THE POWER OF LIVING IN THE WORD

Have you ever asked yourself the question, “When will we, as a Church walk as manifested Sons of God?” Is this not the expectancy of the Father? Are we not the Spirit-filled ambassadors of Christ? Furthermore, are we not the offspring of the only true and living God, created by a true and living Word?

If all these things are true, then where is the manifestation of who we are in Christ? Why is it, the world looks at the Church and remains confused and unimpressed? Have we, the Sons of God not met the criteria to reveal a true undisputed Christ to the world? Well, Jesus’ response to the rich young ruler is able to shed some light on this subject.

Matthew 19:16-25

16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?

17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,

19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?

21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

23 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.

24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

25 When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?

In the story above, Jesus reveals the standard of belief we must manifest in order to obtain the walk of perfection. He told this young man “if thou will be perfect, go and sell all that you have, give it to the poor and then come and follow me.” Jesus knew it would take faith and an abandonment of pride for the young man to obey such a mandate. He would have to strip off everything that contributed to the image he had developed.

Jesus had the responsibility to present the mind of the Kingdom, with no compromise. He never altered who He was; neither did He change the message of the Kingdom to fit the desire of the rich young ruler. Christ knew the disposition of the young man, but more importantly He also knew that He was the only way into the Kingdom of God! Therefore, He ministered to Him from the position of the Spirit. He said I am the way, the truth and the life of that way and no man could come to the Father except they walk in that way. This was the only door into the Kingdom and anyone who tried to enter any other way, was a thief and a robber!

This was the reality revealed to the rich man when He inquired of God. He had to give up all that made him who he was! Christ was pointing to the route of perfection and the mindset that we must live in. The rich young ruler walked away in despair because he knew the cost of perfection was more than he was willing to pay. Christ knew that it would take those who were walking in the mind of the Spirit to accomplish this. He told us through Paul’s teaching to the church at Ephesus:

Ephesians 4:11-15

11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

Christ knew that later, after the Holy Ghost had come there would be perfectors, those who would be selected by God to bring His people into this mind. He knew there would be certain qualifications to coming into perfection and that it could only be accomplished by those who were walking in the mind of the Spirit.

Matthew 13:44-46

44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:

46 Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

This is the manifest joy of finding the Kingdom! You must be willing to discard all that you have, everything that identifies you as you, in order to be a part of the Kingdom of God. There is no price that is too much to pay. This is why we never saw the apostles struggle with their salvation. There was no continual repentance from sin. There was no begrudging attitude about embracing a life that offered certain opposition to the flesh. They knew by witnessing the life of Christ that they would suffer much persecution! Christ said . . . if they do these things to a green tree, what shall be done to the dry? (Luke 23:31).

Listen to the testimony of Paul.

Philippians 3:8-11

8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,

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

10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

This was the mind of all the apostles that we read about in the epistles. They experienced great opposition but they knew that in this the power of Christ would be revealed in their bodies. In another scripture Paul stated, “ . . . most gladly therefore will I suffer.”(2 Cor. 12:9).

2 Corinthians 11:24-28

24 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.

25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;

26 In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;

27 In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

28 Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.

Below is the manifestation of the attitude of the perfected Son of God.

2 Corinthians 12:8-10

8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.

9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

This is the mind of the begotten Son of God. It is also the evidence of a believer, one who has embraced his sonship! In this we can readily see why Paul walked in the power of the Spirit! In fact, the scripture said Paul was “very Christ” right after He received the Holy Ghost. It did not take Paul twenty years to learn Christ before He could manifest his sonship! God forbid. Paul walked in the power of the Spirit right after salvation because He believed the Word and walked in the power of that belief. As we look into the lives of the apostles we see one common factor; they believed in living inside of the Word. This is why their lives had so much power.

John 7:38

He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

There should be evidence of our belief as was in the lives of the apostles. They observed Christ’s life for three and one half years and heard the mind of the Kingdom. They knew Christ was a messenger sent from God to provide them a way back to the Father. They not only embraced that mind, but they committed themselves to living inside of it. They did not give themselves an alternative to the mind of Christ thereby seeking some other way to God, one that probably had less suffering and would have allowed them to enjoy the pleasures of this world.