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Learning to rest in the presence of the Lord is the secret to a life of peace. In this life our hearts are ever burdened with the cares of everyday living. Even when we do not mean to, we can spend an inappropriate amount of time focusing on what we do. Those in Ministry must be careful not to perceive that the functions we perform for our God are the same thing as a relationship with God. We can easily get lost in a maze of religious activity and fail to seek the presence and company of the Lord. It surely is not wrong to approach the throne with our needs pertaining to our work for the Lord, but when we never approach Him solely for the sake of relationship, a vital aspect of our Christian experience lies neglected. Sooner or later this lack of intimacy with the Lord will take its toll. Like Martha, Lazarus’ sister, we become burdened down with the doing of religion and we fail to simply sit at His feet and be comforted by His voice and His presence. The only place that we will ever find fulness of joy, that truly meets the need of the soul, is when we are in His presence!
Psalm 140:13 - Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name: the upright shall dwell in thy presence.
Proverbs 28:3
A poor man that oppresseth the poor is like a sweeping rain which leaveth no food.
Poor people who oppress other poor people are no different from a thief who steals from another theif, a liar that lies to other liars, or a gossip that will gossip about another gossip. Sin is sin, and all that are bound by sin, which is all who do not have their faith in Christ and Him crucified, as that is a sin itself, will only be able to oppress others. As Jude calls the creepers clouds without water (Jude 12), these also bound, will only be able to bind others in their own bondages, and though it seems like it is raining, there will be no food for growth and maturity.
We as Christians are ministering to others from a platform of victory through faith in Christ and His atoning work at Calvary, or we are ministering from our own bondages and oppression due to not having exclusive faith in Christ. Anything not of faith is sin (Romans 14:23), and faith in anything other than Christ and His work at the cross is sin. Remember that our faith can be for the Lord to do many things for us, but our faith must never be IN anything other than Christ and His cross!
Seeking God in His Word and experiencing Him through faith in the sacrifice of Christ!
"And I, Brethren, if I yet preach Circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? Then is the offense of the Cross ceased (Gal. 5:11).
The doctrine of the Atonement is offensive to the self-righteous mind, for it declares that man is morally lost, wicked and hopeless, helpless and dead and that he can only be recovered by being re-created. This re-creation takes place when he believes upon Christ as an atoning Saviour. Man denies that he is altogether lost, and he claims that he can add something to the Sacrifice that Christ infinitely accomplished for him at Calvary. Such an addition destroys the Gospel, for it denies the infinite perfection of Christ’s Sacrifice. If that Sacrifice is infinite, then there is no room for human additions to it in order to add to its perfection.
To preach Christ and good works — proudly named “the ethical gospel,” or some such like — does not involve persecution; but to preach the true Gospel always involves persecution.
What is the offense of the Cross?
Why is the Cross an offense?
The “offense of the Cross” is the fact that God demands that there is only one way to Justification and Sanctification, and that is the Cross. That puts to death every effort of man — above all, his religious efforts. This is offensive to the flesh, offensive to the carnal nature, and it arouses enmity against those who place their Faith totally and completely in Christ and the Cross. As we have previously stated, Abraham did not want to give up Ishmael, but the Cross demands it.
The answers to both questions, i.e., “What is the offense of the Cross?” and “Why is the Cross an offense?” are very similar.
The Cross of Christ, and one’s total Faith placed in that Finished Work, must, of necessity, eliminate all self-righteousness. As Ishmael was dear to the heart of Abraham, our self-efforts are also dear to us. The Cross of Christ offends all religion, all self-effort, all works, and all self-righteousness. These things must be cast out, even as the bondwoman and her son were cast out by Abraham (Gal. 4:29-30).
There is no room for both the “Cross” and the “flesh.” One or the other must go! The Cross is always an offense to self-righteousness because it exposes it for what it really is — the flesh, which God can never accept. The Lord can only accept the Righteousness of Christ."
— Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day”) Donnie Swaggart
There is never any need to doubt this truth, that God is involved and interested in everything that pertains to you and me. The scripture declares that we are inscribed in the palms of His hands. And again, that God's thoughts about us or as many as the sands on the seashore. Consider the last time you walked along a sandy beach. Could you count the grains of sand underfoot? The Bible says that God’s eyes are everywhere. He describes himself as an all knowing and an all seeing God. And again, the Bible declares that God is watching over His children, attentive to their needs, hearing their cries, and counting their tears. So there is absolutely positively zero amount of doubt as to whether or not God knows right where you are at this very moment. All evidence points to the truth that God is already working things together for your good. His mercy towards us is limitless. His faithfulness knows no bounds. And He has promised to watch over and care for every single thing in our lives that concerns or pertains to us. It is good to know that I have God in my corner!
Psalm 138:8 - The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.
Proverbs 28:4
They that forsake the law praise the wicked: but such as keep the law contend with them.
The Law of God is the Word of God, but specifically speaking of the Laws which God gave Moses, if turned away from, in the eyes of God is praise for the wicked. Those who hate God’s laws, actually hate God, and all those who hate God, love death (Proverbs 8:36). The Word of God is God (John 1:1-2), therefore the Laws that God gave Moses were His Word and a representation to some degree of Himself.
All who keep the Law will always be found contending with those who love wickedness. God gave man the sacrificial system, so that through faith in the Redeemer, He would see them as covered by the blood of the only One who would ever keep the Law. His name is Jesus. These are they who are found contending with those who are rejecting God’s Word in its proper context. Those who aren’t contending for the faith, are struggling with the faith.
Seeking God in His Word and experiencing Him through faith in the sacrifice of Christ!
“For, Brethren, you have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, for by love serve one another (Gal. 5:13).
The Gospel does not liberate a man to a life of laziness and self-indulgence, but to an unceasing Ministry of loving service to humanity.
By the use of the word “liberty,” Paul here reaches back to all that has preceded it, summing up the whole preceding argument for Christian liberty, and looking ahead to what follows in that it introduces a wholly new aspect of the matter of Christian liberty, namely, the danger of abusing it.
To those who have been accustomed to regard law as the only controlling factor that stands in the way of self-indulgence and a free reign in sin, and to those who have not been accustomed to a high standard of ethics, the teaching of Christian liberty might easily mean that there is nothing to stand in the way of the unrestrained indulgence of one’s own impulses. During his Ministry, Paul often had his hearers react in this way to his teaching of Grace.
The questions in Romans 6:1 and 6:15, “Shall we continue in sin, that Grace may abound?” and “Shall we sin because we are not under the Law, but under Grace?” were asked by someone who did not understand Grace. Paul answers these questions in the Sixth Chapter of Romans. He shows that the control of the sinful nature over the individual is broken the moment he believes, and the Divine Nature is then imparted; the Believer, therefore, hates sin and loves the right, and he has both the desire and the power to keep from sinning and to do God’s Will.
In the Epistle to the Galatians, Paul shows that the Believer has come out from under whatever control Divine Law had over him, and in Salvation has been placed under a superior control, that of the indwelling Holy Spirit, Who exercises a stricter supervision over the Believer than Law ever did over the unbeliever, Whose restraining power is far more effective than the Law’s restraining power ever was, and Who gives the Believer both the desire and power to choose the right, a thing which Law never was able to do.
The Believer has, therefore, passed out of one control into another, from the control of a mere system of legal enactments into the control of a person, God the Holy Spirit. When God abrogated the Law at the Cross, He knew what He was doing. He did not leave the world without a restraining hand.
He ran this world for 2,500 years before the Mosaic Law was enacted. He can run it again without the Mosaic Law. He does not need the help of legalistic Teachers and Preachers in the Church who think they are helping Him control this world, who control Believers by imposing Law on Grace. Indeed, it is the general ignorance and lack of recognition of the Ministry of the Holy Spirit that is responsible for the tendency in the Church to add Law to Grace.
There is a recognition of the fact that the flesh is still with the Christian even though its power over him is broken, and consequently, a feeling that even the Child of God stills needs a restraint put upon him. This is as it should be. But the mistake that so often is made is that the Mosaic Law, or laws devised by men, are substituted for the restraint of the Holy Spirit, always with disastrous results.
Not only does the Law (whatever kind) not restrain evil, but, on the other hand, it brings out evil in the life, because the fallen nature rebels against it (Rom. 7:7-13), and the latter is thus incited to evil. The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, is the Great Restrainer of evil, and He most definitely will do so if the Believer will properly place his Faith in Christ and the Cross and keep his Faith in that Finished Work.
No Preacher ever enables Christians to whom he ministers to live a better Christian Life by putting them under the Ten Words from Sinai and by letting them smell the brimstone of the Lake of Fire. A policeman on the street corner is a far more efficient deterrent of lawbreaking than any number of city ordinances placarded for public notice. To acquaint the Saint with the Ministry of the indwelling Holy Spirit, telling the Saint how He works, is far more productive of victory over sin than the imposition of the Law. The controlling Ministry of the Holy Spirit is the secret of Holy Living and the only secret for Holy Living. This is the Power of which Paul spoke, and the Power we must have to live a victorious life, which is invested in the preaching of the Cross (I Cor. 1:18).
(Most of the above material on “liberty” was derived from the teaching of Kenneth Wuest.)”
— Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day”) Donnie Swaggart
The true riches of life do not come from a bank. Neither do they flow from any other financial institution, occupation, or platform of prestige. The true riches in life are found in the love that is expressed from one heart towards another. God loved humanity so much that He designated His only Son as a sin offering. He was sent from heaven to meet the true need of humanity, to free us from the debt and the dominion of sin’s grasp. This expression of love will never be matched, as nothing could ever compare to the cost of God’s sacrifice of His Son. For those who have experienced the benefits of this expression of love, those who have accepted Christ as their Lord and Saviour, a willingness to transfer love towards others, from the bank of supply freely dispensed, should be a normal and consistent action. Those who have received such great love should have “pockets full” of love to draw from and proffer towards others. When we are sensitive to the needs of others, when our lives are not consumed by our needs only, and when we care enough to extend what we have freely received towards others, then the true riches in life are passed forward to others.
John 13:35 - By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Proverbs 28:5
Evil men understand not judgment: but they that seek the Lord understand all things.
Evil men cannot understand judgment, because God says He is known through the judgment which He executes (Psalm 9:16), and He is only known through one’s faith in His Son Jesus Christ and the judgment of sin God executed upon Him for us all. Evil men refuse to believe this Truth and to trust God through this avenue alone. Remember Cain.
Those who seek the Lord understand all things, because all things are revealed only by Him In Christ. God has promised us that if we seek Him with our whole heart we will find Him (Jeremiah 29:13), and when we diligently seek Him that He will reward us with who He is (Hebrews 11:6).
Understanding is the knowledge of the Holy (Proverbs 9:10), therefore only as we serve God in Righteousness and Holiness (Luke 1:74-75, Romans 6:17-22) will we walk in the understanding of God’s Ways.
Seeking God in His Word and experiencing Him through faith in the sacrifice of Christ!
“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that you cannot do the things that you would. But if you be led of the Spirit, you are not under the Law (Gal. 5:16-18).
The word “Walk,” as used here, refers to the act of conducting one’s self, or ordering one’s manner of life or behavior.
The word “lust” refers to a strong desire, impulse, or passion, the context indicating whether it is a good or an evil one.
The word “flesh” refers here to the totally depraved nature of the person, the power of which is broken when the Believer is saved.
Therefore, the “lust of the flesh” refers to the evil desires, impulses, and passions that are constantly arising from the Sin Nature, as smoke rises from a chimney. The Sin Nature is not eradicated, as some teach! However, its power over the Believer was broken when the Believer was saved, and the Believer need not obey it, at least if the Believer understands God’s Prescribed Order of Victory. But the Sin Nature remains in the Believer, constantly attempting to control the Believer, as it did before Salvation wrought its work in his being.
In these statements made by Paul, we notice that he puts upon the “Believer” the responsibility of refusing to obey the behests of the evil nature by conducting himself in the Power of the Holy Spirit and under His control. The will of the person has been liberated from enslavement to sin, which was his experience before Salvation, and is free now to choose to do the right thing. The Holy Spirit has been given to the Believer as the Agent to counteract the evil nature.
So how does the Holy Spirit work?
Is His Work in our lives automatic?
Is there any responsibility on the part of the Believer toward what the Spirit does?
These are just a few of the questions that characterize this subject.
The Holy Spirit, Who resides in the heart and life of every Believer (I Cor. 3:16), doesn’t require much of us, but He does require one thing. He requires Faith! However, the Faith which He requires must be placed in the correct object. That correct Object is always Christ and the Cross. It was at the Cross where the Lord Jesus atoned for all sin; consequently, the power of sin was broken, which means that Satan there lost his right to hold man in captivity and bondage.
If Satan holds man in bondage (and, regrettably, he does so with most of the world, and even most of the Church), it is simply because that man does not take advantage of what the Lord did for him at the Cross. The sinner can come out from under the bondage of Satan, if the sinner will only accept Christ.
The Believer can stay free of bondage, never allowing the Sin Nature to rule in his life, providing he maintains Faith in Christ and the Cross, which then gives the Holy Spirit liberty to work (Rom. 8:1-2, 11). Only then can the Believer successfully “walk in the Spirit.” Only then is he in a position where he will no longer “fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
— Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day”) Donnie Swaggart
There is a function that God has assigned to every believer. It is not always an easy or simple thing to find that purpose. But if a believer will yield His heart to Christ and allow Him to lead them, that function, that purpose, will become clear. Once that purpose has been located, the powers of darkness, which are very real and certainly do exist, will begin to work to hinder, alter, or to try to eliminate the work to which we have been called. Oftentimes, the attacks are directed toward the goal of our ministries. But more often than not, powers of darkness will focus their attention upon the life, heart, and faith of the one called to the work. There will be times when defeat seems imminent. It may appear that there is no way out of the snares established against the believer. But when God calls us to do a job, He fully intends to bring us through the negativity of all opposition. If we will refuse to give in to the voice of the enemy, if we will refuse to be overwhelmed by discouragement, if we will refuse to become dismayed, God will bring us through. If you will not quit believing, God will finish everything He starts through you!
1 Chronicles 28:20 - And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it : fear not, nor be dismayed: for the Lord God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord .
Proverbs 28:6
Better is the poor that walketh in his uprightness, than he that is perverse in his ways, though he be rich.
The world’s riches mean absolutely nothing as they will all one day be burned away just as the grass. It is better to be poor and walk in integrity, which is our completeness and innocence before the Lord, through faith in Him. It is only one’s faith in the work of Christ on the cross that makes us complete in Him and innocent in God’s eyes (Colossians 2:10).
It’s better to have Jesus and nothing else than to have everything else and be without Jesus. He is our uprightness before our God, and our faith in Him is recognized by God as our uprightness. Praise the Lord for His faithfulness toward all of humanity, as He tasted death for ALL men by the grace of God (Hebrews 2:9) so that we who believe can taste that same death by faith (Romans 6:6-8, Galatians 2:20), and our declaration will be, “O taste and see that the Lord is good, blessed is the man that trusts in Him.”
Seeking God in His Word and experiencing Him through faith in the sacrifice of Christ!
“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 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 (Gal. 5:19-21).
The manner and way that one can tell if one is truly following Christ, and, by that, we refer to placing one’s Faith in Christ and the Cross, and maintaining his Faith in that manner, is that the “works of the flesh” are no longer in our life. The only way, and we mean the only way, that the Believer is going to be free from the “works of the flesh” is by the method which we have just mentioned: Faith in Christ and the Cross. If one resorts to Law in any measure, to self-effort regarding rules and regulations, etc., such a Believer is going to fail the Lord. The Holy Spirit simply will not help such a Believer. As we have previously stated, the reason the Holy Spirit will not help is that such a person is committing “spiritual adultery,” and the Holy Spirit will have no part of that, as should be obvious.
Let us say it in another way:
There is only one way for victory over “works of the flesh,” and that is by the Power of the Holy Spirit, Who performs His Work exclusively within the parameters of the Finished Work of Christ. In other words, what the Holy Spirit does in our lives constitutes a legal work. That’s why Paul said, “For the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the Law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:2).
As we have also previously stated, victory over the “Law of sin and death,” which characterizes “works of the flesh,” can only be brought about through “the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus,” which is the most powerful Law on the face of the Earth, but yet the only Law that is more powerful than the “Law of sin and death.”
We should look very thoughtfully at this list of “works of the flesh” (Gal. 5:19-21). While all of us might concur to the wickedness of the first four, we very little think of “idolatry,” “witchcraft,” “hatred,” “heresies,” etc.
Please, however, note carefully:
Every single Preacher in the world who is preaching something other than Christ and the Cross is preaching “heresy,” which is a “work of the flesh.” Furthermore, anything that we place as a substitute for Christ and the Cross is judged by God as “idolatry.”
Paul tells us here that if we refuse God’s Way, which is the Way of the Cross, which means that these “works of the flesh” are going to run unchecked within our lives, even growing steadily worse, the end result can most definitely be the loss of the soul. So God’s Way of the Cross is not one option among several. It is the only option!”
— Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day”) Donnie Swaggart
The new covenant established by Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on Calvary is a covenant of grace. The Christian cannot work for the status of being righteous, rather, the righteousness of Christ is freely imputed by faith alone. This position of righteousness is what allows God to enter into and maintain a relationship with Christians, and is established by faith in the finished work of the Cross. The believer then comes face-to-face with his true spiritual condition. Despite the miracle of regeneration, there is still much change that is needed in our hearts and minds. Since our condition is a “work in progress,” we are to make constant strides towards holiness. We are warned in scripture not to use our liberty (the truth that I cannot earn righteousness) as an excuse to act in an unrighteous manner. Flesh never desires to submit to the never ending procedure of being transformed into the image of Christ. To do wrong, and then point to our positional righteousness as the reason why this wrong is acceptable, is a misuse of one's liberty in Christ. All believers are held accountable to experience the transforming power of God's goodness and His grace. Let His grace save, refine, and define your total being!
Galatians 5:13 - For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
Proverbs 28:7
Whoso keepeth the law is a wise son: but he that is a companion of riotous men shameth his father.
Those children who accept the teaching of their Christian father’s who teach them God’s Word are the wise children, but those who walk in the place of riotous men, which refers to gluttons who fill themselves with the pleasures of this world, ALWAYS bring shame to their parents.
There is no getting around the reality of those who are learning the wisdom of God’s Word walking in the wisdom of God’s Word, and those who do not walk in the wisdom of God’s Word are rejecting God’s Word. There are many who attend churches, or listen to what is called Christian radio, but have never had a born again experience, or they have, but no longer have their faith in what it was that saved them, and there can be nothing but the experience of shame, confusion and condemnation in a life where the object of faith isn’t Christ and His atoning work at the cross. We can all choose to come back to the place of hearing and receiving today (Revelation 3:3), the cross!!
Seeking God in His Word and experiencing Him through faith in the sacrifice of Christ!
“But the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, Faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no Law (Gal. 5:22-23).
Paul places the “Fruit of the Spirit” in juxtaposition to the “works of the flesh.”
The word “Fruit” is singular, a fact which serves to show that all of the elements of character spoken of in these Verses are a unity, making for a well-rounded and complete Christian Life. All the “Fruit” grows uniformly, which means that the growth rate is the same for all, i.e., whatever growth there is of the “Fruit” in one’s life, it is the same across the board. One cannot have more “love” than one has “faith,” etc.
Also, this is the “Fruit of the Spirit,” which means it’s not the fruit of someone else or even one’s self. This means that development and growth rate are brought about exclusively by the Holy Spirit. So, how is the development and the growth rate of the “Fruit of the Spirit” brought about in the heart and life of the Believer?
Only one way, which refers, once again, to our Faith in Christ and what He did at the Cross! As I have been continually saying, this gives the Holy Spirit latitude to work within our lives. This alone gives Him such latitude. He will work in no other manner!
In 1997, the Lord began to open up to me the Revelation of the Cross. He first showed me the cause of problems, which is the fact of the Sin Nature and it not being properly addressed by the Believer. The Lord then told me the solution for the Sin Nature, which is the Cross of Christ, and the Cross of Christ alone. Then He showed me the manner in which the Holy Spirit works in all of this, which I had never seen anywhere else until the Lord revealed it to me from Paul’s writings. I speak of Romans 8:2.
Unfortunately, all types of schemes, programs, self-efforts, and unscriptural doctrines are being projected as a means of Spiritual Growth.
Let us say it again:
If it’s not Christ and the Cross, the Holy Spirit simply will not work, which means there is no development or growth of the Fruit of the Spirit. The Cross is the means by which everything comes to us from the Lord, and Christ is always the Source (Jn. 14:6).”
— Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day”) Donnie Swaggart
