Are there times as a believer when you feel that surely you must find an answer to what you are seeking God for, or else you must be embracing something that is not His will for you? You may be looking to God for His answer and you are not satisfied with the traditional, conventional explanations that have been given out of the Scriptures. They are not adequate.
I have been in this situation, and I have come to this conclusion: Either the Scriptures are an inadequate revelation of divine truths—they are good as far as they go but they don’t give us enough-or else there is something so basically missing in our whole interpretation of them that we are missing the thing that God was really intending for us to have in the first place, and we need to reread the Scriptures. As you consider this very carefully, you may come to one or the other of these conclusions; but frankly, I have come to the second conclusion.
There needs to be a fresh, new evaluation of everything we have read in the Scriptures. It is impossible to see the things that happened in Bible times and the prophecies concerning this day, and yet at the same time accept what is happening in the hearts of the people who love the Lord today—the lack of power, the lack of really seeing the promises put into action.
When God made Adam, He blessed him and gave him dominion over all the works of His hands; He put everything in subjection to him.
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them: and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Genesis 1:26–28, ASV.
But one hath somewhere testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? Or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honor, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: thou didst put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he subjected all things unto him, he left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we see not yet all things subjected to him. Hebrews 2:6–8, ASV.
And there seems to be a residue of this original Adamic authority remaining in man—once in a while you hear of a man or woman who does not even know Jesus Christ, and yet they manifest a trace of the old Adamic power and authority. Although they have just a trace of that power, the feats they perform can be so startling that they lead to the disturbing conclusion that Christians must be missing the mark, because sometimes the Christian, regenerated and in the power of God, cannot do what some of these people are attempting and coming up with outside of God. Don’t misunderstand what I mean here; hear me out before you pass judgment. For instance, there are people who can walk on fire. Can you? Do you think you could walk on coals of fire? Could you lie on a bed of nails without them puncturing your skin? This has been done on television, yet you probably wouldn’t have the same success if you tried it. You also hear of people who control the elements quite effectively. Men of God did that in Bible times too (Exodus 9:22–33; I Kings 17:1; James 5:17–18). But how many of us have done it lately?
There seems to be some discrepancy between what the Lord sets before us as a promise and how we put that promise into action. For instance, in Mark 11:23 the promise is that we can say to the mountain, “Be removed hence and cast in the sea,” and it will obey us. Jesus did not say, “You fast and pray about it and wait a season, and after a while, with a lot of people all agreeing together, you might say to this mountain, ‘Be thou removed’ and at least be able to cause an avalanche.” No, the promise is that we can speak to the mountain and it will be removed.
In Hawaii, kahunas have been known to run on lava beds which were barely cooled off enough to support weight—without even blistering their feet. The heat of that rock would still be many times hotter than molten steel poured in a foundry. I am not saying that any purpose is accomplished by men running on hot lava—the world will not be any better or worse as a result. But I am pointing out that these people have a residue of something basic which goes back to what Adam originally had when God blessed him and gave him dominion over all the works of His hands.
There must be something still resident within man-maybe only a trace—that when a person is under hypnosis, he can be subjected to almost unbelievable physical stresses, and yet be without any reaction to them whatsoever. In contrast, we have to wonder what is lacking when we look at Christians and see the helplessness with which they face circumstances and problems. They are supposed to be in a course of redemption to bring them back to authority and power (Revelation 5:9–10; Romans 8:1–30; Ephesians 1:19–23; 2:4–10); and yet it seems that there is very little authority that they appropriate.
And they sing a new song, saying, Worthy art thou to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and didst purchase unto God with thy blood men of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, and madest them to be unto our God a kingdom and priests; and they reign upon the earth. Revelation 5:9–10, ASV.
And he put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. Ephesians 1:22–23, ASV.
In the Scriptures, there is an answer to this. We see that the Christian’s mistake is that he addresses all of his prayers to a Being outside of himself instead of recognizing that Christ is in him (Luke 17:20–21, ASV; Colossians 1:27), and that the divine nature is coming forth in him (II Peter 1:4).
Many of the things that happened in the New Testament were completely separated, as far as prayer is concerned, from the idea of making a petition to God as though He were a force outside of the disciples. But always it was an intense determination to turn loose what God was restoring and bringing forth within their individual lives in His redemption.
The disciples very rarely prayed for a sick person. Instead, they would say as Peter did to the lame man, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. Acts 3:6b, KJV. And he did. Peter and John did not pray about the situation; they gave what they had. They did not make petitions as much as they gave.
I believe we are heading toward this same course. For instance, if you were to keep track of how much time we spend in our weekly services in prayers of petition and how much time we spend in prayers of blessing where we set about not to petition but to bless, you might be surprised to see how much we believe in blessing, how much we believe that we have the faith and authority to draw and to send a blessing in the name of the Lord.
We have become more concerned about keeping an open spirit with the flow of life coming through us than about praying and asking God to change the circumstances that are outside of us. There is no question but what we are on the right track, the track of restoration. And since this is the course we are on, the quicker we become dedicated to pursuing it, the faster we will arrive at pure, New Testament power and authority, restored to the Church again.
And he put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
To the intent that now unto the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places might be made known through the church the manifold wisdom of God. Ephesians 1:22–23; 3:10, ASV.
After His resurrection, Jesus said to the disciples, “You shall lay your hands on the sick and they shall recover. If you drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt you” (Mark 16:17–18). So the disciples went everywhere; they laid their hands on the sick and healed them, and the Lord confirmed the Word with signs following (Mark 16:20). Very little was said about prayer in that promise. Jesus did not say, “Get in a corner and start praying really loud, and God will hear you.” He just said, “This is what will happen: You will speak in new tongues; you are going to take up serpents, and if you drink any deadly thing it will not hurt you. You will lay hands on the sick and they shall recover.”
This promise has an audacious quality to it. But people have been able to do startling things, as I mentioned earlier, without Christ because of just a little residue or trace within them of the authority that was originally given to Adam. In the fall, man lost much (Genesis 3:14–24; Romans 5:12–14). But now, God’s plan is that through Jesus Christ we are to be restored (Romans 5:15–19).
For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. I Corinthians 15:22, ASV.
But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and gave unto us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not reckoning unto them their trespasses, and having committed unto us the word of reconciliation. II Corinthians 5:18–19, ASV.
As we advance in Christ, we find that the holy life of God infused within us makes us the Body of Christ going forth and executing His will. Of the nine gifts of the Spirit (I Corinthians 12:4–11), not one is a gift of prayer. But there is a gift of a word of wisdom; there is a gift of a word of knowledge; there is a gift of faith; there is a gift of discerning of spirits; there is a gift of prophecy. What are these gifts? They are God in motion; they are fragments of His omnipotence and His omniscience being manifested through His Body (I Corinthians 12:4–6). As the Spirit gives direction and leading, you set about to do His will.
Christ told the disciples, “Freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8). You just do it. The idea behind the effectiveness of the early New Testament church was that they recognized their place of authority in God. And in the end time, as the kings and priests of God come forth, I wonder if we will not have to recognize that kings have authority, that the priests of the Lord have access into God’s omnipotence.
And he made us to be a kingdom, to be priests unto his God and Father; to him be the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Revelation 1:6, ASV.
And he that ouercometh, and he that keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give authority over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to shivers; as I also have received of my Father. Revelation 2:26–27, ASV.
And madest them to be unto our God a kingdom and priests; and they reign upon the earth. Revelation 5:10, ASV.
Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: over these the second death hath no power; but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. Revelation 20:6, ASV.
The kings and priests of God will not be a people of spiritual superiority and pride, but they will be a people who literally move into God and then manifest God. And there will be no question in their minds about it.
This does not take away from humility. When Paul wrote, “I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwells no good thing” (Romans 7:18), he was telling the truth. But he also wrote, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). He put no evaluation upon the flesh to glorify it, but he did place a great premium on the fact that his position in God gave him a great deal. When he wrote to the church at Ephesus, he did not say that after a great deal of prayer and wrestling with God we might be blessed with some of those spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. He said that we are blessed—it is a thing that stands.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Ephesians 1:3, KJV.
It is not something which is about to take place; it already has taken place.
Have you ever noticed that during the periods in your life when you were constantly waiting for God to do something, nothing happened? But now in this walk with God, we are believing to be led and to move in God; and as we wait before the Lord, the motivation, the direction, and the initiative is given to the Body and they begin to move. When we meet for prayer, the power and the authority is there in an amazing way. We lay hands on people; and because we believe that we can impart something of God, that it is ours to do this, the thing is done (I Timothy 4:14; II Timothy 1:6). We do not move by our own knowledge alone, but we move by revelation. God directs by the witness of the Holy Spirit; then we move with our own initiative in the power of the Holy Spirit to do the thing that has to be done, and it gets done. It is created before our very eyes. This is the pattern of what we are looking for.
I don’t think we know how much we really have. Recently I have been saying, “Lord, recondition me. Take away this thing in me that has accepted limitation.” When I get down to pray about any circumstance or problem, I don’t want to be petitioning the Lord to do something. Instead I want to recognize: He has given me authority over this. Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and earth is Mine; go ye therefore” (Matthew 28:18–20). As we go, behind us is that authority.
We are not sent out helpless, just to run headlong up against a wall and then stand there and whine to heaven about it. Go ahead and rebuke that wall. Take authority over it and bring it down.
Many of the things that have stopped the people of the Lord did not need to stop them. They accepted a limitation that was not of God. Unconsciously, the Christian world over the years has accepted this condition until you begin to wonder in this day if there will be any faith when the Son of Man comes (Luke 18:8). Today there is a mental assent to the truth of God’s Word. There is a great segment of the Christian world who believe in the restoration to some extent. In fact, anyone who has moved into anything of God since the days of the Reformation has had to believe in restoration to some extent, because they were believing for God to restore. Theoretically, then, they believe in restoration; but in actual, practical manifestation they do not. They do not accept the truth: “God is restoring us as His sons to walk in all of His Word” (Romans 8:19–21).
This introduction should serve to position us to hear the Scriptures as we have never heard them before, to open our ears to hear what the Word is really saying to us. In this day, with Satan moving upon people as he is to show forth signs and wonders, to bring forth false prophets and false Christs so that if it were possible they would deceive the very elect (Matthew 24:24), there should not be one person among us who sits back with fear and trembling thinking, “Oh dear, will we be able to hold out?” We were not raised up to think that way. The restoration is going to culminate in something else—a people who will go out to do signs and wonders, a people who will do exploits.
But the people that know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. Daniel 11:32b, ASV.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father. John 14:12, ASV.
I think what turned the tide for young David with his slingshot was the fact that when he looked up at Goliath and heard all of his roaring, he didn’t pay any attention to that. He just said, “You come against me with a sword and spear, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of hosts” (I Samuel 17:45). That was all he had to do—just come against that giant in the name of the Lord. So he took his slingshot, wound up, and down the giant came. And anytime we face a problem, we ought to realize exactly the same thing. We have authority over the enemy. Jesus said, “Behold, I give you authority over all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19, ASV). The King James Version reads, “Behold, I give you power over all the power of the enemy.” But the first version is more accurate; they are two different words. He gives us authority over all the power of the enemy. The devil has power, but we have the authority.
Has it yet dawned on us that that authority is in us as it is in Jesus Christ? We have allowed ourselves to be content with only half of the provision of our salvation.
We should approach the Lord somewhat like the children of Israel did when they came to offer their sacrifices. They would lay their hands on the animal’s head and confess their sins over it (Leviticus 1:4), thus identifying their sin with that animal. They were to offer a lamb without spot or blemish, because they were identifying the purity of that lamb with themselves (Leviticus 1:3, 10; 4:32–33). The lamb which had taken their sins would be sacrificed, and they would walk away absolutely free and clear. Christ became that sacrifice for us (I Corinthians 5:7).
“Though He was rich,” the Scripture says, “yet for our sakes He became poor, that we through His poverty might be made rich” (II Corinthians 8:9). It is a complete identification. And if you are identified with the Lord only to the extent that you want to see all your sins laid upon Him, that is only half the bargain. Redemption was never intended to be just a fire escape so that you could miss hell. That was not what God had in mind at all. God had in mind to bring many sons to glory (Hebrews 2:10).
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Romans 8:29, KJV.
Oh, the full image of God which was in Jesus Christ, the fullness of the Father—this is the very image that God intended should be in you.
Identification means that He was completely identified with our need in order that we would be completely identified with His fullness.
For it was the good pleasure of the Father that in him should all the fulness dwell. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and in him ye are made full, who is the head of all principality and power. Colossians 1:19; 2:9–10, ASV.
And we have not really become Christian in the fullest extent of pure New Testament theology until we are identified absolutely with Jesus Christ as the Lord, as the ruler of all things (Philippians 2:9–11; I Corinthians 15:24–27). He is “Lord of lords and King of kings” (Revelation 17:14; I Timothy 6:15–16). And as His kings and priests, we stand and call to Babylon’s walls, “Come down!” and we expect them to come down (Revelation 18). We begin to cry against the powers of evil, and we expect them to be rebuked!
I believe this with all of my heart, and I am going to continue to teach it and lay it out before you. This may cause some to criticize and say, “Oh, you are going to build up spiritual pride if you do that.” But I don’t think that is true.
We can take a very humble viewpoint of the flesh and abhor it, knowing that it has nothing to glory in (Romans 7:18). Our desire can be to mortify it and put it to death (Romans 8:13; Colossians 3:5; Galatians 5:24). But that in no way limits us from rising up into the fullness of authority that is ours in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:17–23).
We must grasp this basic principle. If we don’t, we will never see the thing happen that God wants to do through us. Like Gideon’s army, we are raised up to stand and rebuke iniquity in the nations and to believe that God will bring down every evil device, everything which stands and works against the will of the Lord (Ephesians 6:12).
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh (for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the casting down of strongholds); casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. II Corinthians 10:3–5, ASV.
You say, “But who are we to do such a thing?” We are not much, but that is not the issue. There will still be enough authority to do anything God sets before us to do, because God said it would be there. We can do it! (Matthew 18:18–19.)
You say, “Oh, I know God can do it; He has all authority.” That thinking is a half-truth which I would like to ram right down the throat of the devil where it came from! It keeps us from seeing Christ’s authority in one another. It leads us, when we talk about submission, to say, “Well, I’m submissive to the Lord, but I’m not going to be submissive to any man.” That is not New Testament order. It leads a wife to say, “God set me free, and you are not going to find me being submissive to my husband.” God did not say that either. God has brought forth an order, in the Body and in the home (Ephesians 5:20–33; Hebrews 13:17; 1 Peter 5:5; Colossians 3:18–25).
I cannot see what God is doing in this hour without being submissive to it. If God sets some brother in the Body of Christ (I Corinthians 12:18) and I see the Spirit of God working in him, then I am going to be submissive to him (I Corinthians 16:15–16). I am going to believe in what he is doing. I am going to receive him as I receive the Lord (Matthew 10:40; Mark 9:37).
If you don’t do that, you will find yourself judged when you stand before the Lord in that day when He separates the sheep from the goats (Matthew 25:31–46). What is the difference between a sheep and a goat? You know in the natural, but in the spiritual sense how do they differ?
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and ye did not give me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of these least, ye did it not unto me. And these shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life. Matthew 25:41–46, ASV.
The goats did not visit Jesus. They did not pray for Him. They did not go to Him in prison. They did not give Him anything to wear when He was naked. They did not give Him anything to eat when He was hungry. They did not help Him and visit Him when He was sick. You say, “Are those the goats?” Yes.
You see, the goats never identified their brothers and sisters with Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “Inasmuch as you do it to the least of these My brethren, you do it unto Me. Inasmuch as you didn’t do it to the least of these My brethren, you didn’t do it unto Me” (Matthew 25:40, 45). You cannot separate Jesus Christ from even the least member of the Body.
Artists like to depict Him still as the sweet, lowly Nazarene, or as some far-off Being sitting up on a beautiful throne, and tell us, “There’s Christ.” But you can’t do that. In the realm of spirit, it is far more complicated than that.
He who once dwelt within the flesh of one man now is the federal Head of a multi-membered Body (Ephesians 1:22–23). Just as the natural body is not one member but many, so also is Christ (I Corinthians 12:12–14, 18–20). Christ—the man we knew as the Lord Jesus Christ—is now the Head of a corporate Body (Colossians 1:18). And you are part of that Christ.
“Do you mean that I am the Christ?”
No, you are taking too much on yourself if you say that. But if you say, “I am of the Christ,” there you have the true scriptural teaching.
What a miserable thing it is that people in false doctrines and false cults and modernism have come up with a trick of Satan, so that the one thing that will be the strongest point in our thinking and in our whole moving in God is already being discredited. Ask any one of these people and they will say, “Oh, it doesn’t matter what religion or belief you have; we are all God’s dear children. We are all sons of God. He has brought all of us forth.” What did Jesus say to that in John chapter 8? He told those Jews who boasted of being Abraham’s offspring, “You are of your father the devil, and his works you will do!” (John 8:37–47.) The trick of Satan is to steer people away from the present truth (II Peter 1:12, KJV). Nobody takes offense if someone says, “I’m a Catholic,” “I’m a Presbyterian,” “I’m a Methodist,” “I’m a Lutheran,” or “I’m into self-realization” or something else. Whatever they say they are, it is all right. It is accepted one way or the other. But when someone asks, “What faith are you?” and you say, “Oh, I’m a son of God,” watch what happens. See what reaction you get. You will get a negative reaction: “You’re a fanatic. You can’t be a son of God!” They did the same thing with Jesus when He said that He was a Son (Mark 14:61–64; John 5:17–18; 10:24–39).
This is the time for the manifestation of the sons of God; and as a son of God, you are coming forth to glory (Romans 8:16–30; 9:23–26).
However, the idea of you accepting the authority of a son of God is disturbing to many people and they come against you. They will have all kinds of criticism against this one point. But the truth of the matter is that this sonship is exactly the key of what is coming forth at the present time. It is exactly what will break forth upon us. We are going to walk in it.
Do not anticipate an arrogance in this awareness of authority; it will come forth with the greatest of humility. When Jesus told His disciples, “Come and learn of Me; I am meek and lowly of heart,” He had just finished speaking about the authority He had (Matthew 11:27–29). When people read this passage, they do not tie the two together. But as you read these verses, see if you do not get another picture completely than one of spiritual pride or arrogance.
At that season Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and understanding, and didst reveal them unto babes: yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in thy sight. All things have been delivered unto me of my Father (notice what Jesus said: “All things have been delivered to Me by My Father”): and no one knoweth the Son, save the Father; neither doth any know the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal him. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart. Matthew 11:25–29a, ASV.
Do you see the relationship of His humility and His authority? He said, “All things have been delivered to Me of My Father. I am meek and lowly in heart.” The two are not incompatible. This doesn’t mean that you are to have a pseudo-humility where you beat yourself down and crawl around in defeat. Instead, you are to have the true humility which says, “I am meek and lowly in heart.” Jesus continued by saying, … and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Verses 29–30. Bow down to the Lord; take His yoke upon you. Kneel down before Him and accept His absolute authority over you. Accept the Lordship of Jesus Christ over you.
The doctrine of the Lordship of Jesus becomes the most potential force in the world. Submit to it. Become meek and lowly and humble under it. Then get up and knock the kingdom of Satan down.
And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Romans 16:20, ASV.
To the extent that you bow to the authority of Jesus Christ and you accept it, to that extent you also can accept that authority operative in your own life.
Be subject therefore unto God; but resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall exalt you. James 4:7, 10, ASV.
To the extent that you bow down in reverence to the name of Jesus Christ, to that extent you can utter that name and devils will tremble (Acts 3:6, 16; 16:18). But you can utter that name without that bowing down to it and nothing will be accomplished because the authority will not be there. This is what happened in Ephesus when the sons of Sceva heard about all the miracles that were taking place by the hands of Paul. They decided to use the name of Jesus too. They took it upon themselves to say over a man possessed by an evil spirit, “We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches that you come out of him.” The evil spirit answered right back, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?” Then the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, tore their clothes off, and wounded them so that they fled out of the house (Acts 19:11–16). Because the name of Jesus did not mean anything to the sons of Sceva, it did not mean anything to the evil spirits who heard it either. It is not the utterance of a particular sound or word that makes the difference. It is what is in your heart in accepting the authority of that name.
This whole thing comes down to authority. It comes down to the fact that we are not accepting the reality that His authority is resident within us. We must bow down in humility and submission before Him, until we come into oneness with His power, until we are not just so many individuals divorced from what He is, until there is a fusion with Christ, until He thinks and He wills, His mind operates through us (I Corinthians 2:16), and we become the executioners of His authority and power in the earth.
Let the saints exult in glory: let them sing for joy upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand; to execute vengeance upon the nations, and punishments upon the peoples; to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; to execute upon them the judgment written: this honor have all his saints. Praise ye Jehovah. Psalm 149:5–9, ASV.
That is exactly what must happen if we are to see our walk conform to Bible standards.
Now we come to our text, Hebrews 2:5–11. Follow carefully as we read what the writer of Hebrews had to say about this.
For not unto angels did he subject the world to come, whereof we speak. But one hath somewhere testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? Or the son of man, that thou visitest him? (Notice that the writer of Hebrews did not know where this verse was; but nevertheless, under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, he was quoting from Psalm 8:3–6.) Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honor, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: thou didst put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he subjected all things unto him, he left nothing that is not subject to him. Hebrews 2:5–8a, ASV.
That is man that he is talking about.
“Is that what He did with Adam?”
Yes.
“Is that what was done with man?”
Yes. It was not to the angels that the Lord subjected the world to come, but He ordained that man was to move into that place.
Everything seems to center on a redeemed body of men, sons of God coming forth who are going to rule and reign with Christ (Psalm 149:5–9; Luke 22:28–30). They will be kings and priests (I Peter 2:5, 9; Revelation 1:6), and this world will be under their rule and authority (Revelation 5:10). Cities will be under them. Many of the parables speak of this. They tell us that as a man moves faithfully in what he has, then much will be committed to him (Luke 12:41–44; 19:11–26; Matthew 25:14–30).
But now we see not yet all things subjected to him. But we behold him who hath been made a little lower than the angels, even Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God he should taste of death for every man. For it became him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren. Hebrews 2:8b–11, ASV.
I am one with Christ. Do you believe that you are one with Christ? Then can we do more than we think we can do? Yes. All things are possible to him that believeth, because there is a oneness with the Lord. Christ came in the flesh to suffer and taste of death for every man for one purpose: that He might bring sons unto glory. He is bringing you into that sonship, into the authority, into the position that God ordained man to have when He first created him. Although God knew that man would fall from that place, He intended that through redemption he would be brought back into that same place of dominion and more, until everything would be subjected to him-everything. Will it work? Yes. Little by little, we are moving toward it.
It is marvelous to see the growth that comes as we enter into the services where we bless one another. Do you know why people grow more rapidly in a service like this? It is because they are not given an obsolete, limited theology; they are simply told, “God loves you; give your heart to Christ. Open your heart to the Lord and open your heart to each other. Don’t hold back. If anything is wrong, just ask Him to forgive you. Open your heart and start blessing one another.” Then the people start blessing one another. Even ones who are new to our services are able to enter right in. They can do it because they believe they can do it. On the other hand, some people have been church members for so long and have heard so many sermons and have watched so many Christians, and they have been professing Christian themselves, working at it for so many years, that they have limited themselves in what they believe they can do. And so it remains for a people to come along who do not know any better, and they do just fine.
Someone told me about a tribe in Africa where the tribesmen can jump ten feet up into the air. Of course, we know they really can’t do that because all the world records prove it; people have been trying to jump that high for a long time. But these tribesmen just do it—because nobody ever told them it could not be done. Likewise, any person who has had any education or scientific training at all knows that if you play with fire you will be burned. However, many primitives handle fire without being burned. They just have not had the education that you have had.
Philippians 4:13 tells us that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. He strengthens us. Ephesians 3:20, KJV, says: Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.
God is not an impersonal force, uninvolved in the lives of those people whom He is redeeming and bringing forth in His own image. He is not interested in sovereignly controlling the world’s circumstances. You surely realize that. He allows people to go to war, to shoot and kill each other. And the scoffers stand back and say, “Well, if there is a God in heaven, why does He allow that?” Because He isn’t interested in directly interfering with that. He is interested in only one thing: He is interested in a people in whom He can bring forth His will and His glory, and He will let them interfere in His name, with His power and His glory. I doubt whether God is manifesting Himself much in this day apart from the moving of His Spirit in His people, inspiring and blessing them and causing them to come forth to work in His mighty power.
So then, my beloved, even as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure. Philippians 2:12–13, ASV.
It is God who works in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure. He is working in you, and you work out your salvation; you are working out the thing that God has brought forth in you.
I may have given you a little different viewpoint on many Scriptures, and there are also many other passages that point to this one thing: There is much more in this walk with God than you and I have yet embraced. We ought to wait on the Lord and meditate upon Him and get rid of these limitations in our thinking that cause us to keep saying, “Oh, we must pray for God to do something.” Frankly, I think the old-order ways of prayer have been very ineffective. I would much rather wait upon the Lord, see what He is doing, hear what He has to say, and then move in faith with certainty to do His will. If the Lord intends for you to move in God, then wait upon Him. That is what men of God have done through the ages; they did not initiate their own thoughts and ideas. They did not pray, “O God, bless these little plans I have,” and then run about, trying to see what they could do with them. Instead, they ministered to the Lord; they waited before Him and came into complete submission to His will. Then when they got their directions, they went to work on it; and God blessed them because they were doing the will of the Lord (Genesis 6:13–22; Acts 13:1–3).
Even Jesus with all of His power said, “I do nothing but what I see the Heavenly Father do. Of Myself, I can do nothing. My Father, He doeth the works.”
Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father doing: for what things soever he doeth, these the Son also doeth in like manner. For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that himself doeth: and greater works than these will he show him, that ye may marvel. I can of myself do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is righteous; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. John 5:19–20, 30, ASV.
I wonder if we understand the oneness and the identification that Jesus had with the Father? It was so complete that when Philip said, “Show us the Father and we will be satisfied,” He said, “Why, Philip, have I been so long a time with you and yet you have not known Me? He that has seen Me has seen the Father. Don’t you believe this?”
Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and dost thou not know me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the father; how sayest thou, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I say unto you I speak not from myself. but the Father abiding in me doeth his works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake. John 14:8–11, ASV.
It was really true. That is how one Christ in His humanity became with the Father; He walked and lived with the Father (John 10:30; 17:21–23). He knew how completely helpless He was apart from the Father, and He said, “I can of Mine own self do nothing” (John 5:30). This is what He was trying to tell us when He spoke about the vine and the branches.
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; so neither can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for apart from me ye can do nothing. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatsoever ye will, and it shall be done unto you. John 15:4–5, 7, ASV.
He said, “If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, then you ask what you will.” But when you ask, you are not begging, “O God, please do something.” I have never yet seen a little branch pleading, “Oh please, vine, please, I want to grow some grapes this year.” It doesn’t happen like that; grapes do not come forth that way. Neither do you find the little branches trembling for fear that they have no part in the vine. They just go on living in that vine and drawing and manifesting; they are appropriating and showing forth the fullness of what is flowing into them (John 15:8).
Like those branches, we ought to be drawing and manifesting Christ’s fullness. We do not yet appreciate our oneness with Christ. We are not appreciating the fact that we are seated in the heavenly places with Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6). It is a place of authority, a place of rule. It is not something that is to come; but in the realm of spirit it actually exists right now. We carry with us the limitations of the theology of many generations. And though we contend for a pure doctrine, we have a very shallow manifestation of the power. One of the great marks of the last days is that men will have “a form of godliness, but will deny the power thereof.” From such we are to turn away (II Timothy 3:5). There are people in the religious world who are so orthodox; they are so sound in their doctrine, and they are so dead! Orthodoxy can be dead. It is good to be orthodox, but let’s be alive. Let’s move. Let’s manifest the power of the Word.
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to account anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God; who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. II Corinthians 3:5–6, ASV.
This message is a key to what is coming. We need to get hold of it and believe it. Are you one with the Lord? Do you love Him? Are you submissive to Him as your Lord? Are you going to walk in Him? Are you going to live and move and have your being in Him? (Acts 17:28.) Or do you see Him as some Being way off someplace that you pray to, saying, “O Lord, I’m in trouble”?
The Scriptures say, “Though we have known Him after the flesh, yet we know Him so no longer” (II Corinthians 5:16). We know Him now after the Spirit. He is exalted. He is living (Revelation 1:17–18). He is not hanging on a cross. He dwells in a glory that no man can approach (I Timothy 6:14–16). All authority in heaven and earth is His (Matthew 28:18). The days of His humiliation have brought Him to the days of glory and wonder! (Philippians 2:6–11.) And He is bringing us as sons unto glory, too (Hebrews 2:10).
The whole operation of the Holy Spirit is to bring us into oneness with the Lord (John 17:20–23). The thing that is wrong with constantly praying to an image of a crucifix is that you may be two thousand years out of date. Christ is now seated at the right hand of the Father, henceforth expecting until His enemies be made His footstool.
But he, when he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; henceforth expecting till his enemies be made the footstool of his feet. Hebrews 10:12–13, ASV.
The job is done; the victory is won! And what does He declare about you? You too are more than conquerors (Romans 8:37). It’s not that we will be or that we ought to be—we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. But the whole thing fails when we won’t accept or assume what we are, when we won’t wake up to it. Awake unto God! Awake unto His presence! Awake unto His life! (Ephesians 5:8–14, KJV; Romans 14:11.) Be awakened to the reality that you are a part of the Christ. You are raised up y God to manifest His authority and power in this hour. Even primitive people, whether it is the witch doctor or whatever, sense their oneness with a certain authority and are able to do amazing feats. But far too often we, as the Body of Christ, linked with the Lord of lords and the King of kings, have gone around pleading and whining as if we did not realize that all authority is ours.
In the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11–32), I don’t know which was worse—the younger son who went out and wasted his inheritance with riotous living, or the elder brother who stayed home and had to be reminded by the father, “All that I have is thine.” In his anger over the way his father received the prodigal son back, the older brother had said, “I have been faithfully working all this time, and you never killed the fatted calf for me.” Imagine! He had never made use of what was available to him, and his father had to remind him, “All that I have is yours!” Which was worse? The prodigal son had a certain kind of stupidity, but the older brother had a kind of stupidity too. In a sense, he was a prodigal too, wasting his inheritance because he never even knew what he had.
The Father is saying to us, “All that I have is thine!” And there ought to be something within us that rises up and sees the riches of His grace and walks in it.
Having the eyes of your heart enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to that working of the strength of his might which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule, and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and he put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. Ephesians 1:18–23, ASV.
And (he) raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:6–7, ASV.
We should get up every day and say, “Thank You, Lord, for the blessings which are mine in Christ Jesus the Lord.” We must accept what we have in Him. I have never yet seen a rich head with a nice crown on it and at the same time poor feet wearing shoes with holes in them. You would not see anyone dressed like that. Nor would you be apt to see someone with an expensive Stetson on his head dressed in old ragged clothes and going barefoot. How can the head be rich and the body poor? There is only one way: the body is stupid in not knowing what it is in relationship to that head; it is not assuming its position in relationship to that head.
History tells us that when the first missionaries came to Hawaii, the Hawaiians were disappointed to find that the Christians could not do more than the kahunas had been doing. I have heard that a year ahead of time, the kahunas had prophesied right to the day the time when the missionaries were going to land, and they had told the people that the missionaries would teach them a way of God which was superior. When the missionaries arrived, the Hawaiians had their sick ones lying there for them to heal. But those missionaries couldn’t do a thing except tell them, “We learn the ways of God through suffering.” The Hawaiians could not understand that because they had seen the kahunas do many things: they could heal bones; they could drive sharks out of the lagoon; they could bring rain. And here were people talking about a greater power, yet they could not even heal the sick. But the day is coming now to heal the sick and to do the greater works that Christ spoke of.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my name, that will I do. John 14:12–14, ASV.
When I first started out to preach at age fifteen, I was given permission to hold services in a church in a small town several miles away. The Word was just burning in me, and so I would go wherever I could to preach. The first time I went to this particular town, just when it was almost time to start the service, big black clouds came rolling in and it looked as if it was going to rain. So I made a simple prayer: “Lord, Elisha prayed and it didn’t rain for three and one half years. All we need is three and one-half hours” (I Kings 17:1; James 5:17–18). I remember rebuking that cloud and commanding it not to rain. For three and one-half hours it did not rain, and then it started really pouring down. That was one of my experiences when I first started out to preach. I was new enough to tackle anything. This is the reason you often find new converts moving in so much of God, but then when the older Christians begin to teach them their unbelief, all the power disappears. They become a slave of the unbelief that is such a basic part of the thinking of the churches today.
What would it be like to be “fanatical” (that is what we will be called), to be so sincere that you start really believing every promise, and you quote the promises to others until you just become obnoxious in one another’s sight? Every time someone is whining around, you walk up and say, “All things are possible to him that believeth” (Mark 9:23). “We are more than conquerors through Christ” (Romans 8:37). Wouldn’t that disturb people? Wouldn’t it bother you? Wouldn’t you feel like saying, “Who are you to tell me that!”
It is like the story of the rabbi in the synagogue who was praying and lamenting, “Ohhh, I am nothing, I am nothing.” Soon, the cantor came in and saw what the rabbi was doing, and he too said, “Ohhh, I am nothing, I am nothing.” All of this wailing really moved the janitor who was sweeping up at the back of the room. So he stopped his sweeping and said, “Ohhh, I am nothing, I am nothing.” The rabbi nudged the cantor and said contemptuously, “Look who says he is nothing.” Because the janitor wasn’t of the spiritually elite, in their eyes he had no right to say he was nothing. Only the rabbi, only the cantor could say, “I am nothing.” I think that is a beautiful story to illustrate the religious spirit that fills people. They say, “I am nothing,” but they don’t mean it.
Let there be a pure confession of faith. Come before the Lord with humility and declare the riches of His grace. Draw upon them. All things are possible. Be identified with the fullness of the Lord (Colossians 1:19; 2:9). Reach into that fullness (Ephesians 3:19). Then we will become the people who will bring forth all the things that God is speaking.
Having the eyes of your heart enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to that working of the strength of his might which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule, and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and he put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. Ephesians 1:18–23, ASV.
If you don’t have it, you pray to get it. If you have it, don’t ask for it, give it.
Faith involves the prayer of petition; but it always appropriates the provision of the Word of God.
God freely gives to us what we must boldly take and freely give. One with a gift from God is a commissioned distribution of God’s fullness.
To have access to the Lord’s fullness and riches of grace raises the issue: He gave it to you. Do you have it?
All authority in heaven and earth is His; all appropriation in heaven and earth is our faith in His authority. We are executors of our Lord’s estate.
If Christ is enthroned in your life, Satan will be bruised under your feet. You will become the expression of His victory and authority.
The issue is not what He is; it is what has He become within and through you.
“I am nothing” is a half-fact. “He is everything in me” is a potential fact.