Foundation Stones #1 – The Original Pattern

The Lord, your Lord, is about to call 20 disciples to live very closely with Him. What has He got to offer them? You remember the other night I told you the first thing He had to offer them was an incredible humanity. An incredible humanity. By having the Nazareth experience, He was able to give them the example of an incredible humanity. You and I were not born with a living spirit. He was. We were not born with a body that knew no sin. He was. Therefore, as He grew up, He grew up truly spiritual. As He matured physically, He matured spiritually, as He matured humanly, He matured divinely. They were all growing up together.

But I want you to look at how God views a Christian, a member of the church, and a worker. Here’s a pattern. Here’s the organic way God does things. And I am overwhelmed with the fact that God, in preparing the first Christian worker, God’s been a Christian for all eternity. It’s been mostly a history in the realms that are invisible. God has broken into time and space. He’s about to introduce the Christian life, the church, which He’s had for all eternity, and the worker whom He’s been preparing for all eternity.

He’s about to introduce these very principles into time and space and a pattern is consistently developing. And I am awestruck over the fact that the first Christian, the first Christian worker and the first member of the church that you can find visibly, is suntanned, has splinters in his hands, is incredibly unreligious, has something almost no preacher today has. You know what he’s got? He got a job. He’s got a skill. The two gentlemen who went to the temple, they have become so religious that the possibility of being spiritual is almost out of the question. Did you understand that? Does that make sense to you? They have become so religious the possibility of being spiritual is almost out of the question. They pass a harlot on the street, and they are mortified. That’s right. Well, why are they mortified? It looks like because they’re so self-righteous. The fact of the matter is, they’re really down deep inside, they’re still two kids who are scared silly about their own fleshly weaknesses. And well, they should be, because religion cannot save them.

The Lord is perfectly at home with ordinary people. Thieves, are thieves ordinary people? Well, let’s see. How many of you in this room have never ever stolen anything? Do you realize that I am addressing a room full of thieves? If one of you had raised your hand, then I would have asked the question, “And how many of you have never lied?” He knew humanity. He knew human beings. He knew ordinary people. He was at home with them, the dreadfully sinner, sinful person. He was not frightened by them. He had a high humanity. He was at home with them. He is about to pass this on to some illiterate fishermen who will be the first Christians, visible Christians, the first church members, and the first workers. Praise the Lord.

Now, that’s the humanity He brought to them. Now, I told you something, there was a lot more I told you, and you’ve forgotten it all. But there was one other really blessed thing I told you. You all kind of responded to this. Do you remember how you responded to that? I said there was one wonderful thing about that. This wonderful humanity He is about to put before them and stage before them, show and illustrate and exhibit to them for the next four years. Something really wonderful about that humanity.

This divinely controlled humanity. This humanity that is subject to divinity, this humanity that is living by divine life. Do you remember when I told you? Well, I’m going to tell you now, don’t you ever forget. When the Lord woke up in the morning, He woke up by and lived by divine life. I wake up in the morning, I live by human life. He got up in the morning, He lived by divine life. It’s His business to make sure that I can learn to follow in His train, to wake up in the morning and live by a life not my own. But something else I told you. All right. It was organic. Come on. There was something you all went, “Wow.” All right. But I’m going to tell you, when Jesus Christ saved you from your sin and He came into your being as the indwelling Christ, He brought not only His divinity into you, but He brought into you that high and glorious humanity of His.

He brought His total being into you in spirit. You know, He didn’t visibly cut you open and step inside, but He came into you by spiritual means. He brought His full divinity into you. He also brought His full divinely humanity into you. Ain’t that wonderful? And isn’t that encouraging, that when you draw from the Lord Jesus Christ within you and the life He gave you, you draw His divinity, but you also draw on the sinless and perfect humanity. Praise the Lord. And this is what He is about to offer 20 men. Ain’t this getting exciting? This is really wonderful. No, brothers. He’s on His way out into the hot burning desert. He’s closed up his carpenter shop. He’s going out and getting baptized.

All right, we’ll go over that part. He gets baptized. He goes to leave. A couple of fellas are really interested in this strange young Man, John has just baptized, unusual person to say the least. What are their names? Anybody know their names? We know their names. Philip and Andrew. And Philip will go get Nathaniel. And Andrew will go and get Peter. All right. These two men, they’re going to live with Him for the next three and a half to four years.

Boy, I want you to think about this. I want you to think about Zephan right now. Can you think about Zephan? Here he is. He’s just about to graduate from the temple. God is like this. I’m telling you, God is like this. And there lifeless over there. And God is like this. And you better not sin. Oh, they’re really pickle pusses by now. They’re unhappy. Now, my effort is in a big black robe. Zephan is all dressed up in his little trinkets and colorful garment. He’s a real parade when he walks around Jerusalem. And they have been intellectually studying about God, to learn what God is like. You know what? If they had any sense, which they don’t, they could leave the temple, walk out of Jerusalem, go to Galilee, and have breakfast with God if they wanted to and really get to know Him.

Now, my point in saying that was, here are two brothers who are about to get to know God in a visible physical form. They’re going to live with Him three, four years now. Then, is my Lord going to change His habits? Habits that He established in eternity past, that’s several zillion years at least, at least that long, isn’t it? Plus, that time of reestablishing His relationship between the ages of His birth and 20 and now His growing divinity, His fellowship with the Father, His growing humanity underneath His divinity, subject to His divinity, His fellowship with the Father. Will He now suddenly change this relationship as He draws 20 people to Him? Is He going to suddenly demand of them the temple experience?

You 20 young men and women, get your nose in the Bible. You’ve got to know the Bible. I know the Father. You know the Bible. I want you to pray for Aunt Nelly and Uncle Joe. What is He really going to present to them? That’s important because whatever He presents to them is what they are going to present to us. Is that not true? Well, I know some questions have come up here, so I’m going to deal with them just a moment. Did He really did teach them the Bible, didn’t He? I don’t think so because most of them couldn’t read and write. Ain’t that wonderful? Isn’t that encouraging? If I am to read what is written in Acts correctly, then I have to believe that Simon Peter was a man who could not read a single word. To call a person unlettered literally means he doesn’t know what a letter means. And that, that’s not a letter like stationary. I mean that’s a letter like H, T, Q, P.

He was an unlettered man. He was illiterate. That’s wonderful. God trusted an illiterate man with His gospel. Say praise the Lord to that, that is just really wonderful. Then that shifts, that shifts my Christian life from knowledge to an indwelling God. My Lord is 30 years old, and He’s used to an indwelling Father. This is where He has put His everything. He has staked His all in a God within, the indwelling eternal Father.