"THE GREATER WORKS"
THE GREATER WORKS
SUNDAY, AUGUST 6, 2023, the Year of Our Lord
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
We continue to be greatly blessed by the mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit through Revivalist Keith Miller. Yes, he is apostolic, a prophet, healer, teacher, preacher, but there is a certain fire given to those who press into God with hungry hearts for reformation and revival fire. I call these vessels Revivalists.
I can identify with Paul’s joy that he planted, and Apollos watered, but it is God who gives the increase. I continue to be happy to decrease that Christ may increase. As I set my prophetic vision upon the coming Harvest; with God’s Grace, we will continue to open this building up to being a Revival center for men and women of God to release the Glory of God.
We must yet witness in the earth the full measure of what Jesus promised just before He went away “He (the Father) will show him greater works that these that you may marvel. For as the Father, raises up the dead, and quickens them; even so the SON quickens whom he will (Jn.5:20-21).
Resurrection Life, the Law of the Spirit of Life, is not a future event, but the living Christ walking and living in the hearts of men! The Spirit of Life quickens --- gives life to our mortal bodies (Ro. 8:11). There are many scriptures in the New Testament that emphasize this life but let us be assured that God will yet bring forth a powerful witness concerning this Truth, as He has done with other aspects of Truth. We know that Truth was largely lost or obscured during the dark Ages … but God in great sovereignty began to restore Light and Truth. As He did so, He mightily confirmed the Word that He sent forth, with a mighty operation of His Spirit.
Hebrews 6 is the chapter known as the foundational truths of the Gospel.
God has and is restoring these foundational truths – one by one. He Himself bore witness to the Truth with a mighty manifestation of His Glory through sovereign moves of God.
Hebrews 6: 1-2: Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on to perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of dead and of eternal judgment.
- Repentance from dead works: From the time of the Reformation and on, there were mighty works of God in this area, as men were caused to realize that their religious works were but “dead” in the sight of God and profited nothing.
- And of Faith Toward God: Repentance from dead works was the negative aspect… but this was the positive. “Faith” became a new truth in the earth…It was there in the Word, that is true…but very little of it in the hearts of men… until God sent forth the Word of Faith…and nations literally rocked under the impact that God sent forth His Son and salvation was through Him and him alone.
- The doctrine of baptisms: There is “one baptism,” but there are different aspects of the one baptism. There is the outward baptism with water. But the real baptism is a spiritual baptism. “for by One Spirit are we all baptized into one body…” (1Co. 12:13). This is a corporate baptism into Christ, just as all Israel was baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea” (1 Co. 10:2). The Baptism of the Holy Spirit was in the Word, and men read about it, and talked about it, but the time came in when God again poured out His Holy Spirit in a mighty move of God. The church was shaken, and the earth was shaken. Men and women experienced Pentecost which is the Holy Spirit.
- The laying on of hands: This came next. It was there in the Word. Even at times “laying on of hands” was practiced. But usually, it was simply a case of meaningless ritual. But once again God brought it forth in might and in power and God confirmed the truth of it to hungry hearts (1 Ti. 4:14). Again, the church was shaken, and the earth was shaken, as God restored His gifts and ministries to hungry hearts.
- And of Resurrection of the Dead: THIS IS NEXT! We believe it, preach it and talk about it. We profess to have the resurrection Life of Jesus within us…because the bible says we have it when we receive Christ, and we believe the Word. But God will yet manifest the fulness of the resurrection Life of Jesus here in the earth. We testify to it in baptism… and as we continue to submit to the dealings of God, we shall yet walk in the fulness of His Life to bring forth His glorious Bride.
We are buried with him by baptism into death that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (Ro. 6:4).
At Baptism, we may or may not have received a physical manifestation of this newness of life, our life did indeed become joined unto the Lord. We continue to fall in love with Him and less in love with ourselves. We continue to pursue the path of God until this joining becomes meaningful, vital, and real. When we walked in the waters of baptism with Jesus, we came into covenant to become One with Him in all things. Now the Lord will hold us to it. Jesus prayed that it would be so: “As thou Fathe are in me, and I in you, that they also may be ONE in us… We must embrace the truth of it as God works in us to destroy the “me” of the flesh until we are indeed in total union with God. Christ in us the hope of Glory (Col. 1:27), but then we become One with the Father and the Son and we are actually in Christ, in Glory.
Ro. 8:2: For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
2 Co. 4:7, 10-11: We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us…always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus that the LIFE also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake that the Life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
In this body we “groan,” “travail,” yearning for the glory of Christ to renew, heal, restore, and revive mankind into the resurrection glory. We can experience resurrection life here and now because we believe the Word of God and have the witness of the Holy Spirit.
In this realm, God is truly glorified; for in this realm we must decrease, that He might increase. In this realm we can do nothing, that He alone might be the One doing ALL THINGS. In this realm, we have no righteousness of our own, no truth of our own, no doctrine of our own, no ministry of our own, no life of our own. We will not lay our life down as losing something but knowing that we shall attain.
Phil. 3:10-13: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death. If by any means I might attain into the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended; but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
All selfish purposes and ambitions must be laid aside. All talents, gifts, and enablements must be laid on the Altar of Burnt Offering… the Altar of total surrender. Last night I made a statement that the LORD is raising up Ministers/Revivalists who have hungry hearts with no other motive but to seek the Lord for His Kingdom purposes for this time. The cry of their heart is to bring forth revival, restoration, and resurrection life to a dying and lost world. We have no other motive or agenda but to seek the Lord.
2 Co. 4:7: We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
Remember, Ishmael must be cast out, but Isaac, the beloved, had to be laid on the altar of burn offering.
To birth this glorious overcoming church, there will be those who walk only in His life, in His truth, and in His righteousness. His purpose in our lives is all that we pursue, and doing His will becomes our highest prize.
The impossible requirements of the New Covenant are no longer a stumbling block to men and women of faith. We have learned that God is the God of the impossible. As we follow after Him with our whole heart, everything we lay on the burnt altar is but gain. We have learned that we will never out-give God, our out-love Him. We have learned he loves our children and family more than we do. We have learned that whatever life presents to usward, His Great Grace is greater for us to meet the challenge.
Phi. 3:7: But what things were gain to me; those I counted loss for Christ. I count all things but loss of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord.
We the Church are the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to mankind. When He speaks, then we must speak His words through our lips. When he ministers, he ministers through our hands. When Christ walks on earth, He walks in our feet. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit, the Father, and the Son.
He is the Master builder of the Temple of God in the earth. As His ministers, we cannot build the Church of God with His help and encouragement. We are simply to work together with Him, doing only what He is doing. We are greatly blessed to experience the Presence of the Lord and the precious Holy Spirit in our worship, in ministry, and in the Word. But He doesn’t abide in a Temple made by hands.
We had this glorious experience at Little White Church as well, but if he came to abide in a temple made of wood and steel, then I might excuse myself for my shortcoming, and honor Him who speaks from the Oracle of the temple. But He comes to abide in the Temple that I am, and that you are. He must then possess me through and through… because the Holy Spirit is under obligation to do nothing, to say nothing, as “from Himself” … but only what proceeds from the glorified Son of God in the heavens.
In this beautiful building which we are so grateful the Lord for providing, and we in turn have dedicated back to him, yet, we must never set out heart that Jesus abides in a building of steel and concrete. I don’t know how long the Lord will choose to use me, but as the building nears completion, many usurpers, take-over devils, and wolves will seek the building just as they did at Little White Church. I implore the members of this church to not become territorial and overly possessive of the building. At Little White Church we were protective of the building because of the Glory of the Lord which we experienced Sunday after Sunday. Let us honor, respect, and have grateful hearts to the Lord for the building but remember the glorious presence of the Lord is wherever we the temple of the Lord gather to worship Him and love one another.
This is a simple message of fundamental Christianity, but it enforces the message given by Brother Keith Miller that we are breaking through to a greater weight of glory; from glory to glory for the overcoming church; not only for the church, but for the lost.
Let us continue to embrace the Glorious Truth that the Life of Christ within us will indeed usher the corporate Body of Christ into a greater Glory of Life in Christ on earth as it is in Heaven.
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
Eastgate Ministries Church, 10115 West Hidden Lakes Lane, Richmond, TX
www.eastgateministries.com