We are come for a time of searching the scripture, and IN THE SCRIPTURE come to the truth as it is in Jesus. We want to gather up all the fragments. Remember when Jesus fed the multitudes? He took bread, and then He broke the bread into fragments, and passed it out. But at the end of the meeting, at the END OF THE DAY... and that is important - at the end of THAT DAY. What day? The day when He took the one bread and broke it up into fragments and passed it out. That day - the day of fragments. It had to be served to them in that way. Jesus did nothing just to be doing it. The day of fragments - took the bread, brake it, passed it out. That signified the day of the Law, the day of the Old Covenant, when He spoke in fragments of Himself; in types, shadows, figures - a word here, a word there, sundry times, diverse manners. It was Him that was being spoken, but it was a fragment.

And those that heard, those that received the fragments, did not always connect, or understand that fragment as being Him. They could not see the whole loaf; they got a fragment of it. The Old Covenant is full of fragments, and they all speak of One Loaf. In the New Covenant we have come to be One Bread, One Body, One Substance - which is Christ. The fragments have been gathered up into Him. When are the fragments gathered up? At the end of that day: at the END of the Old Covenant day. Hebrews 1 says at the END of those days He hath spoken in Son. Old Covenant time, time past - He spoke in fragments - a piece here, a piece to you, another piece to you, another one to you. It’s the same bread, but it’s a fragment. So this one understands righteousness, this one understands sanctification. But many times this one who understands sanctification, and this one whose fragment is righteousness do not understand that those two fragments come from One Bread: that CHRIST IS righteousness, and that CHRIST IS sanctification. And that CHRIST IS holiness, and that CHRIST IS all things - gathered together, made perfect in One Person, The Son of God!

And when we are partakers of Him, we are partakers of all that He is - not just a fragment of what He is. And in this day - the New Day - we do NOT receive Him in fragments, but God reveals His Son in you, and you can eat of Him as much as your heart desires! Now, my point is, I trust that many fragments, many things that are said in the scripture will be gathered together in your heart - in the reality of Christ. The church today, Christianity today, unfortunately remains fragmented. Everybody has "their" fragment. They all say, "This is the Bread", and it is The Bread - it’s just not the whole loaf! CHRIST is the whole loaf! In Him everything is gathered together.

Now we are going to gather at least one fragment into Him, and that fragment is FAITH. I want us to understand that FAITH IS FULFILLED IN CHRIST. If all things that the Bible teaches, in fragments... and they have to be taught in fragments, they have to be taught line upon line, precept upon precept. That’s the only way it can be written; it’s the only way it can be spoken - in type and in shadow. In the Old Covenant God simply could not show them the whole loaf. He showed them righteousness - to come; forgiveness - to come; holiness - to come; Eternal Life - to come. Fragments. All of them are true, but they must be gathered up INTO CHRIST before they are complete, because Salvation for you and I, is not many things, in and of themselves - not fragments. For you and I, Salvation is Divine relationship with The Person of Christ. We haven’t been brought to "righteousness" as a thing, as a work. We have been brought to Christ Who is our Righteousness. We find righteousness in Him; holiness in Him. We find all things - all things pertaining to God, all things pertaining to Salvation, all things pertaining to Eternal Life - we find all things IN CHRIST!

Through the administration of the fulness of time all things have been gathered together in one, even in Christ, and we must understand that the administration of the fulness of time IS COME. The administration of the fulness of time is the administration of The Spirit, as opposed to the administration of The Law. Let me show you this. We must understand that THE CROSS is the reality by which The Old Covenant is divided from The New Covenant. THE CROSS is that reality by which the first man is divided from the Second Man. THE CROSS is the reality by which The Law is divided from The Spirit. And we can’t go very much farther unless we do understand that. We must understand that God’s method of dividing the first from the Second, the old from the New, was and is - THE CROSS. And that He did that historically, but because The Cross is not just a point in history, but rather a reality of Christ in you, the same Work that took place historically must also take place by The Spirit in our hearts. That’s what Paul called "the preaching of the Cross" as being the power of God. And you and I know that he wasn’t merely talking about an historical event, but the Work of The Spirit in our hearts. For The Spirit works in me according to the REALITY of The CROSS.

What Christ accomplished at The Cross, The Spirit works in our hearts. The Spirit does not work differently or contrary to what Christ accomplished; for Christ and The Spirit are ONE! So what Christ accomplished at The Cross, The Spirit reveals in us, the Spirit works in us. Well, one thing that happened at The Cross was The Old Covenant was divided from The New Covenant. Times, days... was divided from eternity. Let me explain. Most people think that eternity is a "long time", but the true definition of eternity is: no time. That is a scriptural definition, a theological definition. In Christ... for here we come to be "IN Christ", time as was known in The Old Covenant is NO MORE. For instance, in Christ is Saturday still the Sabbath? Is it? In Christ is Sunday the Sabbath, or Monday, or Tuesday, or any day? Or is CHRIST our Sabbath? Is Christ our rest, our peace, our dwelling, our living? Christ is our Sabbath! Times, as God used them in fragments do NOT exist in Christ. What is "fragments of time"? The writer of Hebrews says it: sundry times, fragments of time - days, holy days, Sabbath days, weeks, feast weeks, ceremonial weeks - under the Law. God used time under The Law, but time has no place in Christ. Here today it is Wednesday, but it’s NOT Wednesday in Christ. Wednesday will come and Wednesday will go. The world turns and seemingly the sun goes down and the sun comes up. Not in Christ - Eternal Day! Eternal Light! The Son does not come up and go down! This New Creation does not revolve around this sun; The New Creation is in The Son! So we walk in the light as He is in the light.

What I’m saying is in The Old Covenant God used times to speak of Eternity, He used natural things to speak of spiritual things, because in the Old there weren’t any spiritual things. Spiritual things come in Christ. In the Old they are spoken of: in Christ they are fulfilled. In The Old you hear about a spiritual city - old Jerusalem spoke of a New Jerusalem. In Christ we have New Jerusalem. Yes, you ARE COME to The City of God, the heavenly Jerusalem. Yes - in Christ. So the one spoke of the other. Time and days are the same. In The Old Covenant there was an administration of times, and administration of weeks, days, months and of years. It is called "dispensations". In The Old Covenant that was measured by days, weeks, months and years. But where is that dispensation in Christ? How do you have a dispensation in Christ that is measured by days, weeks, months and years when IN CHRIST you don’t have days, weeks, months and years? We need to think about this. In The New Testament the word "dispensation" in Ephesians 1:9 and 10 is translated in the Greek as "administration", and it should be, because the Greek definition for that word "administration" means a state that is not measured by days. It has nothing to do with days and weeks and months as a time. But rather, it is measured and the fulness is understood by the head of it.

CHRIST is the head of this administration! It doesn’t come to fulness in days; it comes to fulness IN HIM. There is no end to Him! You are not going to run out of days in Him. You are not going to miss a day in Him, because He is the fulness, He is the Light. This dispensation, this administration is measured by THE FULNESS OF HIM! Now I have made reference to "the administration of the fulness of time". I said that the administration of the fulness of time is the administration of The Spirit. And I said that the administration of the fulness of time is come. This is what I was talking about, and Ephesians 1:9,10 is where Paul talks about it. But my point is that BY THE CROSS we have come from the administration of The Law, the administration of The Old Covenant where things are in fragments. Time is in fragments - all things were in fragments. But we HAVE COME from that administration, we have come from that dispensation - a worldly dispensation, a worldly administration; we have come from that by The Cross, through His death, burial and resurrection; we have come from that administration of the old to the administration of FULNESS, to the administration of The Spirit, where all of these fragments have their fulfillment in a SPIRITUAL REALITY.

I am not in Christ looking for Saturday, or Sunday, or Monday. I am in Christ looking for, walking in The Day THAT HE IS - One Day, a New Day. "Ye are children of The Day!"So I am not here in Christ basing the Work of God on some other day. We say "one day" God is going to do this; but The Lord only has one Day - that Day IS CHRIST! And whatever He has determined to do, He has done that very thing in His Son! We may not have found that reality yet, but it is there in Him; if we will walk in the light as He is in the light, if we will walk in This Day, because this is an Endless Day. If you will walk far enough in This Day, you will find Christ to be ALL THINGS. What I’m telling you is The Truth!

So, where are you going to live - in your heart? Jesus presented Himself to His own - as the FULFILLMENT of everything they have ever heard of, as the FULFILLMENT of everything that had ever been promised to them, as the FULFILLMENT of everything that all of their prophets had ever said. He said: you want a Sabbath? I AM The Sabbath! You want a Temple? In three days I WILL raise you a temple! You want a city? Come unto ME, I will make of you The City of God! But He came to His own, and His own received Him not. They wanted days and times; they would not come from the promise to the fulfillment - they would not do it. "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become the sons of God."

Now I’m asking all of us - in our hearts, which administration are we serving? That’s all I’m asking. I’m asking what Jesus asked when He came to His own, and presented Himself. And if He had not been the fulfillment of every promise that they had ever had, then He could not have presented Himself as "Messiah". If He was not the answer and the fulfillment to every prophet, He could not have presented Himself as "Messiah". He would have been a liar, and they would have had a right not to receive Him. But He was able to say: Isaiah spoke of a Suffering Servant - I am come to die for you! Jeremiah spoke of a resurrection - I am The Resurrection and The Life! Ezekiel spoke to you of a heavenly man, a man in glory, a house of glory - I am that Heavenly Man! He came to His own, and His own received Him not.

‘Let us live in days, let us live in times.’ An eternity was being presented to them. The whole issue was to come from death to Life because no matter how great and how glorious the old administration was, it was the administration of death. To what have we come in Christ? ‘Well, we’ve come to this thing... or that thing..." No - we have come to one thing - only ONE thing. We have come to LIFE! LIFE! We haven’t come to a city: we are The City of Life! We haven’t come to "things" in Christ; those "things" all spoke of Life - ETERNAL LIFE! That’s what they spoke of. In Christ we have come to Life. In Christ you shall never die! That’s what we have come to! I’m telling you the Truth: The Bible does not teach you that you have come from "things" to "things". You can see that in your Bible if you search it out. I’m not just making statements or preaching a sermon. I’m telling you The Bible teaches that all things have been gathered up and fulfilled IN CHRIST. You have come to the "allness" of the things! And it is here in Christ that "the just shall live by faith."

Faith is not for things: FAITH IS FOR LIFE. Faith is for living, Faith is Knowing Christ, Faith is seeing all things in Christ. Faith is possessing, laying hold of all things in Christ. The just shall live by FAITH. So now we’ve come to our subject. I want us to understand Faith as it is in Christ. Turn to Romans 1:14-17. I have been laying a little foundation for understanding these verses. " I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise and to the unwise. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also." Look at the phrase, "for as much as in me is." Paul says as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are in Rome or anywhere else. "As much as IN ME is." - THE TRUE GOSPEL COMES OUT FROM IN YOU! Not "as much as in my briefcase"; not "as much as I have in this notebook"; as much as is IN ME. The gospel comes out from inside of us! Do you know why Paul is saying that? Because this is the same man that said, "God revealed His Son IN ME, that I might preach Him."

You don’t keep Christ in a notebook - He is IN YOU! That’s why The Father reveals The Son in you. He does not merely reveal The Son TO you. In other words He does not just reveal that He has a Son; He doesn’t just reveal that Jesus is The Son. Someone says, ‘Oh, I believe that Jesus is The Son of God.’ Well, that’s good, where is He? The Father doesn’t just reveal that The Son exists - somewhere. Read it in Galatians 1:10-16, and especially verse 15 and 16: God revealed His Son IN ME - and it can’t be translated any other way. "IN ME, that I might preach Him." You declare Him out from within you. He is the gospel. Paul says as much as is in me, I am ready to come and preach the gospel. Our preaching Christ, our preaching the gospel is directly linked to God revealing His Son in us, and there’s no way to get around that.

Then verse 16 and 17 in Romans 1 makes sense. " For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." With Paul the gospel was not a doctrine of some kind. It wasn’t just a teaching of some kind. It was his very Life! He said I’m not ashamed of the gospel. It is the very power of God, it’s that power that works in me, it is my very Life! I can be before the Jew - my gospel is the same. If I’m with the Greeks - my gospel is the same. I don’t change my gospel! We have some ministry today who change their sermons at every place. If they are in one place they preach this sermon. If they are another place they preach this sermon. That’s not the gospel - that’s a sermon! There’s only One Gospel! There’s only One Life! It’s the same everywhere. That simplifies everything for you.

‘I wonder what I’m going to preach in Mexico?’ Same thing I preach in Texas! The same thing I preach in Arkansas! Simplified - I’m going to preach - CHRIST! We’re going to preach the gospel - as much as in me is, I’m going to preach to you. And it will be the same next week, and next year. Hopefully we will grow up in Him, but the gospel is the same - CHRIST IN YOU, revealed of The Father. The gospel is not that Christ is in you; the gospel is not about Where He is. The gospel is WHO He is. The Father is not just trying to show us where The Son is, but Who The Son is; revealing everything in The Son, bringing everything to its fulfillment in The Son. Now in revealing WHO He is, He also reveals WHERE He is, but that’s not the gospel. The gospel is WHO HE IS. You say, ‘I know Who He is. He’s The Son of God.’ But do you know all things as they are in Him? Do you know Him as the realization, as the fulfillment of all things? His nature, His character, His substance? That’s how The Father desires to reveal His Son, because The Father’s intention is not to make us smart; the Father’s intention is to transform us into the image, the nature of The Son. That’s the POWER of the gospel.

I’m not ashamed of the gospel, Paul said. His gospel is Christ - Christ crucified, Christ in you. Now verse 17. This is the verse we are going to be dealing with. " For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, The just shall live by faith." There is here in this verse a division of faith; two comprehensions of faith, two realms of faith. "Coming from faith to faith" or "coming by faith to faith." But there are two dimensions of faith spoken of in this scripture; Bible scholars agree on that. Not all Bible scholars understand what the dimensions are, but they admit two administrations are being talked about. Two administrations of faith - one faith but two administrations. Faith under the Old /administration says one thing; Faith under the New administration , of /The Spirit says something else. They do not disagree - one becomes the fulfillment of the other. Faith to Faith.

Paul says herein is the righteousness of God revealed. Herein - IN CHRIST, in Christ crucified, in the gospel; because to Paul the gospel is The Cross, the gospel is Christ crucified - not just in history, but His death, His burial, His resurrection working in you; the power of God working in you and I, bringing us from death unto Life. So Paul is saying HEREIN is the righteousness of God revealed, bringing us from faith to faith; bringing us from the first to the Second, from the Old Covenant which speaks OF Christ to the New Covenant which is IN Christ.

Habakkuk the prophet here in the Old Covenant spoke of a time when the just, translated "righteous" would LIVE by faith. He looked at a time, and we will look at that. I want to begin in our hearts, to allow The Holy Spirit to bring faith to faith. We want to come BY Faith UNTO Faith.

Pt. 2 - Dealing With The Law Factor

Remember now what we have come to in Christ. Note that I use that term "what we HAVE come to". In Christ we HAVE COME to something. For The Old Covenant, as relating to The Covenant, Christ is the END of the journey. As relating to The New Covenant, He is the BEGINNING to which there is no end. But The Old Covenant has an end; Christ is the end of it. The Old Covenant can only take you so far. So He is the end of that journey, the type and shadow of that, which is set forth in The Old Covenant is Israel - Israel coming out of Egypt, going through the wilderness, and finally coming to Canaan. The end of one journey, then end of the wilderness; they come to that. And in Canaan they come to a new beginning. Now - to live out the land, to possess the land, walk out the land. And there’s not another land. We say, ‘Well, walk in Christ; walk out the length, depth and the fulness of Christ ... and then, when you’re finished with that, I’ve got something better.’ No such thing! Christ is the END of The Old Covenant. He is the beginning of The New, and to Him there is no end. If you are going to find anything of Eternal Life, you must find it in Him; anything of the Promise of God - you must find it in Him.

So now, we are gathering up the fragments and seeing the realization of those things in Christ. And we are now gathering up FAITH as a fragment and seeing Faith in the fulness of The Son. And to most believers, to most Christians, Faith is still being preached as a fragment. And now we are going to compare Faith to Faith. But in order to do that you’ve got to deal with The Law. The Law was added over 400 years after Abraham - Abraham who lived by faith. The Law did not add to faith: faith did not need The Law, The Law was added because of transgressions. Today faith does NOT need The Law, The Law does not make faith better; it was added because of transgressions. For you and I to come from Faith to Faith - in our hearts, The Law must be dealt with in our hearts. Historically it is so. This is what Paul teaches in Galatians and in Romans. And there doesn’t seem to be a handful of people who understand what Paul is saying! Paul is not saying The Law is bad; he’s just saying The Law can not make you prefect. He isn’t saying that The Law is of the devil; he’s just saying God gave The Law for a little period of time. The Law was not evil; Paul is saying that IN CHRIST The Law is simply done away - it is not necessary! And Paul is saying that when FAITH IS COME, The Law is done away.

So for you and I in our hearts, to understand spiritually; for you and I in our hearts to come from Faith to Faith, this question of The Law - The Law of good and bad, The Law of good works - this question of The Law must be dealt with. And there’s only one thing that can deal with the question of The Law; only one thing - THE CROSS. There’s only one way to get out from under The Law. Now there are two phrases connected with The Law we’ll look at. One of those is "under" - The Law keeps us UNDER. Paul says that we were kept "under The Law", shut up unto the faith which should afterward be revealed - KEPT UNDER. The Law prevents you from living by faith. This will be important when we come to comprehend what faith is, and that the just live by faith. The Law keeps you from living by faith. And we must understand that The Law is not just Ten Commandments written on stone. The Law is the whole system of The Old Covenant. The Law of "do’s and don’ts". See, The Law can regulate human nature, but The Law can not give you the nature of Christ. God is after the nature of Christ. His purpose is not to regulate "human" nature, and restrain it or loose it; God’s intention concerning the human nature - Crucify it!

That’s why The Cross is the end of The Law. It is not so much that The Cross gets rid of The Law; The Cross does away with the man who is under The Law. And here in Christ it is not I who liveth, but Christ Who liveth in me! And Christ is NOT UNDER The Law! I was under The Law, and by The Cross I am dead. And if I will accept that death - I am dead; I am not better - I am dead! I am not regulated - I am dead! I’m not just kept under, controlled - I am dead! But CHRIST lives in me! And He fulfils the righteousness of The Law. Abraham knew nothing of The Law: Abraham lived by faith. Christ - in resurrection knows nothing of The Law. The Life of Christ is a Life of Faith! What of The Law? It is done away. Yes, it is done away. Why? Because I am dead - with Christ; you are dead - with Christ. The Law is not necessary. Its purpose is served. It is done away. It must be done away in my heart, or I will try to find my own righteousness in The Law. The Law must be dealt with in me, but it can only be dealt with in me through the understanding that I am dead. I am not a Law-breaker. Paul says, "By the law I am dead to the law." The Law, Paul said, brought me to death.

And Paul understood it was the death of The Cross. So Paul said The Law has been fulfilled here. By The Law I find myself to be dead to The Law. The Law is not broken: I am dead! And here, Christ is my Life, and He fulfils the righteousness that The Law demanded. So here in Christ, The Law is done away. My point is just this: The Law factor must be dealt with in our hearts, because The Law is a whole system of do’s and don’ts. The Law says ‘you can not come here. You can not come to the Mount of God. You can not come to the glory of God. You can not come to the Throne of God.’ The Law says - you can NOT come! We have a lot of "Law preachers" today. Now forgive me for saying this. I’ve been "Pentecostal" all of my life, from 5-6 years old, but friends, most Pentecostals are preaching The Law. They are telling you that you can’t come to the glory of God; you can’t come here - not yet! You must "die" first, and "one day" when you "die", then you can go to glory.

But I DIED AT THE CROSS - already! I’m ready for glory! If you killed me today, and took my dead body and threw it in a hole in the ground - you haven’t changed anything for me! Are you telling me that is what it would take for me to "go to glory"? You get your "glory" by murder? Let’s just send everybody to glory! We think that’s funny, but that’s what is being preached throughout the whole earth today. They are not saying it quite that plainly, but they are saying the same thing. And I’m telling you there is only ONE DEATH that gets you in glory, and that is THE DEATH OF THE CROSS. And I’m telling you that the glory of God is Christ in you. And I’m telling you that we live in glory by The Faith of The Son of God. And I’m telling you we must come from FAITH TO FAITH; come from the faith of Abraham which looked for the glory of God, to the faith of Jesus Christ that lives in the glory of God. From FAITH - to FAITH.

Abraham by faith saw a thing afar off. But you and I by faith see that very same thing in the reality of Jesus Christ, and it’s not far off - it’s IN US! And we are IN HIM! In Christ you live by FAITH. But the thing that keeps Christians from making the transition from the faith of Abraham to the faith of The Son of God is The Law. That’s what kept Old Covenant Israel, the Jews from coming from faith to faith. And Paul says The Law wasn’t given for that. The Law was given as a school master to bring you to Christ, to bring you to faith. But Paul says here what you’ve done (taking to the Jews); you have by the works of The Law created a righteousness of your own. And doing that, you’ve actually violated The Law! Because The Law was NOT given for righteousness; The Law was given because of transgressions. But they, by years of tradition had used The Law, misused The Law, to create a righteousness of their own. And I’m telling you this is the same thing that is happening in Christianity today. We have substituted a righteousness of our own for the righteousness which is Christ, because we want a life of our own, we want to live our own life, and "someday" go to heaven. That’s the idea of modern Christianity. Paul says, "Not I, but CHRIST who liveth in me." We are not "one day" coming to Life: we HAVE COME to Life IN CHRIST JESUS. And that means I have no Life other than Christ! The Law factor has to be dealt with in our hears. I’m not going to be any more specific now. I’ll let The Spirit of God show you what The Law factor is that may be hindering you. But I tell you again - there’s only one answer to The Law, and that death. So long as a man lives, he is under The Law. And if you are under any part of The Law, you are under all of it. The answer is: NOT IS, BUT CHRIST.

Now I want you to see this in the scripture. We have read Romans 1:14-17, and in verse 17 we read, "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, The just shall live by faith." I’m going to say this one more time: the purpose of Paul’s preaching, the thing he was trying to do was to bring the hearer from faith of Abraham to faith of Christ - from faith to faith. In order to do that, he had to show The Law as being done away. He could not simply take away The Law in and of itself, or he would be a Law-breaker. So he had to show that The Law was taken away because those who were under The Law were, by the Cross made dead to The Law. So he says, "I am crucified with Christ." I am not a Law-breaker, I am dead! Death ends The Law! The Law does not rule over a dead man. "He that is dead is free from sin." Sin is the power of The Law, and The Law is the power over sin. You just can’t ignore The Law: you’ve got to see yourself with Christ DEAD TO The Law. It’s the only way it will work! Dead to The Law! That’s the reason Paul preached among them NOTHING but Christ, and Him crucified, because The Cross is God’s answer to The Law; because The Cross is God’s answer to man, who was under The Law.

So again, there is no way we can come from the faith of Abraham to the faith of Christ until in our hearts The Law is dealt with. Some try to say that The Law is dealt with because I keep all of The Law. Paul said when you say you keep all of The Law, you are in fact VIOLATING The Law, because if you keep all of The Law, you would understand that you are NOT righteous. Because The Law was not given to show you that you are righteous; The Law was given to show you that you are NOT righteous. So if you are truly keeping The Law, you understand you are not righteous. If you think that by keeping The Law you have become righteous, you have in fact broken The Law: you have violated The Law and its intent. There is no way out! That’s what Paul said in Romans 7. ‘When I do that which is good, that is when I keep The Law, I find that I am unrighteous. And the more that I try to be righteous by the works of The Law, the more unrighteous I am!’

That’s what he was talking about, and he finally just comes to this frustration: "Oh wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" That’s where The Law brought him. That’s where The Law will bring every honest hearted man. Then Paul’s next statement is: " I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord." I have been delivered from the body! You see The Law was the body of death talked about there, because The Law relates to the natural man, the body of mankind, the body of The Law - the body of death, the administration of death. We are all included in that body as the first man. "Who will deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ The Lord!" THE CROSS! The Cross whereby I die, and when I die, I die to the body of this death, I die to The Law, I die to the old man - I die! And in the resurrection it’s not me who is raised up. Jesus says, "I AM the resurrection and the life. Because I live..." So Paul’s liberation from the body of death was just this: "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And this life - Christ living in me - this life I live in the flesh by the faith of The Son of God. Paul, by The Cross, had come from the faith of Abraham, which looks afar off, to the faith of The Son of God that declares the reality NOW. He did not say "one day" I will live by faith; "one day" Christ will be my life. Christ liveth in me! I Live by the faith of The Son of God. By The Cross the wall was taken out of the way for Paul. By The Cross The Law was done away for Paul, and in his heart faith came to be realized in faith. The faith of Abraham, which is what the first faith is, came to be fulfilled in the faith of Christ.

Now, my question to you who say you live by faith is just this: is this the faith by which you live? When you think of faith, is your understanding of faith more closely connected with Abraham or with Christ? Abraham looked for a city. The city is found in Christ. In the Old Covenant we look for a city; in Christ we are one. Here we live as one. We have come from faith to faith. That’s always been the plan of God - always. The Law was simply added because of transgression. The Law is what we would call an "interloper, a visitor, a newcomer." It has no real place, it was added for a time. Isn’t it a shame that the whole Old Covenant Israel kept the thing that was added for a time, and rejected The Eternal Gift of God? If you understand that, then you will understand the epistles of Paul because in every epistle he is referring to that. And this is why Paul preached The Cross so strongly, so absolutely. He knew you can not come from faith to faith unless The Law is dealt with, and he knew that The Law is dealt with in the death of The Cross. The Law was given to keep man unto the coming of faith. But after that faith IS COME, WE ARE NO LONGER UNDER The Law, but rather we are sons of God - by faith. A son of God is not something you are going to be one day; a son of God is what you are NOW, and faith is the understanding of that. Faith is not understanding what is going to be; faith is understanding what IS. Abraham’s faith looked to what was going to be; the faith of The Son of God declares what is! And we must understand the faith of Abraham: because by faith he looked from his time to the time of Christ. Jesus said, "Abraham saw my day, and rejoiced!"

Then the day that Abraham saw... CAME! What day are you looking for? There’s only ONE day of faith, and it is come. I’m not trying to trick you, but I’m challenging your hearts. IN CHRIST faith has come to faith. What Abraham saw is fulfilled in The Son. The question is - have WE come from faith to faith? That’s the question. Now the great hindrance to that is The Law, but taking away The Law, my question still is: in our hearts have we come from faith to faith? Is our faith still looking afar, or is our faith declaring Him Who is near, even in you? That’s the question.

Our purpose here has been to show that The Law was added. It wasn’t added for righteousness; it was added because of unrighteousness. And that BY THE CROSS that which was added is now done away - it is not necessary. So that you and I may come from faith to faith; so that without the confusion of The Law, we can see clearly what was promised to Abraham is FULFILLED IN CHRIST. What Abraham saw is made PERFECT IN CHRIST! "The just shall live by faith." When Habakkuk saw that, it is the faith of The Son of God that he saw, because he said this: "The just shall live by HIS faith." He was talking about the vision that would come. Elsewhere in the Old Covenant it is called "the promise", but in either case it is referring to Christ. At the end - He will come! The end of what? The end of The Law! What else has an end to it? In your Bible nothing else has an end but that. Somebody will say, wait a minute brother, the Bible says ‘the world will end’. No, the New Covenant says the world DID end! What? "In the end of the world Christ hath appeared and put away sin... (Hebrews 9:26)" "The world" that the Bible said would end, ended with The Cross. And we all know that the translation of "the world" there is "age". In the end of this age, this dispensation, this world, came The Cross. The Bible teaches that clearly; I don’t know why people refuse to believe that.

"The promise will come at the end, and the promise will speak." That’s what Habakkuk was told. And Jesus said, "He that heareth My voice is passed from death unto life." Habakkuk saw the Faith of The Son of God, and a people who live by that faith!

Pt. 3 - The Gospel of The Cross

We will continue with our reading in Romans 1: 15, " So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also." For many years I have been privileged to share the reality of Christ with others around the world. And most of the countries where I have been were not countries of my own language. I had to use interpreters. For instance, in India I had three interpreters because there were so many different dialects there. Once in the Philippines I had two interpreters, and three in a certain place in Africa. Now, I may be able to say a few words in a different language - but I can not express WHAT IS IN ME - in Spanish, or in any other language. And here’s my point: I don’t go to Mexico because I speak Spanish. If I only went places because I spoke their natural language, I’d have to know 20 or 30 languages, and I’m not that smart. I have a hard time speaking English! I don’t go to any country because I speak the language of the native people. I go because of WHAT IS IN ME - as much as in me is I am ready to go to Mexico, or Africa, or any place!

We must learn to hear beyond our natural language. We must understand the importance is not in the language we speak; but IN WHO we speak, regardless of the language. If I spoke Spanish, it would still not be the Spanish you would come to hear; you would come to hear The Living Word Who is in you. And only The Spirit of God can reveal Him. So it makes no difference what language I speak; it is the language of The Spirit we must hear, because FAITH comes by HEARING - not languages. Hearing comes by The Word of God. And The Word of God is that Living Word that is in you! And to hear Him is a Work of The Spirit. So, we gather - not because you want to hear Spanish preachers, English preachers, or any other language. We gather because we desire THE LIVING WORD, and I’m going to tell you something. The only gathering in The Body of Christ that is worthwhile is when The Body of Christ gathers to hear The Living Word. We don’t gather around languages - we gather to be fed, and we gather to feed one another!

I don’t feed you in Spanish, I don’t feed you in English. We are fed IN SPIRIT, we are fed IN TRUTH. As far as I’m personally concerned, any gathering that is not gathered in Truth is a waste of time and money - that’s my opinion. Therefore, we must gather for THE WORD OF TRUTH. We must gather for the increase of FAITH; that our faith be built up in the knowledge of Christ, that we may truly live by faith; that we may truly live in and by the comprehension of Christ. "The life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of The Son of God." So we gather to hear HIM; not with the hearing of the natural ear, but with the hearing of our heart. So we submit our natural ear to The Truth, that The Truth may be revealed in us. And The Truth is a Person! The Truth is in you, waiting to be revealed in you, and shed abroad in your heart that we may grow up into Him, Who is The Truth. Growing up into Him is living by FAITH.

"As much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you... For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth: to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." Why would he say that? Why would he say I’m not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, it is the power of God to everyone that believeth, to the JEW and also to the GREEK? What is there about the Jew or about the Greek that could cause Paul to be ashamed? Because he says I am NOT ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Why would he be ashamed? Why are some ashamed of the gospel? Why do some change their gospel from place to place? Why would I present one gospel in Mexico and another gospel in China, and another in Africa? Why would I do that? Why would I say one thing in China and be ashamed to say that in Mexico? Why would I teach one thing in a Bible school in Texas and be ashamed to teach that in Mexico?

Paul is saying I am not ashamed! If I speak to the Jews I speak the same thing when I speak to the Gentiles. I am a debtor to preach the gospel - the SAME gospel to both the Jews and the Gentiles. But what is there about those two that would make him ashamed? We find that in 1 Corinthians 1:17, "For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel; not with wisdom of words, lest THE CROSS OF CHRIST should be made of none effect." Now, the preaching of the gospel IS the preaching of THE CROSS - you can not separate the two! The Cross is not PART of the gospel; it’s the WHOLE gospel! And here’s why. The Cross is not two pieces of wood; The Cross is not simply a historical event. The True Cross is gathered up in, summed up in THE PERSON OF CHRIST. He - and He alone - gives The Cross identity and definition. For instance, on Golgotha where Christ was crucified, three hung on crosses; three died - one on each side of Him. Who died "the death of The Cross? Did a thief? They all died ON crosses, but Who died The Death of The Cross? Only ONE! Christ gave The Cross true identity because The Cross is not a piece of wood; it is a Divine Work of God. It is accomplished in The Son. The Cross is HIS death, HIS burial, HIS resurrection. We have to understand The Cross in that way; not as a historical event, but as The Work of God in Christ.

Paul calls it "the operation of God by The Spirit." That’s the Cross! The Cross is real today because Christ is real today. So when Paul preached the gospel, he is preaching The Cross, but not as a place, not as a thing; but as a PERSON. "I am determined to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified." But when you preach Christ crucified, you are preaching The Cross. When you are preaching The Cross, you are preaching Christ crucified. And when you preach Christ crucified, you are preaching Him in the reality of His death, His burial and His resurrection. This is the gospel that Paul preaches - the death, burial and resurrection.

Most of us - all of us have yet to comprehend the greatness, the depth of The Cross. THE CROSS IS CHRIST WORKING IN YOU HIS VERY DEATH - death to the Law, but more than that! Death to yourself. This is The Cross - the working of God in you. THE CROSS IS CHRIST WORKING HIS BURIAL IN YOU; the realization - not I, but Christ. THE CROSS IS CHRIST WORKING HIS RESURRECTION IN YOU. None lives but Him, and yet all who live, live by Him! This is The Cross. So when Paul says Christ sent me not to baptize but to preach the gospel, he explains what he means. Verse 18, "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness: but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." Verse 22, " For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God."

Now if you came to the Jews, you wouldn’t want to preach The Cross, because to them The Cross is a stumbling block. You wouldn’t want to offend them, so if you were preaching to Jews, you would be ashamed to preach The Cross. Now if you were preaching to Gentiles, to the Greeks, you wouldn’t want to preach The Cross because to them it is utter foolishness! The laying down of a life, the giving of a life, the idea of a king dying - foolishness! So you wouldn’t want to preach The Cross to the Greeks - they’d call you a fool! You would be ashamed! So Paul says it is not to the Jews that I preach; it is not to the Gentiles that I preach, but to those who are saved - I preach, both Jews and Greeks. I don’t preach to them as Jews, nor do I preach to these as Greeks, but as those that are saved. Whether Jew or Greek, we preach CHRIST CRUCIFIED, we preach The Cross, The Power of God.

So what am I saying? I look at you and in my heart I don’t preach to Mexican people, or Americans, or Africans or Chinese - I am preaching to The Body of Jesus Christ! Whether Jew, whether Greek, whether Chinese - it doesn’t make any difference. Therefore I am not ashamed to declare to you The Truth as it is in Christ. It might offend a Mexican; it might offend an American, but to you - The Lord’s Body it is LIFE, it is POWER! You are not to me identified by a language you speak. To me you are identified by Whose Body you are. I speak to you as The Body of Christ - without shame! So wherever I go in the world it’s the same Body. I speak to the same Body. I speak in a different language - but the SAME gospel. I am not ashamed of the gospel! I’m not going to change it for a nationality. I’m not going to change it for a denomination. I’m not going to change it for an association. It’s the same gospel! It’s the power of God! It’s THE CROSS!

It is this gospel - CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED that brings you and I from the faith of Abraham to the faith of The Son of God. And you can only come from the faith of Abraham to the faith of The Son of God by the gospel of THE CROSS. The gospel of The Cross is not the hearing of the ears, but the hearing of The Spirit. The gospel of The Cross works in you; it is the power and the wisdom of God working in you. It is by that gospel that we come from faith to faith.

Back to Romans 1:17, "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, The just shall live by faith." For therein... in what? In the gospel! In Christ crucified, in Christ in you! We preach Christ in you, we preach Christ working in you by The Spirit - His death, burial and resurrection. THEREIN... by that work the righteousness of God is revealed. Now the righteousness of God that is revealed in you, by the gospel, by the preaching of The Cross is CHRIST HIMSELF! The righteousness, which is revealed in you by the gospel is Christ Himself. God reveals His righteousness in you, and the righteousness of God is Christ Himself. And it is that realization, that reality; that reality of Christ, that reality of righteousness, that brings you and I - in our hearts from the faith of Abraham to the faith of Christ. What is the faith of Abraham? Abraham LOOKED FOR One Who would come. Abraham looked AFAR OFF. Let’s look at this in Genesis 22, and I want us to see what really takes place in our hearts when Christ is revealed in us. When the gospel of God, when The Word of God is revealed in our hearts, revealed in our souls - not just the hearing of words, but the hearing of The Word; when The Voice speaks in us - something happens! We are transformed, our soul is transformed, we are brought from one understanding of God to another understanding of God. That’s the same as saying we are brought "from faith to faith".

The faith of Abraham is one understanding of God, and for Abraham it was a TRUE understanding. But the faith of The Son of God, by which Paul lived is another understanding altogether. And the understanding of The Son makes the understanding of Abraham non-effective. Why? Because what Abraham saw by faith, what he looked to by faith has been fulfilled in The Son. It has come to its fulfilment. So that the understanding of Abraham was one thing, but the understanding of Christ is another thing. This understanding is replaced by a GREATER understanding.

I want us to look at the faith of Abraham - what was it? What was Abraham’s understanding concerning Christ? What was his understanding concerning God? What was his understanding concerning his relationship with God? Because his understanding and his faith are the same. That’s what faith is - a God given understanding. What’s the difference between the faith of Abraham and the faith of Christ by which Paul lived? We know that Paul said that his understanding, his faith was by Christ being revealed in him. When God revealed His Son in Paul, his eyes of understanding were enlightened, and he came to the faith of The Son of God. What’s the difference? Let’s look first at the faith of Abraham in Genesis 22. The setting here is Abraham is on his way to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. His faith, his understanding of God is being put to the test. Let’s see what God is testing, because the faith of Christ is also put to the test IN YOU. The faith of Abraham was put to a test in Abraham, but the faith of Christ is put to a test in you.

Let me read that to you in 1 Peter 1:7, "That the trial (or testing) of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." What is that verse really saying? Peter is saying here’s what is important: that your faith, your understanding will stand - unashamed in the presence of The Lord; that your understanding of Christ will stand unashamed in the presence of The Lord. It’s the same for Abraham - God was testing Abraham’s understanding, because Abraham is on his way to a mountain, and THE LORD is going to appear on that mountain to Abraham. He’s going to speak to him; the heavens are going to open, and The Spirit of God is going to speak to Abraham. And the test is just this: will Abraham’s understanding be unto praise, or will it be ashamed? When The Lord appears, when The Lord speaks, will Abraham stand - unashamed? Will his comprehension of The Lord stand in The Lord’s presence, or will he be ashamed?

Now that’s the question. Remember that here The Lord Who appeared to Abraham was in the heavens. Remember this: The Lord Who appears to you is IN YOU. He is The Lord FROM heaven; He is The Lord OF heaven; He is The Heavenly Lord, but He is IN YOU! And if He appears, He appears in you. When God reveals His Son, He reveals His Son in you. He is The Heavenly Son, He is The Son of Heaven, He is The Lord of Heaven - but He is in you. And the question is: when God reveals His Son in you, in the presence of The Lord - is your comprehension able to stand unto His praise and unto His glory? The type and the shadow of that is here in Abraham, because Abraham is a type, and Isaac is a type and a shadow of One to come. So God told Abraham take Isaac and go to the mountain.

Genesis 22:4. See, this whole story of Abraham and Isaac - a father and a son - is a type of a Greater Father and a Greater Son. There is a Greater Father than Abraham, there is a Greater Son than Isaac. And this story of Abraham and Isaac is really the story of the Greater Father and the Greater Son. And this faith of Abraham is really speaking of a GREATER FAITH TO COME. "Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place AFAR OFF." Remember when Jesus said to the Jews, "Abraham saw my day, and he rejoiced in it."? The Jews then asked Jesus, "Are you then greater than our father Abraham?" And Jesus said there’s a greater father than Abraham. "Before Abraham was, I am!" This whole story is fulfilled IN CHRIST! Abraham saw it AFAR OFF; but it’s not far off to you and I - IT IS IN US!! The Greater Son has come! And with Him, the Greater Faith has come. Abraham was true to his understanding of God. Paul was true to his understanding of God. That’s why he was not ashamed. Wherever he was, with the Jews, with the Gentiles, Paul was true to his faith. He was true to his understanding of God.

Do you remember the time that Paul was eating with some Gentiles? It wasn’t kosher, it wasn’t Jewish food; it was Gentile food and the Jews were not supposed to eat Gentile food. The Law said - "Thou shalt not..." Here’s Paul down there with the Gentiles because he is dead to the Law; Christ is his Life. He understands that righteousness is not WHAT you eat, but WHO you eat! So he’s there with the Gentiles and Peter is there with him. So here come some Jews, down from Jerusalem and Peter sees them, and he is ashamed to eat with the Gentiles. So he gets up and goes away from the table so that his brethren will not criticize him. Peter is not true to the faith; Peter is not settled in the faith. Peter is one way when he’s with the Gentiles, and another way when he’s with the Jews. Peter can’t make up his mind whether he’s a Jew or a Gentile, but Paul understands something. Paul understands: I’m not Jew, I’m not Gentile; I’m a New Creation in Christ! And I’m not ashamed of my faith! I’m not ashamed of my understanding. Christ is my Life! Christ liveth in me! I am not a Jew! I am not a Gentile! I have come from all of that - I live by the faith of The Son of God! The faith of The Son of God is my understanding that Christ is my Life! FAITH MAKETH NOT ASHAMED!

Peter was having a problem with that. His faith would not stand unto praise and honor at that time. But The Spirit of God dealt with Peter because in his letter, in the first chapter he’s telling those that he is writing to: don’t let this happen to you. He remembered that one time it happened to him. He’s saying: let your faith stand in the presence of The Lord. He speaks about faith that is made perfect at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Peter came to THE FAITH OF THE SON OF GOD!

So Abraham sees this place afar off. Here is when Abraham began to see the day of The Lord. "Abraham saw MY DAY, and he rejoiced." Right here in Genesis 22 is where he began to see that day - yet it was afar off. We must understand that Abraham was not just seeing a natural place, but a spiritual place. The Hebrew term "lifted up his eyes" does not mean natural sight; it means "the elevation of the soul." Paul called it: "the eyes of your understanding being enlightened". "Lifted up his eyes" is an Old Covenant term that means SPIRITUAL AWAKENING, spiritual sight. "Abraham saw My Day, and he rejoiced." Now, he’s not rejoicing yet - but he will rejoice when he sees fully The Day of The Lord! Abraham looked for The Day. You and I - by faith - Live in The Day! The faith of Abraham looked for the day - he saw it afar off. And even seeing it afar off - he rejoiced! How much more should we rejoice, who LIVE IN THAT DAY? We will look more closely at Abraham’s faith. I want us to see "that Day" that he saw, and then I want us to see "That Day" - not by the faith of Abraham, but by THE FAITH OF THE SON OF GOD.

Pt. 4 - The Works of Faith

Now turn to John 8:39. " They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children ye would do THE WORKS OF ABRAHAM." Remember the term - "works of Abraham". The works of Abraham are the works of faith. Abraham did according to his faith. Now in Christ, the faith of Abraham has come to perfection. And in Christ the works of faith have come to perfection. We are going to be talking about the works of faith. James says faith without works is dead, but most people don’t understand "the works of faith" that James is talking about. Most people didn’t understand the "works" that Jesus was talking about when He said "I do the works of My Father. I am come to finish The Work that My Father gave Me to do." The works of Christ were The Works of Faith. It’s the same working that is to work in us by The Spirit. But Jesus is telling them here in John 8, if you were Abraham’s children... Now they were Abraham’s natural descendants but they were not his Spiritual Seed. They were not of the FAITH of Abraham. The SEED of Abraham is of the FAITH of Abraham. Why? Because The Seed of Abraham is CHRIST!

"Unto Abraham and his seed were the promises made... that seed, which is Christ." We are going to see by the scripture that The Faith of Abraham and The Seed of Abraham - both are fulfilled IN CHRIST. In Christ we come to Abraham’s faith made perfect, made complete. In Christ we come to the fulfilment of Abraham’s seed. Therefore Jesus can say, and Paul can say the seed of Abraham, the children of Abraham are those who are of the faith of Abraham. And he was talking about Abraham’s faith coming to its fulfilment in Christ. So Jesus is looking at these Jews who say Abraham is our father. But remember this: Abraham was Ishmael’s father too! Not in faith - but in the flesh. These Jews were his natural descendants, but Jesus is saying if you were his spiritual children, then you would do HIS WORKS. "But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham." He is saying here that Abraham wouldn’t try to kill Me! Abraham would fall down and worship Me! And they are saying - how do you know that? As you read the rest of these verses: what is He talking about?

"Are you greater than our father Abraham?" Then in verse 56, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad." Verse 58, "Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am." Now, let’s look back at "the day" in Genesis 22. Let’s see what Abraham saw. Remember he is seeing AFAR OFF. The faith of Abraham sees Christ - but it sees Christ afar off. The faith of Abraham saw "the day of The Lord", but he saw the day of The Lord afar off. And yet - so real was the seeing of that day; that day was so real to Abraham though it was far off, that he said, "I am a pilgrim, I am a stranger here. I have no inheritance here, my inheritance is in The Lord." And God honored Abraham, and counted his faith as righteousness. What I’m telling you is that you and I - in Christ - have come to Abraham’s faith made PERFECT. We have come to the faith of The Son of God. Abraham’s faith was far off; we have come to that faith which is IN CHRIST.

Genesis 22:4-5, "Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you." Now go to John 14. The story of Abraham is the story of a Greater Father and a Greater Son. The faith of Abraham is fulfilled in a Greater Faith. Remember what Abraham said here in Genesis. He told his servants, the young men that were with him, the men of his household - but the men of his household were yet servants. So he told his servants me and Isaac are going to that mountain. We are going to worship, but don’t worry: WE WILL COME AGAIN. What was going to happen on the mountain? Abraham was going to see The Day of The Lord - fully, completely! Here he is seeing afar off - the mountain is far off. He says I must take my son to that mountain. Isaac said, ‘Why are we going to this mountain?’ Abraham said, ‘We’re going to offer a sacrifice.’ Isaac said, ‘Well, I’ve got the wood.’ Isaac carried the wood. Jesus carried The Cross! Isaac said, ‘Father, what are we doing here?’ Jesus said, "Why have you forsaken Me?" Abraham told Isaac, ‘Don’t worry; God will provide. God will provide Himself a sacrifice.’

The Father told Jesus, ‘Don’t worry, I will raise you up from among the dead.’ We’re going to the mountain. It was in the mountain that Abraham saw The Day of The Lord. Abraham told his servants: first we’re going away from you. He left his servants there: they could not go to the mountain. Here in John 14 Jesus says, "Don’t worry. Let not your heart be troubled. I’m going away, but I WILL COME AGAIN." Now we’ve got to keep our stories straight here. Where were Abraham and Isaac going? They were going to THE CROSS. What happens in the mountain? Abraham offered Isaac; he laid him upon the altar - his only begotten son. God said to Abraham, "Take your son, your ONLY son..." John in the gospel of John says, "The Word was made flesh; we beheld His glory as the glory of the ONLY begotten of The Father." The stories are the same: one is a prediction of the other. When Abraham said "the lad and I are going yonder" he was talking about the mountain. Jesus said, "Don’t worry, I’m going to leave you for awhile. I am going away, but as surely as I go away, I will come again, and I will receive you unto Myself, so you may be with Me forever; because you will understand that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you."

That’s what John 14 says. Where was Jesus going? He was going to THE CROSS! Nobody else could go there. No one could go for Him. I couldn’t, you couldn’t, His disciples couldn’t. And remember this: that at that time the disciples were still servants. Jesus went to The Cross, He died, He went away in death, He was buried, put out of sight. Then He came forth in the resurrection. He came again - AGAIN in the power of The Spirit, and He received His disciples unto Himself so that they were no more servants, but sons of God! If Jesus had not gone away - into death... that’s where He went. ‘You can’t come where I’m going right now, but when I come again...’ Abraham and Isaac - now, did they "come again"? He said, "we will come again." Abraham and Isaac "came again" in the power of THE RESURRECTION! The Hebrews writer says in Hebrews 11 that Abraham received Isaac in the figure of the resurrection. When Abraham and Isaac came off that mountain, it was in the power of the resurrection. It was a type, a shadow, a figure of the real to come. When Jesus came, He came in the power of the resurrection and received His Body unto Himself. "As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God."

When did He do that? He did that IN THE RESURRECTION. When does He do that? He does it IN THE RESURRECTION. He lives in you! "I will receive you unto Myself. You will be no more servants in My household; you’ll be sons in The Father’s household because The Son lives in you, and because you live in The Son.’ This is the faith of The Son of God - the understanding that He lives in me, and I live in Him, and this is the faith by which we live. We do not live as if He were afar off. By faith we live understand HE IS IN US. We do not live as if we are far off from Him: by faith we live as those who are IN HIM. "In THAT DAY you will know..." John 14 is what I’m talking about. What day? The same day Abraham saw - in type, in shadow. What day did Abraham see" Let’s look at it.

Back to Genesis 22:9, "And they came to the place which God had told him of..." How many of us understand something? In Genesis 12 God said, "Come out of your country, come out of your kindred, come out of your land - come out, come out. I’m going to show you a land." And God was dealing with Abraham and Abraham is lifting up his eyes and he is seeing some pieces and some aspects of this land. The Lord would appear and say, "Lift up your eyes from the place you stand", and Abraham would lift his eyes, he would lift his heart to The Lord, and The Lord would show him something about the land. But here in this mountain Abraham finally sees the land, the inheritance, the seed that God told him about to begin with. Not natural dirt, not natural sky. No - but the SPIRITUAL REALITY.

So he comes to the place that God had told him of. Now we’ve got to understand this: Abraham was not here in the natural. He was here in flesh, but not in his own power, not in his own ability, not in his own understanding. He didn’t even know where the place was! Abraham was here BY FAITH!. "...and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham; and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou has not withheld thy son, thine only son from me." Here we have what is in reality The Father offering His Son. With Abraham it is a type and a shadow; it’s a prediction. But with God and His Son it is not a type, it is not a shadow - it is a REALITY! The hand was not withheld, The Son was given, The Son did die, and He died in the faith of The Father! He died in faith - that His Father would raise Him again in the power of The Resurrection!

There is only ONE DOOR to the place, to the land that God would show you and I. The land that God showed to Abraham was a type of heaven. I’m not talking about heaven far off. Heaven was far off to Abraham, but heaven is nigh you - even IN CHRIST! "For ye have been raised together, seated together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Not far off to you and I; the faith of Abraham says it is far off, but the faith of The Son of God says I AM in My Father, YOU ARE in Me, and I AM in you! And here, in that reality the just live by faith. The Door, that reality is CHRIST CRUCIFIED: Christ in His death, in His burial. Isaac on the altar was the door to Abraham seeing the resurrection. Until Isaac was offered, Abraham could not see the resurrection. Until Christ went away in death, until He was offered, you and I can not see the resurrection.

Jesus says, "I AM the way, the truth, the life." That’s right there in John 14. What’s He talking about in John 14? He’s talking about The Cross. He’s talking about going away - into death; coming again, receiving them unto Himself. John 14 is NOT talking about a location; it’s talking about a RELATIONSHIP. And the original Greek will bear that out. "That where I am, there ye may be also." He’s not talking about a location, but a relationship because in verse 20 He says "I am in My Father, you are in Me, I am in you." You’ve got to put verse 3 and 20 together. "I’m going away. I’m going to death. I’m going to come back in the power of the resurrection, and I’m going to live in you. You are going to live in Me - where I am, you will be also!"

"In that day..." What day? The day Abraham saw. What day was that? The DAY OF THE RESURRECTION. The day of the resurrection is The Day of The Lord. It’s the day of His wrath upon sin; it’s the day of His glory to all who receive Him. It is the day of His coming - in power, in Spirit, in glory. Hallelujah! Look in Romans 1:4. Where was it that He was declared to be The Son of God? How did Abraham know that Isaac was His Son? Because God gave Isaac back to Abraham - in a type of the resurrection. Where is Jesus truly declared to be The Son of God? " And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." The psalmist David says in Psalms 2, "I have set My King upon My holy hill, I have declared a decree; this day, it is declared..." What is the decree? "Thou art My Son." What was the decree, what did God declare? "Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten thee." (Verse 7) What I’m talking about is - what day? THIS day I have begotten thee. Jesus is called "the only begotten from among the dead, the firstborn from among the dead". From what was He begotten? From what was He raised up? From among the dead - in the resurrection. That’s the day that The Father declares "Thou art My Son. This day - in the resurrection I declare - YOU ARE MY SON! You are a Priest forever after the order of Melchisedek."

That’s The Son Who is revealed in you! That’s The Son Who is revealed in me! That’s THE DAY that Abraham saw - the day of the resurrection. It is the day wherein The Lord is raised up, wherein The Lord is revealed. We live in that day by the faith of The Son of God. With Abraham it was far off; with you and I it is come NOW - IN CHRIST! But how do you know the day is come? You only know that day is come when God reveals His Son in you. You can know naturally, but you only know inwardly when The Father Himself declares His Son in you. This is what Paul meant when he said, "It pleased The Father to reveal His Son in me." This is why Paul said, "Oh, that I may know Him, in the power of His resurrection, that I may be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness which is by The Law, but the righteousness which is of God - by the faith of The Son."

The Lord has brought us to the day that Abraham saw afar off. But Abraham knew "this day" because the Lord - in type and in shadow - returned Isaac to him. It’s a type of the resurrection of Christ. It’s a type of God declaring the day. But how does God declare "the day"? By declaring The Son. It is not a "day" we are looking for, but THE SON! When He is revealed, the day is revealed! So The Spirit of God is come to bring you and I in our hearts, from the faith of Abraham that looks afar, to the faith of Christ that says it is NOW! He is in me! I have no life but Him! What a faith! What an assurance! And then everywhere, in every place, in every time, we stand secure in the faith of The Son of God! And we are not ashamed of the gospel of The Cross, for it is Christ in me, it is Christ in you. It is the realization that I am crucified, and nevertheless I live, yet it is not I - CHRIST LIVETH IN ME!

We have come to that reality! This is the faith of The Son of God. So Habakkuk the prophet looks far ahead and he saw a time that the just shall live by faith. And now Jesus has come, Abraham’s seed has come, and we are in Him, and there - in the reality of Christ, WE LIVE BY FAITH! Our purpose here is to minister to one another - not the faith of Abraham that sees afar off, but to minister to one another the faith of The Son of God whereby we live now. That there may be in you and I an increase of HIS FAITH. May The Spirit of God bring us more perfectly from faith to faith!

Pt. 5 - From Faith to Faith

We are talking about the Work of The Spirit whereby in our hearts we come from FAITH TO FAITH. So the question is - have we, in our hearts come from faith to faith? Now you either have or you haven’t. In our heart, in our soul, in our understanding we are either identifying with the faith of Abraham or we are identifying with the faith of Christ. Not just in our head - in our HEARTS; our heart - where we live. So that’s the question. And what we are doing in the scripture is to show you the difference between the two. What is the faith of Abraham? How is it different from what Paul calls the faith of Christ? One must be fulfilled in the other; the faith of Abraham must be made complete in Christ. In Christ our faith is made complete. What does that mean?

We have shown in the scripture that the faith of Abraham LOOKED TOWARD a Christ to come; looked for a day that was afar off. The day was real, but it was afar off. Abraham saw something real, but he saw it far off. His faith was in something real, but it was far off. That’s the faith of Abraham - seeing something real that has not yet come. A Seed that is real - of God, but not yet come. A land, a dwelling place, a living place that is real - but not yet come. What the scriptures tell us is that what Abraham saw by faith - which was real but not yet come, IS NOW COME IN CHRIST! Most Christians will hear me say this and they will say, Amen, but in their hearts they won’t move from the faith of Abraham to the faith of Christ. They still want a faith in something YET TO COME. And in the Bible that’s the faith of Abraham. I don’t know how else to say it. By faith Abraham looked far beyond.

Well, is that the kind of faith you’ve got? In most cases it is. Here’s a question: was the faith of Abraham fulfilled in Christ or not? That’s simple. If the faith of Abraham is not fulfilled in Christ, then Abraham’s faith was in vain, and God was a liar! So we are faced here with an issue in our Bible and in our hearts. Did God fulfil His servant Abraham’s faith or not? Is the story we read out of Genesis 22 of Abraham and Isaac a true type of The Father and The Son - or not? Here Abraham’s faith was put to a test. But the question is: was Abraham’s faith ever fulfilled? Or is it still just unfulfilled? Is what Abraham looked for still yet to come? And if so, then what do we have? What have we come to? What do we have better than Abraham?

This is the very question that the Jews had to answer. They didn’t want anything better than Abraham. They said, "We are the children of Abraham!" And what Jesus really said was, "Yes, your Father Abraham saw my day, and when he saw my day, he rejoiced it." We talked about "that day" in type, in shadow. Abraham saw The Resurrection. He saw The Seed come forth in The Resurrection. Jesus says, "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone, but if it dies, it brings forth much fruit." The fruit is the increase of HIM IN HIS BODY. And His Body is The Body of His Resurrection. It’s The Body where The Resurrection lives. "The Church, which is His Body, the fulness of HIM." Well, in type and shadow that’s what Abraham saw. And Jesus said he saw My Day, and rejoiced. But then he went on to say, "However a GREATER than Abraham HAS COME! "Before Abraham was, I AM." It’s not enough to be like Abraham - there’s a greater than Abraham! Before Abraham ever existed - I AM!

You and I have not come to Abraham: we have come to THE IAM THAT I AM! We have come to the greater than Abraham. We have come to what Abraham saw afar off. And if we have not, then we have come to NOTHING! We must hear this: the Jews claimed Abraham and they rejected Christ. Christ said, "Your father Abraham was looking for ME! He saw My Day."That means he saw The Day of My coming; he saw The Day of My Resurrection, he saw The Day that I AM! Abraham saw that. Where did he see it, in type, in shadow? In who? In Isaac - on the mountain when God said, "Now lift up your eyes." And then He spoke to him again and said, "So shall thy seed be - as the dust of the earth, as the stars of the heavens."

Genesis 22:14, " And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen." What shall be seen in the mount of The Lord? I suggest to you that in the mount of The Lord you see The Lord! In the mount of The Lord, The Lord appears, and He shows His greatness, and He shows His increase. Now here it’s in type and in shadow; here it is far off. But the writer of the Hebrews letter said that you and I have come to the mount of The Lord - not in type, not in shadow; in the reality of Christ. "Ye are come to Mount Zion." YOU ARE COME to Mount Zion! Abraham was COMING - you ARE COME to Mount Zion! The City of God - you ARE COME to the city of God; you ARE COME to the heavenly Jerusalem. Where? IN CHRIST JESUS! The heavenly Jerusalem was talking about Him. The abode, the abiding place - it’s talking about HIM. We abide in Him, we live in Him. Over in the Old Covenant, in the faith of Abraham things and places were used to speak of Christ. We do not come from things and places, to things and places. We come from things and places used as types and shadows - to the REALITY of The I AM, to the REALITY of Christ!

I AM - I AM... what? I AM all things that were ever spoken, that were ever promised, that were ever prophesied - I AM! Here the just shall live by faith - not faith in something yet to come; faith in that which is NOW COME. We have come from things hoped for, we have come from things not seen, to the substance, to the evidence, to The Person. Well... some of us have. So it is undeniable; the faith of Abraham looked afar off. The faith of The Son of God, by which Paul said he lived does not look far off. The faith of The Son of God says - I AM, I AM, I AM in you, you are in Me; I AM The Resurrection; I AM The Truth; I AM The Life; where I AM you are also - I AM! And that’s really the question - do we believe that He is The I AM - or not?

Now I know what our religion says; what does our hearts say? Faith is either in your heart or it’s not. We either believe in a thing out here, or we believe in a reality in us. I either believe that I am in Christ, or I don’t. I either believe that Christ is in me now, and that I live by Him, or I don’t. To me, Christianity is either a religion or a life. To me Christianity is either something that I do, or what He is now doing - in me. Those are the choices, and with all of us it is either one way or the other - in our hearts. And all I want to do is present to you from the scripture a reality that is fulfilled in Christ. We will either walk in that reality or we won’t. But here’s the thing: you can not live by the faith of The Son of God; you can not live by the faith of Christ, The Son of God EXCEPT you leave the faith of Abraham!

You can not be a child and a man at the same time! "Now I say unto you that the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant..." That’s Galatians 4:1. There is a point in time... we call it "growing up". And it is growing up, but still there is a point in time when you cease to be one thing and begin to be another. And that’s a definite point in time. You don’t ease out of one into the other: it doesn’t work that way. Not even in the natural, but certainly not in the spiritual. If we are to live by the faith of The Son of God, we must leave the faith of Abraham. See, this is exactly what Jesus was telling the Jews. "Abraham is our father." But there is a GREATER FATHER! "Are you saying that you are greater than Abraham?" And He said it’s not a matter of being "greater"; here’s what I’m telling you: Before Abraham ever existed - I AM!! Abraham came and Abraham went... I AM!!! Now the Jews didn’t know about that: they knew Abraham for a long time! "Before Abraham was, I am! Now you must come from Abraham to ME!" "But for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years we have looked for the Messiah. We really like to LOOK FOR The Messiah! We’ve built our whole religion around "looking for The Messiah". Every day we pray - Oh God, send The Messiah! If we didn’t have that to pray for, we wouldn’t have anything to pray for!"

"And now here you are, and we’re going to have to leave this whole thought pattern and say The One we’ve been looking for... IS HERE? The One the prophets speak of?" They wouldn’t do it! They’d rather LOOK FOR Him than RECEIVE Him! What about you? What about me? I’m making it real simple for you: one, two - it’s that simple. Abraham’s faith was a genuine faith, a real faith, a valid faith UNTIL Christ came. But after Christ came, we have to move from faith to faith. Abraham’s great joy would have been for Christ to have been in him, but Christ was not in him: he looked for that time. Abraham’s greatest joy would have been to live where you and I live; but he could only see the land afar off.

We have come to that - to which, for which, Abraham looked. If Abraham were here with us today, he would be dancing and shouting! He would have been saying what God had promised HE HATH DONE! I looked for a dwelling place, and God has brought me into His Son! I lived in tents, I was a pilgrim and a stranger; now I am a son in my Father’s House! That’s what Abraham would say. That’s what Paul said. We have come from faith to faith. As a Work of God, as a Work of The Spirit in Christ, the faith of Abraham has been fully answered in Christ. Again - the question is for you and I; it was a question for The Church then in Paul’s day. Paul was asking them: have you come from faith to faith? Then he quotes Habakkuk: the just shall live by his faith. Paul says, this is what Habakkuk was talking about. It has come to be fulfilled in Christ!

"The life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of The Son of God." So this is what we’ve been talking about. We’re not saying that the faith of Abraham was no good. No - we’re saying the faith of Abraham was very good, but we’re saying that this faith has come to be fulfilled IN CHRIST. And to deny that the faith of Abraham has been fulfilled in Christ is to deny faith. It’s to deny everything that Abraham looked for. And if in Christ we have not come to everything Abraham looked for then what kind of Salvation do we have? Well, here’s the problem: in Abraham’s time God spoke in types and shadows. You can see them with your natural eyes, you can feel them with your natural hands. But here, we are not dealing with types and shadows, but with the reality of The Spirit. Here you can not see with your natural eyes, not hear with your natural ears. Here faith is not based on types and shadows. Here faith is based on what The Spirit alone can reveal, and our problem is we are still looking for types and shadows. We want to see it with the natural eye and hear it with the natural ear.

But if you can see it with the natural eye, and hear it with the natural ear - it’s not God! Not now - not now in Christ. At one time it was God, at one time that’s how God spoke. Hebrews 1:1 tells us that in different times and in different ways God spoke unto the fathers by the prophets. BUT... verse 2, at the end of those days, this same God hath spoken IN SON. Yes, in the old you can hear with the natural ear, but what you are hearing is just a type and a shadow. But now you can only hear by The Spirit, but what you hear is the REAL VOICE OF GOD! In the old you can see with the natural eye, but what you see is just a type and a shadow. Now you can only see by The Spirit, but what you see is THE REAL SON OF GOD REVEALED IN YOU BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. We have not come from types and shadows to more types and shadows. We have not come from one type of heaven to another type of heaven. We have not come from the type of God’s sanctuary to another type of God’s sanctuary. We have come from the type to the reality - IN CHRIST JESUS! And there we live by the faith of The Son of God.

So today you are either living by the faith of Abraham looking for such a reality, or you are living by the faith of The Son of God in reality.

Pt. 6 - The Removal of The Law

Historically the Law had to be done away because The Law was a type and a shadow; built upon types and shadows. And The Law could NOT bring anyone to righteousness. It was added because of transgressions, so if it were allowed to remain, it would only become a hindrance, a stumbling block. Now what we’re going to look at here is not just important - it is VITAL, it is necessary to our coming from faith to faith. The Law, and all that it means; for in it is bound up the Old Covenant, must be dealt with in our hearts as it has already been dealt with in Christ. The veil that IS DONE AWAY IN CHRIST must be TAKEN AWAY out of our hearts. That’s exactly what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:14-18. The veil that he is talking about there is The Law. It is done away in Christ; it must be taken away out of our hearts. In other words, we must allow The Holy Spirit to do in us as it is IN CHRIST so that we can say: "To me, to live is Christ." We must allow the Work of The Spirit in our hearts, but the Spirit works in us according to The Finished Work of God in Christ. The Spirit does not work in us something less than Christ; but He works in our hearts according to that which is fulfilled in The Son. Nothing less, nothing other, but The Salvation that is in The Son, The Redemption that is in The Son, The Glory that is in The Son. Nothing less - The Holy Spirit reveals in us The Son. And that’s when you and I come from the Old Covenant that speaks of Him to the New Covenant that is realized in The Person of Him. The Law must be dealt with in our hearts. And let’s remember that The Law is not just Ten Commandments.

So having said that, let’s look at the scripture. Galatians 3:17, " And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect." What is Paul saying here? The Covenant which was confirmed before of God in Christ - he’s speaking of Abraham! He’s speaking of His Covenant with Abraham which was a Covenant of Faith. He did not show Abraham The Law; He showed Abraham The Coming Christ! He didn’t show Abraham The Tabernacle of Moses; He showed Abraham heaven itself! The Covenant that God confirmed BEFORE... Before what? Before The Law. The Covenant of Faith. What Abraham saw by faith - far off, The Law could not disannul. The Law could not take its place. So Paul’s argument is: why serve The Law? Verse 19, " Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator." Paul is saying the inheritance, the promise did not come by The Law. It was given of God BY FAITH, therefore it must be fulfilled IN FAITH. What Abraham saw was not The Law. Before The Law Abraham saw an inheritance, Abraham saw a Seed, Abraham saw a promise, Abraham saw a land... Abraham saw CHRIST!

I read to you, "The covenant that was confirmed before of God IN CHRIST..." Abraham saw Christ; saw Him afar off, but he saw Christ, and God confirmed The Covenant with him. And Paul’s argument is the giving of The Law did not change that. It did not disannul the promise, therefore the question is: why should we serve The Law? It was added because of transgressions. It wasn’t added to make faith better; it was added because Israel would not walk in faith. Israel would not live by faith, even the faith of Abraham - they wouldn’t do it! So God put them under The Law - to keep them until the faith of Abraham came to be fulfilled IN CHRIST. We read that right here: verse 25, "But after that faith IS COME, we are no longer under a schoolmaster." We’ll come to that again.

Why serve The Law? It was added because of transgressions. Until when? How long was The Law to be the government? Until when? Until we get tired of serving The Law? Until The Law become old and decrepit? No - there is a definite time. The Law was added UNTIL what Abraham saw afar off - CAME in the reality of The Spirit. When what Abraham saw afar off came in the reality of Christ, The Law was UNNECESSARY. To be in Christ and yet serve The Law was - and is - ANTI CHRIST! And I’ll tell you why in a minute. The Law was given as a stop gap - temporarily for transgressions. It spoke of righteousness, but it couldn’t make you righteous. It spoke of heaven - Holy of Holies, but it couldn’t get you there. It had a High Priest, but he couldn’t offer his own life; he had to offer the life of a bull or a goat or a sheep. The Law was given for a period of time. Until when? "Until THE SEED SHOULD COME to whom the promise was made."

Verse 16, "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is CHRIST." Look, the whole issue here is not me and you; the whole issue here is did God keep His promise to His Seed? The promise to Abraham concerning an inheritance, concerning a house, a land, a city, was actually to The Seed, which is Christ. GOD MADE THE PROMISE TO HIS SON! To Abraham and his seed - not seeds, not many - but One - Christ! The whole issue of Salvation is not you and me; it’s between The Father and The Son! Does The Son have a House? Does The Son have a Body? Does The Son have a City? Does The Son have a Throne? That’s the whole issue! Well now - does He? See, our whole thinking is wrong. We think WE are the issue! What God is going to do for ME; what God promised ME. No, no - His promise was to The Son. And here’s the reality: you are a joint heir with The Son. But if The Son doesn’t have a city... what are YOU a joint heir of? If The Son is naked, unclothed, and does not have a Body... where does that leave you and me? This is Paul’s argument in 2 Corinthians 5. The issue is THE SON! The promise is unto The Son! The inheritance belongs to The Son. We are joint heirs with The Son; if The Son has nothing... we have nothing.

The whole issue of Faith is with The Son. Whose faith is it over in the New Covenant? The faith of J W Luman? No! THE FAITH OF THE SON OF GOD! The whole issue of faith is with The Son: The Son believing The Father, and The Father giving unto The Son what He said - a Body, a Sanctuary, a House, a Tabernacle, an inheritance IN THE SAINTS! What are we looking for? The writer of the Hebrews letter says here’s what Salvation is: Salvation is LOOKING UNTO JESUS... not beyond Jesus, looking unto JESUS; not looking "for" Jesus, looking UNTO JESUS. It’s the same phrase as to say "looking INTO Jesus". But then he says something else: "the author and the finisher of our faith." What does that mean? Here He is the author - it started with Abraham. That’s where the promise was given. To Abraham and to the True Seed of Abraham, which is Christ. Here is where faith starts. The author of Abraham’s faith is CHRIST. The finisher, the completion of our faith is CHRIST. Looking unto JESUS, the author and the finisher of our faith. Faith does NOT go somewhere beyond Him. It is finished, completed, made perfect in HIM. It started in HIM, it is finished IN HIM! Glory to God - this is what Salvation is: looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith; receiving in Him everything Abraham saw.

But we still haven’t dealt with The Law. The Law must be dealt with because it was added. We shouldn’t even need it. It wasn’t there because they were living by faith; it was there because they would NOT live by faith. Do you notice in the Old Testament when God referred to Himself, He would refer to Himself as "The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob"? Now, He was The God of Moses, He was The God of Joshua, but that’s not how He referred to Himself. Why? Because Moses and Joshua were under The Law, and The Law is the administration of death. And God is not a God of the dead; He is a God of The Living! He is The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Now He was a God TO Moses, but He’s a God OF Abraham, OF Isaac, and OF Jacob. He’s a God of FAITH! That’s exactly why you’ll always see it that way. Even when He talked to Moses He described Himself as being The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Today to you and I, He is The God and Father of The Lord Jesus Christ! And that ought to mean something to us! The Law must be dealt with because it was added. It’s like an ugly spot on a beautiful painting - it needs to be done away! By The Cross - done away... and now it’s a beautiful picture! It’s the way it should be, but because of transgressions - The Law was added.

Now let’s read verse 21, " Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law." The Law was necessary, not to faith: to transgression. The Law was not added to give Life. The just shall live by FAITH - not by the works of The Law. Here’s the problem - the Jews over many, many years under The Law developed their own "religious system", and they found in The Law what Paul called "a righteousness of their own"; by the works of The Law. But The Law as it was given by Moses, in its purity allowed for no such thing. Jesus told them if you understood Moses, the true Law, you would come to Me; because The Law was given to keep you until I come. That’s what we read..."until THE SEED should come." If Christ is not come, then we are yet under The Law. And there’s no way you can get around that. If we say we are not under The Law, then we say Christ is come: He lives in me, I live in Him, what Abraham saw is fulfilled! It can’t be both ways. That’s what the Bible says. This is Paul’s reasoning here, and he’s reasoning with the Jews. We say the letter is to the Galatians, but the Galatians had been listening to the Jews!

They started out in faith; they started out in the Spirit. But then here comes some of the Judaizers, and they said, ‘Well, Paul is okay, but he’s kind of a fanatic. He says that everything that is under a type and a shadow in The Law is done away. And that all of that has been fulfilled in Christ, and besides that: you need to really watch this man, because he’s going to tell you that you are NOT a Jew! And he’s going to tell you that you are NOT a Gentile. This man is going to take away your whole "self life". He’s going to tell you that the only life you have is Christ! He is a good brother, but God knows - he’s a fanatic! And he continually violates our traditions. He won’t sing our songs with us any more! We march around the building saying ‘We’re on our way to Zion!’ and this man says, ‘Wait a minute, that’s not right! You are in Mount Zion! You are not on your way - you’ve come there! If you’re going to sing, for God’s sake - sing it right!’ So you’ve got to watch this guy: he doesn’t like our songs, he doesn’t like our ceremonies. I bet you he even told you that you didn’t have to be circumcised.’

‘Yes, yes, yes... that’s what he said! Well now, wait a minute! Every good Jew has to be circumcised! Really? Yes! Salvation is of the Jews, you know. You must be circumcised. Well, I guess it won’t hurt! Why not?’ And then Paul hears about it and says, ‘They sang... what? They did...what? Why don’t they just bring a sheep in and slay it? If they are going to go back, why don’t they just go all the way back?’ So he writes his letter, "Oh foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? You started out in The Spirit; now you seek to find fulfillment in the flesh. Are you in Christ - or not?" And you notice that it is in Galatians that he refers to his gospel as being by the revelation of Jesus Christ. It is in Galatians 1 that he says, ‘I certify you brethren that my gospel came when God revealed HIS SON IN ME.’

So what Paul is writing to the Galatians, he is talking to the Jews. That’s the reason he’s dealing with The Law in a Gentile Church. You know friends, you and I who are in Christ should not even have to deal with The Law! It shouldn’t be an issue; but it keeps cropping up! The Old Covenant, where things are yet afar off, should not be an issue here in Christ; but it keeps cropping up! Somebody "comes down from Jerusalem" and says you need to be circumcised. The issues may be different today, but it’s the same Law: it’s a righteousness of our own, it’s works of our own - what I need to do, what you need to do; where we are "going" rather than where we are. We are robbing God’s Son of His Promise - by the ignorance of our own heart, rather than finding IN HIM by The Spirit EVERYTHING that God has promised. For what God has promised by faith, He HAS GIVEN IN HIS SON! So The Law must be dealt with.

So - how is The Law done away? Was The Law nailed to The Cross? No - Christ was. How is The Law done away? We say - we’ll just ignore it! No, you can’t ignore it; it was given of God and it has to be fulfilled. Its time has to be fulfilled - in you. You can’t just ignore it or break it. That’s not the way it is done away. 1 Corinthians 15:55. We must understand that this fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians is concerning The Resurrection. The major themes of it firstly is in and around verse 20; then secondly in and around verse 35; and then thirdly from verse 50 on, but it’s all about The Resurrection. How is The Law done away? That’s the question. "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"Please notice here that he was talking about right THEN; when he was writing this epistle - 2,000 years ago. Not: O death, what is going to become of your sting? No, he’s saying, ‘O death, what HAS BECOME of your sting? Where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?" Then he explains, "The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." The whole question of death and sin is bound up in The Law, but IN CHRIST He has brought us from death to Life! He’s The Resurrection and The Life! He has brought us from the grave, raised us into the heaven - He’s The Resurrection! He has brought us from the body of death to His Body of Life! Now we have victory over death, victory over sin, victory over The Law - IN JESUS CHRIST THE LORD!

How? BY THE CROSS! Romans 7. What is necessary to The Law being done away? The Law was done away; He hath given us the victory in Christ - how did He do that? Verses 1-6. Paul is using here an analogy from The Law to explain a reality in Christ. It’s an allegory. He is using an example from The Law to show a reality in Christ. "Know ye not, brethren (for I speak to them that know the law) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?" And here Paul gives an example how that under The Law a woman is bound to her husband. And his type is that just like under The Law a woman is bound to her husband, so you Jews are as a whole bound up to The Law: The Law is your husband. But Christ has made us free from that husband. How? How did Christ make us free from that husband? How did Christ make us free from The Law, from that husband? Did He come and steal us? No. How did He do that? The Law has dominion over a man AS LONG AS HE LIVETH. Verse 4, "Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." The Law only has dominion over you as long as YOU LIVE. You were made free from The Law when you died with Christ. When did you die with Christ? You died with Him in the body of His death; the body into which He drew all men. "For when one died, all died with Him." He made Himself lower, in the form and fashion of a man. And as mankind, He humbled Himself, became obedient unto death, even the death of The Cross. When He died - I died. When I died, The Law has no power; the sin has no power, thus death has no power - over me!

But wait a minute: The Law has dominion over a man as long as he lives. But when I die, The Law has no power over me. But in and of myself I can not die to The Law. In myself I can only die under The Law; otherwise we could just kill everybody! Send them all to heaven! That’s the way we preach it today: when you die you are going to heaven. ‘You mean I can get to heaven by dying? Yes, you can....Shoot me now!’ In and of myself not only can I not get to heaven. I can’t even get out from under The Law. In and of myself I cannot die TO sin; I can only die IN sin. I myself can not die to the death of sin; I can only die among the dead.

This is why Paul in Romans 7:24 goes on to say, "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Who shall do it? I can not die to myself. Who will deliver me? If only death can deliver me from The Law, and yet I myself can not die to The Law - what hope have I? O, wretched man that I am! Again in Romans just like he said in Corinthians: Thank God through The Lord Jesus Christ. I am crucified with Christ. When He died, He not only died FOR me, He died AS me. But He did die FOR me, because I couldn’t do it for myself. So He did do it FOR me, but He did it AS me, and AS you, and AS all who will receive Him in His death. But you can’t receive Him in His Life unless you receive Him in His death, because The Law has got to be dealt with. And The Law is in power as long as I live. And there’s no way I can die - except BY THE CROSS! Now it is true when you die here, you go to heaven, you are raised up in heavenly places, you are raised up in Jesus Christ! But it is NOT "your" death; it is HIS death for you. It is HIS death as you. It has no limits to it! There is nothing left of the old.

And let me tell you something else: The Resurrection is NOT man brought back to life; The Resurrection is CHRIST HIMSELF LIVING IN YOU! If it’s me living over here in Christ, then The Law is still in power. There’s the mystery of The Cross, but it’s made plain in Christ. That’s why Paul said what he said, "I am crucified with Christ". That takes care of The Law: The Law has no power over me, sin has no power over me, death has no power over me, because in that Christ died once, death hath no more dominion over Him. For in that He died once, He liveth forever: He liveth unto God! And if He liveth unto God forever, then He is my Life - forever! And by Him I live - forever! And will never die: death hath no dominion over me because THE CROSS IS WHERE I DIED. So he says, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live... but... it’s NOT ME, because if it was me, then The Law would have dominion. I live, but not me: CHRIST liveth in me. The law has no dominion over Him!

The Law must be dealt with, but The Law is dealt with not by eliminating The Law, but by ELIMINATING ME. When I am eliminated, The Law has no power, sin has no power, death has no power. But I can not eliminate myself - The Cross is where Christ eliminated me. For He died as me, that I might live by Him. Thus by The Cross, The Law is dealt with, and we can come - in our hearts - from faith of Abraham to the faith of The Son of God. And live - by faith in the reality of Christ. That’s the way it works, but only The Spirit of God can work it in us. But He’s not going to jump on you, knock you down and tie you up. NO - you must turn to see Him.

FATHER, REVEAL YOUR SON IN ME! Amen.