Beloved friends, I warn you in advance: this is a lengthy, repetitive message. In it I try to sum up what is most important in all the other Follow Me Ministry articles that pertain to the preparation of us Last Days disciples.
As we get closer and closer to the finale of human history, keep this in mind. Ponder what is contained here in light of the enormous, overwhelming Last Days’ confusion, disintegration, conflict, chaos, carnage and horror about which Scripture warns us all. If I knew I was just about to pass into eternity, this is the vital information I would consider to be of the utmost importance that I would want to leave and entrust to you. So please ponder it with that level of urgency.
John Marquez
********
“Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of people.”
IMMEDIATELY they left their nets and followed Him.
Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets; and He called them.
IMMEDIATELY they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.” (Matthew 4:18-22 NASB 1995, Emphasis added)
So Simon, Andrew, James, and John heard the Lord call them. And, immediately, they dropped everything that currently captivated their lives, and they severed all ties they had with this very temporary world. And that turned out to be the best, wisest decision they could have ever made. The same holds true for all the rest of us.
In a very real sense, those four men died to themselves at the very moment they heard the Lord’s call. They severed all the practical everyday connections to the revered people and things, to which they had previously been attached. It was as if their former lives were suddenly struck dead by a bolt of lightning, because when the Lord calls you… nothing will ever be the same for you again!
Now, those four called men were limited to trusting and following the Lord into His unknown awesome Heavenly Realm. Notice that, from that point forward, He would be the only object of their focus and service, their sole Life Source of provision, and Motive and Agenda. Ponder this in light of what God’s Living Word says to His own chosen people:
“But now, thus says the Lord, your Creator, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel, do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; YOU ARE MINE! When you pass through the waters, I WILL BE WITH YOU; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you.
For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I have given Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place. Since you are precious in My sight, since you are honored and I love you, I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life.
DO NOT FEAR, FOR I AM WITH YOU; I will bring your offspring from the east, and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ And to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring My sons from afar and My daughters from the ends of the earth, everyone who is called by My Name and whom I have created for My glory, whom I have formed, even whom I have made.” (Isaiah 40:1-7 NASB 1995, Emphasis added)
God’s written Word reveals that when anyone is called by God’s Living Word, and set apart for His exclusive service, it is a sudden, terminal, status quo ending, and life-transforming event:
“Now large crowds were going along with Him, and He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate (that is, be willing to let go of his dependence upon) his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry HIS OWN CROSS (that is, be ready to die, to his former Self-reliant radically independent life) and (leave it behind so he can be free to) come after Me (and depend solely on Me, he) cannot be My disciple.
For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who are watching it will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This person began to build, and was not able to finish!’
Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to face the one coming against him with twenty thousand? Otherwise, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and requests terms of peace. SO THEN, NONE OF YOU CAN BE MY DISCIPLE WHO DOES NOT GIVE UP ALL HIS OWN (reserved to himself)POSSESSIONS!” (Luke 14:25-33 NASB 1995, Amplification and emphasis added)
“Hear, Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! And you shall love the Lord your God with ALL your heart and with ALL your soul and with ALL your strength. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. And you shall repeat them diligently to your sons and speak of them when you sit in your house, when you walk on the road, when you lie down, and when you get up. You shall also tie them as a sign to your hand, and they shall be as frontlets on your forehead. You shall also write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
“Then it shall come about when the Lord your God brings you into the land that He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you, great and splendid cities which you did not build, and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and carved cisterns which you did not carve out, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall fear only the Lord your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His Name.
YOU SHALL NOT FOLLOW OTHER GODS, ANY OF THE GODS OF THE PEOPLES WHO SURROUND YOU, for the Lord your God who is in the midst of you is a jealous God; so follow Him, or else the anger of the Lord your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-15 NASB 1995, Emphasis added)
“Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say goodbye to those at my home.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God!” (Luke 9:61-62 NASB 1995, Emphasis added)
Our Lord obviously requires His disciples to get to know Him in an exceptionally deep, intimate, and exclusively personal way! They must surrender to and embrace the overwhelming Absolute Authority of His Perfect Presence! This is only made possible by Holy Spirit’s indwelling, interactive Activity, coupled with our full cooperation and submission to Him. Only God can cause His Living Word, our risen Lord, to actually be formed within us! But He can only do this with our continuous, wholehearted agreement, trust, and cooperation. So we’re going to have to really know what we’re doing, and why!
Yes, the mind-blowing truth is that the New Covenant makes it possible for God’s Living Word to actually live inside of us to abide, rule, and operate in this world. In this sense He becomes our new one and only Life. And thus He can continually reveal Himself to us, in us, through us, and as us… to whoever and whatever may happen to be around us! And this is why God’s Perfect Presence and Eternal All-Sufficient Covenant Love and Faithfulness must be of paramount importance and priority to us. God’s Living Word, abiding and working within us must be the chief characteristic that will define us throughout the future. In this sense, we become ‘married’ and inseparably united to Almighty God!
So to try to describe how unique this disciple relationship and lifestyle with our risen Lord must be, I’ll use a text from Matthew’s Gospel that Illustrates the dynamic of the very special way His disciples must train their brains and minds to see and think of themselves in relation to Him. We must live by faith and trust in His indwelling Presence… receiving everything we’ll ever be, have, and need from Him. His Presence with and in us must blot out every other consideration! Once we truly become convinced that He has given Himself to us, and always abides in us, and we are forevermore, ONE, we must finally realize that He belongs to us, and we belong to Him, and because we are united to each other forevermore, never again will we have any need to look to, or depend upon, anything or anyone else!
“And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, IF YOU HAVE FAITH AND DO NOT DOUBT, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen. And all things you ask in prayer, BELIEVING, you will receive.”(Matthew 20:21-22 NASB 1995, Emphasis added)
“… The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are useless.” So then let no one boast in men. (For just as all things belong to Me, because you are My co-heirs, so too do) ALL THINGS BELONG TO YOU, whether Paul or Apollos or Kephas (Peter) or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; ALL THINGS BELONG TO YOU…” (1 Corinthians 3:20-22 NASB 1995, Amplification and emphasis added)
“During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him, Jesus, KNOWING THAT THE FATHER HAD GIVEN ALL THINGS INTO HIS HANDS, AND THAT HE HAD COME FORTH FROM GOD AND WAS GOING BACK TO GOD, got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself.” (John 13:2-4 NASB 1995, Emphasis added)
“When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, SO THAT GOD MAY BE ALL IN ALL!” (1 Corinthians 15:28 NASB 1995, Emphasis added)
God’s Living Word Is Our Only Source and Sufficiency
God’s Living Word, who has given Himself to us, contains all the Fullness of God! And since He now lives and abides and operates from within us, He must be our one and only Life who overrides every created, temporal reality and consideration we will ever encounter! He is our Creator and He must have the first place in everything. So we must train ourselves to identify with Him and live from Him as our one and only Source! Thus we train and practice operating as one with Him, at all times and in every situation, event and set of circumstances throughout our future.
Obviously we, who were born long after the Lord’s Ascension back to Heaven, can’t know God in the flesh, that is, by sight, feeling, touch or anything tangible. He is totally OTHER and far beyond our reach. But yet, as Ecclesiastes 3:10-11 reveals, God has set eternity in our hearts. In other words, because we are made by Him and for Him, God places a ‘homing device’ into the innermost being of every human He creates. And that ‘equipment’ prompts us to continually seek to dock and connect with God’s Word, who is our Creator and Sustainer. God sends His Word to come after us and to seek us out to become one with us. And that device predisposes our heart of hearts to respond to Him the moment He reveals Himself and we finally recognize who He is. And once that happens, He joins us to Himself and empowers and equips us to think, act, react, and interact as one with Him. That ‘homing device’ guides us to our Lord, even while He comes after us so that we can finally respond and submit to Him and He can unite and join us to Himself forever.
So now that we have actually been allowed to ‘dock’ and unite with God’s Word, His Holy Spirit is also with us to teach and train us to master the art and science of knowing and interacting with Him so that He can form Christ within us. And then we can train ourselves to absorb all of His awesome spiritual Reality into ourselves by repeated acts of faith… faith in the revelations and promises Father made to us in His written Word. In our every circumstance, event, interaction and worldly situation, our risen Lord, must serve as our Center and Source of everything from now on. So we are now training our inner workings to recognize, know, and interact with the risen Lord who is being formed in us to be our only Source of guidance, provision and protection in every future eventuality and outcome!
We must develop the habit of acknowledging Him as our Sole Source for absolutely everything, and learn to live even closer to Him than the first century disciples were able to do when He first summoned them to follow Him at the beginning of their Master/disciple relationship with Him! In the first century beginnings, they could only know Him in the flesh, in the Mosaic Covenant manner. Just as their fathers had learned to live with and be guided by Him when He appeared as a Fire in a bush, and a Pillar of Cloud by day and a Pillar of Fire by night, the first century disciples learned to live with the Word made flesh… physically… by following and living with Him, day and night. They abided in close proximity to Him, travelling and experiencing life with Him, in the way that is common to all earthbound human beings.
But now, we are much closer to Him than those original disciples were before His death and resurrection! So now we must learn to abide with Him in total oneness, Spirit to spirit. To help us better understand the dynamic of this unique Master/disciple relationship, let’s consider that text from Matthew’s Gospel I want to bring to your attention:
“When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. And behold, a violent storm developed on the sea, so that the boat was being covered by the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep. And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!” He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm. The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” (Matthew 8:23-27 NASB.
Notice that as long as the Lord and His disciples were in the middle of the Sea of Galilee in that small boat, they were one working unit. Now they were still IN this world, but they were no longer PART of it. The Lord had separated them to Himself. So to follow the Lord as His disciples requires us all to be separated from all the rest of the people, just like those originals were set apart from all the other people that were living and operating on dry land as long as they were with Him in that boat.
Disciples are called to serve our risen Lord, and Him alone. In that capacity, they also serve the people that are around them, by perpetually abiding with and drawing from the Lord of Glory who is within them, so that He can reach out to bless and cover anyone and anything that comes into their spheres of influence! This is why disciples are not to be just like those who live in and from this world and do not know their Creator and Redeemer. Worldly people live as independent agents, living lives of their own, and serving themselves as they see fit. This is the vast difference between disciples who are filled, empowered and led by God’s Spirit and all the other humans that do not yet know God and do not yet allow His Living Word to fill and govern and abide in them. Can you see this? This difference is illustrated by the metaphor of being in that boat with the Lord, in the middle of that vast expanse of water, while everyone else does his or her own thing on the dry land that surrounds them.
The Lord truly summons and separates His disciples to and for Himself! So, it’s as if we too get into that boat with Him, and push away from the shore and move far away from whatever is attracting and occupying those who live on shore. The lives of true disciples consist solely in abiding and remaining with Him, under any and all situations. He separates us for His service, and keeps us apart and different from all the rest. He limits us to abiding in this separated lifestyle even as we operate within this world’s realities. We always do everything as living members of our Lord’s earthly Body… under His sole Headship. For this reason we’re always separated from the God-less world, but we’re always one with God, right in the midst of what is going on in this world… to bless the poor fallen Creation that surrounds us!
In this sense we are limited and confined in terms of where we must be and what we must do and not do. As long as we’re abiding with Him, as He describes in the above text and in texts like John chapter 15, our Lord is always the ‘Hub’ or Center Point, around which all of the disciples’ lives and attentions converge and revolve. He alone captivates our attention and primary concern. And we abide and interact with Him and depend on Him for absolutely everything, at all times!
This, Beloved, is my best attempt to accurately compare the lifestyle to which every authentic Spirit-empowered Last Days disciple is called, in contrast to the lifestyle of people who do not know or belong to our Lord. In this sense, we disciples ARE that boat! The Lord is in us; and we always contain and take His Presence wherever we go! All the worldly people around us live as radically independent agents, habitually doing their own thing, ‘on dry land’, just as they please. But for us… it’s no longer possible to have separate, radically independent lives of our own. Christ alone is always our one and only Life and Source for absolutely everything! No longer can we pursue separate, independent lives and agendas that we reserve for ourselves, on the side! The Lord alone is our EVERYTHING from now on! And we have died to any other possibility!
Wherever He is, we will always be; and whatever He will be doing, we will be a part of it. What belongs to Him belongs to us, and vice versa. Whatever happens to Him, happens to us. We live, operate, and experience life with Him and from Him – AS ONE – just the way a Vine and its branches must always abide as one! This is the heart, soul and essence of the New Covenant disciple lifestyle. And Holy Spirit is always living in us to teach, train and empower us to remain mindful of this and to make what is in the following texts to be real, active, and fruitful in and through each one of us. Beloved, we must know this and be drilled and trained to abide in it in order to be fully combat ready for what we’ll have to deal with and overcome in the Last Days combat with the powers of Darkness:
“I am the True Vine, and My Father is the Vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the Word which I have spoken to you.
Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself but must remain in the Vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me. I am The Vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown away like a branch and dries up; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you remain in Me, and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much (of MY) Fruit, AND SO PROVE TO BE MY DISCIPLES!” (John 15:1-8 NASB)
“(Jesus) the (Resurrected) Word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.
And Stephen, full of (Holy Spirit’s) Grace and Power (embodied the Presence of his risen Lord who now, through Stephen), was performing great wonders and signs among the people. But some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and argued with Stephen. But they were unable to cope with the Wisdom and the Spirit (of God that was coming from him and and) with which he was speaking.” (Acts 6:7-10 NASB 1995, Amplification and emphasis added)
The Semitic culture, paradigms, and lifestyle customs God used to teach to His people in the Bible are obviously vastly different from the modern cultures and lifestyle ways of the peoples that occupy the world of today. Nevertheless, that is what the Lord chose through which to reveal Himself to the world. He used Hebraic poetic pre-technological imagery and Middle Eastern poetry and word pictures because they can be universally grasped, understood and remembered by people from any culture and era of history, no matter how foreign and technological they, in later centuries, may have become .
The Biblical way of teaching enables us to begin to sense the awesome deep reality, nearness, immanence, and deliciously scary, awe-inspiring, living Reality of God! It helps us realize that He is actually Present with us amid all that is alien, secular, and Sin-corrupted in the highly organized, technological, hectic and phony glitz of the ‘modern’ societies in which our mortal bodies must still live and operate! And it lets us know He desires to be even closer and more intimate with us than we are even to ourselves! And this is what He is revealing in and through the New Covenant.
Modern day people are not accustomed to thinking, living, or communicating in Biblical picturesque, poetic covenantal ways. No, they learn new skills, arts, and sciences in highly structured, rigid, cold, dispassionate, technological and academic Hellenistic ways. And they call that ‘Being practical.’ However the way in which the Lord taught and trained His disciples in Scripture is vastly different from what we’re used to seeing and doing in our passing, disintegrating culture. And so the Lord will never say to us something like the following:
“If you want to know Me, you must attend the good reputable Yeshiva schools of the rabbis in the synagogues.” Or… “Enroll in a well-established theological university or Bible college that is run by highly educated Gentile scholars and historians and experts in ancient Eastern antiquities. Occupy yourselves with scholarly critical studies that will familiarize you with the teachings of ancient Torah scholars and Jewish sages and highly educated experts who can accurately explain deep arcane Jewish mysticism and history, and their customs, and insights to you.”
No, the Lord never allows His own to rely on knowing tons of stuff about God by relying on temporary created people and man-made things by which they learn to speculate, reason, and form their own conclusions about Him. Why should He require us to do that, when He has already become one with each one of us and is able to reveal Himself directly to us, and through us?
We Learn To Truly Know Our God By Living With And From Him 24/7
Yes, to worldly radically independent people, He always seems to be cold and distant. They assume that He lives far, far away from our world… in unreachable remote regions of outer space. But the truth is that our God intends to become one with us, to teach and train those that He summons into His service IN PERSON! He is here to reveal Himself, and make us personally aware of and alive to, and one with, all that He is and has within Himself!
He invites us to ‘drop everything’ so we can be free to follow and abide with Him and draw everything we need from Him, from now on! It’s never enough for us to dabble in learning things that somehow pertain to things that are about Him. No, He’s not the God of Theory and Theology. He’s not a historical figure from the past. He is the LIVING GOD! He sustains each one of us in existence, giving us every breath, brainwave, impulse, ability, faculty and asset we will ever have. He is always within us, and all around us, to draw and unite us to Himself. And He requires us to live and abide in His personal Presence and Kingdom… day and night… as His ‘Covenant friends’ and Personal ‘Bride’ in His very own household!
”At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:25-30 NASB 1995, Emphasis added)
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” (John 15:4-11 NASB 1995, Emphasis added)
No Hebrew sage, scholar, educated ‘expert’, holy man, guru, or sophisticated religious or academic organization of this world could ever take His place. No substitute authority, or man-originated power can be qualified to instruct the Lord’s disciples in His stead! We must have the Lord Himself… in Person! Only He can make disciples for Himself; and nothing short of Him will ever suffice! And this is why New Covenant disciples must be baptized into the Holy Spirit of Christ, and learn to interact with Him continuously! Without the utterly essential Reality of God abiding within us, nothing that He promises in His Word can ever actually be imparted and transmitted into us!
“But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going? But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.
“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But WHEN HE, THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL GUIDE YOU INTO ALL THE TRUTH; FOR HE WILL NOT SPEAK ON HIS OWN INITIATIVE, BUT WHATEVER HE HEARS, HE WILL SPEAK; AND HE WILL DISCLOSE TO YOU WHAT IS TO COME. HE WILL GLORIFY ME, FOR HE WILL TAKE OF MINE AND WILL DISCLOSE IT TO YOU. ALL THINGS THAT THE FATHER HAS ARE MINE; THEREFORE I SAID THAT HE TAKES OF MINE AND WILL DISCLOSE IT TO YOU!” (John 16:5-15 NASB 1995, Emphasis added)
“I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; IF ANYONE HEARS MY VOICE AND OPENS THE DOOR, I WILL COME IN TO HIM AND WILL DINE WITH HIM, AND HE WITH ME! HE WHO OVERCOMES, I WILL GRANT TO HIM TO SIT DOWN WITH ME ON MY THRONE, AS I ALSO OVERCAME AND SAT DOWN WITH MY FATHER ON HIS THRONE! He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’” (Revelation 3:18-22 NASB 1995, Emphasis added)
In the ancient Biblical world, the concept of ‘disciples’ was well known and commonly understood. It was common for men who were spiritually and prophetically gifted by God, and familiar with His ways, to gather their own little schools of live-in students. The students lived with and served their masters, attending to their practical daily needs. And they observed their teacher… how he lived, taught, and dealt with daily issues and situations and personal interactions. They learned how to live as he lived, and to act, react, and interact and teach as they saw him do. They devoted themselves to transforming into his image and likeness so they could authentically and faithfully pass on his teachings to coming generations. And this is the pattern the Lord chose by which to teach us to abide with Him, once He fuses His Holy Spirit with our regenerated spirits.
That is always the way it must be for all disciples. So, for the Lord’s disciples of today to know him and learn His ways at that deeply personal and intimate level, we must be filled and fueled and led by God’s Holy Spirit. Only God, living in us and through us, can empower us to abide and interact with His Living Word continuously, and draw from His Perfect Presence at all times and in all things. It only happens when God Himself is able to apply His hands-on personal teaching, correcting, purifying, empowering Covenant Love to us and through us.
The disciple Christ-in-me lifestyle is only possible when our risen Lord Himself is present to teach us on a ‘Watch me do it… now let Me do it through you’ basis. When our Lord was teaching His original disciples here on Earth, He was demonstrating the New Covenant Spirit-filled and led disciple lifestyle, to prepare the apostles for what was soon to come. And now, it falls to us to serve as part of the End of the Age Fulfillment of what He intended to teach to all of us. But we can only succeed if and when we have Holy Spirit in us to make our risen Lord real and alive, present, and fruitful from within us.
The relationship between the Lord and each of his disciples is much closer and intimately personal than any relationship that exists in the West today, even between spouses, families, students and their professional professors, teachers and tutors. The Gospels reveal how the Lord made disciples before His death, resurrection and ascension into Heaven. And, in the book of Acts and the rest of the New Covenant writings, He reveals how the same thing can be done through our ability to abide with and in the Gift of God’s Precious Holy Spirit.
Today, especially in the West, people are born into a world permeated by Hellenistic culture. Thus we are wired, programmed, and configured to erroneously think of ourselves in humanistic terms… as independent, autonomous captains of our own souls. We have very little understanding of that intensely personal and habitually corporate, covenantal level of relationship that Christ is intent on sharing with each one of His disciples. All we know about the past is what we casually read or hear about. But few ever have the actual personal gut-wrenching hands-on experience of having Him actually communicate with us from within, and revealing Himself to the world around us… through us!
So those who fall short of this reality are left only with hollow, distant, impersonal, echo-like impressions of the distant past. And they rely on a succession of very temporary superficial interactions with instructors that they never really get to know. Thus they remain mired in distant, impersonal, short term connections with a variety of teachers and instructors in local church or synagogue educational complexes. But at that level, neither the leaders nor the followers can get to know and interact with the Living God who desires to indwell them. To them, He always seems to dwell in the farthest reaches of outer space! And as long as they habitually fail to connect with, know, and interact with the Spirit of the Living God, Christ cannot actually be formed in them at the depth that our Heavenly Father actually desires and intends for us to know and have Him!
Beloved, we must be trained and taught to live and interact with the risen Christ in person, through the Power and Interaction we can only experience by having God’s indwelling Spirit actually working within us and through us. Only our continuous interactive cooperation with God’s Spirit can provide the intensity level and drill-like repetitiveness we’ll need to develop within ourselves that constant laser-like focus of attention that can transform us into disciples that actually and authentically live and interact with our risen Lord, just as if we were alone with Him in a boat, in the middle of the Sea of Galilee.
Holy Spirit is with us to lead us into all the Truth. And Christ Himself IS that TRUTH! Holy Spirit knits us to God’s Living Word and His Everlasting Covenant Love. He empowers us to be and do everything as one with God’s Word and from God’s Word. We dare not settle for living casual separated, distant lives from Him. We must be trained to be as close to, and familiar with, our risen Lord as He requires His Last Days disciples to be in these very critical and highly strategic last days that lie before us.
“These things I have spoken to you while remaining with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My Name, He will teach you all things, and remind you of all that I said to you. ” (Jn. 14:25-26 NASB.)
Beloved, no church program or human spiritual leader or teacher or ‘expert’ or class or course will ever be able to take the place of CHRIST IN US, THE HOPE OF GLORY! Without God Himself living and working from within us, we will never penetrate and grasp the depths of His intensely real Presence and what He is here to do in our midst. In the trying testing days that lie ahead of us, we won’t be able to afford to ignore or forget about Him even for a minute! We must be ready and able to render Him the continuous hospitality and warm welcome that is always due to Him. In order to draw from and embody His Warrior Spirit and Lovingkindness, and Courage and Perseverance that will enable us to fight our way through what lies ahead of us all. We must train ourselves to be ever mindful of Him and ready to cooperate and receive what He is here to put and do and say into us… and reveal to the world through us, every step of the way.
“… And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:30-31 NASB 1995)
We Must Be Willing To Change Our Minds and Ways
No other human being or device can equip, coax, commend, or enable us to know our Lord at such an intimate and personal level. My brain only listens to me. And your brain only listens to you. And it’s the same for everyone else. Therefore, since brains only listen to their owners, each one of us must repeatedly relay the New Covenant commands and directives to our own brains… with jackhammer-type repetition and practice… until we totally absorb and become one with the new Heavenly language, culture, and lifestyle that proves that the risen Lord actually abides and works within us as our one and only Life and Source. So take note of the dire urgency of this text as I present it to you again:
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches!” (Revelation 3:20-22 NASB 1995)
Our Lord had you and me and the rest of us in mind for this purpose when He made the awesome revelations, assurances, and promises to us that are contained in John chapters 14-17. He knew all about the Western highly technologic and humanistic secular world into which we would one day be born. He knew how drastically different it would be for us from what was commonplace in the context of Israel’s Scriptures. But He also knew our union with Him would make it possible for us to make new and different choices about how deep and intimate our relationship with Him would be able to be in the New Covenant Era. Thanks to the glories of that Covenant, and the awesome advantage of the Gift of the indwelling, All-Powerful Holy Spirit we would have, He has make it possible for Him to actually abide within us, and make Himself known to us, and through us, just as He really is!
“I am The Vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, FOR APART FROM ME YOU CAN DO NOTHING!
If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown away like a branch and dries up; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
If you remain in Me, and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. Just as the Father has loved Me, I also have loved you; remain in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” (John 15:5-11 NASB 1995)
And, as Paul said to the disciples of Galatia in the first century, “But it is good always to be eagerly sought in a commendable way, and not only when I am present with you. My children, with whom I am again in labor UNTIL CHRIST IS FORMED IN YOU—but I could wish to be present with you now and to change my tone of voice, for I am at a loss about you!” (Galatians 4:18-20 NASB 1995, Emphasis added)
And, as he said to the disciples of Ephesus: “So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the Life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.
But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you LAY ASIDE THE OLD SELF, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, AND PUT ON THE NEW SELF, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”(Ephesians 4:17-32 NASB 1995, Emphasis added)
“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them at the present time. But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all the Truth; for He will not speak on His own, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take from Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; this is why I said that He takes from Mine and will disclose it to you.” (John 16:12-15 NASB 1995, Emphasis added)
- Even if serving and obeying Christ should require us to face and endure great danger and trials,
- Even if we’ll be called upon to lay down our lives for Him,
- Even if we’re required to give and give what we are and have and are required to do in exceptional ways…
Once we know that God and His boundless, All-encompassing, Perfect, Loving, Trustworthiness, Reliability, Credibility, and Fullness abide within and enfold us comprehensively and continuously, then we can still gladly and joyfully and fearlessly trust and rest in Him with airtight confidence and without any reservation or hesitation whatsoever because we know that WE LOSE NOTHING, BUT INSTEAD, BECAUSE GOD IS OUR PERFECT LIFE AND COVENANT COVERING… WE ALWAYS HAVE EVERYTHING AND WE CAN AFFORD TO SHARE EVERYTHING THAT HE FIRST GIVES TO US!
“There is no fear in love (when Perfect Love Himself becomes your indwelling Life); but Perfect Love (Himself) casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in (his understanding of God’s Perfect) Love.” (1 John 4:18 NASB 1995, Amplification and emphasis added)
So, to grasp the deep meaning of the characteristics of those who obey the Lord’s call and follow Him into the boat and push off into the depths, disciples must learn to renew and update and upgrade their minds until:
- They’re able to live with Him, and from Him, day and night, as members of His own personal household.
- And they are able to know and interact and rejoice over Him, in every situation and set of circumstances. Then they will experience Him and all that He does, as He operates in and through them, throughout every event and situation of daily life.
- And they can permanently record everything they experience of Him and with Him in their brains and minds and hearts according to New Covenant Truth, for future reference.
- And they no longer rely upon natural wits and hunches or senses or any tangible sensible, physical proof or guarantee.
Like troops who are trained to know their weapons so well and so intimately that they can disassemble, clean, and reassemble their weapons while blindfolded, Holy Spirit trains us to rejoice in love, totally trust and rejoice in our invisible risen Lord who promised to be with us and in us all days even to the end of this age.
We must learn to trust Him so much that we’ll be able to abide, interact, and rely upon Him by faith… thanks to our boot camp training. Then we’ll be able to rest and rejoice and trust in Him, because we know Him so well that it’s no longer possible for us to doubt or mistrust Him in anything.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the Power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written: “But the righteous one will live by faith.” For the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the Truth in unrighteousness…” (Romans 1:16-18 NASB 1995, Emphasis added)
- Trained disciples interact with their risen Lord individually and corporately throughout all of their shared daily experiences and situations. They discuss what is happening with Him even as He continues to guide, teach, train, correct, purify, and enlighten them in the ways of God and His Kingdom as they proceed together, and care for each other as He leads them all into the future.
- They stick together as sons of God, siblings and comrades, regardless of what the world around them may do or fail to do. They learn to put up with, and accommodate to, and take care of each other… even if requires them to lay down their lives for one another! (See Mark 12:30-31; Matthew 12:50; John 15:12-17)
The way disciples of the Last Days New Covenant Era must be trained and taught now, is the same way the originals who knew Him in the flesh lived and learned with Him had to be trained. He trained then Himself, BUT NOW AS THE NEW COVENANT IS FULFILLED TO PERFECTION, THE LORD WILL HAVE TO TRAIN HIS OWN WITH EVEN MORE ATTENTION TO DETAIL, PRECISION, AND THOROUGHNESS! AND THIS IS WHY HE MUST BE HERE WITH US, AND WE MUST CORRESPOND AND BE HERE WITH HIM TO THE SAME DEGREE, SO THAT OUR PREPARATION CAN BE ADMINISTERED PROPERLY!
We must practice the art of interacting with Holy Spirit, knowing and interacting with, and opening ourselves to Christ in us. We must learn to rely on Holy Spirit to teach and train, discipline and thoroughly reconfigure us, to operate in and by the obedience of our faith in what God’s written Word has revealed concerning the New Covenant. We must train our minds, hearts, and wills to know by faith that Holy Spirit actually abides and interacts with us in exactly the same way He did with Christ when He was on Earth, and with the original apostles and disciples of the first century. And when we know Holy Spirit is in us… we can know that He is always forming Christ in us!
For To Me, To Live Is Christ, And To Die Is Gain.” (Philippians 1:21 NASB)
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son (indwelling) of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” (Galatians 2:20 NASB, Amplification added)
“Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our Life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in Glory.” (Colossians 3:1-4 NASB)
“For consider your calling, brothers and sisters, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the insignificant things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no human may boast before God. But it is due to Him that you are in Christ Jesus, WHO BECAME TO US WISDOM FROM GOD, AND RIGHTEOUSNESS AND SANCTIFICATION, AND REDEMPTION, so that, just as it is written: “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:26-31 NASB, Emphasis added)
- Like the first century originals, we too must learn to live with Him day and night. And, since He actually lives within us, we must train ourselves to realize and remember that it’s as if we were alone in a boat with Him, far away from the shore and all that is going on there. We no longer have to search or wish for God. Nor do we need Him to be present to us in the flesh. Now we know Him by faith in His indwelling Presence. We can remain ever mindful that as we experience all of our life situations, events, tests, trials, and setbacks, HIS SPIRIT AND LIVING WORD ARE ALWAYS RIGHT HERE WITHIN US AND ALL AROUND US! AND SINCE THAT’S TRUE, WE’RE ALSO ONE WITH THE FATHER AS WELL… AND SO NO WEAPON THAT IS FORMED AGAINST US WILL EVER BE ABLE TO PROSPER OR SUCCEED!
- And because our God is Perfect and Infinitely Credible and Reliable, we can afford to train our brains and minds to be completely dependent and reliant on our indwelling Lord, knowing for sure that He is always here with us… to take us through anything we’ll ever encounter. He’ll supply us with whatever we’ll need for today and every day that lies ahead of us!
- God is abiding in us and is always for us, at all times. So we reconfigure our perspectives and attitudes and mindset accordingly. And having this always in the forefront of our minds, we can know that He is here to be to us everything we will ever need to empower us to face, prevail, persevere, overcome, and trounce the powers of Darkness that will be trying to destroy us.
- No longer should we identify ourselves as earthbound victims and losers that are forced to look to and rely upon ourselves and our own wits and devices. Now God’s Spirit is in us. And He has raised us to be able to abide with the risen Lord of Glory at His exalted elevation… abiding with Him and His Father in the highest place in Heaven. God Himself is always leading us and cutting through whatever the enemy may throw against us. This is the realization and viewpoint that Stephen learned to occupy and operate from, and now it is time for us to learn to do it too.
- Each disciple can have as much of this awesome Reality as he or she wants! God has placed all of it before us. It’s on God’s Table, ready for our consumption. Will we take our assigned places at His table? Or will we choose to fend for ourselves, and eat out? You can have as much of it as you sow into your own brain and mind and heart. As far as God is concerned, ‘The sky is the limit.’ He wants us to have it all. But as far as how much of it we’ll be able to enjoy and embody, depends on how much of our selfishness, laziness and cowardice we allow to get in our way. That will determine how far we’ll be willing to follow our risen Lord in this New Covenant direction.
“Therefore there is now no condemnation at all for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the Law of sin and of death. For what the Law (of Moses) could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
For those who are in accord with the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are in accord with the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
So then, brothers and sisters, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— for if you are living in accord with the flesh, you are going to die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons and daughters of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons and daughters by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.”(Romans 8:1-17 NASB, Amplification and emphasis added)
Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. The one who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat with My Father on His throne. The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’” (Revelation 3:20-22 NASB, Emphasis added)
“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in Heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I NEVER KNEW YOU; leave Me, you who practice lawlessness.’” (Matthew 7:15-23)
Knowing God As Understood In The Bible Is Essential
The word ‘knew you’, in that last statement the Lord made above is loaded with Biblical Truth. Concealed deep beneath its surface is revelation of what it will actually take for Last Days New Covenant disciples to overcome Satan and his hordes and participate in our Father’s Last Days Harvest of souls. In those trying days, we won’t be able to get away with trying to convince or coax or talk people into believing what we are or what we say. We will have to provide telling evidence and proof that what we are and what we say is backed and endorsed by Almighty God Himself. This is why we must KNOW that the risen Lord is within us. We won’t merely be expected to give a message. We’ll have to BE GOD’S MESSAGE in real life and in living color! So let’s try to ‘mine’ some of the riches that are hidden within that ‘I never knew you’ statement.
In Hebrew, the word ‘to know’ is ‘Yada’. It denotes the sexual union between a husband and wife that results in the conception of a new life. An example of this can be found in Genesis 4:1.
“Now the man had relations with (that is, he knew) his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have gotten a manchild with the help of the Lord.”
So when the Lord speaks about knowing in the sense of His relationship with disciples who are His own, as opposed to impostors and charlatans who are not His own, He’s implying that the proof of their authenticity is found in whether or not they actually bear tangible and discernible signs that God’s Living Word has actually been allowed to pierce, penetrate, and impregnate their innermost being with His Life.
Naturally speaking, as long as we remain radically independent from God, separated and disconnected from Him, we operate out of our original inherited Adamic flesh. And that will always prove to be fruitless and barren. But when God’s Living Word, the risen Lord who is ‘The Last Adam’ actually lives and operates within us, then it can be said that actual spiritual reproduction has taken place. And the tangible proof will come forth from within His ‘pregnant’ disciples, whose lives will now bear His Fruit. And that Fruit appearing in their lives and in their wake will be the living proof that they truly are in union with Him!
Their Christ-revealing character and demeanor will have very specific, dramatic impacts on the people around them.
“For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.” (Galatians 5:16-26 NASB1995)
When the risen Lord is actually free to live in and from within these Last Days Disciples, the truth of Him living within them begins to get the world’s attention. They see their transformed lives, and Christ-revealing character and disposition. They see obvious and evident Fruit which only He produces, visibly coming out of them. And that will be the proof that they truly are His authentic disciples. And many will begin to change and transform to the Glory of God as they too begin to recognize and know and embrace the Lord of Glory.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.” (John 14:12 NASB1995, Emphasis added)
And conversely, when Christ isn’t their Life, only desolate barrenness will be manifest. Only authentic disciples are able to embody the Lord and the Wisdom, Sanctification, Righteousness, and Redemption that only He can be within them (1 Corinthians 1:30-31).
When disciples allow the Lord to be that close to them, He ‘impregnates’ their innermost being with His own Eternal Life and makes them to be one with Him. And He makes them to be spiritually fruitful to His eternal Glory and Credit and Praise.
And they’ll be able to bear the Fruit of His Life and display it to whatever and whoever they encounter in this fallen world. So only Christ and what only He has the Authority to be and to do as God’s Living Word, can produce His Fruit in and through those true disciples who are His own.
No matter what may or may not happen in this brutal, fallen, temporal, Sin-corrupted world, as long as we serve God and the fallen world by being ‘in the boat’ with our risen Lord, what will happen to Him will also happen to us. Christ in us, the Hope of Glory, is the Invincible Advantage that those who abide with the Lord ‘in the boat’ will always have. He has already overcome the ‘god of this world’ and the poor deluded fools who choose to believe his lies throughout the barren desert of this fallen dying world.