The Peril Of The Good Side Of The Soul

© 2011 Jasper Life Publications 1st Edition in English – October, 2011 1st Edition in Portuguese – July, 2010

The Perils of the Good Side Of The Soul Translated from Portuguese with permission of Editora Árvore da Vida All rights reserved by Jasper Life Publications Inc. Jasper Life Publications Inc. 725 Viscount Road London, Ontario, Canada N6J 4G9 Phone: (519) 472-6620 www.jasperlife.com info@jasperlife.com ISBN 978-1-926970-11-0 All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Bible text from the New King James Version® is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000.

CONTENTS

Preface..................................................... 5

1 The Ministry of the Apostle John.............7

2 Growth in Life to Become Heirs.............21

3 The Peril of the Good Side of the Soul.. 33

4 A Representative of the Good Side

of the Soul.......................................... 47

5 The Practical Way to Deny Oneself........61

6 Faithful and Wise Servants................... 79

PREFACE

“Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams� (1 Sam. 15:22).

These are words of warning from Samuel to king Saul, who did not strictly obey what the Lord had commanded him about Amalek, a powerful enemy of Israel. In this book, Dong Yu Lan shows us what caused Saul to disobey the word of God and warns that this can also happen to us in our service to the Lord.

We have the concept that serving the Lord means to perform whatever He determines in the best way possible by using our capacity and skills. However to God, to serve Him means to put aside our skills and opinions to obey Him and fully perform the task according to His word.

5

Besides the episode involving Saul, you will see other examples of Bible characters who tried to please God making use of the good side of their soul. You will see the result of such attitudes and will be shown how to escape this trap of Satan.

The author also shows that the apostles Paul and Peter have exercised their ministries faithfully and completed them, but the ministry of the apostle John remains until the present day and will continue until the Lord returns. This is the ministry with which we are burdened today, the ministry of Spirit and life.

May the Lord reveal Himself to you while reading this book, for it is composed of spiritual nuggets drawn from the most recent messages given by the author.

S達o Paulo, June 2010.

The editors.

6

Chapter One

THE MINISTRY OF THE APOSTLE JOHN

During his exile and already at a mature age, the apostle John received a revelation from God on the island of Patmos around the year A.D. 90. He recorded the following in the book of Revelation: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near” (1:1-3).

This revelation, given especially to John, indicated that God still desired to use him. At that 7

The Peril of the Good Side of the Soul

time, the situation among the churches was one of degradation. In this background, God raised John and prepared him throughout the years, as he witnessed the occurrences in the church in Jerusalem, raised by the first apostles, as well as in the churches established by the apostle Paul.

After Peter’s martyrdom, John was sent into exile. During the years he remained imprisoned and exiled, John learned to live in the spirit and had time to ponder about everything that had taken place. In order to do so, he relied on the precious cooperation of the Holy Spirit, who caused him to remember everything that the Lord had spoken to the disciples (John 14:26).

OUT FROM JESUS’ SIDE CAME BLOOD AND WATER In his gospel, John records many things that were not mentioned in the other three; we would like to draw attention to two of them. The first one is recorded in chapter 19: “But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. And he who has seen 8

The Ministry of the Apostle John

has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe” (vv. 34-35).

During Jesus’ crucifixion, His blood was seen by all who were present; however, in order to see the water that came out of His side, one had to be very close to Him. In his account, John was with “His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene” (vv. 25-26).

This scene defines John’s ministry, for the water here represents the divine life released through the death of Jesus: every man who believes in Jesus, receives the divine life, is born of God, and given the right to become a child of God (1:12-13).

Hence, when Jesus met with Nicodemus, He said: “...unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (3:5).

Regeneration or new birth, takes place when we receive God’s life, which is illustrated here by the water coming out of the Lord’s side during His crucifixion.

On another occasion, while speaking to a woman, “Jesus answered and said to her, 9

The Peril of the Good Side of the Soul

‘Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life’” (4:13-14). As mentioned previously, through passages such as this we can see that John’s ministry was centered on the divine life.

“IF I WILL THAT HE REMAIN TILL I COME, WHAT IS THAT TO YOU?” The second trait in John’s ministry can be found in the last chapter of his gospel. After asking Peter three times whether he loved Him, Jesus said: “Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish. This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, Follow Me” (21:18-19).

Curious about what would happen to John, Peter “said to Jesus, ‘But Lord, what about this 10

The Ministry of the Apostle John

man?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.’ Then this saying went out among the brethren that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, ‘If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you?’ This is the disciple who testifies of these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true” (vv. 21-24).

John himself explained that Jesus had not said that he was not going to die. In fact, God had reserved a special place for his ministry. When the Lord called John, he was mending nets with his brother, James, and his father (Matt. 4:21-22).

Hence, his ministry would be one of “mending nets”. When the ministries of Peter and Paul had come to an end, there were already “holes” in the net with regards to the building up of the church; this was the reason behind the degradation. At the end of the first century, the Lord called John and gave him a special commission: recovering the church’s condition for the fulfillment of His will; John’s ministry would remain until the Lord’s coming.

11

The Peril of the Good Side of the Soul

THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE MINISTRIES OF PETER, PAUL, AND JOHN By the Lord’s mercy, we have seen that the writings of the apostle John bear a unique characteristic. In the epistles of the apostles Peter and Paul, they expounded on the details concerning the church: its foundation, base, unity, living, and building up. In John’s writings, however, these are not a main concern. Peter’s apostleship focused mainly on the circumcision, the Jews. Paul’s ministry, on the other hand, sought to reach the uncircumcised, the Gentiles.

The original twelve apostles, led by Peter, remained in Jerusalem and continued part of the Lord’s work: gathering the lost sheep of the house of Israel into the church. Similarly, Paul was chosen, called, and sent out by God to bring the gospel to the Gentile world; he also taught many basic truths pertaining to the church.

Throughout history, God has used different ways to deal with men. Hence, during the course of time, He has made His truths available, distributing them according to the age and dispensation. Therefore, 12

The Ministry of the Apostle John

we can say that these truths are dispensational; every age has a “tone” in the speaking and gospel preaching. John’s writings, however, do not dwell on truths that are specific to a certain age. We can attest that these truths do not fit the dispensational realm; instead, they focus on the eternal life. When speaking of God becoming a man, he emphasizes on the fact that, through it, the divine life was made available to us. That is why, in his gospel John speaks of the need to be born anew by means of the eternal life. He also mentions the eternal life in his epistles.

For the begetting and building up of the church, many truths were revealed through Peter and especially through Paul. We can say that these truths are dispensational, that is, they met the need of a certain age; they are temporal. Despite being temporal, these dispensational truths need to produce something that is eternal: the eternal life.

Therefore, we can say that John had the ministry of mending nets, for as we have seen, this was literally what he was doing when Jesus called him to be His disciple (Matt. 4:21; Mark 1:19). In this sense, John’s ministry concerning life came to mend the spiritual “holes” and “rips” that had developed.

13

The Peril of the Good Side of the Soul

The destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman prince Titus in the year A.D. 70, indicates a change in dispensation. It was as if the concept of church established on the day of Pentecost had come to an end. At that time, the primitive church produced by the preaching of Peter and the eleven was in a situation of spiritual dormancy. The churches that had been established among the Gentiles through Paul’s ministry were also in degradation, for they no longer submitted to God’s authority and had begun living according to their concepts, opinions, and strong tradition. Paul said the following about the believers at that time: “For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:21) and: “This you know, that all those in Asia have turned away from me, among whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes” (2 Tim. 1:15). This indicates that the knowledge of the truths pertaining to the church—its unity and other practical church matters—were not enough to help the believers to stand steadfast in the faith.

We thank God for showing us the importance of John’s writings in the Bible. Dispensations change, along with their people and things, yet the divine life is eternal. This life is in us and it needs to grow 14

The Ministry of the Apostle John

continually. By emphasizing the eternal life in his writings, the apostle John makes a connection between the Lord’s first and second comings.

The path the Lord has led to tread these years is in accordance with the perception and vision that the truths we have received from His faithful servants in the past, helps us know and build up the church. However, the truths do not have an end in themselves; they are not merely for knowledge, study, or discussion. These truths are the means to produce that which is eternal: the Person of Christ, that is, Spirit and life.

John’s ministry is the last ministry, for it will remain until the Lord’s coming; it is the ministry of Spirit and life. This was exactly what Paul’s ministry lacked, for even after much effort with the Ephesians (Acts 19), the church in Ephesus became filled with knowledge at the end of his ministry—lost in oldwomanish tales, genealogies, disputes, and idle talk (1 Tim. 1:3-7). After his exile, John chose to remain in Ephesus, and through his ministry of Spirit and life, the church was recovered to its first love and to the practice of the first works (Rev. 2:4-5), such as calling upon the Lord’s name and reading God’s 15

The Peril of the Good Side of the Soul

word with prayer. During John’s time, the church in Ephesus became a desirable church.

At the end of John’s gospel, the Lord says that the disciple mentioned by Peter might remain until His coming. The Lord Jesus has not come back yet and John has already died; however, his ministry of Spirit and life remains alive, and through it, we have been encouraged to go on and to be renewed at all times.

The teachings concerning church during the apostolic age failed, for they gave the impression that the church is an end in itself. Now, with the vision of the eternal life we have received through John’s writings, we are certain that the church is only a procedure, preparing us for the kingdom of the heavens which will be manifested in the coming age. Therefore, since the destruction of Jerusalem in the year A.D. 70, we have a strong indication that the church is a temporary realm where God can perfect and prepare us for the true goal: the kingdom of the heavens.

The way to build up the church today is to make use of all the truths God has revealed through His 16

The Ministry of the Apostle John

apostles; however, we should not get lost in a quest for knowledge. These dispensational truths must produce something eternal, which is the eternal life.

Therefore, we need John’s ministry, who recorded in his gospel the way indicated by Jesus: “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (6:63). In order for us to avoid falling into the trap of knowledge, we must extract life from the truths, for life is in the Spirit. We should seek God’s word through the Spirit that we may gain life.

“YOU SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES, FOR IN THEM YOU THINK YOU HAVE ETERNAL LIFE” In his gospel, John records that Jesus said to the Jews: “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.” (5:39-40). This passage reveals the essence of John’s ministry: the Scriptures represent the dispensational truths, yet in order to have life, we must come to the Lord who is the Spirit today. Although we need the truths, 17

we must go to the Spirit in order to have life. Thus, we see the importance of practicing the first works: calling on the name of the Lord Jesus and reading His word with prayer. This was the characteristic of the church in Philadelphia: “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name” (Rev. 3:8).

We are blessed, for not only do we have all the truths revealed by the apostles Peter and Paul, but we also have the way of Spirit and life revealed in John’s ministry in his maturity. We can participate in this last ministry which will bring the Lord Jesus back and establish His kingdom on the earth!

THE HEAVENS ARE OPEN TO THEIR FULL EXTENT! Once, a dear servant of God said that the apostle Paul opened up many “heavenly windows” in his main epistles, yet that John’s ministry is as if the heavens have opened up to their full extent.

With the help of the apostle John’s writings in his maturity, the heavens have truly opened up to

their full extent. With the ministry of Spirit and life, the will of God will be carried out at last, and the Lord will be able to come back, thus establishing His kingdom on the earth. Hallelujah!