Chapter 3

With this in mind, we must consider a very major thing that our Lord declared concerning these latter days. Jesus said,

Matthew 24:14

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

What is God’s plan to send the gospel to every nation? There is something to be considered when we think about the gospel of the kingdom being preached to every nation of the earth. When Jesus was asked about the kingdom, he said, “the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21) The Pharisees wanted to know about the Millennial Kingdom, however, Jesus pointed them to the fact that first the Kingdom would be in a people.

Consider, the words of Jesus about the Church…

Matthew 5:14-16

14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

15 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.

16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Jesus calls the Church the light of the world. He explains that this light is not supposed to be hidden from the world. He is revealing the Father’s desire to put the Church on display before Summary Scripture: 2 Corinthians 3:7-8 - But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?

THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE SPIRIT

the world.

The Lord has spent many years teaching us the Mystery of God. However, many of us have only accepted one part of that mystery, and that is that God lives in flesh. However, consider the simplicity with which the scripture speaks:

1 Timothy 3:16

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. God does not just intend to live in flesh, he desires to be manifested in flesh. Listen to the passage as it says, believed on in the world…

Do you have an expectation for the message that we have received over the years to be believed on in the world?

The early Church understood, believed in, and manifested the reality that, the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. (1 Corinthians 4:20). Apostle Paul also said:

1 Corinthians 2:4-5

4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:

5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

Consider the words of John:

1 John 1:2-3

2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)

3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

The very life that they witnessed (saw and heard) is what they went to declare (manifest) to others. Although we have done much ministering to focus on manifesting the character of Christ, there is more to consider: the early Church went forth with more than character.

Mark 16:19-20

19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.

20 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.

Ever since I entered the Body of Christ, I have heard the saints of God refer to the Jesus ministry. By this they meant the working of miracles, and such the like. However, there was not a lot of emphasis placed on the criteria for walking in such a ministry. Love, purity and holiness have become simple by-words in the preaching of the gospel. These are just simple terms that express truths, but without a driving motivation to be performed in the lives of the saints.

As the apostles (and Church) went forward in the work of the ministry, the Lord went forth working with them, confirming the word (Mystery of Christ) with signs.

The Father, manifesting through us by the indwelling life of Christ, is what we are referring to as the administration of the Spirit.

Consider what the Apostle says…

2 Corinthians 3:3-11

3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.

4 And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: The apostle referred to the Church as a living epistle (living word). He makes a comparison to the Old Testament, wherein God engraved his word in stone. The Church is the fulfilling of prophecy, concerning a people with the law engraved in their heart.

Prophetic Scripture:

Jeremiah 31:33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

In Ezekiel 36:26, God says that along with this heart change he would place his Spirit within man. This is what marks sons as living epistles.

5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;

6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

Paul explains that they had no sufficiency of themselves to bring the Church into this manifested reality of God in flesh. This is the work of God working through the apostles. However, he boasts in his confidence in the sufficiency that was given them byway of the power within them.

Likewise, we must have this same confidence: God did not teach us all that he has just to leave us insufficient to produce a people who will, indeed, manifest the fullness of this. Consider Paul’s explanation of what he trusted God for concerning the Church…

7 But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:

8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?

9 For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.

10 For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth.

11 For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.

12 Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech:

13 And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:

As we consider what is written in this passage, let us keep in mind that the works of God are finished. Thus, as God’s word declares, that which He will do with the Church shall exceed that which He did in the Old Testament; He means exactly that. When Moses came down from the mountain, his face shone with the glory of God and they were afraid and withdrew from him. Therefore, Moses covered his face with a veil. But Moses had been in the presence of God. And the presence of God caused his skin to shine. This was a type of the light of the knowledge of God that was to come with the giving of the Holy Ghost.

2 Corinthians 4:6

For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. The Administration of the Spirit must exceed everything that we have read in the history of the scripture. God used Israel’s Judges, Kings and Prophets to manifest to the world that they were indeed his chosen people. How much more will he manifest that he has children in this world?

II Corinthians 3:14 - 18

14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.

15 But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.

16 Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.

17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

The coming of the Spirit of God has made us free from the captivity of sin and death. This is the light of the knowledge of God that was in the face of the Lord Jesus and is now in us. That knowledge reveals that we are the Children of the Most High. We understand that we have been changed into the image of our Lord, by the Spirit of the Lord. To deny this truth is to put a veil over your heart; even as the children of Israel placed a veil over the face of Moses and their hearts as well.

They could not see past the veil to the end of the Law of Ordinances that were to be done away with on the cross of our Lord. They rejected the life God gave. The veil of doubt and unbelief would not allow them to embrace the grace.

We have ministered for years the truth that if any man be in Christ he is a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17). We have preached the reality of Christ in flesh, yet we must keep in mind the life that Christ manifested in His body. One great example is when the scriptures speak of the disciples’ testimony of Jesus, saying, "But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!" (Matthew 8:27). The Father’s intention for this latter day revival (Administration of the Spirit) is to put on display a demonstration of Christ in flesh. Thus, our Father is raising up a Body, where every member is used by him. This is a move of God wherein every joint is destined to be a manifestation of his life and power.

This must become our focus and our goal. We must anticipate the outpouring of grace that is set for these last days. Every pastor must begin to work with this as a goal - for each member to play a role in the Church manifesting into one perfect man, Jesus Christ. In concluding this lesson, I would like to recite a passage of Scripture.

Ephesians 1:17-23

17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:

18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,

20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:

22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,

23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. Christ indeed fills the entire Body of Christ, and it is the purpose of God to manifest him in every part. We must believe. We must trust in God. We must purge ourselves of all carnality. We must prepare vessels unto honor that are fit for the Master’s use. As we believe and fully embrace the message, by moving from knowledge to nature, we will witness God arise in us. He will bring forth the administration of the Spirit that He has ordained for these latter days.