He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. John 7:37-41
These rivers of living water are referring to the Holy Spirit and the effects He produces in the life of the believer. Galatians 5:22-23 says, “the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” These qualities should flow out of us as
Acts 3: 20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
The times of restitution of all things] The Greek word used here means to establish or settle anything. It is simply talking of the restoration of something that was once in a good state, but went bad, to be restored back to its original good state, it is a change from a bad state to that of a good state, that it has originally.
.For example, when in Acts 1:6, when the disciples asked ‘Christ, Wilt thou at this time restore again (apokayistaneiv) the kingdom to Israel?’ It was simply will you take the kingdom from the Romans and give back to the Jews? As it were the original owners of the kingdom.
Now, this restoration is connected to that “which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets”, it therefore means all the prophecies and promises as contained in the Old Testament relative to the kingdom of Christ upon the Earth
“Dan. 10:13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.” (chief: or, first)
Often and again, we hear in our sermons of the Prince of Persia. Basically, this is commonly taken to mean the devil, Satan that was resisting the answer to the prayer of Daniel based on the above passage of scripture.
But I have always ask myself this question, how come an angel or person sent by God to deliver a message have his mission thwarted by a demon or Satan? Who is stronger here? Paul could speak to a damsel with the spirit of divination and she becomes silent in Acts. 16:16-18. He could cause blindness for a season to Elymas the sorcerer who was trying to turn away the heart of Sergius Paulus from hearing the Goodnews that Paul was delivering.Acts.13:7-11.
How come this angel sent to deliver this message to Daniel was so weak that the prince of Persia could stop him for twenty one Days until help will come from Angel Michael. Who is Angel Michael in the Bible?
Is this prince of Persia a territorial spirit as we have commonly been taught and have come to believe?
Such a scary number that is most preached about, when men are to scare others into submission to religious faith.
Men have said it’s the computer bar codes on products, others an individual that shall rise up on the face of the Earth, microchips in human bodies, and yet others, maybe the Idi Amin Dada of Uganda, Henry Kissinger, Hitler, Saddam Hussein etc. etc, manifesting as the Anti-Christ. But just what is this Number 666?
Somebody says , is it not the number of man? Yes, but it is not the number of an individual but the corporate man without Christ. You see, man was created on the sixth Day of the creation week.(Gen.1:26-31) Therefore the number of man is the number six, just like seven is the number of perfection or completeness, which also is the number of God, even as Eight is the number of Jesus, a new beginning.
Anyway, let us start with this scripture.
“The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. 8 Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. 9 With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this: “Our Father in heaven, Reveal who you are. …..” Math.6:7-9.MSG.
It is unfortunate that the average Christian today can not discern between the fad of today’s prayer movement and the true being in fellowship with God in communion through the instrument of prayer for clear direction and wisdom for life.
“ Call to me and I will answer you. I’ll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own.” Jeremiah 33:33 Msg.
This is simply prayer, a place where God reveals things we do not know
22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. 24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,27 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 Ephesians 5 KJV
Jesus so loved the church, so He will present the church to HIMSELF, without spot and wrinkle, it is not you presenting yourself. By implication, he accepted us and called us to Himself to do a cleansing work within us for Himself, God has a target, he has a goal, He wants us Holy and without blemish.
Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee. Song of Solomon 4: 7
King Solomon above describing the finished and glorious church. A spotless church is the goal of God. If God initiates anything, he is well able to finish it. If that is God’s goal, He will achieve it. He cannot set a target and fail. There is nothing too hard for the Lord to do, in this regard the Lord will achieve His Goal. We are the church that the Lord is working on. The gates of Hell cannot prevail against this church. Mathew.16:18…, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it
Again, we can see God’s thoughts in the words of Paul to the Colossians, 21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled {in…: or, by your mind in}22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: Colossians 1
As far as God is concerned when we receive the blood and accept the sacrifice of Jesus, God sees us as HOLY, UNBLAMEABLE and UNREPROVABLE in His sight. This is our characteristics’.
Definition of key terms:
Holy greek word agiov hagios, hag’-ee-os from hagos (an awful thing) sacred (physically, pure, morally blameless or religious, ceremonially, consecrated):–(most) holy (one, thing), saint. This is also taken from the root word hagnos, hag-nos’ properly, clean, i.e. (figuratively) innocent, modest, perfect:–chaste, clean, pure..
Unblamable Greek word amwmov amomos, am’-o-mos unblemished (literally or figuratively):–without blame (blemish, fault, spot), faultless, unblamable.
Unreprovable Greek word . anegklhtov anegkletos, an-eng’-klay-tos ; unaccused, i.e. (by implication) irreproachable:–blameless.
You do not have to die to become a saint; Rom.1: 7 To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Every believer is a saint by reason of the sacrifice of Jesus; you don’t have to die first before being canonized as a saint.
The house of Cornelius representing the gentile people was seen in God as clean that typifies the vision of Peter, what I have called clean do not call unclean.(Acts.10: 15 And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.)
At the point of redemption our spirit is sealed by the Holy Spirit,( Eph 1:13 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,)
When something is sealed, it means it is preserved and no corruption can come into it. The Holy Spirit sealed us at redemption and nothing can touch our spirit. We are joined to the Lord and we are therefore one spirit.(1 Cor.6:17) Our spirit is married to Jesus and therefore there is no fault or blemish in our spirit now, the trouble we have is our soul realm and our physical body. This can be best understood when we look at canned food, it travels distance and nothing can come into it.
You cannot accuse a man that God has acquitted, there is no accusation that the devil brings before God that God accepts, and the devil has no legal right to accuse you, because of the sacrifice of Jesus.
Why? Because to God, in His sight you are Holy by reason of the blood of Jesus. So all you need to do is to believe into what He has done for you.
1 ¶ In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. {his…: or, the skirts thereof}2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. {one…: Heb. this cried to this} {the whole…: Heb. his glory is the fulness of the whole earth}4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. {door: Heb. thresholds}
5 ¶ Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. {undone: Heb. cut off}
6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: {having…: Heb. and in his hand a live coal}7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. {laid…: Heb. caused it to touch}8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. {Here…: Heb. behold me}9 ¶ And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. {indeed, but understand: or, without ceasing, etc: Heb. in hearing, etc}10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. Isa 6
Isaiah was in a picture here that seems as if he was not qualified to speak for the Lord. It was not anything that Isaiah had to do to make himself clean, but because God wanted to use him, God himself made him clean for himself, it was not as a result of good works
The fire came from the altar, the live coal prophetically is the word of prophesy that he Isaiah was going to be speaking on behalf of God; the live coal is often comes from the alter to consume the burnt offering.
22 Then, with hands spread out toward the people, Aaron blessed them and came down from the altar. 23 Moses and Aaron went into the Tabernacle, and when they came out again they blessed the people; and the glory of the Lord appeared to the whole assembly. 24 Then fire came from the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and fat on the altar; and when the people saw it, they all shouted and fell flat upon the ground before the Lord. Lev 9:22-24 TLB
The implication of this is that Isaiah was now a living sacrifice, even in the Old Testament Isaiah found grace to become a living sacrifice unto the Lord.
When the fire comes out from the Altar it was a symbol of acceptance, that the sacrifice has been accepted.
No matter how bad you may be or how dirty you feel, it is your feeling not Gods feeling. When we look at the blood and what Jesus has done we can stand before God.
10 We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.11 For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp.12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Hebrews 13
The sin offering is always burnt outside of the camp (gate). The blood of animals is not equivalent to the blood of a man, so God has to use the blood of Jesus for our salvation. Man being in the image and likeness of God. So just as the animals were always sanctified outside of the camp, Christ was also crucified outside of Jerusalem, outside the city Gate.
The picture above is stating the two altars, the altar of the Old Testament and the new altar initialed by God, and the saints of old did not have access to what we have now in Christ.
9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
10 ¶ Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into..1 Pet.1:9-12
What we need to do to come to a place of righteousness is accepting the sacrifice of Jesus; this is what now gives us the cleansing. The fire seen in the new altar is the Holy Spirit. The purifying process is the work of the Holy Spirit.
Fire also does a work of preservation and cleansing, the same role that a salt plays.Mark.9:49. In the case of Isaiah as a man of unclean lips and dwelling among people that are unclean, the fire came to purify and to season him, after this process he now has the language of the Lord. No one can really offer an acceptable sacrifice to the Lord until it is initiated by the Lord through the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the baptism of fire, which was promised by Jesus.
Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the house. 2chronicles 7: 1
Let it be noted that it said THE FIRE.
1 ¶ And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Acts 1 : 1 – 4
The church is the temple of the Lord
5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. {are: or, be ye} 1 Peter 2: 5
Solomon built his temple with stones, but they are not lively stones. The church that Jesus is building is made up of lively stones, not dead stones like Solomon used as in the literally stones.
Jesus started building the new temple by using calling the disciples who now become the Apostles, and the proof of acceptance was the Holy Spirit coming down like fire. This was the dedication of the temple of Jesus which He built. The fire coming down was also a sign of them being living sacrifices unto God. It was not the work of the Apostles cleansing themselves; it was the work of God to do the cleansing and make them prepared for God’s use.
For everyone that is born again and joined to this temple is a living sacrifice and a lively stone. The key is that you do not build yourself; it is God that cleanses you. Anything you do outside believing into the sacrifice of Jesus is simply works-reliogion. You cannot cleanse yourself and you cannot make yourself as clean as you want, it is the work of Jesus in and through you.
There is no power in this universe that can work against us becoming the temple of the living God. When we sin we open a door for the devil to do a work in our life, but we must get this right, the serpent will bite but that is not to say that God has rejected you. They are two separate things. The most profound example is the prodigal son, there was no condition that the father placed for him to come back despite what he has done to the father by rejecting him.
When Cain sinned it was Cain that left the presence of God and went to the land of Nod. Is the same thing Adam experienced, when he sinned he hid himself and God start looking for him. When you sin the torment you go through does not mean that God has forsaken you.
As we believe Hebrews 8, we believe into the Grace of God. The Grace and peace of God is multiplied unto us.
3 How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. 4 Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. 5 Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) 6 He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son. 7 Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people — free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! 8 He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, 9 letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, 10 a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth Eph 1:3-10 (MSG)
God has us in mind because of what God wants to do from the foundation of the world, as we simply are in Christ we receive what God has in mind for us. It is God that makes us holy because of His love. God is raising a Holy community, we are a holy people. God wants to make us WHOLE – no fragmentation spirit, soul and body. One of the expressions of God’s love is to make us whole. When we receive Christ we receive the Wisdom of God. There is no terminal sickness that Gods Grace cannot touch. He died to make us whole; we have the fragrance of Christ all around us.
When God gave Christ, there many things that followed the gift. Everything you ever needed in life is in Christ. If there is a warehouse full of things, all you ever need to access that is the key, Christ is the Key to all that God the Father has in store for you.
The devil is not our problem; he was defeated many years ago, not just a defeated foe but a defeated fool right now under foot. Don’t exalt him by your belief systems.
In the Old Testament Leviticus 16, every year the High Priest must shed blood on behalf of himself and the people. In the New Testament Jesus because the lamb that took away the sin of the world. When God looks at the world He does not see you and me, He sees the blood of Jesus. When God sees the Blood of Jesus, all such who are under the blood are the beloved of the Lord. We must believe in the sacrifice of Jesus and not something to be toyed with every day religiously, it’s the very life of God.
John 20: 17 “17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father” Jesus speaking to Mary after resurrection. This typifies the Priest hood covenant, here Jesus has offered His blood, but has not yet ascended up to sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat. He as to fulfill the law, offering the blood on our behalf. That same day, later on they were able to touch Him. As we believe in the blood of Jesus, we have our freedom. Remembering this would give us the Grace to receive what Jesus has provided and guarantee us to walk in Gods favour. This will cause God to share his glory with us.
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. Hebrew 12: 2 KJV
He began our faith and will finish it, He saw the glorious realm on the other side of the cross. The ministry of Jesus after resurrection has more potency. In the Gospel you don’t see more of Grace, but in the epistles you see more Grace. His very ministry after the cross.
24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter;25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. {of Christ: or, for Christ} 27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. 28 Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them. Hebrews 11
There is faith to receive things and also faith to refuse things that are not of God. This is also an act of faith. If you are walking with God and don’t expect any reward it is because you do not know the God you serve. If you don’t see this you cannot reject some things. Moses saw something Greater than be an ordinary pharaoh. God has something greater in mind than what you are pursing. There are some eternal weight of glory that God has reserved for us.
Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Hebrew 10: 22
An evil conscience is the conscience of unbelief; we must come to God believing on His sacrifice, not believing that our personal sacrifice is worth more than what Christ did. Let us be washed with pure water of the word.
Mark.9: 13 ‘go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’-
The CD of this teaching is available and can be ordered email [email protected]
FREED, BUT CANNOT REMEMBER
The scriptures talk about my people been destroyed for lack of knowledge. In Israel there was the feast of the Jubilee, which was held in the year of Jubilee which takes place in the 50th year. It is a year of debt freedom and release. The year of Jubilee equals many things and set people free who were in slavery before no matter how much you were owing or been owed.
If the trumpet of Jubilee sounds by the Priest and you are not aware, you may still be working as a slave when you are supposed to have been freed, because you are not aware that the Jubilee has sounded.
How then do you come out of slavery?
This happens only when you are informed and have a working knowledge of Jubilee. Even if you are free and your slave master wants to keep you in bondage, he would refuse to inform you about the Jubilee. This freedom is dependent upon your receiving the information of Jubilee. Even when the slave trade has been abolished in England, many people were still taking slaves and slave trade was still going on because the information has not reached those regions then, because there was no mass communication in those days as it is today.
Many people have not been able to see the level of their emancipation because they do not know the level and value of Christ sacrifice on the cross for them
2 Peter 1:2-9
2 Grace and peace to you many times over as you deepen in your experience with God and Jesus, our Master.
3 Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received! 4 We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you — your tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted by lust. 5 So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, 6 alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, 7 warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. 8 With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. 9 Without these qualities you can’t see what’s right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books. (THE MESSAGE: )
There is a demand for us to know God, more and more and as we do those, we come to a place where we know God intimately. We must walk the way God intends for us to walk and desire what God wants us to desire. We must become fruitful and useful to ourselves. A man who cannot add the above virtue to his faith has forgotten that his sins have been wiped out.
If you can’t remember your freedom, then we miss out on all the good things God has ordained for us to have and become, as we kind of limit the father in the performance of that which He has determined to do, because we cannot remember our freedom.
Anything that will come to our life, it is not depended on how much you are going to work hard for it, but rather how much you can remember that those sins of yours have been are wiped out by out by the cross of Jesus. Your remembering this fact will begin to bring Gods goodness, His Grace to be made manifest in your life.
Gods covenant in the new order is not a two way covenant; it is a covenant that God entered into by with on behalf of man with Himself alone. In Exodus 19, when God instituted the old covenant, Man (Israel) said we would do all you ask us to do and man broke that covenant. Since then God entered into a covenant with himself on behalf of man, all therefore that God expects man to do is to believe in Him and the sacrifice of His son Jesus Christ on the cross.
God saved us not because of anything we did; but out of His love.
Our working heard in the above perspective is to have faith, love our brothers, be committed to knowing him more and more.
If God wants to do any good thing in our life, all we have to do is to remember the sacrifice of JESUS on the cross; we must not forget that we were saved from the rottenness of this world and the corruption therein. We are now truly free, there is no power, sin, parental curses that can hold us back. Jesus paid the full price for all our offences
For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. Hebrew 8:12. The word says. This is the main clause of the New Testament that must hold sway in our hearts all the time.
The two things that remind us of our past is, the devil and the law. Any ministry that reminds us of our past is working for the devil, they are not teaching us to renew our mind so we can walk in the goodness, the love and the Grace of God. Not it not be forgotten that Grace is the unmerited favour of God that we receive not because of what we have done or can do.