LUST, THE BELIEVER'S HARDEST HURDLE

The three steps of the walk of faith are enmeshed yet diverse; they are related, yet independent; they are simplistic, yet deep as a chasm. To say the answer in full is as simple as "yielding the self" is so true, yet the problems and complications from the standpoint of day to day life can be complex and challenging on an ongoing, moment to moment basis.

In the first step, we yield the spirit to God's way upon our initial Belief. At this point, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within the Believer to guide him/her to all Truth.

Secondly, the soul falls into a rather hesitantly compliant mode when we commit our will to that of our heavenly Father. (Sadly, some Believers never even reach this plateau.) The Holy Spirit now has much more operative power within the Believer, and if unhindered, can bring about abundant joy and an obedient abiding walk for the one so yielded. It is a good idea at this point to pray for guidance in renouncing any evil spirits which may be affixed due to previous open doors. This should be done as soon as the commitment to yield totally to Christ is made. As we do so, we are promised in James 4:7 that they will flee. We read there:

The third and most difficult portion of our walk, however, pertains to the flesh, the last stronghold to fall into subjection to the alignment of the Word. Lust of the flesh can be an incredibly persistent thorn in the life of even the most dedicated Believer. Perhaps that is why lust is mentioned so frequently in God's Word. Unfortunately, however, the flesh is not a removable quality in our human existence. It is firmly attached, and here to stay until this body is planted in the grave, so let's bite the bullet and learn to deal with it effectively. Let's look at some Biblical :references regarding this menace to our walk of faith as we tackle the lust of the flesh.

This last verse seems confusing at first glance. What is the difference between living in the Spirit and walking in the Spirit? We LIVE in the Spirit from the time we first believe upon Christ and receive the gift of Grace and the Holy Spirit becomes a part of us, interacting with our lives in a new and beautiful way. However, even as we live in the Spirit, we can quench Him. We don't WALK in the Spirit until we stop resisting Him, and ultimately allow even our fleshly lusts to come into subjection to His way.

In order to understand how lust can get such a firm grip on one who lives in the Spirit, and has even dedicated the will (soul) to God's will, we need to see the two main interconnecting variables between the soul and the body. This would be the mind and the emotions.

(Looking first at the mind, as a communicator between the flesh and the soul, we find that it is spoken of in Mark 12:30 which says to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart (spirit), and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength (body). We might note that in the parallel passage of Matthew 22:37, it just lists the heart, soul, and mind. This passage actually omits strength (body) which indicates that the mind and body are very closely akin!!! Ephesians 2:1-23 quoted above speaks of lustful desires of the flesh (body) and of the mind, showing their integration. It says we are to be renewed in the spirit of our mind. Likewise, God's Word says to be "transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Romans 12:2), to have "the mind of Christ" (I Corinthians 2:16), and to bring "into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (II Corinthians 10:5). You see, He is insistent about this matter! Our writing titled What is Mastery of the Mind? might be helpful regarding submission of the mind to God.

The second portion of the communicator circuitry is the emotions. Have you ever noted the LACK of references in the Word saying to trust your emotions when making decisions and to base Biblical interpretation, doctrine, etc. on the way you FEEL about something? I've yet to find the first one! Maybe the reason the Bible never encourages this is because the emotions are so blind and easily deceived. That is why we are to check all things by the authority of the Scriptures. Our nervous system seems to generate powerful emotional responses to various aspects of the supernatural, creating overwhelmingly enchanting "FEELINGS" which convince the soul that "all is well" whether or not this is true! After all, how can it be wrong, when it FEELS so right? Famous last words!! Never trust your FEELINGS. They enrapture the mind, and blind you to God's Truth!

With this background, let's see how it all fits together. When the spirit receives the gift of grace, the Holy Spirit comes to live within the Believer, cleansing and circumcising the heart (spirit), thereby sealing it unto the day of redemption unto the Father's Kingdom. He interacts at that point directly with the soul in order to bend the will of the Believer to God's way of thinking. During the maturation of the Believer, the soul comes under heavy conviction to yield totally to the Holy Spirit within. When this takes place, the carnal nature of the old self-will is (in effect) crucified With Christ, and rendered powerless. The Believer then loses the desire to WILLFULLY sin. The Believer's soul is born again to Christ, even as the spirit had been born again in regeneration upon initial belief. Instead of dealing with the soul to yield, the Holy Spirit can now work more directly with the flesh THROUGH the yielded soul. The result is a greatly intensified power to fight sin in the life of the Believer. It can now be focused directly on the lust of the flesh as His will is communicated BY the YIELDED soul directly to the flesh.

When the flesh wants to be indulged, we sense a "check of the Spirit" (so to speak) in the soul, and the yielded soul stands against the flesh to forbid such gratification. Now we would think at this point that there should be no further problems in the life of this dedicated Believer. However, we cannot forget the fly in the ointment, the previously noted interaction of the mind and emotions! These are Satan's playgrounds, and the areas where deceit achieve their initial victories. They intercede with great stealth in order to subtly influence the yielded soul that what it SENSED was a "check of the Spirit" was really no such thing at all, but merely an over-zealous desire to win favor with God.

Thus, the struggle over the flesh begins. As the yielded soul allows such rationalization to succeed, it is lulled to sleep and starved. A kind of "short-circuit" develops, which causes tremendous damage to the soul. It becomes numb to the Truth of God. If ever there was justification for the use of the term soul-sleep, this would be it! Paul in I Thessalonians sees fit to comment on this kind of soul-sleep, saying in 5:6:

It was a warning to be heeded by the BRETHREN in reference to the TIMES AND THE SEASONS per verse 1!

The thrust of the message to the disciples regarding the end days was to "Take heed that no man deceive you" per Matthew 24:4. It is still up to the Believer to heed the "checks of the Spirit" and KEEP the will under subjection to the Holy Spirit. We are warned in I Peter 2:11, quoted above, that fleshly lust wars against the soul! Once the soul becomes numb to the "check of the Spirit" by continually quenching the Holy Spirit within, the new life within can die, and the carnal nature is (in effect) resurrected, and can again take control and prompt willful sin in the life of the Believer. Gradually the checks of the Spirit will no longer occur, because the dog has returned to it's vomit, and the latter end is worse with them than the beginning" per II Peter 2:18-22.

Now we find where Hebrews 10:26-27 comes into play, saying:

We may want to note here that Matthew 10:28 tells us to fear Him which is able to destroy BOTH  SOUL AND BODY in hell (Gehenna in the Greek). It does not say spirit, soul, and body, but rather BOTH soul and body, and it is not in the "Lake of Fire", but in Gehenna, a hellhole of sorts which will be present during the Millennial Kingdom (Mark 9:44-48 & Isaiah 66:24). John 1:14 tells us that Yeshua is the Word. Hebrews 4:12 then tells us:

In Revelation 1:16 we even see this two-edged sword coming from His mouth. In the Bema Judgment of Revelation 4:2 and I Corinthians 3:11-15, such judgment will occur, and the soul and body will be divided from the spirit of the disobedient Believer to be destroyed in Gehenna where some will suffer loss, but be saved (unto the Father's Eternal Kingdom), "yet so as by fire". Thus His citizens (not worthy to be called servants) who would not have Him to be over them are slain (Luke 19:27) and their unrepentant souls and degenerate bodies will be cast into Gehenna. Note that in Revelation 10:18-14, quoted above, Babylon deals with souls and this smoke of her burning, (a shadow of Gehenna). We find also the Old Testament shadow where the body of the bullock is burned outside of the city, yet the blood is maintained for temple purposes. They have not labored to enter His rest (Hebrews 4:11), and will spend the Millennial Kingdom in Gehenna. (This is what the Calvinist fails to see.) Note that James 1:14-16, quoted above, indicates death (Gehenna) for the brethren who allow sin to run its course. Those, however, who have overcome are not hurt of the second death (Revelation 2:11).

We need to note that there are two "Books of Life" within the context of the Bible. There is the Lamb's Book of Life as well as the "Book of Life" (of the Father) which is opened only at the White Throne Judgment. Note that Revelation 12 mentions books. If we remove the italicized text and punctuation added by the translators, we find that the original Greek text said, "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God: and the books were opened: and another book was opened which is of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works." The inference here is that the other book was ALSO of life, meaning the one previously opened was as well. (Whereas the Armenian would say that the one who has backsliden can be erased from the "Book of Life" per Revelation 3:5, they fail to note who was speaking here. It was Yeshua, and the "Book of Life" He refers to here is His book.) Whereas the circumcised and sealed spirit of the Believer is written in the Father's Book of Life, and cannot be removed, the soul and body are recorded in the Son's Book of Life, and can be erased. Thus we find in Revelation 21:27 "And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that .defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's Book of Life". The spirits will inhabit the Eternal Kingdom without body and soul (having been destroyed in Gehenna) and may be naked (at least for some time) in this Eternal Kingdom, having failed to KEEP their garments (bodies and souls). They will be kept outside of the Holy City within the Eternal Kingdom (Revelation 21:22-27), and delegated to the outer courts. Please note that this is a …different group from that found in Revelation 21:8 which were thrown into the Lake of Fire.

Though the iniquities are similar in the two groups, those thrown into the Lake of Fire here were characterized as "non Believers". Thus, their spirit was never saved, circumcised, and sealed unto the Eternal Kingdom. Whereas the latter group was NOT characterized as "non Believers". Their spirits had been sealed, and they are permitted into the kingdom, but not into the Holy City within it due to their nakedness.

Now when we go back to Galatians 5:16-21, quoted above, we can see why the Believer who does not walk in the Spirit (as previously discussed) can be seen as guilty of these iniquities and kept out of the Millennial Kingdom of God the Son, as well as the Holy City of the Eternal Kingdom of God the Father.

So often we, as Believers, are taught that the world around us was created by God for our enjoyment, and He intends for us to take pleasure in it. However, as I read the above verses, I find that this is an extremely dangerous concept, and has been a tool of the enemy to help our flesh justify all kinds of gratification to the objections of the yielded soul (will) of the Believer. We rationalize with such measures as "Most all things are OK in moderation", then we let our flesh determine the line of moderation. Maybe we can just extend it a bit further to include one more cookie, or one more scoop of ice cream. Oh yes, Believer, food is the easiest of the fleshly lusts to abuse! Because we have to eat to live, it is very easy to justify the wrong things which do no good to our bodies whatsoever, and may damage them extensively over a period of time. Do we eat to live, or live to eat? When we live to eat, we justify all kinds of fleshly abuses! To do so is not taking very good care of the temple in which the Holy Spirit resides!

Let's look at Numbers 11:4-34 as quoted above again. It dealt with the lust for specific foods. God became so incensed with their lust in this area that He brought judgment upon them that ended in death. (He wasn't even dealing with our sweet tooth here, this was over meat!). Maybe we should wake up. The Book of Proverbs is a resource of great value when researching the Lord's standards for our day to day lives. Proverbs 23:1-8 says:

The sweetest words we could ever hope to hear one day will be, "Well done, good and faithful servant"! Could He be saying that indulgence of the world's "dainties" could keep us from hearing those words from the lips of our Savior? Proverbs 25:16 says, "Hast thou found honey? Eat so much as is SUFFICIENT for thee, lest thou be filled therewith and vomit it." It appears that God's line of moderation is merely bare sufficiency. Any more is overindulgence.

But enough about food already, there are other areas to pursue. Another prime area for consideration is sleep and inactivity. We are a society which has become very lazy in our daily routines. Proverbs 6:9 says:

Just as I would never condone starvation, I would never condone sleep deprivation. However, again it seems that God may have "only what is SUFFICIENT for our needs" in mind here rather than sleeping for the pure pleasure of it! Such apparently causes us to be viewed as a SLUGGARD in God's eyes. Heaven forbid!

Even when we are awake, we tend to while away our time on worthless pursuits, becoming couch potatoes or worse. Proverbs has something to say about that as well. In a rather ironical twist, 19:15 tells us:

Here we find that when we indulge the flesh, we starve the soul and cause deep sleep to come upon us.

We also prefer the amusements of the world to the study of the Word. It is more "fun" to go to a sports function, watch TV, work on crafts, go to a concert or a movie, listen to music, read a novel, play video games, card games, or board games, attend a social function, work a puzzle, or involve ourselves in any number of the world's activities. Time with God, laboring to enter into His rest, or studying to show ourselves approved usually finish in last place. In essence we make idols of these things by putting God in the back seat behind them. One of the references quoted above is I Corinthians 10:6-11. We need to focus on what God is calling EVIL, LUSTFUL and IDOLATROUS in this passage. "Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play." Now maybe that doesn't sound so terrible to us, but we need to see things through God's eyes. If he sees overindulgence at the table, then a lustful attraction to the worlds amusements, we are in evil, and if we consider our food and enjoyment more than we consider God, we are in idolatry. Lusts of the flesh never let up. It is up to us to keep them in check and balance!!!

An area of lust that is more blatant and most vile in God's eyes, is the lusting of flesh after flesh. Much is written about fornication and adultery in God's Word, and none of it is good! In I John 2:15-17 (quoted above) we find the lust of the eyes. Herein is a dangerous business. The Lord was rather blunt about fantasized lust. Matthew 5:28 tells us that we don't have to be in a compromising physical relationship to be guilty of adultery in God's eyes. It says "But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." He continues in verse 29 to say, "And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell (Gehenna)". (We may want to make note of the fact that Yeshua was speaking to Believers here!)

We might also want to pause here to look at the one who caused the eyes to lust. No matter how the dress of the object of lust might be, the one who lusts is not excused. However, Romans 14:13, is clear about the fault of the second party as well when it states, "Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way." This rides on the coattails of verse 12 which says, "So then everyone of us shall give account of himself to God."! Maybe that is why the Bible is sure to state that the women should "adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided (braided) hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; but ... with good works. Each must walk in their own conviction regarding the meaning of such instruction, but here are some notations to consider.

Might modest apparel mean loose fitting garments which cover the body well without excessively revealing the curvature of the profile? This can apply to men as well as to women! Many think it strange in society today that the old Jewish custom even insisted on the covering of the arms. It is so common today to see short sleeve and sleeveless garments, that the wearing of clothing with sleeves in warm weather is viewed as eccentric by many. However, it may be of interest to note the words attributed to Joseph in the Testament of Joseph in The Forgotten Books of Eden. Chapter 1, verse 80 says "For when I was in her (Potiphar's wife's) house she was wont to bare her ARMS, and BREAST, and LEGS, that I might lie with her; for she was very beautiful, SPLENDIDLY ADORNED in order to beguile me." He then refers to his source of help in verse 81. "And the Lord guarded me from her devices." Many Believers have not yet developed ‚Discernment regarding properly covering the breast and the legs, much less the arms. Yet, all three are said here to be sources of lust. We must remember that we must answer to God if we cause a Brother to stumble or fall, even in thought!

What, you may ask, about shamefacedness and sobriety? Shamefacedness could well have to do with the way in which women decorate their face today. Some Believers wear so much make-up that they could easily be confused for women of ill repute if found in a different setting! I truly believe if we knew all that went into the cosmetics used by women today, more women would refuse to wear any at all. That may be the idea here in the first place.

Sobriety, on the other hand would have more to do with the attitude of the woman. She is not to be overly boisterous, and of the "party animal" nature, but rather, mild mannered, and exhibiting the fruit of temperance in her behavior.

Braided hair is referenced here. It is one of many manners in which to dress up the hair in a stylish mode. Cutting, curling, coloring, etc. would likely apply here as well. In all likelihood, the intent is that the hair is not to be on display at all, as when covered by a covering.

Gold or pearls would represent the jewelry that is worn by women today. Their hands have rings on each finger, and their necks are decked in many a necklace, wrist bracelets match, and even the ankles and toes are adorned, and many wear worldly and alluring fragrances. How does God see such display of our riches? Isaiah 3:16-17 says:

It continues to say in verse 24 that the Lord will take away their ornamentations, and:

Many have pierced ears, (as well as other body parts), in which they display a variety of jewels. There is no consideration of the passage in Exodus 21:1-6 in reference to the slave who is freed but chooses to stay in bondage, which is symbolized by piercing his ear. Is the piercing of our bodies to adorn ourselves with jewelry or the puncturing of the flesh to create tattoos symptomatic of a decision to be united to the world (fitting into it's mold) instead of being free from it's enslavement? Certainly Leviticus 19:28 which forbids cutting and printing any marks upon the flesh speaks to this point. It is interesting that a mark in the hand or forehead is representative of the Anti Christ per Revelation 13:16-17. This marking is necessary in order for one to be linked to the world and all it offers in that day. Jeremiah 16:6 also says that we are not to cut ourselves. It also prohibits making ourselves bald, another common practice today. In fact, we just noted in the Isaiah passage that it is to be a judgment of God!

Costly array again can be very flexible in interpretation, but would indicate that obviously expensive clothing with fancy frills would be excessive here. The dress should be plain in features. Again in Joseph's seduction we might note that she was "splendidly adorned". The Old order Mennonite people wear standard dress, not because it is the only dress that fits Biblical mandate, but because they realize the temptation in the world today to prompt abuse to such mandate if the decision is left to the individual. It is a carefully guided plan to protect the moral values of this group of like-minded Believers. Their choice to do so is understandable considering the times in which we live!

It should also be noted that the passages which teach of lust include the pride of life and several negative character traits to be brought into subjection of Christ. When we are humbled in attire and appearance, the soul is humbled in a manner which makes the pride of life vanish, and a healthy humility take it's place. Maybe God knew all of this when he established this mandate in His Word?

There is even reference to the fingernails when we consider modesty for women. Deuteronomy 21:12-14 indicates that to shave a woman's head and pare (trim) her nails would humble her for becoming a bride. We are to be humble, so maybe we too should pare our nails in our walk with Christ. Regarding the shaving of a woman's head for this same purpose, I Corinthians 11:6 says:

It is a humbling measure for the woman to cover her glory (her long hair), and we are told here that if we don't do it we should be shaved as this woman was in order to be humbled and made fit for a bride! Wake up those who would be the Bride of Christ!

He wasn't talking here just to the Corinthian church of that day, but this epistle was written "... to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord ..." per the second verse of chapter 1.

In essence, regarding our apparel, we are to quench our desires to be one with the world and its seductions; and to be set apart instead, in humble submission in preparation for our Bridegroom. In so doing, we are not a stumbling block to our brother, but an obedient subject to the Lord.

Let's focus for a moment on cleansing the flesh. When Peter questioned in John 13:4-11, why Yeshua washed his feet, Yeshua said "if I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me." He proceeded to explain that "He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit". He spoke here of a deep spiritual truth. The feet must be repeatedly washed, because they come into contact with the world and get dirty. The one time cleansing relates to the spirit of the Believer, cleansed and sealed, in no need of further cleansing. The need to clean daily for the part that comes in contact with the world, however, relates to the flesh (body) and soul, which are unclean on an ongoing basis due to contact with the world and our unholy lusts. These portions of our being must be cleansed daily by the Lord through repentance and confession.

When we look at Exodus 19:10-15 we see where Moses was to sanctify the people in preparation for the coming of the Lord at the sound of the trumpet on the third day. ( Just maybe we can find a parallel here to our day?) He tells them to do two things, which we will view individually.

In verse 15 we will want to note that the word "your" is italicized, meaning that it was added to the King James text, but was not there in the original manuscripts. Thus what we find here is that Moses told them to abstain from relations "with wives". The fact that this did NOT specify THEIR wives, lends us to apply the broader reference used with this Hebrew word "ishshah" (Strongs 802), which is adulteresses. In James 4:4-5, quoted above, we even find that to God, friendship with the world is equated with adultery. Since marital relations are not prohibited, it is more likely that this is the meaning here, however even marital relations caused a temporary period of being "unclean" in relation to the body, spoken of in Leviticus 15:16-18. This would pertain to the concept of the lust of the flesh. They were to bring it into total subjection. He told them here to do two things, however.

The other thing Moses instructed the people to do was to wash their clothes. This, on the other hand would represent the washing of the soul. In Jude 23, we find that our garments (souls) can be spotted by the flesh (lust of the flesh). That is why we must be so careful to KEEP the yielded soul standing FIRMLY against unholy desires of the flesh, and pray daily for cleansing by the Lord.

Whereas we are to both repent and confess and daily, repentance is more for the flesh, and confession extends down even into the soul. Repentance relates more to the body, as our deeds of the flesh have grieved the Holy Spirit, thus they grieve us. Confession is yet a deeper form of repentance which touches the soul, as we agree with the Lord (in a stand against deceit) that the deeds were wrong, and commit (reinforce the will) to turn from them. We must repent (Revelation 2:15-16), but we must also confess. I John 1:9 says:

The sins which had become affixed to the body are forgiven, and the unrighteousness which had spotted the soul is cleansed! It is this process that provides for our sanctification and holiness in the eyes of Christ. (In Revelation 2:15, mentioned above, the Nicolaitan doctrine that He hates is the teaching that once you believe, there is no more condemnation, regardless of how you choose to live. It is taken from the first part of Romans 8:1, with no consideration for the last part of the verse and surrounding text, as well as other Biblical references taken out of context, and twisted to support such a view.)

So we find that Moses instructed the people regarding the body and the soul, even before it was fully understood. Could that be for our benefit? Maybe it is not mere coincidence that Exodus 19:5-6 speaks of being a "peculiar treasure" and a "kingdom of priests, and a holy nation". (See (Titus 2:14 and I Peter 2:9.) We must be faithful to cleanse the soul and the body daily in preparation for the Lord's return on the 3rd day (the onset of the 3rd Millennium since His first coming). We are in the final countdown of that time, and the trumpet is poised to blow.

There may be significance to Moses mandate also as it relates to our personal cleanliness. It would be wise to see that we are washed physically on a daily basis, and wearing clean attire before the Lord as well, simply out of respect for his holiness. Maybe we are to be extra sure of this for a literal three days before His coming for His bride - in which case, we would need to know about when to expect Him ...?

There are three ordinances given in God's Word: i.e. baptism, communion, and the covering. We should note that Paul puts the last two of these together in I Corinthians 11, referring to each of them as ordinances. Maybe the reason he does not mention baptism here is that it relates to the spirit. Thus one baptism is all that is needed, as the spirit is sealed. This is to be a step in obedience AFTER the belief, according to the example of Yeshua who was immersed. Thus, the baptism represents the desire of the Believer to die in Christ and be resurrected a new being through Him. Mark 16:16 indicates the importance of this step in obedience. It says, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. Note the order here, that first one believes and THEN is baptized. Without this baptism, we are only able to work for Christ through our own power, and produce wood, hay, and stubble for the Bema judgment seat of I Corinthians 3:11-15. After this baptism, the power is released so we can operate in the Spirit to produce gold, silver, and precious stones. Without baptism, however, the soul cannot be adequately yielded, and the body cannot be properly aligned. Baptism simply initiates the sanctification process to occur, by releasing the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit to pursue the walk of abiding faith. This step in obedience indicates a willingness to seek the things of God, and enables this process to begin, so we can be "saved" from the fires of Gehenna.

The covering is the ordinance which relates to the soul. The wearing of it shields the yielded soul from the deceit which tries to corrupt and disable it by guarding the mind so it can be conformed to Christ. This is the key to overcoming per I Peter 4:1-2 and I Peter 1:13-16, quoted above. We are told to gird up the loins of our mind, and Ephesians 6:14 says to girt our loins with truth, and also mentions the "helmet of salvation". The wearing of this "helmet" (covering) covers the mind, helping to ensure that the salvation of the soul can be achieved. We will still face the inevitable lusts of temptation, but will not be easily deceived to the detriment of the soul.

The communion is the ordinance which relates to the body. By His stripes (also found in the unleavened matza bread) we are healed. (See Exodus 34:25 regarding the necessity of using unleavened bread in our communion.) This I Corinthians 11 passage tells us that because we do not judge ourselves properly before taking communion, many of us are sick or dead. It relates to the body! Just as the soul and body are to be cleansed daily, and we are to judge ourselves in repentance and confession daily, maybe we should take communion daily! Could it be a part of (the cleansing we are to perform on a daily basis? Could that be why Paul put these last two ordinances together, separate from the baptism, because they are daily ordinances? We are never told in Scripture that a pastor has to serve us communion. We can partake of it on our own!

To summarize our preparations for His return with a New Testament reference, let's go to II Peter 1:5-11. It says:

We must make note here of the word "everlasting" as found in the Greek text. It is "aionios" (Strongs #166 which relates to #165). We find here that it can mean a Messianic period, an age. It can also mean eternal. The term "for ever" stems from the same word, and usually relates to the Millennial Kingdom. This same Greek word is used in several Biblical references, part of which Prefer to the Messianic Millennial Kingdom of the Son, and part of which refer to the Eternal Kingdom of the Father. The surrounding text must be the deciding factor to determine the proper period of reference. Be careful our PRESENT understanding of these terms (that they always mean "eternal") has led us to much error in understanding the Bible as it was written!! This error has been fostered by the "church" at large and taught with dogmatic insistence!! In this instance, it obviously CANNOT be eternity, as I Peter 1:11 specifies the kingdom of our LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST, which would be the 1,000 year period we know as the Millennial Kingdom before transition to the Eternal Kingdom of the Father which we find in I Corinthians 15:24-28 (where they again become "all in all"). Thus we see in II Peter 1:5-11 that the entrance to the Millennial Kingdom is dependent upon US - making our calling and election SURE in such manner.

Let us heed the advise we find in this passage, and give all diligence to our walk with Christ in these end days. May the Holy Spirit continue to bring checks to each soul who wants to be ready for His return, and may we continue to stand strong to these checks against deceit, repenting and confessing unto the cleansing of Christ each day until the blessed trumpet blows, and our hope is complete at last!