YOUR BREAD OF LIFE

We Are Righteous and Holy By The Faith Of Jesus

2019-06-17T13:32:00.000+03:00

Philippians 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

This verse does not say that the righteousness of God is by faith in Christ. It says that it is by the faith of Christ. There is such a thing as the faith of Christ. This is not our faith but Jesus’ faith. The righteousness of God is by the faith of Jesus.

What is the faith of Jesus Christ?

The faith of Jesus Christ is the trust that Jesus had in the Father that if and when He went to the Cross for all men God would make all men righteous.

Jesus believed and trusted His Father, that if He went to the Cross and died for all mankind, God would justify and declare all men righteous even as He had promised in the prophets over hundreds and thousands of years.

You can think of it this way; God the Father and Jesus had an understanding, an agreement, a covenant if you will, even before they created the world, that Jesus would go to the Cross, pay the price of sin and redeem all men from their sins. This is was His part in this agreement.

In return, God the Father would accept that sacrifice for all men and as a result would forgive and justify all men. Jesus’ part was to be the sacrifice for all men, God’s part was to accept that sacrifice, reconcile and justify all men unto Himself.

Consequently, God started making promises about this through the prophets in the Old Covenant. He promised a savior that would come and save all men. He promised a day that He would take away the sins of all men. He promised a day that He would justify and give men His righteousness.

So when Jesus came as a man, He believed these promises of God and also believed that He was that savior that would save all men by His death and resurrection. He said as much in His preaching and teaching while He was on earth.

Hebrews10:5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, "Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; 6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. 7 Then I said, 'Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.'"

Then, when the time was come He went to the Cross believing and trusting that God would fulfill His promises. This is the faith of Christ.

God knew that it was impossible for mankind to perform perfectly according to His high standards and become pure, perfect and holy as He is. And yet this is what He wanted of us. To be holy, perfect and pure as He is.

Christ through His perfect holy living and obedience to the Law fulfilled for all of us all of the requirements of the Law of God. Then through His death and resurrection provided for all of us His own righteousness, perfection, purity and holiness by His faith.

All of us have been given the finished results. All of mankind have been given this finished righteousness and through faith are forever pleasing and acceptable to God.

This is what the faith of Christ has already accomplished. This is what Jesus’ faith is all about. Jesus by His faith purchased and provided God’s righteousness for all mankind.

Romans3:22 “Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference; For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”

This righteousness is unto all;

God gave His righteousness to the whole world according to the faith of Christ. The prophet Isaiah saw this and spoke about it;

Isaiah53:11"...By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities."

This verse tells us that Jesus justified many by bearing their iniquities. the question to ask is whose iniquities did Jesus bear?

Every one. All mankind. So if Jesus carried the sins of all mankind then it means that He also justified all mankind. Every person has been justified by Jesus. Every person has been made righteous by Jesus. Not the Christians only.

John1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

Jesus the Lamb of God died for the sins of the whole world. Not only for the Christians. As a result God gave His righteousness (the purity of the lamb) for the whole world, not only for the Christians.

Now this is where many of us begin to stumble upon the stumbling stone. We are not willing to believe that God has provided His righteousness for everybody. Including those who don’t believe. But several scriptures teach this;

“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” 1Jn2:1-2

Jesus is the propitiation (atoning sacrifice) for our sins and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. When He died on the Cross He died for the whole world, not for Christians only.

Therefore God has forgiven and justified the whole world, all of mankind. Not the Christians only. God has given His righteousness unto all mankind.

In other words it has been given to everybody, to all mankind. Whether Christian or not. As far as God is concerned He has provided His righteousness to everybody. This is why this scripture ends by saying that ‘for there is no difference’.

When Jesus died on the Cross and rose again, God declared every man righteous. Every man. This is the stumbling stone. That God has declared everybody righteous. That there is no difference! This is what got Paul into a lot of trouble.

2Corinthians5:14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:

When Jesus died, He died for all people and all people died in Him. God sees everyone in the world as having died from their sins in Christ. He sees everyone as saved from their sins and from the devil and from darkness.

Does this mean that everybody is going to heaven?

Romans3:22 “Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe

This righteousness is upon all them that believe;

Much as God has provided His righteousness and justification unto all mankind through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross, only those who have believed on Jesus have received it. It has come upon them.

God has availed it unto everybody, but only those who have believed have received it upon themselves. It is unto all people but only upon all who believe.

In other words, God has done His part and given His righteousness to everybody. But not everybody has received it. The heathen, the unbelieving and the religious have refused to receive it. But God has given it unto all.

Therefore not everybody will go to heaven. Those who have refused to believe on Jesus even when God has given them everything will not make it. And they will have no excuse. Because God gave His righteousness and justification unto all. Jesus died for all. His faith was for all.

Ephesians2:8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

God by His grace made Jesus the sacrificial offering for the whole world’s sins but grace alone doesn't save. There has to be faith in this grace. We have to put faith in what God has already provided for us by grace. God has given His righteousness by grace, we receive it by faith.

Therefore, although the price has been paid for the sins of the whole world, and God has given justification and righteousness to the whole world, only those who receive it by faith will benefit from this salvation that Jesus offers. We are saved by grace through faith.

Galatians2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Here we see a perfect combination of the two. We are made righteous by the faith of Jesus Christ.

Our job then is to believe in Jesus Christ and when we do we are made righteous by His faith.

In other words, we do not use our faith to get righteousness from God. Jesus has already done that for us by His faith. We use our faith to believe in Jesus and to get Jesus. Once we get Him, we also get whatever belongs to Him and whatever He has already obtained from Father by His faith.

This is how we got the righteousness of God. By simply believing in and getting Jesus. When we got Jesus, we got everything that He had obtained by His faith.

We are righteous and holy by the faith of Jesus.

Jesus Is Our Righteousness

2019-05-24T15:44:00.000+03:00

Ezekiel 36

25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

This is a prophecy that Ezekiel delivers concerning the New Covenant believer. This is what God does to us when we become born again.

When we become born again God takes away our old wicked heart and gives us a brand new heart of flesh. He then takes away our old dead spirit also known as the old man and gives us a brand new holy spirit.

He then takes His spirit and puts Him within our brand new spirit.

So the born again believer has a brand new heart, a brand new spirit and the Spirit of God dwelling inside them.

However, there is something else that God does that Ezekiel doesn’t talk about. We find this in Romans and Galatians.

Romans8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

Galatians4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. 6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

After God has given us a brand new heart and a brand new spirit, He does something completely amazing and unprecedented. He adopts us as sons. He makes us His sons.

The word adoption here speaks of bringing us into sonship. Not in the carnal way we understand where you just sign some papers and someone becomes your son by law.

This speaks of placing someone into sonship. It speaks of conceiving someone into sonship. Making someone a son.

God does this by taking the Spirit of His Son Jesus Christ and our brand new born again spirit and uniting them into one spirit. The Spirit of Christ and our spirit become one. Our spirit disappears into His Spirit. We become ‘In Him’.

There is literally no difference between our spirits and Christ’s spirit. They are one spirit. What is true of Him is true of us. What is not true of Him is not true of us. We are one with Him. We do not have two spirits in us. We have one spirit. The spirit of Christ. The Spirit of sonship.

Paul the apostle was discussing this issue with the Corinthian church and giving it as a reason for the Christians to desist from sexual immorality and particularly sleeping with prostitutes. His reasoning was that now they had become joined to Jesus and were one with Him. Their physical bodies were now parts of Christ’s body. In other words their bodies were the body of Christ. They therefore should not join themselves to prostitutes because in effect they will be joining Jesus who is one with them to the unholy and immoral prostitutes.

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, "The two will become one flesh." But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.” 1Cor6:15-17 ESV

“Don't you realize that your bodies are parts of Christ's body? Should I take the parts of Christ's body and make them parts of a prostitute's body? That's unthinkable! Don't you realize that the person who unites himself with a prostitute becomes one body with her? God says, "The two will be one." However, the person who unites himself with the Lord becomes one spirit with him.” 1Cor6:15-17GW

“Do you not see {and} know that your bodies are members (bodily parts) of Christ (the Messiah)? Am I therefore to take the parts of Christ and make [them] parts of a prostitute? Never! Never! Or do you not know {and} realize that when a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? The two, it is written, shall become one flesh. But the person who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him.” 1Cor 6:15-17AMPLIFIED

The Greek word that was translated ‘one’ here is the word heis. According to W.E. Vine’s Lexicon this word means ‘a single (one), to the exclusion of others’

When a man and woman have sexual intercourse, there is a physical union in the natural that takes place. The two people become one flesh/body. Their bodies join together and are considered as one body. They intercourse, they commune, they mingle.

In that same way, when we become Christians, there is a spiritual union that happens between our new born again spirit and the spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our spirit literally becomes one with Christ’s spirit. There is no separation. Everything that is His becomes ours. Everything that is true of Him becomes true of us. We become as He is. The apostle John understood this;

“And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.” 1Jn4:16-17

We are exactly like Jesus. Right this very moment, not when we die and go to heaven. It says that we are like Him ‘in this world’. The amplified bible puts it this way;

“In this [union and communion with Him] love is brought to completion {and} attains perfection with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment [with assurance and boldness to face Him], because as He is, so are we in this world.” 1Jn4:17 AMP

Because of this union and communion in spirit, the righteousness of Jesus Christ is no different than the righteousness of the believer.

Jesus is the righteousness of God. Jesus is the manifestation of everything that God requires, wants and desires. In Jesus we have everything that God requires, wants and desires. Jesus is the perfect fulfillment and manifestation of the righteousness and holiness of God.

Jesus is the perfect manifestation of the righteousness of God. He is the one with whom God said He was well pleased.

“And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Mat3:15-17

“And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.” Mat17:1-5

“For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 2Pet1:16-17

Jesus is the only man that ever lived a perfect life. He was without sin throughout His earthly life even though He was tempted just like we are. Jesus lived a perfectly holy and righteous life. God said He was well pleased with Him.

Now because we are one with Him, all that is true of Him is true of us. His righteousness is our righteousness. The righteousness of Jesus Christ is the righteousness of the believer. Jesus is the righteousness of the believer.

We are as righteous as Jesus is and Jesus is as righteous as God the Father is. So we can conclude that, THE CHRISTIAN IS AS RIGHTEOUS AS GOD IS BECAUSE JESUS IS HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS!!

Our spirit man is exactly like Jesus. In the spirit we are atom for atom, molecule for molecule as Jesus is. We are identical to Jesus in every single way. Without exception.

This is not a matter of opinion. This is what the scripture says;

“Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” Jer23:5-6

Jeremiah 33:15 In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. 16 In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness.

We are in those days that Jeremiah prophesied about. This scripture was fulfilled when Jesus came and died for us on the Cross. He brought unto us salvation and safety and He has become our righteousness. The LORD Jesus Christ is our righteousness.

1Corinthians1:30 “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption”

It is of God that we are in Christ Jesus. This is the starting place. That we are in Christ. God has placed us in Christ. It is where we are located. It is where we are found. We are inside Him. We are sited in Him. We are hidden in Him. God only knows us in Him.

And Christ is righteous and holy. Therefore, because we are in Him we do not need to have personal righteousness. In fact we do not have personal righteousness in the new covenant. Jesus Himself is our righteousness and holiness. We are located in Him. When God requires righteousness from us, it is Christ who is our righteousness and our holiness.

We derive all that we are and all that we have from our union with Jesus. Whatever is true of Jesus is true of us because we are one. The life of Jesus is our life.

The Amplified Bible has a very detailed amplification of this verse. It is worth looking at and meditating upon;

“But it is from Him that you have your life in Christ Jesus, Whom God made our Wisdom from God, [revealed to us a knowledge of the divine plan of salvation previously hidden, manifesting itself as] our Righteousness [thus making us upright and putting us in right standing with God], and our Consecration [making us pure and holy], and our Redemption [providing our ransom from eternal penalty for sin].” 1Cor1:30 AMP

It tells us that God by putting us in Christ has made us upright and in right standing with Himself, He has made us pure and holy and has provided for us a ransom from the eternal penalty of sin. The uprightness, purity and holiness that is true of Jesus becomes true of us. Because we are in Christ and He is in us.

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” 2Cor5:21

This verse does not say that we have been given righteousness. It does not even say that we have been made righteous. It says that we have been made or that we have become the righteousness of God. We are the very righteousness of God. We are the definition of the righteousness of God. If a person wants to see the righteousness of God, they look at you and me. We are the righteousness of God. How so? Because we are in Christ and one with Him.

Jesus is the righteousness of God. And we are in Him. We are one with Him. What is true of Him is true of us. Therefore, we are the righteousness of God in Him as He is the righteousness of God.

What makes us the righteousness of God is the fact that we are in Christ Jesus who is the righteousness of God.

“But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” Eph4:20-24

Notice the use of the phrase ‘which after God is created’ in the KJV Bible. This phrase is translated as ‘created after the likeness of God’ in the ESV Bible, and translated as ‘created in God's image’ in the NET Bible. And the NIV states it as ‘created to be like God’.

All of these are making the point that the new man (our born again spirit) is created or made just like God. In the same exact nature as God. In our spirit, we are right now as God is. We have the same nature as God. We have the same righteousness and true holiness.

Also the use of the word ‘created’ is emphasizing that the believer's righteousness and holiness is not something that we work for or earn or grow into as we mature and become a better Christian. We were created that way when we became born again. In the same way that we were born a sinner in our first natural birth, now we are born again righteous in our second birth. It is our nature. It is who we are. You do not grow and mature into a righteous Christian. You are born righteous when you become a Christian.

This righteousness and holiness is in our new spirit which we received from God. We may still be day by day working out this righteousness and holiness in our actions, but our born-again spirit was created that way. That is his nature.

God calls this new nature into which we are born ‘true holiness’. He is implying obviously that there is a false holiness and righteousness. This false holiness and righteousness is our self-righteousness that comes from our works and the good we do.

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Jn14:6

Jesus is the only ‘Truth’. His holiness is the only ‘true holiness’. His righteousness is the only true righteousness. This is the one God has given us as a gift. It is the only one that is adequate when relating to God. It is the only one God wants.

“But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. The woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.” Jn4:23-26

God is a Spirit and we must worship Him in spirit and in truth (true holiness). God is seeking those who worship Him in spirit and in truth. This is the only worship He wants. God looks at us through our spirit and deals with us based on this true holiness which is in our new man.

God views us in the same way as He views Jesus. Because we are one with Jesus. There is no difference before God. He sees only Jesus.

Isaiah45:24 Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. 25 In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.

In the Lord Jesus we have righteousness and strength. In Him we are justified. In Him we have holiness. That is why we boast and glory in Him. All that we require concerning righteousness and holiness is in Him and we have it in Him. He is righteousness and holiness unto us.

SELF RIGHTEOUSNESS

2019-04-16T14:53:00.000+03:00

“For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” Rom10:2-3

Many of us like Israel are ignorant of God’s righteousness and are going about trying to establish our own righteousness.

When you are ignorant of God’s righteousness you automatically go about trying to establish your own righteousness. If you don’t know or understand the righteousness of God you are establishing your own righteousness. Whether knowingly or unknowingly.

We seek to be pleasing and acceptable to God by behaving well and doing good works and not doing bad works. We have great zeal and religious fervor. We are very sincere in our actions but we are sincerely wrong!

Luke 18

9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

They trust in themselves.

“And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others” Lk18:9

Self-righteous people trust in themselves instead of trusting in God. They depend on their works, their abilities and their knowledge. This is not a good place to be at because as long as you are depending on yourself you are not depending on God. As long as your trust in in yourself you will never trust God.

They despise others

“And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others” Lk18:9

Self-righteous people despise other people. This is because by despising others they will feel good about themselves. They debase others because they are exalted in their own eyes. They despise other people and other groups as long as they are not like them or their group. As long as other people don’t talk like you, dress like you, pray like you and don’t think like you, you despise them. If you despise other people, you are self-righteous. That’s what Jesus said.

They compare themselves with other people

“Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.” Lk18:10-11

Self-righteous people constantly compare themselves with other people. They are always comparing their works with somebody else’s works so that they can judge and criticize. They are always trying to find a way to be better than others and to have some moral superiority over others. This was a major issue in the Corinthian church and Paul told them it wasn’t wise;

“For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.” 2Cor10:12

If you really want to compare yourself with somebody else, then compare yourself to Jesus. You will find that after the flesh you fail every time.

They brag and boast about their works

“I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.” Lk18:10-12

Self-righteousness produces self-centeredness. It produces pride. Self-righteous people are always talking about what they have done for God, how wonderful they are in the ministry, what great service they are doing for the kingdom. It is all about them. Notice the number of times this Pharisee refers to himself and what he has done. In just 2 sentences he refers to himself 5 times. Everything is I am like this, I did this, I have this, I know that etc. That is the language of self-righteousness. When you are self-righteous, you are the center of your world. Your whole life revolves around you and what you do.

They exalt themselves and not God

“The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” Lk18:11-14

Notice that Jesus said that this self-righteous Pharisee ‘prayed thus with himself’. God will not participate in a prayer that is based on our goodness and wonderful works and obedience. Such a prayer is not being prayed in the name of Jesus but in our own name. It is all about us and what we have done for God and how awesome we are. All that God says to you is ‘talk to the Hand’

Self-righteousness causes you to exalt yourself and your works over God and His work in Christ. You begin to think that God will respond to you on the basis of what you do, what clothes you wear, the language you use, your prayer, your confession, your commitment, your service and so many other things. You cannot receive anything from God by faith because you are so absorbed by your performance and obedience. This is the reason many of us struggle to receive from God.

This righteousness is entirely natural and proceeds out of the flesh. It is entirely based on our ability to discipline ourselves, deny our lusts and do what is expected of us. What does God think about our righteousness and good behavior?

“But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.” Isa64:6

The word used for filthy (ayd) actually means the menstrual flux. In other words a menstrual cloth! That is how God views your righteousnesses.

Romans 3

10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:

14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:

15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:

16 Destruction and misery are in their ways:

17 And the way of peace have they not known:

18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.

This is in the New Testament, and Paul is writing to Christians in Rome? It doesn’t matter whether you are a Christian or not, if you are offering to God your righteousness that is how He views it! It is useless and filthy. It is totally offensive to Him. He hates it.

“I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.” Gal2:21

God never asks us to perform any works or behave well or obey any laws to obtain His righteousness because He knows that it is impossible to earn it.

The Christian life is not hard to live in the flesh, it is impossible! You can’t obey all of God’s commandments and live by His standards. Even your best effort is not good enough.

“For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” Mat5:20

No religion or denomination or non-denomination denomination today can even come close to the holiness and righteousness of the Pharisees and scribes. Not the Catholics, not the Muslims, not the Anglicans, not the Pentecostals, not the Baptists, not the Methodists, not the Adventists, not the Atheists, nobody. The scribes and Pharisees were super holy after the flesh.

They gave a tithe of all the vegetables growing in their compounds at home, they counted the number of steps they walked on the Sabbath and some groups didn’t even go to the toilet on the Sabbath day because they considered that work.

The Pharisees tried as much as possible to avoid physical contact with the Gentiles whom they called pagans and heathen. They believed that touching one would make them unclean. It is why they were so upset with Jesus when He ate and drank with sinners, harlots and the publicans.

Then there is the group of Pharisees that made special hats that would cover their eyes as they walked through the streets so that they wouldn’t see a woman (who might be in her periods) or some other unclean people. Apparently this would make them unclean. These ones were always running into things and getting injured. The people nicknamed them ‘bloody Pharisees’ because they were always bleeding. Jesus called them ‘blind guides’. (Mat23:23-24).

And yet Jesus told the people that they had to exceed that. An impossible feat. These people must have said to themselves ‘does this man want us to be perfect?’ and the answer is YES. God wants perfection. Look at what He told them after that;

“You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Mat5:48 ESV

Jesus said you must be perfect! You might say that you are doing your best, but God doesn’t want your best, He wants perfection.

If you aren’t perfect, then your righteousness is useless for salvation. God doesn’t want it. You need Jesus and His righteousness. His is a perfect righteousness.

DEFINING RIGHTEOUSNESS IN THE NEW COVENANT

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Thayer’s Lexicon defines righteousness (Gk 1343 dikaiosunē) as a state of him who is as he ought to be, the condition acceptable to God

1b) integrity, virtue, purity of life, rightness, correctness of thinking feeling, and acting.

To be righteous is to be as you ought to be. It is to be consistent with God. It is to score 100% before God. The question then to ask is, how ought you to be?

You ought to be holy, pure, and perfect, to have integrity, to be virtuous, to be right, to be correct in your thinking, feeling and acting, set apart, healthy, wealthy, whole, accepted, beloved, strong, and so forth. Basically to be as God made man to be. So to be righteous is to be all of these before God. This is how God sees us. We are righteous before Him.

We have been justified. We have been made righteous. We have been made totally and completely accepted and beloved of God. We have been made perfect, pure and holy. We have been made strong, healthy, wealthy and whole. We are virtuous before God. We are right before Him. We are correct in our thinking, feeling and acting before Him.

Righteousness is our new state of being where we are in total harmony with God in every area of life. It is our new state where we are as we ought to be. We are one hundred percent right and correct before God. He has no more demands of us concerning being right and acceptable with Him.

Righteousness is not anything we have thought it is. It is not us behaving well, it is not us ‘not sinning’ (such a thing is impossible, you will always sin!). The righteousness that God is interested in actually has nothing to do with behavior but has everything to do with believing. It is not about actions, it is about a person, a nature and a state of being. You don’t do something to be righteous and holy; you believe in somebody and He makes you righteous.

"For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Romans10:10

It is not what you do or don’t do that makes you righteous, it is what you believe in your heart that makes you righteous.

God's righteousness comes to us when we believe in our heart on the Lord Jesus. The gospel reveals that you are qualified, that you are right with God, that you are accepted by God and well beloved of God.

Having God’s righteousness is what qualifies us for the promises of God. This is why they are always yes and Amen. Because we are always qualified because of the righteousness of Jesus. Until we stop trusting in ourselves we will never really trust God.

Righteousness is the answer to the question, 'am I qualified?'

It is righteousness that qualifies us for every blessing, blessing and whatever pertains to salvation.

Jesus did everything that He did with a righteous mindset. That He was God’s beloved Son. That He was totally accepted and well pleasing to the Father. That He was always qualified.

We too need to have this mindset in us. That we are God’s beloved and that He is well pleased with us at all times. This is what righteousness is all about.

TWO TYPES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

“And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:” Phil3:9

There are two types of righteousness. There is the righteousness that belongs to us which comes out of us adhering to certain standards and obedience to the law, and then there is the righteousness that comes through the obedience of Christ and it is God’s righteousness.

The first one is self-righteousness and has everything to do with us and what we do and the other is God’s righteousness (faith righteousness) that has everything to do with God and what He has done.

We see both types of righteousness again in Romans10:2-3;
“For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.”

GOD’S NUMBER ONE PRIORITY

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Mat6:33

A major problem many of us face today is we major on the minor things and minor on the major things. This shouldn’t be. We should learn to major on the major things and minor on the minor things. Like we said before, the most important thing is to find out the most important thing.

‘but seek ye first’

Notice that He tells us to seek this first. What does this mean? It means that we should regard this most important than anything else. That we should consider this our number one priority. That we should get established in and understand this first before anything else. That this is first thing.

‘the kingdom of God’

We do not seek the kingdom of God as something that hasn’t come yet or something we are begging God to bring. Instead we seek a revelation of the kingdom we are already in and which has already come. The kingdom of God is already here and we are in it. What we need is revelation. That is what we seek.

‘and his righteousness’

The righteousness to be sought is ‘His righteousness’ not ours. We don’t seek to be righteous before God through doing works or some sort of performance. Instead we seek an understanding and revelation of the righteousness that we have already been made. We seek a full understanding of what God has done for us in Christ. This as far as God is concerned is number one priority. We should do it first before anything else. It is the cornerstone upon which a good foundation will be laid.

‘and all these things shall be added unto you’

When we have established a good foundation in faith righteousness and the kingdom of God, everything else will be added unto us. Faith righteousness is what enables our faith to work as it should.

Everything in our lives rotates around our understanding of righteousness. It is why God tells us to seek to understand it first. It is why it should be number one priority in our lives.

“In righteousness you shall be established; You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; And from terror, for it shall not come near you.”Isa54:14

The righteousness of God establishes us and gives us a sure foundation. It gives us a true Christian philosophy.

THE CORNERSTONE

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“Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.” Isa28:16 KJV

A cornerstone (foundation) stone is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. It is important because all the other stones will be set in reference to that stone and consequently the position and alignment of the entire structure depends on that first stone. It has got to be laid perfectly and precisely.

The cornerstone is usually the largest, the most solid and the most carefully constructed part of the structure.

Ephesians 2

19 Therefore you are no longer outsiders (exiles, migrants, and aliens, excluded from the rights of citizens), but you now share citizenship with the saints (God's own people, consecrated and set apart for Himself); and you belong to God's [own] household.

20 You are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus Himself the chief Cornerstone.

21 In Him the whole structure is joined (bound, welded) together harmoniously, and it continues to rise (grow, increase) into a holy temple in the Lord [a sanctuary dedicated, consecrated, and sacred to the presence of the Lord].

22 In Him [and in fellowship with one another] you yourselves also are being built up [into this structure] with the rest, to form a fixed abode (dwelling place) of God in (by, through) the Spirit.

Jesus Christ as our righteousness is this cornerstone (foundation stone). He is the center upon which everything else is built. A foundation without a solid cornerstone is useless. Faith righteousness is not the foundation. Faith righteousness is what establishes and secures the foundation of our lives. It is what gives us a strong foundation.

1Peter

2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

3 If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

4 To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,

5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

6 Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.

7 Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,

8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.

Jesus Christ as our righteousness is the foundation stone of the house of God, the temple that we are. God seeks to reveal Him to our hearts as our righteousness because this is the cornerstone upon which our foundation should be laid.

Jesus is not the stumbling stone. Jesus as our righteousness by faith is the stumbling stone. Faith righteousness is a stumbling stone for anybody that is trying to earn or qualify for righteousness.

We are not established in our hearts until the reality of Jesus Christ and what He achieved on the Cross has been revealed and established in our hearts, until then we are operating on a shaky foundation.

Until we have been established in the righteousness of Jesus we have not laid a good foundation.

Hebrews 5

11 Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.

12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.

13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.

14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

If we are not skilled (acquainted) with the word (doctrine) of righteousness, we are still babies and not yet mature. We are not even fit to talk yet.

The gifts of the Spirit don’t make you a mature Christian, the anointing doesn’t make you a mature Christian, a devoted prayer life will not do it, a position doesn’t make you mature, not even the call of God on your life makes you mature. Only a good understanding of the word (doctrine) of righteousness raises you from being a baby into a useful Christian.

Until someone is established in the word of righteousness, such a person cannot have a solid foundation. Faith righteousness is so important because it is what determines whether we are to grow or not. Faith righteousness is what gives strength to our foundation. Everything else in our Christianity rotates around this. Everything else is judged by this. Are we established in the righteousness of God?

Every aspect of our journey of faith will always be built on the cornerstone of righteousness.

Most of our theology is erroneous because it is not based on this foundational truth. In fact most of what we believe about God and about ourselves is contrary to this foundational doctrine.

RENEWING THE MIND

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“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Romans12:2

To conform to this world is when we align our thinking, character and behavior with the world. It is when we unite with the world. It is when we resemble the world in our beliefs, our speech, our actions, our thoughts, our discourse and our manner of life.

This is not the will of God for us. We are being admonished in this verse not to be conformed to this world.

Be ye transformed

This is the word metamorphoo from which we get the English word metamorphosis.

It means to change into another form. To transform. To transfigure. This is the process a caterpillar goes through to become a butterfly.

A caterpillar has the promise, the potential, the ability, the beauty and the glorious future of a butterfly on the inside of it. But it cannot experience any of that wonderfulness as long as it is still a caterpillar.

As long as it is still a caterpillar, it does not have the capacity to fulfill all that potential that is on the inside of it and it therefore cannot enjoy that life even if it is on the inside of it.

It must transform into a butterfly first.

Butterfly vs Caterpillar

Let us look at some facts that differentiate butterflies from caterpillars.

Caterpillars chew leaves and destroy plants with their strong jaws. Butterflies on the other hand drink nectar through their proboscis and pollinate flowers hence promoting plant growth. One tends to death while the other tends to life.

Caterpillars have short stubby legs and therefore travel very short distances. Butterflies can fly thousands of miles with their big beautiful wings able to take them anywhere they want to go.

Caterpillars are sexless and do not mate. Therefore they do not have the capacity to bring forth life. Butterflies on the other hand are male or female so they can mate and lay eggs.

Caterpillars see only black and white. Butterflies are able to see color and in fact some species like the monarch have very complex eyes with 6,000 separate lenses. They can see flower colors and patterns that the human eye cannot see.

A Butterfly lives an incredible and beautiful life that a caterpillar can only dream about.

The caterpillar is helpless to do any of what a butterfly can do as long as it is still a caterpillar. It can work out in the gym and get much stronger but it still will never be able to cover the same ground as a butterfly or to enjoy the wonderful life that is on offer. The caterpillar can be as patient as it wants or work as hard as possible at obeying caterpillar laws and principles but it will never bring forth life or experience butterfly life.

It has to completely transform. It has to put off the caterpillar and put on the butterfly. It must metamorphoo. This is the most important thing a caterpillar can do.

Once the caterpillar transforms into a butterfly it now has the capacity to enjoy this new wonderful life. Metamorphosis comes with new ability, new empowerment, new grace, new wings to fly like a butterfly.

“And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.” Matthew17:2

The word transfigured here is that same Greek word metamorphoo. We see that in this case Jesus was transfigured or transformed and his physical form changed suddenly and gloriously.

The transfiguration revealed and manifested who He really was on the inside. It revealed the glory and majesty that was hidden on the inside of Him.

He showed us by example what happens to us in our soul and body when we are transformed by the renewing of our mind.

By the renewing of your mind

This word renewing speaks of a renewal, a renovation, a complete change for the better. It means to make something new, to be changed into a new kind of life.

It speaks of a freshness of thinking and having a fresh mind.

Interestingly, the word mind that is used here is not limited only to our mental capacity to think. It also speaks of our capacity to will, to understand, to feel and to desire.

So this is talking about our thinking, our understanding, our feeling, our desires and our choosing all being made fresh and brand new. Getting rid of old ways of thinking and feeling and replacing them with a brand new way of thinking and feeling. It also speaks of getting rid of the old thoughts and feelings and desires that we had and replacing them with brand new thoughts and feelings and desires that come from God through His Word.

This is what leads to transformation in our physical life. As our thoughts, feelings and desires are made fresh and new, our physical lives also begin to transform and to align with who we are on the inside. We undergo a metamorphosis.

We change from the ugly, weak , hopeless caterpillar into a fresh, free, beautiful butterfly and are able to fulfill all the potential God has placed on the inside of us.

See 2Corinthians 3 for more about renewing the mind.

The Heart of the Matter.

“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he” Prov23:7

Your life goes the direction of your heart. The thoughts of your heart, your paradigm, your mindset, your world view, your way of looking at things determines the way that your life turns out.

“As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man.” Prov27:19

When a person looks in water, they see their face reflected. In the same way when we look in our heart, we see who we are. Your heart reflects who you are.

“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Prov4:23

The word issues means an exit, a boundary, borders, a fence, goings forth or out, and finally outgoings.

In other words, our hearts are the borders, the boundaries, the fences of our lives. They determine what we will experience and what we won’t. They determine what is inside our lives and what is outside. We only experience and live in that which is in our heart.

And that which is in our heart is our philosophy, our way of thinking, our mindset.

Many of us have a legalistic, sin, fear, poverty, sick, failure, unworthy, pessimistic philosophy and that is what we are experiencing in our lives. Furthermore we have an erroneous view, philosophy and mindset concerning God. We think and believe that He is not a good God. That He is the cause of trouble, pain, sickness, disease etc. We believe that He causes or allows all things to happen and as a result sanctions all that is evil.

This is inconsistent with the nature and character of God.

We need a paradigm shift. We need to be willing to throw away many of the paradigms, viewpoints and beliefs that we have adopted as Christians. We need to meditate on the Word until it changes our philosophy.

Most Christians trust more in their doctrine or dogma than they do the finished work of Jesus Christ. Most of us will not let the Word of God get in the way of what we believe. We will believe something even if it is contrary to the Word as long as it is what our denomination, our group, our church or our leaders believe and preach. Most of what we believe cannot be proven with scriptural evidence but we insist on believing it and thus make the Word of non-effect and give the devil an opportunity to spoil us.

Acts 17:11 – “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”

We need to be like these people.

Php 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Php 4:9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

Psalm 19

7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.

9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.

10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

11 Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.

Psalm 119

89 For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.

90 Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.

91 They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all are thy servants.

92 Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction.

93 I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me.

94 I am thine, save me; for I have sought thy precepts.

95 The wicked have waited for me to destroy me: but I will consider thy testimonies.

96 I have seen an end of all perfection: but thy commandment is exceeding broad. --- MEM. ---

97 O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.

98 Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me.

99 I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.

100 I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.

101 I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word.

102 I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me.

103 How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

104 Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. --- NUN. ---

105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

130 The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.

165 Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.

LAYING THE FOUNDATION

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In laying a sure foundation that is based on the truth, there are 3 major pillars by which we should determine whatever we believe. And all these three are based on Jesus Christ and who He is and what He has done. He is the sure foundation. No other sure foundation can be laid but Christ Himself.

These 3 pillars are;

1- The Cross of Jesus Christ

Is what you believe consistent with the Cross of Jesus and what He accomplished by it? Anything we believe that is contrary to the Cross is simply false. It is either the philosophy of men or vain deceit or traditions of men or rudiments of the world. but it is not truth.

2- The example of Jesus

Is what you believe consistent with the example Jesus showed us in all the four gospels? How did Jesus treat people? Does what you believe correspond with how Jesus behaved while He walked on earth especially concerning how He treated people? Jesus said that He only did what He saw His Father do and He only spoke what He had His Father say. He perfectly represented God. So whatever we believe about God that does not agree with what Jesus did or said is false. It is not who God is. Jesus showed us who God truly is and whatever we believe about God must align with the example Jesus showed us.

3- The 6 foundational truths of the New Testament

Is what you believe consistent with the foundational truths of the New Covenant? Heb6:1 calls them the first or elementary principles of the doctrine of Christ. They are the first principles. They are the elementary principles. They are the foundation on which the rest of our belief system is built. Everything we believe must spring from and be based on them. These should be the foundation of all that we believe.

Hebrews 6:

1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,

2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

3 And this will we do, if God permit.

Not laying again means that we never cast away the foundation. We never move away from it but remain fixed and established upon it. It is the foundation that we lay and build everything else upon.

It also means that we don’t lay again and again the same foundation but lay it once and then move on to other things if God permits.

“If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Psa11:3

When the righteous do not have good solid foundations then they are powerless in the day of trouble. When their foundations are destroyed they can do nothing. Our philosophy is our foundation. When we have an erroneous philosophy we end up with an erroneous foundation hence an unstable life. One of the most important things we need in our lives is stability.

“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.” Col2:6-7

Part of the reason most of us are not stable in life is because we have not been established on the essential foundational truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We haven’t established a biblical Christian philosophy. We do not have good foundations for our lives. We do not have solid foundations for our beliefs. Our theology and our experience are inconsistent. It is God’s will that we are established in the faith.

The reason most of us are not stable and established in the faith is simply because we have never laid good foundations. We have never established a Christian philosophy. We do not even know what comprises a good foundation. We do not know what is important and what isn’t. We spend most of our time and effort concentrating on what is not important. The most important thing is to find out the most important thing.

First, not all truths in the Word of God are essential or foundational. Some truths are not essential or foundational. Knowing or believing them doesn’t impact much on how we live our lives. For example the end times, the rapture, the Sabbath day, demonology, generational curses, the anti-Christ etc.

Secondly, there are important and very important truths in the bible which are not foundational. These truths are very important to us and determine so many things. However they are not foundational and essential. They include prayer, gifts of the spirit, healing, prosperity, miracles, service and so many others. All these are very important truths, however they only work in our lives when our hearts have been established upon the essential foundational truths of the gospel.

Then there are the essential foundational truths that all of us must be established upon before anything else. These give us stability and enable our faith to work properly as it should.

“Why do you call Me, Lord, Lord, and do not [practice] what I tell you? For everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words [in order to heed their teaching] and does them, I will show you what he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug and went down deep and laid a foundation upon the rock; and when a flood arose, the torrent broke against that house and could not shake {or} move it, because it had been securely built {or founded on a rock}. But he who merely hears and does not practice doing My words is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation, against which the torrent burst, and immediately it collapsed {and} fell, and the breaking {and} ruin of that house was great.” Lk6:46-49 AMP

Jesus is the rock upon which the foundation of our house should be built. His gospel is the truth that establishes us upon a solid foundation. Jesus should be the centre of our philosophy.

The truths that Jesus spoke to us through the Cross are foundational truths. They are the truths we need to establish our hearts upon and build our lives on. Jesus didn’t just come to make our lives better, to correct our speech, to give us some money, to heal our bodies and so on and so forth. Jesus came to transform us, to transfer us.

We should meditate upon them until they are deeply ingrained in our hearts. Until we live in them. This is what He called digging the foundation upon a rock.

The problem with a faulty foundation is that however much time and resources we spend on a building with a bad foundation, we are trying to fix something that is falling apart. Patching up the cracks and painting afresh doesn’t solve a faulty foundation.

There is only one solution for a faulty foundation, break up the whole house and dig a brand new foundation. This is what the Holy Spirit seeks to do in us and with us when He is establishing us upon Christ, He seeks to break everything up and start afresh laying a proper foundation upon Christ.

The foundation of a building is the most important part of a building. It is a weak foundation that causes a building to fall. Buildings don’t fall because of paint or fixtures or the plumbing.

Our foundational beliefs are the most important part of our Christianity. A faulty foundational belief is what causes most Christians to waver and fall. It is when we haven’t established our hearts upon the essential foundational truths of the gospel that when lies come we have nothing to stand upon. When sickness, poverty, lack or whatever crisis arises then it is as if our whole Christianity just tumbles down. It is like we have nothing to stand upon, we are powerless and hopeless. It shouldn’t be this way.

You are only as strong as your foundation. If you have a weak foundation, you will fall. It is only a matter of time.

The ONLY thing in your life that will determine whether you stand or fall in the long run is the strength of your foundation. Make no mistake about this. It does not matter how powerful and committed you are right now, it does not matter how much you pray, how wise you are, how much you are serving God right now or how much you know. If you haven't established a solid foundation, you will fall when the winds and storms of life come.

1 Peter 5

8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.

11 To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Vs 8; the devil, our adversary walks around seeking whom he may devour. He cannot devour everybody, he seeks those that are weak and susceptible. That’s why Peter uses the word ‘may’.

Satan can only devour those that are unbalanced, not sober, not stable, not firm in the faith. It’s why we are told to be sober and vigilant. To be rooted, grounded and stable. Only a good foundation offers stability. And when you are stable then satan can’t devour you.

Vs 9; the way we resist/defeat satan is to be steadfast, stable, grounded in the faith. Our stability in the faith gives us the ability to resist and withstand satan. Stability creates ability.

Vs 10; God wants and is able to establish, strengthen and settle us in Christ Jesus. He doesn’t just leave this responsibility to us. He seeks to help us through the indwelling Holy Spirit to be rooted and grounded.

This is by renewing our mind through the Word of God by the Holy Spirit and thus establishing a Christian foundational philosophy. This is the most important thing.

NUGGETS FROM THE MYSTERY OF THE KINGDOM

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“And he said unto them, Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? and not to be set on a candlestick? For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was anything kept secret, but that it should come abroad.” Mk4:21-22

Remember that the context of this verse is the mystery of the kingdom which is the subject of the parable of the sower. So Jesus has not suddenly switched to another topic or to a different subject. He is still talking about this mystery.

He just switches to a different illustration now. That of a candle.

When you light a candle, do you then hide it under a bed or somewhere it cannot be seen?

Of course not. You put it on a candlestick where it can be seen of everyone and where it can cast its light abroad for everyone to see.

This is exactly the same concept with the mystery of the kingdom. God has not hidden it away so that no one will ever discover it and walk in it. He has hidden it for us to discover and to walk in.

In the same way that a candle is lit so that everybody can see its light and benefit from it, likewise God has revealed His mystery and glory through us His children.

God hid His glory and wisdom so that He would manifest it in us for the whole world to see and glorify God in us.

“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Mat5:14-16

He kept these mysteries secret so that in due time He would reveal them in us and we show them unto the world to the glory of God. This is why we preach the gospel of the kingdom.

A mystery is of no value if it isn’t revealed in due time, a secret is of no value if it isn’t declared forth to the right person, salt is of no value, if it has lost its taste, a light is of no value, if it be hidden.

Your hearing determines your receiving;

“And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.” Mk4:24-25

Jesus now concludes this parable by telling us to pay attention to what we hear and how we hear.

Take heed what ye hear...

It is not enough to just hear the Word. What Word are you hearing? What is preached to you? It is very important that you are hearing the correct message.

Attending church and listening to the Law and condemnation is not going to produce life for you but only death and failure in life. This is what Paul is talking about in 2 Corinthians 3:6-18.

You need to be hearing the Word of Grace. That is what establishes the heart and makes you strong and successful in life. This is the admonition the apostle Paul gave to the church in Acts20:32 "And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified."

And in Hebrews13:9 "Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein."

If you want to be established in the truth and to be built up then you need to listen to the Gospel of the Grace of God and nothing else. It is grace which establishes the heart and enables you to reign in life.

…with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you

The amount of thought, study and meditation that we give to the Word of God will determine how much we are able to reap from this Word. If you give a lot of thought, study and meditation to the Word of the kingdom, you will reap an abundance of life, wealth, riches and grace from the kingdom.

If you give very little study and meditation to the Word you will reap very little out of it. It really is up to you. Your commitment will determine your harvest.

…unto you that hear shall more be given

Those that are able to hear and grasp the word of the kingdom will have more given to them in form of fruit and increase from the Word. He that has the word will gain much more. He that doesn’t get the Word of the kingdom will lose even that which he has.

For he that hath, to him shall be given…

There is a very important life principle here. Whatever you have, you will get more of it. He that has, to him shall be given more until he has an abundance.

Your life will continue to go in the direction it has been going and the things happening to you whether good or bad will continue to happen to you unless you engage counter measures.

Proverbs4:23 “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”

The Word for 'issues' in this verse means a boundary or a border. In other words your heart determines the boundaries of your life. This is the reason it is important to guard it carefully and to be careful what goes into your heart.

It is because the beliefs of your heart will determine the direction of your life.

Your heart is the fence or the perimeter wall of your life. Whatever is not in your heart will never enter your life. Whatever is inside your heart is what will be in your life.

This is a cycle in which everyone is for the rest of their life. Your life follows the direction of your heart and as long as your heart leads in a certain direction that is where your life will always go. The only way to change the direction and experiences of your life is to change the beliefs of your heart.

So all that you need to do is audit your life. Do you like what you have? If not, you need to understand that you are going to continue having the same life and the same experiences and circumstances until you change the beliefs of your heart.

Once you get truth inside your heart and your beliefs change, your life will also change. You begin to get more of what is in your heart.

Proverbs23:7 “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he…”

Your life is according to who you see yourself as.

This is the whole point of the parable of the sower. Jesus is teaching us to use the Word of God to change how we see ourselves on the inside and what we believe about God and ourselves.

Once the Word changes our heart and gives us a new identity and a new direction on the inside, our life on the outside automatically and effortlessly changes and begins to manifest that new identity and that new direction. This is the mystery of the Kingdom of God.

THE GOOD GROUND. THE GOOD HEART CONDITION

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“And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.”Mk4:20

Of the four grounds, this was the only one that was able to bear fruit. This ground received seed, allowed the seed to establish deep roots in it, allowed the plant to grow out of the ground and then brought forth fruit.

This speaks of a person with a heart that receives the Word of the kingdom, they understand it, they incubate that seed until it germinates, they allow the Word to develop roots in them and are not offended and allow the Word to grow until they bring forth fruit of the Word.

Why did this ground produce fruit? What was special about it? What was the secret?

Less is better;

This ground had less, not more. It had less rock than the stony ground, it had less thorns than the thorny ground, less weeds, less cares of this world, less deceitfulness of riches, less lusts and pleasures of other things. In the kingdom of God, less is more.

What makes the Word of the kingdom work in our hearts and lives is our focus and commitment to it. It is not our skill, our talents, our qualifications, our hard work, our holy living, our pedigree and the so many other carnal things.

The Word of God will work for any person regardless of who you are as long as your heart is good ground. As long as your heart has less rocks, less thorns, less cares and lusts and pleasures. As long as the Word is allowed to grow in your heart and bring forth fruit you will be successful. This doesn’t work for preachers only, Jesus wasn’t talking to preachers only. This works for everybody.

Bring forth fruit with patience;

“But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.” Lk8:15

Luke adds something that the other two don’t. He says that we bring forth fruit with patience. We need to give the Word time to work. We need to be able to wait for the seed we have planted to grow and bring forth a crop. There is such a thing as time between sowing seed and harvesting the crop.

Just as naturally it takes time so also spiritually it takes time. You plant you wait and you harvest. God’s success takes time. It doesn’t happen overnight. Just look at how long it took the great men in the scriptures from the time God called them to the time they fulfilled God’s will for their lives. The average was at least 10 years. For Jesus it took much longer. There is a time for preparation. God calls you, prepares you, trains you and then sends you. Preparation time is never wasted time.

…some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred;

The seed had the same potential to produce a hundred fold in all these people because it was the same. It was the ground that determined the harvest it brought forth. It is not the Word which determines the fruit that we get, it is the condition of our hearts. In some hearts the Word produces thirty fold, in some sixty fold and in some a hundred fold.

Our focus and commitment to the word is what will determine how much we bring forth.

Important observations;

The thing that determined the harvest in all these hearts was not the seed. It was the condition of the hearts.

The seed had the same potential in all these hearts. It was the same seed planted by the same farmer. But it did not produce in all of them.

Only a quarter or 25% of these people produced fruit. Only one group of people out of the four brought forth fruit.

Not everybody bears fruit eventually. The majority don’t bear fruit. The majority just exist until they die and go to heaven. Therefore we shouldn’t benchmark the majority. And yet this is what most of us do. We want to be like everybody else.

Only a few, a quarter of Christians discover and fulfill the purpose of God for them. Only 25% of Christians discover and walk in the power and authority and reign of the kingdom of God.

Even among the quarter that bring forth fruit, only 30% bring forth a hundred fold. In other words only 7.5% of Christians find and fulfill the purpose of God for their life. God is looking for people to be among them. May God find you willing;

“For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him” 2Chr16:9

THE THORNY GROUND. THE MIXED HEART CONDITION

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“And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.” Mk4:18-19

The third ground or heart condition in this parable is the thorny ground. This is ground that has thistles, thorny shrubs and bushes.

These form very dense thickets and creep all over the ground thus choking any other plants from meaningful growth. The result is this land is not very fruitful.

This kind of ground can receive seed into it, it will even allow the seed to establish a deep root system in it. The problem is that it does not allow the plant to then grow upwards and outwards so that it can bear fruit. The thorny shrubs and thickets cover the ground and choke any plant from growing out of the ground into the open.

We see that this thorny ground is the exact opposite of the stony ground. The stony ground could not let any plant establish deep roots in it. However, it allowed the plants to grow upward and outward too quickly which led to their demise since they had no roots.

This thorny ground on the other hand allows the plants to establish as deep roots as they want but will not allow them to grow outward and upward. The thorny shrubs and thickets will suffocate any meaningful growth above ground.

The result from both is a failure of the seed to grow into a mature plant and bring forth fruit.

This thorny ground is the third type of heart condition that a person can have. This is a heart that can receive the Word of God and can even allow the Word of God to grow in it and establish deep roots. The problem is that after establishing deep roots, the Word cannot now grow outward and become a big tree with fruit. It is choked by thorns and shrubs.

This person hears the Word, receives it, understands it and even establishes deep roots. They meditate in the Word and commune with God. They do not let affliction and persecution and rejection of people stop them.

The Word of the Kingdom (which is seed) germinates in them and begins to bring forth a crop. They begin to see some results and success. It appears to be working. But then their focus switches from the kingdom unto other things. This is what the thorns represented; things that take away their focus from the Word and hence choke it from growing and producing fruit in them. These are categorized as follows:

The cares of this world;

The cares of this world are not evil things. It’s just the daily business of life. Making a living or doing life takes over and becomes the top priority.

This person becomes too busy living to focus on the Word of the kingdom anymore. They become too busy working a job, running a business, running a home, studying at school, taking care of their family, working in the ministry and so forth.

This person believes God for a job or business and when it comes they focus on it and forget about the seed that produced it. They received the Word of the kingdom concerning their ministry but now become too busy with the ministry that they lose focus of the Word and the kingdom.

Jobs, business, money, family, school, ministry and other responsibilities and promotions are not evil. They are not even bad. They are often blessings from God. However, when they replace the Word of God and relationship with God as the top priority in our lives they have become thorns that are choking the Word in us and making it unfruitful. They become the thickets and shrubs that prevent the Word from growing in us, becoming a huge tree and producing fruit.

The problem is that too often we think they are the fruit that God is after in us. We tend to think that they are the end game. And yet they are not. They are just a means to the end. They are signs of growth. They are the vehicle that God will use to get the fruit that He really wants in us.

There is a greater purpose and goal than your job or business or family or ministry. These things are just the small stalk arising above the ground. The plant has just began to develop. Fruit has not yet come. If you continue in the Word and in communion with The Father you will eventually bear the fruit He really wants.

The deceitfulness of riches;

There is a deceit that comes with riches. There is an evil that comes with loving money and pleasure. These people begin to prosper a bit. They begin to make some money. They received the word of the kingdom concerning prosperity and it is beginning to produce a crop. We can see some results. But then they forsake the growing crop, they abandon the Word, they lose focus of the kingdom.

More people are destroyed by success than by failure. When people begin to see success, they become great in their own eyes. Saul, David and Solomon were destroyed by success, not failure. In their day of greatness they abandoned God and pursued wealth and pleasure. David and Solomon were able to recover but Saul was not.

Riches and pleasures deceive. That you will be happier if you have more money, that all your problems will be solved with more money. Riches are not an end in themselves. They are just a stepping stone to something greater, a means for us to accomplish mighty things.

The lusts of other things;

These ones planted the word, begun to see a little success and begun to pursue their lusts. Pleasure became more important than the Word of God. Comfort and happiness became most important.

This is the pursuit of this generation. Pleasure is more important to us than anything else. We want to have fun all the time. If something is not fun we don’t want it. We want church to be fun, we want bible study and fellowship to be fun, we want school to be fun, we want fun jobs, we want fun relationships and so forth.

But there is more to life than fun and pleasure. There is more to life than being entertained all the time. Life is serious, you only get one shot at it. This is not a rehearsal, it is the real deal. There is a job to be done. There is a purpose to fulfill. A purpose greater than us. The kingdom must rule everywhere.

In due course this heart loses touch with the kingdom and with the word. The cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches and the lusts of this world choke the Word that is in them and was beginning to grow. They become unfruitful. They abort destiny. They fail to achieve their purpose. This is a sad thing. They were so close.

The Remedy

Stay on course

“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John8:31-32

Continue in the Word and in communion with God. Let that be your number one priority no matter how successful and how busy you become. If you are too busy for the Word of God you are in trouble. If you are too busy to spend time with God you are in trouble.

This is the instruction that God gave to Joshua

“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” Joshua1:8

It is the same instruction we have been given

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” Psalm1:1-3

THE STONY GROUND. THE SHALLOW HEART CONDITION

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“And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended.” Mk4:16-17

The second ground or condition in this parable is the stony ground. This is ground that has more stones than it has soil. It has some soil on top but beneath the top surface it is mainly stone.

This makes it very hard for plants to grow on it since their roots cannot penetrate the hard stone to get water and the nutrients the plants need to survive.

So when seed is cast on this ground it germinates initially since it can get most of its requirements from the little soil on the top layer. But when the plant grows and its roots need to go deeper to get water and nutrients then it dries up and dies because the roots fail to penetrate the hard rock beneath the soil.

This is the picture that Jesus uses for the second heart condition.

This is a person who hears the Word of the kingdom and even understands it. They also get very excited and glad about it. They receive the Word with gladness.

They hear the promises of God. They hear about the blessings, about the joys, about the peace and all other good things that the gospel of the kingdom proclaims. They believe these things and get excited about them.

They may shout, they may yell, they may jump up and down, they may cry for joy or whatever. They are clearly excited about the Word. These are the sort that every preacher loves to preach to. However there is a problem;

They have no root in themselves;

The root system of a plant is more important than the growth above. The roots are what provide water and nutrition to the plant above. A plant doesn’t need to worry about growth above ground. If it establishes deep roots the growth above ground happens inevitably and automatically.

There is a principle of preparation at work here. As roots are being developed and going deeper the plant is preparing for growth above ground. The developed roots are what support the plant above the ground. That is why they need to be developed first and well. Developing deep roots is not a waste of time. Preparation time is never wasted time.

The problem is these people’s hearts are stony ground. The Word cannot develop deep roots in them.

Like that stony ground which does not allow plant roots to sink deep in it, these people’s stony hearts do not allow the Word to develop roots deep in them.

They interact with the Word only on the surface. They can quote the scriptures from their minds but they do not have those scriptures written deep in their heart.

They do not give the time and meditation that is necessary for that Word to develop deep roots in them. So they are shallow. Their strength in the Word is very small and they can endure opposition only for a short while.

Affliction and persecution ariseth for the word’s sake;

There are two major issues to note here;

First, the affliction and persecution come because of the Word. They are for the Word’s sake.

The devil is not against you personally. It is the Word of God in you that satan comes after. When you receive the Word of the kingdom with gladness and understand it then satan comes after that Word. He wants you to lose it and lose the power and life that it will produce in you.

Remember that now he cannot just steal it away from you like he did in the wayside heart. Now because you understand the Word, it sinks in your heart. It is planted in you. However roots have not yet developed.

So satan tries to get that word out before it develops deep roots.

He does this by causing people and circumstances to afflict and persecute you because of that Word. You may get criticized, called crazy or foolish, you may get fired from a job or lose money in business, your marriage may come under attack, your health may come under attack or whatever. The point is the Word in you is attacked.

Secondly, that verse says that the afflictions and persecution ‘arise’

This means that they were previously not there but when the Word comes they arise. They wake up. They show up.

This is why you need to be keen and observant to the attacks, afflictions and persecutions that come against you. You will realize that most of them come after you have received the Word of God and believed it. Their purpose it to uproot that Word and prevent it from going deeper in you. So they show up, they wake up, they arise to do just that.

The sad thing is that many of us because we do not know this, we give in to the affliction and persecution and lose the Word because we are offended.

Our loved ones or people in authority persecute us for what we believe, they call us crazy and stupid and we get offended. We quit on that Word. We lose our confidence in it. The result is we abort it.

We are like the farmer that plants a seed and then unearths and removes it from the soil because it is not growing quickly.

Many of us are excited by the Word and its possibilities but we can’t handle the rejection of people and the persecution that comes with it.

When people tell you that the things you believe are ridiculous or don’t work, or that it’s nonsense recognize that it is satan speaking through them and trying to get that Word you received out of you.

Jesus recognized this when Peter was trying to talk Him out of going to the Cross.

"Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. 23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men." Matthew16:22-23

Jesus knew that this was satan trying to get Him offtrack through Peter. So instead of dealing with Peter He just went ahead and rebuked the devil who was influencing him to discourage Jesus.

The Remedy;

Have root in yourself

When you hear the Word of the Kingdom, allow it to develop roots deeply in you. Let your heart be filled with roots of the Word that has been sown in it.

These roots are what will give you the faith and ability to draw from the supply, provision and power of God.

You should not always expect to depend on other people’s faith and revelation. You need to have your own personal fellowship and communion with God. Know and experience God and His Word for yourself through meditating the Word and communing with Him.

Do not be offended or give up.

Do not get offended when you are afflicted for the Word’s sake. Don’t give up on the word when trials and afflictions come because of it. Understand that satan is trying to steal it. Stay on track, don’t waste time defending yourself.

The kingdom of God is not Disney world or some fantasy world. It is a warzone. There is suffering for the Christian. Take up your Cross and follow Jesus. Your adversary the devil is walking around seeking whom he may devour. When he comes against you, resist him steadfast in the faith. Establish deep roots.

Meditation

Know and experience God’s Word through meditation.

Meditation and communion with God is where the Word develops deep roots in us and we receive strength to defeat adversity.

We will look at this in more detail later.

This is the seed that fell on stony ground.

THE WAYSIDE. THE HARD HEART CONDITION

2018-06-15T12:21:00.001+03:00

In the parable of the sower we see four different types or categories or levels of heart conditions in the Kingdom of God. The type of heart a person has or the level at which they are in their heart determines how they respond to the Word of God and how the Word works in them.

These heart conditions or levels are not permanent. A person stays in one condition or level for as long as they do not apply the scriptural remedy or solution that is provided by God. But the moment they apply the remedy, they immediately get out or start the process of getting out of that level. And the good news is that Jesus provided the remedies to each condition in the same parable.

Also, we shall realize that these heart conditions /levels are progressive. As one leaves one level, they enter into another level.

No one starts from the fourth heart condition or level. Everyone starts from the first one and as they walk with God move through the various levels. The speed at which one is able to progress through them is according to one’s diligence and their walk with God. We shall discuss more about this later.

Lastly, we need to realize that a person can be at different levels /heart condition in different areas of their life. In one area a person can be at level one while in another area they are at level four. This explains the imbalances we observe in our lives and the lives of others. This is why you can have someone who through using the Word of God becomes really prosperous financially and understands and flows in finances and yet their health is very poor. Or you find someone who through using the Word walks in divine health but is very poor. It is not God who gives them success in one area and not in the other, it is their heart conditions and levels that determine this. We shall see this as we discuss these different levels.

Let us begin;

1) The wayside. The hard heart condition / level.

“And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.” Mk4:15

What is a wayside? It is a road or a highway. In this context it is a road that is besides a garden or field. It is where people pass. Some walk on it, others ride horses, others bicycles, others cars and others trucks. As a result, the ground on the wayside (road) is very hard and compact ground. It is ground that cannot receive seed or bring forth a crop. It is too hard and too dry.

Also important to note is that the wayside is exactly that. The wayside. In other words, It is outside of the garden. It has nothing to do with the garden. It has no interest or no part in farming. It is not for farming. Therefore, no growth occurs there.

Now think about a farmer sowing seed in his garden next to the road. If they are sowing it by casting (throwing) it like they used to do in Jesus’ day then some of it is going to end up falling on the road instead of in the garden. This is what happened here.

But remember that in this parable the ground represents the heart of a person and the sower is God (the Farmer). We are the garden (the field) of God. Our hearts are the soil where He plants His Seed.

So the wayside represents a heart condition or heart level.

It refers to people who have no interest in God or in the Word of God. They hear the Word but they are not interested in what it says. It just skips over them.

So when the Word is spoken to them, it does not sink into them and the enemy comes and steals it away from them.

Many of us struggle with this condition. We have no interest in the Word of God or in particular issues in the Word. So when we hear the Word concerning them we do not understand it and thus the enemy comes and steals it from us.

The second characteristic of the wayside is that it is compact and dry. The ground there is hard and not conducive for seed.

This speaks of a person with a hard heart. A heart which is compact and dry.

This person hears the Word of God but they immediately lose it. It does not enter their heart. It comes in one way and immediately leaves the other.

When the Word is spoken to them it falls on hard ground. Their heart is hard. Like a road. Its soil is so compact, dry and hardened nothing can grow there. So the seed that is sown just remains on top. It doesn’t sink into the soil. And this allows birds to come and take it away. This is what happened in this heart condition.

‘…satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts’

The other thing Jesus tells us about this heart is that when the seed (Word) is sown in this person’s heart, satan comes immediately and steals away the seed that is sown. This is an interesting point to note:

Out of the four different grounds (heart conditions), this is the only ground/heart where the seed (Word) was stolen. It is the only ground where satan has direct unfettered access. It is the only heart condition where the devil can come and take away the Word at will. Why is this? Matthew tells us why;

“When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.” Mat13:19

Here Jesus clarifies that the reason satan could steal the Word so easily from this person is because they did not UNDERSTAND it.

This should not come as a surprise if you remember the lesson we learned a few verses back in Matthew13:11-17. Jesus said that revelation knowledge and understanding was the key to an abundant life. And that it was the reason He taught in parables.

It is important to understand the Word of God. God wants us to understand His Word. Jesus wanted for the people to understand what He was saying. This is why after narrating this parable he ended it by saying that “Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Mat13:9

And it is up to you to hear. You have to choose to hear. To pay attention to what is being said so that you may understand it. You have to value and treasure the Word and take heed to it. Most people do not pay attention to the Word being preached or even when reading it. We think it is boring. We let it just pass by us. Without paying attention and understanding it. So after the service or bible study or fellowship or even personal study and devotion, satan just comes immediately and steals it. We hear it but we don’t really hear it.

That is why when someone comes and asks you what was preached or what God said you cannot remember. The devil has already stolen it from you.

If you hear the Word and do not understand it, you have a hard heart towards the Word of God. If there is a particular area of your life where you do not understand the Word concerning it, your heart is hard in that area. This does not mean that you are a bad person or an evil person. This has got nothing to do with evil or sinfulness. It simply means that the Word of God is not penetrating your heart and changing you from within.

The Remedy;

The solution to this heart condition is simple. Understand the Word. This is all you have to do.Make the decision to pay attention to the Word of God.

Attend a church where the Word is taught and you understand it. Focus on the preacher and what they are saying. Do not be on your phone in church. Do not engage in conversation in church. Focus.

When you are reading or studying the Word for yourself focus. Do not allow distractions.

Get you a bible that you can read and understand. You may need to have different translations. Create an environment that facilitates your understanding of the Word of God.

This is how we begin to hear the Word and understand it.

When you realize the potential of the Word of God as seed in your heart and understand its ability to change your life you pay attention to it. David advised Solomon his son to pay special attention to his words because he knew their worth;

“My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.” Prov4:20-22

The word is life and health. Hear it. If you do not understand it ask God to help you.

The moment you understand the Word satan cannot steal it from you.

It is like when a seed that is sown enters the soil, the birds cannot steal it any longer. It is inside the soil

This is the same with the Word. When you understand it, it enters your heart. It is not on top anymore. So the devil cannot take it away just like that.

Understanding the Word will take you out of this first level/heart condition into the next level.

THE GROUND

2018-06-04T12:42:00.000+03:00

This parable reveals to us that the ground where God (the sower) sows His seed (the Word) is the heart of man.

All through scripture we see this concept discussed again and again. Our heart is a garden. God’s garden Where He sows His seed. This is what the garden of Eden represented in the book of Genesis as we shall discuss later. We are the garden of God. 1Corinthians3:9 calls us God’s husbandry

“For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry…”

A husbandry is a tillage or a garden or a field where one plants seeds and harvests a crop.

Isaiah61:3 calls us “trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.”

We are God’s garden. Our hearts are the ground where He sows His seed. The Word of God was made for our hearts and our hearts were made for the Word of God.

Our hearts have the ability to first of all receive the Word of God as seed and to then release and bring forth a harvest of the life that is in that Word of God.

There are three major routes that God uses to get the Word to our heart. You could call them the entrance of the Word in our heart.

Our eyes, our ears and our mouth. These three converge in our mind:

What we see is filtered through our mind. What we hear is filtered through our mind. What we say is filtered through our mind.

That is why in this parable Jesus kept referring to the eyes, ears and understanding (mind).

Matthew13

9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 14 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: 15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. 16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear

This is why these people could not receive or understand His Word. It was because the major routes that the Word goes through to enter the heart were closed. Their physical eyes and ears were open so they could see Him and hear what He was saying.

But their spiritual eyes and ears were shut, so they could not see what He was saying even if they saw Him physically, and they could not hear what He was saying even if they heard it physically.

So because they could not see it or hear it, they never understood it. In other words it never entered their mind. And thus it never penetrated into their heart.

The solution to this is to be born again. If you are born again you have eyes that see and ears that hear. You have a new mind i.e. the mind of Christ. So you can receive the Word of God and understand it and conceive it in your heart.

Proverbs 4 which contains what is probably the most important scripture concerning the heart of man in the entire scriptures tells us that the Word of God is supposed to be constantly before our eyes and ears;

20 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.

21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.

22 For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

24 Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.

25 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.

26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.

27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.

The way that we keep our heart with all diligence is by making sure the Word of God is always before our eyes, our ears and in our mouth. The eyes, ears and the mouth are the routes to the heart.

In Joshua1:8 we see that not only do we let in the Word of God into our heart by seeing it (reading) and hearing it but by also speaking it. It is supposed to be in our mouth constantly.

Therefore God (the sower) is always sowing His Seed (the Word) in His garden (our heart).

And He does this when we read and study the Word (the promises). This is how we see it with our physical and spiritual eyes.

He does it when we hear the Word (the promises) at church, online, on Television or radio or whenever we hear the Word preached.

He does it when we speak and confess the Word (the promises) in prayer or meditation or song.

All these times the sower is sowing the seed. Our job is to let it enter us and change us.

“The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.” Psalm119:130

THE SEED

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There are some basic facts about seeds that we need to understand in order to understand why this is really important.

a) Heaven and Earth operate on the principle of seed, time and harvest

“While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” Genesis8:2

Everything in the natural world operates on the principle of seed. All of us are the product of seed. The houses we live in, the things we use, the food we eat and so forth are all the product of seed. Work is the seed for salary, love and communication is the seed for relationship, war is the seed for peace, hard work at school is the seed for success in exams etc.

We all understand this principle in the natural. Our entire lives are built around it.

In the same way, everything in the kingdom of God operates on the principle of seed. The Word of God is the seed of the kingdom of God. It is how the kingdom works. Nothing of the kingdom happens in our life until the Word of God is sown in our heart as seed. It is not just prayer and fasting and other things that produce the results, seed has got to be sown.

b) All life begins in seed form. Seeds are primarily containers and reservoirs of life.

Life comes from seed. Seeds are containers of life. The ground is just a medium for this life to be released and revealed.

The Word of the kingdom contains the life of the kingdom. It is not you or your natural ability, experience, goodness, holy living, charisma, qualifications or pedigree that produces the life that God wants.

No amount of hard work or prayer and fasting can produce the life of the kingdom in you. It is the Word of the kingdom that produces the life of the kingdom in you.

Your hard work, prayer and fasting should be targeted at facilitating the seed of the Kingdom to work its life and power in your heart.

Anybody and everybody can get kingdom results as long as they have the seed of the kingdom in them. The Word of God will produce fruit in anyone who allows it to grow and bear fruit.

c) A seed must be planted in order to release the life it contains. The seed was made for the ground, the ground was made for the seed.

The seed has got to be planted in the ground for it to release its life and power. The Word of the kingdom has got to be planted in our heart in order for it to produce fruit and release its life and power. The only way we can experience the life and power of the kingdom of heaven is by having the Word of the kingdom planted in our heart.

All that God has to do to produce His kingdom life, power and influence in our life is to speak His Word into us. To sow the Word. God doesn’t have to touch us, or send revival or do something in order to produce His kingdom in our lives. All He does is sow the Word. The rest will happen as that Word grows and releases its power.

This is how God operates. He doesn’t get up and walk somewhere, He doesn’t have to use His hands. All He does is speak. His Word does whatever He wants. Understand this. God’s Word does whatever He wants. God uses His Word to get whatever He wants or to do whatever He wants. This is what Isaiah the prophet;

“Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” Isa55:6-11

d) There is no substitute for this process. It must be undertaken.

You cannot avoid this process if you are going to produce Kingdom life. There is no other way to get a harvest if seed has not been planted. However advanced scientists have become they have still failed to manufacture a seed that produces life. They have been able to genetically clone seeds but none of them has ever been planted and released its life by producing a crop. This is a mystery to them.

God has instituted this process of seed time and harvest and there is no other way. The earth is built on it. It cannot be avoided or cheated.

The sooner you embrace it and run with it the better.

The Word Of God Is The Seed.

The Word of God is the seed that God the sower is always sowing in us. This is what will produce the harvest that He wants. It is what will produce the life of the Kingdom.

That is why we are told in Mark4:14 that the sower (God) ‘sows the Word’. In Luke8:11 which is the same story but recorded by Luke we are told that the Word is the seed. “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.”

The Word is the seed which God the Sower sows in us to produce His life, power, success, victory, divine health, wholeness and so forth.

Now, the other important question we need to ask is what part of the Word of God is seed? Is all of the bible seed? Not necessarily.

The apostles tell us what Word is seed. It is the promises of God. It is the promises that enable us to partake of the divine nature. This means us sharing with Him in what He is and what He has. Being like Him.

“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” 2Pet1:4

So because God wants us to share in who He is and what He has and who He has made us to be and to have, He is always sowing His promises in us. Because it is by the promises that we become partakers of His nature.

This is an important point that we must understand. It is by the promises that we become partakers of God’s nature, life, power and glory among others. Therefore they are the seed that the sower sows.

Here is another important scripture;

2Corinthians1: 18-20 “But as God is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay. 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea. 20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.”

All of the promises of God are available to us. They are yes to us in Christ. They are the seed that is planted in our heart in order to bring forth a harvest that God wants.

God’s Word is what will change our lives. It will create and produce our circumstances and opportunities. It will create for us a world of success according to the will of God. God’s Word will open doors and make things happen. It will cause success to happen to us. Good success. It will accomplish God’s will in our lives. God’s will done in our lives as it is in heaven. This is the power of the Word of the kingdom. Look at what God told Joshua;

God guaranteed Joshua that if He would meditate in His Word, He would succeed and be very prosperous and have good success.

He gave this same guarantee to any other person that meditates on the Word;

Psalm1:1-3 “1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”

God guarantees you the same today.

THE SOWER

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“The sower soweth the word.” Mark4:14

There are three major concepts in the parable of the sower that are crucial. Understanding them and how they operate in relation to each other is what decodes and unveils for us the mysteries of the Kingdom of God.

These three are the sower, the seed and the ground.

The Sower

The first concept we need to consider is that of the sower. This is where everything about this parable starts from. A sower went to sow.

The first thing a farmer determines before sowing seed, is what harvest he wants. This is important because if he does not know what he wants then he can plant any seed and get any kind of harvest. But if he determines what he wants he is able to select the specific seed that he will need to plant in order to get that harvest.

John 15:

1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

God is the sower. He is the husbandman. The farmer. He is the one that wants a harvest. He wants fruit of something. He wants a multiplication of certain seed that He has.

This is what God has done with us. He has already determined what kind of harvest He wants. And He has told us what that harvest is in His Word.

First and primarily, He wants a forming, an increase and multiplication of Jesus in us;

“My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you” Galatians4:19

He wants a harvest of the life of His Son. He wants a multiplication of Jesus.

Ephesians1: 1-4 “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”

He wants us to bring forth a harvest of eternal and abundant life;

“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John10:10

He wants us to bring forth a harvest of great prosperity and health and wholeness;

“Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” 3John2

And many other things that He wants to produce in our lives to glorify Him. The Word of God is full of these promises of what He wants to produce in us.

He is the Sower who ‘soweth the Word’

THE MASTER PARABLE. THE KEY TO ALL PARABLES

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“But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. Matthew13:16

Jesus said that we are blessed because we see and hear this parable that He was teaching about the coming of the kingdom of heaven and how it operates. We need to realize how blessed it is to understand the parable of the sower. It is not just one of the many teachings of Jesus. It is not just one of several important truths that He taught.

The parable of the sower is the key to all His other teachings concerning the Kingdom. Understanding it unlocks our understanding of all His other lessons that He delivered about the Kingdom.

So before Jesus can start to explain to His disciples what the parable means, He starts by whetting their appetite for it. He wants to show them how blessed they are to see it and to hear it.

For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. Matthew13:17

The parable of the sower contains truths and realities about the kingdom of heaven and how it operates that many prophets and righteous men of the Old Testament desired and sought but never saw or experienced. They all knew that there was a reality greater than their natural existence and experience. They desired it, they pursued it, but they never fully accessed it. They just had glimpses of it. They saw it and prophesied it in types and shadows.

A glory which was greater than anything they had ever experienced. A kingdom that was far greater than any kingdom on earth. A royal priesthood. A holy nation. A kingdom of priests and kings. A people whose righteousness was God Himself

Moses spoke about it in Exodus19 “5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: 6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.”

Isaiah prophesied it in Isaiah 9 “6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”

Jeremiah talked about it in Jeremiah 23

5 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. 6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Daniel saw visions of it,

Daniel7

13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed…18 But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even for ever and ever… 22 Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom… 27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

David and all the other mighty men and women of God desired it. They looked for it with tears and blood, but they never experienced it. They only saw a glimpse of the coming of the king and His kingdom.

This is what the apostle Peter talks about in 1Peter 1

10 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:

There is a salvation and a grace that has come unto us. The prophets of old searched for it diligently. They enquired of God about it. They searched it out. They prophesied it. They declared that we would experience it. That it would come unto us. And it has.

11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.

These prophets were looking for what person or time or situation the Holy Spirit was speaking to them about when He told them about the Cross and the glory that we would receive because of Christ. This is the glory that we have received now.

12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. 13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

We have come to this reality of the Kingdom of God and the glory of that Kingdom. We have received this grace. This is what Jesus was telling His disciples. That they were the blessed ones who were getting the opportunity to enter the Kingdom and to receive the glory and the grace that had been prophesied by the greats of old.

This is an amazing point. This puts a whole different focus on this parable. Many of us have never esteemed the parable of the sower like this, we have never thought of it as being that important or fundamental.

Most Christians think of the parable of the sower as baby stuff. Something that is not that important. Something we can do without.

But Jesus was saying that it is so important, that this is it. He literally was hyping these people, preparing them for what He was about to say. He was about to reveal to them the mystery of the kingdom!

Mark records Jesus’ response to the disciples question about the parable a little bit different than Matthew. This is what He said;

“And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?” Mk4:13

Jesus is saying that this parable of the sower is the key to understanding all His parables and teachings. It is the master key to unlocking the mysteries of the kingdom of God. It is the key that unlocks the understanding of Christ and His doctrine. It is not just some story about farming. It is the key to understanding and experiencing the kingdom of heaven.

The parable of the sower is critical. It is like the Rosetta stone. If you understand what the parable of the sower teaches, it will unlock all the teachings of Jesus and of His Kingdom. Understanding the truths of the parable of the sower unlocks to us knowledge and revelation of the kingdom of God and how to operate it and get great success and abundance.

In the next lesson we shall start discussing Jesus' explanation of the parable of the sower and how to apply these truths in our life.

REVELATION KNOWLEDGE. THE KEY TO KINGDOM SUCCESS AND ABUNDANCE

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Matthew13

11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

Yesterday we learnt that before Jesus could explain to His disciples the parable of the sower, He began by dealing with something else. He first explained to them why He taught in parables and why it was important to Him for all the people to understand what He was saying.

The next thing He dealt with was why revelation knowledge was so vital to their success in the kingdom of God. It was crucial that all of them received revelation and understanding from the Holy Spirit. This is what we are discussing today.

The word for mysteries is the Greek word musterion. It means a hidden thing, a secret, a mystery, a hidden or secret thing, not obvious to the understanding, a hidden purpose or counsel, a secret will. Thayer also defines it as the secret counsels which govern God in dealing with the righteous, which are hidden from ungodly and wicked men but plain to the godly.

Essentially, all of God's wisdom and knowledge has been encoded in a mystery. Everything that God knows, all the knowledge about how the Kingdom of God works is hidden in spiritual code. In other words, God has hidden His wisdom and knowledge from the natural man and natural understanding. It cannot be known or understood naturally.

1Corinthians2

6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:

There is a wisdom and understanding which is of this world and then there is a wisdom and understanding which is of God. It is heavenly and proceeds from the mind and from the mouth of God. It is the secret knowledge of how the Kingdom of God works. This wisdom can only be known and understood by revelation of the Holy Spirit. The carnal person cannot understand it.

7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

God has encoded His wisdom in a mystery. He has hidden it from the natural carnal world. There are secrets about how the Kingdom of God operates. There is secret wisdom and knowledge that can give one great success in life if they discover it.

It is knowledge that God used to create this world and all it's resources. It is wisdom and knowledge that only God had in the beginning before He even created the world. And this wisdom and knowledge He has encoded in a mystery. In spiritual knowledge that natural carnal people or the powers of darkness cannot access.

But this verse says He ordained it before the world 'unto our glory.' This means that He has hidden it for us. He encoded it for us. This secret knowledge and wisdom has been hidden from the world for our benefit. GOD HASN’T HIDDEN HIS WISDOM FROM US, HE HAS HIDDEN IT FOR US! It is hidden from the carnal and the evil but we the spiritual can search it out and have it revealed to us and understand it and apply it and have great success and victory in life. The Holy Spirit reveals it to us. He decodes it for us.

The truth is that the Holy Spirit wants to reveal God's wisdom to every person. However, He starts by revealing to us our need to be saved. If we accept this first and believe in Jesus, He takes us and makes us children of God. From then He starts revealing, disclosing and decoding more mysteries and deep things of God and His Kingdom. As you learn and apply them, you operate better and better in the Kingdom of God and get better and better results. The more you believe and receive, the more He gives you.

But if someone does not receive that first revelation of their need for a savior and believe in Jesus then they will not get any other revelation from Him. They will not know the secrets and the deep things of God.

8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

There is no natural carnal man that has ever seen, or heard or understood the wisdom of God. It is impossible for natural people to comprehend this wisdom. No man has known or understood the secrets of God or how the Kingdom of God operates. It is hidden from them. God has hidden it for those that love Him. His children.

10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

However, the Holy Spirit has revealed this wisdom to us who are children of God. Because we are spiritual, God has revealed it to us by His Spirit.

God has given us the ability to know and to understand the mysteries of how His kingdom works. We have the ability to know and understand the secret knowledge of God.

God wants us to understand His wisdom and to operate in it. He has given us ability to do so. We know the deep things of God. They have been revealed to us by His Spirit.

11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

All of us understand this statement. No one really knows all of your deep thoughts except your spirit, your inner self. There are things about you, thoughts that you think and knowledge that you have that no one knows however close they are to you. Even you yourself have things you know on the inside that you don’t know that you know. But your spirit knows.

In this same way, only the Holy Spirit knows all the deep things of God. He knows all the secrets of God. He knows all the wonderful things that God has prepared for us.

12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

We who are born again have received the Holy Spirit. And one of His goals is to reveal to us the things that God has freely given to us.

It is His mission to decode for us the wisdom, the mysteries and the secret knowledge of God and of His Kingdom. He is here to do this for us. To us it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom.

Matthew 13

12 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.

What is this that they have or don’t have? If you look at the context of this verse, you realize He is talking about revelation knowledge and understanding of the mysteries and secrets of God.

So what we need to have that He is talking about here is the revelation knowledge of the secrets of the Kingdom. We need to have understanding of the deep things of God. And all of this is given by the Holy Spirit to those who are children of God and have the Holy Spirit in them.

Those that have revelation and understanding of the mysteries of God shall be given even more revelation and understanding of the mysteries of God. As a result they will have more abundance of revelation knowledge and understanding of God’s Kingdom and His secrets.

Therefore, the key to operating in great abundance in the kingdom of God is Spirit given revelation knowledge.

It is the Holy Spirit who gives us knowledge about how to succeed and thrive in the Kingdom. How to work the Kingdom. And He does this by revealing to us the mysteries and secrets of God and His Kingdom.

He gives us abundance of revelation knowledge and understanding. And then that abundance of revelation knowledge and wisdom produces abundance in other areas of our life as we apply the kingdom truth and secrets to them. We get abundant health and wholeness, abundance of finances, abundance of victory, abundance of peace and joy, abundance of wisdom for living and abundance of life among others.

‘but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.’

Those that do not have revelation knowledge and understanding from the Holy Spirit do not have any abundance from God and will lose even the little they have.

Those that refuse to believe in Jesus and receive the Holy Spirit end up losing much more. They don’t get revelation knowledge of the kingdom of God and eternal life.

They stay in their sins and failures. They stay spiritually blind, poor and deaf. They stay dumb and hard of heart. As a result they never enjoy any of the wonderful abundance of life that the children of God have.

This is why revelation knowledge is critical to us. It is the key to an abundant life.

WHY JESUS USED PARABLES

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Mark 4, Matthew 13 and Luke 8 describe the events that took place on a remarkable day in the life and ministry of Jesus. This was a very long day in which He taught 10 parables and delivered some of the most life changing truths that He would ever deliver. His preferred method of teaching these truths was through parables.

Parables are simple earthly stories with profound heavenly truths and mysteries. Jesus chose to use natural earthly concepts and day to day examples that everyone in his day could understand to explain and reveal heavenly spiritual truths that were incomprehensible to the natural person.

In other words, Jesus used their day to day natural life to teach them how the kingdom of heaven works. These examples He used are what the bible calls parables. The key parable to all other parables is the parable of the sower. This is what we are going to focus on in this series of lessons.

THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER

Matthew 13:

1 The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.

2 And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:

6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Before we begin to discuss this parable and what it means let us first look at the verses following immediately after Jesus had spoken this parable to the multitude.

10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?

11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

Immediately after Jesus had finished speaking to the multitude, His disciples came to Him and asked Him why He was speaking to the people in parables. His answer was incredible.

He basically told them that the truths He was sharing were not for everyone. The multitudes that always came to His meetings comprised people that believed in Him, those that were searching, those that hadn’t made their mind up yet, those that needed a miracle or were just hungry and those who came to mock Him or to disrupt His meetings.

The precious truths He was sharing therefore were for His disciples, His followers, those who were searching for truth, those who needed a touch from God and basically anyone who was humble. The mockers and unbelievers were the only ones who were excluded. Those that rejected Him had no right or access to His truths.

However, those who accepted Him had a right to know and understand the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven. To them it was given. The problem was that they were carnal and could not understand spiritual truths. So He had to find a way to teach them so that they could understand and thus repent and be changed. And His chosen method was parables.

Paul expounds more on this concept in 1Corinthians2:14 when he says that “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned”

A person who is natural or carnal cannot know or understand the things of God because they are spiritually dead to God.

The only remedy such a person has is to believe in Jesus and be born again and receive a brand new spirit and the Spirit of God. Then they will be able to know and understand the things of God.

This is what Jesus was explaining to His disciples. These people in the multitude had no ability to understand the truths He was communicating to them. They were the people the prophet Isaiah had spoken about. They were lost and blind. Their spiritual eyes were blind, their spiritual ears were deaf, and their hearts were hard. They could not understand the things of God.

Therefore Jesus had to find a way of reaching them that could circumvent their spiritual blindness and deafness. He had to find a way of getting them to understand the truth, repent and have their hearts changed so that He would heal them. This is why He spoke in parables. In simple natural ways. Using day to day experiences that they knew and could understand so that they would grasp the Kingdom of God.

13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

14 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:

15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

We have commonly interpreted these verses to mean that Jesus was deliberately hiding the truth from these people or that He did not want them to understand what He was teaching. But this contradicts so many other truths about Jesus.

First of all, notice what Jesus did NOT say and look at what He actually said in this verse. He did not say that “Therefore speak I to them in parables: SO THAT they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.” He did not say that.

This is what He actually said “Therefore speak I to them in parables: BECAUSE they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.”

Do you notice the difference? It is so important to notice that difference. It completely turns the meaning of that verse if you replace ‘because’ with ‘so that’.

When we use ‘so that’ in that verse, it means that Jesus was teaching in parables so that they would not see or hear or understand what He was saying and repent.

In other words, He did not want them to see or hear or understand the things He was saying and repent and be changed and be forgiven. It means that His GOAL was for them not to understand. Is this possible? That Jesus did not want these multitudes to repent?

Sadly, that is what we believe and teach today. That Jesus was trying to hide the truth from people who came to listen to Him.

If we use ‘because’ as indeed the verse does, His statement has a different meaning. It means that He taught in parables because these people seeing could not see and hearing could not hear and so could not understand and repent. So He was using what they could see, hear and understand. Their day to day experiences.

He wanted them to see, to hear, to understand and to repent and come to Him so that He would save them and heal them. This is why He used parables.

Jesus came to save people like those in the multitude. He wanted them to understand what He was teaching them so that they would believe in Him and be saved.

Secondly, it would defeat the purpose of teaching in parables if His goal was to hide His truth or to prevent people from understanding it. Parables made it easy for the people to understand what He was saying. They were day to day examples and illustrations that everyone could associate with. Things like farming, fishing, building a house, keeping sheep, baking bread and so forth.

By teaching using such examples, Jesus wasn’t trying to hide His message, He was making it as simple as possible so that all these people could understand Him. Regardless of whether they were educated or not.

This is God's heart. To save as many as come to Him. This was Jesus' heart. To save as many as came to Him. And in order for Him to do that, they had to understand Him. So He chose to use parables to help as many of them to understand Him as possible.