Monday, May 24, 2021

“MAKING THE RIGHT CONNECTION”! (Pt.1)

 

TEXT:  Matthew 9:20-22 (portrays CHRIST OUR KING AND SAVIOUR)!  [KJV]

Behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment:  for she said within herself, “If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole”.  But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, “Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole”.  And the woman was made whole from that hour.

Connect means “to join or unite; or associate oneself with another person or thing; to link or bond with”.

 Synonyms for Right:  good; reasonable; suitable; creditable; legitimate; correct; proper; precise; exact; accurate; true / Connect:  bond; tie; link; fasten.

For electricity to flow it needs conductors.  The path which the current flows from start to end is a circuit.  The circuit includes the generator that starts the current, the wires, and the device the current operates, such as electric lights, stoves, refrigerator, etc.

If any part of the circuit is removed, such as a wire or a connection between the wires, the current cannot flow.

For any electrical device to operate, all the right connections have to be made for that current to flow.

Matthew 9, a certain ruler of the synagogue (Jairus) came and worshipped Jesus, and told Him his daughter had died, but he said to Jesus that if He came and laid hands upon her, she would live.

 But this “woman” with the issue of blood was not on Jesus’ agenda, but she had Him on hers!!

·         Matthew 9:21 states, “She said within herself, if I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole”.         

Why within herself?  She didn’t say it so anyone else could hear it – because she didn’t want to leave any room for doubt to come in from the outside! She knew that once she joined or linked up with Jesus, she would be making the correct, proper, precise, or true "connection".

·         Matthew 6:3: When you do alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth.

 In Mark 5, it states that this woman came in the press behind Him and touched his garment.

There were multitudes of people thronging Jesus, but the “woman” with the issue of blood by faith was the one that made the right (true) connection!!

She was in a position where she’d become desperate to be delivered from this diseased issue of blood.

 Diseased is from the root word kakos’, meaning badly (physically or morally); be sick; evil; grievously, sore, miserable; amiss (in a wrong way; astray; faulty); depraved (to make morally bad or corrupt).

She was diseased with an issue.  Issue is from the root word haimorrhe’o, meaning to flow blood, in relation to have a hemorrhage.

·         Mark 5:25: A woman which had an issue (rhu’sis which is a flux) of blood twelve years:

·         Vs 26: She had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse (more ill).

Galatians 5:13-26, (Paul is defining liberty): vs 16-18: This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.  For the flesh lusteth 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.

Vs 19-21: 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.

The “works of the flesh” are many but the one I would like to point out for this lesson is “witchcraft from the root word pharmakei’a”, defined as medication, “pharmacy”, ie by extension, magic; sorcery. It goes too another word pharmakeus’, which is a drug, ie spell-giving potion; a druggist (pharmacist) or poisoner, ie a magician:  sorcerer.

Whenever someone gets sick usually they go to a Doctor and the Doctor prescribes medication to help rid of the problem diagnosed, that you have to pick up at the pharmacy”.  I’m not against Doctors or medicine, thank God for them and what they do.  I’m saying this to prove a point.  This method they use is an outside source used to help people.  This is what religion has been doing for years, prescribing an “outside source” of deliverance for God’s people.  What “outside source”?  One of these days Jesus is coming back to deliver us!  When you get to heaven you can have your new body!  Some say, they can’t wait to go home to be with Jesus!  The outside source is the flesh of Jesus!  Many Christians are waiting for Him to come back and deliver them, when He has already did what His Father sent Him to do!

·         John 17:4: I have glorified thee on the earth:  I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.

We must come to “know” Him by the Spirit because His flesh is no more except in you!!!

·         John 6:53: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you have no life in you.

How is this done?  By eating (devouring; appropriating) the Word of God and applying it to every area of our lives!  St. John 1:1: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  Vs 14: And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.  [Jesus was God or the Word made flesh]!

So when we believe the Word of God, study the Word of God, and appropriate (apply) the Word of God to our everyday living, this is “eating the flesh of Jesus”!  When we “eat His flesh” that places Him inside of us!!  Therefore we don’t have to wait for an “outside source” to come an deliver us, “the source” is on the inside of us and all we have to do is tap into that “inside source” to get what we need from the Father!

·         2 Corinthians 5:16: Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh:  yea, though we have known (past tense) Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth (from hereon) know we him no more. 

God is Spirit and we must worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).  This is how we make the right connection”!

Let’s take a look at what John saw in Revelation 9 in relation to the plaque of locusts (works of the devil) from which men repented not of:

·         Rev.9:21: Neither repented they of their murders (not loving the brethren), nor of their sorceries (witchcraft) nor of their fornication (idol worship), nor of their thefts (taking from God’s people what’s rightfully theirs by not giving them the “truth”, holding them in bondage, many for their own selfish gain).

·         Rev.18:23: And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee:  for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. 

·         Vs 24: And in her (the false church system) was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

[In sorcery (witchcraft) the use of drug whether simple or potent was generally accompanied by incantations and appeals to occult powers with the provision of various charms, amulets (something worn as protection against evil, etc), professedly designed to keep the applicant or patient from the attention and power of devils, but actually it was to impress the applicant with the mysterious resources and powers of the sorcerer].  This describes the Ahab class, those married to the Jezebel’s of religion, churches not preaching the fullness of God in us right now.  They tell you that you have to wait until you get to heaven to totally overcome.  Truth is, we are already in heaven, in Christ Jesus, which are the higher realms of spiritual elevation, and we are overcomers right here and right now!

·         Ephesians 2:5: Even when we were dead in sins (past tense), hath quickened us (made alive) together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved); vs 6: And hath (already) raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

We are already in “heavenly places” in Christ Jesus and didn’t have to physically die to get there!  Hallelujah!!

The “sorcerer’s” of today, physicians of religion, many are theologically educated, and that’s good, but many lack “the revelatory insight” of God’s Word that will cause God’s people to move into the place of receiving the riches of the glory of God’s inheritance in the saints (Ephesians 1:18), that He’s given us through Jesus the Christ right now:  divine health, eternal life, wisdom, knowledge, understanding, dominion, authority, and power, etc.  They are feeding the people wormwood (ap’sinthos) [bitterness; calamity], that’s spoken of in Revelation 8:11.  God said His people are destroyed for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6).  But its truth that’s going to free us, heal us, and deliver us from the bondages of men.

Back to Matthew 9 – “the woman with the issue”:

Webster defines issue  as an outgoing; outflow; an exit; outlet; a result; consequence; offspring; a point under dispute; a sending or giving out;; to let out; discharge.

 Mark 5:25-26, as we look at this text this certain woman had an issue of blood twelve years and had suffered many things of many physicians, and spent all she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse!

When a woman is bleeding she is not in production.  The number twelve is God’s number of “son-ship”!  Jacob had twelve sons and Jesus had twelve sons or disciples!  

This “woman” is a type of the church that had become “diseased with an issue of blood” and she was not in “production” so as to bring forth “sons of God”.  Why?  She had suffered [(pas’cho) to experience a sensation or impression (usually painful); be vexed)] many things of many physicians:  (iatros’) to heal / (ia’omai) to cure; make whole].  These are the results she was hoping for, but these “physicians” she was dealing with weren’t able to restore health to her as it still stands with many of the religious leaders of today with the doctorates or degrees of religious order or teachings.                     There are many “religious doctors” today that have graduated from cemeteries (seminaries) with Doctorates, Degree’s etc (and that’s all good), but if what they're giving God's people doesn't line   up with the Word of God in relation to teaching God’s people the “revelation truth’s”, the doctorate will only cause some to have “big ego’s” and “very little log’os” (the unadulterated Word of God)!   Many have only become kings of the earth – that has fallen into the Ahab class sleeping with the “Jezebel’s” (the false church system) of religious order. 

Jezebel is defined as “to enclose” (shut in all around; surround); a termagant (quarrelsome scolding woman) or false teacher”.

·         Revelation 2 [Message to Thyatira]: Vs 20: Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that “woman Jezebel”, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication (idol worship), and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.

 There are many that have “degrees”, but they don’t “AGREE” with the Word of God.  If you don’t believe it, began pouring revelation truths into them, and watch their response!  Tell them that they don’t have to die, and that they can live eternally!  Tell them they don’t have to wait for Jesus to come back, because He is already here!  Some of them are like the religious sects of Jesus’ day that will stone you because of what you believe, preach, and teach.

·         Amos 3:3: Can two walk together, except they be agreed? 

Meaning “to fix upon, consent, or harmonize”!

But God has some “kings of the east” that’s proclaiming His Word in its fullness to His people letting them know that they can have the victory now over sin, death, hell, and the grave!!!

·         Revelation 16:12: And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates (that which has kept the people of God from seeing the light through religious order); and the water (poison water; lies; deception; death doctrine) was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared!!!

·     Mark 7:21: From within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders:

Let’s take a look at the definition of the word “evil”:  [still talking about the “woman with the issue”]

EVIL in this verse is from the root word kakos’, meaning worthless, ie depraved, or injurious, harm, wicked, bad, noisome.   [Did you notice that diseasedin Matthew 9 andevil here in Mark 7:21 are from the same root word Kakos’?

 [Kakos’ indicates the lack in a person or thing of those qualities which should be possessed and means bad in character (morally, by way of thinking, feeling, or acting)].  It also comes from the root word (poneros’), meaning [hurtful, ie evil (in effect or influence), calamitous; ill, ie diseased; culpable; ie derelict; vicious; mischief; malice; guilt; the devil; sinners; wicked one; bad; grievous; harm; lewd; wickedness]. 

The definitions of “kakos” are important because that’s what Religion has done to the Body of Christ, inflicting injury, and harm by piercing into the minds of the people’s “thinking” processes and have depraved and deprived them of what they should be possessing right now in the way of wisdom, knowledge, understanding, dominion, authority, power, divine health, eternal life, etc.  But because of the lies and deceit that has been given them over the years many have missed out on the blessings which the “truth of the Word of God” can give of which includes divine health, and eternal life, dominion, authority, power, etc. But Paul gave us a warning in relation to these things:

·         Colossians 2:8: Beware (be on guard; avoid; shun), lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

Mind you, Paul said, “And not after CHRIST”!!!  CHRIST is the christos’, the anointed, ie the Messiah.  It goes to another root word “chri’o”, meaning to smear or rub with oil; to consecrate to an office for service.  It also comes from the root word “chra’omai”, through the idea of contact; to handle; to furnish what is needed; to give an oracle (as a prophet(ess) – one that can speak with the voice of God:  a seer – one that can see with the eyes of God); to employ; use. 

The “philosophy”, “vain deceit”, “traditions of men”, and the “rudiments of the religious system” has taken the eyes of God’s people away from getting to know the Lord by the Spirit and got them looking up in the sky and chasing after Jesus’ flesh!  The majority of Christendom is worshipping the flesh of Jesus rather than worshipping Him in spirit and in truth!  The sons of God that has gotten hold of the the “truth”, we are after CHRIST”!!!

 Someone asked, “How do you know that Preacher”?  Because they’re waiting for Jesus to come back and get them and take them to where God is.  He is already come and finished the work His Father sent Him to do (John 17:4). God is through with the “body Jesus had”.  That’s the body the Father chose to suffer and die in which was composed of one man, the Man Jesus, and He will not be coming back in “that body” that He had when He walked the earth the way Religion is teaching it.

·         2 Corinthians 5:16: Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh:  yea, though we have known (past tense) Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth (from here on) know we him no more!

We must know Him now by the Spirit!  He has now given us the Church the baton and we must do what He did when He walked the earth in that flesh body He had.  We can do it because we are now His flesh Body in the earth of which He is the Head:

·         Ephesians 5:30: We are members of His body, of his flesh, and of his bones!  

·         Colossians 1:18: And he is the head of the body, the church.

·         1 John 4:17: As he is, so are we, in this world!

Another root word for “evil” is (pon’os) meaning to toil, ie anguish:  pain. Finally it goes to (pen’es), meaning (peno) (to toil for daily subsistence [existence; the act of providing sustenance (a sustaining; means of livelihood; that which sustains life; food); means of support or livelihood; the barest means];  starving, ie indigent:  poor. 

This part of the definition explains Romans 8:22: For we know that the whole creation groaneth sustena’zo) and travaileth (sunode’no) in pain (pon’os) together until now.  You see how evil” and “paincome from the same root word “pon’os”.  So “diseased”, “evil” and “pain” all ties in together and has infected the body of Christ!  But God has given us a remedy, “THE ANOINTING”!  Isaiah 10:27: And it shall come to pass in that day (it is already come for those that accept the truth of God’s Word in its fullness in us right now), that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing!

The whole of creation is (groaning) moaning jointly, experiencing a common calamity (chaotic state), in straits, sighing, murmuring, (travailing) praying inaudibly, with grief, (in pain) toiling with anguish trying to make ends meet, (travailing) wanting relief from the suffering:   Proverbs 29:2: When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice:  but when the wicked bears rule, the people mourn.

·         Romans 8:23: And not only they, but ourselves also which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan (praying inaudibly) within ourselves, waiting for the adoption (placing as sons), to wit (know), the redemption (apolutrosis)[ransoming in full; salvation; deliverance] [the loosening] of our body (“so’ma” [the body as a sound whole; bodily] [restoration back to immortality]!

This groaning is happening because the creation is waiting for Jesus to come back and get them and it is not going to happen like that because it’s now up to the sons of God(Romans 8:19), to do the work.  For the earnest expectation of the creature (creation) waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God!

The words “earnest and expectation” are from the same root word, apokaradoki’a, meaning, intense anticipation.  And waiteth is from apekdech’omai, meaning, to expect fully, and from ekdech’omai, meaning to accept from some source.  What source?  The “sons of God” (male and female), that God has opened the revelation truths of His Kingdom to and has said “God ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name (not in water) [that’s alright too], but in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 28:19).  Those He has said “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel (good news) to every creature” (Mark 16:15).  Those whom He has “anointed them to preach this gospel to the poor (those dangling over the bottomless pit of religion); to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, and to preach the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18-19). 

It’s time for us to stand up and be God in the earth as He has ordained!

IT’S TIME FOR US TOMAKE THE RIGHT CONNECTION”, WE’RE REALLY OVERDO!!

We already know that the ransom has already been paid in full: (Hebrews 9:22), without the shedding of blood is no remission. 

Salvation is come:  (Romans 10:9), If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 

Deliverance is come:  (1 John 3:8), He that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil sinned from the beginning.  For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

Those in the Body of Christ that have received the “revelation truth” of God’s Word, know that the creation is “not waiting for Jesus to come back”, we already know that the creation (creatures – God’s people) is waiting for the sons of Godto stand up and do what we’ve been assigned to do and that’s to fulfill the ministry of reconciliation and reconcile God’s people back to Him!  We know that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself (2 Corinthians 5:19), but that’s what meant in 2 Corinthians 5:20, “Now then we are ambassadors (representatives) for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us:  we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God”!!!

Jesus was not born Christ, He was made and called Christ, but He was born Jesus (Matthew 1:16). Jesus was the body of the Father, we are Jesus’ Body that’s called Christ:  1 Corinthians 12:12: For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body:  so also is Christ.  So this tells us that Jesus cannot be Christ by Himself.  For Him to be “Christ”, He had to have us! 

Back to:  Mark 7:21: For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil (pon’oros) thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,

·         Mark 7:22: Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil (pon’eros) eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:

·         Vs 23: All these evil (pon’eros) things come from within, and defile the man.

·         Luke 11:29: And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, “This is an evil (pon’oros) generation:  they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet”.

EVIL in Mark 7:22, 23, and Luke 11:29, is from the root word poneros’, meaning hurtful, ie evil (in effect or influence); (fig) calamitous (a great misfortune; disaster); ill, ie diseased,etc.

Thoughts is from dialogismos’) discussion, ie (internal) consideration or (external) debate:  dispute; doubtful; imagination; reasoning:  it goes to (log’os) something said (incl. the thought); (impl) a topic (subject of discourse), also reasoning (the mental faculty) or motive.

·         Hosea 4:6: My people are destroyed (silenced; perishing; barren; comfortless; miserable] for the lack [failure; destruction; be without] of knowledge.

Evil thoughts are worthless and depraved thoughts which are thoughts that do not agree with God’s Word.  Worthless and depraved thoughts are thoughts within people that believe that they have to die and go by way of the grave to go and be with Jesus up in heaven beyond the blue. Worthless and depraved thoughts are thoughts of people that believe that their overcoming is up beyond the blue where they will get a new body, put on their long white robe, and praise God forever.  These are “diseased thoughts” that have been injected into the minds of people by the “physicians (or doctors) of religion” that’s not preaching and teaching God’s Word to His people in its fullness for us now!  They’re not telling us that we can have all God has provided for us now.  They’re saying you get it after you die and go to heaven where God is.  It’s a lie!  We are over-comers right here and right now, not when you get up there”!!!  And the “religious physicians” has depraved and deprived the people of God of perfect peace, divine health, and eternal life that they can have right here and right now!  We have to be alive to enjoy all that God has put in place for us by the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ!!!

We’ve got to “make the right connection” NOW!

·         John 8:32: You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Many of the churches only look to the “Pastor”

Ephesians 4:11: And he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers:  Vs 12: for the work of the ministry, edifying of the body of Christ, and the perfecting of the saints:  Vs 13: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge [(epig’nosis) recognition; full discernment; acknowledgement] of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

For this woman in Matthew 9 to get to the root of her problem, she knew that what she had been doing wasn’t working and there was a solution.  Under the Law when a woman was bleeding she couldn’t go into the camp with others, she was disconnected until she was cleansed.  Any man that touched her or sat down behind her was also unclean.  She knew enough about the law to know that by touching the “High Priest” (Jesus Himself) she would have made Him unclean.   She had enough faith to know that what was in “Him” (Jesus) was in the “Hem”!  And she pressed her way to make the right connection”!  And the “right connection” had to be with Jesus the Christ”, because he that is joined (connected; united) unto the Lord is one Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:17). 

So whether a woman should preach or teach, pastor a church, or wearing pants, etc, wasn’t the “diseased issue” this woman had.  The “diseased issue” she had was that she had already had five “doctors” that had attended her which are the five dispensations of innocence, conscience, promise, law, and human government she had already come through, but each time she tried to produce sons of God she would miscarry!  Though God has always had a “remnant” that He used!  And the “Physician” that was attending her at the time she was hemorrhaging was the “true Physician”, Jesus Christ Himself, and this was happening in the sixth dispensation which was the dispensation of grace”.

Matthew 9:21: For she said within herself, “If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole”.  Vs 22: But Jesus turned him about and when he saw her, he said, “Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole”!

First of all, He called her Daughterwhich changed her identity, from being just “a woman” (an adulteress in the Hebrew definition).   “Daughter” is the Greek word thugat’er, which is a female child, or (by Hebrew) descendant (or inhabitant).  A descendant is a successor; heir; offspring.  This placed her in the position of “Father / daughter” relationship. 

·         2 Corinthians 6:17: Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing (traditions of religious order); and I will receive you.  Vs 18: And will be a Father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

 This put her in position of “heirship”, so that she could receive all the blessings her Father had in place for her,  perfect peace, divine health, being holy, without blame before him in love, predestination, redemption, forgiveness of sins, etc, (Ephesians 1:1-23).

Then Jesus said to her, Matthew 9:22: “Thy faith hath made thee whole”. 

WHOLE is from the Greek word so’zo, meaning to be safe; saved; delivered; protected; healed, even made whole.  This “wholeness” didn’t just bring deliverance to her physical body only, but the total man:  heart, soul, mind and body!

The latter part of Matthew 9:22 states, “And the woman was made whole from that hour”.  Mark 5:29: And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.  Vs 30: And Jesus “immediately” knew in himself that “virtue” had gone out of him.

That virtue was du’namis, which was force, miraculous power, or a miracle itself!  Because by faith this woman (the church) made the right connection with Jesus Christ, she received the supernatural miracle she needed and was made whole from her “hemorrhaging”.  She was made whole from the “diseased issues” of unfruitfulness; unproductiveness; philosophy; vain deceit; traditions of men; rudiments of the world (Colossians 2:8), because she connected with “CHRIST”! 

The wordwomanhere in this verse in the Greek, is from the root word gune’, meaning, specifically a wife.  This was the “Lamb’s wife” that had now been put in the position of being productive, or fruitful.  Even though she had been “made whole”, the “dispensation of grace” hadn’t been made official because Jesus hadn’t died yet. Once Jesus died, and shed His blood, the connection was officially made to “reconnect God and man”!!  This is what stopped the “the fountain of the woman’s blood” or “her diseased issue”, made her whole and opened “The Door” to usher her into the “kingdom” where she would be able to conceive, reproduce and bring forth many “sons of God”!!!

At Pentecost when those that had been in the upper room stepped out with the (dunamis) power of God, Peter began to preach, Acts 2:5: And there were dwelling at Jerusalem, Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.  And the “seed” which is the Word of God impregnated every hearer, and brought about the birth of the Church, Thousands were connected to God because the “right connection” had been made through the shed blood of Jesus the Christ!!  The Lamb’s wife (the Church) gave birth!!

That “virtue” (dunamis) that the “woman” (the church) received when she touched Jesus’ clothes, was the same “power” (dunamis) that entered that upper room at Pentecost and caused three thousand souls to be saved and were added unto them when Peter began preaching (Acts 2:41).

·         John 10:9: (Jesus talking):  I am the door:  by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved (preserved; healed; forgiven; made whole), and shall go in and out, and find pasture”.

·         Ps.23:2: He maketh me to lie down in green pastures (habitations; pleasant places).

A “door” is an entrance into something or somewhere.  How did Jesus become the “Door”?  By becoming the sacrifice for us, by the shedding of His “innocent blood”!

·         Leviticus 17:11: The life of the flesh is in the blood!

·         Hebrews 9:11-12: But Christ being come a high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

·         Vs 22: Without the shedding of blood is no remission!

·         MARK 5:27: When she had heard of Jesus, she came in the press behind, and touched his garment. 

·         Mark 5:28:  For she said, “If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole”.

MAKE THE RIGHT CONNECTION TODAY, SO THAT YOU TOO WILL BE MADE WHOLE!!

Pastor Gracie Perry

Monday, May 3, 2021

The I AM

 

TEXT:  Exodus 3:13-15:  [Portrays Jesus Christ as our Passover Lamb]!

·         13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?

·         14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

·         15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto ALL generations.

I bet everyone reading this right now has some idea what your name means or where it comes from.  Some thought was put into the thing that would identify you for your whole life.

In the Bible, names were very important and often God would change people’s names. “Jacob” the Deceiver became “Israel” which means “God Rules.” (Pretty good trade, huh?).  

Jesus would look at Cephas (Greek) - (Simon Peter) and said your name shall not be Petra (pebble/feminine) but Petros (rock/masculine).  Jesus was letting us know right then the character of man must therefore be masculine and feminine in one unit. 

 So now with this you can see another revelation in Genesis 1:27:

·         So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 

Within each individual is the masculine and feminine aspect.  Masculine because whether you are male or female you have within you the ability to “give out the seed” which is the Word of God.  Feminine because whether you are male or female you have within you the ability to “receive the seed” (God’s Word) and reproduce and bring forth other sons of God in His image, after His likeness.

Galatians 3:28: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female:  for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Then He/Jesus of Nazareth turned right around and demonstrated this in His spiritualized body.

We know that Peter was the faith-thinker. But we as sons have to come to the realization that we are not the faith-thinker, Peter, but we are Jesus [His flesh and bones in the earth (Ephesians 5:30)].  Peter is one of your twelve powers which is "faith". Before this truth dawns on you, you are/were a carpenter, a builder in the realm of matter (or material) [that relates to natural and spiritual]. Peter is a fisherman, one who draws his thoughts from the changeable, unstable sea of carnal thinking or the natural mind.

When you realize that you are Mind, and that all things are originally generated in the laboratory of Mind, you leave your carpenter’s bench and go forth proclaiming the Truth that is revealed to you. You find that your tools in this new field of labor are your untrained faculties or powers that dwell within you that must be disciplined.  One of the first of these faculties to be brought under your dominion is Peter, the thinking power of faith.

See the religious system wants to get to heaven to meet Peter at the gate. But according to Revelation 21 in relation to the Holy City, New Jerusalem, the city John saw coming down from God out of heaven, Peter is not at the “gate”, he is one of the twelve foundation stones of the wall of the city!

·         Vs 10: And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God:

·         Vs 11: Having the glory of God:  and her light was like unto a stone most precious even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;

·         Vs 12: And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 

·         Vs 14: And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

So with the mind set and teaching of religion, when they get to the heaven they believe they have to sail off too and don’t find “Peter at the gate”, they are going to be very disappointed!

In Matthew chapter 10:

·         Vs 1: And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. 

·         Vs 2: Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; the first, Simon, who is called Peter and Andrew his brother; James, the son of Zebedee, and John his brother:  vs 3: Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alpheus, and Lebbeus, whose surname was Thaddeus:  vs 4: Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

·          Vs 14: And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

So Peter was not and is not at the gate”, he is a part of the foundation”.  Foundation coming from the root word themel’ios, meaning something put down, as a substructure which is a part or structure that is a support or base of something, denoting to be placed or appointed for special service.

·         1 Corinthians 3:11: For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 

And He said to His disciples as well as to us now:  You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain:  that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you (John 15:16).

In relation to the Holy City, New Jerusalem, it contained the “gates” (twelve sons of Israel) (entrance or portal) into the city and also the “foundations” (twelve apostles of Jesus Christ) (base or support) of the city that are all one in Christ which gives the “city” its structure:  12 +12 = 24 (the number of “eldership”) that has nothing to do with age, but eldership denotes “maturity” (full grown; ripe; fully developed; perfected in Christ Jesus).

·         Ephesians 2:19-20: Now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone.

·         Ephesians 4:13: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. 

When you multiply 12 x 12 = 144, which is “sons of God” multiplied by the thousands. Thousand is God’s number of “uncertain affinity”, equivalent to the “hundred and forty four thousand” mentioned in Revelation 14: 

·         Vs 1: And I looked and lo a Lamb (Jesus Christ) stood on the mount Sion (the Church triumphant), and with him an hundred forty and four thousand (sons of God multiplied by the thousands) having his Father’s name (His Word) written in their foreheads (mind).

Hebrews 12:22-24: But you are come (not going up to) unto mount Sion and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly, and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven (the higher realms of spiritual elevation – not out beyond the blue), and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirit of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

When Jesus chose His disciples this connotes characteristics that Jesus had to train and discipline in His own life to fulfill the purpose the Father had sent Him for. So in relation to “Peter being at the gate”, that can only be seen as thegate of faith” as the “portal or entrance by faith” to get to God through Jesus Christ and to please Him. So Peter was Jesus’ first choice of His disciples as the “first step” in relation to one’s approach to God not as religion speaks of him being at “the gate of heaven beyond the blue”, no!

Simon (hearing):  Peter (faith):

·         2 Corinthians 5:17: For faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

·         Hebrews 11:6: Without “faith” it is impossible to please him:  for he that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

When you have acknowledged Jesus the Christ this establishes our relationship with Him.  Romans 10:9: If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shall be saved.  Vs 10: For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

What religion doesn’t know is that “Peter standing at the gate (not the pearly gates) of heaven”, is no mere figure of speech, but it’s the “foundation of your faith”, which is the “gate” (portal or entrance) where “Peter” (Faith) (the first in position) always must stand having the “keys of the kingdom of heaven.” The keys (badge of authority) are the thoughts that he forms and the words that he speaks by faith. He then stands porter at the door of thought and freely exercises that power which the Christ declares in relation to binding and loosing”: 

·         Matthew16:19: And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven:  and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.  (Matt 18:18)

·         Matthew 12:37: By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

[Whenever you use “I AM” make sure the words you’re attaching to it are positive and not negative]!

This is all done in relation to Peter that typifies “faith” which is the power source of our relationship with God” and the first one Jesus chose.

Look people; Names become more than just words…they become associated with who we really are, our personality, our character.  Think about it…you don’t meet a lot of people named “Adolf” or “Jezebel,” or “Saddam.”

So as Moses stands in the presence of God, shoeless before His Holiness, He asks God His name.

“God you’re sending me to the Israelites to tell them you’re going to deliver them from slavery…but suppose they ask me “Who sent you…What’s God’s name? What do I tell them”? (Exodus 3:13)

And God says “I AM THAT I AM” (Exodus 3:14).  This is what you are to tell them, I AM sent me to you”!

Hebrew word for “I AM” is ehyeh’, the first person form of “hayah”, meaning to exist, be or become, come to pass.  Then it goes to the word hava’, meaning to breathe, to be, “to be thou”“I am, I was, and I will be”.  We are Him (God) in the earth:  (1 John 4:17) “As he is, so are we, in this world”!  We know to keep it on the level of "elohim", because God is "Elyown' (el-yone'), "the Most High" (Psalm 82:6).

·         Isaiah 42:8 says, I AM the Lord (Yahweh) that is my name. I will not give my glory to another, neither my praises to graven images.”

This name became so sacred to the Hebrews they refused to say it out of fear of mispronouncing it.  When they spelled it they would leave out the vowels spelling it Y.H.W.H just in case they misspelled it! It’s used 6,800 times in scripture three times more than “Elohim.”

Yahweh literally means “To Be” “To Live.” He is the self-Existent One, always present and engaged. The only time the Hebrews would pronounce His name out loud was on the Day of Atonement which was once a year.

God is telling Moses“There was nothing before me. There will be nothing after me. There is nothing beyond me. There is no greater power, I AM (Omnipotent). There is nowhere I can’t be, I AM (Omnipresent). There is nothing I can’t see, I AM  (El-Roi).  THE I AM, IS ALL KNOWING (Omniscient).”

I was everything to your forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob…And I will be everything to you no matter what because “I AM THAT I AM.”

God hasn’t changed. No matter whom you are or where He might find you today, He is the all-knowing, all powerful, all present one who wants to deliver us from any situation.

I AM is here!!!  And since I AM is here - we are…..

I. STANDING ON HOLY GROUND

It’s Holy because of God’s presence. “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, I will be in your midst” (Matthew 18:20).

Have you ever been in the presence of someone famous, powerful and important? Someone you really thought was amazing?

Let me ask…“When was the last time your knees buckled, you had goose bumps, or your heart pounded in the presence of God?”

God tells Moses in Exodus 3:5: “Don’t come any closer until you take off your sandals…for the place where you are standing is Holy Ground.”

Holiness belongs to God alone! It is His presence that makes it Holy and a place of worship.

I wonder do we take off our spiritual sandals when we come to worship God?

Taking one’s sandals off is a sign of reverence and respect. Taking off your sandals was like the old custom of a man taking off his hat when entering a building or greeting a lady.  It was a token of respect. The ground was holy because of God’s presence. People were to approach God with solemnity and humility. Taking off their sandals expressed an inward reverence through an outward behavior in their worship.

When man approaches God in worship he must take off or remove from his understanding all limited thoughts of the Absolute…..”Put off thy shoes from thy feet.”

So, my challenge and your challenge is to prepare ourselves for real worship daily as we walk in His presence or whenever we assemble as His people.

But let me also mention about the “I AM”:

II. SOME ENCOUNTERS WITH GOD WILL HAPPEN WHEN WE LEAST EXPECT THEM.

·         Exodus 3:1 tells us “Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Median, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert.”

Moses is at work when he encounters the presence of God and he’s not just at work, but on the far side of the desert called Horeb.

Horeb, means solitude.  That is, we must go into the solitude (private; secluded; isolated areas) from within ourselves and lead our flock of thoughts to the back of the wilderness, where dwells the Exalted One, the divine I AM, whose kingdom is good or righteous in judgment.

There we are in training forty years, or until we arrive at a four-sided or balanced state of mind. It is in this recognition of the power and presence of God that all our strength and ability lie.

God does not live in houses made by human hands (Acts 7:48).  His presence in our lives isn’t limited to Sundays but its daily!

Church is awesome because we’re coming together to worship, remember, and celebrate our God which is so essential. God’s Word says, “Don’t forsake the assembling of the saints as some are in the habit of doing…but encourage one another; and all the more as you see the day approaching.” (Hebrew10:25)

Church is the huddle that prepares us for the game. It’s where we love and encourage others for the week to come. God is certainly present as we meet at His table and hear His Word and sing His praise. He’s the audience for our action.

But God is “I AM.” He’s present in our lives every day, even when we are in the far side of the desert.

Let’s look at some close encounters with God!!!

[David met God on the battlefield before Goliath (1 Samuel 17); Jacob wrestled with God on a campout (Genesis 32:22-32); Abraham, encountered God’s presence during a sacrifice (Genesis 22); Elijah met God in fire on a mountaintop (1 Kings 18) and in a still small voice when he was depressed (1 Kings 19)].

I’m sure some of you can go back down memory lane and just think of some situations that you have been in and felt the presence of God and you knew He was with you.

I’m glad God is Omnipresent. If you don’t believe God is with you even on the far side of the desert, or aware daily of your struggles, then don’t be surprised if you don’t experience His powerful presence.

But I believe!!!

You see, no matter where we are or what we’re going through we can ask, “God are you near?”  And His answer is I AM!”

God are you with me at work or school?  I AM!”

God are you with me in the greatest times of joy? “I AM!”

God are you with me when I walk through the valley filled with shadows and death?  I AM!”

I like this reminder from Romans 8:

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Let me share one final truth today with you about The Great I AM.

III. GOD EXPECTS US TO SPEAK UP FOR HIM…

Moses was afraid people would not listen to him or believe him.  Standing before the Holy burning presence of God…Moses says, “Please send someone else.”

Here’s what God says, EXODUS 4:10-13:

·         10 And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.

·         11 And the LORD said unto him, “Who hath made man's mouth? Or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?

·         12 Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.

·         13 And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send. 

God was angry for Moses making excuses.

·         14 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he said, “Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.

We all feel like that at times, don’t we? I’m scared, I’m not that eloquent, I’ll say something wrong or they don’t want to hear what I have to say.  “God send someone else.”

God doesn’t call the eloquent, He calls the willing!                                                                            God doesn’t call the able but He enables the one He calls!

If God can use an ass in the Old Testament (Numbers 22) to deliver His message to Balaam, He can certainly use you and me.

Moses walked back into his past life so he could rescue those in slavery. He brought a message of freedom from the Most High God.  Moses brought the message and God provided the power!

Romans 10:14 tells us, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, but how can they call on the One they have not believed in? How can they believe in the One of whom they’ve not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?”  Vs 15: “And how shall they preach, except they be sent?” “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good tidings.”

So people of God, let go of the little self and take hold of the big Self: “Not my will, but thine, be done.”  (Luke 22:42). 

The I AM of each individual, is the will in its highest aspect. 

I AM is God’s name in man!

·         Exodus 3:15: And God said moreover unto Moses, “Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel (we today are God’s Israel [those that rule and have power with God] – not the one in the Middle East), The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you:  this is my name forever, and this is my memorial (covenant name) unto all generations”!  [Now and forever]!

 I AM is Jehovah, the indwelling Christ, the true spiritual man whom God made in His image and likeness. The outer, manifested man is the offspring of I AM, or inner spiritual man. By use of I AM we link ourselves with the outer—or we make conscious union with the Father, with Spirit, with abiding life, wisdom, love, peace, substance, strength, power, Truth, the kingdom of the heavens within US!

Let Us Give God The Praise!!!

Evangelist Jackie Burton