THE LIBERATING SECRET OF CHRIST PART 4 - HIS GLORY by J W LUMAN THE LIBERATING SECRET OF CHRIST. Oh, thank God, there is a liberating secret hidden in Christ. Well, that shouldn't be new to us, because the Scriptures say that in Christ we are hidden. Colossians 3:1-4. Our very life is hidden with Christ in God! Now, this is a liberating secret, when the Holy Spirit begins to open the eyes of our understanding to the work that God has done in Christ, and begins to reveal that work in you and I. So much so, as it were, to bring God from the outside to the inside and bring us into an understanding that God is, by His Spirit in us; and we are, by His Spirit, in Him. So, there is this liberating secret. We have discussed three parts of this secret. The Liberating Secret of the Cross, then The Liberating Secret of His Appearing, then The Liberating Secret of His Name, and now I want to discuss with you The Liberating Secret of His Glory. In each of these little studies, I have used a different diagram; and now I am going to use one that possibly we have already used; but in a little different pattern; because, now our whole theme concerns the truth of the Believer being IN CHRIST. The Believer being in Christ. Now, this has to do with the Glory of God, and the word "glory" will be our theme. And I trust the Spirit of the Lord will help us to see glory as it really is, and understand what glory is all about. Most Believers do not understand what glory is all about. Now, in our lesson, we are going to see, not a Believer; but we are going to see Believers. We are going to see, not a member, but we are going to see many members, many members in Christ Jesus who are to be, and in fact are predestined of God, to be the manifestation of His Glory. This is the thing that we are looking at. Now, Ephesians the first chapter, verse 3 through 14. So, let us look at it and see what the Lord would speak to our hearts. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us..." I want you to notice this term "hath" blessed us. Not who is going to, not who should, not who did, but who hath. Who hath blessed us. "...who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings..." How many of you know now, that "in Christ dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily..." Where does that dwell? IN CHRIST! In Christ dwells all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. "It pleased the Father that in Him should all the fullness dwell." Oh, Believer, you and I must come to understand that God hath made us partakers of all, in Christ, that He hath placed in Christ. We must understand that everything that He hath done in Christ, He hath done on our account. What need hath He to do anything, period, if it were not for us? What is the need that God finds in Himself? All that He hath done, all that He hath accomplished, all the cost of the Cross, all the reality of resurrection, all of the glories of the ascension of Christ, everything that the Father hath placed in the Son, planned in the Son, and performed in the Son, He has done that on our behalf. That, in the doing of it He may bring you and I, who are in Christ, into a relationship with Himself, into a union with Himself, into a fellowship with Himself, through the fullness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, there is much in this verse then, because it says, "who hath blessed us..." Oh, but not who hath blessed us off out here somewhere, as it were in our own life. The center is not "us". The truth here does not center around us. We are partakers of the truth in this instance; but the truth centers in heavenly places in Christ. The truth centers in Christ. Where are the blessings of God? In Christ. That is where they are. That is where God hath blessed us. Oh, Beloved, we get out here as it were, picturing ourselves still here in Adam (#1), or still here in the old creation and we begin to cry, "Oh God, give me a blessing. Oh God, send your blessing. Oh, if you cannot send me a flood, just send me a shower, just send me something." Our prayer should be not for "God sending me a blessing", but to "open my eyes to what You have done in Christ." Not, "God, send me a blessing", but "open my eyes to the fullness of God in Christ." Here (#2) where God hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings, with all spiritual fullness. "Father of Glory, open my eyes that I may see what You have done in Christ Jesus. That I do not go through life blind, stumbling around, just trying to live by feelings; but that the eyes of my understanding be enlightened, and that I begin to look and search out the height, length and depth; and begin to know what God hath done in Christ. Then begin to live right where I am, just as I am in Christ Jesus. Begin to live right where I am, just as I am in Christ Jesus." Not so much looking for a blessing, but rather manifesting a blessing. Not so much looking to be blessed, as looking to bless. Not so much looking to get, as looking to give. Why, neighbor, we have all spiritual fullness, all spiritual blessings. It is because we are shut off by our own natural understanding to this fullness in Christ, that we are out here in the realm of outer darkness looking for something. We are out here continually wanting "somebody to bless me, somebody to help me." "God help me. God bless me." All of our prayer life is wrapped up in that. "Lord, we need a blessing." No! We need our eyes open to the blessing. That is what we need. "God open my eyes that I may see Jesus. Lord, open the eyes of my understanding, that I may be partaker of all that is in Christs; and then in the earth be a blessing, in the earth be a gift, in the earth be an offering, in the earth manifest all that is in Christ Jesus." Instead of acting like we are pilgrims and strangers and paupers, just wandering around in this world looking for a home, we must come to understand that we are in Christ Jesus. Then begin to live out from there. I don't care where you may be on this earth, wherever you find yourself, you are in Christ. You cannot travel in the world and get out of Him. Wherever you are, you are in Him. Paul understood this. Whether in a friend's house or in jail or in a shipwreck or beaten or stoned or among enemies or among the church, wherever he was, this man knew, "wherever I am, I am in Christ." So, his letters are not the letters of a prisoner of Rome, but a prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not the servant of Rome, but the servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not one who is writing to you out of the belly of the catacombs, but one who is writing to you from Heavenly places in Christ Jesus. He is declaring to the Church. "Everyone of you are right where I am." "But Paul, we are not in jail." "Neither am I. I AM IN CHRIST JESUS! This is a temporary circumstance. I am in Christ Jesus." When the circumstance is good, I am in Christ Jesus. When the circumstances are bad, I am in Christ Jesus. That is not so to the believer who sees himself in Adam (in the old creation). The truth is not in him. So, when the circumstances are bad, that one is down trying to pray through. When the circumstances are good, he is hoping that they will get better. He is continually controlled by the circumstances. God is a good God if nothing ever happens to me. God is a good God if I never have to go through a test or a trial. God is a good God if I can always with my natural eyes, see something that I think is God. But, to this Believer here (#2) who has understanding of his union with Christ, circumstances come and go; yet, he knows that the whole thing is a passing situation. He knows that his life is hidden with Christ in God; and so, when he speaks to you, he is going to speak out from Christ. When he lives, he is going to live out from Christ. Wherever he is, he is conscious of the reality that, "Here I am in Christ Jesus." I will never magnify the circumstance, folks. Whether it is a good circumstance or a bad one. I have learned not to magnify good circumstances. I have learned not to magnify bad circumstances. I have learned to magnify THE LORD! "Now, magnify the Lord with me." Let us be a manifestation of where we are in Christ. This is part of The Liberating Secret of Glory. A lot of us think that predestination is a bad word. I used to think it was a bad word, but it kept popping up so much in the Scriptures, I thought, 'Well, it must not be too bad. It is written right here.' It is just the understanding we have, in many cases, that is bad. Predestination is a tremendous thing. Everyone of these Believers (#2) are predestinated. If you can put your name on any one of these circles, then you are predestined. This brother who sees himself out here, in Adam, in outer darkness (#1) is not too sure about predestination, because all he is seeing is in the natural here in the world, and he cannot figure out how predestination has anything to do with this or with that; because he does not know where he is. In our thinking, most of us try to understand predestination in this realm (#1) but it will not fit in that realm. It only fits over here in Christ. (#2) Let us look at it here in Christ. Now, I have told you about all this, and spent all this time on verse three, because everything from verse four to verse fourteen is under the word, "according"; and it all points back to the truth of verse three: "...that God hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." Everything else points back to the truth that we are in Christ. Everything. Look at verse four; "According as He hath chosen us in Him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love." Now, I want you to understand something. Again, the truth here is not on us. You have to take this scripture by scripture. Look at verse three. "...who hath blessed us..." I have told you that "us" is not the center of the truth there. "Who hath blessed us in Christ." "IN CHRIST" is the center there. Where are we blessed? In Christ! Are we blessed out of Him? No sir. You are blessed IN CHRIST. So, the center of that truth is not just us. It is us IN CHRIST. Verse four says, "according". Everything down the line folks is going to point back, not to us as the center, but to Christ as the center, and to us only in as much as we are a participant and a partaker of that of which Christ is the center. He is not only the center of it, He is the fullness of it too. That is why the scripture says, "Christ all, and in all." He is the center and the circumference of this wheel within a wheel. Verse 4, " According as He hath chosen us before the foundation of the world." Now, that is a dangerous reading. According as He hath chosen us before the foundation of the world. You have left out the center. And many today, in their understanding, do just that. They leave out the center. "I am saved." From what? "Well, I am saved from sin." They leave out the center. The center of salvation is not that I am saved from sin, but that Christ lives in me. They leave the center out. And they put themselves in the center. "He hath chosen us." No, "He hath chosen us IN HIM." That is the truth. "... before the foundation of the world." Well, what is the difference here? He hath not chosen "us", as though we were not in Christ. He did not choose us to be in Christ. Because, if, before the foundation of the world, He chose you to be in Christ, then that means that He chose some not to be in Christ. And we know that, "Whosoever will" may come. We know that He died for all and His Will is that none should be lost. What He did before the foundation of the world, since He is an all knowing God, He looked to the very end of time, He looked to the very end of age, He looked from the beginning to the end. He chose to present all things to Himself in the Person of His Son. Which means, He has chosen nothing outside of Christ, so that if you are to be one of the chosen, you must be in Christ Jesus; because, outside of Him, you are not chosen of God. You are chosen only in Christ. That is where He chooses you. He calls you while you are yet in sin. The Holy Spirit woos you and comes to you. He does that while you are yet in sin. He calls you into Christ, where He has chosen you in Christ. The whole emphasis here is not on us. The emphasis is on the place where God hath chosen you. Before the foundation of the world, He looked into Christ. He saw all that is in Christ, all that would ever be in Christ, and in Christ He chose them unto Himself. Which means that He chooses you no place else. If you are going to be the chosen of God, then you must be in Christ. Someone says, 'Oh now, you know brother, that God just loves everybody; and that He is the Father of us all.' No sir! Bless your heart. He is the Father of those who are in Christ Jesus. The devil is the Father of those who are not. The love of God is extended to all, but it is enjoyed only by those who are in Christ Jesus. Here is the love wherewith He hath loved us. Here is the love that He has called us into. But you see, "many are called," which means all are called, but few there be ("few are chosen"); because few actually come. But when they come, they find themselves chosen of God. They find themselves in Christ, chosen of God. They find that they have been placed by the Holy Spirit right where God saw them from the beginning. They see that they have been placed in a relation that has been prepared for them, by God from the beginning. They have finally come to where God saw them from the beginning. Who may come? Whosoever will. But, only those who do come make up the chosen of God; because we are not chosen to come, we are chosen having come. Do not get those two terms mixed up. You are called to come. 'Come on to dinner. Everything is ready. Come on, the food is on the table.' But, who are the ones fed? The ones who sit down at the table and start eating. Not just the ones who are called to the table, but those who get there and begin to eat. Jesus says, "Except you eat My Flesh and drink My Blood, you have no life in you." It is not just being called to come; it is coming. And, when you do, you are found IN Christ Jesus, and you are one of those that God hath chosen in Christ Jesus. Not one of those He chose to be in Christ, but one of those IN Christ. Get hold of this, because the center of this is Christ - not you, but Christ now having predestinated us unto the adoption of sons by Christ Jesus, unto Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will. "Having predestinated us unto the adoption of sons by Christ Jesus unto Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His Grace, through which He hath made us accepted in the Beloved." Oh, there is a glorious truth here that we ought not to miss. Verse four says, "... that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having accepted us in the Beloved." That is what these verses are telling us. There is a tremendous truth that I want to show you here. Why is it that you and I had to come by the way of being IN CHRIST? Why is it? Because, from before the foundation of the world, before there ever was sin, before man ever was created, God saw us in His Son. From the beginning, He saw us in His Son. Now, when we come, by the way of the Cross, we are found to be in His Son, right where He saw us from the beginning. And, it is just as though you have never been anywhere else. You are taken out from an old, you are taken out from a fallen, you are taken out from an old creation, you are taken out from a relation; and you are brought into a relation where God saw you from the beginning, where God chose you from the beginning. And, it is just as though you have never been any place else. Therefore, you stand before Him, as the Scripture says, "without blame, wholly without blame." You stand before Him just as though you never sinned. You stand before Him just as though you have never been any place else. Oh, the Grace of God! Oh, the work of salvation! It is not just forgiving of sins, it is bringing you into a restoration that God has seen from the beginning. It is establishing you in Christ just like you have never been any place else. And, when this becomes a reality in your heart, then you understand by the Spirit, 'My, I am in Christ, just as though I have been here from the beginning.' It makes no difference what day I was born or what year I was born. When I was placed in Christ, days and years vanished away. I am here as from the beginning! Here, where God chose me from the beginning. Then you begin to realize there is nothing to go back to because there is nothing before the beginning. He has brought me into a time that exists only in Christ. That is the reason Paul is always talking to people about living in times past...times past...times past. The reason it is not times past is that time is gone. He says that there is a place in Christ that is NOW. One eternal NOW. It is this time that God knows. God opens our eyes to this glorious realization of being in Christ now. Now and forever goes both directions. It goes to the endless ages. It goes to the ages before and it expands out as from the beginning to the end. You begin to understand that, 'God has brought me up into a new time element. I am not someone here in Adam where sin is still remembered and my new birth is not measured by days or years.' Jesus says this in a parable. A men sent laborers out into his field, some of them working all day, some half a day, some just a few minutes. And yet, when they came, he gave them all the same reward. Some of these that had been out there all day said, "Wait a minute. This guy was only out there an hour, and he got the same I did." "And the Master said, Did I not agree with you for such and such?" "Well, yes." "And, did I not give you such and such?" "Well, yes." "Then take it and keep your mouth shut. It is My business what I give my laborers. You agreed for this, did you not? Is this not a day's labor to you?" "Yes." "Well, to this one it is an hour's labor." This is the truth that He was trying to show them. When we come into Christ, we are come into a new day where time is not measured by hours, but by eternity! Oh, what a joy, when the believer understands that. 'I have only been here an hour, but I am here as from the beginning.' Another believer has perhaps been here fifty years, but he is here as from the beginning, too. What a joy comes from understanding that. Certainly, there are differences of maturity and ministry, differences of administration; but we are not talking about ministries and administrations of gifts. We are talking about our right standing in Christ. We need to get this understanding, folks. Every local assembly needs to live this way. Certainly there are a few who have been here before others. That had to be. My Lord, if you all got here at the same time! Somebody had to get in the door first. Certainly that is true. And thank God for the faithfulness of those people. But, I am telling you that the last one to come in the door is just as great as the first one that came in the door; because the Church should be a manifestation of life as it is in Christ. Not as it is in some political organization, but as it is in Christ. There is a glorious thing here that the Father hath done to you and I. He has brought us into Christ. The salvation of Brother Paul is no greater than the salvation of Brother J W. He lived two thousand years ago. He beat me in Jesus by two thousand years, but we are both in Him as from the beginning. You see, I am not comparing ministries. I am comparing placement. I am comparing life. I do not know whether we can get hold of that or not, but when we do, I will tell you... I had one poor old lady come to me one time, and she said, 'Oh, Brother Luman.' (She was depressed over this.) She said, "Oh, I am just so depressed. I am just so sad.' I said, 'Well, what is wrong with you, honey? You are born again; Christ is your life! What is wrong with you?' 'Oh, I know that, but I spent half my life in sin. I was almost ready to die before I got saved.' I said, 'Wait a minute! NOW you are in Christ!' 'Oh, I know that, but...' I said, 'There is not any "but" after that. You are in Christ. Do you understand that up to now, you have been measuring your life by man's years? Up to now, you are either sixty years old, seventy years old, eighty years old, up to now? But, do you know now, that you are not sixty, seventy or eighty? Do you know now that your life is from the beginning? Do you know that you are in a place now as from the beginning? Do you know that you have stepped into eternity? You are not waiting on it! You have stepped into it! Did you know that He Who is the Beginning and the End is your Life, and you are in Him? And do you know, that when this body goes to dust, your life has not ended, nor has it just begun? The beginning of your life and the end of your life is the LORD JESUS HIMSELF! It does not have anything to do with this old body whatsoever.' Get hold of this, saints of God! You are in Christ. And you are there as from the beginning! There is a liberating secret to the understanding of this. I am sick and tired of believers going around, condemned over what they used to do, and how long it took them to find Christ. On the other hand, I am getting a little weary of those going around boasting that they have been there for forty five years, or fifty years, or seventy years. But, what is that in the measure of eternity? There is no one who has more respect for the elders, and for the white hair, and for the wisdom. No one. And there is no one on earth that will yield to them in areas of ministry and so forth; but I want to tell you something, folks. When you are in Christ, you are in Christ. And, you could have been there fifty years and still be a baby, because maturity is not measured by years. Adulthood is not measured by how old you are, or by how many wrinkles you have in your face, or how many gray hairs you have on your head. No sir! But, maturity in Christ is only measured by the knowledge of Christ operating in you; and you could have been saved and in Christ for sixty years, and still be a sixty year-old baby. And someone who has been in five years, yielded to the Holy Spirit, abounding in Him can be your elder in the Lord. Now, I am telling you the truth. We need to begin to understand the truth as it is in Christ. Yes sir, I thank God for the elders in Israel. My word, I would be a fool not to. I thank God for a mother that prayed every night for me. There were very few nights, if any, that I lay in bed and did not hear my mother praying for me. I am telling you that I was born-again when I was six years old, but that did not stop her from praying for me. I was baptized in the Holy Ghost when I was a child, but that did not stop her from praying for me. No sir, I would be out at night and come in, and she would be praying for me. When I went to sleep, she would still be praying for me. But, I am talking about positional truth now. You need to see yourself as where you are: IN CHRIST. Chosen of God IN CHRIST before the foundation of the world. IN CHRIST! What is there that can touch you when you have been IN CHRIST from before the foundation of the world? If you and I can just take hold of this friends, that when we are placed in Christ, (this is the thing I am trying to tell you), it is as though we have been there forever, because, we step into a realm of eternal life. We step into a now situation. "Beloved, now are you the sons of God." Get hold of this thing. You step out of this world into another world. You step out of a world that is measured by days and weeks and months, into a world that is measured by the very measure of the fullness of Jesus Christ! No wonder Paul could say, "What can move us? What can separate us from the Love of Christ? What can pry us away from Him? Can trial, can tribulation, can stress, can persecution, can life, death, things present, things to come? Nay, in all these things, we are more than conquerors." Why? Because we understand where we are in Christ Jesus. Yes, there is a need for the believer to grow up in the Lord, but part of his growing up is this realization that I am talking to you about. "He that glorieth, let him not glory in his flesh, but in the Lord." We are predestined unto glory. Now, He has CALLED us out of sin, CHOSEN YOU in Christ, deals with you just like you have always been there. He does not deal with you like a stranger. He does not deal with you like someone who got there yesterday. He deals with you as His Son. Deals with you in the realm of His understanding, seeking to bring you and I into his realm of understanding. Thirdly, He has PREDESTINATED you. Now, He did not predestinate you to be IN Christ. He called you. He did not choose you to be in Christ. He chose you IN Christ. He did not predestinate you to be in Christ. He predestinated those that He hath called and chosen, those that are IN Christ, He hath predestinated unto something. There is a purpose for you and me being in Christ. And this purpose is predestined of the Father. And this purpose is not fulfilled by getting out of sin. It is related to the choosing. In other words, the purpose of salvation was not just to get you out of sin. Because the purpose of salvation was settled in the heart of God before there was a man to sin. Get hold of that. God did not create man just so he could sin. That is not why He created man. God has a plan. He has a purpose. Man fell from the Plan, but in Christ we are brought back to His original Plan. His Purpose has not changed. His Purpose is established in Christ. Do we see that? If we could look at the Eternal Purpose, we would start here with God in the beginning. Here is what God saw from the beginning. (#3) He saw many sons in Christ. He saw many sons standing in the full image of Christ. He saw many sons as one. That will be another word we will look at as we go along. He saw many sons as one. This is what God saw. Now, along the way, Adam fell, and when Adam fell this was disrupted. It was not done away with, it was just disrupted. Adam fell, and he fell short of this plan of this glory. God's answer to man's failure is the Cross. All of this, however is still in view of His Eternal Purpose. So what happens here, by the Cross? By the Cross, (His death, His burial, His resurrection) the first man is destroyed, and an altogether New Man is raised up in Christ. The purpose then, is still found right here, in Christ (#4). The purpose is not to get you out of the hole. The purpose has always been to get you IN Christ. Bringing you up out of the hole was just a necessary part of the Plan. You see, we want the whole Plan of God to center around us graduating somehow up out of the hole. So, we break it up. You know, we are saved, and sanctified, and filled with the Holy Ghost, and then we operate gifts, and exercise ministries, etc. It seems to be as if we are climbing up some spiritual ladder. No sir! The Scriptures say, "You are raised up together, made to be seated together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." And, all of those terms - salvation, new birth, etc. apply to life IN Christ. They are not rungs on some ladder. They do not apply to that. (#5) When you were born again you were raised up in Christ. (#6) You were put where God saw you from the beginning. Christ is the Purpose. The Purpose does not center around sin. The Purpose centers around what God saw from the beginning - a New Man in Christ! The way was disrupted, it was not scrapped. So, God restores us back to His original intention and purpose. And, what is that? It is a predestined purpose. What is the predestined plan of God? "He has predestined us unto the adoption of sons, by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will." What has "adoption" got to do with anything? What is adoption anyway? I do not know whether I mentioned this or not. But adoption has to do not with getting us in Christ. Adoption has to do with those that are in Christ coming to the understanding that they are now sons of God, and that God is now their Father. And, one by one, He brings His Children to full age, and He adopts them. He recognizes them as sons. Read Galatians 4:1-6 and it talks about this thing of adoption. It says that, as long as a believer is a child, he differeth nothing from a servant. He is still in bondage to the things of the world. He is in bondage to the things of self. He still differs nothing from a servant. Not a servant of God, but a servant of himself. A servant of the world. A servant of this old creation, of carnality. So, the Father puts him under tutors and governors. He is a wise father. The son stays there until the appointed time of the father. But, when the fullness of the time is come, he sends forth the spirit of His Son into the heart of this believer. This is not salvation; this is adoption. He causes this child to understand that he is a son. How does He do that? HE DOES THAT BY REVEALING THE SON TO THIS CHILD. He does that by revealing Christ in you! Now, we talked about that. This is the Liberating Secret of His Appearing. He reveals Christ in you. And, you begin to understand by the very Spirit of Christ that God is your Father, and that you are indeed His son. You begin to understand, "I have no life but Christ." Then, you begin to understand that you are in Christ, and the Father begins to work to bring you unto the fulness of adoption. Now, what is the fulness of adoption? Let us turn to Romans 8:28, 29. "We know that all things work together for good..." And the "good" is this eternal plan and purpose of God. Now, you search that out and you will find that I am telling you the truth. "We know that all things work together for good..." My heart bleeds for the Body of Christ. I see the Body of Christ every day of my life. I see some part of the Body of Christ. And I see them bound down. I see them defeated. I see them wanting to serve God, and not knowing how. Or, I see someone lying to them, and telling them that it is all in the flesh, it is all in the world, and that prosperity is having all the things that you can get your hands on in the world, instead of coming into the fulness of Christ. Then, when a crisis comes, they all react in the same say. I think, 'Dear Lord, if Your Body would just come to the Truth, if It could just come into the fulness of Christ, if Your Body could just live on the earth as it is in Christ.' If we could just understand that because I am in Christ, everything that is going on everywhere is working for this Purpose and is all working for me. It is all working for me. We know that all things are working together for this Eternal Purpose which we are a part of... of the Body of Christ. Ephesians 4:13 - here is the "till" of the situation. "...till we all - all, a-l-l, all come in the unity of THE faith, and of THE knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; that we be no more henceforth children tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine, but speaking the truth in love..." He is talking about the Church growing up in Him right now, here in Christ on the earth, and beginning to be a manifestation of Him right now here on earth. His plan is not for a house full of babies. You can sit around and do your little ditty and say, ' Well, He is going to come get me one day,' if you want to, but the Scripture does not teach that. I know some folks do, but the Scripture does not teach that. 'Some of these days, I am going to be delivered out of my wearisome drudgery way. My Lord, my load is so heavy, and I am stumbling every way; but one of these days He is going to take me out of it all.' Don't you count on it! That is not the predestined purpose of the Church. His Plan is for those who know that they are already in Him, and who are growing up in Him, and who understand that this is the predestined Plan of God. This is not suggested of God: it is predestined of God. I am telling you, we had better get hold of this. Why is it that we will preach so hard to the sinner that 'if you do not repent, you are going to hell', and yet, we will look at mamsy-pamsy, half hearted, back slidden, cold, carnal Christians and say, 'One of these days God is going to come and take you out of all this, honey. He loves you.' What are you talking about? 'That's alright. God loves you anyhow. That's alright, the Lord understands all of your fighting and fussing and bickering and carnality. It will all just disappear one of these days.' No, no! We are predestined unto Sonship! The Word of God is coming to those that are in Christ! You do not have any business telling the sinner he needs to be saved unless you are growing up into the full stature of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because the purpose of that sinner getting saved, the purpose of the New Birth, is to come forth in the fullness of Jesus Christ, not to just have a bunch of babies on your hands. God did not design a nursery; He designed a house for Sons! We need to understand that. We are predestined unto glory. We are not predestined out of hell. We are predestined unto glory. Those that are found in Christ are predestined. They are there under a predestined plan, and that plan and purpose is to come into the fullness of Jesus. If you want to get a Gospel, you had better get one that grows you up in Jesus Christ. If you are already in Him, you do not need to be preached out of sin any more. No sir, you need to grow up into Christ! Not only are we predestined unto glory; we are called unto glory. Right here in Romans 8, " ... called unto glory..." Now, this is a different calling. "... called unto glory..." Verse 30, "Moreover..." You mean there is a "moreover" to this? Yes sir. "Moreover." "Moreover, whom he did predestinate..." Now here we receive a calling that can only be known in Christ. Well, I thought this 'growing up in Christ' was the end of it. No, that is the predestined part. There is a purpose for that. "Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He also called, and whom He called, them He also justified. And whom He justified, them He also glorified. " You see, here is the thing. When you begin to grow up in Him, when you begin to come into a relationship with your Father, then He begins to deal with you as a son. Until this time, He is dealing with you as a child trying to get you to act like a son. But now, you begin to stand in Christ as a son. You begin to say, 'Praise God, this is what it is all about.' The Father says, 'Now I want to talk to you about a calling. Away back over there when you were in sin, I talked to you about a calling. This is a calling that is just for sons.' He says, 'You are called unto justification.' And those that are called unto justification are called unto glorification. What does that mean? Well, we are going to look at it in a little outline. But oh, thank God, He says, 'I am going to show you now, I am going to show you the finished work. You are My son and I am going to share my vision with you. I am going to show you the finished work. I am going to show you the vocation unto which you are called. I am going to show you the justification that you have received. I am going to show you the glorification. I am going to show you the finished work.' And I want to tell you folks, once you get a glimpse of that finished work, you will not stop short of it for anything. He showed Paul the finished work, and every time he spoke to the Church, he declared the Church as it was in Christ. He preached the Church as it was. He preached the Church as One New Man. He preached the Church as One Body. He preached the Church as having no division. He preached the Church as being the fullness of Jesus Christ. Anyone can look around in the flesh and say, 'I do not know who you are preaching to, Paul. My word, I just had a falling out with that guy over there yesterday. What are you talking about?' Paul says, 'Oh, I am preaching as you are. I have seen the finished work. I am setting the goal before you. I am setting the finish line. I will forget that which is behind. I will put it back. I will not talk about it, but I will press on toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. I am not going to stop, and I am not going to let you stop either; because I have seen a Church that is called, I have seen a Church justified. I have seen a Church glorified. I have seen the finished work of God in Christ. He has revealed that very Son in me, into Whose Image we are being brought. I have seen Him. I have seen Him, and I am not going to lie to you; but rather, I will preach to you the truth as it is in Christ!' Folks, there is no place to stop, turn around or even think about it. Once you see the goal, you will not stop short of it. It will make a runner out of you. A runner is one who says, 'Well, I had better take this off, and this is bothering me, and I am going to take that off.' And someone says, 'There is nothing wrong with that.' 'Yes, there may not be anything wrong with it, but it is bothering me. I am not going to start preaching against it, I just cannot do it.' The race gets harder. Thank God! Lay aside every sin that doth so easily beset us. Pretty soon, we are stripped down to nothing except Jesus, thank God, and running the race. Little things that used to be alright are not alright any more. I do not jump on you about it, I am just telling you, they hinder me in the race. 'Well, what's wrong with this? What's wrong with that?' Probably nothing, but it is hindering me in the race, so get out of my way. I have got to go. Talking off every sin that doth so easily beset us. "...called unto glory." Called unto a finished work, and I cannot stop short. Paul says in 1 Corinthians, and he is talking to the brethren; He says, "Well, you see your calling brethren. For you see your calling brethren." That is the problem. Most of us do not. 1 Corinthians 1:26-31: "For you see your calling brethren..." And I will just paraphrase it for you. "You have seen your calling brethren, how that you cannot look to the might or the nobility of the flesh for you calling. You are not called because you are mighty in the world. You are called because you are weak in the world." Now God does not call weaklings. I am not talking about weaklings. I am not talking about fools. No, but those that are weak in the world. For, you see, when I am strong, He is weak. But, in my weakness, He is made strong. When I am not, He is glorified; when I am, He is not. There is a law there. In my absence, He is present. There is a law there. When He increases, I decrease. So Paul says, "You have to see this brethren. You were not called to become great in the world. You are called to become the fullness of God in Christ. Do not look to the things of the world for your calling. You are not called (you see this brethren), you were not called because you were noble. You were not called because you have a big name in the world. You were not called because of your ability, and because of your talents." But oh, how many people look to these things for their calling. I know a lot of preachers that were put into the pulpit because they have a good singing voice. Your calling is not in your talent, brother. 'Well, as long as I use it for the Lord.' You may do that and do it well, but your calling is not in that. You do not look to your flesh for your calling. It is not because you are a noble person. God has chosen the weak things of the world. I do not mean weaklings. I mean that which is weak in the world. God chooses that which is weak in the world, that it may be strong in Christ. God calls wise what the world calls foolish, but it may be the wisdom of God in Christ. I am not talking about a bunch of fools. I am talking about those who are willing to be foolish in the world. The preaching of the Cross is foolishness. The call of God. 'Well, if we cannot find it in the world, if we cannot find it in the things of our flesh, where do we find the calling of God?' "And the base things of the world, the base things hath God chosen, yea." God looked into Christ, and He chose that which was in Christ. That is the very thing the world despises. That is the very thing that the world cannot see. But, that is the very thing that God chose. Now look at the pitiful situation. God looked in Christ to chose us, but we look outside of Christ for our calling. Isn't that pitiful? We look to something other than Him for our calling. We look to ourself, to our education, to our ability, to our talent, to this or that. We look to everything but Jesus for our calling. Listen, God has another calling for us. "Them whom He did predestinate, them He also called..." Now, see your calling brethren. That no flesh should glory in His presence. "But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus. Who is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. That, according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." If you see your calling brethren, it is not in you. It is in Christ. It is not what you are. It is what Christ has been made unto you. "For you see your calling brethren." Do not look to the greatness of the flesh. Do not look to measure salvation by any other standard than the Lord Himself. It isn't what you are in the flesh. It is that He is made unto you. See your calling, brethren; and then, walk worthy of your calling. Ephesians 4, "Walk worthy of your calling." "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation to which you are called with all lowliness and meekness, forebearing one another in love. Endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. For there is one body, one spirit even as you are called in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, above all, through all and in you all." WALK WORTHY OF YOUR CALLING. I want to tell you something, son of God. Your bickering, your fussing, your fighting, your self-righteousness is not worthy of your calling. You are called up into Him, in whom there in one spirit, one body, one Lord, one faith. Church of the Living God, your splits, your disruptions, your divisions are not worthy of your calling. You are not called unto division. God has looked and He has seen only One. One Son, One Body, One Glorified Christ. You are called up into Him. Walk worthy of your calling with lowliness of mind. Each one putting the other before himself. Having the same care. Understanding we are bone of bone, and flesh of flesh. Walk worthy of your calling, brethren. For you see your calling, not looking to yourself for your calling, but looking to Christ for your calling. He is made unto you wisdom, made unto you righteousness. He is made unto you sanctification. He is made unto you redemption. He is made unto you Spirit and Life. Look unto Him, that no flesh glory in His presence. You are not walking worthy of your calling, Church, when you are divided and going in different directions. You are called unto glory. You are called unto full stature. Now, what is the hope of that? Is there really hope of us ever reaching that, brother? Not while we are knowing each other in the flesh. I am frank to tell you that there is not. Brother, is there ever any hope of us achieving this? Not while we are looking at each other in the natural. I can just glance out over you and see several things I do not like. If you are honest, you will tell me the same thing. Stop lying. There is no reason to be a hypocrite and he too. But, I do not know you in the flesh. I do not care about how you look, where you live, how you sing, if you sing. I have seen you in Christ. I have seen you in Him! There is a judgment that has been made in me. I have seen you right where I have seen myself - IN CHRIST from before the foundation of the world. I do not care when you were saved. If you are saved, you are in Him. I do not care how long you have been there. In the sight of eternity, you have not been there any longer than I have. I see you in Christ. I am seeing you in glory. What is the hope of this coming about? What is the assurance of this? Colossians 1:26, "Even the mystery which hath been hidden from the ages and from the generations, but now is made manifest to His saints." There is a mystery that is just about to be made manifest to the saints of God, that is about the be revealed in the sons of God. THE MYSTERY OF HIS GORY! There is a Liberating Secret that is about to be revealed in you, saints. It is as sure as the predestined plan of God. It is as sure as the calling of God. There is a mystery that is about to be revealed in you. "To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the Hope of Glory." HE IS THE HOPE OF GLORY. The word "hope" here means the absolute assurance, an expectation based on a guarantee. Who is this thing? It is Christ in you. (#7) It is the assurance of glory. What is going to bring about this oneness of the Body? When Jesus Christ is revealed in every member of the Body, and every member of the Body sees, 'I have no life but Christ'; when every member of the Body sees, 'I am the Body of the Lord Jesus Christ'. The Body of Christ, being ruled by the mind of Christ, will function as the Body of Christ. He is the hope. You can stand and preach, 'be nice to one another, love one another, work together, and cooperate with one another' until you take lock jaw; but until Christ is revealed in the Body, there is no oneness, because He is the Oneness of it. The hope is in seeing Jesus! The hope is having Him revealed in you. Because He is the key to the whole mystery! Well then, what is this mystery? Ephesians 5:27, "That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot nor wrinkle, nor any such thing, but that it should be holy, and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own body. He that loveth his wife, loveth himself." Now, listen to this. This is important. "Now, no man every yet hated his own flesh." Listen to this. Here comes the Liberating Secret. 'NO MAN EVERY HATED HIS OWN FLESH." If I am of a sound mind, you will not find me up here stomping on my foot. You will not find me up here gouging my eye. You are not going to find me up here mutilating my body. I love mine. I take care of mine. No man every yet hated his own flesh. Now, we will not stomp on our foot. I may come down here and stomp on this brother's and feel no pain. I may slap you in the face, while I am singing, "Oh, How I Love Jesus", and feel no conviction. But, not when the mystery is revealed, I won't. When Christ begins to be revealed in His Body... Look at this. "No man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth it and cherisheth it." He takes care of it. He makes sure it is housed. He makes sure it is fed. He makes sure it is educated. He makes sure it is clothed. He makes sure it is well cared for. Why? Because it is his. It is his own flesh. When it hurts, he hurts. When it cries, he cries. When it joys, he joys. There is a mystery over the horizon, saints of God. You are in Christ Jesus. You are His Body. When He is revealed in every member of that Body, those members begin to understand with His Mind that we are members one of another. We are not bodies; we are ONE BODY, "EVEN AS THE LORD, THE CHURCH." Look at the next verse. "For we are members of His Body, of His Flesh, of His Bone." Members of HIS Body, HIS Flesh, HIS Bone. Oh, beloved, it is not "me" and "mine" now. It is HIM and HIS. 'But, I don't like this one.' Then it is the Lord you have your problem with. 'I don't agree with that.' Well, that is our problem now. You don't agree with that. That is our problem. We all have a mind of our own. But when HE, the Hope of this thing, is revealed in us and we begin to see "I have no life but in Him, and I am nobody's body but His Body", and I begin to see I am not the only one in Christ, this mystery... Look at this. Verse 32, "This is a great mystery, but I am speaking concerning Christ and the Church." This business of Head and Body, Christ and the Church. This business of one member joined to another, Christ and the Church. This business of loving your own flesh, Christ and the Church. We are His Flesh. No man ever yet hated his own flesh. We are members together; members of His Flesh, members of His Body. You say, 'Well, I love them in the spirit.' That is not good enough. We are Flesh of His Flesh and Bone of His Bone, and Life of His Life, and when this is revealed in us, you and I are going to see that we are called unto a glory. We are called unto and into the Son that God has seen from before the foundation of the world. All of a sudden I begin to go over here and there is a brother that is cast down, and I go over here and restore him. Why? Because he is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. And, because until he is restored, the body is not unto glory. As long as we think we are in this race by ourselves and we can run over each other and leave our load on someone else's backs and dust in their face, and get there first - that is not so. "Until we ALL come unto glory." If you are running by a brother, you had better stop and go back and hook your arm under him and say, 'Come on brother, I cannot make it without you. If I even got there I would have to sit there and wait on you. I cannot enter into perfection without you. We are all called into this thing. Get up and come on. Let us run the race.' Instead of running by and looking and saying, 'Look at that dirty, lazy soul', and just keep on going. No sir! That is my flesh lying there. That is my body living there. That is His Flesh, His Body. We must understand that we are His Body, His Flesh, His Bones. We are called unto glory. Christ is the Hope and the fullness of that glory. Alright, the mystery of the glory. Let me bring this to a conclusion with this particular truth. THE MYSTERY OF THE GLORY. Ephesians 3:3-7, " How that, by revelation, He made known unto me the mystery as I wrote before in a few words, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ. Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men as it is now revealed unto His Holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit, that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same Body, and partakers of His Promises in Christ by the Gospel, of which I was made a minister according to the gift of the grace of God, given unto me by the effectual working of His Power. To make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages hath been hidden in God who created all things by Jesus Christ, according to the eternal purpose which He hath purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." What is the mystery of this glory? Is it not that the Gentiles should be saved? That was no mystery. That was even written in the prophets...that the Gentiles would be saved. That is not the mystery. The mystery revolves around this business here in verse 6, "... and of the same Body." Not that they were just to be saved also. We understand that. We are willing to let anybody be saved "also". Now, this may hurt us a little bit. We are willing to let any old drunk be saved "also". We are willing that blacks or whites be saved "also", and the yellow, and the brown and the red "also". We will let anybody be saved "also". But now, this business that says they are one with me, I don't know about that, brother. That is the mystery! Not that the Gentile is just going to be saved, but "and of the same Body." Here is a Jew, who will not even touch a Gentile. Here is a Jew, who will not even wipe their feet on the Gentile. And Paul is saying, "Behold I show you a mystery. They are not just saved also, they are one with you. They are not just saved also; you are the very same Body! You are the very same flesh. You are the very same blood. You are the very same bones." You see, eye does not see that. Ear does not hear that. But the Spirit of God, Who is leading you unto glory reveals that, because God did not look down through time, He did not look down to the end, and see white and black and brown and yellow. He did not see male and female, bond and free. He just saw ONE GLORIFIED CHRIST, ONE GLORIED BODY, ONE GLORIFIED SON! He saw One standing there the express image of the Father, the increase of the Father's own loins. He saw One with Whom He could have fellowship throughout the endless ages of eternity. He saw an increase of His Only Begotten Son! Oh, Church of the Living God, you are in Christ! And, you are called unto this mystery. You are called unto glory. I want to tell you something. In here we are not all Jews, and we are not all Gentiles. We are not one Jew or one Gentile. In here there is not a Jew, and there is not a Gentile. There is just ONE NEW MAN! Now, here is the real mystery and the real glory, not that we are just one, but ONE WITH CHRIST! His Flesh, His Bones, His Body, and His Person. I told you, He has only one name. "Thou art My Son. This day have I begotten Thee." When that Son begins to appear in you, then we are set free by this Liberating Secret. I am going to tell you there is a Liberating Secret if we begin to see unto glory. As we are called unto, not only unto unity, but unto oneness. If you have two, you have to have unity. If you have one, do not worry about unity. Well, God has ONE! Now, when He gets that knowledge in many who are One Body in Christ Jesus. Romans 12:5, "We, being many, are one Body in Christ." Not one bunch, but one Body in Christ, each one member one of another. One Life and One Body! Folks, when He begins to be revealed, there is a liberating. There is a Liberating Secret to this Glory. We are called up unto glory. Ephesians 2:14-18 says something. You read it yourself. It says that He has done three things. He has broken down the wall, He has abolished the enmity, and He has slain the enemy. What does that means? It says that He has taken the Jew and the Gentile, and He has made them both one. How in the world did He do that? Well, He made them one in His Life - NO! He made them one in His Death! It says that He brought them together in His Own Flesh, in His Own Body, and He slew them by the Cross. Yes, He did not teach the Jew how to get along with the Gentile. He killed both of them. He brought them both together at the Cross, and He slew both of them. That is how He tore down the middle wall of partition and got rid of me. As long as I think I have a life of my own, I am at variance with you; but when I understand that both of us have only One Life, and both of us are only One Body, there goes the difference. But you see, that is not in us in the natural. That has to be revealed to us by the Spirit. But He took the Jew unto Himself, He took the Gentile unto Himself, and He slew both of them, so making peace. You see, God does not believe in peace tables. God believes in total, absolute, complete surrender, and He believes in victory. He did not sit down and talk with Adam and say, 'Now Adam, you ought to be a reformed individual, and learn how to get your house cleaned up.' No sir, He brought Adam to a death in Himself, and He brought forth One New Son, even the New Man, even the Lord Jesus Christ, who is at peace with His Father. Folks, at the Cross, we died; and now, in His Body it is no longer me. It is Christ in me the Hope of Glory. It is no longer me. I am crucified. It is Christ living in me. It is not my body, or your body, or John's body. It is His Body that we are. His Flesh, His Bones, His Blood, His Body. When the mystery (Christ) is revealed in you, that He is not the Jew, and He is not the Gentile, He is One New Man at peace with God; and if you are at peace with God, you are at peace with each other. There is only One who is at peace with God, THE NEW MAN, even the Son of Man Who is in Heaven. For through Him, we have access by one Spirit unto the Father. (#8) You will find in Galatians 3:27 and Colossians 3:9-11 a statement like this. You will find it saying that you are in Christ Jesus, where there is neither/nor; neither bond nor free, neither Jew nor Gentile, neither male nor female, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision, Scynthian nor Barbarian. In Galatians it says you are all one in Christ Jesus. So we say, that's right, we are all a male, or we are all a female, or we are all a Jew... No. Colossians clears it up. Colossians says the same thing all over again. There is neither/nor, neither/nor. But it is not saying that you are all one. It ends like this," Christ is all, and in all." One says that we are all one. The other tells Who the all, the One is - CHRIST IS ALL, CHRIST IS ONE. I told you from the beginning. He is the circumference and He is the Life. Christ is all, and He is in all. If you do it to one, you have done it to Him. I know folks right now who have injured people in the Body of Christ, in this town, and go over to that town, and sing in the choir and sing "Oh, how I love Jesus", and go right on, but there is no judgment in them. If you have injured the Body of Christ in Toledo, Ohio, you have injured the Body of Christ in Seoul, Korea. Why? Because God sees it all in Christ. He saw it before there was an earth, let alone a Seoul, Korea. Do you understand what I am trying to tell you? You do not do something here and go and hide it. That is not the way God works. God sees you in Christ. If you have injured His Body, you have injured His Body. If you have done it unto this brother, you have done it unto every brother. For there is neither/nor. It is Christ all and in all. This is the Liberating Secret. I am not going into it now, but in John 17 we see the truth of the Liberating Secret. Jesus says, "Father, glorify Me with the glory that I had before the foundation of the world." What was that glory? Absolute oneness, absolute fellowship, unbroken harmony, all of the things that He laid aside when He made Himself of no reputation, took upon Himself the form of a servant. He said, "Father, glorify Me with the glory that I had before all of that." The absolute unbroken fellowship, the absolute unbroken oneness, the absolute unbroken harmony. "Glorify Me with THYSELF." But why? A few verses down He says, "So that I may give this glory to them that I may be glorified in them." Do you see what He is saying? "So that this unbroken union, this unbroken harmony, this unbroken fellowship that I have with you may be found in them. That I may give it to them. That I may give My Glory, My Oneness with You to them. That I may be glorified in them." Folks, the Body of Christ is for Christ! It is the vessel, the person in which He is to be glorified! How is He glorified in it? Not through divisions and strife. He is glorified through its oneness, you see. "That I may manifest Our Oneness in them Father." And then, you know the reading. He says, "Oh Father, that they may be one." What is the measure there? "That they may be one as We are One. I in them, they in Me, You in Me, We in them." You read it in the seventeenth chapter of John. "Oh, that they may be glorified in us that We may be glorified in them." What is the condition? What is the Liberating Secret? It is not you and I finding oneness in the flesh. No sir! What is the Liberating Secret? It is this believer knowing that he is one with this believer just as Christ and the Father are One; but more than that, it is knowing that we are One with Him! That is the Liberating Secret! "That they may be one, Father as WE ARE. That they may be in earth as We are in the Heaven. Glorify Me with the glory that I had with Thee in Heaven. That My Body may be a manifestation of that oneness in the earth. That they, Father may be one even as We are One." Oh, why is this? "That the world may know, Father, not that You have sent them, but that you have sent Me." Folks, we are called unto glory. There is a Liberating Secret of this Glory. You can continue to look at each other in the flesh if you want to, but you will never fulfill your calling. But, to see the Body as it is in Christ Jesus, to have Him revealed in us, that we may come into union with Him and manifest that union one with another; that we may come into the fellowship of the Father and the Son, and be a manifestation of that fellowship in the earth. It is then that He is glorified, and it is then that He will draw all unto Himself. With this understanding, we are ready to proceed on to understanding The Son of Man. AMEN. DIAGRAM #1 DIAGRAM #2 IN OLD CHRIST Eph.2:4-7 CREATION B Seeing ourselves The Believer dwelling as yet in Adam. "in Christ". "Where all fullness dwells." "Here God hath blessed." DIAGRAM #3 GOD God saw IN Many Sons CHRIST in Christ- One New Man One Son Adam Old Man dies Adam fell short of this purpose. Diagram #4 But God... IN Adam CHRIST Old man dead Raised up in newness of life. Diagram #5 Ministries Adam Fell Gifts Adam Spirit Baptism Dead Sanctification New Birth (1) Salvation is not a spiritual ladder. (2) We do not "climb up" into Christ. Diagram #6 IN CHRIST (1) Raised up (by one operation of the Spirit of Life.) Ephesians 4:5-7 (2) Raised unto Glory. Hebrews 2:10 Diagram #7 C A IN CHRIST BODY SOUL "CHRIST" in you B (A) You in Christ. (B) Christ in you. (C) One Body, One Man, "Christ, All and in All." DIAGRAM #8 Son of Man Adam (1) A new kind of man. (2) A man in Christ, one with Christ. Old race (3) A man in Glory.