Seeing His Work

Seeing His Work
Jesus used His heavenly powers, but never to fulfill His own human desires, or to testify of Himself as Satan tried to trick Him into doing. When Jesus used the power of the heavenly realm, it was in obedience to the Father in heaven and as a witness of the Father. Because He gave Himself to be a witness of the Father's love, the Father sent the Spirit to witness of the Son. The power of heaven is never used selfishly. That is why selfish ambition can be found at the root of almost every ministry that falls. If we are going to be trusted with the great power that some will exhibit at the end of this age, we must be resolute not to use power for selfish purposes, or testify of ourselves. This must be our constitution.

Have you ever wondered why many who have the greatest healing ministries seem to always be sick or physically afflicted themselves? The gift of healing they were given was not for themselves, but others. I have also often marveled at how those who seem to have the greatest gifts of prophecy have trouble getting a word for themselves. This is actually for our safety. The Lord has composed things in this way so that we all need each other. This also exposes a root of pride if it gets a grip on us. If we begin to think we have such a great gift that we don't need others, we will remain in need. As it is written in James 4:6, "...GOD is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble." We must therefore remain humble to remain in the grace of God.

If we have truly beheld the wonder of the cross, the glory of His resurrection, and where He now sits, it would be one of the most profane, arrogant acts of a perverted fallen nature to use His power to point to ourselves. When we truly begin to perceive the glories of heaven and the One who rules in heaven, like King David, we wonder why the Lord would even consider man, much less choose to dwell among us.

Even so, this is the message of the kingdom that we have been given to preach on this earth, and the message He will back up with demonstrations of its reality. God loves all of mankind and He is coming to dwell with man for eternity. However, the state of mankind will certainly be elevated far beyond its present condition when His glory is fully revealed. If it were not, His glory would destroy us. He is a consuming fire that will burn up the "wood, hay, and chaff."

We are messengers from another kingdom who have been sent ahead to proclaim the coming of our King who is also "not of this world." We cannot represent a kingdom we do not know. We must know the reality of His kingdom, and live in obedience to it now. Our home must be in heaven. Our dwelling place is with the Lord in the Spirit. We are called to be seated with Him in the heavenly places, to see with His eyes, hear with His ears, and understand with His heart. Before the King returns, there will be a witness and demonstration of the reality of the kingdom of heaven on the earth. This will come through messengers who know and live in the reality of that kingdom now. That is our calling.

To those who will walk in this, there will be a profound sense of the greatness of the One we have been sent to represent. We will not dare to pervert the message by using it for selfish reasons, and we will also be totally devoted to doing His will and not our own. We only have true spiritual authority to the degree we are submitted to the King.

Now, this does not mean we need to hear from heaven to buy a can of beans. The more mature and submissive to Him that we become, the more He will trust us to make decisions. Jesus did not have to get a specific word from the Father to heal every person. He had seen the Father heal the sick, and deliver those who were oppressed of the devil, so He went about doing the same.

In general, whatever we have seen Jesus do in the Scriptures we can do also in His name. There will be some specific instances where we will need special guidance, but for the most part, we do not need a specific word to do what He has already commanded us to do. Even so, our goal should be to "see Him." As we do see Him, beholding His glory, we will be transformed into His same image, and do the same works He did.

One aspect of His nature that we will certainly bear if we have truly seen Him is a devotion to glorifying God, not ourselves.

MorningStar Ministries

For Heaven's Sake

For Heaven's Sake
As we have learned, it is the calling of every Christian to experience heaven now, and to live a life that demonstrates the reality of heaven on this earth. We do that by living in heaven now. It is our calling to bring heaven to every place we go, to our homes, our jobs, where we shop, everywhere.

As we grow spiritually, our homes, our hearts, and our perspectives, should be heavenly ones. The Christian life is supposed to be filled with the bliss of heaven. That bliss is the love of God, the peace of God, the patience of God, and the power of God. As we grow into and begin to demonstrate the reality of heaven, we will become contagious, causing everything we come in contact with to begin looking up.

The characteristics of God are shared with man in the form of the fruit of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit. These are together a demonstration that the Lord has risen, He loves man, and continues to seek our redemption, our restoration, and our glorification—to take on His nature. The gifts of the Spirit are the special, personal demonstrations of His love and willingness to help us. They are also a touch from another, higher reality.

The power of the gifts of the Spirit cannot be explained or understood from an earthly intelligence, but only from a heavenly one. It is a call to the earthbound so they can live in another reality. There is a glib saying that some people are so heavenly minded that they are not any earthly good. That sounds witty, but the truth is that much of the church is so earthly minded that they are not any good to either heaven or earth.

Christianity is not just another, better philosophy of life. It is another reality and another life altogether. We are called to walk the earth, do good on the earth, and to do it with power that is not of this earth. St. Francis of Assisi was once walking with a priest who was pointing out the splendor of a cathedral they were passing. With a touch of pride the priest remarked, "We can no longer say, 'Silver and gold have we none,'" to which St. Francis replied, "And neither can we say to the cripple, 'Rise up and walk!'"

The true Christian witness that impacts this world will never come from just having better things on earth. There are a number of beautiful church buildings in our city, a couple of them probably as large and splendid as any in America, but they are dwarfed by the banks and other corporate buildings in the city. The people in our city spend much more time serving the banks and other corporations than they do serving the Lord. However, if a single believer begins to touch and demonstrate the reality that heaven has authority over all cancer, that believer may live in a cabin, but the world will beat a path to their door.

That the world has better buildings than the church should not bother us. If the church had the largest, most glorious buildings on earth it would not, by itself, result in the salvation of a single soul. One Christian anointed by the Holy Spirit can do more for the kingdom of God than all of the buildings constructed in the name of the Lord combined. This is not to say that buildings cannot be useful to the church, but nothing from or on this earth can ever be compared to the Holy Spirit. The wealth and power that resides within a single Christian by the Holy Spirit is greater than all of the wealth and power found on the whole earth.

The Spirit moving brought forth this glorious creation. The Spirit moving can, and will, recreate the world. Since the Lord delegated authority over the earth to man, He now moves on the earth through men. Because, "The heavens are the heavens of the LORD; but the earth He has given to the sons of men" (Psalm 115:16), the Lord requires the cooperation of men to move on the earth. This is why, even though the Lord knows what we need before we ask Him, He requires that we ask before He moves on the earth. When He demonstrates His kingdom and the powers of heaven to the earth, He does it through men.

The Lord could have parted the Red Sea without Moses, but not without violating His own principles of authority. He could have brought down fire on the prophets of Baal without Elijah, but that is not the way He does things on the earth. He gave authority over the earth to men, which is why even the Son of God, Jesus, continually referred to Himself as the Son of Man. He had to come as a man to retake the authority over the earth that had been lost by man's transgression and subsequent subservience to Satan. That is why, when Satan tempted Jesus he tried to get Him to wrongly use His powers as the Son of God, but Jesus responded to Him with "Man does not live by bread alone," etc. God ordained that man should rule over the earth and the coming of His kingdom will, therefore, restore man's authority over the earth to those who worship and obey Him.

MorningStar Ministries

Heaven in a Mountain

Heaven in a Mountain
A fundamental calling of Christians is to experience heaven, and bring heaven to earth. The prayer the Lord gave us to pray is for His kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Daniel gave a very specific prophecy about how this would happen when he interpreted Nebuchadnezzar's dream.

This dream is remarkable for its accurate foretelling of the coming great empires of men, which have now been fulfilled just as he foresaw. Now, it is time for the rest of it to be fulfilled—for the little stone to grow into a mountain that fills the whole earth. To understand what the Lord is doing in the earth today it is important to understand this dream, along with Daniel's interpretation, which we will read in brief from Daniel 2:28, 31-45:

"However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries,
and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar
what will take place in the latter days. This was your dream and the visions
in your mind while on your bed.

You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue;
that statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor,
was standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome.
The head of that statue was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver,
its belly and its thighs of bronze, its legs of iron,
its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.

You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands,
and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and crushed them.

Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold
were crushed all at the same time, and became like chaff
from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away
so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue
became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

This was the dream; now we shall tell its interpretation before the king.
You, O king . . . are the head of gold.
And after you there will arise another kingdom inferior to you,
then another third kingdom of bronze...

Then there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron;
inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces,
it will crush and break all these in pieces.

And in that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron,
it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have in it the toughness of iron,
inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with common clay. . .

And in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay,
they will combine with one another in the seed of men;
but they will not adhere to one another,
even as iron does not combine with pottery.

And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom
which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people;
it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.

Inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain
without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver,
and the gold, the great God has made known to the king
what will take place in the future; so the dream is true,
and its interpretation is trustworthy."

The history of the following empires of men remarkably followed thepattern of this dream. Theologians and historians almost universally agree that these kingdoms were Media Persia, Greece, the Roman Empire, then the Holy Roman Empire, which was represented by feet of iron and clay because it was a mixture of Rome (iron) and the church (clay).

These kingdoms were all much more than just their periods of domain in history. They were humanistic philosophies, doctrines, customs, cultural, and religious influences that were passed down and continue to have an influence on the entire earth. This statue was of a man because it represents the kingdoms of man. As Daniel asserted, in "the latter days" there will be a "little stone" that will strike the feet of this statue and bring it all down.

Here we see that the kingdom of God will begin very small, but even a small stone from heaven can easily overthrow all of the kingdoms, philosophies, doctrines, and religions of men. When we confront such things we often feel compelled to attack the whole statue, but all the Lord does is cast a little stone at their feet and all that man has built in opposition or rebellion to God will collapse.

The stone is Christ, and the mountain is His government, which is "the kingdom of God." This speaks of His authority and dominion growing until it fills the earth. This is now taking place. We are called to be a part of it, by taking dominion for the kingdom of God wherever He has placed us. We are called to turn our homes into a piece of heaven. We are called to turn our jobs, schools, places where we shop, everywhere we go, into part of the domain of heaven.

To do this we must understand the kingdom of God will not be established like the kingdoms of men. It will not come with carnal weapons, carnal force, political alliances, or other human means, such as the statue that the king of Babylon saw in his dream. It will come by a love so strong that hatred collapses before it. It will come by a joy so powerful that depression dissipates like fog before the sun. It will come through a peace so profound that fear flees from it. It will come with such patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control that all authority and influence based on anything man has tried to build on will not be able to stand before it.

The time will soon be upon us when everything man has tried to build will be seen as the fragile idol it is, and it will come down. Our job is to simply grow in the kingdom of God that is "…righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Romans 14:17). We have a kingdom that cannot be shaken, which is irresistible, and which will prevail. Your purpose for being on the earth is to bring the kingdom of heaven to it. Seal Daniel 2:44 in your heart:

"And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom
which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom
will not be left for another people;
it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms,
but it will itself endure forever."

MorningStar Ministries

The Expanse of Heaven

The Expanse of Heaven
We have been looking at our call to enter into and live in the heavenly realm now. We addressed Jacob's ladder, and how it represented Christ. He is the Way by which we climb into the heavenly realm. We discussed how the messengers of God are ascending and descending upon this ladder. We are called to enter into the heavenly realm, but we are also to descend back to earth with what we receive in the heavenly realm. This is what I want to discuss a little more at this time.

As a jet pilot I used to love flying at the highest altitudes. On a clear winter night above 40,000 feet, you can see from Washington, D.C. to New York. From my cockpit it was a spectacular sight, hundreds of thousands of lights sparkling across what appeared to be just a few feet stretched out below me. I would marvel when I thought of all that was probably going on within my eyesight at that time. As I looked down at this beautiful, seemingly peaceful sight, statistically speaking, there were probably a number of murders being committed, rapes, robberies, tragic accidents, and a multitude of other problems going on. From my position, it was hard to imagine all of that happening. Consider how much more it looks like that from space, or from God's perspective in heaven.

What's my point? C.S. Lewis once wrote that heaven was so much bigger than the earth that if all of the evil ever done in the world were rolled into a ball, and hurled at a mere sparrow in heaven, it would not have enough substance there to even register as a thought! Compared to the universe, the whole earth is like a speck of sand to the ocean. Satan and his hosts have been cast out of heaven and have come with great wrath to the earth. However, the rest of the entire universe obeys the Lord. It is only this tiny, little speck of a planet that has rebelled. All of the evil balanced against the goodness of the Lord throughout the physical universe would be like weighing a single snowflake against the Himalayas.

Heaven is big! Your future is bigger than your greatest thoughts can yet comprehend. Your inheritance cannot even be properly compared with anything known on earth—it is too big! The Lord came to show us how to start thinking from that perspective, His perspective in heaven.

When the Lord decided to multiply the bread, He did not do it for just a few friends. He waited until He had a crowd of 5,000! When He turned the water into wine He did not just make a few bottles—He made about 120 gallons! He was trying to show His disciples how to think big. There was no way that they could exhaust heaven's supply of bread or wine. He could have filled the Sea of Galilee with wine from above and no one in heaven would have missed it. In fact, it probably would not have even been enough to register as a drop there.

We have a Source who will never run out. All of us can draw on heaven's account for a million times more than we already have and it would hardly be enough to even get anyone's attention in heaven. God is big! We are called to reveal how big He is, as well as how wonderful He is. This is one reason why we must learn to ascend into heaven, and come back with a demon-stration of heaven. A mustard seed of faith in heaven is greater than a mountain here.

While you are ascending into heaven, look down. The things of this world will grow strangely dim, and strangely small. When I am flying, I can look down on a thousand terrible events and not even see them because they are too small. All of the things that overwhelm our thinking each day would not even be able to register as a thought if we were truly seated with Christ in the heavenly places.

However, as tiny as we are, the Lord chooses to see us and intervene in our lives. As we are seated with Him, we too will look down and begin to intervene with the power to do something about what is happening here. That is our calling. To accomplish it, we must put everything in perspective. The perspective of truth is that God is big and all of the problems on earth are small to Him. This is the truth, and the way we will begin to see reality. To see this reality is called F-A-I-T-H.

Some people do not take their problems to God because they actually feel it would be a bother to Him. They just do not realize how big He is. Such thinking is a supreme delusion. All of our problems combined will never amount to enough to register as weight to Him. There is no way we will ever be big enough to bother Him. Just give Him everything. A huge load to us is nothing to Him. When we get this load off of us we will be able to help others with theirs. That's what He wants. That's our other job description—to love one another. With the load off, we will be able to climb the ladder easier, and bring far more of heaven back to the earth. This is what is stated in Isaiah 40:21-29:

Do you not know? Have you not heard?
Has it not been declared to you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
It is He who sits above the vault of the earth,
and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain
and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
He it is who reduces rulers to nothing,
who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.
Scarcely have they been planted, scarcely have they been sown,
scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth,
but He merely blows on them, and they wither,
and the storm carries them away like stubble.
"To whom then will you liken Me
that I should be his equal?" says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars,
the One who leads forth their host by number,
He calls them all by name; because of the greatness of His might
and the strength of His power not one of them is missing.
Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel,
"My way is hidden from the LORD, and the justice due me
escapes the notice of my God"?
Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth
does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable.
He gives strength to the weary,
and to him who lacks might He increases power.

As the Lord explained in John 6:29, "...This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent." Basically, this means our whole job description as Christians is to understand how big He is.

MorningStar Ministries

Caught Between Heaven and Eath

Caught Between Heaven and Earth
For today's study we will look at Ezekiel 8:3 for a very important understanding about the prophetic:

And He stretched out the form of a hand and caught me by a lock of my head;
and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven
and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, t
o the entrance of the north gate of the inner court,
where the seat of the idol of jealousy,
which provokes to jealousy, was located.
Here we see that Ezekiel was not caught up into heaven, but between earth and heaven. We call this the "second heaven," or the heavenly realm that Satan now rules as the prince of the powers of the air. If Ezekiel had been caught up into heaven itself he would have seen the New Jerusalem that is pure and spotless, the bride of the Lamb. Instead he saw the tragic state of the temple at that time. My point is that just because we see a vision, regardless of how supernatural it is, even if it is one that the Spirit lifted us up to see, it does not necessarily reveal God's will. It can reveal thepresent state of things, or even the future. It can also reveal the schemes of the devil rather than the will of God.

There are principles and there are laws. Principles often have exceptions to them. What I am about to share with you is a principle. When we are given a supernatural revelation of something that is bad, it is often given to us so we can prevent it from happening, not so we will prophesy it. We do not want to prophesy the devil's intentions.

For example, if I was shown that someone's marriage was about to break up, I would not prophesy this, but would ask the Lord for words of encouragement about how glorious their marriage can be if they will turn to the Lord and ask for His help. Likewise, if I saw a church that was about to suffer an attack, I probably would ask for words of wisdom to give them that would strengthen them against the attack. I do this because many times, warnings create fear rather than faith. As I said, this is a principle, not a law. There are certainly times to be straightforward with what you see.

The Scriptures are full of examples of how the future can be changed by repentance or intercession. For example, Jonah had a sure revelation that Nineveh was about to be destroyed, and it was true, and from the Lord. However, what Jonah did not count on was Nineveh's repentance. Because of it the Lord changed His mind and did not destroy Nineveh.

Almost every prophecy of judgment should be accompanied by "unless you repent." This is why, when the Lord revealed His intention to destroy Sodom that Abraham felt he could entreat the Lord to spare it if He found just ten righteous men there. The Lord would have then spared it, but He could not find ten.

The reverse is likewise true since almost every promise of God is accompanied by conditions that must be met. Was Moses a false prophet for telling the Israelites in Egypt that the Lord was going to take them to a land flowing with milk and honey, when all but two from that first generation perished in the wilderness? Of course not. It was God's intention to carry all of them to the Promised Land, but they disqualified themselves from fulfilling their calling by following their fears and becoming complainers, rather than having faith in God.

We must recognize the prophecies that come from "between earth and heaven" are changeable for either good or bad. This is grace from the Lord. However, there is a realm from which His unchangeable will is revealed. This is rarely experienced by those living on the earth because He is more concerned that we grow in faith, wisdom, and the knowledge of His ways which require faith.

Why does the Lord make these things so ambiguous? So we will grow in humility. He won't allow us to figure some things out because then we would not need Him. Remember, Satan grew in pride and fell. The Lord has so ordained that even the greatest prophets only "see in part" (see I Corinthians 13:9). Therefore, for us to have the whole picture, we must put our little part together with what others are seeing. This will require humility that will also lead to unity, and is why we are also promised concerning the prophets in Isaiah 52:8: "Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion" (KJV).

In due time unity will come. Then we will see the whole picture clearly. We will never see His whole plan until we realize how much we need each other.

MornigStar Ministries

The Great Promise

The Great Promise
The Lord gave a great promise that Peter quoted from Joel on the Day of Pentecost, which we see in Acts 2:17:

"'And it shall be in the last days,' God says,
'That I will pour forth of My Spirit upon all mankind;
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams."'

In the last days these prophetic experiences will become much more frequent because we are going to need them during this time. The gifts of the Spirit are not given just to make our meetings better, or to make our lives more interesting, though they certainly do this. They are given to us because we need them to accomplish the purpose of the Lord in our time.

That His Spirit is poured out upon "all mankind" could have literally been translated, "all of the body." (The Greek word translated "mankind" in this text is sarx, which is defined as "flesh, i.e. the meat of an animal, or the body..."). This is not implying the Lord is going to be pouring out His Spirit on every human being, but He is going to pour out His Spirit on His whole body, the church. At the end, every true believer, regardless of their denominational affiliation, or even their beliefs about the present working of the Holy Spirit, will be empowered by the Holy Spirit.

As the Spirit is poured out on "the whole body" the result will be prophetic revelation such as dreams, visions, and prophecies. This is why it is so crucial that we learn to discern, interpret, and apply them properly. If you have not already started having such experiences, you will, as the prophecies from Joel and Acts make clear.

If we are going to dwell in the heavenly realm we must learn the language of the Spirit, which is very different from human language. With the Lord, the saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" is even more true. The Lord conveys many of His messages to us in this way. These do not just convey facts or commands, but they also reveal His heart and the reasons behind His actions, so we can be in unity with Him.

There are still many who believe that since we have the Scriptures, we have no need for the Lord to speak to us. We certainly do not want to in any way detract from the immeasurable value of the Scriptures. But this kind of argument is not only in conflict with the teaching of the Scriptures from beginning to end, it misses something fundamental in the very relationship between God and men. The church is called to be His bride. How would any bride feel if on her wedding day her bridegroom handed her a book saying, "I wrote this for you so I will not have to speak to you again."

The Scriptures are complete, and are alone the basis for our doctrine. The gift of prophecy is not given to establish doctrine—we have the Scriptures for that. Prophecy is given for revealing the strategic will of the Lord in specific situations. Even those who claim they do not believe the Lord speaks to us in this way will usually say they are in ministry because the Lord spoke to them in some way. However, prophecy is not just about the strategic will of the Lord. The quality of any relationship will be measured by the quality of the communication. Much of what the Lord is saying to His people is simply "love talk," by which He is wooing us closer to Himself.

It is certainly important for us to be solidly established in sound biblical doctrine. It is important for us to know the plan of God, and the strategic will of God for our own lives. Even so, there is nothing in our lives more important than getting closer to Him, and abiding in Him day-by-day. That is why it is written in Matthew 4:4,

But He (Jesus) answered and said,
"It is written, man shall not live on bread alone,
but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God."

Note that the Lord did not say we are to live by the words that proceeded out of the mouth of God, but by every word that proceeds, present tense. It is certainly important we honor all that the Lord has said, but we live by what He is saying presently. Again, this is not just about doctrine or teaching, but about relationship. This is not an either/or choice. We need both to know Him and abide in Him.

MorningStar Ministries

The Test

The Test
We need to understand a crucial matter which is essential if we are to enter into and dwell in the heavenly realm. This is typified by the "manna test," the first test given to Israel after their departure from Egypt. It was so crucial that the Lord said this test was given to see if the people would walk in His ways or not. Likewise for us, this is one of the primary tests that determine if we will walk in the ways of the Lord or not. We see this in Exodus 16:4, and Deuteronomy 8:16:

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you;
and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day,
that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction."
"In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know,
that He might humble you and that He might test you,
to do good for you in the end."

As we read in Psalm 78:23-25:

Yet He commanded the clouds above, and opened the doors of heaven;
And He rained down manna upon them to eat, and gave them food from heaven.
Man did eat the bread of angels; He sent them food in abundance.

Manna was bread from heaven. The children of Israel were commanded to eat this bread as both a test and to humble them. This remains a primary test for the Lord's people to determine if we are going to walk in His ways. It is also a way that we humble ourselves. The test is to see if we will get up first thing each morning and seek fresh bread from heaven. This is also the humility by which we acknowledge that we simply cannot make it a single day, walking uprightly in the way of the Lord, without the heavenly manna that He provides for us.

Of course, as we read in John 6:31-35, Jesus is the Manna from heaven. We must have a fresh encounter with Him every day, and we must partake of Him every day. We should be more addicted to the Son of God than a junky is to his next fix. We actually are. If a junky does not get his fix he will soon begin to shake. Most of the shaking we go through in life is the result of our not having partaken of Christ, every day. We, too, lose our spiritual strength, our vision, and soon go into spiritual convulsions when we do not partake of Him.

It is also true that "we are what we eat." Just as our physical body can be greatly impacted by what we put into it, so can our spiritual make up. If we are partaking of Christ, we will be changed into His nature. Likewise, if we are partaking of evil spiritual fruit such as gossip, slander, selfish ambition, bitterness, resentment, greed, or unforgiveness, we will begin to manifest the nature of the devil. If we are going to dwell in the heavenly realm, we need to watch what we eat and determine that we are going to seek Manna from heaven, the first thing every day.

We must never forget that His primary purpose is not just having us believe His Word, but having His Word change us. He wants us to be like Him, not merely doing the right things, but doing them for the right reasons—because we love righteousness. That is why He commanded Ezekiel to "eat the scroll" before he was to go and preach (see Ezekiel 3:1-4).

The Lord has provided heavenly bread that we can gather every day. Like the manna He gave to Israel in the wilderness, it cannot be stored, but must be gathered and partaken of fresh each day. As we partake of it and become what we're eating, our lives will also be like fresh bread to others. This will cause all to be drawn to the One who is the true Manna.

MorningStar Ministries

go to Heaven Now

Go to Heaven, Now
Genesis 28:12-17 tells of a remarkable experience that Jacob had, which is also relevant to us today:

And he had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth
with its top reaching to heaven; and behold,
the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
And behold, the LORD stood above it and said,
"I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac;
the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants.
Your descendants shall also be like the dust of the earth,
and you shall spread out to the west and to the east
and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants
shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
And behold, I am with you, and will keep you wherever you go,
and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you
until I have done what I have promised you."
Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said,
"Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it."
And he was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place!
This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."

The first point that we should observe here is that to Jacob the dream was real. Dreams can be a window into the heavenly realm. For this reason dreams have been one of the primary ways the Lord has spoken to His people from the beginning. In Acts 2, we see it will continue to be one of the primary ways that He speaks to us at the end. It is becoming increasingly crucial as we proceed toward the end of this age that we understand dreams, be ableto discern those that are from the Lord from those that are not, and be able to interpret them.

The second point is that Jacob saw a gate into heaven, and when he saw into heaven he was given a revelation of his purpose on earth. The purpose of all true prophetic revelations is so His kingdom will come to earth, and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. True prophetic revelation will always be practical.

The third point is that the word translated "angel" in the text above is the Hebrew word mal'ak (mal-awk'), which Strong's defines as: "from an unused root meaning to dispatch as a deputy; a messenger; specifically, of God, i.e. an angel (also a prophet, priest or teacher): KJV—ambassador, angel, king, messenger." The point is the messengers that are to ascend and descend upon this ladder are not just angelic beings, but God's messengers, which we are called to be.

The fourth point is that the messengers of God are called to ascend and descend upon this ladder. A primary purpose of prophetic revelation is to call the church to rise above the earth and to dwell in the heavenly realm now. Just as the revelation to Jacob spoke of the land he was lying on, the purpose of our entering into the heavenly realm is to bring the blessings and benefits of that realm to earth.

For the next point we need to read John 1:49-51:

Nathanael answered Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God;
You are the King of Israel."
Jesus answered and said to him, "Because I said to you
that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe?
You shall see greater things than these."
And He said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you shall see the heavens opened,
and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

Here we see that Jesus is Jacob's ladder. The rungs on the ladder are the progressive revelations of Jesus. When we come to know Him as our Savior we take a step. When we come to know Him as our Lord we take another. When we come to know Him as the Lord above all lords we go higher. When we see Him as the One through whom and for whom all things were made, we take another step, etc.

The purpose of our study is to see our step-by-step progression to spiritual maturity. Understanding Jacob's ladder is the center-piece of our study, and our calling. It is the calling of every Christian to be a messenger of God, to continually enter into the heavenly realm—where we get our message or blessing for the earth. We do this by increasing our knowledge and understanding of Jesus, who He is and where He now sits—above all rule, authority, and power.

We must become more than comfortable in the heavenly realm; it must be our home—where we are more at home there than we are on this earth. I saw a sign by a church that said, "We are just a waiting room for heaven." That is not what we are called to be. We are called to be a gateway to heaven through which people can enter into and begin to experience heaven now! Every time we ascend we will descend with a blessing for the earth. The blessing we come back with is a piece of heaven—evidence of its existence.

In this way, we should be turning every place where we are called—our churches, jobs, and homes, even the places where we shop into an outpost of heaven. The way we do this is the Way, Jesus. Even heaven would not be heaven without Him. The Lord is what makes it heaven. As we ascend by the progressive revelation of who He is, we will see more glory, and we will carry that glory with us. This is the call of Revelation 4:1-2:

After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven,
and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet
speaking with me, said, "Come up here, and I will show you
what must take place after these things." Immediately I was in the Spirit;
and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne.

That same door is open for you right now. The Lord is calling us to come up to where He sits. Just as there seems to be no limit to the expanding universe that we can see, neither is there a limit to the one we can only see with the eyes of our hearts. He has not limited how far we can go, even to sitting with Him on His throne. What could we possibly have better to do?

You can find additional Scriptures regarding this teaching in Ephesians 1:18-23 and 2:4-7.

MorningStar Minstries

The Journey Continues

The Journey Continues
This Promised Land that we have in Christ is not just what we inherit after we die, but it is the glorious new creation that we become in this life. However, when you are born it is not the fulfillment of your life, but the beginning. Likewise, when you are born again, it is not the fulfillment of your calling, but the beginning of the glorious journey. There is no life so exciting, so wonderful, and so fulfilling as the Christian life. It is the greatest quest for the greatest souls to ever walk the earth.

The Lord did not call Israel just to get them out of Egypt, but in order to lead them into their inheritance. Israel had a very specific Promised Land, and so do we. What is the Christian Promised Land that we are called to inherit in this life? As we read before in I Corinthians 10:11, after Paul gave an outline of Israel's experience in the wilderness he said, "Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come." Israel's experience was a prophetic map, and a model, of both our journey and our inheritance in Christ. Let's look at a couple of basic parallels.

Israel's Promised Land was a relatively small nation, but it was in the middle of the emerging nations of the earth. It was to be a place where the Lord was worshiped and where the people lived by His ways. Their lives were to be a striking contrast to the nations around them as a demonstration of how the Lord's ways were higher. Those who obeyed and served the Lord were to enjoy extraordinary benefits, such as: all of their diseases healed, long life, peace, joy, and prosperity. Because He also instituted commandments for cleansing the land, even nature would prosper because of the righteousness and justice of those who would dwell in the land. This would result in an increased fruitfulness of the land.

Likewise, the Lord did not just save us so we can go to heaven, but so we can be a holy nation in the midst of the earth that testifies to the glory and power of the Lord and His ways. There are extraordinary and wonderful benefits for living under the domain of Christ. We are called to be witnesses of the power and glory of the kingdom of God by living in them now. It is a "land flowing with milk and honey." It is to be a blessing and wonder in the midst of this dark and confusing world. The seed of Abraham was called to be a blessing to all of the families on the face of the earth. This is our calling, to be a blessing to everyone around us.

In the New Covenant we find that the Lord gives His people authority over sickness and disease, as well as over all of the power of the evil one. We also see that Christians are called to a life of triumph and victory that gives glory to God and a revelation to the world of the Lord's victory on the cross. However, just as there was a journey that Israel had to make to get to their Promised Land, and then they had many battles to fight to possess it, the same is true with us. In a sense, the church has been making its journey through the wilderness since the first century. However, before the end of this age the church will possess its inheritance and live in it as a witness to all of the other "nations" on the face of the earth.

The wilderness that Israel crossed was essentially the exact opposite of the land they had been promised, and so is our wilderness. They had been promised a land flowing with milk and honey, but in the wilderness they did not even have any water. However, it was this journey through the place that was so contrary to the promises that they learned to trust in the provision of the Lord and know the righteousness of His ways. The same is true with us.

The most important thing that happened in the wilderness was they received God's instructions, and they built Him a dwelling place so He could actually dwell in their very midst. The Lord's presence with them was the greatest inheritance of all. The greatest of all the blessings that we have gained through Christ is Christ Himself. We must also esteem His presence with us as the greatest treasure of all.

It has been said that Israel could have crossed the wilderness in only two weeks. That may be true, but it was a full two years before the Lord led them to the place where they could enter. He first had to give them His command-ments, teach them His ways, and complete His tabernacle so He could dwell in their midst. We, too, must learn to be patient when in the wilderness— between the place where we are called and where we begin to enter into our promises.

The wilderness is hard, but it is essential, and it can be a most glorious place of fellowship and getting to know the Lord. For us to be trusted with the full inheritance, we must know fully that He is the greatest inheritance that we could ever have. Therefore, our primary goal must always be greater than just possessing the promises—it must be to know the Lord, to worship Him, and to serve Him in all that we do.

It is much better to stay in the wilderness where we are compelled to experience Him and seek Him than to possess our promises. The inheritance we have in Christ is so wonderful that it can easily become an idol in itself, if our foundation is not right. That is why so few Christians have truly walked in the fullness of the promises we have in Christ. Some assert that none have walked in the fullness of the promises since the first century. That is debatable, but it seems obvious that none are today walking in all of the promises we have been given in Christ. This is probably because so many quickly begin to esteem the promises above the One who gives them.

This is why we are taking our time in this study and patiently reviewing many things. Our goal is not just to know about the Lord and our inheritance, but to know the Lord and possess our inheritance. To do this we must possess the wisdom to know that the Lord Himself is the greatest inheritance, and that our possession of any of His promises is so we can be a witness of His greatness and glory in the midst of the earth, not just so we can be blessed.

As we proceed by examining how Israel's wilderness journey parallels our own journey to maturity in Christ, we will find that many of the experiences we go through are meant to review and reiterate the truths that we learned by our deliverance from "Egypt." Each new experience is both a review and a step forward. In that way, the strongest foundation is laid and is continually re-fortified. Every single thing in our lives is intended to do the same for us.

One of our main goals in this study is to be able to quickly recognize every thing the Lord is using in our lives in relation to what He wants to do in us. As we start to understand His work we will be more prone to work with Him, and thereby get out of the wilderness and into the Promised Land much faster. So let us go on to know the Lord, and possess our full inheritance in Him so the glory of His ways may be found in the midst of the earth as a witness to all.

MorningStar Ministries

The power of Resurrection Life

The Power of Resurrection Life
The cross and resurrection are foundational doctrines of Christianity. They are intertwined and cannot be separated from one another. We cannot experience resurrection without first dying. The degree to which we lay down our lives for the Lord and His purposes, while embracing His cross, is the same degree that we will experience His resurrection life, perceiving and partaking of the glory that He now abides in.

Jesus did not stop at the cross, and it is imperative that we not stop at the cross. The Lord did not just call Israel out of Egypt, but He called them into the Promised Land. We are not just called to die to this world, but we are called to walk in a glorious new creation.

However, just as Israel had to go through a wilderness that was the exact opposite of the land of milk and honey they had been promised in order to get to their inheritance, we too must do the same. As the Lord said in John 16:33:

"These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace.
In the world you have tribulation, but take courage;
I have overcome the world."

As the Apostle Paul affirmed in Acts 14:22, "...Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God." We go through trials, which are all meant to strengthen our faith and character, so we can be trusted with the authority and treasures of the age to come. This is why Paul wrote in Romans 5:3-5:

And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations,
knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance;
and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope;
and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out
within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Here we see a progression towards proven character and the hope that does not disappoint, but it begins with tribulation. In this world we will have trials and tribulations, but they are allowed so we can experience the power and authority of resurrection life. Every cross we have to bear will lead to a greater glory. We must go through a wilderness to get to our Promised Land. The wilderness is designed to work in us that which will enable us to possess the promises of God, and to be trusted with the power and authority He has called us to walk in, which demonstrates His authority, power, and dominion.

The purpose of our Promised Land is not just to allow us to have the good life, but rather to demonstrate the nature of the Lord's kingdom and ways to a fallen world. The greatest demonstration of the Lord's kingdom was the Lord's own life. He had dominion over the earth, and over the works of the devil. He says in John 17:18, "As Thou didst send Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world."
Jesus demonstrated the power of a life in harmony with the Father. We are called to demonstrate the power of a life that is likewise in unity with Him by abiding in the Son. Jesus walked in power over all diseases, and we are called to do the same. In Luke 10:19, we see that the Lord gave His disciples authority over "all the power of the enemy." However, is there anyone who is walking in this? I do not know of anyone who can presently bind all of the evil in a single place, much less all of his power. However, I know many that are growing in authority over evil spirits, and are through prayer and pro-clamation of the truth changing the spiritual atmosphere over their regions. This is the authority that we are called to grow in.

Our goal is to be like Jesus and to do the works that He did. We cannot do this on our own, but only by abiding in Him. We learn to abide in Him by going to the cross. It seems that almost everyone wanted to be close to Jesus to experience the miracles and glory of His works, but when He went to the cross even His closest disciples fled from Him, because they did not yet understand the resurrection. After the resurrection, however, even these proved willing to face death with the greatest courage and peace.

The degree to which we will abide in Him will be determined by the degree to which we behold the power of His resurrection—the power, glory, and authority that He has now. When we know He is in control, and that nothing can happen to us that He does not allow for our own good, then we will not flee from the cross—we will count it all joy when we, too, are able to suffer for His name's sake. There is no greater privilege that we can be given in this life, and such is the path to unfathomable glory. Do not waste your trials, but as the great apostle declared in Philippians 3:7-14:

But whatever things were gain to me,
those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
More than that, I count all things to be loss
in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord,
for whom I have suffered the loss of all things,
and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ,
and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own
derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ,
the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,
that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection
and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;
in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect,
but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that
for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.
Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet;
but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind
and reaching forward to what lies ahead,
I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

After leaving Egypt, all the experiences that Israel went through were to prepare them for the high calling of representing the Lord on earth. We, too, have been given this highest of callings, and everything we go through is intended to prepare us for it. He wants us to do the works that He did and even greater ones, to demonstrate His resurrection and His authority which is above all authority. He is now looking for those who will endure the things that fashion our character, so He can trust us with this unprecedented honor. This is your destiny. You are a new creation.

Morningstar Minstries

The Sheaf of the First Fruits

The Sheaf of the First Fruits
As we have studied in Exodus 12, the Passover Lamb was to be taken into the house five days before it was to be sacrificed. During that time the people were to examine it for any flaws because the Passover of the Lord had to be a lamb without blemish. As we are told in Matthew 11:13, "…the Law prophesied until John." This was a prophecy of how Christ, "our Passover," was to enter Jerusalem five days before He was to be crucified.

As Jesus was entering Jerusalem, Jews all over the city were taking the Passover lambs into their houses in preparation for the feast. During the five days when all of the people were examining their Passover lambs, the priests, Pharisees, and Sadducees examined Jesus continually seeking to find any flaw in Him, and they could not. Since the Jewish day begins with evening and Jesus was crucified on the Day of Preparation for the Passover, at the very time Jesus was dying on the cross, Jews all over the city were putting the knives to their Passover lambs.

In Leviticus 23 we have another ritual which was to be performed after the Sabbath of the Passover (all days in which there was to be no laborious work were also called Sabbaths). This was called "the waving of the sheaf of the first fruits." This ritual required the "the sons of Israel" to go out and gather a sheaf of the first fruits, which at that time of the year were just beginning to sprout. Then they delivered it to the priest who brought it before the Lord and waved it. After the Passover on which the Lord was crucified, at the very time when the priest was waving this "sheaf of the first fruits," Jesus was coming forth from the grave, the first fruits of the resurrection. This "sheaf of the first fruits" was the promise of a great harvest to come.

Only a few people in Israel understood the significance of what was happening in their midst on that fateful Passover. Even the Lord's disciples did not seem to fully comprehend it. However, as we look back at how perfectly the Lord fulfills His Word, always perfectly on time, we can have confidence in the unfathomable promises He has given to us. The Lord is always faithful, and He is always on time.

The fact that the Lord would send His own Son to die for our sins is a marvel that all of creation will certainly be in awe of for all eternity. That He would also give us the promise of eternal life, and just as He raised His own Son, He will raise us from the dead so we may ever live before Him, is another wonder of wonders. This is the hope that empowers us to live beyond the cares of this present world and for the gospel of the age to come. As we read in Hebrews 12:1-2:

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us,
let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us,
and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith,
who for the joy set before Him endured the cross,
despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Just as it was the hope of the resurrection and the glory that He was to receive that enabled Jesus to endure the cross, it is the truth of the resurrection that empowers all of the sacrifices that we, too, may be called to make for the sake of this gospel. The knowledge of the resurrection hassustained and empowered the martyrs of every age, and it is as we behold the glory which is set before us that we are able to take up our cross and "die daily."

The ultimate fear by which the enemy has mankind in bondage is the fear of death. It is the truth of the resurrection that breaks this ultimate bondage, and truly sets us free from the powers of this present evil age to live by the power of the age to come. As we are set free in this way, we no longer live for the things that are temporary, but for the eternal. In this way we die to this world. If we are dead to the world, there is nothing this world can do to us. This is the greatest freedom we can ever know on earth, and it is this freedom that the enemy fears more than any other. Those who are already dead have nothing to fear—those who are already dead will therefore be fearless in standing for the truth of the gospel. Their very fearlessness is an irresistible witness of the resurrection.

We are called to live a life that is free from fear, and we are called to live by faith. The linchpin of faith is our faith in the resurrection. The cross displayed for all time the great love that God has for us. The resurrection magnifies it. If God loves us this much, then whom should we fear?

We will continue to examine the resurrection, this great foundation of our faith, that we might live in the victory that was gained for us, having been liberated from every fear.

MorningStar Ministries

We Must Eat the Whole Thing

We Must Eat the Whole Thing
The main purpose of our study is to gain a clear understanding of our purpose in Christ and what we must do to accomplish it. For this reason we are examining the steps to maturity so we can understand where we are, and what we need to do next. Because the strength of the foundation will determine the strength and magnitude of what can be built upon it, we are taking the time to lay the foundation correctly. Without question, the strength of our spiritual lives will be determined by the revelation, understanding, and application of the cross in our lives. As Paul wrote in I Corinthians 1:18:

For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness,
but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

We will know the power of God in our lives to the degree that the cross has worked in our lives. Therefore, let us continually seek to sink our roots deeper into the knowledge of what was accomplished for us at the cross, and to take up our cross and carry it daily. The life of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is the salvation of God, the wisdom of God, the glory of God, and the power of God for those who are being saved.

Christ Jesus is called the Passover Lamb of God, and we have been studying the prophetic Passover sacrifice in Exodus to illustrate what the cross accomplished for us. In Exodus 12:8-11, we see several more important aspects of this feast and how Israel was commanded to eat it, which are crucial for us to understand.

And they shall eat the flesh that same night, roasted with fire,
and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water,
but rather roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with its entrails.
And you shall not leave any of it over until morning,
but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall burn with fire.
Now you shall eat it in this manner: with your loins girded,
your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand;
and you shall eat it in haste—it is the LORD's Passover.

The way they had to eat the Passover is summed up in these three points:

1) with bitter herbs and unleavened bread

2) they had to eat the whole thing

3) as they ate they had to be ready to depart in haste

Because points one and three are related, we will save them for the next study, but point two is worthy in itself of a life of pursuit—they had to eat the whole thing. One of the most dangerous compromises we could ever make in our lives is to pick and choose which aspects of the gospel we are going to accept. This is possibly the one thing that has most weakened the church through the ages because it dilutes the very foundation of the power of the cross in our lives.

If we come to Christ with any conditions as to what we will accept, or what we will do, we are not partaking of His atonement as He has prescribed. He will be the Lord of all, or not at all. Let us consider the following Scriptures, beginning with what is called "the Great Commission" in Matthew 28:18-20:

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying,
"All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I commanded you;
and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

The basis for the Great Commission is "all authority" in heaven and earth has been given to Jesus. There is no place or person on earth that is beyond the exercise of His authority, if He chooses to exercise it. As King David wrote in Psalm 8:1, "O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Thy name in all the earth…." In biblical times one's name was equated with their authority. There is no place on earth that belongs to the devil. As the Scripture again asserts in Psalm 24:1: "The earth is the LORD's, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it." This must also be our quest in seeking to carry out The Great Commission—to see His authority revealed in all of the earth. That is why the commission is to "make disciples of all nations."
The last part of that commission was to teach these nations to observe all that He has commanded us. This seems to have been the point made by the angel in Acts 5:19-20: that He has commanded us. This seems to have been the point made by the angel in Acts 5:19-20:

But an angel of the Lord during the night opened the gates of the prison,
and taking them out he said, "Go your way,
stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this Life."

If we are endeavoring to fulfill The Great Commission, to be ministers of the gospel, we must present the whole message of the gospel. It has been the tendency for those who have been entrusted with this Great Commission to omit, or overlook, what they do not understand or agree with. This has perpetually opened the door to weakness and even heresy in the church.

For this reason we must understand, embrace, and refuse to compromise II Timothy 3:16-17: "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."

If we are going to partake of the Lord's Passover, we must eat the whole thing. We cannot pick and choose what aspects of the gospel we are going to accept and what parts we are not. There are aspects to the cross and the gospel that are stumbling blocks to many, but if we start watering down the message, then we have stumbled over the whole. That which would cause us to pick and choose what we will obey and what we will not was precisely the rationale for the first sin of mankind, and also what released death into the world in the first place. Redemption will only be complete when we determine to die completely to our own will in order to be fully obedient to Him. If we do not, we will continue to be open for further disobedience and its accompanying consequences—death.

MorningStar Minstries

The Blood Must be applied

The Blood Must be Applied
We have been studying the power of sacrifice, and especially the power of the sacrifice of the Son of God to deliver us from bondage, which was typified by the Passover. Now we will go on to another crucial aspect of the Passover, as we see in Exodus 12:7, 13:

Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts
and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.
And the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live;
and when I see the blood I will pass over you,
and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

Just as the sentence of death was on every household that did not have the blood of the sacrificial, Passover lamb applied to their house, the same is true for all of humanity, as we read in Romans 5:12: "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned." Even so, God has given to the whole world a Passover Lamb whose blood will fully protect those who apply it to their lives. As we read in Romans 5:8-10:

But God demonstrates His own love toward us,
in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Much more then, having now been justified by His blood,
we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God
through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled,
we shall be saved by His life.

All Israel had to do to protect their families from the death that was going to sweep over Egypt that night was to apply the blood of the specified Passover lamb to their doorways. When the angel of death saw the blood, he passed over them. Likewise, all we have to do to be delivered from the sentence of death that is upon all mankind is to apply the blood of the cross of Jesus to our lives. Nothing more will help, and nothing less will save us.

Israel would not have been saved by knowing that there had to be a Passover lamb sacrificed, or even to have sacrificed it, unless and until the blood was applied. Likewise, it does not do us any good just to know that there had to be a sacrifice for our sin. It does not even do us any good to know Jesus made that sacrifice, unless His blood is applied to our lives. Just knowing the facts is not the same as trusting in them for salvation. Even the demons know the power of the cross. Salvation requires more than just an intellectual assent to the spiritual and historic facts of the cross, as Romans 10:8-10 states:

But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart"—
that is, the word of faith which we are preaching,
that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord,
and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead,
you shall be saved;for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness,
and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

There can be a big difference between believing with our minds andbelieving with our hearts. The belief that is required for salvation is more than just an intellectual assent to the facts. To believe with our heart is to believe with our lives. Just as anyone passing through the Hebrew neighborhoods that night could see the blood had been applied to each house that had partaken of the Passover, if we have partaken of the Passover Lamb that is Christ, His blood will likewise be evident on our lives.

Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me" (John 14:6). The way is not a formula, but a Person. Knowing the truth is more than just having accurate doctrines—it is knowing a Person who must also be our life. If Jesus is not our life, we really do not know the way or the truth either. Salvation is much more than just agreeing that Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world—it is embracing the cross and trusting in His atonement for the forgiveness of our own sin. Just as the Passover blood had to be applied to every house that was trusting in it for deliverance from death, the blood of Jesus must be applied personally to every life.

No one is going to be saved because they live in a "Christian" country. No one is going to be saved because they have a parent who knows the Lord. No one is even going to be saved because they go to church, or even because they were baptized, unless they have a personal faith in Him, and His blood is applied to their life. We must each have our own faith, and our own relationship to the Lord. If we do, the evidence of what has taken place in our hearts will be clearly seen on the outside of our lives as well.

Just as we saw in our previous study, once Israel partook of the Passover, their whole world changed. They left Egypt immediately to go to a place they had never seen. Likewise, when we partake of the Passover sacrifice of Jesus everything changes—we are born again into a whole new world.

If you have been in church all of your life, and know very well all of the doctrines of salvation, but have never actually been born again by having a personal encounter with the Son of God, you can do so right now. All you have to do is humble yourself and confess your sins to God. Then ask Him to forgive you and cover you in the blood of His Son's sacrifice, knowing that there is nothing you can do to make atonement for yourself, but also knowing that His sacrifice is sufficient to cover your sins. This simple faith will allow you to be accepted by the Father into His own household. Then ask Him for the baptism in the Holy Spirit, who was given to lead us into all truth, so we might live lives that glorify the Son of God, by displaying the power of His sacrifice in our lives.

As we studied on Day Six, if the sacrifice of the king of Moab could release such power to cause the armies of Israel to flee, how much more power does the sacrifice of the Son of God have? His sacrifice is enough to cover all of your sins, to redeem you from the bondage of sin, and to give you eternal life. As we begin to comprehend this, we are transformed by the power of such great love.

For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father,
from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,
that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory,
to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man;
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;
and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
may be able to comprehend with all the saints
what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge,
that you may be filled up to all the fulness of God.
Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond
all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,
to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus
to all generations forever and ever. Amen (Ephesians 3:14-21).

MorningStar Ministries

The Power of Sacrifce

The Power of Sacrifice
On Day Five we drew a parallel of how Israel's first Passover was a foreshadowing of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. We began to examine the nature of our sin, and the perfect Lamb that was offered for our atonement. Here we want to take a little more time to examine and understand the power of sacrifice so that we can know the power of what He accomplished for us by His sacrifice.

Unfortunately, cults and satanic worshipers seem to understand this basic principle of the spiritual power of sacrifice better than most Christians. A remarkable biblical example of this is found in II Kings 3:26-27:

When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too fierce for him,
he took with him 700 men who drew swords,
to break through to the king of Edom; but they could not.
Then he took his oldest son who was to reign in his place,
and offered him as a burnt offering on the wall.
And there came great wrath against Israel,
and they departed from him and returned to their own land.

Sacrifice has power. Evil sacrifices can release evil power just as this king understood. The greater the sacrifice the greater the power that is released. Had this king sacrificed a sheep or goat, or even a servant, it would not have had this kind of dramatic result. If this heathen king, who offered his son, released power, how much more did the sacrifice of God's own Son release power?

As the Scriptures declare, all of creation was made for the Son and through Him, and in Him all things hold together. There is nothing in this universe as precious as the Son of God. Nothing greater could be sacrificed. That is why the cross is the very power of God (see I Corinthians 1:18). There is no power greater in this universe than what is available to us through the cross of Jesus. If the Passover sacrifice of these lambs that were just a type or a prophecy of the coming cross of Jesus could set Israel free from the most powerful empire on earth at the time, how much more can the actual cross of Jesus set us free from our bondage?

All the combined power of all of the armies on earth could not compare with a single drop of the blood of Jesus. That power is available to us at the cross. That is why it only takes faith the size of a single mustard seed to move a mountain. The reason our "faith" falls so far short of accomplishing much is because it is almost always reduced to faith in our faith, instead of faith in the cross of Jesus.

Just as the purpose of the power of God as demonstrated through Moses was to first set Israel free, we often want to do great exploits with our faith before we have been delivered from our sin. As Christians we may remain in bondage to evil passions, evil desires, and the evil ways of this present evil age. However, if we do, we can never say that we have not been offered the power to be set free from them. For a Christian to say they do not have the power to overcome the sin and evil of their heart is to say that the evil is more powerful than the cross, which is an obvious insult to the cross. The power has been offered to us to be free. We can reject it, but we can never say that it has not been given to us. If we remain under the power of sin, it is our choice, because we choose sin over freedom. That is proof of who we really love and who we really serve.

There are a host of false doctrines that seek to turn believers away from the power of the cross, proclaiming that it is not possible to be free from the sin and evil passions of this world. Some seek to replace the cross of Jesus with human penitence. The devil knows well that these frivolous attempts to pay the price for our own sins are a profound affront to the cross of Jesus. Such foolishness actually empowers human sin by feeding human selfishness. The cross of Jesus is enough, and it alone can set us free.

As the great hymn so powerfully declares, it is "nothing but the blood of Jesus."We must never allow our trust to be put in anything else, because only the cross of Jesus can set us free and set us on the course to our Promised Land.

Of all of the studies that we have made, or will make, there are none more crucial than this one. If we will put our trust in the cross, the power of God will be released in our lives. To this day the enemy of our souls still has a boast before all of creation—that God can forgive us of our sins, but He really does not have the power to deliver us from our sins. Before the end comes there will be a bride without spot or wrinkle that will prove to all of creation for all time that He not only has the power to forgive mankind, but He also has the power to change us. His sacrifice is so powerful that we will not only be restored to the condition of man before the Fall, but the cross actually transforms us into a "new creation" that greatly transcends the original creation state of man. Therefore our goal is not to return to the state of the first Adam, but to abide in the "last Adam," who is Christ.

As the saying goes, "There is a ditch on either side of the path of life." The doctrines of human perfection can cause us to stumble just as much as those that declare there is not enough power in the cross to really change us. This is not about human perfection. The doctrines of human perfection are little more than feeble attempts to resurrect and heal our old nature. Our humanity must be reckoned as dead.

We will look at this in more depth, but for now let us settle in our hearts that there is no limit on the power of God that is available to us through the cross of Jesus. Let us also settle in our hearts that His sacrifice was enough, and anything we try to add to it by our attempts to pay for our own sins, by any means, is an insult to the cross (as established in Hebrews 9:26-10:14). If the sacrifice of the heathen king of Moab had such power, how much more power does the sacrifice of God's own Son have? The cross is the power of God, and if we want to have the power of God manifested in our daily lives, we must take up the cross daily. The power of God is available at the cross. Our trust must be in the cross of Jesus, alone, to set us free and release God's power in our lives to live as He has called us to live.

MorningStar Minstries

The Perfect One

The Perfect One
Today we further our study of the Passover, which was judgment upon Egypt, but deliverance for God's people. In I Corinthians 5:7 we read "...for Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed." The Passover was a biblical model of the sacrifice of Jesus that sets us free from the bondage of this world. The first instruction the Lord gave concerning the Passover was that the Jews were to change their calendar so the month in which it took place was the first month of the year, to represent how the Passover would make a new beginning for them (see Exodus 12:1-2). This was a prophecy that when we partake of the Passover sacrifice of Jesus we become a "new creation," and "all things become new" to us (see I Corinthians 5:17 NKJV). Now we will look at the next aspect of the Passover that illuminates what the cross accomplished for us in Exodus 12:3, 5-6:

"Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying,
'On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves,
according to their fathers' households, a lamb for each household.
'Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old;
you may take it from the sheep or from the goats.
'And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month,
then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight."'

Here we see that the lamb was to be taken into the house for five days before it was to be sacrificed. This was to be prophetic of how Jesus would enter Jerusalem five days before he was crucified. We also see that Jesus was crucified on the Day of Preparation for the Passover, and died that evening (see John 19:14). In Exodus 12:6 we also see that the lambs were to be killed at twilight. Because the Hebrew day begins in the evening (6:00 p.m.), at the very time when all of Israel was slaying the typical Passover lambs, the Passover Lamb, Jesus, was dying on the cross right in their midst, perfectly fulfilling the type.

As we see in Exodus 12:5, the Passover lambs had to be an "unblemished male." This was to speak of the sinless nature of Jesus. The reason why the Israelites were to take the lamb into their houses five days before the sacrifice was to thoroughly examine it for flaws. What did the Jewish leaders do to Jesus the entire five days that He was in Jerusalem before His crucifixion? They examined Him continually seeking to find fault so that they could condemn Him, but they found none. Even Pilate finally said, "I find no fault in Him" (see John 19:4 NKJV). Jesus was the acceptable Passover sacrifice of God.

In Exodus 12:6 we read, "...the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight." In Matthew 27:22 we read of the crowd gathered at the trial of Jesus, "…They all said, 'Let Him be crucified!'" In verse 25 it states, "And all the people answered and said, 'His blood be on us and on our children!'" This was not just a statement of how the Jewish people rejected Him, but about how He was being crucified for the sin of all men, and because all men have rejected Him.

As the Lord Himself declared in Matthew 25:40, "...Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me." To the degree we have ever rejected even the least of the Lord's people, we have rejected Him. We may be appalled by how Judas betrayed the Lord, and Peter denied Him when He needed His friends the most, but to the degree we have ever betrayed one of the Lord's people, even the least of them, we have done it to Him. To the degree we have denied, or refused to associate with one of the Lord's people, even the least of them, even those who may have doctrinal error, or other problems, we have done it to Him.

Jesus was without blemish, perfect, but we are not. That is why He died for us. He even died for those who crucified Him. Regardless of the flaws or sins in our lives, He will forgive us, and cleanse us. If we have denied Him or betrayed Him by denying or betraying any of His people, He will forgive us of that also. He forgave Peter, and He could have even forgiven Judas if he had returned to Him as Peter did. What made Judas incorrigible was that he hung himself. Obviously Judas felt great remorse for what he had done, but by hanging himself he tried to pay the price for his own sin.

When we try to pay the price for our own sins it can make us incorrigible or beyond help. By doing so, we refuse the grace of God at the cross. We must learn that, regardless of how great our mistakes are, we can never pay the price for our own sin. The cross alone is the propitiation for sin. To offer any other kind of penitence is an affront to the cross, and a statement that the cross is not enough, that we somehow must pay the price for this one. We must flee from all such delusions that there is anything we can do to pay the price for our own sin, and flee to the cross. There we will find grace and forgiveness from the Perfect One who is also perfect in love.

MorningStar Ministries

Freedom

Freedom
On Day Three we studied how Pharaoh is a type of Satan, the ruler of this present age, and how Egypt is a type of this present world. We also studied the resistance that Pharaoh gave to Moses when he demanded that the Lord's people be set free. This was pre-ordained by God because His people were not to be set free by the permission of Pharaoh, but by His power. Through all of the resistance, and the attempts by Pharaoh to get Moses to compromise the call of God, Moses remained resolute, declaring "not a hoof" that belonged to Israel would be left behind in Egypt. We must do the same if we are going to be free.

We can see in the Book of Revelation how parallel plagues that are going to come upon the earth have the same ultimate purpose—to set the Lord's people free, as well as the rest of creation. Just as the plagues that came upon Egypt destroyed the gods of Egypt, the plagues that come upon the world will destroy the gods that men have made, and ultimately set men free.

There was one final plague that came upon Egypt which finally and completely set the Lord's people free from Egypt—the Passover. In I Corinthians 5:7 we read "...for Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed." The Passover was a biblical model of the sacrifice of Jesus that sets us free from bondage to this world. Let's look at a few of the ways that it gives us a powerful model of what the Lord Jesus did for us to set us free. These are taken from Exodus 12 (you may want to read this chapter before proceeding). We will start with verses 1-2:

Now the LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,
"This month shall be the beginning of months for you;
it is to be the first month of the year to you."

The Lord changed the entire Hebrew calendar so that the Passover would be the beginning of their year. This was to represent the new beginning that we have when we partake of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. As we read in II Corinthians 5:17:

Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature;
the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

The night that Israel partook of the Passover, their whole world was to change. They were to leave the place that they had known their entire lives never to see it again. They were going to journey through places that they had never seen before. When they took the Passover, their whole world changed! When we partake of Christ, we are so radically changed that the only way to describe it is to say that we are "born again." We start all over. All things become new to us in a supernatural transformation.

However, there is one basic difference between what happened to Israel and what happens when we become a Christian. Israel's environment changed, but when we partake of Christ we change. Israel was taken out of Egypt, but in the New Covenant, Egypt is taken out of us—we become new. The world we are in may be the same, but the eyes we see it through are different.

This is one of the most precious Christian truths—in Christ we have a new beginning. He wipes out all of our past failures. There is no other religion or philosophy in the world that has such grace and power to transform human beings. Even so, when we are born again, that is not the end of the matter, rather it is the beginning. We must grow up into spiritual maturity. Having our minds transformed is a process, but it would not be possible for such a transformation without the initial regeneration by the Holy Spirit that comes when we first embrace the cross. We are forgiven! We are new creatures in Christ!

That we are called "new creatures" in Christ actually means that we are a new species. This is something that we must grasp, but it seems that few Christians do. Those who are born again by the Spirit of God are no longer just human beings. Before the cross, men walked with God, but under the New Covenant God comes to live in us. That is why Jesus said in John 16:7:

"But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away;
for if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you;
but if I go, I will send Him to you."

Think of that. What could possibly be better than walking with Jesus the way that these disciples did? But He said it would be better for them if He went away so that the Helper, His Spirit could come! Even better than walking with God is to have God living inside of us! Now we do not go to His temple, we are His temple. Our quest in this life is to live in the reality of this greatest of Christian truths—God has made man His abode.

The goal of the new creation is not just to be restored to the sinless state that Adam enjoyed before the Fall. That is the starting point. Our sin is removed at the cross of Jesus. This is not something we can do, but we can abide in Him in whom there is no sin. We are not trying to make ourselves perfect, we are trying to more perfectly abide in the One who abides in us. We do not look to ourselves for the power or the goodness, but we look to Him.

We may stumble and get back up, but we must keep our focus on the ultimate goal of our calling, which we see in Ephesians 4:15:

but speaking the truth in love,
we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ.

You were called to grow up in "all aspects" into Christ. You are called to be like Him and do the works that He did. This is our journey, our quest, and we must never settle for a lesser vision.

On Day Five we will continue to examine the power of the cross that sets us free from all bondage to this world and releases us into the most glorious quest in all of creation—Christlikeness.

MorningStar Ministries