1. The Covenant
My Experiment:
1. I take into myself ALL that God says in the New Testament. ALL. When I say, "the New Testament," I mean the words on the page from Matthew 1:1 to Revelation 22:21
2. I exclude EVERYTHING that God does not say in the New Testament. EVERYTHING.
3. I take into myself ALL that God says in the New Testament in TEN specific ways. Each of these ten things comes BY what God actually says at the core and center of the New Testament.
By Daniel Yordy ~
PDF Version for Printing
Listen as you read
(If you need them)
< Windows Media PlayerApple Quicktime >
TheCovenant Download (To download audio, right-click link, then "save link as.") TheCovenant Download
Our Path Home - © Daniel Yordy 2012
I am conducting an experiment. My decision to conduct this experiment is full and final. I made this decision progressively over the course of thirty-five years; however, in the fall of 2006, over five years ago, I made the final conclusion of that decision. This decision is a willful and personal decision.
My decision is fixed and irrevocable; if I am wrong, then I lose everything.
People imagine that they should attempt in some way or another to move me from that decision; I really do not understand why they think to try that.
My Experiment:
1. I take into myself ALL that God says in the New Testament. ALL. When I say, "the New Testament," I mean the words on the page from Matthew 1:1 to Revelation 22:21
2. I exclude EVERYTHING that God does not say in the New Testament. EVERYTHING. (The Old Testament contains the New AS it is read BY the New; but the New is destroyed IF it is read BY the Old.)
3. I take into myself ALL that God says in the New Testament in TEN specific ways. Each of these ten things comes BY what God actually says at the core and center of the New Testament.
~~~
The Ten Steps of My Experiment:
1. I take into myself what God says, exactly as He says it in the context without any reference to human ideas or traditions that alter what God says. I understand that occasionally, though not often, the Greek words are mistranslated or misconstrued - in those cases I accept the Greek as being what God says, not the English mistranslation.
2. I take into myself all that God says even if I "imagine" that something God says in one place contradicts what God says in another place. I never place my human "intelligence" or lack thereof above the Word God speaks.
3. I take into myself all that God says in the New Testament by the Holy Spirit; that is, through the immediate presence of the Holy Spirit such that, as the words come off the page, they come through the person of the Holy Spirit and thus come into me as Spirit and as Life - AND by the immediate miraculous power of the Holy Spirit enabling me to BELIEVE that what God says is true. I know that I CANNOT believe that what God says is true except by an immediate miracle of the Holy Spirit.
4. I take into myself all that God says as the Lord Jesus Christ, the Word God is always speaking, made PERSONAL in me. Thus every word in the New Testament is personal, Christ Jesus my life, and alive in me.
5. Since I take into myself all the God speaks AS the person of the Lord Jesus Christ inside of me, I take every word AS God Himself fulfilling ALL that He Himself speaks - in me and through me. I take every Word into myself as a human being created to contain all the fullness of God, but without any ability in me to do or to fulfill any of it. Yet I expect that God, through Christ my life, fulfills every word in me and causes me at all times both to will and to do His will (as He says).
6. I take into myself all that God says as being NOW without limitation or restriction or boundary of any kind - except those very few times where God Himself gives some limitation directly in the context. (I.E. the "lake of fire," whatever that symbol represents, is clearly LIMITED in the context to a future age and is thus either non-existent or irrelevant for anyone in the present age.)
7. I accept fully all that God says in the New Testament concerning His use of symbols and metaphors and I understand all such symbols and metaphors entirely by what God Himself says and by the immediate application and power of the Holy Spirit.
8. I speak everything God speaks in the New Testament. I speak it as Christ fulfilled personally in me without limitation of any kind. If what I see with my present eyesight seems to contradict what I speak, I speak what God says and not what my eyes "see." I call those things that "be not" as though they are.
9. I ask God, specifically, to fulfill every Word He speaks in me. Then, in asking, I believe that I have ALREADY received ALL that I ask. I expect in all ways and at all times that God fulfills ALL that He says in me.
10. I engage directly with God, He in me and I in Him, in a mutual relationship of respect and honor, that EVERY Word that He speaks be fulfilled THROUGH me, personally, into this life, into this age, and upon this earth.
Now, having read through these ten points, let's refer back to #2 above.
2. I EXCLUDE EVERYTHING that God does not say in or by the New Testament.
(Understand that studying "facts" in this world is in a separate category. I do not "believe" any facts of this present age; I study them only and view them entirely out from what God Himself actually says.)
Notice, first, that every one of the ten steps given above is something "I do." That is the structure of the experiment. These are the process steps I undergo in the "lab." Equal in importance to the specific steps of my experiment, however, is the THEORY behind the experiment.
What theory do I hold; that is, what, exactly do I expect to PROVE out from following, as best I can, the specific steps of this experiment?
Here is my theory and the PROOF I hope to see:
The Theory and Proof of My Experiment:
If I believe all that God speaks as He speaks it by the power of the Holy Spirit AS Christ personally in me without limitation, if I speak it out loud, asking God to fulfill all that He speaks in me and through me AS Christ my life - THAT:
God Himself WILL DO ALL that He says
in ALL fullness and without limitation IN me now
and THROUGH me into this present world.
~~~
Now, I readily admit that is a very tall order - the idea that God would actually do what He says through someone who believes with all confidence and rejoicing that what He says is true!
When I began this experiment, I was told by a dear Christian sister, a friend of mine over many years, that it will not work. That is, my following the steps of this experiment will not result in God doing all that He speaks in fullness in and through me.
More than that, a number of people have expressed in one way or another that I am off my rocker in even considering such an experiment. Beyond that, others attempt to argue at me that I MUST include things God does not say because those things are, after all, so spiritual and "deep." A larger negative response comes from those who INSIST that I have no business at all believing or, worse yet, speaking this or that word God says in the New Testament because they have discovered why that particular word is decidedly NOT God speaking. (Understand that there are a few verses that I do not and cannot understand - but those things are relatively few and quite minor. I am so enthralled by the BIG things God says that minor things that no one can understand simply do not matter.)
The largest negative response, I'm sure, is simply laughing, walking away, and utterly ignoring this foolish, foolish man.
So - five + years is a decent amount of time! What are the initial results of my experiment, an experiment that is by no means over and will not be over until my body is swallowed up in Resurrection Life - what are the present results?
Present Results of My Experiment:
1. I find that all the emotional turmoil of the autistic neurological disability that I bear, turmoil I have known constantly since age 9, turmoil that is first a physical condition of the nervous system, but that also has been worked on by spirits of torment - has all leveled out into the peace of the immediate knowledge of God filling me in all goodness - leveled out in a way I have never ever known. I cannot say that my nerves are fully healed, nor other elements in my body; nevertheless the settledness I know now, a settledness that continues day after day in spite of momentary and outward fluctuations, this continuing I have never before known.
2. I have moments, now and then, but growing in power and intensity, where I suddenly see by my real eyes, the eyes of my spirit, to my overwhelming amazement, that what God actually says is actually true! This is a phenomenon I have never before known in all my years of walking with God in the experience and demonstration of His power.
3. (This one is first in importance.) I have come to experience, continually, a heart-to-heart intimate communion, not only with the Lord Jesus Christ in person, but with the Father Himself, an intimate communion of His Person inside of my person, His consciousness inside of mine, that answers all the longing of my heart for 50 years, that answers that longing so fully, so completely, that I would be more than happy to be "wrong" in my experiment just to continue enjoying this precious, precious communion.
4. My certainty concerning the enveloping reality of the Holy Spirit has increased significantly, my certainty of His goodness and favor attending my way, His provision always coming just as I need, His love abounding in my heart, His life and joy flowing out from me as mighty rivers of living water, this certainty of the phenomena of God with me (what the person of the Holy Spirit is) has increased beyond what I have ever before known.
5. My understanding of all that God says, that it all makes sense, that it ALL fits so perfectly and logically together, grows and grows. God makes sense to me, in ALL that He says in the New Testament, above and beyond what I have ever known in the past.
6. Number six is different from the other initial results. The more I speak all that God speaks as He speaks it, the more I quickly recognize when other Christians say things God does not say. I recognize those things immediately, and instantly feel sick in my stomach when I read or hear them. Something in my gut tells me that it's just not a good idea for any Christian at any time to say things that are NOT, or that oppose, what God says. (Writing things is identical in the spirit to saying them with one's voice box.)
7. And number seven is this, the boldness and certainty, the clarity and power, by which I move forward in the continuation of this experiment is far greater than any "daring" I held in my heart as I began it five years ago.
NOW - is the theory of my experiment PROVEN in any way by these seven points?
NO! No it is not.
There is only one final PROOF of my experiment - since it is, in fact, ruled by ALL that God says in the New Testament. And understand, God Himself has commanded us to prove Him true. This PROOF has four parts, two concerning me, one inward and one outward, and two concerning this planet - Earth, one negative and one positive.
Here are the necessary PROOFS that my experiment is a success.
Required Proofs of My Experiment:
1. I stand upon this earth, together with all who love His appearing, as the revelation of Jesus Christ as confirmed by the Father.
2. My physical body is swallowed up in the resurrection life of the body of Jesus, immortal and incorruptible, with no knowledge of any shadow of sin or death - forever.
3. The entirety of the curse, the rule of wicked men, and all demon spirits are removed utterly from this planet and from all the experience of mankind.
4. Rivers of living water flow out of me AS the very glory of God covering this earth and bringing all the healing life of God into every place.
~~~
Now, first, there is not an ounce of self-exaltation in any of this expectation, but simply the quiet faith of a man who believes in Jesus and wants to be with Him more than life itself, expecting what God says in the New Testament.
Second, it is not hard to see that this experiment of mine, if it should actually succeed, will overturn everything else. It is apparent that the vested interest of billions of persons, both human and angelic, including millions upon millions of Christians in their present state, requires that I be wrong, that I be silenced, and that my experiment fail utterly.
Third, it is also not hard to see that this experiment, should it succeed, must be followed by every created being - following not me, but Christ, all the way into the Father.
What a novel idea!! That what God actually says in the New Testament is actually true and that God would actually do all that He says in and through a simple-hearted people, you and me, who actually believe in all confident rejoicing that He does what He says through them!
Why would anyone believe such a preposterous thing? (I speak facetiously.)
Well, hey. Everyone is gambling; everyone is experimenting on their own personal and willful decision to follow some form of truth or reality as they perceive it. Why on earth should anyone fault me because I do the same as they? And why should any Christian be bothered by this personal and final decision of mine?
You might say, "Well, Yordy, you can't possibly claim that you are following all the steps in your 'experiment' perfectly." And I certainly do not make such a claim; I don't need to. Look back at the underlying premise of all my claims. The underlying premise is simply that Christ Jesus is my life and that He fulfills ALL that God speaks inside of me, including every element of the "believing" part of it. All I do is agree with Him in joy - when I remember to, which is more often now than at any time in the past. And when I forget? I give thanks with all joy for my silliness and continue on in full confidence that Jesus does all things well.
I now want to come back to Result #6: the instant recognition when another Christian says or writes something God does not say or clearly misconstrues something God does say because they do not believe all that He says, and the sickness I feel in my stomach when I recognize such words.
God sends difficult things my way, partly because I always reach for Him inside those things. When I do that, He shows me things of Himself and of His Word I have never seen before.
Over the last couple of weeks, God has taken me through what outwardly were minor challenges, yet because of their nature, these challenges caused me to look at the root of my faith in God and my relationship with Him. Out of that challenge, God opened our shared heart for me to see the present need to spell out, as clearly and as specifically as I can, our Covenant with one another.
The Covenant is everything.
Some series that I write are spelled out as specific teachings, building one thing on top of another. Other series I write are more of a following the wind wherever it blows. Others may be a mixture of the two. This series, The New Covenant, I intend to be as specific, line upon line, as the Lord and I together can make it. God gave the arguments of the Covenant spelled out in Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews, through a mind, Paul's, of a much higher IQ than mine might be. Those arguments are built through sure logic, line upon line. I will attempt to apply my limited abilities in the same direction, bringing the strength and specificity of the Covenant into the present hour.
Let's start with the initial speaking of God.
Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. Genesis 1:3
First is God. Paul said, "There is one God, the Father." John said that Jesus Christ is both the beginning of the creation of God and the Word spoken in the beginning. Thus, "Let there be light," is the Son of God. Finally, "and there was light" is the Spirit of God, that is the phenomena of God in the heavenly realms.
Now, look at these two words, "Said, 'Let'" Those two words are the Covenant, they are the first part of the always speaking of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Always Speaking of God begins with the action of the Father, first, and the permission of the creation, faith, second. That is the Covenant.
Covenant is the first part of Christ. God exalts Christ, the Word He speaks, above every other part of Himself.
God does not lie. God is limited and bound - by the Word that He speaks. His Word is more important to God than any other part of His person or being.
All those who attempt to relate with God separate from ALL the Word that He speaks through the Covenant dishonor Him in a way that sends a tremor of horror all through me. I do not know anything about that tremor of horror beyond this: it's just not a good idea. It is not what anyone wants to be doing.
No Covenant means no Christ. The Word begins with Covenant.
The Covenant begins with Blood. It is a Blood Covenant.
Now, I take a very broad view of my Savior and His Salvation. He carries inside Himself all who belong to Him, wherever they might find themselves to be right now, He knows exactly what He is doing with each, and He does all things well. I continue fully confident that He speaks to each, that He reveals Himself to each inside whatever confinements and limitations they presently stumble through. His mercy, by His shed blood, covers everything; His grace sustains all. Even in the midst of horrors, He shows Himself kind, opening blind eyes to see Him alone out of hearts that once raged against Him.
This I believe about my Savior absolutely - and YET! I find that there is more than one way in God of seeing anything. Seeing the same thing from an entirely different angle does not in any way remove the truth found in the other way of seeing. It is perspective, not truth, that changes.
Over the last couple of weeks, I was hit with two completely opposing ways of approaching "God," two ways that I myself do not know - and have never really known.
The first was a cry that Christianity in this critical hour is being destroyed by this whole modern nonsense about "experiencing" God by the "Spirit." The only hope for the church and through the church for the world is if we rush back to the clear logic of "word only." What was not acknowledged by those crying for "word only" was that they really mean, "Augustine," and not the New Testament, which is, in fact, with the Old Testament as well, filled with more Spirit experience inside the human story than any other book on the planet, a minor fact they conveniently overlook.
The second was a cry that Christianity in this critical hour must abandon the limitations and confinements of the words on the pages of the New Testament or this individual, Jesus, and follow the "God within" into the exuberance of a "spirit only" gospel. What was not acknowledged by those crying for "spirit only" was that they really mean whatever imaginative human fancy rocks your boat. It is clear that they want no "words" from a personal God, and especially, no need for any messy "blood."
As this second cry hit against me, it seemed as if the ground on either side of me - and those walking with me, dropped away and I saw myself standing on a knife's edge. I saw all the ages of Desire standing on a knife's edge. Suddenly, the Way that leads to Life became very, very narrow.
On the one side of that knife's edge are the murky swamps of "word only," filled with millions of precious saints, all beloved of the Lord, all brethren with us, yet caught in that which they cannot escape, save by one means alone.
On the other side of that knife's edge are the murky swamps of "spirit only," filled with thousands of our precious brethren, many who came out of the "word only" swamps, yet now they leap headlong into the "spirit only" murkiness on the other side, as much caught in that which they cannot escape as the others, save by one means alone.
All creation labors in the agony of travail right now, groaning to find and to know one thing alone. All those who died in Christ are leaning forward in their seats in the heavens in breathless anticipation, right now, all their hopes and desires pinned on one thing alone. All the bowels and yearning of God Almighty are poured out upon one thing alone right now. All of our brethren, caught now in the final hour of trial, floundering in whatever swamp they have chosen, are utterly dependent on one thing alone.
That one thing is the fulfillment of the Covenant.
This is the great story of God. This is the climax; the whole point of everything. Everything that is gone before is for this one moment. Everything that is to be comes out of this one moment. If there is no possibility of utter loss, there is no story. God is more reckless in His faith in His Word than we comprehend.
The fulfillment of the Covenant stands upon a knife's edge.
I care nothing, in the present moment (in an outward sense), for those who do not want to know the Covenant. They belong to Jesus, not me. I care only, rather, for myself and those of like precious faith, that we would know that Covenant, not "about" it, but that we would know the Covenant in all fullness in all fulfillment. Out from the fulfillment of the Covenant alone proceeds the love and help of God that will alone set all our brethren free.
To that Covenant and to its fulfillment I commit my life utterly and without reservation. From before the foundations of the ages, God seized me in His determination for this very thing, for this very hour, to reveal Christ in me.
The Way home, the ONLY Way home, is 100% Word and 100% Spirit all the time and forever.
The moment people attempt to separate the Spirit from the Word, He vanishes and another spirit takes His place. The moment people attempt to separate the Word from the Spirit, Jesus is no longer in their hand, and another takes His place.
Paul, all through the AD 50's and 60's, was attacked by "word-only" Christians. Everything he wrote came out of the travail of Christ inside of Him to separate the precious saints whom he loved from the legalism of word-only. John, all through the AD 80's and 90's was attacked by "spirit-only" Christians. Everything he wrote came out of the travail of Christ inside of him to separate the precious saints whom he loved from the gnosticism of spirit-only.
John stated in no uncertain terms that any "christ" that was spirit-only, separated from the flesh of humanity, was anti-Christ. Paul was a bit more crude; he suggested that we would all be better off if the pushers of "word-only" would just castrate themselves and be done with it.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, His Gospel and Covenant, comes to us primarily through these two men, and through the strength of their hearts in doing battle against the word-only and the spirit-only mutterers of demonic "wisdom" that seem to fill the ranks of Christian ministry then and now.
I signed a Covenant with God and He signed a Covenant with me. That Covenant is binding in all ways upon both of us. I signed the Covenant with God because I wanted something from God only He could provide. God signed the Covenant with me because He wanted something from me only I could provide.
The something I wanted from God was Himself in all fullness filling all of me. The something God wanted from me was myself in utter abandon given to Him that He might show Himself through me to every reach of His creation.
[As you know, I do not say, "I," to separate myself in any way from you or you from me, but to put into the boldest terms possible the faith that must come from each of our hearts. All that we are, we are together, as one body of Christ, one communion of saints, forever.]
Yet we in God and God in us, we will do exploits. Eternity cannot contain the mighty things we will know, God and us, inside this Covenant, this arrangement by which God and us both obtain all things we Desire.
The Covenant is forever.
I do not yet see the specific order by which we must explore the Covenant. I do know that we must begin with something I have already written, but not included as a Christ Our Life letter. We will begin where Paul begins, in the book of Galatians and the contrast he shows between the two covenants, between the Old and the New.
We must know the legal nature of God and how He grounds everything that He does and will do utterly in legal law. And by legal law, I do not mean the law of sin and death given by Moses, which law Moses first shattered upon the mountain-side, but rather the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. For you see, the Covenant also REQUIRES the continual spontaneous operation of Spirit, for God is never Word without being, fully, Spirit, and He is never Spirit without being, fully, Word.
The Covenant is certain and sure, established in all certainty by both the Word that God speaks and by the Oath of His mouth and fulfilled in the bathing, in the immersion of the Holy Spirit.
We must know how the Covenant is written, yet more than written, forged, through the passage of Atonement, starting with Jesus' prayer in John 17 and ending in His ascension on High - and centered in and drenched absolutely by Blood.
This is a bloody, bloody Covenant.
We must know the specific terms of the Covenant, the fine-letter print that is binding on God and on us.
And finally, we must know just exactly how the Covenant is fulfilled in all fullness in our lives right here upon this earth.
The fulfillment of the Covenant is what all things are all about. Yet, by the ordination of God, that Covenant is fulfilled only upon a knife's edge and only at one pin-point of time and human reality.
There is no question in my mind that there are many alive upon the earth today who are seized by the determination of God for that moment of birthing, that "singularity." There is no question in my mind that you and I are among them.
Believe in Jesus; with all your heart, believe in Jesus.
The travail is upon us. Push, push, beloved woman of God, push!
