The Mystery of the Incarnation - Art Katz

Listening to this series for the second time through. Lots of good stuff to meditate on here, and ask the LORD for appropriation.

https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/singlefile.php?lid=21577&commentView=itemComments

https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/singlefile.php?lid=21578&commentView=itemComments

https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/singlefile.php?lid=21579&commentView=itemComments

https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/singlefile.php?lid=21580&commentView=itemComments

https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/singlefile.php?lid=21581&commentView=itemComments

https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/singlefile.php?lid=21582&commentView=itemComments

https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/singlefile.php?lid=21583&commentView=itemComments

https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/singlefile.php?lid=21583&commentView=itemComments

https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/singlefile.php?lid=21585&commentView=itemComments

One thing I love about Katz is his consistent tendency to always give credit to others for their insights. In this series he refers to a great deal of theological writings as well as digs into some pivotal scriptures concerning the incarnation. He also expresses great humility by prefacing his opinions with telling us they are just that.

Apart from the humility of the presentation, I also greatly appreciate the concepts put forth here. When Christ is properly understood, we are greatly empowered for the walking in the way...

Here is a great quote from the first sermon.

"The Holy Spirit is given to them that obey him. Why? Because we need the power for obedience, God never calls us to an obedience that we can perform out of ourselves...'look Ma no hands.' Every obedience to which God calls us is beyond our human ability."

And another great quote

"Power that is independent of character seems like a formula for deception."

Blessings to you brother,
Just listened to the first one. Truly anointed.

Glad you enjoyed it, the whole series is great.

Here is another amazing quote:

"It takes God to be a man..."

Amen Julius, the greatest amongst us will be the servant of all. Nothing dictates character greater amongst the brethren than not only the willingness, but the desire to get below all of them and wash their stinky feet. The proper position of authority amongst us all is to be below all.

Blessed art the seekers of lastness...

Good stuff, guys. Will have to listen to this series soon...

One of the amazing things about contemplating the incarnation, especially the way in which Art puts it forth here, is that a proper grasp of it can be the most liberating, and spiritually empowering concepts in all of the faith. O that more of us would believe these things. This is Christ centered revival preaching right here.

Here is another zinger, fourth sermon, fifteen minutes or so in:

"Incarnation is not a doctrine to which we need to become acquainted or agreed, it's a reality that awaits appropriation! Or else its vain! How much more can we mock God than to just celebrate incarnation as a doctrine to which we give our approval and still live outside that remarkable phenomenon."

And some more from the fifth sermon:

"We do not become meek and humble through principle, but by acquisition."

"Is there anything more fraudulent than a humanly affected humility?"

Yes, "humanly affected humility" is really pride in disguise, I would say.

It is only for outward show. Form of godliness, but no power.

And for what purpose? Only to fool men, draw them in and take advantage of them. Same thing with humanly acquired wisdom and "deep secrets" masquerading as divine revelation.

In Christ,
Sarah

here is a quote from message 2.

There is nothing that infuriates Christians more than to say to them: “ The words that I speak are not my words but the words my father has given me.” They don’t want to hear that. You know why? Because they want you on the same ground that they are . They want you to succeed as a Christian and act in misery on the same basis by which they do, out of their unaided humanity and here you are making a pretentious claim that the words you are speaking are not your words but are God’s . If that is true, then you are blowing the whistle on their inferior walk. It is an indictment that they have fallen short of the glory, and they do not want to hear it…There is conscious willful or unconscious resistance against the mystery of the Incarnation, by which we, like Jews, want to keep God distant and we want to see men as men as we are, so that no greater requirement is made of us, because they are exhibiting another standard . That is why they said of Paul : “He is not fit to live.” They were more infuriated against Paul than against Jesus, because what he exemplified and demonstrated in his apostolicity was an indictment against Judaism itself that wants to succeed on the basis of its own humanity and its own religiosity and here he was exhibiting the righteousness of God, the boldness of God, the courage of God, the love of God, the faith of God through his humanity in total surrender and obedience death by death.

Great stuff. Men like Art have made me to realize that when we preach, we must not merely preach to make the gospel as palatable to men as possible. We must not preach to the lowest common denominator. Like a ride at a theme park that says, "You must be this tall to ride," we need to preach over the heads of men, so as to give them something to aspire to grow to, much as a child wishes to grow just a few more inches to get on the ride that adults alone can ride. Stuff like this just makes me salivate.

If you can't get it working on here, until it is able to get fixed you can listen to it, or DL it from the Art Katz Ministries website.

http://artkatzministries.org/audio-messages/k-433-the-mystery-of-incarnation-8-of-9/

I agree Jimmy. I feel that Art sets a great example of driving us further and deeper into the things of God instead of being satisfied with mediocrity.

The exchanged life is a hard thing for the natural man to grasp. In the first message Art refers to Spurgeon and how spiritually mature he was right off the bat. He then makes an interesting connection about how Spurgeon lived not just from his own life, ie his experience in the Lord, but from Christ's own life. I have found this very interesting because though I do not have as dramatic a testimony as Spurgeon, I have seen the fruit of walking and learning from the Spirit to produce maturity the exceeds what is naturally expected and such that those thirty to sixty years older than I have learned to walk in the truth the Lord has given me. The sad thing about receiving and walking in divine revelation is that the natural man will assume that it is the result of much study and sweat, consulting commentaries and books, word studies and whatever else. He will also say that he isn't intelligent enough to see the truth given you. There is also the issue of being placed on a platform as though one is special. I think the incarnational life will be a sifting point even for those who think themselves in a New Testament fellowship.

I've been listening to these in the last few days and it truely is amazing. The Lord has been trying (or preparing) to teach me these things for the last two years and I've been resistant and unbeleiving. By His grace alone can we appropriate these truths and walk in them. We cannot thank Him enough for brothers like Art Katz and for the privilege of being able to listen to these God sent messages.

Thank you for posting these Areadymind.

Nothing short of Jesus himself living in us and through us, as the Father did through Jesus, will manisfest God's glory. Nothing else is sufficient in order to live as we ought to live especially in these end times when we are warned that some will fall away. If God himself send the delusion, who else then God can keep you in the truth ? No amount of knowledge or study will save you. Christ has to live in you, by faith. That is God's will for all of us.

"To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27)

The exchanged life is a hard thing for the natural man to grasp. In the first message Art refers to Spurgeon and how spiritually mature he was right off the bat. He then makes an interesting connection about how Spurgeon lived not just from his own life, ie his experience in the Lord, but from Christ's own life. I have found this very interesting because though I do not have as dramatic a testimony as Spurgeon, I have seen the fruit of walking and learning from the Spirit to produce maturity the exceeds what is naturally expected and such that those thirty to sixty years older than I have learned to walk in the truth the Lord has given me. The sad thing about receiving and walking in divine revelation is that the natural man will assume that it is the result of much study and sweat, consulting commentaries and books, word studies and whatever else. He will also say that he isn't intelligent enough to see the truth given you. There is also the issue of being placed on a platform as though one is special. I think the incarnational life will be a sifting point even for those who think themselves in a New Testament fellowship.

This comment fits well with recent discussions.

In Christ,
Sarah

EXCHANGED LIFE
By: Major W. Ian Thomas

Christian living is not a method or technique; it is an entirely different, revolutionary principle of life. It is the principle of an exchanged life" not I, but Christ liveth in me" (Galatians 2:20).

This is all part of our Gospel - it is not the Gospel plus! We must not get our terminology wrong. To divorce the behavior of the Christian from the Gospel is entirely false and is not true to the Word of God, yet all too often such is the characteristic of gospel preaching.

I would like to explore with you what is the true spiritual content of our Gospel ­ not just heaven one day, but Christ right now! Christ in you, on the grounds of redemption ­ this is the Gospel! To preach anything less than this must inevitably produce "Evan-jellyfish" ­ folk with no spiritual vertebrae, whose faith docs not "behave!"

Do you remember what James says in his epistle? "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead" (chapter 2:26). The "spirit" there means breath, and a body without breath is dead. Stop breathing ­ and folk will bury you! In other words, a living body breathes, and a living faith breathes, and a living faith breaths with divine action. A living faith breathes with the activity of Jesus Christ. That is why the Lord Jesus, in John 6:29, said, "This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent."

That is the work of God. It is your living faith in the adequacy of the One who is in you, which releases His divine action through you. It is the kind of activity that the Bible calls "good works," as opposed to "dead works."

"Good works" are those works that have their origin in Jesus Christ - - whose activity is released through your body, presented to Him as a living sacrifice by a faith that expresses total dependence, as opposed to the Adamic independence (Romans 12: 1,2).

It is only the life of the Lord Jesus -- His activity, clothed with you and displayed through you, that ultimately will find the approval of God.

From: The Saving Life of Christ. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House. ©1961.