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.
"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.
"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.
[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.
[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.
[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.
[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.”
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