"And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor the princes of this world, that come to naught," 1 Corinthians 2: 4-6
Our Father's Word should be preached with the power and demonstration of His Spirit. Read in the Old Testament, or the New Testament, and find a place where a prophet or a preacher taught about God and there wasn’t something that transcended human abilities along with it. Moses, David, Elijah, Daniel, Samson, Jesus, Paul, or Peter. Our Father's normal is so far beyond man’s ability. Noah, one guy and a couple of his kids built an ocean liner! Peter, even if just for a moment walked on water, in a storm mind you. So preacher’s lay off Peter and his doubt, at least he tried, and he tried in a turbulent sea! I think it was awesome that he got out of the boat in the first place!
Preaching with demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit is extremely important, it allows our faith to rise above worldly wisdom. People need to see that our Father still performs above and beyond any physical human capacity. Jesus warns against only seeking out a sign, but that does not mean that God does not perform signs and wonders to confirm His presence and His Truths. “And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In My Name shall they cast out devils; they will speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” Mark 16:15-18
Later on we will actually have a whole section of postings dedicated to the study of power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit within our lives. However, before we can get there we need to establish what salvation is, who we have become in Christ, and exactly what are God’s abilities through us since we are saved.
The reason we are studying this verse now is to show us how our Father had Paul write about the Corinthians; God had Paul call them perfect. Now after reading the book of 1st Corinthians we can see that it is a letter that definitely disciplines the church. They had many shortcomings, yet even with all that God says they are doing wrong, He still calls them perfect. I like the word perfect and so did Jesus; Our Father loves it too, because He had it written in 124 verses in the Bible. "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect." Matthew 5:48 Nothing can be associated with our Father that isn’t perfect, it just can’t stand in His presence. So to insure that we could stand united and one in Him, He made us perfect through Christ. Jesus being the One who perfects us! “I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in One; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me.” John 17:23
Once we truly are chosen and empowered by the Holy Spirit to say yes to Jesus, we are saved. We become one with Jesus, we become joint-heirs with Him, and we become God's children, born of His Incorruptible Seed. If a person truly is saved then salvation is a permanent state, we do not fall in and out of salvation, Romans 11:29. The Seed we have been born have is unable to be corrupted! And we are unable to fool God into accepting us. God cannot be conned, He knows us better than we know ourselves and He only chooses those who truly choose Him!
"Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you." 1 Corinthians 3:13-16
I have met so many Christians who believe they are falling in and out of salvation. One day they are saved, the next day they are not. 2000 years ago Paul was dealing with the same thing. He told the Corinthians, “Look sure your works will be tried, you will receive rewards and maybe losses, but you will still be saved, don't you people know who you are?” I marvel that we still have to preach the same message today. People still want to earn it, they still want to condemn, themselves and others; they still lack an understanding of who they are in Christ. But we have seen the Truth and the Truth has made us free! One of my favorite verses is Hebrews 6:1, "Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us move on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith towards God." Perfection, God wouldn’t have written it, if we couldn’t have it!
Let’s read Hebrews 6:4-6, “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost. And have tasted the good Word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him in open shame.”
Our Father's Word should be preached with the power and demonstration of His Spirit. Read in the Old Testament, or the New Testament, and find a place where a prophet or a preacher taught about God and there wasn’t something that transcended human abilities along with it. Moses, David, Elijah, Daniel, Samson, Jesus, Paul, or Peter. Our Father's normal is so far beyond man’s ability. Noah, one guy and a couple of his kids built an ocean liner! Peter, even if just for a moment walked on water, in a storm mind you. So preacher’s lay off Peter and his doubt, at least he tried, and he tried in a turbulent sea! I think it was awesome that he got out of the boat in the first place!
Preaching with demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit is extremely important, it allows our faith to rise above worldly wisdom. People need to see that our Father still performs above and beyond any physical human capacity. Jesus warns against only seeking out a sign, but that does not mean that God does not perform signs and wonders to confirm His presence and His Truths. “And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In My Name shall they cast out devils; they will speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” Mark 16:15-18
Later on we will actually have a whole section of postings dedicated to the study of power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit within our lives. However, before we can get there we need to establish what salvation is, who we have become in Christ, and exactly what are God’s abilities through us since we are saved.
The reason we are studying this verse now is to show us how our Father had Paul write about the Corinthians; God had Paul call them perfect. Now after reading the book of 1st Corinthians we can see that it is a letter that definitely disciplines the church. They had many shortcomings, yet even with all that God says they are doing wrong, He still calls them perfect. I like the word perfect and so did Jesus; Our Father loves it too, because He had it written in 124 verses in the Bible. "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect." Matthew 5:48 Nothing can be associated with our Father that isn’t perfect, it just can’t stand in His presence. So to insure that we could stand united and one in Him, He made us perfect through Christ. Jesus being the One who perfects us! “I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in One; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me.” John 17:23
Once we truly are chosen and empowered by the Holy Spirit to say yes to Jesus, we are saved. We become one with Jesus, we become joint-heirs with Him, and we become God's children, born of His Incorruptible Seed. If a person truly is saved then salvation is a permanent state, we do not fall in and out of salvation, Romans 11:29. The Seed we have been born have is unable to be corrupted! And we are unable to fool God into accepting us. God cannot be conned, He knows us better than we know ourselves and He only chooses those who truly choose Him!
"Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you." 1 Corinthians 3:13-16
I have met so many Christians who believe they are falling in and out of salvation. One day they are saved, the next day they are not. 2000 years ago Paul was dealing with the same thing. He told the Corinthians, “Look sure your works will be tried, you will receive rewards and maybe losses, but you will still be saved, don't you people know who you are?” I marvel that we still have to preach the same message today. People still want to earn it, they still want to condemn, themselves and others; they still lack an understanding of who they are in Christ. But we have seen the Truth and the Truth has made us free! One of my favorite verses is Hebrews 6:1, "Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us move on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith towards God." Perfection, God wouldn’t have written it, if we couldn’t have it!
Let’s read Hebrews 6:4-6, “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost. And have tasted the good Word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him in open shame.”
We better hope once saved always saved, because if this means that with a mess up, one chance is all we get, we are all doomed! But that is not what these verses mean, no, what these verses are saying is someone who has these things cannot fall away from our Father. They can't fall away because they have been sealed with the Holy Ghost. We were crucified with Christ, we have been raised up and made to sit together in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus, and we are one with God, even as Jesus is one with God. The Bible teaches that our bodies that could sin have been destroyed. I honestly believe once saved always saved, there are so many verses that say it, and the ones that people use to try and cast doubt, don’t. I just don’t believe our Father can be fooled, and God doesn’t give power to liars and sinners, He knows our hearts!
When Jesus spoke, He spoke in parables and it was hard for the people to understand what He was saying. His disciples wondered about this, and here is what Jesus said to them. “For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive.” Matthew 13 12-14 It takes the power of the Holy Ghost within us to understand what our Father is saying. God changes not, if this is how Jesus spoke, this is how God speaks, and the Holy Ghost wrote the Bible.
It’s as we studied before, if we could be saved and then fall away, then we would have had the ability to fool God in the first place. It’s not that people are loosing their salvation, it’s that they never were saved in the first place. Outwardly they may have seemed to be saved, but God knows the heart! And we too will know each other by the fruit that the Holy Spirit produces through us and by the discernment that He gives us!
We can do so much in Christ, and in Jesus' Name we are going to. Let's move on to perfection. "Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us." Ephesians 3:20 Our Father is able and willing to do so much through us. We are His chosen vessels of honor and service. He is able and willing to do more than we can even think of, and I will tell you one thing, I can think of some pretty awesome things! For one thing I can think of having the Mind of Christ! We are perfect, because we are one with the Perfect One; He has made us that way in our born again state. We know that we are the Temples of the Living God, and a-men, we know that God can do great things through us this day. We know that we can walk in power and demonstration of His Spirit. We are powerful in Christ so that all men will have their faith grounded in God, and not in worldly wisdom!
Jesus never said or did anything that He hadn’t first heard from the Father. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do: for what things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.” John 5:19 If you want to walk in 100% success, each and every day, perfect, then what Jesus did, you do it too! Seek God out and allow Him to guide you. Pray what the Spirit tells you to pray, go where He leads you to go, speak what He tells you to speak. The Holy Ghost will teach you all things, He will take of Jesus’ and He will shew it unto you and then He will empower you to do it. 100% Success, 100% of the time, that is producing fruit, and that is what glorifies God! Faith is the evidence of things hoped for, and through the abounding presence of the Holy Ghost within us, we can abound in the hope that God is willing and able to allow us to live fully in His power!
"Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends: for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you." John 15:15 God's power and demonstration through us should come as no surprise. We are friends and we know what our Lord is doing. We are one with Jesus, He is perfect, and we are now His body, so we are perfect through Him! Let’s get used to that Word of God perfect, it’s what Jesus has made us!
When Jesus spoke, He spoke in parables and it was hard for the people to understand what He was saying. His disciples wondered about this, and here is what Jesus said to them. “For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive.” Matthew 13 12-14 It takes the power of the Holy Ghost within us to understand what our Father is saying. God changes not, if this is how Jesus spoke, this is how God speaks, and the Holy Ghost wrote the Bible.
It’s as we studied before, if we could be saved and then fall away, then we would have had the ability to fool God in the first place. It’s not that people are loosing their salvation, it’s that they never were saved in the first place. Outwardly they may have seemed to be saved, but God knows the heart! And we too will know each other by the fruit that the Holy Spirit produces through us and by the discernment that He gives us!
We can do so much in Christ, and in Jesus' Name we are going to. Let's move on to perfection. "Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us." Ephesians 3:20 Our Father is able and willing to do so much through us. We are His chosen vessels of honor and service. He is able and willing to do more than we can even think of, and I will tell you one thing, I can think of some pretty awesome things! For one thing I can think of having the Mind of Christ! We are perfect, because we are one with the Perfect One; He has made us that way in our born again state. We know that we are the Temples of the Living God, and a-men, we know that God can do great things through us this day. We know that we can walk in power and demonstration of His Spirit. We are powerful in Christ so that all men will have their faith grounded in God, and not in worldly wisdom!
Jesus never said or did anything that He hadn’t first heard from the Father. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do: for what things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.” John 5:19 If you want to walk in 100% success, each and every day, perfect, then what Jesus did, you do it too! Seek God out and allow Him to guide you. Pray what the Spirit tells you to pray, go where He leads you to go, speak what He tells you to speak. The Holy Ghost will teach you all things, He will take of Jesus’ and He will shew it unto you and then He will empower you to do it. 100% Success, 100% of the time, that is producing fruit, and that is what glorifies God! Faith is the evidence of things hoped for, and through the abounding presence of the Holy Ghost within us, we can abound in the hope that God is willing and able to allow us to live fully in His power!
"Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends: for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you." John 15:15 God's power and demonstration through us should come as no surprise. We are friends and we know what our Lord is doing. We are one with Jesus, He is perfect, and we are now His body, so we are perfect through Him! Let’s get used to that Word of God perfect, it’s what Jesus has made us!
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