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ability to hear the HolySpirit, and protecting theTruth of God.

The influence others haveon you as you run the raceis endurance. Endurance isthe ability to push forwardeven when everything isagainst you. When I was achild, my siblings and Iwould make whirlpools inour pool. As soon as thewater was moving fastenough, we would turnaround and walk againstthe current. We realize thisalso in our salvation andfaith. When the road is easyand the pressures of theworld are not weighingdown on us, we must begoing with the flow in life.But when we experiencerevival, all of the suddenthe world is pushing on us.

The world will always beagainst you if you are liv-ing for God. What sins andtemptations try to knockyou down? Think of what itwill take to endure thepressure in a godly way.God is calling you to useHis strength to overcomethe world.

Paul and Silas give us a

personal example of what ittakes to endure for the sakeof God. As they travelled inthe town of Philippi, theyfound a slave girl tellingfortunes.

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There- fore, since we are sur-rounded by so great acloud of witnesses, let us alsolay aside every weight, and sinwhich clings so closely, and letus run with endurance the racethat is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joythat was set before him en-dured the cross, despising theshame, and is seated at theright hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2

Running the race God hasset before us is a road full ofblessings. Unfortunately,many people miss out onthese blessings. When weare called to run with en-durance, we are called tolive through our faith. Someprofessing Christians todayare neglecting the oppor-

tunity to run for God be-cause they prefer to stickwith the crowd that iswatching the race takeplace. What good is it, mybrothers, if someone says hehas faith but does not haveworks? Can that faith savehim? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking indaily food, and one of you saysto them, Go in peace, bewarmed and filled, without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?So also faith by itself, if it doesnot have works, is dead.

James 2:14-17

We need to help others getinto the race that is set be-fore us. In order to do so,we need to understand the

two influ-ences taking place in anendurance race. Just as aphysical race can be hin-dered or enhanced byinfluences, our spiritualwalk with God has thepotential to change. Influ-ences may come fromexternal or internal effort.Lets consider both com-ponents.

The influence you haveover yourself is disci-pline. No matter whathappens, at the end of theday, you have a decisionto make: Are you, or areyou not going to followGods will. Ultimately,you have the opportunityto decide if God is worthseeking or not. I wouldhope you find that God is

worth the work. Whatwork? Well, to run therace, we need to betrained.

Consider the training re-quired for our physicalbodies to be ready to run.Not only does it take timeto get the muscles builtup, but runners mustnourish themselves

properly, being carefulabout what they put intotheir body. Spiritually, wealso must train ourselvesfor the call of God. Eachwitness must be trainedin Truth; along with thisis spiritual discipline ofprayer, readiness to wit-ness, living righteous,

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Inside this issue:

Removing the Veil 2

Forewarned Is Forearmed

4

Entire Sanctification:A Necessity

7

Holiness and Obedience

10

Revival: An Experi-ence of Glory

12

When God Moves In 14

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In thebeginningGod cre-ated. He said let there be and there was.

He commanded and His creationobeyed. What was created revealed theglory of its creator. The very existenceof anything at all proclaimed that thereis a creator who is eternal and whosepower is boundless and immeasurable.Even so, the Creator had a greater vi-sion. Then God said, let us make man inour image, after our likeness. And let themhave dominion over the fish of the sea andover the birds of the heavens and over thelivestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on theearth. So God created man in His own im-age, in the image of God He created him;

male and femaleHe created them(Genesis 1:26ESV).

God created theheavens and theearth and sawthat it wasgood. But Hestill had a desirethat was notfulfilled in thatcreation. Take asecond to con-sider the magni-

tude of this mo-ment. God laid the foundations of a uni-verse that none can even begin to com-prehend. Job 26:7 says, He stretches outthe north over empty space; He hangs theearth on nothing. Do some studying and

you will see that everything in the uni-verse works in perfect order. The workof His hand is a masterpiece beyondanything man could begin to create.Even so, He desired children that wouldbe a mirror through which He could seeHimself. Man would populate the earthand be a people that would communewith, and glorify their creator. A.W.Tozer said this about the creation ofman, God made man to be like Him so

that man could givemore pleasure to God than

all the other creatures. Only in man,as created by God, can God admireHimself. Man is the mirror image inwhich God looks to see Himself.Man is the reflection of the glory ofGod, which was the purpose andintention of God originally. Manssupreme function through all eterni-ty is to reflect Gods highest glory,and that God might look into themirror called man and see His ownglory shining there. Through man,God could reflect His glory to allcreation (The Purpose of Man).

Though the heavens declare the gloryof God, and the sky above proclaims Hishandiwork, Gods idea of a master-piece was mankind. God and mandwelt together. He walked in thegarden with them. God was a realpresence with man. In spite of this,man chose to follow his own desires.Man chose to be the ruler of his lifeand as a result the relationship be-

tween God and man would be deep-ly scarred. At the moment Adamsurrendered to his own desire manbecame blind. A veil covered theheart of man keeping him from un-derstanding the glory of the LivingGod.

To this day, and until the final day,mans great battle is to overcome thesinful nature that renders him blindto the very one who created him tobe above all other things created.Though today we have this greathope in Christ who always lives tointercede, there are many who livea life of spiritual blindness. Man hasmade every arrogant attempt to sci-entifically and philosophically ex-plain his own existence, all the whilehe is unable and unwilling to see thathuman wisdom is weak and feeble.The arrogant wisdom of man has

come up with countless theo-ries proclaiming understandingof every subject you can thinkof. We should not be surprisedby this! The wrath of God is beingrevealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of menwho suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may beknown about God is plain to them,because God has made it plain tothem. For since the creation of theworld Gods invisible qualitiesHis eternal power and divine na-turehave been clearly seen, beingunderstood from what has beenmade, so that men are without ex-cuse. For although they knew God,they neither glorified Him as Godnor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their

foolish hearts were darkened . Although they claimed to be wise,they became fools and exchangedthe glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortalman and birds and animals andreptiles (Romans 1:18-23 NIV).

Do you see that things have notchanged? It is the same patternfor thousands of years. Man hasopportunity to have commun-ion with his creator. Man choos-es not to glorify God or givethanks to him, but man choosesto follow his own desires. Asman follows his own desires hisheart is darkened and lives hislife governed by futile thought.A man governed by anythingother than the Spirit of God is aman who finds himself wadingblindly through the murky wa-ters of sin and death. Not onlydid God ordain laws to governthe universe and allow it towork to precision in order thatlife may be sustained, but Heordained order that would bethe foundation of all things holyand pleasing to Himself. When

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Man is the

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which was the

purpose and

intention of God

originally.

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man chooses to set on the thronein his own heart he steps out ofthe order that God has ordainedand chaos ensues leading to allthe problems we see in thosearound us today. The acts of the

sinful nature are obvious: sexual im-morality, impurity and debauchery;idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, dis-cord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfishambition, dissensions, factions andenvy; drunkenness, orgies, and thelike (Galatians 5:19-21).

Man traded the truth of God for alie. Most will spend the extent oftheir time on earth storing uptreasures that are founded in a lie.

Again A.W. Tozer says, Beforethe Lord God made man upon theearth He first prepared for him aworld of useful and pleasantthings for his sustenance and de-light. In the Genesis account of thecreation these are simplythings. They were made formans use, but they were meantalways to be external to the manand subservient to him. In thedeep heart of the man was a

shrine where none but God wasworthy to come. Within him wasGod; without, a thousand giftswhich God had showered uponhim. But sin has introduced com-plications and has made thosevery gifts of God a potentialsource of ruin to the soul. Ourwoes began when God was forcedout of His central shrine andthings were allowed to enter.Within the human heart things

have taken over. Men have nowby nature no peace within theirhearts, for God is crowned thereno longer, but there in the moraldusk, stubborn and aggressiveusurpers fight among themselvesfor first place on the throne.

The most unnerving part of thiswhole situation is that sometimes

the churchs ideas and theories are justas empty and hollow as mans attemptat explaining how we all evolved fromnothing.

I believe that there are people who

genuinely want to see a move of God.Something that cannot be mistaken forhuman ingenuity. There is a lot of talkabout revival these days. It is excitingto hear that there are people who areready and willing to cry out to ourGod and intercede on behalf of others.It is exciting to know that there arepeople who still believe that God isable to do immeasurably more than allwe ask or imagine. It is exciting toknow that there are people who be-

lieve that Gods Church is alive andwell today and that God does stillmove when His people come togetherin His name. I wonder though if weunderstand the kind of surrender ittakes to experience that moving ofGod in our lives.

We say the right words sometimes.Pray for God to revive and move andstir hearts. But do we really under-stand that His desire is that we surren-der everything that stands before Himin our hearts? How often do we gobefore God and willingly throw openthe doors of our hearts and tell Him totake whatever it is He wants? Do weoften open the doors to our deepestdesires and plans and allow Him fullreign? How many will endure the suf-fering of being crucified with Christ sothat it is no longer we who live but Hewho lives through us. There is pain tobe endured as ones nature is trans-formed. There must be a work ofGod in destruction before we are free.We must invite the cross to do itsdeadly work within us. We must bringour self-sins to the cross for judgment.We must prepare ourselves for an or-deal of suffering in some measure likethat through which our Savior passedwhen He suffered under Pontius Pi-late.There are things in our lives today

that stand in the way of revival. Maybeyou had plans in life that never came to be.Maybe you thought you would have at-tained a certain standing in life. Maybeyou just simply allow your time energyand thought to be consumed by plans ordesires that are not yet, or are never, to be.

Only in the work of the Spirit of God in theheart of man can the veil that so blinds usbe removed allowing the light of the Liv-ing God to shine into our hearts that wecan be a mirror of the image of the Al-mighty God.

Therefore, since we have such a hope, we arevery bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites

from gazing at it while the radiance was fadingaway. But their minds were made dull, for tothis day the same veil remains when the oldcovenant is read. It has not been removed, be-cause only in Christ is it taken away. Even tothis day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord,the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is Spirit,and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces allreflect the Lords glory, are being transformedinto His likeness with ever-increasing glory,which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit (2Corinthians 3:12-18).

Does the veil still exist in your heart to-day? Is your life governed by the wisdomof man? Are you willing to follow afterHim even if it means the Spirit of Godsearching the depths of who you are andcrucifying the things that hold you backfrom being a true mirror of the glory ofGod? I believe He still works in His peo-ple. If we open ourselves fully to Him wewill be transformed into a great mirror

that reflects His image here on earth andproclaims to all mankind that HE IS! Aswe become this mirror we are fulfillingGods purpose and vision for mankind. Inthe beginning God had a vision for man.As we allow Him to remove the veil overour hearts we become the creation aboutwhom He can again say it is good.

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The antichrist? The 2 nd coming? When?

Who? These are the questions that areasked, and not just in the Church, theworld is also curious and looks to thewritings of men for answers when thefirst place any of us should look is theWord of God. Especially since that iswhere it is written about and comesfrom!

In 1 John 2: 18 we read , Children, it isthe last hour, and as you have heard thatantichrist is coming, so now many anti-

christs have come. Therefore we know that itis the last hour (ESV).

The Word ofGod tells us thatthe church hadheard about theantichrist com-ing, and so havewe. There are alot of bookswritten on thesubject, withmany accusa-tions havingbeen made overthe years as towho and when.That fictional

series of books be-ing released contributed to what is gen-erally believed about the antichrist inour day.

Dictionary.com defines fiction as some-

thing feigned, invented, or imagined; amade- up story. Ill give the writers ofthis series the benefit of the doubt andgo with the 5 th definition that was giv-en:An imaginary thing or event, postulat-ed (proposed, assumed, guessed at, putforward) for the purposes of argumentor explanation, so we will call this se-ries a fictional explanation, not a biblical

one. We could spend hours on the

false teachings in this work of Fictionthat many are so ready to believe,and have been deceived by.When looking for answers, especiallywhen dealing with the symbolicbook of Revelation, we should al-ways look first to scripture, not toother sources, especially an explana-tion that is fictional.There are two things in 1 John 2:18that I am going to look at, which an-swer some of the questions raised by

the general beliefs held about Reve-lation. First, Ill define the antichrist.In that work of fiction, the Antichristis put forward as a man. The wordantichrist is only found 5 times in 4Bible passages. It is not found evenonce in the book of Revelation . Johnis the only one who used the word,and all 4 passages are found in his 1 st and 2 nd letters to the churches: twicein verse 18, and then again in verse22, Who is the liar but he who deniesthat Jesus is the Christ? This is the anti-christ, he who denies the Father and theSon. In 2nd John verse 7, For manydeceivers have gone out into the world,those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one isthe deceiver and the antichrist .(4) Sothe many, Many deceivers are listedas the deceiver and the antichrist .This is not describing one person, 1 st

John 4:3 also speaks to what or whothe antichrist is, every spirit thatdoes not confess Jesus is not from God.

This is the spirit of the antichrist, whichyou heard was coming and now is in theworld already. The term Spirit of Antichrist refersto the teachings of the antichrists.They were false prophets. What theypreached and taught was not givento them by the Holy Spirit. It was thework of an anti-Christ spirit. Anti-christs are to be known by their false

teachings and the sinful behav-ior which is condoned and/orignored. Throughout the historyof the Church, we can tracethose with the spirit of the anti-christ. All we have to do is lookfor the opposition to Christ, HisTruth, and His teachings. Thereare four things that point to thespirit of antichrist at work.

One. The name antichrist is giv-en to those who fulfill theprophesy/warning of Jesus.

Although, Jesus never used theterm Antichrist. We knowfrom this 18 th verse in 1 st Johnthat the church was aware oftheir coming, or had at the veryleast heard of these false gods(christs) and prophets whowould come.

In Matthew 24, Jesus foretoldthe appearance of false christsand false prophets, who woulddeceive their followers into be-lieving a lie. Jesus said that the-se deceivers would not be obvi-ous, but that they would be soclever and devious as to possi-bly lead even the elect awayfrom the Truth.His warning/prophecy is notlimited to one single person.

Jesus said that many wouldcome in his name, claiming to beChrist. This is not limited to acertain time. Jesus set no limita-tions on when these false oneswould appear, so we can expectto see many throughout history,and even today.Two: We need to watch for op-position to the followers of thereal Christ. This opposition isfound at the beginning, whenCain murdered his brotherbecause his own deeds were

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When looking foranswers,especially whendealing with thesymbolic book ofRevelation, weshould alwayslook first to

scripture, not toother sources,especially anexplanation that isfictional.

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evil and his brothers right-eous. (1 John 3:12) The Antichristis clearly visible in the recordedhistory of the church: when in thename of the church, followers ofChrist, those it called hereticswere persecuted, burned at thestake, drawn and quartered,

starved, and in general murderedby the vilest of means available tomake a point of who was incharge!

Three: This, more than the othertwo, points out the false Christi-anity of the antichrist. The con-doning of sin and the lack of re-pentance, the unwillingness toeven hear that we are to live a lifeof holiness; and the false doctrinethat you can live a life of sin andstill be saved, are all false teach-ings. They are in opposition to thecall of holiness and love theteachings of Christ, and are anti-Christ.

Four: The Truth, The Word ofGod not being taught. If someoneor something is lowering thestandard of what the Bible clearlyteaches or calls sin to the worldlystandards of mans rules of toler-

ance and acceptance, then is notthat person or system of religionteaching in opposition to theWord of God?

It is Jesus who saves, not deadsaints, the mother of Jesus, or anyother man. He is the way, the Truth,and the Life, no one comes to the Fa-ther except through Him. You cantbuy yours or anybody elses wayinto heaven. You cant work your

way out of Sin by repeating aprayer or doxology. Receivingforgiveness for sin from a man, nomatter who he is, will not get youto heaven. This all goes againstthe teaching of Christ, and is anti-Christ.

Every enemy that would resist theteachings of Christ is anti-Christ.

Those who compete, combat, or con-test the reign of Christ in the lives ofHis followers are anti-Christ. Thosewho would deny the deity of Christ,his coming in the flesh, or his deathand resurrection are anti-Christ. Thisincludes the religious organizationsthat use the Bible as less than the very

Word of God. They may not even beaware that their teachings and stand-ards are quite different from those oftrue Christianity. Especially whenthey are not encouraged to read theWord of God themselves, or it is keptfrom them!

Adam Clarke, in his commentary ofthe Bible, defines an antichrist as A ny person, thing, doctrine, system of religion,or state mandate which stands in opposi-tion to Christ or His teachings . In otherwords, the Word of God!

If a religious organization is putting aman in place of God, speaks for God,or what they say trumps the veryword of God, is not that anti-Christ?Especially when Christ Himself said,You know that the rulers of the Gentilesdominate them, and the men of high posi-tion exercise power over them. It must notbe like that among you. On the contrary,whoever wants to become great among

you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not cometo be served, but to serve, and to give Hislifea ransom for many (Matt. 20:25-28). This is why the Church of Godbelieves in autonomy for each congre-gation. Christ is our King; He alone isthe head of the Church. No manshould presume to speak for Christ.We have all that He has to say in theWord of God.

Is not the church to be a strongholdfor Biblical Truth, Christian belief, andthe worship of the one true God? Weare at war. There has been a battlewaging in opposition to the teachingsof Christ since the beginning. ThePharisees spoke against Jesus and Histeachings. They were anti-Christ, andit has been going on ever since.In this letter to the Church, we are

forewarned about theantichrists, those whohad come and those who would. This isnot about any one person, but about many;not for some far, distant future, but for theday we live in, the hour we inhabit, thehere and now. This speaks of men whoclaim to be Christian, but are not . You

cant confess your sin and go right back toit. That is not repenting, that is not turningaway from it. It is just talking about itwhile embracing sin! This teaching is anti-Christ. Jesus said, Go and sin no more. This is where we are today. We need tostop speculating about some improbablefuture. This just gets in the way of know-ing the Truth. Instead the Church (thatsyou and me) needs to stand in oppositionto the world and the false anti-Christteachings that are out there. Arm yourself,

know what theWord of God says,and know thetruth!Church, we shouldall fear for thosewho have been de-ceived, not only byworks of fictionand fantasy, butalso by the falseteachings of reli-gious organizationsand political activ-ists. Many havebeen deceived intonot only support-ing, but also intoserving Sin. These anti-Christ organizations are what the Churchfaced then, and what we face now. Wehave been forewarned! And that brings meto the second thing at which we need tolook.

Again, we need to look at vs. 18 of 1 John.This is the warning! This is the Lasthour! We really need to understand that,and make it a part of our outlook on life.We need to live like this is the last hour ofour lives, everyday

We are warned in verse 17 that The worldand its lust is passing away, and now weare told it is the last hour. The evening of

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the Gospel day is here, the Day ofSalvation is ending, and the HolySpirit is telling us throughout theNew Testament to be prepared.

In that work of fiction, the church

disappears, is raptured, and manywho thought they were of thechurch do not, and are, dare I say it,left behind. This story feeds whatis taught and generally believed outthere in the world and in the church.This theory of man was unheard ofbefore the reformation, and has notbeen around for more than 500years. The Word of God has beenaround a lot longer than that.

There are no more days after thelast. Look at what Jesus says in John6 verses 39 & 40 & 44, This is the

will of Him whosent Me: that I should lose noneof those He has given Me butshould raisethem up on thelast da y. For thisis the will of MyFather: that eve-

ryone who seesthe Son and be-lieves in Himmay have eternallife, and I willraise him up on

the last day Noone can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I willraise him up on the last day .

Just from these three verses, weknow that all those who have beengiven to the Son, who believe, haveeternal life, and have been drawn bythe Father will be raised up. When?On the last day! Not before or afterseven years, not before or after athousand, but on the last day. Jesuscomes back once more, not 3 or 4more times, and when he comes it isin Judgment on the last day. On thatlast and glorious day, Jesus will sep-arate the sheep from the goats; the

tares from the wheat, and He willtake us home with Him.

We are living in the last days, theend times. Here in 1 st John theWord of God tells us, It is the lasthour, and that the Apostles knewthis because of the false teachingsof the antichrists that were beingspread in the Church. Much like itis happening today.

The Word of God , in Acts 2:16-17,the Apostle Peter at Pentecostquotes the prophet Joel, And it willbe in the last days , says God, that I will pour out My Spiriton all humanity; then your sonsand your daughters will prophesy,your young men will see visions, andyour old men will dream dreams. I will even pour out My Spirit on Mymale and female slaves in those days,and they will prophesy. He knew.The Holy Spirit is with us.

The Word of God in 1 Cor. 10:11,Now these things happened to themas examples, and they were written asa warning to us, on whom the ends of the ages have come . The ApostlePaul knew.The Word of God in Heb 1:1-2,

Long ago God spoke to the fathers bythe prophets at different times and indifferent ways. In these last days ,He has spoken to us by His Son. Godhas appointed Him heir of all thingsand made the universe through Him .And in Heb 9:26- 28, But now Hehas appeared one time, at the end of the ages , for the removal of sin by thesacrifice of Himself. And just as it isappointed for people to die onceandafter this, judgment so also the Mes-siah, having been offered once to bear

the sins of many, will appear a secondtime, not to bear sin, but to bring sal-vation to those who are waiting for Him. The writer of Hebrews new,

just as the Apostles new, The Wordof God tell us we are in the lasthour.

Are you among those who arewaiting? Are you prepared? The

world, and its lust, is passingaway, it is the last hour. Falseprophets propagate their prom-ises of prosperity and position.Anti -christs are a dime a doz-en, spewing forth the lie of toler-ance to sin and that there aremany ways to heaven, spread-

ing their message to open earsthat desire to be tickled. Theydisobey the moral laws of Godand openly embrace what Godsays is an abomination. Theseorganizations of men who havea human leader as their kingdeceive people into pursing sin.They misuse, water down andtrample the teachings of Christ,our King, beneath their feet.

In Matthew 24, Jesus not onlytold the Disciples that falsechrists and false prophets wouldarise to mislead people, but alsothat lawlessness would in-crease and peoples love wouldgrow cold .

Jesus said that if we loved Him wewould obey His commands.Church, the love of God hasgrown cold. Sin is rampant inwhat was once the church, it istolerated, overlooked, con-doned, accepted, supported,and served while the Word ofGod is barely allowed a place,and often seen as just a book ofgood moral stories.

Jesus Christ appeared at the endof the ages. He is here with usreigning in our hearts, reigningover the Kingdom of His peo-ple. He came to earth over 2000

years ago, bore our sin on thecross and set up His Kingdom.

It is the last hour. Are you pre-pared for the 2 nd coming? Areyou ready and waiting? If not,now is the time to get ready, tobe prepared! Forewarned isforearmed

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It has become apparent inthe different circles that I travel,and I am sure most of you canidentify with this, that there isoften indifference when speakingon the subject of entire sanctifica-tion. People believe they are liv-ing moral lives, lives of faith andtrust, and believe they are goingto heaven when they die. The

subject of holiness is of no interestto many of these people becausethey feel they are doing just finewhere they are in their spirituallives.

I would even be as bold to saythat there are groups of self-proclaimed Christians out therewho get upset at the thought ofthe word sanctified or the doc-

trine of holiness. They have nodesire to hear it preached andwould think of those people whoproclaim it as Holy rollers.

Another group would suggestthat it is necessary to have a littlesin in our lives, without some sinthere would be no need for thegrace that only God can provide.They would advocate that with-

out sin, Jesus death on the crosswould have been meaningless.

There is one other group that Ihave observed that believe thatentire sanctification is a beautifulidea, something that is worthy ofstriving for all the days of ones

life, but not attainable. Dougan

Clark says this about this group inhis book Theology of Holiness: Theyhope to grow towards it all the daysof their lives, and to get it at the mo-ment of death. Not sooner than thedying hour, do they believe any hu-man can be made holy. Not tilldeath is separating the soul from thebody can even God Himself sepa-rate sin from the soul. The wholedoctrine of entire sanctification,therefore, they regard as a beautifultheory, but wholly impossible as anexperience, and wholly impractica-ble as a life.

We see in these circles, that there isthe view of indifference, the view ofdislike, that sanctification is undesir-able, and lastly that it is unattaina-ble. We however, the people ofGod, a chosen people and His royalpriesthood must believe the word ofGod and His word tells us it is nec-essary! Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; with-out holiness no one will see the Lord(Hebrews 12:14).

The general Christian definition ofEntire sanctification or Christianperfection is a Christian doctrinewhich holds that the heart of theborn again Christian may attain astate of holiness in which believersare made free from original sin, ordepravity, and where there is a totallove for God and others wrought bythe infilling of the Holy Spirit(Wikipedia). Merriam-Webster de-

fines it as the religious doctrine of per-fect holiness in which there is no sin. Inboth of these definitions, it is obviousthat entire sanctification is a work thathappens to born again Christians whichcauses the desire to sin to be removed.

Among the Christian community entiresanctification has several differentnames, such as: Christian perfection,perfect love, heart purity, the baptismof the Holy Spirit, the fullness of theblessing, Christianholiness, and thesecond blessing.All these differentnames could nodoubt add to theconfusion thatmany people haveabout sanctifica-tion.

Instead of makingthe argument as towhy these fourviews of sanctifica-tion are inaccurate,it seems more neces-sary to propose the biblical necessitysupporting sanctification. Having iden-tified what sanctification is we moveforward to support its necessity.

If entire sanctification has been provedto be not a matter of option but a matterof necessity; if we cannot attain to thehighest results in Christian privilege,nor in Christian enjoyment, nor inChristian service without this blessedexperience, and if, at the end, we cannotbe admitted into the celestial city unless

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Make every effort

to live in peace with

all men and to be

holy; without

holiness no one will

see the Lord

(Hebrews 12:14).

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we possess it, surely we cannotdoubt for a moment that our gra-cious Heavenly Father has provided

a way by which this indispensablerequisite both for time and for eter-nity may be received (Clark: Theolo- gy of Holiness).

We can agree on the fundamentaldoctrine of atonement, that is ex-pressed in John 3:16, For God so lovedthe world, that He gave His one andonly Son, that whoever believes in himshall not perish but have eternal life.

God sent His son in order that wemay have life. As Christians, if we

dont agree onthis truth every-thing else be-comes null andvoid. But we doagree, and howdo we receivethe salvationoffered up byGod through hisson?

We recognizethat all have

sinned and fallshort of the glory of God (Romans3:23). That the wages of sin isdeath, but the gift of God is eternallife in Christ Jesus our Lord(Romans 6:23). That God demon-strates His own love for us in this:While we were still sinners, Christdied for us (Romans 5:8). And lastlyand certainly not the least, If youconfess with your mouth, Jesus isLord, and believe in your heart thatGod raised him from the dead, youwill be saved (Romans 10:9).

Atonement is a gift that is of-fered to everyone. It is not ex-clusive in its availability, but isexclusive in its participation.We are required to believe, byfaith, and to obey if we want toreceive the benefits of salvation.All the sins of our past arewiped away. The slate is nowclean. This new life is a spirituallife, which was dead before, butnow, is made alive by the divinegrace of God through the Holy

Spirit. If God would pardon asinner of a past life of sins,would it not be necessary forHim to offer us a new nature,lest we fall back into the life ofsin that once consumed us. Thisthen would lead to a life of sin-ning and repenting, and sinningand repenting. Enter sanctifica-tion, the act of Gods grace bywhich inbred sin is removed andthe heart made holy. Christmakes us partakers in this newnature, a divine nature which isholy, just, and good.

God has in every age and in eve-ry dispensation required Hischildren to be holy. And to beholy signifies the destruction orremoval of inbred sin, nothingmore and nothing less and noth-ing else than that. God has mostsurely made provision in theatonement of Jesus Christ for theremoval of innate depravity.Therefore, He has made provi-sion for entire sanctification,and, therefore again, this won-drous grace is obtainable. In-

bred sin goes back to the fall ofman in the Garden of Eden. Ifnot as old as the human race, it

is at least as old as the fall.Since sin entered through thebeguiling of our mother, Eve, bythe serpent, inbred sin has exist-ed as a unit of evil in every childof Adam and Eve. The only ex-ception is the man, Christ Jesus,the God man, the Divine man,the promised seed that shouldbruise the serpents head. Butas He, the Lord Jesus Christ wasmanifested to destroy the worksof the devil, therefore its de-struction is provided for in theatonement, and, therefore, stillagain, entire sanctification isobtainable. (Clark: Theology of Holiness)

There are in scripture some ex-amples of Gods people whohave without question experi-enced a sanctified life. We aregiven a few examples of menwho walked with God.

Genesis 5:24, Enoch walkedwith God; then he was nomore, because God took himaway.

Genesis 6:9, This is the ac-count of Noah. Noah was a

righteous man, blamelessamong the people of his time,and he walked with God.

Genesis 17:1, When Abramwas ninety-nine years old, theLord appeared to him and said,I am God Almighty; walkbefore me and be blameless.

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This new life is a

spiritual life,

which was dead

before, but now, is

made alive by the

divine grace of

God through the

Holy Spirit.

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Genesis 24:40, He replied,The Lord, before whom I havewalked, will send his angelwith you and make your jour-ney a success, so that you can get wife for my son from myown clan and from my fathers family.

Genesis 48: 15, Then heblessed Joseph and said, Maythe God before whom my fa-thers Abraham and Isaacwalked

2 Kings 20: 2, Remember ,O Lord how I have walkedbefore you faithfully and withwholehearted devotion andhave done what is good inyour eyes.

These men all walked withGod. In Amos 3:3 we are giventhe scripture Can two walk to- gether unless they be agreed?

The answer is a resoundingNO! Matthew Henrys com-mentary says this: Wherethere is not friendship there canbe no fellowship; if two personsbe at variance, they must firstaccommodate the matters indifference between them beforethere can be any interchangingof good offices. Israel has af-fronted God, had broken theircovenant with him, and ill-requited his favors to them; andyet they expected that heshould continue to walk withthem, should take their part, actfor them, and give them assur-ances of his presence withthem, though they took no care

by repentance and reformation toagree with their adversary and toturn away his wrath. "But how

can that be? says God. "Whileyou continue to walk contrary toGod you can look for no other thanthat he should walk contrary toyou, Lev. 26:23 , Lev. 26:24 . Note,We cannot expect that God shouldbe present with us, or act for us,unless we be reconciled to him.God and man cannot walk together except they be agreed.

We see here that these men wereagreed with God, and God, who isinfinitely pure and holy, cannotwalk with or agree with anythingthat is not holy. Therefore, wemust assume that these men wereentirely sanctified.

How does all of this apply to us inthe 21 st century? Paul tells us inRomans 12:1 Therefore, I urge you,

brothers, in view of Gods mercy, tooffer your bodies as living sacrifices,holy and pleasing to Godthis isyour spiritual act of worship. Wecannot offer our whole selves toGod as living sacrifices if there isstill even a hint of us that is stilldead in sin. Paul instructs us , Donot offer the parts of your body to sin,as instruments of wickedness, butrather offer yourselves to God, asthose who have been brought fromdeath to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.

An example from one of our dearbrothers in Christ best sums upthe subject of entire sanctificationfor me. Brother Bill Neece shared

in a sermon this year of how he hada new great-grandbaby. He said,Now suppose I told the mother of

that baby to throw that baby downon the ground. The mother wouldundoubtedly think he was crazyand tighten her grip on the baby.But again he would encourage Come on, you can do it! To whichshe replied, No, no, I cant do itgrandpa! And again he replied,sure you can do it, throw your ba-by on the floor! And he said If Ikept on doing that, I would have afight on myhands prettyquick. Thatmother says Icant do that! Iwould ratherfight, I wouldrather die than todo that and harmmy child. When

a real Christian, aborn again believ-er is tempted tocommit sin, theysay I cant do it!Man, I belong to God! Im in thatheavenly crowd, I belong to God, Iam one of his children, I cant dis-honor God, I cannot, I will not doit!

1 John 5:18 says, We know that any-one born of God does not continue tosin; the one who was born of God keepshim safe, and the evil one cannot harmhim. Let this be a scripture that webelieve and cling to as a holy peopleof God.

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Let this be a

scripture that we

believe and cling

to as a holy

people of God.

http://www.biblestudytools.com/leviticus/26-23.htmlhttp://www.biblestudytools.com/leviticus/26-23.htmlhttp://www.biblestudytools.com/leviticus/26-24.htmlhttp://www.biblestudytools.com/leviticus/26-24.htmlhttp://www.biblestudytools.com/leviticus/26-24.htmlhttp://www.biblestudytools.com/leviticus/26-23.html

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In the third month after the Israelites leftEgypt--on the very day--they came to theDesert of Sinai. After they set out from Re- phidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai,and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain. Then Moses went upto God, and the LORD called to him fromthe mountain and said, "This is what youare to say to the house of Jacob and whatyou are to tell the people of Israel: 'Youyourselves have seen what I did to Egypt,and how I carried you on eagles' wings andbrought you to myself. Now if you obey

me fully and keep my covenant , then outof all nations you will be my treasured

possession . Although the whole earth ismine, you will be for me a kingdomof priests and aholy nation.' The-se are the wordsyou are to speakto the Israelites(Ex. 19:1-6NIV).

What motivatesa person towant to be obe-dient? To beobedient is al-

ways to surrenderor submit to someone else. If obediencewas not motivated by another person,there would be no need or reason to beobedient.

Some people are motivated to live inobedience because of the threat of vio-lence against them. If they are disobedi-ent, i.e. living under the suppression ofa government that has a dictator for aleader, there is a heavy price to paywith beatings or even death. In fact, thecitizens of countries like that, the fewthat are left in the world, are motivatedto be obedient because of the hatredtheir leaders have for them. They in-

deed live in fear.

Some people are motivated to live inobedience because of the conse-quences of being disobedient, suchas the consequences of breakinglaws. The results could be fines orimprisonment. However, being obe-dient to the laws of the land could bemotivated by the love one wouldhave for their country.

There are still those people who areobedient based on their love forthose they want to be submissive to,i.e. husbands and wives, friends,those who are co-workers and so on.Obedience based on personal rela-tionships.

We want to see what motivates us tobe obedient to God and why Hewants us to be obedient to Him. It isindeed in our best interests, as Chris-tians, to be obedient, and there are

several reasons why.

First of all, God carries us out of thebondage of sin. "'You yourselves haveseen what I did to Egypt, and how I car-ried you on eagles' wings and broughtyou to myself (Ex. 19:4). What doesthe eagle represent? Power, splen-dor, majesty, and glory. "Like an eaglethat stirs up its nest and hovers over itsyoung, that spreads its wings to catchthem and carries them on its pinions(Deut. 32:11). This metaphor is de-veloped here in Deuteronomy illus-trating the loving compassion, pro-tection, strength, and watchfulnessof God, and compares it to the attrib-utes of an eagle. As young eagleswere carried on the adult wings andbrought out of their nests and taughtto fly, so Yahweh had lovingly car-ried and safely delivered Israel out oftheir bondage.

Also, the bondage of the Isra-elites in Egypt for 400 years isa type or shadow of those inour day that are in the bond-age of sin. Not only are theyin bondage, but are slaves.

Those that are living a life ofhabitual sin are slaves to sin.For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that thebody of sin might be done away

with, that we should no longer beslaves to sin-- because anyone whohas died has been freed from sin(Rom 6:6-7). The 400 years inEgypt symbolizes the bondagethat a person is in while livinga life of habitual sin, being sep-arated from God. The Israeliteswere in bondage and wereslaves because of their disobe-dience to God. "I am the LORDyour God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery(Ex. 20:2). God carried theIsraelites out of bondage intofreedom and into the PromisedLand with power, glory andmajesty. God has the ability todeliver us from the bondage ofsin through the shed blood of

Jesus and He will bring us outon eagle's wings if we allowHim.

The second reason it is in ourbest interest to be obedient is,that when we are obedientthen we are Gods treasuredpossession. "Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, thenout of all nations you will be mytreasured possession (Ex.

19:5)God proposes a covenant.There were two kinds of com

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To be obedient is

always to

surrender or

submit to

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pacts or agreements covered by the word covenant, that which

was established between equals,and that which was establishedbetween a superior and aninferior i.e. a king and hissubjects, a master and hisservants. God proposed thelatter. It was typical of such acovenant that the stronger partymade a promise or gift, whichwas the heart of the agreement,but was conditional uponobligations to be fulfilled by the

weaker parties (Wesleyan BibleCommentary).

God's covenant was conditional.He said, "If you obey me fully andkeep my covenant."

Jesus said, "If you love me, you willobey what I command (John 14:15).He also said , "And this is love: thatwe walk in obedience to hiscommands. As you have heard fromthe beginning, his command is thatyou walk in love (2 John 1:6).Themore of ourselves that we give toGod, the more of God we willexperience and the more we willbe filled with Gods Holy Spirit.The more we empty ourselves ofself, the more room there is forGod.

The third reason it is in our bestinterest to be obedient to God isthat obedience is what leads toholiness. God said to the Israel-

ites, "You will be for me a kingdomof priests and a holy nation (Ex.19:6) The link between re-demption and holiness is obedi-ence. Redemption and holinessare conditional. It was based on"if" the Israelites were obedient. "Now if you obey me fully and keepmy covenant, then out of all nationsyou will be my treasured possession

(Exo. 19:5) When God rested onthe Sabbath day, he sanctified it and

gave the command to honor the Sab-bath and keep it holy. It was based onobedience! Obedience is the path toholiness because it is the path to un-ion with God's holy will. Obedienceitself is not holiness, but as the self-will opens itself to accept and to dothe will of God, God communicatesHimself and His holiness. "I desire todo your will, O my God; your law iswithin my heart (Psa. 40:8). "Teach meto do your will , for you are my God;may your good Spirit lead me on level ground (Psa. 143:10).

True fulfillment in this life, as aChristian, is to do God's will. Thatthen fulfills His purpose. True satis-faction comes when we know that weare accomplishing God's will and Hispurpose. The Scripture says of David,"For when David had served God's pur-

pose in his own generation, he fellasleep; he was buried with his fathers and his body decayed

(Acts13:36). David was not withoutfault, he definitely had his short-comings and blunders in his life, butGod still used him to accomplish hisheavenly purposes here on earth.God has a purpose for each personthat has surrendered to Jesus Christ.There is no more worthy ambition forany of us here on this side of eternitythan to fulfill God's purpose in ourlives.

The missionary implications of Godscovenant are that we must not over-look the divine plan of God, the sal-vation of lost souls has always beenGod's objective, and to this end andpurpose is our call.

The advantage of obedience is thatGod will carry you out of any kind ofbondage on eagle's wings, that you

will be his treasured possession andthat you will be brought into a rela-tionship with Him that results in a life-style of holiness. This is the only pathto true Biblical holiness.

There is an account in 1 Samuel 15 ofKing Saul going after the Amalekites,as per Gods direction. However, KingSaul did not follow Gods directioncompletely, God instructed the King tototally destroy everything that belongto them. King Saul spared Agag, kingof the Amalekites and also kept thebest sheep and cattle to sacrifice to

God.

Samuel con-fronted KingSaul for notobeying Godcompletely andtold Saul, "Doesthe LORD de-light in burntofferings andsacrifices asmuch as in obey-ing the voice of the LORD? Toobey is better than sacrifice (1Sam 15:22)

Holiness and obedience go together;we cant have one without the otherand live as God would want us to live.It is a positive experience in the life of abeliever.

Several years ago I read a book by AndrewMurray, The Believers Secret of Holiness.That is what has inspired me to preach andwrite these articles on Holiness.

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Holiness and

obedience go

together; we cant

have one without

the other and live

as God wouldwant us to live.

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I was headed to the door and as Istarted down the steps I said, Imgoing to get sweet potatoes. I heardthat little voice, I go Poppy and Iknew I had a companion for the gro-cery store trip. Walking across theparking lot Isaiah was intent on be-ing independent and when we start-ed down the produce aisle and I tookone of those clear plastic bags for thesweet potatoes I heard that voice

again, whats that Poppy? I ex-plained and ofcourse he want-ed one also toput sweet pota-toes in. Hepicked out twoand I had fourand we each

carried our bagsto the counter.He wanted toput his on thecounter himself

so I had to pickhim up so he could put his there. Thecashier noticed the independence andcommented on it. When I had paid andall the potatoes were in one grocery bag

I started to carry the bag out when Isai-ah said, I carry it. One thing Imlearning as a grandparent is a lesson Ididnt get so well as a parent, be patientand let them try; they and you willlearn something together. Well I hand-ed the bag to Isaiah and it was almost aslong as he is tall but he gamely picked itup and took about one or two stepswhen I heard, Poppy help, so we

walked out of the

store with the bag between us andacross the parking lot back to thepick-up truck!

Often we must come across to God awhole lot like the two year old whowants to do it all himself. And inour maturity and wisdom we donteven ask for help until its too late.Its really important that we considerthe nature of the Church and how

the Church is supposed to operate.The nature of the Church tells us awhole lot about what we are actuallycapable of and where our best effortneeds to be prioritized. If the natureof the Church is simply human or-ganization then it stands to reasonthat if we just really develop our or-ganizational abilities and organizethe church around specific programswe will see great results, but will we?

In Mark chapter 9 Jesus is confrontedby a man who brought his son to thedisciples to cast out a spirit thatmade him mute and seemed to con-vulse him and they couldnt helphim. Jesus first comment was to re-fer to them as a faithless generation.The man asks Jesus if you can doanything please have compassion onus. Have you noticed that is the cryof the culture around us? They areconstantly asking if there is anythingthat can be done for them. They arebeing tormented by the spirit of theage and it is constantly tossing themone way and another. The cry isheard as they try to numb the painsof life with the latest fad remedy andwe have to be awake to hear and un-

derstand their cry. TheChurch isnt to be an organiza-tion that is simply providingnice polite services that are de-lightful and entertaining. Wefind in Jesus interaction with theOne who sent His Son, a patternfor the Church.

Jesus took the fathers, If youcan and gave it back to him,

vs23, If you can! All things arepossible for one who believes.

Revival has been confused withactivity through the years, if we

just schedule a series of meetingswe will be revived and the meet-ings come and go and nothingchanges in the church or thecommunity. Revival beginsright in these words that Jesus

spoke to this father, All thingsare possible for one who be-lieves Thats the New EnglishStandard version and I liked,one who believes because itcomes across to me so personal.Believing is no small thing whenit comes to revival it in fact di-rects us to the real potential ofrevival. You see, it is not simplybelieving in positive or encour-aging things, but rather believ-ing in something that we act onand is life- changing. Thats themeaning of believing, somethingthat we act on. Believing is oftenconfused with accepting some-thing as true or real. While thatis part of the meaning it mustcontinue into acting on what we

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important that we

consider the

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Church and how

the Church is

supposed to

operate.

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believe is true or real. In Mark5:36 Jesus said to the ruler of thesynagogue who wanted Jesus toheal his daughter, Do not fearonly believe, when people cameto him and said she was dead.Believing was contrasted with fear

in that encounter. Everything thatwe act on reveals what or who weare trusting or what is controllingus. We know that salvation isbelieving in Jesus Christ not inany thing or act that we might do.Acts 4:12 tells us, There is salva-tion in no other name under heav-en given among men by which wemust be saved. Believing is nosmall thing but it is what connectsus with God who is the source ofrevival. Revival doesnt comefrom what we do but what Godwould do. Like the prophet Isai-ah we must cry out believing thatHe can and wants to, rend theheavens and come down (Isaiah64:1). The day we live in will notbe affected by anything but GodHimself and must begin with His

people, the church, crying out forHis power to be poured out.

I love westerns, there nothing likethe depiction of good triumphingover evil in the streets of the oldwest town when the marshal facesthe villain. The marshal has whatit takes to face off with evil in theshowdown and the rest of thetown is relying upon him. Jesus

faced off with evil in Mark 9:25,You mute and deaf spirit, I com-mand you, come out of him andnever enter him again It is ratheramazing that movie producershave understood that good in ashowdown with evil and winningis a theme that always sells.Whether they use the western set-

ting or star wars it is the same theme.Its even more amazing that we dontseem to understand this battle be-tween good and evil and ultimately itis with God Himself. The one who hashad the ultimate showdown with evilis the Lord Jesus Christ and the Word

of God makes clear He is the victorover sin and death and the grave.Why do we turn to a lesser power toaccomplish the work of the Church?The only answer must be that we dontyet understand the nature of theChurch. William G. Schell stated inBiblical Trace of the Church, It maypuzzle some to understand that thechurch is of heavenly origin, when

they consider that it consists of menand women. To all such we would sayit is because Jesus, its foundation,builder, head, door, etc.; and the HolyGhost, its leader, teacher and sanctifierare from heaven: and because all itsmembers are born from above (John3:3) (pg10). The nature of the Churchshows us that the only hope for revivalin the Church is the very power of theone who created her. The showdownbetween good and evil requires thepower of God not the ingenuity ofman.

Lest we forget it is Jesus who is victorover sin and death and the grave not aprogram but Him. Only Jesus is capa-ble of standing in the showdown withevil our stand must be in Him andthrough Him. Too often we are likethe boy possessed with our own spiritwho leaves us deaf and dumb to theLord and His mighty hand.

Something very important is empha-sized to us when Jesus said this kindcannot be driven out by anything butprayer. I like basic questions, theycause me to think and understand bet-ter. Who do we pray to? We speak to

God when we pray and the reality of Je-sus statement is that this kind cannot betouched apart from God. The statementalso points out that we cannot take evil forgranted and that there different levels ofevil. When He said this kind He obviouslymeant that there are different levels of evil

and this kind was a bit beyond what theyhad dealt with up to this point. The worldis crumbling around us and we cannot putband aids on it, it needs the power of God.In Ephesians 6, the English Standard Ver-sion, we are told, we battle against the cos-mic powers over this present darkness, thatis nothing we can handle in our ownstrength .

We must face the fact that we need the

power of God man-ifested in theChurch and in ourlives as clearly asthe boy in Mark 9did. If ever there ishope for change itis in and throughthe power of Godand that is whatrevival really is.The power of Godmoving in Hisbody, the Church,so she will bring allglory to Him. In thebook of Joshua chapter four Israel crossesthe Jordan on dry ground and they knowGod did this for them and it does some-thing in all the people of the Land - it takesthe spirit out of them, Their hearts melted

and there was no longer any spirit in thembecause of the people of Israel Joshua 5:1).When we submit to His power setting usapart in His holiness and moving in usand the Church in power then the worldwill respond. It is time for revival and itstime for us to cry out for His power tomove freely in us. Lets learn the lessonfrom little Isaiah and cry out for Godshand in His Church!

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We must face the

fact that we need

the power of God

manifested in the

Church and in our

lives as clearly as

the boy in Mark 9

did.

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And Jesus entered the

temple and drove out all who sold andbought in the temple, and he overturnedthe tables of the money-changers and theseats of those who sold pigeons. He saidto them, It is written, My house shall becalled a house of prayerBut when thechief priests and the scribes saw the won-derful things that he did, and the childrencrying out I the temple, Hosanna to theSon of David! they were indignant - Matthew 21:12-15

Have you ever gone some-where that youhad not been fora long time?Every time I goback to the townwhere I wasborn it seems tohave changed

somehow. Thechanges I seeare not justsmall changes,but major ones.

Factories have shutdown and stand vacant. Restaurantsand storefronts have changed handsand become something different.Nothing stays the same. While these

changes seem significant and drasticto me, those who live there seldomnotice. Things have changed so grad-ually that they pay little attention.

This is not only the case in theworld around us, in our towns andcommunity, but it happens in ourspiritual lives. We go to church eachweek (ideally) and do the things we

have always done, but after a time

things just seem different. Wehave become so accustomed to thethings we are supposed to be do-ing for God, and so focused onthose things that when we stepback to look at the landscapewithin the church we notice thatGod is not even a part of the scen-ery, much less the focal point. Icant help but wonder if this is

how Jesus felt that day when Hewalked into the temple.

The people of Israel builtthe temple as a place for God todwell among them. For a time Hedid. They saw the fire and smokeand knew that God was there.But over time things changed.Worship became ritual, and even-tually the manifest presence ofGod disappeared and the peoplenever noticed! For hundreds ofyears things went on in the templewithout the presence of God. Andthen, after four hundred years,

Jesus came onto the scene. WhenHe walked into the temple thepresence of God was there onceagain. But what He saw was notwhat had been intended whenSolomon built that place for the

people to worship Him.Since the last time God

had inhabited the temple man hadchanged things. When Herodrebuilt the temple he strayed fromthe plan God had given originally.To carry political favor, he addeda courtyard for the Gentiles. They

were allowed to go no further

than this courtyard, and as faras they understood, could getno closer to God. The highpriest, Caiaphas, had estab-lished a market in the Gen-tiles courtyard to competewith those on the Mount ofOlives. Of course, the templeinspectors would turn downany sacrifice bought outside,

and these ones were sold forup to 200 times more thanthose outside the temple.This place that sold sacrificesfor the people would be theequivalent of our local con-gregation opening a drive-thru baptism and communionservice. The Sadducees re-quired that the temple tax bepaid with Tyrian coins whichbore pagan images, ratherthan Greek or Roman coins.The money-changers chargeda 15% interest rate to makethe necessary exchange. Theincome from all this would bethe equivalent of 40 to 45thousand dollars today,which would have been anunimaginable amount of

money in those days. Jesus walked into a

temple that had been intend-ed to bring God closer to man,but it had become a place thatwidened the gulf that separat-ed man from their King.When Jesus overturned the

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Jesus walked into a

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intended to bring

God closer to man,

but it had become a

place that widened

the gulf that

separated man from

their King.

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tables, and ran the money-changers off He was cleansingthe temple of things that keptman from God. On that day,

God showed once again thatHis desire is for people todraw near to Him, and to livein His presence. But too often,the priests and religious lead-ers of the time had forgottenthis. They used the temple ofGod for their own gain, andfor selfish purposes. Thatswhy Jesus said , But woe toyou, scribes and Pharisees, hypo-crites! For you shut the kingdomof heaven in peoples faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to goin (Matthew 23:13). Men hadused what God had giventhem to suppress one another,and restrict access to their cre-ator. But when God walkedthrough the temple door on

that day things changed.What would happen if Godwalked through the door ofthe temple of our hearts to-day? What changes might benecessary in this temple builtwithout hands ? Consider whatcould happen to the churchwhen God moves in.

When God walkedinto the temple embodied by

Jesus Christ sinful things werecleansed. Those things thatbore pagan images and tookthe focus from God were re-moved. It was not things thatwere happening in the HoliestPlace that angered Him, but

things that were happeningeven in the outermost court-yard. Because of the thingshappening out on the fringes of

the Temple Jesus compared thatplace to the dens and caves in-habited by thieves outside ofthe city. The priests had turnedthis into a place to hold the rich-es they stole from those whowere seeking God. They hadbecome the embodiment of theprophecies of Ezekiel, Ah, shep-herds of Israel who have been feed-ing yourselvesyou do not feedthe sheep. The weak you have notstrengthened, the sick you have nothealed (Ezekiel 34:2, 3)

Jesus would not toler-ate a system that excluded peo-ple from the service of God. Hewould not allow those of influ-ence to keep others from mak-ing the sacrifices they had beencalled to make in favor of their

own sinful preferences. Thesepeople believed that sin wouldbenefit them personally, so theytolerated it in this outer court-yard of the temple. When menand women who earnestlywanted to know the presence ofGod came in, they found a tem-ple devoid of Yahweh. Godhad promised years before,The Lord is with you while youare with him. If you seek him, hewill be found by you (2 Chronicles15:2)

Often, we tolerate sinwhen it builds our pride or ben-efits our pocketbooks. Thepriests did both. Jesus cleansedthe temple of these things to

show that God desired man to cometo Him.

When Jesus walked in the

temple and began to drive away thesinful things Gods power becameevident. Those who were there didnot form a mob to try and stop him.They simply stood by and watched.The power of God working throughthe people of God cannot be stopped.We look around us today and see thechurch Gods people stumblingpowerless through the world. Thepeople of Israel had done things theirway for four cen-turies, but thepower of Godwas always miss-ing from theirefforts. Thechurch todaypractices the samefutility. We workon our five-yearplans and formour long-rangevision commit-tees. The longer Istudy Scripturethe more I am convicted that any-thing more than the revelation ofGod and the guidance of His HolySpirit is wrong for the church. Wehave spent the better part of half a

century trying to do things our wayin the church and we have seen littleprogress. But history proves againand again that when God moves inwe know without a doubt that He isable to make all grace abound to you, sothat having all sufficiency in all thingsat all times, you may abound in every good work (2 Corinthians 9:8).

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When God moves

into His temple

the work that is

done is far greater

than anything we

could design,

orchestrate, or

administrate.

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When we look around thechurch, we shouldnt have the greattalent and skills of people to talkabout and glorify. The most talent-ed people on earth cannot compareto the work done in the power ofGod. When God moves into Histemple the work that is done is fargreater than anything we could de-sign, orchestrate, or administrate.We will not be able to take the cred-it because Gods work is beyondwhat we could ever do. Even thechildren noticed this in the work of

Jesus. The children would neverhave been allowed to speak in the

temple, butwhen the powerof God began towork their joyand praise couldnot be contained.Gods powerbrings judgmenton the corruptreligions of oursociety that try tomanipulate Himand show His

glory to those whohumbly seek Him.

When God moved into thetemple in the Person of Jesus Christ,the hearts of the people were cap-

tured by His holiness and purity.They were consumed with Hispower and they sang out to Him,Hosanna to the Son of David! Theyturned their attention from the sa-cred attire and formal rituals of thepriests to the power of God at workright there among them.

At times we seem to con-vince ourselves that we can con-tinue on without Gods presenceand conjure up the appearanceuntil He shows up again. We tellourselves that if we just keepdoing what we always do (theepitaph of many dying churches)God will eventually honor ourcold, dead ritual. There are al-ways people who see throughthat ritual and simply seek thepresence of God. There will al-ways be those who are unim-pressed with big budgets, andprofessional-looking programand our little skits and plays.They want to see God, and willdo anything to experience a re-vival of His works. Those whounderstand the revelation inScripture realize that we areblessed, not for performing cere-mony, but for drawing near to

God as Scripture commands.Blessed is the one you choose andbring near, to dwell in your courts!We shall be satisfied with the good-ness of your house, the holiness of your temple (Psalm 65:4)! Godhonors those who know, A dayin your courts is better than a thou-sand elsewhere. I would rather be adoorkeeper in the house of my Godthan dwell in the tents of wickedness(Psalm 84:10).

It is exciting to imageGods people overwhelmed byHis presence and the joy of beingclose to Him overflowing fromtheir hearts. But as uplifting as

this thought is, there will al-ways be some who meetGods presence and powerwith indignation. We would

expect this from the people ofthe world because they donot know God, but all toooften its the religious leaderswho respond this way whenGod moves into His temple.Verse 15 tells us this. Theleaders of the religious struc-ture of the time were moreinterested in the integrity of

the structure than they werethe presence of God, and theywere not alone. We use riversof ink and mountains of pa-per to publish writings abouthow we should structure thechurch. There is nothing in-herently wrong with the nec-essary organization, but itcannot become the focal pointof our ministry. The moreorganization we create themore control we have, andthis violates the governmentof Jesus Christ and the HolySpirit taught in Scripture.

The presence of Godis unwelcome to some be-cause it threatens our control.The people who were seekingGod began to praise Jesus

and ceased to look to the reli-gious leaders in that day.Their faith was turned awayfrom those who had con-trolled the functions of Godspeople. Some, even in ourday, will stop at nothing tokeep this control. They have

Page 16

V o l u m e

2 , I

s s u e

6

There is nothing

inherently wrong

with the necessary

organization, but it

cannot become the

focal point of our

ministry.

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placed the church in thesame bondage in which the

Jewish religion found itself

in the time of Christ. Toomany times we find our-selves in bondage to thecreation of man to the ex-tent that it becomes diffi-cult to do ministry. We areobligated to ministries thatno longer accomplish whatthey were intended to doand in bondage to the tradi-tion that we have estab-lished. After a time thesethings begin to take theplace of God as we con-vince ourselves that if we

just keep doing these thingsGod will honor them. Weplan and budget aroundthem whether God hasmoved or not, and we sel-dom if ever voice a

prayer to ask God if it isstill within His will for usto do these things. We justassume that God will sub-mit Himself to our will, andwonder why some of thethings we do struggle alongand will not go. (This is nota commentary on the Biblestudies and church services

missed by those whochoose sports or hobbiesfirst, we know those areGods will because Scrip-ture tells us so.)

Those who are de-termined to maintain theintegrity of the social clubs,

or organizations that we have builtcannot allow the presence of Godto fill His temple. Then the atten-

tion of the people is turned fromsome of those things to the will ofGod. His power is sought and thepeople begin to understand thewords of Jesus, It is written, Myhouse shall be called a house of pray-er The temple Jesus cleansedhad been put in a position wherepeople could not even come toseek Gods will through prayer.There was so much commotionand noise from the things of mantaking place that God would neverbe found there; His still, smallvoice would not be heard. Wecannot allow ourselves to forgetthe purpose of the church. It is thedwelling place of God. When wecome together it is not first andforemost for social gatherings.There is nothing wrong with

building relationships, but wehave often sacrificed the presenceand power of God in favor ofthose social functions which havebecome sacred to us and takencenter-stage in the church. BillKonstantopoulos tells us, Thereare times we get so engulfed in theorganization that we confuse ourways with Gods ways and have

the tendency to assume the role ofthe Holy Spirit and ignore the in-structions of Gods Word. Hereminds us further, As unpopularas it may appear in our days, I be-lieve that legalistic, dry, self-centered organizations keep the

church in many localities in bondage,hinder the freedom of the Spirit, de-ny the authority of Gods word, and

have turned the people of God into asocial club with human rules andregulations, erasing the distinct markof the people of God ( That All May BeOne).

We have lived for countlessdecades without the presence of God in His church and in our personallives. Isnt it time we put off all ofour own ideas and let God move in?

If the peo-ple of Israel wereever going to expe-rience the presenceof God, the tradi-tion of man had tobe overcome. Jesusknew this. Thosewho needed a freshexperience, some-

thing more thanritual, met Godwith praise andadoration. Theyrejoiced at the freshoutpouring of powerthey witnessed in the temple thatday. It was those who were happywith the status quo, their influenceand affluence, and their sense ofpower who despised the presence of

God. The Lord showed up for thefirst time in half a millennium, andthey were so focused on themselvesthat they missed it. What might keepus from experiencing the presence ofGod today? When God moves, howdo we receive His presence?

Page 17

There are times we

get so engulfed in the

organization that we

confuse our ways

with Gods ways and

have the tendency to

assume the role of the

Holy Spirit and

ignore the

instructions of Gods

Word. - Bill K

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Seeing this demon-possessedgirl, the men rebuked the de-mon and it fled. The owners ofthis girl threw Paul and Silas in

jail because they lost theirmeans of income when the girllost her powers.

In the middle of a dark anddirty jail, the men sung praiseto God and prayed. God heardthem and sent an earthquake tothe jail, breaking their chains.The jailer, recovering from theevent, repented and was savedby the power of God. Duringthe worst times in our lives, arewe able to relate to Paul and

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Running Your Race ...Continued From Page 1

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Silas by praising God? Canwe endure?

Are you giving God your all?Francis Chan suggests thatGod calls us to run a race be-cause racing takes so muchendurance and focus that norunner will get distracted bythe world. Are we so focusedon the race that nothing canstand in our way from seeingGod?