JACOB'S LADDER

THE PRINCIPAL THING

Over the years many Christians have been taught that the most important thing for them to do is to go around and get people to come to their particular churches, and then get them to confess Jesus as Lord. It doesn’t matter if you are Catholic, Pentecostal, Baptist, Lutheran, Jehovah Witness, Mormon, Non-denominational, shoot the list goes on and on, there are so many division in this faith we call Christianity, but the point is, every single denomination teaches the same thing, “get those people to our faith, and get them to confess Jesus.” Now of course, each have different ways of doing this, different means of getting people into “heaven” as they say. For the Catholics its infant baptism then confirmation, for the Church of Christ baptism as an adult is the key, for the Pentecostal’s it’s all about confessing and then getting “spirit filled”, as if somehow the spirit of God is outside of us just waiting for us to say, “Come on in.” For many Evangelicals it’s the same, it’s the sinner’s prayer. You simply ask Jesus to come into your heart. Which of course places the spirit of God’s son somewhere far away, and renders God’s spirit powerless unless you first ask for it and want it. Let me let you all in on a little secret, God doesn’t need an invitation, and the Son of God is closer to all of you then you have ever thought. In fact, this essay is about getting that understanding for yourself. Because it is Wisdom and Understanding that brings you into the Kingdom of God, which by the way is NOT some Kingdom in the sky like the palaces and kingdoms man has made. The Kingdom of God is WITHIN YOU, and scripture tells us clearly what it is.

Romans 14:17
For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost

The word “Kingdom” in fact doesn’t mean a literal kingdom, but denotes a RULE OF AUTHORITY. The literal translation is “Reign or Rule”. Here is the Greek word for it, “basileiða” and it’s definition, royal power, kingship, dominion, rule not to be confused with an actual kingdom but rather the right or authority to rule over a kingdom

I know that alone is a wake up call for some of you, but look it up. The Kingdom of God, simply means the RULE OF GOD, and that is WITHIN YOU ALREADY. But back to our essay.

So, for many the key is getting people to come to their places of “worship” and getting them to go up for an altar call, or to “accept Christ in their heart”. Then some churches, ironically will put these people through a training program and test them to see if they are “ready” to truly be baptised in their churches tap water. But the question I have, and you should have, is this what God meant when we read about preaching the Gospel. Is the good news to simply accept a man from two thousand years ago into your heart, get dunked, go to Church, tithe, and scour the earth to find others to join that church?

Matthew 23:15
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves

Back in the day, it wasn’t much different. It was all about getting people to join the club. The problem Jesus saw with this is that these religious leaders were actually doing more harm than good.

Ecclesiastes 1:9
The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

Is Solomon right, could the same thing be happening today? Are religious leaders really bringing people into the Kingdom of God, which is the Rule of God, which is the Righteousness, Peace, Joy, and Power of God’s spirit? Well, for many that I know in the “religious system” the answer is no. Of course that doesn’t mean that everyone that goes to man-made “church” is in error, but let’s just say many, many people are missing the PRINCIPAL THING, many are missing the TRUTH, many are missing SALVATION. In fact, many people believe they are saved from some future event, they think that since they literally said “Jesus is Lord” that their afterlife is secure. How wrong they are. Salvation has nothing to do with avoiding a place of infinite torture (since such a place doesn’t exist read my article “to hell with hell” or “lake of fire revealed” for more info on that topic). No Salvation is for the HERE AND NOW!

Luke 19:9
And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham

2 Corinthians 6:2
(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)

Yes, SALVATION is for the here and now. And if truth be told Salvation and Resurrection go hand in hand. In fact they are two sides of the same coin. Because to be Saved is to be Born from Above, and to be Born from Above (which means, a higher understanding of the things of God), is to be Resurrected. And like salvation it is in the HERE AND NOW!

John 11:25
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

So if we are not saved from some scary place after we literally die, what are we saved from?

Revelation 12:10
And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

We are saved from our CARNAL OLD MAN, the FALSE IMAGE, the FATHER OF ALL LIES, we are saved from OURSELVES. The reason is, we have become ignorant of the TRUTH of who we are in Christ. We have forgotten who we are and believed ourselves to be something we are not. Ephesians puts it beautifully, both how we became LOST and what is done so we are SAVED.

Ephesians 4
18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: 19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

Notice what the problem is, and was? Our understanding, like the Gentiles of past, was DARKENED. In other words we no longer understood the Light of the Truth, and because out understanding was Darkened, because we became ignorant we became ALIENATED from the LIFE OF GOD through our ignorance. And we began to believe God was somehow far from us, angry at us, we believed ourselves to be unworthy and because of this insecurity and fear we began to act ignorantly.

And unfortunately, religion perpetuates this darkness. As the scripture states, making the congregation TWICE THE CHILD OF HELL (ignorance) that their leaders are. Most churches only reinforce the belief that you need to work for God’s approval, when the OPPOSITE is true. We need to stop believing we are in control and simply put off the WORKS of the OLD IGNORANT MAN and come to the knowledge of the TRUTH OF WHO WE REALLY ARE!

Ephesians 4
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.

We MUST come to the measure of the STATURE of the FULNESS of CHRIST. We must become the PERFECT MAN. And you can’t do this if you only believe there is one from two thousand years ago. We can’t do this if we continue to believe Jesus is somehow special and we are not AS HE IS IN THIS WORLD. And we only come to understand this when we put off the former conversation of the OLD MAN, when we stop accusing ourselves and condemn ourselves and others, when we finally LOVE GOD, AND LOVE OTHERS, and our love is perfected. When this happens we understand, there is no difference between Jesus and Ourselves, in fact we are all ONE.

1 John 4:17
Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because AS HE IS, SO ARE WE in this world.

If you have brothers or sisters, you don’t esteem one greater than another. The First Born isn’t somehow better than the middle child or the youngest. They are all the same.

Romans 8:29
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren (siblings).

Now, I know this is new for a lot of you. Jesus was condemned for saying he was God’s son. Years later, Christians said, okay, “It’s okay for Jesus to be God’s son, but he’s special and we are definitely not (as he is).” – You see today a greater mystery is unfolding. Many are coming to the knowledge of the truth and the stature of the perfect man. Many are beginning to see that Jesus is the pattern son, meaning we are the same, his story is our story, what he did we must do. And no I don’t mean literally be crucified, but spiritually we are to crucify this Flesh (carnal thinking).

Matthew 16:24
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Look at that verse carefully. Jesus took up the Cross, so must we, sure that is easy to see. But what you are missing is the most important part… YOU NEED TO DENY YOURSELF (old belief/ego/carnal nature).

Now this doesn’t mean DEPRIVE yourself which many have taught. It doesn’t mean that at all. In fact the definition of the word a DENY according to any dictionary is to “REFUSE to acknowledge something or someone EXISTS” – (de·ny/diˈnī/Verb 1. Refuse to admit the truth or existence of (something).

Now that opens the floodgates of revelation for those who have eyes to see. If any many will come after me, he must first deny that HE AS HE THINKS HE OR SHE IS does NOT EXIST! And then after the great revelation that who you think you are is nothing, and doesn’t really exist, you TAKE UP THE CROSS and you put that old nature to death and FOLLOW THE SAME PATH AS JESUS. – This my friends is how salvation is found, it is in PUTTING OFF your former beliefs and the belief in who you once thought you were and understanding that YOU ARE GOD’S CHILD! And if a child a JOINT HEIR IN ALL THINGS!

Ephesians 4
22That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23And be renewed in the spirit of your mind.

We have to stop thinking of ourselves as less than, and start seeing ourselves through the eyes of grace. We need to stop condemning ourselves and listening to people who say “you aren’t worthy, you’re worthy of hellfire you darn sinner.” We need to stop listening to people who say, “Do this, join us, and you’ll be saved.” Because the truth is not found there and it never will be found there.

Matthew 7:21
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven

You can say Jesus is your Savior until you’re blue in the face. You will never KNOW SALVATION in you don’t know who you are in CHRIST, and the only way to do that is to DO THE WILL OF THE FATHER. And notice how Jesus DOESN’T say, whoever does the WILL OF THE FATHER is my servant or slave.

Mark 3:35
For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother

Once again we see, Jesus saying, WE ARE AS HE IS, brothers and sisters. The question is, what is GOD’S WILL?

John 7
16Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but His (FATHER’S) that sent me. 17If any man will do GOD’S will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.

To do God’s Will is to know the DOCTRINE OF GOD, to know the TRUTH of GOD! This, this is the principal thing. This may come as a shock to you, but the PRINCIPAL THING, means MOST IMPORTANT THING. And according to the scriptures, the PRINCIPAL THING IS WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING.

Proverbs 4:7
Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding

This is what we MUST get. WISDOM! It is a TREE OF LIFE! We MUST understand who we are and DENY who we thought we were to know Salvation. I know many will say, “Oh this is gnosticism!” and to be honest it doesn’t matter what you think, what matter is what you know and can confess!

When Jesus was saying “I am the way, the truth, and the life”, he was saying YOU MUST BE AS ME. He wasn’t saying worship me Jesus, he was saying BELIEVE IN ME AND WHAT I AM TELLING YOU! Many looked to Jesus (the man) as being the most important thing there is. The Rich man said…

Matthew 19
16And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? 17And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God

Jesus always pointed to God, always pointed away from himself. He taught us how to pray “Our FATHER” not as some churches have you praying “our jesus”. We must come to the understanding the ONLY HOPE for our salvation is WITHIN US ALREADY! This is the mystery that has been hidden. Not Christ outside of you, but Christ within you.

Colossians 1:27
To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory

Yes my friends it is all about wisdom and understanding. Some will say NO! It is about Christ, to which I will point out what Christ is….

1 Corinthians 1:24
But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God

To which I will point out what Christ BECOMES for us.

1 Corinthians 1:30
But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption

OF HIM YOU ARE – in Christ Jesus! Jesus means (God is Salvation) – And in understanding you are God’s child and in no need of having to WORK YOUR WAY TO HIM. God delivers you IN HIM, through wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.

The very SPIRIT of God is WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING! When God’s spirit is revealed in you, it is UNDERSTANDING THE TRUTH OF WHO YOU ARE IN GOD THROUGH CHRIST that delivers you.

Exodus 31:3
And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship.

So many people are waiting for their savior to come. They wait and they wait. But the longer you believe in salvation outside of you to come, the longer you will be deceived. Many are questioning to this day, WHEN WILL JESUS COME, and they did the same thousands of years ago.

Luke 17
20And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: 21Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

In other words, STOP WAITING AND LOOKING IN THE SKY and start looking within, because salvation is here and now. And it is only found in understanding and having the faith that WITHIN YOU is every answer you will ever need.

Jesus never said, I MADE YOU WHOLE… He always said “YOUR FAITH” made you whole.

Luke 8:48
And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace

It’s time for everyone to stop listening to mankind and religion. It is time for people to turn to God and ask God to teach them the truth, to lead them into the truth. You don’t need to check with your Pastors or Religious teachers to find out if what God is revealing to you is truth, you simply need to continue to ask God and seek God and have faith. Because it is your FAITH that makes you whole. And that FAITH comes from the CHRIST IN YOU! The POWER AND WISDOM of God WITHIN YOU!

This is what every single apostle, disciple, prophet, etc, desires for you to know.

Colossians 1:9
For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding

Like them, I too want you to know the TRUTH, I desire to know the TRUTH. But the only way to know the TRUTH is to have WISDOM and UNDERSTANDING.

Psalm 51:6
Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

And why does God desire us to have WISDOM and TRUTH? Why is WISDOM the principal thing? Because without it, you can never be free.

John 8:32
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free

The TRUTH is, YOU ARE GOD’S CHILD and you died (became ignorant) as Adam did when he began to think he had to do something to be like God, when Adam was like God all along!

So pray for wisdom already! And don’t go to man for it, go to God!

James 1
5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

Jacob
http://www.JacobIsrael.org