Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

John 12:26

There is no other Truth than Jesus.  Paul didn’t surpass Jesus’ truth.  Peter didn’t understand more.  John, in his great revelation as the last book of the Bible wasn’t in possession of a greater revelation than that which Jesus is.

What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us— what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.

1 John 1:1-4

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 Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.

Galatians 6:1

What a far distance from this Scriptures so many people live today!  Not that this isn’t done, but that there are so few that can do it, or seem to, at the very least!  It happens for sure, but we could be further along.

Consider this.  If someone who is caught in a trespass, the one who is spiritual should restore the other in gentleness.  That is, the person who is not caught in sin should restore the person who is.  While it is obvious that a person here is caught in a trespass, let us not miss the obvious that there is someone in this picture who isn’t!

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He said to them, Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.

Mark 16:15-18

In my lifetime, I have been to many prophetic conferences.  I have been equipped, taught, and otherwise prepared and shaped through them.  As the late Jill Austin put it, she felt that conference were becoming the new Seminary for much of the Body of Christ.

Looking over the vast array of conferences, there are only a certain segment of them that interest me today.  The ones with a prophetic bent, the ones open to the manifestations of the Spirit, gifts, healing, prayer, and the like are what I generally go for, without another specific leading.  Certainly, my selection has been biased, I believe for the better, but God is the ultimate judge.

Yet, in the course of my attending many such meetings, it has come to my attention that there is a greater plan, the overall calling, or charter, if you will of many of these conferences.

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Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

Luke 1:1-4

Luke wrote that his readers, Theophilus then and us today, would know the certainty of the things taught.  The events that are important to us for our faith have been patiently and carefully researched and recorded for us by the hand of Luke.  Luke, a Physician, was meticulous in details such as names and places, and his work stands is both divinely inspired scripture and noted as historical by historians as its facts line up with other historical markers.

The primary focus of the Gospel, the Gospel of the Kingdom (Matthew 24:14), is the Kingdom, is the faith Jesus demonstrated through His life as who He was, and the work crucifixion in working our salvation.  Without the cross, there would be no salvation for us.  Without His birth, it never would have gotten started!

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A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.

Matthew 7:18

That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (John 3:6).  The physical body and the physical soul are not evil creations.  In the beginning, God created them, and He called them good (Genesis 1:31).  Yet, fallen man is completely incapable of pleasing God on his own (Romans 3:11).  It takes Faith to please God (Hebrews 11:6), and this is given (Romans 12:3).

The life of the Christian is marked by ‘baptisms’ (plural, see Hebrews 6:1).  We are baptized (immersion, you go down into it) into Christ, and we are baptized (immersion, you come underneath it) into the Holy Spirit.  This was depicted in the wilderness by the Israelites being baptized into the Red sea (water baptism) and the cloud (the Holy Spirit) (1 Corinthians 10:2).

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They shall construct an ark of acacia wood two and a half cubits long, and one and a half cubits wide, and one and a half cubits high. You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and you shall make a gold molding around it. You shall cast four gold rings for it and fasten them on its four feet, and two rings shall be on one side of it and two rings on the other side of it. You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, to carry the ark with them. The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be removed from it. You shall put into the ark the testimony which I shall give you.

Exodus 25:10-16

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).  What Moses built in the wilderness was a picture of an unseen thing.  He built according to the “pattern” that he had seen on mount Sinai.  That pattern was Christ, a detailed look at who He is as the Word of God and His ministry on Earth.

The entire of the tabernacle was a walk through model of Jesus.  Every facet of the tabernacle from the ark down to the very tent pegs and number of pillars represented something of the perfect man Christ Jesus.

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But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

Romans 13:14

Every step forward in the gospel is important.  Every lesson learned, every difficulty overcome.  Peter referenced this proverb in his first epistle.

If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?

1 Peter 4:18 (portion)

The higher we go in the Gospel, the deeper in His love, the more opportunities we could have to step off the narrow road.

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But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.

Galatians 5:16

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:2

The best, and most perfect way, to live is free from sin.  This is why God gave His law through Moses, so that we might know life, and fellowship with Him.  The Fall is what happened, and corrupted all of the creation.  The Cross is what enabled us to live free from sin, and the desires of the flesh.

We are told, quite simply, to “put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22-24).  This, to Paul, was his practical instructions on how to live without sin.

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Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Matthew 7:21-23

The Way is not power, it is faithfulness.  The path is not promotion, it is servant-hood.  The gift is not yours, it is theirs (2 Corinthians 1:6).  The road is not wide, it is narrow.

Jesus said plainly, unless you hate father, mother, sister, brother, children, spouse, even your own life, you cannot be His disciple (Luke 14:26).  He said quite distinctly that if you love someone else more than Him, you are not worthy of Him (Matthew 10:37).

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Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

James 1:27

Paul wrote that the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love (Galatians 5:6).  True religion is a good thing, as opposed to the thing commonly called the “religious spirit”, aka, the demonic force of blindness, deafness, and mere rules.  True religion expresses faith through an attitude of love.  The word “expresses” here means it does something.  As James wrote elsewhere, faith without works is dead (James 2:26).  Religion does something, it is both forward and reserved, but always after some goal.

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