As I was listening to our Man of God Reverend Walter this morning a scripture he quoted jumped out to me. 2 Peter 3:1-2 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostle of the Lord and Saviour.
The sole reason of this epistle by peter was to stir up, arouse, awaken, enkindle, fan the flame and feed the fire of their pure minds. We have to note that at every point in time our minds have both a clean (spirit) and unclean part (flesh), a pure (spirit) and impure part (flesh). When we give our lives to Christ our soul or mind is as impure as before we gave our lives to Christ but by listening to the word of God and by reading the word of God we begin to make it pure. It was likened by our man of God to a jug of dirty water. The more you pure clean water into it the more the dirty water comes out. So at each point in time there is both clean and dirty water in the jug but in varying proportions. Initially the dirty water is more than the clean and the more clean water you pour into the jug the cleaner the water becomes until the entire jug is filled with clean water. We have also been made to understand that we are forever purifying our minds as it is a continuous journey. Meaning to an extent at each point we have both a pure and impure mind but for some the pure mind is much much more than the impure mind because they have poured a lot more of the word into it. Therefore with this in mind Peter specifically points out the mind that he is trying to stir up i.e. the pure mind which is knowledge of the word and the ways of God. He intends to do this by bringing them to remembrance or reminding them of the words which were spoken by the Holy Prophets. This means they have heard these words before and he is only reminding them about it because as the bible says faith comes by hearing and hearing and not by having heard in the past.
I would like to thus paraphrase the quoted scripture in relation with my intentions for this article. This article, my beloved Super Church brethren, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up, arouse, awaken, enkindle, fan the flame and feed the fire of your pure minds by way of remembrance: That ye may keep in mind the words which were spoken before by Reverend Walter about the Glory of Death.
We are all aware that at the end of last year (2012) for those in TSC PHC 1 Reverend spent time teaching on the glory of death, there is even a book on it and in leaders conference we still made mention of it. It is my belief that this is one of the major keys to living the life we were made to live and this would become clearer as we read further.
It seems to me the universal principle in every single thing the bible tells us and all laws provided to us by the bible is one thing – seed, time and harvest. By this I mean God wanted to get us his children back and to do so he gave his son knowing that when he gives Him He would be given back to him in good measure, pressed down shaken together and running over. He gave his son and He received millions of people back in return. With regards to finances it is the same thing. You sow and you get back much more in return.Our man of God has said numerous times that God can actually go on a holiday and everything would just work fine because systems and laws have been put in place. This is also the same principle applied to death to self.
Our man of God has made us to understand that through death your true glory would manifest itself.
John 12:24 (KJV) 24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
John 12:24 (AMP) 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.
John 12:24 (NIV) 24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.
We all have huge potential in us but until we die (not physical death but until we subdue our flesh, emotions, ego, wants) all this potential would remain locked up in us forever and never see the light of day. We can work from now till eternity, try whichever means to achieve our goals but what we would get is only a tip of the ice-berg of what is due to us. As the corn of wheat no matter what it does would not produce more fruits or a bountiful harvest until it is planted (buried in the ground and dies first). We need to understand that our flesh is a huge inhibition, our plans for ourselves, our feelings, our emotions would only hinder us in our service to God. The bible clearly tells us to seek first the kingdom of God and all else would be added. This means we should forget about everything and focus on God. In our work with God death is very important because God cannot trust a man that is alive. He can only trust a man that is dead. God cannot trust a man who would put his needs above His. Because when a man dies criticism means nothing to him, submission to authority does not bother him. The beauty of the man comes out. Without death you are useless. The glory inside of you can never come out. Even Paul said I die daily. You cannot offend a dead man, you cannot hurt someone that is dead. If you are dead situations like I won’t do so and so again because so and so offended me would not arise. You should totally kill the flesh.
Let’s take a look at Matthew 10:39
Matthew 10:39 (KJV) 39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
Matthew 10:39 (AMP) 39 Whoever finds his [[a]lower] life will lose it [the higher life], and whoever loses his [lower] life on My account will find it [the higher life].
Matthew 10:39 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV) 39 Those who try to keep the life they have will lose it. But those who give up their life for me will find true life.
All the plans you have, things you want to achieve, all your ego are nothing compared to what God plans to give you if you can just die. The bible categorises all these as the lower life and tells us the life God wants for us is the higher life. To get a glimpse of this higher life in Mark 10:29-30 where we are told that he who gives up family, land, riches etc (i.e. he who dies to all these things) would receive an hundred fold of all he gave up in this life and in the life to come. This is a glimpse but not a total picture of our expectations once we do this. When something means so much to you that you can break God’s word to get it then you are in very big trouble. And satan is watching if you are that way and very soon he would make you an offer for your soul that you would not be able to refuse.
Our man of God tells us the story of a minister who was close to Billy graham who packed out stadiums in Michigan and when he preached people would fall under the anointing. He was a mighty man of God more anointed than Billy graham but this wasn’t enough for him he wanted more fame and did whatever it took to get it. On the other hand Billy graham was a stark contrast to this not even wanting people to know what he looked like. He preached on the radio for years and was offered TV slots but refused. For over 50 years people would walk by him and not know it was him. He was totally dead to self, all he did was for the lord there was no ego in it. Today the other minister as you can see is known as the other minister while Billy graham till today is known as the pastor to American presidents.
Jesus said when you lose your life you would gain it but when you hold on to it you would lose it – the higher life. Sometimes you are so hungry to preach, you are so hungry to lead, you are so hungry to be noticed – Kill it. Just die to it. Throw it away. Just follow and follow as if nothing has changed and you would be marvelled by the way your life would turn out. Sometimes we have ideas and opinion contrary to what our leaders tells us to do. Kill it and jump on the leaders band wagon and do it like it’s your idea. Sometimes we have to come for meetings but we “don’t feel like” kill it, die to it and make sure you are here because I am aware many times during cell meeting and prayer meeting many are just at home doing nothing.
David had to die to the throne before God gave it to him. He had ample opportunity to kill Saul and take the thrown but he didn’t and was blessed for it. And God said yes I think you are ready to reign as king. Until you die to something it won’t come to you and when you die to it and it returns to you it would come in much more splendour than you could imagine. This is where people fail they are ready to do whatever it takes even disobey God’s word to get what they want but this would eventually be to their detriment and they would put a glass ceiling over their lives in every way. You are ready to speak ill of people, backbite, and avoid the house of the lord. For what?????
You make your choice. Mathew 16:25 – whosoever would save his life shall loose it and whosoever shall loose his life for my sake shall save it. Amp – For whosoever is bent on saving his temporal life, his comfort and security here shall loose it whosoever loses his life, his comfort and security for my sake shall find it. I don’t know how much more plain it can be. It is seen in clear English without any ambiguity.
Some in situations may be thinking - I need to make my point clearly, I must talk, I must have my view, they are not considering my feeling, I am too big for this etc. The bible tells us if we always feel we must make our point we would eventually loose the opportunity to be relevant, if you feel you are too big you would eventually be too small etc.
I am sure by now it is clear without a shadow of the doubt that dying to self, killing your flesh and emotions is the only logical thing to do, but funny enough some would still hear this be sure it is the truth and still do nothing about it. What is holding you back? For some of us it is a relationship, for some of us it is our job, for some of us it is one habit, one boy or one girl that just confuses you. Give it up and let it go because as long as you keep on holding on to it what God has in store for you would never come to pass. Many of us have almost succeeded by this one thing is like us being on life support we need to cut it off to die totally so that we can achieve the higher life. Have this in mind death is your closest ally, it is your closest companion in your journey to success.
There is glory in death. For a much clearer understanding of this subject matter please read THE GLORY OF DEATH by Rev. Walter and you would understand fully that your body belongs to the lord.
