This is not about feminism nor women’s rights. This is not about whether or not women should be pastors or ordained (and there really are so many other issues in that statement).

And we understand that many, many women look and act a certain way when it comes to the church because they want to honor God or project a Godly image. Their intentions are pure.

But there is a spirit of deceit behind any people group in Christ being placed lower than another people group, or not being permitted to function fully according to their new identity in Christ.

This is about the Lord’s truth in how ALL (men and women) in Christ move and function and live and are.

Once again, we need to start before the beginning.

Imagine for a moment God the Father before time and creation. He’s thinking to Himself, and His thoughts are of His Son and are His Son. He wants a companion for His beloved Son, a bride.

God the Father thinks to Himself, “I’ll make human men. They will be my imagers and will fill the earth with my Son. They will be an expression of my Son in the physical realm. They will be fruitful. They will multiply and fill the earth with my Son. They will subdue the earth. They will have dominion over the creatures of the earth. These men will live their lives for Me and My Son. They will yield to Us and We will live through them. Our nature will be made manifest through them. They will be an essential part of My Son being all and in all.

“And I’ll make man a companion, woman. They will be my imagers and will fill the earth with my Son. They will be an expression of my Son in the physical realm. They will be fruitful. They will multiply and fill the earth with my Son. They will subdue the earth. They will have dominion over the creatures of the earth. These women will live their lives for Me and My Son. They will yield to Us and We will live through them. Our nature will be made manifest through them.

“You know, actually I think I’ll limit the expression of My Son in some of these imagers. These women ones will not be my expression in front of the men imagers. And when they corporately gather to lift up My Name, this half of my human imagers should be silent and not make manifest the glory of My Son. Half the group expressing His Life and Glory should be sufficient.”

“That’s not true, R.C.!”

Who would desire for the Son of God to be made manifest less? Who would want to interfere with the full expression of the ekklesia? Who would want to stunt the gifts that half the Body possesses? The Father of Truth and Life (who is all about the Son and the ekklesia) or the Father of Lies and Death (who is all about diminishing the Son and disrupting, dividing, and deceiving the ekklesia)? Does this sound like something that comes from our heavenly Father or from Satan?

Genesis 3:16To the woman he said,“I will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”

The fall created a power struggle of man ruling over women and vice versa.

BUT CHRIST creates within Himself a new creation where there is no fall, no lording over each other. There is only one loaf, one body, one new humanity that operates completely different with equality and mutual submission of all, to each other.

THE “LIMITING HIS EXPRESSION” PROBLEM

Would this God, who wants everything to express His Son and to fill all things with His Son through human imagers, prefer to limit those who can openly and freely express Him by half? Does this seem like a God who wants LESS of the Eternal Word made manifest? Does this seem like a God who wants to RESTRICT the expression of His Son?

But this is exactly what happens when we tell or infer half of the believers (women) that they should not act under a prompting of the Spirit in many situations. Instead,

As we have discussed substantially, considerably, exceedingly over the past 23 weeks, God the Father looks at one thing: His Son, Jesus Christ. We get so human-focused that we miss it. We’ve been trained to see us, ourselves, and we (“the unholy trinity”), and we completely miss God’s perspective. We want all these “things” – blessings, love, grace, mercy, etc. – but we think somehow, that we can attain these things apart from Christ. We can’t, saints.

As Paul says in Ephesians 1:10 – the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. That doesn’t leave much room for anything else.

So, what’s it mean to be in Christ? What’s all really in Christ? Let’s take a look at a very non-exhaustive list…

In Christ

Common misconceptions about using or saying “in the name of Jesus.”

* An ending to prayers

* i.e. It functions like punctuation more specifically a period or exclamation point

* Magical phrase or secret password that will somehow invoke Christ’s power

* e.g. “Open Sesame”

* It’s used as a religious tool or element to get what you want.

* e.g. Lucky charm or rabbit’s foot

* 1 Sam. 4:1-10 The prophet Eli’s two sons Hophni and Phineas

* Used as a title or label

* An earthly name like Tyrone

* e.g. CEO or CFO

What’s in a name?

* Exodus 3:13-14 “Then Moses said to God, ‘Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you. Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.”

God reveals his name to Moses as one who is being. He is His name and his name is He. He is the Eternal one, the Living one, the Always, and the Now. This is what “Life” and “Identity” means from God’s reality, vision and perspective.

* Exodus 23:20-21 “Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. 21 Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression, for my name, is in him.”

Jesus also says something very similar to what the I AM says to Moses.

* John 8:58 “Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

The Reality of the Name

Jesus is the Name. We know the unknowable I AM through Jesus. We experience the untouchable Name through Christ Jesus; the Name is a Person.

* John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.4 From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

* Col. 1:15 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

* 1 John 1:1-3 “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.”

The person we know as Love, Wisdom, Jesus, Christ, Lord, Savior, King, Head, Ruler, Overcomer, Victory, Prince of Peace, Alpha & Omega, etc. are ways in which the NAME is revealed, and experienced. All of these names, or more accurately called, functions are according to who He has always been in the Spirit for eternity.

Since He is Being/Life, Saving is in Him, Kingship is in Him, Ruling is in Him, Overcoming is in Him, Victory is in Him, Peace is in Him, Eternity is in Him and much more. These functions cannot be separated from Him for they are His name explained to all.

The Name Above Every name

* Phil. 2:8-11 “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,

What is Unbelief?

Is it not a desire to have it in ourselves, to see it, to feel it, to know it,to understand it, to have it according to our minds?  When it does not fit these categories we experience unbelief.  –T. Austin-Sparks

Unbelief is rooted in the soul life and gives glory to self.

Unbelief keeps Jesus from being able to fully reveal Himself to us. The block is on our part not His. Our unbelief doesn’t diminish who His is—it reveals our heart.

Faith in rooted in the Spirit and gives glory to God.

Faith says, even though I cannot see it, feel it, can understand it, or know it with my mind, I will still believe who You say You are (not only as my mind can conceive).

Some Examples of Unbelief Today:

“I want to have Christ, the church, myself, and my brothers and sisters according to my mind.”

This unbelief keeps Christ, His church, and us impotent and in bondage to man’s constraints.

“I cannot be a new creation in Christ yet—I’m waiting to become a new creation when I get to heaven.”

This unbelief keeps us from walking now in the power of His Resurrection Life.

“Christ cannot be the functional head of His church. He cannot rule through a corporate, redeemed humanity. He cannot be the only source of life for the church.”

The result of this unbelief has helped create the institutional system of religion.

“Christ is still fixing my sinfulness.”

This unbelief keeps us so focused on our sinfulness and not reckoning that He demolished sin and its nature and keeps us from seeing the fullness of who Christ is for us.  

“I can be made right with keeping the Christian law.”

This unbelief keeps “us” as the source of our salvation and keeps us from following the Spirit, which is what saves us fully unto transformation.

“Jesus cannot speak with me today.”

This unbelief keeps many from being able to follow the Holy Spirit, the law of the Spirit. So instead we have a preacher or leader we look up to.

“Eating his flesh and drinking His blood? How is that possible? He didn’t really mean that.”

This unbelief starves our spiritual man whose food is Christ. (In our attempt to try and comprehend this with our minds the Lord’s Supper has become a physical small wafer and a thimble of juice.)

“Take up your cross? Deny yourself? That’s not applicable for today.”

This hinders our souls transformation.

“Christ is separate from the church. I love Christ but not the church.”

Christ and the church are united and we can’t love one without loving the other.

“It’s not the true church if there is any structure or planning. Spontaneity is more spiritual.”

This unbelief starts creating another man-made system of things and keeps the church from learning to flow with the law of the spirit.

Living by Faith

What is faith? Well, faith has nothing under its feet but God, just God. It is the Lord.  –T. Austin-Sparks

Unbelief allows us to boast in ourselves but faith puts all in God.

Romans 4:3: Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.

Romans 4:20: He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

Faith is belief and trust in God alone, not God plus something else.

Righteousness is available for all through faith.

Romans 4:16: For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all…

Faith accounts Christ to us, not things.

Why is faith so important? Because it gives us Christ.

What is Unbelief?

Is it not a desire to have it in ourselves, to see it, to feel it, to know it,to understand it, to have it according to our minds?  When it does not fit these categories we experience unbelief.  –T. Austin-Sparks

Unbelief is rooted in the soul life and gives glory to self.

Unbelief keeps Jesus from being able to fully reveal Himself to us. The block is on our part not His. Our unbelief doesn’t diminish who His is—it reveals our heart.

Faith in rooted in the Spirit and gives glory to God.

Faith says, even though I cannot see it, feel it, can understand it, or know it with my mind, I will still believe who You say You are (not only as my mind can conceive).

Some Examples of Unbelief Today:

“I want to have Christ, the church, myself, and my brothers and sisters according to my mind.”

This unbelief keeps Christ, His church, and us impotent and in bondage to man’s constraints.

“I cannot be a new creation in Christ yet—I’m waiting to become a new creation when I get to heaven.”

This unbelief keeps us from walking now in the power of His Resurrection Life.

“Christ cannot be the functional head of His church. He cannot rule through a corporate, redeemed humanity. He cannot be the only source of life for the church.”

The result of this unbelief has helped create the institutional system of religion.

“Christ is still fixing my sinfulness.”

This unbelief keeps us so focused on our sinfulness and not reckoning that He demolished sin and its nature and keeps us from seeing the fullness of who Christ is for us.  

“I can be made right with keeping the Christian law.”

This unbelief keeps “us” as the source of our salvation and keeps us from following the Spirit, which is what saves us fully unto transformation.

“Jesus cannot speak with me today.”

This unbelief keeps many from being able to follow the Holy Spirit, the law of the Spirit. So instead we have a preacher or leader we look up to.

“Eating his flesh and drinking His blood? How is that possible? He didn’t really mean that.”

This unbelief starves our spiritual man whose food is Christ. (In our attempt to try and comprehend this with our minds the Lord’s Supper has become a physical small wafer and a thimble of juice.)

“Take up your cross? Deny yourself? That’s not applicable for today.”

This hinders our souls transformation.

“Christ is separate from the church. I love Christ but not the church.”

Christ and the church are united and we can’t love one without loving the other.

“It’s not the true church if there is any structure or planning. Spontaneity is more spiritual.”

This unbelief starts creating another man-made system of things and keeps the church from learning to flow with the law of the spirit.

Living by Faith

What is faith? Well, faith has nothing under its feet but God, just God. It is the Lord.  –T. Austin-Sparks

Unbelief allows us to boast in ourselves but faith puts all in God.

Romans 4:3: Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.

Romans 4:20: He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

Faith is belief and trust in God alone, not God plus something else.

Righteousness is available for all through faith.

Romans 4:16: For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all…

Faith accounts Christ to us, not things.

Why is faith so important? Because it gives us Christ.

 

1 Thess. 5:23  May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit (pneuma) and soul (psuche) and body (soma) be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

3 parts of man – made in God’s image, God is 3 in 1.

* body – flesh, blood, bone

* soul – mind, will, emotions (thinkers, doers, feelers)

* spirit – conscience, communion, intuition (infused with Holy Spirit)

Man has a spirit and because of this is unique from all other created beings.

God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. John 4:24

…but the one who joins Himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him. 1 Cor 6:17

The conscience is the discerning organ which distinguishes right and wrong; not, however, through the influence of knowledge stored in the mind but rather by a spontaneous direct judgment. Often reasoning will justify things which our conscience judges. The work of the conscience is independent and direct; it does not bend to outside opinions. If man should do wrong it will raise its voice of accusation. Intuition is the sensing organ of the human spirit. It is so diametrically different from physical sense and soulical sense that it is called intuition. Intuition involves a direct sensing independent of any outside influence. That knowledge which comes to us without any help from the mind, emotion or volition comes intuitively. We really “know” through our intuition; our mind merely helps us to “understand.” The revelations of God and all the movements of the Holy Spirit are known to the believer through his intuition. A believer must therefore heed these two elements: the voice of conscience and the teaching of intuition. Communion is worshiping God. The organs of the soul are incompetent to worship God. God is not apprehended by our thoughts, feelings or intentions, for He can only be known directly in our spirits.  

~ Watchmen Nee

How do we overcome the sin and live by the spirit?

Religion teaches us to make our soul stronger (know more, feel more, do/will more)

Christ teaches us to deny our soul.

“The secret is Christ in me, not me in a different set of circumstances.” Elizabeth Elliot

Psuche – where we get the word: psychology – mind, will, emotions

*See pdf download below for scriptures used in this episode.

Scriptures Tripartite Man

 

CHRIST IS DOING EXACTLY WHAT HE ASKS OF US  – Take up your cross and follow me.

The issue with religion and institutional christianity isn’t that it “does church” wrong. It is that the source of the church is wrong. The source of institutional christianity is the soul. Just because you meet in a home, don’t have a pastor, and let everyone share in the meetings doesn’t mean that source is Christ. Those things can be done out of the soul-life just as easily as other forms of church. The source of the ekklesia is Christ/His Spirit.

The spirit and the soul act independently and, until the spirit has established the ascendancy and absolute dominion, they are constantly in conflict and contradiction. – T. Austin-Sparks

Scriptural evidence of spirit (pneuma).

 

Christ is the Word of God who is living right now, active right now, and is dividing between what is of the soul and what is of the spirit.

Faith is complete confidence or trust in a person or thing.

Hebrews 11

Now complete confidence in Jesus Christ is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. for by complete confidence in Jesus Christ we gain approval…by complete confidence in Jesus Christ we understand…by complete confi...

Human love flows from soul life which will cling to its heart desires and will call for love in return. The Lord maintains that such soul life needs to be delivered to death. Though we do not now see Him, He wants us to love Him. He desires us to deny our natural love. He wishes to rid us of our natural love towards others so that we will not love with our own love. Of course He wills that we should love others, but not with our natural soulical affection. If we love, let it be for the sake of the Lord and not for their sake. A new relationship comes to us in the Lord. We should receive from Him His love so that we may love others. In a word, our love must be governed by the Lord. Should He desire us to, we must love even our enemies: if He does not ask us to, we cannot love even the dearest of our household. He does not want our heart to be attached anywhere because He wants us to serve Him freely.

God wills for us to be attached to nothing aside from Him, whether it be man or a thing or even something conferred on us by Himself. –Watchman Nee

Deconstructing Love

* What the world means by the term love

* Emotion (soulical affection) versus Love (which is of God)

* Falling in and out of love

* Conditional

* Self Focused

* In relationships

* Marriage

* Family

* Some different types of love:

* “Eros” or Erotic Love. The first kind of love is Eros, which is named after the Greek god of love and fertility….

* “Philia” or Affectionate Love. …

* “Storge” or Familiar Love. …

* “Ludus” or Playful Love. …

* “Mania” or Obsessive Love. …

* “Pragma” or Enduring Love. …

* “Philautia” or Self Love. …

Reconstructing Love

*

*

* “Agape” or Selfless Love.

* As represented in the Bible

* The Godhead

* As represented by Christ

* His Life

* His Teachings

* What does it mean to speak the truth in love?

* They know they are Christians by their love.

* What does it mean to love your enemy?

* Love: The more excellent way

“I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me; but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us be on our way. John 14:25-31

Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law. Romans 13:8-10

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love,

Human love flows from soul life which will cling to its heart desires and will call for love in return. The Lord maintains that such soul life needs to be delivered to death. Though we do not now see Him, He wants us to love Him. He desires us to deny our natural love. He wishes to rid us of our natural love towards others so that we will not love with our own love. Of course He wills that we should love others, but not with our natural soulical affection. If we love, let it be for the sake of the Lord and not for their sake. A new relationship comes to us in the Lord. We should receive from Him His love so that we may love others. In a word, our love must be governed by the Lord. Should He desire us to, we must love even our enemies: if He does not ask us to, we cannot love even the dearest of our household. He does not want our heart to be attached anywhere because He wants us to serve Him freely.

God wills for us to be attached to nothing aside from Him, whether it be man or a thing or even something conferred on us by Himself. –Watchman Nee

Deconstructing Love

* What the world means by the term love

* Emotion (soulical affection) versus Love (which is of God)

* Falling in and out of love

* Conditional

* Self Focused

* In relationships

* Marriage

* Family

* Some different types of love:

* “Eros” or Erotic Love. The first kind of love is Eros, which is named after the Greek god of love and fertility….

* “Philia” or Affectionate Love. …

* “Storge” or Familiar Love. …

* “Ludus” or Playful Love. …

* “Mania” or Obsessive Love. …

* “Pragma” or Enduring Love. …

* “Philautia” or Self Love. …

Reconstructing Love

*

*

* “Agape” or Selfless Love.

* As represented in the Bible

* The Godhead

* As represented by Christ

* His Life

* His Teachings

* What does it mean to speak the truth in love?

* They know they are Christians by their love.

* What does it mean to love your enemy?

* Love: The more excellent way

“I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me; but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us be on our way. John 14:25-31

Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law. Romans 13:8-10

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love,