03-09-2008, 08:08 AM
ed's Lesson 13 observations: "You may be relieved to know that God's purpose does not depend upon the weakness and frailty of men and women like you and me!" I am so grateful that God is God and that my frailties does not hinder or prohibited Him from carrying out His will in my life.
L E S S O N 14
Biblical Examples of the Increasing
There are so many scriptures that illustrate this increasing of Christ. We
certainly could not reference all of them in this brief lesson. But I can
give you some good examples, and I can point you in the right direction,
and the more time you spend meditating and studying these principles of the
increase of Christ, the more easily you'll be able to see them as you look through
the Scriptures.
A good place to begin is Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6: “For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given and the government will be on His shoulder; and His name
will be called Wonderful, Counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of
Peace.” Now who is this passage referring to? Of course it is referring to Jesus. So
verse 7 says “of the increase of His government and peace, there will be no end.”
Another good example is Daniel chapter 2. In Daniel chapter 2, Nebuchadnezzar
had a dream of a statue that was destroyed by a rock and then that rock grew and
increased until it became a mountain that filled the entire earth. What in the world
can that mean?
Daniel 2:44 gives the interpretation: “In the days of these kings, the God of Heaven
will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed and the kingdom shall not be
left to other people, it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms and it
shall stand for ever.” And in the next verse he says, “The dream is certain and it's
interpretation is sure.”
So Jesus will increase and He will destroy all these other kingdoms until He
Himself has filled the whole earth! And that is consistent with what we find all
throughout the Old Testament.
In 2 Corinthians 4 verse 6, Paul tells us what the glory of God is. This is very
important to unlock the mystery of the Old Testament. In 2 Corinthians 4:6 Paul
says that “God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in
our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of
Jesus Christ.” In other words, the glory of God is revealed by and through Jesus
Christ. It is also established, in Hebrews 1, that He is the brightness of God's glory
and the express image of His Person.
So once you see that, you go back to the Old Testament and you can see the
increase of Christ everywhere.
Numbers 14:21: “But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of
the LORD.”
1 Chronicles 29:11: “Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the
glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth
is yours; yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all.”
Sounds just like the Lord's prayer, doesn't it?
Psalm 57:5: “Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the
earth.”
Isaiah 6:3: “And one cried to another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of
hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.”
Habakkuk 2:14 says: “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory
of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.”
Matthew 24:30 says:”...they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of the
heaven with power and great glory.”
Praise God! And there are many, many other scriptures that we could use to further
illustrate this increase of Christ.
All the parables of Jesus speak of this increase of His kingdom, which is nothing
more and nothing less than the increase of Christ: “A sower went out to sow” –
“The kingdom of God is like a man sowed good seed in His field” – “The kingdom
of God is like a man who cast seed into the ground” – “The kingdom of God is like
a mustard seed.” And so on! And so on!
All these scriptures, and many more, are simply telling us the same thing: He must
increase, therefore He will increase, and He is increasing.
You know, as I teach The Law of Increase, no one objects to Jesus being lifted up,
increased and magnified. Practically every Christian I know of is in agreement
with the increase of Jesus.
But John 3:30 is split right down the middle with one three letter word: “but”. He
must increase. Amen to that, but... The presence of the word but suggests a
potential barrier to this increasing of Jesus. On one side of “but” we are presented
with the increasing of Christ, but on the other side we are presented with the
decreasing of Self. These two laws are equally balanced like the scales on either
side of that tiny word “but”.
So in our next series of lessons we'll take a closer look at The Second Universal
Spiritual Principle – “I must decrease”.
QUIZ
Lesson 14 – Biblical Examples of the Increasing
1. Correctly interpreted, Isaiah 9 tells us that Jesus and His government
a) will slowly diminish
b) will remain small and hidden away
c) will continue to increase forever
2. Daniel 2 tells of a Rock that destroys a statue and then
a) breaks into pieces
b) grows into a great mountain that fills the whole earth
c) eventually turns to dust
3. According to the New Testament, Jesus is the Brightness of God’s Glory and the Exact Image
of God Himself. According to the Old Testament,
a) the glory of God is slowly fading away
b) the glory of God has disappeared altogether
c) the glory of God is increasing and will cover the earth
4. In His parables, Jesus is constantly comparing the Kingdom of God to a seed that is planted
and eventually produces a harvest. This is a simple way of describing
a) how Jesus must increase
b) how the Kingdom of God is expanding
c) how spiritual laws do not change
d) all the aboveAll these scriptures, and many more, are simply telling us the same thing: He must
increase, therefore He will increase, and He is increasing.
You know, as I teach The Law of Increase, no one objects to Jesus being lifted up,
increased and magnified. Practically every Christian I know of is in agreement
with the increase of Jesus.
But John 3:30 is split right down the middle with one three letter word: “but”. He
must increase. Amen to that, but... The presence of the word but suggests a
potential barrier to this increasing of Jesus. On one side of “but” we are presented
with the increasing of Christ, but on the other side we are presented with the
decreasing of Self. These two laws are equally balanced like the scales on either
side of that tiny word “but”.
So in our next series of lessons we'll take a closer look at The Second Universal
Spiritual Principle – “I must decrease”.
L E S S O N 14
Biblical Examples of the Increasing
There are so many scriptures that illustrate this increasing of Christ. We
certainly could not reference all of them in this brief lesson. But I can
give you some good examples, and I can point you in the right direction,
and the more time you spend meditating and studying these principles of the
increase of Christ, the more easily you'll be able to see them as you look through
the Scriptures.
A good place to begin is Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6: “For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given and the government will be on His shoulder; and His name
will be called Wonderful, Counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of
Peace.” Now who is this passage referring to? Of course it is referring to Jesus. So
verse 7 says “of the increase of His government and peace, there will be no end.”
Another good example is Daniel chapter 2. In Daniel chapter 2, Nebuchadnezzar
had a dream of a statue that was destroyed by a rock and then that rock grew and
increased until it became a mountain that filled the entire earth. What in the world
can that mean?
Daniel 2:44 gives the interpretation: “In the days of these kings, the God of Heaven
will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed and the kingdom shall not be
left to other people, it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms and it
shall stand for ever.” And in the next verse he says, “The dream is certain and it's
interpretation is sure.”
So Jesus will increase and He will destroy all these other kingdoms until He
Himself has filled the whole earth! And that is consistent with what we find all
throughout the Old Testament.
In 2 Corinthians 4 verse 6, Paul tells us what the glory of God is. This is very
important to unlock the mystery of the Old Testament. In 2 Corinthians 4:6 Paul
says that “God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in
our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of
Jesus Christ.” In other words, the glory of God is revealed by and through Jesus
Christ. It is also established, in Hebrews 1, that He is the brightness of God's glory
and the express image of His Person.
So once you see that, you go back to the Old Testament and you can see the
increase of Christ everywhere.
Numbers 14:21: “But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of
the LORD.”
1 Chronicles 29:11: “Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the
glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth
is yours; yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all.”
Sounds just like the Lord's prayer, doesn't it?
Psalm 57:5: “Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the
earth.”
Isaiah 6:3: “And one cried to another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of
hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.”
Habakkuk 2:14 says: “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory
of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.”
Matthew 24:30 says:”...they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of the
heaven with power and great glory.”
Praise God! And there are many, many other scriptures that we could use to further
illustrate this increase of Christ.
All the parables of Jesus speak of this increase of His kingdom, which is nothing
more and nothing less than the increase of Christ: “A sower went out to sow” –
“The kingdom of God is like a man sowed good seed in His field” – “The kingdom
of God is like a man who cast seed into the ground” – “The kingdom of God is like
a mustard seed.” And so on! And so on!
All these scriptures, and many more, are simply telling us the same thing: He must
increase, therefore He will increase, and He is increasing.
You know, as I teach The Law of Increase, no one objects to Jesus being lifted up,
increased and magnified. Practically every Christian I know of is in agreement
with the increase of Jesus.
But John 3:30 is split right down the middle with one three letter word: “but”. He
must increase. Amen to that, but... The presence of the word but suggests a
potential barrier to this increasing of Jesus. On one side of “but” we are presented
with the increasing of Christ, but on the other side we are presented with the
decreasing of Self. These two laws are equally balanced like the scales on either
side of that tiny word “but”.
So in our next series of lessons we'll take a closer look at The Second Universal
Spiritual Principle – “I must decrease”.
QUIZ
Lesson 14 – Biblical Examples of the Increasing
1. Correctly interpreted, Isaiah 9 tells us that Jesus and His government
a) will slowly diminish
b) will remain small and hidden away
c) will continue to increase forever
2. Daniel 2 tells of a Rock that destroys a statue and then
a) breaks into pieces
b) grows into a great mountain that fills the whole earth
c) eventually turns to dust
3. According to the New Testament, Jesus is the Brightness of God’s Glory and the Exact Image
of God Himself. According to the Old Testament,
a) the glory of God is slowly fading away
b) the glory of God has disappeared altogether
c) the glory of God is increasing and will cover the earth
4. In His parables, Jesus is constantly comparing the Kingdom of God to a seed that is planted
and eventually produces a harvest. This is a simple way of describing
a) how Jesus must increase
b) how the Kingdom of God is expanding
c) how spiritual laws do not change
d) all the aboveAll these scriptures, and many more, are simply telling us the same thing: He must
increase, therefore He will increase, and He is increasing.
You know, as I teach The Law of Increase, no one objects to Jesus being lifted up,
increased and magnified. Practically every Christian I know of is in agreement
with the increase of Jesus.
But John 3:30 is split right down the middle with one three letter word: “but”. He
must increase. Amen to that, but... The presence of the word but suggests a
potential barrier to this increasing of Jesus. On one side of “but” we are presented
with the increasing of Christ, but on the other side we are presented with the
decreasing of Self. These two laws are equally balanced like the scales on either
side of that tiny word “but”.
So in our next series of lessons we'll take a closer look at The Second Universal
Spiritual Principle – “I must decrease”.