green apple with the red one standing out from the crowd – over a white background with reflection

Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, But happy is he who keeps the law.

Proverbs 29:18

Probably no topic is more fraught with ‘divisiveness’ than the subject of ‘separation’.  The idea of being separate from another has with it the connotation of doing something better, or, by many people’s estimation, ‘being better’, than someone else.  But, that simply is what it is.

Paul pointed this out himself, even while explaining that we should be unified.  He said,

For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you.

1 Corinthians 11:19

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The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.

John 17:22-23

True unity consists in obeying the first and second greatest commandments, in proper order.

One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”

And He said to him, “‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’  On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

Matthew 22:35-40

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The Church of the Beyond, vol. 6

Life

By Benjamin F. Hoogterp

Paperback: 334 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace ((December 24, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1470010429
ISBN-13: 978-1470010423
Product Dimensions: 6 x 9 x 0.8 inches
Release Date: 12.24.12

Available on Amazon.com.

Description:

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. John 17:3 Ever wonder what makes the difference between having church and having church? I mean, those glory times, where everything seems fresh, clean, and like God’s presence is there as something special, unique, and real? What is it about the special and unique touch of the Spirit that makes every time life-changing? This is life, to know Him and to make Him known. There is no other purpose, there is no other destiny, and there is no other calling. Giftings may come or go, but only through Jesus do we come to know the Father (John 14:6).

A man asked Jesus what it took to be perfect. Jesus responded, do the commandments. The man replied that he had, and Jesus said he lacked one thing, that he was to sell all, give to the poor, and follow Him. You see, you can’t get anywhere without His heart, you have no life in you if you do not have His, His name, His Character, His Will, His desire. It is in giving everything, absolutely everything, that we receive Him, for we must live as He lived, and walk as He walked. In doing this, we show that we are His disciples, and we will abide in His love.

It wasn’t for a show, and it wasn’t for an institution that Jesus died, but He came and lived as a man for men, that we, men and women, might know His true love, be set free from the deceptions of this age, and come to know true life, Eternal life, Himself. For, there is life in no other, nor is there salvation in any other name than Jesus Christ. Whoever believes on Him shall be saved, and all others shall be damned, even as the scriptures say, in Mark 16:16. For to one, He says come, and he comes, and to another do this, and he does it. The greatest key to life could be summed up in one of Jesus’ statements, saying that all of the Father’s commands lead to life. Even the command to the cross, though it went through death, lead to life, and we live today because of it. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

Matthew 24:14

The Gospel of the Kingdom is not complicated, nor have been any of His commands.  They are simple and plain to all who have understanding.  Too simple, perhaps for some, and yet, in all of our modern culture, they are perhaps the most overlooked texts in our church society.

Consider.  Everything is taught on, and yet we still seem to lack the gripping power when we speak as Jesus did, and the people were amazed at his teaching, teaching as one with authority.  We lack the heart and character that he had, often settling for a production and an entourage, rather than a heavenly following.  And, we lack the demonstration of the miraculous

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Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.

John 17:11

The greatest journey of this life is the journey home to the Father.  It isn’t a long way from the hand to the foot, and it’s even less from the head to the heart, but the distance of a breath has separated much of mankind for an Eternity.

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Sitting outside a local church, my heart is given to wonder, to probing…

The same people go in, depending on the denomination, with the same bondage a, the same types of meetings, and the same level of emptiness, depending on the “brand”. And, I think to myself, where is the hunger? Where is the need to touch the Lord? To sense His presence and be consumed in His goodness?

I wonder, some, have we thought God right out of the church? Have we settled for less than what He has offered, and I so, why?

I refuse to think that he Gospel age had something we do not. I refuse to believe that some special grace is waiting yet to be released, so that we can be with Him. For 2,000 years, it is finished, and God has given all He needs to and It has been ours since then, to whomever would believe

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But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

Ephesians 4:15

For, God has made Christ the head of all things for the church.  He is above everything of this natural order, higher than every name, title and authority that can be given.

The foundation of God’s throne is righteousness and justice, and as God has ordained that this world be governed by kingdoms, the basis of all real things is done through the nature of authority and responsibility.

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If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

Luke 14:26

There are many ways to approach discipleship in Christ, but one thing is assured.  Unless your obedience is carried to the extreme, it is not Biblical Christianity.

Discipleship begins at the cross.  It begins at the laying down of everything of this life, and that of following the Master.  From start to finish, it must be about absolute trusting and dependence upon the Shepherd for everything. Read more…

I just love teaching. Oh, my. I–I–I think it’s wonderful. It gives the basis and settles the church.
And in preaching, now, there’s some people that are preachers. They can pick up the Word with inspiration, and sway It out there in places. That’s watering the Seeds that the teacher has taught. See? Now, you got to put some Seed in first, and then water It. And the watering comes from the preaching of the Word.
There’s a great vast difference between a teacher and a preacher. See? It’s two different gifts of the Spirit altogether, two different gifts. And I humbly say this, but I haven’t a gift of either.

But mine, as of usual, is praying for the sick. That’s what the Lord called me to do. And then, in this time it gives a relaxation of my mind to study on something different, not having Divine healing services, just–just teaching the Word. And oh, we get along pretty good here. We… I remember, you put up with me for a long time, about twelve years around here, on it.

–William Branham, The Seven Church Ages (54-0512 p16-19)

The Bible is clear when it comes to judging the motives of one’s heart out of our own fleshly, soulish pride.

 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:

Luke 6:37

Unless by the Spirit the Lord reveals the heart of another, the fate of another, or the motives, we must not give way to soulish judgment, wisdom of the flesh, or the like.

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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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