2Co 4:6 KJV For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Mat 17:1-3 KJV And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, (2) And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. (3) And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. Luk 9:29-31 KJV And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering. (30) And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias: (31) Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.
I want to speak about being IN CHRIST.
John 15:1-5 KJV I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. (2) Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. (3) Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. (4) Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. (5) I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. But the bible is replete with references to us being IN CHRIST. I preached "IF LOOKS COULD KILL" several years ago, and have better understanding of that now, and wish to bring this truth out more fully to you tonight. Moses begged God to show him His glory.
All God's goodness and glory would be there.
(20) And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. (23) And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen. He particularly said HIS FACE cannot be seen.
The term "Seeing" in the bible often is used to also speak about UNDERSTANDING truth.
And when God told Moses he would let Moses SEE his back parts, he also told Moses he would PROCLAIM the name of the Lord.
In fact, when the glory actually does pass by Moses, God not only SHINES in this tremendous light, but He SPEAKS of Himself. Exo 34:5-7 KJV And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. (6) And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, (7) Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. I can see some form of God actually standing there before Moses, with HIS HAND before Moses, while God STANDS AND THEN PASSES BY HIM. BUT ONE DAY MOSES ACTUALLY SEES THE FACE OF JESUS CHRIST! We are distinctly told in Matthew 17:2 that Jesus' FACE shone like the sun!
And what really blesses me is the followikng: 2Co 4:3-4 KJV But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: (4) In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. When something is HIDDEN you cannot SEE it.
And then we read: 2Co 4:6 KJV For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. THERE IS LIGHT OF KNOWLEDGE.
And this knowledge is in the FACE OF JESUS CHRIST.
It shines in our HEARTS.
And both of these ideas are mentioned in Luke 9 where we read MOSES SAW THE FACE OF JESUS THAT WAS SHINING LIKE THE SUN, AND SPOKE WITH JESUS ABOUT HIS DEATH.
Moses could not UNDERSTAND ALL OF GOD when He could not see the full glory of God's face.
God said if Moses DID see all the glory -- if He did see God's face -- MOSES WOULD DIE. LOOKS WOULD KILL. And if "looks", or SEEING, represents UNDERSTANDING TRUTH, then FULLY UNDERSTANDING THE TRUTH OF GOD causes us to DIE! In other words, if MOSES truly UNDERSTOOD what He heard, IT WOULD CAUSE HIM TO DIE. Ex 34: (6) And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, (7) Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. THESE TRUTHS actually cause you to DIE when you TRULY SEE THEM!
What was the truth?
Luke 9: (31) Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. What Moses and Jesus and Elijah SPOKE ABOUT -- THE TRUTH INVOLVED -- WAS THE DECEASE OF JESUS THAT SHOULD OCCUR AT JERUSALEM! His death was the whole KEY to understanding the LIGHT, or seeing the full TRUTH of the following: Ex 34: (6) And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, (7) Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. The reason Moses could not SEE all that truth was because MOSES MISSED THE FULL GLORY OF IT ALL.
And the fact is that LOOKS DO KILL!
His full and glorious version of longsuffering and mercy to forgive sin and transgression is accomplished ONLY THROUGH THE DECEASE OF JESUS CHRIST.
When you see the FULL mercy of God and His forgiveness, LOOKS WILL KILL!
John 12:20-21 KJV And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast: (21) The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. John 12:24-25 KJV Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. (25) He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. John 12:31-33 KJV Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. (32) And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. (33) This he said, signifying what death he should die. He SPOKE about dying and drawing all men to himself so they could say they DIED WITH HIM that day.
If He died on the cross, and he drew you to Himself as He died, that means YOU DIED WITH HIM.
When you SEE this, LOOKS WILL KILL!
Even the place where Moses was told to stand tells us a message of being DEAD IN HIM. Exo 33:21-22 KJV And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: (22) And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: A CLEFT is a place of a rock where the rock has been STRUCK, and left a GASH in the Rock.
Put yourself in the position of Jesus WHEN HE DIED, to realize YOU DIED!
Now, we taught much about this here, but let me go further with it.
Rom 6:7 KJV For he that is dead is freed from sin. SINCE YOU NEEDED TO DIE TO BE FREED FROM SIN, YOU UNDERSTAND YOU WERE "IN CHRIST" by faith when He died, so you could say YOU DIED.
Jer 23:6 KJV In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Jer 33:16 KJV In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness. Notice we read words here that actually foreshadow our very salvation!
You're not righteous because you have made yourself do a whole lot of righteous things!
Jesus told us to abide in Him and He would abide in us!
Mat 6:33 KJV But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Stand behind a blue coloured glass window, and when people look through the blue glass YOU APPEAR BLUE! Gal 4:7 KJV Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. Rom 7:4 KJV Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. Col 3:3 KJV For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. Phi 4:13 KJV I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. All I need to go in heaven is IN CHRIST!
You're not supposed to make yourself do good things.
Not many people understand this properly!
Isa 64:6 KJV But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. Your best is a filthy rag compared to his SHINING WHITE ROBE! Rev 3:18 KJV 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. Rev 19:7-8 KJV Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. (8) And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. This white linen is the righteousness of the saints.
This is what it means to be IN CHRIST! Too many people do this: Gal 3:3 KJV Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? IN THE SPIRIT is where they begin.
IN CHRIST is the same thing! When you really SEE JESUS, and understand HE DREW YOU TO HIMSELF when He died, understand also that then is when you are first made to ABIDE IN CHRIST.
AND LIVE IN HIM. |