The Spirit of the Word
"The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life."     Jesus
                                                                    "The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life."     Paul

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        There are some words and phrases that really express a positive hope, for they turn our thoughts away from present anxieties and processings, to give us an assurance that the end victory is secure.  I am sure it would be most profitable if we were to daily quote Jeremiah 29:11, Amplified, and let the truth take root within our heart.  "For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace, and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome." Whatever the trial might be, to know there is a "final outcome" of victory is most reassuring.  And so these two words which the Lord is quickening within, give us an up­look, to be a song within, that there will be a time when it can be said, regarding all our processings, "mission accomplished." Praise God!
        There are several words that have been translated as "accomplished," we'll, note but a few.  First from the Hebrew─ kalah, meaning: completed, end, finished.  Male, meaning: to be full.  Likewise from the Greek─ pletho, meaning: to be or become full.  And teleo, meaning: end, complete.  They all are summed up to speak of that which is finished, brought to completion and made whole─ no part lacking─ whatever its goal it is accomplished.
        First let us note how this was working in our Lord Jesus Christ, "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted (tested) like as we are, yet without sin (without missing the mark)." (Hebrews 4:15).
        Experiencing the outworking of the Father's will, we hear Him say, "But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how distressed I am till it is accomplished." (Luke 12:50).
        A baptism─ literally, an immersion.  Not just in water─ He had already gone through that when He came "to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him." (Matt. 3:13).  He fulfilled all that was appointed by that immersion.  But there was a far deeper baptism to take place, as He would be "immersed" into a realm of agony and suffering, as He poured out His life on Calvary's cross.  Plunged into an experience that has ramifications far beyond what we can currently comprehend.  This baptism loomed on the horizon, it had to be faced─ and He was straightened, until it came to pass.
        Straightened─ "sunecho" to be held together, be constrained.  Others might be taken up with the trivial matters of the day, but He was focused upon-­He held to the Father's will─ knowing He was about to be immersed into an experience which had eternal ramifications.  He was gripped by the purpose and plan of God, and little do we know how He felt as He waited for it to be carried out, but He was "in all points tempted as we are." We need not speculate on the surging of emotion within the "man" Christ Jesus, or the thoughts that might have raced through His mind, but He also knew it was essential that His Father's will to be done, and He said to Pilate, "To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth." (John 18:37).  He willingly faced up to the cross.  No need to postpone the inevitable, let Father's will be done.  Had He not already said in His High Priestly prayer of John 17, "I have finished the work which You gave me to do." (v. 4).  And again, on the cross, as He was about to yield up His spirit to the Father, He was able to cry out, "IT IS FINISHED: and He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost." (John 19:30).  Methinks He felt a jubilant sense of satisfaction-­mission accomplished!  For He had set in motion the outworking of the new covenant.  Let the former ministrations of law pass away, the new life of His grace had begun, and now the Father could say, "Sit on My right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool." (Heb. 1:13).  Now HE REIGNS!  From the throne He speaks forth His will, and He steadily works His plan in man─ causing His firstfruits to share in His overcoming.
        The Father's grace was/is manifested in the Son, and now the Son's grace will be manifested in those whom He apprehends for today.  Ultimately to bring every man into life─ for "In Christ shall all be made alive.  Every man in his own order." (1 Cor. 15:22-23).  One by one He will gather to Himself, and joyously proclaim in each vessel─ "mission accomplished." Praise His wonderful name!
        As the Great Shepherd He seeks out the lost sheep, "And when He has found it, He lays it on His shoulders, rejoicing. (And says to His friends), Rejoice with Me; for I have found My sheep which was lost." (Luke 15:5-6).  The sheep does not go in search of the Shepherd, but the Shepherd searches for the lost sheep─ "No man can come to Me, except the Father which has sent Me draw him." (John 6:44).  With the cords of love He reaches out, TO FIND, TO DRAW TO HIMSELF, and with each successful finding/drawing, how He rejoices─ mission accomplished!
        Having viewed the "triumph of Christ" we can now look a little more closely to our own processings.  God does have His set times appointed for us, just as He did for Mary.  Directing her steps to be in the right place at the right time, and then we read─ "the days were accomplished that she should be delivered," (Luke 2:6), and Jesus was born in the very location that God had purposed, fulfilling all that the prophets had spoken.  The process of gestation was ended, the pains of travail to bring forth were finished, the Babe was laid in a manger, and she could look up with joy, and say again, "mission accomplished." To "remember no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world." (John 16:21).
        The travail of a woman giving birth to a child has often been applied to our own travail and deep inworkings of God.  The pains come in cycles, and we groan before the Lord with birth-pangs that are used to bring forth a new creation species.  As Paul writes, "My little Children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you." (Gal. 4:19).  Yes, they were his little children, but they must be birthed spirit, soul, and body─ going from glory to glory, hence there is an on-going travail until Christ be fully formed within us.  Praise God, He is bringing forth a people who are conformed to His image, partakers of His divine nature, one in His will.  We see the vision, however far away the climax might be.  And we find that often times we are faced with another degree of baptism, to be plunged, immersed into times of testing that mutes our lips and challenges us to utmost length.  "For You, O God, have proved us: You have tried us, as silver is tried.  You brought us into the net; You laid affliction upon our loins.  You have caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water ..." (Ps. 66:10-12).  Or, as the Psalmist says in another place, "All Your waves and Your billows are gone over me." (Ps. 42:7).  What a baptism!  What a travail as He is formed within us!
        How encouraging to find that these happenings/situations/circumstances are used by God to ultimately bring us into a wealthy place, where He can look upon the FINISHED PRODUCT OF HIS GRACE, and say, mission accomplished, and we stand before Him─ a people to His praise!
        "Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? says the Lord: Shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? says your God." (And then comes the victory shout.) "Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all you that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all you that mourn for her." (Isa. 66:9-10).  Why such jubilation?  Because God could look upon His handiwork and say─ "mission accomplished." True, it is never an easy correction process to go through, as the Word makes clear, for Isaiah 66:16 tells us─ "For by fire and by His sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many." (Isa. 66:16).  But all the FURY of the Lord has a purpose, and is destined to work for good.  How we need a Light to shine upon this truth─ that God's anger can simply be described as the energy-force of God set in motion to bring about a correction, with the end result that we are established in His righteousness.
        Jeremiah gives a vivid word on this.  "The Lord has accomplished His fury; He has poured out His fierce anger, and has kindled a fire in Zion, and it has devoured the foundations thereof." (Lamentations 4:12).  The energy force of God set in motion, not just to destroy, nor even just to bring an end to self-will and sin, but also to prepare mankind for an inflow of life once the correction has been completed.  The very word "accomplished" holds within it the fact that HE had something that had to be worked out, carried to a finishing point.  There was a purpose to be realized, and then all the negatives of chastening, stripping, are swallowed up into His victory.  The erroneous idea of eternal torment cannot be sustained when the Word says "The Lord has accomplished His fury." Done!  Brought to the full, purpose completed, and correction's mission accomplished, that His more abundant life might be manifested.
        Fury, anger, wrath─ use whatever term you prefer, they all shall have an end when they have completed their appointed task.  God said to Israel, "He that is afar off shall die of the pestilence; and he that is near shall fall by the sword; and he that remains and is besieged shall die by the famine: thus will I accomplish My fury upon them.  Then shall you know that I am the Lord." (Ezekiel 6:12-13).  The judgment/chastenings shall be complete and none shall escape them, whether near or far away─ but the point is when they are accomplished, they're done, purposed fulfilled.  So that in another place we read, "Comfort, comfort My people, says your God.  Speak comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned." (Isa. 40:1-2).  There is no escape from the PURGING-CORRECTIONS, but they do have an end-­something wondrous is accomplished.  And the message goes on─ a powerful promise, that "every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it." (Isa. 40:1-2,4-5).  It surely includes the "dark night of the soul," as His  corrections are made, but the "nevertheless afterwards," (Heb. 12:11), cannot be denied.  Victory is secure, for "The mouth of the Lord has spoken it," Praise His name!  "The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand." (Isa. 14:24).  What He accomplishes is DONE, and that time is finished.  No man can add a day or a year to His fury, for when He says "mission accomplished" that is it─ purpose complete, bless His name!  How dare any man say that God must extend His fury to an endless eternity, when HE says it is accomplished?  Whether beaten with many or few stripes, it is not an endless flogging.  His judgments lead into salvation, praise God!
        Jesus made it very clear that "I came to send fire on the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled!" (Luke 12:49).  But He also stated that while a "thief comes not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I AM COME THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE LIFE, and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10:10).  So He kindles a fire to purge and purify but when that mission is accomplished He will bring forth a NEW LIFE that overflows─ far more than we can imagine.
        There is no way that we would minimize the judgments of God─ but we do view them positively.  Correctional chastenings, expressions of His love.  He corrects us "for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness. (While it is true that) no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." (Heb.12:10-11).  No wonder we read that "The time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God." (1 Pet. 4:17).  He would receive us unto Himself, and therefore we must be "a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." (Eph. 5:27).  Yet once He has purified His church (i.e. called out ones), He shall be able to declare triumphantly "mission accomplished," and then with great rejoicing He will "present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy." (Jude 24).
        We know that we are admonished to "lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily besets us, and to run with patience the race that is set before us." (Heb. 12:1).  And we are constantly urged by the Spirit to "Forget those things which are behind, and reach forth unto those things which are before" as we "press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 3:13-14).  So often Paul used the various athletic terms to express the need for giving ourselves to the apprehending of that which God has ordained for us.  But Paul also knew much of the depths of God's grace, and that in ourselves we cannot change a thing─ "For it is God which works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure." (Phil. 2:13).  But having done all according to the ability HE has given us, we shall be able to also say with Paul, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." (2 Tim. 4:7) or, using the phrase before us, concerning God's will for us, "mission accomplished," because of His marvelous grace.  Truly it is God all the way.
        The awesome working of God is often expressed in the simplest of terms-­ "So shall My Word be that goes forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please." (Isa. 55:11).
        Brought to the full, made complete, finished─ we look at conditions around us and have a hard time trying to correlate present corruption with His promises for "new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness." (2 Pet. 3:13).  But that is because we do not fully grasp the power of God revealed in His anger, and His purpose for the exercise thereof.  Nor do we know the greatness of the power of His Word.  He speaks, His mighty Word goes forth, and whatever He determines and speaks is fulfilled, for "Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel. All came to pass." (Joshua 21:45).  Not one jot or tittle comes up short─ God's measures are complete─ every thought is accomplished.  He is both Author and Finisher, and as Joni Eareckson Tada has written, "God starts what He finishes." "I cry out to God Most High, to God, who fulfills His purpose for me." (Ps. 57:2, NIV).  He knows the end from the beginning, if He starts a process He knows exactly how it will end.  If He knows how the end will be, He also knows exactly how to start it, setting in motion the Word, the energy-force to bring it to pass.  I dare say, He can look at a beginning and say "mission accomplished,"─ it is that secure in Him.
        Ezekiel gives us quite a view, as God purposes to bring down the efforts of the flesh, spoken of as a wall that man had built.  God says, "I will break down the wall that you have plastered with untempered mortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and you shall be consumed in the midst of it: and you shall know that I am the Lord.  Thus will I accomplish My wrath upon the wall ... (Ezekiel 13:14-15).
        It is not an "eternal" battle!  I know that "The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other." (Gal. 5:17).  And we are to "fight the good fight of faith" as Paul wrote to Timothy (6:12).  But all these battles are only "UNTIL''─ to be fought until the victory is won, then we can say "mission accomplished."
        Whatever adversaries we face, they are to be resisted "steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world." (1 Peter 5:9).  It has been said that "misery likes company." And there is a certain comfort gained in knowing that others are facing, going through the same afflictions/trials, etc.  We are encouraged by the testimony of others who suffer "like afflictions," as we identify with their pains.  John writes, "Who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation." (Rev. 1:9).  It is this "togetherness" that adds to our day by day confirmation as we share with one another of His inworkings.  While the personal applications may vary, the same principles are wrought in each of us, thus we do relate to one another betimes.
        But do note that it reads─ "same afflictions are accomplished." What a prophetic insight─ when God opens our eyes to see things accomplished.  It immediately tells us that afflictions have an end─ something was brought to the full and finished.  I dare say, it is a wee bit easier to go through a trial when you know something is being accomplished.  Paul wrote "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." (Cor. 4:17).  SOMETHING IS WORKING!  SOMETHING IS BEING ACCOMPLISHED!  Take heart, victory is at the door!
        "But the God of all grace, who has called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, AFTER that you have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you." (1 Peter 5:10).  AFTER YOU SUFFER A WHILE─ suffering having fulfilled its purpose, mission accomplished, and He firmly places us─ establishes us─ settles us in His kingdom.
        The prophet Isaiah asks the question, "Does the plowman plow all day to sow?" (Isa. 28:24).  Is this to be over and over again, as an exercise in futility?  Does one plow all day, and then the next morning return and plow the same field over again?  Nay, the plowman may plow deep, and thoroughly break every clod, but when fully prepared for seeding, the plowing mission is accomplished.  Then the seed is sown─ not over and over again in the same field, but when fully/adequately seeded, one can say seeding mission is accomplished.  When the grain is grown and ripened and harvested, the prophet adds, "He will not always be threshing it." Threshed, and fully ground, it is ready to be made into bread- and then the grinding mission is accomplished.  What's the lesson in this illustration?  That every process has an end, when all the requirements have been completed─ accomplished.
        Jesus said, "This that is written must yet be accomplished in Me. - for the things concerning Me HAVE AN END." (Luke 22:37).  And, as already noted, He came to the point where He could say "IT IS FINISHED." Every requirement along the way was fulfilled, and He went on to the next step, until once again He was seated with the Father in His throne.  His earthly tasks were finished, now He reigns─ however Paul points out that even this celestial throne glory is only UNTIL─ "For Christ must be King and reign UNTIL He has put all His enemies under His feet. - However, when everything is subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will also subject Himself to the Father Who put all things under Him, so that God may be al in all - that is, be everything to everyone, supreme, the indwelling and controlling factor of life." (1 Cor. 15:25, 28, Amp.). Then will it resound through the universe, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!  God's plan of the ages will be fully consummated, to His glory and praise.
        Now, with the vision set before us─ that God shall be totally ALL IN ALL, we can once again bring our thoughts back to the present, and face whatever trial He has appointed for us.  Whatever portion you bear, be assured that GOD has marked out your path, just as surely as He marked out the way for The Son, and all that was to be accomplished in/by Him.  So Paul writes, "It pleased God, who ... called me by His grace, to reveal His Son in me ..." (Gal. 1:15-16).  And we have already noted that as he finished his course, kept the faith, he could say, "mission accomplished." Now may we also KNOW that we have been "called by His grace" for the distinct purpose that He might "reveal His Son in me." OF YOU IT CAN DEFINITELY BE SAID, "He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son..." (Rom. 8:29).  And if this process has begun in you, then just as sure as there is a God on the throne, the day will come when He shall say "mission accomplished."
        "He has filled the hungry with good things." (Luke 1:53).  However long the processing might be, all along the way there are those minor happenings which bring a moment of recognition that GOD IS IN CONTROL, working all things after the counsel of His own will, for our good, and for His praise.  He has a way of filling our mouth with good things, ministering life and strength day by day.  Giving songs in the night season.  Speaking peace to the inner man.  And causing us to know that, while the road stretches out before us, even now, in degrees of victory, He says "mission accomplished" as His will is fulfilled, and we become one in Him.  Bless His name.

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(1) Prinzing, Ray and Doris "Letters of Truth"  Boise, Idaho 83705, P.O. Box 5822

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