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The Present
Truth Magazine (Email)
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FROM THE EDITOR’S HEART
As I was taking photos of my kids the other day, they started complaining about the high-pitched noise my camera was making. I couldn’t hear a thing. This verse came to mind: “…our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16). I thought about the differences between my physical body (outward man) and my spiritual body (inward man). As the years roll on, my physical hearing is apparently getting worse, but my spiritual hearing is getting better. My brown eyes need stronger corrective lenses, while my new creation eyes see clearer than they did when I was younger. My corporeal body gets tired, but my spirit is strong and energized every day as I yield to the Holy Spirit. I have come to believe that my usefulness and ministry can increase and grow as my biological clock ticks on. The Lord says, “My strength is made perfect in weakness”; when I am weak, He is strong in me (2 Cor. 12:9-10). I will continue to take care of my physical body because it houses my soul and spirit, but more importantly, I must feed and exercise my spiritual man to fulfill the Lord’s calling for my life. The life-sharing in this Present Truth is spiritual nourishment for our readers. May God strengthen your inward man with these words of truth.
Sincerely in Christ,
THE LAST DISCIPLE is a well-written novel that
is a good alternative to the left-behind series. It is written from
what we consider a partial-preterist viewpoint; i.e. that the
great-tribulation and most of the book of revelation was written about and
fulfilled in the first century. Reading it is an excellent way to both
enjoy a novel and gain a scriptural understanding of how Jesus' and His
apostles prophecies were fulfilled in the first century.
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We are glad to have you as a subscriber to our Present Truth Magazine. Below you will find articles from individual authors who have written for our magazine. Our prayer for all who receive read these articles is that the Lord "...may give to you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, and what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (Ephesians 1:17-18).
My
Father’s Business In the natural world that we live in, if I said that I was involved in my father’s business, one would immediately think of my occupation or profession pertaining to buying and selling of commodities or services. Furthermore, one would think that my father was currently involved in the business. The question I want to address in this article is, “What did Jesus of Nazareth mean when He said to His mother, ‘Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?’” (Luke 2:49). Jesus knew at twelve years of age that His life was set apart for His Father’s special purpose. Mary had to learn that purpose throughout her lifetime, as the Spirit of God would unveil it to her as well as to Jesus. That mystery (hidden truth) was known before time began. God’s prophet Moses wrote, The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever (Deut. 29:29). Father God reveals Himself to those who fear Him (Ps. 25:14). As an adult, Jesus would declare, “I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me” (John 5:30). Throughout Jesus’ growing up years, Jesus had to remain yielded to His Father’s will in doing His business on earth. After Jesus was anointed by the Father with His Holy Spirit, Jesus began to do the miraculous works of His Father (Acts 10:38). When Jesus healed a man who had been blind from birth, His disciples asked Him: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work” (John 9:2-4). The miraculous accomplishments and deeds of Jesus were works related to His Father’s business. The Father’s business that Jesus was involved in culminated through His obedience in the cross event. When He felt the intense pressure of that event He asked, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me” (Matt. 26:39). Jesus had seen the horrible deaths that men died when they were crucified because of crimes they had done. Both He and the Father knew that Jesus lived a perfect sinless life as He was involved in His Father’s business. Yet He would die as a guilty criminal being crucified. Why? The mystery (hidden truth) of God’s plan of creation and redemption had reached its climax. The sin problem that had plagued Adam’s race had to be dealt with. God’s holiness demanded it. God was offended with Adam’s sin that affected his whole race—the race that was created in the image and likeness of the Creator. …God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing (reckoning) their trespasses to them… (2 Cor. 5:19). The innocent—Christ—would suffer for the guilty. Jesus’ mind, will, and emotions were pressed to their limits. He had learned obedience throughout His earthly life through the things that He suffered in His Father’s business (Heb. 5:7-8). It pleased the Father to bruise Jesus by placing the penalty of fallen humanity’s sin upon Jesus as the sacrificial lamb of God (Is. 53:10-12). Jesus’ perfect obedience was tested again in the garden scene in His second conversation with the Father. “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done” (Matt. 26:42). Today, Father God is still working on planet earth through His sons and daughters who come into His kingdom. They will learn some valuable lessons in doing Father God’s will by following the life and ministry of Jesus, the pattern Son.
A. Wilson Phillips is the co-founding and senior pastor of Abundant Life Covenant Church.
WHEN
THE WEAK ARE STRONG The apostle Paul had a problem. He knew too much! By God’s marvelous and infinite mercy and grace, He had saved Paul out of his vicious self-righteousness and forged him into the image of Christ. The two primary ingredients to Paul’s maturity were the visions/revelations given him from God and the sufferings that he experienced in walking them out. In describing some of the spiritual, out-of-body experiences that he had, Paul said he had been caught up into “the third heaven,” into “Paradise,” to hear “inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter” (2 Cor. 12). And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure (2 Cor. 12:7). God had deemed it necessary that Paul have a balancing agent to keep him from soaring back into his own pride and self-sufficiency. He pleaded three times that the Lord remove his thorn in the flesh and God spoke these words: My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness. This man that God used to heal the sick, raise the dead, and demonstrate the power of the gospel of Christ’s kingdom was seeing things from God’s perspective. Paul determined that the only time he was strong was when he was weak. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God…But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us (2 Cor. 3:5, 4:7). One of the most prevalent problems in Christ’s church today is self-righteousness. Everyone comes from the womb with it, and only through the revelation that “I died with Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me” will I be free. Even so, we must daily appropriate our co-crucifixion with Christ, or we will unknowingly slide back where we came from. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise (Ps. 51:17).
Richard K. Clark is an associate pastor of Abundant Life Covenant Church.
The
Will to Do His Will In Scripture, we read story after story of men and women who had encounters with the living God. From Abraham’s call to leave his country to Paul’s Damascus road experience, their encounters became foundational experiences that transformed their lives. God still grants His people foundational experiences with His Holy Spirit today. One such experience that I had in my latter college days was when He revealed to me that I had “selfish ambition” in my life. As He spoke this to me through His Spirit, I remember looking up the following Scripture from James: Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice (James 3:13-16, NIV). At the time I had some difficulty with what the Lord was showing me because I was in college, following His leading for my life to train in the ministry. However, as I yielded to His voice and truth in this area, I began to see how I had developed selfish ambition with regard to my calling and future career in that ministry. After God revealed this area of darkness in my life, He began a series of events to take it out of me. The first came when He spoke to me about leaving my current denominational church (where I had my future hopes and plans for calling and career planned) to attend and join a nondenominational church (Abundant Life Covenant Church). For me, this was much more than a simple change of churches. It meant I was giving up my future career and security within my denomination. I made the switch believing I was also leaving my calling to ever be a full-time pastor. As I fully plugged in and began to serve in the church, the Lord began to challenge some of my thinking. Could I be content to serve and make another successful, or do I have the need to get out and make my own mark? The cross began to touch the selfish ambition I had developed about the ministry, and I experienced freedom from the bondage of it. Over the years, God, through His Holy Spirit and His Word, has had our church in continual reform doctrinally, especially in the area of eschatology (study of end time events). Some of these reforms were not easy to swallow at first. However, we had the promise of Jesus to guide us: If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority (John 7:17). God never does reform in a hidden corner. He is speaking to His church today to open up to a better understanding of Scripture about this area of eschatology, to see the past fulfillment of prophesied events. However, where selfish ambition remains, there is not the “will to do His will” that opens one up to “know concerning the doctrine.” Many leaders today, both spiritual and political, are bound with selfish ambition that drives their lives. It is God’s deep desire to free them so that they can “know concerning the doctrine” and experience God’s revelation. James goes on to say, “But
the wisdom that is from above is first pure…” (James 3:17) Jesus
demonstrated this wisdom in His total abandonment to do His
Benjamin Davis is an associate pastor of Abundant Life Covenant Church.
GRAVITY AND GLORY The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge (Ps. 19:1-2). Nature reveals God. His patterns are seen throughout the universe: For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made… (Rom. 1:20). Of late, I have been thinking about the force of gravity. Scientists teach that the earth’s gravity, which holds all things down on the earth and holds the moon in its orbit around the earth, is due to the earth’s mass. Scientists believe that all objects of mass possess a gravitational pull on objects around them. The denser and heavier the mass of an object, the stronger its gravitational pull. Therefore, the moon orbits around the earth (not vice versa), and the earth orbits around the sun (not vice versa), etc. Scientists also teach that mass and energy are somewhat interchangeable—essentially two sides of the same coin. Arise, shine; For your light has come And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you (Is. 60:1). Natural truths reflect spiritual truths. Just as natural substances have weight, spiritual individuals have spiritual weight, and spiritual weight is often described in Scripture as “glory.” According to Strong’s Concordance, glory can be defined as “weightiness; that which is substantial or heavy…substance…” God has glory (Ps. 63:2; Luke 2:14). Jesus has glory (John 2:11). Many Scriptures declare that new creation people in Christ have glory: For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory (2 Cor. 4:17). This eternal weight of glory increases as we yield to the Lord and obey Him in our circumstances. As an individual’s spiritual substance increases, energy increases. Others are often “drawn” to that person. This was the experience of Jesus—His followers found their lives orbiting around Him. He was able to give to them of His substance and energy. His words were a sort of “power plant” to them. New creation people in Christ
are called to continually increase in glory so that they can be a source
of substance and energy to those who are drawn to them: For I consider that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God… the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God (Rom. 8:18-21). Jonathan Clark is an elder of Abundant Life Covenant Church and a physician in Springfield, Missouri.
A HARVEST PRAYER
Back to the cross, Lord, take me in my mind
Forever in remembrance of the crimson flow
Let me be a worthy laborer and not lose sight
May I always love Your harvest as You have loved
me
In Your law of agreement, let me practice each
day Paul Gabbert owns and operates R & P Cleaning Service.
REACHING OUT
When I was in fifth grade, I went to
parties and fun things with my friends. At that age, I didn’t have anyone
really pushing me to start evangelizing my friends, and I wasn’t thinking
of doing that either. When I was in sixth and seventh grades, my mom and
dad started a Bible study in our home when my brother and I went to youth
group. My mom and dad were evangelizing/discipling other people—teaching
them how to know Christ in a deeper way. I thought “evangelizing” was only
a thing that adults did and not kids, so I didn’t worry about it. While we were at the mall, my friend showed her friend the power of prayer, and I got to know some other people better. I now know it is better to evangelize and be selfless than to “click” with a few and only benefit myself. It’s better to include people than exclude them. …do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry (2 Tim. 4:5). Patricia Frater is a sophomore at Glendale High School in Springfield, Missouri.
GOD’S LABORATORY Our senior pastor told us in premarital counseling, “Marriage is God’s laboratory for our development.” No truer words have ever been spoken. If we had only known… But love is so warm and fuzzy in the beginning. It is the most exhilarating feeling. If we had only known… It wasn’t long after we got married that we started having problems. We were sure God put us together. We were committed to Him and each other, so what was wrong with our marriage that this was happening to us? The Lord soon showed me that having problems in a marriage doesn’t determine whether it is good or bad; it is if and how we work through the problems that determines this. A good marriage operates according to God’s principles of trust, agreement, forgiveness, etc., which are outlined in Scripture, but there are no pat answers that can help us through difficult circumstances. We must work them out together. The dark places. Every couple has those areas that are difficult to talk about. Our main one was physical intimacy. I had good thoughts and feelings in this area and bad ones. The bad ones had been there longer and therefore influenced me more of the time. I wanted to desire my husband and enjoy this God-given gift, but most of the time I just didn’t. I felt like everything was my fault but also knew that if I felt guilty all of the time, I’d never get anywhere. It was much easier to ignore the problem and try to make the best of what we had, which really was a lot. It was so perplexing. The subject was much too painful to bring up every day or every week…or ever. Thankfully, my husband was courageous enough to continue to press me along the way. It was hurtful and painful for both of us, and we’d both end up in tears. However, we needed the communication so we knew where the other one’s heart was. We would always come right back to the same place—we love each other, we want this to work, and we trust the Lord to bring us the answers and fulfillment. We met with our pastors over the years, and they always encouraged us, showed us God’s thinking, and gave us practical advice. We were making progress, but it seemed so slow. God not only was changing me through all of this, but He brought some correction to my husband in this area that produced some noticeable difference in the spiritual atmosphere. After ten years of marriage, we finally experienced some major breakthroughs, and change began to come much more quickly. Our life together was more whole. We began to see so much more fruit in every area of our lives. This year we celebrated fifteen years of good marriage. We are not the same people we were when we married. God used this area of our lives to mature us, and we are so much better for it. We have found that love gets sweeter as we face and overcome our challenges—no matter how long it takes, no matter how painful it is. This time of growth brought us a true appreciation and trust in each other and the Lord. My husband said it best in a poem he wrote me three years ago: What better life could we have so far? To have trials and triumphs together. To now possess the confidence That tomorrow will be even better! If life had been easy so far, We would not hold it so dear, But standing on this side and looking back Shows we have nothing to fear. Angie Gibson and her husband Ed are leaders in the Heirborn children’s ministry of Abundant Life Covenant Church.
THE NEW COVENANT
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There
are great dividends paid by Father God to those who enter into His
business as partners today. It is a walk by faith and not by sight.
Faith is simply hearing our Father’s voice and doing His will in His
divine enterprise. Those who are involved as His business partners
co-reign over the affairs of this life. Our Father’s business should be
the highest priority for all who are called into fellowship with Him
through Jesus Christ.
The
brokenness (humility) that ensures our daily victories in the kingdom of
God is not merely a product of our failures. It is the product of reality.
We know by spiritual revelation that we will never be capable in ourselves
to please our God and do mighty faith exploits. We are the saved, He is
the Savior. We are the branches, He is the Vine. We are the children, He
is the Father. We are the body, He is the Head. We are kings, He is the
King!
heavenly
Father’s will. He paid the price necessary to do that will, and suffered
the rejection of peers and established leaders of the day. Wisdom from
above is first pure because it is not mixed with selfish ambition or
self-advancement. As the cross continues to touch the hearts and souls of
God’s people to deliver them from selfish ambition, His reform will
continue to be advanced within His church, and our culture will be
transformed to reflect His image. 