Peace, Unity & the Anointing

Peace, Unity, and the Anointing  -  by Glen Galloway, Abiding Place Ministries

Peace and unity among God's people are without doubt among the most emphasized themes inall of God’s Word.  God calls himself "the God of peace."  Jesus (the Prince of Peace) climaxedhis high-priestly prayer for all believers with "that they may all be one, as you Father are in meand I in you."  Peace is the third fruit of the Holy Spirit, and as such can only come by thesupernatural working of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Ghost testifies that (just as with all His fruit)there is no law against peace - no possible downside and no limitation to its applications andbenefits.

The consistent New Testament greeting/closing of “grace and peace to you” speaks volumesabout the simplicity of powerful life of the Spirit.  Grace is the dunamis-power of God in whichwe stand, and out of which flows lives full of the miraculous fruit only God’s Spirit can produce. Peace is the sacred place that allows nothing to interfere with or short-circuit this power in us;individually or as a church.  God's ability to do in us goes beyond anything we can ask orimagine, yet operates in proportion to his power at work in us.   No condition is more crucial forthe grace-fueled, glorious church than this:  the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace.

We understand peace to be active rather than passive - something to be chased after,aggressively pursued.  Peace is far more than the absence of conflict or turmoil.  Peace is adivine attribute of Almighty God, who tells us to be holy as he is holy.  Just as entire books ofthe Torah full of laws and strict conditions were given to the Levitical priests to prevent defilingthe sacred things in the old covenant - so peace is given to tend perfectly to the holy characterand indisputable power of the new covenant in Jesus' blood.  Jesus has specifically given hispeace to us, and it is in his peace he breathes on us and says "receive the Holy Ghost."  It is hisexpress intent that we operate in this peace and give the more earnest attention to what we'vebeen given, unless we at any time would let it slip.  Jesus' peace is non-negotiable when itcomes to our faith truly being The Faith, which was once delivered to the saints.

Strife is a work of the flesh ranking right up alongside murder and sexual sin.  It dynamicallyopposes peace at every turn, and is completely demonic.  There is no strife that brings peace. Like any demonic fruit, all that strife produces is more of its wretched self and more room fordemonic influence.  Strife operates primarily through the spoken (or written) word.  When aperson allows strife to operate in him, his mouth/tongue is set on fire by hell.  Strife is insidious,violent, far-reaching and swift - and it is absolutely unavoidable without the power of the HolySpirit.  Strife is manifest to some degree in every arena of human endeavor; yet strife has no

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place in the life of any child of God, and it has absolutely no place in the church of the livingGod.  Where strife has over flown, only grace can much more overflow.

Strife operates in tandem with envy, and it is the point by which all wickedness gains entry intothe church.  Those who would be raised up as blessed and sorely-needed peacemakers inthese last days stand in much the same position as Phineas, as he watched Moabite womenusing sexual sin to break wide open an entrance for demonic power to run roughshod over thesame Israel that Balaam and Balak had found uncursable.  This is an holy powerful peace thatwill not stand by and watch God's sacred people and house be defiled. 

The Lord of the harvest has long patience - but there is a precious fruit he must see.  He torethe vineyard out of the hands of those tenants who refused to produce the kingdom's fruit, andhis desire and demand has not waned one iota since entrusting it to us, whom he hasredeemed with the blood of his only begotten Son.  We are to produce fruit in keeping withrepentance.  This fruit of righteousness is only sown in peace, and by peacemakers.

These peacemakers are the restorers of the paths to walk and dwell in.  These are those whotestify along with the Spirit of God:  "Build up and prepare the way - remove every obstacle outof the way of my people...Peace, peace to those far and near!"  These are those who obey thecommand to make straight paths, to lift up the limp arms and strengthen the feeble kneesunless what is already lame be fully dislocated.  These are those passionately looking for theclear highway that the redeemed of the Lord are to walk in - the Way of Holiness.

This peace of God that passes all understanding and guards our hearts and minds in ChristJesus must be held up as pure mighty doctrine challenging the entire church - no human modelof political organization and scholarship and administration is any kind of acceptable alternative. All of these de facto models are severely limited in that they represent the arm of flesh, whatman attempts do for God without his supernatural provision or direction.  Their lifeblood is theintellectual/adrenal rush of factions, divisions, debates and disputes - things that have no placein the inheritance of the kingdom of God.  They are merely the ways and means of coping,moderating and subsisting in an environment where there is no true communion.  The only truecommunion is that of the Father and the Son. 

The Father and the Son have not agreed to disagree.  They are not coping.  They don't needmediation or moderation.  Their communion is actual, not mystical or figurative.  They don't justsubsist or get along.  They reign decisively united and actively expecting until every enemy is

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brought into subjection.  And truly our fellowship is their fellowship, or we have no claims to anyfellowship at all.  This communion must be realized in the earth, or the witness of thecommunion of the Father and the Son is suppressed in the wickedness of unbelief.  Theircommunion can not be any more perfect and complete than it is, so the onus rests squarely anddynamically on us who would be drawn into their communion. 

We must not allow anything to interfere with us being one with each other.  We must recognizeany influence resisting this perfect work (towards which end the saints are equipped, theministry's work is worked, and the body is edified) as absolutely satanic.  Those who recognizethat this work as unachievable with the resources presently within our grasp do well to theextent that they recognize how desperately we need the miraculous work of God's grace by theHoly Spirit in his church. 

Beyond that none of us should dare to hint at advocating lowering the bar or compromising thehigh calling with which we've been called.  To do such is to shatter the hearts of the people; tosee the promise of the peace of God before us and judge merely after the seeing of the eye andhearing of the ear.  Where we cannot visualize or conceptualize the literal and ultimate unity ofthe Spirit, the eyes of our understanding must be opened and we must humbly receive the spiritof wisdom and revelation.

The promise is held out to us today, and we must not fall short of entering the rest.  We musthear the word of the peace of God as literal and miraculously achievable.  There is a burningneed in these times that the word be mixed with faith, that we be sons of our Father and callthose things that are not as though they are.  The peace of God is to rule in our hearts.  This iswhy we were called in one body in divine love, the bond of perfection.  Truly our communion iswith Father and with the Son. 

Whatever developments within the historical church that have led holy and beloved brothers tobelieve division and schism in the body are inevitable and acceptable, that have led them tobelieve that they can lift up holy hands in prayer along with anger and disputing, that havepermitted ongoing contentions involving the pitting of one minister or co-laborer against another- these developments are diametrically opposed to the express plan of God for his church.  Wedare not approach them as normative, as any sort of consensus, as the building blocks to whichwe must individually reconcile ourselves to and from which we are to proceed seeking peace. The communion of the Father and the Son is normative. 

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Peace in the body is not primarily a matter of reconciling conflicting doctrines or mediatinghistorical disputes.  Dynamic peace which manifests the unity of the Holy Spirit demands aradical starting point in which we approach each other - both in speech and writing - as thosewho have an anointing from the Holy One and know all things.  We don't come to approacheach other as not knowing the truth, but as knowing the truth to which there is no lie.  We don'tapproach each other through the lenses and filters of what we think we know.  The truth did notoriginate in any of us, yet it lives and dwells in all of us who have fellowship with the Father andthe Son.

There is no authority to pit truth and peace against each other.  There is no authority to pit theWord and the Spirit against each other.  In Christ, in the anointing of the Anointed One, alone,are hid all the treasures of both wisdom and knowledge.  The apostle who wrote the majority ofNew Testament books clearly proclaimed "of myself I know nothing!"  This must be all of ourtestimony.  We've witnessed centuries upon centuries characterized by our supposedknowledge puffing up those who claim it.  This cannot be the same knowledge that is hid inChrist, in his anointing in which we are to know all things.  This puffing knowledge mustnecessarily be the result of the cunning craftiness of men who lie in wait to deceive. 

A historical church consensus that has reconciled itself to schism has been beguiled withenticing words, has been spoiled.  That consensus has been corrupted from the simplicity thatis in Christ.  And how is this?  Through philosophy, through vain deceit, through the traditions ofmen, and through the rudiments of the world - definitely not after, through, or in accord withChrist.  The church can not be fractured, or there is no basis from which to mark those whocause division.  There is no place to discern the spirit of truth from the spirit of error, to discernthe anointing from the spirit of antichrist.  All in accord with Christ are granted by God to be ofthe same mind, to speak with one mind and one mouth. 

The Spirit testifies clearly of one body.  We who give ourselves over to seek the unity of theSpirit and the bond of peace will see and know only one Spirit, one hope of our calling, oneLord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of us all.  We will see and know this onebody as Father’s means of displaying the glory of his Son today both in the earth and in heaven.

Romans 1

Peace begins here in Romans with what we have in common, something which is worth far

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more than pure gold:  mutual faith.  We are among those called of Jesus Christ.  We cometogether, we are sent to each other, we share of the grace and apostleship we’ve received allbased on our mutual faith.  The basis of our connection is faith, something that didn’t originatein any of us!  This is the faith of God.  This faith is truly worthy of obedience among all nations.

This kingdom is not in talk, but in power.  This gospel is the power of God, proclaiming anddeclaring (according to the spirit of holiness) Jesus Christ to be the Son of God, ultimatelyproven beyond question by the resurrection from the dead.  The same Jesus that descendedinto hell has ascended above all, giving gifts to the church.  To every one of us grace is given inproportion to the measure of this gift Christ gave. 

Jesus said that we are not to lord it over each other (the pattern of authority/dominance in theworld).  The greatest among us is to be the servant of all.  We have received grace andapostleship.  Every man has been given a measure of grace.  We are clearly not all apostles,but we have received those God has sent out of his presence. The riches of grace andapostleship are the heritage of all who are the called of Jesus Christ.  None of us is so in needof having the preeminence that we fail to recognize those sent out of the presence of AlmightyGod; or forbid them, or presume to be able to throw them out of the church.  We belong to eachother, but the church belongs to none of us - Jesus purchased it with his own blood and healone has a claim to it.

Those apostles Jesus has given by the Holy Spirit have a divine responsibility and authority tobuild up in love, never to destroy.  They come first as servants, the Holy Ghost giving witnesswith power.  They are separated to the gospel.  They speak expressly by the grace given tothem. They follow Christ's example and out of that set example for the entire church to follow. They may come either with a whip or with a gentle spirit, as called for.  They deserve thehighest respect for the sake of their work - and it becomes the saints to receive them.  There isno higher calling than that of the kingdom of God, and there is no more valuable word or work inthe earth than that which the Holy Ghost witnesses.

We are called to be saints, Father's excellent ones, in whom he takes all his delight.  We havean inheritance with the saints in light.  The faith of God in us is effective, it allows us continualaccess into this grace.  It rings out from us and is sounded over and spoken of throughout thewhole world.   We take delight (along with Father) in the saints all over the world, prayingcontinually for them.  We long for each other's fellowship, expecting gifts to be imparted andreceived through this fellowship.

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We invest in each other.  We plant finances and labor as God gifts us, and we expect to reap aspiritual harvest.  We have opportunity to seek first the kingdom of God in this, to have fruitcredited to our account and to see fruit credited to others’ accounts.  Our desire is to see eachother built up and established in the grace of God.  We expect this grace at work among us toresult in fruit that will last.  We contend earnestly for this, determined not to frustrate the graceof God.

This grace places an intense demand on me as a member within the body of Christ - it is thepower of God working in me mightily.  It makes me strong in the strength of the Lord and thepower of his might, and my entire effort is in yielding – giving myself over to the grace of God. When by faith I am given access into the measure of grace God have given me, I begin to feelthe urgent call to actively give myself over to stand in that grace.  The words “woe is me if Idon’t preach the gospel” begin to register intensely.  I begin to love the church and give myselffor it just like Christ has done.  I understand that the grace of God given to me makes me adebtor to those that distribution of grace is intended for.  I recognize the power and exclusiveclaim of the gospel of Christ.  I own this debt and allow it to drive me across all party lines, allgeographical barriers, all societal and class divides, and beyond all personal preferences.

Together we hold out this ultimately powerful gospel as “ALL the words of this life.”  We are notthose who draw back, those who are ashamed.  We love and identify with the offense of thecross, and boldly proclaim the only name by which all men must be saved.  We have set beforeus the glory of being the tangible smell and taste of life to all who hear God’s appeal through us. We have no worries about being the smell and taste of death to those who refuse the truth andchoose to die.  We aren’t seduced away from the simplicity of Christ; nor do we attempt to mixChrist with philosophies, human traditions, or anything vain or deceptive.

This is the one true gospel, the gospel preached to us with the Holy Ghost sent down fromheaven.  This is the so great a salvation that was first spoken by the Lord, the gospel confirmedwith signs, wonders, miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost.  This is Christ not only crucified, deadand buried - but made alive by the eternal Spirit and the blood of the eternal covenant.  This isChrist ascended above all the heavens and seated at the right hand of the Majesty on High,having fully led captivity captive expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.  This is Christgiving gifts to men, pouring out what we now see and hear.  This is Christ given to be the headof the body, the church - the fullness of God who fills all things.  This is the everlasting gospel:the faith that was truly once delivered to the saints.  We stand firm in one spirit with one mindcontending together for the faith of the gospel of Christ.

In this gospel is the transforming revelation of the righteousness of God:  that we who have

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been justified in Christ now live completely by faith.  Faith - the divine attribute of Almighty God,given as a gift to those who hear his Word and believe.  Faith - which then operates in us as afruit of the Holy Spirit and as a charism/gift of the Holy Spirit.  From God's faith poured out onhis children to God's faith at work in his children - so the righteousness of God is worked out,fulfilled and revealed in us.

At the same time God reveals exactly where his righteous anger is directed:  on those who denyknowing God.  They hold the truth of God in unrighteousness.  They see and hear the samerevelation of the Godhead and the Word that causes faith to jump up in those who believe, yetthey respond just like Pharaoh to Moses:  "Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice...?  Idon't know the Lord."   They willingly suppress the knowledge of God, become vain andworthless in their own imaginations and pretensions; with the result that they are given over toperversion.  They are choked out by the cares of this life, the deception of riches, and thepleasures of this world.  They defiantly fall prey to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, andthe pride of life.  They are given over to a reprobate mind, to the works of the flesh, to a defiledconscience seared with a hot iron - branded with the distinguishing marks of perversion andstrife. 

Strife is not only the opposite of peace.  It is the mortal enemy of peace, and is specificallyidentified (along with envy) as the entrance for confusion and every evil work into the church! The church is to be Christ's fullness.  The church is not only to preach to the world, but is to bethe chosen instrument by which God definitively manifests his unconquerable wisdom beforethe entire supernatural realm.  If there is any compromise found in the church, we are directedto the exact point where it originated:  strife and envy.  Lust actually finds its way into God'speople through the opening of strife.  Without strife we stand together in the strength of the Lordand the power of his might; and if any brother gets tangled up in sin, we who live by the Spiritrestore him. 

This hour the Spirit speaks clearly and appeals deeply with all of God's people - we must avoidstrife and envy like the plague it is.  We absolutely must seek peace - pursue it, chase after it! Those deadly things that characterize the reprobate mind have no place among us.  We haveno business taking part in them or give approval to those who do.  Sinners can always comeinto the church and find forgiveness in Jesus' all-powerful blood.  But those who approach thechurch with envy, strife and division in their hearts should find nothing in us:  no sympatheticear, no entrance, no place.

Romans 2

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The  testimony of the anointed pattern son Jesus was "I judge no man."  As he was led of theSpirit, so we must be led of the Spirit into a fundamental living choice to not judge our brother. In the same place anyone judges another he condemns himself.  We have no business trying todo God's job for him - there is one lawgiver who is able to judge, and only his judgment is true. We stand in the goodness of God which leads men (us!) to repentance, and we continue tostand there by taking the side of mercy rather than judgment.  There is a specific call not tofrustrate the grace of God in this regard. 

Paul speaks by the Holy Ghost and immediately delineates between what he will end up callingthe "objects of wrath" and the "objects of mercy."  Those who are to be the objects of mercy livecontinuously basking in and extending the mercy that has been extended to them.  The way ofholiness is in repentance, which God's goodness and tolerance and patience all lead to.  Tofollow after peace is to treasure the gift of repentance extended to all men; to do justice, lovemercy and walk humbly with our God.

For anyone to set himself up as judge makes him the enemy of God's mercy.  How tragic andironic that so many fall into this position while attempting to stand up for the truth of God!  Thereis no escape from judgment once a man takes and maintains the side of judgment over againstanother, since God himself has taken the side of mercy over judgment.  Despising God'spatience is portrayed perfectly in the Jesus' parable of the unmerciful servant.  God wants aconsciousness of the desperation of our original position before him to continually shape ourdealings and attitude toward our neighbor.  Forgiving debts and trespasses from the heart willkeep a man's heart from being impenitent and unturnable.  The Holy Spirit allows us to savorthe taste of God's patience with us and through us.  It is through patience and persistence ingood works that we seek for glory, honor and immortality; that by any means we might attain tothe resurrection from the dead.

A man who is contentious will end up as an object of wrath.  He obeys his own indignation andanger and so lives in unrighteousness.  Jeremiah speaks of being made a man of strife andcontention to the whole earth, but Jeremiah did not act or speak out of strife or contentiousness. Jeremiah was set as God's defenced city, iron pillar, and brass wall.  The strife and contentionof unbelieving Judah was acted out and taken out on Jeremiah:  they fought against Jeremiahbut could not overcome him.  Jeremiah's humility is demonstrated almost painfully in the way heresponds in his prophetic contest with Hananiah.  He allows Hananiah to violently break theprophetic yoke off his shoulders; merely stating that the prophet prophesying peace is provedby fulfilled peace - then he simply goes his way and waits for the word of the Lord.

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In the same way we can expect the strife and contention that was vented on Jesus to be ventedon us; yet the strife and contentiousness can never originate in us.  Jesus took a whip andcleansed the temple without one ounce of strife or contentiousness.  God builds his church on arock, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it.

The Word of the Lord is a hammer that breaks rock into pieces, a fire that burns off  chaff:  theexact violence that the Kingdom of God allows.  Human effort and ability can not accomplishthis, neither will man’s anger bring about righteousness.  The pure Word is the sword of theSpirit, and it will cut to the heart all those who truly hear it.  It is living and powerful, piercing andpenetrating to places where absolutely nothing else can reach.

Our eyes are focused on the day when God will judge the secrets of men according to theeverlasting gospel entrusted to us.  This was the testimony of Christ Jesus, out which he wasable to live a life committed to condemning sin in the flesh (proving that it didn’t belong there!)while judging no man.  He had been given a commandment what he should speak, and heknew every one of those commanded words would rise up and judge men in the last day.  Achurch that knows and believes that the very words we are given and commanded to speak areeternal life, that church will be done with threatening, protesting, debating, posturing,manipulating, dividing and condemning.

Children don’t have fistfights right in front of a teacher.  Drivers don’t get in road-rage battlesright in front of a highway patrol.  There are no wrestling matches (or shouting matches) in alegitimate court of law.  We who are members of Christ’s body must be convinced that everymouth will be stopped before Almighty God.  He will see to it that absolutely no flesh will glory orexalt itself in his sight.  If we have strife and debate among us, either we are exposed to bepitiful spiritual infants, or we have no clue that the Judge stands at the door!

Now is the time of God’s favor.  Now is the day of his salvation.  So now where is the “perfecthatred” David speaks of with which he hates God's enemies?  Christ has dissolved the middlewall of dividing hatred.  This perfect hatred is totally focused not on man, but on the demonicenemies of God that oppose man!  It is bathed in the consuming gaze of Father’s searching,sifting, trying and knowing me as an individual, and us as a church.  His eyes look down, hiseyelids try - and by the blood of Jesus and through the indwelling Spirit - we do the truth, wecome to the light; and it is revealed that what we do is performed by God.  Perfect hatred isswallowed up in perfect love. 

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Jesus refuses to call down fire on those who don't receive him, and he won't allow his disciplesto.  The Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them.  We must know whatspirit we are of.  We must be as Christ was, of the Spirit of life.

The dreadful white throne judgment of the unbelieving awaits, and indeed this judgment hasalready been pronounced.  It starts with the prince of this world:  he stands condemned.  Itproceeds to the rulers of this world, who have not known the hidden wisdom of God.  Thisauthority of the air/atmosphere then holds sway over all the children of disobedience (ultimatelychildren of and objects of wrath), who live to fulfill fleshly lusts.

Yet there is a judgment unto life that begins with the house of God.  The primary opportunity inthis judgment is that we judge ourselves, so that we should not be judged.  We who are of theSpirit and spiritual may judge all things, and can be judged by no man.  Having the mind ofChrist and permission to judge all things, we examine ourselves.  We who are truly in the faithhave a hope to hold out to the faithless.  We who are truly in Christ are a new creation, and wemay boldly proclaim that old things are passed away!  How much more powerful this is thanproclaiming judgment on people for the old things they are entangled in.

The second opportunity is that when we are judged, we recognize that God is disciplining us sothat we will not be condemned with the world.  Father is intent that we are aware of differencesamong us not as permanent institutional divisions, but as a dynamic means by which hedemonstrates who has his approval.  This demonstrated approval is the place from which wecan say with Father that the kingdom of heaven is not a matter of talk, but of power.  Hedisciplines us as sons because he loves and receives us and wants us to share in his holiness. This is the pruning (cleansing) Jesus spoke of the night before his crucifixion; this is how thebranches remain in the vine and bring forth much fruit.  And this fruit is truly the peaceable fruitof righteousness.

The gospel is to be obeyed.  The church must first live in the fire of this reality so that we cancommand all men everywhere to believe.  Jesus asked if he would find faith when he returned. He also asked those weeping for him as he was carrying his cross to Golgotha, “if they do thisin a green tree, what will be done in a dry?” 

We take this judgment beginning at the house of God seriously, knowing how seriously Fathertakes the judgment on those who don’t obey the gospel:  the ungodly and the sinner will appearat the white throne of eternal judgment.  Even so, it is very plain and literal that Father takes

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away every branch that doesn’t bear the fruit of righteousness.  There is no respect of personswith God, no favoritism or double-standards.  We have a command in love that we remain in thevine.  

To live short of this heavenly calling is to live lukewarm, and lukewarm will not remain in thevine.  Lukewarmness thrives in environments where people can hear the word of Godimpersonally.  A heart set on the kingdom and the intensity of Jesus’ commission to the point of“woe is me if I don’t preach the gospel” is driven by the love of Christ.  Suddenly we as a churchwill come to terms with the reality that Christ is not one option among many, one opinion orpreference to be debated and bickered over.  Christ is the manifest eternal proof of the Father’slove.

Many who count themselves as part of the church have made judgments according to the flesh. These are judgments made by appearances, along party lines, and supported only by thetestimony of man.  Ears that are open and thirsty for the testimony of man are incapable ofhearing the witness of the honor only Father can give.  These earthly judgments judge Christthe same way he was judged in his hometown.  They judge Christ as the Sanhedrin and as theprinces of this world did.  They despise the Anointed One and his anointing.

Now perfect love speaks along with Jesus being crucified or Stephen being stoned:  “Fatherforgive them for they don’t know what they do” and “Don’t lay this sin to their charge.”  Ratherthan calling down fire from heaven on the enemies of God, we as a church are baptized with thefire of the God in the Holy Spirit so that we may actively join with Father in opening the door forhis reconciliation that comes on men while they are still his enemies! 

Jesus had a baptism to undergo, and he desired with all that was in him that it be accomplished. He came to bring fire upon the earth!  Today our God, who is a consuming fire, has baptized uswith his Holy Spirit and fire as he promised.  Now instead of being left with to question “who willlive with the consuming fire?”, we are welcomed to enter with reverence and godly fear into thechurch of the firstborn; before God the judge of all and before Jesus, the mediator of the betterand final covenant in his blood.  We are counseled to buy gold that is literally on fire in the fire ofGod. 

We who live by the Spirit will live demonstrating that the ministry and word of reconciliation hasbeen committed to us.  We will continue with all patience and persistence in walking in the lightas God is in the light, and our actions will be shown to be performed by God himself.  This is the

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well-doing that seeks for glory, honor, immortality and eternal life.  This is the well-doing that willput to silence the foolishness of evil men.  This is the good and faithful well-doing that will enterinto the joy of the Lord.  Out of this well-doing we will see glory, honor, and peace.

One died for all, and all are dead!  There is no need to condemn the dead - there is a need forthe dead to hear the voice of the Son of God and live.  Christ Jesus himself didn’t come into theworld to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.  He came as thelight; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness absolutely cannot overcome it.

Now the Son is speaking out of heaven.  He speaks out of the bellies, the innermost beings ofthose manifested to be the sons of God.  Now he has commissioned his church as the light ofthe world.  We speak on Christ’s behalf as ministers of this life-from-the-dead, thisreconciliation.   In his light we see light, and as he is so we are also in this world.  The light wehave been given to live and walk in is the light of Christ, the light of the glorious gospel, the lightof the Word. 

It is by this living powerful penetrating Word of God that the thoughts and intents of our ownhearts are laid bare.  Then with consciences washed with pure water and void of offense, wemay speak this living powerful penetrating Word of God as able ministers of the new covenant. This Word will make all things manifest, will expose all as naked and open before the eyes ofGod the judge of all.

The day will come soon when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according toour gospel.  Those things whispered in the dark will be shouted from the rooftops.  The gifts ofGod, primarily prophecy, are given to his church so that the secrets of men’s hearts can be laidbare so they can repent now and receive life.  Jesus has given this grace to his church in orderto demonstrate beyond doubt that he is in us and among us.  A church in which all prophesycan expect this, and to this end all are commanded to desire earnestly to prophesy.  Father haschosen this and clearly named this as the means by which to extend his goodness that leadsmen to repentance.

But light is not light unless it can truly make manifest, truly expose, truly reprove.  No man canexpect to hear if there is no preacher, and no man should dare preach unless he is sent out ofthe presence of Almighty God.  The light that is in us must have no mixture, nothing that candim it.  If the light that is in us as individual believers and together as a church is to any degreedarkness – how great is that darkness!  We are reduced to the place of the impotent hypocritical

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religiosity.

Jesus will personally come to that place and fight against it with the sword of his mouth.  Fatherwill not stand by and watch blind guides lead people into a ditch.  Father will only set his seal tothose that believe from the heart.  He will confirm the word they preach, and only that word. The responsibility lies first with those who presume to take God’s covenant in their mouth.  Theymay by no means discard his words or render them impotent.

The warning that climaxes at the end of Romans 2 is directed to those who take their stand on aposition of righteousness (being Jews and having the law).  It rings clear in our ears as what theSpirit says now to the churches because it is God’s consistent verdict on empty religion, all theway from Cain to Korah to Eli to Isaiah’s templecourt-tramplers to Malachai’s priests to thePharisees to the foolish Galatians to Jude's "clouds without water" on down the line throughoutboth the Old and New Testaments.

The witness of the prophet Jeremiah is by far the longest sustained assault on powerlesscompromised empty religion.  Both David and Jesus testify clearly that the traditions and emptyteachings of men have power to make void God’s law and word (to those hearing it).  Father ispassionate that his Word not be sown needlessly amongst thorns or in hard ground.  WhenJeremiah was still a very young man, the Spirit cried in the ears of God’s people through himsaying “circumcise your hearts!” 

The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers.  What is the opening for thisblindness and why is there authority to impose it?  Why is the name of God constantlyblasphemed among unbelievers?  Because of those who claim instruction and light andknowledge of God without any reality or heavenly testimony backing up their claim.  Because ofthose who cling to the form of godliness while denying its power.  Because of those who acceptthe praise and honor of men over Father’s approval.  Because of those who would rather lookgood on the outside than be clean and righteous in the inward parts. 

Hypocrisy speaks on behalf of God without the power of God.  It clings to form, and mouthsworthless words which supply no grace to those who hear them.  It merely itches ears,entertains minds and hearts, and stirs up questions and controversies.  Jesus ministeredexactly and only the words given him from the Father, and his words and doctrine were not onlyaccording to godliness; they contained the power of godliness.  His doctrine was with power,and those who heard him were astonished at his words and their authority.

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Anything short of this is worthless to the church and to the saints.  We have laid out for usexactly what any other kind of teaching will produce:  pride, ignorance, word-strife, envy,suspicion, perverse disputes, corrupt minds, loss of truth, religion-for-profit, subversion, andvanity.  See how the tree identifies itself by what it brings forth!  Jesus worked the good worksthe Father gave him, and those who truly believe must be earnest about maintaining theseworks.  Works that result in the testimony that “God has given such power unto men” and that“God is really among you” are undeniably good and profitable for all men.  These are the goodworks prepared in advance for us to walk in, that it would be manifest that what we do isperformed by God.

The hypocrite demands to be a made man.  He demands the status he feels he has earned (orbeen awarded) and the arbitrary benefits of that status.  He won’t receive correction.  Hedemands the right to teach one thing and do the other.  He demands to exist in an environmentthat exalts one man over against another, one opinion against another, one position overagainst another.  Because these all change (men, opinions, and positions), he is forever playingking of the mountain.  He doesn’t address his brother as knowing all things or having powertogether with all the saints.  Knowledge and power are commodities to be debated and grappledover rather than supernatural gifts to be shared and lived out.

John’s simple response to this is that those who go out from us manifest that they are not of us. Paul solves it by saying he will come personally to see not what these people are saying, butwhat kind of power they have.  Jesus says he will come personally and remove their candlestickif there is no response to his warning.  There is a clear witness whether a man’s praise is ofmen or of God.

As Stephen stood before the council testifying not out of his own mind but with a mind andmouth given him by the Spirit, Father made a clear distinction between the sacred and theprofane.  Those who thought they knew things were exposed to know nothing as they ought toknow.  Their distinguishing rite of circumcision?  Clearly tied to the promise of their deliverance,which they had repeatedly despised.  The law, the living words given to them?  They had let itslip, rejecting it for idols.  The temple of the Lord!?  The Most High doesn’t even dwell there. Their supposed knowledge had only puffed them up.  As their fathers had done, so they weredoing – always resisting the Holy Ghost.

So the murderous spirit of antichrist took hold of them and with one accord they mobbed himand stoned Stephen.  Yet Father has a testimony, and what his divine love builds up no one can

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tear down.  Through the whole time Stephen spoke the council stared at his face, seeing it as ifit were the face of an angel.  As they gnashed and laid hold of him to drag him off to be stoned,Father opened heaven up for Stephen so that he could see the Son at God’s right hand.  We allhave knowledge.  But if any man truly loves God, he will be known and acknowledged by God. 

Our hearts have been circumcised with the circumcision of Christ, with the removing of the bodyof the sins of the flesh.  Christ has taken out the heart of stone and given us a heart of flesh toknow God.  We have a new heart and a new spirit, and God has put his Spirit within us, if we bein Christ.  There is no inward work that God hasn’t already done for us that holds us back.  Heloves us and has washed us and freed us from all our sins by his own blood, and has made usa kingdom and priests.  All that remains is a simple question of motives.  Our approval must beof God; so we must allow him (and only him) to approve us.

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