Difference between revisions of "Actual Righteousness 8"

Latest revision as of 11:53, 28 January 2011

The LORD said to Gideon, "With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the other men go, each to his own place." (Judges 7:7-NIV)

There are three important lessons we can learn from the story of Gideon.

First, the victory gained at the return of the Lord will be accomplished through a remnant of the Church.

Second, how we drink the water is important. All the soldiers drank the same water. Some got down on their knees and drank from the water. Others scooped up the water in their hand and lapped. They were more cautious, not so heedless of their surroundings.

So it is today. Many believers are so starved for the Spirit of God that they readily can be led into foolish actions. Others are more cautious, being on the alert in case the enemy is in the vicinity. The same Holy Spirit but a different response.

Third, the separation of the remnant from the main body of the Church will be temporary.

As we said, the believers are starved for God's Presence and they readily can be led into excesses, picturing themselves as some special segment of the Church quite superior to the rank and file of Christians.

Their desire to advance in God is commendable, but without sound teaching we soon have groups of people imagining themselves to be spiritual giants. This attitude is unrealistic and unfruitful.

The remnant God is drawing from the churches realize the Lord is looking for those who will accept the increased demands He is making.

They do not view themselves as being superior to other believers. They remain compassionate toward the weaker, realizing that when God gives a double portion of a desire for righteousness, for God Himself, it is that the individual might be able to build up the entire Body.

The victorious saints are too busy jumping the hurdles God is placing before them to spend time imagining how great they are.

The Gideon's army of today must recognize they are a first fruits of a much larger harvest to come. They are part of the whole house of Israel, not a favoured elite who are to be exalted over the remainder of the Church.

The remnant have been called out to be the first part of the Body to pass from imputed righteousness to actual righteousness. This is an occasion for utmost diligence, not for spiritual pride! We must keep a humble, ever-vigilant attitude toward the Lord in the present hour.

The Christian churches are lurching out in a number of unscriptural, unprofitable directions. In one area of the United States, at the present time, the believers are being taught they do not have to repay money they have borrowed because "we are in the Year of Jubilee."

This is but one of several different errors being practiced. These wild adventures are occurring because God is ready to move past Pentecost and the people do not understand God's program.

The move of the Lord today has to do with Divine judgment on the sins being practiced by the believers; not a judgment of wrath and destruction but one of instruction concerning the difference between good and evil.

Sometimes this Divine intervention is accompanied by fiery trials that we might be purged from sin and learn stern obedience to the Father.

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-''Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.'' (Rev 2:10-NIV)
+''The LORD said to Gideon, "With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the other men go, each to his own place."'' (Judges 7:7-NIV)
-If you are experiencing an awakening concerning the sins of your personality, and perhaps some sort of imprisonment, be encouraged. You are not in a grave but a tunnel.
+There are three important lessons we can learn from the story of Gideon.
-You will come out into the light when God is finished reconciling you to Himself. Nothing will be destroyed by the fire except your bondages. You are part of the advance guard that is passing from imputed to actual righteousness of personality and behaviour.
+First, the victory gained at the return of the Lord will be accomplished through a remnant of the Church.
-The separating of the Ark of the Covenant from the Tabernacle of the Congregation .
+Second, how we drink the water is important. All the soldiers drank the same water. Some got down on their knees and drank from the water. Others scooped up the water in their hand and lapped. They were more cautious, not so heedless of their surroundings.
-''They brought the ark of God and set it inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and they presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before God.'' (1 Chronicles 16:1-NIV)
+So it is today. Many believers are so starved for the Spirit of God that they readily can be led into foolish actions. Others are more cautious, being on the alert in case the enemy is in the vicinity. The same Holy Spirit but a different response.
-We are discussing biblical portrayals of the temporary dividing of the Christian Church into two groups: a godly, warlike remnant drawn from the whole, and the remainder of the Church. The idea is that the remnant will be the first to pass from imputed righteousness to actual righteousness.
+Third, the separation of the remnant from the main body of the Church will be temporary.
-Next, the remainder of the Church will be released into righteousness. Finally the entire saved world will be delivered from the bondages of sin.
+As we said, the believers are starved for God's Presence and they readily can be led into excesses, picturing themselves as some special segment of the Church quite superior to the rank and file of Christians.
-The first portrayal we mentioned is that of the two presentations of the Wife of the Lamb, found in the Book of Revelation.
+Their desire to advance in God is commendable, but without sound teaching we soon have groups of people imagining themselves to be spiritual giants. This attitude is unrealistic and unfruitful.
-The second portrayal is drawn from Gideon's battle with the Midianites.
+The remnant God is drawing from the churches realize the Lord is looking for those who will accept the increased demands He is making.
-The third portrayal has to do with the separating of the Ark of the Covenant from the Tabernacle of the Congregation.
+They do not view themselves as being superior to other believers. They remain compassionate toward the weaker, realizing that when God gives a double portion of a desire for righteousness, for God Himself, it is that the individual might be able to build up the entire Body.
-The reader most likely is familiar with the Tabernacle of the Congregation, described in the latter part of the Book of Exodus. If you recall, the Ark of the Covenant was located in the Holy of Holies, behind the sacred Veil.
+The victorious saints are too busy jumping the hurdles God is placing before them to spend time imagining how great they are.
-While the Tabernacle was at Shiloh the Ark was removed from its resting place in the Most Holy Place and carried to the scene of a battle with the Philistines. Soon it was brought back to Israel, not to the Tabernacle but to the home of an Israelite family.
+The Gideon's army of today must recognize they are a first fruits of a much larger harvest to come. They are part of the whole house of Israel, not a favoured elite who are to be exalted over the remainder of the Church.
-In the meanwhile, the Tabernacle of the Congregation, minus the Ark, was removed to the high place at Gibeon-several miles north of the city of Jerusalem.
+The remnant have been called out to be the first part of the Body to pass from imputed righteousness to actual righteousness. This is an occasion for utmost diligence, not for spiritual pride! We must keep a humble, ever-vigilant attitude toward the Lord in the present hour.
-When David brought back the ark from the Israelite family, he pitched a tent for it in Zion, David's city, a suburb of Jerusalem.
+The Christian churches are lurching out in a number of unscriptural, unprofitable directions. In one area of the United States, at the present time, the believers are being taught they do not have to repay money they have borrowed because "we are in the Year of Jubilee."
-This was unheard of-to put the Ark of the Covenant somewhere other than in the Holy of Holies of the Tabernacle of the Congregation.
+This is but one of several different errors being practiced. These wild adventures are occurring because God is ready to move past Pentecost and the people do not understand God's program.
-But David was a prophet and the Spirit of God was directing him.
+The move of the Lord today has to do with Divine judgment on the sins being practiced by the believers; not a judgment of wrath and destruction but one of instruction concerning the difference between good and evil.
-David then stationed one group of priests with the Ark at Zion, and a second group of priests with the remainder of the Tabernacle at Gibeon.
+Sometimes this Divine intervention is accompanied by fiery trials that we might be purged from sin and learn stern obedience to the Father.
-''David left Asaph and his associates before the ark of the covenant of the LORD to minister there regularly, according to each day's requirements.'' (1 Chronicles 16:37-NIV)
-''David left Zadok the priest and his fellow priests before the tabernacle of the LORD at the high place in Gibeon to present burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of burnt offering regularly, morning and evening, in accordance with everything written in the Law of the LORD, which he had given Israel.'' (1 Chronicles 16:39-40-NIV)
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