For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.

1 Corinthians 2:11

As Peter wrote, we have become partakers of God’s divine nature through His precious and magnificent promises (2 Peter 1:4).  Now, we are His children, and as His children, we have the right to become ‘like God’, in the degree that He makes available.

Paul makes it clear that we are growing.  We do not begin in perfect faith, but we grow in faith, and mature, both individually and corporately, until we reach maturity.  This implies change, and this implies growth.  It is enough to be like Him.

[U]ntil we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

Ephesians 4:13

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For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:20

The flesh profits nothing, it is the Spirit that gives life.  For there is no work, no deed, nor anything else that God would regard as righteous, but only such as those that come from Himself.  For, there is none that is righteous, that is, in their flesh in themselves, that could ever perform any good thing, for all have turned aside and gone after their own way.

What righteousness could we do?  We can hear, we can obey, and we can follow.  Those good works that God has prepared in advance for us to do, we do, and because it is by faith, God counts it as righteousness.

They are pure works, so long as they are in, by, and only of Him.  Though they are performed by our hands, they are His deeds, and therefore, so long as they are fully surrendered to Him, those parts of the deeds are flawless.
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Through the blood, we enter in through the torn body of Christ into perfection.  Not merely living in the faith of the outward works, nor even abiding in the flow of the Spirit, but pressing on to complete consummation and indwelling of Him.

Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.

Hosea 6:3

It is here that no one need to teach us, saying, Know the Lord.  It may come at other places, but here, there is a knowing in the cloud, and a revelation in the glory.

Above the ark, between the cherubim, the only light of the Holiest of all was God Himself.  No source and no supply, no beginning nor end.

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Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.

1 Corinthians 6:13 (portion)

Our bodies were made for the Lord.  Consider the parable of the yeast in Matthew 13:33.  The kingdom is likened to measure of yeast which a woman hid in a large quantity dough until the whole lump was leavened.  That little bit of something worked its way through the entire lump, changed it, and transformed it into something better.  What happens when the Holy Spirit comes into us?  Let us look a moment at some examples.

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Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Matthew 5:8

All of my desire is in this one thing, to see His Face (Psalm 27:4).  If we truly have this hope in ourselves, we will purify ourselves (1 John 3:3).

The New Testament is replete with examples that underscore the fact that the God of the Old Testament hasn’t changed His desire for purity and holiness as a lifestyle for those who are of His house.

Hebrews 12:14 says without holiness no one will see Him.  2 Corinthians 7:1 indicates that we should do it out of reverence.  It was because of His reverence that Jesus was heard of His Father when He prayed (Hebrews 5:7).  Ephesians 5:6 indicates strongly, lest we give way to being deceived with empty words, that God’s wrath is coming upon the disobedient.  Even Jesus Himself, in Matthew 5:48, commanded us to be perfect, even as the Father is perfect.

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Superlative: [O]f the highest kind, quality, or order; surpassing all else or others; supreme; extreme: superlative wisdom.

via Dictionary.com

It is almost a wrong label to call the Kingdom superlative.  It is Beyond that.  John the Baptist was the superlative of human attainment.  A life of solitude, of extreme separateness and consecration to the Lord was his.  Jesus gave the man this testimony, and the comparison to the Kingdom.

Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

Matthew 11:11

John was a man, a prophet, of the Old Covenant, under the law and order of Moses.  He signified the demarcation point between Old an New Covenants.  As the Law came through Moses, and Grace and Truth came through Jesus Christ, the exchange between the two marked the transition from the age of the Old Testament and the coming of the Messianic Age.

The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.

Luke 16:16

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Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Genesis 15:6

Abraham believed, and God called it righteousness in him.  This is the basis of our justification in the cross of Christ, for it is by faith that we have access to this Grace called Calvary (Romans 5:2).  Without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6), for one must first believe that God is, and that He rewards those that diligently pursue Him.

This is the picture of faith.  When Abraham, then Abram, heard God speak, and God showed Him the stars in the sky and that his descendants would be like unto them in number (Genesis 15:6), he took God at His word.  Later, when Abraham was told to sacrifice his one and only true heir, Abraham believed that God could raise him back from the dead (Hebrews 11:19).  Faith saw the promise of God’s word, and grabbed a hold.

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Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.  “He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.

John 14:23-24

What are the teachings of Jesus?  What are the lessons that He gave us?

Have you ever stopped to consider the parables?  Do you know what they mean?

Christianity today has done a good job with the main parts.  Jesus is the Way, there is no other.  No one comes to the Father, but by Him…   But, what of the rest?

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 (Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he used to say, “Come, and let us go to the seer”; for he who is called a prophet now was formerly called a seer.)

1 Samuel 9:9

A seer is a prophet.  A seer is one who sees; a “see”-er.  Particularly, they see into the realm of the Spirit.  While some people in the Kingdom of Heaven may never see angels, demons, and the other things of the Kingdom, a seer sees these things, depending on their level of ability, as subject to the will of God.

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Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart.

1 Peter 1:22

But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith (1 Timothy 1:5).  This is what we are aiming for.

We are called to love.  The verse at the beginning indicates our problem.  We cannot love without God (1 John 4:7).  Why?  Because our souls are corrupt without Christ.

We are called to love from a pure heart, because it is only out of pure, sincere motives, that we can truly open up and be open to others, without being hurt.  It is in the place of His perfect love, with no fear, that we are able to truly be brothers.  This is the mark of the authentic gospel.

And, this cannot happen without sincere, gospel faith.  It simply can’t.  When you walk by the Spirit you do not gratify the desires of the sinful nature (Galatians 5:16).  It is by faith that we come to know and believe in God’s great love for us (1 John 4:16).  It is in the secret place of Him that we are able to live.

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