Gold Tried in the Fire: Book Five

GOLD TRIED IN THE FIRE: BOOK FIVE

Anyone who chooses to do so may use up to twenty-five of the proverbs in the Gold Tried volumes without notifying me. It is not necessary to attribute them to me.

Here are a few reflections after a long pilgrimage as a Christian. Hopefully they will help the young reader grow in wisdom and discernment. It is good to seek the wisdom and understanding that come from the Holy Spirit. God always is glad to reward us with wisdom and provides us generously with that which we ask for.

Foreword

Jewels of brilliant color and luster are formed by a process of time, pressure and heat. Precious metals such as gold and silver are made under similar circumstances.

Symbolic of virtue and character, these natural elements reflect the manner in which believers are transformed into obedient disciples, and over time into witnesses of the resurrection life of Jesus Christ.

The making of a saint is no small matter. As we respond correctly to the daily pressures of life, Christ is formed in us. If we choose to pick up our cross, lay down our life and follow the Master’s will, He transforms us into His image.

When we resist, forcing our own will and way, misinterpreting things meant for our good, we corrupt God’s purposes.

Edward J. Reiter
November 2013
Escondido, California

GOLD TRIED IN THE FIRE: BOOK FIVE

When Christ comes to us and blesses us we feel joyous in the Presence of God. But then His tangible Presence withdraws for a season, and we are faced with numerous pressures and perplexities.

We need to be careful when everyone is speaking well of us. It may be that we are not bearing a true witness of God to our generation.

There are only a few, it seems, who take up their cross and follow Christ with a perfect heart. But the testimony of these few conquerors will shake the heavens and the earth.

There is a multitude of those who believe in Christ and mill about in the Courtyard. There is a smaller number who minister to Christ in the Holy Place. There is an even smaller number who choose to dwell in the fire of God’s Person in the Holy of Holies.

Beware of accepting a little sin in your life. It soon will grow into a many-headed monster.

Are you one of those who follow Christ at a distance? You may lose sight of Him when He turns the next corner.

There are some to whom it is given to minister to thousands. There are others of us who are to be content with ministering faithfully to one or two people.

When God wounds us it is so He may bring us to perfection by healing us.

When the prophets are subject to the elders, there is no vision of God in the city.

The Christian teachers of today sometimes speak of releasing the power that is in us. This is incorrect and misleading. The power of the revival now at hand will come from Heaven.

The first thing to say upon getting up in the morning is: “Father, grant that today my thinking, speaking, and behaving, proceeds from the Lord Jesus, just as His proceeds from you.”

You yourself are to become the Ark of the Testimony. Let righteous behavior go before you as you enter your land of promise.

Christ goes before us and helps us when we endeavor to put off the old earthly nature and clothe ourselves with the new Nature of Christ.

We are to be new creations, created in Christ to do the good works God has ordained that we perform.

Where there is no righteous behavior there is no Kingdom of God.

Where there is no righteous behavior, the peace and joy of the Kingdom are not available.

We must pray continually for Christ’s strength, because righteous behavior requires strength.

The nations of the earth are waiting to see righteousness and praise spring up in the Lord’s elect.

The believers of today are not being taught that it is necessary to pray for the strength to live righteously. They are being deceived by the enemy.

Let Christ-wrought righteous behavior follow you as heat and light follow the rising of the sun.

In many instances the pastors of today are not exhorting the people to live righteously. They are afraid of offending them.

The preachers of today seem to be exhorting people to accept Christ that they may escape Hell and go to Heaven. But how they live after that is not part of their salvation.

The preachers of today are emphasizing that we should believe in Christ. They are not telling us that we must obey Christ at all times if we are to enter the Kingdom of God.

“Why am I required to keep Christ’s commands, if I am saved by forgiveness alone. This does not make sense!”

Today’s version of the Great Commission is: “Go into all the world and tell people they are not required to do what Christ commanded because they are saved by grace.”

When we read in Exodus of the special attention given to Aaron and the other priests we understand why each member of the royal priesthood must live a holy life.

“Arise, O Lord, and all Your enemies shall be consumed with the fire of Your Face, the fire of holy righteousness. The enemy cannot stand in Your Presence.”

“The enemy breathed out great threats, O Lord. But He could not prevail against the righteousness You have created in Your sons; the righteousness which is Your own Person.”

“O Lord, You Yourself have become our righteousness, because Your Character has been formed in us.”

“The enemy has mocked us, as Ishmael mocked Isaac. But we shall prevail, and the children of the flesh shall have no inheritance with us.”

“We have been confused and our fondest hopes denied. But in the end, we shall stand in Your Presence as the oaks of righteousness Your hands have formed.”

The sun has been hot and the day weary; but at the end there is eternal refreshing in the city of righteousness.

“There have been many attractions, many enticements, to draw us into the life of the flesh. But Your Presence has enabled us to flee from these that we might gain eternal love, joy, and peace.”

If we would enter the Kingdom of God we must be born again. The eternal moral law of God must take the place of the earthly nature in our mind and heart.

The writing of the eternal moral law in our heart and mind produces a new creation of righteous behavior. This is the Kingdom of God.

In the last days, all that causes sin and all who refuse to be delivered from sin shall be removed from the Kingdom. Then the righteous shall shine as the sun.

We now have entered the period of the purification of the Kingdom. When God has finished working there shall be no sin of any kind whatever in the Kingdom.

Satan and all who follow him hope to escape the flames. They shall not! The Word of the Lord stands firm forever.

There are many attractions in our day. The righteous resist them. The foolish rush into them and are destroyed.

There are many weak people whom God loves dearly. But His sons shall be filled with wisdom and strength and inherit all things.

Religion blinds the eyes, but God’s elect eventually find their way into His Presence.

We do not gain the fullness of eternal life by our initial acceptance of Christ but through a long, sometimes painful, struggle against numerous adversaries.

The righteous lie down to sleep in peace and safety. The angel of the Lord watches over them.

In the days to come we shall be pressured to be ashamed of Christ. Those who succumb will have eternity to regret their folly.

We may pass through a night of suffering and denial, but joy will come in the morning if we do not quit.

The foolish demand their fun now. The righteous are wise and wait for God’s time for them to rejoice.

I have made many mistakes during my lifetime. I am wiser now and desire to walk into the Presence of Christ at the conclusion of my time on the earth.

As was true of Moses’ hand, when our heart is leprous, our hand is leprous. When our heart is pure, our hand is pure.

I suppose most people in the world know what righteous behavior is. It is the Christians who are confused because of their misunderstanding of how Divine grace operates..

Christians say they are not perfect, just forgiven. What they mean is, they have joined a religion but never have been converted.

Peter’s desire to be the boss reveals he never had been converted. Therefore he was unable to strengthen his brothers.

I will not shame my King by being afraid of what Satan can do to me.

“O Lord, I hope I am not so foolish as to believe I can save myself by my own hand. You alone are my Strength and my Joy.”

The Lord alone is my Strength, my Joy, and my Song. It is not that He gives me these, He Himself is them.

I no longer will play volleyball with the Lord. Rather, I will remain on the same side of the net with Him.

I have an atomic watch. It is more accurate than the finest timepiece that does not receive a signal from a master clock. I am more righteous than any self-made man, because Christ is living in me.

You would think the symmetry of the universe would show people the Glory of God. But they are blind. The believers in evolution cannot perceive what is in front of their face.

There is a Day of Judgment coming. Everyone shall be examined. All the philosophic reasoning in the world cannot alter this simple fact.

If I were to be granted one desire in my entire lifetime, it would be that I would be pleasing to Christ.

By permitting the entertainment industry and the media to say and do what they desire, we are bringing down America to destruction. If you feed a person with poison he will become ill.

It absolutely is imperative that we do God’s will to the finest detail. In addition, we are invited to become the complete witness of His thinking, His speaking, and His doing.

I don’t believe we know what we are talking about when we say no one can do God’s will perfectly. God’s will is to be done perfectly by every creature in Heaven and upon the earth at all times, under all circumstances.

There are five aspects of serving the Lord, and they are interrelated. One is to be obedient to all God requires of us. The second is to be a witness of God in our thoughts, our words, and our actions. The third is to be faithful and diligent in the use of our gifts and ministries. The fourth is to keep ourselves morally pure. The fifth is to behave in an upright, honorable manner with all people.

Upright, honorable behavior is required of all people. The level of holiness to which he is called varies with the individual.

The wise person will pray that he may have a fervent desire to live in the center of God’s holy Person and Fire.

Holiness is addictive. The more you attain to, the more you will crave.

Of the many blessings God has given me, the one I value most is a fervent desire to do God’s perfect will in every circumstance.

The gifts of the Spirit are like tide-pool life. Although they seem to have life on their own, if they are not touched repeatedly by the tide, the Holy Spirit, eventually they will dry up and die.

It does not appear that Jesus will return to earth now, tomorrow, or ten years from now. The believers, for the most part, are not nearly mature enough to return with Him and install the Kingdom of God upon the earth.

The period we are in now probably is that which has been set forth in Matthew, Thirteen where the messengers of God are removing that which is sinful, and those who refuse to repent, from the Kingdom of God.

We know Christ is not coming in the near future because the great rebellion against authority is only just now beginning.

The desire for democratic government is not a desire for righteous behavior. Rather, it is a desire for us to be able to do as we please. It is suited to self-will rather than to iron obedience to the Father.

The government of America is dedicated to the pursuit of personal liberty and happiness. The government that God desires is dedicated to crucifixion with Christ and new resurrection life in Him.

The best form of government is a kingdom in which the King has absolute authority, is righteous, and receives his guidance from God. Such is the Kingdom of God, and Jesus Christ is the King.

The Kingdom of God, the doing of God’s will, shall come to the earth with the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Do you desire to live in a world where there is no sin of any kind—not even your own personal sin? You are ready for the Lord Jesus and His saints to return.

Would you be happy in a world where there only a little bit of sin? If so, you are not ready for Christ to return.

The Bible says that God shall make an end to sin. It appears not many Christians would be happy living in a sin-free world.

How will God ensure that we never shall sin again throughout eternity? By forming Christ in us and placing rulers over us who will not permit us to sin.

God desires that all self-will, all disobedience to God, be removed from His Kingdom. Are you personally pleased with this goal, or are you still part of the problem?

America is being brought down to destruction because we worship the right to do as we please, the freedom to do and say whatever occurs to us.

In America the good of the community is sacrificed so that the “rights” of the individual may be maintained.

There are forces in America that desire to remove the knowledge of Christ from the country. First there shall be revival, and then the evil will be permitted to triumph for a season. America then shall lost much of its strength.

The revival in America that will precede severe Divine judgment shall consist of removing worldliness, lust, foolishness, and self-seeking from God’s people.

Do you want to be able to stand and help others during the fierce judgment that is coming to America? Then consecrate yourself wholly to Jesus Christ without delay.

Paradise does not belong in the spirit realm but on the earth. Paradise shall be returned to earth as soon as God creates rulers who will govern in righteousness.

People are an alimentary canal on two legs. Some are more intelligent than others. All shall perish who do not have the Life of Christ in them.

The priests and elders resisted Christ, but the prophet, John, did not. When the elders govern the prophets, spiritual death shall follow.

A person speaking by the Spirit of Christ will emphasize repentance, not a rapture out of suffering.

People and plants are born, mature, wither, and die. Only Jesus Christ is constant. If you desire to survive, become part of Him.

The Spirit of Christ is calling the Christians of America to repentance. We absolutely must put away our worldliness, our sinful lusts, and our self-seeking.

The wicked, including Satan, always do God’s will. Such is not their intention, but this is the way it always works out. Have faith in God and don’t fret yourself concerning evil!

The one topic Satan does not want Christian ministers to preach is righteous behavior. When we preach righteous behavior through Jesus Christ, Satan’s kingdom is destroyed.

Despite what is commonly taught, the New Testament is not about how much God loves us but about sin and spiritual death, and what to do about it.

When people’s hearts are pure they understand one another readily. But where there is spiritual uncleanness, misperceptions arise.

When we have God, that is all we need. There always is grace for every circumstance.

The Lord does many things in my life that I do not understand. But they always turn out well.

If by “the just shall live by faith” you mean we go to Heaven by our belief in Christ, you have left the Scripture and God’s plan of redemption.

To act without considering the consequences is stupid. To touch something before the time is to turn loveliness and grace into ashes.

The flesh profits nothing. This is a true statement and embraces much of our lifetime on the earth.

The remission of sin through the blood of the cross removes guilt from us. The power of the Holy Spirit delivers us from the compulsion to sin. The forming of Christ in us brings forth a new creation of righteous behavior.

All people whether or not they are Christians, shall be judged when they die. There are Christians who choose to lay down their life and live in Christ’s resurrection life. Their judgment begins in this world as they are led to confess and renounce their sins.

Where the tree falls, there it lies, the Bible says. Thus it is true that we enter the spirit world in the same condition that was true of us when our body died. Death does not change us.

Until all of our desires come from God, we are in bondage.

Until we can say, “not my will be done, but God’s will,” in every decision we make, we are in spiritual bondage and in rebellion against God.

Occasionally, as we are following Christ, it is necessary that our most fervent desires remain unfulfilled. However, there is no other path to eternal life.

To turn away from our sinful desires can be difficult. To turn away from our desires that are not sinful, as we are following Christ, is more difficult yet.

If we choose to deny ourselves in the Lord, He shall give us the desires of our heart. But it may not happen right away.

Consider carefully what we lose when we do not obey Christ in every aspect of life.

If you would know God, obey God.

The nation that is seeking to destroy itself will turn against the nation of Israel.

The Jews are God’s chosen people, but not all Israel is Israel.

We must be married to Christ if we are to participate in the new covenant. It is made only with Israel.

To abort an embryo without a godly reason is sin, and shall be judged as such in the last day.

Many are turning away from the Bible, in America. They are hastening to their own destruction.

Walking with the Lord Jesus Christ is not a religious action, it merely is life as God intends life to be lived.

Your desires may change over a period of time. lf you would find lasting joy, do not grasp anything.

We behave wisely when we pray diligently that our desires be granted, and yet not remain bound by them.

Do you know what you really want. No, you don’t! Wait for God to give you what you truly desire.

When I awake in the morning I choose to diligently seek to know what Christ’s will is for that day.

Serve the Lord with joy. Why make your life needlessly difficult? The way of the transgressor is hard!

When the Apostle says, “when that which is perfect has come the gifts and ministries no longer will be needed,” he means the gifts and ministries have brought us to maturity in Christ.

What is so difficult about doing God’s perfect will? It is a lie that says we cannot do God’s will!

Why don’t you stop planning your own life and ask Christ what He wants you to do?

The only thing that matters in this world or in any other world is to obey Christ in every detail of what we are and what we do.

Don’t hold anything too tightly lest it be an idol and cause you to disobey Christ.

We are drawn to Christ by the Father in order that we may learn to do the will of Christ at every moment.

Personal ambition brings confusion. But the way of the Lord is clear and simple.

It appears people have to wait until after Christmas in order to serve the Lord. This is one example of the difference between religion and walking with the Lord Jesus.

It may be true that atheists never have pictured the destiny they have chosen for themselves—at death passing into oblivion. Not sleep. Nothingness! They simply never will be again.

If we follow Christ closely, we begin as a child and end up as a child; but much, much wiser and stronger in righteous behavior.

Abraham is the first Christian. The promise of the Holy Spirit is through Him. Christ is His Seed as well as His Lord.

The Jewish and the Christian religions are often in conflict. But the members of the Body of Christ are one, whether they are Jews or Gentiles. There is one new Man!

What a malicious and destructive identification religion is, in that it divides the one Body of Christ—that seamless robe!

The is no such thing as a Jewish or Gentile Church. There is only the one Body of Christ.

If you are troubled by evolutionary speculations, and wish to know if there is a God and if Jesus Christ is His Son, then ask Them.

Do not grasp pleasure at someone else’s expense. God is not pleased with this.

The desire to acquire and store up money is a chief source of evil in the world.

They follow the Lamb wherever goes. This is the highest form of Christian discipleship.

God ahead and play games with God if you must. But you will find out that God always wins.

The physical body we have now is but the faintest shadow of what it shall be if we follow the Lord Jesus Christ to the fullness of redemption.

The reason we are experiencing demonic acts of weird violence and sexual perversions is a reflection of the fact that our government is not enforcing moral behavior.

There are many super-educated people in the Western nations who do not believe in the existence of demons or angels. Nevertheless they continually are directly affected by these creatures and will see them when they die.

When reading the Book of Lamentations I began to wonder if we could insert the words “the United States” in place of “Zion.” Our main sin may be that of abortion.

People who give no thought to preparing for their death are like those who do want to spend money on insurance. “Nothing bad will ever happen to me.”

The Lord has promised He will give us the desires of our heart if we delight ourselves in Him. The Lord loves and rejoices in people who love and rejoice in practicing righteous behavior.

Holiness is addictive. The more you get the more you want. It becomes a passionate desire to be in the center of God’s holy, fiery Being.

When we see animals pray to God, then we may hypothesize the man evolved from animals.

When an atheist suffers pain he uses God’s name in vain. Even though he professes not to believe in God, he nevertheless is moved by unclean spirits.

The fundamental concept of science is violated when a person observes the order of nature and then claims there is no intelligence behind the design.

Religion can be removed successfully from the state. But the concept of God cannot be removed from the agencies of government and a stable, unified society retained.

No society ever has or ever shall endure when its citizens yield to the lusts of their flesh.

God establishes government for the purpose of controlling the moral behavior of people. When a government does not do that it shall be replaced by one that will.

Every strong nation is brought down to destruction when its citizens practice unrighteous and immoral behavior.

A nation or person that chooses to pursue pleasure will soon be overcome by a more disciplined people.

Satan knows that Christ said many who are last shall be first. So, like King Herod, Satan is attempting to prevent the birth of the rulers. He is doing it with homosexual practices and abortion.

People who love and pursue pleasure have a weakness in their personality that prevents them from attaining to God’s best. They are not effective, dependable people.

God loves last-minute entrances; or so it seems when you are falling toward the concrete. But He always arrives in time!

There is no doubt that the exercise of patience is an important feature of the Kingdom of God.

The people who believe and teach that we are saved by a sovereign grace independent of our behavior, do not love Jesus. They do not keep His commandments.

Our goal is twofold: to be conformed to the image of Christ, and to be one in Christ in the Father.

I received Christ as my Savior. Now what? Now you are supposed to pray continually and follow the Spirit of God in all that you do. This is the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus.

God is so great as to be incomprehensible.

The basic premise of most people who act wickedly is that there is no God; of if there is, He certainly will not hold them to account, and is not to be feared.

The teaching of a sovereign grace that operates independently of our behavior is an invitation to a sinful life.

People choose to believe the foolish doctrine of evolution because they desire to drive the idea of God from their minds.

If we make a profession of faith in Christ, and then do not carefully seek to follow God’s Spirit each day, we bring ourselves under condemnation.

If we emphasize Romans 8:1, and then ignore verses 2, 3, and 4, we bring ourselves into a state of delusion concerning the necessity for righteous behavior.

I am one of the many who can testify to the utter faithfulness of God—and this over a period of more than sixty years.

Sometimes in life the choice is between Christ, or a woman or man. The individual who chooses the woman or the man over Christ will have a long, long time to regret his or her choice.

There are many times in life when we must act courageously. If we do not, at the necessary time, we will attain to our desired goals.

When the Bible says the righteous shall live by faith, it does not mean the righteous believe in Christ rather than keeping His commandments.

The righteous shall live by faith means the righteous individual looks to Christ continually throughout his life for wisdom and strength, instead of to his own resources.

The invitation to surrender our own life in order that Christ may become our life, is so unspeakably marvelous, it is a wonder that everyone does not take advantage of this opportunity. But I suppose God has to draw the individual.

True love is very concerned with the welfare of the other person. Sexual “love” is very concerned with its own satisfaction. Thus true love and sexual love are different in kind.

We must learn to surrender our life so we may live by the Life of the Lord Jesus. We are to become His extension and His helper.

There is only one life worth living. That is the life that is part of the Lord Jesus Christ. All else is meaningless foolishness, a waste of time and effort.

The various religious groups say, “Profess our doctrines, or you will come under condemnation.” God says, “Just be a decent person, and receive Christ when He is presented to you.”

The Lord is a Castle with mighty towers and turrets. The righteous find safety there; but the wicked never shall enter!

It is a good thing to want to please God perfectly. It is a good thing to want to dwell in the Holy Fire that Is the God of Israel. God will give us an intense desire for both of these states of being, if we ask Him in Jesus’ name.

God is on the move. The staves are in the Ark of the Covenant. What a joy it is to move forward with God, to follow the Lamb wherever He goes!

The relationship between the Father and the Son is comprehensible to the person who is keeping Christ’s commands. The difficulty in understanding arises when we attempt to put the relationship into words.

Are you having trouble getting victory over a particular sin? Confess it clearly and specifically, and denounce it firmly. If this does not work, do the same thing in the presence of other saints.

First comes the transformation of our character by interaction with Christ. Then the Father and the Son will enter the transformed character. Finally the whole will be clothed with the body from Heaven.

Growing old and weak has to do only with the body. The inner nature becomes increasingly strong and mature as we live in the Presence of Christ.

In the Kingdom of God, humility is regarded as a great virtue.

If we would please God, and grow in Christ, we must not yield to our passions. We absolutely must allow clear, righteous thinking to direct our actions.

The person who continues to allow his passions to dictate his actions, rather than clear, righteous judgment, will soon be destroyed.

Evolution is a weak hypothesis when it strives to account for the physical makeup of man, but ignores life, love, and the instinct to pray that most people but no animal has.

The Christian churches are not members of the local community or of the world community. They are the lampstands of God, bearing witness of the Lord Jesus Christ, being anointed by the Spirit of God.

We are wise when we ask God to remove from us every desire that does not bring us love, joy, and peace.

Our body is the house of the Spirit of God. Our task is to continually keep it for the Spirit to use.

If your body is the Temple of God, why aren’t you taking better care of it, as though it were your own to abuse as you will?

To be attracted toward something that will not bring us love, joy, and peace, is a bondage.

Because mankind is attempting to live in the world without God, the result is madness and chaos.

God knows everything. Christ knows everything. When we live by Christ’s life we know everything although we know nothing. When instead we attempt to save our life we find ourselves without purpose in the universe, until we are spoken for by someone in a position of authority.

Only a dutiful person recognizes the conflict between duty and freedom. Those without integrity know of no such problem.

It is not difficult to please God, unless we are called to a high rank in the Kingdom. Even then, His commandments are not grievous.

Let this be your supreme maxim: “I will follow the Lamb wherever He goes, regardless of my personal desires or the consequences to myself.”

This is the day in America to build our ark, and to pitch it within and without with the blood of the Lamb. The storm is coming and we are going to need a place of safety. We then will be able to run into our ark and be safe.

Leave everything that you may find rest in the lions’ dens and the mountain haunts of the leopards. Follow the Lamb wherever He goes.

God’s valiant heroes play an important role in His Kingdom. So do His more delicate flowers, as we look at their beauty and smell their fragrance. This is why the “doors” are enclosed with panels of cedar.

All boys and girls are adorable when they begin life. But so often the love of money, physical lust, personal ambition, and violence, so prevalent in our country, overtake him or her.

God knows the history of each individual and deals with him or her accordingly.

God determines the appearance and abilities of each person throughout eternity, according to God’s plan for his or her life.

We must learn that we can get along without any relationship, thing, or circumstance, as long as our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ is firm.

Religious beliefs often divide people. But Christ coming to maturity in us has the potential of bringing us into the oneness that exists in the Godhead.

We cannot rule with Christ as long as we are self-contained. The first man must be broken down. God’s rulers are made in two stages.

We must be perfect each day while we are being perfected. This means merely that we are doing all we know to do.

God has a design for our life today that is not the same as yesterday or tomorrow. God will implement that plan if we will do the simple tasks set before us.

You cannot be perfect for yesterday or tomorrow. But you can be perfect today if you keep looking to Jesus for direction and strength.

The goal of the Kingdom of God is not to get people into Heaven, it is to get the life and ways of Heaven into people.

The deferral of desires, the bearing of the weight of problems, the period of time during which the mind seeks understanding of what is taking place, result in the development of perfect dependence and trust. The Bride must be righteous, holy, sternly obedient to God, and must rest in the Lord in dependence and trust.

It is not that we arrive at union among ourselves and through this attain union with Christ and the Father. Rather, we arrive at union with Christ and the Father and through this union with God we attain union with one another.

Any part of our personality and behavior that is not of the Lord Jesus Christ is loss for God, loss for mankind, and loss for us.

One day we will be walking on the shining paths of the spirit world, thinking back to the decisions we made while confined in an animal body seeking to serve the Lord faithfully in the midst of the demons. Will we be able at that time to remember and rejoice that in our hour of testing we were faithful to God and to those for whom we were responsible? No greater torment can assail us than the memory that we failed God and people during our brief appearance on the stage of the world.

It is certain that in the future, when we are in the spirit world, the people whom we encountered while living in the present hour, in the physical world, we will encounter then—perhaps many times. Will we experience abject shame because of how we treated them, or will our heart sing with gladness because we were of help to them as they struggled under the burdens of life.

If the Scripture teaches (and it does) that our mortal bodies will be redeemed, then the mortal body is destined to become eternal. Having once been raised from the dead it can die no more. Eating from the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God will finally bring eternal life to our death-doomed body.

The burden of the Spirit is not that we be removed to Heaven, to the spiritual paradise, but that the spiritual paradise be restored to the earth. The prayer is not that the Father should bring us to His eternal home in the heavens but that His Kingdom, the performing of His will, should be brought down to the earth.

The Kingdom comes from above, from Heaven. The Kingdom is of Heaven, that is, of the Presence and Glory of God. When the Kingdom of God comes to the earth, the earth will be filled with God’s glory. All we associate with Heaven will then be found in the earth, not in the sky above us.

Fiery holiness of personality, living in the center of God’s fire at all times, is addictive. The more the believer is filled with the fire of holiness the more he desires.

Safety and the other things we desire are not found in Heaven, as such. Heaven is where the problems began. Safety, joy, peace, the iron rule of righteousness, are found only in the Lord Jesus Christ and in those who are an integral part of him. Apart from Christ there is uncertainty and chaos.

Christ will move throughout the creation of God bringing all things under subjection to Himself. This will be accomplished by the power of the Father. Those who overcome sin through Christ will work alongside of Him to accomplish this goal.

The Kingdom of God is the fullness of the power of God filling Christ, and through Christ the saints, that they may enforce God’s righteous ways throughout the creation; bringing also the fullness of holiness and the fullness of obedience to God. Unlimited power and wisdom will bring about the Kingdom of God, the doing of God’s will, in the earth and everywhere else in the universe.

When all things have been brought into subjection to Christ, then Christ will be in subjection to the Father.

There is a difference between loving someone and worshiping someone. The fire of Christ is necessary if love is to be purified from idolatry and lust.

There is no safety or security in Heaven, in the United States armed forces, in money, or in the computer. The only safety and security there is, is found in the Lord Jesus Christ. He alone is our Rock, our mighty Fortress. In the future, everything we know and trust in shall be shaken. Only those who are dwelling in Christ will be safe and secure. When the world is in flames, those who are abiding Christ will be singing and dancing in the heights of Zion.

We are living in the valley of the shadow of death. Satan is everywhere. If we are to survive spiritually we must choose every moment of every day and night to dwell in Christ.

It is with our will that we choose to dwell in Christ at all times and in every circumstance. Therefore our will must be kept strong and sharp, for by it we serve God. We choose to serve God.

There are believers in Christ who do not always choose to be joyous in Christ. They are bound with stubbornness, peevishness, self-pity, pessimism, defeat. When we find such an attitude of negativism and despair in ourselves, we must call mightily and continually to Christ that we may be saved from this destructive, negative state.

Do not take anything for granted. Call on Christ for help with every detail of life.

The river of God is full of water.

Do not assume God is going to help you. Keep on asking. Keep on asking. Blow the trumpet when you go into battle so God will remember you.

I don’t think most people have rejected Christ. I think they have rejected the Christians.

The administrative-type religious leader goes to his computer and demographic graphs in order to obtain success. The spiritual religious leader goes to Christ to obtain success. If we attempt to use both methods we may find that one or the other must prevail.

One day the Throne of God will come down from Heaven above us and be established on the earth so that the nations of the saved can enjoy the Presence and blessing of God in Christ in His saints forever, ages without end. This is even more wonderful.

Today is a momentous hour in the Kingdom of God. The day of our visitation is here. There are, of course, duties we must perform if we are to fulfill our responsibilities in the world, such as taking care of our family. But ordinarily there is time and strength left over to seek the Lord, and we cannot dissipate these on entertainment, or hobbies, or other activities that are not essential, if we are to lay hold on that for which the Lord has grasped us.

Ours is a dangerous hour, and also a wonderful period. Passages of Scripture that have not been understood are now being emphasized. Thrones are waiting for those who care enough to seek Christ diligently and earnestly. Many who are last in time shall be first in the Kingdom of God.

Between justification and glorification, our assigned states from the foundation of the world (I am speaking of God’s elect), is a period of time during which we may fall away altogether; or lose part of our inheritance; or attain exceedingly great glory in the Kingdom. There are no guarantees, only callings and opportunities. Christ always will remain faithful and keep that which has been entrusted to Him. But whether we reap one hundred, or sixty, or thirtyfold depends on how vigorously we pursue eternal life each day of our discipleship.

The reason some people in our world are poor and hungry is that those of us who have an abundance may have an opportunity to share what we have with the less fortunate. In this manner we prepare ourselves for our future life in the spirit world of love, light, and rejoicing. But those who are selfish have a fearful destiny awaiting them.

God laughs at the foolish antics of those who rebel against Him. The problem occurs when God stops laughing.

When we make the gathering of numbers of people our goal we will compromise what God is saying to the churches. We are not to attempt to please people. Our task is to listen to the Spirit of God and obey Him.

God has put us in an animal body to see what we will do, to find out if we can be trusted when the true riches are given to us.

The Bible commands us to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. This is referring primarily to righteous behavior on our part. Imputed or ascribed righteousness is a means of helping us acquire genuine righteousness of behavior. If imputed righteousness becomes an alternative to righteous behavior, we have missed God’s intention.

Whoever holds back part of the price of the land will die spiritually.

Our lusts cause us either to destroy ourselves or to develop godly character, much as irritation under an oyster’s shell causes it to produce a pearl. Why should we become fools in the sight of the angels?

John the Baptist, the Apostles, and the Lord Jesus did not preach that Paradise is at hand but that the Kingdom of God is at hand.

The Kingdom of God is a government! It is the rule of God. Without the Kingdom of God we cannot maintain Paradise should we receive it again. We want Paradise. God wants His rules kept.

All of the gifts and ministries given to the Body of Christ by the Holy Spirit are for the purpose of forming Christ, the Kingdom of God, the Rule of God, in us. The more of Christ we have the more of the Kingdom of God we have.

We place much emphasis today on getting people into Heaven! According to the New Testament, God places a greater emphasis on getting Heaven into people!

Until God brings us to the stature of the fullness of Christ, which is to say, to the full development of the internal kingdom, there will be no external kingdom through which the peoples of the earth can be blessed.

Divine grace, as it currently is perceived, is a substitute for moral growth.

The Apostle Paul taught grace as the Divine alternative to the Law of Moses, not as the Divine alternative to moral transformation, to the new creation of righteous behavior.

I think we have fallen into error by not placing sufficient emphasis on sanctification. Our preaching often seems to be occupied primarily with justification.

Godliness is esteemed more highly by the Lord than are great achievements that we might make. This is true also of contentment.

Obedience, integrity, faithfulness, diligence, courage are honored by the Lord and are gifts from Him. Achievement and success also are gifts from Him. Whoever would boast, let him or her boast in the Lord.

If you want to see matters as they truly are, ask the Lord to put His fire on them. Christ sees with eyes of fire.

Satan does not have the power to truly harm someone who is trusting in the Lord Jesus. All of the pain and frustrations he brings serve only to perfect the servant of the Lord. Satan was the instrument that crucified Christ. In so doing Satan redeemed mankind.

The Lord Jesus Christ shall return at the head of two armies. An army of angels, and an army of judges. The angels are the warriors. They do the fighting. The saints are judges. They make decisions concerning the installation of the Kingdom of God on the earth. The warrior angels enforce their decisions.

The commandment to the world is to believe in Christ and be baptized in order to be saved from wrath. The commandment to the elect is to count everything else as garbage that they may win Christ. The Christian organizations are devoting almost all of their resources to saving souls from the wrath of God while neglecting to emphasize the need for the elect to grow to the stature of the fullness of Christ.

It appears to me that if they are to obtain peace and security in the foreseeable future, the nations of the world have two choices. They must meet the demands of the terrorists. In this case the terrorists will govern the nations’ decisions. Or the nations must turn away from their sins and ask Christ for His help. If the nations do this, Christ will silence the terrorists.

The sheep of the nations are delivered from wrath and brought into the Kingdom on the basis of having assisted the Lord’s brothers in their hour of need. The brothers themselves are destined to be changed into the image of Christ. In order to grasp that for which they have been grasped they must count all else as garbage that they may gain Christ.

Each person has a unique salvation that must be worked out, depending on that individual’s place in the Kingdom of God. Some women will be saved through childbearing if they continue in faith. Those at the right hand of Christ will drink the cup of suffering. Others called to a lower rank need only follow Christ in the routines of their lives. But all must receive Christ, when He is presented to them, and endure to the end, to be saved.

If we do not have a rod of iron created in us by resisting sin, we are neither eligible nor competent to return with Jesus Christ and govern the saved nations of the earth.

It is a fact that if we love God with all heart our and our neighbor as ourselves, we have fulfilled the eternal moral law of God. But in order to love God with all our heart and our neighbor as ourselves, we have to transformed by the power of Christ. In order to be transformed by the power of Christ, we have to seek Christ and obey Him diligently each day and night of our lives.

The desire to obey God diligently and continually is a gift. It must be given from above. The wise person will pray continually for this supreme gift.

It is true that the terrorists may succeed in detonating atomic weapons in our country, killing millions of Americans. But nothing will occur outside the will of Christ. Those who serve Him diligently will be secure in His Presence. They will save themselves and their loved ones.

Give to Jesus what you have and He will multiply it. It will feed many people.

Christ Himself has become my security, my health, my strength, my courage, my song. It is not that He gives me these things, He Himself is them. This the fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles.

It is a good idea to pray frequently that Christ will keep us from being deceived; that we will hear and see only that which is coming from God’s Throne.

It is a good idea to call upon the Lord immediately upon awakening, keeping one’s mind focused on Christ.

Be thanking the Lord continually for every detail of life, for every answered prayer, for every blessing.

Be not entangled with the world and its confusion and chaos. It is on a collision course with Divine judgment. The thinking and plans of unbelievers will never make sense to the godly. Our task is to refuse to fret about the evil and to do what good we can as Christ enables.

It’s fun to keep looking to Jesus day and night. You never know what wonderful thing He is going to say or do.

I used to wonder why so many Christians could be believers for many years and yet not grow spiritually. They still are living in their adamic nature. Now I know the answer. They are not disciples, only church members. They have not denied themselves, taken up their cross, and followed Jesus.

There is a difference between religious life and resurrection life. Jesus Christ Himself is Resurrection Life. Religious life is the murderer of Christ. The entrance to resurrection life is through crucifixion with Christ. The entrance to religious life is through the brain of man, often augmented by Satan.

People enjoy dabbling in spiritual mysteries. God enjoys righteous behavior.

The Bible is not primarily about Heaven and Hell, although these are mentioned. The main subject of the Bible is righteous behavior and sinful behavior, about spiritual life and spiritual death. We experience these while yet alive on the earth.

The people of the world know what righteous behavior is. They should be seeing it in people who profess to be Christians. They often do not. Why not? Because the believers are being taught that God has given us grace so we can continue to sin and go to Heaven anyway.

People do not become life-giving spirits by taking the four steps of salvation and then living their own life. We have to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Christ diligently day and night. We become fountains of eternal life only as we are willing to accept the crucifixion of our first personality. There is no other way.

Grace is supposed to be a means of producing people who behave righteously. Instead it has become a substitute for righteous behavior. As a result, the light shining forth from the Christian churches to the world largely is darkness. God is displeased at the extent to which unrighteousness has increased in His churches and in the world.

Just as our present body has a life of its own, with sinful tendencies in it, desiring to pursue an inflamed animal insistence, so the body with which we will be clothed in the Day of the Lord will have a life of its own. However the new body will be filled with desires that come from the Lord and are holy, righteous, and obedient to God. We will receive this new life-filled body only on the condition that we have undergone the required moral change. The new wine in us will be put into new bottles.

Growth in Christ means growth in understanding and growth in our soul. The word is written in the mind and in the heart.

There are some things only God can tell people. If we try to tell them we cause pain and confusion.

We are transformed in two ways: in our mind as it is renewed in Christ, and in our heart by the body and blood of Christ.

I have placed all my treasures in Heaven; but it has required many deaths to put them there!

Salvation is deliverance from the bondages of sin. If you are not being delivered from the bondages of sin, you are not being saved. Therefore work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

How many millions of professing Christians do you suppose there are in the United States who live unrighteous lives but who suppose, because of what they have been taught, that God does not see their behavior and is ready to carry them to Heaven to avoid suffering? It is because of the teaching of lawless grace that our nation is going to experience calamity.

God’s powerful angels cannot exercise the sentence of judgment against the wicked until the saints are qualified to pass judgment. The saints qualify by trusting in the blood of the Lamb; by bearing in themselves a true testimony of God; and by loving not their life to the point of death.

Lord, I pray that I may see every person and every circumstance with eyes of fire. I want to see as you see, and think, speak and act in agreement with your will. I pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

The protection against deception is the personal cross of the believer. Until we deny ourselves, lay down our life, take up our cross, and follow the Lord Jesus at all times, we are vulnerable to deception.

To worship anyone or anything other than God and Jesus Christ His Son, is to be in deadly bondage, in the chains of futility and corruption.

If Adam and Eve had not sinned, and they had gone on to populate the world, it is doubtful that mankind ever would see its need of God. Certainly, there would have been no opportunity for us to have learned to live by the body and blood of Christ; and thus to be married to the Lamb.

Satan loves religion, but the preaching of righteousness is an abomination to him.

Christ prefers that we preach about righteousness and the doing of God’s will in the earth. Satan prefers that we preach about the rapture and going to live forever in Heaven.

To become a member of the Kingdom of God we have to be born again. This means Christ has to be born in us. There has to be a new creation in which the old things have passed away and all has become new; and all is of God.

God’s master plan is found in the Bible. The working out of that plan is conducted by the Holy Spirit. When people attempt to work out the plan they create babylon—confusion. The sons of God are not led by the Bible but by the Spirit.

The word of our testimony is more than what we say. It includes what we are; what we think; what we do! If what we are, what we think, and what we do are not of God, then what we say is not a true testimony of God, His Person, His will, and His ways in Christ.

The better world for which we hope is not a place in the spirit realm, called heaven. It is Christ who is being formed in the saints. They will appear with Him at His coming. This is the Kingdom of God that will establish justice and peace on the earth.

If we view salvation as a transformation of what we are, beginning with our inward nature and extending finally to our body, then we will begin today to fight the good fight of faith. We will each day throw off through Christ the chains of corruption that bind our inward nature as we press toward the day when the Spirit of God by which we now live will extend to our physical body.

The city that has foundations, for which Abraham is seeking, is the new Jerusalem. Its foundations, being twelve in number, are foundations of the wall against sin. This wall is formed in us as Christ is formed in us.

Three things define the new Jerusalem; God and the Lamb; the saints; and the wall against sin that has been formed in the saints.

The true Christian discipleship is one of overcoming worldliness, the lusts of our flesh, and our self will as we press toward the first resurrection from the dead, the resurrection to eternal life.

In Chapter Six of Romans, Paul declares that if we as a Christian choose to live an unrighteous life we will die spiritually, but if we choose to be the slave of God and righteousness we will enter eternal life.

The true Christian discipleship is one of overcoming worldliness, the lusts of our flesh, and our self will as we press toward the first resurrection from the dead, the resurrection to eternal life.

God intends to accomplish two things through human marriage: a new person is brought into the world; and the self-seeking of husband and wife is diminished.

Satan and those in whom he lives are bound with self-seeking. This fire will burn hotter and hotter until only ashes remain.

It is necessary that we be reconciled to God legally through the blood of Jesus Christ. But the Kingdom of God exists in the righteous behavior that is produced by Christ being formed in us.

You don’t have to pull your brother’s stone out of the wall in order to put in your own.—Audrey Thompson

Of all the Christian activities that have taken place and are taking place in the world, it may be true that less than one percent are of eternal value. The remainder are inert ingredients.

When a chicken gives an egg it is an act of dedication. When a hog gives ham it is an act of consecration. The Lord demands both consecration and dedication. The Lord wants both ham and eggs.—anon

The expression of the Apostle Paul in Galatians 2:20 reflects consecration far in excess of what is being taught today. I wonder why that is? Are we really preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ? What Paul is saying is certainly more like a hog giving ham than a chicken giving eggs!

Do we actually believe that God’s Kingdom will come to the earth? I do not think so. All we talk about is going to Heaven and living there forever. So why are we praying Your Kingdom come, Your will be done in the earth?

It is God’s intention that man live on the earth, that man be free from sin, that the earth be breathtakingly beautiful and marvelous, that there no longer be sorrow, pain, or death.

This is the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. It is not the good news that if we believe in Jesus we will go to Heaven when we die. It is the good news that we will be raised from the dead and live once again on the earth.

The Christian salvation is pointed toward the restoration of what was lost in Eden. It is not a plan to change everything and place man in the spirit realm. God is not making all new things. He is making all things new—all the things to which we are accustomed.

Every aspect of redemption presents a choice. We can accept or reject it. Our faith in God is involved here. It does not matter whether we are on earth or in the spirit world. We always are and always shall be able to reject that which God places before us. It is a frightening thought but true.

There can be no part of Christ that is not totally responsive to the Head, to the Lord Jesus. We must learn stern, uncompromising obedience to the Head, and we must learn it today.

The saints must cease from their own ways and works and live on the altar of God. This means that every plan, every desire, every thought, every action is directed toward the Lord Jesus for His approval.

We who are called to be members of the Body of Christ are not to accept the values of the world. We are to be transformed as our mind in renewed in Christ. Renewing our mind in Christ means daily prayer, daily reading of the Bible, and bringing every decision to Christ throughout the day.

If a denomination turns out hundreds of thousands of members, but very few of them are coming to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ, then we might remind the executives of the denomination that while they are to be congratulated on their marketing abilities, they are not achieving the stated goals of the enterprise.

It is not enough to persuade a person to confess Christ as his savior, and then never direct him into cross-carrying obedience; never lead him in the presenting of his body a living sacrifice; never work with him as the Spirit of God brings him through challenging circumstances.

Sometimes it is said that if we will keep growing, growing, growing in numbers the discipline will take care of itself. This does not work out in practice. A brief examination of today’s Christian churches will suggest nurseries filled with babies—babies whose growth has been aborted because they have been fed grace-grace-grace-rapture-rapture-rapture-Heaven-Heaven-Heaven.

The most significant aspect of our life is our relationship to God. Everything else is secondary in importance.

No person can come to God except through Jesus Christ. God has made Christ our King and our Life; and has given all things into His hands.

If we are to be related to God satisfactorily we must keep coming to Him through Jesus Christ. There is no other way, no other truth, no other life.

God keeps close tabs on everyone—even on little birds.

The wall against sin has been broken down because of the teaching of grace as a substitute for righteous behavior. There do not seem to be many Christians who understand that if our experience with Jesus Christ does not change our behavior we are not being saved. The world looks to see moral light in us, but all it perceives is talk about our particular brand of religion.

Is God your copilot or your pilot?

Anything we clutch is an idol. It prevents our flowing with the desires of God.

The United States has taken the position that government is to be kept separate from religion. Does this mean government is to be kept separate from God? If so, our position is foolish and destructive of our welfare.

I do not want to be an animal any longer. I choose to be a son of God.

Let us take a further step into the Kingdom of God each day.

The longer I live the more I realize everything we have is a gift from God, including our desire to serve God and do His will.

Why should we be honored for our faithfulness to God when the very desire to be faithful is a gift from God.

To not think carefully about the consequences of our actions is stupid.

The doctrine of evolution is incredible. It is more like religious cant than it is science.

To consider the world around us and then claim there is no God suggests we may have an ulterior motive. It may be true that we are unwilling to face the fact that one day we will have to give an account for our behavior.

God loves all people who strive to live righteously. But the only tree of life is the Lord Jesus Christ.

When the Israelites sinned, God raised up enemies who warred against them. So it is today. God is raising up enemies who are warring against the nations that at one time professed faith in Jesus Christ. However, when our ways are pleasing to the Lord He makes even our enemies to live at peace with us.

Humanism (the happiness of people is the supreme good), Gnosticism (salvation removes us from the material world so we may live forever in the spirit realm), antinomianism (Christians are under no law) and dispensationalism (Gentiles are saved by Divine forgiveness apart from moral transformation) are “four horsemen” of error that prevent Christians from perceiving what the Scripture actually teaches.

It is the transformation, the new creation, the new life, that constitutes salvation, redemption, the Kingdom of God. The profession of belief in Christ is worthless to the purposes of God unless it is accompanied by a transformed moral character.

We must behave in manner worthy of the Kingdom of God if we are to be part of that kingdom.

We must truly accept Christ in the sense that an apprentice places himself under the discipline of a master.

Religious statements can never save us. Only God through Jesus Christ can save us. It is entirely possible to “accept Christ” and yet not really accept Christ.

We say that if we “accept Christ” in the religious sense we are saved and will go to Heaven when we die. This is not the Christian salvation. The Christian salvation consists of a daily interaction with the living Jesus. As we interact with Jesus each day we are saved from the world, from Satan, from the lusts and passions of our flesh, and from our self-will.

Why are the Christian preachers of today seeking to curry favor with their listeners, when the preachers have the only Word of Life? It is a “seller’s market.” Can it be that we are attempting to build the Kingdom of God by our own devices?

If there were no God, and life came about through random chemical processes, most people in the world, including the members of primitive societies, would be atheists. But our instincts as well as our common sense tell us that we and our environment reveal unmistakably that Someone planned all this!

The Lord Jesus Christ is returning to the earth in order to govern the nations with righteousness, not to take His Church to Heaven. What good would that do?

Jesus told us that we could neither see nor enter the Kingdom of God without being born again. Jesus never told us that we could neither see nor enter Heaven without being born again.

The Apostles did not preach about going to Heaven. They did preach about the Kingdom of God, about the importance of inheriting the Kingdom of God. They did not preach about the importance of going to Heaven.

Entering the Kingdom of God begins the moment we are born again. It is not a ticket to anywhere. It is the bringing forth of a new creation within our personality. We do not wait to die for it to begin. It is being pressed on us now, especially as we are approaching the end of the Church Age.

The moment Christ is born in us, the Substance of Deity is born in us, the Spirit is ready to lead us from the adamic life to the life of a son of God. Every moment of our time is packed with opportunities to change from a mere human to a child of God. We are being transformed if we are participating in the new covenant. It is the transformation that is salvation.

There is no fornication, no lying, no slander, no rage, no witchcraft, no drunkenness, no strife, no backbiting, no malice, in the Kingdom of God. The part of our personality that is doing these things is not of the Kingdom of God.

The mere fact of being in Heaven will not of itself make any change in us. There is no scriptural basis for the concept that being in Heaven will change us from wickedness to righteousness. After all, sin began in Heaven around the Throne of God.

Because of the pressures of wickedness that are on us continually, righteous behavior is a matter of strength. The stronger we are in the Lord the better able we are to keep His commandments. At His coming we will possess iron strength so we may be able to enforce justice and righteousness in the earth. That iron strength is being developed in us now as through Christ we overcome sin.

The Great Commission is not to save souls or build churches. The Great Commission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ so they learn to behave righteously, to keep the eternal laws of the Kingdom of God. Because we have changed the Great Commission, the Christians in America to a great extent do not demonstrate integrity in their behavior.

The Lord always is specific and practical in what He does, although He may not reveal His plan until it is necessary.

The Great Commission has not been accomplished until people live in righteousness, holiness, and stern obedience to the Father.

Faith that does not result in righteous behavior is not what the Bible means by faith.

Faith that does not result in our denying ourselves, taking up our cross, and following Jesus carefully each day is not what the Bible means by faith.

We are saved from the works and presence of Satan so we may have fellowship with God. Fellowship with God is the supreme goal of our salvation.

Because the living God behaves in unfathomable ways—ways that are not approved of or understood by the educated people of our time—we should not be rushing around trying to build the Kingdom of God when we do not know what we are doing.

Every person who has lived on the earth and then died is somewhere in the spirit world, waiting for the Day of Resurrection. When that day arrives, every person will be judged fairly.

God died on the cross for the sins of men. So who is able to accuse God of unrighteousness?

When we meet and admire a person more godly than ourselves, we become a better person.

We who handle the Word of God need not worry, if we are being diligent, that the will of God shall be communicated. God watches to see that His Word is fulfilled.

We do well when we acknowledge that someone is more worthy or more accomplished than ourselves. We become more humble, more poor in spirit. This leads the way into the Kingdom of God.

It indeed is true that man is a corrupt creature, unable to save himself. It is true also that through Jesus Christ man can save himself and become worthy of the Kingdom of God.

God preserves the loved ones of those who fear and serve Him. Otherwise the joy of His faithful ones would not be complete.

I awoke this morning filled with words of wisdom. I then recorded all that God had shown me.

Wisdom flows quietly like an untroubled stream. We do well when we embrace the gentle, steady waters of Shiloah.

We do not gain eternal life by acknowledging that Jesus Christ is the Son of God; that He died for our sins; that He rose from the dead. The demons understand this to be true, and they have no eternal life. Rather, we gain eternal life by eating Christ and drinking His blood. This means we enter an intense personal relationship with the living Lord Jesus—dying to our sinful nature continually; always increasing in His resurrection life. “As dying, and, behold, we live.

The practices of the Christian religion are not the way to the Father. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself is the Way.

If we would walk with the Lord Jesus we must turn away from our sins and self-will.

The New Testament stresses repentance as well as belief in Christ. To believe but not turn from our sins is to sit in Egypt saying we are in the land of promise.

How can it be that the demons know all the facts about Christ’s death and resurrection and yet do not have eternal life? It is because knowledge of what is true does not bring life. It is continual interaction with the living Jesus that brings eternal life to us.

Our goal is fellowship with God. Jesus Christ is the Way to the Father.

If believing in Christ has not caused us to practice righteous behavior, then we have not truly believed in Christ. We have just acknowledged the facts of theology.

Do you with to know God and His Son Jesus Christ? Then turn away from sinful behavior.

The Christian religion emphasizes belief in Jesus Christ and eternal residence in Heaven. The New Testament stresses righteous behavior and doing God’s will in the earth, as the result of having Christ formed in us.

The whole Bible is the inspired Word of God. Therefore, let us not add to it or subtract from it, but rather meditate in it and do what it says.

The New Testament is not just to be believed, it is to be obeyed in its every commandment.

Do we believe what the Apostles have written in the New Testament? Then let us obey what they have commanded. Have they written in vain?

Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? Good. So do the demons. But they do not have eternal life because they do not love Christ and walk with Him continually.

God is in control of all things. When we fret and worry we are showing that we do not believe in God’s wisdom and love. Let us avoid negative thinking and speaking, and pray and think positively about our circumstances. By choosing to do this we overcome Satan.

We do not know what the future holds, but we do know who holds the future.—anon

“Father, we do not understand you, but we trust You.“—Basilea Schlink

If you will serve the Lord with all diligence He will find a place in His Kingdom for your loved ones. He has promised to give His servants fullness of joy. In order to give you fullness of joy He has to take care of those who are close to your heart.

The foolish, ignorant people who say there is not God should be thankful that He is righteous and compassionate. What if God were like Satan: cruel, vindictive, perverse, treacherous, self-centered?

If there is no God, righteous behavior still would be of benefit. Righteousness carries its own reward. Because there is a God, the wicked face a frightful future.

If there is no God it still is of benefit to us to live a godly, disciplined life. But if there is a God, our faithful service to Him will bring us unimaginable love, joy and peace in the future.

There are those who gamble there is no God and take their chances with what they will experience after they die. Then there are those live their entire lives in preparation for what they will face in the next world.

We have not because we ask not. Why, then, do we not keep on asking God to help us and give us the desires of our heart? If we keep on asking, Christ will keep on giving us what we need and desire.

Have you noticed that when Christ multiplied the loaves and fishes He produced more than enough? So it is that when Christ blesses us He does so abundantly. In fact, there is something left over for those around us.

Remember the ninety-first Psalm. We will need it and other Divine promises in the days of moral and physical horror that lie ahead of us in America.

Have you ever noticed that God often presents us with an easy situation and we make it difficult? How many people are not satisfied with where God has placed them and the role which they have been assigned? This was Satan’s original problem!

Choose to believe God. Choose to be faithful to God. Choose to think positively. Choose to believe that all things are working for your good. Choose to be joyful. Choose to be courageous. We save ourselves by our choices. Choosing is something we can do. If we can’t, we need to ask God for the power to choose to have faith in the promises of the Bible. We overcome by the word of our testimony, by what we choose to think, speak, and do.

“God send fire on us until our flesh agrees to do your will”!

If you abort your baby without good and sufficient reason, such as rape or medical necessity, you will be charged with murder before the Judgment Seat of Christ. If you have murdered a baby, throw yourself on the mercy of Christ before it is too late.

He wants to have intercourse with you but will not accept the responsibility of marriage and a family? He is a bum. Flee from him. Are you so without intelligence that you welcome pain and confusion into your life?

Antichrist rises from the sea of mankind. He is man seeking to govern himself, to be his own god. The False Prophet rises from the soul of man. He is the Christian believer seeking the power of Christ apart from the prison of deferred hope. In the last days the False Prophet will support Antichrist.

There is no such thing as a Gentile Church. It doesn’t exist. There is no such thing as a dispensation of grace or a state of grace unaffected by our behavior. It doesn’t exist. Both of these man-made concepts are destructive of the one Kingdom of God and His righteousness.

Tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, droughts, various medical and social disorders, are the hand of God knocking on the door of sinful America. We have international neighbors who are searching for ways to destroy us. Will the American people open the door and invite the Lord Jesus in before the country lies in ruins? And do not boast how wonderful the economy is. It will be the next to fall unless adequate help is given to the poverty-stricken and despairing of the urban ghettoes.

I wonder if the black people of America understand the potential power they possess, not primarily the political power but the spiritual power—power in prayer and righteous behavior. If the black preachers would rise up and preach righteousness in Jesus’ name instead of lawless grace and the “pre-tribulation rapture,” revival and the renewing of our country would be at hand. If they wait for the white brothers it may be too late. Remember Sammy Morris!

One good thing about getting older is you have to make every move count. You do not have the energy to take a lot of false steps.

What a clear light the Bible throws on the commentaries!

Christ died so you may live. Now you have to die so Christ may live—in you. Greater love has no man.

Any spiritual formula that we attempt to apply apart from prayer and dependence on the Lord Jesus Christ is of the False Prophet.

The way of deception is warm, inviting, beautiful, presenting all sorts of fleeces to assure you that you are doing the Lord’s will. But it leads to the house of death. The way of the cross is bleak, forbidding, ugly, sometimes tearing at the soul. But it leads through gates of splendor.

When you were a young Christian you were amazed to find so much sin in other Christians. Now that you are mature you are amazed to find so much sin in yourself.

If it is true that we will be with the Lord Jesus during the thousand-year Kingdom Age when He rules as King from Jerusalem; and if it is true that we will be part of the new Jerusalem when it comes to rest on the new earth; why are we teaching that Heaven is our eternal home?

If you are not being delivered from the love of the world, from the lusts of your flesh, and from self-will, you are not being saved. To be saved is to be moved from Satan to God, not to live forever in Heaven.

When God blesses you with a miracle, gather up the fragments. Someone will need them. Don’t waste God’s Glory!

“Lord Jesus, be in everything I think, say, and do. Leave no part of my life untouched by You. Choreograph every movement. Cut them in steel, second by second.”

We are saved that we may do God’s will, not only in Heaven but primarily on this present earth; on the earth during the thousand-year Kingdom age; and on the new earth when it descends from the new heaven.

By teaching the need for holiness we do not mean to create self-tortured, introspective Christians. The constant searching out of motives and deeds can be maintained by the Spirit of God while the Christian is conducting a poised, joyful, fruitful life. Spiritual experience and maturity are required if we are to remain victorious as the Holy Spirit brings sin to our consciousness.

We are saved by calling on the name of the Lord, apart from righteous conduct on our part. We are justified by our faith in the redeeming blood of Christ. But we enter the Kingdom of God as the Holy Spirit enables us to live in a righteous and holy manner.

Holy! Holy! Holy is the Lord! This is what the Tabernacle proclaims in its every dimension. Everyone and everything associated with the Tabernacle had to be holy. So it is today. No liar, no lustful person, no fearful, no murderer, no idolater, has any part in the inheritance of the Bride of the Lamb.

There is no way attain to the peace and fellowship with God we desire until we suffer. God wounds us that He may bind us up.

If we truly are serving the Lord we may be mourning now but we shall rejoice later. Woe to those who are insisting on rejoicing now!

Suffering sent from the Lord, received in the right way, is redemptive. It frees us from the cloying bands of the sinful nature.

It is better to be poor and have the Lord than to be rich without Christ.

If we wish to live in peace we continually must invite the Prince of Peace into every area of our life.

The history of the world is a great drama being played out in the sight of the host of the heavens and of mankind. Life on earth is not easy. It tests us to the core. However, we have all eternity to reflect on the integrity or lack of it we have revealed.

Salvation comes from God in Heaven. But if it is not received by people with integrity it does not function as it should. The Seed of Christ must fall into an honest and good heart if it is to bear permanent fruit.

People, particularly young people, tinkering with their sexual drive, need to understand that in the future the results of their play will demand integrity of character. If they do not demonstrate integrity of character, the results of their lack of discipline will be misery and corruption. “Eat now and pay later.” The stupid individual does not understand this principle and hastens on his way to destruction.

The current concept that eternal residence in Heaven is the goal of salvation may be attributed to at least two sources: Gnosticism, and the writings of Augustine. Gnosticism teaches that matter is evil and spirit is good. Augustine pointed out the utter depravity of the human race but perhaps did not lay enough emphasis on the power of Christ to change people into His image. The solution, then, would be to transfer people to the spirit world. The current lawless-grace and pretribulation-rapture teachings may be corollaries of this concept.

I do not teach that we are saved by works, but that the fruit of godly behavior is the only valid proof that we are being saved.

The purpose of God’s grace in Christ is not to bring us into Paradise the way we are, it is to change what we are so we can maintain Paradise once it is regained.

We will not just be presented before the Judgment Seat, we will be revealed. The Day of the Lord will not result in a transformation of our personality and moral behavior but a revealing of them for everyone to see.

What the Christian people must come to understand is that their present conduct is directly affecting the house, or robe, that will clothe their resurrected flesh and bones.

For a Christian, evil cannot be overcome with more evil. Evil can be overcome only with Divine good.

To be known of Christ requires that we live righteously. To know Christ requires that we pursue Him diligently, counting all other attractions as garbage.

We can be immersed in religious activities and yet not know the Lord. We can be totally familiar with the house of God and yet know little or nothing of the God of the house of God. How disappointing to spend one’s life grinding at the mill of church duties and then discover at death that we neither know nor are known of Christ.

All of history past and present has occurred for the purpose of creating brothers of Jesus Christ in His image.

Employing strategies to attract people to our church is one matter. Making disciples and teaching them to keep Christ’s commandments is a different pursuit. The first creates Babylon. The second creates the Kingdom of God.

By grasping and clutching what you desire you disfigure your personality. This disfigurement will be revealed when you pass into the spirit world.

Variety may be the spice of life; but rolling stones gather no moss, and tumbleweeds do not bear much fruit.

If we are to make disciples, our life must match our words.

Some teach about Christ, while others teach what Christ taught. These are the ones who bring up other people in Christ’s image.

When we do everything that is in our power to do, then God takes over. This does not mean we strive to push our limits, it merely means we look to Him continually in unrelenting faithfulness in every aspect of life.

Every Divine covenant from the time of Adam has had precisely the same goal—that people be in the image of God, that is, that they act justly and love mercy. Also, that they walk humbly with God. The new covenant contains more grace to accomplish God’s goal in us.

Contemporary thinking is that the new covenant is better than the old, not because it enables people to keep the righteous laws of God but because it no longer demands righteous behavior of us and receives us without the “wedding garment.” The Kingdom of God has been turned into a “come as you are” party.

There is only one new covenant. It is the writing of the eternal moral law of God in our mind and heart by the Lord. Woe unto us! We have created another new covenant, the “four steps of salvation.” Because we have turned aside from the only true new covenant, the light of good works has been extinguished and the world languishes in moral darkness.

It appears to me that the emphasis in the Old Testament is on righteous behavior. The emphasis in the New Testament is on the atonement made by the Lord Jesus and on the work of the Holy Spirit in enabling us to put away the sinful nature. What we are hearing today is that Christ came so we can believe in Him and not be required to behave righteously. Something is terribly wrong here!

Some accomplish great things in the church world but God’s heart is with the faithful.

I am older than I used to be but I still am learning of God and His ways. Are you?

Do not cling too hard to your friend. You and he may have different destinies in God. Remember David and Jonathan.

Always post a guard, even at a party or on vacation. If you do not you may say or do some foolish thing that will set you back for several years.

He who slanders and gossips is a coworker with Satan.

Your friend is upright and will point out the right way to you. Those who speak soft words of flattery to you are seeking their own gain.

Look carefully into the face of the righteous and you will see integrity and faithfulness cut in steel. Look carefully into the face of the wicked and you will see his artful conniving.

Tribulation and wrath are different aspects of God’s working and serve different purposes. The great tribulation will cause many to wash their robes in the blood of the Lamb, but God has not appointed the righteous to wrath.

Christ has promised to keep us and shall keep us, but not if we do not do what the New Testament commands. There is much we are to do!

Put feet on your prayer and it will shuffle about awkwardly. Wait on the Lord and your prayer will soar into the heavens. There is a time to wait and a time to act.

He who exhorts builds up his brother. He who gossips tears down the assembly.

The end of our striving to serve Christ is the forming of Christ in us. Christ in us is the mystery of the Gospel. The result of bringing forth Christ within the human being is a new personality, a unique expression of God. This new creation is the Kingdom of God.

The Law of Moses is well able to show us our sin but it is not accompanied by the power to deliver us from sin. This is how the Law of Moses differs from the new covenant.

The solution to our struggle is the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. This is the law of the new covenant and it sets us free from the law of sin and death. It does so by ascribing righteousness to us so we are free from condemnation and then changes us so we are able to keep God’s righteous laws.

Anyone with a heart for God, like Jesus or King David, can always read God’s intention. But the hardhearted religious individual will succeed in straining out gnats and swallowing camels.

To be “in Christ Jesus,” and thus free from condemnation, means we are living every minute of every day in the Presence of the Lord, looking to Him for every aspect of life.

We live in Christ just as one would live in a house. As we live in Him, seeking always to know Him better, to gain Him, to bring every detail of life to Him, every decision, then and only then are we without condemnation.

How we react to the suffering that comes upon us determines whether we become bitter and vengeful or whether we take our place with Christ on the throne that governs all the works of God’s hands.

God always chastens severely and thoroughly every son He receives. We enter the Kingdom of God through much tribulation. The Lord chastens us because He loves us and does not want us to be under condemnation when He judges the world.

The sufferings the Lord sends on us for our perfecting often take one or two forms: either we are denied something we want desperately, or else we are required to continue in a situation which we detest. These are the two kinds of prisons the Lord confines us in.

We must never take matters into our own hands and attempt to escape from the prison we are in. We always are to give thanks to God, and we always are to pray that God will gives us the desires of our heart. We must set joy before us, or we will never be able to bear our cross for any length of time.

It is God’s love that is withholding from you the desires of your heart.. But it is only for a season. If you will permit the Lord to train you in righteousness and holiness, the hour will come when you will experience endless joy at God’s right hand.

To the beginning Christian, the idea of praying continually may seem an impossibility. As we mature in the Lord we find there are so many problems that praying continually is the only way in which we can endure the day.

What you are and what you do, how you behave, are of supreme importance. What you believe is important only as it enables your change from the image of Satan to the image of God. The terrible error of religion is that it places more importance on what you believe than it does on what you are and how you behave.

The difference between the old covenant and the new covenant is the born-again experience. It is the born-again experience that is the Kingdom of God, that enables us to see and enter the Kingdom of God. It is by means of the born-again experience that we are able to keep the law of the Kingdom of God, which are found in the Sermon on the Mount.

There is only one truth in the world. The Truth is Jesus Christ. There is only one lie in the world. The lie is everything that is not of Jesus Christ. He Himself is the Way, the Truth, the Life, and the Resurrection from the dead.

Are you willing to let go of everything that all may be replaced by Christ? Are you willing to become an entirely new creation; to be born again?

It is fitting that we are thankful for every detail of life; and also let the Lord know of our needs and desires. It gives the Lord pleasure to hear our gratitude for His many blessings.

Suffering either purifies our spirit or else us makes us bitter and vindictive. Whether the result of our suffering is bitterness or vindictiveness depends on how we respond.

Often we develop or discover a pattern or system by which we can always approach the same problem or event successfully. In many instances it is more practical to ask the Lord for wisdom concerning how to address each problem or situation. What is effective on one occasion may not be as successful for that individual or another person at another time.

We must overcome. What does this mean? It means there will be challenge after challenge to our claim to the throne of the universe. If possible, our crown will be taken from us. We have to gain the victory over each challenge to prove we are able to rule with Christ in any and every situation.

When we have the moral character and behavior of Christ, and are resting in God’s Person and will, we then are ready to perform the role in the Kingdom of God for which we have been predestined. We are ready to be raised from the dead when the Lord appears, to be caught up to meet Him in the air, and to descend with Him and help establish the Kingdom of God on the earth.

Shall we return to the Lord Jesus, lay our lives at His feet, and wait until we are hearing from Him? Are we willing to become nothing, to remain in the prison in which we are placed, to hang on the cross? Are we willing to humble ourselves, not counting our sonship a thing to be grasped?

God finished everything from the beginning and our days were ordained of Him at that time. We must grasp this deeply and strive to find out what we are supposed to be and do.

God wants to entrust awesome gifts to us in these days, and we should be praying for rain in the time of latter rain. But most importantly God is seeking servants who will not move according to human reasoning but will be led by the Spirit of God in all they do.

Satan has been so successful in blinding the believers and their leaders to what the New Testament states clearly that they absolutely reject the fact that an individual can make a profession of Christ and then fall away from God. They are incorrect in this, as the future will reveal. This is the work of the deceiver.

The despised remnant will hold firmly in mind that God is as severe as He is good. They will utterly reject the idea that people will never suffer.

God has called us to faithfully bear witness of His Person, will, way, and eternal purpose in Christ, so those who choose to do so may turn from their wicked ways and enter righteousness and eternal life.

We are not completely reconciled to God in a moment, except in a legal sense through the blood of the cross. The actual reconciliation to God of our entire personality takes place every day of our Christian pilgrimage.

Just before the Lord returns from Heaven, or at the time of His appearing and as an integral part of His appearing, at the end of the period of earth’s greatest tribulation, the anointed Christian testimony having been silenced by Antichrist and a number of saints having been purified by afflictions, God and Christ will enter the remnant in unprecedented glory.

How shall we who are alive and remain to the coming of the Lord appear with Him in glory since we are living on the earth at the time of His appearing? Perhaps the power of His coming will be revealed in the saints on the earth as well as in the saints who will return from above.

Since life is so filled with danger, why do not more people call on the Lord for help? I cannot understand this, when God is so able and so willing to protect and guide us.

It is true that the gifts and callings of God are without repentance. But if we do not use our gifts appropriately to build up the Kingdom of God, they will be taken from us and given to another who have been more diligent, as in the parable of the talents.

God the Father gives the power. The Lord Jesus Christ administrates the gifts by the wisdom the Father gives Him. The Father authorizes and empowers the Holy Spirit to assign gifts and ministries. The spiritual enablements that are given to us determine our role in the Body of Christ at this time.

The purpose of the spiritual gifts we receive is to transform us and those who hear us into the image of God, and into complete, untroubled rest in the Father’s Person and will. The final result is fellowship with God, and that we might be His eternal dwelling place, His throne, His Presence throughout His creation.

As we can be motivated and enabled by unclean spirits, in like manner we can be motivated and enabled by holy, righteous spirits as they are given to us to build the Kingdom of God. Let us serve God diligently and pray that we may receive gifts of righteousness, holiness, and obedience to God.

There are natural gifts that often are inherited and are part of our adamic personality. The ability to compose and perform music is one such natural ability. The Holy Spirit also can give us abilities, and sometimes these transform our natural abilities and take them beyond their normal dimensions.

The transformation of a natural gift by being permeated with a gift from the Holy Spirit may not be the same sort of endowment as an anointing on a natural gift that makes the natural gift effective in the building of the Kingdom. For example, natural wisdom and the Spirit of wisdom from God are two different endowments, although the latter may transform and expand the former.

A Christian who has a natural gift of teaching may find that the Holy Spirit has greatly enabled and expanded the natural gift of teaching if the teacher has been faithful to use his gift to build the Kingdom of God.

It is possible for God to give us an ability that is not related to our natural, inherited abilities. However, this may not be as common as the transformation and enlargement of a natural gift we possess already. And so with all our traits and abilities.

A trained doctor or nurse may be helped and anointed during the use of his or her normal ability. Or the medical practitioner may be given a supernatural gift of healing. Or a supernatural gift of healing may be given to a person who has no training in the healing arts.

We ought to pray for supernatural abilities so we can do God’s will and build the Body of Christ. Sometimes such abilities are given to us to accomplish God’s purposes, or because we have been diligent in what we already have been given, or because we have asked the Lord for a specific ability.

After we die and pass into the spirit world and are able to see Christ and the saints, we still will have to have faith in God. Satan was one of the two guardian cherubim that overshadowed the Mercy Seat in Heaven. But he rebelled and was discontent with his state because of his lack of faith in the Father.

God is able to remove bad spirits from us and give us a righteous, holy, and obedient spirit that serves the Lord with joy. How often have you asked God to make you righteous, holy, and obedient to Him? This should be our continual plea. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.

Perfect obedience brings a perfect reward.

It would be better to inherit one person than ten thousand heavens; and we shall be inheriting nations if we give everything to the Lord Jesus.

People are larger than we think. Paul told us we can be filled with all the fullness of God. In the demon-possessed man living in the region of the Gerasenes there dwelled a legion of unclean personalities. This legion of unclean spirits entered 2,000 pigs.

The body and blood of the Lamb are manna that is hidden to all except those who are living a life of victory in Christ. Each time we are willing to do God’s will although it means death to our adamic desires, we are given of the body and blood of Christ in our inner nature. In this manner our resurrection from the dead is formed.

The victories you are gaining now in Christ shall be given back to you in the Day of Resurrection as a glorious palace of eternal love, joy, and peace.

The vision of the future has to do with our soon-coming King, not a soon-going church.

How can we say that if we believe in Christ we do not have to keep His commandments, that “faith” in Christ is a substitute for obedience to God? Is this sensible? Have we not been grossly deceived?

God never, never, never changes His goal for His creatures. God’s goal for His creatures always has been, is now, and forever shall be, that they practice righteousness, love mercy, and walk humbly with God as they keep His righteous commandments.

Is the new covenant only the eternal forgiveness of the sins of God’s people, or is it primarily a device for creating the laws of God in the personality of the believer?

God expects us to be lawful. To be lawful is to keep the commandments of the Lord Jesus and His Apostles, and of the Old Testament where applicable. The only true Christian is the one who meditates in the Word of God each day and seeks God’s help in doing what the Word teaches.

To claim we are saved even though we are still sinning is to claim we are healed when we are still sick.

The Lord God does all the fighting when we come out of Egypt. But we have to fight, as helped by the Lord, in order to enter our land of promise.

The grace of God does not change what we reap, it changes what we sow.

The grace of God did not appear to only forgive the drunkard, it appeared to make him sober. It is the change from drunkenness to sobriety that is salvation.

The Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world. His name is Jesus because He saves His people from their sins, not in their sins.

When our belief in Jesus does not change us from a lawless person to a lawful person we are not being saved.

Christ will guide and help us, but He will not do the job for us. We have to take a step of obedience and go the Lord’s way before we receive the necessary strength and wisdom.

The Lord Jesus will help us overcome. We cannot overcome by ourselves. He will not do it for us by Himself. It is the sword of the Lord and of Gideon.

God always is examining us to see how we will respond when His will for us is unpleasant. God is not completely pleased with us until we are completely willing to do His will no matter what it costs us.

The individual who is selfish and self-seeking is not worthy or able to be a living stone in the eternal Temple of God.

The term “millennium” is misused to mean a time of joyous tranquility. Actually the thousand-year Kingdom age will be a peace enforced by the crushing rule of the rod of iron. Likewise the term “Heaven” has come to mean a delightful environment. “Heaven” (the heaven, heavens) may prove to be a busy, challenging place of instruction, more, in essence, like life on the earth, than we imagine. If it is not, how could the whole Body of Christ come to perfection together?

Mere entrance into the spirit realm, even into the paradisiac spirit realm, accomplishes no change in the individual. Entrance into the spirit realm is not what the Gospel means by “salvation” nor does it result in salvation.

We Christians, as will all people, shall be judged according to what we have done in our body.

Why do we cry shame when a minister of the Gospel commits adultery? Our doctrine states that God sees us only through Christ. However, our conscience and common sense know something is amiss.

Dispensationalism may prove to be one of the most destructive models of interpretation ever to influence Christian thinking. Dispensationalism has produced lawlessness in the Christian churches.

The purpose of the Lord’s return is not to carry off the light of the world to Heaven, it is to rule the nations with a rod of iron until they are willing to obey God’s commandments.

The Scriptures do not present a dispensation of grace. The Scriptures present an old covenant and a new covenant. Both covenants are directed toward God’s Israel. Both covenants require righteous behavior although they produce righteous behavior by different means.

The custodians of religion are hungry for success. The people are hungry for God.

While Christ is being formed in us we may walk a lonely road. But when God’s palace has been completed in us, the Father and the Son will come with the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Then all the creation will behold the marriage of the Lamb.

When truth has been formed in you, you can discern between the truth and the lie. Truth recognizes truth. They are kindred spirits and have fellowship.

I do not have to rush about frantically to do the Lord’s will. My deadline is eternity.

Pray always that you not be led into temptation. Never, never, never let down your guard. The officer who gives in to the complaints of his men and does not post a guard on a rainy, cold night, no matter how far from the battle, may have his scalp affixed to the belt of a more diligent warrior by the next morning.

God is a God of restoration. He restores everything of value to us once we fully accept His way.

It is easy to read Romans, Chapter Three through Five, and conclude that we are saved by faith no matter how we behave. Our problem is that of confusing faith with belief. Belief is an acknowledgment that something is true. Faith is belief plus our grasp on God’s Character such that we obey fully all that Christ and His Apostles commanded. Belief alone cannot bring forth the new creation of righteous behavior.

We came into the world naked and will leave the same way. All we will take with us is our character and our attitude toward God.

Faith is our attitude toward God.

If making a profession of faith in Christ were a ticket to Heaven, it would make no sense to exhort us to work out our salvation.

Working out our salvation is a full-time, twenty-four hour a day, seven days a week, effort.

We are changing from an adamic soul to a life-giving spirit.

We do not work for our salvation; we work out our salvation.

We are saved with difficulty, because our adamic nature resists being put to death. It hates being replaced with eternal life.

Food for the belly and the belly for food. But God shall destroy both—Paul.

We are not saved by religious duties but by stern obedience to Christ at all times. This is what Paul meant when he said we are saved by faith and not by works.

To claim we are saved but still a sinner is to state we have been healed but still are sick.

The Christian life is one of strict discipline. The undisciplined Christian will change or perish.

Music is a language, like English or Hebrew. Pageantry is visible music.

Complete salvation requires complete cooperation from us.

You say you have been saved by grace through your faith. Fine! This means you have begun your transformation from the image of Satan to the image of God.

How can we say we are saved by faith alone when we have been predestined to be changed into the image of Christ? Does such change not require a continuing, intense process?

How can we say we are saved by faith alone when Christ stated that if we do not bear the fruit of godliness we shall be removed from the vine?

A saving faith is a transforming faith. It is the transformation that itself is the salvation.

We are not saved by religious duties but by stern obedience to Christ at all times. This is what Paul meant when he said we are saved by faith and not by works.

If salvation is a ticket to Heaven instead of a process, how is it the Bible says we are supposed to work it out with fear and trembling?

Keep your self spiritually poised. Don’t become passionate about anything except doing the Father’s will. If you do permit yourself to be passionate about something or someone other than the Lord, when you pray God will answer you according to your idols rather than with truth.

People who do not live in continual interaction with the Lord Jesus are forsaking their own mercy.

I once was young and now am old. The Lord Jesus is more real to me than ever before.

When I first came to Christ I vowed that I would confess whether or not the way of Christ is that of truth. Now, after 61 years of serving Christ, I proclaim that the way of Christ is the way of truth.

I have to have this! I have to have that! No you don’t! There are only two things you absolutely must have. One is Christ. The other is patience. But you can give thanks for all the blessings you do have, and then tell God what it is you desire.

There is a difference between lust and love. Love is concerned for the welfare of the other person, and is willing to suffer that the loved one may profit. Christ loved us and suffered that we might live. In many instances people have an undisciplined desire for pleasure. Thus they are apt to experience lust rather than sacrificial love and are unable to discern the difference.

Does God ever lead us into temptation? Yes, He does. If we choose to worship and serve created things rather than the Creator, God will give us over to shameful lusts. He will send us a powerful delusion. He will answer us according to our idols. We always are to pray that God will not lead us into temptation.

To be in the image of God we must lose our adamic inertia and be ready to move when the Lord moves. This is necessary if we are to be in the image of Christ.

The Lord wishes to draw us each day closer toward the place where He dwells eternally. However, our Adamic nature is as wood and cannot stand the Divine Fire. But the gold of the Divine Nature that is being formed in us becomes increasingly pure as it enters the Fire who is God.

All the ministries of the Body of Christ are for the purpose of bringing the house of God to maturity.

It is one matter to bring people to Christ. It is another matter to bring Christ to people. This requires that we are crucified with Christ so that His Life is dwelling in us.

Speaking of retirement, I do not wish to die before I die. It is difficult to think of the Apostles of Christ retiring, and they are our example.

There is a time and place to preach the grace of forgiveness. There is a time and place to preach the grace of Divine wisdom and power to behave righteously. If only the grace of forgiveness is preached, the fruit of the preaching indeed shall be withered and rotten.

Religion is a business, and there are some who are skilled in its activities. Salvation is Divine life and revelation that are experienced in their fullness only by those of the utmost integrity and dedication.

The Lord is our righteousness. But how do we relate to this righteousness? Is it merely by saying we are part of it or identify with it? Or is it by interacting with it until we ourselves become righteous in behavior.

May we be as faithful to Christ as Christ is to the Father.

Man-driven religion (Babylon) is the ancient enemy of Christ.

The purpose of the catching-up of the believers is not to escape trouble. We have to be resurrected, or transformed, before we are caught up to meet the Lord in the air. Once we are resurrected or transformed we cannot be injured by the Antichrist or the Great Tribulation. The purpose of the catching up is to gather together His saints with the Lord so they can descend with Him and install the Kingdom of God on the earth.

The fourth chapter of First Thessalonians is not about removing the Church to Heaven, but about comforting the saints with the thought they will see their loved ones once again on the earth. Paul says nothing about seeing their loved ones in Heaven when they die. This concept is not found in the New Testament, as far as I know.

The confusion caused by the pre-tribulation rapture doctrine is that the believers are not preparing themselves to stand in the period of moral and physical horrors that is approaching rapidly. It truly is a destructive doctrine.

There are various prisons, pains, pressures, and horrors, including physical death, in this present world. But in terms of torment, these are not to be compared with the prisons, pains, pressures, horrors, and deaths in the spirit world toward which we all are moving.

There are some spiritual leaders who are administrators and even statesmen, having a role of visible significance in the world. They often are quite popular. Then there are other spiritual leaders who are prophets. They seldom or never are popular and may not be viewed as unusually significant.

To retire is to die before one dies.

There is an inner Kingdom of God. It is being created in us now. The Kingdom of God is God in Christ in the saints ruling the works of God’s hands. When the Lord returns with His saints to govern the world, the outer kingdom will be revealed. The outer kingdom is the manifestation of the inner kingdom. It shall have been developed previously.

If you go through life looking to have your spiritual problems solved when you die, trusting that when you get to Heaven you will serve God in earnest, you will discover to your dismay that you are in the same condition in the spirit world that was true of you at the point of death.

The Kingdom of God is not a place, such as Heaven. The Kingdom of God is a state of being in which Christ governs you from within your personality at all times. It is as true now for you as it will be when Christ returns to rule the nations with the rod of iron.

The rod of iron, which is the way the Kingdom of God is governed, is being created in you now provided you are seeking Christ’s help so you can overcome sin each moment of each day.

One of the current errors is that we have the authority to command angels to do our bidding. Only God assigns the angels. Even Christ said He would pray that the Father would send angels to help Him.

There is no scriptural support for the idea of commanding the Holy Spirit, or praying to the Holy Spirit, or singing to the Holy Spirit, or worshiping the Holy Spirit. All actions of worship and prayer are to be directed to Christ, or to the Father in Christ’s name, not the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has one mission, and that is to glorify Christ.

We must be careful of our “therefores.” The current Evangelical errors have been arrived at by deducing truth from certain verses, rather than by accumulating truth by continually meditating in the Old and New Testaments, the entire Scripture.

We must learn to distinguish between the messenger and the message. The Scriptures eternally are true. But those who present them are imperfect and sometimes living sinful lives.

The army of the Lord is being instructed today. Are you in the place where you can hear the voice of the Commander in Chief?

Your lifetime and mine is one of struggling with God. This is the meaning of the term “Israel.”

It no doubt will be true that every saved person on the new earth will have a portion of God within him. However, the members of the governing city, the new Jerusalem, may be the only people who will be able to see God and the Lamb. The remainder of the population of the new world will see God only in the saints.

There may be coming an increase of the incarnation of God: God in Christ in the saints revealed to the members of saved mankind, and to the angels as well. It is then that the world will believe that God has sent Christ and loves the saints as He loves Christ.

The victorious saints will sit on the highest throne with the Lord Jesus Christ. How this great company of people can sit on one throne; how this rulership will be viewed by the members of the saved nations; remains to be seen.

If you have been raised with Christ and are seated in Him at the right hand God, then this is your position for eternity. No matter where your soul and body are located, either now, after your death, or after you have been raised from the dead, your life still will be abiding in Christ at the right hand of the Father. Only a willingness to rebel against God can remove you from this position, just as Satan, a guardian cherub, was removed from his position alongside the Throne.

The promises of protection during the day of calamity have been made to those who are resting in the shadow of the Almighty. This means they are abiding in Christ. Also, that they have ceased from their own works and are resting in the center of God’s will for them. Such as these will save themselves and their loved ones during the period of moral and physical horrors that are approaching.

There has been a Jewish holocaust and there shall be a Gentile holocaust. Tribulation and anguish come upon the Jew first, and then upon the Gentile.

To be righteous means to be pleasing to God. Therefore righteousness must include the practice of fair, honorable behavior toward people and spiritual cleanliness toward God.

Divine grace may be defined as “God through Christ forgiving, blessing, and enabling us to be pleasing to God, that is, fair and honorable in our relationships with people and spiritually clean toward God.”

The world does not operate according to good luck or bad luck. The world operates according to the intervention of God. He knows the sparrow that falls to the ground.

Christian believers and their leaders often lack integrity of character. Therefore they cannot really come to know the Lord Jesus, who always requires absolute faithfulness and truth of His followers.

Christ endured many sufferings so He could understand our temptations and trials. We go through many sufferings and temptations that we in turn might be worthy of the Kingdom of God and a suitable counterpart for Him. We must share His sufferings and fill up that which is lacking of Christ’s affliction. If we are willing to share His sufferings we will enter His joy one day.

The wicked are liars and utterly perverse. It is impossible to understand their logic or behavior. So the righteous are not to fret themselves over the conduct of the wicked or to try to understand them, because the things they do and the reasons they give do not make sense.

The individual who truly is righteous, deals justly with people, is free from unclean spirits, and has a passionate desire to do the Father’s will perfectly. This is true of the Lord Jesus. This shall be true of us when we have been changed into Christ’s image.

God knows history in advance. Yet He lets people make their own decisions. God knows how history will develop because He knows in advance what we are going to do, even though we are free to make our decisions. He plans accordingly. Sometimes we ourselves know how people are going to respond. It is just this simple.

God keeps encouraging us to make choices that will bring us to the fullness of our inheritance as a child of God. God is disappointed when we make a choice that will result in a loss of inheritance, although He realizes in advance this is what we are going to do.

We Christians often are subjective and not clearly aware of how we appear or the consequences of our actions. This is why we easily are deceived. God is tremendously objective and practical. The same is true of Satan.

The Gospel of the Kingdom that we preach is no more profound or difficult to understand than are the Evangelical errors. The reason people have trouble grasping the simplicity of the Gospel of the Kingdom is that they have been taught error. For example, when they read the expression “the Kingdom of God,” or the “Kingdom of Heaven,” their perception informs them that what they are reading is “Heaven.”

Depth of understanding of the Scripture is not produced through a lifetime of scholarly research. It comes to us from the Spirit of revelation as we fervently seek God’s will for our life.

The first aspect of the Kingdom of God is that of seeking to do God’s will in the earth at the present time. The second aspect is the coming of Christ with His saints and holy angels to install the Kingdom on the earth with violence. Too much emphasis on the first tends to lose sight of the apocalyptic coming of Christ and may result in efforts to do good that are commendable but lacking the power of Divine intervention. Too much emphasis on the second may result in a minimizing of the need to press forward in Christ today.

The United States is promoting democracy throughout the world. What we ought to be promoting is integrity. A nation whose leaders do not have integrity would be better off having no government at all.

America is seeking to spread democracy throughout the world. America should be seeking to spread integrity. Any form of government is satisfactory if the leaders and the people have integrity. No form of government is satisfactory if the leaders and the people do not have integrity. Integrity is faithfulness and truth.

There are many programs, activities, and novelties that continue to arise in Christianity, and perhaps in other religions. Have you noticed that in no instance is righteous, godly behavior emphasized? Yet the Lord Jesus taught us that it is our good works that will cause people to glorify God.

When we are living in Christ, there always is wisdom and strength for what must be done.

There are three criteria by which the Kingdom worth of a church can be measured. First is the extent of the Presence of God when one enters the assembling. Second, how scriptural is the word being preached. Three, the godliness of the people who have attended for a period of time. The number of people in the assembling is not a reliable index of the Kingdom worth of a church, and may in fact be quite misleading.

It is worthy of note that in the Lord’s prayer we are to petition the Father directly. Of course, we either say or assume that we are praying in Jesus’ name. Nonetheless, Christ came to bring us to the Father and our relationship to the Father is to be emphasized in the present hour.

Don’t worry too much about money. Be thankful if you have enough to eat, clothes to wear, and a roof over your head. When you die you cannot take your money with you; but your character will go with you. So it is your character that is important.

Don’t ever forget your dreams. Life has a way of beating the romance, the wonder, out of us. There is a paradise where all the heart of man can imagine is present. One day it will return to the earth. Have the hope of Joseph. You will be in prison one day; on the throne the next.

If God will forgive and restore the wicked when they repent, how much more will God bless those who serve Him faithfully. They always are with Him.

God shall return Paradise to the earth. But first, He must change people so they can maintain Paradise once they receive it.

God is my Father. The Lord Jesus Christ is my Brother. The Holy Spirit is my Life.

In order to be holy our spirit must be joined to the Holy Spirit of God.

When we seek to avenge ourselves, we are attempting to steal what belongs to the Lord. “Vengeance is mine. I will repay,” says the Lord.

If we would enjoy the fellowship of the Holy Spirit we must choose to live quietly and peacefully. The Spirit is quiet and peaceful.

May we always deal with Christ, not with spiritual principles!

We cannot possibly judge righteous judgment until we are not seeking our own will but the Lord’s will.

If we are a faithful servant of Christ, we do not receive any pain, worry, trouble, or pressure that is not necessary to keep us living safely in the Lord’s Person and will.

The Lord Jesus Christ has all power in Heaven and upon the earth. He is much, much greater than any other god. He is kind and willing for all to come to Him for help and salvation. Therefore His disciples ought to be kind and gentle toward those of other religions.

If we Christians would be like our Heavenly Father we must be kind and gentle toward other people as they search for truth and righteousness.

We are to reveal the Nature of God by how we behave and what we say.

Above all other traits, we Christians must reveal integrity in our lives. It is vain for us to attempt to lead people to Jesus Christ when it is obvious we ourselves are not faithful and true.

“Dear Jesus, I pray that today You will give me love, joy, and peace greater than I ever have had. Dispel all dread from me. You alone are my Fortress and Deliverer.”

Let it never be true that people are turned away from God when they see how we behave.

It is important that we give thanks to God continually throughout the day. There are so many opportunities to give thanks to God for our health, for some issue that was resolved, for a clear mind, for friends—so many, many opportunities to thank God for His love and care.

I think the inexpressible words Paul heard in Paradise were that he would be the one Christ would use to write the understanding of the transition from the Mosaic covenant to the new covenant.

Adam and Eve became conscious of sin, of nakedness, when they ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They then withdrew from God’s Presence. Paul said, “The Law came, sin sprang to life, and I died.” Apparently the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is the eternal moral law of God. Withdrawing from the Presence and Life of God is spiritual death, and eventual physical death.

Adam and Eve were disobedient to God. This is sin. So God drove them from His Presence. This also is spiritual death. Death from their awareness of their nakedness. Death from God’s withdrawal because of their disobedience.

God has made an atonement for the guilt of sin, through the Lord Jesus Christ. He can forgive our disobedience because of Christ’s obedience. God has returned to man. Man can have the assurance his sins are forgiven and return to God. Thus eternal Life, the Life of God, is obtained. The disaster of Eden is overturned by the goodness of God.

By the power of His Spirit, and the birth of Christ within the individual, the compulsion to sin and to disobey God can be destroyed. Then the person is refreshed continually with the hidden manna, the body and blood of Jesus Christ, which always are being renewed with the Life of God Himself.

Whoever feeds on the flesh of Christ and drinks His blood lives by the Life of Christ, just as Christ lives by the Life of the Father. Each time we resist the desires of our sinful nature we are fed with the hidden manna, which consists of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, These actually are resurrection life. This shall be demonstrated at the coming of the Lord. When the slain Lamb appears in the heaven above us, those who live His body and blood will be gathered to Him.

Adam and Eve withdrew from God when they realized they were naked. God removed His Presence from them because of their disobedience. For these two reasons they died spiritually on the day they ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, just as God had warned.

The Lord Jesus Christ is perfect. His followers seldom are. If you are to persevere to the end, thus gaining salvation, you must get your eyes off from people and fasten them always on Christ.

God is more interested in faithfulness and truth than He is any form of religion or government.

Our goal is God, to know Him. Anything less than the full apprehension of God and the Lamb will not bring us lasting joy and peace.

Our highest goal is have full fellowship with God and the Lamb. To pursue any lesser goal is to invite confusion and trouble of every description.

People pursue, power, money, and sexual indulgence. The desire for power, money, and sexual indulgence is the very worst form of slavery, leading to torment and destruction.

There is a meadow that stretches as the eye can see. There is quietness and peace here. But the fullness of quietness and peace is found only in God and the Lamb.

I have discovered that God has always known every detail of my journey. He has saved me from grief and destruction one numerous occasions. But I have had to do my part by following Him and turning away from wrong when I became aware of it.

Once we are at home with God and the Lamb, all things are ours. Complete and lasting love, joy and peace are found only in God and the Lamb.

Total obedience to God results in a total inheritance from the Lord.

A believer who is totally obedient to Christ makes possible that which otherwise would be impossible.

If you give everything you are and have to God, God will give everything He is and has to you.

There are believers who lose part or all of their inheritance because they do not follow Christ diligently.

Eternal life is not just a gift that God keeps on handing to us. Eternal life is the result of righteous, holy personality and behavior.

To grow in Christ, in eternal life, means to grow in the willingness and strength to reject evil and the willingness and strength to embrace righteousness.

During the coming age of moral and physical horrors the temptation will be to fret about evil. Fretting destroys our relationship with God. We always are to be thinking about that which is pure and lovely; to be rejoicing in the Lord at all times.

Diligence is required if we are to inherit the Kingdom of God. The lazy, careless believer possibly may be saved; but he or she certainly shall never rule with Christ.

Many are lying to God’s people today. Perhaps they do not mean to do so. Nevertheless, their doctrine leads to loss of inheritance. Each believer is responsible to pray and read the Bible for himself or herself.

Salvation is the Presence of God in Jesus Christ that enables us to move from the person of Satan to the Person of God. Christ is always present to help us and will see us through. But we must keep His commandments or else the process is brought to a halt.

It is of great importance that Christians understand we are to be pressing into the Kingdom of God today, not just waiting to die and go to Heaven by grace. How many believers, including pastors and evangelists, are losing their inheritance by indulging in improper sexual behavior while they are waiting to go to Heaven by grace?

People who are engaging in immoral behavior, while trusting in Divine grace to save them, are, as Jude says, turning the grace of God into immorality.

The aborting of the unborn is an abomination to God, because it is murder of the innocent. Sexual indulgence ought to be an abomination to people because it enslaves them in the worship of their glands—not to mention worship of the demons.

The person enslaved by sexual lust, even if it is clothed in high-minded romantic dreams, makes a fool of himself or herself, losing all perspective concerning what is reasonable and righteous. “Love is blind but the neighbors ain’t.”

When people are driven by their reproductive glands they satisfy the need of demons for expression, and make fools of themselves in the sight of Heaven.

Satan readily captures sincere Christian believers by their lust for sexual indulgence, or their desire for amassing more money than they actually need.

Man has been created to rule the works of God’s hands. That inner desire to rule must be given back to God. Otherwise it results in fraudulent or violent behavior, causing the individual to lie, steal, or seek to supplant the position of other people. This is why the conduct of many political leaders is so corrupt and destructive.

The lust for sexual indulgence is becoming so strong in America, along with the lust for amassing money, that believers will be overcome and thus lose part or all of their inheritance.

The Lord Jesus Christ has enough power and authority to deliver us from the strongest pull of sexual indulgence. Complete deliverance can be gained if we will struggle patiently in prayer. The prayers of other Christians will help. We are not to condemn ourselves but watch for the Lord to answer prayer; meanwhile avoiding temptation as much as possible.

The lust for homosexual behavior is a fierce, violent demon. But the Lord Jesus Christ is more powerful and can break the hold on us of this unclean spirit. But we must pray diligently and avoid temptation until complete deliverance is gained.

Homosexuals and terrorists have this in common: they are ready to murder anyone who frustrates the indulgence of their lusts. The Bible records incidents of the murderous rage of homosexuals.

When the Lord is our Shepherd we see this world for what it is: the valley of the shadow of death.

Because of the ready availability of food, many believers in America eat too much. They disable the temple of God and die before their appointed time. God will assist us if we ask Him to help us control our appetite—particularly for sweets.

The fool looks about him and beholds the beauty and order of nature. He declares “There is no God!” He congratulates himself on his wisdom. He sits down to eat and drink, and then gets up to play.

I have based my life on the truth of the Bible by following its ordinances I have lived the best life possible for me. If the Bible proves to be the Word of God, I will go home to an eternal abundance of love, joy, and peace. But what about the individual who chooses to not believe the Bible is the Word of God? What kind of life and destiny will he have if the Bible proves to be the Word of God?

All the trees of Eden were good for food. The two most important trees were placed in the middle of the garden, the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. We must eat of the Tree of Life first or the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil will bring death to us.

“Father, I pray in Jesus’ name that you right now will change my desires until they are precisely the same as your desires for me. I want nothing except Your perfect will.”

From my point of view, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is the eternal moral law of God: that is, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Growth in Christ means growth in the willingness and strength to embrace what is good and reject that which is evil.

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was not evil; all the trees of Eden were good for food. The problem was in eating of it before eating of the Tree of Life, Jesus Christ Himself.

Paul said the Law brought death to him. So it does—until we are beginning to have Christ formed in us. The more of Christ we have, the more knowledge of our sinful state we have. But now we are able to judge it as evil and reject it, meanwhile pressing on victoriously in Christ.

Adam and Eve died when they realized they were naked. Had they waited until God clothed them, and then had eaten of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they would have realized that prior to their being clothed they were in a shameful state but now were conformed to the demands of the moral law of God. The same is true of us today as we grow in the knowledge of Christ.

The believers who make it through to the fullness of the inheritance are those who don’t quit.

In order to have perfect, complete love, joy, and peace, God must be in control both of our memory and our desires.

Believers who speak of being saved in spite of their continuing to sin mean that because they “believe” in Christ they will live forever in Paradise in Heaven. They do not realize our goal is not to reside eternally in Heaven but to inherit the Kingdom of God. If such careless “Christians” are indeed permitted to escape the wrath of God they will lose most or all of their inheritance in the Kingdom of God, entering eternity in an impoverished state.

If I am hearing from the Lord correctly (11/9/2005), a terrible war is ahead of us and multitudes of people will be swept into the spirit world to await the return to the earth of Christ and His brothers. This is because God’s way on the earth is being corrupted; His purposes for people are not being accomplished because of the demons.

It is only as we assign our entire personality to the cross that the body of sin in us can be destroyed.

It is written that Samson slew more Philistines by his death than by his life. So it is true today that God is ready to tear down all that Satan has constructed. But such victory can come only through those who love not their lives to the death.”

No believer will be able to withstand the pressure of the Antichrist world spirit until he or she chooses to die in the Lord.

If God were to forgive everyone on the earth and bring them all to Heaven, chaos once again would enter Paradise.

It is only by dying with Christ that we bear eternal fruit. The Gospel of the Kingdom is not spread solely by communicating information but as someone is willing to die in the Lord.

The Lord Jesus Christ has all authority in Heaven and upon the earth. I don’t know of any passage of Scripture that states Christ inherits Heaven. But the Father directed Him to pray that He might inherit the nations and the farthest parts of the earth. We are coheirs with Him.

Did Christ ever accuse anyone of “works” because he or she was trying to keep His commandments?

The greatest lie ever told is that God does not want us to try to live righteously, because by making this effort we are refusing His grace. This enormous misunderstanding has resulted in the destruction of the moral strength of the Christian Church and consequently the moral behavior of the nations that the Christian Church influences.

Begin saved by grace does not mean we do not have to keep the commandments of Christ and His Apostles. In fact, it is the change from keeping the commandments of Satan to keeping the commandments of Christ that itself is salvation.

As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God and they are regarded by the Lord as having the righteousness of Him who kept the Law of Moses perfectly.

Prayer is a delight. We rob ourselves when we become too busy to pray.

We know that the highest goal of redemption is to live in love. “Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.” But we do not attain to such love merely by talking about it. We have to move through all the stages of redemption that destroy our sinful nature and create Christ in us.

The notion that an organism as complex as a human being could evolve from a protozoan is so unreasonable as to suggest a bias or agenda of some sort.

To be famous among people is of little significance. To be known and approved of God is of supreme value.

God is as much the question as He is the answer. “What will you do with Jesus?”

If we are not careful our denominational affiliation can cause us to lose our sense of the oneness of the Body of Christ. Denominations can put a wall between the members of the Lord’s flock.

We always must be careful to not grasp what God has given us. If we find we are frantically fighting against some circumstance we need to make sure all we are and possess are in the hands of God. Otherwise our idol will open the door to every sort of fear and torment.

The concept that we are saved by faith alone, meaning we can have fellowship with Christ apart from obeying His commandments, apparently came out of the theological ferment of the sixteenth century. Could there possibly be a more destructive teaching?

It appears that people today are willing to receive Christ as Savior but not as Lord. They believe He saves them by grace apart from obeying His commandments. This is a profound misunderstanding of God’s plan of salvation.

Christ will not have fellowship with those who refuse His lordship. Christ will gladly receive those who hold incorrect doctrine. But He will not receive those who will not obey His commandments even though their doctrine is perfect.

Those who have professed faith in Christ but do not keep His commandments must learn to do so at some point, or they will be removed from the Kingdom. God will have no one in His Kingdom who will not obey Christ totally.

We cannot have fellowship with God by grace unless we are willing to obey Christ’s commandments and those of His Apostles.

The just shall live by faith means the righteous live by obeying God.

There is no such thing as faith in Christ that does not mean obeying the commandments of Christ and His Apostles.

The contemporary teaching of faith alone denies the lordship of Christ because it claims we do not have to keep His commandments in order to have fellowship with Him.

Too many believers in America refuse to make Jesus their Lord. They maintain they do not have to obey His commands because they are saved by grace. Is this not a terrible delusion.

Various aspects of redemption, such as the forgiveness of our sins, being born again, being filled with the Spirit, being healed and delivered spiritually and physically, can be presented as God’s blessing that releases us to a more successful existence, or as God’s way of enabling us to please God and meets His needs and desires. Which way is found in the Bible?

I do not see in the Bible that God’s redeeming power is something that enables the believer to enjoy a more successful life. In fact, the way of redemption is that of the patient endurance of tribulation and possibly martyrdom.

Do we seek Christ with all our might in order to benefit us, or so we will please God?

If we don’t follow the Lord Jesus in cross-carrying obedience, but attempt to use Him in order to have a better life, we still are a rebel at heart.

In the last days all who do not love and obey Christ shall be removed from the Kingdom of God, including those who have attempted to use the name of Jesus as a covering for their rebellious behavior. This includes Christians who have boasted they will go to Heaven by professing faith in Christ apart from an accompanying change in their behavior.

We are not saved so we may pursue a happier life. We are saved so we may please God and be used by Him to accomplish His purposes.

In the closing days of the Church Age the self-denial necessary if we are to follow Christ will be so painful the self-seeking believers of our day will turn away from Christ.

In order for us to attain to our full inheritance there are certain actions God must take and certain actions we must take. To depend on God to do everything for us or to look to ourselves to do it all will guarantee failure.

The Christian experience is being presented in our day as a way to gain a better life in the present world. The burning sun of tribulation that is approaching will reveal that God’s salvation is not a plan to give us a more prosperous, enjoyable life.

When faced with a difficult decision, pray for God to open doors and close doors. Do not be afraid to take a small step according to your desires, but carefully watch to see if there are little signs of God’s Presence with you.

Waiting for God to direct us can result in passivity and indecision. We must keep pressing forward in Christ each day unless we feel assured after prayer that God wants us to do nothing but wait. Sometimes we are to take up our staff and move forward. Sometimes we are to stand still and see the Glory of the Lord.

Difficult decisions are not solved by reasoning but by prayer. The demons love to reason. So do insincere people. Neither enjoy asking the Lord for wisdom and guidance.

We do not accept Christ so we may have a better life in the present world. In fact, becoming a Christian may mean much suffering or even martyrdom in the days ahead.

If we are to serve Christ successfully and endure the prisons in which we are placed, we must put all our treasures in Heaven.

If you have an insatiable desire for righteousness, holiness, and obedience to God, you indeed are blessed. You shall receive that which you have desired.

We have presented salvation as a way of pleasing man rather than as a way of pleasing God.

I have read that in the days of the Romans it was customary for the elders to go out and meet a Roman dignitary as he was approaching their village, and then return with him. In like manner the resurrected and transformed saints will be caught up from the earth and meet the Lord in the clouds so they may return with Him as He prepares to install His Kingdom on the earth.

It may be true that the parable of the ten virgins is beginning to take place. Those who are ready are entering the intense union with Christ that is termed “the marriage of the Lamb.” Perhaps this event will be more apparent in the coming days.

Because the American governmental agencies will not enforce righteous behavior, being bemused with “the rights of people,” the Lord Jesus Himself is going to judge the people—those who profess belief in Christ as well as those who do not. The results shall be catastrophic.

Christ is not our servant, we are Christ’s servant.

Paul had to emphasize repeatedly that we are justified by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ apart from works, meaning the works of the Law of Moses. This is because until we are released from the observance of religious laws we are not free mentally to follow the Holy Spirit in bringing forth the fruit of righteous, holy, obedient behavior.

Any sort of religious guidelines, whether the Law of Moses or another set of rules, will hinder our walk with Christ. Such rules may serve at first. But eventually they will prevent the fullness of our ability to look to Christ for every thought, word, and action of the day and night, a practice necessary if we are to be conformed to Christ’s image and dwell in the fullness of God’s Person and will.

We have interpreted Paul’s repeated emphasis that we are found righteous by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ apart from the works of the Law of Moses to mean that by believing in Christ a change in our moral behavior may be “nice” but it is not absolutely necessary for our salvation. However Paul states also that if we continue in the deeds of our sinful nature we shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.

We are considered righteous when we turn from the Law of Moses and place our faith in Jesus Christ. Then we are to continue in righteousness and inherit the Kingdom of God by putting off our old sinful nature and putting on the new Nature of Christ.

Paul strove in chapters three through five of the Book of Romans to set people free from the Law of Moses so they could look only to Christ to bring forth the fruit of godly behavior. He did not, as is believed today, strive to set people free so they could continue to obey their sinful nature and still be counted righteous in the sight of God.

We urge “let Jesus into your heart” upon sinners that they may be turned to Christ. It never is wise to place an unscriptural emphasis in the forefront of our activities. The admonition in the Book of Revelation to open our heart to Jesus is not addressed to sinners but to believers who are attempting to conduct their discipleship in their own strength and wisdom.

It may be true that God is ready to renew His way on the earth because of the rapidly increasing sin. If this is the case we can expect millions of people to be taken into the spirit world. The truly wicked will be sent into Hell. The remainder apparently will be held until the Lord Jesus returns and judges the dead.

Christ always is looking for someone who will obey His commands. Then will sinners be converted and many will be led into righteous behavior. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life.

The righteous win souls to God by exhibiting the good works that proceed from the Nature of Christ who is being formed in us. The righteous are wise to gather souls in this manner, because their reward is great beyond comprehension.

The expression “there is no one righteous, not even one” does not mean there never has been a righteous person in the world. The Scriptures reveal there have been righteous people. Rather the idea is that the sinful nature of our fallen race cannot possibly please God without the enabling power of Divine grace.

If being saved by grace through faith means we are to do nothing but believe the facts about Jesus Christ until we die and go to Heaven, at what point do we attain to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ? At what point are we conformed to the likeness of Christ that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers?

According to the Scriptures we are saved by grace through faith in order that we might do good works.

If we are to be brought to Heaven by believing the facts about Jesus Christ, precisely what does it mean to grow in Christ?

There is a difference between a Statement of Faith, and having faith in Christ. The Statement of Faith of a denomination is a collection of facts about the Christian religion. There is no saving virtue in it. True faith in Jesus Christ is a daily interaction with Christ such that we are learning to live in utter reliance on His wisdom and strength.

The righteous shall live by faith means the righteous live by continual reliance on the wisdom and strength of Christ rather than by reliance on their own wisdom and strength.

We are not saved by believing the facts about Christ but by living in and with the resurrected Christ and He in us.

Being saved is not primarily a matter of going to Heaven when we die. To be saved means we will be spared in the Day of Wrath, and finally delivered from the person and works of Satan and brought into untroubled rest in the Person and works of God.

The Lord wants banners and triumphant music in his churches celebrating His coming to us in the spiritual fulfillment of the Jewish Blowing of Trumpets. He is coming to His saints to drive out the enemy from them and to discipline them so they may be ready to appear with Him as an army at His coming to the world.

The diseases of the world are to have no place among God’s people who are keeping His commandments. Let us confess our sins and turn away from them. Then we are to remind God of His promise that we have been healed by the wounds of Christ.

If we are living by the body and blood of the Lamb, then we shall be raised by the body and blood of the Lamb at His appearing and His Kingdom.

There is a coming of Christ to His saints that is taking place now. We are wise if we take full advantage of His inner coming.

The Lord Jesus Christ has come to bring us to a greater knowledge of our Father. This is the rest of God, the true goal of our existence. Our desire must become to know God, and to be known by Him and have fellowship with Him.

Sometimes God’s desires and purposes are hidden so deep they are not available to the prophetic realm. They can be realized only by patient, cross-carrying obedience.

If we would laugh and play in the meadows of God we must let go of that which concerns us; in particular we must leave our loved ones in God’s hands. He will return them to us in His time. The Lord would have us joyous and animated, not bowed down with worry and dread or with a desire to harm those who have harmed us.

We are to leave with God people who have harmed us. The Lord will not judge them until we cease judging them. We cannot walk with God and at the same time hope that harm will come to people who have offended us.

If we see a talented youngster, we should not overemphasize the importance of his or her gift. It is easy to overdo this sort of encouragement. The most important thing in life is our service to Christ, not the development of a talent. If we offer ourselves and our talents to Christ, He will employ our talents as He sees fit. This is part of making Jesus “Lord.”

There are not just four steps of salvation, there are several million steps of salvation as the Lord Jesus challenges us to put off the old nature and put on the new. We must take the steps of salvation every day and night of our life in the present world, and perhaps on into the next world.

We are not born again on just one occasion. We are born again every time a part of our first personality is replaced with the Substance and Life of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Faith without works is dead because lives in obedience to God.

The answer to the world’s problems is not democracy. Moral chaos can and often does exist in a democracy. The only answer to the world’s problems is a righteous, wise, strong leader who loves and obeys God. Jesus Christ is such a Leader.

It is better to fear Christ and keep His commandment than to say we love Christ and not keep His commandments.

We show our love for Christ by obeying His commands and those of His Apostles.

He who says he loves Christ but does not obey His commands is deceived.

We cannot be saved by grace apart from obeying Christ commands, neither in this world nor in the world to come. Grace teaches us to obey Christ’s commands and enables us to do so.

The greatest lie ever to enter the mind of man is that we can love Christ and have fellowship with Him, and yet not obey His commands and those of His Apostles.

Satan has deceived Christian people by convincing them that Christ saves them without requiring that they obey His commands.

The incident of the thief on the cross often is used to show that Christ will save us even though we do not obey His commands. We can be certain Christ took the thief to be with Him in Paradise. But the thief must obey Christ if he is to remain in Paradise.

The feeling Christians have that Christ is receiving and approving of them even though they are not patiently denying themselves and carrying their cross after Him is a delusion.

God is preparing to punish America severely because of the lack of diligence in keeping His commands.

We will survive the coming days of horror and stand before the Son of Man if we patiently and carefully follow Him in cross-carrying obedience.

Many believers are being tested today. God has permitted Satan to put them in some sort of prison of circumstances. Those who faithfully remain in the unpleasantness where they have been placed, looking to Jesus at all times, will be brought forth into the fullness of freedom and joy.

There is no place of safety and of enduring love, joy, and peace in all of the earth and all of Heaven, except in the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is not the wise or the strong who make a success of the Christian discipleship, but those who do not give up and quit.

There are more who are for the righteous than there are those who are against them.

When we are serving the Lord faithfully, those who help us are blessed and those who hinder us come under Divine judgment.

It is from the multitude of Christian believers—one here and one there—that Christ selects His rulers.

The one important thing in life is to come to know Jesus Christ. Everything else is extra.

God permits evil to flourish in the world for a season so He might determine who among men will reject evil and choose righteousness.

The work of redemption begins after we have been forgiven through the blood atonement. The work of redemption is the destruction of our sinful nature and the creation of the Life of Christ within us.

Innocence cannot survive under demonic pressure. Innocence soon turns into that which is diabolical, until the innocence is replaced with the Life of Christ. Consider Adam and Eve.

Sometime a husband is a prison in which his wife is confined, or a wife is a prison in which her husband is confined. If the prisoner does not flee but serves the Lord patiently, the bondage of self-will shall be broken and the believer will inherit the Kingdom. There are occasions, not often, when separation or a divorce is in order, being the Lord’s will.

Salvation can mean merely being spared from destruction in the Day of Wrath; or salvation can progress into the operation of redemption in which the believer is delivered from the person and works of Satan.

When we clutch a relationship, circumstance, or thing, we lose our spiritual sight. Also God is unable to grant our desires without harming us.

The operation of redemption restores the four aspects of our inheritance that we lost in the Garden of Eden: fellowship with God; eternal life; self-control, and Paradise.

The current teaching of grace tells us it is impossible to stop sinning. Yet the commandments in the New Testament concerning sin tell us to just stop sinning. Secondly the current teaching of grace tells us it is not necessary to stop sinning. What a woeful doctrine is being preached today!

God told Cain that was crouching at the door and desired to have him, and that he must master it. So it is that when we make up our mind to stop sinning, Christ will help us do so.

Paul did not say my sin is crucified with Christ; He said, “I am crucified with Christ.” Therefore, as the sin is being removed from me, I myself must be crucified until there is an entirely new creation. “Behold, I make all things new.”

Our life consists of memory, consciousness, and desire. Every aspect of these three must be of Christ, or we and Christ are suffering loss.

A person and his body are two separate entities. When the body dies, the person passes into the spirit world. Therefore it is of supreme importance that our life on earth consist of more than our body. Otherwise when we die there is not much of us left to enter the spirit world.

I rather suspect, but I am not certain, that the unclean spirits that dwell in our flesh formerly were people who had given themselves over to Satan. When they died there was nothing left but a raging spirit of lust, murder, violence, or covetousness, seeking to once again inhabit a human body.

Many sins we practice we can simply cease doing; but we may need to pray for the will and desire to stop doing them. Some of our sins come from resident unclean spirits. we must be delivered from them by the power of Christ.

For God to create the physical body from dust capable of reproducing itself is a fantastic miracle. For God to create a victorious saint is so much more of a fantastic marvel there is no comparison of quality of accomplishment between the two creations.

In the Kingdom of God some people will love God more than others do. There is no problem with this provided that all keep His commands.

The Kingdom of God will be a far more interesting environment than was true for Adam and Eve in the Garden, because of the multitude of righteous people there will be to enjoy.

It is the love affair between bodies that the inner man must control, or find himself in miserable servitude.

The Lord loves and enjoys all kinds of people provided they keep His commands.

“Forget circumcision and the rest of the Law of Moses,” Paul exclaimed vehemently. Cleave to Jesus Christ and He will bring forth the fruit of righteous, holy behavior that results in eternal life.

We go from self-control, to eternal life, to fellowship with God, to residence in Paradise.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for. What are you hoping for? What are the things not seen that you desire? Precisely what reward do you hope to gain? What are you pressing toward? Is your goal found in the Scriptures?

Any relationship we have that is not part of Jesus Christ is bound to bring disappointment.

Sin is an alien force. It is not inherent in our personality. Therefore sin can be removed from us completely. The removal of sin is the redemption we are hoping for.

The more our obedience to Christ approaches perfection the more the righteousness and holiness of our personality approaches perfection. The result is the fullness of eternal life.

Eternal life is a kind of life, like biologic life. We can possess as much eternal life as we are willing to pursue.

It is the body and blood of Christ that themselves are our resurrection. If that resurrection has been formed in us we will be caught up to Christ when He appears.

We will not be caught up to Christ when He appears because our doctrine is correct but because we have been living by His Life, His body and blood that have been formed in us. Whenever we overcome the compulsion to sin, we are fed with His body and blood, the hidden manna, in the spirit world.

God finally will remove our sinful nature from if we have been diligent in confessing and resisting our sinful impulses. The more we do this the happier we shall be.

If God has put it in your heart to be among those who are of high rank in His Kingdom, you can attain to this position if you are diligent in following Christ. But if you are called to be of high rank in His Kingdom, and are not diligent ain attaining to it, you will be punished as a wicked, lazy servant.

The interval of time between your desire and its fulfillment is where the saints are made. The Kingdom comes only through patience.

The believer who refuses to yield his sinful desires but puts his hopes beyond the grave, places his treasures in Heaven, will change from an animal to a king with God.

There is nothing of eternal worth apart from Christ.

It is God’s will that Christ fill everything.

It is hard for new Christians to follow the way of righteousness. But it becomes easier after a while for us to deny ourselves and carry our cross behind the Lord Jesus.

“Sin” can be a verb. “Go and sin no more.” There are two kinds of sin that are nouns. One kind refers to an action that breaks one of God’s laws. Adultery is a sin. The other kind of sin is a thing, a personality that either dwells in our flesh or else finds a door in our personality through which it can move us to act. “Sin crouches at the door,” God told Cain.

What if I continue to lie, commit adultery, and steal, and at the same time say I have faith in Jesus Christ to save me? Does the fact that I say my faith in Jesus Christ save me make it as though I am not really sinning; make me righteous in God’s sight; as sometimes is taught today?

Will I have fellowship with God while continuing to sin? Does this even make sense? What would the Apostle Paul say about this? Would the Apostle Paul say it does not matter if I keep on sinning because I am saved by my faith in Christ? Is this belief scriptural, or even sensible?

It simply is not true, as often is suggested, that the human body and spirit are an endless source of sin, and total deliverance is impossible. The truth is, sin is an alien force that corrupts our behavior. Sin comprises a finite collection of unclean desires. The Lord Jesus Christ is well able to deliver those who call on Him from every sinful compulsion that is part of their life.

Should the American pastors of today be emphasizing that Christ saves us by faith while we are continuing to sin. Or should the American pastors be preaching that the Christian life is one of holy, righteous behavior?

What would be the effect on the Christian testimony in America if all of the pastors were preaching the necessity for righteous, holy behavior?

The New Testament tells the non-Christian he must repent, place his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and be baptized in water, if he is to saved. The New Testament tells the believer he must put off his sinful nature and put on the new nature of Christ if he is to inherit the Kingdom of God.

Is it possible to have faith in Jesus Christ and not obey His commands and those of His Apostles?

The Lord Jesus told us we must forgive those who have sinned against us. What if we do not obey Him in this matter, but say we have faith in Him? Will God forgive us anyway?

Does the New Testament actually teach that we can on sinning and yet enter the Kingdom of God by saying we have faith in Christ?

The Kingdom of God is the rule of God. The current concept is that we can sin all we want to and then be received of God and have fellowship with Him, because we profess faith in Christ. No need is seen for righteous behavior.

The blessed hope of the Church is not just that the Lord will return, but that the Lord will remove sin from His Kingdom at the end of the age: not just the guilt of sin, but the sin itself.

We cannot have perfect love, joy, and peace until we have been delivered from the sinful desires that dwell in us.

All overcoming of sin is done by the Lord Jesus. Only He has the wisdom and power to overcome the ancient adversary. However, we absolutely must respond to what He shows us to do or no victories shall take place.

All of our desire and ability to overcome Satan comes from the Lord Jesus. I am not certain why the Lord chooses some individuals to receive from Him the desire to be a victorious saint. But that desire plus the wisdom and strength necessary for living a victorious life indeed do come from Jesus. We always can pray for righteous desires!

All of the aspects of redemption are always in the form of an opportunity to cooperate with the Spirit.

To will and to do the will of God is a gift given to us by the Lord Jesus. But we must respond to His leading or God’s will shall not be done.

God chooses who are to come to Jesus to receive eternal life. When they come, Jesus never rejects them. They are His inheritance.

‘Sirs, we wish to see Jesus,’ said the men from Greece. The world is not waiting to see me or you but Christ. Christ is God’s gift to the world. May Christ be magnified in you and me!

Jesus alone is the Way of God, the Truth of God, and the Life of God. No one comes to the Father except through Christ.

If we would please and serve God, we must obey His Son. ‘This is My beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him!’

In obedience to the Father, Christ came to earth and became one of us. Now He can see the value of the Father’s plan for Him. So it is with us. If we will obey God even though we do not understand what He is doing with us, we eventually will realize the value of His plan for us.

We overcome Satan by maintaining stoutly that God is good and is leading us to joy, even when it appears He has abandoned us and left our life in ruins.

If we would come to know Christ we must follow and obey Him at all times, no matter what is the cost to us.

We must learn to live in the now. All there is, is now. When we try to live in the future, we notice we have no grace to overcome the problems we envision. If we will pray concerning our present problems, we will have sufficient wisdom and strength to solve them and obtain peace and joy. The needed grace to solve future problems shall be given when we come to them.

Are we prevailing in prayer right now? This is the important thing. If we are prevailing in prayer at this time, the future will take care of itself.

I suppose most of us after a while learn that if we will do what God says, even though we do not understand it at the time, things work out better.

Christ will be in the details of your life when you ask Him to.

The net is let down and brings in the good and the bad. In the last days the bad will be thrown away. Therefore we misdirect Gospel work when we turn it into a business whose goal is to get as many people as possible into our church. Only what is wrought in the Holy Spirit will endure.

A flighty, fickle, personality is not in the image of God. “I am the Lord. I do not change!” Ordinarily we do not view fickleness, flightiness, indecision, changeableness, capriciousness, as sin. However any trait not found in God is to be removed from us. It is not holy!

God is determined that we be in His image in every aspect of our personality. He will make it so, if we are willing and obedient to His Spirit. We can reap Christ a hundredfold if we will diligently follow the Spirit at all times.

If people have an argumentative spirit, they always will be able to find an issue to quarrel about. If people have a peace-loving spirit they will avoid potential quarrels. The peacemakers, those who seek to resolve conflicts, will be called the children of God.

God loves your loved ones more than you do. Just keep praying and trusting.

All that the Lord Jesus requires of us is to finish the tasks He has assigned to us. Will you be able to stand before the Lord and say, “I have finished the work you gave me to do”? If not, why not?

There is a song that says, “I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold.” Actually, if you have Jesus, you will have all the silver and gold you need.

If you want to know whether or not there is a God, do His will to the best of your knowledge and He will prove Himself to you.

America seems to be doing its best to drive God from the land. What a bitter harvest shall be reaped as a result!

There is an inheritance that has been set aside for you. Make sure you follow Christ and attain to it. If you do not, you shall experience throughout eternity the lack of what could have been true for you.

For those who put their faith in Him, God has removed the guilt of their sin for eternity that they might have a perfect conscience. Now the Day of Redemption has begun. God is ready to remove the sinful nature, a step at a time, for all who will cooperate with the Spirit of God while He performs this work.

Matthew, Chapter Thirteen informs us the time is to come when God removes from His Kingdom “everything that causes sin and those who do evil.” God is ready now to perform this work.

When Jesus read from the scroll of Isaiah He did not quote “the Day of Vengeance of our God.” The time had not come. It is here now. God is ready to remove His enemies from His Church. We must cooperate with the Spirit in this judgment and removal of unclean spirits.

Both Peter and Paul in their epistles refer to the Day of Redemption, the restoring of a sin-free nature to mankind. The work of redemption is beginning now with those who are following the Lord Jesus closely.

The work of redeeming the original sin-free nature of man is not accomplished in a moment. Step by step, city by city we might say, the Lord of Hosts is leading us into our land of promise.

A hundred years ago the Spirit of God began to restore the gifts of the Spirit to the Christian people. Now the final three feasts of the Lord are to be fulfilled spiritually. This grace includes the destruction of our sinful nature and the filling of us with the Fullness of God.

When the Spirit of God speaks to you about a sinful practice of deed or word, be diligent to confess the specific sin to the Lord. Fervently denounce and renounce the behavior, calling on the Lord Jesus for deliverance from the desire so you may turn away from it completely.

It is time now, as Paul exhorted us, to put to death through the Holy Spirit the deeds of our sinful nature.

It is God’s will that His elect be totally free for eternity from the guilt of sin and the desires of the sinful nature. It is God’s will that His elect be filled with the Fullness of God and abide in the center of God’s will for eternity. It is God’s will also that His elect diligently obtain and maintain for eternity each of these four graces.

Man is to be made in the image of God. There is no sin nature in God. Therefore if we are to be made in the image of God the sin nature must be removed completely. The Lord Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, is able to remove the sin nature from us.

The Lord Jesus has restored to His people speaking in tongues. Those who believe have pressed forward in faith and now are speaking in tongues. Now the Lord is ready to destroy our sinful nature. Christ was revealed in order to destroy the works of the devil. If we press forward in faith our sinful nature shall be destroyed completely, one step at a time.

The Lord has begun to shake His elect. The shaking shall increase in severity until all that is not of God has been removed from His Kingdom. When the shaking comes to you, hold steady in faith. Put your trust in Christ who has all power in Heaven and upon the earth.

We used to believe that after salvation came the baptism, and after the baptism came Heaven. This is not true. After the baptism with the Holy Spirit comes the destruction of our sinful nature. Finally, the filling of us with all the Fullness of God.

Nowhere in the Bible are we told that we go to Heaven by being born again. Rather, we enter the Kingdom of God by being born again, because being born again means all the things, circumstances, and relationships of our personality have been brought down to death in Christ, and only that which is of the Kingdom has been resurrected.

It appears to me that Christians will be persecuted severely in the future. The reason is, they have not done good works in the sight of men to lead them to God. Instead they have stressed their religious philosophies that offend people, such as the “rapture” in which the Christians fly away and leave everyone else to suffer unspeakable torment.

Christians have been called to demonstrate compassion, kindness, fairness, and mercy in the sight of people. This will cause the them to glorify God. Such is the fruit of the righteous as they win souls by their behavior.

When you lose your integrity and live a lie, you are diminished as a person. You cannot grow into the image of God until you return to truth.

A desire to proselytize people to our religion can prevent us from seeing their actual needs and effectively ministering to them.

God is well able to remove the sin nature from us altogether until we are like the original Adam, having a pure nature. The difference now, because of our experience in Christ, is that we will be able to resist unclean spirits when they lie to us. Also, we will have a spirit of obedience that Adam did not have so we will not rebel against God’s commandments.

There are some problems we cannot reason through. They have to be prayed through an inch at a time.

The whole idea of redemption is to make man in God’s image. We have changed the concept of redemption to mean the plan is to prevent man from experiencing torment and to bring him to a better world. To bring man to a better world when he is not in God’s image would not be profitable. He would bring punishment on himself wherever he is placed.

If you are wondering about one of your behaviors, whether or not it is pleasing to God, ask yourself, or the Lord, if you wish, if that behavior is found in Him, in His Personality. If it isn’t, then ask Him to remove it from you so you may be more in His image.

Man was created on the earth. The earth is his rightful home now and for eternity on the new earth. All that remains is for man to be made in God’s image and likeness. When this has been accomplished, Paradise will be returned to the earth.

The only way we can have lasting peace is to be filled with Christ. The adamic nature is always one of agitation, frustration, confusion, and every other form of misery.

Do you enjoy being miserable? Then marry someone who is living according to the passions and bondages of his or her sinful nature. And so much more as that individual grows older, unless, he or she begins to live in Christ.

Sin is a path to that which is harmful for you, or a shortcut to that which will be your eternal possession if you wait for God’s time.

Multitudes of today’s Christian believers are not entering the Kingdom of God, neither can they see it. They have not actually been born again. They still are living in their old adamic nature.

Joel, Chapter Two, verse 3 states: “Before them the land is like the garden of Eden.” This tells us that before the Lord returns with His army, Antichrist will have established a world in which there indeed is peace and safety.

When we choose to delight ourselves in the Lord, He rewards us by putting His desires concerning His Kingdom in us. How marvelous it is to be governed by the Lord’s desires in us. There really is nothing more glorious, more peaceful, than this.

As we pray and respond to the desires Christ places in us, the eternal work of the Kingdom of God is accomplished.

We are beset round about with many desires. However, all that really matters is what Christ wants; what is to His advantage. Nothing else is of eternal worth.

“Lord Jesus, hear my prayer today, which is to follow your desires as you establish your eternal Kingdom.”

God opens His hand and satisfies the desire of every living thing. The wise person will pray that God will give him desires that will bring him to love, joy, and peace.

The ultimate desire of every healthy individual is love, joy, and peace. Everything else is environment.

The only inherently desirable objective is God Himself—the full possession of Him. Things, circumstances, and relationships have genuine value only as God has given us the desire for them, and are subject to change. All other desires are idols and bondage. Perhaps we will learn this at some point.

There are some people who abort their unborn babies for no good reason but for their personal convenience. There are others who labor lovingly with handicapped or ill babies, giving all their lives and attention to preserving their life. God knows the difference between the two sets of people, and He has perfect memory.

“Cast your burden on the Lord and He shall sustain you.”

“God will keep in perfect peace the person who trusts Him.”

“In all your ways acknowledge Christ, and He will direct your paths.”

There is no safety anywhere except in Christ.

Is the resurrected Christ living in you?

To be born again is to live by Christ’s life.

Our home does not consist of a location but of relationships.

We are wise when we choose carefully the kind of people we want to be with, for they shall be our companions for eternity. To be with the wrong kind of people forever would be hell, though the environment were a paradise.

To be at home among righteous, God-fearing people is to be in heaven; and the environment soon shall be heavenly.

The wicked have sharp claws and always bring misery upon us, even while they are declaring themselves our friends and helpers.

The person who chooses the wicked as his companions will soon be in torment. Hell is not far away.

God is our Oasis, even when we are in the driest of deserts.

Do you enjoy the company of wicked people? Good! You will be with them for eternity.

When we set a place or thing or a relationship other than God as our highest goal, we do err greatly. We are one who loves misery.

We do not enjoy the company of righteous people unless we ourselves are righteous. Paradise soon shall follow.

We do not enjoy the company of wicked people unless we ourselves are wicked. Torment soon shall follow.

If you hate the company of righteous, God-fearing people, you hate God. This shall be revealed in time.

If you love the company of righteous, God-fearing people, you love God. You soon shall be in a better place.

Are you being made in God’s image in your personality and behavior? If not, what are you waiting for? Pray!

Who are the lost? Is the pastor who watches pornography on the Internet lost? Is the believer who will not forgive another person lost? Is the Christian husband who verbally abuses his wife lost? If not, why not? What does it really mean to be saved?

We do not know what the future holds. But if our idols have been removed from us, we can look to the Lord to give us the desires of our heart.

The Lord Jesus has become our righteousness; not just because we believe in Him or are associated with Him, but because He has been born in us and is governing our behavior.

When we look to Christ and keep His commands, we are abiding in Him. When we are abiding in Him, whatever we ask in His name will be given to us.

If we will delight ourselves in the Lord, He shall give us the desires of our heart.

We never are to fret ourselves because of the actions of wicked people. They all shall fly away in God’s time like dust in the wind.

Wicked people appear to be weighty and powerful. The truth is, they have neither real weight nor lasting power.

To turn away from Christ is unthinkable. It is to draw back into the quicksand of sin and death. What torment lies therein!

Wars and rumors of wars are not the signs of the end of the age. The true sign of the end of the age is the increase of sin and rebellion against God.

The flesh profits nothing. Do not focus you life on that which is of no profit. Ask Christ to give you the true riches.

The current teaching of grace reminds us of the companies of today that sell diplomas. One can buy a Ph.D. in computer science and hang it on his wall. He has a doctorate in computer science but he hasn’t been trained to work in this field. So it is true that we think we become a king in the Kingdom of God by grace, but we are not able to fulfill this role.

If the God of the Bible is God, then those who support abortion and homosexual activity are heading for destruction—and possibly worse. If the God of the Bible is not God, then those who are protesting abortion and homosexual behavior are misguided. However I see no real danger accruing to people who are mistaken while upholding Bible morality.

If scientists could create one living protozoan, a giant step would have been taken toward proving the theory of evolution.

“O God, remove all idols from me. Cleanse me from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. Close all doors in my personality through which Satan can enter. Make me perfect in Your sight in spirit, soul, and body, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

The glorious new day promised in the Christmas carols when God’s righteousness and peace shall fill the earth has not happened during the Christian era. It is waiting for the time when God removes the presence of sin from His people. That time has arrived and we are to cooperate with the Holy Spirit by confessing and renouncing our sins, as the Spirit of God guides and empowers us.

God is raising us up in the midst of a battlefield. How else could He produce warriors, kings, and judges?

The most important decision we make in this life is where we want to be when we die. The spirit world is real and it lasts forever. If we will receive Christ and walk with Him we are assured that when we die we will continue to live in love, joy, and peace. Otherwise we may find ourselves among people we would rather not be with.

Whoever does not prepare himself for life in the spirit world is foolish, knowing it is certain he will die someday.

Whoever does not prepare himself for what he shall face in the Day of Resurrection is a very foolish, shortsighted, person; knowing that the Day of his Resurrection is certain to come.

Why do people live their life on earth as though it is the only life they ever will have? Don’t they understand that after death they will be placed among the people and the environment for which they have prepared themselves?

One of the greatest lies presented during the course of world history is that if we profess belief in Christ we will not reap what we are sowing as a Christian.

When we are serving Jesus Christ diligently each moment of each day, the sins we commit ignorantly are forgiven. However, this is not deliverance. Deliverance occurs when the guilt, power, and presence of sin are removed from us.

Treat people with kindness and they will treat you with kindness. An exception to this may occur when God is working to bring you into His image.

It has been God’s plan all along that man be made in His inner image and outer likeness. The only way that God’s plan can be accomplished is by having the Lord Jesus created in us and dwelling in the new man that has been created in us.

Love, joy, and peace are our eternal inheritance in Christ, though for a season we may be learning obedience through the things we are suffering.

Love, joy, and peace are the fruit, the result, of living in the Spirit of God.

The person, whether he is black, white, or of some other race, has to earn respect and affection by his or her behavior.

Only an ignorant, inexperienced individual prejudges people according to their race or religion.

It appears that the media tend to stereotype people, separating them into “right” and “left,” or conservatives and liberals. Then the media incite one stereotyped group against another. Perhaps the media do this so it will have something exciting and interesting to report.

Too many individuals do not fit into the casually applied stereotypes to make a stereotype a fair, valid predictor of an individual’s personality or behavior.

A person may be Asian, black, a Muslim, white, or a Christian. This does not tell us whether the individual has integrity, is honorable, or kindly, or treacherous, or self-seeking.

The media and politicians are too much given to stereotyping. They appear to operate on the assumption that a person cannot think in liberal terms on one occasion, and have conservative values in another circumstance.

Why are we so prone to judge and criticize the actions of someone? We must admit we often have been inaccurate in our assumptions.

Hatred of “the enemy” is due sometimes to the fact we do not know the person. This is why war, although unavoidable at times, is such a misdirected activity.

In America today it seems that the political rulers govern in the fear of people rather than in the fear of God. Consequently they have lost the will to govern with diligence when such rulership is necessary if the evil dwelling in people is not to run out of control.

You do not want all of your prayers to be answered; only those that are God’s will concerning you. Be wise concerning this!

As we are being born again each day, it is Christ, who Himself is the Kingdom of God, the Rule of God, who is being born in us.

The person is foolish who does not ask God to give him God’s desires for his or her life. Our desires may be the strongest of the forces that operate in our life, and they lead us to love, joy, and peace, or to misery, corruption, and spiritual death.

The biblical model is that the man choose a wife who can help him accomplish the work God has given him to do. The woman is to choose a man whom she respects enough to be willing to give her life so her husband can serve the Lord successfully. Eve acted independently and brought the world under the Divine curse.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the Beginning of the creation of God, the First-born of all creation. All things were made through Him and for Him by the Father.

Whoever would please the Father must hear the words of Jesus Christ and obey them.

Christ bore our sorrows and afflictions in Himself. As we come to maturity in Christ, the Lord allows us to share some of those afflictions and sufferings on behalf of people whom He has chosen. In this way we are able to share His inheritance, which is people.

It is better to inherit one person that God chooses for us than ten thousand heavens. No heaven nor number of heavens can fully and permanently satisfy any individual. But one person whom God has chosen for us can fully and permanently bring us love, joy, and peace.

Why would we want to inherit a large house, a mansion, and a backyard filled with diamonds? The only inheritance of eternal value is God and people.

When we have been made in God’s image, and He has given us people to inherit, the environment will take care of itself.

One of the worse torments that will be assigned to those who rebel against God will be to have no people as their inheritance, and to be placed with individuals like themselves for eternity.

No paradisiac surrounding can ever bring us love, joy, and peace, which are the highest values to be obtained by an individual; unless there are people present whom we love.

God will not give us people to inherit until we have been created in His image; for until we are in God’s image, our personality and behavior will not be pleasing to God or of lasting benefit to others.

Pray that you may be found worthy to be a coheir with Jesus Christ, that is, to inherit people and the farthest reaches of the earth.

I have learned over 61 years as a Christian that the supremely desirable inheritance is God Himself, and after that, other people.

To love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and other people as ourselves, are the greatest gifts God can give us.

Behold the individual whose goal in life is to possess things and circumstances rather than to gain the affection of God and people. His end is not desirable.

People enjoy being honored on their birthday. So it is that Christ enjoys our honoring Him every day; for if we are diligently following Him, He is being born in us each day.

Everything that God gives us He must teach us to manage wisely, or the gift becomes an idol, a bondage, and brings misery to God, to us and to others, instead of love, joy, and peace.

Life always is dynamic. We are pressing into Christ or we are pressing into Satan. Christ wants us either hot or cold.

The America we have known is fading away. From the beginning it was a mixture of the Kingdom of God and democracy, Jonathan Edwards and Tom Paine, the iron mixed with clay. What is on the horizon is vastly more wonderful, and it is eternal.

Sometimes we miss what Christ has for us because we are offended by the messenger He uses.

The coming forth of the eternal life of Christ in us is possible only as we are willing to experience the “death” of the flesh and soul.

The strength of Israel comes from Leah, from that which is unattractive to us. Rachel, the beautiful flesh, must dies on the way to Bethlehem, the House of Bread, of fruitfulness and life. But the deliverer of Israel and of the world will come from Rachel through Joseph.

If it is our desire to make disciples, we should not be emphasizing how many people attend our church but how many people are growing in Christ.

Christ came from Heaven. But He did not come to tell us about Heaven or to bring us there. He came, and is coming again, to make the earth a better place.

Christ always is born in a stable, in the lowliest of circumstances. So it is when Christ is born in us. It is not a spectacular, dramatic event the world can understand.

We do not accept Christ so we can go to Heaven but so we can escape slavery to sin and thus enter eternal life.

Beware of worrying about what might happen in the future. To do so may cause needless grief and pain.

Once we have been born again, there are two lives living in us. One or the other must prevail. Either Adam lives, or Christ lives. One must die.

We have to enter our land of promise, our inheritance, by war. Wars are dangerous and painful. Our inheritance is the full possession of God through Christ and the full possession of people. The enemy cares nothing about God, but is determined to possess the people.

I wonder sometimes if the theology that exalts Christ to the same level as the Father is not a grievous error, designed to prevent us from coming to the Father through Christ. Christ is not the way to Himself. He is the Way to the Father, whom He portrays faithfully.

We are being invited today to know the Father.

We cannot know “the son of my right hand” until we know “the son of my sorrows.” Adam must die. Rachel must die on the way to Bethlehem if Benjamin is to live.

Fullness of joy came come only through relationships with God and people. Pleasures forevermore will come through circumstances and environment.

Rachel died on the way to Bethlehem, on the way to “the House of Bread.” If we are to become bread for God and bread for people, we must die to our adamic nature.

Rachel never lived to see her son, Joseph, exalted to rulership in Egypt; nor was she present when Joseph became the savior of Egypt, and of the other nations that were experiencing famine. So it is that flesh and blood cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Our natural man will not live to see the glory that is to be revealed in the sons of God.

There is no distinction between an animal and its body. The body and the person of a human being are two different creations. You can be attracted to or repulsed by the body of a human being. You can learn to love the person after shared experiences.

Every human being has a spirit that can pray to God. No animal has a spirit that can pray to God, or a sense of God. We conclude, therefore, there is no evolutionary progression from an animal to a human being. They are different in kind.

The basic idea of scientific inquiry is that knowledge is derived from data, not from philosophy. Since no animal at any time has been known to pray to God, and human beings from earliest recorded time, have prayed to God, we conclude that human beings and animals are different in kind.

God gave us a body to see what we would do with it. If we please the Lord with our behavior, He will give us a better body. If we don’t, if we do wrong things in our body, we shall be punished in our body.

Sometimes we have to be denied, or deny ourselves, of our burning desires in order that more peaceful, fruitful, permanent desires can be established in their place. The person is wise who follows God in this.

When we make decisions that hurt in order to please the Lord, we find later that we were freeing ourselves so we could be brought to fuller, more restful joy.

When we act wisely we benefit ourselves and Christ is pleased. Christ is pleased when we do things that truly increase our joy, although at first some self-denial may be necessary.

There may be counterparts in the spirit world of the various afflictions and prisons we experience in the present world. The belief that once we die there are no more problems is not based in Scripture. Christ would be the answer there as well as here.

We bless God, other people, and ourselves, and live forever, when we obey God sternly and completely.

In the world to come, the saints will govern with an iron hand, assisted by angels of irresistible power. This is why the coming rulers must be transformed into the image of the personality of the Lord Jesus Christ, and absolutely obedient to God.

Many rulers of the world have sought to achieve total power by torturing and murdering people. Christ and His saints will be given total power over mankind; but first they will be given the heart of a servant.

The problems of the world arise largely from the political leaders. This is why those who will govern the world under Christ will pass through much suffering in order to destroy self-seeking from their personality.

God is forming people He has chosen to be leaders so they will bring perfect love, joy, and peace to those whom they govern. They first must be transformed in personality until they meet God’s standard.

God has put into the hearts of His chosen kings to desire to govern. First they must be tempted by Satan to take a shortcut to power, just as Christ was tempted in the wilderness.

It always has been God’s intention that mankind live in Paradise on the earth. But such an environment is not possible until God has created a priesthood who will govern according to God’s will.

We must endure patiently many prisons, much denial of our most intense desires, before we will be given the crown of righteousness and life.

Those whom God has chosen to sit on the highest thrones of the universe must first be content to live in humble circumstances, to serve Christ meekly with a cheerful heart.

The heart of man is deeply rebellious against God. This is why the nations must be governed and smashed to pieces with the rod of iron, with the governing power that today is being created in the personalities of the obedient saints.

God loves with a terrible love the people He has created. Those who have been chosen to rule mankind must be filled with that same terrible love for those whom they govern.

Before Christ could be given total authority over Heaven and earth, He had to be brought lower than any man. So it is true with us. The higher we are to be brought the lower we must be brought before we are trusted with the authority that is our destiny.

The doctrine of the Trinity confuses our understanding of the Lord Jesus Christ, and makes Him unapproachable—unapproachable regarding the desire that God that we be His brothers.

Fundamentalism is strong when it reminds us that the Scriptures are holy and eternally unchanging. Fundamentalism is weak when it teaches us to substitute a profession of belief in the text for a living experience with God.

In the present hour we are kept by God’s power as we look to Christ in faith. But there is coming a salvation in which the very presence of sin shall be removed from us.

There is coming a day of redemption, a time when the Lord Jesus, who has been seated at the right hand of the Father, will arise and His enemies shall be made His footstool. Then we shall be free from the presence of sin. More than that, because we are free from sin we shall be filled with the Spirit of God without measure.

We have not been completely saved until our spirit, soul, and body are totally free from the guilt, power, presence, and effects of sin, and our spirit, soul, and body are totally filled with the Spirit of God. In addition to this complete salvation, the Father and the Son will be resident in our personality for the eternity of eternities.

It appears to me the premier god of America is money. The premier god of England is freedom to do as one pleases. The premier god of France is physical lust. By worshiping these gods the people hope to obtain survival, security, pleasure, and achievement. But in actuality they end up as a shrub in the desert.”

We can pursue life, liberty, and happiness; or we can pursue the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. These two goals are not only not the same, they often are directly opposed.

The prophets that hear from God say things that are not always gratifying to people. This has been true throughout history. It is true today. The prophets of God do not speak with the idea in mind of pleasing people. This is why they often are persecuted.

When God calls a person or a thing holy, then that person or thing is holy. When God refers to a behavior as being righteous, then that behavior is righteous. However, obedience is an absolute. Either we are obeying God or we are not obeying God.

The world is being filled increasingly with moral filth. But out of this cesspool will arise one who is more beautiful than all—the eternal counterpart of the Word of God.

There are more who are with us than those who are against us.

We really shouldn’t try to tell the Lord how to do His job!

The Christian discipleship is a struggle over always choosing to do what is right whether it leads to pleasure or pain, as opposed to always choosing pleasure even when it leads to unrighteous behavior. No individual who always chooses the way of pleasure can ever be a disciple of the Lord Jesus.

Religion is man seeking God and trying to get God to do what man wants. Salvation is God seeking man and enabling man to do God’s will.

To abide in Christ continually, walking with Him each day, you have to be a believer and a forgiver.

It is only right and proper that we give everything back to our Creator. All He asks we are to give Him. All He directs us to do, we are to do promptly and cheerfully. Any other response on our part is absolutely unacceptable.

Every physical body is a package with a person inside. Before you marry someone or get close to someone, find out about the person in that package.

There are three primary reasons why Satan has no claim on our body, soul, or spirit. First, the blood of the cross has removed Satan’s legal hold over us. Second, with all of our strength we have totally denounced and renounced Satan and all his works that we may be filled with the Lord Jesus Christ, His person and works. Third, we have counted ourselves crucified with Christ and are seeking to live in God’s will.

By far, most of the benefits of our redemption are not just ascribed to us. Rather, they are developed in us when we act in cooperation with the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit as He imparts to us the things of Christ.

The sixth chapter of Romans reveals that the gift of salvation is the gift of an opportunity to gain everlasting life. It is not an undemanding gift.

Romans 6:23 is testifying that if we Christians choose to yield our bodies as instruments of unrighteousness to sin we will reap the wages of sin. The believer who, after having received Christ, continues to serve unrighteousness, will die spiritually.

Both Paul and Peter warned that the doctrine of imputation can be interpreted incorrectly. Paul’s doctrine of ascribed righteousness can be distorted to mean that the Christian salvation is an undemanding gift and requires no action on our part in order to gain the values contained in it. The Apostle James found it necessary to warn the Lord’s flock that true faith in Christ is expressed in action.

Salvation always is an opportunity, an access, an authority, an invitation to drink of Christ’s Virtue. We must ask and continue asking. We must seek and continue seeking. We must knock and continue knocking.

When we receive the Lord Jesus Christ, placing our faith and trust in Him for salvation, righteousness is ascribed to us by the Lord. Also, the door to eternal life and glory is opened to us. How much eternal life and glory we gain depends on the faith and diligence we apply to seeking the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.

The fruit of the Spirit is not ascribed to us, it must be grown with patience.

The rewards of the second and third chapters of the Book of Revelation, which are elements of the first resurrection from the dead, are not legally ascribed to us. Rather, they are given to us on the basis of overcoming the love of the world, the love of sin, and the love of self.

The gift of salvation cannot be earned. But in order to profit from it, to really “receive” it, we must give our whole life to gaining it.

To serve God as a king and priest is the awesome eternal destiny to which each of the elect has been called. But in order to attain our predetermined destiny we are required to overcome the hurdles placed before us.

The body is remarkably shortsighted. It cares little for consequences. It lives for the moment. Therefore it is ready to eat and drink itself to death, to smoke cigarettes, to take drugs, to drive while drunk, to indulge in immorality, without regard for the consequences of such actions.

It does no good to put people into Paradise until they have been prepared to maintain it. That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?

Do not fear physical death. It is the beginning of life for you, if you have learned your lessons in the present world.

Wisdom advises us how to act in order to achieve success. Knowledge is an awareness of facts, past present, and future. Understanding is a combination of wisdom and knowledge mixed with compassion. It is likely that the angels can have wisdom and knowledge, but not understanding.

Understanding makes our personality and behavior pleasing to God. It is the salt that must be included with each sacrifice. Understanding includes an appreciation of the complexity, the difficulties, of existence, a sympathetic attitude toward the weaknesses of people, and a sense of humor. Understanding is a large part of the image of God.

The desire to usurp the place of someone else is the devil’s own brew. If we succeed in doing so our end will be bitter indeed. We had best pray fervently that Christ will deliver us from this unclean desire lest we go to the same reward as Satan.

Faith creates a positive attitude, even in the midst of adversity. Pessimism has no place in the Kingdom of God.

We all were born children of wrath. We all were tares. Then God according to His own will and purposes called out some to have eternal life. Then they have both wheat and tares in them. God does not like mixtures, so He proceeds to remove the tares from His Kingdom.

Grace and mercy will not interfere, in the Day of Resurrection, with the inviolable Kingdom law of sowing and reaping. You and I are going to reap precisely what we have sown.

God is our Father and He loves us dearly. But a disobedient, rebellious son will be chastised very severely, and may lose altogether his place in the Kingdom of God. Let no one deceive you—it is just this serious. We have lost the fear of God in America, and the wise among us will pray until God restores His fear to them.

All Kingdom work of eternal significance is done only by the Holy Spirit of God. In our day, in which the hosts of demons are swarming to the attack, we can no longer play our church games. We must hear from God. We must place our body on the altar of God as a living sacrifice. We must cry out “not my will but Yours be done” concerning every issue, every decision, of every day and night of our life.

Persecution and tribulation are about to come upon the Christian churches. From now until the Lord appears His Churches will experience every possible form of chastening and testing. The purpose of the suffering that is coming is to purify and unify the one Church, the Wife of the Lamb, the Body of Christ, the new Jerusalem.

Because people have become lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, escaping the tribulation is often the focal point of concern. However, it is not tribulation we are to be concerned about, it is sin and lawlessness!

The Divine judgment on the world, sin, and self-rule—on these three dimensions of spiritual darkness that are part of our personality—is the spiritual fulfillment of the Jewish Day of Atonement.

God is ready to give us, through Christ, the desire and the ability to overcome the world, sin, and our own self-rule and self-centeredness. Our task is to confess our sins as they are revealed to us, and then to patiently obey the Lord as He judges the darkness in us and drives it out of our personality. This is the personal, spiritual fulfillment of the Levitical Day of Atonement.

If we would follow the thinking of the Apostle Paul we must learn to regard the Christian fight of faith as being for the purpose of laying hold on eternal life in the body.

“We died to sin” has to do with our basic orientation to salvation, which is that our adamic nature has been crucified with Christ and our inward nature has been born of God, has been raised from the dead with Christ, and has ascended to the right hand of God with Christ. Therefore for us to continue in sin is to deny the position we have taken by faith.

The only correct response to the Gospel is to assign our whole first personality to the cross with Christ.

The purpose of assigning our first personality to the cross with Christ is that we may, by the power of God’s Spirit, live a new life. The new life is one of righteousness, holiness, and obedience to God. If we really believe that we have been crucified with Christ, and have been resurrected with Him and ascended to the right hand of God in and with Him, this fact will be revealed in our behavior.

We will be united with Christ in His resurrection, in an inward “firstfruits” sense now, and then fully at His return. But our union with Christ in His resurrection must be attained to, as Paul emphasized. It does not just happen because we at some point have taken “the four steps of salvation.”

If we do not follow the Holy Spirit in putting to death the deeds of our body, then we can forget about being raised into immortality when the Lord returns. It will not take place. We have not overcome sin and therefore we will not be given to eat from the tree of life.

There is no doubt that the grace of forgiveness has been greatly overemphasized in our country. The grace of the ability to purify ourselves and to keep the commandments of Christ and His Apostles has been neglected, I believe.

Our goal is not to go to Heaven to live forever. Our goal is to learn to live in the Spirit that is from Heaven, from God, so when the Lord Jesus returns to earth we may return with Him in the fullness of the glory and power of Heaven.

Whatever God tells you to do in this world, do it to the best of your ability or face painful consequences. Whatever else you accomplish in life is of relatively little importance. The main issue is what kind of person you have become as you prepare to enter the spirit world, for this shall determine where you are placed.

Redemption never is a static adherence to doctrine but a dynamic interaction with the living Christ.

Paul said the crown of righteousness was laid up for him. By a crown of righteousness Paul did not mean he could continue in sin but be regarded as righteous, as is taught today. Rather, he meant he would rule with Christ by the power that God gives him so he can behave righteously and enforce righteousness.

Here is the great Christian error—the belief that “accepting Christ” does away with the warnings of the New Testament.

In between the feast of Pentecost and the feast of Tabernacles, as outlined in the Old Testament, is the Day of Atonement, or Day of Reconciliation. The spiritual fulfillment of the Day of Atonement requires that we cooperate with the Holy Spirit as He removes worldliness, the lusts of our flesh, and our self-will.

The time to seek God is now! The age of moral horrors is on the horizon. The tares of wickedness are coming to maturity. Many of us will not be able to stand under the dark pressures that are ahead unless we are able to obtain more of Christ, more of God than we have known.

The reason we have been placed on the earth in an animal body is that God might be able to build character in us—the kind of character that is necessary if we are to function effectively in the role assigned to us in the Kingdom of God.

The new covenant performs its work in our mind and heart only as we keep the commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Sometimes we know the weaknesses of people without realizing their strengths.

Faith is neither magic nor presumption. Rather, it is a steadfast grasp on the faithfulness of God’s character.

When love turns to hate in a moment, it means we never truly loved the person. Perhaps we were attracted by their outward appearance, or being near them made us feel good.

The nature of the Kingdom of God, its very essence, is disciplined obedience to the Spirit of God. It is an internal government. But to arrive at his state of obedience we first must be willing to seek God’s help in keeping the hundreds of commandments found in the New Testament.

Perhaps the fundamental misunderstanding of today’s teaching is that we can arrive at the inner government of the Kingdom apart from first being obedient to the commandments given by Jesus Christ and His Apostles.

The disciple must pass through numerous difficulties and dangers during the course of his pilgrimage. He must be willing to walk on the water with only the faithfulness of Christ keeping him from disaster. Help me to trust, to walk on the water, to live one day at a time.

To abide in Christ requires that we look to Him for every decision we make throughout the day and night.

Anyone who chooses to do so may use up to twenty-five of the proverbs in the Gold Tried volumes without notifying me. It is not necessary to attribute them to me.

(“Gold Tried in the Fire: Book Five”, 4279-2)