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The Word...Epistle 1.2...And The Word Walked the Earth Let me embark again on something that I have already shared with you and your people up there, just a refresher to begin with... When the Word became flesh (veiled), it took another 30 years before the flesh became the Word (unveiled). Jesus did not speak His own words because He had already stripped Himself of His glory. He spoke only the words that He heard from His Father, nothing more, nothing less. Jesus was an empty vessel. Like a new born babe, He knew nothing. He, too, had to learn the Scriptures and learn from His Father. He filled His heart with the Scriptures and the word from His Father. He had to grow in wisdom, in stature, and in favor with God and men. Nothing was happening yet. The time came when impossible things began to happen. The time came when He could already boldly say, “...He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father...I and My Father are one” (Jn 14:9 & 10:30). Why? Because the flesh had become the Word! Glory to God! This time it wasn’t the flesh walking, it was the Word! It wasn’t the flesh talking, it was the Word! It wasn’t the flesh seeing, it was the Word! It wasn’t the flesh hearing, it was the Word! It wasn’t the flesh feeling, it was the Word! It wasn’t the flesh touching, it was the Word! It wasn’t the flesh praying, it was the Word! It wasn’t the flesh doing impossible things, it was the Word! It was the Word! Hallelujah! His flesh had to go through tribulations, strong cryings, blood, sweat, tears, persecutions, denials, insults, and stripes to carry that Word to Calvary ’s cross. That was the price He had to be willing to pay to carry the Father’s Word to fruition. He wasn’t really carrying the cross, He was carrying the Father’s Word! The Word was heavier than the wooden cross! They compelled a man of Cyrene , named Simon, to help Jesus carry the heavy cross. But Jesus was still carrying something heavier. The Word! Praise God! No man can lighten that load for Him! Somebody said that He carried our sins. Yes, but it was the Word that made Him do that. He said, “...My Father love me because I lay down My life...no man takes it from Me, but I lay it down of myself...this commandment have I received of My Father” (John 10:17-18). That, too, is the price we must be willing to pay to carry His Word through in our lives. You are a Word-carrier! Many are living but only to die. Thank God for the few who are dying in order to live. Everybody has to make that choice now, sooner or later. Jesus said, “The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord (Mt. 10:24-25)...but everyone that is perfect shall be as his master” (Lk. 6:40b). The Word is the reason for our tribulations. The Word is the cause of our persecutions. Jesus is the occasion for our sufferings and hardships, because we live in a world that hates God. Hebrews 5:8 says of Jesus, “Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered.” God is after our obedience. God is after our hearts. We learn to obey God by our afflictions. The Psalmist said, “Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept Thy word” (Ps. 119:67). That is the cup we have to drink. That is the way (we take), that is the truth (we face) and that is the life (we live). Hallelujah! Jesus made it very clear, “If any man comes to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever does not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple...whosoever he be of you that forsake not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26-27,33). Paul also said, “...All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Tim. 3:12). He and Barnabas exhorted the early believers, “...We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God ” (Acts 14:22). There is a price for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus! Salvation is only free because Jesus already paid for it. But for us to live His life here on earth requires a great fee. Our very lives! I believe there are two pictures in the Scriptures that the Holy Spirit wants us to see and understand. Something must first happen to us. In Genesis 1, we see the Holy Spirit moving upon the face of the waters, but nothing was happening. Then God spoke and the Word came. Things began to happen...the light came, heaven was formed, dry land appeared, plants and trees, the sun, the moon, the stars, birds and animals came to be. In the Gospels, we see the Word (Jesus) moving in the face of the earth (for 30 years), but nothing was happening. Then at the river Jordan , the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit came upon Him like a dove. Things began to happen...miracles, healings, deliverances were done. In these two illustrations (the Spirit moving, then the Word came or the Word moving, then the Spirit came) we see that it was only when the Spirit and the Word came together that things began to happen. shagged on 4/25/2009 11:58:00 AM Comments: Post a Comment