|
The Manifest
Sons of _____?!
from Doug Perry -
March 18, 2007 - www.FellowshipOfTheMartyrs.com
(Click
here for printable - and easier to read - PDF file)
There has been all
kinds of wacky teaching on this and I'm sure that I'm going to be
accused of all kinds of things where this is concerned. It's
gotten to be just a knee-jerk, finger-pointing thing by now in some
circles. Being from Kansas City, I'm probably extra sensitive
to it because I just traveled all over the country and the FIRST
question out of most people's mouths when I say I'm from Kansas City
is, “Oh, are you with those guys?” No, I'm not and I
never was! And that's just cause I'm from the same TOWN, for
pete's sake! Now I'm throwing around the very same buzz words
that everybody associates with them like “Manifest Sons of
God” and it just makes the association look deeper. (I'm talking
about the city church, too, but I've already written a lot about the
theological differences there.)
And since the Lord
won't let me avoid talking about the “manifestation of the sons
of God” and I have mentioned it in my writings a few times,
evidently it's important that I clarify this in writing. I say
evidently, because the Lord just woke me up at 4:24am and said I had
to write about it RIGHT NOW. So I think He's serious.
First, this isn't
a made up term. It's clearly in the Bible.
Romans 8:19
(KJV) – For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth
for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Romans 8:19
(Amplified) – For [even the whole] creation (all nature)
waits expectantly and longs earnestly for God's sons to be made known
[waits for the revealing, the disclosing of their sonship].
Here is in context:
Romans 8:17-23
(KJV) - 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. 18 For I reckon that the
sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with
the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest
expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons
of God. 20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not
willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the
bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of
God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and
travaileth in pain together until now. 23 And not only they, but
ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we
ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit,
the redemption of our body.
There are all
kinds of totally over the top teachings and theologies about this and
what it means. I'm not going to summarize them here, because that's
not my job. But some of them include people that are
bullet-proof or can teleport through walls and are walking in an
anointing unlike anything ever seen on earth. That these are people
that have achieved some semi-glorified stature and rule
autocratically (or theocratically) over “regular” men.
And pretty much everybody that's teaching this kind of stuff is just
as sure as they can be that THEY (or their children) are going to be
the first ones out of the gate.
My first point is
simply that this is not a made-up term. It IS in the Bible, no matter
how much men have twisted it. It's NOT a heresy to believe that
at some point, in some manner the earth will see the manifestation of
the sons of God. And the Bible is clear that the EARTH, the
creatures of creation that are in bondage to corruption will see it.
This can't be just about when we die and go to heaven, because heaven
isn't in bondage to corruption. The fact of people dying isn't going
to redeem and restore the earth and all of nature that is subject to
our corruption. When Adam fell, it all fell. Nothing
works the way it's supposed to anymore. The ground is under the curse
of Adam, the same as is Adam. And creation is not happy about it.
Gen 3:17-19
(KJV) – 17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast
hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of
which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed
is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all
the days of thy life; 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring
forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19 In
the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the
ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto
dust shalt thou return.
In the Garden, the
ground just provided it's fruit willingly and efficiently.
Afterwards, man had to toil and sweat. And all of nature and creation
groans for the day when IT will be restored. And somehow, the
manifestation of the sons of God is the sign that it either happened
or is about to happen. And the creation will know it when it sees it
and probably respond somehow. (And it can't have already happened and
fulfilled, because creation is clearly still groaning!)
Are you with me so
far? You're not automatically a heretic because you used the
phrase “manifestation of the sons of God.” It's right
there in the Bible. If using the phrase makes you a heretic,
then all the “heresy hunter” people talking about it while
debunking the heretics are heretics. (I'll get to that in a
minute. Hold onto your hat.)
If you say that
you do not have a “Manifest Sons of God” theology, you're a
liar. It's in the Bible and you HAVE to come to a conclusion as
to what you believe about it. All the heresy hunters have a doctrine
about the Manifest Sons of God – it may be as simple and
low-brow as, “Anybody that uses that term is a heretic and I'm
gonna bash them.” But that's still a theology. Your theology may
be, “I read it, but I don't know what to do with it, so we're
going to ignore it.” That's still a theology. You
compartmentalized it and labeled it. Some people have it as the
banner and standard and end-all-be-all of their ministry and style
and emphasis. Some people read it once and decided not to think about
it. But in both cases, it's a theology. Do you see? If you
stand up in front of people as a teacher or preacher (or apologist)
and yet you say that you are not preaching about the “Manifest
Sons of God,” you're a liar. Even by your complete
avoidance of it, you're preaching about it. That is, you're
implicitly taking a stand on it – even it's by the negative or
the neutral or the null.
Please just show
some grace. I'm just trying to get you to see that the meaning and
application for this passage may be woven a lot more intricately than
we think into all kinds of things that we're doing. Just the
mere mention of it in my writings, or even in this detailed writing,
doesn't mean I'm in agreement with any or all of the other people
that have used the term in a WHOLE variety of ways.
Just like the
“City Church” and the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit”
and “impartation” and other things that I talk about --
but not in the same way as other people do. Because I believe
Pentecost happened doesn't make me a “Pentecostal.” One is
a fact of history, the other is a sect. Just because someone in the
past has screwed it up doesn't mean we should stop trying to do it
right. We can't stop doing everything Benny Hinn does, just because
Benny Hinn does it, can we? He wears suits. He takes up an offering.
He uses the name of Jesus. Just because he did something doesn't mean
it's automatically wrong, does it?
We make it way too
easy for the enemy! All he has to do to kill a perfectly good move of
God is have Benny Hinn or Paul Crouch or Bob Jones endorse it and
it's leprous as far as most of the “church” is concerned.
How easy is that?! We're such stupid sheep. Why can't we
just judge the fruit and see what comes out the other end? Why do we
have to rip and shred every word and nuance – and even people's
personal style or history? I'm warning you, God isn't happy
about this.
Anyway, here's
my take on Romans 8:19 and definition of the “manifestation of
the sons of God” – for what it's worth.
The Holy Spirit is
given as a down-payment on our future glory, the fullness of our
inheritance. This passage in Romans 8:19 says that it's about people
who are walking fully in their adoption as sons of God. Not just a
downpayment, but full sonship. And it's not looking for the
sons of God – we ARE the sons of God who are adopted by Him and
are written in the Book of Life. What it's looking for is the
“manifestation” of the sons of God. That doesn't mean
a group of people – we are ALL that people. It's look for some
people to actually MANIFEST their sonship. Creation is waiting
for Christians to start walking and living and talking and BEING in
the fullness of their inheritance! And I don't think we've
really seen that yet on any appreciable scale. (If we had, creation
would stop groaning.)
Consider this, the
Word says that the Holy Spirit is the earnest, or the down-payment,
on our future inheritance. Romans 8:19 says that creation is going to
see somebody manifesting the fullness of their inheritance sooner or
later. So maybe there is something beyond being filled with the
Holy Spirit? The Word says that Jesus would come to baptize us
with the Spirit and with Fire (Luke 3:16 and elsewhere). Have
we really gotten the fire? What is the fire anyway? Is
that just more Holy Spirit or something else? How do you get
it? Can you lose it? Who has ever gotten it all the way?
There have been
times, and are now, where creation responds affirmatively to that
Fire. There are places and points in history where God's people
came together, got lit up and the environment responded. Dead,
poisoned rivers ran clean again. Droughts ended, rain came,
barren women bore children again and much more. Isaiah 58 says
that will happen, it's right there in the Bible. I'm not making it
up. What if it's predictable? What if there is a recipe that
can be followed to get there? What would it really look like if
a son (or daughter) of God were really “manifesting” their sonship?
I'm absolutely
sure that I can't get my head around this fully, but here are some
elements of it that are entirely Biblical and I would think would be
agreeable to everybody except the most hard-nosed, jaded,
unspiritual, carnally-focused, anti-Holy Spirit, heresy hunters. (You
know who you are.)
If Christians were
going to manifest – make evident in the natural realm –
their sonship, certain things would probably be common amongst them.
-
They would no
longer be slaves to sin. Like Jesus wasn't.
-
They would be all
the way dead to self and their own desires or wants. Like Jesus was.
-
They would very
clearly and accurately hear the voice of God in whatever way He
wanted to speak to them and they would obey ALL the time – like
Jesus did.
-
They would love
like Jesus did – even their enemies. Probably especially
their enemies. A love that the world is thoroughly unfamiliar with
– especially between Christians of all shapes.
-
They would have
authority to do some real damage to the forces of evil. Like Jesus did.
-
They would not be
conformed to this world – in fact they would be loose canons
that the world would hate because they refused to “fit
in”. Not just different – other-worldly. Like Jesus was.
-
They would
challenge everything and anything that “religion” tried to
build or establish that wasn't purely of God. They would turn
over the tables in the temples. They would know what was
Man-made instantly because of their intimate, constant contact with
God. Like Jesus did.
-
They would be
hated and persecuted and killed and tortured and boiled and crucified
and quartered and maimed and stoned and anything else Man can think
to do to make them knock it off. Like Jesus and the Apostles were.
But nobody could kill them unless God said it was their time. Like
with Jesus and the Apostles.
-
They would have a
MASSIVE amount of Fear of the Lord.
-
They would have a
MASSIVE amount of supernatural, unstoppable Faith.
-
When they prayed,
particularly together, things would probably happen. Sometimes really
big, surprising things. Not because they are special or have a big
anointing, so much as because they only pray what and when God tells
them to and He already had something big planned. All they did was
speak it forth when He said to. Like Jesus did.
-
They would be the
most gentle, most loving, most service-minded, most humble, most
selfless, most sacrificial people you've ever seen. Like Jesus.
-
They would have a
Gift of Repentance. They would be the Ezekiel 9 remnant that's
weeping for the sad state of things, even publicly and loudly. They
would be the only ones left alive when the dead bodies get piled in
the temples. A gift like Jesus and the Apostles had.
I'd be glad to
give you scriptures for each of those. Maybe I'll get to it when I
wake up. But if you're reading this looking for a way to prove
I'm a heretic and you don't already know that those are all
scriptural, you should probably stop reading this (or anything else)
and go read your Bible.
Let me expand on a
couple of those that are interconnected. Is it possible to stop
sinning? If you don't think so, then you're in big trouble
Biblically, I think. It's clear from Romans 7 that we are a new
creation and we are to be DEAD to sin. That means that it has
no grip on us anymore. That we are overcomers in every sense and that
we have beaten what used to come against us and what WILL in the
future come against us. There are repeated commands to go and
sin no more, to be perfect as He is perfect and to live a sinless
life. I John 3:9 says that the man that is one of Gods no
longer sins.
Are we seeing
anything like that on any kind of decent scale? In fact, aren't
we preaching that those are lies and exaggerations and don't mean
what they say? That can't be good.
It IS
possible to stop sinning. There, I've said it. And I'll prove it.
Get your watch
out. Now look at the second hand. For thirty seconds, I'm going to
ask you to pray without ceasing and just focus on Jesus and the
Father and His holiness and your gratitude and praise for Him being
so merciful to you. Maybe repent for something – that'd be
nice. Just for thirty seconds, lets just try that together, OK?
Did you do
it? Aw, c'mon! I'm serious now. It's not too much to ask,
is it?! Be a sport. Thirty little seconds. Please?
Don't just read this – participate with me here. This is
interactive. It's 5:44am, and I want to write this fast and go
back to bed, but I did it for thirty seconds! Please?
Could you just give Dad your full attention for 30 seconds?
I'll wait for you to catch up.
--------
OK, during that
time you were praying, did you sin? I didn't. No lusts,
no anger, no evil schemes – I just kept my eyes on Him and
worshiped (and I prayed for you, hope you don't mind). How
about you? So maybe it IS possible to stop sinning sometimes,
right? I mean you aren't sinning EVERY single second, are you?
(That would be bad.) If you can do it for thirty seconds, maybe
you could practice and by keeping your focus entirely on Him, you
could do it for a minute or two. Maybe if you beat your flesh into
submission, and you take captive every thought and bring it into
obedience with Christ, and you resist the enemy and He flees, and you
keep your cup all the way full of Jesus, and you let Him be your
defender – maybe you could go for a couple of hours at a time
after awhile. Maybe someday you could get to the end of ONE
twenty-four hour day and you could hear God say, “Well done, my
good and faithful servant.” That would sure be something. I've
heard Him say it. And it's worth all the effort! Maybe
you could, too. We're not supposed to worry about tomorrow, just take
care of today and see what you can do with it.
Maybe you could
string a couple of those days in a row. Maybe you could learn
to live there. That would be COOL, wouldn't it?! But maybe
you're just not believing you can, so you're not trying. Maybe you've
settled for some sin and by doing so, haven't needed to strive for
holiness and righteousness. But the Beatitudes say that if you
hunger and thirst for righteousness, you'll be filled! If you
hunger and thirst for compromise and worldliness, you'll be filled
with that, too. I think the Beatitudes are all about one
person, not lots of different people. And I think the Beatitudes are
a pretty good description of what you would look like if you fully
manifested your sonship – and a good description of all the
different ways that He would bless you. (www.fellowshipofthemartyrs.com/beatitudes.htm )
Do you know what
it takes to stop sinning? God has been trying to get people to
do it since the beginning. Over and over and over He has told
us how and we've ignored Him. He was talking to Adam and Eve,
but they would rather listen to the snake. He talked to all of
the Children of Israel on Mt. Sinai and gave them the Ten
Commandments. But it freaked them out so much to hear God actually
speak to them that they begged Moses to go see what God wanted
because they didn't want to hear Him anymore. Moses said,
“Don't be afraid. He's just testing you so that the fear or the
Lord will keep you from sinning.” (Ex. 20:20) That is, if you
hear His voice all the time, He will explain those ten little
commands to you and show you how they apply to your daily
situation. But, NO, they would rather listen to a man, so Moses
went up on Sinai and got over 600 more laws from God! And
they never do actually end up obeying Moses OR those laws, because
they can't hear God so He can't write it on their hearts. But it's on
big tablets of stone waved around in front of them. But that doesn't
seem to do it. Unless the Lord writes it on our hearts to keep us
from sinning, it's not going to work. We've got a lot of pastors
waving tablets of stone, but it's mostly not getting written on
people's hearts – because only the voice of God can do that.
The Lord gave in
to their request to talk to Moses – and later decides that He'll
send a prophet from among their own people to talk to them. He meant
that He would send His own Son in human form to talk to them –
'cause maybe it won't be as scary as the flaming mountain with the
thunder and the lightening and they might actually listen to Him. So
He sent Jesus – and we crucified Him just as fast as we could.
So Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to talk to us and lead us into all
truth and so that no man would need to teach his neighbor because
they would ALL know God and the Spirit could explain everything to
each person Himself. But we decided that the Holy Spirit
doesn't talk to people anymore. So here we are again, without
the laws of God having been written on our hearts because we'd rather
listen to Man. Because we like our ears tickled and it scares
the pants off of us that God might actually talk to us personally
because we might have to give up some stuff we like. So we pay
people to pray and seek God and then give us a Sunday morning sound
bite of what God had to say to us. (And it better be snappy,
humorous, and encouraging or we'll find another oracle.)
The sons of God
that begin to manifest their sonship will not listen to Man anymore.
Not at all, not ever. They are fed up and they understand VERY
clearly who their Dad is and who is the boss. They are the ones that
are the answer to God's desire in Deuteronomy 5:29 that there might
be somebody willing to hear His voice so that He could keep them from
sinning and so that He could bless them and it would go well for them
and their children. He just wants to bless us! And He
knows that unless He Himself teaches us how to walk this path, we'll
deviate. And when we get off the Path, His promises of blessing and
protection are void. And only He knows the Path and can show us how
to stay on it.
And if those
“manifest sons” are really, truly hearing God on the fly
all the time, then He will probably not just keep them from sinning,
but He'll have them say and do stuff that is really, totally over the
top as far as the “world” is concerned! They will be
the biggest freaks and crazies the planet has ever seen because
they'll probably break every rule of “civil” society. The
Old Testament prophets did, John the Baptist did, Jesus and the
Apostles did – there's no reason to believe that someone totally
filled with the Holy Spirit will be fun and pleasant to be
around. Want to go see a movie with Jeremiah or Elijah? Not if
you have any sin in your life! They'll probably find it and tell you
about it and ask you how long you're going to keep doing it. That can
get old fast! They may not even want to sit next to you, just
in case the lightning bolt hits you in the next few minutes after you
ignore them! A direct mouthpiece for God is probably not a lot
of fun to be around if you're not hearing God for yourself.
Go read that list
again. Does that sound like the bullet-proof, semi-glorified,
sword-wielding, global-church-governing, Super-Mega Power Rangers
that some people have predicted? I don't think so.
But, there is
this. I know dozens of people that can't be killed. Been
hanged, been shot, been electrocuted, been poisoned, been in head-on
collisions, been fire bombed, you name it and they won't die.
One guy I know tried to attempt suicide so many times and angels kept
saving him that finally an angel just showed up and said, “Would
you just KNOCK IT OFF? We're never going to let you kill
yourself!” And he didn't really come to Jesus until years
later! (He's very stubborn.)
I don't think this
is some future thing that we don't already have. You see, if
God has a job for you to do, until you do it, you're
indestructible. Nobody can kill you until you've done what God
has for you to do. If you're under His headship, walking in His
ways, then you're under His protection and there is no better
bodyguard in the universe! But, when He says it's time to come
home, nobody can save you either. There is no reason to be
afraid of Man – or even death itself. You should be afraid of
God – He's the one that can kill not just the body, but the soul
as well! (Matthew 10:28) He is the one to fear. And if
you walk before Him in fear and reverence and obedience, you don't
need to worry about illness or earthquakes or nuclear war or a stray
bullet or outright persecution unto death. Because He's going
to take you whenever and however He wants and there's nothing you can
do about it. In fact, you probably will come to hate this
place. Like the inside of Lazarus' tomb, this whole planet stinketh.
Far better to go home. We're strangers here, this is not where we
belong anyway. (Hebrews 11:13)
These aren't
day-glow Power Rangers, I think they sound like people that are just
being like Jesus.
There are verses
that say the Holy Spirit will live in us. There are verses that say
the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus. There are verses that say
Jesus Himself will live in us. Is that all the same thing?
Why? Why does it have to be? Maybe the Holy Spirit is
the downpayment on our full inheritance – which is Jesus Himself
living in us. Wow. That would be cool. What would be
required for that to happen? Probably the Baptism of Fire that
was promised, to get us refined enough so that the temple would be
cleansed. Maybe a seal (a lid) so that we would be able to stay clean
inside (Numbers 19). Maybe “entire sanctification” is
a real thing. There are still lots of denominations that believe it.
But maybe we're not really doing it all the way right. (As evidenced
by the fact that there are people that believe in entire
sanctification that are still members of divisive denominational
churches.) Maybe they're getting a part of it, but not the full
package? Cause mostly they're not hearing God all the way, all
the time. (I've met some of them. They're not all the way
cleaned out, no matter what they say.)
Maybe there is
something coming. There has to be something coming that is
better, because if this is it, if this giant mess of a
“church” is as good as it gets, if this is the
“fullness” of His plans for us, if this is peace and joy
and victory – then I'm going back to bed now. And when I get up,
I'm gonna go get drunk and buy some porn and spit chew on the
sidewalk. What's the point if this is as good as it gets?!
There has to be
something more. There has to be something coming that is better. And
it will probably be about the exact opposite of everything we've been
doing in “church”. It would just about have to be,
because everything we've been doing is pretty much exactly backwards
from what Jesus taught. We're teaching humanism and self and
shows and entertainment – and powerlessness. We have a
“form” of godliness, but we're denying the power
thereof. He said this would happen. I'm pretty sure we've been
listening to doctrines of demons for years now. Who else would
benefit most by a theology that's convinced us that we can't stop
sinning and we can't hear God?
_______________________________________________
OH!
Hey! The Lord says I'm done. It's 6:49am and I'm going back to
bed now. Not sure if that means I'm done writing on this topic or
just done for now. I guess we'll see in the morning. Good night!
Love you.
_______________________________________________
OK! I'm
back. It's 3:29pm on 3/19/07 and I'm fired up now!! Boy, oh
boy! God wouldn't let me come back and write on this until He showed
me what comes next. Thanks Lord!
This is gonna
hurt! I hope it scars you for life and you never forget it. I
hope it sears down deep into your mind and haunts you at night. I
hope you can't sleep for weeks. I hope you get up in front of a whole
sanctuary full of people and cry like a baby. Let me know what happens.
I love you, it's
for your own good. Here we go:
What are the
“Manifest Sons of Flesh”?
from Doug Perry -
www.FellowshipOfTheMartyrs.com - 3/18/07
The “heresy
hunter” folks – that are intent on dissecting every word
from any new move of God to find out what's wrong with it so they can
marginalize and dismiss it and sound smart – are not going to
like this at all. And that's the idea. You better be VERY
careful before you start throwing stones. We all see through a glass
darkly and it would probably be best if we just ALL hit our knees and
cried like babies instead of constantly turning and rending each
other like wild dogs. If you're going to poke at me
because I optimistically hope and pray that Romans 8:19 means that
there might actually be a time when Christians started walking in
their Christian-ness – then explain this to me. Before you
give me trouble about some “buzzword” that I used that you
don't like, please answer me this:
What are the
“Manifest Sons of Flesh”?
You stumped
yet? Here, I'll give you a hint:
Galatians 5:19-21 (KJV)
19 Now the
works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery,
fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry,
witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions,
heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and
such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in
time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the
kingdom of God.
John 8:44a
(KJV) – Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of
your father ye will do.
So the sons of the
flesh will also be obvious when the acts of the flesh manifest in
their lives and behavior? Does that sound reasonable? Ok, then
let's look at these carefully. I get murder and adultery and
fornication, but what exactly is “heresies”?
Try this on:
—Easton's
Illustrated Dictionary
From a Greek word
signifying (1) a choice, (2) the opinion chosen, and (3) the sect
holding the opinion. In the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 5:17; Acts
15:5; Acts 24:5, 14; Acts 26:5) it denotes a sect, without reference
to its character. Elsewhere, however, in the New Testament it has a
different meaning attached to it. Paul ranks "heresies"
with crimes and seditions (Gal 5:20). This word also denotes
divisions or schisms in the church (1Co 11:19). In Tit 3:10 a
"heretical person" is one who follows his own self-willed
"questions," and who is to be avoided. Heresies thus came
to signify self-chosen doctrines not emanating from God (2Pe 2:1).
Here's that verse
again in the Darby translation:
Galatians 5:19-21 (Darby)
19 Now the
works of the flesh are manifest, which are fornication, uncleanness,
licentiousness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strifes, jealousies,
angers, contentions, disputes, schools of opinion, 21 envyings,
murders, drunkenness, revels, and things like these; as to which I
tell you beforehand, even as I also have said before, that they who
do such things shall not inherit God's kingdom.
Is that for real?!
“Heresies” means “schools of opinion”?!
Heresies means schisms in the church or being a part of starting,
building, supporting or defending a sect?! That's like a
denomination, right?
Dude?! Who's
not guilty of that one in America?! We have more
than 37,000 denominations in the Christian church now! {See
“Scary Stats” page on the website for references.} How did
we get here without “strifes, jealousies, angers, contentions,
disputes, schools of opinion, idolatry and the like”?!
I mean aren't
theological seminaries by their very DEFINITION just “schools of
opinion”?! Can it be that they are breeding grounds for
people full of heresies? Are we actually enrolling into and
paying an institution of Man to make sure that we NEVER inherit the
Kingdom of God?! That would stink!
What does
“seditions” mean?
Greek Strong's
Number: 1370
Transliteration: dichostasia
Usage Notes:
English Words used in KJV: division 2, sedition 1, [Total
Count: 3]
from a derivative
of <G1364> (dis) and <G4714> (stasis); disunion, i.e.
(figurative) dissension :- division, sedition.
—Strong's
Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary
Disunion?!
If we have “disunion” we're not going to inherit the
Kingdom of God?! Ouch!
What about “strife”?
Greek Strong's
Number: 2052
Transliteration: eritheia
Vine's Words:
Faction, Factious, Strife
Usage Notes:
English Words used
in KJV: strife 5, contention 1, contentious + <G1537> 1, [Total
Count: 7]
perhaps from the
same as <G2042> (erethizo); properly intrigue, i.e. (by
implication) faction :- contention (-ious), strife.
—Strong's
Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary
What about “envyings”?
Greek Strong's
Number: 5355
Transliteration: phthonos
Vine's Words:
Envy, Envying
Usage Notes:
English Words used in KJV: envy 8 , envying 1, [Total Count: 9]
probably akin to
the base of <G5351> (phtheiro); ill-will (as detraction), i.e.
jealousy (spite) :- envy.
—Strong's
Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary
In my city we have
a 4,000+ member megachurch with a multi-million dollar campus and a
whole bunch of other pastors with “building envy” trying as
hard as they can to grow so they can be “successful,”
too. Is that the way we're measuring things now? How many
people join the “Purpose Driven” network or the Willow
Creek Association in the hopes that it might rub off and they, too,
might get to be famous pastors of a megachurch and get a book
deal? That's bad, right? Even if somebody had it buried
WAY deep down inside – that's bad, right? But can it
really keep you from inheriting the Kingdom? Well, only if the
Bible is the Word of God and Galatians 5:19-21 means what it says.
Just so we're
clear, does this mean that if you're not being One Body and working
together and fully submitting to God and trying REALLY hard at peace
– if you're going your own way and picking teams and naming
yourselves after men, then you're not going to heaven? Well,
that seems to be what the Word of God is saying. I'm not sure how
else to read it! It says we're carnal and fleshly.
1 Cor 3:1-4 (KJV)
1 And I,
brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto
carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 2 I have fed you with
milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it,
neither yet now are ye able. 3 For ye are yet carnal: for
whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye
not carnal, and walk as men? 4 For while one saith, I am of
Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?
1 Cor 1:10-13 (KJV)
10 Now I
beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye
all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you;
but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the
same judgment. 11 For it hath been declared unto me of you, my
brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are
contentions among you. 12 Now this I say, that every one of you
saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of
Christ. 13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or
were ye baptized in the name of Paul?
So this is like;
I'm for Luther, I'm for Calvin, I'm for Menno, I'm for Rick
Warren? Is that it? We're carnal?! How can that be?!
But we have all these big buildings! God is blessing us!
We have best selling books! How can millions of denominational
American's be wrong? Surely the number of people on our side
must prove that we are the “mainstream” and we're right!
Oh, give me a
break!! You're gonna whip that logic out? There are more Buddhists in
China than Christians in America! How can it be that THEY are
not right?! The force of numbers never wins –
that's the Broad Way to hell. There's hardly anybody on the Narrow
Path. God wiped out the WHOLE PLANET and Noah and his family were the
only ones righteous. Microsoft has big buildings and lots of
money, too. That doesn't mean they're obeying God and under His
headship. Satan can prosper you financially. No question. He tempted
Jesus with the wealth of all the nations. Is that it? Maybe we
made a deal with the devil?! Is that how we sold so many books
and got all these big buildings?
1 Tim 4:1-2 (KJV)
1 Now the
Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart
from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of
devils; 2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience
seared with a hot iron;
I bet if you
bought into the doctrines of devils, they would prosper you so you'd
like it and not want to repent! I bet they'd make you really
popular and help you along. They like ear tickling. What
kinds of doctrines of devils? Well, here's one that will put
your soul in serious jeopardy if you buy into it:
“God doesn't
mind denominations. Go ahead, make another one. Split a church over a
vain argument or useless quarrel. It's OK, He won't mind. Purity of
your doctrine is more important than love and long-suffering.
Besides, how can you love someone that won't agree with you?! God
didn't really mean you need to be One Body in the natural, just in
the spiritual realms. And you are – so don't feel bad about
completely ignoring and marginalizing all the other Christians in
town. You're better off without them anyway. Maybe now you can get a
new gymnasium!”
Do you reckon
maybe that's a “doctrine of devils”? Because it directly
contradicts the Word of God and the end result is that they get to
kill, steal and destroy your witness, your effectiveness and your soul.
1 Tim 6:3-5 (Amplified)
3 But if anyone
teaches otherwise and does not assent to the sound and wholesome
messages of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) and the teaching
which is in agreement with godliness (piety toward God), 4 He is
puffed up with pride and stupefied with conceit, [although he is]
woefully ignorant. He has a morbid fondness for controversy and
disputes and strife about words, which result in (produce) envy and
jealousy, quarrels and dissension, abuse and insults and slander, and
base suspicions, 5 And protracted wrangling and wearing discussion
and perpetual friction among men who are corrupted in mind and bereft
of the truth, who imagine that godliness or righteousness is a source
of profit [a moneymaking business, a means of livelihood]. From such withdraw.
See any of that
stuff in the “church”? That can't be good,
right? And how are we supposed to deal with people intent on
speaking error and lies? Argue endlessly with them and point
fingers? Nope. Isaiah 58 makes it clear that our light WILL NOT
rise in the darkness until we put away the malicious talk and the
pointing finger. But we can't turn our back on our own flesh and
blood either! This is a lot harder than people think. The
Narrow Path is a LOT more narrow than what we're preaching!
Does that passage
above mean that we stop speaking the truth in love? No. It means you
don't slander people and fight with them, you address them with love
as valuable children of God and joint heirs with Jesus and you
approach them personally with respect and fear and trembling, lest
you be caught in the snare that has them trapped. And it means you
withdraw from the fight, not from the person. You trust God is
perfectly capable of fixing His children without you getting enmeshed
in their trifling arguments. Stay above the fray and just drop love
bombs on them.
2 Timothy 2:23-26 (Amplified)
23 But refuse
(shut your mind against, have nothing to do with) trifling
(ill-informed, unedifying, stupid) controversies over ignorant
questionings, for you know that they foster strife and breed
quarrels. 24 And the servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome
(fighting and contending). Instead, he must be kindly to everyone and
mild-tempered [preserving the bond of peace]; he must be a skilled
and suitable teacher, patient and forbearing and willing to suffer
wrong. 25 He must correct his opponents with courtesy and
gentleness, in the hope that God may grant that they will repent and
come to know the Truth [that they will perceive and recognize and
become accurately acquainted with and acknowledge it], 26 And
that they may come to their senses [and] escape out of the snare of
the devil, having been held captive by him, [henceforth] to do His
[God's] will.
Do we want them
eliminated and out of the way? Do we want them to be embarrassed and
go off into a cave and die and get out of our hair? Isn't that
the motivation behind so much of our finger pointing at each
other? Shouldn't we rather be willing to suffer wrong?
Shouldn't we approach them in humility with fear and trembling so
that they might get free and henceforth do His will and be useful to
the kingdom?
Are we doing so
well in this war against the forces of darkness that we can really
afford to be devouring each other? Don't we need them rather
out of the snare of the devil? Maybe when they get free, they'll be
REALLY ticked off and want to draw some blood from the enemy? Maybe
they'll be really useful and contrite when they finally come to their
senses? Maybe we should treat them like Joint Heirs with Jesus
Christ and kings and priests – instead of pariahs that should be
taken out and shot. This is a WAR! You don't shoot your
own wounded! You heal them!
I think it's just
possible that we've consumed each other and nobody noticed. I
think there is a desperate famine of Truth and love and peace and
power. Maybe we consumed it all by constantly chewing on each other
until nobody really has any good stuff left, either from attacking or defending.
Galatians 5:13-17 (KJV)
13 For,
brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for
an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. 14 For
all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love
thy neighbour as thyself. 15 But if ye bite and devour one
another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.
16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil
the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusteth against the
Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the
one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
If this is all
true, then we're in BIG, BIG trouble! We are the “Manifest
Sons of Flesh”! How else can you look at it! Who
exactly is exempt? Maybe we ALL need to just hit our knees and
weep and repent. We can't possibly be walking in the Spirit if we're
the Manifest Sons of Flesh! This mess we have of the
“church” can't really be the “kingdom of God,”
can it? This can't be the fullness of our inheritance, can it? Cause
this stinks!
Maybe there's
something else out there. Maybe if we really believed the Word of God
all the way and walked in the Spirit, we would be more like this:
Romans 8:1-9 (KJV)
1 There is
therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who
walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2 For the law of
the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of
sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do, in that it was
weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of
sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4 That
the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not
after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 5 For they that are after
the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after
the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded
is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not
subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8 So then they
that are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But ye are not in the
flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in
you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Maybe people that
really, really get that – that really are in the Spirit and not
in the flesh – maybe they are the manifestation of the
sons of God? Maybe those who are mostly not here and are tuned
into the Spirit ALL the time are the ones that can really inherit
this passage? I don't know, maybe there is some bigger, truer,
final application to it someday where they get to fly and glow in the
dark and visit other planets – but right now I'd just settle for
some Christians that were actually acting like Jesus all the time.
Shoot, I'd settle
for some that acted like Jesus for thirty seconds at a time, but were
trying really hard to see if they could do it for just one full day.
1 Cor 3:21-23 (KJV)
21 Therefore
let no man glory in men. For all things are yours; 22 Whether
Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or
things present, or things to come; all are yours; 23 And ye are
Christ's; and Christ is God's.
That verse says
that if we will just be led by Him, ALL the time, then everything is
ours. Everything that belongs to Christ belongs to us – and
everything that belongs to God belongs to Christ! It sounds
like those who really walk in the Spirit have access to
everything. Those who really understand the meaning of the word
“ALL” and can get that understanding to come out of them
and manifest into the “natural” world might just be the
“Manifest Sons of God.” I have no idea if they will
glow in the dark or not - but I bet they'll be really cool to hang
out with! (Unless you need conviction for
sin.) And the world will probably try to kill them as
fast as it can.
So there you go.
That's my “Manifest Sons of God” theology in a
nutshell. Feel free to start devouring me. But I'm just
gonna let you make useless noises by yourself – and I'm just
going to try really hard to not get a “morbid fondness for
disputes and strife about words” and get sucked into it with
you. I hope you escape the snare of the devil so you can be
useful someday. I'll pray for you.
In the meantime,
I'm not your kid, I'm God's – and He is perfectly capable of
whacking me if I need a wake up call. If you're going to speak
the truth in love, I want to hear it. I'm always happy for a
righteous man to rebuke me. I take this verse VERY, VERY seriously:
Psalm 141:5-6 (NIV)
5 Let a
righteous man strike me—it is a kindness; let him rebuke
me—it is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it. Yet my
prayer is ever against the deeds of evildoers; 6 their rulers will be
thrown down from the cliffs, and the wicked will learn that my words
were well spoken.
If you're a
righteous man, give me your best shot – swing for the fences,
beat me senseless. I'm all for it. It is oil on my head and I
will not refuse it. But you need to know that my prayers are
ever against the deeds of the evildoers, that their rulers would be
cast from the cliffs – like the pigs of the Gadarenes –
because UNTIL then they will not be able to see that my words
were well spoken. Until we get the demons and the Red Dragon
curse from God off of you, you're really not good for much of
anything. (www.FellowshipOfTheMartyrs.com/red_dragon.htm)
I'm not praying
against the evildoer themselves – not the person – I'm
praying against their DEEDS and their RULERS. And if I get
ahold of their rulers, I'm gonna torture them and squish them –
because I love the person with all my heart and I want them free.
So if you're
righteous, come tell me where I'm wrong. If you're not
righteous, you might as well save your breath. If you're doing
any of that stuff in Galatians 5:19-21, God says I'm supposed to
ignore you. Don't take it personally. I'm just trying to
obey God.
Deuteronomy 5:29 (KJV)
O that there were
such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep
ALL my
commandments ALWAYS, that it might be well with them, and with their
children for ever!
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If you read that
list above and you think it might just be possible to live like that
and you'd like to give it a try, we can help. That's what we do, we
try to get people to manifest there Jesus-ness all the time. We help
people understand the meaning of the word “ALL” and live
it. If you want to get cleaned out, scrubbed down, healed,
sealed, jammed packed full of Jesus and ready for war – we can
help. Maybe you're already doing all that stuff on the list.
Then we'd love to hear from you and maybe give you a hug and pray
together. Whatever the Lord says. We love you and we want you
ALL the way free and walking in your inheritance. It's real and if
you don't need to be shortchanged anymore. There's more out there
than you know – more than I know, too – and you just need
to reach out and get it.
fotm@fellowshipofthemartyrs.com
mail to: Doug
Perry, FOTM, 844 S. M-291 Highway, #251, Liberty, MO 64068 |
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