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To Live Is Christ! By Pastor Bill Taylor A publication of My Father's House, inc. Volume 8/Issue 17 Prophecy: Do you think that because I am the Son of God that it was easier for Me to overcome My flesh than for you? Do you think I didn’t have to go thru what you go thru? Thus saith the Lord, I was born just as you were born, and I had the same body of flesh like you have, and I had to overcome the same feelings of pain, the same hungers, thirsts, fatigues, the same demons you must endure every day. In the wilderness, when I was tempted for forty days, I had to overcome the devil just as you must overcome. And I overcame by the power of the Spirit; the same Spirit I have given you. And the Seal was on Me continually and I had the Word dwelling in Me richly so that when the devil tried to deceive Me, I knew the Word and I was not deceived but I chose to obey the Word of My Father. And thus saith the Lord, when you have a faith that I am living in you and you are abiding in Me, you will overcome as well and I admonish you to have faith that greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. Greater am I in you than these demons and these fleshly feelings and these devils who are in the world and by My Spirit you will overcome. But also you must have My Word dwelling in you richly for you to do this. And it is those of you who keep My Word and have faith in My Spirit who will have testimonies that glorify My name and it is My will that others of the elect will see your example and take hold of that same faith by My Word and My Spirit who will overcome as well. And I will give them to you as sons and daughters. And they will come to you as to beloved fathers and mothers. And there will be much joy and rejoicing in My house of faith, faith that overcomes as I overcame, thus saith the Lord. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (Phil 1:21) This must be the testimony of every true Christian “to live is Christ.” And that also agrees with: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live,” which should be demonstratably true of every real Christian “but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Gal 2:20) We can also see this in: Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (Rom 6:3-4) And To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery (of the gospel) among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Col 1:27) If Christ isn’t living in you, you don’t have a hope of glory. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily. (Col 1:28-29) There would be no reason for Paul to be striving to present every man perfect in Christ Jesus if being perfected in Christ wasn’t necessary to salvation. And because it is the Lord’s Spirit which works in him mightily to perfect the saints, God’s Spirit also witnesses that perfection in Christ is necessary to salvation. Unfortunately not very many “christians” today believe that. One of the reasons they don’t believe it is because of the pernicious Baptist doctrines that have convinced many they cannot lose their salvation, together with the demonic idea most false “christians” have that because they are “sinners saved by grace” they can never be anything but sinners in this world; which is a lie totally contrary to what the Bible says concerning salvation. The true gospel requires us to become perfect and complete in all the will of God; (Col 4:12) and requires us to be presented before God irreproachable and blameless in that day. (Col 1:22) So in the real church the Holy Spirit is working through the ministers and the believers to bring us to that place of blamelessness so we can be received into the Kingdom of Heaven and not be rejected in the day of judgment. And to be received and acceptable we must become a glorious church; faithful and obedient. We must become a people whom Christ can welcome with “Well done – enter into the joy of your Lord.” And not a disobedient people who have to be rejected in shame, as in, “Depart from Me you workers of iniquity – I never knew you.” There are numerous scriptures that confirm this. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. (1Thes 5:23-24) It is Paul’s faith that God will perfect the true believers into blamelessness before the coming of the Lord. Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; (2Pet 3:13-14) So the Apostle Peter agrees with Paul concerning the necessity that the saints attain to blamelessness before Christ comes. Now the false church and the false christians usually pervert the “blameless” scriptures into thinking Christ is going to make us blameless after He comes. But what does this say? Be found by Him blameless. You must be that way before He comes or He will not receive you. And it also says, “be diligent” to be found by Him. So you must take an active part in attaining to this state of blamelessness if you are to be found acceptable to God on that day. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, (2Pet 3:11) Therefore “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.” (2Cor 6:17) Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. (2Cor 7:1) Now all of these scriptures indicate you have a part to do now in attaining to blamelessness and holiness before Jesus’ coming. So the scriptures show, that after we come to Jesus and are baptized and enter into a true church as true believers we begin a work of purification so that when Jesus comes He can find us fit for the Kingdom of Heaven because we have already been perfected in Him and brought to a place of blamelessness where we are irreproachable in His sight before He comes. And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—if indeed … you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel… (Col 1:21-23) And that hope is that Christ will be formed in you. True believers are predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ. (Rom 8:29) And that is the work that must be going on in every true church right now; conforming you into the image 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; (Eph 4:13) And how are we to do that? We do it by speaking the truth in love,(that we) may grow up in all things into Him who is the Head-- Christ--from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, (every member of the church must do their part) according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. (Eph 4:15-16) Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, (Heb 6:1) but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” (1Pet 1:15-16) “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in Heaven is perfect. (Matt 5:48) Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. (1John 3:2-3) So in the true church right now there must be a purification going on because the saints are looking forward to meeting Christ and we will not meet Him unless we are just as holy and pure as He is; and unless we’ve been conformed to His image. Anything that is in you that doesn’t look like Jesus is an argument against Jesus. Anything in you that’s not like Him is something of the old man that you are holding on to instead of putting on the new. But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. (Eph 4:20-24) For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Rom 8:29) Jesus is the firstborn of the brethren; He is the first to whom God said, “You are My Beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased.” And He is the prototype or model of what God will have all His children to be in the Kingdom of Heaven; sons of God led by the Spirit and they will be like Jesus in every way. So anything in you that’s not like Jesus means you have not yet been conformed to the image of Christ, you are not perfect, you still have something lacking. And that thing that is lacking is something that is an argument with Christ because it stands against Him and what God wants to see in you. It is, for example, a thought that has not been brought into captivity to Christ. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; (2Cor 10:4-5) It isn’t your bodily image that God is changing; it’s your soul. And your soul is composed of your opinions, and your ways of thinking, your attitudes and such as that. And where your soul is not like Jesus it’s because you don’t think like Him. And if you have a thought that isn’t like Him, you have something in the way in your mind or heart that disagrees with God, disagrees with Christ. And for that reason you are not perfect. And the work God is doing to bring the church into perfection is to get every member to think right. To stop thinking in stupid ways, in selfish ways, in carnal ways, in demonic ways, in ways that are not truth and to bring every thought into captivity to Christ so Jesus is in complete control. Now where Jesus is in complete control in you, you are led by His Spirit and there is nothing you can be blamed for which is: There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. (Rom 8:1-2) So as we are led by the Spirit we are conformed to Christ; we are perfected in Christ; and everything that we do is God’s will that’s being done, then God has nothing against us. And that is the call that every true Christian must attain to before Christ’s coming. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; (2Pet 3:14) One meaning of to be in peace is to not be arguing with God about anything; to be in total agreement with God. And then we see without spot and blameless the same words used in Ephesians where it speaks of Jesus cleansing the church; that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. (Eph 5:27) The scriptures show it’s not possible for Jesus to come for His church until she is perfected: holy and without blemish. So only those who are purifying themselves to prepare for Jesus’ coming are the true church. And there are lots of people who claim to be in Christ’s church that are not His church because they are making no effort to purify themselves, and they are showing no evidence that Jesus is washing them, that they may be without spot or blemish. They’re not Jesus’ church if He is not washing them, because the scripture tells us Jesus is washing His church. And they are not His if they are not being diligent to be found by Him without spot or blemish. The lying doctrines from people like the Baptists, for example, have destroyed the contemporary church’s sense of needing to be perfected that the early churches were so very aware of and deeply involved in attaining to. True salvation has a beginning and it’s like when you enter into college and then you must complete the curriculum so you can graduate. But today these foolish “believers” think salvation is graduation; it’s over; you’ve won the race as soon as you’ve begun it. It’s not Jesus’ church that’s teaching that. The true church of the Bible knows that when you came into that beginning work of water baptism you entered into a continuing work of preparing for the coming of the Lord, which now you can do because Jesus is in you to empower you to do it. And if you continue in the faith for Jesus to perfect you, He will present you in the day of His appearing without spot or wrinkle and irreproachable in His sight which means you will be found worthy to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily. (Col 1:28-29) Now if Paul is laboring to do this, it’s a necessity! And it isn’t just Paul but Christ in Paul “His working” who labors to do this which further confirms the necessity of perfection and the work of love that must be visible and apparent in Christ’s true church. For without holiness you will not see the Lord. (Heb 12:14) So many “believers” today think perfection is optional. And the reason they think perfection is optional is evil company corrupts good manners. Even the best of the so-called “christians” today have been fraternizing with the corrupt churches. And that fraternization with evil has corrupted their good. So you can hardly find a church today that hasn’t been affected seriously by the corruption. It used to be Pentecostals were pretty straight but now you go into almost any Pentecostal Church and you’ll find the materialistic money loving faith movement doctrines in it. And you’ll hear people saying things that Baptist say, like “We’re all sinners and we can’t be perfect.” And they seem to think, “all Christianity is the same” and it doesn’t matter what kind of “Christianity” you practice or what kind of church you go to because one is as good as another. And that is a lie from the pit of hell and all “Christianity” is not the same. And the only kind of Christianity that God accepts is the kind that makes the believer just like Jesus. And all the other kinds are fraudulent and rejected by God and godly men.
A lot of the fraternization has come out of the media; christian TV, and such where everything called Christian is lumped together and mongrelized: it’s totally unchaste. It’s like everybody is messing around with everybody else; a spiritual orgy. So you can’t go into any of these churches today and find the pure gospel. And they don’t believe these “perfection” verses anymore. Even if you quote these scriptures to their face it’s like they hear them, but they don’t hear them. (Acts 28:26-27) But I tell you this in the Lord; the doctrine of the Baptists will pass away and the Baptists will pass away with it but the Word of God will never pass away and these Words will be standing when everything else has fallen. God destroyed this world and everybody in it except for eight people once and He will do it again, and it doesn’t matter how many so-called churches get together and try to change salvation; salvation is going to stand the way God made it and everybody that tries to pervert it will pass away and their perverted words will pass away. But God’s way will stand! These Words will be true a billion years from today! And you better get a hold of these Words and pay attention to these Words because this is the way God wrote it and this is the way it’s going to be. There isn’t anybody who will ever change it. Nobody’s getting into Heaven on a different gospel than what God has put in this Bible. And what we’re seeing here is the same thing that’s working in Paul is working in me. The same Spirit that’s working in Paul to present you faultless; to present every man perfect in Christ Jesus, is working in me right here to do the same for you. And that’s a mighty evidence of the reality of Christ in me. And in Philippians it says that same Spirit should be working in you, and you should be working out your salvation with fear and trembling. For it’s God who works in you to will and to do of His good pleasure. (Phil 2:12-13) So, you may become (notice “become,” this is a process) that you may become blameless and harmless children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the Word of life, (Phil 2:15-16) You see the people who have lost sight of this perfection in Christ have not held fast the Word of life. They’ve not continued in the faith. They have a different gospel. Now if Paul is striving according to God working in him to present you perfect in Christ then it is a necessary thing that you be perfected in Christ. It has to happen for you to be saved. You will not get to Heaven if you are not perfected in Christ in the earth in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world. (Phil 2:15) The corrupted christianity of this age has caused people to think that they will get to Heaven just because they claim Jesus is their Savior. There would be no reason for Paul to be striving and laboring to perfect the saints if that were true. These contemporary “christians” who do not see the necessity of being perfected in Christ are believing a lie. They are not going to make it to Heaven. And just because some of them seem to behave a little better than the others doesn’t mean the better ones are going to make it. It isn’t a comparison thing. We’re not being graded on a curve. God is not going to let a certain amount of people into Heaven even if they are not “perfected” just because they do better than others. We measure up to Jesus Christ or we don’t get in. We must get a 100% on this test not 99%. If you get a 99% that leaves a blemish on your paper; there’s at least one red mark on it spotting you. Perfection is what God is after. Nobody gets in without it. They get in only if they are perfectly conformed to Christ. Nobody’s told it to you like this before? But you’d better look at the scriptures on this subject because God is after perfection; irreproachable, blameless, faultless. And the possibility of perfection is very simple if this is true: For me to live is Christ, If that is true then I’ve made it. Jesus is perfect. (Gal 2:20) “I’m crucified with Christ and I don’t live anymore,” If that is true for you then you’ve made it. So what is the reality of your faith in Christ meant to accomplish; it’s to accomplish your complete crucifixion and Jesus’ full resurrection in you. In which case when Jesus is the one who’s living in you He is irreproachable; He is blameless. And you see that in Whoever has been born of God does not sin, (1John 3:9) Jesus is born of God. If you’ve been born of God then the Jesus in you does not sin and if it’s only Jesus who lives in you – then you do not sin, for you are perfected in Christ. When Jesus is ruling and reigning fully in you then you’re going to be all right, irreproachable in the judgment. That’s what Paul is striving to establish in the saints – and that’s what the Spirit of Christ in every true ministry of Christ today is working to get into you. We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him. (1John 5:18) So the possibility of being able to truthfully say, “For me to live is Christ” is very real. Paul’s saying it and it’s true for him, it ought to be true for you. You ought to have faith for Jesus to live and reign in you all the time. You’re to be established and grounded in that faith. And that’s what Colossians is saying, in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight-- if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel (Col 1:22-23) So there’s a continuing until you attain to the object of your faith “holy and blameless” and being established in that faith. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (Phil 1:21) In the past every time I’ve heard this verse preached the focus has been on “to die is gain.” But today I want to focus on “to live is Christ.” Now “to die is gain” because to die is to be absent from the body and be present with the Lord (2Cor 5:8) and that is great gain. To be present with Christ; to be in the very bosom of Christ is truly great gain. It’s much better than being here. But take careful note of this: if part one of this verse isn’t true part two isn’t either. It isn’t a gain to die if you are not living in Christ. If you aren’t living in Christ now you won’t go to the bosom of Christ when you die; you will go to hell. So if you think that part two is a nice verse “to die is gain” because you think when you die you’re going to be with Jesus, then you’d better be able to say that part one is true for you too. For me to live is Christ that’s why to die is gain because I’m already in Christ. But when I die and leave this body I’ll completely be with Him. I’m already in Him and He’s already living in me. But when I’m completely with Him all the affliction that I have to put up with down here because of all the wicked sinners down here, I won’t have to put up with anymore. I get to be with Him completely with nothing interfering. But even now I’m already in Him. For to me to live is Christ and that’s why to die is gain. Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? (1Cor 6:19) If you have the faith for Jesus to live in you then that’s true. But to the Galatian Church Paul said, “You’ve separated from Christ. You’re estranged from Christ. (Gal 5:4) You stopped having faith.” So “to live is Christ” is not universally true of everybody who claims to be a believer. The Galatians claimed to be believers but they stopped having faith. If indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister. (Col 1:23) You must indeed continue in the faith if you are to become irreproachable and attain to the prize. Now, … you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. (1Cor 6:19-20) There are not many who call themselves Christians today that could honestly say for themselves, “for me to live is Christ.” They know they are living they’re own life and not His. They have too many personal interests – too little heart for His interests. For Joe, “to live is Joe.” For Susan, “to live is Susan.” It’s not Christ’s life they are living. And you could also ask these so-called “christians” concerning the verse we just read, “Is it true that you’re not your own? Do you know that you’re not your own? Do you know that you’ve been bought with a price?” And if they answer yes, then the next question is, “if that is true, then because you know you’re not your own, you ought to be living as though you belong to the one who owns you, so is it true that you are doing that? Are you living as though you are your own or are you living as though you belong to Jesus?” Now these verses speak profound truths concerning the state of being a real Christian. A real Christian knows he’s been crucified with Christ and he doesn’t live anymore. (Gal 2:20) If you’re to be a real Christian you must not live the old life anymore. But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. (Gal 6:14) And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Gal 5:24) A real Christian has lost all interest in the world and he’s “crucified his passions and desires” so that he can belong to Christ. Those who are Christ’s don’t have their own ambitions because “they’re not their own” “they’ve been bought with a price.” This is a reference to slavery; which was common and well understood in Paul’s time. But even in our time when I went into the United States Air Force they told me I’m not my own, they have bought me. Because I’m not my own they give me a uniform that shows everybody I belong to them. They expect me to behave in a manner consistent with the honor of that uniform. If I misbehave and bring dishonor upon that uniform I will be my own again because they will disown me. These things are not too far from things that the natural realm understands. I am not my own, I belong to Jesus Christ therefore because I am His I will behave in such a way as glorifies Him in all things. I owe Him that because He’s bought me and paid for me. I also owe Him my service and it should be very heart felt and the best quality service that I can give. It should not be a Malachi service. And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? Offer it then to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorably?” Says the LORD of hosts. (Mal 1:8) All of the problems we’ve had with “lame services” come from Malachi offerings. That’s where the “believers” come to church without an acceptable offering. Coming in with a lame prayer, a blind scripture, a sick testimony, or nothing at all. Behaving in church before the living God as though He doesn’t matter and it doesn’t matter how you honor Him or how you dishonor Him. Behaving in such a way that if you did such things at your place of employment you would be fired. Which shows that you care more about pleasing your employer than you care about pleasing your Creator, and that is not going to get you blessed. But because of the stupidity of man and stupidity of flesh for most people their employer is more real than their God and they consider him the source of their grace, in a sense, instead of God. You see pleasing your employer as more related to your ability to support yourself than pleasing God and you don’t consider God to be your true source because you don’t see Him and you don’t have faith and you don’t realize that your employer was created by God; and your job was arranged by God; and the one who is in control is God and He’s the one you better be pleasing! And He can take that job away from you as quickly as he gave it to you if you displease Him. So if you are wise you will live with this knowledge in you that “I am not my own, I’m bought with a price, I belong to Jesus and I must live in a way that honors the One who owns me. And I must profit Him; that He can be glad that He bought me. He paid a high price for me; His blood. He gave His own life. Now I want to make Him glad, not sorry that he did that.” So what I have shared with you is a very basic scripture that everybody knows. Even the wicked false Christians know these scriptures. But the problem is, does this knowledge affect you in the proper way? How has the knowledge that you’re not your own affected your behavior? Because if it’s something that you say but it has no effect on you, then there’s no faith there, and it’s just dead knowledge. Whereas if you look at it as “I’m not my own and I’m going to live as though I’m not my own,” then you change the way you live in order to do that which this Godly knowledge requires of you: to honor the Lord, glorify the Lord, and profit the Lord. Now if you set your heart to behave in a way that is consistent with this Godly knowledge then that is faith. Faith is believing God’s Word in such a way as you live accordingly. And there are many aspects of this faith in that if you are in faith you wouldn’t bring reproach upon God by doubting that He can supply, that He can heal, that He can lead, that He can show you the right thing to do. You would not be an unbeliever in anything that He has promised He would do. You’ve been bought with a price now you should honor Him with your faith. And this brings us back to, For to me to live is Christ because he has bought me, because I am not my own so who do I live for? Him! What is the purpose of my life? To fulfill His will. Because I am a temple to His Spirit and His Spirit has come into me by faith, by obedience, by John 14:21,23; I keep His commands, so I’m the one who loves Him and He manifests Himself to me, and He and His Father live in me, and They live His Christ life in me. So I’m not my own and For to me to live is Christ. Therefore the purpose of my life is to accomplish His will because it’s His life that’s being lived in me. Therefore Colossians is true for me. “Him we preach, Christ in you the hope of glory” (Col.1: 27-28) That is what the gospel is about. Christ must be in the believer. If Christ is in you, He must be controlling you. Galatians says, If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. (Gal 5:25) There is no sense in “believing” in Christ and then not walking in Him, not letting Christ live His overcoming life in you. So, “Him we preach, warning every man.” (Col 1:28) Now what is he warning you about? Well We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. (2Cor 5:8) So that’s why he says to die is gain, because For me to live is Christ so when I die I will be present with the Lord and that’s a gain Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, (vs 9-10) Here’s what he is warning every man about – Christ’s Judgment. That each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. (2Cor 5:10-11) Because if you’re not going to receive a commendation from Jesus – “Well done good and faithful servant,” you’re going to receive a – “Depart from Me you worker of iniquity,” and it’s going to be the most terrifying moment of your existence. And it will be eternal terror because from there you’ll be cast into a terrifying hell forever. But we make it our aim to well please Him because of the certain knowledge that if we don’t please Jesus, if we’re not found irreproachable, blameless, without spot or wrinkle at the time of His appearing, we will be rejected by Him and discarded by Him into the spiritual garbage heap, which is hell, and ultimately to the Lake of Fire. So to save you from that terror I am working, warning every man. Warning! I’m not just telling people about Heaven’s rewards. I’m warning them of what will happen to them if they don’t measure up. The very fact that Paul uses the word warning means you can miss this. Warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom. (Col 1:28) You need to be “taught” how to measure up to God’s calling if you are to make it to Heaven; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. (Col 1:28) And that’s exactly what we’re doing here, striving to perfect the church in Christ. To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily. (Col 1:29) As your pastor, all I have to do is look at the work Christ is doing through me here to know that For me to live is Christ. When I get up in the morning everything that I live for is concerned with accomplishing Jesus’ purpose. It’s Jesus’ Spirit that’s doing it. So where is my life? I don’t have a life of my own. My life died. My life was when I used to be a wealthy gem dealer. I don’t care about gems anymore. I don’t care about money anymore. That life is dead, it’s over with. It’s completely gone. I have nothing left of that life. I used to like skin-diving. It’s been a long time since I’ve done any of that. And I sure don’t hunger to do it anymore. What is it that I could do for me that I’m planning? My retirement? I don’t have any retirement plan. Am I planning on building a big church and be a big shot? I don’t want to be a big shot. It may be in God’s plan that we become a big church and all of that but I don’t lust for it. When you are recognized as successful you are besieged with people who want to talk to you. I don’t want to be surrounded by that kind of people. I don’t care for that. Most people want to be a big shot so they can fraternize with big shots. I’m not interested in fraternizing with big shots. Oh, if you are successful you can travel and go to fancy hotels and stuff. I had all that as a gem dealer. I’ve been in the most famous cities in this country and the world. I’ve already seen them. I don’t need to see them again. Didn’t get much out of seeing them the first time. I mean it isn’t much fun; dragging luggage around airports trying to get a little rest in between flights. This is not life to me. What am I living for? All these things these people are after to me its just trouble. They want trouble. They don’t even know that when they get there it’s just going to be trouble. This is what I want: I want to see a glorious church. I want to see Jesus come. I want to see the Spirit moving in the church. That’s what I want. As for me, what do I get out of it? Am I going to eat better than I eat now? I doubt it. I eat as well as I want to now and much of it I get for free. Fresh fish, clams, crabs. God’s blessings are bountiful right now. We had broiled fish tonight. Freshest fish you ever tasted. They’re still flopping when I clean them. I live near the ocean and God has taught me how to feed from the ocean. Where can I go to get something better than I’ve got? Do I have to get rich to get something better than I have? I have everything I need except to see the glory of God. And that’s what I’m after; to see the church in glory, to see her perfected. That’s all I want. And it’s not going to put more food on my table. It’s not so I can drive a better car. If my car runs that’s all that counts. It’s not so I can own a bigger house because to me a bigger house just means more rooms to clean. Things like that don’t bring me satisfaction. It won’t put more food in my freezer because my freezer is already full. Am I pursuing something to make me more comfortable? Just the opposite. You don’t enter into perfection without sufferings. To pursue the knowledge of Christ requires fellowshipping in His sufferings. (Phil 3:10) Yet I do believe that as the church gets nearer to Christ she will have divine health. The benefits that we will receive from God are that we don’t need to mess with the world’s doctors and dentists and things like that. I would love to see a church where the Spirit of God is so strong we never have to take anything from the world’s medicine because we are so complete in Christ. Now those are not benefits that are selfish. Those are benefits that are a glory to God and are nondistractive. It’s a distraction to have to go to the dentist. It’s a distraction to have to go to the world for such things and then not even know if you’re really receiving any help because they’re so self-interested and carnal you can’t trust what they’re telling you or why sometimes. So where is my life? Worldly people see you shopping, buying milk for the kids or something; and they think you’re just like them. I am nothing like them. My life is hid with Christ in God. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. (Col 3:3-4) I know that my life is hid with Christ in God. I know my purpose in life from the time I get up in the morning is what am I doing for God today? That’s what I look at. I start with prayer. Then I’ll go to Bible reading and not a day goes by that I don’t edit a significant portion of a Glory of His Grace manuscript or even a whole book before noon. And not a day goes by that I don’t spend hours praying for the church and praying in the Spirit and for the Bible study and for the ministries and the other interests of God. And not a day goes by that I do not read significant portions of the Scriptures. And my occupation everyday is to get done what needs to be done as far as shopping, home school, feeding the children, having a good Bible study and then prepare to have a good church service every night. And when I mean a good service I mean a service in which we are making progress towards the goal, which is the perfection of the saints and the glorifying of the church. And although for many, many years there has been a lot of hindrances that could have been discouraging; because I’m a man of faith I don’t get discouraged, I keep pressing towards the prize. I get up the next day and go for it again. Now, For to me to live is Christ because that’s what my life is about. What is your life about? We can look at people that we know and we know whether this verse is true for them. I could look at Dave and say, “He lives for Christ.” I want to be able to look at every one of you and say, “You live for Christ.” That the only purpose you have in life is to serve Jesus and forward His Kingdom interests. You know what the flesh does with religion is it always tries to go to the lowest rung of the ladder that it thinks it can get by with. Religious flesh tries to succeed at the very minimal level. But what I’m showing you here is you’re not going to heaven unless you are perfect in Christ. That’s the goal you have to aim for and you must attain to it. And Paul says, Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ (By “to gain Christ” he means to be perfected in Christ) and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. (Phil 3:8-11) Now Paul is doing all this to attain to the resurrection, what do you think you have to do? Something less than that? You think because Paul is in a higher office he has to work harder? Why, what hypocrisy! This is what you hear from people all the time, “You know Paul has it made because he’s an apostle. He’s specially blessed by God so everything is easy for him. But I’m just an ordinary person so things are harder for me. Well on one hand he’s got it made because he’s an apostle and I can’t be blessed like Paul. But on the other hand Paul has to work harder because he’s an apostle. He has to do these things but God doesn’t expect that of me.” Now which is it? Is it easier for him or harder for him? Figure it out, because that’s the way the wicked hypocritical “believers” would have it. They say, “Oh, I don’t have to do that. Paul does that because he is an apostle, I don’t have to work like that.” But then on the other hand, “Paul is an apostle, he’s got it easy because God is with him and he’s not with me like He’s with Paul.” Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, (James 5:17) Paul is a man with a nature like ours. “The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here “The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. (Luke 11:31-32) Now hear this – God created you, He created Elijah, He created Paul, he created the Queen of the South, He created the men in Nineveh, and he created us all out of the same stuff and we all have a similar nature. And Paul had to overcome the same things you have to overcome. And Elijah had to overcome the same things you and I have to overcome; he’s in the same world, faces the same devil, has the same needs, the same problems, same hungers and thirsts and sleepiness, the same vexations with fools all around him, and the wicked people. His nature is just like yours. And Elijah made it. Not because he was made different. He made it because he did what was right. He did what was right with what God gave him. And Paul made it because he did what was right with what God gave him. And I’m a man with a like nature just like yours and go through the same things and have been through the same things every one of you have been through and I’m making it because I’m choosing to do what is right; that’s the reason I’m making it. And what goes on in the wickedness of these stupid people, who think Paul is blessed but they aren’t, is they cannot believe that their condition isn’t special. And they feel sorry for themselves and they think they have it harder than everybody else. But in the judgment it’s going to show up that many of the elect went through much worse sufferings than these self pitying fools, and bore a bigger burden, and they made it because they did what God said to do and these fools are going to hell because they didn’t obey God. And it’s not because there’s a difference in our nature; our nature is the same. We go to Heaven or go to hell because we choose to obey God or disobey Him. That’s all it comes down to. But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul. (Heb 10:39) The false churches and christians seem to think backsliding is almost no danger. The Bible here says you can backslide to a point that there’s no recovery. We are not those who turn back to perdition. Well Demas turned back to perdition. Demas has forsaken me. (2Tim 4:10) Where do you think Demas is? He’s in hell. After all the things he saw he’s just like a Judas; there’s no salvation for him. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. (Heb 6:4-6) He’s walked side by side with Paul, seen the mighty power of God and then he forsakes it. That’s turning back unto perdition. Then He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.” (Luke 9:59,61) “bury my father, say goodbye to my family?” These people are setting conditions on their service to Christ. “I’ll serve You but… I’ll serve You if…” Jesus won’t have conditional service. You serve Him unconditionally. You’ve been bought and you are owned by Him. (1Cor 6:19-20) You don’t set conditions on what you’ll do for Him. You will forsake all. (Luke 14:33) You’re going to do what Paul is doing here: Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ. (Phil 3:8) “count all things loss” or you won’t be worthy of God’s Kingdom. You don’t come to God and tell Him the conditions on which you’ll receive salvation. You come to God and find out the conditions upon which He’ll receive you and you must meet them. The kind of “christianity” that’s calling itself “christianity” today is damned. It is not measuring up to the standard of Christ and God isn’t going to let something that doesn’t measure up to Christ’s standard into Heaven. And it doesn’t matter, He’ll destroy the whole world again like He did in Noah’s day, to eliminate every thing that doesn’t measure up and it’s certain He’s going to do it. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? (2Pet 3:11-12) And He will save only the ones like Noah; only the righteous. And these people who have been ignoring what God’s Word says on these subjects are not getting into the Kingdom. It is not fair for people like Paul to have to lose their life and live a Christ-like life totally unto God and then someone else comes along who doesn’t lose his life and just lives a carnal worldly life where he goes to church once in awhile, and still gets into Heaven; it isn’t fair. Why should I have to forsake all to get into Heaven and you forsake almost nothing? Why would God require the losing of your life and complete dedication to Him out of one person and yet let another in who’s been just slipping along doing what he feels like doing, while he claims to believe in Jesus? How can you possibly think a Just God could do such a thing? In the judgment those who make it will stand up against those who don’t. And this is what they will say, “I did it and you could have because I’m just a man with a nature like you.” The Queen of Sheba is going to say, “I did it, you could have. I’m made of the same stuff you’re made of.” Elijah is going to stand up and say, “I did it. I served God; you could have done it. There’s nothing special about me.” Paul will say,” I did it and you could have.” I’m going to say, “I did it, so why couldn’t you have?” We’re going to see people who’ve left this church because they thought it was too hard and we’re going to say, “We did it; it wasn’t too hard for us so it shouldn’t have been for you!” Nobody is getting into Heaven on some kind of indulgence; some low level pass that you don’t have to do what God requires Peter or Paul and even me to do. What we did you have to do because that’s the standard; it’s the same for us all. We have to die to our life and to this world and we have to live the Christ life and we have to do it by faith. And that doesn’t mean putting a little religion in your life. Ask yourself this – is this verse true for you? “For me to live is Christ?” Can you say it’s true for you? If it is true back it up with evidence. Show us the evidence that for you to live is Christ. Now I’ll show you a man with a like nature like unto you; he’s not a pastor, he’s not a preacher, he’s not a prophet, but you can tell by what he’s doing that for him to live is Christ – Epaphras, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. (Col 4:12) Here is Paul, an apostle and he labors mightily to present you perfect in Christ and he does it from the pulpit as well as the prayer closet, but Epaphras is not an apostle, he is one of you! One of you! But he has the same purpose as Paul, to perfect you. And he can’t do it from the pulpit so he does it from the prayer closet. What prevents you from doing that? Now if I were to ask Paul, “Paul, do you think Epaphras can truthfully say, ‘For to me to live is Christ?’” Paul would answer, “Yes, I think there’s no problem with Epaphras saying that.” His purpose in getting up in the morning is to go to the prayer closet and pour his heart out in intercession to help Christ accomplish His great purposes in glorifying the church. That’s what Epaphras lives for, that’s what he does. He doesn’t have a real life of his own. His life is spent in the labor of Christ. What stops you from having that testimony? Epaphras isn’t made of anything different from you. This is the only thing that makes you different from Epaphras, what you choose to do with your time. In the judgment Epaphras will be there and he’s going to say, “I did it; you could have done it.” What is your heart set on? You know enough about salvation to know that you better be doing something about it. But have you figured out yet that you’re not going to have salvation until you give your heart completely to the Lord and do the work of the Lord. And the passion is to accomplish something significant for Christ, something real. So you see Paul laboring more than them all but he says, “I’m not fighting against the air, I’m not fighting a shadow.” (1Cor 9:26) See when I come into the church and I see a lame sharing service because the people are bringing in lame prayer, lame testimonies, then I know something has to be done because I am not fighting against the air either. I am laboring to bring the church into perfection and if something isn’t working right then I’m going to find out what it is and straighten it out. In other words, we are going to make progress. We’re not content to merely go through the motions of religion here. We are going to make real progress in the faith. Now what about you? Are you making progress? For me to live is Christ means my purpose in life is to accomplish God’s will in Christ through me. And that means I will be doing something important, something significant in and for Christ’s body. And Christ in me can’t be satisfied unless I’m making real progress. And when it appears that I’m losing the battle and not making progress I must press in all the harder, go into third gear and do something about it. When that happens I get into fastings or special praying times, get my Spiritual weapons out and I’m going to break down whatever that road block is that’s stopping us from making progress. Because we have to attain to this. It is not an option. We must become blameless and irreproachable or we don’t get in to God’s Kingdom! Let God write that on your hearts right now. You have to be making progress. When you see you’re not making progress then you better get up and get the faith shovel out and get the stuff out of your way and move the mountain that’s stopping you. And you better get to where these things aren’t mere words. What motivates you to get up in the morning? What do you live for? What is your purpose? A lot of “church” people are not out there in the world but they sure don’t have the heart to get God’s work done either. They’re just biding time like a hamster in a cage running on a wheel. They don’t care that they aren’t going anywhere, just as long as they’ve got something to do to keep them occupied. But what they are doing isn’t profitable. Well that’s not Christ. For to me to live is Christ means what I do is profitable, it’s bearing fruit, and it’s going to accomplish something. There’s a passion in me to get the job done and that is Christ in me. That I may finish my race with joy. (Acts 20:24) There’s a passion in me that looks for what needs to be done and does it. And that has to do with the wisdom of God. These things that he says, “that we teach every man in all wisdom and warn every man, that we may present every man perfect in Christ.” (Col 1:28) Now, here’s the God honest truth, I charge every one of you, every one of you could be just like Epaphras. Even the youngest ones in here, the ten year olds could be living for Jesus. And we could have services where the Spirit moves freely and abundantly where we leave the church every time we meet satisfied that God is satisfied. That’s in my heart; is it in your heart? Who has that in their heart, truthfully, honestly? Who could say honestly before the Lord – “I want a church like that and I want to see the Spirit move freely and when we leave church I want to be satisfied that God is satisfied?” Who is saying Yes and Amen to that? See some of you are barely raising your hands and when you raise your hand so slowly and timidly I know you’re lying. You’re lying. It isn’t in your heart or your hand would be all the way up, boldly. Let me tell you something else about why it isn’t in your heart, because if it were really in your heart it would grieve you to have a lame service. And if it were really in your heart you would be watching to see the church progress and you would be careful to maintain your own progress so that when you come in here you’d be looking forward to seeing a better service every time. You’d really be up for that because you’re praying for it and for God to move more and more greatly in the brethren. And you’d be looking forward to seeing the glorious church. And you’d be looking forward to seeing the mighty operations of the Spirit. And these are all things you’re looking forward to when you come to church. And then if you see it doesn’t happen it is going to grieve you and you’re going to go back to God and you’re going to pray all the harder because we must make progress because it’s in your heart that the church must make progress. And that’s not what’s been happening. Some of you people come in here dull, and you don’t care. Some of you the only thing that keeps you moving is you get rebuked by the pastor and you don’t like that. But if it weren’t for me you’d go to a dead church; you’d be content to go to a dead church. And after church you’d go home and do dead things. And nothing would change, nothing would grow and you would end up in the judgment being rejected by God because you never knew God and He never knew you and you never had anything in your heart that was from Him, except the desire to be saved and that’s selfish. Epaphras isn’t just desiring to be saved, he’s desiring to see God glorified in the glorious church. Now I’m made of the same stuff you’re made of. What makes me different than you is the choices I make. I choose to live Jesus’ life and let Him live His life through me. I choose to get up in the morning with a goal that is His goal to build His church. I choose to do that in spite of the extraordinarily unbelievable resistance of people who won’t do it and will sit here for years and not do it. And I just keep on trucking for Jesus, finding another way to open your water gate; looking for another way to get into your heart and get your light turned on and get you out of your darkness and get you moving and get you motivated because you’re made of the same stuff I am. You could be as on fire for God as I am. You could be as useful to God as I am. You could be just like Epaphras. You could have a testimony that, For to me to live is Christ if you chose to. The Lord is not joking about this, For to me to live is Christ has to be in you in such a way that any day I could ask you, “What did you live for today?” and you could answer quickly, not sitting around thinking for 10 minutes because if it takes you 10 minutes to find something Christlike you didn’t live for Christ. You should be able to give an immediate answer that “I lived today to do this for God and that is what I was about today, that was my purpose in Christ.” And if you don’t get to where you have that testimony you’re not one of us; you are not one of the real Christians. And I’m talking the truth here and I’m charging you, every one of you before God. You should be ready at all times that if someone would ask you, “What were you living for today?” you’ve got an answer that’s going to prove that I live for Christ and Christ lives in me. (1Pet 3:15) Now concerning the church at large and the wicked people who when you start to tell them about being perfected in Christ they say, “Are you perfect? Do you think you’re perfect?” They have the spirit of antichrist in them. They are absolutely antichrist. The Word of God demands perfection and they will not believe that God demands perfection because they do not see perfection so they have to find a way to believe they can be saved according to what they see because they don’t have faith to believe for what they don’t see. For they don’t have faith to enter into the Promised Land in this life. The giants are too big. So they deceive themselves into thinking they are pleasing God while they wander around in the desert waiting to die, and thinking after they die God will reward them by giving them the Kingdom they were too cowardly to enter into while they lived. They can’t believe that God is asking them to attain “blamelessness” in this world. They can’t believe He’s really asking for it because to them it’s impossible to do it because they don’t have any faith in God to perfect them. And they hate you for even trying to do it. And what they fear more than anything else is that you will succeed. Because if we succeed they’re damned, because we’re just men and women of a like nature as themselves. And if we can do it they should have done it and that’s what they hate the thought of that we might do it means they should have done it and if they didn’t do it they’re damned. By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. (Heb 11:7) By Noah’s obedience he condemned the world and by our obedience we condemn these wicked false christians. Now this is what you ought to be getting up every morning to do: to prove to these wicked people that you can do it, by faith in Christ. Glorify God by showing He can perfect His saints even according to His Word. And shame the wicked for their disbelief and condemn them for their arguing against God and His Word by proving that Elijah is a man no different from me and he did it and I could do it and they should have done it. They should not have fought against it. They should have done it. And the Queen of the South will rise up in the judgment and say, “You should have done it!” Prophecy: My people, I am teaching you to know Me, and it is My blessing upon you to cause you to rightly understand Me. For there is a church-world today that does not rightly understand Me, nor do they rightly speak about Me. Because they do not rightly know Me they have distorted the view of many who would have come to know Me. They have perverted their concept of Me to such a point where they think Me to be a God who does not even know My own Word, as though I am a God who is in confusion, preaching a thousand conflicting opinions on the same subjects, and this is an abomination to Me, saith the Lord. And in this light I do testify today that the churches at large that do these things and profess by their own behavior their corruption, they are not Mine and I do not dwell in them. But I say to you, I have raised you up to be a people who have aligned yourself with Me and with My Word and with My Spirit and with My testimony that you may put to shame the foolish ones around you. Because I tell you, they will not go any longer believing they are My people. I will show forth, for true salvations’ sake, that in this place I have raised up a church filled with a people who truly know Me, who speak rightly according to My Word. This is a glory to Me, saith the Lord. I speak to those souls out there who have looked for Me and who are praying and asking, “Lord, where can I go to find You? Lord, where can I find a people who keep the testimonies of the Lord?” I say to you, I have raised up a church in “My Father’s House” today in the earth, and look no longer, for this is a place for you to come and dwell and learn of Me. This is the place that you can come and get to know My testimonies, and you also can stand upon the solid rock foundation of My Word and become a useful member in My body. So I say to you, do not lose heart, for I have a church that I have raised up who speak rightly concerning Me. And no longer will I be thought of as a God Who looks like I am confused and I do not even know My own Word, but people can come and they can know Me and they can know that I am the only wise God Who dwells amongst My people. I will do these things and even now I do them, saith the Lord. (Prophecy delivered at "My Father's House")
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