Parts of this article were given by Billie Johnson

(till she ran out of time!)

at JGLM National Conference June 20, 2008

As I thought about what we are stressing here this week I realized that we can look back at John G. Lake and praise God for what he did and the teachings he left as an inheritance for us.  We are grateful that we ‘know’ him.  We see that the churches as a whole haven’t really taken hold of what he learned.  We see that too many times in the past the churches have gone only for the status quo and didn’t want to rock the boat. 

So these are some of the things we need to leave behind.Some of the things we need to press forward toward are also from John G. Lake.  His positive outlook and his seeing that all of us are ministers and can make a difference.  His messages that the way we pray or don’t pray has an impact on what we do for Christ.  His clear view of scripture that gives us the power to command and have things happen in the spiritual realm as well as in the physical with healing.Other things we need to continue to press forward are from Curry Blake: his teachings about Understanding the New Creation that show us how clearly we are new, not just mixed with what we were before.  We see the difference is between what dominion is and is not.   We truly are new creations when we are born again in our spirit. His teachings on the New Covenant were earth shaking for me.  It makes such a difference in my thinking, in my singing, in the words I use and the words that I read in the Old Testament and the New Testament.  Things go into place so much easier when we renew our mind in the light of the New Covenant and not try to mix it with the Old Covenant and continue ‘church’ as usual.  

As I searched the scriptures with the idea of leaving things behind and pressing forward I found some verses in Philippians that really spoke to me.Phil 3:7-10 “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. ⁷But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.  ⁸Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ ⁹and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;  ¹⁰that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,  ¹¹if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”NKJVerse 7 mentions those things that were gain.   

Those former things that were gain were those things that made us feel fulfilled. We had them before we knew Christ but they are not anything to us now except something to be thrown away; they are a complete loss to us now.  Christ stands so much better than they were.  The knowledge of Christ is priceless, of so much more worth.  We wish to know Christ Jesus as our Lord and become more deeply and intimately acquainted with him by perceiving and recognizing and understanding Him more fully and clearly. That is the excellence that Paul wants to be found in.  That faith in Christ is the righteousness and the gain that he wants now. It is not a self-achieved righteousness based on obeying the Law through ritual but is right standing with God that comes through faith in the Anointed One (Christ).  That truly is right standing with God that comes by faith that saves us from just being ritualistic. Paul’s righteousness was not in the law but through faith in Christ.  So he wants to know Christ more and the power of His resurrection.  We also want to know more and more of the Holy Spirit’s power in believers so that we are continually transformed in our spirit, mind and body to be more like him.  It is that power from the Holy Spirit that we all want to have flowing through us. Phil 3:12-14 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.  ¹³Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, ¹⁴I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.   NKJPaul is saying here in Phil 3: 12 that he is not already complete in Christ.  It is still a goal and ideal for him   But He presses on to lay hold of -- to grasp in his hands and his heart that completeness in Christ. 

He also says to forget those things which are behind.  What is behind each of us?  We all have our stories.  Some of us have been believers longer than others.  Some can tell of a wonderful salvation experience.  Others just know they have continued to grow in the faith.  What is behind you?  Have you looked at it and given it to Christ?  We know when we come to Him that he takes all that junk away but sometimes we have to be willing to give it up.  We have to continue in our growth and not let the things that were in our lives before Christ to continue to be a part of our lives now.  We need to know that we are washed clean but we also may have to help in that cleansing and by an act of our will not to return to it.  We should leave behind those things that cling to us. Sometimes just you and God can get this cleansing done.  At other times it may take some discipling and help from other believers who are willing to stand with you as you receive deliverance from those former things.

The second part of this scripture talks about pressing forward toward the upward call of Christ. Verse 13 is the main point that I want to stress. Paul says he reaches; he strains forward toward that call.  We have to decide to do something about what we’ve received from our Lord.  Yes, it is all ours.  Yes, we have dominion but we have to receive it.  It’s just like a present given to you.  You can admire the outside of the box, the pretty ribbon and wrapping but if you never do anything to open it and examine the things inside it just stays a nice present.  How many of us leave the box unopened?  How many of us don’t really know what is inside.  We wait and hope the Lord will grow us up but we don’t do much pressing toward that goal.   To press gives the impression of strength, power, to use energy.   Can you see the picture of someone pressing hamburger meat into patties?  That takes some pressure.  We have to expend energy to continue to grow.    

We press on with Paul for the mark of the high calling of Jesus Christ in us in verse 14. It is even called a prize.  A prize is something to be desired, something that others may want also.  A prize is anticipated and looked forward to.   It is a goal of a supreme and heavenly prize.  It is an upward not a backward or downward call.  We look forward and not backward at what has been.  Even though sometimes it is good to remember what God has done.  We need to remember the wonderful things he has allowed us to be a part of like being available for healing someone with cancer; like being used of the Holy Spirit to raise a dead person; like learning that we have dominion over our body and can command it to be healed.

The call of Christ is an upward call.  That means there may be some mountain climbing or some hills to get over if we are going up.   We may just want to coast along and let God do it all.  Well, He expects us to take our part of the covenant.  Jesus made the covenant for us but we are to be obedient to what he told us to do.  We are to go, teach, preach, heal the sick and cast out demons.  That means we are doing something more than just sitting in church and enjoying the praise and listening to the sermon.

When our kids were young we did a lot of camping and backpacking.  There was one summer where Don and I were counselors on a youth backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon.  We left the north rim, hiked down to the Colorado River and then back up the south rim of the canyon.  It was hard going up!  There were switchbacks and the path was sometimes rocky.  Don was always at the head of the group and I was usually the last one bringing up the rear!  It was harder still when we met a mule with someone on it.  We as hikers were to stand on the outside of the trail nearest the drop off and let the mule have the right of way down.  Because it is hard there are signs that warn you “Don’t be a Drag Out!  If you couldn’t make it out up to the top of the rim there were telephones where you could call and the park service would send a mule down to drag you out.  So in our Christian life things may get hard, we may be on the end but persevere.  Don’t be a Drag Out!

 Phi 3: ¹⁵Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.  ¹⁶Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.In Verses 15 and 16 Paul is telling the people to remember, if they are mature in the spirit and full grown as compared to baby Christians, they are to have the same mind.  We need to hold true to what we have already gained and order our lives by that.  We are to be likeminded.  It is so great to be a part of a group, a body of believers that have the same mind.   For many years we searched in the churches we attended to find someone who believed like we did.  We continue to grow spiritually but so many of our friends did not.  They seemed to stagnate and stay in the same mold.  They couldn’t understand us and we couldn’t understand them.  It was so hard to stay in a church where the songs were calling God down and asking that the heavens be opened when I knew from the New Covenant that God is within me and that the heavens are open because of what Jesus Christ did for me.  I would leave a church service with these thoughts rolling in my mind.  Oh, I tried to share with the pastor and the worship director that there was a difference between us who are under the New Covenant and the way of thinking of the Old Covenant.  I sent them emails.  I’m sure they felt I was a goad in their side!  But I was searching for those of like mind.  Now I praise God that I’ve found you and you and you!  

 Let’s move on to verse 17.   Phil 3:¹⁷Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern.  ¹⁸For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:  ¹⁹whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things.  ²⁰For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.  We have an example of those who live after the pattern that Paul and other leaders have set for us. We are to follow John G. Lake’s example.  We see other believers who are good examples to us.  We need to rub shoulders with them, be in fellowship with them.  Those we are in continual association with are the ones that we look up to and pattern our lives after. We don’t put them on a pedestal and say they are special.  We shouldn’t do that anyway but some do.  We are to learn from them and follow in their footsteps.  

We are not to follow the example in verses 18 and 19. We recognize that they are doomed and their god is their appetites and sensuality, they glory in their shame and see only earthly things! It is amazing but Paul was talking about some believers here!  They are like the seeds that fall on the hard ground and never really reach maturity.   Verse 20 reminds us that our conversation is in heaven.  Another way of saying that is that our citizenship is in heaven.  We are in the Kingdom of God.  This world is not our home.  Our state of residence is a heavenly one even while we are here on earth!  From that citizenship we look, and wait for the coming of our Lord Jesus.  We know he will transform our bodies to be conformed like his glorious and majestic body by exerting His power that enables him to subject everything to Himself!  That is a great promise and we all can applaud it. There are some scriptures that really talk to me about Life Teams, house churches, small groups, whatever you want to call them.  These verses give us a pattern or example of how we are to conduct ourselves – something we can press onward toward.

Acts 2:46-47 “⁴⁶So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, ⁴⁷praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” NKJWe need to keep in touch and grow together with other believers.  In our Life Teams we do that growing.  We meet on the evening the Life Team meets and also at DLTC (our church).  All this takes time but we have to make the time.  Remember what you really want to do you will do.   The growth is faster if you keep in contact at other times during the week. I always enjoy a phone call from someone in our Life Team or from DLTC during the week. We can make time to phone and include other believers in your life.  As we see by this scripture the early believers all felt they needed to be together not only at their ‘church services’ in the temple but they ate together often (daily).  That probably included the Lord’s Supper. That may be the reason they were glad and all had a simple heart to praise God. They were generous as well with other believers as the earlier verses tell us. Their attitude of gladness and praise found favor with all the people.  Others saw their joy and wanted it because it became contagious. The result was that the Lord added people to the church daily by bringing those that were being saved from the spiritual death.

In Acts 2:42 we have another pattern or example we can follow.    ⁴²And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.  ⁴³Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.  ⁴⁴Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common  ⁴⁵and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.” The early believers were steadfast and didn’t let little things get to them.  They devoted themselves which is a bit more than just listening and then going their own way. They continued to listen to the instruction of the apostles.  These early believers loved to eat (break bread) so we have an early example of that in the church which still is alive and well today!  They took the time to take communion with each other.  The timing in all of this is constantly – not intermittently but all the time maybe every day as it mentions in the scripture in Acts 2:46. There were many signs and wonders performed by the apostles.  There was a sense of awe and reverential fear that was evident.  There was even a sense of community so that they had everything in common.  If there was a need others came forward to fulfill that need.  They were united in a greater way than what we see today with believers.  They even sold their property and maybe even their furniture and then used the price for those that had a need.  We do some of this today.

There was  a time  in the 1960’s and 70’s when a lot of Christians were trying to live in communes.  You don’t hear much about it today though.  But in our Life Teams and in our churches, we need to be aware of the needs of others and willing to give freely and with a glad heart to someone in need.  There was a time when Don and I were just starting out in our plastics business.  The bank would loan us only so much for start up costs.  My mother gave us another amount but we still needed more.  We prayed about it and went to another believer we knew who had a small business.  We asked him for the money and were blessed by his giving it to us.  He even said we didn’t have to pay it back and he would charge us no interest.  But after we had the business for about three years the Lord had prospered it so we were able to pay him back with interest.  When we contacted him about it he was overjoyed because at that time his business was in need.  We had lost close contact with him but still were able to get a hold of him.  So it was a blessing to us and to him.  It was an example to us of how those early believers helped each other.   How did the early Christians evangelize?  I’ve mentioned that they praised God and this says they also had the good will of all people. They had favor with those that they did things with, maybe the merchant that sold them their food or cloth for clothing.  That good will gave the early believers the opportunity to tell them why they were praising God. This is evangelism.  Most of us are afraid to do this.  We don’t want people to reject us.  We won’t talk to strangers ‘cause we’ve been taught not to.  But we need to talk to those who may not know Jesus.  There are opportunities that we let pass by us. One suggestion I’ve heard is we go to the emergency room and talk to people to give them salvation and command their healing.    We’ve heard of a young man that stood outside a porn shop and talked to the guys going in.  He witnessed to them about Jesus in an everyday manner. 

Ask the Lord what you can do and then do it.  We have to make ourselves aggressive even when we don’t ‘feel’ like it. That is part of the denial of self.  It takes boldness and courage – those things that Joshua was told to do which were counted to him as faith in the book of Hebrews.  Acts 5:42 “⁴²Every day in the temple courtyard and from house to house, they refused to stop teaching and telling the Good News that Jesus is the Messiah.” These early believers refused to stop preaching or teaching that they had heard GOOD NEWS.  That good news is that Jesus is the Anointed One that had been prophesied many years before.  Too often we do not realize that the gospel  is good news.  People like to hear good news even though the media thinks it is bad news that sells.  Good news is something almost anyone would like to hear. The early believers told this good news to everyone they talked to.  They talked about it in the courtyards of the temple but also from house to house.  So everywhere they went they preached about Jesus being the One who had come.  They probably told others they did not need to wait any longer Messiah had come.  What a pronouncement for the Jews who had waited hundreds of years and had been told in so many scriptures that he was to come.  They were being told He has come!  They were just following what John the Baptist had announced. What great good news that is.  If you have a hobby you can witness about what God is doing in your garden or where you go square dancing or when you talk to another alpaca grower or on the golf course or while you are restoring old cars or motorcycles.  You get the idea!   Make it simple, make it easy but interject Jesus into the conversation. Preach it!  

We all need to preach. The main purpose of the Life Teams is to take your seed and grow it up to another level of maturity.  This takes time, maybe a year or so, but as you continue to do it you’ll see the fruit.  We have to be willing to take responsibility for and with others.  It is only when someone takes the responsibility of saying yes we will meet at such and such a place.  Yes, we will get together.  Yes, I am willing to do something to meet with other people of like mind. As we mentioned yesterday it took a few of us to say, let’s start meeting at least once a month.  That took about a year or two of just fellowshipping and praying for each other.  Then the Lord put it on all our hearts to meet weekly.  Don and I have to drive about an hour each way to get to Dominion Living Training Center but it is worth it to us!  

You can be willing to be trained to start your own Life Team.  Or if you are already in one, watch the leaders and take some responsibility.  Move out of your comfort zone and volunteer to lead the discussion the next time.  We learn by doing and we leaders need to let the learners take some of the responsibility sometimes!  We set the pattern but those coming up behind us need to step out and follow the Holy Spirit more also. We need to heed Paul’s advice to leave those things behind us and press on toward the upward call of Christ.  We have many examples in scripture that we can follow.  We have the pattern now we just need to put it into practice!   Remember “Don’t be a drag out!”