The Day of Harvest – Part One

The Day of Harvest

Part One

Slumber

“…but he who sleeps during the harvest
is a son who causes shame.”
Luke 1:59

The call to awake is going forth in our day. It is a day to walk circumspectly and with great care for the mists of slumber are falling undetected upon the children of light. Fellowship and admonition are God’s antidotes for this day of deception. God’s true watchmen see the rise of evil in our land and are sounding the trumpet to prepare for the storm which is about to break. The day of Harvest and Indignation go hand in hand. This is a day of sifting of His own and the words of God are for all who would hear.

“Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither…”
Forsake the foolish, and live;
and go in the way of understanding”
Proverbs 9:4,6

Fellowship and the Mystery of God

FELLOWSHIP
AND THE
MYSTERY OF GOD

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light,
we have fellowship one with another,
and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son
cleanseth us from all sin”
1 John 1:7

True fellowship is a blessed and precious expression of the Life of the Son between His people. It is a function of light not of teaching. Many today within the landscape of the Christian Church have little or no concept of this vital flow of life. Being in one room does not constitute fellowship. Speaking of the things of God, singing, sharing, and praying together does not in itself imply this powerful act of the Holy Spirit. Fellowship in and unto God is a transaction wherein the depth of God in one vessel pours the very life and glory of God into another. The light of His Being is imprinted upon the whole; the ministration of the Blood of Jesus releases an impartation of the cleansing power of the Lamb. The wonder of community, the koinonia, is known by God’s glory. It is grievous to behold the blindness which exists between the religious things of men and the precious things of the Spirit. Within the mixture of today men cannot discern between that which is Holy and that which is lifeless and mundane. Light is the Life of Jesus within His own (John 1:4). It is so much more than words, actions and prayers. It is as we touch His Life within another person that we know the brotherhood of Christ. It is in the fragrance of another’s expression that the aroma of Christ in His Body is known. This flow of Life is the Light of the World and the wonder of Heaven.

“Then said the Lord to him,
Put off thy shoes from thy feet:
for the place where thou standest is holy ground”
Acts 7:33

Moses having left Egypt because of the recognition of his true identity as an Israelite by birth, was not yet aware of his call as a true Israelite (a prince with God) in his walk. He stood in the very presence of God and knew it not. Though he had left Egypt he still walked in the shoes of Egypt and was unable to sense God’s presence even in the place he stood. So it is with religion. Men and women may have teaching, may have even a spiritual heritage (as Moses with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), and yet be totally unaware of God’s reality. It is in the taking off of those shoes, (the religious and carnal ways of men) that we are introduced to the Holy Presence of God. We begin to “feel” our way into the life to which He has called us. While many boast of knowledge, or take comfort in their association with great teachers or organizations, it does not avail them of the knowledge of the Holy.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom:
and the knowledge of the holy is understanding”
Proverbs 9:10

In God’s estimation it is not in the accumulation of data and information that gives a person true understanding; it is in their knowing of the HOLY. Without this sense of awe we will never be able to really flow in the life and light of God. It is this flow which brings us to the Holy Ground of fellowship in God. There is an unseen line of demarcation which religious people cannot pass through; it is a realm of life and liberty in the Holy Spirit. People may behold it but it is always outside of them. It is a thing to see but not one which is internal and real.

“But as he went the people thronged him. And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any, Came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched. And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me”
Luke 8:42-46

In the midst of all the people thronging about Jesus there was one who touched Jesus in the realm of need and faith. Though many were “touching” Jesus, clamouring to hear his words and see His acts, there was one who touched Him in such a manner that virtue (power) flowed from Him into her. This flow is the power of true fellowship and life. Many throng about Him in meetings, services, Bible studies and prayer meetings, yet without the living faith of Him within the heart the virtue of Christ remains hidden and distant.

True and vital fellowship exists where each member shares the substance of Christ which they have seen and heard within their own hearts. It is the communication of their faith because of their relationship and walk with God. The flow of the sharing is orchestrated by the Lordship of the Holy Spirit and culminates in the symphony of His life within the whole. This is no longer a religious gathering. It is in fact the very essence of heaven and the true life of the Son being revealed through vessels of clay who walk in the knowledge of the Holy.

It is through the Glory of such fellowship that the change and transformation of our hearts occurs. It is in the beholding of Him, seeing His wonder in our brothers and sisters, that we touch the beauty of His true Body. It is only by the seeing of Him that we are changed, for no one can see Him and remain the same. While many gather in some manner or another, change will always be the fruit of those who behold His glory; where there is no change there is no glory. The Virtue of Christ always flows into the lives of those who touch Him in the reality of the living faith of God.

“But we all, with open face
beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord,
are changed into the same image from glory to glory,
even as by the Spirit of the Lord”
2 Corinthians 3:18

The desire to know Him is the only impetus which can bring the mystery of this fellowship to the life of an individual. People who are content with the status quo will never know this vital flow of the Son. It is the story of this woman’s need and desire which caused the touching of Him in reality. Religion is content with things about Him, they who are of the truth are only concerned with the knowing of Him experientially (corporately and individually). Change is the fruit of seeing God. For fellowship with Him brings us to His light and the love of His people. No one can have fellowship with God and walk in darkness.

“This then is the message which we have heard of him,
and declare unto you, that God is light,
and in him is no darkness at all.
If we say that we have fellowship with him,
and walk in darkness,
we lie, and do not the truth”
1 John 1:6

Brian Troxel
www.aword.info

The Mystery of God Part Two

The Mystery of God

Part Two

“But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery,
even the hidden wisdom, which God
ordained before the world unto our glory”
1 Corinthians 2:7

Salvation and the Entrance into the Kingdom
Is a Journey and a Life,
Not an Event

The subtlety of religion is to start out well but not finish well; to begin in the good and perfect way but become relaxed and satisfied or consumed with the concerns and affairs of this life. We need to read often the parable of the sower and the various soils into which the life of Christ was sown. Paul, speaking of himself, declares…

“But I keep under my body,
and bring it into subjection:
lest that by any means,
when I have preached to others,
I myself should be a castaway”
1 Corinthians 9:27

We are reminded throughout the New Testament that salvation is the on-going work of the Spirit of God in our lives. Paul speaking to the Church of God at Phillipi says,

“Wherefore, my beloved,
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 which worketh in you
both to will and to do of his good pleasure…”
Philippians 2:12

The working out of our salvation is the result of God working in. A life that has become inactive and lukewarm ceases to work out His working in. It becomes slothful and complacent and in the end unfaithful and impotent. It is to such that God speaks judgment and sorrow as to the unfaithful servant who was given the one talent…

“His lord answered and said unto him,
Thou wicked and slothful servant…
And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness:
there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth”
Matthew 25:24-30

The Fear of the Lord
The Secret of True and Vital Prayer

The entrance into the Kingdom of God requires much diligence and above all a healthy fear of the Lord. His Spirit calls and beckons every man to the fear and awe of Him.

“For that they hated knowledge,
and did not choose the fear of the LORD”
Proverbs 1:29

The religious man cloaks himself in religious phrases, religious activities, prayer meetings, out reaches, church activities and other such “works” all the while ignoring the inward working of faith which would bring him to obedience and the way of the Lord. The prayer of the Pharisee…

“The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself,
God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are,
extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess”
Luke 18:11

Notice that this man “prayed thus with himself “! His prayers never left his lips; God was not listening. Prayer without obedience, prayer without the brokenness of heart that comes from knowing to Whom we speak, and the infusion of faith whereby we touch the substance and reality of His heart, are merely the echoes of a vain and impotent religion.

Here Jesus is praying to the Father:

“Who in the days of his flesh,
when he had offered up prayers and supplications
with strong crying and tears unto him
that was able to save him from death,
and was heard in that he feared;
Though he were a Son,
yet learned he obedience…”
Hebrews 5:7-8

The very prayers of Jesus were offered in the fear of the Lord and in a life of obedience! Such things are too deep for me but these are the truths of the life of the Son. If they are true in Him, then it must become the reality within my own life. For He who became my sin did so that I may become His righteousness and a living participant within the great mystery of God.

THE PURSUIT OF THE MARK

This life of becoming is the sum and substance of the Kingdom of God. The writer of the Book of Hebrews declares emphatically…

“Let us therefore fear,
lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest,
any of you should seem to come short of it”
Hebrews 4:1

This is the attitude of heart of those who would enter into the fullness of God. It is a heart which is so in love with Him that to fall short of His purposes, to displease Him, to miss Him in the full purpose and desire for our life is an unthinkable tragedy. Not because of judgement but because of love and the great desire to please and honour Him. This is the heart with which Paul wrote to the Philippians…

“Not as though I had already attained,
either were already perfect: but I follow after,
if that I may apprehend that
for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended:
but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind,
and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
I press toward the mark for the prize
of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded
and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded,
God shall reveal even this unto you”
Philippians 3:12-15

Any one in Christ who is not pursuing this one thing the Spirit declares that “God shall reveal even this unto you”. To be otherwise minded is to miss the mark in our walk with God. It is to this end we are called and in the seeing of this we are overwhelmed with the enormity of His Call and the greatness of our need for Him and one another. We recognize the need to meet with one another, to participate in the working out of that mystery through the means of fellowship and the ministration of truth. Men who are satisfied with meetings and Bible studies in which the fire and the presence of God is missing reveal a lack of truth and honesty. The ministration of encouragement and exhortation is for those who desire truth within the inward man; a desire for transparency and authenticity over a mere appearance of righteousness.

Paul’s Specific Purpose
“TO MAKE MEN SEE”
The Building Up of the One Body in Christ

Paul in describing the purpose for which the grace of God was given to him declares…

“Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints,
is THIS grace given,
that I should preach among the Gentiles
the unsearchable riches of Christ;
And to make all men see
what is the fellowship of the mystery,
which from the beginning of the world
hath been hid in God,
who created all things by Jesus Christ”
Ephesians 3:8-9

The cry of Paul’s heart was to make all men see what is their participation (Greek word for fellowship) in the mystery! Men without a sense of the mystery have no desire to fellowship in this manner. They see no purpose in meeting and functioning with others in the power and wonder of His Holy Spirit. This mystery is the Christ in me, interacting with the Christ in you, each member functioning within the call and the expression given by God whereby we grow into the very fullness and stature of the risen Christ! How can we settle for a gathering of His people if this functioning and ministration of His life between members of the Body is not a reality? Paul goes on in his epistle to say…

“But speaking the truth in love,
may grow up into him in all things,
which is the head, even Christ:
From whom the whole body fitly joined together
and compacted by that which every joint supplieth,
according to the effectual working in the measure of every part,
maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love”
Ephesians 4:15-16

This coming together in the power of His Life begins with “speaking the Truth in Love”. The fullness and increase of this corporate expression will be “according to” (in proportion to) the effectual working (functioning) of every part (member). We can preach, teach, pray and strategize all we want; this living reality will only come by the functioning of every part. Any ministry, whether an Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor or Teacher that does not have this beating within his heart is failing the call of God. The true heart of Christ within a man desires to see the Body of Christ arise in His fullness. Men who seek to hold the pre-eminent place within a gathering of God’s people have missed the mind and heart of Jesus. We are called to present unto Christ a chaste virgin, a spotless bride, a people who are fully attentive unto Him. How dare the ministries of God seek the attention and love of His sheep! “He must increase; I must decrease” was the heart of John the Baptist; so should it be with all who minister Him. We must function in such a way as to so present the living Christ to men that their obedience and affections are fully centered upon Jesus not a man.

TRUE MINISTRY
The Means By Which The Body of Christ Is Realized

A picture of true ministry is revealed by an incident recorded in John’s Gospel…

“Again the next day after John stood,
and two of his disciples;
And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith,
Behold the Lamb of God!
And the two disciples heard him speak,
and they followed Jesus”
John 1:35-37

Do men really want this? Do the ministers of God and the multitudes of church organizations across the land really desire this one thing; for men to rise up and follow Jesus? Our part is to declare “Behold the Lamb of God” and to do it in such a way that men actually rise up to follow Him. We are here to make Him known. Those to whom we minister should hear us speak and then rise up and follow Jesus! How simple and pure ministry is to be! The sad part is that men, their organizations, and their own desire of recognition corrupt this simple truth and lead men to follow them and to “support” their ministry rather than the development of others in their own ministrations.

The other issue in our day is that men want to follow others and support other people; for growing into their own functioning ministry is fraught with personal accountability, obedience and faith. It is much easier to simply sit in a pew and absolve themselves of this responsibility. In gatherings where there are no ministrations of life, the power and presence of God is lacking and men remain undeveloped and immature.

The mystery of God will never be known and realized without this ministry one to another. Paul, as great and powerful as his ministry was, declared “That we with all saints might know…” He understood that his knowing of the depths, the power and fullness of God would only be realized with all saints. Those who have seen and touched the hem of His Glory know that His fullness can only be revealed in a Body, not an individual. It will take the full functioning of every member to embrace and contain the glory of the new wine. There is no room for elite little groups any more than there is for mega churches to think they can contain this Mystery. Peter and his fellow believers were meeting together and there began a religious segregation of the Jews withdrawing from the Gentiles to form a little clique. A young newcomer rebuked Peter for straying from the truth. Peter was faced with repenting and acknowledging his error or citing his position as “chief apostle” to ignore the rebuke. Peter, to his credit, repented at the rebuke of Paul. The fivefold ministry (Ephesians 4:13) is to bring the people of God unto “the unity of the faith” not to separate His people unto themselves! The fivefold ministry will remain in the church until this is accomplished.

“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets;
and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
For the perfecting of the saints, for the (their) work of the ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Till we all come in the unity of the faith,
and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man,
unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ”
Ephesians 4:11-13

Any ministry that has not this one goal in mind has missed the purpose and the call of God. Any ministration that is content with the status quo of a divided church, drawn unto men and organizations and the kingdom building of those who seek honour for themselves, will be subject to the judgments of God. All things are unto the Son, and it is He alone who is to have the pre-eminence in our midst. The scriptures declare prophetically “unto Him shall the gathering of the people be” and it is the responsibility of all the people of God to see this come to pass!

Our understanding of the Mystery of God is revealed by what we do not by what we say. Jesus said those who “speak of themselves or from themselves, seek their own glory” but those who labour by the Spirit of Christ glorify and honour Him. It is the day of the Revelation of Christ; an hour when men will declare by their actions whether they are His or mere hirelings who seek out their own glory. This house will be finished.

This Mystery of God will be accomplished!

“But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel,
when he shall begin to sound,
the mystery of God should be finished,
as he hath declared to his servants the prophets”
Revelation 10:7

Brian Troxel

We Have Today

“For man also knoweth not his time”
Ecclesiastes 9:12

The great deception of life is the blindness of its own mortality. The foolish man declares tomorrow I will do this or that; in truth we have only today to walk uprightly and to treat others with the wisdom and kindness of God. We only have today to hear His voice and to live our lives to please Him. The Psalmist declares…

“So teach us to number our days,
that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom”
Psalm 90:12

The wise man who walks in the fear of the Lord knows the importance of each day. Those with an understanding of “the Holy” know that each day presents opportunities of faith and accountability unto Him who sees the very intent of a man’s heart. Our days are not to be spent foolishly or without regard to Him unto whom we must give an account. In reality the journey of man is brief and filled with foolishness but those who “number their days” make a concerted effort to apply wisdom.

Men who fear the Lord seek out fellowship with others who know of this wisdom. They gather for no other reason than to worship Him who alone is worthy; to speak and exhort one another to live each day to the doing of His Will.

“Then they that feared the Lord
spake often one to another:
and the Lord hearkened, and heard it,
and a book of remembrance was written
before him for them that feared the Lord,
and that thought upon his name”
Malachi 3:16

This is the fruit of those who have tasted and touched the Holiness of God. Sadly many allow each day to pass without the application of His Truth and His Will. God speaks daily to one who has ears to hear and a heart to obey.

“Wherefore as the Holy Ghost saith,
Today if ye will hear his voice
Harden not your heart”
Hebrews 3:7, 3:15. 4:7