Life in Christ Jesus Podcast

Dr. Lynn Hiles - Revelation 3 - Buy of Me Gold Tried in the Fire

Revelation 3
Because you think you are rich and increased with goods, but you need to Buy of ME
Dr. Lynn Hiles
In Revelation Chapter 3 the Lord Jesus rebukes the church of Laodicea to buy of Him gold tried in the fire, and white raiment and be clothed that you would not dwell in shame.  Dr. Hiles deals with a people moving from their own self righteousness to the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.  Many dear believers’ dwell in their own righteousness.  They try to dwell in their own self works for righteousness.  Even the message they set under brings them into view of a performance-based religion.
The problem of most performance-based teachings are they point to the wrong performance.  They point to our performance.  If we were looking at the performance of Christ, or His Work, we would be teaching the RIGHT works. Jesus counsels the Laodiceans to buy of Him gold tried in the fire that they may be rich.    His work is the gold tried in the fire, and we are filled with riches of God in Christ Jesus. 
He counsels them to buy white raiment that they may be clothed.  In Revelation Chapter 7:14 and 22:14 the Bible declares that they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.  This is how we are made pure and complete.  We are made righteous through His work, being washed in His Blood.  There is no other righteousness we can have but His.  He is our righteousness.  We need to see His Work, and rest in what He has completed, putting on what He is done.  Paul writes to the Galatians that we are clothed upon with Christ.  Through our works we can never become righteous and feel Holy.
Jesus counsels them to anoint their eyes with eye salve that they can see.  Without the Spirit of God we cannot see the reality of Christ and our salvation.  Many believers go to the Bible, and do not SEE clearly what Jesus did at Calvary.  They do not SEE the transition from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant.  They do not see the removal of the Old Temple and the Bringing Forth of New Temple.  They do not see the New Creation created of God in Christ Jesus.  Instead they go to the Word of God and look for these to come. 
At Calvary Jesus removed the Old and through His resurrection He brought for the New.  In Christ we dwell in a new heaven and a new earth. We are subject not to rules on rocks, but we are subject to the very Christ of God and His work.  May we all see and believe what Jesus has done.  I hope you enjoy this sharing by Brother Hiles.  It is a tremendous word being released into the Body of Christ.
Revelation 3:14-19  "And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; 15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. 17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent." 

The Revelation Series - His Countenance as the Sun III

His Countenance as the Sun III
In the third sharing on His Countenance as the sun from the Book of Revelation Chapter 1, we continued to look at the day where the sun and moon would not be the light.   This day and the seeing in this day are found only in Christ.  He is the light we see by here, not of the sun or the moon, but Christ Himself is the light.  What do we see in His light?
In three of the Gospels there is a record of the Mount of Transfiguration, where Jesus took Peter, James and John up into the Mount and was transfigured before them.  In this encounter on the Mount Jesus face did shine as the sun.  In Mark’s gospel, it says in Chapter 9:8 “And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man any more, save Jesus only with themselves.”
Hear this, they saw no man but Jesus, and they found themselves in Him.  He told them to tell no one of this encounter until after the resurrection.  Why did He do that?  Because when you and I find our lives in the resurrection we find no man except Jesus only.  We find our lives in Him. The old man is dead, crucified and buried.  We are alive in a new creation.
In this creation we have come to in Christ, He is the Life.   We live by Him.  “At that day you shall know I am in the Father, you are IN ME, and I AM in you.”   Hallelujah.  This is the day that no eye had seen and had never entered the heart of man.  This is the day that no earthly sun or moon can light.  This day is seen through Him.  Here in His light we are righteous, holy, and pure.  Here in this light we have been made complete in Christ.  He is our completion.
Walking in the shadows of the Old Covenant will never complete you.  And so many of God’s people want to walk there.   They want to be told how to be righteous.  How to be made complete.  How to be perfect.  No, no, no!  All of this is in Him.  He is my righteousness.  He is my perfection.  Let me know Him as righteousness.  Let me know Him as perfection.  Let me grow up into Him in all things!
This is what light shows.  It shows His work on Calvary.  It shows that His death truly fulfilled the Old Covenant.  It shows His resurrection really brought life to those that believe and receive Him.  It shows the power of His death, and the exceeding power of His resurrection.  He raised out from Adam.  In other words, He cannot be found there anymore.  The beauty is we are united with Him in His resurrection. 
I pray that the eyes of our hearts be enlightened in the knowing of Jesus Christ!

The Revelation Series - His Countenance as the Sun II

His Countenance as the Sun II
We are continuing our study of the Son of Man in the seven golden candlesticks.  We are looking at His countenance as the sun.  In the natural we see by sun light.  Our eyes have no sight without light.  Jesus is the sun we see by in the Spirit. Without Him there is no light. 
John 1:4 “In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” 
Isaiah 60:19 spoke of a day where the sun and the moon would not be the light.  Men have tried to figure this out by their own minds.  Remember, without Him we have no sight.  Jesus was the light Isaiah was speaking of.  When Christ came, he said “I am the light of the world.”  In order to see in the spiritual realm, we must see by him.  To have sight we must be born again of God’s Spirit, John 3:3.  Otherwise, man is simply bound to natural sight, with no true spiritual light at all.  Man may think he has spiritual sight, but he has NONE! 
1Corinthians 2:9  “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” 
The above is a very popular scriptures, quoted in many Christian circles.  Many quote this in regard to what is prepared for them over in glory land or heaven after they die.  However, the very next verse in this chapter says that God HAS revealed them to us by His Spirit.  What was prepared for us that we did not see was prepared at the cross.  Jesus said in John 14, “I go to prepare a place for you.”  He said if he prepares a place for us that He would come again and receive us to himself.  Where He was going was the cross.  The place He was preparing was the Father’s House. 
The Apostle Paul writes that we the church are the Temple of God (Father’s House).  Before the death, burial, and resurrection the Temple of God was in the natural Jerusalem.  According to the Old Testament scripture that Temple was God’s House.  Jesus declared throughout John’s Gospel that God was in Him.   In John 14:10 he says we are to believe that He is in the Father, and the Father is in Him.   This is the glorious relationship that He was going to the cross to share with the church.  Jesus had become the place that God dwelt. 
Jesus said, recorded in John 2, “Destroy this Temple, speaking His Body, and in three days I will raise it up.”  The Apostle Paul writes, I Corinthians 14 “Now you are the Body of Christ and members in particular.”   This is what He prepared for us.  This was never in man’s mind, that we would be His place of habitation, that the living Christ would fill us with ALL He is.  The Glory of God has moved from an Old Temple built with hands to an altogether New Temple built through the cross – death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 
We see this glorious reality only through the light of Christ.  Paul prayed that the eyes of our understanding would be enlightened through the knowledge of Christ.  These are the eyes that did not see what God was preparing.  Now we who SEE HIM by the Spirit, do understand (see) what God prepared, in order that we may declare Him to the Church.

Dead to Sin and the Old Man

Dead to Sin and the Old Man
Colossians 3:3&4 “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”
This is the understanding of the cross that we all must come to.  Here we will find relief for our souls.   Paul writes multiple times in his epistles that we died with Christ at the cross.  To grasp His death is freedom.  To grasp His life is salvation.  
Jesus declares to the Jews in the Temple, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:36).  Here He is speaking of being made free from sin.  Christians all over the earth seek to get free from sins or bad deeds.  Jesus said if the Son makes you free you are free.  Read the Chapter.  See the context.  
How can it be that we have been made free from sin, but yet have so many issues with sins or bad deeds?  Christians are caught in all kinds of bad situations, including divorce.  Why is this?  We do not KNOW HIM!  We do not Know our salvation.  If the Son has set us free, we are free indeed.  How did he do this?  He put us to death where we were held.  
In Romans 6, the Apostle Paul declares we are baptized into the death of Christ.  He writes in the Chapter that we are dead to sin.  The word know or knowing is used 3 times between verse 3 through verse 11 alone. These words are three different Greek words.  In verse three the word know mean is dealing with information.  Paul is saying do you do not have the information of what happened when you were baptized into Jesus Christ.  “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?” 
In verse 6, Paul is dealing with an experiential knowing.  “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”  This word is the same word used when Mary says to the angel as recorded in the gospel of Luke, “I have not known a man.”  We know our old man is crucified through our experience and knowing of Christ who is in us.  This is the answer to our hearts.  We must know Him, period! 
Finally, in verse 9, “Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him,” this knowing means seeing or perceiving.    I believe as we know Him we will see and perceive that death has no more dominion over Christ, and in that it has no dominion over Him it is true of His body also.  Death has no dominion over you if you are members of His Body.  He that is dead is free from sin and its domain.  
Our dominion is in what Christ Jesus has accomplished.  He died to the world and all that was in it, and was raised out from the dead to live unto God.  We live unto God through Him.  He is now our life.  When He appears in us, as that is where He dwells, we appear in this glorious life of Christ.  Glory to God!

The Revelation Series - His Countenance as the Sun

The Revelation Series - His Countenance as the Sun
We have been in a study for months on Revelation Chapter 1.  I expect to be here for some time, looking at the appearing of the Son of Man in the seven golden candlesticks.  This has been one of the most impactful studies of my life.  God is summing up the fullness of the Son of Man, in the candlesticks.  All the descriptive language of Christ must be seen and declared by the Church.  What does it mean that he has feet of brass, eyes of fire, hair white as wool, and a countenance as the sun?  Through this series it is my heart to see, know, and declare this vision of Christ that John saw IN the church.  
Many teachers pass right over this description of Christ in the Church to understand what the Book of Revelation is declaring to come.  I believe we will get to that, and I believe it is in context to John’s day as earlier shared in the Revelation Series. However, I want us to turn our hearts to the one John SAW IN the Church and let that correspond to Jesus declaring to John that He IS and was and is to Come.   Let us see the IS factor.  In other words, John saw Him present in the Church.  Now as we see Him present in the Church let our hearts turn to the Revealing of Him that has come to make His dwelling place in a people. 
How could John see such a sight?  I believe there are keys to understand this.  First John was in the Spirit.  When Peter received the Revelation of Christ, Jesus declared to him, that flesh and blood did not show this to you but my Father which is in heaven (Matthew 16:16&17). Jesus also declared as written by John in his gospel that the Holy Spirit was going to come and that the Holy Spirit would show or reveal Him (John 16).  We can conclude this seeing of Christ in the Church is a work of the Spirit and not of flesh.  Now let us focus on the LIGHT John sees by. 
Revelation 1:16 “And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.”  His countenance was as the sun.  Here is the fulfillment of the prophets where God said a day is coming where the sun will not be the light, and at evening there will be light.  A couple examples of this is found in Zechariah 14:6-9 and Isaiah 60:19. These scriptures of the glorious day that was coming where there would be a light greater than that of the sun was speaking of Christ.  He is how we see, understand, and walk in this new day.  Without the sight by Him and of Him we stumble around, not clearly SEEING in this NEW DAY! 
Now as we see Him a new creation comes into view.  One not born of man, nor the power of man, but of God (John 1:13).   Here Light divides Darkness, and the darkness here is not absence of the sun, but absence of the SON.  Our encounter and SEEING of Him brings us to understand the creation of man, and the division of the Old Man and the New Man.  The more of Him that we see the clearer our vision will become, and we will see “that which is born of flesh is flesh and that which is born of Spirit is Spirit.”  Look at this division.   Without the Light of Christ, I do not comprehend or experimentally know this. 
Now through Him I SEE this division.  He divides the Night from the Day.  Here in Him I find my life through the LIGHT of LIFE.  He is our Life, and His Life is the Light!  Hope you enjoy this sharing.  Glory to God in the Highest!!!
 

Clothed with a Garment Down to His Feet

Clothed with a Garment down to His Feet IV
“I turned to see the voice and I saw.”  In the Book of Revelation John turned to see the voice and he saw ONE in the seven golden candlesticks.  Our hearts must come to turn and to see One.  
We have been looking at the Son of Man that is in the seven golden candlesticks in relationship to the Priest and priesthood.  In the Apostle Peter’s epistles, he declares we are a holy priesthood.  This is all predicated on the High Priest and His work.  Our holiness is subject to Christ and not ourselves.  The Ministry we have is through His Ministry.  We do not have anything without Him.
In II Corinthians 3 the Apostle Paul contrasts two Ministry’s, the ministry of death, and the ministry of the Spirit.  The ministry of death has a glory that fades.  God showed this through the face of Moses.  The children of Israel could not look upon the brightness of Moses’ face.  It had to be veiled, but even while it was veiled it was fading away.  This was speaking of the Covenant they were under.  It was temporary, and was put in place until the one that excels came into place.
The ministry of the Spirit EXCEEDS that glory.  The glory here does not fade away and is not veiled from our hearts.  When our hearts turn to the Lord the veil is removed and we behold the Glory of the Lord and are changed.  How we are changed is through BEHOLDING HIM!  We are not changed through self-effort or even self-help programs.  Through the Spirit we come to the SEEING of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Here we come to be made righteous.  He is righteous and is made our righteousness.
He then becomes the ministry we are of.  We minister Him to His body.  We do not declare ourselves, but we declare Jesus Christ and Him crucified.  Here we are crucified to the world and the world is crucified to us.  We do not find our life in the world or even in the Old Covenant.  We come out to Jesus who is outside the gate of that Covenant. 
I love the scripture in Hebrews 13 that speaks of Jesus being outside of the gate.  Jesus is sacrificed outside the gate signifying that we must leave the Old Covenant of the law, its sacrifice and priesthood, and all that it was within it, and come out to Jesus.  When we come to Him we come to a far greater Priesthood, a far greater offering.  This one can make the comers perfect!  Perfection came through Jesus Christ!  This is what we minister.  Glory to God!
 

The Revelation Series - Clothed with a Garment Down to His Feet III

Clothed with a Garment down to His Feet III
As we look into the Book of Revelation let us turn our hearts to the encounter of the Person of the Book, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Often, I believe we want to simply understand what the Book means and not come to the encounter of Him.  This is so impressed in my heart that we encounter Christ.  This is what John saw when He TURNED to SEE the VOICE, He saw the encounter of ONE in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.  In the seven golden candlesticks, the seven churches of Asia, is the Son of Man clothed with a garment down to His feet, with a golden girdle around His chest.  His hair is white as wool.  His feet as burning brass.  His eyes as a flaming fire.  A countenance bright as the sun, and a two-edged sword coming out of His mouth. 
I believe every aspect of His description is to be encountered by the Church.  This was not only for the seven churches that was in Asia, but for the church as a whole.  This is an ongoing encounter of Him that we have as His body.  And it is this encounter that we become the Minister’s of.  We are not minister’s simply of the written word, but of the Person of the Word, who we encounter in our walk with God. This is my heart as a Minister of the Gospel, to bring a people to the encounter of Jesus Christ.  Yes, I want to understand the Bible, every word of it, but not just be a great teacher or theologian, I want to be a minister of the Encounter of Him!
The Apostle Peter writes we are built up a spiritual house, a Holy Priesthood.  This word holy means sacred, consecrated, or pure.  Notice the church is called a priesthood.  As we explore this, we have to explore Him.  In Hebrews 7, the Bible declares that Jesus is a Priest after the order of Melchizedek, or the order of an endless life.  This Chapter declares this Priesthood has been changed from the order of Aaron or the Old Covenant Priesthood.  It also declares that if the Priesthood was changed it was necessary for the law to have been changed as well.  Now as we are called a Holy Priesthood, the Holy Priesthood is after the order of Christ.
This Priesthood ministers a better hope where we come into the presence of God and live.  Hebrews 7:19 “For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.”  In this Hope that is ministered by our High Priest we find perfection or wholeness.  The law could never bring us there, but this better hope in Christ does.  “You are complete in Him.”  Hebrews 10 declares one sacrifice perfected those who are sanctified.  We are sanctified through the offering of the Body of Christ.
We as a Holy Priesthood come to an understanding of His work and are clothed upon of His work to minister the completion of His work to His Body the church.  We offer up spiritual sacrifices through the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, through the understanding of His finished work and not through the Old Covenant.  In Christ the Priesthood has changed and we are ministering from an understanding that brings His people into perfection and wholeness.  The Law never could do this.  It could only point to the presence of God, where the perfection or completing is at, but could never allow entrance.
Through the law and the Levitical Priesthood was continual remembrance of sins.  This I am afraid is sounded in Christian gatherings every week, the continual remembrance of sins.  There is a persistent declaration of a people who have not yet come to completion.  However, this is not true.  The Priesthood of Christ brings many sons to glory, and is declaring perfection, the perfection He brought forth through His death, burial, and resurrection.  “You are a holy nation, a royal priesthood.”  A Priesthood of Him that is holy and sacred through the work He did!  Let us go out from the gate of the Old Covenant and Minister the work of Christ who was offered outside of the gate of the Law, who brought perfection and everlasting life to light!  Glory to God!

The Sower and the Seed - Brother Del Grimm

Mystery of the Kingdom
Brother Del Grimm is sharing in this teaching out of Mark 4 and the message of the Seed and the Kingdom.  There are major questions and answers given in Mark 4.  First, how does the Kingdom come?  How does this Kingdom increase?  Finally, how does the Kingdom fill the whole earth?  As we get into these questions and answers I want us to look closely at what Jesus says in verse 13.
Mar 4:13&14  “And he saith unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how shall ye know all the parables? 14 The sower soweth the word.” 
Jesus says if you do not understand the parable of the Sower and the Seed how would you know all parables?  Considering this, we may say without understanding the SEED we cannot understand any of His parables. We cannot understand the Kingdom of God, or its increase.  Everything revolves around the SEED.  This is the issue in the parable, THE SEED that is sown!
The sower comes to sow a SEED.  While the idea of natural planting is in view, Jesus is speaking of the Kingdom of Heaven.  The SEED being sown is the WORD of God Himself.  “Unless a corn (seed) of wheat falls in the ground and dies it abides alone,” Jesus says in John.  In the parable of the sower Jesus is speaking of Himself.  The mystery of the Seed is Christ Jesus Himself. 
The Kingdom of God comes through the Seed (Christ) being sown in the hearts of man.   The increase of the 30, 60 and 100-fold is the increase of the Seed that is sown.  The mustard seed increasing to fill and become greater than all seeds in the earth is also speaking of Christ Himself.  Paul writes of Jesus in the Letter to the Ephesians that He ascended above all heavens to fill all things.  The end of all things that we have to deal with and come to is the fullness of the SEED that is sown. 
To consider the fullness of the SEED is beyond human comprehension.  The Seed is revealed only by the Spirit of God.  The Seed is planted by the Spirit, watered by the Spirit, and increased through being revealed by the Spirit.  It is the Seed who is Christ increasing in us.  He increases as He is revealed to fill us, His Kingdom, up with Himself.  This is the mystery that we have come to!  Glory to God.  May Christ Jesus be revealed and seen in every heart in which He dwells!