In today’s study, we are focusing on the truth that we are being transformed with a renewed mindset (Rom 12:2) meaning God being all and all which is the end purpose of Christ. This will come to pass exactly on schedule in the appointed times for all men as death (the carnal mind) is destroyed in every man.
1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
Dying to this death is the function of the lake of fire and how we overcome all that is at enmity with God. This is the only way we become like Christ and are being given His mind.
Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death [second death – Heb 2:14-15], we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Life cannot be “all in all” with God when enmity between Him and man still exists. Hence death has to be destroyed.
Rom 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Rom 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Rom 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
Man profess the Name of the Lord and proclaim to know Him, yet we only know Him in the flesh at first. It takes the coming of Christ in the Spirit, in faith, giving us eyes to see and ears to hear to usher in the age of the day of the Lord by which we grow into our true knowledge of the Lord and be given His mind through a fiery process.
Jas 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
It is those being judged now in all areas of their lives that are being purified through the lake of fire that is simultaneously giving them the mind of Christ the more we endure in the fiery furnace in our day of the Lord.
1Co 2:15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
1Co 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? [only those judging all things now] But we have the mind of Christ.
We have this crown in down payment form now as our foreheads have been sealed with the Spirit of Truth. Yet we have to endure to the end to receive the full prize of the upward calling of God, which is to have His mind, a crown of glory.
1Pe 5:4 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
Obedience Manifested by the Fear of the Lord
Knowledge of the Lord comes from understanding which originates from us fearing the Lord.
Pro 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.
Knowledge of the holy is speaking of our obedience which conforms us into the image of the Lord. The gold we are buying in the fiery trials of our judgment (Rev 3:18, 1Pe 4:12) is the fear of the Lord. This is the beginning of us having wisdom into God’s ways.
Isa 33:5 The LORD is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness.
Isa 33:6 And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure.
It is our fiery lake of fire experience we have to endure to receive a new heart of the Lord. This is the true spiritual circumcision, made without man’s hands (Col 2:11) that brings with it a growing and healthy fear of the Lord.
Jer 32:39 And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:
Jer 32:40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.
God’s judgments teach us the righteousness of Christ. It teaches us the fear of the Lord and leads to our receiving the great reward, the mind of Christ as a result.
Psa 19:11 Moreover by them [the judgments] is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.
The fear of the Lord is how our obedience is being made manifest in our lives. It is through this fiery process, in our heavens and earth that the Lord is giving us age-abiding life. That is the Lord’s will for all men beginning with the house of God upon which judgment is first fallen (1Pe 4:17).
Php 2:12 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.
Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
This fear is being taught in a similar way our earthly or physical father taught us and demonstrated they are in charge and we are to be obedient to their commandments. The Lord’s favor upon us is His grace which is chastening and scourging us into following His ways and commandments as His sons.
Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence [feared them]: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
Heb 12:10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit [our good], that we might be partakers of his holiness.
So right there is the purpose for all judgment and all chastening that is scourging and bringing to naught the man of sin within us. To be made partakers of His holiness, we go through our chastening judgment and not cut those words out of our life. If we want to be like our Lord, we obey His Word as He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek that Word. If we hearken to Him, we are taught the fear of the Lord which hastens His coming within us.
Psa 34:11 Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
Our Lord sets for us the supreme example of obedience and fearing God and how the prayers of one being made righteous are answered mightily.
Heb 5:7 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;
Learning anything takes experience in doing it right but also doing it wrong. Our judgment is the correction of our Father bringing upon those whom He loves. We learn that it’s not just about doctrine, it is about doing righteousness, being obedient. The Lord rules not only in heaven with His truth but also in our earth as all things are being brought into subjection.
Act 7:49 Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?
Act 7:50 Hath not my hand made all these things?
The Lord is Lord of the outward heavens and earth but also the inward heaven (our mind) and the earth (our walk/bodies). The work of God in His Kingdom in ushering in righteousness is happening within our hearts and minds.
Luk 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
Eternal Life is to Know the Lord
When we are dead to death, we are alive to Christ and the Father. This is the definition of “eternal” or “age abiding” life that the faithful receive first as they are the first to go through judgment and die to death.
Joh 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Christ has already come in the hearts and minds of His sons. We henceforth are coming to know Him as we follow Him to the old man’s death (death to death) in the lake of fire.
1Jn 5:20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding [His mind], that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
This gift of God that comes via grace is what makes us One with the Lord and our Father. This begins with the household of God separated from this world who are the first to partake of the Lord’s mind.
Joh 17:21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
Joh 17:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
Joh 17:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
Our suffering through our judgment, carrying our cross to death is what we do in order to receive the gift of God which is eternal life.
Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into [the second] death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
It is a desire to love (obey) God and to know Him that is the reward and the prize we as the possessor’s of God’s oracles are pursuing. If the love of God is in our hearts, we are pressing onward and upward for this high calling to know the Lord.
Php 3:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
This will take us going to our death and experiencing all the vengeance of the Lord for His Holy temple that we have defiled (1Co 3:17).
Heb 10:30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.
Heb 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
The best litmus test of do we truly “know the Lord” is to examine ourselves on which will help us stay on the narrow way.
1Jn 2:3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
1Jn 2:4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
All of us are the many that at first say we know Him, but we have yet to go through the fire and die that is necessary to know Him in Spirit and Truth.
Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
It’s the same lesson for the foolish virgins who we are before we become wise and gain understanding and know Him by going through the fire. That is the only place oil can be purchased that will give us what is needed to keep our internal lamps burning.
Mat 25:12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
No man can enter in any other way except by living out all the wrath of God. That wrath is the same as the seven plagues brought to us by the seven angels of the Lord.
Rev 15:8 The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power, and no one was able to enter the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.
When carnal mindedness, which is death, is destroyed; then all men will have a new mind. This comes by losing the old mindset, which spiritually speaking is a beheading of our old man in our day of judgment. The new man (the overcomer in us) is raised to life as the dead in us (the old man and his mind) is destroyed.
Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
New life comes forth from death in the Lord’s fire. If we die with Him, we live with Him and that is how we come to know Him and His power. The plan of our redemption and overcoming the world has never been changed. It was always there from Genesis to Revelation. The process is how we gain knowledge and receive His mind, knowing the Lord.
Exo 6:6 Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments:
Exodus 6:7 And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
To know He is the Lord of our heavens and our earth, we are given not only a new mind (heaven) but also a new heart.
Jeremiah 24:7 And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.
Eze 36:26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
How does the Lord do this and by what process? We need not guess or speculate but go to the source of Truth (Psa 119:160).
Eze 36:27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
Rom 5:5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God (zeal to obey the Lord) has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Agape or true love really means.
1Jn 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments.
1Jn 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.
Our carnal minds are being slain right before our eyes.
Ezekiel 6:7 And the slain shall fall in the midst of you, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
The carnal mind being slain by the sword of the Lord is what brings us to life. Only the faithful are given to experience salvation in this age when the armies of Christ bring the fiery words of life to our hearing.
Rev 19:21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him [died to second death by the Body’s sword] that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
Ezekiel 11:10 Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
Looking behind ourselves, it is the entire experience that will be attributed to the Lord and His works in us. Every step we take including our eating of the tree of good and evil is all the Lord’s work.
Ezekiel 12:15 And they shall know that I am the LORD, WHEN I shall scatter them among the nations, and disperse them in the countries.
Our time of judgment, the time when the wrath of God is at hand (Rev 1:3) is when we are blessed and begin to come into the true knowledge of the Lord.
Ezekiel 25:17 And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.
Judgments are what brings about death to the old man which is life for the new man. The other side of the same two-edged sword (Heb 4:12)! We know He is the Lord when He is destroying the old mindset replacing it with the new.
Ezekiel 37:6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
There is no boasting for resurrecting ourselves from the spiritually dead. We know we are unworthy and unprofitable servants (Luk 17:10) who have simply been blessed by the Lord and are doing our reasonable service (Rom 12:1).
Ezekiel 37:13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves
Knowing all of this and the Lord’s plan for His people what shall we be doing? Our lives do not continue in the same way and manner as before.
Heb 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love [obedience unto holiness] and to good works:
Heb 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
