Testimony 90. Mei Mei – Praying in the Spirit charges me up and causes sickness to flee

Name: Mei Mei
Date: Mar 2009
Location: Singapore
Note: Mei Mei shared this testimony tonight during our Grace Fellowship on 26th March (written by Joshua)

Mei Mei shared that she woke up one morning and knew that her husband was praying in tongues in another room. There was some energy generated in the spiritual realm, or some waves that she could pick up. She checked and indeed her husband was praying.

One day, Mei Mei attended a prayer meeting with some 60 people praying in tongue simultaneously. When this happened, the spiritual energy generated was so strong that she felt it surge within her belly. The tongues that she was praying in changed and she asked the Holy Spirit what language was this. The Holy Spirit told her that it was Hebrew.

She said that as they prayed in tongues, she could see in the spirit realm that the force was driving sickness away from the people. Isn’t that awesome?

When we pray in tongues, it is the Holy Spirit making intercession within us (Romans 8:26-27). There is power (or energy, or waves) in the spirit realm. If there is power when we pray, think about the power when the Holy Spirit prays.

The Bible says that when we pray in tongues, we receive edification. 1 Cor 14:4, “He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself…” To edify is to charge up – like charging up a battery. When 60 people pray in the spirit, a lot of charging up is taking place. This explains the energy surge.

Praying in the spirit is praying in the language that the Spirit gives. It could be the language of angels or the language of men. In Acts 2, on the Day of Pentecost, the disciples in the upper room prayed in other languages of other men – the mother tongue of the diverse visitors to Jerusalem.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Life. He is the channel of the life of Jesus. The river of life brings healing when we pray in tongues. Sickness has to flee. Romans 8:26 says that the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses. Another version says that the Spirit helps us in our infirmities, which include sicknesses.

So the next time you need some charging up, you need an infusion of life, or you have a healing need, you can pray in the spirit. In fact, you can pray in the spirit anytime of the day even under your breadth. Do not underestimate this New Covenant prayer language. Treasure it and use it because they did not have the privilege in the Old Covenant.

Testimony 89. Mei Mei – Look upon Jesus to receive the miracle

Name: Mei Mei
Date: Mar 2009
Location: Singapore
Note: Mei Mei shared this testimony tonight during our Grace Fellowship on 26th March (written by Joshua)

Joshua: As I share these testimonies, I know there are people who are wary of spiritual experiences. To such, we reaffirm that every personal experience or personal revelation should fall in line with the Word of God. If something contradicts the Word, we will have to discard it – even if it comes from any prophet. God does not contradict Himself. But I am glad to share these testimonies because they all came in line with God’s Word.

The Holy Spirit told Mei Mei that when we look upon Jesus, we will receive the miracle. Whatever the problem, the secret is to look to Jesus. Interestingly, that was the Holy Spirit impresses on my heart to share with the people as we ended the worship.

This is indeed a powerful truth of the redemption work of Christ and the New Covenant. It is so simple that most people miss it. People look for complex formula’s and they want to perform in order to receive the promise. But all it takes is to look upon Jesus.

When the Israelites were bitten by snakes in the desert, a number of them died. Then the Lord asked Moses to make a bronze serpent and raise it on a pole. Anyone who looked upon it would live. Anyone who kept looking at the wounds would die.

This bronze serpent on the pole is a picture of Jesus on the cross carrying all our sins, sicknesses and curses. It is the picture of the redemption work of Christ. When we see Jesus on the cross, we see that He paid the price for us. Our faith then responds to the grace of Jesus to receive the promise.

(Numbers 21:9)
9 So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

There is another powerful verse. We not only see Jesus on the cross. We also see Jesus on the throne. We see Him in all His glory because we are in Him and He is in us. When we see Him in His glory (without sickness, or disease, or depression, or lack), we will be transformed into the same glory. For as He is so are we in this world (1 John 4:17).

(2 Cor 3:18)
18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the GLORY OF THE LORD, are being TRANSFORMED into the SAME IMAGE from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

So look to Jesus and be transformed into His image from glory to glory.

Testimony 88. Mei Mei – The Holy Spirit told me about the rapture

Name: Mei Mei
Date: Mar 2009
Location: Singapore
Note: Mei Mei shared this testimony tonight during our Grace Fellowship on 26th March (written by Joshua)

Joshua: I had just started on a series on the Holy Spirit during Grace Fellowship. We had been talking about enjoying a living relationship with God through the Holy Spirit. Last session, Sister Mei Mei shared some of her experiences with the Lord. As she is a very simple sister, she does not know very much about the Word. Perhaps her simplicity allows her to relate to God and to communicate with Him in a way that highly intellectual people cannot.

As she shared about what the Holy Spirit showed her, we simply confirmed it with the Word. The degree of consistency was amazing, so much so that the people had a new found faith in the reality of God, and the divine inspiration of His Word. Let me share some of these experiences.

Sister Mei Mei said (in Mandarin) the Lord showed her that when the rapture comes, we would be caught up first into the clouds and then into heaven. She repeated it with actions. She had a vision from the Holy Spirit of the Lord talking to her. Then after the Lord had said so, He pointed to heaven, turned His hands a few rounds. At that moment the wind blew and it started raining like the start of a thunderstorm. Her two children were with her, and they witnessed the incident and were in awe of God.

So I asked her if she knew any Bible verses that talked about the rapture? She said no. I just wanted to be sure that she only heard it from the Lord because I knew there was a verse that spoke of it. This meant that what Jesus told her through the Holy Spirit was 100% in line with the word of God.

So we turned to 1 Thes 4:17 and we read:

(1 Thes 4:17)
17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them IN THE CLOUDS to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

Yes it said that we will be caught up in the clouds, before we join God in heaven.

The amount of consistency between the Word and Spirit is truly amazing. We are to test every revelation with the Word. But this testimony demonstrates that the believer can enjoy a living relationship with God through the Holy Spirit. And we also have the privilege of receiving the inspired revelations of God through the Word.

We shall continue with more revelations tomorrow.

15.30 SIT, WALK, STAND - The story of Mary & Martha

Today, we will wrap up on this series with a story that illustrates the truth so well. This is the story of Mary and Mary, and the two approaches. Mary’s approach is the grace approach, while Martha’s is the law approach.

Mary was busy SITTING at the feet of Jesus; drawing on her Savior. Martha was busy SERVING; trying to give to Jesus. Grace is about SITTING at the finished work of Jesus, and depending on His life within us. Law is about being busy on one’s self effort without depending on Jesus.

So what happens under the approach of law? Martha got stressed out and she got anxious over her serving. She felt inadequate and unable to perform. And she complained about her sister Mary. This is the result of walking under law.

(Luke 10:38-42)
38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also SAT at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was DISTRACTED WITH MUCH SERVING, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” 41 And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But ONE THING IS NEEDED, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Most of us would have expected Jesus to tell Mary to help Martha, or rebuke Mary for being lazy. But astonishingly, Jesus told Martha that only one thing is needed – SIT as the feet of Jesus. Today, only one thing is needed, to rest in the finished work and to draw on the life of Jesus. It is not about what we do; it is about what He has done and what He continues to do through us.

Some of us will echo Martha to complain that Mary is lazy. “She should be serving Jesus like the rest of us!” Few people realize that the one who SITs at the feet of Jesus ends up doing the thing that is needed – which has the greatest impact.

It was Mary, who sat at the feet of Jesus, who walked in grace, who knew the heartbeat of Jesus – that ended up anointing Jesus for His burial. And Jesus was so touched that he declared, “What this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.” Mt 26:13.

(John 12:1-7)
1 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. 2 There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. 3 Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.4 But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, 5 “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it. 7 But Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has kept this for the DAY OF MY BURIAL.

Isn’t it awesome? This story demonstrates the power of SITTING before WALKING. When you hear His heartbeat, you will do the right thing. When you depend on His power, you will experience more results.

That is what Paul experience – He worked zealously for God under law but didn’t achieve anything. After His encounter with Jesus, he labored more abundantly by the grace of God, left a legacy for all and his letters are still impacting the world today.

15.29 STAND – Put on the Lord Jesus Christ

We won’t go through the armor of God one by one. It is easy to get lost in the details of the armor and to be preoccupied with trying to put them on.

Let me summarize for you what it means to put on the armor of God using another verse from the Apostle Paul. Paul says, “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ.”

(Romans 13:14)
14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

The best was to put on the Lord Jesus Christ is to be conscious that you are in Him and He is in you. You abide in Him and He abides in you. The whole of Christianity is summed up in this truth.

Since Jesus is everything; He becomes your everything when you are in Him. He is your truth. He is your peace. He is your righteousness. He is your salvation and redemption. He is your wisdom, etc.

(1 Cor 1:30)
30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption…

When you know who you are in Christ, you will stand firm in your identity in Him. You will stand firm in your victory in Him.

With this we will end our series on SIT, WALK & STAND.

To SIT is to rest in Christ and His finished work. To WALK is to live in the reality of the finished work. To STAND is to remain firm in the promises of Christ in the face of doubt sown by the enemy. Remember, those who WALK without first SITTING will end up in self performance of the law. Those who first SIT will end up WALKING powerfully.

The Holy Spirit just brought to my attention to share one example from the Bible about someone who first SAT before the person WALKED, versus one who WALKED without first SITTING. It looks like we will end this series tomorrow instead.

15.28 STAND – Put on the shield of faith

We shared that to put on the armor of God is to put on the consciousness of Christ. Today we will talk about the shield of faith. What is the shield of faith? How do we put on the shield of faith? What are the fiery darts of the enemy?

(Eph 6:16)
…above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

The Christian walk is a walk of faith. We walk by faith (in the finished work of Jesus); we do not walk by sight (in the natural circumstances). As you live life, you will be faced with many adverse circumstances that are contrary to the promises of God. They are contrary to the finished work of Christ.

It is just like Israel entering the promised-land. God told them that the land had been given to them. But when they sent the 12 spies, they saw the giants of the land. Ten of them gave a bad report that caused Israel to be defeated in faith. They saw how big the giants were.

But two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb were full of faith. They saw by faith how big their God was, and they saw the enemies as grasshoppers. They had faith and they entered the promised-land.

Satan throws fiery darts by causing you to look at the physical mountain. He sows doubts in your heart. These thoughts can rob your faith, and make you respond just like Israel. But if you hold the shield of faith (if you put your faith in Jesus’ finished work), none of these thoughts can shake you.

Like Joshua and Caleb, you will reject every negative thought and confess your faith in Jesus. When you do so, the fiery darts will be quenched and you will stand in victory ground.

Today, we have something better than Joshua and Caleb. They had faith in God, but under the New Covenant, we have the faith of God. Even when we are weak, we just need to rest in Jesus and allow His faith to energize us from within. This is because Jesus lives in us in the New Covenant.

(Gal 2:20)
20I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the FAITH OF THE SON OF GOD, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

The next Grace Fellowship is on Thursday 26 Mar 09, 7:45. Please contact Jeffrey Teo at 81119307 if you would like to join us for fellowship in Word and Spirit.

15.27 STAND – Put on the belt of truth

We shared that to put on the armor of God is to put on the consciousness of Christ. Last lesson, we talked about the breastplate of righteousness. It is important to put on the consciousness of Jesus as our righteousness.

Today, we will talk about the belt of truth. The belt is an important piece of the armor. It is the piece that holds the rest together. How do we put on the belt of truth? What is truth? Or rather, who is truth?

Jesus is truth. Truth is a person. It is not a theory, a doctrine, etc. The Bible says that the law was given through Moses, but grace and TRUTH came…

(John 1:17)
17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Jesus is TRUTH and He came personally. He didn’t deliver it through Moses or anyone else. He came. So who is truth? Jesus declares in John 14:6 that HE IS the truth.

(John 14:6)
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me..."

Today, the belt of truth is a Person. Everything that we have learnt in the Christian religion may not be the truth if Jesus is not in it. The Pharisees studied the word and knew it inside out but they did not embrace the TRUTH that stood before them.

So today, Christianity revolves around Jesus and His finished work. It does not revolve around the law, or our performance, or deeply complex doctrines. I have been through so many churches and sermons in my Christian life but more than half the time, Jesus is not the focus of the message, and often he is not even mentioned. Can we be honest?

The greatest joy I get is to introduce decade-old Christians to the person of Jesus in the Bible, and to see how it blows their mind, and transform their lives. One sister was released from decades of depression. Another man fell in love with Jesus, received the baptism in the Spirit, and experienced God’s miracle working power in his family. They came to know the Person – the Truth.

If we are seeking the person, we will find Him when we read the Bible, when we pray, when we worship. And when we have Jesus, the belt of truth will hold the rest of the armor together.

Note: Next Grace Fellowship is on Thursday 26th March, 7.45pm. Contact Jeffrey Teo at 81119307 if you would like to join us for fellowship in Word and Spirit.

15.26 STAND – How does putting on the consciousness of Christ help you to stand?

We shared that to put on the armor of God is to put on the consciousness of Christ. When you are conscious of Christ as your righteousness, you have put on the breastplate of righteousness.

The breastplate is a very important piece of the armor because it protects your heart. The heart is the most important organ in the body. The devil likes to attack your heart.

So how does the consciousness of Christ as your righteousness helps to protect your heart. Let me show you an example.

Let’s say that you are a good Christian who approaches God through the law. You believe that God’s blessings and approval come to you based on your love for Him. You do a lot of wonderful things to demonstrate your love for Him.

In spite of all you have done, the devil comes to you and points out a few areas that you had fallen short. Maybe your heart has been a little lukewarm of late. Maybe you haven’t been witnessing enough. When the devil uses the law you believe in to accuse you, you will feel a sense of condemnation. It will result in sin-consciousness. You will feel unworthy of God, and you will keep a distance.

Somewhere in your mind, you feel that God may not be so pleased with you and that you have fallen short of His righteousness. Through the thoughts of condemnation, it results in the curses of the law. If you fall sick, or you feel some pain, you would think that God is allowing it to happen because you have fallen short. Condemnation results in curses of the law and ultimately death. The devil starts by attacking your heart.

Now what if you are a Christian who has learnt to sit well in the finished work of Christ? It will make a world of difference. You know that you approach God not by the law but by grace. You know that Jesus is your righteousness. It does not depend on your performance. It depends on His – for on the cross you became the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. You know who you are in Christ; your eyes are not on yourself.

When the devil tries to being any accusation against you; when he tries to attack your heart, it bounces off the breastplate of righteousness. When you are secure in the righteousness of Christ, how can any accusation bring you down? You have confidence in Jesus.

When you have STOOD your ground, you can continue WALKING in victory. The Holy Spirit will empower you to walk in your new identity and to fulfill the desires that He puts in your heart.

15.25 STAND – How do you put on the armor of God?

The devil is toothless and defeated but he still attacks through deception, temptations and accusations. He makes the believer feel condemned and when that happens, the believer starts to hide from God as Adam did in the Garden.

So how does a believer STAND against the wiles of the devil? Ephesians 6:11 tells us how. We are to put on the armor of God, to STAND up to the devil, and to STAND on victory ground. Remember, we are fighting from victory, we are not fighting for victory.

(Ephesians 6:11)
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

So the next question is, “How do we put on the whole armor of God?” This is the million dollar question. All my life, I had heard different people teach different methods to do so. Someone said that I had to wake up in the morning, and put on the armor by praying them on one by one. Someone else said that I had to do the action of putting them on one by one. It sounded more like a ritual to me – something mystical.

Let me share with you how you really put on the whole armor of God. We want to demystify it. Earlier in the Chapter, Paul emphasized that Christianity was about receiving the revelation of the finished work of Christ that WE MAY KNOW…

How do we put on the belt of truth? Or the breastplate of righteousness? Or how do you take the shield of faith to quench the fiery darts of the enemy? This is the answer. It starts with having the revelation of the finished work of Christ (you can’t STAND without SITTING!).

You need to know that Jesus is the truth. And though the law was given through Moses in the Old, GRACE and TRUTH came through Jesus. Truth is the person of Jesus.

What about righteousness. You need to know that Jesus is your righteousness. 1 Cor 1:30 says that Jesus became for us righteousness. And 2 Cor 5:21 says that you are the righteousness of God in Christ.

When you live in the revelation, knowledge and consciousness of Christ, that is how you put on the armor of God. That is how you put on truth and righteousness. You simply put on the consciousness of who Christ is to you. It is so simple.

Now let me continue with a practical example of how the consciousness of Christ as your righteousness actually protects you heart from the accusations of the enemy. To be continued…

15.24 STAND – How to cast down every argument that exalts itself against the knowledge of God?

Let’s be practical. Let us give some examples of spiritual warfare in the realm of the mind, and how we stand on victory ground.

For example, someone may be sick. The devil comes to him and tells him that God no longer heals. The devil says that his sickness glorifies Jesus. The devil may use friends and leaders to affirm that wrong belief.

How can the person react? If the person does not sit well on the finished work of Christ; if He does not know that the redemption work of Christ includes healing, he would be robbed through the deception of the devil. He would be defeated.

Or what if the person has heard of testimonies of other people who had experienced healing? He has some hope that God can heal but he does not know how? How does God heal? What must I do to get the healing? Different people tell him different things. Some say that he must be faithful in church attendance. Some say he must fast and pray 40 days. Some say that he must make a pilgrimage. Some say that he must confess healing ten times a day. He does all these but does not get the results. Why?

This is because he is not sitting well on the finished work of Jesus. He is trying to get the healing by his own effort or performance. He is trying to fight for victory.

Or what if the person has a friend who shared about God redemption work on healing? The friend tells him that “by the stripes of Jesus, he was healed”. The body of Jesus was broken on the cross for his healing.

He catches the revelation and is excited. But the negative thoughts have also created some doubt. He has to believe one or the other. He decides to cast down every argument that is not in line with God’s Word. He says, “the book of Acts shows God still heals”. He says that “the book of Deuteronomy 28 tells me that sickness is a curse but Galatians 3:13 says I have been redeemed from the curse”.

He brings his thoughts into the obedience of Christ. He chooses to believe that healing has been purchased on the cross. Victory is already his. He does not fight for victory. He fights from victory. He stands on victory ground. He is not trying to get to victory ground. He walks in faith in the finished work of Christ. He experiences the healing.

Well this is not just a hypothetical example. This is the experience of many believers whom I know. We can align our thoughts and faith to the revelation of the finished work of Christ.

15.23 STAND – Why STAND and why not ATTACK?

The theme of Ephesians is SIT, WALK & STAND. So where is the fighting? Where is the attacking? A lot of Christians talk about fighting with the devil, engaging in offensive warfare with the devil. Where is all this fighting in the book of Ephesians? Well STAND has nothing to do with attacking. This is how it works:

Jesus fought with the devil on the cross. The devil bruised Jesus’ heel but Jesus bruised the devil’s head (Gen 3:15). So Jesus won. Jesus was the conqueror. We showed Col 2:13-15 yesterday. It says that Jesus triumphed over the enemy.

Then Jesus went to heaven and sat down at the right hand of the Father. We started our journey in Jesus’ victory. We SAT down in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We started by SITTING. Jesus was the conqueror but we are more than conquerors. Jesus fought for the victory but we received the spoils of victory through Jesus. We did not have to fight.

This is the order. Jesus fought. Jesus won. Jesus sat. We SIT in victory. We WALK in victory. We STAND in victory.

So if we live in victory, what is there to fight? It is called the FIGHT OF FAITH. Why the fight of faith? Because Satan who is defeated likes you to think that he is still in charge (through deception). Or since he cannot defeat you, he makes you defeat yourself (through accusations & temptations). If the lion is toothless, he can at least try to frighten you with his roar, or he could try to gum you to death.

So what do we do? We must know and believe that we are victorious in Christ (SIT). We resist Satan and remind him that we are standing on victory (STAND). We do not fight FOR victory. We fight in faith FROM victory.

So then, spiritual warfare is all in the mind. Satan makes you doubt. You make a choice to believe. You pull down every argument that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. We align our thoughts with the finished work of Christ.

(2 Cor 10:4-5)
4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ

So to STAND means that in the face of contrary wind, in the sound of the storm from the devil, we stay the course of faith, and we continue in the direction of Christ. That is standing firm against the enemy of faith.

Note: The next Grace Fellowship is on Thursday, 12th March 7.45. Please contact Jeffrey Teo at (65) 81119307 if you would like to join us for an exciting time in Word & Spirit – as we discover more of the finished work of Jesus.

15.22 STAND – Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand (Part 1)

We have talked about sitting or resting in the finished work of Christ. We have also talked about the Christian walk that proceeds from the finished work of Christ. Today we will talk about standing against the wiles and attacks of the devil.

Sitting has to do with our relationship with Jesus. Walking has to do with the way we relate to other people as a result of our relationship with God. Standing has to do with standing firm in the finished work when our faith is under attack by the devil.

So if we fail to sit, then walking is merely a religious activity with a form of godliness but without its power. And there is no way to stand against the wiles of the enemy if we do not sit tight.

As we talk about standing against the wiles of the enemy, I would like to first define spiritual warfare.

A lot of Charismatics make the devil bigger than he is. They attribute everything to the devil. “The devil caused me to fall sick”, “The devil caused this car accident”, “The devil caused it to rain”, “The devil stopped me from going to church”. From the way they talk, we may even think that the devil is bigger than God. That is giving too much glory to the devil. He is a defeated enemy. Jesus defeated him on the cross, and stripped him of his weapon, and made a public spectacle of principalities and powers.

(Col 2:13-15)
And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

He is a lion without teeth. He roars and he uses – deception, accusations and temptations in your mind to rattle your faith. His weapon is the law, which he uses to accuse you. But on the cross, Jesus disarmed him by nailing the handwriting of requirements that was against us (the Ten Commandments written in God’s handwriting). The law was perfect and the devil knew that man was in sin, so he took advantage of the perfect law to condemn mankind. But Jesus forgave our trespasses (paid the demands of the law), and disarmed Satan. So he cannot accuse you anymore. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Notice: The next Grace Fellowship is on Thursday 12th March 09. Please contact Jeffrey Teo at 65-81119307 if you would like to join us to discover more of Jesus.

15.21 WALK – As you therefore have received Christ, so walk in Him

Today, we will end off with one last verse on walking in the New Covenant. It is a powerful verse that sums it all up. It says that the way that we walk in Christ should be the same way that we received Christ.

(Col 2:6-7)
As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

How did we receive Christ? – by grace through faith. Not by the law or through the works of the law. So how should we walk the Christian walk? In the same way we got saved – by grace through faith (Eph 2:8-9).

We have shown you so many verses that simply reaffirm each other. Paul says that the righteous shall live by faith. He talks about the fact that we live in the dispensation of grace. And finally, Paul tells us that we reign in life through the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness. So the overcoming Christian life is experienced when we walk in the power of His grace.

(Rom 5:17)
17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive ABUNDANCE OF GRACE and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)

Brethren, have you been struggling in your Christian walk? Do you desire to experience reigning in life – over sickness, and circumstances, and the powers of darkness? Or do you desire to be empowered in your ministry to impact more people? Whatever it is, the secret is as follows:
In the same way that you received Christ, so walk in Him.

Like my, you received salvation by grace. You were probably touched by the love of God when you responded to the altar call. You felt your sins washed away and you felt brand new. It was so lovely. But the problem started when you were introduced to the Christian religion – where you had to perform to be accepted by Him. You had to serve and to fulfill His demands to be blessed by Him. That was how I backslided for years.

If that is your experience, it means that you started by grace but continued in the law. Today, God wants you to walk in the same power of His grace that brought you to Him in the first place. When you do so, you will reign in life.

15.20 WALK – Walk by faith and not by sight

The next verse exhorts us to walk by faith and not by sight.

(2 Cor 5:7)
For we walk by faith, not by sight.

The whole basis of the Old Covenant was works of the law. The whole basis of the New Covenant is faith in Jesus. Faith and works are always contrasted.

(Rom 3:21-28)
21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. ..27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? OF WORKS? No, but by the LAW OF FAITH. 28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the DEEDS [WORKS] OF THE LAW.

If you were living in the Old Covenant, your success (blessings) would have depended on your ability to keep the works of the law. And if you failed, you would come under the curses of the law. The blessings and curses are stated in Deuteronomy 28.

Under the New Covenant, your success or blessings does not depend on the keeping of the law. It depends on faith in Jesus. So how do we live in the New Covenant? Romans 1:17 says that the righteous shall live by faith. We walk by faith and we walk by faith.

How did Abraham receive his blessings? He received it by faith. Likewise, we are also sons of Abraham.

(Romans 4:13)
13 For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

How do we walk by faith? We walk by faith by sitting on the finished work of Christ. When our life, our salvation, our righteousness, our healing, our blessings are firmly grounded on the finished work of Christ, we will the walk by faith in its reality. If we try to attain to all those through our self-effort in keeping the law, then we would have fallen short of His grace. When you walk by faith in Jesus, you will experience His resurrection power in every circumstance in life.

15.19 WALK – Walk in good works

The next verse exhorts us to walk in good works.

(Ephesians 2:10)
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for GOOD WORKS, which God prepared beforehand that we should WALK in them.

Yes, God wants us to walk in good works. Good works is a fruit of being in Christ. It is through our testimony that the world will see Jesus. Bearing fruit is a normal part of the Christian life.

But let us be clear on the cause and effect. Under law, one tries to do good works to be saved, to be righteous, and to be accepted by God. When we try to do that, we will always feel an inadequacy because we can never fulfill the law in our self-effort.

But we are not under that system. We live in the New Covenant. We do good works because Jesus has saved us and made us righteous. Good works is the fruit of our righteousness in Christ. We do good works because God has affirmed us as His children. We do good works because we are a New Creation and Jesus lives in us.

Let us study the verse above. It says that we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. Notice that the emphasis is on what He has done. This New Creation is Jesus workmanship (not ours). It is what He has done, not what we have done.

When someone puts his confidence in his good works instead of what Christ has done, he is not experiencing Ephesians 2:10. That is walking under the law in self-effort. Good works is always a fruit of God’s work in us.

In order to bear fruit and to walk in good works, one needs to learn how to sit. How do we sit? We need to rest in the fact that we are His workmanship, and good works will come naturally. We need to depend on His life in us.

15.18 WALK – Walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh

The next verse exhorts us to walk in the Spirit. When we do so, we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. There are two forces at work – the Spirit and the flesh.

(Gal 5:16-18)
16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Gal 5:18 ends by saying that if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. There are two approaches to morality. You are either led by the spirit or you are walking under the law. It’s one or the other. The first approach is by trying to keep the law. Paul talks about his dilemma in Romans 7 when he tried to keep the law.

(Romans 7:15)
15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good.

While he wants to keep the law, he finds himself doing the opposite. This is the problem – the Bible says that the strength of sin is the law. The more you try to keep it, the greater is the temptation, and the greater is the struggle. The strength of sin is the law.

(1 Cor 15:56)
56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.

So the solution is to be delivered from the law by Christ into the Spirit. Instead of you trying to keep the law (which you can’t in your effort), you should be allowing the life of the Spirit to flow from within you. You are to be led, empowered and inspired by the Holy Spirit. When you WALK in the Spirit, you WALK in the fruit of the Spirit. You will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. If we continue reading the passage in Galatians 5, we will reach the following passage:

(Gal 5:22-23)22
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. AGAINST SUCH THERE IS NO LAW.

The verse says that against the fruit, there is no law. The fruit is greater than the law. For example, to love is greater than “thou shall not kill”. Therefore in the new covenant, one does not walk under law (trying to keep the law). We walk in the Spirit and walking in the fruit of the Spirit means that we do not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

15.17 WALK – Walk in newness of life

We have covered all the verses on “walk” in the book of Ephesians. It is clear that God wants us to walk as a new creation in Christ but the only way to do so is to first sit (rest) in our identity as a new creation in Christ. This is the New Covenant. Under the Old Covenant, they were poor old sinners trying to walk righteously to attain to righteousness. We are not under that system.

There are many other beautiful verses that cover the Christian “walk” in the Epistles. Though we are focusing on the book of Ephesians, I would like to divert from the book to share some of these verses. Romans 6 tells us that we should walk in newness of life – or to walk in the new life as a New Creation in Christ.

(Rom 6:4)
Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should WALK IN NEWNESS OF LIFE.

Today, for some strange reason, the church focuses a lot on morality. Their focus seems to turn bad people into good people morally. That is the role of the law in all religions. That is not Christianity. True Christianity is about turning dead people to be alive in Christ. One can be moral and not saved. But when one is alive in Christ, morality follows automatically.

So the law based Christian focuses on keeping the Ten Commandments and keeping morality. But the grace based Christian focuses on the fact the he is a new creation – he died with Christ and is raised with Christ into newness of life.

If we try to walk in morality, we are most likely using our flesh. The law says, “Thou shall, Thou shall…” Keeping the law is through self-effort. But if we first learn how to sit in the revelation of the new creation, we can walk in newness of life by the power of the Spirit.

Right revelation leads to the right action. The secret on the following verse is to reckon yourself to be dead to sin but alive to God in Christ. To sit is to have the right revelation of what happened on the cross.

(Romans 6:10-11)
10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, RECKON yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

15.16 WALK – Walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise

The next verse exhorts us to walk circumspectly or wisely – not as fools but as wise.

(Ephesians 5:15)
15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise…

Before we had the life of Christ, our understanding was darkened. We walked in the futility of our minds. In other words, we walked as fools. We followed the passions of the flesh and we did not consider spiritual priorities.

(Eph 4:17)
17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God…

But as believers who have the life of Christ, our understanding is now enlightened. We have the Spirit of wisdom and revelation to open the eyes of our understanding. We can walk in wisdom that the Spirit gives.

Let me share a very important truth about walking in wisdom. We cannot walk in wisdom until we have learnt to sit. Most Christians try to walk without sitting. They end up trying to walk in their own wisdom that comes from self – be it their experience, or their education, or what they have seen in their years of ministry, etc. A person who is steep in human wisdom will naturally reject the wisdom of God when God releases a new revelation. In all the wisdom of the learned Pharisees, they missed Jesus. In all the wisdom of Saul (Paul), he persecuted the church of God.

To sit well, we need to rest in the fact that wisdom is a person. Jesus is our wisdom.

(1 Cor 1:30)
30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us WISDOM from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—

And Jesus lives in us. So wisdom lives in us. The Spirit of wisdom works in us and the Bible declares that we have the mind of Christ. When we rest in the reality of Christ in us, and when we depend on the Holy Spirit, we begin to walk in true wisdom, which is of God.

15.15 WALK – Walk as children of light

The next verse exhorts us to walk as children of light. We were once darkness but now we are light in the Lord. So we are to walk in the light of Christ, reflecting Him by bearing fruit of the Spirit.

In the New Covenant of grace, we have no fellowship with darkness. In fact, it is the light of Christ in us that exposes the darkness.

(Ephesians 5:8-14)
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. 13 But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. 14 Therefore He says:

“ Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light.”


Let me share a very important truth about walking in the light. We cannot walk in light until we have learnt to sit. Most Christians try to walk without sitting. They end up trying to produce light through their self-effort under law.

To sit well, we need to rest in the source of our light. Ephesians 5:14 above says that Jesus gives us light. John 8:12 tells us that Jesus is the source of light – He is the light of the world. We are not the source, but we draw from the source.

(John 8:12)
12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

How do we walk in the light under the New Covenant? We have to draw on the life of Christ. His life is the light of man. When we draw upon Him (sit), we will emanate His light in us and through us. That is why Jesus calls us “the light of the world”. We share the same title that Jesus does.

Remember that in the New Covenant, we are in Christ and He is in us. If we are in the light and the light is in us, we also become the light of the world. The secret is to sit well – do abide in Jesus in order to walk as children of the light.

15.14 WALK – Walk in love as Christ has loved us

The next verse exhorts us to walk in love just as Christ loved us and gave His live for us. The most important thing in Christianity is love.

When we love, the requirements of the law will be fulfilled without us trying to fulfill them. This in why the following verse tells us against fornication, uncleanness, covetousness, filthiness, foolishness, coarse jesting, etc. When one walks in love, one does not harm others or themselves.

(Ephesians 5:1-4)
1 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 2 And WALK IN LOVE, AS CHRIST HAS ALSO LOVED US and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. 3 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; 4 neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.

Let me share a very important truth about walking in love. We cannot walk in love until we have learnt to sit. Most Christians try to walk without sitting. They end up trying to love through their self-effort under law. Most Christians still think they are under the law of Deut 6:5:

(Deut 6:5)
You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

That was the Old Covenant where God demanded love from sinful man. They had to prove if they could love God through their self-ability – all their heart, all their soul their all their strength. Sinful man could not find love in them. They failed to keep that law. So if you try to love without learning how to sit, you will be headed towards failure. The law brings you to the end of yourself.

How do we love under the New Covenant? We have to be seated – in the love of God for us. Eph 5:2 actually says to “walk in love AS CHRIST HAS ALSO LOVED US”. Paul prayed earlier in Eph chapter 3 that you may know the width, length, depth and height of the love of Christ towards you. This is the opposite of Deuteronomy 6:5 which focuses on man’s power to love (or the lack of it).

(1 John 4:19)
We love because He first loved us.

When you have the revelation of His love for you, you are seated well. Then walking is easy. You are simply letting the love of God flow through you. You are not “trying” to love. So let us walk in the love of Christ in the New Covenant.

15.13 WALK – You should no longer walk in the old man

The verse below tells us that we should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles (unbelievers) walk, in the futility of their mind.

(Eph 4:17-24)
17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should NO LONGER WALK as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; 19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. 20 But you have not so learned Christ, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 that you PUT OFF, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you PUT ON THE NEW MAN which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

The law-based Christian will read this verse and say, “We must behave as Christians. We should not be lewd, unclean and greedy. This is what God expects of a Christian. We must be righteous and holy. If you obey God, you will be blessed.”

Can you identify with that? That would be like trying to walk before learning how to sit!

Let us read the verse in its context. The unbeliever walks like that because he does not have the revelation of the gospel. Their minds have been darkened.

What is the revelation? When you believed in Jesus (faith), you became a new creation. You received a new nature in Christ – the new man. This new man is created in righteousness and holiness by Christ. Your sinful self – called the old man has been crucified on the cross. If you have this revelation, you have learnt how to sit.

So it is not about a Christian trying to keep the law to try to be righteous and holy. It is about what Christ has done – He has made you righteous and holy. What we need is to be conscious of this truth. When we are conscious, we put on the consciousness of the new man. When we do so, the power of God will work in us to cause us to walk in the nature of Christ – in righteousness and holiness. We start to bear fruit if the Spirit.

So when we have learnt how to sit, we will be able to walk. We will no longer walk in the old man. The key is to sit well.

15.12 WALK – How to walk worthy of your calling?

Let us run through the other verses in Ephesians that contain the word – “walk”. Paul exhorts the believer in Eph 4:1-3 to walk worthy of the calling in which you were called.

(Eph 4:1-3)
1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to WALK WORTHY OF THE CALLING IN WHICH YOU WERE CALLED, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, BEARING WITH ONE ANOTHER IN LOVE, 3 endeavoring to keep the UNITY of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

A lot of people try to walk without understanding the calling in which they were called. That would be trying to walk without learning to sit. First of all, we need to understand the calling in which we were called. Once we have learnt to sit (rest on His calling), then we will be able to walk in that calling.

What is the calling of God? Jesus died on the cross and gave us a calling. Our broad calling is to be in Christ, and to have Him live in us. We have been called to be righteous and holy by His blood. We have been called to be kings and priests. Once we are in Christ and His Spirit lives in us, He will guide us to fulfill His specific plan for our lives.

Let us go back to the verses above. The verse talks about the Christian walk – that we should bear with one another with love. Christians who have not learnt how to sit will quote this verse and say, “Oh, you are a Christian and you have to love one another. When you love another, God will bless you!” Can you identify with this? The focus is always on “you have to love”. This is trying to walk without learning how to sit.

How do we sit? Eph 4:1 starts with the word “therefore”. So we will have to move back to the preceding verses to see the context.

(Eph 3:17-19)
14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,[c] 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 TO KNOW THE LOVE OF CHRIST which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

The preceding verses tell us about our comprehension of the width, length, depth and height of the love of Christ. When we know the love of Christ, we will be filled with the fullness of God.

To sit is to know the love of Christ. To walk is to let the love of Christ flow from us to bear with others in love. Many Christians who try to walk without sitting will end up trying to love in their own strength.

The key to walking worthy of our calling (our part) is simply to first understand the calling God gave us (through Jesus' finished work).

15.11 WALK – Walk comes after Sit

We have explained extensively what it means to sit. Today, we will move on to explain what it means to “walk” as a Christian.

Walking in Christ comes as a result of sitting in Christ. If we take away sitting in Christ, then we will be “walking in the flesh” or “self-effort”. For example, if you believe that your healing is dependent on your effort to confess your healing, or how faithful you are to God; it is walking in the flesh. But if you believe that your healing is because Jesus bore your sickness on the cross, then you can walk in your true healing in Christ.

Or if you serve because you are trying to earn your blessings, you are probably walking in the flesh. But if you serve because God has given you a calling, and empowered you with His Spirit, then you can walk in Christ.

Let us show you how Paul launched into the work “WALK” immediately after establishing the fact that we are “SEATED” in the heavenly places in Christ.

(Eph 2:6-10)
6 and raised us up together, and made us SIT together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through FAITH, and that NOT OF YOURSELVES; it is the gift of God, 9 NOT OF WORKS, lest anyone should boast. 10 For WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP, created in Christ Jesus FOR GOOD WORKS, which GOD PREPARED beforehand that we should WALK in them.

Take note that Paul talks about two types of works. The first kind of work is of ourselves (the flesh). Salvation is “NOT OF YOURSELVES” & “NOT OF WORKS”. This kind of works is “WORKS OF THE LAW” which is performed through self-effort. The next kind of works is a fruit – called “WORKS OF FAITH”, which is based on RESTING or SITTING in Christ.

When a person starts to WALK after SITTING, the approach is very different. There is a rest and dependency on God. Instead of focusing on his own WORKS, he focuses on the fact that he is God’s WORKmanship. He focuses on the fact that he is created in CHRIST JESUS. Even the good works were PREPARED BY GOD beforehand for us to walk in.

I pray that we will all discover the joy of WALKING in Christ in the New Covenant because it is empowering and exciting. It is very different from the burden of walking under the yoke of bondage of the law.

15.10 SIT – Resting in the full potential of the seed of Christ

We understand to sit is about our position in Christ. But some people connect better with the analogy of a seed because “our position in Christ” sounds like something legal on paper. Maybe a lawyer or businessman can relate well to “our position in Christ” but a farmer or those who do gardening can relate better to the concept of the “seed of Christ”.

Peter said that we were born again of the incorruptible seed of Christ. When we received Jesus, He came to live in our hearts.

(1 Peter 1:24)
23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever…

To sit is to rest in the full potential of the seed of Christ in us. In Singapore, we like to eat durians, also known as the king of fruits. A durian seed, even though it is just a tiny seed, contains the full life of a fruit-producing durian tree. There is nothing that we can do to manufacture durians in a factory – through our effort and intelligence. But a little durian seed contains the full life and potential of a durian tree.

Likewise, there is nothing a person can do in his self-effort to be like Christ. He can try to keep all the works of the law but he will not come close to being like Christ. He can try to walk the Christian walk with all his heart, soul, mind and strength, but he will not succeed. It is pointless to talk about the Christian walk if we do not first talk about sitting in Christ.

Likewise, it is pointless to try to manufacture a durian tree or fruit. You can try it with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, but you will not succeed. To have a durian tree, you will need a durian fruit.

So Christianity not about our effort to be moral or good – it is about the seed of Christ that is in us the moment we received Him into our heart and believed the gospel of His grace. The more we recognize, nurture and depend on the life of the seed (ie. to sit) we will be able to grow up in Christ and to bear fruit (ie. to walk in Christ).

Christianity is about the life of Christ – the zoe life. Jesus said that he came to give us life abundantly. He is the light of the world and the life of man. We are to abide in Christ (see our identity in Him) and allow His life to grow and manifest in us. To sit is truly to depend on the full potential of the seed of Christ in us.

You are the sons of God, in the imago of your Father. Do not try to walk right to be like your Father. Instead, recognize you are already in His image, and walk by faith in that reality.

15.9 SIT – Laboring to enter the rest of faith

To sit is to rest. Today, we will explore the concept of “resting” vs. “laboring”. Resting is a concept that few Christian understands today. Christians appear always pressurized to do witnessing, to grow church numbers, to multiply cell groups, to find new disciples, to serve, to attend cell-groups, etc. Good as these are, the only problem is that Christians are focusing on laboring. The Bible says that resting is the key. It sounds so illogical doesn’t it? In fact, the Bible says that the only labor is LABORING TO ENTER THE REST!

(Hebrews 4:11, KJV)
11Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

The above verse talks about failing to enter the rest because of disbelief. So how do we enter the rest? We enter the rest through faith – by believing in the gospel of the finished work of Christ.

(Hebrews 4:2-3)
2For unto us was the GOSPEL preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with FAITH in them that heard it. 3For we which have BELIEVED DO ENTER into rest…

To rest is not only to enter into faith. It is also to cease from the works of the law.

(Hebrews 4:10)
10For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath CEASED FROM HIS OWN WORKS, as God did from his.

Under to Old Covenant, they had to labor under works of the law to attain to righteousness and to blessings. A lot of Christians still live under that system today. But under the New Covenant, we are to rest by faith in the finished work of Christ. Righteousness and blessings come as a gift from Jesus – which we receive by faith. Since we don’t have to labor for it, we simply rest in the fact that Jesus has given them to us by grace.

This new principle is clearly stated by Paul. We are no longer under the law of works (laboring). We are under the law of faith (resting & believing).

(Romans 3:27-28)
27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds [works] of the law.

Today you are not under the law of works. You are not under the law of the Ten Commandments. You are under the law of faith – a new system of faith. You do not labor in works – but to are to be diligent to enter the rest! When we walk in faith, we will end up with a new kind of greater works – called works of faith.

15.8 SIT – Your position in Christ

Today, we will explore the concept of “position in Christ” vs. “actions”. Your position is who you really are. That is the real you – the way God sees you. That is the real you – endowed with the power and authority of God. That is the real you – from a spiritual and legal perspective. Your action is your action – how you act and behave outwardly.

Kenneth Hagin shared about a man who went to church, and lived a moral and Godly life. He was a good man but he had never accepted Jesus. During a meeting the man came forward to receive Jesus and the people were surprised. Everyone thought he had been saved all these years. But something different happened. He had an inner radiance or inner glow in him. When he walked down the street, people could see the difference. Now he was really a child of God. Previously, he was acting or living like a Christian without real salvation.

For example, a pauper can “act” like a millionaire and talk like a millionaire – but that does not make him a millionaire. He does not have the real resources, power and authority to execute what he says. Acting like a millionaire does not make one a millionaire.

What is a person deposits $1m in the pauper’s bank account as an inheritance. Legally and positionally, he is now a millionaire. He has the resources to live like a millionaire. But if he does not know about the inheritance, he may still behave like a pauper, rummaging among the dustbins for food. But if he has the revelation that he is a millionaire, he can start to conduct himself like a millionaire.

This is Christianity. To sit is to know our true position in Christ. We are righteous. We are sons of God, we are kings and we are priests. That is the truth and that is how God sees us. That is our spiritual and legal position.

When we understand our true position in Christ (sit) we start to walk as who we are. But if we do not know our position (do not sit well), we will still act like a pauper – living like a defeated Christian, or like a poor old sinner.

There could be Christians who try in their actions to be what they really are. They think that if they can behave 100% righteous, then they will attain to righteousness. That is like trying to walk without learning to sit. That is like putting effort on their actions without understanding their position. Sadly, the Christian who tries hard to earn their position in Christ will never attain to it. The law always results in failure- so that the person can turn to Christ.

Therefore to sit is to know our position in Christ. Jesus put us in that position by virtue of the fact that we are in Him. It has nothing to do with our effort. He did everything. When we know our position, we will have the right actions.

15.7 SIT – Abiding in Christ

Today, we will explore the concept of “abiding in Christ” vs. “performance through self-ability”.

A lot of Christianity is powered by self-effort – be it going to Church, keeping good attendance, being active in activities, doing witnessing, keeping moral standards, etc. When someone becomes a Christian, they usually attend a follow up class where they are taught what are expected of them as Christians. Thereafter, it is a journey to keep more and more expectations – or to perform the Christian life. The Pharisees kept all the religious requirements diligently but yet did not know Christ.

That is not true Christianity. So what is true Christianity? Christianity is summarized as follows – “abiding in Christ & the indwelling of Christ”. Jesus used the analogy of the vine and branches. Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. When we abide in Him and He indwells us, then we are transformed from the inside to bear fruit, which becomes evident on the outside. The fruits result in powerful actions that impact people.

John 15:5
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

When Christians perform without abiding in Christ, it is like walking without first sitting. Jesus said that without Him we can do nothing of value. But when Christians abide in Christ, they are sitting – which then results in walking right. Just as we are to sit before we can walk, likewise we are to abide in Christ and the result is bearing much fruit.

Christianity without Christ is an empty self-powered religion that does not bear fruit. It is burdensome and results in frustration. Perhaps this explains why there is so little joy in many traditional churches.

We are to abide in Christ – we are to believe who we are in Christ according to what He has accomplished on the cross. When we see ourselves in Christ, the branch is connected to the vine, and the life of the vine flow to the branches (Christ’s life is manifested in us). We are to sit, and when we have done so, we will know how to walk.

Note: next Grace Fellowship is on Thursday 29th Jan 09, 7:45pm Singapore. Please contact Jeffrey Teo at 81119307 if you would like to join us for a wonderful time of fellowship in the Word and Spirit.

15.6 SIT – Christianity is BEING rather than DOING

Today, we will explore the concept of BEING vs. DOING. Christianity is about BEING – not DOING. A lot of people do things in order to be something – Christians keep the law to attain to righteousness. Or Christians try to act holy so that they can be holy. Or they can engage in a lot of Christian activities to be a good Christian. Can you see that all these things are usually behavior modification rather than inward transformation?

That kind of Christianity focuses on doing rather than being. In fact, I often hear pastors call their flock “poor old sinners” so that they work harder to be good enough Christians. That is the motivation under the Old Covenant of law.

But Christianity in the New Covenant is about BEING. It focuses on who you are in Christ. For example, when a believer understands that on the cross, he received the gift of righteousness from Jesus, he would start to walk righteously. Or when he believes that Christ lives in Him and he is a new creation in Christ, he would naturally manifest Christ through his actions and behavior. He does not need to be taught how to behave (as the law does). He starts to bear fruit of the Spirit from within. This is inward transformation. This is Christianity. You become pre-occupied with the person on Jesus rather than behavior modification.

When I was growing up, I was told that as a Christian, we have to try to walk in the footsteps of Jesus. We had to imitate Him – to do what he did. Whatever situation I was in, I had to ask myself, “What would Jesus have done in that situation?” and I had to do the same. I am certain that many of us probably live by that. Naturally I failed. I couldn’t live up to Jesus’ high standards.

Later, I realized that while the teaching sounded spiritual, it wasn’t New Covenant. How could anyone try to be like Jesus in his actions? How could anyone succeed? How could anyone turn water into wine? Or multiply bread for the thousands, or walk on water, or calm the storm? It would be a futile attempt for anyone to try to act like the Son of Jesus. If we could, then why would we need a Savior? That kind of approach focuses on our self-performance to be like Christ. It focuses on our DOING.

So what is New Covenant? None of us could reach the standards God required. So God sent Jesus to do what we failed to do – to fulfill the law perfectly. And after Jesus was seated at the right hand of the Father, He poured out His Spirit to live in us. So today, Jesus lives in us through His Spirit. We are a new creation in Christ. It is not about our DOING – it is about BEING a new creation in Christ.

When we sit in the reality of our new BEING in Christ, Jesus can live in us and through us. We don’t have to stress ourselves to be like Jesus – we just need to rest in Him and let Him live through us. This is true Christianity.

Note: Next Grace Fellowship is on Thursday 29th Jan 09, 7.45pm Singapore. Please contact Jeffrey Teo at 81119307 if you would like to join us for a wonderful time in fellowship in the Word and Spirit.

15.5 SIT – Sitting come through revelation

To sit is to be established in faith (to rest) on the finished work of Christ. How do we sit? How do we get established on the finished work of Christ? It comes through revelation. Without revelation, we end up in works of the law instead of depending on the finished work. With revelation, comes faith. With faith we start to sit and rest.

Let us show this through the book of Ephesians. We have shared about Eph 2:6 about being seated in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. But this is a continuation of the earlier verses in Chapter 1:20 which talks about Jesus being raised from the dead and got seated in the heavenly places. After Jesus got seated at the Father’s right hand, we were also raised up in Christ to the Father’s right hand.

(Eph 1:15-23, 2:4)
15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the EYES OF YOUR UNDERSTANDING BEING ENLIGHTENED; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He RAISED HIM from the dead and SEATED HIM AT THE RIGHT HAND IN THE HEAVENLY PLACES, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. 22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and RAISED US UP TOGETHER, and MADE US SIT TOGETHER in the HEAVENLY PLACES in Christ Jesus…

But how do we know the reality of Christ being seated at the Father’s right hand? How do we understand and appreciate that? Thereafter, how do we know the reality of us being raised to be seated at the heavenly places? It comes through the SPIRT OF WISDOM AND REVELATION – through THE EYES OF OUR UNDERSTANDING BEING ENLIGHTENED. Can you see the progression in the passage?

So we can pray for revelation of the Holy Spirit – to see what happened to Jesus at the cross, and to see what happened to us because we are in Christ. When we catch the revelation, we can be established in sitting.

15.4 SIT – We start our journey seated in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus

What does it mean to be seated in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus?

To sit is to rest. Christianity is resting on the finished work of Christ. It is not about laboring under works of the law; it is about laboring to enter the rest spoken of in Hebrews 4. It is about resting in all that He has accomplished on your behalf. You can rest in His righteousness for you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. You can rest in His healing for by His stripes you were healed. You can rest in His provision for He became poor that you may be rich. You can rest in His love because He first loved us. You can rest in His blessings for you have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus. You can rest in all His promises.

What does it mean to be seated in the heavenly place, next to our heavenly Father? It tells us that we have access to the throne of grace. In the Old Testament, the people could not enter the Holy of Holies. It was separated by the veil. But when Jesus died, the veil was torn. God reconciled the world to Himself. Those who believe in Jesus have become sons of God. We are in relationship with God the Father.

Since we are in the heavenly places, we are above satan and the powers of darkness. It is amazing how Christians make such a fuss over the devil. They attribute everything to Him – magnifying his power in their eyes. But they forget that they are seated in the heavenly places, far above powers and principalities.

What does it mean to be seated in the Heavenly places IN CHRIST JESUS? It means to rest in all that we are in Christ. We are in Christ and Christ is in us. This is the New Covenant. The Old Covenant believer did not experience that. We can believe who we are in Christ. We can believe what we have in Christ. We can belief what we can accomplish in Christ. When we belief all that we are in Christ, we experience Christ working in us.

Christianity starts from sitting. We should not try to accomplish what Christ has already accomplished. We should simply believe in the provision of His grace. That is why the New Covenant is about walking in faith. We should not try to do in our own strength that which Jesus wants to accomplish by His power through us. We should simply rest in His power, and let His life flow from us. It may sound passive but we end up achieving more. This is why Christianity is about the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the new vine that is contained in the new wine skin of grace and righteousness.

Let us start by sitting, and resting in His finished work. Let us see the fullness of our position in Christ. Then allow the Holy Spirit to work in us and through us.

15.3 SIT – The Old Covenant priest could never sit in the tabernacle

In the Old Covenant, the priest worked in the temple. Day after day, and week after week they tended to the temple – the animal sacrifices at the Brazen Altar, oil for the Golden Candlestand, Change of bread and wine for the Table of showbread, etc. Every year, the high priest would enter the holy of holies to sprinkle the blood of animals on the mercy seat. The blood could not wash away sins – it only covered sins for a year.

For 1,500 years under the system of law, the priest could never sit – the work was never completed. They were always “WALKING”. Righteousness could not be attained by the works of the law. As they repeated the animal sacrifice year after year, it was simply a reminder that the they needed Jesus, the true Lamb.

(Hebrews 10:1-4)
1 For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they OFFER CONTINUALLY YEAR BY YEAR, make those who approach perfect. 2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. 3 But in those sacrifices there is a REMINDER OF SINS EVERY YEAR. 4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.

Then God sent Jesus to this earth. He was the fulfillment of each of the furniture in the tabernacle. He fulfilled all righteousness. He offered Himself as the true Lamb for slaughter.

(Hebrews 9:26)
He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the SACRIFICE of HIMSELF.

He became our priest who entered the true Holy of Holies in heaven, to present His own blood to put away sins forever. And something happened for the first time. The perfect sacrifice was accepted as the one sacrifice for sins forever (past, present & future). So Jesus SAT DOWN! No priest sat down after 1,500 years – but Jesus sat down.

(Heb 10:11-14)
11 And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, SAT DOWN at the right hand of God, 13 from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. 14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

The work was finished. Today, we start seated in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. You are not an Old Covenant priest – you are a New Covenant priest.

15.2 SIT – We are seated in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus

We will expound on the three words – SIT, WALK & STAND – starting with SIT. The book of Ephesians declares powerfully that:

(Eph 2:4-9)
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and MADE US SIT TOGETHER in the HEAVENLY PLACES IN CHRIST JESUS, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.

It says that we were once dead in our sins. But because of God’s great love, He sent Jesus to give us life. And at the moment that we got saved, God raised us up together, and made us SIT together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

This is awesome. A lot of Christians think that we get saved on earth now, and suffer for the rest of our life until we return to heaven. Or many Christians still think that we are poor old sinners even after getting saved. Or some Christians are always running from the devil, talking about spiritual attacks. They appear totally detached from the revelation of the Bible!

The passage declares that we are seated the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Jesus is at the right hand of God. And we are in Christ. So we are seated at the right hand of God by the virtue that we are in Christ.

Satan is below us. We have more authority than him. We are not suffering our way to heaven, but heaven is in us. We are already seated in the heavenly places. We are not poor old sinners – we are sons of God in Christ.

Jesus came to this earth to fulfill the law. When His job was finished, He sat down. Jesus ends by seating. But the Christian starts by seating. This is where the Christian starts when he gets saved. He is seated in the heavenly places. If we learn how to sit, we will be ready to walk.

The only way to sit is to be established in the grace of God. In the same passage above, it emphasizes that we have been saved by grace and not of your works. Through the finished work of Christ, we are seated. If we depend on ourselves, we will never be seated. Seating is to rest in His finished work.

15.1 NEW SERIES – SIT, WALK & STAND

In the last series, we showed that the quest of the believer is to know the finished work of Christ, instead of striving to get what Jesus has achieved. Every world revival started with a fresh revelation of Jesus from the Word.

Today we start on a new series, but will reinforce the above message. This series is entitled “SIT, WALK & STAND”. This is the theme of the Book of Ephesians – one of the most powerful books in the Bible that declares the reality of New Covenant living.

This is the book where the term “In Christ” appears more than any other book. It tells us who we are in Christ, what we have in Christ, and what we can achieve in Christ. It is a book that shares revelations so powerful that the Old Covenant believer may consider blasphemous. For example, it Paul says that we are seated in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Who would even dare to think of such a truth in the Old Covenant when they were trembling at the foot of Mt Sinai, trying to keep a distance from God?

The themes SIT, WALK & STAND are a progression of the Christian relationship. It has to be in that order. We will examine each of these three words in greater detail over the next few weeks. To SIT means to rest in the finished work of Jesus. To WALK means to live by faith in the reality of Jesus. It means to allow Jesus to live through you. To STAND is to stand by faith when the devil comes against us with doubts and fear. It is to remain unmoved in the victory of Jesus.

Isn’t this consistent with our last series? We can only SIT when we have the revelation of the finished work of Christ. Christianity starts from the cross.

Let us be honest. The majority of Christians live in a different order. They try to WALK first before they learn how to SIT. Under the law, people try hard to keep the law. They have no rest or peace until they do so, but they are always stressed with no rest. Whatever they do never seems to be enough. That’s the Old Covenant approach. But we live in the New Covenant. We start with sitting.

Let us share some practical examples. A person who needs healing may be trying very hard to do all the right things so that God is pleased, and he could be healed. Or a believer may be trying hard to serve God and to be obedient in works in order to get God’s blessings. That is trying to WALK before he learns how to SIT.

In the New Covenant, the believer sees the finished work of the cross. He declares – “By the stripes of Jesus, I was healed.” He rests in the finished work. Soon, he starts to walk by faith, and the healing manifests. Or the believer rests in the fact that he has been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ. As he rests on the promise, he starts to walk in those blessings.

14.21 Revivals through revelation – the Gospel of Grace

There is a powerful revival that has been sweeping across the world – which started a decade ago. This is the revival of the Gospel of Grace, where the Church is returning to the truths of the gospel as presented by the Apostle Paul.

If we study church history, we will see that the church had a tendency to depart from the gospel of Christ back to the system of law under the Old Covenant. Frequently, the church mixes the two covenants, which result in confusion.

This is something that I do not take for granted. For most of my Christian life, I did not understand the gospel; I did not understand what Jesus accomplished on the cross. I grew up in denominations, and there was little emphasis of Jesus in the Sunday sermons. It was usually about what we had to do, but always felt lacking in empowerment.

I did not understand the Bible for myself. But when I truly understood the gospel in all its beauty, I did not want anything less. I have met many people who have been so thrilled to understand the gospel after decades as a Christian. It usually brings about a personal revival. It helps us to see the Bible in a different light. Our lives become energized by the reality of Christ living in us.

This powerful revival came through a revelation of the gospel as explained in the Epistles of Paul. It is a revival of BRINGING THE CHURCH BACK TO THE FINISHED WORK OF CHRIST – BACK TO JESUS.

Every revival which I have shared is really a progression in our REVELATION and EXPERIENCE of Jesus – in an exciting relationship. It is about a daily progression – living in a constant state of revival with Jesus inside you. It is about growing deeply rooted in Christ.

It is not about living in a revival experience of the past. It is not about praying hard enough for God to move again with some external phenomena. It is not about getting stressed up waiting for God to move in the next revival. It is about living each day with a fresh revelation of Jesus – and if we do so, we are already in the midst of revival!

I believe that this revival of the Gospel of Grace is the revival that will prepare the church for the Rapture. If Christianity is about Christ, then this is the greatest revival that will bring us back to the knowledge and experience of the person of Christ.

Therefore, we conclude that in the New Covenant, the quest is THAT WE MAY KNOW and EXPERIENCE the finished work of Christ. Every revival has demonstrated this truth, and we are now in an exciting revival. We encourage you to be a part of this revival.

14.20 Revivals through revelation – the Word of Faith

Kenneth Hagin was raised from his deathbed in 1934 at the age of 17 in Texas and commissioned by God to “teach my people faith.” He is regarded as the father of the Word of Faith revival in the 1970s and 1980s, and his teachings have established the faith of countless believers in God’s Word.

Hagin was born premature, with a heart deformity and a blood condition. Both were incurable. As a teenager, Hagin lay paralyzed for months on his bed and five doctors gave him up for death. A visiting pastor gave him little comfort saying, “Son, it will be over soon.”

But he wanted to live and he knew by the inner witness that the answer was in the Bible. As he read Scriptures on healing (James 5:15) and faith (Mark 11:22-24), he had no one to guide him except the Holy Spirit through the inward voice.

When he lamented that no pastors came to pray for him, the still small voice told him that he could pray the prayer of faith for himself. When he prayed and nothing happened, he was discouraged.

Being bedfast, he had a lot of time to pray and to read the Word. After struggling for some time, Hagin stumbled upon Mark 11:22-24, and RECEIVED A REVELATION from the Holy Spirit. He prayed the prayer of faith and believed God for his healing but nothing happened. He told God that he had prayed and believed according to Mark 11:22-24. The Holy Spirit told him that the last clause of the Scripture said, “Believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” He suddenly realized that he had to believe he had received the healing in spite of the circumstances. He had wanted to receive his healing first, and then believe it.

After receiving the revelation, he began to thank God for his healing. After thanking God for 10 minutes, the Holy Spirit said that healed people should not be in bed. He answered, “That’s right; I’m going to get up.” Faith takes the answer now.

He had no feeling from waist down. He pushed himself to a sitting position and pushed his feet off the bed. They were lifeless like chunks of wood. He grabbed hold of the bedpost and struggled to stand up. Immediately, his mind was filled with doubts and negative thoughts. He hung on to God’s Word; he declared to God that the Word of God is true, and that he was healed. The room seemed to be spinning. He continued thanking God for his healing. Then he felt a warm sensation flow down from his head. When it reached his waist, feeling began to return to his legs. He received his healing by faith.

God commissioned Hagin to “teach my people faith”. God used him in the Word of Faith Revival in the 1970s and 1980s, where God restored important truths about faith and the importance of God’s Word in the Christian life. The teachings restored the revelation of JESUS THE AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF FAITH. It also restored the truth of FEEDING ON THE WORD (JESUS THE BREAD OF LIFE) to grow in faith.

Hagin wrote many books in his “Faith Library” collection. These books have impacted many believers around the world. It has taught believers to stand on the Word instead of walking by sight, bringing stability to their Christian lives. He taught the Word until a ripe old age and fulfilled his divine calling. His testimony and teachings inspired many other anointed Bible teachers, whom God raised during the revival.

Some of the fastest-growing churches and ministries in the world today are churches that grew out from the Word of Faith Revival.

14.19 Revivals through revelation – the Charismatic revival

In the later half of the 20th century, many evangelical church leaders and members embraced and experienced the power of the Holy Spirit in their own churches. Unlike the Pentecostal Revival which saw Spirit-filled members moving out of their churches, the Charismatic Revival was a renewal within the mainstream churches that had earlier rejected the move.

God raised many leaders within the evangelical churches to play important roles in the Charismatic Revival. One such person was Dennis Bennett, an Episcopalian rector who wrote the book Nine O’clock in the Morning. He heard about this new experience and started on a journey to find the answers. God used him and his book as a catalyst of the Charismatic Revival.

Dennis Bennett was a rector of a large conservative Episcopalian church in Los Angeles. In those days, the non-Pentecostal churches had little understanding of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. One day in 1959, Frank, a young Anglican priest who visited his home told him that a young couple in his church had received the baptism in the Spirit and even claimed to have spoken in tongues, whatever that was. Bennett said that they must be one of those mixed up people.

As Bennett tried to sidetrack the issue, Frank said, “I can’t just brush it away – I have to understand what is going on. I am supposed to be the spiritual leader of the church.” He challenged Bennett to meet them but Bennett didn’t want to get involved in this “emotionalism” business.

Due to Frank’s persistency, Bennett and his wife, Elberta, agreed to meet the couple. With suspicion and apprehension, he told the couple, John and Joan, “What’s it all about? What has happened to you people?” With glowing faces, they shared that they had received the baptism in the Spirit. He asked, “What does that mean?” They answered, “Just like in the Bible.” Bennett wrote:

It was a low blow! As a minister of the gospel – with 16 years’ experience and a graduate degree in theology from a well-known university, I was supposed to know what was in the Bible. Yet as John and Joan talked, I realized that there were some very important things I’d somehow missed.

After the meeting, Elberta said, “I don’t know what these people have but I want it!” Bennett realized he was spiritually dry and hungry deep inside. Could a lack of experience with the Holy Spirit be the reason why Christians today don’t show the same joy, power and assurance that we see in the New Testament? He decided to DO A RESEARCH on the Holy Spirit, which had up till then been a vague, theoretical Being to him.

It was the beginning of a journey to DISCOVER NEW REVELATIONS from the Word of God. He had to struggle to overcome his deep-rooted prejudices against tongues. He had been told by his professor in the seminary that it was emotionalism and offensive. After three months of researching, he said to John and Joan:

“Look here, I’ve been reading my Bible, my Prayer Book, my theological books, my church history, and as far as I can see, this experience you’re talking about is in them all. I want what you’ve got!”

After John and Joan prayed for him for about 20 minutes, he received the baptism in the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues. He experienced the reality of God’s presence that he had hungered for. Elberta received shortly after and they began to enjoy a newfound intimacy with God. Though he kept his experience at a low profile, the fires of revival began to spread and many members of his church also experienced the baptism.

On 3rd April 1960, he announced publicly to his church that he had received the baptism in the Spirit and had spoken in tongues. He faced immediate opposition from a minority who did not understand this divine experience and he decided to resign as their rector. His controversial story was carried on TV, Time and Newsweek. Soon, he received numerous invitations to share his story both within and beyond his denomination. He also authored a number of books which became one of the catalysts of the Charismatic Revival. It all started with a REVELATION that came through researching the Bible.

(Reference: Nine O’clock in the Morning by Dennis Dennett, Bridge Publishing, Inc.)

14.18 Revivals through revelation – the Pentecostal revival

When the truth of baptism in the Holy Spirit and tongues was lost during the dark ages of Church history, the Church believed that tongues had ceased. Some groups believed that baptism in the Spirit was one and the same experience, as salvation or sanctification.

But when the time was ripe, the truth of the baptism in the Spirit as a separate experience with the evidence of speaking in tongues was restored to the Church in the 20th century Pentecostal and Charismatic Revivals. Today, the majority in the Christian Church uses this prayer language. The largest and the fastest-growing churches in the world today embrace the full workings of the Holy Spirit.

Two men played important roles in the Pentecostal Revival. Just before Christmas in 1900, Charles Parham gave 40 Bible school students an assignment – to find the New Testament evidence of being filled with the Spirit. Three days later, when Parham returned, his students informed him that the only consistent evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit was speaking in tongues. The STUDENTS HAD RECEIVED A REVELATION ON THE BAPTISM IN THE SPIRIT BY STUDYING THE WORD.

At almost midnight, New Year’s Day 1901, a student, Agnes Ozman, asked to have hands laid on her to receive the baptism. As other students did so, the Holy Spirit fell and she began to speak in tongues. Three days later, Parham himself received. Persecution came almost as quickly as the baptism.

William Seymour, a black preacher, approached Parham and sat under his teaching. When Seymour started TEACHING THE REVELATION that speaking in tongues is the evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit, he was locked out from his church.

Seymour then began to preach in an abandoned church at 321 Azusa Street. After about six months, revival broke out. In 1906, worshippers in Azusa Street Mission in Los Angeles, United States, experienced the baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues and falling under the power of the Holy Spirit. News of the Azusa Street Revival spread and Christians from all over the world flocked to Azusa Street to experience the move. They then carried the fire with them wherever they went.

The established churches rejected the revival of the Spirit that was gathering pace as it challenged the established beliefs and practices of their day. They did not fully understand the phenomena because they thought that tongues had ceased. For several decades, this Pentecostal Revival flourished outside the established denominations. Every Pentecostal group today can trace its lineage directly or indirectly to the Azusa Street Revival.

It all started with a revelation from the word that restored the experience of JESUS THE BAPTIZER IN THE HOLY SPIRIT. In the 1990s, the Lutheran church that I attended experienced a revival through the revelation of Jesus our Baptizer. As the youth president, I got the youths baptized in the Spirit by showing them the revelation of the baptism in the Spirit from the Word of God.

14.17 Revival through revelation – the Reformation Revival

I trust you had a Blessed Christmas – and a renewed revelation of Jesus who came to be the Lamb of God for us. Today, we shall resume Daily Rhema.

Recap - True revival is about RECEIVING A NEW REVELATION ABOUT CHRIST that leads to a new experience of CHRIST WITHIN US. Remember that Paul prayed THAT WE MAY KNOW. When we know a new revelation of Christ, we start to experience revival. It is not about self-performance and human effort in moving the hand of God. It is about KNOWING CHRIST.
We will share demonstrate this truth as we walk down Church history to study some major revivals – starting with the Reformation Revival.

In the dark ages of Church history, the Church became corrupt and lost sight of the gospel. Ordinary people did not have the Word of God and were in bondage. There was no revelation of Christ.

They tried to reach God through their human efforts, like beating themselves, kneeling on rocks, fasting and praying. The Church even taught that indulgences (pieces of paper bought with money) could secure forgiveness of sins. This was a convenient way for the corrupt Church to raise money from the people.

Martin Luther was a monk who did all these yet the guilt of sin hung over his conscience. The turning point in Luther’s life came while he was a lecturer of Theology at Wittenberg University. As he studied the Bible, he was fascinated by the Apostle Paul’s Epistles, especially Rom 1:17, “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’ ” He HAD THE REVELATION that the righteousness of God is through grace and received by faith. It was a revelation of JESUS AS OUR LAMB OF GOD – a truth lost in the dark ages.

Luther began teaching the doctrine of justification by faith alone in direct contrast with the prevailing teaching that one is saved by faith and good works. On 31st October 1517, Luther nailed the famous 95 Theses (or arguments) on the door of the church in Wittenberg. He argued strongly against the abuse of indulgences and invited a debate.

For his unwavering stand on the authority of the Bible and justification by faith, he was expelled from the Church and declared an outlaw by the emperor. He almost lost his life for the gospel. The teachings of Luther caught on and resulted in the Reformation movement in the Church. It was a revival that brought the revelation of JESUS THE LAMB OF GOD back to the Church, which resulted in a deeper experience with Christ.

Today, the Church of Christ believes in the doctrine of salvation by faith rather than works, and that Christ’s own righteousness is imputed to those who believe.