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Copyright © 2006 Trumpet Ministries, Inc. All Rights ReservedTHE LAND OF PROMISE
Exactly what is the Christian land of promise? What is the ultimate victory of the Christian battle? Toward what are we moving? Is the Christian promised land Heaven? Paradise? The new Jerusalem? The resurrection from the dead? Christ Himself? The land of promise of the Hebrews was described specifically in several passages of the Old Testament writings. The land of promise of the Christians also has been set forth in the Scriptures, but it is far more comprehensive and marvelous than was true of the Old Testament land of promise.
The redemption that is in Christ has a specific beginning, a specific working out in our life, and a specific conclusion—a goal, a "mark" toward which we are to press. All of the goal is summed up in Christ.
Table of Contents
"The Man With the Sword in His Hand"
From Sheep to Soldiers
The Wilderness Experience
The Land of Promise Is
Occupied
II. LEGAL AND ACTUAL POSSESSION
The Position and the
Experience
Water Baptism
The
Daily Outworking of Crucifixion and Resurrection
The Cross and the Crown
Following the Spirit in Ministry
The difference between ministry and conquest
The Holy Spirit gives the gifts
The Holy Spirit directs the ministry
Stirring up the gifts of God
Following the Spirit in Internal and External Conquest
God’s part and our part
No set pattern for warfare or ministry
The Christian salvation is God’s plan
Courageous and relentless fighting
The first stage—initial salvation
The second stage—sanctification
The third stage—rulership
The Relationship of the Kingdom of Heaven to the Earth
The Indwelling of Christ and God
The development of eternal life in the Christian personality
Putting to death the deeds of the body
The process of transformation from mortality to immortality
Coming forth from the grave
Have you met the man with the sword in his hand? Did he stand by you and say, "I will lead in the conquest of the promised land, The victory shall be yours this day"? ---Audrey Thompson
For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey; A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass. (Deuteronomy 8:7-9)
Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. (Joshua 1:2)
For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end; (Hebrews 3:14)
Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. (Hebrews 4:1)
A type of Scripture is a person, object, or event of the Old Testament that foreshadows a spiritual reality of the Kingdom of God. When studying Bible types (symbols; allegories; illustrations; examples) and their fulfillments it is important to keep in mind that the type itself was made of real people, actual events, human situations, physical materials—all having many points in common with the experiences of people everywhere.
The Hebrew land of promise is a geographical area that can be visited today. Joshua, Caleb, Rahab, the hundreds of thousands of Israelite soldiers and their families, the Canaanites whose homeland was invaded about 1400 B.C, lived out their lives in much the same pattern of joys and sorrows, successes and failures, so familiar to each of us.
From the moment Israel left Egypt there was no guesswork as to where the nation was heading.
And it shall be when the Lord shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month. (Exodus 13:5)
Canaan, the "land flowing with milk and honey," was the name of the territory that lies between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. Today the nation of Israel is located there, being one of the many countries of the large area known as the Middle East.
It was into Canaan that Abraham journeyed, having been called out from the Chaldean city of Ur by the Lord (Genesis 12:5). It was in Canaan that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob wandered. The descendants of Jacob then had to go down into Egypt to stay for a time until the sin and rebellion of the tribes of Canaan had reached maturity. When sin had come to its fullness the Israelites (descendants of Jacob) were to come up from Egypt and invade, conquer, and possess the land in which their ancestors had wandered for many years (Genesis 15:16).
Can we see in the above account the past, present, and future history of the Christian Church?
When the Lord charged Joshua He indicated territorial boundaries more extensive than those usually associated with Canaan proper.
From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast. (Joshua 1:4)
"From the wilderness" refers to the Sinai wilderness region south of Canaan, the scene of the wanderings of the Israelites for forty years.
"This Lebanon" was the northern boundary, speaking of the Mount Lebanon area. The tribe of Dan received its inheritance on the north end of Canaan, giving rise to the expression "from Dan to Beersheba."
"The great river, the river Euphrates" was the eastern boundary given to Joshua, being several hundred miles east of the Jordan River. Apparently, God was encouraging the Hebrews to lift their faith and seize a vast section of land.
The invading tribes of Israel did not persevere in battle to the point of fully conquering and possessing the land west of Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea or the vast eastern domain indicated here. Later, under King David, the borders of Israel were enlarged (I Chronicles 18).
"The great sea" refers to the Mediterranean Sea, which forms the western boundary of Canaan.
The expression "all the land of the Hittites" is used because the term Hittite denoted many of the Canaanite tribes occupying Old Testament Syria.
Canaan was the "land flowing with milk and honey." The Sinai wilderness, through which Israel wandered for forty years, is a hot, forbidding desert. There are wells and springs, a short rainy season in winter, and some vegetation. But on the whole the Sinai wilderness is a place of mountains, boulders, and sandstone hills, relieved by several oases.
By contrast, the region between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea is a productive and delightful place in which to live. The geographical features permit extensive farming of grains, nuts, fruits, and vegetables. The abundance of pasturelands makes the raising of livestock a profitable undertaking.
The mineral resources include iron, copper, and petroleum. With hard work the Israelites were able to live in abundance. During the reign of King Solomon the nation of Israel achieved a prosperity equaled by few other world cultures.
Even today the land of Israel is viewed by the large nations as having strategic importance when viewed from the standpoint of world politics.
The writer of the Book of Hebrews suggests that the wilderness wandering (Chapter Three of Hebrews), and Canaan itself (Chapter Four—the promised land "rest") are symbolic of the nature of our Christian discipleship and the goal of that discipleship.
The Old Testament writings contain a multitude of types—that is, people, events, and things in the physical world that predict and illustrate spiritual realities. Many of the facts with which we are concerned in Christianity are invisible, being of the spirit realm. Therefore God has provided tangible examples by which we can understand more clearly the things of the Kingdom of God.
The Old Testament people and events, in addition to having a significance and reality of their own, are set forth "for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come" (I Corinthians 10:11).
While employing Scripture types (allegories) as illustrations it is helpful to keep in mind two general rules: (1) do not become too rigid in attempting to apply the details of the type; and (2) be sure the spiritual fulfillment being suggested is actually presented in the New Testament writings and follows the mainstream of the teachings of the Apostles of Christ.
In terms of the first rule, it would not be a good idea to identify each city of Canaan and attempt to find a counterpart in the Christian discipleship. The Holy Spirit often takes some of the episodes concerning Jericho and Ai, for example, and applies them to our experiences in Christ. But it would not be wise to attempt to draw a parallel between every geographical location described in the book of Joshua to our spiritual life today.
In terms of the second rule, the third and fourth chapters of Hebrews, as well as the book of Jude, apply the wilderness wandering to our Christian discipleship. We have mentioned that the "rest" of Hebrews is typified by the land of Canaan as well as by the resting of God on the seventh day of creation (Hebrews 4:4-8).
Therefore when we present the pilgrimage of the Hebrews through the wilderness and their invasion of Canaan as a type of our Christian experience we have solid backing in the New Testament.
Exactly what, then, is the Christian’s land of promise? What is the ultimate victory of the Christian battle? Toward what are we moving? Just what are the third and fourth chapters of Hebrews speaking of?
There is more to the Christian inheritance than our initial acceptance of Christ, since the letter to the Hebrews, which was written to experienced Christians, uses the expression, "any of you should seem to come short of it." Come short of what?
Is the Christian promised land Heaven? Paradise? The new Jerusalem? The resurrection from the dead? Christ Himself?
These terms are not all synonymous except in a broad sense. They all have to do with the promised land, the "rest" of Hebrews, Chapters Three and Four. But it may be true that the Lord’s people are not always certain how the above terms are related.
The land of promise of the Hebrews was described specifically in several passages of the Old Testament writings. The land of promise of the Christians also has been set forth in the Scriptures, but it is much more comprehensive than the Old Testament goal.
The redemption that is in Christ has a specific beginning, a specific working out in our life, and a specific conclusion—a goal, a "mark" toward which we are to press (Philippians 3:14). All of the goal is summed up in Christ. As we proceed in our book we shall endeavor to set forth some particular aspects of the goal of the Divine redemption.
In many instances we Christians have little or no idea what our promised land is. Therefore we cannot address ourselves as we should to the struggle. We are not sure precisely where we are going, what our inheritance in Christ actually is.
We do know we have been saved from wrath and that we shall go to Heaven when we die. Beyond that we are not too clear where we are going, what we shall be doing, or what we ourselves shall be like.
The boundaries of the promised land of the Israelites were set forth in Joshua 1:4 and in several other verses in the Old Testament. The territory has been named Canaan, Palestine (by the Romans), the Holy Land, and Israel. Today it is included as part of the Middle East. Even in our time the country of Israel is a center of controversy and conflict.
Perhaps if we think about the "land of milk and honey," examine its characteristics, review what God has said about it, and study the events that occurred as Israel entered it during the days of Joshua, we then may be able to gain some insight into the Christian land of promise.
We need to ask the Holy Spirit to interpret this Old Testament type for us so we can set ourselves toward the true goal of the Christian life and not get bogged down in the aimlessness, carelessness, and indifference to spiritual growth that so easily can weaken Christian fervor.
In this book, The Land of Promise, we shall be pointing toward Christ Himself—the full grasp upon all that He is—as the fulfillment of the land of Canaan. It is apparent that the Apostle Paul viewed Christ Himself as the "rest" of God, the goal of the Christian discipleship:
Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, (Philippians 3:8)
Would you like to journey with us as we press on to the possession of the fullness of God’s promises in Christ?
And the Lord thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee. But the Lord thy God shall deliver them unto thee, and shall destroy them with a mighty destruction, until they be destroyed. And he shall deliver their kings into thine hand, and thou shalt destroy their name from under heaven: there shall no man be able to stand before thee, until thou have destroyed them. (Deuteronomy 7:22-24)
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12)
God did all the fighting when the Hebrew slaves made their exodus from Egypt. God smote the land of Egypt with plagues, finally slaying the firstborn of man and animal. The Pharaoh of Egypt opposed the release of his slaves but God broke the back of Pharaoh’s resistance. No armed rebellion of the Hebrews themselves was necessary to accomplish the obtaining of their freedom.
Christ Himself, with the assistance of no human being, paid the full price for our redemption on the cross of Calvary. The Son of God came into full confrontation with the god of this age, and by His obedience to the Father totally destroyed the authority over mankind maintained by Satan. Jesus—and Jesus alone—destroyed the authority of the devil.
But when the Israelites entered their land of promise, they had to fight. God helped, intervening on their side in many instances. But the Jews had to fight!
Can this be true also of us Christians? Is it a fact that while Christ accomplished our initial salvation by Himself, we also must fight (with God’s help) fierce battles against a vicious and determined enemy in order to enter our inheritance, into the "rest of God"?
From the Red Sea to Mount Sinai, the first major trek of the Hebrews, the Israelite men could hardly be referred to as a disciplined army. Instead, they were 600,000 ex-slaves, under the leadership of a former sheepherder.
The children of Jacob went out by their ranks and armed for battle.
But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed [in martial array] out of the land of Egypt. (Exodus 13:18)
However, their lack of discipline was revealed by the shameful exhibition of lewdness and idolatry that occurred while Moses tarried before the Lord God (Exodus 32:25).
As soon as the Law had been given, and the Tabernacle of the Congregation had been constructed, God was ready for the organizing of His army.
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps. (Numbers 10:1,2)
From this point forward the wanderers began to be transformed into the army of the Lord of Hosts. It was the Lord and His holy Law, the Ten Commandments, that were marching with the soldiers of Israel toward the devil-worshiping Canaanites.
(What does this say about the purpose and program of the Christian Church, the Body of Christ?)
There followed the formation of the marching order of the army (Numbers, Chapter 10). In a short period of time the Hebrews had arrived at the southern border of Canaan.
Next came a spying expedition (Numbers, Chapter 13), the result of which was that the unbelieving, complaining Israelites were ordered to turn back into the inhospitable Sinai wilderness for an additional thirty-eight years of the school of the Holy Spirit.
Decades followed during which many instructive events occurred as the Lord revealed to His army His holy Person and ways. Israel was being taught holiness, obedience, and to trust God for help and provisions. Meanwhile the older generation died, except for Joshua and Caleb, the only men of the twelve spies who had encouraged Israel to follow God into the conquest of the land of promise.
Toward the end of the forty years of wandering there were skirmishes against the Moabites, Israel being under the leadership of Moses at this time. These minor battles took place near the border of the land of promise. By now the once-confused slaves were an army to reckon with, a terror to the Canaanites who were informed by the desert caravans of the miracles the Lord was performing on behalf of Israel.
Finally the time came for the actual invasion of the land of Canaan, the land of promise.
Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the Lord your God giveth you to possess it. (Joshua 1:10,11)
Moses, the lawgiver and teacher, had been commissioned of God to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt and to bring them to the border of Canaan. Joshua had been the personal servant of Moses throughout the long years of wandering, being prepared by the Lord to lead the now-disciplined host across Jordan and into the land of milk and honey.
There is a time when the Christian is to be a sheep, wandering in the wilderness of instruction under the guidance of the Good Shepherd, sometimes fighting minor skirmishes as the Lord leads. But the day will come when the Christian becomes a soldier in the Lord’s army and follows his Commander in Chief, the Lord of Hosts, the Lord strong and mighty in battle, into the crushing assault on all the forces of the enemy.
The kingdom of darkness will be destroyed by Christ acting through the Church, the Body of Christ!
The Ark of the Covenant led the way into Jordan and remained in the midst of Jordan until all the Israelites crossed into Canaan. In like manner the Lord Jesus led the way into the resurrection from the dead, and is remaining in the position of waiting until His army has passed through the resurrection.
And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan. (Joshua 3:17)
Because the battles of the Lord are fought by the army of angels as well as by the army of Israel, it was necessary for Joshua to meet the commander of the angelic troops.
And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? (Joshua 5:13)
How often has the Christian Church, and how often have we as individuals, attempted to fight the battles of the Lord using only human strength and wisdom and material resources? But when we come up against strongly entrenched positions of the enemy we begin to understand that the Lord Jesus fights in the spiritual and in the natural realms at the same time.
Our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers of spiritual wickedness in heavenly places. As soon as we achieve victory in the spirit realm, victory is possible on the earth. The cooperation of spiritual and human forces, as the Holy Spirit directs, is necessary before the fortresses of Hell can be demolished.
As we study the account of Joshua leading the host of Israel against the cities of Canaan we notice that decisive help came from the spirit realm: the wall of Jericho fell flat (Joshua 6:20); the sun and moon stood still (Joshua 10:13); hailstones killed the armies of the Amorites (Joshua 10:11).
They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera. (Judges 5:20)
If the Israelites needed spiritual help when fighting a flesh and blood enemy, how much more do we Christians need the Lord’s help?
Our Christian discipleship is a warfare, a battle against evil spirits. Our fight is not primarily against religious or political systems or injustices of any kind. Oftentimes the Lord helps Christian people with prison reform, aid to the needy, the furnishing of medical assistance to the underprivileged, and other important social works. It may be true that the major social reforms of history were and are yet being sponsored, in whole or in part, by Christians.
But the primary Christian struggle is against the evil spirit rulers who govern the darkness of the present age, the wicked spirits who influence the motives and actions of earth’s peoples from the vantage points in the heavenlies.
Through the Lord Jesus Christ, God will destroy completely the entire kingdom of unclean spirits from the least to the greatest. Total victory is ahead for the Church, the Body of Christ. "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil" (I John 3:8).
The mission of Christ (the Anointed Deliverer) is to break the yoke of Satan and set men free. Christians are to take up this mission, following the Lord Jesus wherever He goes, being filled to overflowing with the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
The chronicle of events from the exodus from Egypt to the entrance into Canaan is an extraordinary illustration. These incidents of Middle East history were designed by the Lord to portray the Christian experience of redemption.
We Christians by faith and by the action of water baptism make our "exodus" from the world (Egypt). We do not make our exodus from the earth but from the world system—the present evil age, which is dominated by Satan. The baptismal water is a "Red Sea" to us.
After coming across the "Red Sea" (being baptized in water into the death and resurrection of Christ) we find ourselves after a period of time, not in any promised land of power, glory, and excellent fruits but in a "waste howling wilderness," in an uninhabited desert, spiritually speaking.
The "wilderness" experience is the school of the Holy Spirit and a sore trial to the disciples of the Lord. They forsake the world, the flesh, and the devil. They begin to follow Christ. They had been told that once they became a Christian their life from that time forward would be filled with joy.
God would be real to them. His will would be plain to them, a golden highway set with diamonds leading to the stars. They would have daily fellowship with Christ and the hovering Presence of the Holy Spirit. Their peace would be eternal and would pass their understanding, so great would it be. Thus it may have been for a season.
Then the scene changed!
No explanation from the Lord! The joy leaves. God seems far away and His will impossible to find. Christ remains silent and the Holy Spirit is remote. Instead of perfect peace there is anxiety, confusion, uncertainty. The Christian life becomes boring, a drudgery. The strain of patiently obeying Christian doctrine is almost intolerable.
Day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. While there are periodic signs that the Lord is aware of what is taking place, such as answers to prayer, occasional leadings, blessings sprinkled here and there, the daily routine has become one of day-to-day laboring under the burning sun of problems and difficulties rather than the promised rest and refreshing under copious rains of the Holy Spirit.
Peter teaches us:
Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: (I Peter 1:6,7)
Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. (I Peter 4:12,13)
Paul, too, was acquainted with the wilderness of trouble:
For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: (II Corinthians 1:8,9)
In the above passage Paul was describing the Christian discipleship. As was the case with the Israelites, much wilderness wandering must precede our entrance into the land of promise.
In the wilderness we learn to "eat manna" (to depend continually on Christ for our life, our strength, our wisdom, our holiness and righteousness). We are taught to "follow the cloud by day and the fire by night" (to wait patiently for the leading of the Holy Spirit; to walk in the blessings that come during the "day," and also to follow the judgments of God’s Word through the "nights" of our discipleship).
We learn how to be healed spiritually and physically by gazing at the "brass serpent" (by looking to the redemption that flows from our Lord Jesus on the cross). We understand that God means exactly what He says and that those who disobey the Lord’s revealed will for their lives soon find themselves in difficult and painful situations.
We Christians are taught many lessons in the wilderness. It was in the wilderness, at Mount Sinai, that the Ten Commandments were issued by the Lord. In the Christian experience it is in struggling faithfully through problems and troubles, as we attempt each day to follow the Lord, that we begin to come under the law of the Spirit of life. Trouble, perplexity, persecution, press us into Christ so He can be formed in us.
And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. (Deuteronomy 8:2)
While we are enduring prolonged, severe testing, trouble of all kinds, confusion, rebuffs on every hand, misunderstanding by our brothers and sisters in the Lord, rejection by the churches, unbelief, problems in our families, the removal of our ministry perhaps, dryness, barrenness, affliction, deception, we may be tempted to believe that God has been insulted and has withdrawn beyond the galaxies.
Under these circumstances one can forget the promise of Him who cannot lie:
. . . lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28:20)
. . . I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. (Hebrews 13:5)
Sometimes it seems God has left us, that we have failed in the Christian walk. There are so many questions, so many doubts, and no apparent revelation of the Lord or of His will for us. None of the other Christians appear to be having any trouble at all. In fact, we may experience the "pleasure" of having some of the saints counsel us concerning our lack of joy, our unfruitfulness or sickness, just as Elphaz, Bildad, and Zophar took the trouble to counsel Job.
Unless we have deliberately turned our back on God, have willfully and knowingly refused to obey a clear leading of the Lord concerning our life, or have drifted back into the sexual excesses, idolatry, hatred, and riotous living of the world—unless we have chosen to go back into sin there is a good chance that much of the confusion and barrenness we are experiencing is a wilderness trial of the "Job" variety.
If you now are in the wilderness with God, He is very present. He hasn’t left you. He instantly is aware of every deception, every fear, every circumstance, every trial, every word you are saying, every thought you are thinking.
God knows what is happening to you. Satan and the world do not possess the ability to harm one hair of your head. The wicked can overthrow neither the atonement made on Calvary nor the resurrection of Christ from the dead.
God cannot lie. He will not leave you. Put your trust in God and He will bring you through to glory. Never, never, never surrender. Rest in the faithfulness of God.
They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever. (Psalms 125:1)
One of the principal reasons for wandering in the wilderness is preparation for war. When a Christian first is redeemed he may not be wise or strong enough to stand up successfully during vigorous spiritual combat. Think about the meaning of the following passage:
And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt: But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt. (Exodus 13:17,18)
This was a long unpleasant detour to the south!
We learn valuable and eternal lessons during our "wilderness wandering" if we respond readily to the Holy Spirit and are good students. We are taught how to follow God. We become strong in the Lord provided we exercise faith, courage, perseverance, and single-minded resoluteness in our determination to follow Christ all the way to the fullness of the realization of the promises of God (Hebrews 3:14).
The knowledge and strength we gain in the wilderness will make it possible for us to stand when God begins to bring us against the enemies who are in possession of our inheritance, our rest, our land of promise.
If God were to bring us immediately into spiritual victory, responsibility, and power it is likely we would be tricked into deception by the cunning devices of Satan. The wilderness is not a good land, and Satan does not press us too much as long as we are wandering about in a hot desert wasteland, so to speak, far from the rich treasures of the Lord.
But the Israelites were not saved from Egypt in order that they might take up residence in a desert wilderness. They were redeemed from the hand of Pharaoh so they could make their home in a fruitful, well-watered land, the land of Canaan. Egypt was a better place to live than the desert wilderness except that Pharaoh had made their life unbearable by the vicious, unreasonable slavery he had forced on them.
We Christians were not saved from the world in order to live as a weak and persecuted segment of the world’s population while sinners inherit the earth. A Christian may remain weak and persecuted for a season while he is learning the lessons God desires to teach him. But eventually (in most instances after the Lord returns) he will inherit the riches of this earth and all else God possesses.
Isaiah, when he foresaw the consummation of the Christian salvation, described the saints entering their inheritance:
Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought. For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. (Isaiah 60:11,12)
God calls us from our bondages and then promises He is taking us to a glorious and fruitful land of peace and joy. The land of promise is our inheritance. It is the rest of God, the abiding of God in His people and they in Him. It is the land of fulfilled dreams, the impossible come true, the end of the rainbow.
The Land of Promise Is Occupied
There is a problem with the fulfillment of the glorious dream, with the end of the rainbow. It was a problem for the Hebrews and it is a problem for Christian believers. The difficulty is this: the land of promise is occupied. It is not vacant, ready to be taken over by God’s flock. Our land of promise is occupied at this time by God’s enemies.
The land of promise of Israel was inhabited by savage tribes who practiced devilish idolatries, including the worship of their sexual lusts and the burning of their children in the fire as sacrificial offerings. Their abominable, degrading, demon-possessed patterns of behavior had been intensifying the wrath of God during the time Israel was multiplying in Egypt.
It was God’s intention to use Israel as the sword of His judgment against the Philistines, just as it now is God’s intention to use the Christians as the Holy Spirit-directed Word of God, the fiery Word of judgment, against the kingdom of Satan. The land of promise, in whatever form it takes, always is occupied by evil spirits until, in God’s appointed time, they are driven out by those who are obedient, holy, and anointed with the Spirit of God.
When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them: (Deuteronomy 7:1,2)
Counterparts of the above declaration of war can be found in several places in the New Testament:
And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. (Luke 10:18,19)
And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; (Mark 16:17)
But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you. (Luke 11:20)
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify [put to death] the deeds of the body, ye shall live. (Romans 8:13)
Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (Romans 8:21)
And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. (Romans 16:20)
. . . For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. (I John 3:8)
And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. (Revelation 12:7,8)
And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. (Revelation 19:14,15)
God has given Christians many things to possess: their own spirit, soul, and body, the nations, the earth, the heavens, all of God’s creation. All things belong to those who are coheirs with Christ. "He that overcometh shall inherit all things" (Revelation 21:7).
God has given all things to us legally through the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. In actuality, however, many of the good parts of our inheritance are still occupied by a hierarchy of wicked spirits. The only answer to the illegal occupying presence of wicked spirits is war—Spirit-led, determined, consistent, never-say-die war!
How else can one take possession of an occupied territory?
Because the land of promise is occupied by the enemies of God the Bible is a book of war. From Genesis to Revelation the Scriptures are an account of warfare. Remove the passages that deal with conflict and the Scriptures would be a thin volume.
The reason why the planet Earth has been plagued by wars from the beginning of recorded time through to the sophisticated twentieth century is that there is war in the spirit realm. There never will be peace on the earth until the spiritual warfare has been concluded.
Old Testament Scripture is filled with accounts of war, preparations for war, of victories gained by means of unwavering faith and hope in God. One of the frequently repeated names of God in the Old Testament is the Lord of Hosts. Numbers, Joshua, Judges, Kings, and Chronicles are records having to do with warfare.
As soon as the reader of the Scriptures passes Malachi and comes to Matthew he finds that warfare is still present, but now it is against evil spirits themselves instead of against demon-worshiping tribes. The four Gospels are a record of Jesus of Nazareth, God’s Warrior, going about and destroying the works of the devil. Two outstanding characteristics of Jesus’ ministry were the casting out of devils and the healing of the sick—both being acts of aggression and dispossession executed against the kingdom of Satan.
Israel gathered its strength and became an army during the time it was wandering in the wilderness. All the while, God was preparing the Hebrews for the coming fight against the inhabitants of Canaan. The Christians have been gathering their strength and becoming an army during the time they have been wandering in the wilderness—since the days of the first apostles.
When speaking of Christians, and of the Christian Church, wandering, being prepared, and gathering their strength for the coming battles against Satan and the resulting dispossession of evil spirits from the earth, we are not referring to the historic denominations of the Church.
Denominations are human attempts to preserve and communicate scriptural doctrine and to increase administrative efficiency. There are many saints of God in the various Christian denominations, but the denominations themselves are not the Body of Christ.
Denominations and sects will come and go according to the will of men and the permission of the Lord; but no denomination will be empowered by God to execute the awful destruction of the forces of darkness that has been prepared for the end-time. The responsibility for the total demolition of the kingdom of evil has been assigned to Christ and His saints regardless of denominational affiliation.
The Christian Church will press through to the fullness of victory and inherit the land of promise, the rest of God. The Christian Church includes every born-again, blood-washed, cross-carrying, spiritually-resurrected believer—every true disciple of Jesus of Nazareth.
The disciples of Jesus compose the only church that has spiritual significance, and the warfare is a spiritual struggle. All the peoples of the earth can be divided into two groups: in one group Jesus is living and overcoming the world; in the other group, Jesus is not living and overcoming the world. Those in whom Jesus is living are the Church.
There are numerous believers in whom Jesus is not living and overcoming the world. They are not part of the Body of Christ. God will decide who among them will be saved from wrath.
Either a person is alive in God through the Lord Jesus Christ or else he is dead because he has not Christ. There is only one Church. All divisions of the Church are temporary and destined to be soon blown away by the Spirit of God.
God cannot recognize divisions in the Body of His Son because we all share in the one body and one blood of the Communion Table. The Christian Church, the Body of Christ, will be given the wisdom and power sufficient for the total destruction of the kingdom of Satan in the heavenlies and on the earth; for the thorough cleansing of sin from the earth.
Such is the destiny of the Christian Church, the Kingdom of God and there is no power that can hinder. The destruction of the wicked is near. The year of God’s redeemed has come!
CHAPTER II LEGAL AND ACTUAL POSSESSION
(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth [gives life to] the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. (Romans 4:17)
"And calleth those things that be not as though they were"!
There is a concept set forth in the above passage that has to do with our entrance into the land of promise. It is often misunderstood. It is important that it be understood by the fervent Christian disciple. The important concept of which we are speaking is the difference between the legal and the actual possession of the promised land.
There can be a difference between the legal and the actual possession of something. In most instances we actually possess the things we own legally—our car, our house, our clothes. But when the car is stolen or the house burns to the ground or the clothes are lost, we can see at once that there can be a difference between legal and actual possession.
We still own the car but someone else is driving it. We still own the house but it is a blackened ruin. We still own the hat but we left it somewhere and it no longer can keep our head warm. When someone steals our car we still own it but we no longer possess it. We cannot drive the certificate of title to work.
The state government may authorize the funds to provide a college education for every citizen of the state. The state "gives" each young person and adult a college education, so to speak. But the state does not give him or her a diploma. The person must go to school before he can claim to be a college graduate.
The King of England granted certain rights of settlement to pioneers in what is now New England. The king gave them a charter but the settlers had to set forth and possess the rocky and forested land by years of backbreaking labor. They encountered severe hardships and fierce opposition while making their homes in the New World.
The difference between the legal and the actual possession of a place or thing is an important distinction and must be understood by anyone who wishes to make a success of the overcoming Christian life.
God has given us all things through Christ. Do we possess all things?
Christ died for the sins of all men. Do all men have their sins forgiven?
Through the lashes laid on Jesus all of us were healed from every sickness. Have all been healed?
The Holy Spirit is ready to enter the dead spirit of every person. Does everyone have the Spirit of life from God?
God has given to us perfect peace and joy through Christ. Do all Christians have perfect peace and joy? It is the will of God that every Christian stand perfect and complete in Christ, sanctified in spirit, soul, and body. Is this true of every Christian?
The Position and the Experience
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. (Romans 6:6)
But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. (Ephesians 5:3,4)
For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3)
But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. (Romans 13:14)
In the above four passages we can observe the difference between the legal and the actual possession of the land of promise; between our legal position in Christ and our actual experience of living the Christian life.
Notice the emphasis on our position in Christ, in Romans 6:6 and Colossians 3:3 (quoted above). According to these two verses we already have attained the summit in Christ by simply believing in Him. Our "old man," that is, our first personality with all its strengths and weakness, its good points and its bad points, has been assigned to the cross of Christ.
God considers, and directs us to consider, that our first "self" has been crucified with Christ. By so regarding us, God is legally free to bring forth a new personality, destroying our fleshly, sinful nature in the process.
It is true that we are dead. Also, our new spiritual life, having already been raised in and with Christ, is now at the right hand of the Father, far above every other title, authority, and power in the universe.
The fact of our death and resurrection in and with Christ is uplifting as we meditate on the consequences of it. It is spiritual reality. God has declared it to be true. It is His Word. Even though we may not see as yet the full outworking of what God has declared concerning us, what we laid hold on in water baptism, we know our position in Christ is an established fact before God Almighty and we begin to live out the truth of it as the Holy Spirit gives us the wisdom and strength to do so.
If we should become proud spiritually because of our position in Christ, the next two passages bring us down to earth:
But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. (Ephesians 5:3,4)
But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. (Romans 13:14)
Most of our daily living is occupied, if we are striving to be a Christian, with resisting the world, our fleshly nature, and the devil. We battle against lust, hatred, covetousness, pride, idolatry, jesting, unthankfulness, selfish ambition, and so forth. Such temptations are common to people—Christians and non-Christians alike.
When we overemphasize our legal position in Christ our testimony may become intellectual, doctrinaire, static. There is too much fussing about words and verses and not enough pressing forward in the spiritual combat that characterizes the Christian warfare.
When, on the other hand, we overemphasize our actual experience of living the overcoming life, we may tend to lose the anchor, foundation, and regenerative guiding force and principle of Christianity, which is participation in the crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. If we are not careful we can become discouraged while struggling against sin, not accepting the victory won for us by Christ.
Any Christian who is not in a warfare against the polluting influence of the world, Satan, the lust of his eyes and flesh, and the pride of life, is in deception. Such warfare is the nature of the true Christian experience.
When a Christian claims he no longer is troubled by satanic opposition he has been deceived. He has turned away from spiritual realities and is making little progress in Christ. He may possess the land of promise legally but he is not making headway toward the actual possession of it.
If the Christian is to live the overcoming life, the life of conquest over the burdens of life, and if he is to progress toward the character transformation and consistent dwelling with the Godhead that are part of the plan of redemption, then he must develop a balance in his life between the legal position in Christ and the actual experience in Christ.
The balance between the legal position and the actual experience can be noted in the Scripture. Let us look for a moment at the sixth chapter of Romans. Our position in Christ is set forth in the following words:
Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. (Romans 6:3-6)
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:11)
The above five verses describe the legal position of the natural man of the Christian. The natural man includes the physical body with all of its passions, the human mind with all of its pride, and the human soul with all of its self-centeredness, self-will, self-seeking, self-love.
The natural man is our self before we bring the physical body under the law of the Spirit of life; before we put on the mind of Christ; before we endure the crucifixion of our self-centeredness, self-will, and self-seeking under the supervision of the Holy Spirit of God; before the new creation grows and comes to maturity in us.
There is only one acceptable place for the first personality of the believer. It must be hung on the cross with Christ. Our old "self" should be considered by us as crucified with Christ. We must adopt this attitude twenty-four hours of every day, seven days of every week.
Adam and Eve died on the day they sinned, according to the Word of the Lord. They died in that the Spirit of God left their personalities and their environment.
From that day to this, mankind has been dead. Man is dead. Every action of our personality is dead. The wickedness of our personality is dead and the righteousness of our personality is dead.
Many people without Christ are truthful, faithful, honorable. But it is an adamic truthfulness, an adamic faithfulness, an adamic honor. Therefore it is a spiritually dead truthfulness, a dead faithfulness, a dead honor.
Should we employ our natural truthfulness, faithfulness, and honor when we are able? We absolutely must! If an individual does not have integrity he can never be a disciple of Jesus. It is the adamic nature that holds up the body before God as a living sacrifice.
When Christ has not been formed in the personality, then, under enough pressure, the most truthful person will lie; the most faithful person will behave treacherously (as Abraham did in selling his wife); the most honorable person will behave dishonorably.
But Christ is alive! His truthfulness never fails. His faithfulness never fails. His honor never fails. His courage never fails. His love never fails.
Christ is eternal Life. As we assign our dead adamic nature to the cross, God gives us the living nature of Christ. Little by little God takes our dead nature and replaces it with the Life of Christ. In Christ we have eternal Life. We shall be able to enjoy the Presence of God for eternity because our righteousness, holiness, and obedience, being the righteousness, holiness, and obedience of Christ’s Nature, will never fail.
It is the will of God that we so regard our old nature. The crucifixion of our natural man is a position we must seize by faith and maintain by vigorous, consistent faith.
The Scripture states we are to reckon (count; regard; think of; consider) that our old nature is dead to sin. The only way in which we should regard our physical passions, our human pride, and our self-willed, egotistical, inflamed ambitions, is that they are nailed on the cross with Jesus. "I am crucified with Christ," Paul testified.
The cross is the anchor and starting point for our experience of sanctification. Without the inner concept of being crucified with Christ our movement toward the "land of promise" becomes disorganized, thrown into disarray, a random set of ups and downs so that we are merry Christians one day and forlorn, bedraggled church members the next.
The correct concept of the position of our old nature is that we have been crucified with Christ. Our task is to maintain by faith this attitude toward ourselves and our problems whether or not our actual circumstances and patterns of behavior reveal we indeed are dead with Christ.
It does no good to keep "digging up the body" in order to see if we really have been planted in death with Christ. We are to take by faith the legal, doctrinal, visionary position that our natural man, our old nature, has been crucified with Christ, and then leave the rest with God. We have been obedient to His Word. The remainder is His responsibility.
Such is our position in Christ. But what does the sixth chapter of Romans tell us about our actual experience; about the practical, daily-living aspect of our redemption?
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? (v.1)
Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. (v.13)
What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. (v.15)
Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? (v.16)
I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. (v.19)
In the sixth chapter of Romans we have both the legal, doctrinal position and also the actual day-to-day experience in Christ. The position, which we are to seize and maintain by faith, is that our first personality is crucified with Christ.
The actual experience is the daily, practical outworking of the position. We must pray, read the Scriptures, present our body a living sacrifice, confess our sins, assemble with the fervent disciples of the Lord, exercise temperance, resist the devil, and do all else necessary for the overcoming of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. We must yield our members "servants to righteousness unto holiness."
If we overemphasize our position in Christ we tend to lose our forward momentum in the battle toward the "rest" of God, toward the perfect abiding in Christ. If, on the other hand, we overemphasize our experience in Christ, we may sink into gloomy introspection because of our obvious shortcomings and sins; or else struggle hopelessly against our fleshly nature. Our position in Christ must first become clear to us. Then, a victorious experience should follow.
The position is ineffective apart from the experience and the experience is ineffective apart from the position. We must understand the spiritual position that God has given us in Christ; and we must each day, by prayer, faith, and obedience, bring ourselves under the rule of the Spirit, under the law of the Spirit of life (Romans 8:2).
The balance between the scriptural position and the actual experience can be studied in passages other than the sixth chapter of Romans. Let us examine the third chapter of Colossians:
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. (v.1)
For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. (v.3)
The above two verses describe the position of the inner, spiritual life of the Christians. The inner life of the Christians includes all of his personality that has been infused with the resurrection Life of the Holy Spirit of God: the renewed spirit of the Christian; the renewed mind of the Christian; and the Divine Substance of Christ that is growing in the core of his personality. The faithful disciple of the Lord Jesus is walking in newness of life, in the power of the Life from God that raised Jesus from the dead (Ephesians 1:19,20).
There is only one acceptable place for the inner life of the Christian. The inner man must be resurrected with Christ. The inner man should be considered by us as having been resurrected with Christ and having ascended with Christ to the right hand of the Father. We must adopt the position of resurrection and ascension twenty-four hours of every day, seven days of every week. Our position of resurrection and ascension must be seized by faith and maintained by persistent, relentless, joyous, courageous faith.
We may be brought low at times. But if we do not quit, the day will come when God renews our joyous, courageous faith.
The Scripture tells us to reckon (count; regard; think of; consider) ourselves "alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." The only way in which we should regard our spirit, mind, and will is that they are hidden with Christ in God, located at the right hand of the Almighty Father. "Nevertheless I live," Paul exclaimed. "Yet not I, but Christ lives in me."
The right hand of the Father is the anchor and starting point for our experience of redemption. Without the concept that our inner spiritual being has been resurrected with Christ, our movement toward the land of promise becomes confused. We are "on the mountaintop" one day and "in the valley of despair" the next.
Our true position before God is that we are raised with Christ and are now in the heavenlies with Him. Our task is to maintain by faith the attitude that we have been resurrected, whether or not our daily experience suggests that we indeed are at the right hand of the Father and filled with His resurrection Life.
Sometimes we feel we are far away from God and have little life and strength left. But we are to take by faith the position of resurrection and commit our problems and troubles to Christ. If we are obedient, the remainder is His responsibility.
Such is our position in Christ. Our old human nature is on the cross with Christ and our new, reborn inner nature is at the right hand of God Almighty.
But what does the third chapter of Colossians say concerning our actual experience, concerning the daily, ordinary problems of living the Christian life?
Mortify [put to death] therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence [lust], and covetousness, which is idolatry: (Colossians 3:5)
But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. (Colossians 3:8)
Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; (Colossians 3:9)
Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; (Colossians 3:12)
We see, then, that we must have our position in Christ and our experience in Christ in balance. We must maintain the right attitude toward our position in Christ—that we truly are at the right hand of the Father in Christ. The Scripture declares it is so and it is so! We also must be following the Holy Spirit of God as He leads us into battle against the unholy deeds of the world in which we live, against the spirit of Satan, and against the passionate follies of our own flesh and soulish nature.
Overemphasizing our position in Christ at the expense of our actual experience can prevent our being successful in the pursuit of the overcoming life. If we hold steady, do not give up in unbelief and discouragement, keep our faith securely and unshakably anchored in Christ, we will come to know that God is transforming what is at first a legal, doctrinal, conceptual, spiritual position into an actual, practical, observable, concrete experience in us.
The fullness of our transformation is associated with the return of Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords to rule with His saints over the peoples of the earth. But if we hope to be ready in that day we must be working patiently and faithfully with the Holy Spirit today as He guides and empowers us in overcoming the world, the devil, and the sinfulness of our fleshly nature.
Water baptism is an act of obedience by which we establish our position in Christ. Let us remember that our position in Christ has two dimensions: our first personality is crucified with Christ; our new spiritual nature is resurrected with Christ.
Water baptism—which should, in obedience to God, be performed as soon as possible after our profession of Christ as Savior and Lord—is an act of faith that testifies to us and to the remainder of the world, and to the spirit realm, that of our own will and choice we now are entering the death of Christ and the resurrection of Christ.
Water baptism is the point at which we declare to the heavens and the earth that the first creation (our natural self; our soulish nature) is finished and the new creation (the new spiritual man that was born again of the Divine Godhead) is resurrected with Christ and alive eternally.
Paul explained the meaning of the act of water baptism, in the sixth chapter of Romans:
Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. (Romans 6:3-6)
The sixth chapter of Romans contains what probably is the clearest description of the meaning of water baptism to be found in the Scripture. The affirmation we make concerning ourselves, in water baptism, is that we are being baptized into Christ; that we are being baptized into His death; that we are being buried with Him by baptism into death; that henceforth we are to walk on the earth in eternal resurrection life; that we are being united with the likeness of His death; that we shall be in the likeness of His resurrection; that our old man has been crucified with Him in order that our sinful body may be rendered powerless, we being no longer under the authority of sin and potentially no longer under the compelling power of sin.
We are declaring that the above circumstances and relationships are true of us personally as we are being baptized in water.
When we are being baptized we voluntarily are entering a contract with God. He signed the contract on Calvary. We sign the contract by the confession of our faith and our submission to baptism in water.
God declared us dead when Christ was crucified. God declared us resurrected in our new spiritual man—and in our physical body as well (Romans 8:11)—when Christ was resurrected. We have been crucified with Christ and resurrected in and with Christ—spirit, soul, and body.
As far as God is concerned, the legality of the operation involving us is complete and perfect in every detail. In water baptism we declare we are crucified with Christ; that as we come out of the water the inner man now is raised with Christ to the right hand of God; that we do now have eternal resurrection life in our spirit; and that at the coming of Christ our physical body will be raised in the same manner and likeness that was true of His body.
Water baptism, therefore, is an act of obedience to God portraying openly in the physical world (and in the spirit realm also) that we now are crucified and risen with Christ. Water baptism establishes for all time our position in Christ. The remaining minutes, days, weeks, months, and years of our life are to be occupied with the continuing, consistent working out, in the joys and sorrows, blessings and afflictions, doubts and revelations, imprisonments and enlargements of our daily (and often boring and frustrating) routine of daily living, of the fact of our crucifixion and resurrection that was established by our baptism in water.
Our job is to hold steady in unwavering faith toward God because faith is the victory that overcomes the world. God’s job is to bring into visible, tangible experience the reality of what was declared in water baptism to be true of us. By faith, obedience, and diligence we must lay hold on that for which we have been grasped by Christ: that is, crucifixion and resurrection in and with Him.
The Daily Outworking of Crucifixion and Resurrection
But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: (II Corinthians 1:9)
We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. (II Corinthians 4:8-11)
Water baptism portrays our position in Christ. The above verses from II Corinthians describe the daily outworking of the experience of Christian living and ministry.
Sometimes the Christian life is preached by God’s salesmen (the evangelists) as though it were one happy time after another; that our peace can never be removed once we accept Christ; that the problems that harass unsaved people can never bother us after we believe in Christ; that the will of God is always clear to the consecrated Christian. This is not often true.
We Christians spend much time in the "wilderness." We have the Presence of God while we are in the wilderness of barrenness, confusion, and wretchedness, and His wisdom and power enable us to come successfully through these hard experiences.
The spiritual wilderness in which we wander is no land of milk and honey filled with all kinds of delights. The wilderness is just as Paul described it in II Corinthians (above).
If we have the "sentence of death" in ourselves and abandon our safety to the love and power of God, resurrection life is given to us and enables us to triumph spiritually and physically over the assaults of the enemy. The authority, power, and wisdom of God guarantee that neither the spiritual forces of wickedness nor physical forces on the earth will be able to hurt us spiritually or physically, except in ways precisely supervised by the Lord and ordered for our good.
The Christian victories take place in the spirit realm. This is where the battles are fought and where our trust and faith in God are tested. It is in the spirit realm that we finally break through into triumphant deliverance from oppression, even though the oppression and weakness seem to be coming from physical sources.
As soon as victory over satanic forces has been gained, by the appropriation of God’s enabling wisdom and power, the physical problems that are present will be solved. If the physical problems are not solved, we need to stay before God in prayer, praise, unrelenting faith, courage, persistence, and absolute obedience. It is God’s will for His people that they be completely whole in spirit, soul, and body. (Sometimes God deals with us through afflictions, but that is a separate issue.)
As far as physical death is concerned, it is of small consequence except for the emotional pain of being separated from a loved one. Whether we are alive in the body or present with the Lord in Heaven is a side issue when compared with the overwhelming importance of closing the gap between our position and our experience in Christ. The power of Christ’s redemption is always moving us Christians individually and corporately toward the land of promise, toward the destruction of all satanic influence in the heavenlies, on the earth, and in us personally.
The supremely important issue of the Christian discipleship is our standing in and with Christ, our perfect and complete union with Him at all times, in all places, and in all circumstances. Such consistent, absolute union with Christ is the only acceptable status of God’s saints.
One can see the experience of the daily outworking of the crucifixion of Christ, in the following expressions in II Corinthians 4:8-11: "troubled on every side," "perplexed," "persecuted," "cast down," "always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus," "always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake."
Likewise, one can observe also the experience of the daily outworking of the resurrection of Christ under these crucifying circumstances: "not distressed," "not in despair," "not forsaken," "not destroyed," "that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body," "that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh."
Death, life, death, life; dying, living, dying, living; by the minute, by the day, by the month, by the year. We always are being pressed into the cross of Christ. We always are being renewed by the resurrection Life of Christ.
The deeper the cross the fuller the life. We do not leave the cross and then go on to life. We gain resurrection life through the cross. The fullness of crucifixion brings the fullness of life; and it is God who performs every aspect of this work.
Crucifying one’s self is just another expression of the self-life. We are not to crucify ourselves. Our part, rather, is to rejoice always in the goodness of God and to be thankful continually for all He gives us in the spiritual and natural realms. God’s part is to press us into the death of Christ and to raise us again with and in Christ.
When we can accomplish our goals by our natural abilities we do not need the life from Christ. Therefore God brings our fleshly nature into helplessness by means of perplexity, pain, doubt, pressures, by striking us down, by raising the odds against us. God brings down the natural man to weakness and death.
If we will keep our trust anchored in Christ, the weaknesses of the natural man become the occasions for the revelation of the resurrection Life of Christ. Death, and then life! Dying, and then living! Such is the process by which we arrive at the resurrection from the dead.
For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: (II Corinthians 1:8,9)
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. (II Corinthians 12:9,10)
That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection [Greek, out-resurrection] of the dead. (Philippians 3:10,11)
The above passage from Philippians describes our experience in Christ.
Our position in Christ comes instantly, legally, and is validated and established by water baptism. A firstfruits of our personality is reaped to Christ at that time. From the moment we accept Christ and are baptized in water, God sees us on the cross with Christ and resurrected in and with Christ. He accepts us at His right hand. Christ has laid hold on us that we may abide in such a position of glory and power.
But the experience of daily living—that is another matter! Each day of our pilgrimage we are required to lay hold on that for which we have been laid hold on by Christ. He grasps us for a position and we grasp Him during our daily experiences of living in the world. Our position is on theoretical, spiritual side—although it represents an actual position in the heavens.
Our experience, on the other hand, is practical, earthly, filled with money problems, headaches, worries, doubts, threats, pressures, mistakes, decisions. The successful overcoming Christian life is the one in which the believer cooperates with the Holy Spirit until the gap has been closed between his position in Christ and his experience of living. The process of redemption is finished when our position in Christ and our experience in Christ are identical.
Bringing our experience into conformity with our position requires a period of time. Paul was near the end of his days on earth when Philippians was written. Behind him was a Christian life of extraordinary fruitfulness: of churches established; of miracles performed; of revelations of doctrine received and communicated; of history-changing epistles composed. The life-giving fruitfulness of Paul grew out of his sharing Christ’s sufferings.
Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. (II Corinthians 11:23-27)
It is believed that the letters to the Philippians, the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians, were written while Paul was being held in Rome and chained to a Roman guard. The lack of privacy during the two years must have been a heavy cross for Paul to bear, as it would be for anyone. Yet the resurrection Life from God has come to the world through these four epistles as well as through the other writings of Paul.
Here is an instance of the cross and the crown, of the outworking of the experience of our death with Christ and our resurrection in and with Him. The cross consisted of the imprisonment, the chain on Paul’s body, the lack of privacy, the loss of physical liberty. But out from Paul’s cross flowed the words of the Holy Spirit, extending the dominion of Christ over multitudes of people. Paul was not defeated. He was ruling triumphantly with Christ in resurrection life. It was Nero and the Roman Empire that were perishing.
Paul’s attitude at the time is recorded in Ephesians:
And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. (Ephesians 1:19-23)
Paul’s body was chained but his spirit was that of a conqueror. God desires that each of us Christians rule with Him now—in the present world. If we cannot overcome by faith and rule with Christ over the small "kingdom" we now possess, how, then, can we be entrusted with a larger responsibility?
If we are not faithful in that which is least we will not be faithful in the greater. We must begin to enter our land of promise now, into whatever area God has given us to subdue. The Holy Spirit of God will show us the "land"; will point out each "city" in order; and will furnish the wisdom, authority, and power for a successful campaign. Our part is to look to Christ each day in order to make sure we are in the proper place and doing the thing that is the will of God for us.
Paul continually embraced the power of Christ’s resurrection and shared in Christ’s sufferings. Paul was determined to win the earlier resurrection from the dead. His position in Christ had been certified at the time of his conversion, but the experience of actually ruling with Christ over the nations of the earth was the "mark" toward which Paul was pressing with every part of his personality.
We in the Church need to pack up our gear and get ready to move forward with the Spirit of God. We were on fire for God when we first heard about the remission of sins through Christ; about being born again; about receiving the Holy Spirit of God. At that time we started out in the Lord with a burning "first love."
But after we had attained these primary spiritual blessings we "unpacked." We settled down in our church routines, believing that God has nothing more of redemption for us while we are on earth. Our concept of Heaven being the land of promise, the spiritual fulfillment of Canaan, did not assist our efforts; rather it put us to sleep as far as God’s plan for the earth is concerned.
If we are to gain the crown of rulership with Christ over the nations, and the other aspects of the spiritual fulfillment of the land of promise, we must fight for them. Every day we live on earth will bring new trials, a new burden of evil, new cause for resistance against the enemy of our souls, new dangers, discouragement, new reasons why we should not pray, not seek Christ with the whole heart, not be absolutely obedient to the Holy Spirit of God, not meditate in the Scripture, not forget what is behind, not press on with single-minded determination to seize the prize of the high calling of God in Christ.
If we are content to stay spiritually abreast of the majority of churchgoers it appears certain we will never attain God’s best for our lives. The Christian life is more than faithful church attendance, as important as Christian fellowship is. Christian discipleship is a daily, intensely personal battle against the wicked spirits who govern the darkness of the age in which we live.
Christ has prepared a crown of life for every Christian who will come out (in his heart at least) from the babylonish confusion of the lukewarm, worldly churches and turn his heart, mind, soul, and strength toward grasping that for which he has been grasped by Christ—namely, daily practical union with the power of Christ’s resurrection and the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings.
The cross and the crown go together. Neither one stands alone. Too much suffering makes us morose—defeated in personality. Too much glory makes us self-centered and careless. It is a false teaching that claims nominal church membership is the basis for being a royal priest, a coheir with Christ, an attainer to the first resurrection, a ruler over nations. We must have our personal experience with the cross and the crown. We must interact each day with the Holy Spirit as He directs our discipleship.
The only basis for receiving the inheritance that belongs to God’s saints is the life of victorious faith, the life of disciplined obedience to the Lord Jesus. The sons of God are those who are being led by the Spirit of God into perfecting their walk of holiness, righteousness, and obedience to God (II Corinthians 7:1).
CHAPTER III FOLLOWING THE SPIRIT
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ hath made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)
That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. (Romans 8:4,5)
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16)
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify [put to death] the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. (Romans 8:13,14)
What does it mean to be "led by the Spirit of God"? Are the Christian churches being led by the Spirit of God? Are the individual Christians being led by the Spirit of God? Does being led by the Spirit refer to the average kind of Christian experience most of us have?
Some Christians say, "The Lord told me this; the Lord told me that." Are they the ones who are being led by the Spirit?
The experience of being led by the Holy Spirit of God is an important one, according to the eighth chapter of Romans, and is part of the working out of the redemption that is in Christ. A study of Romans, Chapters Six and Eight will indicate that our appropriation of the righteousness that flows from the shed blood of Christ depends on living each day in disciplined obedience to the Spirit of God.
That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:4)
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify [put to death] the deeds of the body, ye shall live. (Romans 8:13)
Our salvation, which begins when we accept the forgiveness of our sins as a gift—a gift based on the sacrifice of Christ, the Lamb of God, is developed and expressed in us as we learn to refuse the impulses of our fleshly nature and bring ourselves under the rule of the Spirit of God.
To live in the Spirit, to walk in the Spirit, to be led of the Spirit, requires that we be disciplined, Scripture-reading, praying Christians. Much experience is needed if we are to learn to distinguish between the many false voices and impulses with which we are besieged each day, and the guiding and prompting of the Holy Spirit.
We must begin to give time to cultivating our spiritual life. Learning to live and walk in the Spirit of God is a lifelong program that makes increasing demands on our devotion as we grow in the Lord. The final result—that which the Spirit is seeking—is that we come into perfect oneness with the Father and the Son.
Oneness with God is not brought about in a moment, although we can be "perfect" each day if we will be obedient and cooperative with the lessons that are presented to us one at a time.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. (Romans 8:14)
Each true child of God is learning to be led by the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God guides and empowers us in three areas of personality and activity:
The ministries and gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Internal conquest.
External conquest.
The ministries and gifts of the Holy Spirit are distributed among all the members of the Body of Christ. The result of the operation of the ministries and gifts of the Spirit is the creation of Christ in the believers and the eventual assembling of the perfected saints into the unified, fully mature Body of Christ, the Body of the Servant of the Lord who is to bring righteousness and justice to the peoples of the earth.
Internal conquest has to do with victory over sin in the life of the Christian. The result of internal conquest is complete release from the power that causes us to act, speak, and think in a manner displeasing to God. It is victory over the devil, over the spirit of the age in which we live, and over the impulses of our fleshly nature.
External conquest has as its objective breaking the yoke of sin in the area of responsibility assigned to the Christian, whether his home or the nations of the earth. Eventually sin and sinners will be destroyed out of the heavens and the earth. In order to be saved from the wrath that will be exercised through the sons of God, every creature must bow the knee and confess that Jesus is Lord.
Each Christian will be free from sin, and his environment will be free from sin.
Following the Spirit in Ministry
Christ is no longer visible to the Church on earth and so He has sent another Comforter. The other Comforter is the Holy Spirit. To the Holy Spirit has been given the responsibility to create and bring to the Lamb, Christ, a perfect bride.
The Holy Spirit is God. He is with us now. He is to be obeyed. He is the government of the Church. He takes of the things of Christ and shows them to us. It is He who brings about the witness of the Church and the testimony of each individual Christian. The Holy Spirit is the Anointing on the Head and Body of Christ.
It is the Holy Spirit who assigns the supernatural gifts, directs the ministry, and accomplishes both internal and external conquest.
The difference between ministry and conquest. There is a difference between ministry and conquest in the life of the Christian believer, although in actual living, ministry and conquest are closely related.
It is important that we understand the difference between the two because such understanding has a practical effect on the manner in which we respond to our circumstances.
Ministry and conquest are not synonymous but they influence each other. The Christian life of victorious faith requires that we follow the Holy Spirit both in ministry and in conquest.
Conquest has to do with the formation of Christian character and with the development of the ability of the Christian to follow Christ into the land of promise, into his inheritance, into the rest of God, into the subjugation of the earth. The Christian learns and becomes able, by means of many graces and experiences, to express the will of Christ in each situation in which he is placed.
Conquest is the process of redemption, moving us from chaos of spirit, soul, and body all the way to the image of Christ and perfect union with God. It includes the total destruction of the guilt, tendencies, and effects of sin. Every trace of satanic influence is to be removed from our personality.
Conquest is the move from the bondage of "Pharaoh" to the liberty of the law of the Spirit of life, and finally to rest in the land of promise. Conquest proceeds in terms of a permanent change in the image and behavior of the Christian, commencing with the subjection of his will to the will of Christ and continuing through dominion over all the works of Satan to eventual rulership over God’s creation.
Conquest is an eternal transformation of the entire personality of the Christian, making him fit to rule with God in the restoring of what was lost in Eden; bringing him to perfect fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham (Genesis 22:17).
Ministry, on the other hand, is a gift from the Holy Spirit. Ministry is temporary (I Corinthians 13:8-10) whereas the formation of the conquering personality is eternal. The Holy Spirit does not give a Christian instant, actual dominion over God’s works except in the legal, embryonic, potential sense. Rather, God guides and enables the Christian as he fights his way into his land of promise. The gaining of our inheritance in Christ takes a while to accomplish.
But the gifts of ministry are given by the Spirit as "talents" to each member of the Body of Christ (I Corinthians 12:11). They come as impartations, although it may require a period of time before the Christian learns to develop and operate his ministry in an edifying and fruitful manner.
Perhaps the difference between conquest and ministry can be seen clearly by looking at the purpose of each. The purpose of conquest is to set the Christian eternally free from all things, spirits, people, circumstances, motives, temptations, and every other hindrance and bondage that would prevent him from ruling with Christ, from abiding in Christ, from resting in God, from flowing with the life of the Godhead.
Ministries and gifts from the Holy Spirit assist in guiding and enabling the Christian as he moves toward the position of total conquest, of dominion in Christ over all things. Ministry helps form the conquering personality. Ministry is a method while conquest is the final result.
The purpose of ministry is to build the members of the Body of Christ into unity and maturity.
But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. (Ephesians 4:7)
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: (Ephesians 4:11-13)
From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. (Ephesians 4:16)
Every Christian has a ministry. There is no member of the Body of Christ who does not have a ministry. There are some Christians who are called to leave all secular employment and devote their entire time to their ministry. But that does not mean their ministry is different in kind or more important than the ministry of the other members of the Body of Christ.
It is necessary—absolutely essential—that every Christian come to the knowledge of his own ministry in the Body of Christ and begin to exercise it. There is no other method by which the Body of Christ can be brought to maturity and unity.
The above passages from Ephesians, Chapter Four announces the purpose of the several ministries distributed among the saints. The gifts of grace are given for the "work of the ministry"; for the "edifying of the body of Christ"; for bringing the members of the Body to "the knowledge of the Son of God"; for bringing the members of the Body of Christ "to a perfect man," to the goal, which is the full stature of Christ.
We have stated that the purpose of internal and external conquest is to set the Christian totally and eternally free from all things, spirits, people, circumstances, motives, temptations, and every other hindrance and bondage that would prevent him from ruling with Christ, from abiding in Christ, from resting in God, from flowing with the life of the Godhead. The purpose of ministry, on the other hand, is to assist in guiding and enabling the Christian as he moves toward the level of total conquest.
The conquering Christians must receive the virtue, wisdom, and power flowing from the several ministries of the Holy Spirit. The ministries and gifts of the Holy Spirit can spring only from the participation of the members of the entire Church of Christ. There must be a "building," a "unity of the faith," a "knowledge of the Son of God," a perfect maturity as measured by the standard, which is the full stature of Christ.
The final result of ministry is the Christian who is in the full image of Christ. The final result of ministry is a fully mature son of God Almighty. The final result of ministry is a conqueror who attains dominion over every circumstance in which he is placed by the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit gives the gifts. It is the Holy Spirit who assigns the supernatural abilities by which the saints are perfected and built into the Body of Christ. The Holy Spirit is the oil that provides fuel for the golden Lampstand of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, to speak in a figure. The Lampstand is the light of the world, the communication of God to the Church itself, and through the Church to the heavens and the earth (Exodus 25:31; Revelation 1:12).
The Holy Spirit gives the gifts of manifestation. They are the things of Christ, the talents, the Lord’s money given to us so we can make a profit for the Kingdom of God. "But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal" (I Corinthians 12:7).
The Lord Jesus expects every member of His Body to become skillful in the use of the gifts given to him or her. By calling to mind the parable of the talents we understand that God expects us to be diligent in the use of the gifts He has given us. If we are not diligent in the use of our spiritual endowments we can expect a rebuke from the Lord and the loss of the opportunity to serve Him on a larger scale.
For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: (I Corinthians 12:8-10)
All these gifts are in the members of the Body of Christ in abundance (although often not exercised). It is through the use of them that the Body of Christ comes to unity and maturity, the saints are perfected in holiness and obedience, and unsaved people receive an opportunity to behold the Person and salvation of God. One or more endowments of the Spirit is to be operating in every member of the Body.
In time past there has been a lack of the operation of the gifts of the Spirit in the members of the Body of Christ. As a result, the Church, in many instances, has not maintained as powerful a testimony or as great spiritual strength that would have been true if the gifts of the Spirit had been in full operation.
In our time the Spirit is dealing with a lavish hand. Each Christian person is invited and expected to cooperate as the glorious gifts of the Spirit are distributed. There is much work to be done. We are to "covet earnestly" the things of the Spirit of God. The harvest is great. Let us make certain we go to the Lord of the harvest, obtain our tools, and spend our days in the work of the Kingdom.
But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. (I Corinthians 12:11)
There is no member of the Body of Christ, of the Christian Church, who does not have an endowment from the Holy Spirit. There is no part of the Body that does not have a specific role to play in the program of God. We have not always known what our particular ministry is because full participation by the members of the various congregations has not been not encouraged as much as is necessary if the believers are to enter vigorous, productive ministry.
Now is the day for each congregation of Christians, each assembly of the saints of the Lord, to become builders and fighters in establishing the Kingdom of God. In order to do our part we must have supernatural endowments from the Holy Spirit. None of us, old or young, male or female, is excepted.
For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ [Christ]. (I Corinthians 12:12)
The Body of Christ is the Body of the Servant of the Lord (Isaiah 42:1). Each Christian is a member of the Anointed Deliverer who has been commissioned by the Lord God to "bring justice to the nations." The Holy Spirit baptizes each believer into the one Body of Christ. As members of the Body we have a unique role and function. It is the gifts of the Spirit of God that enable us to function as part of the Body of the Servant of the Lord.
In the present hour we have a down payment, a pledge, a guarantee of the much greater anointing of the Spirit that is to come upon us in the closing days of this age—the time when the Kingdom of God is established in the earth and Christ is enthroned as King of kings and Lord of lords.
But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way. (I Corinthians 12:31)
The "best gifts" are those that build up the Body of Christ.
The "more excellent way" refers to the perfection of God’s love in us and the fullness of the revelation of His Glory that will come upon the Church at the time of the return of Christ.
The gifts of the Spirit are temporary, being as the manna in the wilderness. The gifts are not "the old corn of the land." Nevertheless they are necessary in the days in which we are living. They are the revelation of God to the Church.
There is no possible way in which believers can be added to the Church, and the Church itself built up into the fullness of the stature of Christ, other than by the gifts of the Holy Spirit of God.
The Holy Spirit is sovereign in the giving of gifts. Our response is to covet earnestly and fervently the supernatural abilities of the Spirit of God, for it is by them that we can build the Kingdom of God.
How much time have you spent earnestly seeking the will of the Spirit concerning your contribution to the Body of Christ? Ask God for direction and help. He will lead you into the fullness of ministry and will not rebuke you for your desire to serve Him.
The Holy Spirit directs the ministry. The gifts given to the Christian are subject to the Christian (I Corinthians 14:32). However, each Christian believer is to be subject to the Holy Spirit and each assembly of saints is to be subject to the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who direc