Tag: 2 Corinthians 1:20

Christ Alone

Christ Alone

Christ Alone

There is nothing in the New Covenant concerning salvation, that can be known or held apart from Christ. The boundless riches of God are “hid in Christ” and in Him alone. Eternal life is not a decree; it is not a commodity that can be had apart from Christ. It is not to be had by merely a confession, a statement, a rite of passage, or some religious formula that has been agreed to. It is ours only by virtue of relationship.

“And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life”
1 John 5:11-12

Eternal Life is nothing less than the LIFE of the Son dwelling in our hearts. Eternal life is to produce in us an abiding in Him who is the Life. It is crucial that we comprehend the Parable of the Vine in John 15; Christ is the Vine, and we are the branches. The branches only have access to the Life of the Vine by remaining joined to and abiding in Him. The key to our growth, to partaking of His grace, and His peace, is a current ongoing relationship with Christ ruling and reigning in our hearts. Religion reduces the living wonder of this salvation to confessions or beliefs separate from a living reality. The difference between those who live by confessions and statements, and those who know Him deep within their being in their daily lives, is enormous. Peter expressed this difference quite succinctly.

“Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner…”
1 Peter 2:7

To those who know the necessity of Him living within “He is precious”. They recognize the importance of obedience to Him to maintain the ministrations of His graces by which they can live a life that pleases Him. His presence in our lives becomes the atmosphere in which we live and breathe. But to those who are disobedient, He is disallowed; His graces are shunned and lost. The disobedient are those who hold their salvation in confessions alone by which they negate the need to obey Him. Their salvation is not contingent upon His Life being in them and therefore He is not precious to the point of necessity. This lack of the inherent need of Christ is revealed in lukewarm living and faith devoid of works. The confessions of Him replace the inherent need for Him. They may honor Him with their words and may even teach good things yet walk independent of His life.

It was the Church of the Laodiceans which declared: “I am rich… I have need of nothing”. Our need for Christ determines how precious He is to us. How quickly we tend to move from the essentialness of Christ into a life lived outside of His resources. Too often we live uneventful, unremarkable, and impotent lives resting on promises which are only ours IN CHRIST.

“For all the promises of God IN Him
are yea and IN Him Amen…”
2 Corinthians 1:20

The promises of God are YES and AMEN IN HIM. I have no access to the promises of God apart from Christ. To have victory over sin I need His Life daily. To know the power of grace enabling me to live righteously I need to be held by His Life within. To know experientially His Peace, I must abide in Him who is the Prince of Peace. Left to myself I am bereft of any hope. I dare not rely on any other means than Jesus Christ alone.

See: I Am the Resurrection

In Christ Alone

Everything I ever hope to be
Contingent on abiding in Thee

No other hope I’ve ever found
Except in Christ, my life is bound

No trust in words or thoughts of men
Only in the wonder of Christ within

When to this earth my body is given
In Him alone will I be risen
To the New Jerusalem glorious and bright
In Christ alone, I have this right.

Brian Troxel

SHILOH!

SHILOH!

“The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until HE comes to whom it belongs (Shiloh*). To him will the obedience of the peoples be”
Genesis 49:10

The Scepter of God has passed from Judah. He to whom it belongs has come; Jesus the Christ who now rules and reigns! It is HIS government and rule to which all the kingdoms of this world will bow.

“For to us a child is born. To us a son is given; and the government will be on his shoulders. His Name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace”
Isaiah 9:6

The long-awaited Day is upon us with the sifting of the nations and the hearts of all who dwell upon the earth (Revelation 3:10). Everyone will be subjected to these siftings for the Day of the Lord is to try all people of every kindred, nation and tongue. Jew, Gentile, Barbarian: all will be tried in the balances of God. It is by Him that all things will be determined.

This SHILOH unto whom all things belong is the Son of Man, the Son of David and a Priest after the order of Melchizedek. There is therefore now no longer Jew or Gentile**(see note below) to whom the promises belong, for the “promises of God are yeah and amen in HIM”.(2 Corinthians 1:20) These promises are only unto those who are in Him! There is salvation in none other. He is the keeper and the summation of all the covenants. He is the fulfilment of all the promises of God and through the offering of Himself all other offerings are obsolete. The Book of Hebrews boldly declares that in the loins of Abraham the Levitical and Aaronic priesthood paid homage to the greater priesthood which was to come (Hebrews 7:9-12).

“For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of God Most High, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham divided a tenth part of all (being first, by interpretation, “king of righteousness”, and then also “king of Salem”, which means “king of peace”; without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God), remains a priest continually…”
Hebrews 7:1-3

The writer of Hebrews continues with this prophetic statement…

“Now consider how great this man was, to whom even Abraham, the patriarch, gave a tenth out of the best plunder They indeed of the sons of Levi who receive the priest’s office have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brothers, though these have come out of the body of Abraham, but he whose genealogy is not counted from them has accepted tithes from Abraham, and has blessed him who has the promises. But without any dispute the lesser is blessed by the greater”!
Hebrews 7:4-7

The act of Abraham bringing tithes to this Melchizedek, and the act of Melchizedek blessing him, clearly demonstrates this transcendent Priesthood of God (not that Melchizedek was Christ, but he was a type of Him who was to come)!

David moving in the Spirit of prophecy spoke of this ONE who would come after the order of Melchizedek; (Jesus perplexed the Pharisees in asking them the meaning of this same Psalm). (Matthew 22:42-46)

“The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek”
Psalm 110:4
(Read the whole Psalm for it speaks to our Day of His return and the ministrations of Judgment upon this world).

It is this One of whom it is declared:

“To Him will the obedience of the peoples* be”

The true people of God bring their obedience to Him; not with lip service or with feigned faith and empty prayers, but with willing and pure hearts. Unto Him shall the worship, the gathering and the obedience be. Anything less will be cast into the fires of God. A gospel which declares faith without obedience is not the Gospel of God. The true Gospel is to declare to the nations the Good News by which fallen man can rise from the ashes of rebellion and disobedience unto “the obedience OF Faith”!

“but has NOW been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience OF faith”
Romans 16:26

What do the prophetic writings declare? What has NOW been disclosed?

“To him will the obedience of the peoples be”

Let the Truth and the Glory of Shiloh
penetrate our hearts afresh!

*Note: Shiloh שִׁילֹה šiylōh: A masculine proper name meaning Shiloh. It is a noun meaning whose it is or he whose it is (Gen 49:10). The NIV renders it to whom it belongs; the NASB uses Shiloh with a note. The KJV translates it as Shiloh.
**Note: Galatians 3:28, Colossians 3:11, Romans 2:28-29, 3:21-31, 9:6-8, Ephesians 2:11-22, 1 Corinthians 12:13, 1John 2:2, Galatians 2:11-20, 3:14-16, 4:22-31; Hebrews 13:20; John 1:29; 5:37-40 to list but a few.
*Note: "Peoples" (Plural) To all Nations!

Brian Troxel

Effectual Prayers – Part Six – Asking Largely

Effectual Prayers

Part Six

Jeroboam and Elisha

“…ye have not, because ye ask not”
James 4:2

Our faith determines the nature of our requests. Those who believe little ask for little. Faith is the formative factor in our asking and our receiving. The doors of His great storehouse are opened unto us upon the hinges of Faith.

Jeroboam went to Elisha the Prophet who was on his deathbed whereupon Elisha gave the King an arrow and told him it was the arrow of the Lord’s deliverance for Israel from the Syrians. He then instructed the King to shoot the arrow into the air and then strike the ground with the remaining arrows. The King did so and struck the ground three times; the Prophet responded:

“And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice.”
2 Kings 13:19

The King’s response revealed a faith which was lacking. Jeroboam’s desire for victory was small and correspondingly so was Israel’s victory over the Syrians. Our asking will always be proportional to the faith we hold in our hearts. We may pretend to ask largely but within the recesses of our heart we know when we are in the faith or when we are asking in the presumption of self.

“For all the promises of God in him are yea,
and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us”
2 Corinthians 1:20

It requires the faith of Christ to access the Amen of Christ to all the promises of God. (Galatians 2:20)

“The real tragedy of the poor
is the poverty of their aspirations”
Adam Smith

Effectual Prayers Part One – Incense
Effectual Prayers Part Two – Love
Effectual Prayers Part Three – Righteousness
Effectual Prayers Part Four – Humility and Repentance
Effectual Prayers Part Five – Wisdom
Effectual Prayers Part Six – Asking Largely
Effectual Prayers – Part Seven – Elisha and Jericho
Effectual Prayers – Part Eight – Ruth and Boaz
Effectual Prayers – Part Nine – Discipleship
Effectual Prayers – Part Ten – Knowing Jesus
Effectual Prayers – Part Eleven – The Fragrance of Prayer

Brian Troxel

Glimpses of Him – The Sealed Book –

Glimpses of Christ
in The Book of Revelation

PART SEVEN

Revelation Chapter 5

The Sealed Book

“And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice,
Who is worthy to open the book,
and to loose the seals thereof?”
Revelation 5:2

Even in the midst of all the glory and wonder the apostle John was seeing there was one thing that clouded his heart: the sealed book. Consider the awesome splendor of all he was beholding in terms of God’s glory; the angelic hosts, the seven lamp stands, the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures. Yet he is found weeping because of the sealed book.

“And I wept much,
because no man was found worthy
to open and to read the book,
neither to look thereon”
Revelation 5:4

John knew instinctively that the fate of the entire scope of creation hung in the balance of this sealed book. All creation was in fact groaning and travailing for this Book of Life to be opened by the loosing of the seals placed upon it due to the disobedience and rebellion of man. It had been closed by the righteous verdict of God Himself and the only way for this book to be unsealed was by another man who had overcome the scourge, the horror and the defiling of all creation. The seals could not be broken by any other creature than a man; for the curse had come by man and in turn been pronounced upon man (being the head and authority of all creation itself). The failure of the First Adam could only be undone by the Second Adam. That Second Adam had to overcome (in total submission to the Father) the disobedience of the First Adam.

“For there is one God,
and one mediator between God and men,
the man Christ Jesus”
1 Timothy 2:5

All the promises of God hinged upon the one transaction of a flawless Man through perfect obedience and submission having won the right to open the Book and loose the seals thereof. Even Abraham saw this day of the Revelation of Christ Jesus our Lord!

Abraham’s Faith

The faith of Abraham was concerned with the heavenly things, and as he walked with God the promises of an earthly land faded into the pursuit of the heavenly city. The faith of Abraham was concerned with the heavenly things, and as he walked with God the promises of an earthly land faded into the pursuit of the heavenly city.

“By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God”
Hebrews 11:8-10

The earthly land of promise seemed a strange land to him as he became increasingly aware and enthralled with the heavenly City of God (The New Jerusalem). He was a sojourner in the land of promise because of a greater thing to come. In the offering up of Isaac he saw, by faith, the revelation of THE LAMB of God who would come to lift the curse and stain from the human race thus making the City of God the habitation of “just men made perfect”! Jesus declared:

“…Abraham rejoiced to see my day:
and he saw it, and was glad”
John 8:56

All the laws, rituals and commandments of the Old Covenant were to bring men to this One Thing; the Lamb of God and His Salvation. There is salvation in no other. No one in heaven or on earth could loose the seals of this Holy and Sealed Book except the One whose name is Jesus!

This bears repeating. While John stood before the very Throne of God he wept because deep down within the recesses of his being he knew that his fate and the fate of all creation rested in the sealed book (Romans 8:24-30). As John was standing in this place he heard a strong angel cry out:

“Who is worthy to open the book,
and to loose the seals thereof?”
Revelation 5:2

The man who could open this sealed book had to be worthy. John’s weeping in this heavenly place was based on the fact that no man was found worthy.

“And I wept much,
because no man was found worthy
to open and to read the book,
neither to look thereon”
Revelation 5:4

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Samuel, Elijah and all the other ones mentioned in Hebrews Chapter Eleven could not open this Book.

“And these all, having obtained a good report through faith,
received not the promise”
Hebrews 11:39

The promise, though seen through the eyes of faith in all of these faithful ones, could not be received until the Book of Life is opened by the One in whom all the promises of God abide.

“For ALL the promises of God in him are yea,
and in him Amen,
unto the glory of God by us”
2 Corinthians 1:20

Men and women cannot look to anything greater than the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the blessed Lamb of God and the Great High Priest who is after the order of Melchizedek! This Melchizedek, to whom even Abraham paid tithes, was greater than Abraham. By types and shadows of things to come it revealed that all the Levitical priesthood paid homage to a greater who was to come; an eternal Priest in whom all the covenants would be fulfilled by virtue of Him prevailing in perfect obedience!

“Now behold how great this one was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils; and indeed those of the sons of Levi receiving the priesthood have a command to tithe the people according to Law, (that is, from their brothers, though coming forth out of Abraham’s loins), but he not counting his genealogy from them has tithed Abraham, and has blessed the one having the promises. But without contradiction, the lesser is blessed by the better. And here dying men indeed receive tithes, but there it having been witnessed that he lives; and as a word to say, through Abraham Levi also, the one receiving tithes, has been tithed. For he was yet in his father’s loins when Melchizedek met him. Truly, then, if perfection was through the Levitical priestly office (for the people had been given Law under it), why yet need for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek and not to be called according to the order of Aaron? For the priestly office having been changed, of necessity a change of law also occurs. For the One of whom these things are said has partaken of another tribe, from which no one has given devotion at the altar. For it is clear that our Lord has risen out of Judah, as to which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood. And it is still more abundantly clear that if another priest arises according to the likeness of Melchizedek, who has not become so according to a law of a fleshly command, but according to the power of an indissoluble life. For it is testified, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” Psa. 110:4 18 For a voiding of the preceding command comes about because of its weakness and unprofitableness. For the Law perfected nothing, but a bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God”
Hebrews 7:4-19

As John was weeping over the fate of the sealed Book he hears the most blessed words:

“Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah,
the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book,
and to loose the seven seals thereof”
Revelation 5:5

It is by virtue of His prevailing that this Book is opened, the seals are being loosed and soon all creation will be released from their groaning in futility and bondage (Romans 8:20-23).

In the following pages of the Book of Revelation there is an unfolding of all that Christ is and the rendering of judgments in the earth. In the removing of each seal there is a corresponding manifestation of God’s righteousness revealed in judgments and great upheavals in the earth. Who can withstand these things? Who can hinder the ongoing loosening of the seals and the revelation of His Justice! We will see the final triumph of God over sin and death and the full revelation of the Risen and Reigning Christ! Unto Him Be Glory now and forever more!

“And he came and took the book
out of the right hand of him
that sat upon the throne”
Revelation 5:7

What a thrilling and glorious moment! The Son, by virtue of utter perfection and submission to the will of the Father, takes this sealed Book and begins to lift the seals one by one. (In His submission He became the Captain of our salvation, Hebrews 2:10) How can we not praise and honor Him with our very hearts and lives!

The Book of Revelation is not about events. The events are merely the ramifications of the One who has won the right to open the sealed book! In the opening of the sealed book creation is released, sin and death are destroyed and those who overcome as He overcame will rule and reign with Him for eternity!

“To him that overcometh
will I grant to sit with me in my throne,
even as I also overcame,
and am set down with my Father in his throne”
Revelation 3:21

Salvation is a free gift of the grace of God but ruling and reigning with Him is given to those who by virtue of His Life in them overcome in the same manner as He!

Revelation chapter 5 is the fulcrum for what follows in the rest of the Book of Revelation. In chapter 6 John begins to describe the loosening of the seals and the repercussions of each upon the earth.

“And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals,
and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder,
one of the four beasts saying,
Come and see…”
Revelation 6:1

Hallelujah! This is the DAY of the LORD! May all who walk and are present tense alive in Him, consider and walk worthy of the hour in which we live. He who has triumphed over all is at work in the heavens to the end “that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that JESUS CHRIST is LORD!” and “that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (see Romans 8:21).

To God be ALL the Glory!

Conclusion of Part Seven of coming book.

Brian Troxel
www.aword.info