heavenly protocol

HEAVENLY PROTOCOL

 

For those of us who never lived in a culture that contains masters and slaves, we have a hard time understanding the idea of "protocol". It means there is a proper way to address people, and an improper way. As I understand it, you must never speak to, or give orders to a slave! You always speak to the master, and he in turn gives the orders to the slave to carry out your request. This sounds logical when it comes to earthly situations, but how can we understand it when we consider events in heaven?  Here we face the mystery of the Godhead, which we call the "Holy Trinity", or "Three in one". God is certainly only One, who has chosen to reveal Himself in three ways for us to better understand Him. With our finite minds it is near impossible to understand the "Infinite"! As I have come to see it, they are all equal in essence, but different in function. The Father as the source of all things is Spirit, and is invisible. (John 4:24). The Son is the visible image of the invisible God! (Col 1:16, 2:9). The Holy Spirit is of course invisible too, but His role seems to that of a servant or "Slave", to the Father/Son who we can consider the "Master". This may not be a proper analogy, but when I read scriptures like (John 16:13-15), that is the picture I come up with.

 

With that in mind, and the limited knowledge I have about the relationship of a slave to his master, it seems to me that a heavenly protocol would demand that we never speak directly to either the Holy Spirit, or angels! Yet I'm aware of many Charismatic believers who do both! You read testimonies of people being transported to heaven and talking to angels, and even giving them commands. I have often heard well meaning believers commanding the Holy Spirit to do things, like "come" or to pour out "more" of the Spirit on certain people. This sort of thing opens the door to spirits of darkness, in my opinion. Read (2 Cor 11:12-15) carefully and consider the warning given by Paul. Derek Prince declares that any spirit you can give orders to is not the Holy Spirit, but must be a counterfeit spirit, or demon operating under orders from Satan! We are warned many times in scripture to be aware that many false prophets will be sent by our enemy in these last days to deceive many! For example hear what Jesus said in (Matt 24:4, 5, 11, and 24), and we should believe Jesus because "He is the Truth"! Right? So let us beware of the danger of deception, and heed scriptures like (1 John 4:1) or (1 Thess 5:21-22)!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer

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A Covenant Keeper

A COVENANT KEEPER

 

King David is an excellent example of a covenant keeper, in (1 Sam 20:42) we read about a covenant he had made with Jonathan, who was the son of King Saul. We know Saul lost his position because of disobedience, and became the enemy of David, who was chosen by God to replace him. Many years later he inquired "Is there yet anyone left in the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathon's sake?" (2 Sam 9:1) NLT. He was told that there was a son of Jonathan named Mephibosheth, who was crippled in both feet because of a fall when he was an infant. David remembered the covenant, and the story of how he restored to this crippled son of his covenant partner is told in the rest of (2 Sam 9:2-13). This passage shows us the true character of David in the way he cared for this crippled man that he had never known existed! We can place ourselves in the position of Mephibosheth in this story, and of course David was a picture of Jesus, who is often referred to as the "Son of David". When He found us as a helpless lost sinner, "crippled" in many ways, He took us into His "Forever Family" as a redeemed "saint", the greatest miracle that we could ever receive!

 

It's no wonder that when Saul of Tarsus met Jesus on the Damascus Road (Acts 9) he became a completely changed man who God used to write much of the NT. Paul never forgot this encounter with Jesus, and witnessed of it everywhere, and started many churches among the "Gentiles" (non Jews) by boldly declaring the good news abut Jesus (Rom 1:16). And even though some Jews who refused to accept Jesus as their promised Messiah, tried to cause Paul trouble in every city he planted a church in, he kept on spreading the gospel message of the Kingdom of God everywhere he went. This gospel was all about the "New Covenant" that God had promised to make with his chosen people (Jer 31:31). The old covenant was made with Abraham (Gen 15:18-20), and renewed with his son Isaac and again with his grandson Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel And of course God raised up a nation from Israel's 12 sons, that became known as Israel who God referred to as His "chosen people". This old covenant we call the OT was between God and man, but because God knew man was not capable of keeping his end of the covenant, He made this "New Covenant" between Himself and His Son Jesus the Son of David (His human lineage), but also the Son of God! The only One capable of keeping His end of this covenant for us!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer  

The Exchanged Liffe

THE EXCHANGED LIFE.

 

This term was the title of a recent article I read by Jim Watt about the life of Hudson Taylor. I was especially interested in the letter Mr. Taylor had written to his sister shortly after receiving this further revelation about his life in Christ. He lived during the later half of the 1800's and died in 1905.

It was during this time that the so-called "Holiness Movement" became popular among Evangelical Christian leaders, and produced such men as Hudson Taylor and A B Simpson, the founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, (C&MA) denomination. Many other men like John Wesley and General William Booth had their roots in this movement as well. It seems that since the beginning of the 1900's the emphasis has changed from Sanctification leading to Holiness, to other things. In the last decades of the 20^th century since I have been part of the "Church", I have witnessed a continual decline in preaching and teaching on the subject of holiness. I'm nor sure of the reason for this, but it could tie in with the way our NA culture has changed. All the electronic gadgets that have come out in the last few years have caught the attention of many people and they have less time for God and His Word. He gets crowded out of our daily schedules, and is replaced with i pads, smart phones, emails, face book etc. Instead of having more time to spend with Him we have much less!

 

What can we do about this problem? I expect the answer to this question will involve a return to the subject of an "Exchanged Life" as Hudson Taylor refers to here. The Apostle Paul probably writes more about this topic than any other NT writer. When as Saul of Tarsus he met Jesus on the road to Damascus (see Acts 9:1-9), he was completely changed from a religious Pharisee, to a "new creature in Christ" (2 Cor 5:17). Later after spending several years in the deserts of Arabia alone with the Lord, he became Paul the apostle and the writer of much of the NT scriptures. In (Eph 3:1-10) he was given by God the revelation of the "Church" which had remained a mystery until Paul came on the scene. When he wrote the letters Ephesians and Colossians, he explained more about who Jesus was and still is, and what it means to us when we trust Him completely. In (Gal 2:20-21) Paul explains the place of Christ in his life, that he "had been crucified with Christ" (past tense), but he now lived by"faith in the Son of God. This is a model we can follow if we want to live an "Exchanged Life"!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                                                                  

 

The Radical Relocation Of GOD

THE RADICAL  RELOCATION OF GOD

 

The basis for this article came from notes I had made at a visit to Saint John by Jerry Cook many years ago. He was contrasting the way God is presented to us in the Old Testament, as opposed to the New Testament. Basically in the OT, God existed outside of human society, and so a religious system consisting of an official Priesthood was necessary, to handle the Tabernacle or Temple where sacrifices were offered to this "distant" God. This OT God was not considered to be someone you could come to know personally, in fact He was considered to be so awesome and holy that they would not even mention Him by name. Some people think that the OT is now obsolete and not to be considered as being important to us today, but that is not correct! It was not wrong, but only incomplete, so God introduced the NT!

 

God has always wanted to have an intimate relationship with us humans. Just think of how He came down in the cool of the evening and visited with Adam and Eve in the garden. (Gen 3:8) But Adam's disobedience brought sin into the picture, and changed everything! (Rom 5:12) God's plan of redemption was then put into motion, so that this relationship could be restored. This involved Jesus the Son of God leaving His place with the Father, to become the baby in Mary's womb. This miracle of the "incarnation", allowed Jesus to take on human flesh, and become the perfect man, "the Lamb of God", whose death on the cross would pay the debt of sin for whoever would receive Him as Savior! In the words of Jerry Cook, our God in "His unlimited dimensional Reality, stepped out of this dimension and into our 3 dimensional realm"! Since Jesus came to earth the first time, we now have a perfect picture of what God is really like. "For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body." (Col 2:9) NLT If that is not a "radical relocation", then I don't know what the term means! Then just before Jesus returned to His rightful place at Father's side, He gave some very important instructions to His followers. For example, in (John 14:15-17), He tells them about what the "holy Spirit" will do when He comes to take His place  on earth. In the last of verse 17 He is quoted as saying "He lives with you now and later will be in you." NLT. This is a tremendous truth, the very Presence of God was dwelling with them in the person of Jesus at the time, but shortly after that on the Day of Pentecost, the promised Holy Spirit came to indwell the 120 believers in the upper room. (Acts 2:1-4)!!

Sincerely submitted

Dave Jamer.

The Restrainer

THE RESTRAINER

 

One of the key points in the teaching that Jesus will rapture His Church before the last 7 year period, known as "Daniel's 70th week" (Dan 9:24-27), is that the Holy Spirit, who resides in believers, is the "Restrainer" mentioned by Paul in (2 Thess 2:7). This has been taken as a "proof text" to fit in with their theory of a "secret rapture". The Holy Spirit is defined by Jesus, as fulfilling different roles in the life of believers when He comes, but restrainer is not one of them! Check it out for yourself in chapters 14, 15, and 16 of the Gospel of John, where the words of Jesus are recorded. Depending on which translation you use, you will find words such as, Advocate, Comforter, Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Strengthener,----but not Restrainer. This role for Him has been added to scripture by those who are trying to prove that the Church will not go through the time of "great tribulation" at the hands of the Antichrist, during the last half of this 7 year period. Various scriptures clearly teach this, including the words of Jesus, Paul, and John, and yet these people invent a theory that attempts to prove their false teaching!

 

There is only one person mentioned in scripture, that I am aware of, who could fill this role of restraining evil until the time set by God to let the Antichrist start his persecution of Israel and the Church. That person is the archangel "Michael", who has been given the specific task of protecting God's people, as mentioned many times in scripture. The most important reference, relating to the subject at hand, would have to be (Dan 12:1), where he is confirmed as the one who protects the nation of Israel. At the middle of this 7 year period, we are told he will "arise", and then the Antichrist will begin his reign of terror against the people of God (Rev 13:5-10). The word here translated arise, or stand up, in most English translations could be translated as "stand still", since it is the same root word that is used to describe the miracle of the sun and the moon stopping, or standing still, so that Joshua and his warriors could complete the battle against their enemy. (Josh 10:13) By letting scripture explain scripture, we can often prevent being led into error by those who are trying to prove some theory. Let's keep in mind that God must allow His Church to be purified, and changed from their present condition, before they are ready to be raptured! This purification can only come about through a time of persecution, such as much of the Church are already experiencing in other parts of the world! Why should God exempt the church in our Western world, and keep us from this time of persecution, that He has planned to make us ready to be raptured? That doesn't make any sense to me!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                                                                

Jesus Lifted Us

JESUS LIFTED US

 

As we know from the book of Genesis, after God had created the perfect universe, then He created human beings after His image and likeness. He gave them dominion over all of creation, and created them male and female so that that they could reproduce after their kind. Then He created a perfect Garden of Eden for them to live in, and told them they could eat of the fruit of any tree in the garden "except" the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If they should eat the fruit of this tree they would certainly die. And we know from reading (Gen 3:1-24) for how they lost their intimate relationship with their Creator God, and were banished from the garden. From that moment on our world became a "Fallen World". God was not surprised by this because of His "Foreknowledge" and had a plan to rectify this situation! This plan included allowing His only begotten Son Jesus to become a human being by way of the "virgin birth" of Jesus through the womb of Mary of Nazareth. Thus Jesus became the one and only perfectly "Sinless Man" ever born without the "Sin" inherited from our original parents! Jesus was truly 100% God and 100% Man at the same time!!

 

Sometime last year in 2016 I discovered an old hymn by the name of "He Lifted Me" written by Charles Huchinson Gabriel. I have adopted this as my favorite words t o repeat in my mind every night before going to sleep  and every morning when I open my eyes. Here is the first verse and chorus.

"In loving kindness Jesus came, my soul in mercy to reclaim. And from the depths of sin and shame, through grace He lifted me. (chorus) From sinking sand He lifted me, with tender hands He lifted me. From shades of night to planes of light, O praise His Name, He lifted me"    

 

Of course the death Adam and Eve received the moment they disobeyed the command God had given them, was the death of their intimate relationship they had enjoyed with their Creator in the Garden, this was the "spiritual death" of their spirits, and their "souls" were damaged and needed to be restored. So this is what we inherited from them, and what only Jesus could restore for us who receive Him by faith as our Lord and Savior!!

 

Sincerely submitted

Dave Jamer                                                                                 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Believers Manual On Perfection

 

 THE BELIEVERS MANUAL ON PERFECTION

 

Here is another one of those words that can spark great debates, or cause much confusion in church circles. It is used in both the Old and New Testaments and basically has the meaning of someone or something being complete, or finished. Mature might be a word that could be used in reference to a person. Some of the confusion results from such statements as Jesus made, like "Be perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect". This is in the form of a command, and surely Jesus wouldn't command us to do something that He knew we couldn't do. So therefore it must be possible to become perfect in God's sight. During the Holiness Movement in the 1800s a teaching came forth that was called "sinless perfection" that caused a lot of controversy. Those who held to this teaching believed that a person could become so holy, or sanctified, by keeping all the law or commandments given in the Bible, as they understood them, that they would become "sinless" or without any trace of sin. You don't hear much of this term lately, although in some circles there is a teaching that goes by different names that sort of says the same thing. It may be referred to as "The Select of the Elect", "The Man Child Company", "The Manifest Sons of God", etc. All of these groups have a common root of becoming "Over-comers". The Bible does speak of striving to overcome sin, the flesh, and the devil, and it would seem that is not the position of all believers, or else some would not be singled out from the rest. Most of these groups that this writer has heard of developed a spirit of pride that rendered them useless in the Kingdom of God. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.

 

A better term might be "Christian Perfection" instead of sinless perfection. In an earlier paper called "Blameless or Faultless" this writer explained the difference in these two words, and showed how we can be blameless in this life but not faultless. This same truth applies to the discussion of Perfection. It is possible to be blameless, if we are living to the best of our ability in obedience to God's word, but being found faultless, or sinless will only happen when we stand before Him in our resurrected bodies. If you are interested in seeing the scriptural explanation of the meaning of these words you might like to read the referred to document.

 

Sincerely

Dave Jamer  Revised on 18/01/17