 |
 |
 by John Robert Lucas |
|
|
|
by John Robert Lucas |
|
Prophetic Book: Temple Builder PurposeMy desire is to teach in such a way as to “grow up” those who consist of the body of Christ. To accomplish this task is impossible with the natural man, however if one can read the scriptures and allow God to speak to him through God’s own Son, we are then equipped to teach in an edifying manner. This book will cover a variety of different subjects that will provide the Christian church in the last days the enabling to cope with different areas of the Christian walk. These are areas that the adversary – the devil, seeks to devour. We must examine the devil’s strategies and at the same time we must hear from heaven, specifically hearing the strategies that come from God. The strategies that come from God make no “natural sense” but if we will hear and obey - we will see the deliverance of our God. God uses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, this is a spiritual principle – this is the character of our God. If you will prayerfully study this material and hear what God is saying, it will result in your life being changed towards knowing Jesus and acting like Him more than you ever imagined. Who is this book written for? It is written for any Christian who has a heart that is sick of the carnal nature that he has yet to overcome. It is written for those who pray to the Lord – THERE MUST BE MORE. It is written to those who have found in themselves an inability to grow up in Christ. Finally, it is written for those who have searched to find other Christians living the Gospel and found disappointment instead. This is a message to minister to these people of God that have come to a dry place, a desert place where God has allowed a void to exist in our heart that can only be filled by knowing Him more. This is a place in our walk where we have come to the end of our own abilities and ideas and have opened our heart to hear from heaven. This is a voice, which at many times cannot be heard in the thunders of many voices spoken in today’s Christian media. A voice where we must be attentive and active to hear without precluding as to what form it may appear in, a voice that does not originate from earthly things. The opinions of the world originate from the god of this world but God’s voice does not spring from the emptiness of opinions. God’s voice will fill us, and we will be full of His Living Bread, even as we walk THROUGH this desert that we are destined to. All that matters with respect to Christian messages is whether fruit will be produced and remain. If a message is a true representation of Jesus than we can be assured that it will not return void. This is the word that is actively proceeding from His mouth – NOW. I firmly believe that this book will impart life to you if God is causing to you to read it. I ask that if it ministers to you, you learn to press on to the chapters of this book to the end. I start out the book with simpler truth and yet still revelatory. As you read each chapter; one chapter will build upon the next chapter. The meatier items I have reserved towards the end of the book but it takes a “line upon line” type of teaching to cause understanding of the things that I share towards the end. Some readers get edified and then they put down the book and do not finish. This whole book is about finishing your course and the entire book is an edification to help you. When you get a virus or infection the doctor will give you an anti-biotic to cure you. The one thing the doctor always tells you is even if you feel healed – TAKE THE WHOLE BOTTLE. When we receive ministry from a book like this, many times we stop reading and the result is a continual battle with immaturity. Please read the whole book to benefit to the utmost. In this book the subject is about an immature church that God is causing to grow up. The Gardener Jesus is looking upon the whole Earth in search of ripened fruit. To the end - this book keeps a focus on ministering a word to you that causes you to be pleasing with the fruit that Jesus is looking for in your life. This book is about considering your ways FIRST. This is NOT a book about considering the ways of your brethren in Christ UNTIL your heart is dealt with. It is only then that you can consider the ways of others with the compassion of Jesus that can “RESCUE OTHERS FROM THE PIT”. Scripture teaches us to “judge ourselves” and this book provides the Wisdom of Jesus to fulfill this scripture. My ultimate desire is that this book humbles you before your God, having your heart dealt with by God and having an ear listening to His voice – even as you read. This book was not written to be “surface read”, but God’s design for this particular work was towards meditation upon what is said and looking to Jesus the Author and Finisher of your faith – even as you read. I am totally convinced that if your desire is to know Jesus unreservedly then the Spirit of Truth will show Jesus to you. Jesus will set you free, Jesus will heal the broken places of your heart and Jesus will show you His way that you may walk in it – even as you read. When we came to Jesus on the day we became
born-again, on that day we entered into covenant with Him. This covenant
is the New Covenant. This covenant revealed through the New Testament and
the Old Testament shows us “what pleases Him” and also “what He does
when He is pleased”. His love for us is always unconditional. He died
for us while we were ungodly. No salvation can be earned, whether of the
spirit man or of the of the soul – the mind, will and emotions. And yet
covenant is an agreement between two parties and both have their part. Our
part is faith that leads to obedience. Jesus RESPONDS to your obedience
with His part of the covenant. The day you became born-again you exercised
faith in the Gospel that led to obedience. That obedience caused you to
forsake the world system and to follow Jesus. That same faith that you first
exercised always leads to obedience into all things that Jesus reveals to
you as “covenant”. The covenant we
are revealing in this book is – “every Christian should become God’s
temple builder”. Hag 1:4-7,9 "Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled (WOOD) houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?" Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: "Consider
your ways! "You have sown much, and bring in little; you eat, but do not have enough; you drink, but you are not filled with drink; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages, Earns wages to put into a bag with holes." Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Consider your ways! "You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?" says the LORD of hosts. "Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house. (NKJ) Compared to the temple of the early church – today’s temple is in ruins. Compared to where God destines this temple to be – today’s temple is in ruins. Today’s temple - His church, is in need of workers that will forsake their house to build God’s house. You may say, “I think the church is fine… better than ever”. As we “consider our ways” in this book, we will see that this is not the case. God may have gotten your attention with this passage concerning how we earn wages to put them into a “BAG WITH HOLES”. Do you feel that you have sown much and reaped little? Do you minister and feel impotent in that ministry? Does your life seem to consist of activities that get you almost nowhere – both in the natural and the spiritual? God’s desire is to reverse this curse and His desire is to use this book to reveal to you “your ways” and exchange them for “His Way”. God will use this “lack of reaping” to get your attention. Do not ignore it! Do not "fail to seek" the answer to why you have a “bag with holes”. God’s house “sits in ruin” and the church has left the work of building this temple to the professional minister while we have paneled our own house. We have made the “natural house” - our abode. We have used finances (natural resources) for our own self-indulgence. We have used our calling and gifts (spiritual resources) for the sake of pride. God in this day is reversing the curse by calling you today to help build this temple. He shall equip you even as He RESTORES your own temple that the enemy has caused hurt in. Eph 4:11-13 And He gave some {as} apostles, and some {as} prophets, and some {as} evangelists, and some {as} pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; (NKJ) The ministry is a gift to the church that has the purpose of first – to equip us for ministry work (temple building). Secondly, the ministry will edify and restore in our life what the enemy has destroyed. The ministry will build us up with the entire body of Christ. Ø
When will this process
stop? When God looks down from heaven and says,
“They have become unified in faith”. When God says, “They have come
into the CORRECT knowledge of the Son of God”. When God says, “they
have become a perfect, mature man just like my Son – Jesus”. These
three things are the result of a – BUILT TEMPLE! And this we can be sure
of – the building process will not stop until God can say these three
things. Therefore the responsibility of ministry is to get ALL
of us to this three-fold purpose that God sets forth in this scripture, in
Ephesians. This is the three-fold goal or result that God
calls our finishing line. It will take line
upon line, chapter
upon chapter in this book to define what this “three-fold goal”
actually looks like. Let us remember that God is looking for a temple of
unity, a temple of CORRECT knowledge and a temple of the same height as
His Son – Jesus. God measures this height according to the words that He
speaks to you in scripture. These words
become “revealed covenant” to you. God then dowses you with His Own
ability to obey that revealed covenant.
|
||
 
|
|||
|
Chapter Index |
|||
|