THRONE ROOM THOUGHTS Francois du Toit

I was sitting in a traditional church the other day listening to the reciting of the confession of
faith and realised that even the devil believes the same. He has no problem with people
believing that Jesus lived, died and was raised on the 3rd day and is now seated at the right
hand of God, he doesn’t even have a big problem with people going to heaven, the one thing
he desperately wants to hide from man is the mystery of our inclusion in Christ; had he
understood the wisdom of God he would never have crucified the Lord of glory! All he is left to
do now is to keep mankind as ignorant as he was.

The thing that successfully keeps the church neutralised, ineffective and unfruitful on planet
earth is their ignorance of the fact that we co-died and were indeed co-raised and is now co-
seated at the right hand of God. There is such a huge difference between praying towards
heavenly places and praying from heavenly places! Many of our prayers and popular worship
songs reveal our ignorance of our inclusion in Him! “If then you have been raised with Christ,
seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your
minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your
life is hid with Christ in God.” (Remember, Paul’s if is not a condition but a conclusion)
Col.3:1-3.

Italy need not score another goal; the points are on the board! Every informed Italian
understands their inclusion in the conclusion of the Soccer World Cup 2006. All that is left
now is for them to revel in the sense of victory; a fact that at least for the next four years
would not be contested. The rest of the world is reduced to mere spectators; they are left in
the cold of envy and regret.

Yet, the greatest event of all time, the event that split human history into two, the before and
the after, represents and includes everyone on the planet. Jesus is the only individual that
would ever qualify to represent all of God and all of mankind in one Person. While history
records the death and resurrection of one individual, eternity records the death and
resurrection of mankind. All that is left is for man to hear the Good News in order for him to
know the truth that would make him free indeed.

Every shadow of every prophetic utterance has found its definition, fulfilment and ultimate
substance in Christ, In His eternal thought and in His eternal purpose and His obedience once
and for all!

On what grounds dare God tell Peter with such utmost explicitly and simplicity that he may no
longer call any animal or human unclean? The whole of creation groans with longing for the
revelation of the sons of God! What happened to the unclean and unholy? A death, their
death occurred! Blood was shed, this time never to be repeated again.

The one thing the devil wants to veil from man’s understanding is the revelation of the full
extent of redemption, without which no faith is possible. Faith is not something we do to get
God to do something back to us, it is the most wonderful thing that happens to us when we
realise what God has already done for us in Christ!

Because we understand the redemption of man, how and on what grounds, God succeeded
to acquit the human race while they were still hostile towards Him, we have great confidence
to appeal to every man’s conscience. God pleads with an already redeemed and forgiven
mankind through us to realise the truth about themselves!

When the curtain is drawn, it does not touch the view, the view in all its splendour is intact. He
granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, but we have become blind and short-
sighted through the distraction of the senses. The devil veils the minds of the unbelievers to
keep them from seeing the light of the gospel, which is the glory of God revealed in the face
of Christ! AS IN A MIRROR!!!! Window-shopping keeps you staring at something that you
think you don’t have! The deceiver needs your permission and unbelief to keep you ignorant
and defeated! That is why James says that we deceive ourselves when we look away from
the Word of truth and forget what manner of man we are. There is no attraction in the
contradiction, flee from it!

I preach in the prisons. The other day I asked the prisoners, “if someone stole something, at
what point does it ever become his property? How long must he have it in his possession
before it becomes his?” They all laughed and said it never becomes theirs! Yet we have
handed over ownership of mankind to the father of lies! While the earth is the Lord’s and the
fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell in it! Ps 24:1.

Only two chapters after Jesus said to the Pharisees that they are of their father the devil he
quotes to the same audience Ps 82 “I say ye are gods all of you are sons of the most High!”
John 8 and 10.

They have forgotten the Rock they were hewn from, the God who gave them birth. The
strongest bond in human relationship is challenged in Is 49, “Can a mother forget her suckling
child? As unlikely as that may seem, even if she does, it is impossible for your Creator to
forget you! I have tattooed you and engraved you on the palms of my hands!”

In Ps 22 David says after the prophecy of the cross that “all the ends of the earth shall
remember and turn to the LORD!”

Any businessman who pays for a hundred items and only gets fifty delivered to him would feel
cheated and would pursue every possible avenue to retrieve what belongs to him. LUKE 15!

The truth of His obedience and the fruit of the travail of His soul will fill the earth as the waters
of a tsunami!

The product of our ministry is not heaven in the first place; it is the most attractive life of an
intimate daily, constant, conscious feedback encounter with the Living God in Spirit and in
truth and undiluted friendship with our fellow man!

Like Paul I can truly say that over the years I have witnessed two kinds of zeal, the one
exhausts and the other ignites. Rom 10.

I also know the difference between the intimate presence of God and emotional hype. I
depend deeply on the gift of the precious Spirit of God, the Spirit of truth to lead me into all
truth; the truth of sonship as it was revealed in Christ; the only truth that sets man truly free.
Heb1:1-3, Heb 4:12

A doctor in theology asked me the other day what I think the risk was in this revelation that we
teach, of God’s righteousness and the true spirit identity of man. I answered him that any
revelation from God carries the same risk, that man would turn it into a mere recipe. The
moment we reduce relationship to a recipe we loose spontaneity and intimacy. A doctrine has
to be defended, a life must be lived!

Most of what I write so stirs and inspires myself and people who read it without prejudice, that
one often finds oneself in tears, overwhelmed in worship and with the love of God for a
humanity that deserves nothing more than judgement, but now deserves nothing less but to
hear the glorious news of their redemption and acquittal!

I cannot see less in this gospel but the total inclusion of every man that once stood
condemned because of one man’s transgression, but now stands vindicated because of one
Man’s obedience. There is no distinction, the same mass of humanity that fell from the glory
of God are now reconciled and justified in God’s sight! Rom. 3:21-24. He was handed over
because of our transgressions, but raised because of our acquittal! Rom.4:25. What other
gospel will ignite the kind of faith that will cause the blind to see and the lame to leap? The
ingredient of that which awakens belief in man is the revelation of the full extent of exactly
what took place at Calvary and the Resurrection. Nothing neutralises the devil’s onslaught
and temptation more in the life of the believer than to stand established in these truths.
All the gifts of the Holy Spirit serve only one purpose, to emphasise this great salvation! Heb 2

To simplify the focus of faith to a yes and a no; in 2Cor1:18 Paul says: Jesus is God’s ultimate
YES to every promise He had made to man.

Luke 15 is such a dynamic and clear reference to how Jesus views the sinner!
The original owner remains persuaded about the original identity and value of the lost sheep,
coin and son!

At what point did God justify the human race? When does truth become true? I believe that
long before anyone believes truth it is already true. I believe that man was actually (not
potentially) saved, forgiven, healed and sanctified and born anew in ONE event, when Jesus
died, and was raised. When John speaks of man’s Advocate, he says that He is the expiation
of our sins, and not of ours only but also of the whole world. (That is all inclusive)1 John 2:1,2.

“One died for all therefore all have died. From now on therefore, I no longer know any man
(not any believer) from a human point of view!” 2 Cor.5:14,16.
On what other basis can we or dare we preach the Gospel? There is no other Gospel!

The same humanity who universally deserved judgement and death, now, in the light of what
God did in Christ, deserves nothing less but to hear the glorious Good News of their
redemption. Faith can come no other way!! 2Cor 5:18,19. Rom 10:17

Where did the cripple’s faith come from in Acts 14? The revelation of the righteousness of
God (what God did in Christ on humanity’s behalf) ignites faith. The dormant seed in the soil
germinates and sprouts and reveals its true identity. (That is what the “new birth” experience
is all about)

Peter to his horror discovers that something of far greater consequence has happened when
the Lamb of God was slain, than what his doctrine up to that point allowed him to see! “Call
no man common or unclean!!! What God has cleansed you or any Priest or Theologian may
no longer announce unclean!” (Regardless of what it may appear like on the outside!)

If we take these scriptures out of the Bible, we have no message left of any appeal to the lost!

Paul writes to Titus to speak evil of NO man, to avoid quarrelling, to be gentle, to show perfect
courtesy (not fake politeness) to ALL MEN.

WHY? Because we ourselves were once IGNORANT! The only difference between us and
them (those filled with malice and hatred, swept along by passions and pleasures) is our
knowledge of truth! Jesus says you will KNOW the truth and the truth will make you free. (The
truth about WHO? The truth about YOU! Jesus was not bound, or sick or depressed) The
eagle was already an eagle and already free when it heard the mirror-voice that quickened
and awakened its understanding! The ugly duckling did not see a potential swan in the
reflection; it saw the truth of its original design and identity!

God calls things which are not as though they were not because He is taking a fat chance, but
because His faith knows the truth!

Weymouth, who studied and taught as a professor the English and Greek language for 60
years, made the following translation from Rom 5…
“15
But God’s free gift immeasurably outweighs the transgression. For if through the
transgression of the one individual the mass of mankind have died, infinitely greater is
the generosity with which God’s grace, and the gift given in His grace which found
expression in the one man Jesus Christ, have been bestowed on the mass of mankind.
16
And it is not with the gift as it was with the results of one individual’s sin; for the
judgement which one individual provoked resulted in condemnation, whereas the free
gift after a multitude of transgressions results in acquittal.
17
For if, through the transgression of the one individual, Death made use of the one
individual to seize the sovereignty, all the more shall those who receive God’s
overflowing grace and gift of righteousness reign as kings in Life through the one
individual, Jesus Christ.
18
It follows then that just as the result of a single transgression is a condemnation
which extends to the whole race, so also the result of a single decree of righteousness
is a life-giving acquittal which extends to the whole race.
19
For as through the disobedience of the one individual the mass of mankind were
constituted sinners, so also through the obedience of the One the mass of mankind
will be constituted righteous.
20
Now Law was brought in later on, so that transgression might increase. But where sin
increased, grace has overflowed;
21
in order that as sin has exercised kingly sway in inflicting death, so grace, too, may
exercise kingly sway in bestowing a righteousness which results in the Life of the
Ages through Jesus Christ our Lord.
6 To what conclusion, then, shall we come? Are we to persist in sinning in order that
the grace extended to us may be the greater?
2
No, indeed; how shall we who have died to sin, live in it any longer?”

Can you understand why Paul writes in chapter 6:1 and and 2 that in the light of this radical
conclusion of the revelation of grace, it could be possible that man can reason some excuse
to continue to sin so that grace may abound. If that is your fear that in the light of the Gospel-
emphasis we preach, people will find an excuse to continue in sin, I am so glad and confident
to announce that the very opposite is true! The moment someone discovers the integrity of
the basis of their faith and innocence and freedom in Christ, it becomes the most valuable
treasure to protect and nourish. Love flees from temptation and sin!

Any Greek scholar will tell you that the words in John 3 translated born again should actually
read, born from above. In verse 13 Jesus says, no one has ascended into heaven (to see or
enter the kingdom of heaven, v 3,5) but he who also descended from heaven! The son of
man! The son of man is the son of God. “How majestic is Thy name in all the earth! Thou
whose glory above the heavens is chanted by the mouth of babes and infants!” Ps 8:1,2 We
come from there! We come from above but we have forgotten the Rock that begot us, but He
has never forgotten us! “He came to His own! Like Nicodemus we would have no appetite for
heavenly things if we did not originally come from there! We are designed not to live by bread
alone but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

“Hearken to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the LORD; look to the rock
from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug.” Is 51:1. “Now there
was a man named Joseph from the Jewish town of Arimathe’a. He was a member of the
council, a good and righteous man, who had not consented to their purpose and deed, and he
was looking for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud, and laid him in a rock-hewn tomb,
where no one had ever yet been laid. It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was
beginning.” Luk.23:50-54. “You were born anew into a living hope through the resurrection of
Jesus from the dead. 1Pet.1:3.

“Then we will know even as we have always been known.”

The purpose of our ministry is not to impress or entertain you with eloquent words, but to
impress you with who you are in the light of His Word and perfect work of redemption! Like
Paul my testimony is that much more in my absence, come to the full conclusion of your own
salvation! It is to your advantage, Jesus said, that I go! For Jesus to have stayed any longer in
the flesh would have defeated the purpose of God. “Unless the grain of wheat falls into the
ground and dies, it remains alone!”

To know Jesus after the flesh is powerless and irrelevant. Paul had every opportunity to visit
the 11 disciples who walked with Jesus for 3 years and knew Him so well; instead he says
that when God revealed His son in him, immediately he did not confer with flesh and blood!
Paul doesn’t even once quote a parable or mention a miracle that Jesus performed! His
message was never Christ in history, but Christ in you the hope of glory!

Paul placed no confidence in the flesh, his bodily presence was weak! He carried many scars.
Countless beatings left their mark, five times he received 39 lashes by the whips of religious
fanatics who hated him with passion, they didn’t always aim for his back. Three times beaten
with sticks, once stoned and left for dead, many times imprisoned, hungry and cold. In 2Cor
11:6 he says, “I might be unskilled in speaking but I am not so in knowledge! That was his
secret, his knowledge! It is not how good I can say it; it is all about the content of my
utterance.

His aim was undisrupted, he did not lose heart, he continued to labour with all the inspired
energy of God to make all men see and to present every man mature in Christ.

Copy right Francois du Toit 2004