2)
For I
determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him
crucified.
3)
And I was with
you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
4)
And my speech
and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration
of the Spirit and of power:
5)
That your faith
should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
6)
Howbeit we
speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor
of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
7)
But we speak
the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained
before the world unto our glory:
|
M |
an seems to
have a fundamental problem with the concept of and word "protection."
The word, itself, comes from the Greek word "telios."
Actually, the meaning of perfection is not what most people would like to
believe. It does not mean that one will never make a "mistake," (that
is, never give someone the wrong directions, never misquote a price, never "forget" something). What it does
mean is that one is "complete" and "sinless." Obviously,
"sinless completion" is attainable only through the receipt of the
Spirit of God.
We will be
aided in our understanding of the perfection of God if we understand Man's
place in Creation. The Lord chose to form us on day six of the Creation. Hence,
this has become the "number of
It is true
that man is created incomplete. The completion that he must have in order to
please God and gain entrance to heaven comes only through the infilling of the
Holy Ghost and baptism in His name.
Despite the
preponderance of the Word in print and voice, too many still believe that the
Holy Spirit is necessary only for a "special" work. What is not
promoted is that one must have the Holy Spirit to get to heaven.
You see, man
must undergo a complete "about face" in order to be changed into that
which God will accept. In order to do this, he must be ready, willing and able
to accept spiritual instruction. It is the flesh which got man into trouble in
the beginning and continues to get him into trouble and keeps him there. The
"Instruction" is the Holy Ghost and He must first be received, then allowed to teach.
We have
reached a point in our relationship with the Lord (as a people to a Saviour)
where He is showing that He is and has always been moved by commitment,
selfless devotion, and sincerity, among other things. The "prestige
game" has been played so long in the religious community that many have
"counted (themselves) out" of any real blessing of God. The truth is
that degrees and titles have no bearing on one's acceptance or understanding of
truth. One of the most liberating things about salvation is that it is a great
"equalizer." The basest, most unlearned man can make gargantuan
strides in God through sincerity, while the Ivy League educated Rhodes Scholar
could be as spiritually blind as the devil, himself, unless he chooses to
operate in the Spirit.
You see, the
latter is still "incomplete" in the Lord without baptism in Jesus'
name, the infilling of the Holy Ghost and a life centered around
Him. Anyone remaining thus will be unable to receive all that is necessary to
do any work for the Lord.
Remaining
non-Christ-centered means that we still "deal with" and accept the
things of the flesh as our reality. This keeps us encumbered by them and
thus, ineffective for the Lord. The only way that we are freed from these
concerns is by operating in the spiritual realm.
In 1997, the
people of God need to learn that all "business" (personal or
otherwise) is handled by the Lord as long as we remain "in Him". His
purpose in robing us in the Holy Ghost is so that we
might be freed from our own concerns so that we might attend to His. After all,
the work that He calls us to do involves the redeeming of souls--and for this,
we need all of our "strength".
It is ironic
that, after salvation, we believe there are choices to be made outside of the
Lord. Making this so foolhardy is the fact that the minute we accepted
salvation, we involved God in the rest of our life. It is His salvation that we
accepted and His life that was given for it. It only seems right that He be
given the right of domain.
Whether one
is saved or unsaved, God is always the "last word" in what
happens in the life of any individual. In the life of the saint, testing comes
largely to teach him to learn to bring his body under subjection. In the life
of the sinner, it comes to remind him of what he is not capable without
the Holy Spirit.
Those who
would serve God and be His "beneficiaries" must be able to be
controlled by Him. To be controlled by Him, He must be able to talk to
us. There is no other way that He is able to get us to listen than by the
direction of the Spirit.
In that we were
incapable of receiving God's direction before receiving the Holy Ghost, it is not possible that we would not need that direction
after the Holy Ghost. Though we hear this, can know it and have it proven
to us on a daily basis, we are often triumphant in Him only as we make a conscious
decision to be "stopped" by nothing and no one. When we really accept
that we are "complete in Jesus," we will accept that there is no
one worth being stopped by.