The hope of divine glory

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Ephesians 1:17-20 "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places."

When Jesus starts to work in our sinful human nature with His Spirit, we shall first be born again of God and will experience a divine relationship with Him. Then the first spark of life will be ignited in our sinful nature. Thereafter He will baptize us in His Spirit. Generally we then will speak "in tongues" when He has made His abode in us. Scripture also teaches that He first will come and live in our body.
1 Corinthians 6:19 "What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?"
But man does not only exist of a body; he especially is soul and spirit. Thus, God's Spirit must be able to take possession of our inward man, and this is a sanctification process.

1. The first Work of the indwelling Spirit
Now the point is that we should put our old nature continually and willingly in the baptism of fire of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, that our old nature may die at His hand, and the new nature of Christ may grow freely to maturity. This is the first work of the indwelling Spirit of Jesus Christ.
Matthew 3:11-12 "I (John the Baptist) indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
This divine fire must purify the threshing floor of our heart of all sin, of al the old, sinful life, of all the chaff (the old man), that the pure grain of the new life remain. This is the first work, that the Spirit of God will do after the experience of the baptism in the Spirit, if we submit willingly to Him; we must want, desire, this.
Romans 6:3 "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?" (this applies to the baptism in water as well as the baptism in the Spirit)
John 16:8 "And when he (the Holy Spirit) is come, he will reprove the world (the worldly mentality, also that of the convert) of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgement."
This chastening (purification) work of the Spirit must result in our absolute sanctification (see the sixth work of the indwelling Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ).

2. The second Work of the indwelling Spirit
He not only wants to cleanse us of sin, He also wants to strengthen us against satan's[1] further attacks and temptations.
Ephesians 3:16 "That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man."
Isaiah 9:5 calls Him "Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God."

3. The third Work of the indwelling Spirit
He also wants to give you new divine life.
Titus 3:4-7 "But after that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life."
Galatians 5:22 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith."
Ephesians 3:17-19 "That Christ (the New Life) may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God."
This New Life must grow (as all that lives grows) to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13). (See the fifth work of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.)

4. The fourth Work of the indwelling Spirit
He also wants to share with us His anointing, that we might help Him with the proclaiming of the Gospel to the salvation of others.
Acts 1:8 "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 Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."
Then He shall give the ones He called ministries and gifts to the edification of His Church, that they might help Him therewith, as He Himself will build His Church. These gifts and ministries must increase and result in the perfect ministry. In Scripture this is taught in the increase of the talents (Matthew 25:20-23).

5. The fifth Work of the indwelling Spirit
The Spirit will further make His faithful perfect here on earth already.
Colossians 1:27-29 "To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: Whereunto I also labor, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily."

6. The sixth Work of the indwelling Spirit
He shall also sanctify His faithful disciples here on earth that they could sin never again, although living in the midst of a sinful and angry generation.
1 Thess. 5:23 "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the presence (literal translation) of our Lord Jesus Christ."
1 John 3:9 "Whosoever is born (and bred) of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born (and bred) of God."

7. The seventh Work of the indwelling Spirit
Further the Spirit of Jesus Christ shall glorify His faithful disciples here on earth already; He will clothe them both inwardly and outwardly with the glory of the Bride.
Revelation 12:1 "And there appeared a great wonder in heaven (i.e. the kingdom of heaven, namely the Bride[church] here on earth); a woman (i.e. the wife of the Lamb) clothed with the sun (type of the Father), and the moon (type of the blood covenant of the Son) under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars (type of the Holy Spirit)."
Romans 8:30 "Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified."
Isaiah 60:1-3 "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising."

8. The eighth Work of the indwelling Spirit
The Spirit of Jesus Christ must also grow in us until we are completely submerged in Him (1 Corinthians 12:13).
Ezekiel 47:1-5 "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. 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. 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. 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. 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."

9. The ninth Work of the indwelling Spirit
He is given to us by the Father as an eternal indwelling Friend, Counselor, and Lord.
John 14:16 "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever."
Isaiah 9:5 calls Him "Wonderful, Counselor, everlasting Father".

By E. van den Worm

[1] We write the word satan not with a capital, as it is not a name, but a word meaning opponent or adversary, accuser.

The hope of divine glory

LUKE (Chapter 9) - Like a divine shewbread in this world (Part 1)

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This part teaches us to keep God’s Word of protective grace on the table of our purified and sanctified heart!
In the previous chapter we had a close look at the servant, namely the priest of the Lord, being a glowing candlestick in this dark world to bring to others the light of God's truth unto their salvation; now we will see that the life of the priests, God's children, themselves are as many wondrous signs in this world by their relationship with Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life. Their life, in the light of the Israeli Tabernacle, should be like a "shewbread". In the Holy Place of the Israeli Tabernacle stood "the table with twelve shewbread". Know, that 12 is the symbolic number of the Church, which should be the revealed fruit (or: the result) of the Holy Spirit. A "life like a shewbread" therefore means: a life, where in the glory of God is revealed. Chapters 9 and 10 must now be seen in the light of the twelve shewbread.

The prayer life, the true gauge of our spiritual hunger.
Beloved, we cannot be a shewbread in the world by our own strength. We must give Him access into our heart. And He will only come into our heart and being when we truly long for Him, and seek Him with all our heart... (Jeremiah 29:13). There also must be found a willingness in our heart to obey Him; a subjection of our whole being, whereby He can make us obedient. These are the conditions for being able to be baptized with His Holy Spirit. Only the wish to be baptized, without the act of seeking Him in prayer, which is characterized by a total surrender, in this case will not help you much further. Not for nothing it is written: "Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain..." (Zechariah 10:1a). The true gauge of your longing for the Lord is your prayer life. How much time do you spend daily on the seeking and admitting of Jesus? How much time do you spend on seeking contact (communion) with Him? You should add up the times of struggling, seeking prayer until you found contact (communion) with that great Shepherd (i.e. Jesus); until you actually reached the spiritual Rock (i.e. Jesus), on which you, together with Jesus, could build your spiritual house (Matthew 7:24); you will then discover how much you truly long for Jesus; in what measure you truly want to be used by Him.
I know, you all long for (more of) Him, but you are prevented by all kinds of things, and these things are as many fruits of the increasing iniquities, such as: watching TV too much, and looking at the wrong TV programs; reading novels or gossip magazines; maybe even lust-arousing (pornographic) literature; the desire for more (or more beautiful) material possessions, whereby and wherefore you have to work overtime. You see, the things which keep us away from Jesus, and from prayer, can be of different sorts! The devil will do his utmost to keep you from praying; because nowadays he is weakening the prayer-life by tempting you with all kinds of worldly things, just as he made that fruit in paradise desirable to Eve. He will take away that "continual sacrifice" – namely the continual dedicated prayer based on His finished work on Calvary (Daniel 12:11; 2 Corinthians 4:10-11)! Because of the sin of this prayerless or prayer-poor life (1 Samuel 12:23) we could never have communion with Him, and because of this we could never come to the status of "shewbread" in this life.

We must become wondrous signs in this world by communion with Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life.
Luke 9 verse 1-6: "Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick. And he said unto them, Take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip (travel bag), neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece. And whatsoever house ye enter into, there abide, and thence depart. And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them. And they de-parted, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where."
He called the twelve disciples unto Himself – namely the apostles sent (out) by Him; but here these apostles represent all the laborers of Jesus, high and low. Before sending them away He first gave them a portion of spiritual power over all demons and sicknesses (Luke 10:19). Here, they had not yet received the baptism with the Spirit, but they acted in the power of God which, as it were, was transferred unto them. The laborers of the Lord, from the time after the first Pentecost outpouring (see Acts 2:1-4), must act in His Name, under the guidance of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Essentially it remains the same: a child of God, by his communion with the Bread of Life, is put in this world as a wondrous sign! And it is only by this communion, and solely under His express guidance that he can fulfill the great mission, which is written in Mark 16:15-18, because the Spirit of God alone is the Binder and Looser of sins and powers of darkness! "And I will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Matthew 16:19). Compare this with Matthew 18:18. So all satanic powers and forces had to fall back before the apostles, and so all powers and forces of the (spiritual) darkness will still make way before each child of God, that is willed with the almighty Spirit, as long as he only does what the Spirit commands him to do. Do you then under-stand that the words of such a child of God are binding and loosing; that the preaching of such a person is binding and loosing; that such a ministry is binding and loosing? For the Spirit of God Himself is then active in and through His servant!
How wondrous such labor in the Spirit is, when the life of God's servant has been completely crucified, and the Lord does not find any resistance anymore. In the end-time God will bring part of His Church to such a position. This then will be God's Bride(church), namely that part of the Church which was willing to follow Him... in such a Bride-church; and, spiritually seen, they will be indeed "without spot or wrinkle"!
Verse 3 says: "Take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip (travel bag), neither bread, neither money..." Nothing was to be taken that could support them (could help them). They were to completely depend on the omnipotence of God; there had to be faith which leaned completely on the almighty Sender. Verse 4 says: "And whatsoever house ye enter into there abide..." When someone of a town, wherein is preached, has accepted the Word, and offered the preacher lodging, and thus hospitality, then that preacher should not move to someone else's house, because e.g. that house might be more comfortable; for so the love of the first one is rejected. And such behavior would not go with the Spirit of the Sender, and is unworthy of a laborer of the Lord! Verse 5 urges even to "...shake off the very dust from their feet..." of the towns that are not willing to receive God's laborers. There is not to be any relationship between God's laborers and those who reject His Word.

Luke 9 verse 10-11: "And the apostles, when they were returned, told him all that they had done. And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. And the people, when they knew it, followed him: and he received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing."
The corresponding verses in the other Gospels tell us, that the apostles had returned to the Lord with great joy, on account of the miracles they were able to perform during their mission, because the Spirit of God was being revealed.
The Lord then took them to an area near Bethsaida, and He departed alone to a desert place. This way He wanted to teach His disciples, that after that release of divine power, dedicated, humble prayer was needed... for the restoration of a person's spiritual inner being. When a servant of God was allowed to act so wonderfully in His Name, it is a good thing when that servant, after such a powerful service, retires in the shadow of the cross; the place he belongs to, together with all other believers whom Jesus has won out of the world (Luke 17:10).
There once was a preacher who was wonderfully used by the Lord. He was used so wonderfully, that he... sometimes had problems with his ego. He testified, that, after having been used so wonderfully, he needed many hours in prayer in order to arrive again at that humble subjection to God, wherein the Lord could use him.
Of ourselves we all are unprofitable servants (Luke 17:10), because all activity should be guided by Him alone. He is the only Builder of the New Jerusalem (Matthew 16:18; Psalm 127:1-2)! He is the only One, Who could form Christians into real and (spiritually) mature children of God. He is the only One, Who could make His children into perfect saints of God! After such a servant of God has retreated with Him, there will be new labor in Him again for him Therefore we read, that the people returned to Him afterwards. The Gospel was brought to them, and He again healed the sick. Labor and prayer should always alternate. If there is much work, then many prayers should go before, and many prayers should follow! The spiritual "battery" must be recharged again and again.

CLICK HERE if you want to read this study (Chapter 9) – that is to long for the Blog.

By E. van den Worm