Public Service at Surabaya - Sunday, May 06, 2007

Based on Tabernacle structure, the epistle of Jude refers to the covering of badger skins, signifying the protection and attention of God towards the true church as well as separation from the false one.

There are four kinds of false church as follows:

• the church of the unshepherded, heading for antichrist and false prophets (verse 4)
• the church of the law (verse 5)
• the church of satan, which is like Sodom and Gomorrah (verse 6-7)
• the church of the flesh (verse 8)

THE CHURCH OF THE FLESH
Jude 1:8
8 Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.
They are pastors and Christians who live in the nature of flesh and blood and not transformed by the renewal of life, so that they:

1. do the works of the flesh
   Galatians 5:19-21
   19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
   20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
   21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
2. set their minds on the things of the flesh
   Romans 8:5
   5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
   Peter, for example, rejected the cross. Now many congregations reject the cross with logical thought as follows: we have had many sorrows outside the church, so we need not to have cross but flesh.
   Matthew 16:21-23
   21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.
   22 Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!"
   23 But He turned and said to Peter, " Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."
   Men always set their minds of the things of the flesh (rejecting the cross) and become an offense to one another, for they pursue their own gain and refuse to sacrifice for the others (“You are an offense”). Moreover, they become like Satan (“Get behind Me, Satan!”), neither stopping sinning nor being delivered from sins. They cannot repent anymore.
3. walk according to the carnal mind
   Romans 8:6-7
   6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
   7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.
   The carnal mind leads to disobedience and enmity against God.

No one who walks according to the carnal mind will inherit the kingdom of heaven.

1 Corinthians 15:50
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.

Maintaining fleshly men (no renewal of life), the sons of God will have fleshly conducts and minds because of rejecting the cross.
Apostle Paul groaned with his body of flesh, calling himself a wretched man in the body of death.

Romans 7:18-20, 24-25
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.
19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.
20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
25 I thank God––through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.

Only Jesus Christ is able to deliver us from this body of death, as He is the Heavenly Man, the Lord born in the flesh and blood, dying on the cross to beget us again, from carnal to spiritual. Lest we lose faith in Jesus Christ our Lord. Without Jesus, man is a mere flesh, which Apostle Paul termed the body of death, prepared for destruction.

John 3:3-5
3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
4 Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?"
5 Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God, not even enter it.
BORN OF WATER AND SPIRIT.
Water refers to water baptism. Only those who find the grace of the Lord will be saved by the true baptism, just like Noah entered into his ark. Although it is not written in the Bible, I believe that there were arks besides Noah’s, but the Lord only saved people in Noah’s ark. Today there are different types of water baptism, but only one that is true: even as Christ was baptized, so we must be also baptized likewise. This is the true baptism according to the word of God.
The main prerequisite for baptism is repentance from eight deadly sins. As burying of the dead, we must firstly be dead to sins to have the true baptism.

Romans 6:1-3
1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?

Revelation 21:8
8 "But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."

Better we enter into the lake of water (water baptism) than into the lake of fire and brimstone (hell).

• cowardly / worry about oneself to sacrifice for God. This is a correction for me firstly because there are many pastors who are afraid to sacrifice for the Lord even they sacrifice their congregations.
• unbelieving / doubt about temptations and heresies.
• sorcerers / magic, such as talismans, amulets, horoscopes, and fortune-telling.
• liars / lies, which are the lock of sin. As long as there is lie, one may not enter the sea of water but the sea of fire and brimstone. Formerly, Noah and his three sons with their wives (the total was eight people) entered the sea/baptism of water. Likewise, eight sins have to be drown through the baptism of water/repentance.
  As the dead are buried, so we, being dead to sins, must be also buried in water. Such is the right baptism of water.

Romans 6:4
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.

New life = spiritual life, no more carnal man but spiritual man.

The Spirit refers to the baptism of Holy Spirit, that is, to be led, anointed, and filled with the Holy Spirit.
The process of regeneration is now complete: baptism by the blood (which the late Rev. Van Gessel termed for repentance), baptism by water and by the Spirit.

John 3:6-8
6 "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 "Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.
8 "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."

Baptism by water and by the Spirit begets us to be wind and fire, that is, the ministers of God.

Psalms 104:4
4 Who makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire.

Here are the wind-ministers of God like:

1. making themselves of no reputation = having the same mind as Jesus Christ. Although we have something great, we have to make ourselves of no reputation like Jesus who actually has all things.
   Philippians 2:5-7
   5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
   6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,
   7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
   For example, with my mind, I will work with my mind and strength. But if we work with Jesus’ mind, we will work not with our strength, intelligence, and will but Jesus’. As the result, none may hinder us like Jesus who entered the locked door and said “Peace be with you” because He became as wind, not stone.
2. working all things according to the will of God.
   Philippians 2:8
   8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

These are the results of being wind:

• We walk in triumph and find new ways in all aspects of life and ministry, for nothing and nobody can hold or block up the wind. Conversely, the wind can pass through a locked door though.
  2 Corinthians 2:12-15
  12 Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened to me by the Lord,
  13 I had no rest in my spirit, because I did not find Titus my brother; but taking my leave of them, I departed for Macedonia.
  14 Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.
  15 For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.
• The wind blows; implying we are in the motion of Holy Spirit to bring the fragrance of Christ by Bride Tidings – the gospel of the glory of the Lord – telling us about Jesus’ second coming as the Heavenly Groom and King of kings.
  Previously, we were passive but now we become active as wind.
  The wind will someday stop blowing, as the sign of sealing on the perfect body of Christ. You thus be the wind: now or never!
  Revelation 7:1, 3-4, 9
  1 After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree.
  3 saying, "Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads."
  4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty–four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:
  9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
  (Revelation 7: 4, 9) the perfect body of Christ, which consists of Israelis and Gentiles, is sealed and all ministries are terminated. Thus, if we long to serve God, do it now! We are not doing blind ministries, but obvious ministries until we are sealed/possessed by God as His perfect body. Leaving the ministry, one is outside God’s seal and inside His judgment, no protection at all. Thus, we have no disadvantage in committing ministry to the Lord although we have to sacrifice like wind which blows everywhere to give comfort to others.

Here are the fire-ministers of God like:

1. Sanctified by fire in shepherding service system
   Moses was brilliant but unable to serve the Lord without shepherding and sanctification.
   Exodus 3:1-2, 5
   1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father–in–law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
   2 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed.
   5 Then He said, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground."
   To be shepherded is patience in the three main services, which is in Tabernacle displayed by Holy Place with the three objects therein.
   1. Golden Candlestick = Public Service with the fire of Holy Spirit (http://gptkk.org/pelita-en.php).
   2. Table of Showbread = Bible Study Service with the fire of the word (http://gptkk.org/mrs-en.php).
      Jeremiah 23:29
      29 "Is not My word like a fire?" says the LORD, "And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?
   3. Golden Altar of Incense = Worship Service with the fire of the love of God (http://gptkk.org/dupa-en.php).
   We are sanctified by fire to “take our sandals off our feet”, meaning “to become a baby again”. A baby can only cry to draw compassion and attention. Baby Moses, for instance, was near to death, being cast into Nile River and brought into the hand of Pharaoh’s daughter, but his cry drew the compassionate hands of the Lord to save him. Growing up after forty years in Egypt, Moses became conceited and considered himself able to serve the Lord by using his knowledge and power, he failed nonetheless. Then the Lord brought him to tend the flock. Imagine how a brilliant man such as Moses tends the flock. In present time, a forty-year-old man, just like Moses, usually has become a doctor, but he has been chosen to became a shepherd.
   In shepherding we are burnt by the fire to become a baby, that is, to confess ourselves unable to do anything and only worship to draw the Lord’s compassion and loving-kindness. We live by His mercy only. In such condition, we will be used by God. If Moses had not confessed that he was a baby only, he would not have been used by God. He used his intelligence and consequently, he became a murderer. Let us have the sanctification by fire in shepherding. We see that the mercy of God begins when we are in mother’s womb.
   After all, God equips the sanctified with priest’s offices and gifts far more precious than everything in the world.
   Ephesians 4:11-12
   11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
   12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
   Verse 11 describes the offices of the saints and verse 12 shows those who are sanctified in shepherding to take off their sandals, being equipped with offices and gifts for the forming of the body of Christ.
   A gift of Holy Spirit is a marvelous capability to do the work of ministry according to the priest’s office God has given to each one of us. Thus, prudence will not take effect and anyone relying on his brainpower in doing ministry will see failure only.
2. Being faithful and fervent to do the work of ministry, according to the offices and gifts given to each one.
   2 Timothy 1:6
   6 Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
   Remember how we served God the first time; does the same fervor still burn us?
   Daniel 7:9
   9 "I watched till thrones were put in place, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, And the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, Its wheels a burning fire;
   The throne of God is a fiery flame; the ministers of God being sanctified and burning like fire are a fiery flame. Thus, the ministers of God being sanctified and burning like fire are the throne of God in the earth. The throne we must have in church, not the influence of the world, or else we lose the throne of the Lord. Students of Lempin-El, no matter how many people come to church, just try to have the throne of God and it will make people come to the church.
   Below are the things we received from the throne:
   1. Help in time of need
      Hebrews 4:16
      16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
      It is a big mistake to cease serving and ministering God when troubles come. That is even a proper time to continue steadfastly in three main services and be sanctified, being faithful and fervent in spirit, that the loving-kindness of the Lord will work them all out, even the things which are impossible with men will be done. Conversely, if we stop serving God – which means using our own strength to solve the problems - nothing will be done.
   2. Care and protection in each of our steps/heartbeats
      Psalms 11:4
      4 The LORD is in His holy temple, The LORD’S throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.
      Job 31:4
      4 Does He not see my ways, And count all my steps?
      Future, life, and death belong to God’s concern. God preserves and protects us with beautiful future in Him. Let us now have His throne in our lives as well as the beautiful future from Him will be ours. That God sees our steps means we are saved from death, for King David said, “There is but a step between me and death.” Death always roams around us: disasters, accidents, also sins, which are advanced to the climax: sexual and eating-drinking sins.
   3. Test
      Psalms 11:4
      4 The LORD is in His holy temple, The LORD’S throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.
      Test is a proof of God’s love.
      Test = sprinkling of blood = suffering with Jesus, without sin.
      The Lord’s throne is shown in the ark of covenant as well as the seven sprinkling of blood.
      God allows us to suffer without committing a sin that we are transformed from carnal to spiritual men as glorious as He is.

1 Peter 4:12-13
12 Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you;
13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.

The glory is renewal of life; men of flesh and blood are transformed into perfect human being as Jesus Christ is.

To conclude, this is how the carnal becomes the spiritual:

1. repentance / baptism of blood (the Altar of Burnt Offering http://gptkk.org/mkb-en.php)
2. baptism of water (the Laver http://gptkk.org/bejana-en.php)
3. baptism of the Spirit (the Door http://gptkk.org/kemah-en.php)
4. sprinkling of blood (the Ark of Covenant http://gptkk.org/tabut-en.php)

Whether we will pass the test or not depends on our attitude. As David was tested, he said: “Examine me, O LORD, for my eyes see You.”

Psalms 26:2-3
2 Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; Try my mind and my heart.
3 For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, And I have walked in Your truth.

that is:

• We do not hope the others.
• We neither murmur nor complain against the Lord.
• But we worship and surrender all to Him.

Let us not become the church of flesh but we are renewed through the baptism of blood, water, and Spirit in order to become the ministers of God as wind and fire. We become God’s throne that we find help, protection, and preservation through the loving-kindness of the Lord. We have beautiful future as well as the test. In time of the test, we have to see Him until we can surrender fully to Him.
The loving-kindness of the Lord will solve all of our problems and renew us to be as glorious as He is.
God bless you!