Dec 6th, 2001: Fiery Trials

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The Staff and Sword Ministry

December 6, 2001

FIERY TRIADS PART VIII

By Nancy-TONI

"iieloved, chin+ it not strange concerning the f ery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing has happened to you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, (I Peter 4:12-23) when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy."

FO UNDA TION STONES OF JESUS'RE TURN For this article I have three topics I am led to address which may seem unrelated but are actually uniquely interconnected or linked. The first two have to do with what we are repenting of and praying for on the Net of Prayer Daily Prayer Sheet, "STAND FAST IN CHRIST JESUS". More specifically it is the line in the REPENTANCE PRAYER that says: "We repent of partaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and ask that You lead us back to the relationship we had with You before the Fall of man." I had someone object to the need to repent of partaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, stating that that was long ago so it has nothing to with us today. Then I had someone else take exception with the prayer to be led back to the relationship we had with God before the Fall of man, again not seeing the need since we have Jesus Christ and through Him already have that relationship.

The third topic is a question raised by Jo, who wrote: "I don't believe there is coming a rapture. So, what is Jesus' coming? I believe He is already here at work in those that believe."

So in short, the topics are: 1.) Partaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

2.) Getting back to the relationship we had with God before the Fall.

3.) Jesus' return.

At first glance it may seem that these topics are unrelated but in truth, the first two are directly related to Jesus' first coming and the third His return. I further believe to better understand Jesus' second coming it helps to understand His first coming and what He came to accomplish. In short, it was by one that death carne upon us all and it was by one that Life

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came. It was by the disobedience of Adam that mankind fell and it was/is by the obedience of Jesus that mankind was/is saved. Further, I believe there is even another way to see it by disobeying God and partaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam broke his relationship with God so Jesus Christ came to restore that relationship with God Almighty. There is no question in my mind that through Jesus' actions and relationship with God He was directly countering what Adam had done in every way. And while Jesus paved the way for us and made it possible to have that relationship with God once again, I believe it is our call as Christians to do the things that Jesus did and so in Him is our example, our way and our path we must take. However, I would disagree with the person who claimed we already have this relationship restored us. As a promise, yes we have that but at least for myself and Chuck-JOHNEL, we are still working in prayer and abiding to obtain and walk in that relationship, knowing full well we haven't entered into it in its entirety.

So, what is our goal — to what ends do we work in prayer? To the ends of manifesting Christ within us, in every part of our being. When we enter into that and God quickens it in us, we will have the relationship with God that Jesus has and the relationship will have been restored completely. This, we believe, is the first part of Jesus' return — within His people and to a body without spot or wrinkle (spin) and clothed in white garments. Then lastly we believe Jesus Himself will return. So, to us Jo is right, He is already at work in small portion of the Body of Christ seeking to make themselves ready for Christ to manifest in them but it is a foundation work at this point.

Years ago Jesus told Chuck-JGHNEL that his commission was to lay the foundation stones for His return_ This reveals we are still at the early stage of getting ready for His return.

Unfortunately, as long as teachings such as the Rapture or other such "easy grace" teachings abound, the actual number of Christians ready will be small but through them and their example other will have the opportunity to be a part of His return as well.

In the meantime, let us take a closer look at Jesus' first coming that we might better understand what is needed to be ready for His second coming. Let us see how we too can be part of laying down foundation stones for Jesus' Return.

BACK TO THE RELATIONSHIP BEFORE THE FALL Many years ago, in a time of prayer, the Spirit of God gave me to know what life was like before the Fall. In that vision I felt so safe, peaceful and happy. Everyone loved God and trusted Him with a simple, child-like trust. Our every need was provided. Our relationship with God was an open one, where He was easily accessible. There was freedom to be oneself God told us what we needed to know and no judgments were made apart from His but there was also no desire to even want to. We wanted to do His Will, to abide by His rules and

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BACK TO THE RELATIONSHIP continued no rebellion or disobedience was in us. This contrasts starkly with our relationship now where we are relearning to trust Him and rely on Him all over again.

Scripture tells us that man was only denied one thing in the Garden. "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; But of the tree of the knowledge of'good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: fbr in that day that thou cutest there off'thou shalt surely die. " ( Genesis 2:16-17) So what is "partaking of the tree of the

knowledge of good and evil and why is it so bad? Well, first of all God said not to partake of it so right away it is bad as disobedience and rebellion enter in just by the action of partaking of the "fruit". Then there is the "fruit" itself—knowledge of good and evil. We've been taught that knowledge is a good thing but in this case it is not, it is trouble.

In Genesis 3:22 it tell us that by the action of partaking of the tree, the man is become as one of f us (the Lord God), to know good and evil. " The effect, once man did that, was that he suddenly would think he didn't need God for now he could decide what was good and what was evil. The trouble is that without God, we ourselves cannot properly make that determination because God did not establish things that way. There can only be one God so this new complication of many little gods was not going to work. So you see, by partaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, MAN BROKE HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. Man would now die but what does it mean to die if our soul and spirit can still go to either heaven or hell? Well, to me, this death God speaks of can be defined as this: SEPARATION FROM GOD, THE SOURCE OF LIFE. Man, by partaking of that forbidden tree, now believed he didn't need God to tell him what to do, what to think or what to believe.

Ever since then God has been working like a loving Father to get back to the relationship He had with us before that awful day and even sent His only begotten Son to accomplish it.

I believe Jesus too consciously sought the relationship and covering He too had with God before the Fall of man when He said, "And now, 0 Father, glorify me with thine own self with the glory Iliad with thee before /lie world was " ( Jesus in John 17;5) "Before the world was" speaks to me of a time before the Fall. And when Jesus said "glorify me with thine own self', He was asking God to cover Him with His presence, His Love, His covering HIMSELF — as He surely covered Jesus and Adam before Adam fell and left God cover.

PARTAKING TODAY It is my belief that we are still partaking of that tree today. Anytime we make a judgment or major decision apart from God, we are partaking of that tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Anytime we believe a doctrine or teaching without praying to see if it is of Him or not, we are partaking. Anytime we judge a brother or sister in Christ we are partaking. Anytime

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PARTAKING TODAY continued we judge anyone apart from God's Word, God's Love, God's Spirit or direct revelation from Jesus, we are partaking. Even when we judge ourselves we are partaking. Whenever we base our decisions or determinations on our own understanding apart from God, we are partaking of the Tree.

Why is judging so bad? Well, first of all, Jesus warned us that judging or making a judgment apart from God only serves to bring judgment down on ourselves. As we judge others, we are ultimately judging ourselves. Just see what Jesus said in Matthew 7:1-2: "Judge not, that ye be not judged For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall he judged.• and with what measure ye mete (give out), it measured to you again (given back to you). " Instead we need to follow Jesus' example. He said time and time again that He of Himself did not judge but that only the Father showed Him how to judge. For example, Jesus said in John 5:30: "I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, Ijudge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. " Then in previously in John 5:19-20 Jesus also said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that himself doeth: and he will show him greater works than these, that ye may

marvel" Then lastly Jesus said in John 12:47-50, "And if nay man hear my words, and believe not, Ijudge him not: for I came not to judge the world,, but to save the world He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my works, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken of myse f but the Father which sent me, he gave inc a commandmnent what I shall say 1 and what I should seat. " Here we can see that j ust as Jesus Caine not to judge the world or those that believe Him not, but that God would do the judging, the same should apply to us. It is not our place to judge one another but to leave that to God. Secondly, I see Jesus showing us His relationship with God - He did not judge and He did as God commanded who gave Him what to say and what to speak. He did NOTHING except the Father showed Him. Just think about that — NOTHING. He remained dependent on God at all times even though in His Name He probably could have operated on His own but He chose not to. He chose to remain obedient to God in all things and we need to learn to do the same.

Even the Apostle Paul spoke of not judging in a very similar way as Jesus did. He wrote in I Corinthians 4:3-5: "But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or

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PARTAKING TODAY continued For I know nothing by myself,' yet am I sif of man's judgment: yea, I fudge not mine • king before time, not herebyjustijed. but he that judgeth me is the Lord Therefore fudge until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God. " So we see here through Scripture the importance of not judging even ourselves but leaving all judgment in God's Hands for He is the Just Judge. However, if we do make a judgment God will abide by that judgment and not overru'e it. I say this because of what the Lord showed me in I Corinthians 11:31-32. Here Paul writes, "For if we would judge ourselves we should not be judged (of God,_ But when we are judged, we are chastened (punished as to correct) of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world."

As I prayed about this Scripture, the Spirit of God showed me that what he is saying is that when we judge ourselves (or judge anything for that matter), then God will honor that judgment and not make His judgment. If we don't let God judge us or show us His j udgment but make one on our own then will God defer to our j udgrnent and not override it. However, our judgments, man's judgments, stem from our Adamic nature and will be harsh or, at the least, not as fair and righteous as God's judgment. The Scripture here goes on to say that when we are judged by God then we will be chastened oflby the Lord, which means He will punish with the intent of correction for our betterment and help. If He didn't make His

judgment, then our judgment would stand and we would be condemned with the world. In other words, to be judged of God and chastened by Him leads to life, but to be judged my man is to be condemned with the world unto death.

JESUS' SECOND COMING Now let's take a look at how this relates to Jesus' Return. Again, when thinking of Jesus' Return, keep in mind that Jesus came the first time to restore man's relationship with God. Jesus' second coming will be by manifesting Himself in those Christians who have prepared themselves and sought to restore the relationship they had with God before the Fall through Jesus Christ. To explain this let me walk you through some Scriptures to help illustrate my point.

For one piece to this, take a look at 1Corinthians 15:22 where it says, "For as in Adain all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his order: Christ the y first l nits • aft sward the that are Christ 's at his coming. " Here we see Christ as firstfruits, the first of more to come.

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JESUS' SECOND COMING continued Then we can look at these Scripture to tell us what His second coming won't involve. First Jesus said, '..for I carne not to judge the world, but to save the world " (John 12:47) Which means that He isn't going to let the world blow up or be given over the Devil in the long run.

Secondly, He said in John 17:15, "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil " This means that there will be no rapture but that it is Jesus' desire that we be kept from evil while in the world.

Jesus also told us that we won't know when His Return will be either. In Matthew 25:13 at the end of the parable of the ten virgins Jesus said, "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cornet/i. " However, we do see here a call to be watching and therefore to be ready should the Lord return at any time.

Then as we look closer at the call to be watchful we see it is directly related to being made clean or clothed in white garments as a virgin would be. For this connection, let's look at the Lord's message to the church in Sardis in the Book of Revelation. Here the angel of God says, "Be watchful, ....If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know hour what I will come upon thee. Thou host afew names... which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; " (Revelation 3:2-5) Here the angel is saying that we need to be watchful, for if we are not watchful then the Lord will come as a thief, when we least expect it, just like when the Bridegroom came for the virgins but half of them had gone to get "oil" in their lamps and weren't there. They weren't ready.

The other point I see in this Scripture is that it was only a "few names" that had not "defiled their garments" and overcome in Christ and therefore would get to walk with Jesus. However, it is Jesus' desire and God's Will that all within the Body of Christ be clothed in white garments. In Ephesians 5:27 it says, "That he (the Lord Jesus) might present to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. " This in turn brings us to Revelation 19:7-5: "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made rself read . And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. " It is here that we see the key to Jesus' Return — "his wife hath made herself ready."

MADE READY Through these Scriptures we can see that body or bride of Christ did something to make herself ready for her Lord's coming. She didn't just sit back and wait for Jesus to come rescue

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MADE READY continued her, but she took action to be prepared for when the time did come.

To me this action can be seen in a whole host of Scriptures, even in Ephesians 5:27 where Jesus would present "a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing. " Surely a change had taken place from the filth of carnality, the uncleanness of soulish, sinful, unrighteous behavior to where the church is clothed in white.

This call to make ourselves ready and to be without spot is referred to so much that I'm surprised that it isn't taught on more often. For example, in I Timothy 6:11-12,14 he writes, "... follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, ... Fiat thou keep this co;nniandment without spot, unrehukeable, until the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ. " Take a look also at 1Peter 1:22, "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned (real, genuine) love of'the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: " Again, with the emphasis on "Seeing ye have purified your souls." Yet another call to be made clean and therefore without spot or wrinkle.

I am going into this detail because there seem to be so many false teachings and doctrines out there that say or imply just the opposite — that Jesus is coming real soon and that the body is ready and waiting. But the Body of Christ as a whole is NOT ready and as long as Christians are told that they don't need to do anything to be ready then many will find themselves left out when it does occur. Much of what I've been led to write about in these articles is to help you make yourself ready to be able to come through Judgment on America but also to develop your relationship with God through Jesus Christ so you too can manifest Christ and be a part of His Return. Our call as Christians is to keep our lamps trimmed and when the time is right, Jesus will come and complete God's work in us. This completion will ultimately be done by Jesus Christ and God the Father, and Them alone, but it is important for us to know that we must make ourselves ready and to expect a change to take place within us by the Spirit of God.

CHANGE AND MANIFESTATION While many in the body of Christ look outwardly for Jesus' Return, they will be Iooking in the wrong place - they should be Iooking within. Just look at what the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 8:18-19:

"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in its For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the inairifestation of the sons of Clod. "

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CHANGE & MANIFESTION continued And what he wrote in 2Corinthians 3:18: "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glor y to glob , even as by the Spirit of the Lord. "

Wow! Does that sound exciting or what?

But to me, the Scripture that sums it up the best is 2Corinthians 4:6-11. It goes like this: "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face o, f'Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us, We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our h iX . For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus 'sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made mangiest in our mortal flesh."

Here we see we have the treasure of God's Light in our earthen vessels, our bodies, and the power from that Light is God's and not of us. We see we will experience outward troubles such as being troubled, being perplexed, persecuted and cast down but inwardly we are given the grace through Christ to come through. Lastly, we see the bearing about of the dying of

Jesus which is death to self, death to the things of this world and to sin in our own body on earth that we may also manifest His Life and Presence in our body. We will be delivered unto this death for Jesus' sake, for our faith, that Jesus' Life would manifest in our mortal flesh.

This is not something that just takes place after we leave this world but is meant to take place while we are here.

Jesus Christ came the first time to restore man's relationship with God as firstfruits and

make it possible whereby we too might restore our relationship with God through Jesus Christ while in this world.

THE KEY TO RESTORATION - OBEDIENCE We can look down the road and talk about Jesus' Return and manifesting Christ but what will help us the most is a deeper relationship with God and Jesus Christ here and now. When we are walking right with God, we need have no fear of missing out on anything for He will keep us.

So, what is the key to this closer relationship with God through Jesus Christ? The answer is OBEDIENCE.

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THE KEY TO RESTORATION - OBEDIENCE continued This was/is the spirit of Jesus' walk while on earth. Obedience for Jesus was not a single act now and then or even a series of acts but the spirit of His whole life.

This was pointed out to me by Andrew Murray in his book entitled, The Blessings of Obedience, ( Whitaker House, 30 Hunt Valley Circle, New Kensington, PA 15068) as well as other good points that further add to understanding this important key and now this brings us back yet again to the Fall of Adam.

One cannot look at what Jesus did without seeing what Adam did for the Scriptures are clear --- "For as by one man 's disobedience (Adam) many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. " (Romans 5:19) Or as Andrew Murray put it: "We cannot escape being inheritors of Adam's death through his disobedience. In the same way, when we believe in Jesus Christ, we are equally inseparable from His obedience and life.... By accepting the atoning work of Christ's blood, we exchange our death inheritance for His life inheritance." (Pg 26) Obedience has always been spoken of by God to His people in the Bible but I personally have not heard any teachings on it until now as I am reading 2 books from men of God, both of whom died many years ago. God spoke early on in Deuteronomy 11:26-28 telling His people the following: "Behold, J set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day: And a curse, ifye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known. " A similar thing is said in Jeremiah 7:23: "But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.

This is why it is called the Old Testament or Old Covenant. Here God said that if you obey me and do my commandments then I will bless you. However, man in his sinful, disobedient state did not and cannot fulfill God's commandments and so God made a New Testament or New Covenant with mankind. God, in His infinite Love, sent His Son to fulfill all the law and commandments and to die for our sin and disobedience for us. God said to man, I'll make a new covenant with you but this time I'll not only make it but I'll fulfill it too. He took care of everything

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THE KEY TO RESTORATION - OBEDIENCE continued Now, it is up to us to obtain that New Covenant for ourselves. It is there as a free gift just waiting for us but how many of us really walk in it to its depths and obtain the reality of that relationship? How many of truly walk as Jesus walked and allow ourselves to be taught obedience to God through the things we suffer? In Hebrews 5:8-9 it tells us that Jesus did and so now it is for us to do: "Though he (Jesus) were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obe yhim;"

Likewise, Andrew Murray writes, "Our subjection to obedience is the only way we can maintain our relationship to God and righteousness. Christ's obedience, which gained us righteousness, is only the beginning of life for us. Our conforming to God's will is the only way to continue life." (Page 27) He then later goes on to say, "Everything depends on our knowledge of and participation in obedience. Obedience is the gateway and path to the full enjoyment of a right relationship with God...

The stronger our hold on the righteousness of Christ in the power of the Spirit, the more intense our desire will be to share in the obedience out of which is came." (Page 28) Having an understanding and insight into Jesus' relationship with God and the fact that He did nothing except the Father showed Him is the key to understanding Christ Jesus and what we seek to obtain, live in and walk in as Christians and followers of Christ.

CONCLUSION Well, I hope and pray I have adequately shown you why I believe we need to repent of partaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, why we need to restore the relationship we had with God before the Fall, what I/we believe is a major part of Jesus' Return and the important role obedience takes in all three. The main points I would leave you with are: 1) By following Christ and entering into the fullness of Christ and His obedience we are no longer inheritors of death through disobedience but inheritors of life through obedience.

Therefore we are to no longer partake of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil but seek God through Jesus Christ and let Him be the Judge.

2) By being obedient to God through Jesus Christ we can begin to restore God's relationship with us. When we conform to God's Will we continue that relationship.

3) A part of Jesus' Return will be within a Body without spot or wrinkle, having been made clean and righteous through Jesus Christ. God will work and ultimately complete His work in us but we must make ourselves ready which begins with OBEDIENCE. Lc, fl#4' S- t L

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