And so forth.
And so forth.
The Israelites were so thankful to be out of the desert and into good farmland, they settled for partial conquest of their inheritance.
Perhaps it is that way with us. We receive forgiveness through the blood atonement, are born again, and baptized with the Spirit of God. Maybe we are content to remain with the spiritual gains we already have made.
For some reason we do not continue to press forward until everything in our life that disobeys God, that is not in His image, is overcome.
Perhaps the reason we do not press into full victory is that we have perverted Paul's teaching of "grace" to mean that even though we do not gain victory over our sinful behavior, God overlooks our lack of determination and receives us into Heaven by "grace."
Once we who are products of "lawless grace" are in Heaven we can fight with one another about the area we choose in which to "sing and shout and dance about" for ten thousand years.
God warned the Israelites about their lack of perseverance, didn't He?
The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, "I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land I swore to give to your ancestors. I said, 'I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.' Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? And I have also said, 'I will not drive them out before you; they will become traps for you, and their gods will become snares to you.'" (Judges 2:1-3—NIV)
This precisely is the condition of many of the Christian churches in America. We have received a part of God's plan of redemption, and have concocted an excuse for not pressing through to total victory.
As a result, our leaders of government have no clear moral example to follow. Therefore God has raised up enemies against America, as He always does when a nation practices immorality.
When I pray concerning the disasters coming upon our country, God says, "Tell the congregation to press into the Lord Jesus. He will be your safety in the coming days of Divine judgment.
God does not tell me to pray for America—perhaps because America has gone over the line with its abortions, gender confusion, public nakedness, and worship of money.
I think one of our main problems is the belief that after we receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit we have gone as far as God intends to bring us in this life. Jesus Savior, Healer, Baptizer, Soon-coming King; and after that, eternity in Heaven.
But there is a work of redemption between "Baptizer" and "Soon-coming King. And after the coming of the King there is the Kingdom, not eternity in Heaven.
The truth is, the baptism with the Spirit of God is the means, along with the blood of the cross, of enabling us to press on to the fullness. Speaking in tongues is the God-given means to enter the rest of God!
Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues God will speak to this people, to whom he said, "This is the resting place, let the weary rest"; and, "This is the place of repose"—but they would not listen. (Isaiah 28:11,12—NIV)
Speaking in tongues indeed is a wonderful rest as we allow the Spirit of God to express the present burden!
After the experience of Pentecost there remains the rest of God, the state of being in which we are living in God's perfect will, having fellowship with the Father and the Son.
There are enemies in our promised land, just as there were in the promised land of the Israelites. If we would dwell in the rest of God we must drive out the enemies in our land. Our enemies are the sins and self-will that are part of our personality.
In his epistles, the Apostle Paul presented several lists that describe our "old man." As the works of our old nature are pointed out to us we are to confess them to the Lord Jesus, and then go to Him for the wisdom and strength necessary to gain total victory over each of these dark forces that are not in the image of God.
We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. (I John 1:3—NIV)
The following verses tell us of the coming of the Fullness of God to dwell in us. The Holy Spirit is as a Steward who facilitates this personal coming to us. The goal toward which we are to be pressing is the spiritual fulfillment of the Jewish feast of Tabernacles.
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.
Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them."
Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, "But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?"
Jesus replied, "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. (John 14:18-23—NIV)
The Holy Spirit prepares the way, and the Father and the Son come to us and make Their home with us. One of the actions of the Spirit when preparing the way for the Father and the Son to find Their rest in us is by pointing out to us our sins and self-will, and helping us put them to death.
For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. (Romans 8:13—NIV)
The next verse in the Book of Romans informs us that the Holy Spirit always is leading the sons of God to deal with the misdeeds of the body, so they may be suitable as dwelling places for the Father and the Son.
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children [lit. sons] of God. (Romans 8:14—NIV)
We are led by the Spirit of God to put our sins to death. This is an experience, just as the baptism with the Holy Spirit is an experience.
Am I teaching that there is more of redemption for us after we have received the Spirit of God? Yes, that is precisely what I am teaching. There is a specific "more." The Bible terms the "more" the "rest of God, and it is into this "more" that the Hebrews believers were urged to enter.
If we have been around Christian people very much, we know from their behavior that they have not attained to the fullness that God has promised. I have read that the patriarchs of orthodox churches in Jerusalem have fought over their assigned rooms in the Old City. The Catholic and Protestant Christians in Ireland have had their "troubles," although they both revere the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Many if not most Christians have not pressed forward to full victory over sin. In fact, they do not believe full victory over sin is even possible!
And to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:19—NIV)
No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. (I John 3:6—NIV)
There has to be a further work of redemption, and I believe the further work has begun in our time.
The twelfth chapter of the Book of Isaiah is the testimony of a believer who has moved past the spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Pentecost to the spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles. This is why the twelfth chapter was sung by the Jews during the feast of Tabernacles:
Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. (Isaiah 12:2,3—NIV)
The God of Heaven has given us salvation and strength and has defended us against the enemy. Now an increase in redemption has occurred. He Himself has entered us and has become our salvation, our strength, our defense.
Prior to the "Tabernacles" experience we have played "volleyball" with God. Now we are on the same side of the net.
We see, therefore, we have arrived at a change of goal. Our goal no longer is to attain to eternal residence in Heaven. Our goal is to cease from our own works, our own plans and ambitions, and enter the rest of God. Such rest can be accomplished only as we pursue the life of victory in Christ until sin and self-will have been overcome in our behavior.
We must be absolutely determined to fight through to total victory, and not be like the unfaithful Israelites who did not do this. As a result, the nations of Canaan finally overcame the Israelites, as God warned they would.
Going to a better place will not satisfy our desires, although we think it would. It is the coming of the Father and the Son to make us Their home, Their resting place, the location of Their Throne, that is God's eternal plan for us.
It is fellowship with the Father and the Son that we crave, not a novel environment.
And it is God's will that we have such fellowship. It is His rest that we enter. It also is our rest. Heaven is a place of warfare, as the evil struggles against the good. It is in God and Christ that we find the righteousness, love, peace, and joy that are our goal.
Taste and see that the Lord is good!
All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:27-30—NIV)
The "rest" we are seeking is the knowledge of the Father.
Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you. (Isaiah 12:6)
Next Part The Enemy in Our Land of Promise