same things the world seeks, or live for the same things they live for. Too often the church of our day looks exactly like the world. We hold the same values and want the same things. We have convinced ourselves that there is no need whatsoever to look or act any different in our lifestyles. The world looks out for number one above all else so thats how we live too. We will do whatever it takes to get ahead and achieve what we think we deserve. We accumulate as much as we can and build our own little kingdom in this world. But the kingdoms we build in our human pride will never compete with Gods Kingdom. His Kingdom transcends all creation around us, but if that Kingdom is to be ours we must swallow our pride and give up the building of these inferior little kingdoms in this life. John Wesley wrote, One cannot but observe here, that Christianity begins just where heathen morality ends; poverty of spirit, conviction of sin, the renouncing of ourselves, the not having our own righteousness. We build and build for lifetimes in our human pride forgetting the words of Jesus, But God said to him, Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be? So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God (Luke 12:20, 21). Gods Kingdom blesses us with the sense of purpose that we lack as we wander through this world looking for something more. How many people go through life today feeling like they are doing something that is just not fulfilling? They are not happy with their job, some feel like they have no direction, and others honestly believe they have no purpose in this world. There are people out there who have no idea what God created them to do. They struggle from one day

to the next trying to find something more but it just never appears to them. Its because they are looking in the wrong places! God has provided a purpose for us, and He will bless those who are poor in spirit with that purpose. He will give them citizenship in an eternal Kingdom that will last long after our lifes work is over. This is where we get our sense of significance from Gods blessing as we humble ourselves before Him. Dennis Kinlaw explains, Our sense of sacredness of human life comes from God, because He alone is holy. He alone gives worth to our lives. If we lose our relationship with Him, nothing has any value to us. But when we recognize that our personhood comes from Him, then we must treat our personhood as a divine gift with eternal significance. Do you see what we are dealing with here? Jesus is teaching us that we are blessed, not by an action, but by a state of being. Thats what the beatitudes are. When we become poor enough in spirit that God becomes the center of our attention we will live a life of blessedness in His kingdom. We allow ourselves to get so distracted by the teaching and values of our culture that God never takes His rightful place. We worry about our self-esteem above everything else. We tell ourselves, People need to think highly of themselves and realize how much they can accomplish. We have been pulled into a belief that we must look within for fulfillment rather than looking to Heaven above. If we remember nothing else about being poor in spirit we must remember that it is ALWAYS God who should consume us, NEVER self. The Apostle Paul reminded the Philippian church, Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem OTHERS better than himself (Php. 2:3). The world tells us to esteem ourselves, but Scripture tells us to esteem others. Where are we going to stand? Where will the church and Gods people stand today when the values of the world and the values of Scripture

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stand in direct opposition? James wrote, For where jealousy and SELFISH AMBITION exist, there will be disorder and ever vile practice (James 3:16). But you may say, self-esteem and selfish ambition are different issues. That is not so. When we teach an entire society and a whole nation that you need to look out for yourself first, and that you deserve whatever YOU WANT, and that nobody should ever tell you that something you think or believe is not right, what are we teaching? Is it any wonder that poverty of spirit is non-existent in our society today? In all of Scripture you will never find God commanding us to look within for answers to the issues we face in this life. But everywhere you will find God teaching humility and submissiveness to His reign over us. It is through this attitude that we are blessed. All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word (Isa. 66:2). Some of these things seem almost paradoxical, but God will bless us through poverty of spirit. When we live for the world we have to keep up appearances. We have to have the house people expect us to have. We must conform everything to the standards of those around us because anything less does not create the necessary sense of pride. But when we are poor in spirit those things no longer matter. We must live a life that puts us at peace with God, and it does not make any difference what our neighbors and friends think of the small empires we have built for ourselves. Poverty of spirit places emphasis on what God finds important, and we do not have to struggle to conform to the ever-changing whims of fickle humans. How can Gods Kingdom possibly be the reward for maintaining a humble spirit? We understand that God will bless us, but why this blessing? The truth is, God has

always wanted to call His people out of the world to be His Kingdom. Even from the beginning He created a domain in that garden in Eden. He placed man there as stewards of His rule. He has been building ever since. If you look at the 21st chapter of Revelation you find that Scripture begins with a garden and ends with a city. God is always building and creating. There are two sides to this creative aspect of the gospel: a tearing down and a building up. Before Gods Kingdom can be established in our hearts our human pride must be torn down. The idea that we dont need God and can handle things on our own must be dispelled if God will reign over our hearts. If we are to be fulfilled we must first be emptied so that God has a vessel to fill. This is why Paul reminded us, We know that our old self was crucified with him (Rom. 6:6) When we maintain our sense of pride and our ego, when we esteem ourselves above all else, God has no vessel to fill. He has nothing to carry His truth into the world, and no way to invade the pagan cultures of this sin-cursed earth with His gospel. Those who are poor in spirit have been sanctified and cleansed as they are filled with the truth of the gospel. This is why Jesus prayed, Sanctify them by your truth. As the truth of God fills the spaces that have been emptied of self, we are placed in the blessed position to see Gods work first-hand. We see His power in our lives and in the lives of those around us. We see a power that we were created to carry, and work that we were designed to be a part of. Only when we come to the realization that we cannot find fulfillment and purpose on our own will we find the opportunity to experience the blessing of Gods presence in a deeper way. This beatitude is the foundation to all others, thats why it is first. All that we do as Christians is built on our reliance on God. God does not bless those who esteem themselves, but those who esteem Him, and

others. When we tell ourselves how great we are we are removed from a place of blessedness. We seek not to glorify ourselves, but for others to see how great God is through us. When we meditate on Gods word and His strength there is nothing we cannot face. Can we say today, along with the Psalmist, When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him (Psa. 8:3, 4)? The Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who will bow themselves before its king; people who will live a life of submissiveness to the will and the Word of God. Leonard Ravenhill wrote, Yearly we use mountains of paper and rivers of ink reprinting dead mens brains, while the living Holy Ghost is seeking for men to trample underfoot their own learning, deflate their inflated ego, and confess that with all their seeing they are blind. Such men, at the price of brokenness and strong crying and tears, seek that they may be anointed with divine eyesalve, bought at the price of honest acknowledgment of poverty of soul. If we are to be completely honest, does the thought of God and His divine might really humble us? Does His self-sacrificing love that provided reconciliation that we could not really give us the thrill that it used to? The way to become poor in spirit is to look at God. Read this Book about Him, read His law, look at what He expects from us, contemplate standing before Him. If we are really to inherit the Kingdom, it will be when we catch a vision of a holy God who loves those who have never deserved it; a God who overwhelms our pride and sense of self-sufficiency. When we begin to see Him seated on His throne and are brought to our knees, as Isaiah, we can rightly cry out, Blessed am I.

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The Throne of Our Hearts

The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore (Genesis 22:15-17 NIV). Abraham was a man of obedience. He followed the commands of God and had a heart to serve Him. He waited on God. The one thing he had been looking for seemed that it would never come to be. Abraham desired a son that would carry on after him. God finally blessed Abraham with a son when he was 100 years old. We all know the story, God tested Abraham and asked him to sacrifice Isaac. God had to make sure that nothing sat on His throne in Abrahams heart. The throne room of God is with man. He moves among His people. He went from being a God who lived at a distance to a God who lives in the heart of man. We were given the opportunity of a great intimate communion with God. In spite of this great blessing of God, man still desires to be the lord of his own life. Rather than allowing God access to that throne we sit down proclaiming to be sovereign over

by Josh Wilson

our own lives. Then when everything falls apart we wonder, where is God? Where is the blessing of God? Why does He not move? God said that He would bless Abraham and we know that He did. The blessing of God comes as we resolve to be a people that are so heavenly minded that we have no sense of possession. I would encourage you to read The Pursuit of God, by A.W. Tozer. He says of Abraham, He had everything, but he possessed nothing. There is the spiritual secret. There is the sweet theology of the heart which can be learned only in the school of renunciation. The books on systematic theology overlook this, but the wise will understand. There was a danger that Abrahams love for Isaac would take Gods place on the throne of Abrahams heart. God tested and found that Abraham, though a very rich man by the worlds standards, possessed nothing. There was nothing in this world that consumed him more than God. There was no possession or even relationship that was greater than his desire to worship and please his creator. Recently I was at a wedding and something spoke to my heart that I had never encountered at another wedding. Maybe it was

phrasing, maybe it was timing, I dont know, but something spoke to my heart. The pastor talked over and over about how love is not always a great feeling but love is a choice. It is a commitment. You can be sure that Abraham was going through emotional agony as he walked up that mountain with his son. Think about the feeling he would have had laying his son on the altar. There would have been no emotional high, no Hollywood love, no

He had everything, but he possessed nothing. There is the spiritual secret. -Tozer

warm feeling inside. It would have been a sickness in his stomach that we cannot understand. But Abraham was a true servant of God. His life was worship. His heart was consumed by God and the throne of his heart had only one dwelling there and it was going to be the LORD no matter what the cost. Abraham lived a life of worship that carried him through the difficult times. He worshiped and obeyed

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when it didnt feel good because his love for God was a choice not a feeling. We need to understand that loving and following God is a daily choice. If we are honest we would probably find that a lot of people only follow when they feel good about it. We are to possess nothing. Material things are useful and necessary. But we cannot allow things to consume our hearts. Choose to clear out the throne room for God alone. Whatever stands in the way has to be moved. Until this happens there will be no victory. C.W. Naylor wrote the words to this old hymn. I pray that they will move you as they have moved me. Spirit holy in me dwelling, Ever work as Thou shalt choos; All my ransomed powrs and talents, For thy purpose Thou shalt use. Oh, how sweet is Thy abiding! Oh, how tender is Thy love, Thou dost shed abroad within me, From the father-heart above!

Thou has cleansed me for Thy temple, Garnished with thy graces rare; All my soul Thou art enriching By Thy fullness dwelling there. In me now reveal Thy glory, Let Thy might be ever shown; Keep me from the worlds defilement, Sacred for Thyself alone. Spirit holy, Spirit holy, All my being now possess Lead me, rule me, work within me, Through my life, Thy will express.

Lead me, rule me, work within me, Through my life, Thy will express. -C.W. Naylor

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The Danger of O.S.A.S.

Sin is a willful choice, rebellion to the known will of God, and is separation from God. We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him (1 John 5:18). As for the argument that no one can snatch the saved from Gods hand, well, we need to look at that whole passage of scripture where this thought comes from and not just the one verse. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one (John 10:27-30 ESV).

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Those who cannot be snatched are those who hear His voice, know Him and follow Him, in other words those who have a relationship with Jesus and are walking in obedience to His Word. Not those who go their own ways or are deceived into following someone else. Only those who follow Him are safe in His hand. Once Saved Always Saved is deceitful at best and puts many on a false path that in reality is no path to heaven. Whom are you following? Where is your loyalty and trust, in the Truth of Gods word or the false teaching of OSAS? Oh, and one last thing to leave you with: in Revelation 3, Jesus warns the church in Sardis that they need to wake up (vs.2 & 3) that He knows their deeds (vs. 1) that many have soiled their garments (vs.4) that if they overcome He would not remove/erase/blot out their names from the book of life. And if they continued, did not wake up or overcome?