It’s All About You, Lord!
God is coming back for a church without spot or wrinkle! How many of you have heard this spoken before?
This comes under the heading of “Cleanliness is next to godliness”, or “God helps those who help themselves”. None of these are in the word.
That He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word. That He might present the church to Himself in glorious splendor, without spot or wrinkle, or any such things [that she might be holy and faultless]. (Ephesians 5:26,27)
We have accepted that word as though we had to cleanse ourselves to be without spot or wrinkle. It is not saying that at all. The word is saying that Jesus is the one that will sanctify us, and wash us with the water of His word and present us to Himself a bride without spot or wrinkle.
I find that the mystery of the word is being revealed more and more. No one has changed the wording in these verses I looked in several translations, and they all say it the same way. I believe that God is starting to remove the veil from His children’s eyes. He is not allowing them to simply listen to what someone else has to say about the word, but rather He is showing His children what the word actually says.
Side Note: Did Adam get a wife for himself? No God said that it is not good that a man be alone, alone, all one, so he put the man to sleep and from within the man he created woman. Then God presented her to Adam. The second Adam came and in 33 years He could not find a bride without spot or wrinkle. So He died for us so that the water of His word could wash our sins, spots and wrinkles away. Jesus is the word and water gushed from His side to cleanse us as the blood set us free. As Eve was the Bride that God presented to the first Adam, so we are the bride that Jesus the second Adam is presenting to Himself.
The new Testament is not about man’s ability to be holy or act holy. It is about man knowing that his works are as filthy rags and that Jesus had to come because it was impossible for any man to live under the law. We can never be good enough, smart enough, rich enough, or holy enough to earn our salvation.
I think that the Amplified version says it best, “O you poor and silly and thoughtless and unreflecting and senseless Galatians! Who has fascinated or bewitched or cast a spell over you, unto whom-right before your very eyes-Jesus Christ (the Messiah) was openly and graphically set forth and portrayed as crucified? Let me ask you one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit as the result of obeying the law and doing its works, or was it by hearing the message of the Gospel and believing it? Was it from observing a law of rituals or from a message of faith? Are you so foolish and so senseless and so silly? Having begun your new life so spiritually with the Holy Spirit, are you now reaching perfection by dependence on the flesh?” (Galatians 3:1-3)
The Lord is starting to reveal to those who have ears that it is no longer the works of man that will get the job accomplished, but by His spirit. When we think that we can do this thing by acting good and doing the right thing, if we can appear to be righteous outwardly, pride quickly sneaks in and we are then trying to tell others how they should act, what they should or shouldn’t be doing. Look at me I’m holy follow me and do as I do, speak as I speak and you will get to heaven. Don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t dance, don’t wear makeup, don’t breathe.
The Pentecostal movement started out in this country as freedom because of the Holy Spirit and then man got a hold of it and twisted it into a Pharisaical legalistic mass of bondage, that was no different then the religious groups in Jesus’ day. The church today doesn’t even realize that with the forming of the denominations we have become the Sadducees and the Pharisees of this church age. Denomination means: Divide and number God never intended us to divide and number ourselves. He wanted us to follow Christ and be His bride, not see how we could separate ourselves from one another.
We must be willing to be cleansed by God, and instead of doing for the Lord we must allow God to do it through us. We cannot even qualify ourselves. Why, because we are already qualified!
We are going to read this in the second dimension when I point at you say your first name out loud.
For this reason from the day that we heard about you ______ we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you ______ with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10, And we pray this in order that you______ may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God. 11 being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you______ may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father who has QUALIFIED YOU________ to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. 13 For He has rescued you______ from the dominion of darkness and brought you into the kingdom of the Son He loves, 14 in whom You______ have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:9-14)
So where is that condemnation? “There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1)
How many of you here feel as though you have disappointed God?
At any moment you can have a new beginning. All you have to do is decide to allow the Lord to change you. There truly is a formula to having the peace and prosperity of God in your life. It’s really very simple, but it needs to be worked at, until you get it down into your spirit.
Four Steps to Peace and Prosperity in God
- REPENT: This doesn’t mean turn away from as it did in the OT, It means to allow God to change your mind. “I have messed up Lord, I want to do what is right, but it is impossible for me. In my weakness is Your strength. Change me Lord to be what you would have me be.”
- FORGIVE OR DON’T TAKE OFFENSE: If you do take offense say ouch, and then put it to death on the cross. You cannot offend a humble person. If you do take offense, hurt, anger bitterness, unforgiveness then pride has sneaked in the back door and God can only push down the proud, but He exalts the humble.
- PRAISE: Praise Him in every circumstance, even when you don’t want to, even when you don’t have an ounce of praise left in you, even when it doesn’t make sense to praise, even when you are angry with God.
- PROCLAIM HIS PROMISES UNTIL THEY ARE MANIFEST IN THE NATURAL REALM OF LIFE: Jeremiah 1:12 says that He is ready, anxious, vigilant, and excited to perform His word, but He must hear it coming from our mouth. Every word that comes out of our mouth is a seed that will produce a harvest, so what are you planting? Are you speaking His word one minute and then picking your own pocket the next with a negative seed?