"DEVALUING CHRISTIANITY"

MICHAEL F BLUME
SEPTEMBER 12, 1999 am

Song 4:1-3  Behold, thou [art] fair, my love; behold, thou [art] fair; thou [hast] doves' eyes within thy locks: thy hair [is] as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead. Thy teeth [are] like a flock [of sheep that are even] shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins, and none [is] barren among them. Thy lips [are] like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech [is] comely: thy temples [are] like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks.

Song 4:7  Thou [art] all fair, my love; [there is] no spot in thee.

Song 4:11-16  Thy lips, O [my] spouse, drop [as] the honeycomb: honey and milk [are] under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments [is] like the smell of Lebanon. A garden inclosed [is] my sister, [my] spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Thy plants [are] an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard, Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices: A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon. Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, [that] the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.



In our Thursday night Bible study we touched on this topic and something in that study caught my heart so powerfully, and the Lord impressed upon me the need for people to realize what God does to our lives.

God gives the kind of salvation to people that is so extensive and profound that many, many people simply do not grasp its full glory.

And so sinners look at the boring voices of professing believers across the land and find nothing desirous about what they offer. Watered down Christianity offers that dreaded dullness. But as a result of the watered down Gospel, believers are left in a state in which they must be ministered to about their true privileges.
Reve 1:5-6  And from Jesus Christ, [who is] the faithful witness, [and] the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him [be] glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
True salvation makes you a powerful person in this world. And Christians feel intimidated by the thought of sitting with Christ on His throne.

Therefore Jesus sets out to make them feel comfortable with sitting with Him on His throne.

God can't wait until you get past the dreariness of hesitating because of what people think of you. Or else it is simply shooting too low. I noted to some here that they should let go and give forth a prophecy since they are hearing from God right in service, but they hesitate and wonder what the others will think of them.

And God looks at us and wishes we knew how much He loves us!!!!

We come into His presence and we hesitate and waver and are not free with Him.

How high are your own expectations of your Christianity? Ephesians says God raised us up to sit together with Him in heavenly places. Jesus shed His blood upon the cross. But After Jesus died and shed His blood on the cross, he took that blood somewhere else.
Hebr 9:12  Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption [for us].
Jesus took His own blood into the holy place. It refers to Heaven. He took His blood INTO HEAVEN.

And as the High Priest sprinkled blood on the MERCY SEAT OF THE ARK OF THE COVENANT, Jesus fulfilled that prophetic illustration by putting HIS BLOOD ON THE THRONE OF HEAVEN.

God set Him In Heaven.

Ephe 1:20  Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set [him] at his own right hand in the heavenly [places],
And we are seated together with Him! Later in Eph 2 we read:
Ephe 2:12-13  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
We've come a long way, baby!!!

We're so close to Jesus that we are seated with Him on His throne.

Our address is in Heaven, but we don't feel at home there.

In our opening text, we read where the Shulamite woman, the King's beloved, has to be told by the king that she really is beautiful.

Song 4:7  Thou [art] all fair, my love; [there is] no spot in thee.
This is noteworthy. We have taken verses out of the Bible and said they describe the place where we are trying to reach, but are not there yet.
Ephe 5:25-27  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
We read that and think we are filthy believers and must get to the place where we are without spot. WRONG!!!

WE ARE ALREADY THERE.

It said Jesus gave Himself for the church.

And we are WITHOUT SPOT. We go by feelings and by what others say. Notice this: We are saying we need this to happen or we need that minister. She is a fountain sealed!

A Spring shut up.

If she would open up then the Lord could flow forth through us and touch this dry, thirsty world.

Even those who do not know God yet are still in His image.

Humanity has downgraded itself into atheism. Your hesitation only holds God back. I recall going to bible school. That was it! God taught me a great lesson! After she hears him tell her these truths, SHE BELIEVES THEM AND PRAYS TO OPEN UP. We are seated in heavenly places, but we must appreciate it and accept that, so we can feel comfortable AT THE THRONE WITH HIM.