glory to GOD FOR TRUTH AMEN ! The reason for this difference between the measure of anointing on the Head, Jesus, and the body is that our Lord came and walked as a perfect man, while we, the members of His body, although accepted in the beloved are actually very imperfect. The perfect man Jesus, as the very image of the Father, could be in the fullest harmony with God and with His Spirit of holiness and power, in every and all particulars; but in proportion to the degradation through the fall, our harmony with God and His Spirit has been impaired. No imperfect mortal is capable of receiving the Lord’s Spirit to the full, and it would be dangerous beyond comprehension for one to so receive, even if he were capable! Can you imagine unlimited, ALMIGHTY POWER at the disposal of men still walking in a carnal nature? No imperfect mortal is capable of receiving God’s Spirit to the full because it is impossible for him to be in absolute harmony with God in every particular. This is why the writer to the Hebrews exhorted the Lord’s people: LET US GO ON TO PERFECTION! This is why Paul pointed out in Ephesians chapter four that God has placed ministry-gifts in the body of Christ “for the PERFECTING OF THE SAINTS… till we all come… unto a PERFECT MAN, unto the measure of the stature of THE FULLNESS OF CHRIST” (Eph. 4:11-16). Thus we can see that it is only in perfection that one can know THE FULLNESS OF CHRIST. And hence, amongst those apprehended ones, who consecrate themselves, and who receive the Holy Spirit of adoption, we find the Spirit possessed in different measures depending upon the degree of our departure from the divine image, and the degree of grace, faith, and maturity attained since coming into the body of Christ. To the extent that the apprehended ones resign themselves to the Lord, and, ignoring their own wills and way, seek to walk in His ways, they come to be “led by the Spirit,” “taught of the Spirit,” and can “serve the Lord in newness of Spirit.” To continue under this leading and instruction they must have a “Spirit of meekness” (Gal. 5:22, 23; 6:1), so that the “God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,” can give unto them the “Spirit of wisdom and revelation, in the knowledge of Him; the eyes of their understanding being enlightened, that they may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (Eph. 1:17-18). It is only through being “conformed to the image of His Son” that we can qualify, and become capable of receiving that same measure of the absolute fullness of the Spirit of God that Jesus possessed. The initial infilling of the Spirit is a free “gift,” but the fullness of God must be appropriated from glory to glory and pressed into. In Jn. 1:1 and 14 we read: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, FULL of grace and truth.” Here we find that Jesus was FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTH. Then verse 16 tells us, “And OF HIS FULLNESS have all we received, and grace for grace.” This does not say that we have received His fullness, but “OF His fullness.” The Amplified Bible reads: “For OUT OF HIS FULLNESS (abundance) we all received – all had a share and we were all supplied with – one grace after another and spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing, and even favor upon favor and gift heaped upon gift.” If I have a million dollars in the bank and withdraw “of” or “out of” my account, I withdraw only a portion, a part, a measure of my abundance. Similarly, Jesus was FULL of grace and truth, and as we receive “OF His fullness” we receive a measure of that fullness which is in Him, but, bless His name! an ever increasing measure, for it is ever “grace for grace” or “one grace after another”. Fullness is relative. It is relative to the capacity of that which is being filled, and the abundance of that with which it is being filled. It is like a balloon. You can blow several puffs of air into a balloon and the balloon is, by definition, full of air. There is air from side to side, from end to end, and there is no place within the balloon where there is not air. And yet, you can still blow more air into the balloon! The balloon is full, but it possesses the unique characteristic of being able to be EXPANDED, its capacity being INCREASED and ENLARGED due to this ability to stretch. So, although at any given point the balloon is full, you can just keep on blowing and blowing until the rubber stretches to its limit. Thus it can be seen that, under proper conditions, it IS POSSIBLE to be full and yet CONTAIN MORE after you have been filled! When we were first baptized in the Holy Spirit we were indeed “filled” with the Spirit, as were those on the day of Pentecost, but we were only filled in proportion to our capacity– our ability to contain Him! We held all of God that we were capable of holding at that point. We really were full of the Spirit, but we now know that we can still receive MORE, becoming filled with ever increasing measures of His fullness! God is wanting to EXPAND US FROM WITHIN, to increase our capacity, to enlarge our spiritual amplitude. Hallelujah!
Posted on: Fri, 29 Nov 2013 15:41:34 +0000
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