CHRIST SCHOOL FOR LIVING


Institute for Higher Spiritual Learning

THE MIGHTY ROCK

landscapeLet there be Peace on Earth

THE MIGHTY ROCK

The word today said: “if you trust in God and Christ, you have trusted in a Mighty Rock.” To trust in Christ is to surrender to Him all actions; to trust in God is to surrender to Him all movement.

If you look outside and there’s a beautiful sunset. When the cloud come over you there’s a thunderstorm, there’s rain. In the morning there’s a beautiful sunrise. If you have money and go to the grocery store there’s plenty of food to buy. You wake up, you run your business, you come home, you go to sleep and then the cycle continues. You do not feel the world move; you do not realize the world is changing.

The Lord told us about this, that ‘as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the Son of man’: for they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. They never knew that the kingdom was slowly going away.

Mankind has entered into that stage of life today.  We are numbed, desensitized; we don’t feel anything with the things happening around us. Slowly, day by day, night by night, week by week, month by month we are  brought full circle to face God, face to face.

But because the movement is gentle and slow, we do not feel it and we do not realize it, yet, the world, as we’ve known it, goes away daily.

We are told, “if you trust in God and Christ you have trusted in a Mighty Rock.” One Mighty Rock, for it is one.  So those who trust in God and those who also trust in Christ do not feel anything. They feel numb too, because everything that is grotesque, everything that is hideous, very difficult, bad, every crime unimaginable, un-nameable, mankind has committed in this time; but to the good and to the bad, we don’t feel a thing. It’s just another news. We have the Internet. So everything we want to hear, and the ones we don’t want to hear, every smut, every wickedness, every evil, every degenerate perversion, is reported.

So, the heart of man has stopped feeling. The modern mankind has no more feeling; they can’t feel anything in their hearts. The modern human cannot think of anything because their thoughts are waxed gross, because of the oppression of evil, for the evil times in which we live in.

Blessed are those who can still feel, who can still hear, who can still abstain from the things that this wicked world feeds people daily.

He that remains to the end shall be saved. In this darkness, as the days draw nearer, peoples’ love continues to wax cold, the Lord said.

People who would have had zeal and strength to serve God in the evening of our Jehovah, now that it is midnight, as the night continues to prolong, they drop off to sleep and are gone. Blessed are those whom the Lord shall find watching in His house. ‘As the bridegroom tarried they all fell asleep.’ Blessed are those who have trusted in God and Christ, for they have trusted a Mighty Rock.

We have a duty to ourselves now. Our duty is to trust in God; to allow God to move us; to allow God to move in us so that we can be among the survivors. Those who survive the darkness, there’s a crown prepared for them. This crown is only for those who survive. This crown is reserved only for the survivors. It’s not for the good, it’s not for the saved, but for those who survived in the house of God in the darkest night; those who were faithful to Jehovah of Hosts; those who remained firm when others fell.  Trusting in God and Christ, the Mighty Rock, nothing can move you.

Let us examine ourselves; examine our love to God, to be sure that we love Him. David said, “Though he slay me, yet will I love Him.” Job said the same thing in a different language.  The way of God is not an easy way. When He led the children of Israel to the desert of Sinai, they did not find everything there: there was no land of milk and honey prepared by the angels, cooked food; they went hungry some days; they were thirsty many days; things were not always where they wanted it all the time. Yet, they persevered and very few received the crown.

Those who persevered in Christ are those who believe in Him. Those who persevere in God are those who trust Him. When things are good, it’s very easy for everybody to get along; it’s very easy to obey because there is something to gain. Trust comes after your faith has been tried. When God has tried your faith to see what is in your heart. If truly, truly, it’s God you love, You will persevere through all, and God will bless you.

The Burden of change

You should ask yourself if cleansing  and changing your ways is a burden to you.  How will you benefit in this life? How will you be transformed if you continue to be what you are day in and day out? Where is the change going to come from?

In my Father’s house there are many mansions. Please realize this: Hell, the deepest hell, the inmost hell, is also a mansion in the Father’s house. This earth, with all its disappointments is also in the Father’s house. The places of chastisement, the places of punishment, the places of suffering are also in the Father’s house. Our Lord has told us, in Revelation Chapter 22: “Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is in my hand to give to every man according as his work shall be.”
When we encourage you to change your filthy behaviors, it is only so that you will receive mercy so as to be moved away from the quality of life you have now to a better life in the future.  But remember that as we continue to remain unchanged year by year, month by month, day by day; one day will come, our time will be over and we have not made progress. So when we have not made progress, where we are, is where we shall stay because the Lord said that He will give to every man according as his works shall be.

It is our works that has brought us to the condition of life, in which we find ourselves today. “They themselves are the makers of themselves.” Whatsoever a man sows that he shall also reap. Those are basic laws of life. If we have sown things that are not good in this world or whichever world we have come from, we are today reaping the life for which we have sowed in the past. There’s nothing any man can do about it.

But as you sit on your chair today and as you have been sitting for many years, you have been given the opportunity, which is the only thing that God gives you, opportunity.  Not preference, for God loves all. Not partially, for what He gives to one, he gives to all. All you have is the opportunity to change yourself and make yourself better so that a brightly explored future will be yours.

When we talked about the crown of faithfulness; when we prove faithful to our Jehovah of Host in the darkest night, then when light comes we will reap the reward of our faithfulness to Jehovah,in the brightest day.

If we are sincere and honest, and our sincerity is proven to Him by our willingness to search ourselves and identify those things that keep us away from Christ; and so identifying those things, confessing them, changing them, and moving away from that life, then that reward which we receive from light at His appearing says, “well done, thou good and faithful servant,” because he had been watching us all along.

We all will pick up the reward of our obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is called the truth. The truth is opposed to the voodoo, which tells people that they are saved carte blanche without doing any work or anything. By just simply believing in a name, that one is saved. That lie has not explained to people their personal responsibility in their salvation. That lie has not told the truth that when one is saved, it is not God that saved one out of pity.  God pities all. Each person must work out their salvation in themselves, for in God, all live and move and have their being. When one destroys his or her future in God, one can blame no one else, not even God.

Each one’s blessing will come from changing oneself. If you trust in God, trust that you will live with Him. If you trust in Christ, trust that all your work will be done in Him, then, the chief thing to do is to align yourself properly with the Almighty God. He is a Holy God. The actions of our hearts He knows; the actions of our thoughts He knows. Therefore, we become the people to call our own hypocrisies, not to justify them and put the blame sometimes on God, for something God didn’t do. Or put the blame sometimes on other people, for something they did.

So as we prepare for His appearing, the voice continues to speak to all that there is a reward, there is a crown prepared. It’s like somebody who won a big prize who is yet to receive the prize; they have to dress up properly for the occasion. But if that person cannot afford the money  buy a dress, that person will not go to the ceremony because they would be uncomfortable. Why? That person is not properly attired.

The proper garment for us is the clean white garment from CHRIST; that white garment reflects our behavior that is in alignment with Christ behavior; our actions that are in alignment with Christ actions. So that is all that is left for you; Perfect alignment with CHRIST. Ask yourself? Am I worthy? Am I ready to stand before the Great King in the Light? Am I ready to receive my reward? What will my reward be?

We went once to an award show at a High School; it was day of rewards for the graduating class. They listed names of the awards but not names of the students corresponding; the students invited did not know what they had won!  There were different kinds of awards. Some were worth more than others. Some were scholarships, others were plaques, or gifts in a bag, yet others were paper certificates in an envelope, you never knew. But each student that was called that night was called because of what they had done. Some were called once; others were called ten times; some got big prizes, others got small prizes. But many other students of the graduating class were not there that night. They were not even invited to the award ceremony, nor called to the podium that night. So shall it be when Light comes. Think about it!

Christ Will Give You Light
The Bible said: “arise O thou that sleep and awake, and Christ shall give thee light.” This is a sleeping world. Even when you are awake at your most alert stage of being awake, you’re still sleeping. You are sleeping because what is behind the wall or what is happening behind the wall right now, you can’t tell that. What is happening in your apartment or your house this moment, you don’t know. What is happening to your loved ones, so-called loved ones, you don’t know. What is happening inside your body now, even as you sit on a chair, you don’t know? What would happen an hour from now, you have no clue, you don’t know. What happened yesterday, you don’t know. What happened today, you don’t know.  What do you know?

So, if wisdom allows you to wake up, then you would realize that you have been dead asleep, and not known it. You move in a dead body, you eat dead food; you wear dead animals or dead plants. Everything about your life is transaction of death. You get an animal; before you eat the animal you kill the animal. You get a plant; before you eat the plant you kill the plant. Everything you use is from dead stuff. Everything you produce is dead. So, you are in the transaction of death or deadness. But you have not known it.

Arise; oh thou that sleep and awake and Christ shall give you life.

You see, what we are talking about cannot be explained by English language and if you do not have the hunger for it, even if it is somehow given to you, you will spew it out of your mouth.  That’s why the Lord said, “seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be open unto to you, ask and it will be given you; ”of the things, of true life.

There is a world cup; everybody is tuned to world cup. After world cup there will be basketball. Fine! After basketball there will be baseball. After that there will be recession. There is always something to make sure that you continue to sleep soundly. There is always something that is there to make sure that you’re occupied, and being fully occupied you continue to sleep soundly. You continue to enjoy the sleep of death, not realizing that time has slowly slipped away from you.

An athlete, somebody who want to win an Olympic gold, four years from the last Olympic will start to practice. First of all you go to the official Olympic site in the sport of your choice. Lets say you want to do 100 meter dash, and you’re a male and you find out that there’s a man called Usain Bolt who runs it in nine seconds or however many seconds. Then may be it’s the water he drank in Jamaica, then you want to move to Jamaica and drink the same water and practice with Bolt; if he will let you come because he doesn’t want you to see what he is doing.  If you stay in your house, and you go somewhere to a church and you begin to fast seven days a week and to pray  asking God that you want to defeat Usain Bolt and become Olympic champion, how far will you get? Something is wrong with that logic. It’s not going to fly. The same way salvation is.

The same way, if you say you want to be near to God, and do not change your bad character and behaviors, which stink before the Almighty God; you continue to harbor them and cherish them, you may be trying to fool yourself, it’s not going to fly.  We want to face the reality of our state of existence. The reality is that the enemy has gone around and deceived many and put them to sleep.  Remember what happened to the disciples on the night that Jesus was abducted, to be crucified the following morning.  There was a supper, the Passover.  At the Lord’s Supper, the disciples ate and drank. The Lord did not eat and drink, He said, “I will not drink this fruit of the vine again until I drink it with you in the Kingdom of Heaven”.  The Lord who is awake and alive knew what was coming, He saw the danger clearly, but the disciples, who were asleep already, did not see the danger.  The Lord asked them, “why sleep ye”? Why are you sleeping?  Rise and pray lest ye fall into temptation.

Why are you sleeping?  This is not the time to sleep.  Watch. Wake up.   Can you not watch with me for one hour? Watch! For behold temptation is around the corner.

That same voice speaks to us today. Pray very fervently, call upon God, trust in God, yet, we take these warnings for granted. We hope that someone’s prayer will protect us. Jesus’ prayer that night did not protect Peter; Peter fell into temptation. Jesus’ prayer that night did not deliver Judas; he betrayed his master that night.

Brothers and Sisters, we are at the close of our journey.  The Lord’s coming is at the doorstep. This is the last time for every one of us to receive a reward of our uprightness, of our steadfastness; of our ability to listen to instructions and change ourselves instead of thinking: I am perfect, I am good. The time has come for humility, the time for a contrite heart, to have a repentant heart, a heart that falls at the feet of Jesus, acknowledging  His mercy, for that’s where we belong.  We want a heart that will fall at His feet, not a heart that wants to shake His hand and look into His face; we are not worthy. We should bury our face in the dust before His holiness.

Our pride and self-righteousness, our foolishness makes us not pay attention. Our arrogance makes us think He will find us guiltless.

Can we say with Paul, ‘I have fought a good fight’? ‘I have kept the faith? Are we cleansed from sin? Are you cleansed from excess? Are you cleansed from bitterness of the mind? Are you cleansed from the ways of this world? Are you ready for the coming of the Great King? Are your garments white as snow? Are you sure? Has pride done the examination for you and found you guiltless and condemned God and said God owes you something? When was the last time you changed anything in your life?  When was the last time you made a positive change in your life? What sins are you confessing today? Or when was the last time you confessed any sin that is real?  When was the last time you were burdened by your short coming? When was the last time you recognized that all is not well in you? When was the last time you condemned your own sins?

I’m talking about a real change, a real heart, I’m ”talking about searching your soul truly; using the light of God to condemn yourself.  We are told, “we have no confidence in those who do not condemn their sins.’ Are you a Holy person now, so that we need to be bowing for you?  Have you perfected righteousness so that your throne is higher than that of God?

Be mindful of Lucifer; remember what got him out of heaven.

The contrite heart says, ‘against thee, thee only have I sinned . . . My sins are ever  before me.’  Those who are lifted up by God, first of all, fall with their faces on the ground. But when pride and arrogance and ‘I don’t care’ attitude and foolishness takes over your life, then you don’t care about anything.

Peace on Earth