The Sacraments and Servanthood

Understanding Servanthood Today’s Focus: The Sacraments and Servanthood Scripture: Luke 22:15-20; Ephesians 5:21-33; John 13:5-17 Greetings Kingdom Citizens Isn’t it amazing that when we look at the sacraments that we rarely think about them being about servanthood. Let’s name these sacraments and then discuss them separately. 1. Holy Communion (The Lord’s Supper) 2. Marriage 3. Feet Washing Holy Communion (Luke 22:15-20) Jesus serves the disciples bread and wine and we know that the bread is symbolic of His body that is broken for us and the Word of God to nourish our souls. The wine is symbolic of the blood that is shed for the remission of sin so we may be cleansed from sin. The point is Jesus is serving the sons of God at the table of the Lord. So when we sit at the table and fellowship with the Lord, He serves us and this is the heart of a servant to think of others and serve them before themselves. Marriage (Ephesians 5:21-33) The concept of servanthood the heart of the sacrament of marriage. It is not about lustful emotions and feelings and satisfying one another’s fleshly desires. Marriage is about communicating grace to one another. This is why Ephesians 5:21 says submitting yourselves ONE TO ANOTHER IN THE FEAR OF GOD. How about this scripture: Ephesians 5:24,25: Therefore as the church is subject (submission and service) unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it; So both the wife and husband serve one another and in serving one another there is a communication of grace between the both of them. Washing Feet (John 13:5-17) Now this sacrament has almost left the Body of Christ and rarely do we see people wash feet. Many people view feet washing as “messy” and many will not do it because they do not believe that they should get down and wash someone’s feet. However, the Lord, God in the flesh, girded himself with a towel and kneeled down and washed his disciple’s feet. This is probably the best example in the entire Bible of servanthood but yet it is the least practiced. Think about it, the Lord who is the greatest over all is in the most humble and servile state and serving the sons of God and if He, God Almighty will do it, then you better believe if we are partakers of his divine nature, we should do the same. Want to prove it? John 13:14: If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. FOR I HAVE GIVEN YOU AN EXAMPLE, THAT YE SHOULD DO AS I HAVE DONE TO YOU. VERILY VERILY I SAY UNTO YOU, THE SERVANT IS NOT GREATER THAN HIS LORD; NEITHER HE THAT IS SENT GREATER THAN HE THAT SENT HIM. Case closed on this issue! These are the words of the Lord and notice right after telling them that they are to do it, He explains the purpose to explain the relationship between a servant and his lord or master and how we must learn to be servants if we desire to lead. So even in the sacraments there is the heart and concept of servanthood Peace, Love and Grace from the Father, Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

Understanding Servanthood

Understanding Servanthood Today’s Focus: Introduction to the Importance of Servanthood Scripture: 2 Peter 1:1-4; Galatians 4:19 Greetings Kingdom Citizens In this series we will discuss the most critical and foundational principal in the Kingdom and House of God which is servanthood. Now when we talk about servants there seems to be an overriding negative picture towards the term in the sense of how it has been interpreted and used through the age of man. When we lack understanding into true servanthood in the church there is a title culture that comes about where everyone is vested in having a title and there is a production of slaves who are sons. When we look at servanthood this will not and should not be presented from a humanistic point of view. From the human point of view servanthood is Apartheid, Segregation and Slavery. This is not the perspective we will look at this from. We will study this from the divine perspective and you will be shock to know and understand that the concept of servanthood is even resident in the Godhead. Servanthood is a fundamental concept of the Divine nature of God. Hence God is a slave at heart. Now do not go jump off the deep end. As we study you will begin to understand more about the Father and how just like He is a slave at heart, so should we be. Here is a great example of this: In 2 Peter 1:1-4 we see Peter writing his second letter unto the Body of Christ and he starts it like this: 2 Peter 1:1: Simon Peter, A SERVANT AND AN APOSTLE of Jesus Christ…… Peter recognized that he was a servant first, then an apostle. Now before I leave Peter let me show you this powerful scripture in Peter’s second letter. 2 Peter 1:4: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. Now if we are to be partakers of the divine nature and Peter calls himself a servant first and he is a partaker of that nature then God who imparts this divine nature to us must also be a servant also. So the concept of servanthood is a must in the lives of every believer. If it is not then we will produce a Babylonian system (Remember we discussed that in our previous series “The Temple of God”) and call it an apostolic model. The ultimate objective of our journey is for Christ to be formed in us (Galatians 4:19). We are all sons and daughters of God who have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. We have liberty and freedom. Now through the spirit of servanthood there is an increased form of giving. Not giving in the materialistic aspect but in the spiritual manner. Understand this, in Christ all men are set free from slavery, but yet everyone who has received Christ become slaves of Christ who have been redeemed from the works of darkness. We pierce our ears so that the only thing we do is hear the word of our Master and we refuse to hear anything else other than the voice of our Master. Am I talking about physical piercing? No! God said do not do that. We are talking about sensitizing our hearing to one voice, who is our Master. So as you can see, we have a little ways to go in understanding servanthood and I know many people who preach the message of the Kingdom might have a problem with this but they should not. Remember we must separate our human view of servant from God’s view of servant and we who are children of God are all called to be servants. Let me leave you with this analogy. In your parents house you are their child and inheritor or what they have. In addition in your parent’s house you are also a servant because you obey their commands and do as they instruct you. You are still your parent’s child and inheritor of what they have but you also serve them. Moreover, your parents serve you through provision and protection they give to you. Servanthood is the most important and crucial concept to the Body of Christ. Let’s get ready to understand what it means to be a servant of the Father. In the next message we will look at some of the church sacraments that show the importance of servanthood. Peace, Love and Grace from the Father, Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

The History and Sin of Ammon

Journey of the Sons of God to the Promised Land Today’s Focus: The Spirit of Ammon: History and Sin of Ammon Scripture: Genesis 19:36-38; Deuteronomy 23:3-6; Leviticus 18:21 Greetings Sons of God: Genesis 19:36-38: Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father. And the firstborn bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day. And the younger, sh also bare a son, and called his name Ben-ammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day. So here we see that Ammon is actually a person named Ben-ammi who is a son of Lot. We know the two sons of Lot, Moab and Ben-ammi are sons through an incestuous relationship between Lot and his two daughters. Now, Ben-ammi means “son of my people”. This is a crucial piece to understanding the spirit of Ammon. We as sons of God are not called sons of a people, but sons of God denoting that God is our Father and ruler of our lives. A son of the people denotes a rule of the people over the people. This is picture of democratic rule. We know that democratic rule is completely opposite of the Kingdom of God and we will examine this in a subsequent message. Now let’s look at the sin of Ammon: Deuteronomy 23:3-6: An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord for ever: Because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee. Nevertheless the Lord thy God would not hearken unto Balaam; but the Lord thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the Lord thy God loved the. Thou shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperity all thy days for ever. Now we see the Lord points out two reasons to never let an Ammonite or Moabite within the congregation of the Lord. First, they did not desire to even help Israel coming out of the wilderness with bread or water. It was the Ammonites, in particular that did not allow Israel to pass through their land. Second, the Ammonites conspired with Moab and the Midianites to cause the children of Israel to sin against God by the Balaam who was sent to curse Israel. Now I want to point out this important point about the Ammonites because we will visit this in the next message. The Ammonites worshipped a false god named Molech (Leviticus 18:21). Molech is a false god that the Ammonites worshipped and sacrificed children to by laying living babies on a steel pan that is heated with a fire under it. As the baby screams to death there is someone below the huge statue beating a drum to drown out the screams of the baby. The sacrifice of children was very prevalent back then and the spirit of Ammon is still prevalent today. In the next message for the sake of time and information we will examine pictures of the spirit of the Ammonite in Scripture. Peace, Love and Grace, Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

Overcoming the Moabites

Journey of the Sons of God to the Promised Land Today’s Focus: The Spirit of Moab: Overcoming the Moabites Scripture: Numbers 1:1,2; Ephesians 6:1-4; 1 Corinthians 4:14,15 Greetings Sons of God: Numbers 1:1,2: And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of the congregation, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying, Take ye the sum of all the congregation of he children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, ever male by their polls; Before confronting Moab the Lord arranges Israel in their tribes and according to the houses of their fathers. The spirit of Moab comes to destroy this arrangement through sin, idolatry and fornication. So how do we overcome this spirit? If we submit ourselves to the arrangement of the Lord’s house which is Patriarchal (father/son) then the spirit of Father (Antipas Principle – Revelation 2 Pergamos church) comes in and protects the household against all attacks of the enemy. But when the spirit of Father is not the sole rule of the household, then Satan can set up his throne amongst the believers and one of the spirits that come is the spirit of Moab that says “What father?” Let me show you the importance of spiritual fathers in overcoming the spirit of Moab. Ephesians 6:1-4: Children obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. 1 Corinthians 4:14,15: I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons, I warn you. For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. We see Paul exhorting the church that though you have many teachers of Christ you need fathers. It will be fathers that will foster relationships and within the spirit of Father is a teacher. He then goes on to the church at Ephesus and tells the sons of God to obey their parents in the Lord. Your parents in the Lord are not always your biological parents. It is the household that the Lord arranges you in to advance his Kingdom. He then warns the fathers of the households not to provoke the children to wrath but directs them to rear them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. The spiritual father does not point you to them. This is why Paul said to the church at Corinth, Who is Paul or Am I of Paul, Is Christ divided? The spiritual father should always point the sons to the Heavenly Father. It is the restoration of the spirit of Father over the sons that will allow the sons of God to overcome the spirit of Moab. Peace, Love and Grace, Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

Sin of Moab

Journey of the Sons of God to the Promised Land Today’s Focus: The Spirit of Moab – Sin of Moab Scripture: Numbers 22:1-3 Greetings Sons of God: Numbers 22:1-3: And the children of Israel set forward and pitched in the plains of Moab on this side Jordan by Jericho. And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel. First we see the children of Israel have set up the nation in the plains of Moab. Remember Moab is the spirit that mocks the need of fathers. The Scriptures say that Balak who is the king of the Moabites (Numbers 22:4) was afraid of Israel. Now he looks out and see the children of Israel and sees that they are many and understand they are in family units and tribes. Now Balak, king of the Moabites fears Israel and sends for Balaam to come curse Israel. Now Balaam’s name means “destroyer of the people or confuser of the people”. Now Balaam finds himself blessing Israel more than anything, even prophesying the destruction of Balak and the Moabites. But what Balaam suggests Balak to do is to get the children of Israel to have sex and marry the Moabite women. When the children of Israel did this, the Lord was angered because of the mixing of the holy seed with the profane. Spiritually you have the children of God becoming unequally yoked with unbelievers. The Spirit of Moab is present to eliminate and destroy the image and rule of father over the House of God. The judgment of the Lord was very brutal towards Israel for this sin. Over 24,000 people died due to this transgression (Numbers 25). In closing, the sin of Moab is to destroy the rule and image of fathers. They attempted to do this by getting those connected and arranged by their father’s households to sin against God by mixing the holy seed with a unholy nation and ultimately 24,000 were judged. In the next message we will look at overcoming the spirit of Moab. Peace, Love and Grace, Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

History of Moab

Journey of the Sons of God to the Promised Land Today’s Focus: The Spirit of Moab - History of Moab Scripture: Genesis 11:27; 19:37,38 Greetings Sons of God: We will look at the spirit of Moab and see how it comes against the church and the building of the House of God in the Earth. Now we know that God hides wisdom in names so let’s examine what the meaning of Moab is: Moab: What father? Moab was not only the name of a place but the name of a person. Moab was the firstborn son of Lot. Understanding biblical principles of families we know that sons are a product of their ancestors. Genesis 11:27: Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor and Haran; and Haran begat Lot So we see that Lot is the nephew of Haran. Now Haran died when Lot was a very young boy and so Lot became an orphan (critical point) at a very young age. Lot then goes with his uncle Abram and they set off on their journey. Eventually to make a long story short, Lot’s herdsmen and Abram’s herdsmen do not get along and for the sake of peace they go off in different directions (Genesis 14:8-18) Of course, Lot ends up in Sodom and Gomorrah and Abraham intercedes for Lot’s safety and as the come out of Sodom and Gomorrah Lot and His two daughters go up into the mountains to stay. Now right here I want to point out some critical points: 1. Lot was an orphan at a young age but even under the care of Abram, Lot never saw Abram as his father. No where in scripture will you find that Lot sees Abram as his father. This is critical. 2. Lot had no sons, just daughters. With those two points it brings us to Genesis 19 and the meat of our story. Genesis 19:30 starts with Lot’s daughter realizing that their father has no son to carry his name and so they devise a plan to get him drunk with wine, sleep with him and bare him a son. They pull the plan off and the two daughter become pregnant and bore Lot a son each: Genesis 19:37-38: And the firstborn bare a son and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day. And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Benammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day Remember God hides wisdom in names: Moab means “What Father?” and Benammi means “Son of the people”. These two people born of a incestuous relationship mock the role of a father and promote the rule of the people (democracy). Of course the Scriptures state that they are the fathers of the Moabites and Ammonites which dwell in the wilderness. It is the spirit of Moab we want to concentrate on over the next few messages because it is the Moabite spirit that comes to destroy God’s people and unless God’s people overcome this spirit, they will never inherit the promised land. Peace, Love and Grace, Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

Overcoming the Edomites Part 2

Journey of the Sons of God to the Promised Land Today’s Focus: The Spirit of Edom: Overcoming the Edomites Part 2 Scripture: Proverbs 29:23; Matthew 23:11,12; Romans 12:19-21; 1 Peter 5:5,6 Greetings Sons of God: Let us continue looking at how the sons of God overcome the spirit of the Edomites today: Overcoming Perpetual Hatred Romans 12:19-21: dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shall heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. To overcome the perpetual hatred that the spirit of the Edomites we must do good. In the above scripture, Paul outlines those actions we can do that overcome. Even though they hate you, feed him, give him a drink, in other words, bless them. When you do that it heaps coals of fire on his head. We overcome hatred with good and good is God. Overcoming Pride 1 Peter 5:5,6: Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time; Proverbs 29:23: A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit Matthew 23:11,12: But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. If we are to overcome the characteristic of being prideful we must simply submit and humble ourselves. We should never think more highly of ourselves than we ought to. God will exalt the humble and will lower or abase the prideful. The prideful spirit of the Edomite is not of the Father (1 John 2:15). Submission and humility will always keep you in the perfect place to be used and accurately represent Christ in the Earth. In our next message we will look at the spirit of Moab. Peace, Love and Grace, Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

Overcoming the Edomites Part 1

Journey of the Sons of God to the Promised Land Today’s Focus: Spirit of Edom – Overcoming the Edomites Part 1 Scripture: 1 Corinthians 2:12-14; James 1:19-21 Greetings Sons of God: Well in order for us to understand how to overcome this spirit we need to know the characteristics of this spirit of Edom: 1. Malicious and Quick to Anger 2. Disregard of Spiritual things 3. Perpetual Hatred 4. Prideful So in order to overcome this spirit we know we must do the opposite: Malicious, Quick to Anger (Wrath) James 1:19-21: wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.. We overcome the Edomite spirit by being slow to speak, quicker to be quiet and listen and receive the Word of the Lord in the spirit of meekness. Disregard of Spiritual Things 1 Corinthians 2:12-14: No we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. Just like Esau disregarded the importance of his birthright for food those who posses this spirit care for the canal things of life and disregard the importance of their spiritual inheritance. But we see that if we are to understand the things that God has for us and has given us then we must see and hear through the eyes and ears of the spirit because the Spirit of God discerns all things that are spiritual comparing them but the carnal man cannot know the things of the Spirit because they are only spiritually discerned. In the next message, we will continue looking at how the sons of God overcome the spirit of the Edomite Peace, Love and Grace, Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

Edomites in Scripture

Journey of the Sons of God to the Promised Land Today’s Focus: Spirit of Edom: Edomites in Scripture Scripture: 1 Samuel 22:16-19; Ester 3; Matthew 2; Acts 12 Greetings Sons of God: This spirit is prevalent in Scriptures and you would be surprised who were Edomites so let’s examine this and you will see why this spirit is characterized by pride, perpetual hatred for Israel. For the sake of time, I will give the Scriptures for you to go read. Edomites and King Saul (1 Samuel 22:16-19) In Saul’s attempt to try to hunt and kill David, he used Edomites (Doeg) to kill the priests of the Lord because they knew where David fled and he view them as being on David’s side. Doeg the Edomite killed 85 priests of the Lord. Isn’t it scary that Saul who is Israeli would use an Edomite to kill his fellow blood brothers all for the sake to accomplish his devious and selfish plans. Edomites and Queen Esther (Esther 3) It would be Haman, the Agagite, which is another name for Edomite who would set the plot to kill the Jews. Ultimately Haman would be executed for his evil plot. The Herods (Matthew 2, Acts 12) The family of the Herods were all Edomites. Now if we know anything about the Herods, we know that they were set over the children of Israel by the Roman Government. In Matthew 2 it would be Herod that would go throughout Bethlehem (House of Bread) and kill all the children 2 years and younger to search out the baby Jesus in the attempt to kill him because of the prophecy of Him being a King. In Acts 12, Herod would stretch forth his hand to persecute the church. Ultimately the Lord will kill Herod and the Scriptures say he was eaten of worms. So even in Scriptures we see the murderous spirit of the Edomite. We see how it has no respect for the things nor the children of the Lord. It seeks to destroy the children of God in their maturity to their inheritance. Peace, Love and Grace, Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

Spirit of Edom - History and Characteristics

Journey of the Sons of God to the Promised Land Today’s Focus: Spirit of Edom – History and Characteristics Scripture: Genesis 25:29-34 Greetings Sons of God: When we talk about the spirit of Edom or the Edomites we are talking about Esau. The second name of Esau is Edom. So to understand the spirit of Edom we will look at Esau. If you read Genesis 25:29-34 you will see that Esau exchanged his birthright for a bowl of pottage. So we know from previous discussions that this is a picture of a person who does not regard the spiritual things as important. But let’s look a little deeper into Esau. Esau was a hunter (Genesis 25:27) and this is a picture of a man that takes things by force. His brother Jacob plain man, dwelling in tents. Jacob was one who planted and cultivated hence he is a picture of a man who is patient and understands how to cultivate things that are needed. Esau did not have the patience for cultivating and this would ultimately be the thing that drives him to sell his birthright (Genesis 25:29-32). Esau never understood what pleased God or how to attain heavenly treasures. Edomites are characterized as very prideful. Ezekiel 35:13: Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against me and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard them. Thus saith the Lord God; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate. Edomites are characterized as holding grudges and having perpetual hatred for Israel Ezekiel 35:3: Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end; So as we can see the spirit of the Edomite can be summed up into this characteristics: 1. Disregard for the spiritual things (Carnal minded) 2. Takes things by force and lacks patience for cultivation and growth 3. Prideful 4. Holds Grudges and Perpetuate Hatred In the next message we will show you some notorious Edomites in Scripture so that you can see how notorious this nation was and why God was so angry and intent on making them desolate. Peace, Love and Grace, Calvin Calhoun, Jr.