Articles
Part 2 of 4 Parts
The Following Message Has Been Transcribed For
Clarity, Continuity Of Thought, And Punctuation By
The LEM Transcribing & Editing Team.
You may want to know why my head is not covered, so I am going to tell you why my head is not covered. Glory to God. My head is not covered because the Bible is speaking of a spiritual covering that is necessary to protect women from that demon angel. Brethren, a piece of cloth cannot protect you from an evil angel. That is number 1. Number 2, as I told you last night, there is a spirit that is thinking through you. You are not an organ for the purpose of that particular ministry. The message and the messenger are one. He who is joined to the Lord is one Spirit. While the Lord is speaking through me, I and he are one Spirit and that makes my spirit male.
The one that is over the man is Christ, and Christ is a spiritual man. There is only one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus, the spiritual man, Christ. My head is not covered for two reasons. First of all, I am a spiritual man to you, for the purpose of this ministration, and I wear the cover that Paul is speaking about. The cover that Paul is speaking about is not a piece of cloth because a piece of cloth cannot protect you from an evil angel.
Any woman who would like to cover her head, there is no reason why you should not be able to cover your head. But we must understand that a cloth cannot protect us from evil spirits. The one who covers my head, whether I be a man or a woman, spiritual or human, he is the one that also lifts my head. He is the cover and the lifter of my head. His name is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one that protects me from the evil angel. Now we are told in Revelation in Chapter 12, that the devil has evil angels. The devil has angels and God has angels. Brethren, the evil angels work through the mind, which is in you, when you do not have Christ.
This is a deep word, but let me try to explain it to you. What Paul was saying was that you should not be preaching, you should not be prophesying, without Jesus Christ as your head cover because the spirit speaking through you is not Christ. You are a spiritual woman and for that ministration, you are subject to that angel, working through your carnal mind, through you. Have you heard of Paul’s prophesies? Are you aware that there are counterfeit gifts of the spirit? Do you people know that? That was what Paul was talking about. The angel that the woman needs to be protected from is working through her carnal mind, bringing forth a false prophesy. Do not stand up, do not preach, do not prophesy, do not talk about spiritual things in the church, unless it is Christ who is covering your head and speaking through you. Praise God.
Brethren, Jesus Christ has come to give you authority. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty, not liberty to sin. Should we sin because we have the spirit of liberty? God forbid it. He has come to set us free from religious works. Now I repeat, I know that you are a Nigerian culture, an African, who covers your head. You are allowed to cover your head. Feel free to cover your head, but be free to not cover it if you feel to not cover it. There is liberty where the Spirit of God is flowing, but where another spirit is flowing, there is bondage. Where the carnal mind is preaching, where the carnal mind is teaching, where the carnal mind is setting up rules, there is a spirit of bondage. Be free, brethren, not to sin, but be free to express Christ.
Be free to receive of everything of his Spirit that he would give you, in his time, in your walk with him, because your walk with him has just started. How do I know? Paul said, he does not know what is waiting for us, but we see Jesus. I do not know about you, but I do not look like Jesus, so I know that I have not yet attained to the fullness of the stature of the Lord Jesus Christ. I have a ways to go.
I have some things to learn. I have some changing to do. I have some improvements to make. I have to love a little more. I have to forgive a little more. I have to submit a little more. I am not there yet. That is how I know. I do not compare myself to my next door neighbor. When I compare myself to Christ, I know that I am not there yet because I do not look like he looks. Amen.
I would just like to say a few words about jewelry also. I know that Paul said something in Scripture about not bringing attention to yourself, through the effect of wearing of jewelry, or by the clothes that you wear, or by the plaiting of your hair. I believe that that Scripture is largely misunderstood. What Paul was saying is do not let the external world style be the only thing that is attractive about you. Do not let it be the primary thing that is attractive about you. You gave me a very warm welcome when I came up here to minister. I would like to believe that you welcomed me because you perceived, in some measure, the Spirit of God upon me, and not because your head minister has told you, that in his opinion, the Spirit of God rests upon me, and that the ministry that you see is Christ. I hope that is the primary thing that you are looking at. You are listening to the word. You are being edified by the Spirit. The fact that I love to wear rings does not increase me nor decrease me, therefore it should not affect the anointing, nor decrease me in your opinion.
Brethren, let all things be done decently and in order. Let us not overdo anything, but let us have liberty in Christ. Let us increase and mature in the Spirit, and let us leave our neighbor unto the Lord, for correction as to the clothing that he wears, and to the jewelry that he wears, or wears not, and to the head covering that he wears, or wears not, as to the job, or the husband, or the wife that he has, or has not. Let us take our eyes off our neighbor, and put them on ourselves because this is the hour, brethren, that the Lord Jesus Christ will mold you in his image. We cannot come into the image of the Lord looking outside of us. We must be willing to correct our walk, and to obey every correction the Lord requires of us, at this point in our spiritual journey. The hour is at hand to become spiritual.
Paul said that with his mind he serves the law of life in Christ, but in his flesh he serves the law of sin and death. Let us arise in Christ, brethren, and take authority over the flesh which serves the law of sin and death. Let us graduate into submission and let us serve God in the Spirit, because the letter of the word brings death, but the Spirit of the Lord in Christ Jesus brings life.
Let us go on, brethren, if the Lord permits, let us go on. Do not let the external trappings of this world prevent you, because there is a whole new world that we have not only been invited into, but we have a passport into. I could not have come to Nigeria without a passport to get into Nigeria, and you cannot enter into the kingdom of God without royalty, Christ Jesus. If I were to marry a Nigerian, and I do not really know about royalty, or to marry an American, you automatically become eligible for United States citizenship.
Brethren, we are the bride of Christ, and our husband lives in a faraway land, as far away from here, where none of the problems that we have here exist, but we must make this long journey to meet with him, where he waits for us. He has sent his ambassador to us, his Holy Spirit. The Spirit of Christ is his ambassador to lead us into the fullness of his life. Behold, the kingdom of God is where? It is within you. He is within you. There is a whole kingdom that is spiritual, brethren. Spiritual things, spiritual experiences occur in the mind. We have just begun, brethren. Do not be satisfied with what you have. Be grateful for what you have, but desire everything that the Lord is willing to give you.
I would like to speak a little bit to you tonight about becoming spiritual. I would like to give you some example. I think I will just make some comments starting with John Chapter 20, starting with verse 19. Let me give you some background. Jesus, the Christ, had been crucified. This was a great tragedy to the followers of Jesus. We rejoice over his crucifixion because through his death we have been reconciled unto God. Through his life we are justified, but his followers could not perceive this truth. This truth is in the Old Testament, brethren, but they could not perceive it. Why? Because they were carnal. They were thinking with their carnal mind. All they could think about was the here and now. Jesus was crucified. To them this was the end of all their hopes. What were they hoping for? They were hoping that Messiah would be a military leader, who would raise up an army and defeat Rome. Because Israel in that day was victimized by the State. They were in subjection to Rome.
The carnal mind of the Jew in that hour could only focus on the here and now. They could not perceive the one who came so humbly and meek riding on an ass. They did not perceive the truth of the Scripture because they desired what they desired. They had human desires that overruled the revelation truth of the Scripture. Brethren, we cannot be spiritual and carnal at the same time. For every given moment, from minute to minute, we are either spiritual or we are carnal. That is why the Scripture says the double minded man is unstable in all his ways. In our carnality is death, and in the light of his Spirit is life, so let us be spiritual, brethren. We see in John, Chapter 20, Jesus has been crucified, and his followers scattered. Jesus had even come to them and told them that he would be lifted up. He said the Son of man will be lifted up. He said it to Peter, and Peter said oh no, Lord, they will not crucify you. Jesus rebuked him, and said get thee behind me Satan. Do you know what he really said? Get thee behind me, your carnal mind. Let Christ arise in you, and see that I must be crucified.
If I am not crucified, I will not be raised from the dead. If I am not raised from the dead, there is no hope for humanity to be raised from the dead. Put your carnal desires away. You want me to stay with you right now, but what about the rest of humanity? Jesus said, deny yourself. Pick up your sword. It says that in the Greek. It means pick up your carnal mind and follow me. What does that mean? If your carnal mind is leading you, you will never follow Jesus. He said lay hold of that carnal mind. Take authority over it. Rule over it, and do what my Spirit tells you to do. Do not think for yourself, but think for the purposes of God. He who puts his own needs aside, and seeks to live to help humanity, that Christ should be glorified, he is the one, or one of those in whom Christ will be glorified. He is the one in whom the mysteries of the kingdom will be revealed; mysteries of the Word, understanding the Scripture with revelation, understanding the spirit world, and all the mysteries of the Spirit.
Brethren, do you know that every ungodly spiritual experience, that you know about here in Africa, it is a counterfeit of the truth of God’s Spirit? Do you know that we can travel in the Spirit? We must grow to a place where we are mature enough to have these experiences. The supernatural in Christ, the original supernatural experiences is with God. The witchcraft is the satanic counterfeit. It is just that, a counterfeit. When one experiences illegal ungodly spiritual witchcraft experiences, which is Satan, these experiences produce death. Brethren, the Lord Jesus Christ says to you, come into my kingdom. He has much to offer you, but we must be prepared to live out of his Spirit. Grow in his Spirit. Increase in his Spirit, and spiritual experiences will be yours. As I told you last night, try the spirit, brethren, because every spirit is not of God. Do not be deceived.
Someone right here in Nigeria told me that they believe that they had a miracle. Someone tried to rob them, and cut them with a knife, and their flesh did not cut. I heard the whole testimony, brethren, and in my opinion this was not the Spirit of God. This was an indwelling spirit of witchcraft that had been inherited from her ancestor. Try the spirit, brethren. Pray about everything. God will reveal the truth to you. God wants you to come into the kingdom. He is not holding back from you. He desires you. He is waiting for you, but we must walk doing it His way. It cannot be our way. There are rules in the kingdom, just like there are natural laws. You can go up into a high rise building, and jump out of a window from the 10th floor, but there is a natural law which is called the law of gravity. That means if you jump out of that 10th floor window, you will fall down, and your bones and your flesh will crash on the ground.
There are spiritual laws, brethren, that say when you enter into spiritual activity, when the spirit is not of God, it is illegal, and it brings disaster. If God permits, there is a spiritual activity in Christ that is glorious. We saw Jesus feed the five thousand. We saw him multiply the food. We saw him raise the dead. We do not see this too often today because God is involved in a program. He has a plan. There is coming a day that we will see that again. If you would like to be a part of his glory, tell him you want it. You see, there is one catch. In God there must be righteousness. With the spirit of Satan there is no price paid up front because the wages of sin is death. With our Lord Jesus Christ we have to pay the price right up front with righteousness. It has to be a desire for righteousness, not for spiritual power for selfish gain, not spiritual power for monetary gain, not spiritual power for vengeance, and not spiritual power for envy. He will give spiritual power to the one who desires to serve his fellow man. Righteousness must be your motive for desiring to partake of the spiritual power of the Lord Jesus Christ. Talk to him. He is waiting for your prayers. Amen.
I know I was in John, Chapter 20. You have to forgive me when I go off like this. I like to believe it is the Lord moving through me to meet your needs. I do not know what the needs are in a particular congregation, but he knows what you need to hear, and he joins with my mind, and he lays hold of one, two, or three, of the many experiences he has given me, to teach you. He brings it forth out of the treasures of my heart what you need to hear.
Now we are back in John, Chapter 20. Jesus was crucified. All of his followers were in sorrow, and even though he told them he would be raised from the dead, they did not believe him. They did not understand him because they were so concerned with themselves. The first day of the week Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples the stone was taken away from the sepulcher.
Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and said unto them, Peace be unto you. We see a supernatural manifestation of the resurrection of the dead. Jesus appeared to his disciples. Before that they were saying woe be unto us. The hope of Israel is gone. We thought this was Messiah, but he has been crucified by wicked men. Then the Lord appeared to the disciples and said, Peace be unto you. Put your carnal minds away because I have been raised from the dead. The Father raised the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead by the power of that Spirit, which is a part of Him.
Jesus appeared to the disciples and said, Peace be unto you. You have got it all wrong. I told you they were going to crucify me. I told you I would suffer. I told you they would lift up the Son of man. Have you not read the Scriptures where it says in three days and three nights I would be raised from the dead? Did not Jesus tell the Pharisees the only sign that you will see is the sign of Jonah? I will be in the grave three days and three nights just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale. Did I not say that if you tear down this temple, in three days I will build it again? What did the Pharisees say? What is he talking about? This man must be mad. That temple took many years to build. The disciples did not understand any more easily than the Pharisees. In another place, after Jesus spoke in parables, he took the disciples aside, and he explained to them what he said, but they still did not understand.
Do you remember the mount of transfiguration? Jesus was transfigured. He became glistering white. That glory which was on him was recorded on that mountain. The three disciples that were there were so overwhelmed, so frightened, that they could not cope with it. Who knows what they did? They said, Let us make three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. They wanted to be delivered from Rome. They did not want a supernatural man. They did not care that he healed the sick. All they wanted was a military victory for Israel. Their carnal minds were being exalted over the purposes of God. Brethren, we shall never enter into the kingdom of God with a carnal mind exalting its thoughts. Ask the Lord to help you to put down that carnal mind, that Christ may arise in you. Let us discern what the Lord is saying to us.
In John 20:20, After his resurrection Jesus appeared to the disciples, and he showed them his hands and his side that had been pierced.
Verse 21; Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father has sent me, even so send I you. Verse 22; And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. He was saying let the Spirit which is upon me, be upon you. Then he said in Verse 23; Whosoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosoever sins ye retain, they are retained.
Well, what does that mean? It means, brethren, that the Holy Ghost has a purpose. The Lord is giving an opportunity to you to experience spiritual things of his Spirit. It is good for you, it blesses you, and is an opportunity for you to practice spiritual experiences, but that is just the beginning. The Lord has purposes that far transcends our spiritual infancy.
Have you not heard that there are babes in Christ that must be fed the milk? But to you this day the Lord says, Come up higher. Come up higher. It is time to put away the milk. Whomsoever sins you retain will not be forgiven. They are not forgiven. You have the authority to decrease your brother’s bondage and troubles in this world and to talk to him of peace. You have the opportunity to do good or to do evil every day of your life. Every encounter we have with another human being, when we choose to forgive that man, and ask God not to charge that to this man’s account, we are giving this man an opportunity to turn around to God, or we can be a carnal person who even speaks in tongues. Do you know that some people who speak in tongues and prophesy, that they are carnal people? Did you know that? They come into church, and prophesy, talk in tongues, sing and dance, and they walk out the door. By the time they are on the street, they are fighting and cursing with their husband or their wife. They are fighting their neighbor. They are mad at their employer. It is true, is it not?
The Lord is saying come up higher. Come up higher and enter into the warfare that will make Christ your mind. Let that mind which was in Christ Jesus dwell in you. Paul said that in Philippians 2:5. In that chapter he talks about having love, being of one accord, of one mind. He says let nothing be done through strife or vainglory. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. He was not talking about money. He was talking about pride. Do you know the biggest enemy of the spiritual man is pride? Why do you not ask the Lord, brethren? If you are wrong, admit you are wrong, and if you are not wrong, lay down the argument. Lay down and give your weaker brother, the one who does not have the spiritual strength to lay it down, give him a chance to grow up in God. Brethren, this fighting, these disagreements, this is not God. Let peace be unto you.
Now you can let him know that you disagree with him, but do not contribute to this thing. Forgive his sin. Say Father, do not let this sin be to his account. I want to tell you a secret, a mystery. Do you know that there are mysteries in the Scripture? Somebody said to me last month that there are no mysteries in the Scripture. This woman read the Bible from cover to cover. The fact that there are mysteries in the Scripture never got into her heart. Why? Because something in her carnal mind did not like that idea, so she never saw those words. That is what I was talking about all night. Glory to God. I have a secret to tell you. When someone does wrong to you, and you forgive them, and you pray for those who hate you, and you pray for those who despitefully use you, this is what happens. I want to tell you that the Spirit of God is going right after those people to bring a correction to them, which will result in a salvation experience, if they do not know the Lord. If they do know the Lord, it will result in a correction that will improve their lives.
Brethren, if you have a brother who fights with everybody every day, there is something causing grief in his heart. It must be affecting his wife. It must be affecting his children. It must be affecting his job. He must have great torment in his life. Would you stride with him or would you say, no I forgive you, and I bless you truly? Watch the Lord bring a correction to this man, not a correction that will let you say, aha, aha, you got him for me. No, but a correction that will give your brother life. This man is bound by anger. He is bound by envy. He cannot help himself. That thing is bound up in him, and it speaks through him, just like Christ is speaking through me tonight. It is another spirit, that is not of God. It has taken over his mind. It has taken over his words. But you, who have Christ, you can say no, not with me, I bless you. Peace be unto you. If you really mean it, if you really mean it, the Lord will move in that person’s life. That was what the Lord was speaking about when he said, the one whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive him, there is no result for him through you.
Now I would like to give you some deeper insight on the forgiveness of sins. Brethren, I always thought if the Lord came to me and said I forgive you, well that is good, but does not the Scripture say every sin shall have it just recompense? Does not the Scripture say that you only reap what you sow? Brethren, when we sin, something happens inside of us. Something happens to our soul that drives us to continue to keep the sin. Sin is in the hearts of man. When the Lord says I forgive you, well that is very nice, except that tomorrow I am going to do the same thing, so I have to cover that sin and repent again. Is that not what they do in the Catholic Church?
Brethren, God has better things for us. He wants to remove that thing from the midst of you. The true forgiveness of sins is that Jesus Christ has so completely forgiven you, that he loves you enough to root that sin out of your hearts, so that you never do it again, so that you do not have to repent every time over and over again. In the language of the Spirit, he gives you liberty. When Christ forgives you, he delivers you of your sin. When you are delivered of that sin, he sends you out to other people with the same sin, and he lets them see you delivered, and you can tell them he will do the same thing for them. Responsibility in Christ, brethren, includes the message, I have much work for you to do. You cannot be children forever. He says I have much work for you to do.
Thus says the Lord, I have much work for my people. I announce to the North, and I announce to the South, and I announce to the East, and I announce to the West, that I see suffering, and I see disease, and I see torment of every kind. Sin is covering this world like a blanket. I have much work for those who will come into a right relationship with me. Desire righteousness and I shall cover you with wings, and I shall send you out to a worldly people, saith the Lord, with power. With power outside of these walls. Power to help them. But you must give up your childish hearts and desire righteousness and desire to be this power for the Lord. You must come unto me with a humble spirit, and a lowly heart, or I have much work for you to do.
John 21:31, But these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you might have life through his name.
Let us see what that means. How do we receive life through his name? Name in the Scripture typifies spirit. If you know someone’s name, you have an opinion about that family. I know them. I know their father, I know their grandfather, I know the uncle, I know all of the brothers. It means the people who serve God should have the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. You should have the reputation of the Lord Jesus Christ. That reputation is of the Father, founded in righteousness, doing good. You are not to do or say anything that the Father did not tell you to say or do. The resurrected Christ said you are engraved with my name. The way he gives us his name, the way he gives us his nature, is by that Holy Spirit, which he has poured out on the church for two thousand years. It is landing upon our hearts engraving his nature on us, because Jesus, the Christ, who could have lived forever, gave up his life and laid it down.
I told you last night that Jesus forcibly breathed out of his life at his crucifixion. It is very clear in the Greek. The crucifixion of his body could not kill that glorious life that was in him, which is called Christ. With his whole will and determination, he breathed out of that body because he wanted to die. Why? So that he could be raised from the dead, so that we all might have life, that glorious nature, that mind of Christ. The seed for it, that little mustard seed, has fallen upon our hearts, to grow up to the fullness of the stature of the Lord Jesus Christ, in you. He is the first of everything. We do not know what God has for us, but we see Jesus. Brethren, this is not the end. Come, let us go on. If the Lord permit, let us go on.
John 21:1, After these things Jesus showed himself again to his disciples.
Verse 2, They were together with Simon Peter. This was the second time Peter saw him. Check out verse 3. Simon Peter said unto them, I go a fishing. Now it goes to show you, how it was after all these things had happened. Christ had been crucified. There was great sorrow. He had showed himself to his disciples twice.
Obviously Peter also, and Peter said I go fishing. At this point, I want to show you that Peter was in his carnal mind. Now we all know that he became a great apostle of God later on. Jesus had said to him, by the time the cock crows three times, you will have denied me three times. Peter was a very carnal disciple. His carnal mind was manifesting at this point. Jesus had to rebuke him continuously. Be encouraged by this. No matter how carnal we are, the Lord wants to free us from our carnal mind. Be encouraged. Do not fall prey to a religious spirit which tells you that you have failed, and you will never be spiritual.
Do not fall prey to religious spirits which tell you that you must be perfect, or you must be holy, before the Lord will use you. Do not believe it. It is a lie. It is not true. Do the best you can, and start walking. He will use you in every way. He will teach you. He will train you no matter how carnal you are. He will make you over, if you submit to him, and restrain your carnal mind so the Lord can speak through you. He has work for you to do tomorrow. Do not do harm to anybody. We do not need counsel that comes out of the carnal minds of men. We know about false prophesy and false tongues. A sister comes to you with her problems. You say let me pray. You pray an anointed prayer and the glory of God comes down, but we do not stop there. We give her advice, but it is not of God.
Brethren, give people what they ask you for. If they ask you for prayer, pray for them. If they are hurting, and they want a shoulder to cry on, listen to them. Do not give them counsel unless they ask you for it. If they ask you for it, pray to the Lord before you give it. Ask him for his word for her, and do not exalt yourself.
Desire to be a servant and abide in Christ, and take some responsibility. God’s people need you. Peter was feeling ashamed when there was all this work to do. He did not understand what the Lord had told him. He did not know what to expect now that Jesus was raised from the dead. He was in his carnal mind and now he is going fishing. Christ was raised from the dead and he was going fishing. He did not understand that the provision had now been made for him. He did not understand this, so he went fishing, and jumped into the water when John told him that Jesus was near. Peter and the other disciples did not catch one fish until Jesus told them to cast their nets on the right side of the ship. There are times when you accomplish nothing in your life. You fail every time, but what happens with the failure, brethren, is that perhaps you are doing it your way and not the Lord’s way. Perhaps the Lord never told you to do it. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps. We must ask the Lord why we are failing. Did you not want me to do this? Did you not want me to do it this way? What is your way?
You see that the first account in the Scripture of the results of the resurrection of Christ is that the apostle Peter comes under correction.
Verse 3, Peter says, I am going fishing and that night they caught nothing.
Verse 4, But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus was appearing in a new form that they did not recognize, but they knew him, so they did have some spiritual discernment. They had some spiritual discernment. Then they cast their net on the right side of the ship. When they did it Jesus’ way, they caught so many fish that it was a miracle catch. The Lord has the desire to use our body and our mind, but he cannot because we are carnal, and because he is invisible, he brings the correction needed for us. Ask the Lord if you are doing what he wants you to do. He will answer you.
We go down to John 21:20, that says there was one disciple that Jesus loved. Why does the Scripture say that there is one disciple that Jesus loved? We know that Jesus is not a respecter of persons. What does this mean? There is another Scripture in another place where it says Jesus committed himself to no man because he knew what was in the hearts of men. I want to give you something to think about tonight. I want to tell you that this is my understanding about those two Scriptures. Do you know about that Scripture about the two souls of two men became entwined? Paul said it is a great mystery for a man and his wife to be of one flesh.
Their souls become one. Human beings form soul ties with their children, their relatives, and sometimes they are godly soul ties and they love each other. But there is such a thing as an ungodly soul tie where one tries to dominate the other. They try to control the other. They interfere in their life.
Jesus said, I hate one soul tie where the carnal minds of any man are based only on carnal knowledge because I know the hearts of man. The disciple that Jesus loved was John. I want to suggest to you that Jesus was joined to him in a godly soul tie that was not of the flesh, but was of the Spirit. Have you heard about the love between Jonathan and David? It was a love that was greater than the love between a man and his wife. That does not mean that there is anything wrong with the love between a man and his wife. The Scripture tells us that there is a higher form of love, a tie in the Spirit, between two people who are moving and living, at least a part of their life, out of the Spirit of God. The Scripture says there is a time for that Jesus’ love. What that means is that John, who was a disciple, had formed himself so much into the things of God that the Spirit of God was upon him with such a strength that it was possible for a soul tie to exist between Jesus and John, that was higher than the relationship of husband to wife. It was the same kind of relationship that David and Jonathan had. That is what it means.
It was not that Jesus was a respecter of persons. It was that John had followed after the Lord, had panted after the Lord, had pursued after the Lord to such a measure that a relationship of the human spirit evolved. Did anybody not understand what I just said?
Verse 7 says that it was John who recognized the Lord and he said, It is the Lord. How could John recognize him? Brethren, this man did not relate him to Jesus of Nazareth. I suggest to you that John did not know our Lord after the flesh, but he knew him after his Spirit. Paul said, henceforth, we know no man after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Does this man have the heart of God, or is he a carnal man? That is how we know all men. John recognized the Lord when his fleshly appearance was foreign. Now the Lord has already started, and he is about to start appearing to you in your mind. We must be able to distinguish between Christ and the carnal mind, between the counsel of Christ and the carnal counsel on people that have nothing to do with our spiritual life. They have nothing to do with it whether they are a man or whether they are a woman. They have nothing to do with it whether they go to your church or they go to another church.
I do not want anyone to get nervous over what I am saying. He wants to teach you. He will teach you. That is my job. All he wants from you is to understand and he wants to teach you, so that you will turn towards him, and receive his instructions. If you study the Hebrew prophets, it is very common for the Scriptures to say the prophet saw God and he awoke. If you study in the Hebrew like we did, that the prophet received an understanding that God wanted to talk to him, and then he turned toward God. I say unto you that the Lord wants to speak to you. He has much to say to you. Turn to him. He will teach you. He wants your attention.
John 20:15; So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, do you love me more than these others? Peter said, yes Lord, thou knows that I love thee. Jesus said to him, feed my lambs. Then Jesus repeated the question. I said to the Lord, why did you ask him three times if he loved you? Jesus said to me, Peter never did what I told him to do. I said to him, if you love me, feed my lambs. If you love me, feed my sheep. Peter said I love you, but he never said, yes Lord, I will feed your lambs and I will feed your sheep.
Let me back up. There are three Greek words that are all translated love. There is agape love, which is the love of God,that only can come forth from Christ. Natural men cannot love with agape love. It can only come from the Christ which is in our heart. It is a love that has a form of compassion that brings healing. When Jesus had compassion on the multitude, deliverance came. The second Greek word is phileo, brotherly love. This is the love that we are all capable of. When we have compassion on somebody with phileo love, there is not much we can do for them. Our compassion might comfort them, but it really cannot bring deliverance in their spirit. Then there is eros love, which refers to the love between a husband and a wife, physical love. Jesus said to Peter, do you agape me? Do you love me with the God love? Peter said to him, yes Lord, I phileo you. I love you with brotherly love. He never answered Jesus. He never answered him. He did not say no to him. He ignored the point of the question because he knew that Jesus was saying if you love me with the agape love of God, I want you to go out and minister to the people. Jesus told him that even though he answered the question wrong. Jesus said what he had to say anyway. If you look a little further down, Peter got a little upset because the Lord keeps asking him do you love me, because he was not getting the right answer or response from him.
Peter wanted to go fishing. He did not want to give up his life to go preach. He did not want to travel and be persecuted. He did not want to be crucified like the Lord. He did not want to make the sacrifice. He did not want to do it.
In Verse 18, Jesus said to him; Verily, verily, I say unto thee, when you were young, spiritually young now, spiritually young, you dressed yourself, and you did whatever you felt like doing, like going to one church one day, and another church if you felt like it. If the Lord calls you to study, you go in the other direction, until God brings a correction. God was winking at you because you were young, but it is time to grow up. When you are old, mature in Christ, thou shall stretch forth thy hand, and another shall direct you, and carry you where you would not like to go. Brethren, when you are called into the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, he directs where you go. He tells you what church to go to. He tells you where you will preach, what you will preach, and how you will preach.
Sometimes He will tell you things about your personal life and directions in your personal life. There is no decision that is yours alone when you are mature in Christ. Why? It is because God has use of you. He wants the use of your life. He wants your legs to walk where He wants to go. He wants the use of your mouth and your mind. Why? He wants you to say to that person what he wants to say to them. If you truly love Jesus, you will yield up your carnal mind to him. You will lay down your life. Lay down your life and let the life of Christ flow through you. Jesus tested Peter, and found him to be carnal. The Lord is always testing us. It is not to torment us. It is not to punish us. He tests us to find out what we are made out of. When he finds out that we are carnal, he moves to make us spiritual. Amen.
Transcribed by mjs 05/03/16
05/06/16 1st Edit rh
