Not Above, but Same As

Matthew 10:24-25 The disciple is not above his Master, nor the servant above his Lord.
25 It is enough for the disciple that he be as his Master, and the servant as his Lord. If they have called the Master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of His household?

Jesus Christ will always be Lord; no one will ever take His place or be above Him. However, it is the will of God for us to become as He is. We should share His nature (II Peter 1:4). Listen to the Lord’s prayer in John 17:21: That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that Thou has sent Me.

As plain as the Scriptures are concerning this, many do not believe that we are to become one with Him. And some say that we only become as He is after we get to heaven. But Jesus said that our oneness with Him would cause the world to believe that God has sent Him (John 17:21). Therefore, we should become as He is in this life. If no one else has ever done so, it doesn’t change anything. God’s Word is not altered by unbelief. Let God be true, but every man a liar. Romans 3:4. But who is to say that some have not entered into the promise? Maybe some have; maybe some haven’t. It doesn’t change the fact that we can. It is His will for us to become as He is, but it will not happen if we do not believe for it.

Hebrews 2:10 For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory….
Romans 8:29 For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Think about it! God wants many sons! All those who believe Him and receive Him are given the right to become the sons of God (John 1:12).

Are you brave enough to believe to become as He is, for His nature to displace your human nature? Or, are you afraid that people will call you crazy and fanatical? If you believe, you probably will be called a fanatic. Jesus believed He was one with the Father, and they accused Him of blasphemy and called Him Beelzebub. And if they called Him Beelzebub, they will call the members of His household Beelzebub, too (John 10:33; Matthew 10:25).

Matthew 10:26 Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.

The world does not know us, for God is doing a hidden work. He is working within us. The Lord always begins on the inside. He is establishing His Kingdom within us, and He is not interested, at this point in time, in revealing His handiwork to the world. The Kingdom of God comes not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo here! or, Lo there! for, behold, the Kingdom of God is within you. Luke 17:20,21. The manifestation of the sons of God will come, but for now we are hidden (Romans 8:19). There is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. Matthew 10:26.

Matthew 10:27 What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.

Darkness speaks of the unknown. So when God tells us something in darkness, He is revealing something to us that is unknown. What He reveals to us we are to proclaim openly. Now you know what will happen when we do that! They’ll say, “You’re nuts! We haven’t heard it that way before.”

The Jews, for the most part, were old wineskins. They could not receive the new wine of Jesus’ teachings (Matthew 9:17). Many people, especially in the religious world, won’t be able to receive what God tells you to proclaim either. They will persecute you and say the old wine is better. They will not want the new wine of the Kingdom. Nevertheless, we must be faithful to speak in light what we hear in darkness.

Matthew 10:28-31 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

Our fear of God must be greater than our fear of man. The Gospel of the Kingdom is not compatible with the religious world. They will not want to hear it. But we must boldly proclaim it anyway. The message of this hour is none other than the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

They hated Stephen for proclaiming the Word of God (Acts 7:54-60). They hated the Word so much that they stopped their ears and gnashed on him with their teeth. Could it happen again? It not only could, it probably will. God is bringing forth a new day, the day of the Lord, and the majority of the religious world is not prepared to receive it. They will reject the Kingdom of God because it won’t fit the mold formed by their religious creeds and doctrines.

Matthew 10:32-33 Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in heaven.
33 But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father which is in heaven.

Our confession is more than just a testimony of our faith in Jesus Christ. Confessing Christ before men in verse 32 refers back to verse 27, where we are told to speak in light what we hear in darkness. Exodus 20:21 tells us that God is in darkness: Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was. Darkness in this sense speaks of all that is unknown of God. When knowledge of Him is hid, He is in darkness. So what He speaks to us in darkness is revelation-knowledge of Himself. When we speak that in light, then we are imparting a revelation of the Lord to the realm of man. Our confession before men, then, is a revealing of the Lord. We are becoming living epistles of Christ. You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: forasmuch as you are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart. II Corinthians 3:2-3.

Now the Lord says that those who deny Him before men, He will also deny before His Father. That means that some will not have the courage and dedication to confess the Lord during such trying times. Many of the religious world will not only reject the revelation of the Lord, calling Him and us Beelzebub, but will fiercely retaliate. Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues (churches); and you shall be brought before governors and kings for My sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what you shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what you shall speak. For it is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaks in you. Matthew 10:16-20. God will use their persecution that we may voice our confession before those in high positions. Our confession will be the Father speaking through us.

Matthew 10:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

The sword is the living Word of God. It is a sharp two-edged sword, dividing asunder of soul and spirit (Hebrews 4:12). The sword-Word first comes to us, cutting away the fleshly nature that we might become as He is. We will not become an expression of Christ without facing the sword-Word. And, believe me, while that sword is cutting away your flesh nature, you won’t feel much peace. However, the peaceable fruit of righteousness will follow. Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Hebrews 12:11.

Now this experience of the sword-Word in our lives is the same as the “what I tell you in darkness” Word. What He tells us in darkness is a revelation of Himself, a living Word that brings forth His nature within us. Then when we speak that revelation-Word in light, it becomes a sharp two-edged sword to others. It brings life to those who receive it and judgment to those who reject it.

Matthew 10:35-36 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
36 And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.

Foes will be found in our natural families and also in our spiritual families. Some of your own sisters and brothers in the Lord will not be able to receive the new wine of the Kingdom. Sometimes, even those who parented you in the things of God will become your foe. And many times you will find that foe within your own being.

Matthew 10:37-38 He that loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me: and he that loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
38 And he that takes not his cross, and follows after Me, is not worthy of Me.

A father, mother, son, or daughter could be your Isaac that you need to place on the altar (Genesis 22). That Isaac could be a ministry that God has given you. The Apostle John wrote, I write unto you, fathers…young men…little children… (I John 2:13) which we understand to refer to different degrees of spiritual growth among Christians and their ministries.

On one occasion Jesus was told that His mother and brothers were waiting outside to speak with Him. But He answered and said unto him that told him, Who is My mother? and who are My brethren? And He stretched forth His hand toward His disciples, and said, Behold My mother and My brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of My Father which is in heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother. Matthew 12:48-50.

So when Jesus spoke of father, mother, son and daughter He was speaking spiritually of the different functions of ministry. For example, a mother ministry is one that births Christ in others and ministers to them in their youthful years. A father ministry is one who ministers to the young men and brings them into sonship. Then there is the ministry of sons and daughters (Joel 2:28).

Some love their ministry more than they love the Lord. Therefore, Jesus says, He that loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he that loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. Now in this message we’re talking about “not being above, but the same as” Christ. Those who love their ministry more than they love the Lord are not worthy of Him; that is, they will not become “the same as.” They will not be an expression of Christ.

Matthew 10:39-40 He that finds his life shall lose it: and he that loses his life for My sake shall find it.
40 He that receives you receives Me, and he that receives Me receives Him that sent Me.

He that dies out to self will find the divine life of Christ coming forth within them. If the world doesn’t notice it, it doesn’t change anything. God is doing a hidden work. Death to the self-life is the route to becoming as He is. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. II Corinthians 4:11.

Once we become as He is, then, those who receive us will receive Him, and those who receive Him receives the One who sends Him. That is divine order. It is the way God has chosen to make Himself known to man. It begins with a people who are “not above, but the same as” He is. Will you be dedicated and committed to becoming a part of the Body of Christ, for it is the expression of Christ in the earth?

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