Practicing the Presence of Christ Part Six
Alan Mc Savage
"Sowing and Reaping"
"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows
to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the
Spirit reap eternal life"
Matt 18:18 "Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven."
Matt 7:1-2 " Do not judge so that you will not be judged. "For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you."
Isaac Newton stated clearly that "Every action has an equal, and opposite, reaction."
And Ralph Waldo Emerson said: "Every act rewards itself." and "There is always some leveling circumstance that puts down the overbearing."
Whatever you do to another, so it shall be done unto you; whatever you bind will bind you; but whatever you set free will set you free; All life flows out from the center of your being, and all outward circumstances are governed and controlled by this inner law, "whatever a man sows, this he will also reap".
The Law is very simple; "For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life."
You may ask; What is meant by "Sowing to the flesh?"
What is meant by: "Sowing to the Spirit?"
Let me answer by asking you another question: "Do you place power in the flesh or in the effect, or do you place power in the indwelling Christ?"
For example, as you look at world conditions today, as reflected in the media reports of worldwide terrorism, global warming, rising gas prices, the U. S.A. on high alert, Troops fighting door to door, street by street in Iraq, sky marshals, armed guards at the major airports, ask yourself if you are fearing the power of men.
If you are fearing the power of men, you are sowing to the flesh and will reap corruption. On the other hand, if you are placing your faith or confidence in man, or if you have any belief that there is a man or a group of men who can save this world, you are likewise sowing to the flesh because putting faith in man has raised up in fact, the greatest betrayers of mankind. Remember that every man, who has ever betrayed anyone was able to do so only because he was placed in a position of power by the people themselves, the people whose confidence he had first gained. A person must first be given power before he can betray power.
Lord Acton, in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton, 1887. 'Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men'.
Whether we are thinking in terms of national or international affairs or merely our own personal affairs, it all comes down to the fear of what mortal man can do to us, or what effect human circumstances or conditions can have upon us, or what faith we may have that there is a man or group of men or even a coalition of nations who can save us individually or save the world collectively. The effect in either case would be the effect of sowing to the flesh and thereby reaping corruption.
To begin to understand that there is an invisible Law operating - the divine Law of "whatever a man sows, this he will also reap" - and that that Law is operating in our consciousness would tend to stop one's fears because it immediately gives assurance that evil, in and of itself, cannot stand. The very moment that we withdraw power from idols, demons and devils, the minute we withdraw power from men or organizations and place that power in Christ, we automatically and instantly release ourselves from any evil men or what conditions can do to us.
This does not mean that we are able to release the world from evil immediately. No, first we release ourselves, and then, in proportion as we are released, do we bring release to those who come within range of out conscious thoughts.
There is no power in the visible.
The Bible tells us that ten righteous men can save a city, so too, a very small group of individuals who no longer place their confidence in a political party or in some political candidate can change the entire results of an election. That does not mean that they necessarily will elect the particular candidate of their chosen party, but it does mean that those candidates nearest to the level of spiritual integrity will be elected. This would come about only as those who are able to give up faith and confidence in any man or party and realize that there is no power in what they can see, hear, taste or touch, but only in Christ. Remember that God the Father has given all authority and power to Christ.
Matt 28:17-19
And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth."
1 Cor 15:22-26
in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death.
Since everything that takes place in your life or mine has to take place first in our consciousness, it is within our own consciousness that we have to come into an agreement that the Law of: "whatever a man sows, this he will also reap" is operating, a Law that eventually puts down the overbearing. There is a Law - you cannot name it, you cannot see it, hear it, taste it, touch it, or smell it, but it exists - and it has in the end brought down every evil or tyrannical form of government that has ever been set up. It has torn down every person who has gotten out of hand, or who has become too big for his breeches, whose head has grown too big for his own hat. Every person has been brought down to earth, and as you have already seen, during the past generation, it does not take forever!
During my 68 years on planet earth I have seen people come and go, wars and rumors of wars, dictators rise up and fall, prices rise and plummet, and still the righteous have always prevailed.
Somewhere in this world a beginning will have to be made to bring about God's government on earth. And many have witnessed that God's government on earth has never been brought about by people merely praying about it.
Isa 59:15-19
Then the LORD saw it, and it displeased Him That there was no justice. He saw that there was no man,And wondered that there was no intercessor;Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him; And His own righteousness, it sustained Him. For He put on righteousness as a breastplate,And a helmet of salvation on His head;He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, And was clad with zeal as a cloak. According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay,Fury to His adversaries, Recompense to His enemies;The coastlands He will fully repay. So shall they fear The name of the LORD from the west,And His glory from the rising of the sun; When the enemy comes in, like a flood The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him.
On this point of unitedness, do not forget that there have been combinations of states, combinations of countries, and none of them has survived. Every combination has ultimately fallen because, strength is not in union; strength is only in oneness; strength is only in the realization of One Being who is Christ, One Power who is God, One Law that is His.
I have seen Hitler's thousand year Reich with it's hoards of henchman marching throughout Europe, the rise and fall of Russia, the bringing down of the wall that separated the east and west of Berlin. the defeat of Imperial Japan's Empire. the fate of the armies sent to try to defeat the hoards of North Vietnamese and Red Chinese, the unseen enemy in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq, and the attempted rise of the so called New World Order and none of these have or will prevail.
New World Order
"We are not going to achieve a new world order without paying for it in blood as well as in words and money." Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., in Foreign Affairs (July/August 1995) THAT quotation - and many others like them - clearly demonstrate that the words "new world order" are deadly serious and furthermore, have been in use for decades. They did not originate with President George Bush in 1990. The "old world order" is one based on independent nation-states. The "new world order" involves the elimination of the sovereignty and independence of nation-states and some form of world government. This means the end of the United States of America, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights as we now know them. Most of the new world order proposals involve the conversion of the United Nations and its agencies to a world government, complete with a world army, a world parliament, a world court, global taxation, and numerous other agencies to control every aspect of human life (education, nutrition, health care, population, immigration, communications, transportation, commerce, agriculture, finance, the environment, etc.). The various notions of the "new world order" differ as to details and scale, but agree on the basic principle and substance.
Our Responsibility.
In light of what is going on all around us it is imperative that each one who is illumined by the Christ becomes a light unto his family, unto his community, and if he wishes to dedicate himself to the spiritual life, he can become a light to an entire planet, because it takes only the dedication to a principle - not the dedication to man, but the dedication to a principle - to live inwardly in the continuous realization that:
"I need not fear man, and certainly I must have no faith in man, for I am convinced of the indwelling Presence of the invincible all powerful Christ, the unseen Life, an unseen Law, and an unseen Being."
The famous orator Ralph Waldo Emerson once said: "There is always some leveling circumstance that puts down the overbearing" Emerson does not define or explain it. he simply sates "There is always a leveling circumstance" - and there is! The leveling circumstance is Christ in God, His spiritual Law, and Emerson rightly concludes that "The dice of God are always loaded."
To fear man, spirits, or conditions is to worship idols. So also to have faith in men is to make idols. But to understand that there is the indwelling Presence of Christ in God, a divine Law in operation, a Love, a Life, a Power, and then to enter into His Rest and just let Him function without the use of physical or mental force: this is the Grace that brings about the changes in our human experience; this is the power of God coming into expression
. We are approaching a age in this world to which evil will find no place for expression in people, thoughts and things. It will be crowded right off the earth, because the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord: Isa 11:9 9 "They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea."
That evil will have no channel through which to function. It will be cut off as fast as it shows its ugly head by the Divine Power of Christ that permeates the sons of God.
Nothing shall by any manner or means harm you, and not a thing in this world is going to do good for you. Being still will not do it, being noisy and clamoring and speaking loudly in tongues will not prevent it: it is matter of realization that: There is a God. There is a Christ, and His Divine plan and Law are inevitable. "Whatever a man sows, this he will also reap!" Then, let the evil doers do their sowing: for' they will do their reaping, and some day they will awaken to the truth and be reconciled to God
Rom 5:10-11
For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
2 Cor 5:18-21
Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him
“Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself”: FDR’s First Inaugural Address
I am certain that my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the Presidency I will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our people impel. This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.
"We have nothing to fear but fear itself."
Alan
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