Lynn Ridenhour's
WINEPRESS MINISTRIES
38-Year Baptist Minister Turned Charismatic
Mormon Remnant Gatherer
"...addicted to the ministry of the saints..." (I Cor. 16:15)
Lynn Ridenhour grew up in the heart of Missouri near the Ozarks. A licensed Baptist minister for over 38 years, Lynn read the Book of Mormon and had a marvelous conversion experience to the restoration gospel as proclaimed by Joseph Smith.
Dr. Ridenhour has a Ph.D in literature with a specialty degree in composition theory from the University of Iowa. He has taught creative writing in both Christian and secular universities. Dr. Ridenhour has also pastored Baptist churches for years, has taught at Jerry Falwell’s university, and has been involved in the charismatic renewal since 1972.
Lynn is the founder of WinePress Ministries, and has a heart for evangelism. Paperback copies of Dr. Ridenhour’s booklets may be purchased for $3 per copy.
Write: WinePress Ministries
3601 S. Noland Rd., PMB 230
Independence, MO 64055
Dr. Ridenhour’s email address is: [email protected]
Should you want Dr. Ridenhour to come and speak in your church, or organization, simply email him, giving him the details. Lynn travels extensively for speaking engagements.
Lynn, his lovely wife, Linda, and their teenage daughter, Lori, make their home in Independence, Missouri.
T he Restoration gets in you first; then you get in the Restoration. Or so it seems. Anyway, that was my journey. This series of essays was written over the past thirty-five years. Like a blade of grass——here today, gone tomorrow--I've watched the spring and summer years of life come and go. I now publish these essays in my autumn years. They're divided into two parts -- Part One: The Restoration In Me, and Part Two: Me In The Restoration. Of course, Part One tells the story of how and when the Restoration got in me; Part Two tells the story of me getting in the Restoration.
I'm a Baptist minister, or was. For thirty-eight years I pastored and preached Protestantism's message of salvation--thundering and thumping the pulpit, warning God's sheep against the woes of cults, the wiles of the devil, and the whims of the flesh. For well over a quarter of a century I was a Fundamentalist Baptist minister, preaching and teaching at Jerry Falwell's Liberty Baptist University, exposing those awful kingdoms of cults, my premillennial charts and Scofield Bible never far from reach, usually on my car dashboard. I preached all over the South "……you must be born again," and "……you're saved by the blood……."
Then what happened? That's the theme of these essays.
Let me say, "……I glory in plainness" (2 Nephi 33:6). These essays are by no means polemic in nature but testimonial through and through. Let Mosiah's words be mine:
"And these [essays] are they who have published peace, who have brought good tidings of good, who have published salvation; and said unto Zion: Thy God reigneth!" --Mosiah 15:14
The underlying theme in each essay is: Thy God reigneth!
Without question, our Heavenly Father was the God of the twentieth century; He's also God during the dawn of a new millennium. History has it--a marvelous work and a wonder dug Truth out of the ground in the nineteenth century. One night a young lad slipped out of his house, took a shovel and beat the devil. Today that work carries on.
It is with great joy that I share the story of: the Restoration in me and me in the Restoration.
Lynn Ridenhour
Part One: The Restoration In Me
Fundamentalist Christianity has two cardinal doctrines: 1) the concept of Canonization, and 2) the Rapture. Both teachings are taught year after year, from Sunday School through seminary, in Fundamentalist Protestant churches and schools across this land. In order for our LDS missionaries to "get to first base" with most Protestants, these extra-biblical teachings must be shattered by the Holy Ghost. No Protestant Christian takes Joseph Smith and "his movement" seriously until his Sacred Cow is touched; i.e., canonization and the rapture.
I wrote Touching Sacred Cows in 1967. Heavenly Father began dealing with me back in the mid-sixties concerning the rapture doctrine. Not knowing where to file the revelation ("there is no rapture"), I went about my ministerial studies at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri, graduated and began pastoring in the deep South. It would be years (1985, to be exact) before I would understand.
Canonization of Scripture, written in 1985, followed. The two cardinal doctrines of Fundamentalist Christianity had now been shattered by the Holy Ghost. There is no rapture, nor canon of scripture: two hard revelations to swallow by this Fundamentalist Baptist preacher. But I learned long ago——when God speaks, listen. Nephi penned some appropriate words:
"……And the angel of the Lord said unto me: Knowest thou the meaning of the book [Bible]? And I said unto him, I know not……" (I Nephi 13: 21,22).
The Restoration in me was beginning to take shape. My journey had begun.
Then came The Mysteries of the Kingdom: A Study of the Parables of Matthew Thirteen, written in 1968. If there were no rapture, then perhaps God would set up His kingdom on this earth. A new and radical theme for most Protestants.
Kingdom theology surfaced in The Millennium and Triumph of the Kingdom and the Fall of Babylon, written in 1969.
Paradise or Prison House, written in 1970, was a radical departure from Protestant theology.
Three short essays--Eventide, Flying Messengers, and Endtime Promises--depict an everlasting gospel. It's the power of the Holy Ghost shed abroad in men's hearts during these latter days. Written in 1968 to 1970, the prophetic nature of the gospel surfaces.
Three Types of Christians and Christ, Our Lover were written in 1972. Three Types of Christians categorizes the Christian walk. The title alludes, of course, to the three main Old Testament feasts: Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. There are three types of Christians: Passover Christians, Pentecost Christians, and Tabernacle Christians. Christ, Our Lover portrays Christ as: our Lamb, our Lord, our Lover, and our Lion. Both essays emphasize the Church's role in the latter days.
Restoration of the Last Adam and America's Brand of Christianity, written in 1978, bemoan the condition of "churchianity" in these last days.
By the end of the seventies, the Holy Ghost had pretty much shattered my Fundamentalist Christianity. Though I was still pastoring Protestant churches, I felt much like a spiritual gypsy wandering in the wastelands. I lacked a home. For I had yet to be introduced to the glorious Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.
By now, however, I was serious. That is, a serious seeker after Truth. By early 1980s, I had discovered a most precious jewel, a treasure buried in the sand. In my Bible I had discovered the House of Israel! Thus, after much digging, An Essay on The Ten Lost Tribes was written in 1983. The revelation of the Lost House of Israel was, indeed, the precursor revelation, setting up the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ to be introduced in my life. It's no understatement,……
I was totally caught off guard the first time I discovered the "two houses" in the Bible. I had no idea there was such an array of scriptures pointing out that distinction: Hosea 1:6,7; Jer.13:11; Jer.33:7; Jer.30:3,4; Jer.32:30; Jer.3:8; Jer.3:11; Hosea 1:11.
"I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will have mercy upon the house of Judah……" (Hosea 1:6,7).
It's really a short leap from understanding the Lost House of Israel and understanding the Book of Mormon. Heavenly Father was guiding my life, for sure. By the early eighties, the Restoration was truly in me. It was now time for me to get in the Restoration.
One day a neighbor knocked on our door and handed me a Book of Mormon….
In May, 1985, Dr. Kenneth Brown, neighbor, knocked on our door and handed me a Book of Mormon. I read it and had an instant conversion. I knew the book was true. And I knew the book was heaven-sent. At that time, I was on faculty at Western Illinois University, Macomb, Illinois, while pastoring a small country church seven miles from Carthage. The sign read: Fandon Christian Church, Rev. Lynn E. Ridenhour, Pastor.
Our lives took on a new direction. In 1985 my wife, Linda, and I, and our lovely daughter, Lori, moved to Independence, Missouri——the Center Place of Zion. It was in the Center Place where I "got into" the Restoration. On April 6th., 1996, my family and I were baptized as members into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
You might note——eleven years went by between the time I read the Book of Mormon and became a baptized member. Why? That's one of the underlying themes of these next set of essays.
One of the first matters I had to face was the man, Joseph Smith. For the sake of my brethren (and myself) I delved in, much like a detective trying to solve the last crime of the century. I had to investigate this man. Thus, What Do You Think of Joseph Smith? 100 Evangelical Christians Interviewed was written in October, 1985.
I discovered--images of the Prophet ranged from charlatan to hero, from hoax to hobnobbing with the gods. Who was he? Hero or hoax? I had to find out for myself.
The second matter I had to face was the Book of Mormon. The Two Sticks: Biblical Proofs of the Book of Mormon was written in 1986.
The Burning Bosom: One Man's Account of Knowing God is highly autobiographical. It choreographs events——from living with the hippies in the 60s to soaring with the yuppies in the 80s and 90s.
I had a lot of fun writing The Baptist Version of the Book of Mormon: Protestant Doctrines Found Within the Book of Mormon. Though the title is somewhat tongue-'n-cheek, my thesis is not. Written in 1990, I was still not baptized. I call these my "wasteland years." I don't mean, these were wasted years. I mean, I was struggling to find the way.
In 1996, with a triumph in my soul, I write Why I Became A Mormon: My Journey into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I pinpoint my cause for delay——Masonry's similarities to LDS temple worship. Reared in southern Missouri, my family was steeped in the rituals of the Masonic Lodge. I was a Scottish Rite Mason. And I had to know that LDS temple worship was not simply "warmed-over Masonry." I found the answer. Once I found the answer, I didn't look back. To this day I want everyone to know of this glorious restored gospel.
Our journey has truly been one of "……joy unspeakable and full of glory."
I wrote From This Day Forth: Just For Investigators in 1997.
And there were more essays.
You must understand the spiritual climate in Independence, Missouri. All kinds of restoration branches make their home here in the heart of Zion: the Culterites, the Strangites, and, of course, the RLDS, to name a few. Many restoration saints who embrace the Book of Mormon also believe that Joseph Smith was a fallen prophet. To me, that's like saying Andy Griffeth robbed the Mayberry Bank, or that Roy Rogers was a crook. It just doesn't compute, add up. I wrote Was Joseph Smith A Fallen Prophet in 1998.
It's fun to dream dreams and to see visions. The older I get, the more fun my religion becomes. I have my spiritual fantasies too of what it's like to serve the Lord in these last days. I wrote Come To Zion: A Spiritual Fantasy in 1999--on the dawn of the new millennium.
Then there's 1260 Days 'Till 1830. We're told--in the learning of the Jews, "back to the future" is the Lord's way; that Truth is one eternal round.
April 6th.: Observe This Day Forever is short and to the point. Even dates are divinely set by the Counsel of the Gods. April sixth seems to be part of a divine pattern.
Gematria & The Book of Mormon is a fun game to play in the Holy Ghost. There is an entire world within the word waiting to be discovered. Gematria is the mother of the strange art of numerology. The ancient rabbinical world did not have the Arabic numbers as we use them in the West today and so the Hebrew letters served as numbers; thus, allowing linguistics and mathematics on the spiritual plane to interface. Restoration Theology on Life in the Hereafter: Testimonies of saints in the hereafter, written in 1999, brings joy to the soul. There is so much on the hereafter that's missing in Protestant Christianity but present in restoration theology; i.e., degrees of glory, eternal companionship, the celestialization of the earth, paradisiacal glory, and glorified beings becoming parents of spirit offspring. O, the joy of it all.
Are You Keeping The Word of Wisdom: Another Interpretation is a political essay, exposing the wickedness of the Church of the Devil in these latter days. Written before I became a baptized member, this hard-hitting essay centers around some divisive doctrines.
And appropriately, wrapping up these series of essays: The Five Stages of The Dispensation of the Fullness of Times. I did not write this one but I felt it appropriate to include. On Sunday evening, May 5th., 1996, Apostle L. Tom Perry gave a fireside talk to hundreds of college-age youth at Utah State University, his alma mater, in Logan, Utah. I find Elder Perry's fireside talk utterly fascinating, timely, and, as my teenage daughter would say, "totally awesome." Elder Perry's talk is not only a good way to end these essays; it's a good way to end this millennium.
There are twenty-eight essays: fourteen in Part One and fourteen in Part Two. It's my prayer, you've been edified.
Special thanks go to my eternal companion, Linda, and to my lovely daughter, Lori. I love them dearly. And owe them my life.
"For the eternal purposes of the Lord shall roll on, until all his promises shall be fulfilled." --Mormon 8: 22
Lynn Ridenhour
Index of "The Restoration in Me" Sermons, Writings
(Pre-Book of Mormon)
Steps to Glory:
An Essay on Sonship
I wrote this essay in 1969, long before I ever heard of the glorious truths of the restoration. My lovely bride and I were living in a little town, Bentley, Louisiana--just east of Alexandria. Even then the Lord was preparing me for the blessed truths of the restoration. I was pastoring a fundamentalist Baptist church in West Monroe, La. at the time.
STEPS TO GLORY
An Essay on Sonship
by Lynn Ridenhour
"To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." --Colossians 1:27
Picture this: mortal and immortal humans walking this earth, and you're one of them. Your name is Bill Moore and you live in Ohio. You're married and have three children, two boys and a girl.
Earth-shattering events have just shaken the globe.
Christ in you is no longer your "hope" of glory; he's now glorified in you! He's become your glory. And suddenly know what it means to receive your inheritance. The time of the first-fruits has ended in your life-just like the Bible said. It's harvest time.
The day has arrived when God has come after his inheritance and brought ours. It is the Day of the Lord. And Christ-within the last twenty-four hours-has just brought many sons unto glory. And you're one of them.
There is plenty work to do. Nations have to be healed. The ten tribes need gathering. Glory must fill the Church, and mortals need ministry, even healing.
The earth is groaning for redemption, longing to go back to Eden, to return to the Garden of God. And you're a son of God with an assignment, the King's assignment. You've been awarded a nation. "Go. Take his glory to the nations," was the order. Governments must topple. The battle is begun. Armies need conquering. A new world order-a king-is on the scene.
To think, when you were a lad back in Ohio-not much going on there, not much different from all other lads on your street, busy watching your folks survive the recession, hearing your grandparents talk often of depression days, and your having to sacrifice 'till it hurt to put your sister, Sarah, through college-you never dreamed it would come to this.
You only knew, the Spirit was guiding like a breeze, sending those soft messages, ".lay down your deadly traditions. They're no good for you." And you believed. You believed the Spirit. And obeyed.
That was twenty years ago.
You never knew for sure, but you always hoped (hope was your anchor) to be alive on this earth when the Day of the Lord arrived. And you are!
You were snatched away the other day at 9 a.m. with a mighty force, caught up in the air to meet him with the rest, never to return to this earth the same. O, you returned to earth alright-breezes blowing against your face and over your mind. None of you was in the air that long that morning. But you were not the same when your foot touched the earth. Neither were they. You had just had a "welcome meeting" with the Lord in the lower atmosphere; and masses of saints, having the appearance of clouds, joined you.
When you returned to earth, buildings were brighter, babies were beautiful, and walls were barriers only to mortals-you walked through them. When you spoke, people now worshipped God. Something was different; everything was different.
Your old Adamic nature that morning had been "snatched away," raptured, and you had been "caught up" with the Lord into his life. Into his immortality. Mortality had put on immortality in the twinkling of an eye before your feet came back to earth.
The beginning of the Tribulation had hit.
It was no effort for those who were caught up to travel. Essentially just "think"-and you were there.
The King that morning gave instructions to gather at Mount Zion and Jerusalem. It seemed like a flash and masses of saints like a cloud of witnesses appeared. You were among them.
The King began his instructions. First, the Law. Restoration of his government on this earth was to begin in Zion and the Word of the Lord, evangelism, was to be sent out from old Jerusalem. He divided up the glorified saints that morning with their assignments.
Some were assigned the transfer of wealth into his kingdom. Others were assigned armies to conquer. One group was instructed to finish redeeming creation, for the spilling of his blood had cleansed even the earth's soil and removed all effects of the curse. His atonement reached that deep.
Still others were given assignments to preach the gospel of the kingdom to the ten lost tribes and to gather the lost sheep of Israel back into the fold.
Bill Moore was told to help the bride, the Church, make herself ready for the bridegroom. The bridegroom was expecting a bride adorned, prepared for his glory.
The King's last instruction that morning had to do with God's wrath being poured out-but for us not to fear. His wrath wouldn't come near his people. Christ's presence was like an ark. So the assembly, caught up in the glory of his presence, left Mount Zion and Jerusalem to begin its endtime ministry.
The glorified saints were to periodically check back with the King, who seemed like a lamb, but was really a lion. He lived in the new city, the new Jerusalem. The city had come down out of heaven. He wanted updates. He also wanted everyone to attend a meal he was preparing. --End of scene.
* * * * * * * *
Can you picture yourself in the scene?
Neither could Bill Moore until one day, when years ago the Spirit began unraveling the marvelous plan of the ages. Here's a glimpse of what he saw:
.God's purpose is the glory of his presence forever dwelling among his people, a people he has prepared for himself from the foundation of the world.
.Salvation means much more than escape from hell; the Lord's plan is to prepare a people for the glory to come.
.Salvation is a free gift but the High Calling is a prize.
.What transpires with our lives down here is the glory we begin with in the future.
It's the high calling of Christ, a preparation for glory, that excites Bill. There is a City of God, the Bride of Christ, that New Jerusalem come down from heaven, Zion, having the glory of God resting upon her. And for us Christians, everything that transpires between cradle and grave, between redemption and restoration, is but a preparation for that glory. That city.
And there are STEPS TO GLORY.
Let's look at these steps.
First Step: Christ formed in you (Gal.4:19).
Second Step: Christ living in you (Gal.2:20).
Third Step: Christ dwelling in you (Eph.3:17).
Fourth Step: Christ glorified in you (II Thess.1:12).
FIRST STEP: CHRIST FORMED IN YOU
As Christians, we sometimes overlook the obvious-the Christ child must be formed in us. Growth and travail and pain and giving birth-each describes the Christian experience. Paul said an interesting thing to the churches in Galatia:
"My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you" (Gal.4:19).
Paul is speaking of travail and birth and Christ "being formed" in the Christian. What is the New Birth anyway? Our Master tells us in that classic interchange between two Rabbis-himself and Nicodemus.
John Chapter Three:
What was Jesus, the heavenly Rabbi, really getting at?
What's the theme of John chapter three? The kingdom! Jesus was talking to Nicodemus about entering the kingdom-not heaven.
As Christians, we're to be "born again" in order to see the kingdom, according to Jesus. And if we're not born again, we won't see it. We'll be living right in the middle of it and miss the mystery. Miss the revelation of the kingdom, and its King. The Master was tossing hints right and left to Nicodemus.
And he's tossing hints to all of Christendom today, as well. For the most part, we've missed it. Though one of the most read passages in the Bible, John chapter three is still one of the least understood. Too often we've narrowed the new birth experience far beyond what Jesus intended. We link being "born again" as a prerequisite for ".going to heaven." Jesus linked the new birth as a prerequisite for ".seeing the kingdom.." That's different from what we preach.
Travail, Birth, and Entering:
Again, what's the topic, really, between Rabbi Jesus and Nicodemus? Travail and birth and entering. All painful experiences. There must be travail and birth if we're to enter the kingdom. Through birth pangs a Christian sees kingdom truth and traditions die. It's always painful for traditions to die.
The new birth has to do with seeing kingdom truth. Let's look at.
The Two Births:
Jesus talks about two births: 1) water, and 2) Spirit. He tells Nicodemus, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit." It takes both births to enter the kingdom.
We've got it backwards. The "Spirit birth" is the natural birth and the "water birth" is the supernatural birth. Nicodemus didn't catch that. And for the most part, neither have we.
The Spirit Birth:
If the kingdom is going to be set up here on this earth, question: how does God get us here to enjoy it and to partake of its fruits? Through Spirit birth.
First, God must breathe our human spirit into our lifeless body.
The writer of Ecclesiastes says:
"As you know not what is the way of the wind or how the [human] spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a pregnant woman, even so you know not the work of God." (Eccl.11:5 [Amplified]).
God is telling us-He sends the human spirit into the womb of a pregnant woman, and both the wind blowing and the human spirit sent into a woman's womb are equally, mysteriously, the work of God.
What a marvelous description of the "Spirit birth." How mysterious.
The Psalmist/Poet waxed brilliant with these words:
".thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them!"--Psalm 139:13-19
O, saints, the Spirit of God sends forth the human spirit and conception occurs. A physical birth is a result of God sending the human spirit into a womb. The seed of man and the egg of woman uniting do not cause conception. Only God can bring life. And he brings it mysteriously every time.
He brings life and he returns life. The writer of Ecclesiastes also says:
"Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and the Spirit [of man] shall return unto God who gave it." --Eccl.12:7
Our human spirits will "return unto God" who gave them. You and I existed before we entered the womb, but like Nebuchadnezzar, whose heart was turned into a beast's heart, living for a season with the lower animals and not remembering the glory of his former life, we too are unaware of when our spirits sang together with the morning stars and shouted for joy with the rest of God's creation (Job 38:70.
There's coming a day, saints, when we shall remember. Nebuchadnezzar returned to his former glory and shall we. We're destined in glory to again shout for joy as the sons of God! It's the plan of the ages that Jesus, the firstborn, bring many sons unto glory.
The glory of the human spirit, through spiritual travail and the new birth, begins to return to the Father at the moment of physical birth. It's His way of our entering back into his presence and seeing the kingdom while living here on this earth. Truly, a remarkable plan of the ages.
The Water Birth:
If the Spirit birth is our natural birth, then the water birth is our supernatural birth. And both births prepare a person to enter the kingdom.
What is the water birth?.
The water birth is the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost. The Christian cannot see the kingdom without this baptism. And it's rightfully likened unto a "birth." Much travail takes place. The travail is the struggle a Christian fights to see the revelations of the kingdom. I would say, this is one of the most difficult struggles a Christian faces. For traditions are against him. His Church is against him. Preachers, deacons, bishops, and elders are against him. Relatives and friends are against him. The Devil is against him. His carnal mind is against him.
This ever-present, inward struggle is what "forms Christ" in us.
Tensions in the Spirit world are real. Travail is dynamic. Being with child (especially the Christ child) is uncomfortable. It is never easy to give up one's traditions and to embrace the kingdom. By the way, what is water? Tension. The tension and travail of two gases intermingling. Coexisting. Water is made up of a fire gas (hydrogen) and an air gas (oxygen). Water is--fire and air mixed. H2O. And God at best is a consuming fire. And wind mixed.
The fire is the baptism of fire and the wind is the movement of the Holy Ghost in the believer. It's water baptism, the tension of supernatural fire and wind mixing with the natural, burning the dross and consuming the flesh of the believer-that "births" the Christ child within us.
O, saints, in this eleventh hour, God is raising up a people who are experiencing his fire and wind; his cleansing and moving within. We're experiencing both baptisms.
God is raising up a people who are entering and seeing the kingdom through the new birth experience. Through much travail, Christ is being formed in us.
And that's the first step to glory.
(Part Two)
In our previous post, I made mention that this essay was written back in 1969-long before I ever heard of the glorious restoration gospel. The Lord was preparing me even then. You recall, there are STEPS TO GLORY.
First Step: Christ formed in you (Gal.4:19).
Second Step: Christ living in you (Gal.2:20).
Third Step: Christ dwelling in you (Eph.3:17).
Fourth Step: Christ glorified in you (II Thess.1:12).
Let's continue.
THE SECOND STEP
"I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me." (Gal.2:20)
Christ now LIVES in us. Christ is not living in many of his children.
Christ can be forming in us but not alive; not living. The birth has yet to occur. Many of God's children are still pregnant with His son. They are yet to become truly kingdom-centered.
In the first step to glory, the Christ child is formed in us. We, through much travail, become kingdom-focused, which brings about the new birth. Then we may enter the kingdom. In the second step to glory, Christ has come alive. As Paul put it, Christ now ".lives in me.."
We've not mentioned abortions. You can't have a birth without the possibility of an abortion. Abortions occur in the Spirit world too. There are so many abortions today-in both worlds, physical and spiritual. In fact, scripture teaches, "If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual" (I Cor.15:44,46).
Physical abortions are a sign of spiritual abortions (the two worlds are never completely separated) taking place in the kingdom, in the Body of Christ. So many of God's children are aborting the message of the new birth-the kingdom message. It's offensive to them, distasteful. Physical abortions are a sign, a distasteful sign, of what's happening in the Spirit world.
The message of God's kingdom in our midst is a sign of life among us. Christ is living among us. In us. Am I that radical? Do I want the government of God among us? Can you see yourself happier on this earth living under His rule? Happier than social security? Your pension? Or GM's retirement? As Christ lives in his people, His rule replaces all other. His allegiance becomes our bond. We no longer serve two Masters.
What about it? Are you on the way to glory? Have you taken the second step? Longing for his kingdom to be manifested in the earth. That's the second step.
THE THIRD STEP
"That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith;.being rooted and grounded in love.." (Eph.3:17)
Christ now dwells in us.
Not living. Dwelling. If Christ living in us is our opening up to kingdom truth; Christ dwelling in us is our opening up to endtime truth. The Bible is a prophetic book. There's no dodging it. Christianity's Geiger counter is prophecy. Take the Messianic prophecies alone. There are over 300 prophecies in the Old Testament fulfilled in Christ. I'll say it again, the Bible is a prophetic book. We're to be a prophetic people, walking on the edge of current events.
As Christ begins to dwell, "settle down, abide, make his permanent home in our hearts," the prophetic ministry will be to the saints a most "settling" of all ministries." On the eve of this new millennium, God's people will begin to turn to prophecy. The Song of Solomon is an "endtime" book. It's a love book filled with passion. The book is about two lovers attracted to one another. It really speaks of the fruit of the Spirit ripening in the believer's life. The language is metaphoric, filled with sentiment and deep feeling.
It's a love story turning sensuality in upon our own spiritual senses. It's the passionate love Christ has for a maturing believer. (That's the theme of the book more so than God's love for Israel.) And the only appropriate language that can possibly describe his love is: lover's language filled with passion.
"My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the bed of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies. I am my beloved's and my beloved in mine; he feedeth among lilies. Thou art beautiful, O my love." --Solomon's Song 6:2,3
It's the believer experiencing Christ as Lover. Not Lord.
It's Christ making his permanent home in our hearts, settling down, and becoming married to his bride. Married to Christ! Spiritual adultery has been cleansed and removed. We are no longer married to the Church, to our sectarian views. Christians now "know the Lord" like never before. It's the third step to glory.
THE FOURTH STEP
"That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you." (II Thess.1:12)
Christ is now glorified...in us.
Notice, we've come from Christ, the hope of glory, to Christ glorified in you. The hope has become a reality. Let's review the steps to glory...
The first step to glory focuses the kingdom message in our hearts; the second step causes Christ to come alive; the third step to glory focuses the endtime message in love; and the fourth step manifests the Sons of God. It's the...
Message of Sonship:
God, the Father, adopts his own children. The spirit of adoption is promised to the saints, and expected to be released by the end of this present age.
"For the Spirit which you have received is.the Spirit of adoption.the Spirit producing sonship." --Romans 8:15
Here's something to think about-in this world we only adopt those outside our immediate family. God, however, only adopts those inside his immediate family, his own children. Adoption, to the Hebrew, means "placing as sons."
Jewish Ceremony:
The Jews had a beautiful ceremony for males reaching thirty years of age. Accompanied with fanfare, festivity, music, dancing, and ceremony, the priest in his garb stood before the young Jewish male. The father in his best robe stood behind his son. Neighbors, relatives, and townsmen watched. The young man knelt before the priest. Prayers were offered. Songs were sung. And young Jewish girls danced in circles, their banners flying in the wind. Yahweh was near by.
Then the pronouncement, "This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased." The father placed his hands upon his son's shoulders and kissed him. The child had become a son, thirty years of age, adopted by the father-now with the same privileges and responsibilities. The son had taken on his father's name, could wear and use his ring. He no longer had to get permission to use the family name for transactions, purchases, or major decisions.
The father trusted him. His child had entered sonship. He had just been adopted and "placed as a son." After the ceremony had broken up, there was music in the air.even into the night.
Jesus too was adopted.
Jesus is standing in river Jordan, one of the most popular scenes in all of scripture. He's about to be baptized by John:
"And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water; and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him. And lo, a voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased." --Mt.3:16,17
God, the Father, had just adopted Jesus.
At thirty years of age, Jesus enters Jewish maturity, and enters his ministry with an unlimited anointing. John says he saw the Spirit descend from heaven and remain on Jesus (1:33). He also said that God gave the Spirit to Jesus "...without measure" (3:34).
That's Sonship: ministering with an unlimited anointing, without measure, and having the Spirit remain on you. Saints, the day is coming.
After that day in Jordan, Jesus began a three-year ministry among his people, a ministry unparalleled in history. He was the firstborn among many sons-adopted by the Father. He is the Pattern Son, entering behind the veil as our forerunner (Heb.6:20). And we're to follow.
And follow we shall. Into Sonship.
What is Sonship?...
A divine breakthrough into the unlimited. A manifestation of God's Sons.
Sonship is:
.power to transcend gravity
.without limitations
.unlimited vision
.unlimited knowledge
.unlimited anointing
.unlimited glory
.unlimited transportation
.unlimited authority
.all nature obeying
.Christ glorified in the saints.
Finally, the Bible speaks of a woman [the Church] with child, travailing in birth, "and pained to be delivered" (Rev. 12:2).
"And she brought forth a manchild, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron." (Rev.12:5).
The woman gives birth to a mighty warrior, a full-grown child, a "manchild." Not a babe. Then she "fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared of God." (verse 6).
God will not "rapture" the Church, but will protect His Church, during the tribulation. There was war in the heavenlies. "And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ." (verse 10).
Good news: the "manchild" are the Sons of God who come forth in the endtime to cast down Satan and his demons one final time in the battle of the ages. The Sons of God win the battle. The accuser of the brethren is cast down, and the blood of the Lamb, with the word of the Sons' testimony, brings great victory to the woman, the Church in the wilderness. And great defeat to our enemy.
It's what the whole creation is waiting for, says Paul.
"For the earnest expectation of the creation waits for the manifestation of the Sons of God." --Romans 8:19
It's the final step to glory.
The Gift of Faith
Doctrine and Experienceby Lynn Ridenhour
There are those special moments when I know God is about to do something. I know it beyond a shadow of a doubt-before He does it. And He does it. It always happens just like I knew it would.
It's the gift of faith.
I don't possess it; it possesses me. And I don't possess it all the time. I would be safe in saying-most of God's children have such moments. And we have nothing to do with the outcome. We can't "turn it on and off." We don't originate those special moments. God does. He moves on our heart and we know something is about to happen supernaturally. Our faith and confidence is unshakable. Circumstances do not move us. It's as though God has already accomplished what He has shown us. Abraham called those things "that be not as though they were." and so do we. We have no difficulty believing God for the impossible.
The Bible teaches-there is the grace of faith, and there is the gift of faith.
"For I say, through the grace given unto me.God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith" (Romans 12:3). The grace of faith.
"Now there are diversities of gifts.to one is given.to another faith." (I Cor.12:4,8,9). The gift of faith.
Every Christian has been given enough faith to believe "he's saved." He's God's child. He has some faith to believe for some things. He has a measure of faith. It's been granted him. God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith; namely, to believe for eternal things.
There's another faith, however. To help us believe for temporal, earthly things-the gift of faith. Elijah had the gift of faith-he stopped the rain. Jesus had the gift of faith-he cursed a tree and stopped its blooming. Moses had the gift of faith-he created a highway through the Red Sea. The gift of faith is present-tense faith. It's "now" faith. It's "on-the-spot" faith. How does it work? God puts us "on the spot." Then we put Him "on the spot." (Note--it has to be in that order. Don't ever try to put God on the spot unless He's first put you on the spot.) Out of a sense of desperation, the gift of faith operates when there are no options-other than God.
One other matter-the Bible has to do primarily with stories of God's people exercising the gift of faith, not the grace of faith. It's stories about iron floating, Peter walking on water, Daniel in the lion's den, Phillip flying through the air, Paul sticking his hand in the fire and not getting burned, God's children in a fiery furnace and not getting cinched, Paul and Silas in jail and the doors opening, the children of Israel's clothes growing on their backs, ravens bringing the man of God bread and meat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, a widow's meal barrel never running empty.
The question is obvious.
Are we no different? Is the gospel not the same today? Is not God still on His throne? Are there no miracles left for us?
Then how do we get this gift of faith? This "now" faith? First, by.
There is a way for the believer to see into the spirit world. A way to declare a thing so before it's so. We find what is the mind and will of God, agree with Him, and then watch it happen. Saints during Bible days were always seeing things from the other side. Then declaring it so on this side.before it was so. The Bible language is "binding and loosening."
"whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." --Matt. 16:19
If we can learn to bind and to loose, to see what's in heaven first, then loose it on earth-our iron will float. Our sea will open.
Let's look at some Bible passages.
Paul said an interesting thing:
"we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen." (2 Cor.4:18).
Here's an educated man saying he's seeing something that's not seen.
The Bible talks about Moses "seeing him who is invisible." (Heb.11:27). It says that Moses was hid three months when he was born "because they saw he was a proper child." (Heb.11:23). Moses and his parents saw something.
The Bible says of Abraham, after he had offered up his son, Isaac, that "he received him in a figure." (Heb.11:19). Abraham saw something.
These folks are seeing into the spirit world. Jesus was constantly "checking in" to the spirit world. It's said of him, "I speak that which I have seen with my Father." (Jn.8:38). Discussing spiritual concerns with Nicodemus, Jesus said, "no man hath ascended up to heaven but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven." (Jn.3:13) The Lord acknowledges to Nicodemus--he's living in two worlds at once. The Son of Man came down from heaven.which is in heaven! He's still in heaven while on earth!
As His followers, we too are to live in two worlds at once. We too can "check in" and see what our Father is doing in heaven while living on this earth. That's really the meaning of the Lord's prayer, you know. "Our Father, who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." God's will is on-going in heaven. As believers, we're to transfer His will in heaven on earth. We do that by seeing into the spirit world. By "getting the report." And declaring it so in the earth.
"For by it [by faith] the elders obtained a good report." (Heb.11:2).
We too can look into heaven and get the report.
I like the amplified version. "men of old had divine testimony borne to them and obtained a good report."
These men of old checked in to heaven, found the will and mind of God, had divine testimony borne to them, then transferred His will to earth. These men were unshakable. Mountains moved at their request, seas parted as holy men of God obtained a good report.
Can we not do the same? Of course we can. It's that same gift of faith operating.
When I was a teenager, the Lord began dealing with me about the gift of faith, though I had no idea at the time what he was doing. The Lord teaches us by life's experiences. Let me share with you my first experience with the Lord and his gift of faith.
The year was 1960. I had been recently terribly burned. Over ninety-five percent of my body was burned--70 percent third degree. And I lay in the hospital dying. I knew I was dying. One dark morning, about 2 am, I felt the angel of death come in the room. He had come after me. I felt his presence. As a teenager, I did not want to die. I wanted to live. The doctors, however, had little hope of my survival. In 1960 no one had ever survived with 70 percent third degree burns.
I screamed (though nothing came out) "O, Lord, please don't let me die."
Suddenly I knew I would live. I knew it! A few moments ago I knew I was dying. Now I knew I would live. And I had no doubts. That night I slept like a baby.
Medically speaking, they did not know how I was still alive. In fact, I was making medical history. A team from KU Medical Center were driving to Rolla Memorial Hospital, filming my surgeries.
The next morning at six a.m., Dr. Young, as usual, came to see me as he made his rounds. Walking through the door, immediately I heard him say, "something has happened."
Something did happen. I contacted heaven last night, heard from the other side that I would live, and faith filled my heart. I now had supernatural knowledge-I would live!
I was in the hospital three months--just three months-and walked out well. I finished my last year in high school, played basketball, received a scholarship to play for Memphis State University, and went off to college the following year. I had had my first experience with the gift of faith.
I knew God was going to do something before He did it. And He did it.
"Come On Up." After my first year in college, I felt the Lord's call to full-time service. So I transferred from Memphis State to William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri, to prepare for the ministry. I was on a "full ride" at Memphis State but had no funds of my own to attend William Jewell. So I felt impressed to write the Dean of the Religion Department and tell him my situation. Dr. David O. Moore wrote back, telling me to "come on up."
I arrived on campus with no money, just a sure knowledge that the Lord had called me. I spent most of the morning registering for classes. Finally, my counselor told me, "go stand over there in that line and pay your bill."
You must understand, I'm terribly na��ve--a young lad who's been away from his small Ozark town-population 800--for just a little while. We graduated 20 boys and 20 girls in my high school class. My folks always left their keys in our car, never locked our house when going out of town, and for the most part, my dad did business on a hand shake.
I didn't know if it took any money to attend this school or not. I didn't have to pay when I went to high school. Anyway, Dr. Moore told me to come on up. So here I was, standing in line with the rest of the students. I was watching them, each with their checkbooks in hand. I noticed they each wrote out a check and handed it to the lady. Finally, it came my turn. I stood there, awkward, not saying a word, with no money and no checkbook. The lady eventually looked up, "young man, may I help you?"
I had to say something. "Ma'am, I don't have any money, but I know the Lord has called me to learn how to preach." I heard the snickers.
She excused herself, scooted her chair back, and pointed with her finger, "come with me."
I followed her into a back room. She pulled out a piece of paper from a filing drawer, handed it to me, and said "here, we had one left; you can have it."
It was a ministerial grant. All my tuition fees and books were paid. It was my second encounter with the gift of faith.
I just knew I was to "come on up" and go to William Jewell College. I don't know how I knew but I knew. I've long since learned-that's the leading of the Lord. It's the gift of faith in operation. In both these early cases, I had no doubts-none--that the Lord would take care of me.
Don't get me wrong, I was still a babe in Christ and had no idea what was going on in the spirit world. I had no idea that I was operating in the gift of faith. I was simply following my heart.
My ministerial grant took care of my tuition and books, but I had no place to live. And no money. Shortly after I arrived on campus, I was asked by Al Metsker to share my testimony at Kansas City Youth For Christ during a Saturday nite rally. I spoke to hundreds of teens. After the rally, everyone was standing around behind stage, mingling and chatting. I looked up and noticed a big-framed man coming toward me. He introduced himself, gave me a big bear hug, and said, "Lynn, come live with us."
Brother Willard was a farmer-turned-preacher who lived in a small country town just twenty minutes from college campus. I stayed with the Willards, slept in their basement, and finished my education-commuting back and forth. It was there in the little town of Buckner, Missouri, living in a Baptist preacher's basement that I would really learn how to operate in the gift of faith.
Brother Willard asked me to be the Youth Pastor at Six-Mile Baptist Church. We made a wonderful team. He was a deeply spiritual man with a lot of common sense. It came from his being a farmer. Brother Willard became my spiritual father. He was a praying man. A man who believed in the moving of the Holy Spirit and revivals. I remember those all-nite prayer meetings, usually in preparation for the next evangelist.
There was one evangelist that changed my life-Brother Manley Beasley. We usually had three to four revivals a year. It was Brother Manley's turn. I had heard a lot about Brother Beasley, but had never met him. I was so excited.
Brother Manley preached all week on the gift of faith. My soul was stirred like it had never been stirred. He told story after story how, through his believing God, he was sustained in various situations time and time again. Truly he was a man who believed God. His favorite line was "what are you believing God for right now?."
I had always believed God for eternal things, but this was new-believing God for money and houses and automobiles. Even the smaller things in life. Brother Manley told how one time he forgot to pack his razor. And he had to preach that morning. There was no time to run out and get a new one. He believes God for a razor! It wasn't long 'till someone knocked on his hotel door. "Sir, do you need a razor?" I sat spellbound all week, listening to story after story after story.
Brother Beasley was an evangelist. He tells of the time he had run out of money but was scheduled to hold his next revival meeting in another state. He told the Lord, "Lord, I can't drive. I'll never make it in time. If you want me at that meeting, you're going to have to get me there."
The Lord told him to pack his bags and head to the airport--that He would provide a way. With no money in his pockets, Brother Beasley obeys the Lord. He drives to the airport and gets in line for his ticket. He lives in Louisiana but his meeting is in Denver. So Brother Beasley gets in the line that departs to Denver. The line continues to get shorter and shorter. They're down to one lady in front of him. He would be next. Suddenly the woman in front of him begins arguing with the teller and says rather loudly, "I didn't want to go there anyway!." She turns around, hands Brother Beasley her ticket, and storms out. Brother Manley flew nonstop to Denver. And was on time for his meeting. I could listen to this man preach and never tire. In fact, let's listen in.
"Now neighbor, if you've ever received anything from God, it's been by faith. God responds to faith. In fact, God does not respond to anything but faith. Faith honors God; God honors faith, and that's it. God does not respond to good works. Nor does He respond to sincerity. You can be as sincere as the next fellow, and Jesus won't respond to your sincerity. What about the father who came to the Lord one day and said, Master, heal my son. This father was sincere. But Jesus said, if you can believe, I'll do it. Jesus responded to this man's faith."
Brother Manley was from the deep south. He did have a way of putting things.
"Neighbor, it's not what you do for God that counts. It's what God does for you that matters. Take those men over there in Hebrews eleven. The book says, these men of God did great exploits through faith, by faith, through faith, by faith, through faith-it doesn't even say by prayer, does it?."
I was sitting there in that little country church taking it all in. Hanging on every word. I was beginning to wonder what Bible faith was really all about.
"Baptists are great preachers of salvation by faith through grace. Then we do everything else by works," he said, as he walked back and forth in front of the pulpit.
His hour and a half sermons seemed like fifteen minutes. In fact, he made the remark, "I don't preach sermons. I have a message. A sermon is something you sit in your office and work up. A message comes down."
He went on to remark, "you won't see me with a note up here all week."
Brother Manley had these catchy little sayings that made you think.
"Which comes first? Believing or receiving? Do you receive and then believe? Or do you believe and then receive?"
I had never looked at it like that before.
"Any of us can believe we have a thing once we have it. It doesn't take any faith to believe you have something once you have it. No, neighbor, you must believe and then receive."
This was different preaching than I had grew up on.
"Faith is acting on the Word of God. Declaring a thing so before it's so, and it's never so until you declare it's so."
"Faith is believing God when you can't hear it, see it, smell it, or taste it."
Brother Beasley went on to preach that night on Hebrews eleven, verse two. "We won't get out of this verse tonight," he said. He gave one of the most informative, inspiring talks that night I had ever heard on that verse. Really, the verse is easily overlooked:
"For by it the elders obtained a good report." He took it apart, broke it down, and showed how these men of old got alone with God, how they checked in to heaven, found the will and mind of God, how they "got the report." then received the promises, were persuaded of them, embraced them, and confessed them. It's all there in Hebrews chapter eleven, verse 13. I just never paid that much attention:
"These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth."
"Neighbor, before I go to my next meeting, I get alone with God and I seek His will for that meeting. I get the report. I ask Him how many souls he wants to save, and I seek His will concerning the offering amount. I pray until I receive his promises. 'God, you're going to save so many souls this week, and the offering will be so much.' I'm persuaded of it. I test the spirits. If I can't shake the numbers in my spirit, I embrace them, and confess them. I write it down, seal it in an envelope, and mail the report to a friend. If you don't, you'll chicken out. Once you've got the report, you stand on it, no matter what the circumstances. No matter what you see, hear, taste, or smell, and declare it so before it's so."
I was sitting there spellbound. This preacher was either crazy or brave, one of the two. I wasn't sure.
"Neighbor, the gift of faith is unshakable. Abraham went around saying he was a daddy before he was a daddy for years! He got the report. He declared those things that be not as though they were-and then they were. Elijah didn't just run outside and stop the rain. He got the report first, found out what the will of God was, then acted. Now, the Devil will tell you, you're a fool. But that's a pretty good sign you're on the right track. You're out there now, if God doesn't come through, you're a fool and He's a liar. And that's where the Lord wants us. God put you on the spot. Now you can put Him on the spot. If God doesn't come through, you're sunk. But neighbor, that's where you need to be, for Jesus gets all the glory. And God won't move on your behalf unless His son gets the glory."
It was beginning to make sense.
Once I had got the report, once I had received the promise in my spirit (God will do so 'n' so), and once I was persuaded it was the Spirit of God (I couldn't shake it), then I was to embrace the promise, and confess it so before it's so. And it's never so until I confess it's so. Wow. That's a new life.
Well.
I went away from the meeting that week a changed Christian. I was about to get on a spiritual roller coaster. Brother Beasley warned us, "the Devil will test you." He told how he had believed God for a certain offering amount. The offering was taken and after the service, was given to him. He counted it and was $23 short. He went on to his next meeting. Within the next few days, he got a letter in the mail with a $23 check in it. The check had slipped out of the offering plate, fell down on to the floor, and was overlooked. The janitor discovered it when he was sweeping. "The money was there all the time," said Brother Manley. "And I didn't need the $23. But the Devil was testing me."
My first real test was around the corner.
I was attending classes at William Jewell during the day, and hurrying home to get to the revival services in the evenings. I sure had difficulty concentrating on my studies that week. While driving back and forth in my '38 Chevy, I would think on Brother Manley's messages. Something was happening. The third day into the week's services, the Holy Spirit spoke, "I want you to give all your money to Brother Manley..." Brothers and sisters, that was over 30 years ago. I remember it as though it were yesterday. To this day I know the exact spot where the Holy Spirit spoke. I was driving across the Missouri river bridge, headed into Liberty, Missouri. I never drive across that bridge but that I don't remember those words.
"I want you to give all your money to Brother Manley."
I was really wrestling with that. I wanted to believe God. I wanted to believe what Brother Manley was preaching. But all of it! I couldn't shake it. I did what Brother Beasley said. I tested the spirits. By the end of the week, I was in a tizzy. I had been on a spiritual roller coaster. This was all so new. I felt like I had to obey the Spirit of God.
I must say-what made it so difficult was, it wasn't even my money! Well, it was mine, but the insurance company had just settled a hospital claim and had given me $600 to pay off my hospital bill. I had the money in the bank, but I owed $600. And the Lord wanted it.
I wrestled with the Lord, "Lord, the money's to pay my hospital bill."
I couldn't shake it. The Lord wanted me to give all my money to Brother Beasley. With fear and trembling, I went to the bank, drew out every penny I had, and waited for this evening's service. I sat there during the song service with every dime to my name in my pockets. Finally, the offering plate was passed. I had told a friend of mine, Don Spaulding, that afternoon what I was going to do so I wouldn't back out. "Don, God has asked me to give every penny I have to this preacher. And tonight I'm going to obey Him." Don responded, "well, I got to see this." He came and sat in the service with his girlfriend. Don was looking at me; I was looking at him. And with much trepidation, I dropped the envelope in the offering plate.
The preacher was right. I felt like a fool. In the natural, that is. My mind was playing tricks on me. "You've done it now." But strangely, I had great peace on the inside, even though I didn't have gas money to get to school the next morning. No one at church knew what I had done. I didn't want anyone feeling sorry for me and help me in the flesh. I had to know this was of God. I was out on the limb now, really out on the limb. I had given my insurance money to this evangelist. God had to come through.
(to be continued.)
Posted by permision from Sterling D. Allan
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