| Truly Educated |
| Back in my student days we were taught that a truly educated person is not one who knows all the answers. We were taught that a truly educated person is one who knows where to find the answers. Well, I for one lay bold claim to being a religiously educated person; better still, I lay strong claim to being educated as a Christian. I know not, I confess, the answers, but thank God, I do know One who knows the answers, who knows the end from the beginning and who does promise to answer if we call upon him. |
| Taylor, Gardner C., from the sermon “A Cry for Guidance.” The Words of Gardner Taylor Volume 2. Ed. Edward Taylor. Valley Forge: Judson Press, 2000. p. 25 |
Category: Bible Preaching
J. T. Pugh preaching the now classic sermon “The Removal of Humiliation” during the 1988 Because Of The Times conference in Alexandria, Louisiana.
Happy Birthday to me!
Categories
The Drawing Power
Numbers 4:29-33
(29) As for the sons of Merari, thou shalt number them after their families, by the house of their fathers; (30) From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old shalt thou number them, every one that entereth into the service, to do the work of the tabernacle of the congregation. (31) And this is the charge of their burden, according to all their service in the tabernacle of the congregation; the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and sockets thereof, (32) And the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords, with all their instruments, and with all their service: and by name ye shall reckon the instruments of the charge of their burden. (33) This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service, in the tabernacle of the congregation, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
Isaiah 54:2-3
(2) Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; (3) For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.
Isaiah 33:20, “Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.”
Brass Pins/Stakes were used in the Tabernacle in the wilderness to secure the gold pillars of the Outer Court upright.
These pins were driven in the ground at one end and fine twined linen was attached to the pins there and to the top of the wooden pillars overlaid with gold to which sheets of fine linen were attached.
This created a type of fence and there was only one entrance into the outer court.
The Ark had one entrance – there is one gate to the sheepfold – 0ne way to enter
The wood of the pillar represents Christ’s humanity.
The gold of the pillar represents Christ’s divinity.
Humanity wrapped in deity.
Fine twined linen was drawn tightly and fastened with the pins.
The relationship between you and God has to be mutual.
There must be as much as a desire on your part to draw close to Him as He has to draw close to you.
These cords speak to us of the drawing power of God and His love for men and women:
“I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love…” (Hosea 11:4).
Without the cords the pins and stakes would be useless.
It is God’s love that constrains us, that holds us together:
“For the love of Christ constraineth [to hold together us]; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)
Matthew 15:8-9
(8) This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. (9) But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
We must keep the cords tied to the stakes and posts.
Consider that your identity with the Father is tied to how you treat those who mistreat you: “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:44-45).
The cord of love is to be drawn tight or everyone.
We are to love each one as our own self.
Our text says, “lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes.”
STORY: Camping one night when the wind began to blow and a strong storm blew in. Someone forgot the fasten the tent to the ground with the provided stakes.
A stake, a pin, will do you no good if left on the ground and not driven into the ground. The strength of the stake refers to its security in the ground, not whether it’s steel, iron, or brass.
There are some stakes we need to secure firmly into the ground firmly, and keep coming back to them in order to make sure they remain strengthened.
There are, among many, four fundamentals of faith that I will mention, and these four pins that will keep us attached to the love of God:
- Dogma = One God
- Gen. 1:1, “In the beginning God created…” God here is the transliterated form of Elohim, which means “plenitude of might,” or more simply, “one God whose characteristics are many.”
- Deut. 6:4, “Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD.”
- In Colossians 2:9 we are told that in Jesus dwells all the fullness of the Godhead (all the characteristics of God) bodily, and we (the Church) are complete in Him (Jesus).
- Paul did say that the Godhead was a mystery, but then he went on to explain what the mystery was, “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.” (I Timothy 3:16)
- Only Jesus Christ fulfilled those six points. Therefore, Jesus Christ of the New Testament is Jehovah of the Old Testament
- Duty = Love (to God and to one another)
- Jesus & People
- Discipline = Study of Scriptures
- 2 Timothy 2:15, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
- 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “(16) All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: (17) That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
- Doctrine = What is right <<Thank you, Harold Hoffman.>>
- Reproof = What is not right
- Correction = How to get right
- Instruction = How to stay right
- Method = Union (Balance) of the Spirit and the Word
- Philippians 4:5, “Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.”
- Modesty, Humility
- 2 Corinthians 3:3-6, (3) 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. (4) And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: (5) Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; (6) Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
- Maintaining a balance in the Word and in the Spirit is necessary for complete growth. Without balance you can get too far on one side of the road. The best way to keep balanced is to realize that the Spirit of God will never contradict the Word of God.
- “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven” (Ps. 119:89).
- A balance of Word and Spirit will result in a heavenly reward:
- Ephesians 1:13-14, “(13) In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, (14) Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”
- Philippians 4:5, “Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.”
Jeremiah 10:19-20, “(19) Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it. (20) My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth of me, and they are not: there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.”
Instability in the Church, in our lives, occurs when we don’t strengthen our stakes and lengthen our cords by drawing closer to God.
James 4:7-8, (7) Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (8) Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
Why had this happened? Their hearts were not secured, strengthened, and lengthened.
“…I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. (17) But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; (18) I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. (19) I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: (20) That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.
Love the Lord your God.
Obey His voice.
Cleave unto Him – Get as close to Him – draw near to Him
The Father is seeking people who will draw close to Him:
“…the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24).
“For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him” (2 Chronicles 16:9a).
There are moment in life where we are overwhelmed by life’s struggles that we begin to think that God is no longer drawing on us, that our walls are about to fall, BUT GOD IS ALWAYS THERE:
“Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him: But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined” (Job 23:8-11).
Proverbs 8:17, “I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.”
The Drawing Power is here right now…
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.” (Jeremiah 29:11-14).
He wants to bring you home…
The Drawing Power of God is pulling you home.
The Father was looking for the son to come home (Luke 15).
He was seeking for his return.
Categories
Glory to Glory
Text: Ezekiel 47:1-5
(1) Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar.
(2) Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side.
(3) And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ankles.
(4) Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters were to the loins.
(5) Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over.
There are levels to the anointing of God.
It is one Spirit, but many depths.
The depths often display a maturing that takes place in the believer.
2 Corinthians 3:18, “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
“The more we behold this brilliant and glorious light, the more do we reflect back its rays; that is, the more we contemplate the great truths of the Christian religion, the more do our minds become imbued with its spirit.” – Bloomfield
One degree of glory – anointing – to another.
Glory is the fullness of God.
His manifest presence: His character, nature, ability, provision, the weight, the splendor of His majesty, and beauty.
All that He is & All that He has
And He has given it to us.
Not like Moses, whose face eventually lost the glow of the anointing of God’s glory.
“All of us, then, reflect the glory of the Lord with uncovered faces; and that same glory, coming from the Lord, who is the Spirit, transforms us into his likeness in an ever greater degree of glory” (GNB).
Glory to Glory[1]
Level 1 – spectator level, mere observers, foot deep experience. This level is in introduction to the experience of salvation, which makes them a glory-carrier of the Spirit of God. Many are content to stay at this level.
Level 2 – ankle deep experience. At this level, many have been born again, but rarely go beyond Acts 2:38 & John 3:5. God would take them deeper into His glory, but some are content with just a trickle and miss the overflow.
Level 3 – knee deep experience. Here, those who are hungry for more venture out into seeking deeper knowledge and experiences. This is the level where people begin to learn how to pray, but there is more glory to experience.
Level 4 – waist deep experience. Here, influence begins, and reproduction takes place as the believer becomes active in church and its ministries. They contribute to the edification of the body of Christ and the harvest of souls, but they are not completely immersed in the glory of God.
Level 5 – waters to swim in. People are immersed in the glory and anointing of God. They have learned to walk by faith and not emotion. Romans 8:14, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” They are now fully immersed in the power and anointing of God’s glory they are now a glory-bearer. This level moves from carrying God’s Glory to now showing His glory by bringing blessing, life, hope, joy, and healing to those in bondage. BUT, to get here it takes hunger, desire, and passion.
You need a daily dose of fresh oil to remain immersed in the glory of God:
- Num. 11:8, “And the people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil.”
- Psalm 92:10, “But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil.”
- Give us this day our daily bread – Every Day!
David progressed through these levels:
- Shepherd boy anointed by Samuel
- Killed a lion and a bear, which prepared him for Goliath
- Kills Goliath and promotion came and he was brought to live with king Saul
- Psalms 75:6-7, “For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.”
- “…Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts” (Zech. 4:6).
- He led armies, won battles and Saul became jealous to the point of trying to kill him.
- Saul has killed his thousands…“If people come against you, do not fear them, because the One who anointed you is going to preserve you.” –MVMUTHU
- David’s great test in this period was to keep himself from a spirit of bitterness
- David’s anointing kept him from harm even though Saul pursued him.
- King of Judah and then King of all of Israel.
- David still had to struggle before becoming King in this level
- David went through 5 levels, but he had one moment where the anointing came upon him and he grew from there.
- He did not touch God’s anointed and stayed covered.
Go beyond your initial empowerment and move from glory to glory:
- Acts 2:1-4 – initial outpouring
- Acts 2:41 – 3,000 souls
- Acts 3 – feet and ankle bones
- Acts 4 – the believers knelt and prayed and were filled with anointing and power
- Acts 5:12-16, “(12) And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s porch. (13) And of the rest durst no man join himself to them: but the people magnified them. (14) And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.) (15) Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. (16) There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one.”
That same glory is here tonight and you can take it with you.
[1] Levels based on evangelist MVMUTHU’s book River of God’s Glory.
Categories
The Fruitful Bough
Genesis 49:22-26
(22) Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:
(23) The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:
(24) But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)
(25) Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:
(26) The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.
Truly, we are living in the last days.
No doubt, the attack of Iran – biblical Persia – against Israel these last 2 days signals to us that the while the end of the world is not yet…it is edging closer.
Gog & Magog are on a prophetic collision course to that final showdown known as Armageddon when all the nations of the earth come to a little hill in Israel and to fight Israel, that’s when Jesus comes with His saints and fights for Israel delivering a final victory for His people.
The Church need not worry about that event because we will be the ones arriving with Jesus when He collects us in what many call The Rapture, and what a mysterious day that is for:
“…We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52).
Paul wrote about it to the Thessalonians:
“…The Lord himself [that’s Jesus] shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18).
That moment is nearer now than ever before.
After the church goes up to be with the Lord: seven years of tribulation begin, the Temple is rebuilt, the sacrificial system begins again, the antichrist comes to power, the Jews see that they were tricked by this antichrist, the last half of those seven years become a time of Great Tribulation, and the culminating event is Armageddon.
The Lord is coming for His Bride. A fruitful Bride. Daughters that are bearing fruit and spreading out across the world.
A glorious church, a holy bride:
“Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones” (Ephesians 5:24-30).
Colossians 2:16-17, “(16) Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: (17) Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.”
Jesus Christ is in the Old Testament concealed and in the New Testament Revealed.
Joseph is an Old Testament type and shadow of Jesus Christ. In fact, there are at least 75 instances where Joseph’s life parallels that of Jesus Christ:[1]
- Miraculous birth: Jacob was 90 years old, Rachel was barren – Mary was a virgin
- Both spoke truth in exposing sinful behavior of others knowing he would be hated and ostracized
- Both were shepherds
- Both were beloved sons of their fathers
- Both were hated by their brothers without a cause
- Both prophesied and foretold the future
- Both were betrayed for silver and stripped of their clothes
- Both became servants
- Both were tempted but did not sin – no sin of Joseph is recorded, and Jesus was truly sinless
- Both were falsely accused
- They both suffered for others’ sins and false accusations
- Both sentenced with 2 criminals: 1 saved and 1 lost
- Both wept for the wicked
- Both forgave those who wronged them
- Both became saviors: Joseph to his family, and Jesus to the whole world
- Substitutionary atonement: Innocent Joseph/Christ suffered for guilty brethren
- Evil turned into blessing
- Comforted those who betrayed him. Disciples were comforted after abandoning Jesus at the cross
- Both married a Gentile bride
- …and the lost goes one…[2]
Back to our text: Genesis 49:22-26
(22) Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:
- Bough (bau) = “a son (as a builder of the family name)”[3]
- “…I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named…” (Eph. 3:14-15).
- Branches = “a daughter”[4]
- The branches are the Jewish and Gentile bride that make up the Church.
- Ephesians 2:11-17, “Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; (12) That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: (13) But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. (14) For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; (15) Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; (16) And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: (17) And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
- Branches run over the wall:
- The wall is the world
- The Church will cover the whole world
(23) The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:
(24) But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)
- Jesus Christ was persecuted, hated, and killed, but the Hand of God raised Him from the dead and He is our:
- Shepherd
- 1 Peter 2:25, “For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.”
- Stone
- Ephesians 2:19-22, “(19) Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; (20) And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; (21) In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: (22) In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
- Shepherd
(25) Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:
- Our God is an all sufficient God
- JEHOVAH ROHI – THE LORD MY SHEPHERD
- JEHOVAH JIREH – THE LORD MY PROVIDER (He sees and provides)
- JEHOVAH RAPHA – THE LORD MY HEALER
- JEHOVAH SHALOM – THE LORD MY PEACE
- JEHOVAH NISSI – THE LORD MY BANNER
- JEHOVAH TSIDKENU – THE LORD MY RIGHTEOUSNESS
- JEHOVAH SHAMMAH – THE LORD IS THERE FOR ME (He is present)[5]
(26) The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.
- The Blessing of God, the promise of God is on you, your children, your children’s children…
- The kingdom of God is an ever growing and enlarging body that will one day fill the whole earth
- 40 million apostolics world-wide, according to Dr. Talmadge French.
You have no need to fear.
You are part of The Fruitful Bough
Jesus Christ is The Fruitful Bough
He is the root and the offspring of David
He is the bright and morning star
The Fruitful Bough is by a well…a water source
Psalm 1 – “Blessed is the man…like a tree planted by the rivers of water…”
You can draw joy out of the well salvation – the Lord Jesus Christ
[1] SOURCE: https://www.bible.ca/d-bible-archeology-maps-timeline-chronology-Joseph-types-Christ-Shadows-Antitypes-similarities-comparisons-2166-1876BC.htm#full
[2] Ibid.
[3] Strong’s. H1121.
[4] Strong’s. H1323.
[5] SOIURCE: https://glennarekion.org/article/7-redemptive-names-god
Categories
A Bottle In the Smoke
Text: Psalms 119:83
(83) For I am become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I not forget thy statutes.
Job 32:19-20
(19) Behold, my belly is as wine which hath no vent; it is ready to burst like new bottles.
(20) I will speak, that I may be refreshed: I will open my lips and answer.
Bottles in that day were made of sheep or goat skins.
Jesus told us that you don’t put new wine into old wineskins.
So, they would put the new wine in the fresh new skins to ferment the wine on the inside.
Many homes in that day didn’t have chimneys and so the smoke would fill the air above their heads
The bottle was hung high and there the soot from the smoke and fire would cover it…even begin to dry out the skin and make it tough at times.
In addition, the smoke mellowed the wine.
As the wine fermented on the inside it would stretch the bottle of skin.
It the skin dried too quickly the bottle would burst and its contents would be spilled.
So, every so often, the bottle would be opened to allow the gases created by the chemical reaction of the fermentation process to escape and make room for the wine to continue to ferment.
Additionally, some of the wine inside would be spilled and rubbed onto the outside of the drying skin to keep it flexible enough to stretch appropriately.[1]
You have faced a similar situation and some of what God is bringing to perfection inside of you needs to be relieved and allowed to vent and spill out onto the outside.
Daily pressures and spiritual warfare can sometimes ferment inside you to the point where you are about to burst because you are becoming hardened like an old eastern wine bottle and need to be renewed in the power of the Holy Ghost.
It is a process, the psalmist wrote, “I am become like a bottle in the smoke.”
Your growth and maturity in God doesn’t just happen. Knowing Him isn’t a passive thing.
You must remain pliable and workable in the Hand of the wine skin master. Let Him renew you and allow the healing touch of the Spirit to soften your rough places.
It takes both the inner and outer experiences, the internal and external pressures of life, to perfect you. Otherwise, you will crack and break under stress, heat, and pressure.
It takes what is on the inside being released and rubbed onto the outside that brings balance and enables you to mature.
The new wine that is inside must also be allowed to saturate the outside in order for you to be perfected
I’ve come to tell you that God is not just in the fire…He is also in the smoke.
“He [Jesus] shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.”
Exodus 19:18, “And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.”
Fire represents the power of God.
Smoke represents the glory of God.
Revelation 15:8, “And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.”
Isaiah 4:5, “And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence.
Isaiah 6:4, “And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.”
It is the weight of Gory that I now address:
The sufferings, the pressures, the trials, the turbulent battle in your spirit, soul and body,
The attempt of satan – your adversary the devil – to try to get you to burst and explode and come to ruin because you have allowed present circumstances to DISTRACT you from eternal reward.
“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:17-18).
Philippians 3:10, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings…”
Power of His resurrection = Holy Ghost fire
Fellowship of His sufferings (plural) = The glory of God.
Why plural? “…In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (Jn. 16:33).
You may feel like David of old today. His was a pressure cooker of life’s troubles, but he knew how to get relief.
He would enter the presence of the Lord in praise and worship.
He would sing a song, pray a prayer, write a psalm, and then the sweet balm of the Lord’s Spirit would come to him.
That was why he could cry out with such passion:
“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit” (Psalms 51:10-12)
Saint of God, if you need that relief tonight then you simply need to be renewed in the Holy Ghost:
- Acts 3:19, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;”
- Let’s all repent together.
- Ephesians 4:23, “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;”
Perhaps you are here tonight and you want that Holy Ghost. You have repented and are now a new wine skin ready to be filled and made …A Bottle In the Smoke:
- Close your eyes and think about Jesus and how much He loves you. Right now all that matters is talking to Jesus. This is time just for Jesus. Just think about Him and begin to talk to Him like you would talk to your best friend. Use simple words that tell Him how much you love Him.
- Pray out loud, because Jesus likes to hear your voice.
- Now, lift your hands and reach to Jesus. Show Him you want Him to fill your heart by raising your hands to Him and showing Him you are open to Him.
- Keep talking to Jesus and telling Him what you want. If you want the Holy Ghost, ask Him for it. It’s like asking someone for a gift. Jesus wants to give you His gift.
- Talk to Jesus in your outside voice. As you talk to Him, you may feel something very special start to happen. You may begin to feel like you are saying words you can’t understand. That is OK, because those words are Jesus talking with your voice. Just let those words pour out of your mouth as you let Jesus come live in your heart.
[1] SOURCE (paraphrased Dr. Fred Childs. http://www.wordshare.us/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=35157. Accessed: 1-13-10
Categories
God’s Extraction Plan
Jesus has an initial extraction plan to “seek and to save that which was lost,” and then to extract those He initially extracted (called out) from the sinful world to rise up and be with Him in Heaven.
Text: Acts 2:46-47
(46) And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
(47) Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
The word “Church” (ekklesia) means “a calling out.”
The Church then is an assembly of people who have been called out of the sinful world.
We have in this assembly tonight men and women who were responded to the call of Jesus and were extracted and brought into a place of safety – the Church.
80 times “Church” is mentioned in the New Testament
The Church is universal – international. In fact, the last 7 times “Church” is mentioned in the New Testament Jesus is speaking to multiple churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea (Rev. 2-3).
Then we read this passage from John in Revelation 4:1, “After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.”
“Come up hither” is when the church is called out the second time to be with Jesus in Heaven.
Called out to be called up!
1 Corinthians 15:50-58
(50) Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
(51) Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
(52) In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
(53) For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
(54) So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
(55) O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
(56) The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
(57) But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
(58) Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
Called out and called up!
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
(13) But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
(14) For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
(15) For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
(16) For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
(17) Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
(18) Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Called out of the sinful world
Jude 1:21-23, “(21) Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. (22) And of some have compassion, making a difference: (23) And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.”
- Some have questions and need to be convinced by the Spirit and the Word.
- Others we snatch from Hell’s flames as God delivers them from sin.
- There are those to whom we show compassion and in a less aggressive manner we see them call out to God and they are saved from Hell as well.
- You don’t have to be stained by sin to love a sinner to Jesus.
- Just be intentional in God’s Extraction Plan.
God is intentional in His daily work to save people: “And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”
- Intentionality of daily life – don’t become a robot
- Hebrews 12:1-2, “(1) Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, (2) Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
- 1 Jn. 3:8b, “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.”
- Out intentionality is necessary:
- Psalms 100:1-5, “(1) Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. (2) Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. (3) Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. (4) Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. (5) For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.
- Isaiah 12:2-3, “(2) Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. (3) Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.
God’s Extraction Plan involves ALL of member of the CHURCH working together:
Kelly Doss:
- Homeless man in need of a place to sleep last night.
- Ebony let him stay with her.
- Anita picked up Ebony and Kelly this morning for Sunday School.
- He wept in the car saying he needed a change and family.
- Anita told him, “We (ALC) can be your family.”
- Bro. Robbins read a verse about being free. Kelly related to it because of his own run-ins with the law.
- Bro. Daniel sang a song about being free.
- Before she went to teach her class she told him, “Jesus wants to do something for you today. Be willing to lean into that.”
- He came to the front and Gary Keesee prayed with him as he repented.
- Gary then went to his pew and talked with him about baptism, then took him to the baptistery.
- Bishop Harper prayed over Kelly.
- I baptized Kelly in the name of the Jesus Christ.
- Kelly came out of the water speaking in tongues as he was filled with the Holy Ghost.
- Everyone had a separate but necessary part to play in God’s Extraction Plan.
Are you ready?
Luke 12:40, “Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.”
John 14:18, “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.”
Matthew 11:28, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Categories
A Complete Work
John 5:2-9, 14
2 Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. 3 In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. 4 For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. 5 And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? 7 The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. 8 Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. 9 And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath….14 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.
Notice:
- Impotent = to be weak, feeble, to be without strength, powerless, to be weak in means, needy, poor, sick.[1]
- The impotent folk waited for another to help them. They were looking for a Savior
- A certain man = we don’t know his name, whether he was married, what his infirmity was, or his age, only that he was in that infirm condition for 38 years.
- vs. 6, “Wilt thou be made whole?” = Other translations read:
- NASB, “Do you wish to get well?” – removes the importance of the word “whole”
- RSV/ESV, “Do you want to be healed?”
- NEB, “Do you want to recover?”
- The man’s restoration back to wholeness relied on his obedience to the command of the Lord.
- Whole = sound, of a man who is sound in body to make one whole (i.e. restore him to health), metaphorically: teaching which does not deviate from the truth.[2]
Consider the reality that many in our churches are:
- Religious, but not saved
- Churchy-fied, but not sanctified
- They holler, but are not holy
- Speak in tongues, but don’t allow the Holy Ghost to direct their lives
- Come to the altar, but don’t give their whole self to God
- Satisfied with less than purity, holiness, morality, complete transformation
Wilt thou be made whole?
Do you really want to be complete?
Are you really seeking God in every aspect of you life?
Have you truly tried to clean up all the deficits of your personality, nature, urges?
Have you really tried to present yourself to God as “a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Ro. 12:1)?
Are you really striving not to be “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” (Ro. 12:2)?
Do you really want to stop doing what’s ungodly?
Do you really want to please God and obey His Word?
Do you want to be made whole?
Philippians 1:3-7, “(3) I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, (4) Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, (5) For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; (6) Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: (7) Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.”
God is here to do A Complete Work in you…
[1] Thayer and Smith. Greek Lexicon entry for Astheneo. The KJV New Testament Greek Lexicon.
[2] Thayer and Smith. Greek Lexicon entry for Hugies. The KJV New Testament Greek Lexicon.
Text: Hebrews 12:28-29, “(28) Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: (29) For our God is a consuming fire.”
Ancillary: 2 Timothy 1:6-7, “(6) Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. (7) For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
November 11, 1861: The burning of Guyandotte[1]
The Civil War hit home in the Cabell County town of Guyandotte on November 11, 1861. Union troops burned the town in retaliation over a raid pulled off the day before by Confederate cavalry.
Joe Geiger, who has written a book about the Civil War in Cabell County, says Guyandotte’s fate was the result of suspected collaboration with the Confederate raiders and the town’s secessionist reputation.
Geiger said, It’s not really clear exactly how many buildings were burnt. But practically the entire business section was burned and a number of houses as well.
It’s interesting to note Confederate sympathizers’ houses were not the only ones targeted. Many houses belonging to people of Union sympathies were burned as well.
In the fall of 1861, Guyandotte served as a hostile host to a Union recruit camp. The recruits weren’t able to put up much of a fight against the raiders. They were taken prisoner and forced to march to New Bern, Virginia.
According to Geiger, some of the animosity came about because of the march of the prisoners. It began at a full run. They were tied two-by-two with rope and were herded out of town. Apparently, quite a few of the Guyandotte secessionist women were dressed up with their aprons and were yelling at the prisoners and such. The march was very torturous…
The Wheeling Intelligencer newspaper called Guyandotte the “ornaryest place on the Ohio River” and said it ought to have been burned earlier.
That event is called
“The Burning of Guyandotte.”
I’m praying that another fresh fire will begin to burn in Guyandotte tonight and its flames will burn through the Tri-State.
One hundred years ago, In 1924, a Pioneer of the Pentecostal Movement, Lill Horton had a dream. She was in a Church full of stoves, but she was shivering with cold. So, she sought for an interpretation and this was what she received:
“There’s plenty of people (stoves) who need to have the fire of God kindled in them, but they do not have the Holy Ghost to kindle the fire. You need to go where the Holy Ghost fire is burning.”[2]
You are in a Church tonight where God’s fire and shekinah falls and fills the stoves of all who will willingly reach out to Him in faith, call out in repentance and praise Him with their whole heart.
Others in this room tonight have received the Holy Spirit of God, but you’ve allowed the flame to become a barely glowing ember.
You need to hear, heed, listen and obey Paul’s words to Timothy:
“(6) Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. (7) For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:6-7).
It is absolutely necessary that you stir the embers and bring forth a fresh fire tonight.
For 100 years there has been a fire in Guyandotte.
It started in Guyandotte and that same Holy Ghost fire is here tonight.
This campus in located at 350 Staunton Street in the Guyndotte section of Huntington…
But this fire I’m preaching isn’t confined to any street of section.
“Our God Is A Consuming Fire”
The fire of the Holy Ghost crosses rivers and bridges
Social divisions, economic disparities, prejudicial thinking, generational gaps
The Holy Ghost fire I am talking about is a cord of flame uniting every Spirit-filled believer together in their faith and experience:
“For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:12-13).
Our God is a consuming fire!
Look at our text: Hebrews 12:28-29, “(28) Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: (29) For our God is a consuming fire.”
This kingdom that began on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 (And when the day of Pentecost was fully come), placed in those 120 Holy Ghost divine power:
“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
This kingdom cannot be moved.
It is built and established on a Rock – The Lord Jesus Christ – and the gates of Hell cannot prevail against it.
A consuming fire?
God in Christ is a consuming fire. Our Lord Jesus is “full of grace and mercy, yet He will appear in great wrath to His enemies, who will not let Him reign over them.”[3]
There is a payday someday.
So, we worship Him with reverence – a humility recognizing our unworthiness, and Godly fear – a desire from our most tender area of faith and affection not to offend God.[4]
Why? Although we see Him in this present church age as a God of mild majesty, He still possesses the tremendous power He displayed at mount Sinai, and one day, maybe tonight, He will break forth as a consuming fire against all those who violate His law and despise his gospel.[5]
I used the fire pit last night while cleaning out my garage,
The fire was hot, bright and even singed hair on the back of my hand.
The smoke got all over my clothes, my skin, hair, and even nostrils were full of the smoke…the lasting residue of the fire.
Paul told us what lasting effect the Gift, the fire, of the Holy Ghost has on us:
Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:6-7).
- No Fear – no timidity, no cowardice, but boldness
- Power – a holy courage, dunamis, miraculous power, strength,
- “Power to encounter foes and dangers; power to bear up under trials; power to triumph in persecutions.”[6]
- Love – God & Man
- “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18).
- Sound Mind – To think clearly. Discretion. The Mind of Christ.
- Philippians 2:1-11, (1) If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, (2) Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. (3) Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. (4) Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. (5) Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: (6) Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: (7) But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: (8) And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (9) Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: (10) That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; (11) And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
[1] http://archive.wvculture.org/hiStory/timetrl/ttnov.html#1111. Accessed: 1/28/2024.
[2] Mary H. Wallace. (1981) Pioneer Pentecostal Women (Vol. I). Word Aflame Press. 119-120.
[3] Hebrews 12:29. John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Albert Barnes.
The Pillar and Ground of Truth 