Great Chicago controversy/Harry Ironside, et al

John 17 says, “In John 17, it says, [1] These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
[2] As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
[3] And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

“Not only did they have the Spirit of God that would give them the capacity to know, they also had the Word of God. And those two things, the Word of God and the Spirit of God are the two means of confirming the children (my little children) in the Little Flock.

“It’s always that way. It’s always the Spirit of God and the Word of God and how those two things work together. What was going to set them apart to be who God had chosen them to be was the Word of God applied, written into their hearts by the Spirit of God.

“These folks had been furnished with the divine equipment that is capable of causing them to know everything they need to know. Just like you and I have all that we need to know to do everything we need to do in the Word of God today, and by faith we can apply that and have the Spirit fill our lives with His Word, we do it through the faith walk and the application of it that way, these people have a direct empowering, but it’s still the Word of God that He puts into their heart.

*****

“The issue of eternal life is what God promised to Abraham and his seed. When an Israeli was born, he was born with that promise. The most basic issue in the promise God gave to Abraham was the issue of eternal life. Everything else was contingent upon them possessing eternal life. For them, eternal life was resurrected life in a kingdom that was going to last forever.

“The Holy Spirit, acting in the Word, through the Word, through the Scripture, and again He just never works apart from His Word. That’s the way He communicates. The truth is abiding in them, and they’re abiding in Him and they don’t need anybody to teach them. Because they’ve already been taught. That’s the issue here.

“When he says, [27] But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him’ . . .

“They’ve already been taught! They’re not dependent on anyone for teaching concerning the fact that Jesus is the Christ. They already know this!

*****

In Matthew 10, He gives them their first great commission. Starting in verse 5: [5] These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:
[6] But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
[7] And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
[8] Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
[9] Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses,
[10] Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.
[11] And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence.

“You’re familiar with that passage because we quote it quite often to point out the inconsistency of trying to follow the instruction in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John today. Because the very instructions Christ gave in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John he limited to only Israel. What he taught these men to preach and teach, He told them, ‘Don’t preach it to Gentiles.’ But notice what it is He tells them TO go preach and teach.

Verse 7: [7] And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
[8] Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
[9] Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses,
[10] Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.
[11] And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence.

*****

“I’ve never met a preacher in my life trying to follow the Book of Matthew that ever did any of that. I mean, get real! ‘Provide neither gold nor silver or brass for your purses?’ You know better than that. They’re taking up 3-4 offerings at a meeting! Much less the healing and all that kind of stuff.

“ ‘Don’t take script for your journey,’ means don’t take notes, don’t take maps. And then, don’t take two sets of clothes or shoes. Don’t take anything to help you along the way. He’s saying, ‘I’ll just take care of you as you go,’ in other words.

*****

“The passage goes on, ‘[11] And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence.’

“It’s a serious thing when those apostles came to town and preached. It was the issue of life or death for a city when they preached in their midst.

“The passage goes on, ‘[15] Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.
[16] Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
[17] But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;
[18] And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.
[19] But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.

“Now, that’s exactly what happens on the day of Pentecost when they speak as the Spirit gives them utterance. They have this anointing, this unction that comes in, that communicates to them, gives them the things to speak and directly empowers them to accomplish those things.

[20] For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.
[21] And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
[22] And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
[23] But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.’

“That’s just like He says in Matthew 24:13. He that endures to the end of the persecution will be saved. That’s just what we’ve been reading about in I John.

“That verse is important because it tells you that this commission in Matthew 10 starts in Matthew 10 but extends ALL the way to the Second Coming of Christ. This thing is not rescinded.

“And they’re going out with this commission, with this empowering, with this instruction that, ‘Don’t take any thought, or don’t worry about what you’re going to say; don’t take any thought for HOW or WHAT you’re going to speak because it’s going to be given you in that day, ‘in that same hour what ye shall speak spirit of father which speaketh in you.’

“Because they have this anointing that teaches them all things. The words are written in their heart and they will have that spiritual empowerment to speak forth that Word and know exactly what needs to be said in every given situation because these people are all the recipients of that New Covenant provision.

“Now that will explain to you when you come to Matthew 28, the next great commission. The expansion of the Great Commission. Matthew 28:18. Tell me something, when is that verse fulfilled? He has all the rights to all the ruling authority. He’s the rightful king of the universe. Does He exercise it today? It’s fascinating how people claim to follow this passage all the time.

*****

“I was reading a biography written by E. Skyler English of Harry Ironside, the former pastor of Moody Church. Ironside carried on an itinerant teaching ministry all across the nation for many years prior to that. He was quite an influential figure in the ’30s and ’40s in Chicago and in fundamentalism. In fact, he was called ‘The Archbishop of Fundamentalism.’

“I can remember a number of times talking to C.R. Stam about Mr. Ironside. You folks here from the old North Shore church days will remember that Pastor J.C. O’Hare used to really contend with Pastor Ironside about doctrine.

“O’Hare would write these little books with these wonderful titles. He had one called, ‘Much Ado About Something.’ Another one is, ‘An Open Letter to M.R. DeHahn, Harry Ironside and other misinformed Baptist preachers.’ He was very subtle, about like a jackhammer.

“I used to take to Mr. Stam about what went on in the late ’30s and early ’40s, and there was a great recovery of truth. In fact, one of the things O’Hare used to do is take sections of Ironside's commentary on Ephesians 3 and Colossians 1 when Ironside taught very clearly the separate, distinctive ministry of Paul from the 12, and grace from law and the Body of Christ from Israel. He would have taught it just like I would have taught it, or Pastor O’Hare would have taught it or Pastor Stam.

“But he was denying it then and Pastor O’Hare was trying to make the point that, ‘If you just believe what you say in your books and you still sell your books, you would agree with us.’ And there was a great controversy that arose.

“Mr. Stam used to tell me that there was a point in the early ’40s when he and Pastor O’Hare and many others really genuinely believed and thought that all those brothers like Ironside and Gabelein and Pettingill and Halderman and Newell and all those great Bible teachers . . .  Otman and Grey and Barnhouse and all those guys.

‘He said they all understood the distinctiveness of Paul’s ministry from Israel and they thought they were all going to stand for it and that more than any other one person it was Harry Ironside who could have made the day by taking a stand for it, and the others would have felt comfortable following and he refused. Ironside refused by standing up and saying, and he wrote a book about it, ‘Imagine the audacity of these O’Harites! . . .’ You see, they’ve always called you names . . .

(to be continued)               

Safe-n-secure inside the capsule with Him

Three words, ‘in Christ Jesus,’ and variations such as ‘in Christ,’ or ‘in Him,’ are phrases used by Paul more than 130 times in his 13 epistles. It is the dominant thinking of Paul because in his mind, being ‘in Christ Jesus’ is the essence of what Christianity is all about; it’s the essence of the grace of God and who we are.

“Christ is our life, our mind, our goal, our strength; He’s the sum total, the excellency of all that we have,” explains Jordan. “In Christ—you’ve got to get the idea—is to be IN something. The idea is to be IN the sphere of something.

“I like to say we’re encapsulated. You see, if you were in a circle, that would be different. When you’re in a capsule, you’re surrounded with protection and then if a brick fell, what would happen? It would bounce off! You’re completely surrounded. That’s what it means to be ‘in Christ.’

*****

“God has chosen us IN HIM and we are made alive IN HIM,” writes Bible commentary author Cora Harris MacIlravy. “We are new creatures IN HIM and are to walk IN HIM as we received Him, rooted and builded up IN HIM and established in our faith.

“We become the righteousness of God IN HIM, we are established IN HIM, and can do all things IN HIM that strengtheneth us. God always lead us in triumph IN HIM, making us a sweet savor of Christ unto God. IN HIM we have all spiritual blessings in heavenly places; as we abide IN HIM, we are made complete IN Him who is the Head of all principalities and powers. And we are made more than conquerors THROUGH HIM that loved us.

“It is as we realize upon the vital union which God has put between Christ, who is the ‘Chiefest of ten thousand,’ and us, who are members of His body, that this mighty Conqueror enables us to set up banners (floating over, His own peculiar banner, bearing His name, ‘Love’) through the power of His work upon Calvary. Thus is He glorified.”

*****

Paul says in Colossians 3:3, “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”

Jordan says, “I used to struggle with this verse, wondering, ‘What does it mean?!’ Then it dawned on me it means exactly what it says. What a thought!

"If I’m standing in a circle, I’m not hid and you can see me. It’s just on one plane. But if I’m in a capsule and ‘hid with Christ,’ I’m totally submerged inside of God with Christ!

"You know what that is? That’s security! That means I’m safe and secure inside of Him from any harm; any foes on the outside. And I’m completely supplied by everything that’s in the capsule.”

Received not as the word of men . . .

Matthew 7 reports, “And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”

Jordan explains, “That word ‘scribe’ there means a guy who writes things. The scribes wrote down the Scripture, copying it out, but Jesus doesn’t teach like the scribes. He teaches with authority.

“The verse’s saying, ‘Not like the scribes where you can’t understand what’s going on.’ If you want a comparison in modern terminology, the scribe would be like Bible commentaries. The Lord teaches different than that. He teaches you out of the Book clearly and plainly.

“In Matthew 8-10, you begin to see a series of miracles by Christ. The Book of Matthew is not laid out in chronological order; it brings together a bunch of different things that happened at different times and lays them out here on the table for you to now scrutinize.

“Now, that’s a legitimate method of giving evidence. It’s not a method of giving a chronological story, but it is a legitimate method of giving evidence to prove a point, isn’t it? Matthew is more interested in the evidential value.

*****

“In Galatians 1, the Apostle Paul, when describing his gospel and how his message is unique and distinct from those who were there before him, gives, as it were, a certificate of apostleship.

“He writes in Galatians 1:11-12, ‘But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.

[12] For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.’

“He’s going to document and give proof that validates that statement. If you go down through the rest of chapter 1, and then through chapter 2, there are at least 14 specific points Paul makes that demonstrate the distinctiveness of his ministry.

“He writes in Galatians 1:20-24, [20] Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not.

[21] Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia;

[22] And was unknown by face unto the churches of Judaea which were in Christ

[23] But they had heard only, That he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed.

[24] And they glorified God in me.

“Paul went out among the Gentiles where he’d lived and was unknown by face. They didn’t have enough contact with Paul to really know what was going on with him to know what he was preaching. They just had heard, ‘Well, he used to be persecuting the followers of Christ and now he’s preaching that Jesus is the Christ.’

*****

“You see, learning what God’s doing is not an issue of just learning a

bunch of doctrine. Somebody told me the other day, ‘Well, were in this predicament and we’re just glad to have the doctrine work.’ Now that’s true, but it’s not just the doctrine working.

“In the Scripture it’s really 'the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe,’ and when that happens, you know what’s really working in you? Christ is working in you. So when you talk about, ‘Well, it’s the doctrine working,’ remember it’s really the life of Jesus Christ working.

“There’s that personal intimate understanding, and when you come to Ephesians you’ve come to the place where God says, ‘Come in and let me have access with you; let me bring you into access to understand.’ What’s going on here is the Triune God.

*****

“Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:11 that God ‘gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers.’ The prophets referred to here are the New Testament prophets.

“Paul was a prophet but he was also an apostle. He never wrote anything as a prophet; he wrote as an apostle. Paul warns in I Corinthians 14:37, ‘If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.’

“One of the jobs of a prophet all through Scripture is to say, ‘Thus sayeth the Lord.’ He spoke for God. One of the jobs of the prophets in those churches Paul established was to say, ‘This is God’s Word.’

*****

“From I Corinthians 5:9 (‘I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators’) we see that before I Corinthians, Paul had already written a letter and an epistle to the church of Corinth that did not wind up in the Bible.

“So do we have lost Scripture? Who’s to say one letter from Paul is Scripture and the other’s not? Well, hey, folks, that’s why God put a prophet in the assembly, giving him the gift of prophecy. So that that prophet could acknowledge that the things Paul’s writing here—‘This is Scripture; that one isn’t.’

“By the way, in II Thessalonians 2:2 there were some people counterfeiting epistles, writing them and saying they were from Paul when they weren’t. But, you see, the local church there had an office, a prophet, a God-empowe;red person with a supernatural ability as a gift of that church to say, ‘This is Scripture,’ and to speak for God.”

Jesus to Paul: 'You're my only writer now'

Bible scholar C.R. Stam once wrote, “Amazingly, the books of the Bible were written over a period of about 1600 years, by approximately 40 different men. The writers came from all walks of life, and include kings, priests, tax collectors, physicians, farmers and fishermen.

“Each man wrote from his own background of education and experience. Very few of the writers could have known one another. Yet, remarkably, the Book is not a jumble of disconnected and conflicting essays. Rather, from beginning to end, it tells a continuous story with several interwoven themes.

“This will come as no surprise, if we understand that the eternal God Himself directed each of the human writers to compose a portion of His message, which He was compiling as history unfolded.”

*****

The Apostle Paul tells us in II Timothy 1 about how God revealed to him “his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ.”

“Notice there’s an appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ that’s not future from Paul; it’s PAST,” says Jordan. “That’s the appearing of Christ to Paul to make him ‘a preacher and an apostle and a teacher of the Gentiles.’ That’s the appearing of Christ when He revealed to Paul the truth of the Body of Christ; the truth of the mystery, the truth of the OTHER program.

“He appears to Paul on the Road to Damascus and later says to him, ‘I’ve appeared to thee for this purpose and I will appear to thee AGAIN!’

“In II Corinthians, Paul says, ‘I’ve come to visions and revelations of the Lord.’ The Lord Himself appeared to Paul and gave him information over a period of time, revealing the truth that Paul writes down in his epistles. That’s the appearing that BEGINS the dispensation of grace. Without that appearing you wouldn’t know about the appearing that ENDS the dispensation of grace.

“So when Paul says, ‘To those who love His appearing,’ which one is it? Well, it’s both. How could it be otherwise? You wouldn’t know about the Rapture if it weren’t for the appearing of Christ to Paul.

“If you know the appearing of Christ to Paul is separate, then you know you have to have a distinct conclusion to the dispensation of grace. If the Body of Christ is a separate entity, then it has to have a special conclusion just like it had a special beginning.

*****

“Have you ever noticed how all the Bible up to Romans, you can teach stories? Romans isn’t stories; it’s doctrinal information. It’s instructions; it’s thinking processes.

“Each of Paul’s epistles contains an introduction, body and conclusion--just like you’d find in a letter, but his introductions have a very special purpose in that they introduce the particular issue the epistle’s going to address.

“In Paul’s epistle to the Galatians, for example, he starts out by reminding them, ‘But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.’

“Paul’s saying his apostleship, unlike that of the others, did not come by human instrumentality. He was commissioned as an apostle different from every other apostle before him in the Bible.

*****

“In the gospels, Jesus Christ chose 12 apostles and told them their function was to sit upon 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of the nation Israel in that future kingdom in the regeneration of the Son of man when Christ sits on the throne in Jerusalem and they’re His earthly apostles.

“After Judas dies in response to his betrayal of the Lord, there’s only 11 apostles, but before Pentecost, Matthias is made the 12^th guy by Peter.

“It was through Paul’s preaching that God the Holy Spirit communicated the message of grace to the apostles. They came to understand it through Paul’s direct revelation from God.

“In the first two chapters of Galatians are 14 separate things he says about why his ministry and message is separate and distinct from the 12.

“He writes, ‘But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen.’

“Paul understood there were things about Jesus Christ that God wanted revealed solely through him; that he was to be the one and only through whom that information would be revealed.”

To walk as LIVING epistles

Paul writes in Ephesians 5, [14] Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
[15] See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
[16] Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

“You know how you walk circumspectly?” asks Jordan. “You walk carefully. You watch where you put your feet. You give attention to the details of your life to bring it all into conformity with who you are in Christ. Paul talks about, ‘Here’s how we walk.’

“He’s saying, ‘When you wake up to all the things that are yours in Christ . . . Awake, arise, look at what Christ has given you! Wake up to who you really are in Christ!

“You’re not looking for the place NOT to put your foot; you’re looking for the place TO put your foot. I don’t want to put it on the (garden) snake, I want to put it over here where there’s nothing but good ground. I’m walking circumspectly, looking for the opportunity to be who I am in Christ. To let that be what’s important. To buy up the times.

“Somebody said the difference between an optimist and a pessimist is the optimist sees the doughnut and the pessimist sees the hole. You’re looking for the opportunities. Paul says, ‘Awake, let who you are in Christ have an impact.’

“That’s why he starts in verse 18 and following telling you the proscribed social order for the Believer. We walk intelligently, in love, distinctly, and we have a life that simply reflects who we are in Christ. Christianity is really, as Ephesians 3:20 makes clear, the outworking of the indwelling life of the risen Savior in us.

“These chapters in Ephesians show us the difference between what it looks like when we do it and when He does it. What I’ve discovered through the years is that a lot of people think it looks like this, and they’re thinking religion, and when they hear it’s really this, they say, ‘Woah, wait a minute. What a difference.’ Probably one of the greatest impetuses toward getting people to trust Christ alone is that.

*****

“In II Corinthians 3, Paul talks about the Corinthians being the living epistles. He explains, ‘Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.’

“It struck me one day, ‘If they were the epistles ministered by Paul, didn’t Paul write some epistles?’ In essence, he’s saying that you and I are really ‘Romans through Philemon.’ THAT’S what He writes in your heart!

“Now, God doesn’t automatically write it in there. It’s what He writes in your heart as you take in that truth. It’s the intake.

“Paul said, ‘The outward man perishes but the inward man is renewed day by day.’ How’s it renewed?  You’re renewed in the SPIRIT of your mind. Paul says, ‘And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.’

“How often should your mind be being renewed? Day by day. It’s that daily intake, that moment-by-moment application of the truth of God’s Word in the details of your life. That’s really called prayer.

“It’s looking at everything that happens in your life and thinking before God; talking to God about what’s going on, and what His Word says about what’s going on, and how His Word can be applied to that--how what His Word says your attitude should be about that insult, that temptation, that rejection, etc.

“You say, ‘Well, I don’t know what it says.’ But you do know! Because when you don’t know, what do you do? You go find out!

“Now all of a sudden I need to know how to ‘rightly divide.’ You wouldn’t have to talk people into rightly dividing if they lived like THAT!

*****

“You see how this thing just becomes life; becomes living? Why? Because He is our life. That’s how He IS your life. Folks, these are not mindless clichés designed for preachers to have something to talk about and you go, ‘Uh-huh, uh-huh.’

“This is the living reality for the way God made your soul, your inner man, to function and a guy like me is trying to say them in 15 different ways so that maybe one of them will, ‘DING!,’ turn on the light for you and make it real.

“If it isn’t real in your life, it’s just because you haven’t believed it; the verse says the ‘word WORKS in you that believe.’

“You can say, ‘I don’t really care,’ but there will be a day when you do. You can say, ‘It’s not for me.’ There will be a day when it will be for you. Just remember some little old nut told you there was an answer and get in Romans through Philemon and find it.”

Harmony at the molecular level

Paul writes in Ephesians 4:16, [16] From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

“ 'Joined together and compacted by' is that, ‘You can’t get a molecule between us,’ ” explains Jordan. “There’s this harmony and solidarity and it’s held together ‘by that which every joint supplieth.’

*****

“The Christian life isn’t me having the brains to run things; it’s, 'He’s the head.'

"You got all these members in your body that work in harmony and, in what I think is the most fascinating thing, the more you go into creation the bigger creation becomes.

"You talk about looking at the stars and how vast it is. I’ve always been fascinated by how the more you get into the molecular level of stuff, where the atoms and molecules are, there’s a big world there, too.

“What they’ve discovered with your molecules is every molecule is like a little factory. It’s got an intelligence center; it’s got an action center, a motor center. It’s got mechanisms in it and they all function; they all tell each other what to do and respond.

“Imagine if all the different molecules that make up your body decided to do what they wanted to do and not what the head says. You see, this is where disease comes from.

"Most of the time disease is some kind of blockage that keeps the proper information from coming down to that gland or organ made up of the cells, and it starts working on its own thinking process. It will gang up with a few others and work on that thinking process and make a tumor or whatever.

“But the brain is what controls it all. It’s the boss; it tells it what to do. And when the brain is in control of everything, it works and functions in harmony.

“By the way, the head also supplies the power to do it. You see, your Christian life isn’t lived on your thinking process; it’s lived on HIS thinking process. It’s not lived in your power; it’s HIS power. It’s ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory.’ It’s the working of HIS power IN us.

*****

“When we grasp that, then we can understand when Paul writes, ‘17] This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
[18] Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart.

[19] Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

“Now that you are so radically different than who you were before, don’t walk like you don’t have intelligence.

“This passage, in verses 18 and 19, does what Ephesians 3:16 does, when he talks about being ‘strengthened by His spirit in your inner man.’ If you want to understand how reversionism works, where a saved man acts like he’s lost, there’s the inner mechanics.

“There in those verses is literally what goes on in your inner man when you, instead of walking intelligently in the wisdom God gives you, you go back and you substitute human viewpoint for God’s viewpoint.

“As a Believer, when you do that, it causes far more drastic consequences than it did as an unbeliever because now you’re not an unbeliever. You’ve been radically changed. Your spirit, soul and body have entirely different relationships between each other than they did before you were saved.

“Now, you talk about gumming up the works; throwing a wrench in the machinery and what happens then when you start walking in the vanity of your mind. All that you are is turned on its head!

“So he said, ‘You know what, you understand who you are. Be smart about life. Walk intelligent. Walk in the light of who you really are. Just let Christ be who He is in you.' That’s what the rest of Ephesians 4 is all about.

*****

“Now, when he says in chapter 5, ‘Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
[2] And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour,’ the ‘therefore’ is chapter 4:30-32.

“Paul writes, [31] Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
[32] And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

“Wow, that’s almost like that verse in Titus, isn’t it? You see how being in Christ is designed to change the way you talk and think? The way you talk comes out of your heart.

“Jesus said, ‘Out of the heart the mouth speaks.’ He said to let all the anger and turmoil and strife and bitterness of that old life be put away. That’s not who you are! Here’s how you do that: ‘Be ye kind one to another.’

“Paul writes in Colossians 3, [12] Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
[13] Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

“You can be forbearing, you can be kind and tender-hearted, but without forgiveness it will lead to bitterness. It will lead to all those things in Ephesians 4:31. The key that changes it all is forgiveness.

“Take the worst somebody’s done to you and I can tell you you’ve done far worse than that to God Himself. If God can forgive you, you can forgive them. There’s things you’ve done that you can’t even forgive yourself for and they come back in your mind sometimes and haunt you. You’ve done FAR worse than that to God and He forgave you.

“You know why you walk in love? Because you know what it’s like to be loved. That’s all there is to it. You know what it’s like to have someone love you when you didn’t deserve to be loved; when you were, of all things, unlovable.

“He said, ‘I didn’t love you because you were lovable; I loved you because of the will of my Father, and He loved you and gave Himself for you.’ I love that verse. Christ has given Himself for us for a sweet-smelling savor.

“He took a stinker like you and made you something that smells wonderful to the Father and He did it at Calvary. And He did it in spite of you, because of His grace. Now, you want to walk in love, think like that!

*****

“Psalm 119 says, 130] The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.

“When you turn the light out what do you get? Darkness. He said, ‘You used to be in darkness.’ You might be a nuclear physicist who can land on Mars and live there for a lifetime, but you were in darkness. A six-year-old Eskimo that never learned to count is brighter than you are if he’s come to faith in Christ, because now he’s got the light of life.

“For a person who’s been given light, don’t go living like you don’t have light! How do you put the light out in a Believer? You abandon divine viewpoint and go on human viewpoint. When you think you know better how to handle things than God does, you know what happens? Blackout. That’s what Ephesians 4:18-19 is talking about.” 

Battle sets us FREE from fear of 'losing'

Paul exhorts in II Thessalonians 3:14-15, [14] And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. [15] Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.

Jordan explains, “Part of what happens is that in order to love the truth and to hold onto the truth you have to be willing to go outside the camp.

“Martin Luther said, ‘If you’re engaged in the battle for the truth at every point except the point at which the truth is being contended for in your life, you’re not really in the battle.’

“Paul calls us ‘debtors’ to ‘his Spirit that dwelleth in you.’ Love puts claims on your life. Love reaches down and puts a claim on your life that the law never could. Love is a motivator. It’s something that reaches into your heart and motivates you internally in a way no external compulsion can do.

“I’ve said many times that when you learn some things about 'right division,' and the grace of God, it will change some things in your life. It will probably change where you go to church. That’s a hard pill; people don’t like to hear that.

“There’s a religious system out there, folks, that the Bible equates with ‘harlotry’ and ‘adultery,’ and being a part of it is considered being spiritually unfaithful to God just as if you stepped out on your marriage partner. That’s a serious thing.

“If the Adversary can confuse the physical things of your life—the circumstances and struggles of your life—with life itself, in order to divert you away and to cause you to ‘walk by sight and not be faith,’ he’s winning a victory.

"That’s why Paul says ‘don’t give place to the devil.’ In your life, walk in wisdom, walk in light, walk as children of the light. Understand what the battle is and understand you ARE a part of it.”

*****

“When you look at something and you’re afraid you’re going to lose it—how many Believers are afraid of losing?” says Jordan. “Losing your possessions, losing your (financial) security? Losing the respect of others? Losing your health, your comforts?

“Why do you fear losing those things? Did you know that every one of those things you’re going to lose anyway? Naked you came in and naked you’re going to go out.

“The only thing that’s going to last forever are the spiritual things you have; your identity in Christ, your riches in Christ.

“Why do we fear then? Because we have this idea that our identity and our future resides in our own abilities, our own resources. It’s unbelief--a lack of dependence on who God has made you in Jesus Christ and who God has made Christ to you—that makes you want to get your identity out of anything but Him.

“It’s not what you do; it’s what He did that makes you valuable. It’s not what you accomplish; it’s what He’s accomplished that gives you worth and meaning. Because He’s given you HIS value.

“At the most basic level, sin is a refusal to trust God to give you what you’re looking for in Christ. Fear really is unbelief.

*****

“If you can get that monkey off your back that you got to be ‘good enough’ to measure up and belong and have value, then you’re FREE to let His life produce His work in and through you. As soon as you do that, there’s that humbling of your mind, that ‘lowliness of mind.’

“Listen, being right doesn’t depend on you. Would you relax and realize that? Paul says, ‘You can do nothing against the truth but for the truth.’

“In Acts 20, when Paul’s talking to these elders and bishops at Ephesus--when he called them together and met with them at Miletus--he says in verse 19 about his own manner with them, ‘Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews.’

“Notice he says, ‘Serving the Lord with all humility of mind.’ That’s the inside attitude he had: ‘It’s not about me; it’s not about me being right. I don’t have to defend myself, I don’t have to make it look like I’m okay and I’m ‘qualified,’ but ‘with many tears, and temptations . . . ’ He was willing to appear weak so that the power of Christ might be the real issue.”

(new article tomorrow)

Globalism & God's favorite verse for U.N.

Everything you need to know about the ultimate outcome of Palestine is succinctly wrapped up in Joel 3, a passage about the restoration of Israel at the Second Advent of Jesus Christ:

[2] I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
[3] And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.
[4] Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompence me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head;
[5] Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things:
[6] The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border.
[7] Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompence upon your own head.

“God’s going to bring the nations to Israel and judge them in order to deliver Israel,” explains Jordan. “Notice how it says in verse 4, ‘Whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land’? You see, the U.S. ‘solution’ to the Middle East problem--from Reagan to Clinton to Bush, just go on back--our answer has been, ‘Let’s parcel up the land.’

“The term ‘Palestine’ was first attributed to the land of Israel by the Romans in the 2^nd Century. You hear about 70 A.D. when Titus came in, but he didn’t remove the Jews from the land; he just destroyed the temple.

“In 115 A.D. there was another rebellion and finally in 135 A.D., they were tired of them and came in and deported them all and renamed the land after the Philistines because they were so sick of the Jews, and that’s where the term Palestine comes from.

“The Romans actually applied it to the land, so the first inhabitants of Palestine were the Jews—they were the first Palestinians. Starting in the ’50s and ’60s, the way the term’s been used is as a political football to try . . . because in 1947, when Israel reestablished itself as a state, all the Arab nations attacked them.

“The British, after WW II, created Jordan as the homeland for the Arabs. After Israel became a nation, one of the political tactics was to try and squeeze them out, saying, ‘We need a home land for all those Arabs over there in the land you guys now have.’ Well, take them home! Bring them back over to Jordan and let them reconnect with their people! But no, no, no, you see, it’s all a political thing.

*****

“I read that verse in Joel 3 and I think, ‘It isn’t just that they scattered the nation of Israel, but they parted the land.' All that stuff is just defiantly flying in the face of God Himself about what He says to do with the land.

“But that’s okay, because Zephaniah 3:8 says, ‘Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.’

“He’s saying, ‘I’m going to establish the U.N., all right!’ Joel tells you why He’s going to do that. God says, ‘Sure, you can gather them all together.’

“You see, globalism will never work. You have this global economy and so forth and all you’re doing is heading for destruction. God established nationalism; borders, language, culture in order to, as Acts 6:17 says, facilitate man’s ability to be evangelized.

“If you think you can deny that for the economic advantage . . . the only people gaining economic advantage from globalism are these big-money people--the status-run governments and corporatists--getting money easy from all these places, instead of having to go through each one individually.”

(new article tomorrow)

NWO adds an 'L' for Losers, er, Lucifer

What used to be just the NWO in U.S. President George Bush Sr.’s “Thousand Points of Light” days is now the LNWO—Luciferian New World Order.

Don’t these people know that Lucifer WAS the God-given original name for Satan before he sinned and that his name was changed to “Satan” (literally meaning “adversary” in the Hebrew language) after he “fell”? There is no more Lucifer!

In our women’s Bible study last week, we discussed how the New International Version translation of the Bible takes out the name Lucifer in Isaiah 14:12 and instead refers to him as “morning star,” the same name given Jesus Christ in Revelation 22:16: [16] I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

The ONLY time the King James Bible uses the name Lucifer is in Isaiah 14:12: “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!”

The NIV translates this same verse to read: “How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!” Obviously this is an unbelievably corrupt translation of the verse!

The funniest part of all is in Isaiah 14:15, when God in the KJV states very plainly: “Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.”

That’s all you need to know! There is no Lucifer one day taking over God’s throne in the NWO because of the tireless efforts of Satan-worshippers!

*****

In what I consider one of the top three most influential Bible-expository books for me personally, Keith Blades’ Satan and His Plan of Evil relays in-depth the process of Lucifer becoming Satan.

On the matter of Isaiah 14:12-14 specifically, Blades writes, “The particular importance of Isaiah’s address is that in it God has him recount to Satan what it is that he originally devised in his heart to endeavor to accomplish as God’s adversary.

“The very thoughts of his corrupted wisdom as they composed a plan of opposition to God are here rehearsed before him, and consequently revealed to us. Therefore, what Satan said in his heart as he formulated his plan of evil is here set before us, by which we can understand exactly what it is that he is after:

[12] How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
[13] For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
[14] I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

“From his prophetic perspective, Isaiah begins his address to Satan with words that have a taunting sound to them. In the day when Israel will sing the song of triumph over her enemies, which God sets before her in this 14^th chapter of Isaiah, the taunting questions will be asked of Lucifer (Satan) as to just how it is that his demise has come. In that day, he will have ‘fallen from heaven,’ and will have been ‘cut down to the ground.’ In fact, he will end up being ‘brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit’ . . .

“However, this was not his intent, as the questions clearly imply. This demise and ruination are not what he had planned on taking place. Instead, he planned for something else entirely. He had put together a plan in his mind that had completely opposite objectives to it. This is what Isaiah recounts to him in verses 13-14.”

*****

On Easter Sunday, both my brother and mother’s church and my own church had sermons based on John 20 where an account is given about Mary Magdalene being the first to see Jesus Christ after His resurrection. As John 20:16 reports, [16] Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.

In the Hebrew language, the title “Rabboni” means “Teacher.” From Gail Riplinger’s 1993 book New Age Bible Versions, she informs that “the Antichrist hides, not only under the cover of ‘Christ’ but a second title—‘Teacher.’ ”

Riplinger writes, “Roy Livesey, author and publisher of New Age Bulletin in England explains what New Agers believe: ‘Christ, however, doesn’t refer to the Lord Jesus Christ, but to the World Teacher.’

“Other books like Harriet and F. Homer Curtiss’ ‘Coming World Changes’ also connect the anticipated new Christ with the title ‘long expected Great Teacher.’ Alice Bailey describes the ‘Emergence of the World Teacher of the New Age’:

“ ‘In June 1945 at the time of the full moon, He . . . too over (from Jesus) as the Teacher during the Aquarian Solar Cycle. He is the first of the Great World Teachers to cover two zodiacal cycles. This inflow of Aquarian energy is one of the factors which will enable the Christ to complete his task as world Savior and world Teacher . . . (and) the Teacher that he will work . . . not Christian Teacher.’ ”

*****

“Satan has a plan to take over the universe from God Himself,” says Jordan, “and people say sometimes, ‘Well, doesn’t he know he’s going to end in destruction?’ He knows God SAYS he is, but he doesn’t believe what God says. He believes he’s wiser and smarter and has a more beautiful plan than God does; his plan is more ergonomic; it’s more beautifully synchronized in his mind, and God says, ‘It’s just a twisted mess.’ ”

Jordan continues, “When you look at that passage in Revelation that says the power, the authority is given to him by the dragon, what that passage does is look at where Satan came from; who’s the real power behind the throne in the administration of the Antichrist.

“Ezekiel 28 says, ‘Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
[12] Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
[13] Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
 [14] Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
[15] Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
[16] By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
[17] Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
[18] Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.
[19] All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.”

*****

Jordan explains, “By saying, ‘Take up a lamentation,” what God’s fixing to tell us here is a very sad story. A sad song. When he says, ‘Thou sealest up the sum,’ He’s saying (of Lucifer), ‘You’re the cat’s meow, buddy. You’re the sum total of everything. Nobody can add anything to you. You’ve got it all when it comes to mental capacities; you’re full of wisdom. You’re a genius.’

“You look back at verse 3 and it says, ‘Behold thou art wiser than Daniel. There’s no secret that can be hid from thee.’ I mean, this guy, he’s a genius when it comes to mental things.

“It says he’s ‘perfect in beauty.’ Physically, he’s the most beautiful, attractive, appealing creature in all of the universe that God ever made. He’s got this physical beauty and this beauty of his wisdom; his great mentality.

“God says, ‘Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God.’ Do you think Eden would be a good environment to be in? Lucifer lived in a perfect environment. He didn’t just live in a perfect world, he lived in the garden of God.

“He had the privileged access—you know, when God made the garden of Eden for Adam to live in, Eden is the territory, and the garden is this very special place eastward in Eden for Adam to come and have communion with God.

*****

“When we studied about heaven, we discovered that the ‘third heaven’ where God lives, and the country where God manifests the glory of His presence—the environment of heaven is what God replicated on earth for man to live in. And the Garden in Eden in Genesis 2 was patterned after the garden in the third heaven that Lucifer’s in. He’s in the original. The garden on the earth is made after the pattern of heavenly things.

“And when he’s in the garden of God, he’s not just in a perfect environment, but he’s in this special position of having communion. The garden is where you would go and rest and relax and just kick back, take your shoes off and enjoy yourself. The business is done and the garden is the place where the king would just kind of, you know, it’s his patio—his family room.

“What he was saying was, ‘You weren’t just someone who served God; you had personal access to the most intimate position and fellowship and enjoyment together of God in His Creation.

“It’s the kind of place where God would go back and sit and say, ‘Have you looked at that and seen how wonderful it’s working?’ and Lucifer would say back, ‘Yeah, I know!’ He had a privileged position of intimate fellowship with the godhead. That’s the point there.”

******

From verse 13 we know that for Lucifer, “the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.”

Jordan explains, “Tabrets are percussion instruments and pipes are wind instruments. They were in Lucifer. It wasn’t just something he went and beat on over there. This guy had it internalized. God had fixed him so that inside of him, internalized in him, was the capacity to be filled with joy; the capacity to take and lead creation in the worship of the Creator. Music is a universal language. It’s purpose was to extol Jehovah.

“This guy was created in all of the intricate details—his position, his capacities—

to be the one who would lead all of creation in worship of God.

“It says, ‘Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth.’ If you go back to Genesis 3 when God put Adam and Eve out of the garden, it says He set the cherub to guard the way. And in the tabernacle—with the mercy seat over the arc—it has the cherubim on either side. Psalm 80 says that God Himself dwells between the cherubim in Israel. That’s where he met with Israel.

“Cherubim in the Bible have a function of guarding the holiness of God; the integrity of God. There are four cherubim today each at the corner around the throne of God and originally there was a fifth cherubim (Lucifer). He covered over the throne of God.

“He was in that exalted position so that all of creation could see him and he could lead them in the praise and worship of God Himself. He was there to protect and to promote God’s integrity.

“From the very beginning, the issue of God’s integrity was made clear, and that’s really the reason that when Lucifer fell, all that he did in the lie program was aimed at the integrity of God.

“The issue has never been the power of God; it’s always been his right to exercise that power. It’s never been God’s ability to control all things; it’s always been his right to do so.

“And Lucifer understood all along that the issue was God’s integrity. You notice he’s called ‘the anointed cherub’? That’s interesting. What does the name Christ mean? The anointed one. God Himself commissioned Lucifer to be a Christ.

“Every time God would choose a king in Israel they were anointed. The priests and the prophets, too, were anointed. Lucifer himself was anointed into each of those three positions. He was chosen by God and set up by divine appointment. That’s why you’ll find over in Luke where they talk about ‘the Lord’s Christ.’ You see, there’s another Jesus; there’s another Christ. . .”

*****

A question people have is, “Why would Lucifer think he could be like the Most High God?”

“He thought, ‘Well, God created me to be like Him,’ ” says preacher Alex Kurz. “You see what’s going on in his mind? Was he not ‘the sum of all wisdom and beauty’? Lucifer’s looking in the mirror and he’s saying, ‘Why else would God make ME the principal anointed cherub?! Why would God make me wiser than any other creature?! Why would God make me beautiful?! Why would God make me the object of adoration and esteem?!’

“In Lucifer’s thinking, his only conclusion was, ‘If I want to be like you, why would you be upset? You made me to be like you.’

“You see how he’s justifying what’s going on? And you know what, humanity is nothing more than a reflection of that heart of arrogance that possesses Satan and that’s why Romans says what it says and people think, ‘God is no better and no different than me.’

“Paul says they ‘took the glory of God’ and what did they do? They made him into an image of men and four-footed beasts and what? Creeping things. Men reflect the heart attitude of Satan—he’s the king of pride. They say, ‘We’re equal with God.’ That’s what Lucifer thought!

“In Lucifer’s distorted, corrupted thinking, he probably was surprised that God would be all upset with him. That’s what sin does, right? It’s, ‘Why are you mad at me? You made me a sinner?!’

“You ever heard that argument? ‘How can God punish me? I am what God made me and if I do what I do . . .’ You see, it’s all diversionary tactics to avoid accountability before a just God.”