DISCOVERING THE TRUTH IS A GAME CHANGER
Sun am 19 March 2017 – Sam Festus
(Matt. 16:18); John 17:21; Rom. 8:11, 14; (John 3:3); (John 1:12); (John 16:13); Gen. 1:1-3; (Ps. 42:7); 1 Cor. 2:6-16; Col. 1:3-20; (John 19:30); (Eph. 2:6); (Isa. 64:6)
The Body of Christ broadly speaking is fixated and hanging around the elementary things. People get saved, they know they’re going to heaven and just carry on. When it comes to the deeper things the vast majority of believers shy away from it and leave it up to a group or a remnant; a group that is willing to go above and beyond. God wants the entire Body of Christ to come and line up. When Jesus said, “I will build My church” (Matt. 16:18) He is expressly talking about His Body. If we look at the Church today it has very many faces. When Jesus said, that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me (John 17:21), should the Body of Christ not look the same throughout the earth? It is not quite like that at this point of time, but is reeling under the pressure.
There are those who came to the realization that they have to be born again to access the kingdom of God (John 3:3). Those who are led by the Spirit are children of God (Rom. 8:14). To as many as received Him, He gave the power to become children of God (John 1:12). Discovering the truth should be a game changer in our lives. The truth is sometimes inconvenient so when you are confronted with the truth, you have to accept it and embrace it. The Holy Spirit is the one who leads us into all truth (John 16:13). The Holy Spirit is the search engine of God. The Spirit was hovering over the waters. There was darkness over the surface of the deep, and God said “Let there be light.” Light is illumination, God showing us and revealing to us. The deep was the depth of God and deep calls to deep (Ps. 42:7). It is deep and dark and we cannot see into it, so we need the Holy Spirit as a search engine to go into the depths of God and to bring that to us.
Are you happy and satisfied? God has designed you for a special purpose. If you discover the truth, it will be a game changer in your life. Some live in an unrealistic and virtual world which they have created themselves. That is why we need the Holy Spirit to search God and deliver what God has for us, so we can live according to the design God has for us. Everything God has for us has never been meant for us as individuals. It is a provision within the Body of Christ. That is the framework within which God works. If we operate within the Body we have full access to the resources of God. The day you came to Christ you already arrived at your destination. You were taken out of the kingdom of darkness and put into the kingdom of God (Col. 1:13). You are in Christ now. I never realized that I had already arrived, so all my efforts and energy were towards getting to my destination. I did not enjoy the journey because everything was about getting there. You need to realize that the day you were born again you arrived at your destination in Christ! We have also received everything for the life we now live. It has always been God’s plan to reveal Himself in the earth. God is Spirit; He lives in a timeless realm. We however live in that spatial era.
When the Word talks about the only begotten Son (John 1:14), it means coming from the same womb, the womb of God. You and I come from that same womb because Jesus calls us brothers. We are part of Jesus, who is part of God. You need to understand who you are. The orphan is trying to find his or her identity. You and I who have been born again are part of God. You are not still getting there, you have arrived. You are born into the kingdom of God. You need to understand that is who you are.
Do you find it difficult to equate yourself to Jesus? It is something we struggle with. But when we are in the Spirit, it is the same Spirit. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us (Rom. 8:11). On a natural, physical level we are different, but on the spiritual level we are the same. We need to see that because our problems and struggles are because we do not see that (1 Cor. 2:6-16). We have the mind of Christ. Do not see it as you as an individual having the mind of Christ. You need to realize that as a body of Christ we have access and we have the mind of Christ. As we become sons we are placed into the Body. He is busy building His church and we are the building blocks. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. We need to move on from the elementary things and begin to walk in the maturity that God has given us.
You need to meditate on the Word of God. It is difficult because your mind is all over the place. David understood what it was to meditate on the Word of God. If you meditate on the Word of God you will grow in leaps and bounds. It is in those quiet times that the Holy Spirit can begin to download into your spirit those golden nuggets that will be the game changers between where you are now and where God is leading you. It is important to come aside with God because it is the Holy Spirit’s job to search the deep things of God and to deposit them into your life, into the Body of Christ.
Our job is to deliver this message of Christ into the earth. The world is in an unbelievable mess. The reason is because the Church in general is so self-centred. We are supposed to be engaging kings and rulers and principalities and powers. We have wonderful conferences but our mandate has always been to start in Jerusalem and then go to the ends of the earth. We have the notion of having to work “full-time” for God. That is often the wrong move because God has planted you where you are to bear fruit. We withdraw from the world and go into our cocoons
The writer of Colossians prayed that we may be filled with the knowledge of God and understanding (Col. 1:3-20). It is dangerous to have knowledge without understanding. The Body of Christ has to come into its fullness in the earth. Christ has done everything He can possibly do. In His summation He said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). But in you and I, His corporate Son, is where God wants to reveal Himself in the earth. We are seated with Him in heavenly places (Eph. 2:6). We are in the space that God wants us to be, but that needs to be revealed in the earth. It is not up to us; God is in control of the entire operation. Jesus is the measuring stick and it is up to us to align ourselves. He has sent His gifts into the earth, apostles, prophets etc. to correctly align us so we can be the Church in the earth. That is the critical thing, He has blessed us with all things and we have to come to this one truth; that God wants to reveal Himself in the earth; in the Father-Son relationship. God has gone through extreme lengths to provide that which we have now (John 3:16). In this truth that we have, that God has sent His Holy Spirit, let us trust the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us; to take us from where we are to where we should be. There is a coming together of the eternal and the natural. God is planning to reveal Himself. The revelation of Jesus in the earth is imminent. The world is ready for it. By the Spirit of God we need to interpret what we see around us. We must be in the position where we can influence, so do not withdraw from life, go out and live life in Christ. Start making changes and the difference God has called us to.
From what you have now heard, you have the Holy Spirit, you have been empowered, you have been given wisdom, knowledge and understanding; having received all that, do you think you can arrive at the place you want to be? Sit down with the Word and meditate on it. Jesus has done everything. It is for us to come and live in the realm God has called us to live in. It is not about hopping in and out of the realm. When you were born again you were placed in that position. You have to believe it.
You can do as much good work outside of God as you like, and it will be considered as filthy rags in the sight of God (Isa. 64:6). Once you are positioned in the Body of Christ, good works become effective and they are game changers. They affect the lives of the people around you. We are children of God and let us begin to live the way God intended for us. We can only access that through the Word of God. Allow the Holy Spirit to interpret what you are experiencing. Trust the Holy Spirit. He has called us for such a time as this.