Awake That Sleep Est

AWAKE Thou That Sleepest! ~ Phil Beach, Jr. "But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead" (Phil. 3:7-10 NASB). Presently, there is an incredible war being fought, as the redeemed church of this hour continues to press on towards her goal--to win Christ. Truly, the heart-rending cry of the great apostle Paul is now being restored by the precious Holy Spirit. That cry, as found in Philippians 3, expresses an intense, heaven-born desire to win Christ, to know Christ, to gain Christ--at any cost. David, consumed by the holy passion to enter into such fellowship with His God, expressed the Spirit-breathed desire of his soul, saying, "O God, You are my God; earnestly will I seek You; my inner self thirsts for You, my flesh longs and is faint for You, in a dry and weary land, where no water is" (Ps. 63:1 Amp.). His longing for God eclipsed all other desires. The war that is now being waged by the powers of darkness is directed against all who have been awakened to the glorious inheritance of Christ's fullness--an inheritance which is available to every seeking, sanctified saint. The powers of darkness have set up myriads of blockades to burn saints away from the road to the inheritance--the Road of Calvary. Oh, the devices and devious tricks that are hurled out, full force, at those who would travel this road. The Road of Calvary is a heavenly path being trod by all who have been enlightened by the gracious and precious Holy Spirit. This road will lead the believer to experience the glories that were wrought for him upon the cross, which became available to him the moment he was born again into God's kingdom--glorious spiritual riches beyond imagination. How far we have fallen from apprehending all that Christ has provided for us in this life! How we have failed to believe God's Word! The Call Of The Holy Spirit Now, in this very generation there is a command from heaven being made. He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to His beloved bride: "Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light" (Eph. 5:14). The scripture here speaks of an awakening unto allowing Christ to have full freedom to live in us. God the Father has commissioned the great and mighty Holy Spirit to begin to call and draw all seeking and yielded hearts unto the person of Jesus Christ. God is stirring in the heavens and the precious Holy Spirit is divinely commissioned in this hour to woo and lead the hungry, seeking, crying soul into the fullness of Christ Himself. Such a call goes beyond human words. Paul breathed a prayer for this great event to be realized in the Ephesians when he said, "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen" (Eph. 3:14-21). Such language can only be understood, appreciated and embraced as God removes the veil from our hearts and causes us to catch a glimpse of the unsearchable riches that are ours in Christ. Just as we are brought by His blood and receive forgiveness of sin--so, too, we are made to partake of his fullness. "Ask and you shall receive." He makes His very fullness available to all who long for Him. Walking In His Victory Not only are we called to partake of His fullness and great resurrection power, but we are called to participate in His victory. Notice, dear friend, that it is His life, His victory, His power, His nature, His love, His perfection--not ours! We died with Him so we may also live by Him and through Him. Jesus is now literally seated on His Father's throne, making intercession for us, awaiting that glorious day when He shall come again to receive His bride unto Himself. It is at that time that we shall see Him literally, face to face, and be changed from mortal to immortal, from corruptible to incorruptible. Paul says, "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself" (Phil. 3:20, 21 NASB). Yet, through His victory we have a hope for the present as well as the future! We "press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:14) in order that we may participate now in His glorious victory. For the same power which shall finally usher us

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AWAKE Thou That Sleepest! Phil Beach, Jr.

into Christ's literal presence, is even now working in us by His Spirit. Paul's prayer for the Ephesians in chapters one and two reveals this high calling: "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way… And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 1:17-23, 2:6 NIV). Incredibly, this passage reveals that as Christians, we, too, have been seated in the heavenlies with Christ. As we become fully conformed to Christ's death on the cross, we can also begin to share in His glorious victory "seated with him," "far above all rule and authority, power and dominion…" (Eph. 2:6, 1:21 NIV). True Victory Through The Road Of Calvary We must not allow our soul's enemy to deceive us into thinking we shall obtain this blessed victory through self-effort and striving. There is "a great gulf fixed" between the true move of God and the enemy's counterfeit, yet Satan has subtly deceived multitudes. His false move is characterized by an intellectual understanding of the victory of Christ, apart from the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit, with individuals trying to attain unto Christ's fullness through will-power, selfeffort and struggle. Some are deceived into trying to "speak" the victory into existence through positive confession. God's true move, however, is evidenced by individuals who allow the Holy Spirit to lead them to walk the road of Calvary, partaking in Christ's garden of Gethsemane and in His cross--and then on into the fullness of His life. The apostle Peter tells us "his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness" (2 Pet. 1:3a). It is as we simply yield our lives to what Christ has wrought for us that we begin to walk in "…good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2:10 NASB). Our only "work" is in yielding to what He has already finished. A Word Of Encouragement If we will but believe God's Word and the precious witness of His Holy Spirit, yielding our hearts to His great power, then nothing shall be impossible to us--not so we can fulfill our own will--but His! For He desires to glorify Himself and will do it through all who will fall at His feet with unhindered trust in Him saying, "Here am I; send me." As we are greatly lowered and He is highly lifted up, we will learn to share in the victory of His throne. Our hearts will melt with wonder as we see that, along with all creation, we as His servants, are participating with Him in His eternal purpose. "Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens Praise Him in the heights! Praise Him, all His angels; praise Him, all His hosts! Praise Him, sun and moon, praise Him, all stars of light! Praise Him, highest heavens… fire and hail, snow and clouds; stormy wind, fulfilling His word" (Ps. 148:1-4a, 8 NASB). We are now in Christ. He has called us to sit down with Him now. If our hearts will hear His Word, our spirits will focus upon His majesty and our minds will say "yea and amen" to His bidding--then nothing shall be impossible. We must not see nor look at ourselves anymore, for we have died, and our life is now hid with Christ in God! His life has become our life. We, even now, are seated with Him on His throne, sharing all of His victory and power. "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy" (Lk. 10:19a). He has poured out into us through His precious Holy Spirit the love that cannot fail or falter. He has placed in us that which is incorruptible, undefiled, and never weak or susceptible to failure. "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever" (1 Pet. 1:23). When our minds and hearts are renewed continually by His power, we are lifted into the reality of our identity in Christ. "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind… and be renewed in the spirit of your mind… and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him" (Rom. 12:2a; Eph. 4:23; Col. 3:10). Oh blessed victory in Christ. May we never shrink from entering the Calvary Road, which all must travel who desire to possess Christ's victory in fullness. "Whosoever Will, Let Him Come" Dear friends in Christ, may we beseech our Lord to anoint our eyes that we may see, and open our ears that we may hear, and soften our hearts that we might cry after Him till He rains down the fullness of His glory! May we hear the cry of the Word of God and of the Spirit of God and arise with Him--out of the grace of self, sin and self-seeking life-styles. May we awake out of the spirit of slumber and sleep, apathy and complacency, and sit down with Him and by Him, that we may live unto Him and for His highest! War has been declared and the battle has been won. Jesus Christ the blessed Son

AWAKE Thou That Sleepest! Phil Beach, Jr.

of God sits in the heavens, crowned as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Having overcome and overthrown all of Satan's power, He lives as the King of the Universe. Satan is defeated and doomed to everlasting destruction and torment because of his unforgivable rebellion against the God of all creation. Dear Friends, the Lord cries that we may see and listen: "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live…" (Isa. 55:1-3a). "The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' And let him who hears say, 'Come!' Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life" (Rev. 22:17 NIV). The Lord has extended His invitation to "whoever will." By the love and grace of God, may we humbly say, "Here am I, Lord. Take me fully, to be thine forever! Dear Lord, I ask you to guide me that I may go all the way to the cross, to travel the road from Gethsemane to Calvary, there to die to myself so that, rising with Him in newness of life, Christ may fully possess me and live His life through me." This, we each must do alone! Yet we are not alone, for He has promised to be with us. This message is an excerpt from a book titled Breaking Up Fallow Ground, by Phil Beach, Jr. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Additional copies of these and other printed messages, tracts and books are available upon request, free of cost as the Lord enables. If you are interested in tape messages, or would desire a catalogue, please contact me, direct all correspondence to: Phil Beach, Jr. Post Office Box 774 Hackettstown, NJ 07840 USA (908) 813-2919 Email: [email protected] Alternatively, you may read and download these http://www.crosswinds.net/~seekinghis/beach/beachindex.html .

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