CHRIST ABOVE ALL

When your human “teacher” becomes your standard of achievement, knowledge or growth then true spiritual discipleship is easily reduced to fellowship and the pearl of great price Christ Jesus and the Kingdom has been reduced to fellowship, friendship or the assembly of people above Christ. While we are called to edify and equip each other we are not to exalt people above Christ. Just as we worship in Spirit and Truth so should the assembly of true followers of Christ.

Proverbs 14:12 (AMP)

12 There is a way which seems right to a man and appears straight before him, but at the end of it is the way of death.

Proverbs 16:2 (AMP)

2 All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirits (the thoughts and intents of the heart). [I Sam. 16:7; Heb. 4:12.]

Paul states it well:

1 Corinthians 1:10–13 (AMP)

10 But I urge and entreat you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in perfect harmony and full agreement in what you say, and that there be no dissensions or factions or divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in your common understanding and in your opinions and judgments.

11 For it has been made clear to me, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions and wrangling and factions among you.

12 What I mean is this, that each one of you [either] says, I belong to Paul, or I belong to Apollo’s, or I belong to Cephas (Peter), or I belong to Christ.

13 Is Christ (the Messiah) divided into parts? Was Paul crucified on behalf of you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul? 

1 Corinthians 11:1 (AMP)

PATTERN YOURSELVES after me [follow my example], as I imitate and follow Christ (the Messiah).

Isaiah 14:12–16 (AMP)

12 How have you fallen from heaven, O light-bringer and daystar, son of the morning! How you have been cut down to the ground, you who weakened and laid low the nations [O blasphemous, satanic king of Babylon!]

13 And you said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven; I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit upon the mount of assembly in the uttermost north.

14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.

15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol (Hades), to the innermost recesses of the pit (the region of the dead).

16 Those who see you will gaze at you and consider you, saying, Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms?

The Scribes and Pharisees exalted Abraham, Moses and the written Word above the “Word in the Flesh” which was the very presence of Christ. You become what you embrace and submit to thus the first commandment Jesus spoke must be first!  If we love the Word of the Lord surely we should love the Lord of the Word!  The two are one, not separate!  The Word of God was written by the unction of the Spirit of God yet do we discern the spirit(s) that speak these Words?  Didn’t Satan use Psalm 91 against Jesus in the wilderness?  Satan spoke what was true but there is NO TRUTH in him as he is the father of lies!  Real truth knows the motive and intents of what is spoken or written just as Hebrews 4:12-13 states.

Hebrews 4:12–13 (AMP)

12 For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.

13 And not a creature exists that is concealed from His sight, but all things are open and exposed, naked and defenseless to the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do.

I often hear professing “believers”; which is a term I don’t like to use as even Satan believes in Christ but doesn’t follow Christ Jesus make statements like “only Jesus knows the hearts of people”.  My question would be to them exactly what are you ministering to the “heart” or the “head” and how does that statement apply to Romans 10 where we believe in our heart and confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord?  (1 John 4:1-3) Has the intimacy of the covenant of marriage and the bride of Christ now eliminated the heart only to be superseded by the mind or thoughts?  Have we reduced intimacy with Christ Jesus to a thought?

1 John 4:1–3 (AMP)

BELOVED, DO not put faith in every spirit, but prove (test) the spirits to discover whether they proceed from God; for many false prophets have gone forth into the world.

2 By this you may know (perceive and recognize) the Spirit of God: every spirit which acknowledges and confesses [the fact] that Jesus Christ (the Messiah) [actually] has become man and has come in the flesh is of God [has God for its source];

3 And every spirit which does not acknowledge and confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh [but would annul, destroy, sever, disunite Him] is not of God [does not proceed from Him]. This [nonconfession] is the [spirit] of the antichrist, [of] which you heard that it was coming, and now it is already in the world.

Matthew 22:37–38 (AMP)

37 And He replied to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (intellect). [Deut. 6:5.]

38 This is the great (most important, principal) and first commandment.

1 John 2:27 (AMP)

27 But as for you, the anointing (the sacred appointment, the unction) which you received from Him abides [permanently] in you; [so] then you have no need that anyone should instruct you. But just as His anointing teaches you concerning everything and is true and is no falsehood, so you must abide in (live in, never depart from) Him [being rooted in Him, knit to Him], just as [His anointing] has taught you [to do].

John 16:13–15 (AMP)

13 But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the Truth-giving Spirit) comes, He will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth). For He will not speak His own message [on His own authority]; but He will tell whatever He hears [from the Father; He will give the message that has been given to Him], and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come [that will happen in the future].

14 He will honor and glorify Me, because He will take of (receive, draw upon) what is Mine and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to you.

15 Everything that the Father has is Mine. That is what I meant when I said that He [the Spirit] will take the things that are Mine and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to you.

Just as Christ is the Head; He is the Head of all and Lord of all including relationships, marriages and Kingdom friendships. What you bow to and submit to is your Lord.  Every relationship should be Christ centered seeking the righteousness of Christ and his ways as according to Matthew 6:33.

Matthew 6:33 (AMP)

33 But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego didn’t have others standing in support with them nor speaking on their behalf.

There was no congregation or assembly that would stand for Christ with them yet Christ delivered them!

It’s impossible to burn the dross where the “refiners fire” is side stepped or omitted.

The flesh is enmity to the Spirit.  I remember a recent conversation with a dear brother in Christ regarding the lack of discernment in the body of Christ and my comment was that one of the greatest inhibitors to spiritual discernment is un-crucified flesh!  The veil was torn yet many desire to remain behind the veil just as the Israelites didn’t want to climb the mountain with Moses to be in the glory of God.  They chose to remain below and make idols of their hearts instead and continue in sinful nature.  Moses risked his life for them and Christ would later give His life for them yet they chose to remain spiritually captive believing they were physically free!  Confusing physical freedom with spiritual freedom/captivity doesn’t necessarily equal true spiritual freedom!  To be imprisoned or tortured for Christ isn’t physical freedom yet can be spiritual freedom!  Christ was blameless and spotless yet he was crucified.  A person only needs to read the Beatitudes in Matthew 5 to understand that if Jesus was persecuted we also will be persecuted.

Just because we use coping and managing skills doesn’t mean we’ve been delivered!  We can never outrun temptation while living on earth; we must overcome temptation and the sinful nature!  If you learned you were deceived hopefully you wouldn’t want to remain deceived.  The power of deception is spiritual and alluring and the lie becomes a false truth just as in the Garden with the Serpent and Eve.  What’s good for the goose isn’t necessarily good for the gander!  Everyone else may be doing it but Christ might not be in it or backing it.  Even methods have a measure of success but that doesn’t mean Christ is in the method!  Are we walking by religion or in the Spirit?

Malachi 3:3 (AMP)

3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the priests, the sons of Levi, and refine them like gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord offerings in righteousness.

 

Galatians 5:16–18 (AMP)

16 But I say, walk and live [habitually] in the [Holy] Spirit [responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit]; then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh (of human nature without God).

17 For the desires of the flesh are opposed to the [Holy] Spirit, and the [desires of the] Spirit are opposed to the flesh (godless human nature); for these are antagonistic to each other [continually withstanding and in conflict with each other], so that you are not free but are prevented from doing what you desire to do.

18 But if you are guided (led) by the [Holy] Spirit, you are not subject to the Law.

Just as there is the Trinity there are three requirements for overcoming this world and abiding/overcoming in Christ. Unfortunately many omit the third segment of this verse.  We are all called to the cross of Christ and the crucified life as so well spoken in Galatians 2:20.

Revelation 12:11 (AMP)

11 And they have overcome (conquered) him by means of the blood of the Lamb and by the utterance of their testimony, for they did not love and cling to life even when faced with death [holding their lives cheap till they had to die for their witnessing].

 

Galatians 2:20 (AMP)

20 I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

 

Galatians 6:14 (AMP)

14 But far be it from me to glory [in anything or anyone] except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) through Whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world!

 

 

John 12:23–26 (AMP)

23 And Jesus answered them, The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified and exalted.

24 I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains [just one grain; it never becomes more but lives] by itself alone. But if it dies, it produces many others and yields a rich harvest.

25 Anyone who loves his life loses it, but anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. [Whoever has no love for, no concern for, no regard for his life here on earth, but despises it, preserves his life forever and ever.]

26 If anyone serves Me, he must continue to follow Me [to cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying] and wherever I am, there will My servant be also. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.

 

1 John 2:15–17 (AMP)

15 Do not love or cherish the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him.

16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh [craving for sensual gratification] and the lust of the eyes [greedy longings of the mind] and the pride of life [assurance in one’s own resources or in the stability of earthly things]—these do not come from the Father but are from the world [itself].

17 And the world passes away and disappears, and with it the forbidden cravings (the passionate desires, the lust) of it; but he who does the will of God and carries out His purposes in his life abides (remains) forever.

Anything that has preeminence above or before Christ is an idol of the heart. This includes gifting, calling, family, friends, jobs/careers, ministry, hobbies, etc.

James 1:17 (AMP)

17 Every good gift and every perfect (free, large, full) gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of all [that gives] light, in [the shining of] Whom there can be no variation [rising or setting] or shadow cast by His turning [as in an eclipse].

 

Sadly many exalt gifting, calling and ministry above the Creator and giver of these gifts and callings. Some people follow the gifts even when they are irrevocable and the Spirit of God is no longer working in or through the gifting. Christ verses Charisma.  I once had a person tell me that the Lord gifted them with a talent and they told me that if they could no longer perform that talent they would rather be dead, truthfully they already are dead as they worship the gift and not the giver of the gift which is Christ Jesus.  I was deeply saddened by this as their gift was now defining Christ rather than Christ defining the gift and being revealed through the gifting.  Pride and idolatry make it about us and not about Christ.

Let’s take a moment to reflect on the patriarch of faith, Abraham.  When Sarah and Abraham were told by the angel of the Lord that Sarah would conceive a child they didn’t wait upon the Lord and thus the birth of Ishmael was the result.  Having learned from this lesson of lack of faith and disobedience; the Lord later spoke to Abraham to sacrifice his son as a burnt offering Abraham didn’t go to Sarah to confide in her as he followed the Word of the Lord.  Having once listened to Sarah resulting in the birth of Ishmael Abraham learned to trust in the Lord first and foremost through the testing of his faith.  Doesn’t this parallel with Adam and Eve in the Garden?  Eve was tempted and thus Adam fell just as Sarah was in disbelief and Ishmael was born!  Here we have the classic physical and spiritual realms in action.  Sarah was processing in the natural/physical when the Lord was building the spiritual generations and decendents of Abraham.  Sarah suggested Hagar to Abraham which was physical when the Lord was building the Spritual!  Should Abraham have slept with many women to become the father of many decendants?  Abraham learned from his mistakes and was growing in trust and faith in the Lord and the ways of the Lord and not the counsel of people or his very own wife.  Abraham would only again be tested by family when Lot left for Sodom and Gomorrah. I’m merely stating a fact and not suggesting that husbands and wives are not to be both Christ centered and focused but rather Abraham realized that Sarah wasn’t Christ focused to the level of God’s commandments.  We have the same with Joseph and Mary, as Joseph didn’t want to marry Mary until his dream and revelation from the Lord.  It was no longer about Joseph or how people perceived Joseph it was about will of the Lord.  Mary exemplifies this in her statement:

Luke 1:38 (AMP)

38 Then Mary said, Behold, I am the handmaiden of the Lord; let it be done to me according to what you have said. And the angel left her.

If the servant is not greater than His master we must remain steadfast, focused and submitted to our Lord and exalt the Lord above everything and everyone.  We are told to honor our leaders not exalting them nor placing them above the preeminence of Christ Jesus.

Even the elect will be deceived thus many who follow the elect will also be deceived.  Let us return to our first love, Christ Jesus and seek His righteousness first and foremost.

Matthew 24:4–5 (AMP)

4 Jesus answered them, Be careful that no one misleads you [deceiving you and leading you into error].

5 For many will come in (on the strength of) My name [appropriating the name which belongs to Me], saying, I am the Christ (the Messiah), and they will lead many astray.

 

 

Joshua 24:14–15 (AMP)

14 Now therefore, [reverently] fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and in truth; put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the [Euphrates] River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.

15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Just because the Red Sea was parted doesn’t mean that the Israelites were baptized and cleansed in the process of walking through the parted water.   We have the same story with the ten lepers as only one returned to the Lord and was made whole.  Sadly many follow signs, wonders, manifestations but not transformation, sanctification, righteousness and holiness of Christ Jesus.

Matthew 16:1–4 (AMP)

NOW THE Pharisees and Sadducees came up to Jesus, and they asked Him to show them a sign (spectacular miracle) from heaven [attesting His divine authority].

2 He replied to them, When it is evening you say, It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,

3 And in the morning, It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and has a gloomy and threatening look. You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.

4 A wicked and morally unfaithful generation craves a sign, but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. Then He left them and went away. [Jonah 3:4, 5.]

Romans 14:11 (AMP)

11 For it is written, As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God [acknowledge Him to His honor and to His praise]. [Isa. 45:23.]