THE PASSION OF HIS LOVE
#260.0802
scottSTANLEY
(All bracketed [ ] words inserted into the following scriptures are the author’s paraphrase.)
Prologue:
The love of the Father is the single most
important concept given to the Church.
Our responsibility is to allow this truth to develop in the heart and be one
with Him.
OPENING REMARKS
It’s my prayer, in this study, to continue sharing my heart with you. Picking up where we left off in the study “The Palms of My Hands,” there are still more concepts we need to grasp; mental pictures that need to be painted so that we can walk before the Lord without spot, without wrinkle – preparing for the second coming of Christ. You know, recently in speaking with people in my realm of life, I began to realize that other denominational groups absolutely cannot grasp the fact that anyone can be perfected before the literal second coming of Christ. That isn’t how they see the 144,000 and, in fact, some people that I have spoken with act astonished when they realize that I actually do believe that. How could the Lord take away our sin nature? If He did that, we wouldn’t sin …I mean it was almost like we’re just supposed to sin! So, I praise God for those of you who are understanding the studies that we have been putting out.
To be perfectly honest about it, after “The Palms of My Hands,” and then going ahead and finishing “7 Kings 7 Heads,” I wasn’t sure I needed to make anymore tapes. It was almost as if, in my mind, I had reached a plateau of understanding and I felt like there was enough out there for people to “get” – but the Lord continues to increase my understanding and, as long as He does, I want to share it and pray that others will get a hold of this thing, and changes will happen to them – inward changes – beautiful changes.
THE PASSION OF HIS LOVE
In “The Palms of My Hands,” we were looking at the love of God and how that love can eradicate the sin nature – the “sin nature” being the lie that happened to us from the womb; the feeling unacceptable to God, and recognizing that our heavenly Father gave His only begotten Son that we might see His love – not to be appeased of His anger. It’s recognizing that He is the only begotten Son, right now the only birthed Son of God. The fact that He was born in eternity past is so important to me now; it is so special to me now, more so than ever before because I realize that it is seeing God’s love for His only begotten that helps me to believe His love for me.
I have two daughters, ages five and three, and I want to share with you: There are times when they just seem so sweet to me. They will come and they’ll be telling me what they did that day or sharing with me a story; explaining their fears; laughing, joking, carrying on with me – there are times that when I see them as people, their little minds and their little hearts, it is just so sweet. I realized that, you know, there are times you could just squeeze them until they pop. You can’t really verbalize and explain what it is you’re feeling inside; the passion of it is too much – now, if you can recognize the experience of passion that you’ve had and then look at our heavenly Father and see the passion of His love for His only begotten Son! That is why, if you make Christ anything other than the only birthed Son of God …if He’s part of a trinity God or if He was created in any way; if He isn’t the only birthed Son of God, then we are dead in our sins because the passion of love the Father had for Him would not be there. He has to be the only begotten Son of God, that a human being can see the passion.
Now, why do you need to see the passion? Because that is the price He paid for you. Did He overpay for you? I think not. He paid what it was worth to Him. Consider the passion of His love geared toward His only birthed Son, and let that develop in your heart. He paid that price for me – I am not unacceptable to God; I am acceptable as a human being. He loves me to the point that He gave His only birthed Son! There’s one verse in the Bible so far to me that I know of, that declares that the Father loves you as much as He loves His only begotten Son. It’s John 17:23:
John 17:23
23I in them, and thou [you] in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast [you have] sent me, and hast [have] loved them, as thou hast [you have] loved me.
Do you feel as loved by God as you believe He loves His only birthed Son? Let that develop in the heart and it begins to dry up the sea – the “sea” being the collection of thoughts we’ve received from the world; the lie that we received from the womb. The very thing Eve passed to every human being, as she is the “mother of all living.” Let me re-define heavens, earth and sea – recognizing that all three are between our ears. Again, the “sea,” to me now is the lie, what we received in the womb; the “earth” is my understanding, things I have concluded myself; the “heavens” are how I perceive God to understand. That is why the Lord is going to create a “new heaven” which will create a “new earth” and there will be no more “sea.” We’ve got to see the Lord’s understanding and let Him correct His understanding to us, so that we can have a new understanding of ourselves – and all of those lies will dry up.
NEEDS OF LIFE
That is where I want to pick up – in Isaiah 51:9-10, speaking of the drying of the sea – we see the resurrection of Christ; a prophecy dealing with His resurrection. I want to read these two verses:
Isaiah 51:9-10
9Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou [Are you] not it that hath [has] cut Rahab, and wounded thedragon?
10Art thou [Are you] not it which hath [has] dried the sea, the waters of the great deep [or “abyss”]; that hath [has] made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over?
Now this is going to be a short study. It really is just a continuation of “The Palms of My Hands,” recognizing that the Son of God, by dying on Calvary’s tree, eliminates the lie if we can receive the fact that He is the Son of God; knowing that we can hear God; that as God teaches us – that is our faith, and receiving the “faith of Christ,” what He has received from the Father. Letting Him dry the sea, the Lord states: He has made the depths of the sea the way for the ransomed to pass over – coming back to Him.
Now, when I made that study, “The Palms of My Hands,” I began to realize that, having that truth, I should come before the Lord presenting the struggles; my weaknesses as I saw them, and allow Him to cleanse me. The Lord started me on a cleansing process. I want to share with you one thing the Lord gave me that I feel is generic enough; that every one of us needs to grasp this.
One day, when I woke up, I felt impressed to get up and go run. After I had run a mile or two, the Lord – it was like I was open enough now or tired enough, or I was listening now to the Lord – He began to express to me the needs of life. If I were to ask you: “What do human beings need to exist?” you would say air, water, bread, shelter, clothing. You see, all of those things are needs and if you can look at it spiritually, the scriptures declare the Son of God to fulfill every one of those – from the spirit to the water, the bread of life, our shelter, our clothing – the Son of God is every one of those for us. But what about other things we need – we think we need – whether is it so much money, jewelry, new this, new that, certain clothing …what about a husband or a wife or children? You see, people live every day without those things.
People exist every day without the money, without jewelry, without pets, without new cars, without leather pants – they exist every day without those things. Those things are not “needs,” they’re blessings the Lord gives us; they are not needs. But if you think you need something – let me ask you this: What would you do if someone actually took away a need from you – say, your air – and began to suffocate you? What would you do? You would immediately rise up to protect yourself. You see, that manifests a “need.” Now, when someone is taking something away from you that you think you need, you’ll recognize that rising up or a bitterness, an anger – you’ll begin to resist what they are doing, and that is a sign to you that you have been finding acceptance, or peace, or comfort, feeling better about yourself, in areas that you’re not allowing the Lord in your heart.
What about sex? Sex isn’t a “need” – sex is a blessing, but if you think it is a need for life, well think again because people live every day, all of their lives, without ever having sex. You don’t need that to live, but if someone begins to take it from you and you sense the rising up, the resistance, the anger… You see, it’s time that we be honest with ourselves. Once you recognize where you have been with the things in your life – toward the people in your life – and you begin to be honest about how you have been feeling better about yourself; if you can really sit down and think it through, bring that to the Lord. You bring that to Him knowing this: From the womb, I’ve felt unacceptable to God. How big is God? He is the universe! Imagine the majesty of God when you look at the sun, the moon and the stars as symbols of Michael and Jesus and the church. Where is the Father? All of those things are in Him – He is the universe! He is love – the universe continues to expand, they say. He is love and all of that is between your ears, and we’ve got to let Him manifest Himself in us.
So imagine His majesty – imagine the power of His love and then that you feel unacceptable to Him – and the hole that leaves in the core of who you are. Now, I’m 50 years old, and I have formed habits of finding security and peace, comfort, and a variety of things in my life – things I never even realized I was doing. The Lord is waking me up to all of those things I thought I “needed” to be happy, and He is showing me that I only need Christ: When the kingdom is delivered up to the Father, God will be all in all – and we start that process right now.
CROSSING THE DEPTHS
Speaking on these concepts a few weeks ago, I was holding a meeting and as I was declaring these truths, an old memory bubbled up to the surface – and I instantly swept it away because it was something I couldn’t deal with. It was one of those “monsters in the sea” – you know, the things that scare you to death if you were to go face off with them, if you look at the sea and all of the things in it. But remember, the Lord has made the depths of the sea the way for the ransomed to pass over. You see, all of these huge monstrosities and violent things that are in that sea are just pictures of what we have done to ourselves, believing the lie. There are things in all of us, in our past, that we would never declare to another person – things that, when they come up, we just put them aside instantly …we can’t deal with it.
You know, when you look at the denominational groups and how they believe that Christ died to appease an angry God, and somehow in their minds – describing what I pictured when I was a part of that – I pictured God in heaven, and a big book is opened, and my name is in the book, and somehow He applies blood to all of my list of sins and then, when He looks down at me He doesn’t see me, He sees Jesus. Well, I want you to consider that the things you have done, it’s going to take more than that to deliver your mind from it. Now, if Christ died to deliver God’s mind from it, that’s different – but He didn’t. He died to deliver us, and it is allowing the Lord to cleanse us of those things – just imagine: The sea being dry, now the lie is gone; you’re standing on a dry sea floor. The Father is with you; you hold hands and off you go across, looking at all of those things that lived in the sea – frightening things; terrible things – and the Lord brings you up to it and lets you face it. Do you know that every single thing in the sea, if you took it out of the sea and laid it on dry land, all of these “animals” would become dust? Think about it – everything turns to dust because that is where it came from, from you, from yourself, and it’s living in the sea. When you take away the water, they have no power – when you take away the lie that you’re unacceptable to God, these things have no power anymore. You can deal with them now; let them turn to dust and continue across the sea.
I had a thought come up and I instantly put it away – and then I realized what I was doing. The next morning, I could hardly wait to get up and go in before the Lord and confess that, bring that to His attention. Bringing it to His attention knowing that I had believed a lie all of my life – every decision I’ve ever made; every thought I’ve ever had was based on that lie of feeling unacceptable to God – that is where it all comes from. And believing He loves me as much as His only birthed Son, and letting the passion of His love fill me, I could hardly wait to go through that process, coming before the Lord in that way.
WASHED IN THE BLOOD
The Lord moved me to the scriptures – 1 John, chapter 1, I want to read for you the way he describes it for us; the same process:
1 John 1:7
7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
If we walk in the light as he is in the light, what does that mean? It’s more than just simply living up to the light you have – it is seeing things the way He does. If you’ll see things the way He sees things, you’ll have fellowship – you’ll have koinonia, you’ll have communion, you’ll have joint participation – reasoning together. If you’ll see things the way He does, you’ll be walking with Him and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us – that “cleanseth,” you ought to look it up sometime and see that it is a continual cleansing. It isn’t a one time deal; it’s a continuous thing – He’ll continue to cleanse us from all sin; all sin – all of those things that bubble up. Again, looking at how the denominations see and perceive salvation, they would tell you they don’t have those sins anymore. Jesus died and God cast them into the sea – remember Micah 7? Let’s read this because we need to see …Micah 7:19, let’s read this:
Micah 7:19
19He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt [you’ll] cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
He isn’t putting them in the sea; He’s showing you that they’re from the sea – He puts them in the sea in that way. He casts them all into the sea; He shows you this iswhy you did what you did. That is the reason, it’s what happened to you in the womb – He puts everything in that category. But looking at it from the denominations, He died to appease God, therefore, in God’s mind – in His book – I don’t have the sin. But it takes more than that to eradicate it out of you – it takes the passion of His love to dry the sea and then walking with Him, coming back across the depths of it, and watching these things turn to dust. If you walk in the light as He is in the light – if you see it the way He does – you’ll have communion, and the blood will cleanse you; the blood of His only birthed Son.
Why the blood? Because it was shed as a manifestation of His love – the “blood” equates to His love. Verse 8:
1 John 1:8
8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
That other doctrine, that doctrine of appeasement to God – that the Son of God died for His sake, so He could forgive you – will bring that self deception that I have no more sin; He blotted it out – when, in fact, He will blot it out of our own hearts. That’s the promise in the next verse, verse 9:
1 John 1:9
9If we confess our sins [sin], he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins [sin], and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
I want to read a verse in Matthew 4, verse 11, dealing with Christ’s temptation in the wilderness:
Matthew 4:11
11Then the devil leaveth [leaves] him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
This word “leaveth” him (leaves him), in 1 John 1:9, they’ve translated that “forgive.” It means to send away. The devil didn’t “forgive” Him – he left Him. Your sins are removed: If we confess our sin (now, get the two words), he is faithful and he’s just to remove those things from us, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If “righteousness” begins in the mind and it’s the thought of God, then “unrighteousness” is every other thought – it’s iniquity; it’s distortion. Not only – when you come back across the sea and you take a good look at these things – not only will you see it turn to dust, you see, He’s cleansing you of it. Those things cannot live without the water, and He dries the sea with the passion of His love, and brings us back across for healing.
You see, what I’m describing here is to wash your robes in the blood of the Lamb. All of these thoughts that clothe us need to be washed in the blood, or the love of God, to get that sense of His love for us, and come before and present these things to Him – and let Him cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Get the picture…
WHAT ARE THESE
In Revelation 7, John is looking into the heavens – reading in verse 9:
Revelation 7:9
9After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
It is the great multitude whom no man can number – do you think that means there are so many people that He can’t count them all? It means we cannot number – we don’t know who’s going to be there and who isn’t. You can’t look at a person and think: “You know God and this one doesn’t.” No man can number that group. If you continue reading, and drop down to verse13:
Revelation 7:13
13And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they [where did they come from]?
So he sees a different group of people.
Revelation 7:14
14And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest [you know]. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Now the great multitude are dressed in white and we know from later verses it’s the righteousness of saints. But only one group has washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb – it’s the last generation church; it’s the ones brought to perfection. Everyone, I suppose, does that to a degree but you have the opportunity and the responsibility to live over and above anyone that has ever lived before you. We have an understanding of the mechanics of it, and how to stand before God without spot or wrinkle, blameless before Him in love. To come out of great tribulation – the sea – is very turbulent, isn’t it? To come out of it and wash our robes in the blood of the Lamb – to fulfill what John is writing about in 1 John, chapter 1, what we’ve just read. Let’s continue reading this – verse 15:
Revelation 7:15
15Therefore [Because of that] are they before the throne of God, and [they] serve him day and night in his temple: …
Right there is proof of the abiding truth, and that it is the 144,000. They never come out of the temple; they stay in that relationship.
Revelation 7:15
… and he that sitteth [sits] on the throne shall dwell among them.
King James put: “shall dwell among them.” It’s actually: “shall tabernacle over them.” In the Old Testament, whenever they would pack up their tents and move, they would tabernacle here and tabernacle over there – this word is a verb. The noun of it they’ve translated “tent” or “tabernacle,” and it is equivalent to the English word shade.
Revelation 7:15
“shall dwell” [4637] in Strong’s is equivalent to
“and pitched his tent” [167] in Genesis 13:7.
Equates to English “shade.”
The promise He has just given you – when you’re washing your robes in the blood; when you’re recognizing the love of God and allowing Him to dry the sea, and bringing back, coming back across the depths of the sea, dealing with all of these things in our past; all of these things causing us to do what we do – you’re finally in the relationship with Him that He has longed for, and tabernacles over you. He shades you; He lives over you; He is now your God, fully, because you are listening and letting Him correct the error in your life – He tabernacles over you. He is over you, meaning He is your authority; He is your God; He tabernacles over these people. Notice what He says in verse 16:
Revelation 7:16-17
16They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more [for acceptance in anything of the earth]; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
17For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne [abiding in the Father] shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
No heat from the sun – “Heat” is a symbol of anger – there is no heat from the sun. Why? The Father is your authority; He tabernacles over you.
ISAIAH 4
Let’s turn to Isaiah 4, carrying this concept. In Isaiah 4, let’s start reading at verse 1:
Isaiah 4:1
1And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy [your] name, to take away our reproach.
We’ve talked about this in the past. We’ve all seen how every denominational group, every mindset, says: We want to read the scriptures for ourselves; discern it the way we want to see it. We want to wear our own apparel – we want to declare righteousness as we see it – just let us be called Christians to take away our reproach. We see that – verse 2:
Isaiah 4:2-3
2In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel [escaped of that – escaped of Israel].
3And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth [remains] in Jerusalem [abiding], shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem:
There are those who are on their way to Zion, and reject the abiding truth. Read that verse again and consider what He’s saying. Not everyone who receives the Godhead continues on with it – can’t continue in present truth. Verse 4:
Isaiah 4:4
4When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof [of it] by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.
To “purge the blood of Jerusalem” is our understanding of the blood – that it is a picture of His love; a manifestation, or a proof, of His love to us to dry the sea. What does he mean by “the spirit of judgment,” “the spirit of burning”? “Judgment” simply means a decision, a conclusion. When the Lord gives you His conclusions in the spirit of judgment and you accept it, He will burn out of you the false. It is “the spirit of judgment” and “the spirit of burning” – as He gives you His judgments, His spirit will burn out the wickedness as you receive it from Him. When that takes place – look at verse 5:
Isaiah 4:5
5And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion [And mount Zion are those – the foundation is Christ; the founded foundation on the top of the mountain – you have the character of God.], and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence.
All of the character that He is cleansing – He’s going to create a defence; it’s what we read in Revelation – He’ll tabernacle over you. Verse 6:
Isaiah 4:6
6And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.
If He is your authority – He’s tabernacling over you – the blood of Jesus Christ His Son continues to cleanse us from all sin. He is our authority and He will protect the glory that He is creating in you. He will tabernacle over everyone who will allow Him to wash us in the blood of His only begotten Son, and see His love made manifest for humanity.
WHEAT AND TARES
Now, I want to turn to Matthew 13, and I want to read the parable of the wheat and the tares. Let’s begin reading this in verse 24:
Matthew 13:24-30
24Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
25But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
26But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. 27So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou [did not you] sow good seed in thy [your] field? from whence [where] then hath it tares?
28 He said unto them, An enemy hath [has] done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou [Will you] then that we go and gather them up?
29But he said, Nay [No]; lest while ye [you] gather up the tares, ye [you] root up also the wheat with them.
30Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
Now this parable, I know, we’ve had a tendency to put it outward – looking at the wheat and the tares as people, the righteous people and the wicked people. But when we read the explanation of this – when you drop down in the same chapter, and let’s just drop down to verse 36:
Matthew 13:36-37
36Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.
37He answered and said unto them, He that soweth [sows] the good seed is the Son of man;
The seed He is sowing is His word. Who is the wicked one? It is the devil, He will tell you – next verse:
Matthew 13:38
38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;
Now remember our study – I want you to get this chain: Revelation 17, the woman on water; the harlot on the beast. The “beast” is water; “water” is thought – the beast has a mouth like a “lion,” has pride; a heart, “feet like a bear,” an unchanging attitude. That is the “beast” you’re battling: Your pride and unchanging attitude, and it is the “dragon” that gives the beast, or your pride, authority over you.
Compare Revelation 17:1 & 3
The beast with 7 heads = the water the whore sits on.
“Water” is a symbol of thought.
Revelation 13:2 describes the beast as having a “mouth as a lion” (PRIDE)
and “feet of a bear” (UNCHANGING HEART).
The dragon gives it power and authority in your life.
The “dragon” isn’t something outside of yourself – the dragon, he states, plays in the sea (Isaiah 27:1/Psalm 104:26). It’s you! In two places in Revelation, he says, he equates the “dragon” with the devil and satan and the serpent (Revelation 12:9 & 20:2). Those things are inward! There’s another word where the Lord deals with the fallen angels – it’s a Greek word; it’s where we get the word “demon” – but if you look up “demon,” it’s not one time used in the scriptures, they use “devils.” A “demon,” in so far as I understand it, would be the fallen angel – the literal thing – but serpent, dragon, devil, diablos …it’s inward.
Two words translated “devil” or “devils” in the NT,
“diabolos” [1228] & “daimonion” [1140].
The English word “demon” derived from [1140] is not used one time in the Bible;
“devils” [1140] appears to be the literal being of fallen angels
whereas [1128] is applied inward.
The word “Satan” is associated with [1128].
The wicked one plants his seed. Now, Christ plants His seed; His seed, He says, are the “children of the kingdom”– but “children” are the fruit of the womb – it’s thought (Psalm 127:3). I want you to look at this parable inward, and you see the two things in your mind: the “truth,” the thoughts planted by Christ, and those that we have devised ourselves. All of those things the Lord has got to clear up, all of the iniquity. Now notice what He says – again, verse 38:
Matthew 13:38-39
38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom [or, the thoughts]; but the tares are the children [thoughts] of the wicked one;
39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
Now notice – the “harvest” is the end of the world. If you back up to the verses we’ve read, in verses 29 and 30 – now listen – while you gather up the tares, you root up also the wheat. Let both grow together until the end of the world and at the time of the harvest, I’ll say to the reapers: Gather you together first the tares and bind them in bundles to be burned …why wait until the end of the world to separate the wheat from the tares? Because it’s only then that the Lord gives you the understanding, the light, to be able to do it. All along, people have been trying to pull up what they thought was wickedness, and they were pulling up the wheat with the tares – they knew no better. They couldn’t discern truth the way the last generation can discern truth. You wait until the harvest to pull up the wheat and the tares. The harvest – it’s the end of the world – now let’s keep reading:
Matthew 13:40-42
40As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.
41The Son of man shall send forth his angels [messengers], and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
42And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
I want you to put it inward and recognize the Lord is sending His messengers, who are helping us to discern between truth and iniquity; between the true and the false – what the Son of God would have us understand, and what we have planted ourselves. And the messengers help us gather up the tares, and bind them together to be burned. He says in verse 43:
Matthew 13:43
43Then [you see, when those tares are burned] shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
You see, the way I’ve understood it, when you come to the end of the world, first the righteous are taken and then the Lord binds the wicked to be burned. But this is stating the opposite: First the wicked are bound to be burned, then the righteous shall shine forth. He’s talking about inward things; He’s talking about the way we think.
CLOSE
You know, these concepts really are so simple and yet they’re profound – to see the meaning of the “sin nature” and God’s cure for the human heart – it is His love. Faith works by love (Galatians 5:6). That word translated “works” is energize; it energizes. Faith is energized by love – that should be the motive of everything we do, the love of Christ. Why do you go where you go, do what you do, buy what you buy, spend the time that you spend – if it isn’t for the love of Christ, it’s wrong. Yesterday, some of these things may have been OK, today it is not. To walk in present truth, we’ve got to learn to spend time with our Savior. Study the book, seek to hear the Voice, come before the Lord with all of the things you’re recognizing in your life and let Him straighten it out.
It is time for His church to be clean. Remember – the great multitude no man can number – but the 144,000 have a number and we will soon see those who are standing on Zion, understanding the Son of God, ascending out of the sea, and having the character of the Father written in their foreheads. I pray that we grasp these concepts and make the effort to be clean before God, without spot or wrinkle, blameless, standing before Him in love.
EPILOGUE:
CHILDREN LEARN WHAT THEY LIVE
If a child lives with criticism,
He learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility,
He learns to fight.
If a child lives with ridicule,
He learns to be shy.
If a child lives with shame,
He learns to feel guilty.
If a child lives with tolerance,
He learns to be patient.
If a child live with encouragement,
He learns confidence.
If a child lives with praise,
He learns to appreciate.
If a child lives with fairness,
He learns justice.
If a child lives with security,
He learns to trust.
If a child lives with approval,
He learns to like himself.
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship,
He learns to find
love in the world.