And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. Isaiah 5:2 (KJV)
As I lay a foundation please mediate on this word God has put in my heart for you and the body of Christ.
There is no doubt we are living in pressing times. Times in which the soul of man is being tried one test after another. If we don't have a solid relationship with God, we will fall prey to the false, empty solutions of man. Genesis 2:7 reads, “And the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living soul.” We must know that man was created for God according to Colossians 1:16 which says, “...all things created by Him and for Him.” We know that in the Garden of Eden Adam did not pass his test. Genesis 2:16,17 reads, “God commanded the man, You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” Understand that evil existed before man was created or God would not have mentioned it. You see man was created to be governed through his spirit, the part of man that God made for Himself, the fountain of true worship. Knowing this, satan entered through the five senses, through the soul, to the spirit and dethroned God in man's heart. It is important to note that man lives in two worlds - the natural and the spiritual. If we don't understand this, we will continue to be governed by what we see and not by the Spirit. (II Corinthians 4:18) You and I have received a great ministry from the Lord which is bringing spiritual sight to the Body of Christ. (Acts 26:16-18).
There is a malady in the church today that has brought in weakness, limitation, division and schism. That malady is spiritual blindness. In Joshua 3:2-4, it says, “After three days the officers went throughout the camp giving orders to the people, When you see the Ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests, who are Levites carry it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it, then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before, but keep a distance of about a thousand yards between you and the ark. Do not go near it.” I want to deal with a small fragment of this scripture even though the whole portion is rich with revelation. Why the command “but keep a distance”? It is very important to always keep Jesus (Ark) before us and other things in perspective. We have fallen prey to satan's strategy of focusing on the means such as teaching, pet doctrines, spiritual gifts, ministry gifts and have made them the end. When this happens it gives evidence to the fact that it is not the Holy Spirit who is in control of our lives, it is the natural or soulish man. God will not allow this tendency in His people, because it will result in mixture. We are spiritual men and women and are taught by the Holy Spirit. John 16:12-15 and 1 Corinthians 2:13-14 indicates this.
WE ARE SPIRITUAL MEN AND WOMEN AND ARE TAUGHT BY THE HOLY SPIRIT.
God has a lot to say about mixture. In Deuteronomy 22:9-11 God says, “Do not plant two kinds of seed in your vineyard; if you do, not only the crops you plant but also the fruit of the vineyard will be defiled. (10) Do not plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together. (11) Do not wear clothes of wool and linen woven together.” Let's deal with these three commands the Lord gives us.
The first command deals with seed. In the Bible ‘seed’ has different meanings. Two of these meanings will help us understand why God hates mixture. The first is found in Genesis 3:15 and the second in Matthew 13:3. In Genesis 3:15 God pronounced judgment upon the serpent for what he had done in the Garden. It reads, “I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed.” By reading this we are made aware of two sources of seed. One source is God and the other is satan. In Matthew 13:3 Jesus is speaking about the sower going out to sow seed. He then explains to his disciples that the seed is the pure word, and how the enemy comes in different ways to defile the seed and keep it from producing its pure fruit. Applying Jesus' explanation of the pure word to Adam and Eve, we read where God commanded the man in Genesis 2:16 and the serpent spoke to the woman. Two different offspring (seed) are exposed. This continues today, the corruptible seed wanting to destroy the incorruptible seed. (1 Peter 1:23)
The second command in Deuteronomy 22:10 reads, “Do not plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together.” Why not? The nature of the ox which symbolizes a submissive, sacrificial and serving nature and the nature of the donkey which symbolizes a stubborn nature cannot work together. God says in Genesis 16:12, “He (Ishmael) will be a wild donkey of a man...” Abraham and Sarah received the promise from God that they would have a child, and seeing that it was taking too long decided to help God. In disbelief and disobedience they brought forth the product of their own reasoning, a product of the soul, the mind, the will and emotions.
The third command is in Deuteronomy 22:11 where God says, “Do not wear clothes of wool and linen woven together.” Why not? Ezekiel 44:17-18 shows us “they must not wear any woolen garment while ministering…” They must not wear anything that makes them sweat. Genesis 3:19 tells us sweat is part of the first Adam and the curse. Realize that all God’s people are ministers and no 'work of service' should be burdensome or hard to do. They can be burdensome if we are doing works in the strength and energy of the natural man. Revelation 19:8 reads, “Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints, which is Christ. All ministry should be by the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Luke 4:18, Isaiah 61:1.
To sum this up, Revelation 3:14-16 says, “These are the words of the AMEN, the Faithful and True Witness, the Ruler of God's creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm - neither hot nor cold - I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” God hates mixture in our lives. There would not be all this mixture if the Body of Christ had a revelation of Christ and Christ crucified. Mixture is the hallmark of satan's interference. Listen to what the Spirit is saying to His church. “There is a voice of one calling in the desert, make straight the way for the Lord.” Amen!
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