All credit for this goes to Laura Lee Dykstra this is written by her. A part of the book The Lost Story. GraceExplosion The purity of glory that we experience as Christians on earth is determined by the purity of our own hearts in relation to God. Full purity is full glory. Full glory is transfiguration glory. Full purity of heart corresponds to full revelation of Jesus by the Holy Spirit in our hearts. It is beautiful, lovely, and beyond all compare. There is nothing is more greatly to be desired as a Treasure than the full glory of the Divine Love and Glory in the full purity of the Heart of Jesus. There is nothing worthy to be compared to the Treasure of the transfiguration glory. Transfiguration glory is the Heart of Jesus fully experienced in our own hearts in the Perfection of His Divine Love and Glory. The weight and the measure of this glory is perfect, whole, complete, and entire. Glory is referred to in scripture as wine spiritually. The “best wine saved for last” is, of course, the transfiguration glory of full glory. The “best wine saved for last” is all the Heart of Jesus poured out unto our hearts and experienced in our hearts in His Perfect Divine Love and Glory. It is the wedding wine of transfiguration. It is the best wine saved for last. It is humanly impossible to attain unto the wedding wine of transfiguration. But, with God all things are possible. In this case, it is manifest destiny that the Church of Philadelphia shall drink of the wedding wine. The Church of Philadelphia shall be filled with the righteousness of the Kingdom. The Church of Philadelphia will attain perfection in entire sanctification by the best wine saved for last in transfiguration glory. The water of the washing of the Word shall be turned into the full wedding wine of the full glory of entire sanctification in transfiguration glory. Transfiguration relates to being kept from the hour of temptation that is coming across the whole earth. Jesus speaks of this in Revelation 3 sending messages through John to the “aggelos” of each of seven churches. THE ROOT OF PRIDE IN THE LAODICEAN CHURCH If you read about the message Jesus sends to the aggelos of the Laodicean Church, He says that the Laodicean Church believes they have it all, have become all there is, and have need of nothing. Revelation 3:14-19 “And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. 22 I would like to discuss the spirit of pride in the Laodicean Church as we examine root issues of resistance to being changed and transformed into the image of Christ from within; root issues of resistance to experiencing revival, renewal, and restoration as a body of believers. Experiential theology says, “We have it all. This is it”. Institutional and cultural Christianity says, “We have arrived. This is the model.” The body such as this says, “We are it. This is God.” A body such as this punishes those who fail to conform and says, “You must conform. This is right. We are right.” So, these voices coalesce to say, “We have it all. This is it. We have arrived. This is the model. We are it. This is God. You must conform. This is right. We are right.” It is the Laodicean Church. Experiential theology does not accept the testimony of the Word of God as the standard of faith. Experiential theology says, “I have come this far. This is it. There is nothing that is of God outside the realm of my personal experience and knowledge. This is it. Anything outside my current personal experience and knowledge is wrong and is of the devil.” This experiential theology sometimes castigates the power of the Holy Spirit, His power gifts, and the offices God has given as gifts to the body of Christ. For example, when a person in experiential theology does not have the power gifts of the Spirit, they say, “I have come this far. This is it. There is nothing that is of God outside the realm of my personal experience and knowledge. This is it. All things outside my current personal experience and knowledge, like the gifts of the Spirit, are wrong and are of the devil.” If Christians can be aware of this, they can see the root of pride and self as the reason for the formation of theology that has the form of godliness but denies the power thereof. Some people less want to grow in the Spirit of God. They less want to pursue God to seek God’s face. They more want to make themselves in their own personal level of spiritual growth and knowledge of the Word of God “the limit”. They want to make themselves and their own level “the limit” so they can say, “We have it all. This is it.” In this way, they make themselves the “greatest”, or the “rulers”, in the church by force of human will in the flesh. It’s an attitude of pride of life. Once institutional and cultural pride sets in, after people have closed off the Word of God to make their own opinions based on their own knowledge and experience their immovable standard, then they are ready to replace God with themselves as the body. Pride is so great, they cannot see how far short they fall in the flesh. It is much like the brothers of David. They did not want to go out to face Goliath and fight him. They wanted to stay safely in the camp. Yet, they wanted to be the greatest. So when David came and said that he would go to fight Goliath, not one of them said, “No, you will not fight Goliath… I will!” Not one of them rose up to the challenge themselves. Yet, they attacked David for saying he would go forth to fight Goliath. Why? Because they were not willing to engage in the warfare and do the works of faith that made for 23 becoming a champion in the reality. Yet, they wanted the title of the greatest as they stayed inside the camp. That is the Laodicean Church. They are not willing to take on the devil in spiritual warfare. They are not willing to move to manifest the true supernatural victory that we have in Christ. They are not willing to go to the front line. They want to stay in the camp. Yet, they want to be the greatest. So, what they do is cut down with their own words and attitudes those who are willing to face and fight Goliath. They don’t want to leave the camp. They don’t want to put their lives on the line. They don’t want to pay the price of going to the frontline to take on the enemy. But they want the crown. They don’t want to do what it takes to be given the crown. They want to stay in the camp. But they still want to act like they are better than those who will take it straight to the devil in the name of Jesus and cut off his head to bring him crashing under the feet of the victors in Jesus’ name. So, they do what David’s brothers do. They cut down those who are going to the frontline. They try to “change the definitions” of “who gets the crown”. They change the definitions because they are not willing to put their lives on the line to pay the price of going to the frontline to take on the enemy. We must lose our lives in this world to gain our lives in the Kingdom. We must “crossover” into Zion in experience of entire sanctification. This victory is gained by spiritual warfare in full dominion over Satan. This victory is manifested in full revelation of Jesus through the eternal whole counsel plan of God and won in II Chronicles 7:14 prayer, as I see it. Those who “wait for the rapture” and do not go forth into the supernatural are as the Laodicean Church. They are as David’s brothers staying in the camp rather than going forth to fight Goliath. There is a point in time in which the end-time move of the Spirit rises. The Church of Philadelphia moves to unite and mature together as one. It takes the supernatural level to go to the frontline to take on the devil in the name of Jesus. The institutional and cultural level has no power in it in spiritual warfare against Satan. Only the supernatural level by grace through faith in the name of Jesus and by the power of His blood has power in spiritual warfare against Satan. It takes the supernatural level in spiritual warfare in Kingdom power and authority to manifest the victory we have in Jesus Christ over Satan. Those who don’t want to “go supernatural” want to stay in the camp. They want to puff themselves up in pride behaving as if “they have arrived” because they are in the camp. They want to mock, deride, scorn, ridicule, and defame those who receive God’s anointing and call to leave the camp of the institutional and cultural level. They belittle those who go to the supernatural level to take on the devil and cut off his head in the name of Jesus by the power of His blood. Those who leave the camp and run to the battle in Jesus’ name and by the power of His blood bring Satan under the soles of their feet as more than conquerors. The Laodicean Church is like unto the brothers of David. They don’t “have it” at the supernatural level of the Kingdom and they are not “trying to get it”. They simply want to be the greatest in the flesh without paying the price. So, they lie to themselves and others through pride to say they have it when they do not. 24 They simply change the standard of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ from spiritual to institutional and cultural and say falsely “We have it all. This is it. We have arrived. This is the model. We are it. This is God. You must conform. This is right. We are right.” They want to be the greatest without putting their lives on the line. They want to be the greatest without stepping into the supernatural level in Christ through true death to self that is serious about the reality of God as Spirit and His Kingdom as a supernatural Kingdom. The Church of Philadelphia is the end-time church that rises in the Spirit of God in Christ Jesus our Lord to throw off the institutional and cultural garments. The Church of Philadelphia puts on the armor of light in supernatural garments. The Church of Philadelphia goes outside the camp to fight Satan to take from him all that he has that is theirs given them by God. The Church of Philadelphia has an anointing like the anointing of David. They are given the key of David. They fight and war against Satan. They cut off Satan’s head. They render all his power and authority over them in the flesh null and void by the power of Jesus, His name, and His blood. They cut off his head, and they bring Satan under their feet on the soil of Zion. They take the city! They enter through the door! They gain the crown! Like David gained the crown of Zion, the Church of Philadelphia gains the crown of Zion. These are kings and priests who will rule and reign with Jesus Christ. These are men and women after God’s own heart. They go supernatural… fully… and they fully manifest the Kingdom of Heaven on earth as in Heaven. Like David’s brothers, those of the Church of Laodicea want to stay in the camp and mock, deride, scorn, ridicule, and defame the saints of the Church of Philadelphia. The Church of Philadelphia, in the end-time move of the Spirit, is a church after God’s own heart. They are ready, willing, and able in Christ to leave the camp, go supernatural, and take on Satan the enemy to take Zion - the City of David. The saints of the Church of Philadelphia are champions, kings and priests of God in Christ, and men and women supernaturally of war. The Church of Laodicea plays church. The Church of Philadelphia declares supernatural war on Satan in the name of Jesus by the power of His blood. The Church of Philadelphia moves in the Spirit of God to destroy the devil and his evil works on the soil of Zion. God gives them the key of David. They enter the City. They take the City. Heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force. They enter through the gate. They have the key to the gate of the City. This is a conquering army who will occupy til Jesus comes. This is a supernatural Church of men and women who like David are after God’s own heart. Their souls do not draw back. They press in to the Kingdom to the saving of their souls in entire sanctification unto transfiguration on earth as in Heaven. The Church of Philadelphia prepares the shout of victory and the voice of triumph. They are like David, and Jesus gives them the key of David. God is with them as He was with Israel in days of old. In the days of old of Israel, when the ark of the covenant was in the camp the manifest fire and glory of God in His Spirit was seen with them! 25 God will be with the Church of Philadelphia in the manifest presence and power of fire and glory of God in His Spirit that can be seen. God is with those who rise up in His name and declare supernatural war on His enemies determined to take the soil for the name and the glory of our God! It is one thing to celebrate in the Lord the grace we have received, victories in the Lord, and the advancement of the Kingdom in which we have been a part. It is another thing to take so much pride in our own selves in what we have, what we have built, and what we have accomplished, that we stop desiring more of the Kingdom than what we have already experienced and known. The Church of Laodicea does not desire more of the Kingdom. They desire… more of the same in the camp. They don’t like “upstarts” who “make them look bad” by leaving the camp to go supernatural in Jesus Christ our Lord in the Kingdom power an authority of God who is Spirit. They are so focused on themselves in pride, they are like David’s brothers. All David’s brothers could think was that David was an “upstart” trying to make them look bad. This, the Laodicean Church, is like the brothers of David who mocked, scorned, derided, ridiculed, and defamed David as David stated by faith to all who would listen that he would fight Goliath and slay Goliath in the name of his God. When you don’t want to go to war supernaturally against Satan, but instead you want to stay in the camp and play church in institutional and cultural Christianity, then you don’t get the crown of those who go to the frontline and destroy the enemy and his evil works on the soil of Zion. “The Lost Story” sets forth a scriptural case in a view of the eternal whole counsel plan of God. I understand that many Christians, whether they are true or false Christians, will not do a Berean search of the Word of God. The Word of God is not their standard to know what is true. Instead, they will measure “The Lost Story” against their own pre-existing opinions. They will measure “The Lost Story” against historical and present doctrinal positions whether they call themselves denominational or “non-denominational”1. Those in this spirit will immediately reject what I have to say in “The Lost Story”. They have replaced the Word of God with their own mere opinions about the Word of God. They have replaced the Word of God with their own experiential theology. They cannot differentiate between their opinions and the authority of the Word of God itself. They refuse to acknowledge that they see through the glass darkly. They do not yet “see it all” so they do not yet “have it all”, and they do not “know it all”. Yet, they behave as if they already “see it all”, “have it all”, and “know it all”. They do not have a burning desire to be given more so that they truly see, have, and know more. 1When a church is dogmatic in doctrinal positions beyond doctrines essential to salvation, they may be a “denomination of one church” but they are not, in my view, a “non-denominational” church. Dogmatism in doctrinal statements of faith beyond basic doctrines essential to salvation is what forms a denomination of one church or a collection of churches joined together as one denomination. A truly non-denominational church would agree in the basic truths of scripture essential to salvation and would give full liberty in all areas of truth non-essential to salvation. 26 They have already selected and drawn to themselves teachers that tickle their ears “confirming” what they think they know. But these teachers never really challenge them so that they realize there is much they do not know of the Kingdom. They will not endure sound doctrine. They will not make the Word of God itself the standard and authority against which all is measured. They are turned to fables. When a “half-truth” is exalted as if it is “all truth”, what results is a fable. It is a fable to say that “half-truth” is “all truth”. So, even if some Christians do know some truth, when they entrench themselves in a half-truth and build a camp around themselves where all they want to hear is half-truth… religion sets in. It happens in denominational churches. It happens in non-denominational churches. It happens in churches that call themselves Spirit-filled. It happens in the unchurched. It happens in the Church of Laodicea which can include all these people groups and fellowships. Jesus told us that the Holy Spirit would lead and guide us into all truth. We need a hunger and a thirst for more of God, His Kingdom, and His righteousness. We need a desire and a fire of the Holy Spirit ignited within us to be lead and guided into all truth so we may see the face of Jesus on earth as in Heaven. When I set forth “The Lost Story”, I am sharing my scriptural vision and view of the aim of perfection by scriptural means: revelation of Jesus in the Word of God by the Holy Spirit, vivification of that revelation by the Holy Spirit, and activation of the dunamis power of the Holy Spirit in the power gift of faith to minister entire sanctification unto transfiguration. These means are wholly, entirely, and completely supernatural. The definition of crazy is the depravity of sin in unbelief towards God. The definition of crazy is unbelief towards God. The definition of crazy is the carnal mind. The definition of crazy is not believing in God for things impossible to man but possible to God. The definition of crazy is doing things the same way expecting a different result. The definition of crazy is, therefore, doing things the old natural way and expecting a new fully supernatural result. The mean is the middle point between two extremes. It means average or “normal” when judged relatively by the mean. When “normal” becomes man as the mean, the measure is humanist and relative. Man himself becomes the measure of all things. If what is “normal” to “a Christian” is his personal level of growth… and not Jesus… that is not Christianity. That is humanism. If what is “normal” to “a church” is their own institution and culture… and not Jesus… that is not Christianity. That is humanism. The Church of Jesus Christ needs to beware men, an institution, or a culture becoming the “measure” rather than Jesus Christ Himself. When Christians start to view themselves, their institution, and/or their culture as “Christianity” – the shift is occurring in a slide onto the slippery slope of the Dark Ages. That is humanism. It is not Christianity. In Christianity, only Jesus Christ Himself is the Measure. Only Jesus Christ is the Standard. Jesus Christ is wholly, completely, and entirely Supernatural. Jesus Christ is God in Spirit and in Truth. 27 Christians and the church will fall into humanism when they begin to look upon themselves increasingly as the “measure” of “what Christianity is” and “what normal is”. Christians and the church will backslide into humanism when man and man institutionalized in institutions and culture are “the measure” or “the standard”. When the light and fire of God by His Spirit begins to go out, humanism rises. Christians who are slumbering and falling deeper and deeper into sleep more and more become humanist without realizing it. More and more, man replaces Jesus. More and more, man institutionalized in the institution of the church and institutionalized Christianity in a culture, replaces Jesus as the definition of “what Christianity is” – what “normal” is. More and more, man becomes the measure of all things. This is humanism. This is not Christianity. Institutional and cultural Christianity is not biblical Christianity. It becomes increasingly humanist as the light and the fire of God by His Spirit increasingly goes out. This is what happened in the Dark Ages. This is how institutional and cultural religion replaced the light and life of Jesus and the fire of the Holy Spirit. This is how institutional and cultural religion removed the Word of God revealing Jesus Christ as God as the only authority of the church to which men must conform to be inwardly transformed by the Spirit. When the Church of Jesus Christ becomes so institutional and so cultural, and thus so backsliden into humanism, that they reject the supernatural power of God by His own Spirit in Jesus’ name, and begin to call the supernatural “abnormal”… this is not biblical Christianity. This is humanism. Again, the mean is the middle point between two extremes. It means average or “normal” when judged relatively by the mean. When “normal” becomes man as the mean, the measure is humanist and relative. Man himself becomes the measure of all things. If what is “normal” to “a Christian” is his or her own personal level of growth… and not Jesus… that is not Christianity. That is humanism. If what is “normal” is “a church” in their own institution and culture… and not Jesus… that is not Christianity. That is humanism. The mean calls the supernatural in Jesus “abnormal”. The mean calls the supernatural saints, supernatural gifts, and the supernatural offices God has sent into the body “abnormal”. The church of Jesus Christ begins treating supernatural Christians who do not conform to the mean as the ducks treated the “ugly duckling” in that story. Hot is one extreme. Cold is another. The mean would be lukewarm in the middle of those two extremes. Jesus said that He would rather we were either hot or cold, but the lukewarm He will spew from His mouth. In other words, Jesus spews the mean from His mouth. Jesus wants us to be extreme. When you look at the “line” that Jesus was speaking about, at the extreme left is the cold. The extreme left cold represents people who have not been born again. At the 28 extreme right is the hot. The extreme right hot represent born-again supernatural Christians supernaturally conformed into the image of Christ. In the middle are the lukewarm… the religious… who are the mean. In Jesus Christ, when you go to the extreme right as far right as you can go, that is the range of the fully supernatural in Christ. That would be the range where Christians have attained the aim of perfection. They are in a state of entire sanctification by the Holy Spirit by fully supernatural means. They are transfigured shining in the manifested light of the full glory of Jesus that can be seen. First, we must fix our gaze upon Jesus Christ alone as the Standard and the Measure of Christianity. Then we must pray to begin to rise by the Holy Spirit’s power to the level of the Standard and the Measure of normal Christianity: Jesus Christ alone. We must be conformed and transformed into the image of Christ form within in power of the Holy Spirit. We must arise in the full measure of the full stature of Jesus Christ walking as Jesus walked. It is a question of whether Christians are willing to leave their comfort zones to go all the way with Jesus. It’s a question of whether, instead, they are going to declare anything to their right as “abnormal” as they make themselves at their current level “the norm” in “traditional Christianity”. Jesus warned the Pharisees against the vain traditions of men. Traditional Christianity is not Christianity. We ourselves, our institutions, our cultures, and our own traditions are not the norm of Christianity. Jesus is. Jesus Christ alone is the Standard and Measure of what real Christianity is. It is not scriptural to declare that we are “normal” as Christians and we are experiencing “normal Christianity” when we are still fallen short of the glory of God in our flesh and in the sanctification of our souls. Jesus Christ is the Standard. Jesus Christ is the Measure. It is no wonder that we have not gone further in God when our pride in who we are, what we have, and what we have accomplished is so much greater than our fire and desire to advance in the Kingdom of God. When our pride in ourselves in the pride of life in the flesh is so great that we shift the definition of what is “normal” to ourselves, our institutions, and our culture – our own traditions – and away from Jesus as we turn away from looking to Jesus Christ alone. When we look to Jesus Christ alone we see clearly that we are “abnormal”. We clearly see that we are fallen short of the glory of God in our flesh, in our souls, and in the sin we sin every day. Does pride make us want to believe we are “normal” when we are fallen so short of the full measure of the full stature of Christ? Is our vanity so great that we lack any conscience or remorse for shifting the definitions of what is “normal”, denying the call to the aim of perfection, and denying the call of God to arise from our slumber? Does pride make us want to deny the reality of how sinful we really still are at a soul level of sanctification, so we just “forget about Jesus” as the Standard and Measure? So we just “forget about” the call to the aim of perfection? Does pride want a “pat on the back” for where we are at… right now… so badly that it refuses to acknowledge from whence we have fallen? Certainly, in our spirits we are already entirely saved and the blood of Jesus has washed us and cleansed us of all sin. Certainly, in our spirits we are already the righteousness 29 and true holiness of God. But, this only proves how “abnormal” we are still in our souls because we are not manifesting the entire sanctification of soul that is already ours in spirit in Christ. We are “abnormal” because we are not fully conformed and transformed into the image of Christ in the full measure of the full stature of Christ. We are “abnormal” because we are not in a state of entire sanctification unto transfiguration. You see, when we admit where we are really at in relation to the True Standard and Measure of Christianity, Jesus Christ, this confession requires a change. We cannot immediately “make the change”, but we can be convicted by the Holy Spirit of our sinful states in our souls. We can be ignited in fire and desire by the Holy Spirit to experience change. We can be moved of God to get very, very serious about the Word of God and prayer as we seek the means of grace to be changed. We can start realizing that we need other Christians and we need to pray without ceasing together as one as they did in that Upper Room before the Day of Pentecost came. If we are going to raise the level of our faith, we need to correct our definition of what is “normal”. We need to shift that definition from ourselves, our institutions, and our culture straight back to Jesus Christ alone. Then, we need to fix our gaze upon Jesus Christ alone, and pray that we may be conformed and transformed into His image by the living power of the Holy Spirit within. As we do this which God has told us to do in the Bible, Jesus will be revealed to us in greater and greater transformative power inwardly. Our hearts will be purified through single-minded definition of and focus upon whom (and what) is “normal”: Jesus Christ. God is not going to condemn us for being “where we are at”. There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus who walk according to the Spirit and not the flesh. We have been justified freely by God’s grace and Jesus sits at the right hand of God the Father ever making intercession for us. Tell me where your eyes are and I will tell you where your feet are. God is not going to condemn us for being “where we are at”. However, when we shift our focus to Jesus Christ alone, and conviction of our sin, convincing of the righteousness and true holiness of our spirit man in Christ, and the fire of the Holy Ghost begins to ignite fire and desire within us so that we begin to pray with fervent, effectual, and unceasing prayers as a church gathering together in 24/7 prayer… God is going to take our feet by the power of the Holy Spirit and pull them straight onto the narrow path! God really “cannot” pull our feet onto the narrow path until we get our eyes focused on Jesus Christ alone. Where our eyes are determines where our feet are. We must get our eyes focused on Jesus Christ alone. We cannot come into Kingdom alignment until our eyes are set on Jesus Christ alone, the Holy Spirit begins to convict us of sin, while at the same time convincing us that we are the righteousness and true holiness of God in our spirit man, and ignites a fire and desire in us that begins to pray and pulls our feet onto the narrow way. When our eyes are on Jesus and our feet are pulled back onto the narrow path, we are ready to come into sanctified Kingdom alignment. Then, the power of God is ready to fall on us in power that has not been seen in 2000 years. But, when we declare ourselves “normal” and make ourselves (man) the measure of all things rather than Jesus Christ, it is no wonder we cannot attain unto restoration of the level miracle working power exhibited by the apostles and laity of the first century. 30 Jesus is the norm in Christianity. We are abnormal in our level sanctification because we are not fully conformed and transformed into His image by the power of the Holy Spirit from within. Declaring anything other than Jesus and entire sanctification unto transfiguration in full miracle working power restored in the full measure of the full stature of Christ “normal Christianity” is the slippery slope to the great falling away. How far will this go? Is “normal Christianity” whatever man is in an institution or culture that calls itself by the name of Christ? Increasingly persons who are not even saved are calling themselves “Christians” and redefining Christianity contrary to the Bible. That is the how the spirit of antichrist in humanism works once the standard and measure becomes man and relative rather than Jesus Christ alone as revealed in the Bible unchangingly. As any can see reading the Bible, the apostles of the first century had one aim and goal: perfection; being transformed and conformed into the image of Christ unto entire sanctification in the perfect man in the full measure and full stature of Christ. Did they attain this goal? No. However, because their eyes were on Jesus, not themselves as the mean as man, institution, and culture as the church, they certainly did manifest supernatural power that the church of today falls far short of manifesting. A saying goes that it is best to set your sights to attain to the highest level. Even if you do not attain to the highest level, you will go much farther and be much closer to the goal than those who set their sights lower. In basic principle, most Christians do not even see the aim of perfection today. They have lowered their sights. All they say about the aim of perfection is that it is impossible to attain. That’s not what my Bible tells me. My Bible tells me that the Church of Philadelphia shall indeed attain unto perfection in entire sanctification and transfigure to escape tribulation and the hour of temptation. The scripture itself says, “Aim for perfection”. No matter if a Christian attains perfection or not, the aim of perfection must be our goal. Jesus is perfect. We are to set our sights and fix our gaze upon Him to be transformed and conformed into His image by grace through faith as we see His face increasingly revealed. The saints of the church of Jesus Christ today seem to have taken their eyes off of Jesus as the goal. Perhaps these Christians have not seen clear revelation of Jesus in the Word and are seeking. But, for whatever reason, it would seem that so often people are seeking to be conformed and transformed into the image of a man, an institution, or a culture in the name of “normal Christianity”. If the aim of perfection is not our goal focus as a church, then how can any say that their eyes truly are fixed on Jesus? One sign that we have fixed our eyes on Jesus is that our goal and the aim of our faith is transformation unto perfection. If perfection is not our goal and aim, then our eyes are not fixed upon Jesus Christ. Jesus would rather we were hot or cold. The lukewarm He will spew from His mouth. 31 There is that story of a flood that came. A man who ignored and refused the ministry of those who came with a knock on the door, a boat, and then a helicopter. He was drowned in the flood. When he arrived in Heaven, he asked God why God had not delivered him since he prayed believing that God would save him from the flood. God explained that He sent the group who knocked on the door. God sent the men in the boat, and He sent the men and women in the helicopter. But the man who drowned had pride of self-sufficiency. He rejected the gifts, the callings, and the ministries of the members of the body of Christ God sent to him that he might escape the hour of the flood. Noah obeyed God as Noah understood God. Noah was not responsible for those who drowned in the flood when the rain came. Likewise, those who reject my ministry are on their own before God when the flood comes. It’s like the man who prayed and asked God to save him from the flood. The Bible itself tells the story of foolish virgins who fell asleep with no oil. When the door opened and the bridegroom called, they asked the wise virgins for oil and were refused. Again, when Christians wrongly believe that the time of transfiguration is just like the full bodily return of Jesus and will be “Jesus direct to all saints” so “no Christian will miss it”, they have a false expectation. They misunderstand the scripture. God sends ministries in the church age. God anoints specific ministers of the gospel for specific tasks. God did not just move by His own Spirit to lead Israel out of Egypt into the Promised Land. God showed His face to Moses and sent Moses as His minister to lead the people out of Egypt into the Promised Land. When Christians “have it in their heads” that God is not going to send any specific ministry to the Church of Philadelphia, that the “rapture will just happen”, and “will just include all Christians globally”, that’s not what the scripture says. It’s what they think. It’s what they think like the man in the house who drowned in the flood thought he didn’t need the man at the door, those in the boat, or those in the helicopter. They don’t think they need any other ministry to escape the flood that is coming. They think that the “rapture will just happen” and “all Christians will globally escape tribulation”. That’s what they think. But that is not what the Word of God says. The Word of God does not say that the transfiguration at the hour of temptation is ministered directly by Jesus in His full bodily return. The Word of God does not say that there will be no ministries at the time of the end of the church. The Word of God more accurately says that globally there will be 7 major churches and only 1 is clearly stated to escape tribulation. If Christians are not open to how God wants to fulfill the scripture because they think their opinion of scripture is equal to the Word of God itself, leaving no room for the “possibility” that they see through the glass darkly and don’t “know it all”, then they would do well to remember the story of the wise and foolish virgins. Christians have prayed for revival, renewal, and restoration. The answer to that prayer is not going to be within the “set point” and “comfort zone” of those who in the middle or even the present “far right” who have prayed for revival, renewal, and restoration. 32 The end-time move of the Spirit is going to be God moving to bring the Church of Philadelphia all the way to the extreme right to be fully supernatural. None of us is there yet. None of us is Spirit-filled “enough” yet. We all have to move and be moved by the Holy Spirit further and further over to the most extreme point on the right. We must see the face of Jesus with such clarity of revelation by the Holy Spirit…and we must pray with such powerful prayer unceasingly as a church… we must be so transformed and conformed into the image of Christ… that the natural man – self – dies; the old man is expelled from our souls completely… and we become fully in soul who we already are in Christ in spirit. We must become fully supernatural in Jesus Christ our Lord. We must arise in the full measure of the full stature of Christ. That point on the line is not within our soul’s current “set point”. It is not within our “comfort zone”. Moreover, doctrinal position statements are not already in Kingdom alignment with revelatory power of the Spirit so clear that we are already seeing Jesus from our hearts on earth equal in the Spirit to looking straight into His eyes in Heaven. Neither are we praying constantly in enough power already to manifest the full Kingdom power and authority of the full glory anointing of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our doctrine needs to change. Our prayer life needs to change. Our set point needs to change. Our comfort zone needs to change. The Laodicean Church fears change and will not move. Yet, this church thinks it knows it all, has it all, and has need of nothing. These who “expect”, then demand without repentance, that the end-time revival be according to the limit of their own set point as they see through the glass darkly – according to their own experiential theology, knowledge, and present growth - are going to miss it. They are going to miss it like the man in the house missed the knock at the door, the boat, and the helicopter. They are going to miss it like the unwise virgins missed the refill of the oil in their vessels. The Laodicean Church is clearly stated in scripture, as I see it, to be told they will miss being kept from the hour of temptation; they will miss going through the open door; they will miss entrance into Zion; and they will miss the escape from tribulation;… unless they repent. Repent means change.
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 01:32:57 +0000
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