The course of a believer, from spiritual infancy to deep spiritual maturity, generally passes through seven phases of expectation. In most churches those phases begin when the new convert is baptized with water. He is told that he also received the Holy Spirit at that time, and that there is nothing more for him to receive; he has received it all. (The followers of the eternal security doctrine add that he can never lose it.) Those religious groups have confidence that they receive everything the moment they first accept the Lord and are baptized. It is true that everything is provided for God’s people; however, anyone who is realistic about going on with the Lord knows that God’s provision is not received in completeness at the time of the salvation experience. This realization may be the reason a great number of Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Episcopalians, and Roman Catholics came into the fullness of the Spirit, spoke in tongues, and prophesied in the Charismatic movement rather than in the Baptist movement. Very few of those who naively believe that in one step they receive everything ever go on to more of God. It is sad to claim so much and have so little, for it seems to preclude the normal progress God intends for His people.
How much more realistic it is for us to see that according to the Scriptures, the complete provision is ours in Christ, and then strive to attain it step by step. Such an approach is in accordance with the third chapter of Philippians.
It is a human trait to wring each experience dry, believing it to be everything. For example, some denominations exalt tongues, claiming that when a man talks in tongues, he has everything. However, the Scriptures repeatedly give regulations for tongues, stating that this gift can be dangerous and unedifying if it is not practiced according to the divine pattern which is taught in the Word. The first phase, then, is to receive a little, and to think it is all.
In the second phase, a believer receives even more, and in his immaturity he is tempted to think that it is all. Because of this attitude, an arrogance came to the Pentecostal movement. When the Fundamentalists claimed that they had received everything in one experience, the Pentecostals and those in the Holiness movement looked down on them. Because they felt that they had received a little more than the Fundamentalists, they were sure that they had it all! Oftentimes, those who proudly claim that they have everything are the most vicious persecutors of those who truly seek a deeper walk with God.
A third phase is experienced by those who receive even more, and know realistically that it is only a little more. They more honestly evaluate what God is doing, realizing that they have more of God than they have seen anywhere; however, they know it is not enough. They know that they must have more.
In the fourth phase, a believer receives still more from the Lord, but he realizes how little he actually possesses. The greatest revelation is not in evaluating that which has been received, but in properly evaluating what has not yet been possessed experientially. It exists in promise, but it is important to realize that it must yet be possessed. For example, in Joshua 13:1 the Lord told Joshua that there remained very much land yet to be possessed. He did not say, “Joshua, you have taken a lot of land”; He said, “There remains a lot of land yet to be taken.” Joshua was a man of faith. He believed and lived by God’s promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that every place where the sole of their foot trod was theirs. Joshua lived by that promise, even though he was aware of how little of their true inheritance they had actually possessed.
In phase number five, the believer receives much, and he knows that it is much; but he also knows that it is not enough. Are you in that place? Do you rejoice in hearing all that God is doing in His people? Does something within your heart drive you on, even though you are constantly moving into more of Him? Does your heart tell you that it is not enough, that there is much yet to be possessed? Do you travail over the fact that there is too much yet that God’s people really need, too much yet to be walked in? Are you driven by the awareness that God has promised much more to the remnant, both individually and collectively, than has been possessed?
Some believers are reaching into the sixth phase. They have received very much, and they know they have very much. They know that it is almost enough, but still they are driven on and on.
The seventh phase comes to those who know what God has for His people. They claim it all, and they receive it all. They know that they are claiming all of it, and they know that they will always receive everything God has, for they have walked into the measure of faith where they accept nothing less than the overflowing cup—walking in that which is exceeding abundantly above all that they ask or think (Ephesians 3:20).
The key to each of the preceding phases is a right relationship to Christ. If it is not right, how easy it is to distort the Word. For example, before He ascended, Jesus told His disciples, “You shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you.” That passage is incomplete and it cannot be expounded properly unless the sentence is completed to include the entire scope of Jesus’ words: “And you shall be witnesses unto Me” (Acts 1:8). The power was not to be utilized in their own program; they were to be witnesses unto Him.
One thing that burns in the heart of every true man of God is a grieving over the prostitution of the Pentecost experience found in the religious world. What is prostitution? A woman may dedicate her youth, her beauty, and her sex to her husband—being all to him that God intended her to be—or she can give herself to many lovers, prostituting everything she is for the building up of her ego, or for whatever she can receive. How can we apply this illustration spiritually? To prostitute the Pentecost experience is to use the life and the fire of those who have had a spiritual experience and bleed them for money in order to accomplish a program or a plan that God is not in.
Pentecostal denominations are perhaps more a part of the great whore Babylon than is the Roman Catholic church, where corruption has many times crept in through tradition and through drifting away. However, thousands of Catholics are now turning to the Lord Jesus Christ in fantastic spiritual experiences. On the other hand, very few Pentecostals are walking in what God has today. They stopped growing spiritually because they prostituted the blessings of God. At the turn-of-the-century outpouring, they did what they were warned by God not to do. They prostituted what God had given by using it to accomplish their programs, to build their denominations. They received more light than others and they will answer for it. To whom much is given, much is required (Luke 12:48). Any movement that uses the visitation of God for its own desires will never offer all that the believer wants. Only those void of a hunger for God stay in such movements, for they are satisfied with a carnal level of fulfillment. Many men, who once sought all that God had, have now settled for a lesser measure.
This analysis of denominationalism is given only to illustrate that any group of believers can fall into the same deception. Calamity begins when someone takes the spiritual life of a church and diverts it for his personal benefit. A purity must be presented to the Lord Jesus Christ—the pure virgin Church, without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing (Ephesians 5:27).
Believers have been conditioned to think that the Lord either accepts or rejects people; however, there are degrees of rejection, and there are degrees of acceptance. God accepts the believer on the level he determines to live on. Any couple who falls in love desires a complete relationship with no restrictions: to be married and to love each other deeply with a total commitment to each other. A man may strive for as much as he can have in a relationship, yet there are degrees of acceptance and degrees of rejection. This is true of believers, of marriage partners, of parents, and even of sons of God. How totally will you be a bond-servant of the Lord Jesus Christ? How totally will you he committed to a walk with God? How deep will your dedication be? You determine the limitations of your relationship to God by what is within you. You determine how it will develop.
Within the house of God there are various levels or degrees of dedication and acceptance. Some accept a truth and could not be argued out of it, while others accept that truth and are motivated and driven by it! It becomes a dedication for which they are willing to lay down their lives. Every ounce of energy goes to what they accept. Others accept it, but there is a difference in the degree of acceptance. They have already painted their picture; they have painted in the horizons: “Thus far we will see, thus far we will experience.” Unconsciously they limit themselves in their relationship to the Lord.
How can you have an unlimited relationship to the Lord? How can you avoid accepting just so much and deciding that there is no more? There is much more! Press into it. Relate to the Lord! Learn to walk with God!
In one sense, your relationship to the Lord must remain impersonal, and yet it must anticipate a very personal relationship to Him. It has to be impersonal inasmuch as you do not serve the Lord for what you, as an individual, can receive. Receiving experiences with a right motivation brings forth a right relationship to the Lord. That is why prophecies over a person always require the work of the cross before they can be fulfilled. Severe judgments will fall upon a man unless he uses the fulfillment of those prophecies for God’s glory. If he uses it personally, he is accepting the gift of God and prostituting it for the sake of what he wants.
Acts 8:9–24 records repulsive facts concerning Simon the magician. In his self-seeking, he offered much money for the ability to lay hands on people so that they would receive the Holy Spirit. His motivation was wrong: he wanted to lay hands on people so that he would be important. It is admirable to want to lay hands on people and to see them receive from God, but Simon wanted to receive the credit; he wanted to be the great one. Simon the Great was his name, and he wanted to continue to be the great one.
God does not want His channel to be great. It is He who must increase, and you who must decrease (John 3:30). As you come to the end of self-seeking, your expectation in God increases and your expectation of what you are to receive for walking with Him decreases.
Do you want to work miracles for a personal reason? Miracles must be wrought to break impasses in the Kingdom of God. Miracles must be wrought for His glory. Most healing ministries desire national recognition. They want their picture in a dozen different magazines and books, glorifying what they have done. That type of egotism is a part of the Babylon whore. They take the gift of God and prostitute it, using it to build themselves up. They are charlatans, even though the miracles appear to be real. If the miracles are real the men will answer all the more to God. A miracle should glorify God alone! Let God give the signs that confirm the Word and glorify the Lord—not signs that become the basis of advertisement for a ministry (Mark 16:17–20).
A man may believe for the greater works, but he will never have greater works if he intends to be greater than Jesus. Greater works come when you intend for Him to be magnified. II Thessalonians 1:10 says that He is coming to be admired and to be glorified in His people. However, that is not happening to glorify the people; God is to be glorified in them. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Matthew 5:16.
A true man of God lives to see the Kingdom of God established. He lives for God’s glory. He does not care whether or not people see what he does. He wants no credit for the word God gives him, for what God has wrought through his hands, or for the mighty wisdom that comes to him. A true ministry wants men to see his good works and then glorify the Father which is in heaven! He knows that he is just an extension, a channel to speak the Word. God is to be glorified. It is His Word; let Him be honored and glorified. Let no flesh glory in His presence (I Corinthians 1:29). When believers take the humble place, God moves through them in an unlimited way.
Do you want a meeting with God? Ask Him what He wants to do through you, how He wants to be glorified in you, and He will meet you. Do not focus on your own needs. Let the hunger after righteousness and the desire to seek first the Kingdom exceed your personal hunger for gratification; then your hunger will be met.
What does the Lord require of His people? Above all, He wants them to worship Him. Secondly, He wants them to rejoice, and in everything to give thanks. The third requirement is very basic: He wants His people to be dedicated. A man cannot do those things as long as he is dissatisfied due to an individualistic ambition. Even if his ambition is to see the Church restored, he must walk with carefulness. If he wishes to go forth and lay the foundation, he must remember that other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. I Corinthians 3:11. The foundation must be laid in Him, and it must glorify Him.
Many times a pastor walks among brethren and loves them dearly, yet his heart grows sick if he sees any selfish ambition parading in the name of the will of God. The desire for purity must burn in the hearts of God’s end-time remnant. Therefore, God is purging and dealing with those who are limited in the appropriation of their walk with God, and with those who harbor any reservation. God causes sin to surface so that we can see the filthiness of it and be cleansed. In this way He makes it possible for the remnant to walk together without spot or wrinkle, to be the people He wants them to be.
The fourth quality the Lord requires of those who want to walk with Him is that they strive to be nothing personally or individually. The Scriptures repeatedly give the instruction. Strive to be nothing. Come before God and cry out to be nothing. Ask Him to make you nothing. Do not be satisfied merely because you are without ambition to be something; earnestly desire to be nothing.
In Galatians 6:14 Paul wrote, But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. The fifth chapter of Galatians talks about the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. Galatians 5:24. Do you still draw back from that loneliness of the work of the cross, the loneliness of the loss of individuality? How lonely you feel in your heart when you cease to be an individual! Can you honestly say that those things which were gain to you, you count as loss for Christ? Perhaps you were something, or you know you could have been something, yet there can be but one desire in your heart—to be nothing. Cry out for the work of the cross. Experience the loneliness of the loss of individuality.
A loneliness also comes from the loss of personal pursuit. It is a lonely feeling when the drive to be something as an individual suddenly disappears. Have you felt it? It has to come because the individual must die in order that the Body ministry can come forth. All self-consciousness on the individual level must be lost in the Body of Christ. Being tolerant and understanding of one another is not the answer. Actually, no one understands anyone else on that personal level. Everyone has a depth that cannot be penetrated. The key of it is found by reaching the place where you are void of individuality. Then you will not be conscious of it in anyone else either; you only will see another spirit, just another member set in the Body. Self-consciousness or a conscious awareness of one another from such a low plane will disappear. No matter what your brother does, determine not to know him after the flesh (II Corinthians 5:16). Look at what God is bringing forth in him.
Saul of Tarsus came to the place where he counted all things loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus the Lord, for whom he had suffered the loss of all things. He counted all things but rubbish in order that he might gain Christ (Philippians 3:7, 8). Until you have that same desire, until you count everything of individuality as rubbish, you will not attain to that knowledge. As long as you follow the “know thyself” philosophy of Socrates, you will never know the Lord. Decide where your focus is to be. Forget about understanding your feelings and emotions; forget about knowing who you are and where you are going. Only know who you are in the Lord, where you are going in Him, and what He is becoming in you. There is no room for anything else.
And (to) be found in him, not having a righteousness of mine own … that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed unto his death; if by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained… Philippians 3:9–12. Notice the order in which Paul stated this: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection. That leads to the next step: the fellowship of his sufferings, which leads to the next step: becoming conformed unto his death. That in turn leads to the next step: attain unto the resurrection. That sequence must be followed. Although we begin to know Him, we cannot ultimately know Him until the flesh has been conformed to His death. This cancels egotism, enabling us to walk with Christ.
In Matthew 19:27–29 we read of Peter’s question to the Lord. He said, “Lord we have left all to follow You. What shall we have therefore?” Jesus told him that a person who leaves husband or wife, father or mother, children, houses or lands, or other prized possessions will receive a hundredfold. Does this mean that if you leave five children you will receive 500 children? If you leave a house, will you eventually have a hundred houses? (That would become a burden instead of a blessing, considering taxes, tenants, and upkeep.) This is not what the Scripture means. The hundredfold results from relating to the Body of Christ as a member of that Body instead of relating to it as an individual. As you relate to Christ and to one another, the relationships of the Body will be one hundredfold.
If that is the right thing to do, then it is wrong to do the opposite. Develop a conscience against individuality, against a desire to be distinctive in relationships. When a relationship in the Body of Christ begins, it is difficult to define. It is a relationship in Christ, void of the need or the demand to be something special to another person. Individuality looks for personal relationships on the human plane, but true members of the Body of Christ relate within the perfect will of God. Whenever a member reaches out to have a buddy-buddy relationship with someone, he is due for a rude awakening. God will cause it to disintegrate. That relationship will not be healthy because those involved have gone beyond being members of the Body.
Repent if you desire something distinctive in any relationship. Your relationship to God must be everything, and through that all-out relationship to Him, you relate to one another. Accept Him as everything. Accept yourself as nothing. Strive to be an extension of Him in the earth.
Be to one another what God wants. Relate to one another as God wants. Let your relationship be concerned only with doing the will of God together. How can that be practical? It is very practical when church members are not concerned about relating to one another’s individualities, but rather they are concerned about relating to one another so that they can do the will of God and complete the job for which God created them. A proper relationship to Christ and a seeking of His glory brings forth a proper relationship to one another—true yokefellows doing the job together.
Problems develop in marriage when the couple does not submit their marriage relationship to their relationship with Christ. The primary function in marriage is that of working together to do the perfect will of God; any other function should be second, third, or fourth in importance, or perhaps not even exist at all. A happy Kingdom marriage exists if the marriage partners relate to do the will of God together, pressing in with all their hearts to do what they were raised up to do—and that is to serve God.
Teach your children the importance of living for God. Abandon the idea of putting your children through college and making them successful so that they can have advantages you did not have, such as an abundance of money or prestige. That is not God’s purpose. Raise children who walk with Him! And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord. Isaiah 54:13a. Encourage them to do the will of God. Do not raise them to please yourself, your relatives, or the neighbors; raise them to please God.
Young Christians who want to have a good courtship should avoid the familiar route of dating and relate together by putting Christ first, desiring to bless one another into a better walk with God. In the world, many things occur in courtship which should not. A young man who loves the Lord should be determined in his spirit that his girlfriend will have a better walk with God because of their relationship. Whether that relationship is to go on to marriage or not, their basis of courtship should be to encourage one another spiritually. The value and blessing of relating to one another spiritually is endless. Seek the will of God together. Determine to do the will of God. There can be no closeness unless there is a oneness spiritually. A relationship has no future unless that relationship is in the perfect will of God. Couples who relate to bring forth His perfect will eliminate problems. The problems simply disappear.
A meeting with the Lord is sometimes difficult to receive because we want it on our own terms. We pray for circumstances to work out according to our individual desires. However, God rarely answers personal, private prayers without first defining our relationship to Him in the answer He brings. For example, prophecy may come stating that we will work miracles, and so we start praying for miracles. But God seldom allows anyone to work miracles until the work of the cross has been done in his life. Then in that relationship to Him, He defines how we will work those miracles for His glory—not for our own glory. The important factor is not what you do, but how you relate to Him in it.
In every meeting with God, what He claims over you and how you relate to Him determines the depth of that meeting. Do you yearn to be a pastor? a missionary? an apostle? Is it an egotistic desire? Relate to Him. Determine that He alone will be glorified in it.
After Paul spoke about being conformed to Christ’s death, he said, Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect: but I press on, if so be that I may lay hold on that for which also I was laid hold on by Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12. Why did he say that? Paul wanted only to receive what God had in mind for him. He did not want to lay hold of God so that he could have what he had dreamed of being or becoming in himself. He did not strive for anything other than whatever God had in mind for him. He knew that the Lord had a perfect will for him, something that He wanted him to do, a way in which He wanted him to glorify God. Paul lived to fulfill that which God had in mind when He laid hold upon him. How?… One thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (that upward call of God, what God had in mind). Let us therefore, as many as are perfect (or mature), be thus minded: and if in anything ye are otherwise minded, this also shall God reveal unto you. Philippians 3:13–15. If you start walking in the wrong direction, God will talk to you about it!
Many times believers pray for the right thing, yet their prayer remains unanswered because they do not relate first to God. If they would relate to Him, their prayers, would be answered. When God gives a word over a church or over an individual, it sometimes does not happen because those involved have not related to God in it first. It is good that a congregation pray a great deal for their pastor, but they must be certain that they relate correctly to Christ in that prayer. Their motivation must be to see the Lord glorified.
Pray for every relationship that exists within the Church and within your life. Pray total prayers for the Body of Christ. Come into the realm of Kingdom level dedication, and as your brothers and sisters in the Lord experience spiritual breakthroughs, be ready to relate to them correctly. This is what God requires.
A revolution is taking place in family relationships, based on the issue of every relationship glorifying God. Married people with problems often feel that they can become reconciled or get closer together if they can communicate better and talk things out. Communication is not the answer. Two people who can hardly speak the same language can often communicate with no difficulty at all, if they first identify themselves in their relationship to Christ. That is the key of walking together.
Suppose a young man is so intent on marrying the girl of his choice that he becomes deeply emotional about it. He cannot tolerate the idea of not having her. Because he is not dedicated to the Lord and because he will not relate to her in the will of God, their relationship will result in disaster—whether he gets her or not. What he is praying for may be in the perfect will of God; but they may not be relating properly to the Lord and to each other. Everything is jammed up, and any answer will be disastrous if they do not first establish a proper relationship to the Lord. The key is to stop praying for things and relate to the Lord first. Then in the will of God their prayers will be answered.
Delight yourself first in the Lord, and then He will give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4). The desires of your heart will come with disaster unless you delight in the Lord. This principle makes available a way for all prayers to be answered! Abide in Him! If you abide in Him, and His words abide in you, you can ask what you will and it shall be done unto you.
If, as an individual, you have a deep need, if you are frustrated and feel a lack of fulfillment in your life, the best counsel you can receive is to stop looking for fulfillment on the human level. If you are that close to the loneliness of the work of the cross, the loneliness which comes when the flesh is crucified, let God finish the job! Lay it all at His feet. Let Him be glorified. Believe for a revelation of the Lord; believe to be touched until you truly know that you are dedicated.
The work of the cross is a lonely experience, but unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it abideth alone (John 12:24). If it falls in the ground and dies, it will bring forth a great harvest. God never intended for you to live alone; He intended for you to dwell and function in His many-membered Body, bringing forth His perfect will in the earth.
Are you ready to die? Relate to the Lord. Be His servant. Bring everything under His will, under His rule. Let Him be Lord over you and over every relationship you have. He is God—trust Him. Live for Him! Reverently worship Him; He has to be everything. Submit to the circumcision of heart, to the work of the cross. Let the Lord mortify everything that exists on the human level. He must increase; you must decrease. That is the golden key to a meeting with God. Open the door!