KING DAVID'S JOURNEY

KING DAVID'S JOURNEY

 

I recently listened to a teaching by Charles Simpson that was given at CFNI in Dallas Texas back in the mid 70's, based on the life of David. He divided it into 4 parts, based on places that David had lived in during his journey from the time of his anointing to be king, until finally being crowned. His journey compares to our spiritual journey from the new birth to the completion, when we receive our resurrected bodies, and are joined to our heavenly bridegroom. Then we will spend eternity as His companion in ruling and reigning!

 

David was anointed by Samuel in Bethlehem (1 Sam 16:1), but it was some 20 years later that he finally became king over the nation of Israel. David was "faithful in the natural", until the right time to advance to his next assignment. This next place he found himself in was a cave in Adullam, hiding from the jealous wrath of king Saul. While he was there, people who were distressed with various needs were attracted to him, and he became the captain of some 400 men. Here he proved himself "faithful to meet needs". (1 Sam 22:1-2). His next move was to Hebron, which means covenant relationships. Here his band of followers were nearly ready to stone him after their families were taken captive by enemy raiders while they were off to a battle. But David encouraged himself in the Lord, and after they had recovered their wives and children, they repented and realized that David was "faithful in relationships". The final stage of his journey was to Jerusalem, which became known as the City of David. Here he proved himself to be "faithful in ruling".

 

These four stages in David's journey, can be compared to the stages in our spiritual journey as followers of Jesus. First we are born again into God's family, and start out as baby believers. Like a natural baby there is a certain time when we need others to care for us, and teach us how to do things for ourselves. Then we need to prove ourselves "faithful in natural things", like David did in Bethlehem. Next comes our Adullam experience where we find ourselves able to minister to others in need. Here we can prove that we are "faithful to meet needs". Then comes the stage that many of are in now, that of realizing the need of forming covenant relationships with other fellow followers of Jesus, and learn how to be "faithful in relationships". This stage is absolutely necessary to prepare us for ruling with Jesus, which is yet future, but we must be prepared. Jesus was "born to rule", and we are "born again to rule with Him"! (Rom 5:17) "---will reign in life through the one Jesus Christ".This is all part of our growth in spiritual maturity, until we become mature sons and daughters of our Father God! This has always been God's intention from the beginning of time, to have a mature "Bride" for His Son Jesus Christ. This is what the True Church that Jesus said He would build (Matt 16:18) should look like, and will have to become before the Father will allow Jesus to come back to receive her!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer

THE PROCESS OF SALVATION

THE PROCESS OF SALVATION

 

Because we humans are created in the image and likeness of our Creator, we are triune beings, after the pattern of our God who has chosen to reveal Himself as a Trinity. We are a spirit, we have a soul, and we live in a body that is suited for life on planet earth. The scriptures therefore teach that salvation  has to be in three stages, so to speak, so that our entire being can benefit. Our human spirit, which is that innermost part of us that has the ability to communicate with God, is the first to be "saved". This takes place when we realize we are sinners, separated from God, and repent of our sins and receive this first stage of salvation. Then we can say "I have been (past tense) saved" and really know it to be a fact because of God's Word. (John 3:3-8), (Eph 2:1-10) Once our "spirit" has been saved, we begin the second stage of our salvation which involves our "soul". This part of us includes our mind, our emotions, and out will, another trinity, so to speak. This stage of salvation is referred to in scripture as "sanctification", which is a process that begins when our spirit is saved, and continues until our "body" is finally saved at the time of receiving out new spiritual body that will be like unto the resurrected body of Jesus. (1 John 3:1-3)

 

Therefore is perfectly proper to refer to our salvation experience as something that is"past" referring to our spirit, It is "present" referring to our soul that is gradually being changed into the likeness of Christ, and "future" referring to our body! This can be confusing unless we understand the three distinct parts of our human personalities. The Holy Spirit of God, which we can think of as "The Presence" of God is involved in all three stages of this process of salvation. In the gospel of John chapters 14, 15, and 16, we read about the instructions Jesus gave to His followers just before He went to the cross to complete the work of redemption. His main message was meant to prepare them to receive the Holy Spirit who would be sent by the Father to take the place of Jesus on earth, when He returned to heaven. He is presently seated with His Father, and will remain there "until" His Father gives Him permission to return to earth for His "Bride" at His promised second coming! (1 Thess 4:15-18).

Sincerely submitted.

DaveJamer

life is a journey

LIFE IS A JOURNEY

 

Every journey consists  of a "beginning", and an "ending", and all of us are somewhere in between on our journey of life! The Bible, which is God's "Manufacturer's Manuel", begins  with "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth". And the gospel of John starts off  with "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God". And we know that the Word was Jesus, who is God the Son! In (John 17:20-26) we read part of the prayer of Jesus to His Father shortly before He died. Here He declares that He and the Father are one, and also that we who are followers of Jesus are one with them! This is truly a great mystery, and the very core  of the Gospel of the Kingdom that Jesus spoke about. God is love, (1 John 4:7-8), and this love is what distinguishes us as followers of Jesus from people who are still part of the world system. In (Eph 2:1-10) the apostle Paul clearly states that we all started out on our journeys from the same place, "dead because of your disobedience and your many sins." (NLT)

 

Our journeys are lived on two levels, one is on the "natural plane", and the other is on the "spiritual plane". As stated above we all started out on the natural plane as a baby in our mother's womb. Then after nine months in this "secure" place we were born into this world. We then began the process of growing up to become an adult human being. There were many different phases to this process; first infancy, when we needed everything done for us; then as a toddler when we started to do things for our self, then to kindergarten, elementary school, high school, university etc. hopefully leading to full maturity!

 

Growth on the spiritual plane follows the same basic pattern. First comes our spiritual birth, when we are "born again" of the Spirit (John 3:3-21). At this stage we need spiritual mothers and fathers to care for us, but gradually with the proper disciplining and training we grow into mature sons and daughters of God. Or at least that is God's intention for us! Unfortunately some believers never seem to grow up, but remain as "baby believers" the rest of their lives. Read (Heb 5:11-6:3), and (2 Peter 1:3-11), for instructions on how to become mature followers of Jesus, with the help of the Holy Spirit who was given to replace Jesus on earth.

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

COME OUT

COME OUT

This is part of an exhortation from the apostle Paul found in his second letter to the church in Corinth. "Wherefore come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves says the Lord. Don't touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you." (2 Cor 6:17) Corinth was a very wicked city, and believers naturally had to come out of that wicked culture in order to become followers of Jesus. This is still true today, some 20 centuries later, because our culture is probably no better now than it was then. It seems that secular humanism, and a post-modernism philosophy, mixed with various Eastern Religions, and so-called New Age thought, give us a very dangerous religious mixture.

Besides all this, today we have "church structures", that are not scriptural, that Paul didn't have to warn people to avoid. Paul was just planting new churches among the Gentiles, and his main opposition came from the Pharisees, a very religious group of Jews, that he had been part of before he met Jesus. These were the same people who opposed Jesus, when He taught about the Kingdom of God. They were threatened by His teaching, because it was completely new and they feared it would put an end to their own religious "kingdom". I suppose we could compare these Pharisees to some of our church denominations today, who have become very Liberal in their theology, and deny many basic scriptural truths such as the "virgin birth". So besides having to "come out" of the world and its various "religions" mentioned above, today any serious seeker after truth must also "come out" of certain religious church structures! This is not an easy thing to face, because many people have been brought up in these church structures, and have never known anything different. They don't realize how far their particular denomination has changed from God's plan of what the true "Church" that Jesus said He would build looks like. The Greek word first used as church in (Matt 16:18)is [ecclesia] which means "called out", and was used in the Greek culture to identify a "governmental assembly". This is what the Church we see in the book of Acts was meant to be, a colony of the Kingdom of God, functioning on earth, to prepare followers of Jesus for their eternal role as the bride/wife of the Son of God. (Rev 21:9-10)

Thousands of people are now leaving churches because they have not found the love and acceptance they expected from reading (Acts 2:42-47), which is our first picture of a NT church. Thank God, He is raising up a new breed of followers of Jesus in this hour. Have you met any of them yet? They are forming networks such as "House 2 House", or "Organic Church", where like minded people can find fellowship with Jesus and each other in small house gatherings. Check them out,if you are interested, it could be the answer to your frustrations!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer

THE TWO ADAMS

THE TWO ADAMS

Adam #1, was the first member of our human race, who was formed of the dust of the ground, and had life breathed into him by his Creator. Since he was created in the image and likeness of God, (Gen 1:26-28) he was therefore perfect, or complete. Of course this state of perfection soon ended when Adam disobeyed the one restriction God placed on him in the garden of Eden. When he and Eve ate of the fruit from the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they allowed sin to enter the human race! The apostle Paul does a good job of outlining the contrast between the effects of this first sin to be introduced into the human race, and the cure offered by the "last Adam", or Adam#2, Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God! (1 Cor 15:45)

Reading in (Rom 5:12-21), we see several contrasts listed between these two individuals. Verse 12 states "When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam's sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned." Then in verse 15 we read "But there is a great difference between Adam's sin and God's gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God's wonderful grace and His gift of forgiveness to many through this other man , Jesus Christ." The remaining verses down through 21 repeat this same truth in different ways, so that we can't miss it!

This is the central truth to the good news of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, that Jesus Christ came into the world to "reverse the curse" brought on us by Adam's sin.

(2 Cor 5:17-21). When scriptures like these are so clear, one has to wonder how so many professing Christians have missed this truth! I believe the reason must be that most churches do not preach the real Gospel of the Kingdom, which demands repentance from dead works. (Heb 5:11- 6:3). Our churches are full of people who are either still spiritual babies who have never grown up, or else who have never really accepted Jesus as their own personal Savior, and have been "born again" of the Spirit! (John 3:3). Certain church traditions allow people to become members of their denominational churches without them ever having a "spiritual birth". We have to be born into the family of God, and then we become part of the Church that Jesus is in the process of building! (Matt 16:18) We don't "join" a church, we "are" the Church, if we have accepted Jesus as Savior! There is no other way according to the words of Jesus as recorded by John. (John 14:6) Let's pray that many people who attend church services on a regular basis will have a genuine revelation of Jesus, and what His death on the cross really accomplished. Jesus completely reversed the curse of sin brought to earth by Adam #1!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer

THE VIRGIN BIRTH

THE VIRGIN BIRTH

There has been much discussion about the necessity of believing in the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. This is definitely one of the "absolutes" in Biblical doctrine, and as such, it has always been under attack by Liberal Theologians. It really does not take much knowledge of scripture to realize that without the virgin birth of Jesus, no one could possibly be saved from their sinful condition, inherited from Adam. We know from the first few chapters of Genesis that Adam, the first human being, was created in the image and likeness of Almighty God. As such he was perfect, or complete. God gave Adam only one command that he must keep, or the result would be death (Gen 2:15-17). We know that he disobeyed this command, and sin and spiritual death entered the human race. (Rom 5:12). This sin was passed on to the entire race, because we are all descendants of Adam and Eve, and "the wages of sin is death." (Rom 6:23) In order to reverse this condition another perfect human would have to be willing to  sacrifice their life to pay the price of this sin. The problem was that because all humans were sinners, God had to introduce His plan that He had kept secret from before time began!

This plan required that "God the Son" would become incarnated in human flesh, (John 1:1-14), live a sinless life for some 33 years and be tempted in all possible ways, and yet not sin, and then give up His life to pay the price of mankind's sin. Only in this way would God's Holy Demands be satisfied. How all this happened is the very core of the Gospel (Good News), and it centers around God finding a virgin maiden from His Chosen People, to be the earthly mother of His Son. Mary was the chosen one, who was "overshadowed" by God the Holy Spirit, and she bore Jesus, who grew up to become our Savior. (Luke 1:26-35). Common sense would tell us that Jesus would have to be born of a virgin who was supernaturally with child of the Holy Spirit, in order to not be contaminated by the sin of Adam. (Gal 4:4-7). Paul referred to Jesus as the second or last Adam (1 Cor 15:45-47), who came to earth to undo the curse brought to mankind by by the first Adam. So we can see why the "Virgin Birth" has been opposed by Satan, and his Liberal Theologians throughout the church age, because they don't really believe the scriptures are the very "Word of God"
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer

A NEW SPECIES

A NEW SPECIES

Recently I have read a new book by Frank Viola entitled "From Eternity to Here", which prompted me to reread an older book published in 1975 by Paul Billheimer called "Destined For The Throne". In both of these books I found this same expression, which naturally caught my attention. What could they possibly mean by this expression "A New Species"? Since these two men, over 30 years apart, used the identical term to describe the same thing, I decided to try and pass on what I think they meant by it. They were both referring to the Church, that Jesus said He would build. (Matt 16:18). As we know from many scripture references, this True Church is the Body of Christ. This body, whose head is none other than Jesus Christ, who is seated on a throne in heaven beside Father God. (Ps 110:1) We who are members of this body here on earth are often referred to in scripture as the "bride" of Christ, who will one day become His "wife". (Rev 21:2-10). As His wife we will become an official part of the the Trinity by virtue of our marriage to God's Son. When we are "born again", we become part of God's family, according to (John 1:10-13), which entitled us to become heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, as Paul declares in (Rom 8:12-17). But we know from our experiences in an earthly family, that to be a wife is certainly a different position from other members of a family. She has a very unique role to fill as a wife to her husband. So what is the difference between a bride/wife, and other members of the family of God? This is the million dollar question!

It would appear to me that the answer to this question requires us to realize that there is a huge difference between our being a member of God's family here on earth, in our flesh and blood bodies, from when we receive our spiritual bodies at our resurrection. Peter refers to our "inheritance", which is being reserved in heaven for us, (1 Peter 1:3-5), which as I understand it, is our part in the "Kingdom of God". This inheritance has certain conditions attached to it, as is often the case with natural earthly inheritances, and this condition pertains to our behavior after we are born into God's family. Read carefully

(1 Cor 6:9-10), and other similar passages, which state clearly that those who commit certain sins will not "inherit" their part in the Kingdom, which is being kept in heaven for them. Does this mean they lose their salvation? No certainly not, because salvation is a gift from God (Eph 2:4-10) and has nothing to do with our behavior. It gives us entrance into God's family, but not the assurance of entrance into our inheritance in heaven. Our behavior as children of God is what determines our rewards in heaven. A careful reading of John's first letter will give us a clear picture of who is really part of this "New Species" of creation, and who is not. I believe our church traditions and man made doctrines have tended to deceive many people, so they have no appreciation for holiness, which requires separation from the world's system! (1 John 2:15-17). Read this passage in some modern translation like the NLT for example, for a good understanding.

When we become "new creatures in Christ" (2 Cor 5:17), a miracle happens in our life! The Holy Spirit of God implants His life into our spirit, just as He planted that same life into Mary's womb, to produce the Messiah, Emmanuel (God with us). John tries to tell us this fact in his first letter (1 John 3:4-10), when he states in verse 9 that "God's life is in them", and therefore they can not continue in sin, because if they do they are still children of the devil, and not God's children at all! Sad to say, this is the condition of many church going people today, in my opinion. Like Nicodemus, they need to be "born again", and become part of God's family !! (John 3:3)

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer