*70
I remember a guest minister telling a church I was visiting, “Everybody in here can have an airplane.” He heard the people sigh in unbelief, so he said, “Let me ask you this. Does everybody in here have a car?” Most people nodded.
Then he said, “If you can have a car, why can’t you have an airplane?”
Someone responded, “Because we don’t need an airplane.”
He said, “You don’t need a car. You could get a ride every day or catch public transportation.”
His point was that the enemy takes over people’s minds and causes us to think that some things are too lavish or too expensive for us to have. We get into this mindset that says, “Too much wealth and nice things promote avarice or opulence.” But in God’s way of thinking, it’s not enough! God wants you to live on His level. Some people think that a Rolls-Royce is more valuable than they are, so they never see themselves owning one. The truth is that we are far more valuable than an automobile or an airplane. No amount of money could redeem us from sin and death. God had to give the life of His only begotten Son, Jesus. That is a dramatic statement of how valuable your life is.
God said in Isaiah 55:8, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the lord.” As I’ve mentioned, the Bible promises, “As he [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7). We have to allow God to pull up our level of thinking, as He was doing with me and with our congregation in our new location. Even Jesus’ first miracle in the Bible was a miracle of luxury (turning water into fine wine). God has the very best set aside for us. It is time for the church to move from the place of scarcity and “just enough” into our promised land of more than enough.
A Wealthy Church
Again, the church should be the wealthiest institution, and God’s people should be the wealthiest people, on the face of the earth. Our lifestyles should stagger the imagination of the world. Why? Because we have a larger responsibility than any other people to evangelize the world and complete the assignment God gave [us].
Bill Winston.
Revelation of Royalty. 2021. p. 159 160
——–
Vincent Cheung does a great job in exposing the absolute stupidity in the idea of “need” versus a “want” regarding if our prayers qualify for a yes or no. For example, do you need to live through this day? Really? You could just die and go to heaven. Thus, you don’t really need to even breathe, or need food, clothes or a bed. Such a divide would reduce into a logical absurdity. What you need is what you want, and there is no way around this without jumping into insanity.
*71 Fountain of Salvation.
In the ultimate sense God is the fountain of salvation. Jesus’ finished atonement creates a fountain of benefits for us to drink from. With this being established, we can affirm there is a fountain of salvation within us.
In Isaiah 12 we are told God is the fountain of salvation and we drink from Him. However, Jesus in John 4:14 furthers this teaching. If we drinks the water, that is salvation from Jesus, this water becomes a fountain of eternal life in them. This fountain of life is not just springing out of God, so that I go to God to draw some out, now it is in “me,” and I draw it from me. Jesus adds more to this by saying in John7:38-39, “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit.” We learn in Acts chapter 1-2 and 19:2-5, that “the Spirit” is not referring to being born-again, but the baptism of Spirit for speaking in tongues, power and miracles.
By faith we drink God’s fountain of salvation, and then a fountain of eternal life and Spiritual power fountains out of us. We are not a dry place that a demon can inhabit, but a fountain of life and power. We pray in tongues and the Spirit fountains power in our souls, by edifying us and often leading to interpretations and other spiritual powers. When we do this we are drawing from the fountain of salvation from within us. This is the same with forgiveness and being imputed with God’s righteousness. God did not forgive and credit His righteousness to Himself, but us. I am blameless and I am righteous. It is mine. It is my definition and identity. The same for eternal life and spiritual power springing out of myself. It is me. I am this fountain of salvation now. It is my definition and identity.
In that day you will sing:
“I will praise you, O Lord!
You were angry with me, but not any more.
Now you comfort me.
2 See, God has come to save me.
I will trust in him and not be afraid.
The Lord God is my strength and my song;
he has given me victory.”
3 With joy you will drink deeply
from the fountain of salvation!
(Isaiah 12:1-3 NLT)
14 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.”
(John 4:14 NKJV)
*72 I Would Have Given You Even More
“I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more.”
2 Samuel 12:8 NIV
Look at how giving God is with material things. It is good to ask for such things and God is glad to give. You cannot ask for too much prosperity and happiness in relationships, if you are a Christian. It is not wrong to even ask for an entire nation. God wants to enrich and those who oppose this are against God, His nature and promises.
God’s goodness leads us to repentance. His love constrains us to forsake evil.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and will keep you on the path of wisdom. However, mature wisdom is receiving the good gifts from God.
.. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more…
What is amazing about this, is the particular focus on sex. David is being confronted for his sin of adultery. God gave him multiple wives for sex, and then God says, if you wanted even more (sex), I would have given it to you. Of course, today we don’t have multiply wives but a request for good and much sex in marriage is something God wants to give.
*73 falsifiable
In the realm of science, a falsifiable claim is one that can be observed, tested and has the potential to be disproven.
Some fools claim that we ought to use the standard or epistemology of “falsifiable” as a way to discover biblical truth or Christian truth. However, is this claim itself falsifiable? But I digress, so that I can address some of the main problems of this standard.
First, the bible does not teach the doctrine that we discover biblical truths by observation and testing it with the potential that it can be disproven. Thus, this standard is an anti-biblical standard. If one uses this to discover truth, then this standard is the person’s first principle of knowledge and not the scripture. They are using something more foundational than the bible and are using it to evaluate the scripture. Also, this presupposes empiricism and observation. But these are both logical fallacies.
Second. The law of contradiction is not falsifiable. You cannot observe it and test it with the potential of it being disproven, because you must use it to deny it. It is self-authenticating in this way. Thus, there is at least one thing that is not falsifiable, and so how many other things are not falsifiable? Thus, the standard of falsifiable is not universal to all knowledge, and this would lead to skepticism if used as a starting point for knowledge or a test for knowledge.
Third. The bible is not falsifiable because you must use the bible to deny the bible. There is no potential for it to be is disprove. It is self-authenticating. How can the bible teach the doctrine of falsifiable as a standard for finding truth, when the bible is not falsifiable?
Thus, those who use this anti-biblical standard to find truth are to be mocked and dismissed. They do not know what the bible teaches and the do not understand what logic is. Do not let such people be your teachers.
*74
You can’t out extreme Jesus with faith. His teaching is too extreme. Nothing you say about faith can overreach Jesus’ extreme faith doctrine. There is no risk in taking it too far.
Faith for anything anytime anywhere
*75
Jesus who asked the Samaritan woman for a some water, because He was tired and thirsty. And yet, Jesus turns around and says “if you know Who I was and the gift I have, you would ask Me and I would give too.” What a lavish giving our God is. His mission was to serve man like a waiter. Even when He was tired and thirsty He still homed-in on His mission to serve man.
His statement had two parts. The first was “who Jesus was,” and the second was about a “gift” that He was willing to give. Jesus says He has a gift to give, and so He instructs with the obvious conclusion. “Ask and I will give to you.” The scene started with the woman worried about serving Jesus with some water to drink, but Jesus made the point that He was there to serve and give.
This has some similar instruction as Martha and Marry. We learn it is more blessed to receive than to give, with our relationship with God. Jesus says He has a gift. We do not need to worry about if it is God will to give or not. Jesus say He has a gift, tells us to ask for it and He will give it. This is the type of God we have. Jesus says if you have seen Me, you have seen the Father. Our prayers are directed to this type of lavish giving God.
*76 God Is Our Provider Again
In the garden, God was Adam’s source for provision. When Adam sinned God’s curse included this: “Adam, I will not provide for you. You will now provide for yourself with toil.”
In Abraham, God’s gospel included providing abundance for man again. God Himself provides wealth. God becomes man’s rich supply. Jesus’ atonement gives us the blessing of Abraham.
God called creation good, and in this context, God was Adam’s provider. God provided Adam with a rich supply of material food, goods and land. Adam did not work to provide for himself, God provided for him. God was humanity’s bread winner.
When Adam sinned, this changed. God cursed Adam with death. This curse included God withdrawing from the position of being Adam’s provider. God told Adam that he will work and with hard toil provide his own supply. What God called good, was now cursed.
This idea might seem strange for some but working to provide for yourself was introduced as a curse. We are always to work, because we are created and commanded by God to do so, but the idea to work in order provide for ourselves was not part of creation. Adam worked in the sense of administering the Garden of Eden, but he did not work to earn his provision.
In God’s promise to Abraham, God begins to restore the natural order of things, by promising to give favor, increase and wealth to him. God begins to be the provider for His chosen ones. For example, Isaac worked by planting in the waste land, but God gave it a supernatural 100-fold increase, despite the lack of water. This increased Isaac’s wealth. The king gave Abraham a large sum of money for temporally taking Sarah, thinking she was only his sister. God provided wealth to Abraham, without Abraham working for it. God was Abraham’s bread winner. Abraham believed God would do these good things for him and God declared him righteous.
Some make the mistake in only applying one narrow aspect of the gospel to forgiveness of sin. Jesus gave us Abraham’s blessing, through His atonement. The gospel puts God back in the position of being our bread winner. As in all the blessings of the gospel, to fully enjoy them you must have in faith to receive them. Therefore, we are not to look to our employer as the “source” of our supply and ability to get money. Sadly, many do exactly this and are practical atheists this part of their life and mind. Knowing the gospel of Abraham gives us the power and favor to gain wealth, even wealth transfers and know Jesus bore our poverty and already gave us His wealth, our eyes ought to be focused on God as our source.
Because our employers are limited, if we see them as our source of money, then our lives will be constrained by their limitations. However, if we turn to God who has unlimited wealth and power, our ability to gain wealth and have doors opened to us will be as measureless as God’s ability. God has good things to give, and there is much work to be done in expanding the kingdom of God. A human focus for our provision will greatly diminish our ability to fulfill God’s goals for our lives.
God has become our provider again through Jesus Christ. We must take full advantage of this for our own lives, and to expand the kingdom. We ought to focus on God being our rich provider.
*77
How did sickness come into you? How did it come into the world?
Sickness is not a natural consequence of creation. Adam did not believe God, rather, he believed a lie. He operated in unbelief. God did what He said. He cursed Adam and Eve and creation with death.
Here is the main point. Sickness came by words. Sickness came when God spoke a curse against creation. Sickness is destroyed in the same way, by words. If you look to human means to heal, then human means is all you will be rewarded with, however small it is. By Jesus’ stripes we were healed. This is the foundation; however, we are healed by opening our mouths and commanding the sickness to leave. God spoke the curse of sickness into the world, and we speak to make it leave. Jesus said, “You heal the sick.” You do it. This is why Peter, even after being baptized in the Spirit, spoke words to heal the crippled man in Acts 3. “What I have, I give. In the name of Jesus Christ, “walk.””
Healing will not happen by waiting for “God’s Will.” Healing will not happen by waiting for God to open His mouth and tell the sickness to leave. The reason is simple. Jesus commanded us to open our mouths and do it ourselves. God’s not going to do something He commanded you to do and speak. God’s command for us to do it, is God’s will and decree.
*78
When God called Samson, He needed a person with faith to Judge with superman power, not integrity. We are commanded to strive for integrity, and so we are not diminishing this command. Not only is holiness obedience, it has many blessings attached to it. Having practical righteousness and integrity will make the job easier, with less problems and make it more enjoyable. And Yet, when the one thing that is needed is faith for superman power to kill thousands of men, tear down and carry off city gates and push stone pillars like they were a toothpick, integrity will not accomplish it. It is a different category.
The man with the highest integrity but not enough faith to work superman power is a useless man when God needs faith for miracles.
Jesus said to not begin ministry until the church was endowed with supernatural power by the baptism of the Spirit. Jesus commanded us to heal the sick, cast out demons and throw mountains into the sea. When the situation calls for faith and power, there is no substitute.
Some people say Samson is about not letting your sexual passions overtake you. Even if this can be extracted it is only indirectly. It is not what the story of Samson teaches. It teaches that when power is needed, then only faith to work superman power will get the job done. This is why Samson is a hero of faith.
Some say if you lack integrity you are disqualified. This is true as far as it goes, but it is also misleading. Samson and David, with their big sins, were not disqualified from the gifts and callings on their lives. Even Peter, after playing the harlot of a false teacher for a short time, was not disqualified from his gifts and calling. And yet, consider the opposite. If any of these men never had the faith to do the miracles needed, then they were disqualified from the start. If Ruth did not have the faith to go to the king and rescue her people, then Mordecai said God would disqualify her and her family.
When God needs miracle power, there is no substitute.
*79
“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked.
“Anything is possible if a person believes.” (Mark 9:23 NLT)
The father responded in the typical way religious elites and tradition does. “If it is Your Will, and if you Can, Oh Jesus please help.” Jesus was not happy with this reply. Think about that. He was not happy when man put the outcome of a healing on Him, or God. He said, “If you are able to believe, then your boy will be healed.”
Elites put the outcome on God’s power and if it is His will, but Jesus teaches the 180 degree contradiction to this. Jesus puts the responsibility and outcome on a person’s faith
*80
Unbelief is the original matrix. Unbelief is the only real matrix.
Johnny, “Jesus heal me please, if it is your will.“
Jesus response, “if it is your will and you have faith then you do it; because I won’t do it. Command the sickness to leave.”
Johnny, “No, its up to You to heal me, if it’s your will.”
The matrix has Johnny enslaved to Satan and to man-centeredness. Johnny is not able to obey Jesus. He can’t hear and believe Jesus’ words.
*81 Jesus Was the Real Victim in this Story
He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” (Mark 4:40 NIV)
Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” (Mark 5:36 NIV)
The saying is true, you are either in faith or fear. Jesus puts these as opposites. He says, “only believe,” with no mixture of fear. He says in Mark 4 that the disciples had fear and zero faith. They don’t mix well. If you have fear in your heart about a sickness, then you realize you don’t have faith. This is how it works.
(Momo, I mean) Jesus was the real victim in this story. He was asleep with His head on a cushion and was woken up for something He expected the disciples to deal with, without disturbing Him. I am not trying to be funny here. It is no joke being woken up from a good nap from something so minor as a deadly storm, which only a little faith could destroy and remove.
The prayers of many people are like the disciples in this story. They pray as if Jesus is teaching that He likes it, if we cry out in fear for His help over something like deadly weather or sickness. People repeat the disciples fearful cry as a model for prayer, when Jesus rebukes it as how not to pray. Jesus was upset with their fearful cries for help. Think about that. Because God is merciful He might answer some fearfully cries of unbelief, but don’t expect it.
The point that made it a bad prayer was no faith. It is ok to ask for Jesus help if you have faith, but here is Jesus’ point. If they had faith, then they did not need to ask for Jesus’ help. That’s how you know you have faith.
We do not have every lesson Jesus told the disciples at this point, but Jesus’ reaction gives us enough details that He expected them to use their faith, and deal with the situation, without waking Him up.
This also brings up the issue of where the storm came from. Of course in the ultimate level God causes all things, but the bible mostly deals with the human level. Peter in Acts 10:38 said it was not God, but Satan who was victimizing all the people in Israel with sickness and diseases. When Jesus was casting out diseases He was fighting demons, not God, because the sicknesses came from demons not God. When you have an insider relationship with God He relates to you in blessings. The contract in Jesus’ blood stipulates that God only relates to us in blessings (it could include discipline, but not curses). Thus, whether it is a sickness, or a deadly storm, in human level, it was not from God. When you rebuke it, you are not rebuking God but demons and the curse. Jesus teaches us to not tell God about our mountains, or sickness or deadly storm, but to use our faith and we command it to move and die. Jesus has given us the power and authority to do it, and expects us to do something. Don’t wake Him up and tell Him about a storm, when you have the Staff of God in your mouth. Open your mouth. You divide it. You heal it. You cast it out. You calm it.
*82 Jesus Did Not Use Jesus Power
Jesus did ministry as a man born under the law. After His temptation He was filled with the Spirit, and then He started His ministry. Thus, did He cast out demons by His Jesus power? No. He cast out demons by the Spirit of God, not the Son of God power. Jesus said, “if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom has come upon you.” Moving past the implications that what brings in God’s kingdom is casting out demons and healing the sick, let us just think about Jesus’ point about the Spirit. He cast out demons by the Spirit.
Another example that this power was the Spirit and not His, is how the lady, with the flow blood, took power away from Jesus, without Jesus knowing who it was. The power of the Spirit upon Jesus, acted like a spiritual law, in that anyone with faith who touched Jesus, had the Spirit’s power automatically flow into them for healing. The law is simple. The Spirit was the electricity, and faith is like flipping on a light switch.
Referring His miracles, Jesus said the Father does the works. In John 14:10-12 the PTP does a good paraphrase translation saying, “Don’t you believe that the Father is living in me and that I am living in the Father? Even my words are not my own but come from my Father, for he lives in me and performs his miracles of power through me.”
The big idea is simple. When Jesus as casting out demons He did it by power of the Spirit. When He healed, did various miracles, such as commanding the storm to calm, the power that caused this to happened was worked by the Father, and not by the Son. Jesus operated as a man. He was given authority by the Father to heal and calm storms, but the power and authority came by the Spirit and the Father.
We do the same. We have the same authority and command. When Jesus told us to speak to our mountains and command them to move, when Jesus told us to heal the sick and cast out demons, He gave us His authority to do it and put His power in us. Jesus gave us authority to use He name to ask and command whatever we want. This power is God’s power, but it rests in us. When we command a mountain to move, it obeys us, but the power is God’s. God has up His power in us like a flowing river, and has stamped His authority on our tongues. However, God will not move our jaws for us. We must chose to open our months and use the authority and power He has gifted us.
Jesus is now sitting at the right hand of the Power. He uses His own power now. But on earth He did not use His own power. How successful was Jesus miracle working ministry when the power was not His but the Father’s and the Spirit? It was 100%, with the exception of unbelief, such as in His hometown. Some might say, “well it’s not my power, and so it might not happen.” This is nonsense. Jesus never failed to work a miracle, even though it was not His power. He did not fail, because He trusted God and was given the authority to command and work miracles. We are in the same ministry. We are given the same authority. We are in the same position as Jesus. The only difference is that Jesus said you will do even greater miracles if you believe in Him.
Rejoice, your success for miracles is guaranteed. Open your mouth and command something.
*83 Eschatology In A Nutshell
If someone sums up eschatology without baptism of the Spirit for power, they have no idea what they are talking about.
Acts 1:6-8 NIV. “ Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses… to the ends of the earth.”
The context is about eschatology. Jesus has sat down on his eternal throne and is ruling. The disciples did what most do, they made eschatology about politics. However, Jesus rebukes them and says eschatology is about being baptized in the Spirit for power and miracles.
The important part to note is that in eschatology the followers made it political and Jesus made it about miracles and the Spirit for power. By making it about politics they made it about man. Religious elites make the baptism of Power belong only to the apostles, and thus they still make it about man. They use religious words, but the result is a man-centred doctrine in what it means to be God-centred. In Peter’s sermon on Pentecost, he made baptism of power about Jesus and His eschatology position, sitting at the right hand of the Power. It had nothing to do with the apostles, thus, the baptism of power still remains, because Jesus still remains at the right hand of the Power. The Power was faithful to His promise to give Jesus the authority to pour out power.
Jesus is still faithful in pouring out power on “all whom the Power calls to Himself,” (Acts 2:39). The Baptism of power is connected to God predestination of the elect. Peter’s point is not directly about repentance, but baptism of the Spirit and to this Peter directly connects, as many as God calls to Himself. This is why Peter says the gentiles were granted salvation and eternal life when He witnessed them speaking in tongues (Acts 10:44-47). In His Pentecost sermon Peter already said that being baptised in the Spirit is about God calling His predestined ones to Himself. Thus, when Peter saw the gentiles speaking in tongues, and then he told the other disciples, they concluded God elected them to eternal life (11:15-18). In fact, Peter said because the Spirit was given to them, it was proof they should be baptised in water. And let us not forget that water baptism is a sign that they have died and were raised in new life with Jesus. Speaking tongues was proof they were elected to eternal life.
Peter’s argument for the baptism of power is based on two points. One is the Father being faithful to His promise (2:33) to Jesus, so that Jesus has the authority to pour out power. The second part of the argument is that Jesus is sitting on His throne, at the right hand of the Power (2:31-36). These are the 2 relevant factors, in Peter’s argument, for the conditions in pouring out the baptism of power. Peter, who is an Apostle, gives no scriptural quotes or logical connections, that the baptism of the Spirit is connected to the apostles. Zero. What do the religious elites know that Peter did not?
In addition to the Spirit baptism of power, there is the issue of authority. Jesus gave the disciples the authority to heal the sick. In fact, it was a command, because He said, you “heal the sick,” and “cast out demons,” and “preach the gospel.” Then Jesus did the same with 72 others, and so no one can logically say it was only for the apostles. To further insure this, Peter in Acts 3, after commanding a healing, says it was by “faith in Jesus,” and not by the authority of an apostle. Faith in Jesus is what causes a person to receive salvation, and it is the same faith that commands sickness to leave. It is heavily God-centred. It is not man-centred on the apostles. It is centred on Jesus and His position of authority, while He is sitting at the Father’s right hand.
The next major event after the baptism of the Spirit Acts 3-4, shows how Jesus’ plan for power is how to apply His eschatology.
After being released from prison the Christians got together and prayed. They quoted Psalms 2, a militaristic Psalm, and asked that God would apply this to their situation of government opposition, by healing the sick, miracles and boldness to preach the gospel. God responded back with a resounding Yes.
This is how they applied eschatology. This is how they applied the doctrine that Jesus is on His eternal Throne and rules forever. This is how they applied the doctrine that King Jesus gave them power to advance His Kingdom when they face opposition, even when their enemies use the government to persecute them.
They mentioned 3 things, healing, miracles and bold preaching, in context of eschatology advancement under King Jesus. Many only preach (and they are not even good at that), which is only 1/3rd of the disciples applied eschatology. It is no surprise they fail at kingdom advancement.
*84 Under the Boots of Observation and Emotions
Yank the Redwood of observation out of your own eye before you try to remove the splinter of observation from the eyes of the Word of Faith teachers.
I heard Mark Driscol start a series of sermons about faith and the Spirit. There is an occasional quotable statement, when he slams cessationism, but he is not in a position to criticize them, because Mark rejects the bible with empiricism, observation and emotions just as much as the cessationist do. The only positive aspect of Mark’s dual epistemology is that he tells you up front he is using observation or emotions as a higher authority over scripture. The cessationists, even if their attempts are bad, try to hide dual epistemologies. They will use the idea of God’s sovereign providence and history, but in reality they are using the logic of induction and relying on the epistemology of empiricism and observation. They use God’s sovereignty, as odd as it sounds, to hide their adultery with human starting points.
In attacking the Word of Faith, Mark says they are wrong because Jesus taught x, y and z from the bible. This is what we would expect if the bible is one’s only starting point for knowledge. No, what Mark said, was that they are wrong because to tell someone they did not get healed, because they lacked faith, is cruel and hurts people’s emotions. When did emotions become an authority over scripture? Because you observe x, therefore the bible is wrong. When did this become a standard way to understand the bible? The scripture tells us public knowledge only comes to us by the Scripture, however, our observations can be mistaken, such as in the case with Moab and the blood water. Thus using observation to gain knowledge leads to skepticism, but this leads to denying the law of contradiction, which is self-refuting nonsense. It means observation is a false starting point of knowledge that does not exist.
The other thing Mark said was that Acts was over several years, and so all the miracles you see, really isn’t that many miracles, and so we should not except to see constant miracles. This is a very careless reading of scripture. It is said many miracles were done by the apostles and followers, so that entire crowds were healed, things like napkins were used to healed and they even tried to get healed off Peter’s shadow. Acts was a drive by summary of the miracles, because there was too much to record. Acts starts off with Jesus commanding everyone to get endowed with power to perform miracles, it is connected to Joel’s prophecy that says everyone will be doing miracles.
Again, what is oddly missing is the Word of Faith’s main passages of Jesus’ extreme faith doctrine. For more see, Vincent Cheung, The Extreme Faith Teacher. These are the main basis for their doctrine of faith. Unless you can bring up those passages and say Jesus was wrong, then the faith teachers are correct for their faith doctrines.
It is wall punching hilarious to see so-called Christians champion themselves as “the bible is my final authority,” and “I am a bible believer,” but every time they find a doctrine they don’t like, they shove the bible under the boots of their human observation and emotions.
*85
“No longer have consciousness of sins.” Heb 10:2
“Go boldly to the throne of grace, that you may obtain mercy and find grace to help you.” Heb. 4:16
Show me a person who is not conscious of their sin, and I will show you a person who “boldly goes to the throne of grace, that they may obtain mercy and find grace to be helped.”
To “boldly” enter God’s throne room, means you are walking with your head held high. Without knocking, you put your hands on the royal doors to God’s throne room, you push them open and march in like you belong there. With other heavenly host, standing to the side, who don’t have the same access that you do, watching you. Then you say, “I need this help,” or “want this thing.” And God says, “You got it. Your faith has helped you.”
There is no way you can do this if you are “conscious” or mindful of your sins. It will not happen. There is no way a sinner can demand help from a holy and righteous God, who demands perfection. But a righteous person, and person who has a blood contract with God that allows them to ask and receive, is able to demand help and grace. A person who is mindful of their sins, is a person who does not boldly go to the throne of grace. And if they do ask, they end up not asking, but begging like an outsider, because they are mindful they are indeed a sinful outsider.
What is on repeat in your mind? When you are afraid? When you hurt? When you go to sleep. Are you mindful how righteous you are? Are you mindful you have a contract with God to make demands on Him? Or are you mindful how sinful and pathetic you are?
*86 Two Contracts (Grace and Works)
There are two types of covenants. or contracts God made. One is a contract of blessings based on the law, and but the first contract is based on a one sided promise of God to freely bless.
As Paul says in Galatians, the blessings God gave to Abraham was a one-sided “promise” (Abraham was a sleep) to bless. The law was a contract based on performance. Paul again makes the distinction in Romans 4 that the “promise” was based upon grace, so that it is secured by his chosen ones by faith. In this sense, the law is not based on faith, in and of itself. Because Abraham was first, it cannot be replaced by the works for blessings. Thus, the law (before Jesus) could only be lived by faith, in light of doing it in the hope of the blessings promised to Abraham.
As Vincent pointed out in “The Edge of Glory,” because Abraham was sleeping and it was a one-sided promise of God to do good things, can we still call it a contract? We can call it a covenant, but only in a very lose way. In fact, Paul in Galatians calls it a covenant, chapter 4 when making a contrast to works, but on the other hand, Paul almost exclusively calls what was given to Abraham a promise and grace, rather than a covenant. Even the writer of Hebrews does the same thing in chapter 5.
The law in Jesus was fulfilled and as Paul says it, nailed to the cross, or in modern terms, it was stamped “fulfilled,” filed away in the archive section of God’s documents. Abraham’s promise was not “built” upon through Jesus’ atonement or by His new contract; rather, His atonement, “He became a curse for us so that we have the blessing of Abraham,” ensures we get the promised blessing of Abraham. This is like the bible saying “Jacob shall possess their possessions.” Jesus’ atonement ensures that we possess our Abrahamic processions.
Now in addition the all the goodies promised to Abraham, the very first one-sided promise was to Adam. It was a promise of deliverance. We learn more about what that means, but it centered on forgiveness and righteousness. The atonement of Jesus accomplished both of these promises. It accomplished the promised deliverance and salvation through the gift of righteousness, and it ensures we inherit Abraham’s blessing.
Thus, these two promises are accomplished in Jesus or guaranteed as an ever present action to us. But the covenant of the law and works is not included in this. Only what can be received freely by grace is combined in Jesus’ finished atonement as a contract. It is a contract of grace, not our performance. Because Jesus was our cruse and fulfilled the law, God promises, or makes a contract with us that He will never remember our sins. We receive this promise as grace in faith. The law as a performance, was performed by Jesus for us in our place, and so it was totally finished. It demanded and it was satisfied. In the most loses sense, Jesus performs the work of not remembering our sins, but that is a negative or indirect sense, because the work itself is done. However, the blessing of Abraham is not finished and nailed to the cross or filed away in a drawer. The gift of righteousness and Abraham’s promise, is an everlasting and ever present thought and action of God upon His children. God is directly and always performing this promised love and goodness on us.
*87 Is This the Year of My Blessings?
Is this the year of triple blessing?
Is this the year of rest and acceleration?
Is this the year of restoration?
Is this the year of 7 healings?
Is this the year of double prosperity?
The answer to this is, yes; however, it is only in the sense that every year these already apply, and they already belong to the Christian.
The Christian has inherited the blessing of Abraham, every single year, every day, every minute. They are under the blessing of Abraham by the finished atonement of Jesus Christ. With faith in this truth, any Christian can make it a 100x blessing year, for even that is not enough to describe how much God blessed Abraham in prosperity, fame, military victory, health and favor. Paul argues the blessings (or as Paul calls it the “gospel”) of Abraham means the Spirit and miracles. We get more than 3 miracles. The only limit is your needs, wants and faith to receive them.
Some ministries are looking for hype and extra offerings, but there is nothing wrong for a pastor asking God and looking for a “theme of the year.” If it is a pastor, and God did answer their prayer, then such a theme is for the “members” of their local church and not for everyone else. The question now is this, is it wrong for someone to claim this for themselves if they are not part of this local church? No.
But remember, although, because of our weak faith, having a theme and focus might be helpful to a certain extent, we must strive for maturity. By faith in God’s promises all these declarations and themes are yours by right, through Jesus Christ. They are yours through Jesus’ finished work for you. They already belong to you. They are already your identity and definition. You do not need another mediator, or pastor, or ministry to make your definition in Jesus more real. You do not need a mediator to bring you directly to God. You do not need a pastor to bring you to your blessings given to you by Jesus. You already have direct and immediate access to God in Jesus. The blessing of Abraham is already yours. God gave it to you in Jesus and no man can mediate this blessing from God to you. You already own it, and you have access to it by faith. Let no one replace, the direct access you have with God and with your blessing of Abraham, with any man or thing.
Rejoice. Hold your head up high. With faith, all these good things are yours for the taking. With faith, every year is the blessing of Abraham that causes you to reap 100-fold.
*88 He Gives New Strength
“He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.”
Isaiah 40:29 (NIV)
Even after being born from above, we can still get weary and weak. This isn’t because God withholds these things from us, leading us to beg for strength that isn’t part of our DNA or inheritance. Through Jesus’ finished atonement, we already have power and strength.
Because of our imperfections and immaturity, we can become weary, making it right to ask for new strength. God wants to supply our needs. It is His delight to hear our cries for help. God loves us and has promised to help, but we ask from a position of victory. Strength is ours through Jesus’ atonement; it’s our definition. Paul doesn’t say to ask for God’s armour or ask to walk in His power; he says to put on the armour because you already have access to it, and to walk in the power because you already possess it. You already have God’s old strength, but you must take responsibility to put it on and use it. Ask for God’s help, but also use the power God has already given you.
Satan wants you to fight for new strength on the wrong hill, making it seem like you must ask and beg for it. He wants to put new strength behind a paywall of, striving, doing and begging. He wants you to view your identity as lacking this strength, pushing you to strive from a position of not having. This is the wrong hill to fight on. This is a lie from the pits of hell.
God’s shield of protection and favor is already surrounding you; the mighty sword of the Spirit (praying in tongues) is already in your hand. You have power; release it. The authority to use Jesus’ name for anything is already branded on your tongue. Open your mouth and use that authority.
*89 Jesus’ New Deal
In the story of Job, Satan brought all the sickness, destruction, and troubles. Jesus says the devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy. Peter in Acts 10:38 states that all the people Jesus healed (thousands) were victimized by Satan. Consider how Peter assumes these sicknesses were caused by Satan, not just from Adam’s fall. Jesus also said Satan bound a “daughter of Abraham” for 18 years—Satan, not God, bound one of God’s daughters.
Back to Job: Job’s understanding of God improved not because of his suffering, but because God revealed truth to him. God had to step in and drop some knowledge bombs. Satan’s torture? Yeah, it didn’t teach Job jack; it just made him listen up when God finally spoke. Experience is the worst teacher, and God’s word is only teacher.
In the new deal with Jesus, we’re supposed to get the good stuff, healing, and blessings, not Satan’s new green deal. We’re God’s kids now, not his punching bags. In our Contract with Jesus, God promises only good. We’re promised insider status as children. God might give you a slap on the wrist, but he’s not out here causing your misery. He teaches by writing His laws on our hearts and the Spirit opening our minds to His truth. Even when Paul throws some dude to Satan, it’s Satan doing the dirty work, not God. God promises “only good” in the Contract. If Jesus administers suffering, He would be a minister of death, diseases and pain. That’s Satan’s priesthood, not Jesus’.
This is the problem with those who focus on suffering and sickness. You’re saying Satan’s your professor in the school of hard knocks. Your knowledge? It’s just from getting your butt kicked, not from the holy book. And you’re giving Jesus Satan’s job title.
*90 The Land of the Word
Canaan is the land of the Word and promise.
The sands of Paran are the land of observations and experts.
If you want the milk and honey, you must believe the Words and Promises of God. Unbelief will disqualify you from entering. If you decide what is reality for you—in categories like health, wealth, family, and various miracles—based on what you see, hear, experiment, observe, or on the words of other men, such as doctors, then you become an abomination to God.
The Israelites did not lie when they said they saw giants and felt small compared to them. But God cursed and rejected them for truthfully reporting what they saw. Their expert trackers and scouts did not lie when they delivered their findings, but God hated them for their truthful report based on their senses, observations, experts, and experiments. And God will reject you if you do the same. The Promised Land can only be entered by those who reject their observations and experts and affirm that God’s Word is truthful, despite what they see. The only way to honor and glorify God as the true God is to confess and believe what He says over what you see and what the experts say.
It is the same today. When Jesus came down from the mountain after His meeting with God (like Moses), He rebuked the disciples as spiritual perverts for not having enough faith to cast out a demon. The demon was causing the boy to scream and twist on the ground. These loud sensations caused the disciples to doubt, and Jesus was not happy. He expects us to believe, even when there is much carnal stimulation and even when many voices—like doctors or experts—say there is no way out.
*91 Thorn In My Mind
All humans have sinned.
I am a human.
Thus, I have sinned.
This is a correct way to apply knowledge from the bible to yourself. To say monkeys have sinned is a false way to apply this knowledge. Monkeys are not humans. It is a category error. However, imagine me forwarding such a dumb argument? I would be mocked, and for good reason.
[However to say I have sinned is faith. It is an deductive syllogistic application of the truth to me. This is why the word for ‘faith’ interchangeable with the words for syllogism or deductive logic or rational, or logic.]
And yet Christians do the same with Paul’s throne in the flesh. It was only given to him because of the abundance of supernatural revelations, visions and trances. The messenger of Satan was given to Paul to keep him humble. And yet, a Christian will say, “I’m like Paul, with this thorn of cancer in my flesh.” However, they haven’t had one vision or revelation, let alone a super abundance of them. Their category lunacy is not less than saying “chickens have sinned, because all humans have sinned.” People who forward such silly arguments have put thrones into their own minds.
This is beside the point, the thorn in his side are false super apostles attacking his children with false doctrine.
*92 I Give What I have
“What “I” do have “I” give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Acts 3:7
Although God, out of compassion and sovereign bulldozing, will still heal; yet, in the larger picture, God is not healing, because He has commanded us to heal the sick. Peter shows what this means. He said something that would get him called a heretic by most churches. He said what “he” has “he” gives, which is the name of Jesus to heal. Peter has the name of Jesus to heal.
Thus, God did not heal the man, but Peter using God’s power (and the man’s faith) that healed the man. Acts 9 shows something similar. We have been commanded to be baptized in the Spirit for power (Acts 1-2), and given Jesus’ name to ask for anything we want -John 14-16).
Thus, just as God told Moses to use the Staff to divide the sea, we have also been given the Staff of God and commanded to heal the sick. If people are not being healed it is not God who is holding it back, but people not obeying and not believing. You cannot blame God for something that He has already given to you and commanded you to do.
*93
Job didn’t have a contract with God as we do. However, in this story Satan gives Job sickness and poverty and God gives him double wealth and health (James calls this God’s mercy) and yet the conclusion is that Satan gives us wealth and health, and God gives us sickness and poverty?
I have never understood the use of this story to teach the opposite. So, I guess the story of God creating the earth means God did not create the earth?
*94 Sad Sob Story.
When the gentile woman told Jesus about the sad sob story of her demon possessed daughter, it did not move Jesus Christ to heal her daughter. The woman begged, “please help me.” And yet this did not move Jesus Christ to heal her daughter.
What did move Jesus to heal? It was the greatest and rarest thing found on earth. A person who has faith in God. Faith is what finally moved Jesus to heal her daughter.
It’s not a sad story or begging that will move God. It is faith that God will be faithful to His promises to give you what you ask. You can do the same.
“Who Touched Me?”
Faith will cause God to focus on you when there are millions trying to get His attention. They might be pressed up against Jesus, but He will bypass them all and focus on you if you have faith.
It was not compassion; it was not a sad sob story or begging that got Jesus’ full attention. It was faith that God will help and give a miracle of healing. He will do the same if you have faith for a miracle. He will give you His undivided attention and power.
Upgrade!
When the Roman centurion received an upgraded miracle to the one Jesus was already was giving him, it was not a sad sob story or begging that produced the upgrade. It was faith. It was absolute confidence that Jesus ordered reality like a general ordering men below him. And because he was asking with such confidence, he presupposed Jesus was willing.
This was the type of faith that caused miracles to be upgraded to a bigger miracle. It is not begging or trying to impress on Jesus how awful your circumstance is. It is faith.
*95 Slapping Falsification on it
Science commits a triple logical fallacy with empiricism, observation and scientific experimentation (affirming the consequent). Slapping an unsound use of falsification at the end does not make it rational. Science violates the law of contradiction (because it leads to skepticism) and identity (this happens multiple times). The epistemology of science is empiricism, but this foundation is a systematic denial of the laws of contradiction and identity. Induction and observation violate the laws of contradiction and identity. The very conception of induction is a violation of the law of identity. It is anti-logic
However, Jesus is the logic and appeals to the law of contradiction in Mark 12:35-37. Jesus is the law of contradiction. To say science gives any premise about anything is to violate Jesus who is the Logos. You must pick to either murder science or logic, or that you must either murder science or Jesus. Science has no justification for any statement about reality. Science is not knowledge. When used to produce a premise about reality, it is to be mocked and dismissed. Science is a group of people and nothing more.
