Temple Builders The High Calling
By John Robert Lucas | July 5th, 2002 Version
The Temple Builders book is
not just reading material
...it is an
experience
Temple Builders: The High Calling (partial draft version)
© 2002 by John Robert Lucas
TempleBuilders.com
Preface
Temple Builders The High Calling, is a book for those in the body of Christ that desire to truly mature in the Jesus ways. The Temple Builders reader is one that is convinced that the goal of being fully pleasing to Jesus has not been apprehended by the church as a whole, or even a segment (remnant) of the church, as compared to early church examples found in the scriptures. Yet, the Temple Builders reader wants to apprehend all that God has reserved for them.
The Temple Builders reader is one that has humbled their life to abandon the ways of man, in lieu of a view to examine THE blueprint, which builds the true temple of God. Sometimes, the Lord will tear down, and uproot areas of our life and areas of our knowledge, to obtain this clear view. In reality, this process is painful to each one of us, and some are able to abandon better than others are. Every time we hear a teaching, and we hold it as true, we are building a house. The time has come for the church to exchange the building parts that look like the house-of-man for building parts that are used to house the glory of God in His true Temple You.
Without this uprooting process, we are building a new edifice of knowledge based on the TRUE blueprint but on a faulty foundation. Erecting a new edifice to an unstable and faulty foundation causes us to topple over. The end-result will be a pride that precedes a great fall. Therefore, we must tear down false edifices of knowledge in our lives that do not conform to the image of God; in addition, we must dig up the foundation that this false edifice rested. We previously built in immaturity, and with an unclear vision of the TRUE blueprint, but when we see a vision of the True blueprint of God, we see that it includes the foundation of many areas of our knowledge, and manner of living.
Many of us have accepted traditional views of scripture interpretation that had its source in wrongly read scriptures. Few of us have the courage to sort it all out. Untangling the mess of all these conflicting views requires us to receive great grace from the Lord, given to those that truly hunger and thirst after Him. This multitude of wrongly read scriptures has caused our faulty foundation, and an edifice that does not resemble the Temple of God, in great measure. However, it is through the Spirit of God in those that seek Him with all their might, an ability that reads the scriptures right.
To set the path straight requires us to address touchy issues. This is where the greatest challenge is, dealing with a church issue, or widely accepted doctrine - setting it straight. No doubt, uprooting these doctrines hits a spiritually sensitive spot in most of us. This is where we need courage! Nevertheless, God does not leave us comfortless, without hope in these things. He sends a helper Himself, the Spirit, in us. In addition, He gives us one physical source to examine His ways SCRIPTURE. If indeed, we have added other sources to our mix of beliefs, maturity always elude us. If your church has taught you to accept another source or other writings, your first step in the Temple Builders message is abandoning these for Gods ONLY approved writing - scripture. Temple Builders is only an interpretation and expounding of these scriptures, bringing edification to others - and nothing more.
If you have counted the costs to get to the top, and now want to climb the Everest of Christian teachings, this is the message for you. This climb is an experience that possesses hardship, but also the hope and satisfaction of reaching the top.
If you are waiting for the perfect message, you will miss yet another opportunity, another challenge to go higher. Most likely, the Temple Builders message may have shortcomings. It is always best learning to sort out every teaching (one of the things we teach you how to do in this book). This is the way of God. This is why you need the Holy Spirit as your Teacher. In addition, there always remains room in the Temple Builders message for misunderstanding. This also is the way of the Lord. For the reader to grow, the reader learns to evaluate based on the inherent quality of a teaching instead of the face value, thus, judge the innermost parts of the message to see if it tastes like the Lord.
The final fruit that we can anticipate by being a Temple Builders reader is a new confidence to hear from God concerning His intention -- when He penned scripture. We will no longer be solely dependant on ministers for our meals, for we have learned to approach God, partaking without encumbrance. When we do partake of Gods vessels, it will be in the most edifying way, causing the fruit of joy to explode in the growth of the harvest season.
A Message for You?
Who is this book written for? It is written for any Christian who has a heart that is sick of the carnal nature that they have 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 ministering 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, having opened our heart to hear from heaven. This is a voice that at many times we do not hear in the thunders of the many voices spoken in todays Christian media. It is a voice where we must be attentive and active to hear, without precluding as 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 Gods voice does not spring from the emptiness of opinions. Gods voice will fill us, and we will be full of His Living Bread, even as we walk THROUGH the desert that we are destined.
All that matters with respect to Christian messages is the outcome of fruit that remains. If a message is a true representation of Jesus, be assured, it does not return void. This is the word that is actively proceeding from His mouth NOW. I firmly believe that this book imparts life to you, if God is causing you to read it. I ask; if it ministers to you, learn to press on through 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 builds upon the next chapter. The meatier items I reserve 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.
The book edifies some readers at the onset, then they put down the book, not finishing. This whole book is about finishing your course, and the entire book is an edification helping you. When you get a virus, or infection, the doctor gives you an antibiotic to cure you. The one thing the doctor always tells you, even if you feel healed TAKE THE WHOLE BOTTLE. When we receive ministry from a book like this, many times, we stop reading, the result is a continual battle with immaturity. Please read the whole book to benefit the utmost.
Remember, in this message, the subject is about an immature church that God is causing growth. 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.
The purpose of this book is not a casual reading. We will not comprehend it through superficial reading, but as deep calleth unto deep, so Gods Spirit is calling out to a place within the depth of your soul. As we read from beginning to ending, we are building steps up to the top of the mountain. If we do not have our foundation built beneath us, the higher elevations are harder for us to traverse. My ultimate desire is that you are humbled before your God, having your heart dealt with by Him, and having an ear listening to His voice - even as you read. I believe that Gods design is meditate on what we are conveying, while 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, the Spirit of Truth shows Him to you. Jesus sets you free: He heals the broken places of your heart, showing you His way, that you may walk in it - even as you read.
Acknowledgments & INFO:
I hope this book has edifies you. This book is the product of many who labored in the word of God for others. I have learned from these vessels, used of our Lord, and I have partaken of the grace given to them by God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. Many of these men I know only through their writings. It is only because they gave in the labor of their writing that I can now give in this writing.
All of these men have one thing in common. They are ones that are forerunners in truth, and because of their forerunning nature, they suffered much for the sake of the Gospel. They paid a price in unveiling truth in scriptures, truth that was previously hid. They paid an even greater price when they spoke these truths to their present-day leadership, a leadership that was content with previous truth instead of present truth.
John R. Lucas
TempleBuilders.com Christian Web
INTroduction
It Is How You Finish That Counts
Amos 7:14-16
Amos answered, "I am not the kind of prophet who prophesies for pay. I am a herdsman, and I take care of fig trees. But the LORD took me from my work as a shepherd and ordered me to come and prophesy to his people Israel. TEV
Amos, a prophet of the Lord, had a menial occupation, one of working as a herdsman and grower. Nevertheless, there came a day when he was taken by the Lord to prophesy. Likewise, I have an occupation outside of the professional minister calling, yet, The Lord compels me to speak forth some words on His heart. Just as Amos, God has chosen me, to be set as a trumpet to His lips, proclaiming a message to His people in this hour. The sound of this trumpet blast is discernable to all those that have ears to hear it. One thing that is evident throughout this trumpet blast is Gods method of using the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. In other words, it is the pleasure of God to use the MOST UNLIKELY CANDIDATES to accomplish His will, and the message found in these unlikely candidates is in direct opposition to those that are wise in their own eyes. This indeed was Amos situation, and I find myself in this situation as I write this message.
Temple Builders is simply a teaching about Christians running a race of growing into maturity. Being born again is THE ENTRANCE into this race. Becoming a father to others is the FINISHING of this race. This is at the core of Gods communication to His church. Therefore, these writings are a collection of messages that are given to the church of our Lord as a gift, a gift that gives hope to run and finish the race set before us. In our race, obstacles and pitfalls have halted us. Some of these obstacles and pitfalls were erected by the struggles of disobedience. Other obstacles hindered us when we accepted mans teaching, although based on scriptures, it had the result of enslaving us to law and death. Sometimes the offending doctrine has the strategy of incrementally LURING US AWAY FROM THE RACE. In reality, all of these are teachings that take us away from the feet of the Master.
This book is much more than a means of acquiring knowledge; it is a journey. Experiencing God, and His way of life becomes a long and perilous journey, starting with great ambition, and it soon becomes confronted with a multitude of choices that result in discouragement. To bring encouragement, the Temple Builders message causes us to travel to many areas of our life that can hinder OUR FURTHER TRAVELING OUR FURTHER RUNNING. We will travel to the crossroad of choices that caused in us discouragement and despair - finding answers.
Our final destination in this life is a mature and fruitful life that pleases Jesus, our Friend, and within every true believer is this desire born. This desire of pleasing Jesus has been hindered by many obstacles that produced immature thinking. This book is a journey that puts our hearts on the altar, and examines the immaturities that hinder us from pleasing Jesus. Jesus is pleased when we think like Him; this is a sharing of His thoughts and desires. Jesus is pleased when we do as He does; this fulfills the desire of the Father for children who have learned obedience.
As we examine and imitate Christ, there is a dying. Therefore, this journey must also be a journey of death in order to produce His life. However, as we teach crucifying our flesh we must end in mercy and resurrection. Maturity in teaching binds up the wounds of our brethren, and yet brings new wounds to the part of man that alienates himself from God. Gods way is both fire and ice, both wilderness and promise land. This is why many of us feel it is a roller coaster ride of anticipatory ups and frightening downs. One moment we are on top of the world, the next moment we find ourselves crashing to new lows. Our total yielding to God brings us higher than we can imagine, but we find those resistant ways in us have brought us lower than one would dare to go.
As we grow, we find that our yielding to God also creates valleys - that are quite low. Yet, because we know the fellowship of His sufferings, and His abiding resurrection power, we are spiritually as high as the view of any eagle. Truly, it is the way of Christ to be conformed to His death, even to the lows of life, so we may find true life in Him. Therefore, it is right to say there are two roller coasters we experience, the first, the one that our physical life brings, the second, the one that our spiritual life brings. To experience a relationship with Jesus, it is worth forfeiting lifes highs for lifes lows, in order that we experience the spiritual high of seeing from the heights of where He is, and living that manner of life. As we journey, we must commit to be dead to lifes roller coaster whether it is up or down, and simply go up to where God is, in the highest calling He has for our life.
The high calling that God has reserved for us is not a paved road, it is a treacherous road designed for the committed. It takes all the commitment in you to decide to follow Jesus in EVERY AREA. To think as He thinks when no one around you thinks like Jesus - takes great courage. To forfeit your life for your brethren that mistreat you exacts a great price from the stores of your bosom. Responding as Jesus in every crisis and every attack requires devotion that is completely genuine in every aspect of your manner of living. You face the present day Caesars on one side, and the present day High Priest on the other side. One side you expect to kill you; he uses Herod and Pilate to carry it out. The other can catch you off guard; he uses your kissing Judas, ones you previously set free, and the crowds of fellow journeyers.
We are in dire need of messages with His trumpet sound carrying with each spoken word a great measure of grace getting us through death and into resurrection. My prayer is that Temple Builders can accomplish this for you in some areas of your life. This is a grace that causes us to respond perfectly when put to death by Caesar OR BY false brethren. Even though our brethren may not be thoroughly false, their temporary falseness will be used to put you to death.
Gal 5:7
You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? NASU
As we travel onward, we bring ourselves to the very crossroads of our beliefs. We must examine why we believe what we believe. If a convincing Bible teacher has misled us, we must have the courage that Peter displayed when he saw the vision of the sheet. For example, Peter was mightily anointed and used of God, yet held a doctrine that was hindering the plan of God, a doctrine concerning the importance of the law, and the importance of such things such as refraining from eating an unclean animal. It was Peters doctrine, yet justified through the present day interpretation of that scripture. To change Peters view of the scripture, God shows an unclean animal, and speaks to Peter, kill and eat. God does the same to us.
Peter struggled with the unveiled doctrine that Gentiles were no longer unclean, and did not have to perform the law requirement of circumcision. Peter did much damage, this was evident when he was standing aloof from the uncircumcised, standing along side of the circumcision party. Simply joining yourself with a sect of heretical belief is a problem to God. Paul called this act of Peters HYPOCRISY. It resulted in bringing other ministers and believers into that same hypocrisy. What seems to some as a simple miscalculation on Peters part brought unfortunate consequences in doctrine. Paul gave three things that the doctrine of circumcision (law) produced. Galatians 5:3, 4
1. You are obligated to keep the whole law.
2. You are severed from Christ
3. You have fallen from grace
In every one of us is the Peter that is stubborn to hear what God is saying concerning His plan. The result is a law oriented gospel that severs others from Christ. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This is what Paul asked the Galatians. Peter was part of the problem; Peter was part of the hindrance. Instead of admonishing the law type of leaders, he stood along side of them. We learn from the things Peter did that were an example of Jesus, but we also must learn from his failures as well. If Peter can learn, we who are just as stubborn must learn as well.
In one breath, we can preach a walk that is full of grace, and the next moment we can preach a lifestyle of law and works. Our ambition to walk a disciplined Christian lifestyle can easily end up as a Galatians walk of circumcision. The answer is to learn Gods high calling for our life, pressing forward in the grace that produces a race that we can finish. Law is the counterfeit for the hope of your calling. It sets high standards on our life that cannot be achieved, and it encumbers your race with weights that choke the life out of you.
We must have the courage to see, hear, and do, what is on Jesus heart, no matter what we have believed all of our life. It is a struggle even for the most used of God, yet God calls all of us to come to these crossroads, lest we remain immature in Him.
Our journey continues dealing with sufferings, revival, and all types of false doctrines. We must deal with church issues such as the popularity of those that call themselves heresy hunters. What is their purpose? Is it the way of God exposing other Christians? As well, we must deal soberly with new moves of God, revival manifestations, and new wineskin-type-of-ministries. Asking questions as, are current revival manifestations vital to the plan of God? How do I protect myself from being misled? In addressing these types of issues, we open up a can of worms, as the expression goes. These serious issues cause the church to stumble, remaining immature. Many Christian bystanders have observed these issues, and are confused about who is right. Other Christian bystanders have heard from God on these matters, and simply have not dealt with these issues in a manner that purges out the leaven.
By not confronting these issues with truth, we have allowed the leaven to spread throughout the body. However, improperly dealing with these issues can cause more damage than the issue itself. THEREFORE, WE MUST POSSESS THE FEAR OF GOD IN GREAT MEASURE WHEN CONFRONTING ISSUES THAT ARE GREAT IN CONTROVERSY. Temple Builders has grace from God to take these risks, dealing with issues soberly, and yet producing fruit that remains. The risk of stepping out as Gods Amos is exampled in the suffering that Amos endured accusation and mischaracterization. Those of us who do likewise are accused as being unqualified, with expressions such as, who do you think you are. Most prophets in scripture learned to be dead to these attacks, and so must we.
A Preview
In this journey of ours, we also come to a place where we must understand the purpose of affliction. God reveals the book of Job and the life of Job, as we have never seen before, so we may understand affliction as never seen before. Most think that Job was right, everyone else was wrong, and he endured till restoration. Nothing could be further from the truth. Through Jobs journey, we acquire a wisdom that causes us to endure affliction, HAVING LEARNED.
Proceeding forward, we examine the book of Nehemiah to show us a man who displayed the response to attacks that pleases God. Have you ever experienced a season in your life where you ran into obstacle after obstacle, fell into pit after pit, and hit by blow after blow? Such was the life of Nehemiah as he worked on restoring the walls of Jerusalem. We examine the grace displayed in Nehemiah, knowing the same grace is at work in us as we build.
God reveals how all these pieces of the puzzle fit with the culmination of His plans for the Church. The Temple Builder journey ends with Seven Thunders ; our last message that unfolds a mystery found in the Book of Revelation, written over 1900 years ago. God has given an unveiling in this message, defining the seven thunders, using much scripture, and in a way that comes through God disclosing it - not academically figuring it out. The Apostle John received it through inspiration, from the Spirit; the Spirit reveals it to us, totally, the same way. The Seven Thunders is a truth unsealed in this last day, an unsealing that brings scripture alive as never before.
The design of this book is not as an exhaustive teaching or exegetical work. Instead, it has a particular anointing of portraying truth in a manner that gives hope in reaching our finishing line. I love researching; this is one of the primary gifts God uses in my occupation, requiring me to write in a bulleted, business professional writing style (very logical is my point), but in the case of this writing, both writer and reader must flow with the rhythm of what the Spirit speaks. If I were presenting a logical case for proving an argument, I would use bulleted and logical presentation; therefore, the purpose here is not to solve arguments. Regardless, you will find as you walk with the Lord, our way in using our talents will destroy, not rescue. God uses the before mentioned gifts to gather content and meditate on that content, but I have learned, until He breathes on it, it remains lifeless. I am in hopes that the Temple Builders message is a result of the breathings of the Holy Spirit.
When I was born again and water baptized on October 21, 1979, I saved the church bulletin for that day. In the bulletin it said, If a hypocrite is between you and God he is actually closer to God than you are. I kept that saying as a trademark of my life to prevent the misbehavior of other Christians separate me from Jesus. I have had valleys where I allowed this separation to occur in spite of my convictions. Disillusioned with the current church and ministry wineskin, I disassociated myself from Jesus body. After restoration, I saw that the problem was never the church, the ministry, or the hypocrite. The problem always resided in my own heart. It is my heart that had to be dealt with, and it is your heart that God is dealing with IN ANY ISSUE. No matter how many attacks from other believers we have endured, no matter how many poor witnesses have existed, we must never allow that to hinder our relationship with Jesus and the race that He has called us to finish.
This book gives me hope in finishing, in being accepted in His love, and in being fitted into His body. I believe it is a message that strengthens your hope as well. Instead of becoming bitter about church immaturity, God gave grace to become better. Gods grace causes us to be an instrument bringing light to His ways, instead of remaining disillusioned by ministry immaturity. Our enemy is never our brother; our primary enemy is always what we have allowed to enter into our heart. Truth sets us free from this enemy if we allow our hearts to be circumcised.
Finally, I believe that this book is a FORERUNNER. These truths are fresh insight to scriptures that have been vague or misunderstood. It is not new revelation in the sense that God is speaking something He has not yet spoken. It is more simply an uncovering or unveiling of scriptures hidden to the mainstream church in this generation. This unveiling has been occurring all through the 20th century through many of Gods servants who have been forerunners of truth. As well, God is mounting up many more servants that handle Gods present truth, unveiling it to the 21st century believers. The challenge exists throughout this message to abandon old wineskins completely, and receive Gods new wineskin, full of the fruit of the vine. We must change our thinking, and likewise change our course to match this new thinking. It is not enough to learn these things; we are destined to walk in all these things if we choose Jesus way instead of mans way. The Apostle Paul said I HAVE FINISHED THE RACE. We must come to a place where we follow this example that Paul set. This book gives Gods view of the race and the ability to run that race.
The Restoration of right thinking
I remember in the early 1980s listening to Joy Dawson, a powerful minister of what I call hard truth. One Sunday morning she preached a message called It is how you finish that counts. She taught on the life of Solomon. As she taught, we witnessed Solomon, a man used of God in great measure, but there was a problem - he did not finish that way. Joy Dawson taught, in the last day, Jesus looks at how we finished instead of the journey. If we grow cold, are caught in a trap, maybe backslide, or give up we lose the high calling that is our destiny, and its rewards. Solomon was a temple builder that did not make it to the finishing line. I do not want to be another Solomon; as well, I know you do not.
To finish, it is not enough to pray with great intensity, or to read scriptures repeatedly. To finish, it is not enough to attend the right church, to read the right books, or to have the right friends. Your finishing, is a journey in God that requires wisdom intermingled with love, and ends with a life of deeds that have imparted truth and fruit to those who God placed in your path. To that end, we preach this message called Temple Builders. It is a hard message that few can bear, including me, yet we are all required of God to receive that which we know God is saying to us. The Temple Builders message must get us to a place of truth, and it must get us to a place of fruit by first bringing us to a place of death. The division we witness in the church, of saints believing millions of different doctrines - must end, for us to finish maturely. Right thinking must become a reality in Gods last day people. Right living must be the outcome of this right thinking.
The days of reading scriptures and making them say whatever makes us feel good - must end. I use scripture, you use scripture, and every scholar and preacher use scripture, yet we have no agreement from that same source of information. Maybe, it is because God never meant scripture to be a source of information. Maybe, the purpose of scripture is reserved solely to the Lord, Who reveals. Most Christians have the thought that they are like attorneys, defending their case from printed words. In reality, we are all at the mercy of God in understanding the meaning of scriptures. Scriptures define our roadmap for the journey; scriptures MUST BE INTERPRETED CORRECTLY. Scriptures, when interpreted correctly from the Spirit - produce life. This life is what propels us to the finishing line. Without a relationship with Jesus, and without a relationship with the Holy Spirit, our Teacher, we will founder when it comes time to understand the scriptures. Only Jesus can tell us what He meant when He included a story, an exhortation, or a rule. We always fall into the trap of thinking in law type terms when we read the New Testament. Why is this? Because, the law type of thinking does not require a relationship with the promised Holy Spirit of Truth. We can simply figure out what the scriptures mean apart from God. As well, we can also Christianize our activities. We take a scripture such as forsake not the assembling& and turn it into law. In reality, most of us do not fulfill this scripture, even as we sit in the pew, but law has a way of providing SELF-JUSTIFICATION so we feel good about ourselves. If we were to peer into the heart of God to see what He meant when He had Paul write this scripture, we would have right thinking concerning this verse. Those that take pride in self-interpretation of scriptures are ones that attack Spirit-led interpretation. Attacking with words such as, subjective, Gnostic, and cultish, Christians lay slain by the present day lawyers (scribes) of scripture. Many have lost confidence in understanding scripture without consulting the opinions of scholarly men. Simply remember, all scripture interpretation IS subjective, basing it on our personal experience with Jesus, in relationship. However, that never means throwing away common sense laws of interpretation and principles; God simply breathes life to these methods of study. The underlying iniquity of Pharisees and Scribes, exist today, in this area of understanding scripture. Some in the body refuse to read the Book of Revelation without consulting mans teaching. They possess no confidence in the Holy Spirit unveiling, as He did with John. My aim is to allow God to use me to restore this confidence.
Balance, balance, balance, that is what God is demonstrating as we adhere to a new thinking of Gods ways. When interpreting scriptures, the idea of subjective experience can be a pendulum swinging into the opposite direction. So let me add, before God shows you anything, it is His way to have you read, and study, which is an activity that provides the information HE assembles in your thoughts. However, that does not mean you have to interpret as you read; that usually comes later, when God speaks to you His thoughts on the matter. Instead, most Christians are content with the tradition of mans interpretation of scripture instead of knowing God through scripture. Interpreting scripture apart from knowing God, results in the spirit of law, sin, and death.
Currently, all of us believe goofy doctrines because of those that taught the law type of teachings instead of Spirit. As if a racing baton was handed down from generation to generation, we have received the sayings of those that read scriptures wrong. History records a period of time that became disconnected from the traditions of the original apostles, prophets, and believers, a time many call the dark ages. We started all over, with few exceptions. What happened? We have been in a period of transition that is much like the time of Jesus. Before John the Baptist, there was a gap of hundreds of years since the last prophet was seen in Israel. It was part of the plan of God to have that gap, and it is part of the plan of God to have this gap. This time, Israel (a picture of the church), witnesses another John the Baptist (Gods present-truth message used to prepare Gods people), and another Jesus (a remnant church). I do not expect the immature church to grasp this message of finishing until a remnant of believers see and demonstrate it first. Allow me to qualify the definition of the term remnant church, as we use it in application. When I say remnant, I mean a people considered mature Christians. What is maturity? It takes this whole book to paint a picture, and define this popular Christian word.
Most Christians progress little, maybe, but are nowhere close to Gods finishing line for their life. They have decided the meaning of their pet doctrines and their favorite scriptures, and they refuse change. In other words, they possess the law; they are in a period of law. Please, do not misunderstand; I am not saying they are categorically law oriented. This book is not about whether one is in or out of the kingdom, it about areas of our life that are amiss.
Are law type of Christians doomed to law? Many remnant doctrine believers think so. I do not think so at all. I see a display of mercy that reaches to those that are bound by law to deliver. I see a remnant people, a core group of believers - that possess the promised relationship of John chapter 14 to chapter 16. In that relationship, they have learned to hear a voice that few have learned to hear. A voice teaches scriptures accurately, with no more controversies, no more misunderstandings, and no more debate. We yield to One of greater understanding. The remnant of God is a people that preaching in the wilderness, and a people laying down their life for their brother. Self-preservation and self-promotion cannot be named among them. BEFORE we become a great witness to the world, I think we will become a great witness to the church. This would follow the pattern of the Gospel in the Early Church, to the Jew first, then to the Greek.
I think that this Temple Builders message is a John the Baptist in the wilderness pronouncement. Only those willing to go into a wilderness hear it. Not to the mainstream, are we preaching it, not in a place familiar to the pious are we preaching it. It is a message not preached by the credentialed, and not by the popular, instead, it is the simple preaching it. The authoritarian spirit stays far from this message, a message where the first in this life have made themselves last. Unrefined and yet packaged for those that are truly hungry for the things of God truths deep within His heart. There is no preaching circuit, no fellow-comrades with similar teaching, and no broad ministry acceptance in this message. Those needing a stamp of approval by the ordained, normally stay out of the wilderness message. Those that want casual implementation of truth, or a low profile spreading of a last days message, instead, find a frontal attack and a violent assault on their senses.
Truth does not come through knowing what scriptures say, listening to anointed ministers is not necessarily a guarantee in receiving it, and it does not even come from books like this. God can use all these vehicles to drive you to truth, but Truth is a Person that we receive as the Lord of our life. He rules our thoughts, our deeds, and our beliefs. We do not get to choose anymore what we hold to be true. He decided it already, and we spend our whole life getting to know Him in such a way - where we can listen. It takes every affliction, every battle, and every human relationship, to get us in a place of submission to His voice. It does not come from pew sitting and Bible class, not even cell groups, it comes through pain designed to get our attention. It comes though humbling ourselves in circumstances designed to get us to STOP, and read scriptures different, to read scriptures by listening. This is what is missing in the time of law.
Scripture calls prophets in scripture - seers. In reality, they are see-ers. They see what others miss. When I teach, I see these things clearly. It is an experience that I liken to the Holy Spirit taking His eyes and placing them within me. This of course is not mystical, it is the experience of every Christian; many Christians just do not recognize it. Some, because of doctrinal beliefs, just do not admit it. Paul called it the eyes of the Spirit in Ephesians, and he prayed it for every believer. The utmost I could ever hope to aspire to, in this life, is that you could read this message seeing with only His eyes. I pray that your eyes are open where they need to be, we close them where they need to be. I pray that you can look beyond that which causes me to be a stumbling block, and look to Him Who is the Author and Finisher of your faith.
Chapter 1
The High Calling
A Way Less Traveled
This particular journey, which I have asked you to take with me, is a place of ascension. The voice of Gods Own Spirit is beckoning you to come up higher. We call this destination the mountain of the Lord, even Mount Sinai, a place where man meets God face to face, and God responds by covering us with His glory HIS OWN NATURE..
It is quite enjoyable focusing and preaching about the glorious relationship with Jesus, and His accompanying glory, but to press forward unto maturity, God causes a shift in our focus. There are other parts of the mountain, not just the glorious top, and some are not too pleasant, as you will see. There are varieties of craggy and rocky places along this traverse, but His Word promises that He &makes my feet like hinds feet. It is His way to equip you for the climb. He would not make your feet to be like the feet of an animal that gracefully navigates the rocky precipices if there were not a need for you to do so. There is a higher calling that He is compelling His saints to answer. On Mount Sinai, only one obstacle exists, and we must face that obstacle. The obstacle is God Himself. If we truly navigate the slopes of Sinai, we are greeted at the top with a confrontation of Who God is, and how we are lowly in His presence. The Israelites saw a glimpse of Who God is, and it scared them. We do the same thing that the Israelites did. Most of us would rather stay in the valley allowing others to go up to the top. For most of us, it is enough just to hear the report from those that went. Ultimately, staying in the valley causes all of us to worship golden calves in our life. That calf represents what consumes our thoughts and activities apart from God.
To get Gods people up the mountain, we must speak a wisdom to the Christian church, in this last day, to give grace to cope with different areas of the Christian walk. The adversary, the devil, seeks to devour every one of us in these specific areas. We must examine the devils 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. As we listen to the voice of God drawing us towards the top, ultimately, God is confronting us with an awesomeness never witnessed, however, with an awesome that scares us, for He shows us what He really looks like. At that point, we choose our direction. Do we allow this awesome view to compel us to the top, to the high calling of God? Alternatively, do we allow the revelation of Who God is - cause withdrawal to that which is familiar?
Consider Your Ways
The teachings contained in the Temple Builders message are about considering your ways FIRST. This is NOT a message about considering the ways of your brethren in Christ UNTIL your heart is dealt with. Only then can you consider the ways of others with the compassion of Jesus that can RESCUE OTHERS FROM THE PIT. Scripture teaches us to judge ourselves, proceedings forward, let us mind our own affairs, looking to our weaknesses, and receiving Gods grace.
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, todays temple is in ruins. Compared to where God destines this temple to be, todays temple is in ruins. Todays temple, His church, is in need of workers that forsake their house to build Gods house. You may say, I think the church is fine - better than ever. As we consider our ways, we 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? Gods desire is to reverse this curse. His desire is to reveal to you your ways, and exchange them for His Way. God uses 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.
Gods 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 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 vandalized, leaving in ruins through hurt, and misunderstanding.
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). Second, the ministry edifies and restores in our life what the enemy has torn down.
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. Only then, will the process stop. These three things are the result of a COMPLETED TEMPLE! 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.
What does this three-fold finishing line really look like? Moreover, what does being spiritual really look like? Let us look line upon line, chapter upon chapter, to define what these terms describing Christian maturity mean when scripture talks about them. 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. Many in todays ministry possess different definitions of maturity and being spiritual. Incorrect thinking along these lines causes us to place hope in a finishing line that is far from the race that we are truly destined. When Jesus confronts us with a truth He is speaking, with reference to defining true spirituality, it becomes a crossroads to us. If the voice of the Spirit is speaking, and the message of His voice is a different definition than we presently hold, He brings us to a decision. Will we ignore the voice? Will we reason out the voice through logical thinking? Will we hold to the thoughts of those around us? Will we forfeit our traditions? As we see, the things of God are not as cut and dry as we once thought. It all boils down to a passionate relationship with Jesus to the point where nothing matters except to know His thoughts on any matter, and then to walk in those thoughts.
Considering our ways is the first answer on our journey towards truth. At the starting line of Gods journey, we are given the opportunity, through the message of God, to examine our hearts and arrive at the conclusion that we have erred by living in a self-serving house. We had not abandoned our ways as we thought we had. At this point, our journey begins; at this point, we can become equipped to build the house of God. Even when we have served the Lord for years, we still find areas of our life where we have just come to the starting point. Ignoring the bag with holes and not considering our ways leaves many areas of our life with the inability to build the house of God. Instead, we leave in ruins - the lives of others. Instead, we may even be used of the enemy to cause further ruining in the lives of others, literally becoming a temple destroyer instead of a temple builder, whether we realize it or not.
Show The House To The House
Ezek 43:10
Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern. KJV
All of us are called to make disciples; we are called to instruct others in Gods ways. We are called to SHOW THEM THE HOUSE. What iniquity was the house of Israel ashamed of in the above scripture? It was the iniquity of building their house instead of Gods house. The iniquity of the house of Israel was revealed to them as the Son of Man showed them the house that God is building. Likewise, when you show others the house that God is building it reveals their iniquity. As you show the temple to the temple, it is up to them to measure the pattern. Indeed, it is up to them to examine the pattern. As you teach the temple that God is building, it is up to them to see the rule, the "detailed plan, and the pattern that they should have walked. Let them become "measured" by this standard, and walk accordingly. We cannot cause them to see if they have their eyes closed; we cannot make them walk if they refuse to move. We must show them HOW they can walk, and we must show them the house, the blueprint that God is building. God calls every one of us to be temple builders, and to have Gods temple BUILT IN US. God always uses His blueprint or pattern to build His temple.
The blueprint of this temple is exceptionally detailed, but God gives grace sufficient to follow each detail represented. The blueprint is simply stated TRUTH! Jesus said He was the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Knowing Jesus as our Way causes us to abandon our own ways. When we abandon our own way, it joins us together with others who have done the same, putting us on the same path. Knowing Jesus as our Truth gives us the correct knowledge of the Son; this is Gods divine pattern to build the temple. Knowing Jesus as our Life causes the fruit in our life to mature, causing us to grow to the proper height, and that is how we must ultimately show others the pattern - by our lifes example. This is quite important. If we have not seen Jesus way demonstrated in our life, the reason for inferior building lies with us. WE HAVE YET TO ABANDON OUR WAYS ACCEPTING HIM AS TRUTH! We cannot blame it on the pastor or other ministers we have received. We are the ones that are accountable. Jesus leads the sheep that have a true hunger for Truth, to His servants, His called shepherds, that feed green pastures of life. If you do not gain the hunger for strong meat, the table Jesus sets before you will contain multiple containers of milk. We may think that our milk is meat, but if our appetite lacks the true hunger for strong meat, we deceive ourselves. We see the proof of this distorted pattern in gatherings that are full of people content with milk, holding doctrines that have changed little from year to year, content with yesterdays manna.
A diet of milk limits our effectiveness in temple building. Milk diets produce truth that is obscure and veiled with reproductive capabilities that impart to others only the most foundational truths. If we have not been building in the lives of others the Truth that sets men free, we have not truly seen Him in great measure as Truth. When others attack us and we respond by being defensive, we truly have lacked the Life that overcomes evil with good. We will never walk in Gods Life with much degree unless we go through Truth. We will never demonstrate Gods character without knowing the Blueprint that God is revealing.
Though this pattern, this blueprint, is precisely detailed, the Father has always made Truth SIMPLE. Man is the one who took scripture and made it complicated by thinking more highly of himself then he ought. Jesus, the ultimate pattern, we present as simple, yet detailed. God made Truth simple as to exclude no one. Man complicates Truth as to exclude you from fulfilling the purposes of God. We examine some of the teachings in the present day Church that exclude instead of include. No doubt, many are in certain bondage because of these excluding doctrines. God sets you free the moment that you realize that the nature of these excluding teachings, and those bringing you into bondage - are not the nature that is Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit reveals the Truth that always includes those who follow Jesus. These scholarly men have a gift, but many have used this gift apart from the Holy Spirit as their teacher. God has likewise given me a great gift of researching things out, and though it is a God given gift, I have counted it as worthless in order that I might know Jesus (Philippians 3:9). It is at this point that the gift becomes a useable tool to God. In my life, it took the chastisements of the Holy Spirit in circumstances to occur first, so when this precious gift is used it would be a tool in the Masters hand, instead of my hand.
Called To A More Excellent Way
1 Corinthians 12:31
But earnestly desire the greater gifts.
And I show you a still more excellent way NASU
The Apostle Paul spoke of a more excellent way. In our walk in the Spirit, there is a more excellent way. Do not be content to stay at the place in Christ that you are at NOW. The more excellent way that Paul speaks of is a more mature way.
When I was saved, in 1979, I preached to others in the zeal of God, even as one that had experienced life from death. God honored my endeavors even though I was newly born in the Spirit. Therefore, I saw these labors producing results. In spite of this, God speaks loudly deliverance from Egypt (the world) brings zeal and excitement, BUT a desert life (of affliction) lies before you. What am I saying? Many times when we come out of the kingdom of darkness (the world, Egypt), we are like Moses and the Israelites. They experienced great rejoicing in song on the other side of the Red Sea. Many of us experienced great rejoicing because of our deliverance; however, Moses and the Israelites came to a desert place afterwards. Likewise, for us there is trial and tribulation that comes afterwards. We can choose another way but it is not Gods more excellent way. We cannot remain in our infant stages expecting God to always bless our endeavors. God weans you, even as a mother weans her baby off her continuous supply of milk. God, in the same manner causes you to SEEK OUT His more excellent food, THE MEAT.
The ministry God equips me for has a focus primarily on the more excellent way. For instance, if you were one that has no daily time in the scriptures, one could minister concerning the need for you to spend a small portion of your day in Gods word. Certainly, this would be of the Lord, and would be edifying to those that spend no time in Gods Word. However, our purpose here is to examine the more excellent way of God. Instead, we would focus on the heart of the psalmist who meditated day and night on Gods word. Therefore, the calling of this book is to bring you to Gods desired END wherever you may be in your walk. Some focus on your next step, and certainly this would be of the Lord. Some focus on an elementary aspect of walking, this is also of the Lord. However, the anointing here is to provide a view of the endings God has called us. The focus here provides the Wisdom of the Lord to SEE the traps that the enemy has laid ahead in affliction and in false teachings. All of us inevitably encounter these things in our ascension or in our run to the finish line, but our hope is that you attain the high calling of God and arrive at your destination. Let us look to the answers given to us in Gods Word that brings us great hope of finishing our quest.
Understanding the more excellent way principle is important in our journey. Have you ever been impatient concerning your spiritual growth? This impatience can produce frustration that continues until you understand this important principle. The reason some of us get discouraged in our maturity is we see ahead. In other words, discouragement comes when we know how things should be in our life, and in others, and because of our lack of maturity, we have not seen the fulfillment of that desired end. Discouragement also comes when we know of the callings set before us, and yet the fulfillment is far away by our estimation. I heard a saying, immature is not impure. We see our immaturity then we beat ourselves up over it. As you hear Gods present truth, you see a more mature way that God wants you to walk. The danger here is you see it but you do not walk in it yet, therefore you get frustrated. When my son was eight years old, he wanted to be an adult. He yearned to be an adult, experiencing the things of adulthood. What he did not realize, but as adults we do realize, is that adulthood is not what it is cracked up to be. We want to grow up and experience adulthood, and yet we are a mere eight years old in areas of our life. We think, If we were just an adult, all will be well. Adulthood is a time of great freedom to do what we want. It is a time where we have the privilege to do things we could not do before. Nevertheless, it is also a time where we become accountable on a much larger scale, as well, a time of responsibility. You are destined to be a mature adult Christian, but it is your choice. It is the way leading to life but not all choose to ascend to this higher calling. From a childs perspective, adulthood possesses many advantages, but a mature adult sees the responsibilities along side the advantages. A child should never undertake the accountability of adulthood because they have not sufficiently experienced the dealings of life.
As child Christians, we want the adult Christian experience, yet we have not sufficiently experienced the dealings of the Holy Spirit. My advice to my son was to enjoy the maturity level that he is walking in, and yet be continuing a habitual walk towards adulthood. It is needful to view what adulthood looks like, but not just the advantages and rewards. It is needful to view the sufferings and trials through the dealings of the Holy Spirit that must be PASSED, in order to finish. It is needful to know that when you finish, accountability is much greater. Scriptures says, Life and death are in the power of the tongue. When you become a Christian this principle is amplified. As you grow in the Lord, God deals with your tongue, and He causes you to release control of it, for His good purposes. He becomes the governor of your tongue much more as you grow. Now, as you arrive at adulthood you see God and the hosts of heaven performing what Gods adult offspring have said, as the scripture says, The power of the tongue results in good or evil. Because of the higher accountability level the consequences of unruliness and disobedience in the mature ones tongue is greater. This is the principle that we see in the world system, and yet it is more important in the nature of spiritual life. The best example in scripture we see is in the two witnesses of Revelation. They must utter forth judgments against their enemies as often as they will. Therefore, God must really trust them in the area of their tongue. This level of trust and accountability comes through discipline and journeys into Gods wilderness. Growth comes as we respond to this fire as one revealing Christ, the mature One, instead of the pitching a fit conduct seen in babies.
In the world, there are physical 30-year-olds that act like babies. In the spirit there are 30-year-old Christians acting as if they just became born again. This is not the pattern designed by God. It is a deviated design of nature. As responsible parents, we teach our children to prepare them for adulthood. The key word here is prepare. We teach our kids the principles of life, knowledge, and training for that ultimate day when they become independent. The main purpose of doctrine in the church is to train us in Gods ways, in preparation for adulthood. Parents that do not raise their kids properly turn out irresponsible adults, and though the children age physically, they never become mature inside. For instance, if we do not train them in work ethics while growing up, they most likely will have no work ethics when are hired in the workplace. Most employers can testify to the decline of work ethics, attributed to how kids are being raised. These natural observations are important in spiritual observations.
Gods desire is to bring you into adulthood, learning everything required to come into full maturity, reflecting Jesus in every area of your life. As you learn and see, you must walk towards this mountain place, this finishing line. As God reveals to us the power of the tongue it can be shocking to see ourselves speaking so much carnality. When we fail concerning the tongue, remember, Immature is not impure. However, when the Holy Spirit convicts we must repent and change our course immediately. Do not get frustrated trying to grow up too fast. Accept the dealings and lessons of the Holy Spirit that are set before you today. Submit and yield to those dealings, and you will simply grow up. The desire to grow does not cause the growth. It simply sets you on a course toward the direction of growth. Accepting the rain and light ushers the growth and we need both. This growth causes Gods three-fold breaking. The shell of the seed must break, the ground must break, and a bud must break forth to issue fruit, which is the life that others eat. You are destined to fruit bearing, but you must be content with the breaking of the soil, if that is where you are in your journey.
Our maturity is measurable at a certain stage of growth; however, God deals with only one area at a time. He shows us a place, or maybe two places, that He is dealing with you for growth NOW. God always deal with us in the now, and right now God has His finger on an area of our life, to break, and then to grow. God is showing us what bearing fruit looks like, and what is required to get there. As the Spirit gives you vision for these truths, your part is to hide these things in your heart, applying, RIGHT NOW, only that which concerns the place you are walking, for this part of the journey.
The Spirit of God taught me years ago the importance of speaking words that only impart life. God taught that the words I would speak would one day be comparable to the words Jesus spoke. Whereas Jesus spoke only on His Fathers authority, likewise, I would speak one day only on Jesus authority. The frustration of knowing that this is Gods proper end for my life is hard to bear, especially, when years have gone by and I am still far from that finishing line. I have learned, though this is a place in my walk that He desires, I must be content with where I am today, in this race, and let God figure out the specifics of how I get to that finishing line. Our feelings and frustrations become obstacles; simply rest in Gods patience for our growth, primarily, being patient with yourself.
We know in America that we have legally arrived at adulthood when we reach the age of 18 years old. In the spiritual walk, we see dimly in the reference of time. We always want God to do a quick work. We expect that we will arrive shortly, but in actuality, a quick work comes only through much revelation of Gods way, intermingled with extreme affliction, to teach us the discipline of the Holy Spirit. If we respond to affliction, immediately responding with Jesus nature, we catapult our journey quicker to the finishing line. If we respond by pitching a fit, kicking, screaming, and moaning, as our immediate response, we grow slower. If we refuse the dealing of the Holy Spirit concerning the affliction, we do not grow at all. If you continually reject the dealings of the Holy Spirit, you simply die spiritually, going back to the starting line. We must press forward as an Olympic runner, seeing the goal. If God were to grant our request for a quick work, it would be unbearable. We would suffer a multitude of growing pains ALL AT ONCE! Sometimes we get a taste of this in our lives when afflicting events hit our life like a string of dominos. Many times, it is a growth spurt, an opportunity to advance in the kingdom of God, if we respond to it correctly learning its lessons.
In conclusion, God has a more excellent way, a higher calling, to make you FULL GROWN. We must discover this truth first, separating it from the foundational truth of God. After seeing what this full-grown adulthood looks like, we must follow the course of that which is set before us. As we run the course, we must run with aim towards that finishing line. As we climb, we must ascend with our eye targeted on the top of the mountain where God is. We must train hard to finish; we must traverse the rocky, steep terrain; we must endure a flesh crying out for us to stop this insanity. We must not faint when we come across obstacle after obstacle, attack after attack, from friend and foe. We must receive from God, the ability, the grace, to run the course set before us, today, trusting Him to get us further along in the course tomorrow. It is not about how healthy our body is; it is not about how great our training, it is simply about having a relationship with our Trainer, trusting in His instruction and His strength, FOR EACH DAY, propelling us down the road. Yesterdays course is a testimony of that instruction, that training, and that trusting, in His ability. Let your previous running be a testimony of how real our God is, and how much He loves His children; so much that He has mercy on them, giving grace to accomplish all of His desires in the Earth. When we receive grace, instruction, and endurance, it results in a maturity that is closer to the top, closer to the finishing line, WHERE WE SEE GOD more clearly than we did the day before.
Chapter 2
Sit at Gods Table
1 Cor 12:28
And God HAS MADE some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers
James 3:10-13
Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. (NIV)
God gives different ministry gifts to us for our edification. God has made these gifts, and these gifts are good. It is obvious that we who possess these gifts have allowed mixture in our life. God knew this would happen, and there is great reason why we have witnessed this mixture all through church history. IT IS AN OBSTACLE TO PROVE WHO ARE TRULY HIS. The obstacle is &men that have exercised a perfect gift, yet, their lives do not bear witness to the Truth in the same measure. Some may preach mature truth that is more comparable to their lives. Other ministers may preach mature truth, and yet remain no older in the Lord than the day they were born-again. Sometimes I have witnessed the more gifted ones are spiritually the more immature ones. We must all deal with this obstacle, and it is a constant obstacle - making us or breaking us. On one side, we try to remedy the obstacle through avoidance, with the result of being further from our destination of the high calling. On the other side, we go through the obstacle through acceptance, or accepting the bitter water along with the sweet water; though the immature view you as forbearing and tolerant, God simply says in the book of James, these things ought not so to be. Accepting the obstacle, receiving perfect gifts with the imperfections of man, cause your life to become a mixture. Either way, avoidance or acceptance, you will not have your temple finished, nor can you do much building in the temple of others, no matter how much you learn of truth.
Our first test for Sitting at Gods Table starts when we encounter these ministry gifts, we must not refuse them, for God made them and sends them, even though they may not fit our ideas or preferences. Even though the servers life contains mixture, we must not categorically reject them. There are ministry teachings and gatherings that we outgrow; I am not talking about these. I personally believe most Christians that progress in the more mature things of God, in this day, start outgrowing any gathering that clings to tradition apart from God. It is the will of God to become the light changing our gatherings, or, you must move on quickly lest you become bitter through frustration. Just make sure you are passing the tests that we are speaking about before you leave. Also, do not take these lessons and make them law by subjecting yourself to teachings that are more unscriptural than scriptural. I have been in gatherings where the high percentage of teaching is not scriptural. In these settings, you must not stay long lest the teaching damages your heart. Unfortunately, I cannot help you with their responses, but as you read, I can help you with your responses. It is your heart that God is after in this message. I believe that the Lord places you in churches that you have outgrown - long ago. This is a real test of attitudes but can result in a gift of mercy that is exceptional. Though more mature Christians have written off immature gatherings as obstinate, God has a way of causing great repentance.
The Ministers The Servant
Ministers are just mere men and mere servants - nothing more. Many are waiting for Gods perfect ministers to arise but God has a different plan. There will be more perfect ministers but Gods emphasis in this day is a more perfect listener. It is these more mature listeners that become more mature ministers. Therefore, our emphasis in this chapter is to avoid avoidance. Sometimes, we are right, and the minister is wrong. However, just because you are right does not give you the right to avoid. Other times the minister is not the problem, we are. We have formed prejudices through tradition, and alliances that cause ungodly responses to the ministers that God has chosen. If you keep your heart pure in these matters, God always send someone more pure than yourself to minister the scriptures to you. So, let us examine our hearts at this moment, instead of focusing on all the mixture that others are preaching.
When you go to gatherings, picture yourself at a table with Jesus at the head seat, and the minister as the server, the waiter. As Gods servants, those of us who minister to the saints are GIFTS God uses to set up a table for you. In actuality, it is God Who sets before you this table. He chooses the food set before you, on the table, that is good for you. The menu is Jesus choice, it is not the ministers choice, and it is not your choice. The place settings are Jesus arrangement, not yours. That is part of what it means to make Jesus Lord over your life. It encompasses every part of your life, including your spiritual food! If you say to the Lord, I do not enjoy this particular meat and bread or I do not enjoy how the table is set, what you have actually done is come to God in covenant relationship, ON YOUR OWN TERMS. This causes your bags to have holes you sow much and reap little.
There are many bad manners at God's table, and we must deal with them. In fact, we must deal with any improper attitudes at Jesus' table. The table is God's place of covenant. We have our communion service and we become reverent, yet God wants the same attitude at His table during the message. One thing that we can be sure of, God is not mocked, what we sow we shall reap. If you do not pay attention, if you do not mind your manners, and if you do not eat what God sets in front of you, others will not eat of your words either. Do not be deceived in this matter of eating. The Pharisee of Luke 7 invited Jesus to his table, but he would not trust Jesus to be Lord of that table. The Pharisee rejected Jesus, and rejected the woman who came to respect Jesus. The Pharisee treated the woman with contempt, thereby treating Jesus with contempt. We do the same when we prejudge Gods servants who desire to do nothing but anoint the feet of Jesus in humility. The feet of Jesus are a picture of the people of God, who we must weep over, in humility, washing them with our tears. We must be kissing and anointing Gods people with the oil of His affectionate message. Unless we keep our heart pure and non-judgmental, we behave as the Pharisee that Jesus said, giveth no kiss. How many times do we act as the Pharisee at our gathering, giving no kiss? We can easily become as the Pharisee who criticized the woman - because of her history. Even easier, we question the prophets discernment because He received and forgave the woman. It is easy to invite Jesus to our table, treating Him with respect; however, it is another matter to receive those He has received.
The wise man lets God pick his diet. It is not always easy to swallow. Some pride usually has to die, but it produces life eternal. For example, a minister might preach like John the Baptist. He instills doctrine to the body concerning the need that the church needs to "wake up" and not be a sleeping church. He may have little tolerance for the fence walking Christian. Even though he is not the perfect minister we desire, God uses him to set a table before us. Let us say there is something on the table, something God has used this "John the Baptist" type of minister to set before us. We need to eat of it for our growth. Maybe it is an issue dealing with attitudes of laziness. If you simply refuse to eat because he is rough around the edges or you think he lacks compassion, you are coming to God on your own terms. It is Gods desire that you hear and eat what the Spirit is saying to you concerning the matter at hand. The John the Baptist may not clothe his message the way you think it should be clothed, but he is ordained to serve you Gods food at HIS table, not yours. That is the point. It is not your table; it is His table. Remember, we gave up our rights when we started following Him. This is just one example of a type of ministry that Christians ignore because they pick their diet, and they choose what dish (meal course) they accept. This is a prejudice that God puts to death. This is a pre-judging because of the unlikely-ness of the physical vessel that God has chosen, or because the vessel does not belong to our sphere of acceptable servants. We witness constantly in our gatherings folks that do not accept Gods chosen because they may lack the credentials that we require.
Types of Servers
God will often set His table in a way that defies your human wisdom, if your response is a refusal to eat, your walk will lack Gods wisdom and Gods life. God uses some unlikely vessels for His greatest truth in these last days. This is a test of responses for His people. For instance, if you are prejudiced against women ministers, God selects a woman prophet to set your table. You find the word concerning YOUR ANSWER in her message. Because of the twisting of scriptures, men and women have excluded these servants from serving at Gods table. Ephesians five ministry gifts are genderless throughout the New Testament, yet misapplication of unrelated gender-specific scriptures, causes a prejudice at the table of God. No matter how far you get with God, you will not finish your course if you EXCLUDE women ministers. I am not talking about women in authority positions; I am talking strictly about women ministering the Word of God. I have heard it said that, women can only minister to other women and children. Reading certain scriptures wrong causes a multitude of Gods people to exclude women in ministry. The result is destruction. Like a good attorney, you can have 30 scriptures in your arsenal to prove your case, and still be wrong because you are reading the scriptures wrong. Jesus is the Judge, and if you connect with Jesus, you find out what He meant when He commissioned apostles to write the letters to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. In our chapter dealing with church government and gifts, we believe God sets the record straight between the difference of ministry gifts and church government.
Sometimes, the server God chooses for you is a vessel of youth. The youth of the individual causes a prejudice to reject wisdom, because we think wisdom can only come through much experience and age. Wisdom is a Person, Jesus Christ, and knowing Him is learning Wisdom. The young person preaches the Person that he knows.
Sometimes, the table God sets before you may includes only one God ordained dish set in the MIDST of many dishes - not set by God. When this happens, the other dishes, often times, OFFEND us, and we never seek out the dish in the midst, closing our spirit, and refusing to look for the hidden treasure. If we respond to these other dishes by getting offended, we miss that which changes our life forever. We must forbear dishes placed on the table - that are not God, to eat of that which is God. I am not telling you to endure unsound doctrine; you must look past it at times to see if there is life in the midst of the "lifeless words" being spoken. If you are easily offended by the few "lifeless words, you miss what God has prepared for you.
Concerning COMPLETELY FALSE TEACHERS, there are times when God excuses us from the table early. Once I witnessed a "so called prophet , teaching, Every Christian has an identifiable aura. You might have a bigger aura than I have, and yours may have a different color than mine. (Of course, he claimed he was not new age.) You can categorically reject this type of prophet, removing yourself from the table. For me, this is reminiscent of eating liver as a child; not only was it terrible to eat, but it caused my side dishes to be unappealing as well. God does not force you to sit at tables listening to teachers destroying the foundational doctrines of Christ. Jesus did not set up these types of tables, but make sure that you are discerning this by the Holy Spirit. Sadly, most of the Christians at this particular meeting received the message because signs and wonders followed. If this table is frequently set before you in your local gathering, you should pray about leaving, or pray that the minister leaves. It is not scriptural to associate with false teachers.
If a server is abusing you through doctrine and so-called authority, God does not call you to endure that table. God does not call His sheep to abuse. You must leave in cases where abuse is the meal being served. No man can make this decision for you, and you will probably suffer when you make the decision to leave. Many times, the abusive servers show their true colors when you disagree with them, or when you leave. True wisdom is always peaceable, gentle, kind, and possesses deeds done in humility. It is not hard to see that they do not measure up to the stature of Christ.
Again, to be scriptural, we must AVOID abusive servers because they are spots and blemishes in our gatherings that cause us to be spots and blemishes as well. Submitting to abuse causes us to forfeit Gods high calling for our life. Abusive servers are easy to spot. They are dictatorial in their speaking, issuing commands, bringing forth condemnations. They want to be your interpreter of scripture; normally they want you covered by their umbrella of protection and blessing (that does not exist). Their conceit tells them that they hear God better than you do, and you must obey their counsel, or they consider you disobedient. These things do not look or taste like Jesus. They are a counterfeit. These servers dish out a synthetic food source to you, a substitute for the Real Food - Jesus. Eating at this type of table will poison your relationship with Jesus Christ.
Let me give you an example of when NOT to leave the table. A minister receives a God-given message, but it has to pass through their undealt-with-pride. We see the pride, and therefore reason we can categorically reject the rest. If God places you before a table such as this it is natural to reject all. God wants us to grow up looking past the pride, meeting it with mercy, finding the dish within. The minister with pride might have a specific word for you concerning your present affliction. Since the mouth of the minister is available, God uses it. If his pride offends you, you miss your answer. The key word is - God has placed you at this type of table, it is not your placement. If you have placed yourself at the table, the pride of others can cause self-righteousness in your attitudes.
In the natural realm, we have many hang-ups about what we eat; and in the spirit, we have even more hang-ups about what we eat. We might have to save a certain dish for last, such as our dessert. Gods will for dessert is to eat LATER, lest you spoil your appetite for more essential dishes. In other instances, servers try to coerce everyone to eat everything they serve. Still more, a certain dish might be from heaven, but God does not permit you to eat at this dinner meal. The thing we learn is to humble ourselves to the point that Jesus is LORD OF THE TABLE! We must always be discriminating of this spiritual diet, but if we receive the Wisdom that comes from above, our diet is as easy as rising up early in the morning to collect the manna that has fallen on the ground for todays growth. I have seen brethren who are hungry for God, but when servers feed the truth, they become fussy eaters. The ministers mannerism offends them, or they get offended at the ministers personality, phrases, terminology, or emphasis on a certain matter. Unless we grow up concerning our attitude at Gods table - we remain carnal, we remain immature. If you are waiting for Gods perfect ministers to rise up to feed you, it will be too late for you to finish the race that God has called you to run.
We should never use the term "nobody is perfect" to justify our fleshly activities and false doctrine. However, it is necessary to show mercy in our hearing towards the imperfect server. We who are ministers are, at best, clumsy with our service. We have a revelation of the Lord (the meal), but drop some of the food, making our meat loaf look like dog food. We ask the Lord, "are you sure that you want to use me"? He always replies, "Yes, I have chosen the foolish things." Some ministers are prideful in their service, simply blind in how clumsy their service really is. Some eaters at the table are just as blind to how clumsy the service is. Crowd response does not determine quality of service, nor does it determine how good the meal is. Christian popularity polls and approval ratings are usually opposite of Jesus opinion. Popularity in the Earth is never an indication of our popularity in heaven. As Christians applaud, the angels may be grieving. Christian books that are best sellers may be simply mans vanity and uselessness.
Our receiving of truth must be dead to ministry popularity lest we receive the wrong food. The servers of the spiritual food must learn to not cater to the crowds by wanting amen responses, crowd excitement, and crowd participation. Truly, you can receive all these things, and defeat the true purposes of God. The most mature servers are the ones that are most dead to crowd responses. I find, the most effective ministers are the ones busy hearing what Jesus is saying, at the moment, and allowing the Holy Spirit to simultaneously match that saying with the appropriate emotion and spoken word. The tragedy is - what I just said is meaningless in typical seminary minister training.
The person sitting at the table must show mercy. The person sitting at the table must eat the Nature of what the minister is serving, though the packaging is imperfect. The prophet told Naaman the leper, in the Book of Kings, to dip seven times in the Jordan River, and God would heal him. I envision Naaman sitting at the table looking at the meatloaf on the plate, feeling that it has the appeal of dog food. In the Old Testament, Naamans response to the dish was, "Are there not much cleaner rivers to dip in?" Naaman almost rejected the word from the prophet because of the package, and we do the same with our meatloaf because of the packaging. Naaman wised up, looked past the package, obeyed the word of the prophet, and God healed him.
No doubt, even true ministers say things in an insufficient manner, but the nature is the Son of God. When you bite into it, when you taste it, it tastes like Jesus! If you misunderstand, you cannot taste. If you taste, you see that the Lord is good. The Apostle Paul was misunderstood in this manner. He taught grace but they heard "licentiousness" - a license to disobey Gods laws. Later, through wisdom, Paul would qualify in more detail what he originally taught. He would qualify his teachings, but only after, they had misunderstood. If the people had listened with their spiritual ears and looked with their spiritual eyes, it would have been unnecessary. If they had just tasted the Nature of what he spoke, they would have tasted of Jesus. Instead, he was falsely accused. The misunderstanding that Paul suffered produced Gods testimony. Instead of squelching the teachings of Paul, we now have Books of the Bible such as Galatians, and Romans. As a sitter at the table, we must learn to avoid misunderstandings. As a server at the table, we must learn to be misunderstood.
Puzzle Pieces
Lastly, when we hear messages of the Lord they often come to us as pieces of a puzzle. We first form the outer edges of the puzzle. Those pieces with flat edges represent the foundational and basic truths of our walk in God.
Sometimes, we prematurely see a piece of the puzzle, and because we compare it to the image on the box, we know approximately - where it goes. Therefore, we place it in the general vicinity, sort of out in limbo. Many times, we see a truth of the Lord, and though we are able to receive it, knowing it fits into Gods plan, we lack the understanding of how it relates to the other pieces, mainly because we have not placed the other pieces yet.
We pick up another piece that looks obscure to the image on the box. We know that it fits, but maybe it does not fit, we just are not sure about it. This uncertainty is NEVER REGARDED AS UNSPIRITUAL. Some servers may place pressure on us to place the piece prematurely. If we place the piece in the puzzle before it fits, that is presumptuous. We must set it off to the side until we see clearly, where it fits. Many times, our insides know that a truth is of the Lord, but our mind is not fruitful, we must not reject the piece. Instead, we must remember the teaching, allowing God to cause us to see the fitting later. We must not receive pressure to accept a truth because of the charisma of the teacher, or because a logical argument is made. Whether it is a truth that is God or not God is not the point. The Holy Spirit does not compel you to place a piece of truth in your heart, unless He illuminates how it fits into His master plan. For instance, after hearing dozens of opinions based on scripture for a certain puzzle piece, we are not to place it into our lives until WE SEE THROUGH THE EYES OF THE SPIRIT. We are not required to receive and believe any truth until our Teacher, the Holy Spirit, shows us where to place it. Let us say, there are ten opinions, all using scriptures, relating to the two witnesses, and these interpretations makes no spiritual sense to you do not receive it. Throughout your entire life, you may NEVER SEE IT. God does not view that as unspiritual. Receiving another mans opinion, or scripture interpretation, BEFORE the Holy Spirit teaches you in relationship is what is unspiritual and unscriptural. I hope this truth elevates a burden that men may have tried to place on you, to receive their teachings.
Remember the most important part is the foundation, the outer edges. If we falter here, our whole picture is a total mess. We always fit to the frame, to the foundation that is none other than Jesus. Concerning doctrines, we have a list of foundational teachings in Hebrews; they are elementary doctrines that form the fr