ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: March 2015

Friday, March 27, 2015

ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: SUPERNATURAL MATURITY, Part 2

Another Coffee Break:

Supernatural Maturity, Part 2

March 27, 2015

To repeat what we started with last week in this series, we are talking about the personality, the makeup, the very essence of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus -- as the Son of God -- was naturally supernatural, and supernaturally natural. I know that sounds a bit clichéd, but he was the "natural" Son of God. By the world's standards -- make that the sub-normal state to which mankind had sunk because of sin -- Jesus was absolutely "out of this world!" Except for the rare instances in Israel's history to which the scribes and Pharisees could point in the lives of Elijah and Elisha when people were raised from the dead and other miracles had occurred, no one had ever seen the kind of display evidenced in someone who was so clearly manifesting God's nature.

What Jesus did, what He showed to the people, and what He taught, was a kind of lifestyle absolutely foreign to sub-natural human thinking. But Jesus was out to restore the God-man relationship and to recreate the conditions under which men and women could once again live and breathe in today's world in the likeness and image of God. He was out to restore the original purposes of Father to have a family of beings who were just like Him, a family with whom He could fellowship and share on His level!

Jesus, therefore, was purposed in His sharing to reveal to those who would follow Him in a disciplined way just what it would take for them to mature supernaturally, and to become once again a race of supernatural beings in the earth.

We have — in previous studies — noted that once we are “in Christ” and He is in us, we are transitioning to becoming “Kings and Priests unto our God.” John put it like this when writing down the Revelation:

Revelation 1:5b-6: Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Farther along in this same Word, he writes again:

Revelation 5:9-10: And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

Am I clear on this? Do you now see what it means when Jesus says, “For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven”? None of this, of course, is instantaneous; this is the nature and character and personality of the Lord Jesus Christ being worked in us through a step=by-step process in which we respond to Holy Spirit at every step.

Consider the very next statement that Jesus makes in the “Sermon on the Mount,”

Matthew 5:4: Blessed and enviably happy (with a happiness produced by the experience of God’s favor and especially conditioned by the revelation of His matchless grace) are those who mourn [grieve and bewail their spiritual lack] for they shall with absolute certainty be comforted by and experience the Paraklete, who is Holy Spirit. (Amplified Bible with my additions)

Let me digress here to tell you an old short story that will illustrate exactly what Jesus is saying. This short story is titled: THE PEARL NECKLACE.

The cheerful little girl with bouncy golden curls was almost five. Waiting with her mother at the checkout stand, she saw them, a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box.

"Oh mommy please, Mommy. Can I have them? Please, Mommy, please?" Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box and then looked back into the pleading blue eyes of her little girl's upturned face.

"A dollar ninety-five. That's almost $2.00. If you really want them, I'll think of some extra chores for you and in no time you can save enough money to buy them for yourself.. Your birthday's only a week away and you might get another crisp dollar bill from Grandma."

As soon as Jenny got home, she emptied her penny bank and counted out 17 pennies. After dinner, she did more than her share of chores and she went to the neighbor and asked Mrs. McJames if she could pick dandelions for ten cents. On her birthday, Grandma did give her another new dollar bill and at last she had enough money to buy the necklace.

Jenny loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up. She wore
them everywhere, Sunday school, kindergarten, even to bed. The only time she took them off was when she went swimming or had a bubble bath. Mother said if they got wet, they might turn her neck green.

Jenny had a very loving daddy and every night when she was ready for bed, he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a story. One night as he finished the story, he asked Jenny, "Do you love me?"

"Oh yes, daddy. You know that I love you."

"Then give me your pearls.”

"Oh, daddy, not my pearls. But you can have Princess, the white horse from my collection, the one with the pink tail. Remember, daddy? The one you gave me.

She's my very favorite."

"That's okay, Honey, daddy loves you. Good night." And he brushed her cheek with a kiss.

About a week later, after the story time, Jenny's daddy asked again, "Do you love me?"

"Daddy, you know I love you."

"Then give me your pearls.”

"Oh Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have my baby doll. The brand new one I got for my birthday. She is beautiful and you can have the yellow blanket that matches her sleeper."

"That's okay. Sleep well. God bless you, little one.. Daddy loves you."

And as always, he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss. A few nights later when her daddy came in, Jenny was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed Indian style.

As he came close, he noticed her chin was trembling and one silent tear rolled down her cheek.

"What is it, Jenny? What's the matter?"

Jenny didn't say anything but lifted her little hand up to her daddy. And when she opened it, there was her little pearl necklace. With a little quiver, she finally said, "Here daddy, this is for you."

With tears gathering in his own eyes, Jenny's daddy reached out with one hand to take the dime store necklace, and with the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case with a strand of genuine pearls and gave them to Jenny.

He had them all the time. He was just waiting for her to give up the dime-store stuff so he could give her the genuine treasure.

So it is, with Holy Spirit. He is waiting for us to give up the cheap things in our lives — those things we grasp so tightly in our mourning — so that he can give us treasures beyond the scope of our imagination.

The Greek word translated “mourn” in Matthew 5:4, is the word, pentheo. While the literal translation means: to grieve, to bewail, to mourn (whether an act or a feeling), it comes from a root word, penes, which means: to be in poverty, to scratch for a living working at menial tasks.

Human nature is to grasp at straws, to cling to the things we have on hand, even though we are not really growing or prospering — spiritually, physically, or materially. Holy Spirit, as The Paraklete, is here to comfort us. The word, Paraklete, comes from the Greek, parakaleo — a contraction of para and kaleo, which mean: alongside, and to call.

The concept of “calling alongside” is that of a comforter, one who comes alongside to encourage, to call us up to a higher level, to lift us from the doldrums and substandard of living that results from eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Do you remember what Jesus said of the Paraklete?

John 14:15-17: If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

Those who “mourn” (to use the KJV translation) are not living in or with the truth. I know this discussion on mourning is one we could really take down a rabbit trail, but the emphasis that Jesus is making is that if we live IN HIM, and He lives IN US, we will have access to the sixth of the Seven Spirits of God — the Spirit of Truth — as our guide, our governor, our teacher and our comforter, no matter what our physical circumstances may be. Mourning will be a thing of the past.

Mourning is something that those people in the world have with them continually. The world is devoid of The Truth. As Jesus states, “the world cannot receive [Him] because it doesn’t see Him and doesn’t know Him.”

Thus, for those who lay aside their rational, reasoning, Tree-of-the-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil mindset and surrender their lives to Jesus Christ without clinging to or hanging onto things that comfort them because of their familiarity will see the Truth, receive the Truth, and know the Truth.

Now, in the space remaining, let’s see what we can do with the third of Jesus’ opening statements as He preaches from the mountain.

Matthew 5:5: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Let me see what I can do with amplifying this from the Greek text.

Matthew 5:5: Blessed and enviably happy [with a happiness produced by the experience of God’s favor] are those who know and walk in Kingdom authority, keeping that authority and power under control, for they shall become heirs to the earth. (RAC Translation and Amplification)

The Greek word for “meek” is the word praus. This is a word which J.H. Thayer translates: mildness of disposition, gentleness of spirit.

Here’s how Peter describes it in his first letter to the body of Christ:

I Peter 3:4: But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

We are all familiar with the cliché, “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

From God’s perspective, the ability to keep a meek and quiet spirit, which is to say, the ability to keep authority and power under control, is costly (Greek: poluteles: extremely expensive).

Undisciplined authority and the exercise of power without having it under the control of Holy Spirit creates utter chaos around us, and it spreads that chaos like a disease. That having authority and power under disciplined control as part and parcel of the nature of Jesus Christ is demonstrated in something that Jesus said to the Scribes and Pharisees who were questioning Him.

John 8:28-29: Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. And He that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please Him.

You get it, don’t you? Jesus was already regarded as “huios” by Father: a fully grown and mature Son in whom Father had vested His complete authority and power. He literally had all of Heaven at his disposal. There was NOTHING withheld from Him. He was the personification of both parts of David’s revelation:

Psalm 115:16: The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’S: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.

Nevertheless, having all of Heaven at His disposal, and — as a Son of Man (as He periodically described Himself) — having the entire Earth under His dominion, Jesus kept that authority and the incalculable power of the Throne of Heaven under absolute control.

He made it clear on more than one occasion that “I only say those things that Father has taught me,” or “I only say those things that I hear Father say.” By the same token, Jesus said, “I do always those things that please Him,” or “I do only those things that I see Father do.”

Get it? THAT’s the true definition of meekness.

And that’s why Jesus could say as a description of His character when He spoke to the multitudes, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth!”

Let me stop here, and we will pick this up again next week.

I remind those of you in need of ministry that our Healing Prayer Call is back on schedule for Mondays & Wednesdays at 7:00 PM Eastern. Once again, the number to call for healing is (805) 399-1000. Then enter the access code: 124763#.

Also want to let you know that our Sunday worship gatherings are available by conference call – usually at about 10:45AM Pacific. That conference number is (559) 726-1300, and the access code is 308640#.

Blessings on you!

Regner

Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES

RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
Sunnyside, Washington 98944

Email Contact: Admin@RiverWorshipCenter.org

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ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: SUPERNATURAL MATURITY, Part 1

Another Coffee Break:

Supernatural Maturity, Part 1

March 20, 2015

During the past few months, I've been sharing in our local fellowship a revelation from what we commonly refer to as The Sermon on the Mount. As I was reading Matthew 5, 6 & 7, I suddenly realized that Jesus was sharing with the folks a whole lot of character pictures which epitomize the very nature of His being, makeup and personality.

Before we dig into Jesus' teaching, let's consider the context of the things Jesus is sharing in this "sermon." In Matthew 3, we have the revelation of Jesus' baptism and Father making abundantly clear to those who were watching that, "This is My Beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased!" It was a remarkable statement for Father to make of Jesus, but it was one that was common to Jewish society.

Whenever a son reached a point in his life where he was both learned and practiced in his father's business, and sufficiently seasoned at it that his father could literally turn the entire operation of the business over to him, the father would call together his friends, family and business associates for a public ceremony in which he would announce officially that "this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased." At that time the father would also provide the son with a signet ring with which he could set the father's seal to any official document, acting in the stead of the father with the father's full backing and approval.

By this time, the son had observed all that the father would do in the course of fifteen to twenty years of working with him (that period of being "under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father") after his "bar mitzvah" at age 12, he had learned to say what his father would say in virtually every situation. The son, therefore, became the father's representative and alter-ego wherever he went, and whatever he said or did was done in the place of his father as though his father was actually there.

Thus, when Jesus was given this magnificent public approval by Father, Father also sent His signet ring in the form of Holy Spirit, Who settled on Jesus in the form of a dove. It couldn't have been clearer to all who witnessed the event.

Consider the following scriptures within the context of these two pictures; namely, that of the learning under tutors and governors to do and to say all that the father said and did, and finally, the giving of the signet ring to seal everything done in the father's name.

John 8:26, 28-29: I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him.

Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.

John 10:30: I and my Father are one.

John 14:10: Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

When Jesus, therefore, made the statement that He and Father are One, He wasn't saying that they were the same person, He was following the protocol that mandates His acting in Father's stead, saying exactly what Father would say, and doing the works that Father would do were he present in person.

Now, take a look at the picture of the signet ring.

John 6:27: Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

The KJV uses the word "sealed", and that's a poor translation. I won't take the time to re-translate that whole verse to you, but the Greek word which is often translated "sealed" or perhaps "signet" is the word, sphragizo. Here's how J.H. Thayer translates this word: to set a mark upon by the impress of a seal or a stamp. The word literally describes a signet ring or an official seal that a king would use to authenticate a document or a decree. With that in mind, consider now how Paul uses this word, sphragizo.

I Corinthians 1:21-22: Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

Ephesians 1:13-14: In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Ephesians 4:30: And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

Have I drawn this picture sufficiently for you? My objective is to lay the groundwork for understanding that when Jesus began to teach the multitudes, the things He was sharing were inherent to His character, makeup, and personality. And Jesus was sharing -- and this is important in our understanding -- exactly what Father had said to Him, and what Father was saying to us! He was sharing those things that will cause us to become naturally supernatural -- naturally spiritual, as measured by the fact that a signet ring has been impressed into our minds, our thoughts and our behavior.

When I use the term, naturally supernatural, I am referring to the fact that we are no longer part of this world, this world's kingdoms, this world's mindset or this world's behavior. What the world considers as "natural" is, in fact, sub-natural. It is not normal in any way shape or form to the way we were designed by God in the first place. Thus, when we are in Christ Jesus, and He is in us, He has placed His "super" upon what we have known and lived in as "natural."

OK? Sorry if I've dragged this out or been too exhaustive in my explanation, but it is necessary for all of us to have the proper context for what Jesus began to share when He opened up to the multitudes. That said, let's begin with the very first statement that Jesus made when He began to share what we commonly refer to as "The Beatitudes."

Matthew 5:3: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

If ever there was a verse of Scripture that has been taken out of context, this is it! Folks with a poverty mindset have abused this for generations, focusing on the first four words, “Blessed are the poor,” and stopping there.

The word, poor, if taken alone in this verse certainly could be taken that way. The Greek word, ptochos, literally translates to: destitute of wealth, influence, position or honor. But that’s NOT what Jesus said. He didn’t say that it was blessed to be poor; He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”

The apostle Paul fully understood what Jesus meant when He made that statement and he put it in its proper context for us when he wrote to the Ekklesia in Philippi.

Philippians 2:5-8: Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

We’ll come back to Paul’s statement shortly.

“Poor in spirit” is defined by J.H. Thayer in his Greek-English Lexicon like this: destitute of the wealth of learning and intellectual culture which [academic] schools afford. Understand? OK, let’s put it in simpler language. Watch what happens when we fully translate Matthew 5:3 from the Greek.

Matthew 5:3: “Blessed and highly favored by God are those who don’t eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and live their lives on the basis of intellectual learning and culture — those whose spirits are fed from the Tree of Life; for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven — that dimension of the Spirit where the rulership of God enables us to function as Jesus did.” (RAC Translation & Amplification)

Consider how Paul expressed it when writing to the Romans.

Romans 8:5-16: For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

It would take up too much space in this Coffee Break to amplify this whole passage, so let me deal with just a few segments.

Romans 8:5-8: “For those who live their lives based on what is a “reasonable” or “rational” mode of thinking and living behave according to their five senses, feelings and perceptions; but those who live their lives responding to the quickening of Holy Spirit live spiritually, opposing the dictates of the flesh.

“This is because thinking which follows that which seems reasonable and rational (according to feelings, emotions and human learning) is at war with God, is not subject to the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus — and, indeed, it cannot be.” (RAC Translation and Amplification)

Romans 8:13-16: “For if you live according to the demands of your flesh, your rational and reasonable thinking, you will die; but if you access the Spirit of life — that Spirit of God — that is within you and shut down and put to death the normal desires and acts of your flesh, you will [truly] live.

“For all those who allow themselves to be led and quickened by the Spirit of God will become — and be — the full-grown, mature sons of God. And that’s because you have not received in yourself slavery to spirits of fear; but rather that deep knowing within that you’ve been adopted into the Family of God so that your natural — spiritual — reaction [when in crisis] is to cry out, “Daddy! Papa! Father! You see] Holy Spirit witnesses within our spirits that we have become children -- members of the Family of God!” (RAC Translation & Amplification)

Was that clear? THAT’s what it means to be “poor in spirit!” Now take another look at the way Paul described Jesus’ mindset as he wrote to the Philippian Ekklesia.

He said, “Let this manner of thinking be in you!” Then he describes the kind of “poor [in] spirit” that ruled Jesus.

As the only begotten Son of God, Jesus knew with a certainty that He was in the form, likeness, nature and makeup of God; that as such He paralleled God in every respect — even in his human form — and yet he subdued His flesh and human cravings and desires in order to adopt the nature and character of a bond servant, becoming instead a normal man by all appearances and actions.

Now, think about the second half of Jesus’ statement, “For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”

A kingdom, obviously, is the domain where a king rules — whose word is Law! When we talk about Heaven, we mostly think in ethereal terms of a place we will go to “in the sweet bye and bye,” when in fact there is nothing ethereal about Heaven. Heaven is simply a parallel dimension.

I realize that sounds a bit like some sci-fi story, but the truth is that Heaven literally parallels this time-space earth that we spend the majority of our time living in and with.

We were first designed as spiritual beings, and in fact pre-existed in Heaven with God before we ever came here. (I know that some folks really get a bee in their bonnet when I say that, but there are a fistful of scriptures to back it up. See, for example, Job 40:15, or Jeremiah 1:5) That said, Heaven is a tangible, multi-dimensional place which has authority and power over this time-space world in which we live. Heaven existed before there was ever an Earth or a Universe, and Heaven will still exist when this earth is dissolved and a new earth and a new “heavens” are created.

When Jesus said, therefore, that “theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven,” He was making it very clear that those who willingly set aside their rational, reasoning, human thought processes and become “poor in spirit” — not exalting their spirits, their minds and their own purposes above God’s plan and destiny for us — will be enabled to live a Kingdom life with ready access to the Heavenly realm.

OK. That was a mouthful. Let me put it more simply.

When God’s rulership in our lives becomes paramount and preeminent in our priorities, we have access to that Kingdom He has prepared for us. So long as we continue to walk and live the Kingdom life, a process of the rulership of the Lord takes over us, and begins to function through us.