Life in Christ Jesus Podcast: Recent Episodes
Wayne Shelton
Declaring the Present Reality of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God in the Earth. The Ministries of New Life Tabernacle, Culpeper VA.
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To contact Pastor Wayne Shelton, you can email him at awayne_shelton@icloud.com or call at 540-214-8181.
There had never been a man like Jesus when he came into the earth. John called Him the WORD made flesh. The Holy Ghost was poured out upon Him without measure. He was God inside and out. Consider the picture of the Ark of the Covenant gold on the inside and gold on the outside. Here this ark was the picture of Christ, who carried the Word and Presence of God. In the ark was the Word. On the outside of the Ark the Presence of God rested on the Mercy Seat. Here is Christ, our seat of Mercy. Here is where the Presence rests in the finished work of Jesus!!!
Pastor Wayne & Anita Shelton
New Life Tabernacle
540-214-8181
awayne_shelton@icloud.com
Below is our contact information.
Pastor Wayne Shelton
Phone 540-214-8181
awayne_shelton@icloud.com
Romans 8:8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Christian, Ministry, Christ in you, Kingdom of God, Revelation of Jesus Christ, Fulfilled Eschatology, Resurrection Life, Life in our Mortal Bodies, The Coming of the Lord, The Lord lives in His Body, Christ Jesus is in the Church, The Fulness of God in Christ, Victorious Ending, Victorious Eschatology, The End Times, The End of the World, The End of the Age.
Pastor Wayne Shelton
awayne_shelton@icloud.com
The Holy of Holies, Heaven Itself, The way into Heaven; Seated in Heavenly Places in Christ
Christian, Ministry, Christ in you, Kingdom of God, Revelation of Jesus Christ, The Tabernacle of Moses, The Outer Court, The Holy of Holies, The High Priest, The King of Kings, The Lord of Lords, Christ has come in His Church, Victorious Eschatology, Fulfilled Eschatology, All Things fulfilled in Christ
To reach Pastor Wayne Shelton:
awayne_shelton@icloud.com
540-214-8181
Christian, Ministry, Christ in you, Kingdom of God, Revelation of Jesus Christ, Separated to God, Heavenly Realm, Three Heavens, The Way the Truth and the Life, The Coming of the Lord, Fulfilled Eschatology, Christ the Fulfillment of All Things, All Things Complete in Christ, Victorious Eschatology, The End Has Come, Christ Has Come in His Church, The Outer Court
Christian, Ministry, Christ in you, Kingdom of God, Revelation of Jesus Christ, The Kingdom Hs Come, Christ Has Come in His Church, Christ the Offering of God ,One Offering Has Forever Perfected them who are sanctified, One Offering for Sin, The Great High Priest, Fulfilled Eschatology, Study of End Times, All Things Fulfilled in Christ, Preaching of the Christ
Christian, Ministry, Christ in you, Kingdom of God, Revelation of Jesus Christ, The Kingdom Has Come, Christ Has Come in His Church, Christ the Offering of God, One Offering Has Forever Perfected them who are sanctified, One Offering for Sin, The Great High Priest, Fulfilled Eschatology, Study of End Times, All Things Fulfilled in Christ, Preaching of the Christ
Out of His side flowed blood and water. See what the Brazen Altar and Laver truly speak of. The cleansing of Jesus Christ. Glory to God!!!
"I AM The Way, The Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father but by me." In basic truth, no one comes to the Father but by the Jesus Christ. This is the foundation and fundamental truth of Christianity. There is no other way. We have access to the Father through the offering of the body and blood Jesus. This is the only way.
However, looking at this from a deeper view, we could say no one comes to who and what the Father is but in Christ. Christ Jesus reveals who and what the Father is. "If you have seen me you have seen the Father." The substance of God is only seen and known in Christ. There is no other way to know His substance. As Christ is revealed we know God intimately and personally.
Christ is God's Word. God's Word made flesh and God's Word revealed. Glory to God!
The mystery that has been hid from ages and generations is made manifest in the saints of God. The mystery who is Christ is now made known in you as the glory of God. Christ was hid in the Old Covenant, in all the prophesies and words spoken. He was hid in the tabernacle and temple, but now to church he is made known, not only to them but in them. Glory to God.
The Apostle Paul declares the first man to be of the earth. He declares him to be natural. The second man is the Lord from heaven, spiritual. There is natural. There is spiritual and each is defined by a man. Glory to God.
1Corinthians 15:35 But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? 36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: 37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: 38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. 39 All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. 40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. 42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: 43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. 46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. 47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
The Scripture is the Testimony of Jesus Christ. Genesis to Malachi testifies of Jesus. He is the fulfillment of the scripture.
"You search the scriptures, in them you think you have eternal life, these testify of me." The scripture is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. They are the testimony of Him. We do not understand them many times because we are looking at other than Him to fulfill them.
Jesus said to the Jewish people in John Chapter 5 the following:
"John 5:36 But I have a greater witness than John's; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me. 37 And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. 38 But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. 39 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. 40 But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. The works He does testifies of Him and that the Father has sent Him."
This is in reference to the declaration of Christ and the works He would complete according to the scripture, according to what the law and the prophets declared. He was telling them if they search Moses, Ezekiel, Isaiah and looked they should see Him. He was telling them that He was the fulfillment of the law and the prophets. They testify of Him! Isaiah 53 is a perfect illustration of the declaration of Jesus from the scripture, from the prophet Isaiah. God spoke through Isaiah, written in 53 of Christ's suffering and His resurrection. This is plain in our Bibles. This is God speaking and when Jesus came, the Word God spoke made flesh.
However, the whole of the scripture, Genesis to Malachi, is His Testimony. When we go to the scripture, we should be going to SEE JESUS! This should be our desire, that I see Jesus from the scripture. Consider the tabernacle in the wilderness where the presence of God dwelled. When Jesus came, He was the Tabernacle where God dwelled. He was the place of the Offering. He was the High Priest of the Tabernacle. He was the Presence of the Living. In Him was housed the Father. Consider that fulfillment.
Consider when God said by Isaiah that he was going to do a new thing that He was speaking of the New Covenant and the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This was the New He was declaring. It was the testimony of Jesus. Jesus was the Word spoken made flesh! Glory to God.
In our studies we are looking at the power of Jesus, death, burial and resurrection and HIs transforming power in the lives of the believers. Paul desired to know Him in the Power of His resurrection, and to be conformed to HIs death. This should be the heart of every believer. Lord Jesus I want to know you! I want to know what your finished work completed. I want to know the cross in my day to day living. Let me know you! Glory to God!
"As He Is So are We." What a thought! John says in I John 3 We shall be like Him because we see Him as He is. This is the key, to be like him you must see Him. Jesus says in John's Gospel, "I will go away, and the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me." How is that possible? Because He also says He will come and make his dwelling in you. You will see Him as He is revealed in you.
Our turning to see Him needs to be internal. He is in you. When He appears in you, you are changed. Your mind, your heart, your being is changed. He is after His Image, His Nature, His character in you. This comes. This is formed in the light of His appearing. Glory to God.
What is the last Day? Is there a last day upon the earth. Was Jesus speaking of a physical last day when He told them, recorded in John, He would raise them up IN THE LAST DAY.
Here is another view of that. While there was a last day of the Old Covenant and the things that pertain to it, I believe Jesus Christ Himself is the last Day. When we come into Him, we come into a new day. This is not a natural day, and it doesn't require natural light to see, but we see in this day through the light of HIs Revelation.
We spend most of our time walking in the light (understanding) of the old man even after we have been born from above. The Light we should see is Christ. We should be walking in the understanding of Him and our relationship to him. As Paul writes to the believers in Ephesians 2, "we are made alive with Him." "We are raised with Him." We are seated with Him in heavenly places." This should be the understanding that begins to effect our living in the earth. This is what Paul is talking about in Galatians 2.
Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
By One Spirit we are Baptized into one Body. The Apostle Paul writes to the Romans that we are Baptized into His death and buried with Christ. He then shows we are raised in His Life. What we come to is a New Life, and this Life is Christ Living in you! Glory to God.
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The Blood of Jesus was shed for the remission of sins. He is our deliverance from the Old Man and this Blood moves throughout the whole of Christianity. Without the shedding of the Blood there is no remission!
We have come to the Blood of Sprinkling that speaks greater things than Abel. What does this Blood Speak. What did this Life Give. As we know the life is in the Blood. This Blood speaks death to the Old Man and Life in The New. THIS BLOOD SPEAKS GREATER! Glory to God!!!
The New Man is the center around the New Creation. In the Old Creation that God Made Man was the Center of it. In the New it is the same. However, this is a NEW MAN. This man comes out of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. The work that forms this man is Christ Himself. The fullness of this man is Christ Himself. Jesus Christ has brough forth of Himself One New Man! Glory Be to God!
Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
To me, profound words in the Bible includes Jesus speaking to His disciples as they ate the Passover bread. "Take and eat this is my Body." This Feast represents the offering of the Body and Blood of Christ and our admission into the Kingdom of God. We as participants of The True Passover, are told to Take and Eat of His Body that was given for us. In John's Gospel, Jesus said unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you do not receive eternal life. Eating of Him is the essential diet of the Church.
We have been told much of our lives that we are what we eat. This is so true. Unless we eat His flesh and drink His blood, we do not belong to Him, and by eating of Him we are His Body. Christ is the essential diet for the believer! Glory to God.
Heb 9:11 But Christ having come a high priest of the good things to come, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, 12 nor yet through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, entered in once for all into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling them that have been defiled, sanctify unto the cleanness of the flesh: 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish unto God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 15 And for this cause he is the mediator of a new covenant, that a death having taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, they that have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
With our conscience made pure we serve God. Through the law we lacked confidence because over and over we were found guilty. Through the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, we are made pure so we can confidently serve the things of God.
Hebrews 9:11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. 12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
What is the purpose in Jesus Christ. He said I have come to have life and have it abundantly. The New Covenant is the Covenant unto Life.
John 2:49 For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. 50 And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak." In John 12, Jesus said
Isaiah prophesied that a word and law were coming forth from Jerusalem and Zion! Jesus fulfilled the prophecy bringing forth His Word and the New Covenant in Himself!
Isa 2:1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 2 Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the LORD's house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow to it. 3 Many people shall come and say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 4 He shall judge between the nations, And rebuke many people; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore. 5 O house of Jacob, come and let us walk In the light of the LORD.
Isaiah 2:1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 2 Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the LORD's house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow to it. 3 Many people shall come and say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
What is the WORD from Jerusalem that would come in the latter days? Out of Zion would go forth the Law, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem. I would suggest it is the Law of Life in Christ Jesus, and the Word of Christ that came into Jerusalem when Jesus came. Glory to God.
Isaiah 2 is one of my favorite scriptures in our Bible. }"Come and let us go to the mountain of the Lord, He will teach us His ways and we will walk in His Paths." This is in essence the New Covenant. We come to walk in the paths of the Lord. We come to learn His ways. Here in Mount Zion, where we come by the Spirit of God through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, we come to learn of God by the Spirit of the Lord revealing Christ in us! Glory to God.
When God came to Moses and declared His Name Jehovah, He told Moses that by my name Jehovah, they did not know me, speaking of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. However, with a search of scripture we will see they called Him Jehovah. The New Living Translation says that His Name wasn't revealed. This is right on. What I believe He was saying that by my name Jehovah or Yahweh I was not revealed to them.
He appeared to Abraham as El Shaddai, The Almighty God. What does this mean? What does it matter? As El Shaddai he was the All Mighty, God of All. You could say God of Heaven and Earth, the only God. However, if we look closely, He would appear and then leave in His appearing to Abraham.
When He came to Moses as Jehovah, He was coming to be God in the Midst. The God of Covenant. He came to dwell among the people of Israel. This I believe is what He was saying in Jehovah. This goes deeper. In this name He reveals Himself to a people. He appeared to Moses and declared that "I AM Who I AM." Then He declares He is JEHOVAH. From here He makes known He is Jehovah their Healer, Jehovah their Shepherd, Jehovah their banner, Jehovah their righteousness, God all in all. He makes known in this name who I AM That I AM is, and He makes it known in a people. The people of Israel.
This finds its fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus comes and is among the people of Israel. He becomes among them Christ their Healer, Christ their Provider, Christ their Teacher, Christ their Righteousness. Again we can go on and on. However, Jesus says these profound words recorded in John 14. "At that day you will know I AM in my Father, and you are in Me, and I AM in you. All that He is, is in the Father. All that He is in you. Now He is God in You in All That He is. This is the New Coveanant, Christ in You!
Glory to God!!
Exodus 6:3 And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.
John 14:20At that day ye shall know that I [am] in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
Have you ever wondered what are the words of the New Covenant? The Words of the Old Covenant are clearly spelled out in your Bible, "Thou shall not." The words of the New are contained in the Person of Jesus Christ.
God gave Christ as the Covenant. The relationship I have with God is according to Jesus Christ. He is the Word I come to God by. He is the Word I dwell in. He is the Word who is my Life. Glory to God!
Have you ever wondered what are the words of the New Covenant? The Words of the Old Covenant are clearly spelled out in your Bible, "Thou shall not." The words of the New are contained in the Person of Jesus Christ.
God gave Christ as the Covenant. The relationship I have with God is according to Jesus Christ. He is the Word I come to God by. He is the Word I dwell in. He is the Word who is my Life. Glory to God!
Jesus distinguishes all other plantings of God, in saying I AM The True Vine. We as believers are planted in Him, to be rooted and built up in Him! Glory to God!
Jesus said I AM The True Vine. Until He came into the earth, the vine of God had been the natural people of Israel. Jesus was saying, I AM The true planting of the LORD. You and I who are in Christ are planted in Him. We grow up in the Vine of Christ unto the things of God. This is the true planting. This is God's doing!
Jesus said I AM The True Vine. Until he came into the earth, the vine of God had been the natural people of Israel. Jesus was saying, I AM The True planting of the LORD. You and I who are in Christ are planted in Him. We grow up in the Vine of Christ unto the things of God. This is the true planting. This is God's doing!
John 3:2 “Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.”
This shows the authority and power of God. Jesus could not do these miracles except God had given the authority and power to Him. This was even true with Moses. Moses could not lead the children of Israel out of Egypt unless God had authorized Him. That would have been impossible. God came to Moses and gave Him the authority and power to bring forth the children of Israel from bondage. God was with Him and Moses was speaking the words of God into the earth. Jesus said these words testified of Him. They were His testimony.
Jesus was far greater than Moses. God was not just with Him, but He said of His Father that He that is in me doeth the works. Jesus declared that He had greater witness than John. The works He was doing was testifying of His authority. Jesus was speaking into the earth the Eternal Word of God. If we can hear it, Jesus is the Eternal Word of God, and the Power of His Word brings forth His Life within us. Glory to God!
John 5:36But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me. 37And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. 38And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.
Jesus calls Himself the light in John's Gospel. What does He mean? I would have to search the scripture and understand by the Spirit to see. In simplistic terms, we do not see ourselves in relationship to the sin of the old man, or even in relationship to the world. We see ourselves in relationship to Jesus Christ. He is the Light we see by. Simply put, we see by Him.
We are called the righteousness in God in Christ Jesus. To see ourselves as the righteousness of God, the only way that would be possible is to see ourselves by Jesus Christ. In ourselves we would never find righteousness. We would find our inabilities, but if our eyes see by Him, we will find our life in Him, and that we have been made right by Him. Glory to God!
This is a study we are in concerning the Authority of the Kingdom of God. What is the authority? How does it work? In this sharing we look at the Word Jesus Christ brought into the earth. This is the Word of authority. All other words must bow to Him and His Word. No other Word should stand or prevail in our hearts.
Let us give our hearts to Christ Jeus and His Word. Let us submit all things we have and believe to His Word. Glory to God!
We that are many are one loaf; the Apostle Paul writes in the first book to the Corinthians in Chapter 10. We all eat of the same bread who is Christ, to become this loaf of bread in the earth. Our purpose is to be filled with this bread. Our mission is to share this bread. We are made partakers of Him! Glory to God!
Most have heard the statement we are what we eat. Jesus makes it clear in the Gospels that eating will affect us. He says to eat His flesh and drink His blood to be filled with Him. However, in the Gospels He tells His disciples to beware the bread (the word) of the Pharisees. This word did not bring life.
We must be careful with what the word is doing which we are eating. Is it bringing life or does it divide. Does it build up the Body of Christ, or does it separate? Here in this study, we take a look at the word of the Pharisees.
Blessings in the Name of the Lord Jesus
In Matthew 16 it is recorded that Jesus asked who do men say He is? Peter answered that He is the Christ. In John's Gospel Jesus declares who He is. We know this declaration as the I AM's of Jesus. Glory to God.
Colossians 3:1 "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory."
Colossians 1:25 "Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; 26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: 2 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:"
If I consider what Paul says in Chapter 1 in Chapter 3, where I may look for Christ to appear or be manifested may be in me. This will go along with what Jesus tells Judas in John 14. "I will manifest myself to you and not to the world." Christ appears in you to bring you and I into the Glory of Him, that we may be glorified together with Him. Glory to God!
In the resurrection, we live by Him that lives in us. We have no life but Him. We are raised up and seated together with Him, Paul writes in Ephesians 2. Here in this work of Christ we are made One with Him. It is not Jesus being made one with us in who we are. It is us being made one with Him in who He is. We are coming to know Him, and His Life. Glory to God!
Jesus doesn't just give us life. He is our life! Christ lives in you if you have received Him. This is the hope of the Gospel, the plan of salvation. God's very life living in creation! Glory to God!!
Jesus not only declared Himself to be The Resurrection, but He declared Himself to be The Resurrection and The Life. Simply put, when He raises us from the dead, we come to The Life. His Life becomes our life. He says in John we live because He lives. This is tremendous in understanding our relationship with the Lord. We are in His Life. This Life is made to us what He is. Now that we have been raised from the dead, the life of the dead has no hold on us. We are raised up to know the life of Christ Jesus our Lord. This fills our soul in His goodness. Through this life living in us we can say now we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. We could say, now we are filled with the wisdom and understanding of God. Now we are filled with that of Christ who has no sin. We can go on and on. Glory to God.
Now that we have been raised from the dead, the life of the dead has no hold on us. We are raised up to know the life of Christ Jesus our Lord. This fills our soul in His goodness. Through this life living in us we can say now we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. We could say, now we are filled with the wisdom and understanding of God. Now we are filled with that of Christ who has no sin. We can go on and on. Glory to God.
When we think of Resurrection, we must consider the dead. Is the dead simply dead physical bodies in the mind of God? I don't believe so. I would say to be dead would be absence of life. The same would apply to darkness. Darkness would be the absence of light. Paul writes in I Corinthians 15 that all died in Adam, and all shall be made alive in Christ.
1Corinthians 15:22 "For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive."
Now the question is, when Jesus enters our hearts are we raised up by Him into life, or are we waiting to some day be raised? I believe He Himself answered this with Martha, when He said I AM The Resurrection and the life. When Christ comes into us, He then begins to made unto us Who He is. Se we, in turn receive of Him, and by Him are raised from the dead.
Now being raised, what is it but that we should know The Life. Again Jesus Christ is THE LIFE that we know out from the dead. We knew Adam, we are learning Christ. In the simplicity of this statement we were unrighteous, now we are made righteous. This is being in the Life of Christ. Glory to God.
Jesus put off HIs clothes in the tomb. They found His linen clothing in the tomb. Why did He do it? He put off His grave clothes. Lazarus, when he came out of the tomb also put off his grave clothes. Jesus said, "loose him and let him go." This is speaking of us in Christ.
We put off through His resurrection the clothing of the dead. We were clothed with that in Adam and put it off, and are clothed of that in Christ. Glory to God.
John 20:5 And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. :6 Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, 7 And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. 8 Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed.
For many years, I was told as a believer we would hear the Trumpet Sound, or the Voice of the Trumpet to be gathered up with the Lord. Matthew 24:31 "And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the heavens to their ends."
What I never considered was that the Voice of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself was as a Trumpet. Revelation 1:10 I came to be in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, 11 saying, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last; also, What you see, write in a scroll, and send to the seven assemblies of Asia: to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamos, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea. 12 And I turned to see the voice which spoke with me. 13 And having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, having been clothed to the feet, and having been girded with a golden girdle at the breasts.
I also never considered that this voice would have the power to gather a people out of the earth, earth mindedness, earth nature, earth man, without actually physically leaving the earth. But it does. Hearing Him gathers our hearts and minds to Him to SEE HIM. This is not physical sight. This is what Paul declares in Galatians 1, when he says that he was separated from his mother’s womb for GOD TO REVEAL HIS SON IN HIM. As Saul of Tarus, he heard a voice and saw the LIGHT and was changed in the moment and twinkling of an eye to Paul the Apostle.
Now this voice began to be heard through Paul. Christ was declared through Apostle Paul. The same was with the earlier Apostles. Christ sent forth His messenger’s declaring with A VOICE, the Message of Jesus Christ. This literally gathered Jewish people in that day before the Romans destroyed Jerusalem unto Christ. I believe if we can hear it the elect were gathered because the Trumpet sounded through the Apostles and Disciples after Jesus’ resurrection. I believe when Jesus walked through the earth as the man from Galilea the Voice was sounding in the earth, the Voice of the Trump of God. This Voice has the power to bring those that hear out of death to LIFE. Jesus said of Himself that He had come that we may have life. Then He said again of Himself that He is the Resurrection and the Life.
I believe this Voice will bring us to the Resurrection and the Life. Glory to God!
Mat 24:31 “And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
Matthew 24:31 “and he shall send his messengers with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his chosen from the four winds, from the ends of the heavens unto the ends thereof.”
Above are two different translations of Matthew 24:31 the King James Version and the Young's Literal Version. I want us to key into the sound of the trumpet. Where do you see in the scripture the trumpet and the gathering of the elect. Well one place would be Mt. Sinai when Israel was gathered to the Mount, and gathered to God who came down on the Mount and gave the law and the instructions of the Temple.
In the New Testament we find the voice of the trumpet in Revelation Chapter 1. John here's a voice as a trumpet and he turns to see the voice. This trumpet voice is the voice of the Son of God that John here's. I believe the messengers who are sounding the trumpet are the Apostles, and the elect were all those gathered unto Christ in Jerusalem before its destruction in 70 AD. They went through the land sounding the trumpet, declaring the Gospel of Jesus Christ and then the end of the Old Covenant that had ended at the Cross was manifested on the earth in God taking it away. Glory to God.
I believe we are gathered unto Christ in this same voice today. Gathered out of nations unto the Lord Himself to be His Body. We like John are to turn and see this VOICE. This seeing is Jesus Christ being revealed in you by the Holy Spirit of God. "He shall take of mine and show it unto you."
Many Believers do not understand the power of Jesus' words in Matthew 24. "heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." His words are in force today, and eternally in the earth. They do not pass. His words are the words of the everlasting good news. "Whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Whoever believes in Him, out of his belly flows living water.
These words abide. They are present. Anyone who comes to Jesus and believes that He is the savior is saved, and the greatness of their salvation is ready to unfold. Christ Himself is the salvation we receive. Jesus Christ Himself is ready to unfold or be revealed that we see, know and life in that of Him.
This is what has to penetrate our hearts and minds. We have received the Lord Jesus Christ. He in His fullness, completed work, lives in us. We are on the adventure of our lives to know this One who is in our hearts. That our minds, hearts, and purpose be filled with Him. Truly, this is joy that will runover. Glory to God!
In the Book of Revelation there is an angel flying through Heaven, having the everlasting gospel, Revelation 14:6. Jesus declared that heaven and earth would pass away, but his word would not. His words are the everlasting gospel. He is the everlasting good news. There is no end for what Jesus has done. Isaiah prophesied of him in Isaiah 9, “that of the increase of His government there shall be no end.”
This is what Jesus brough into reality. The day we are living in, when people could come up to the mountain of the Lord and take of His word freely. Where people could be cleansed of His washing. Where people could live in His life. This is the everlasting good news. Glory to God!!!
Take Eat, This Is My Body
Matthew 26:26 “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. 27And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; 28for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”
This is the tenth part of a series that will be coming to YouTube and Podbean, The Covenant of God in Christ. I believe this is a very important lesson and I am sharing it with the Church. It is dealing with Eating His Flesh and Drinking His Blood. What does it mean to eat His flesh and drink His Blood? Jesus said if we do not eat His flesh and drink His blood, we have no life in us? This lesson serves to begin to define these statements out of John 6 and Luke 22.
Consider John 1, that the Apostle John writes the Word was made flesh. In verse 1 John defines the WORD as God. This Word is LOGOS in the Greek and embodies the thought and intent of what was spoken. I believe God spoke throughout the Old Covenant in various ways, as stated in Hebrews 1. In this speaking was the thought and intent of THE WORD. To illustrate this, we see a Covenant made that is put in force through the blood of an offering or offerings. The intent and purpose of this is only found when the Person of Christ, THE WORD, comes and is made flesh and offers Himself for the Sin of the World. He fulfills and sums up the offerings that are made in the first covenant and brings forth in Himself the offering of the New Covenant.
Also, when this is instituted with Moses at Mount Sinai a Word is given. This is the word of the Old Covenant sealed with blood. Jesus in like manner sets forth the words of the New Covenant as He speaks throughout the Gospel and brings them into force in His death, burial, and resurrection. In fact, the words of the New Covenant are defined and known in THE WORD Himself. Jesus Christ Himself is the Word of the New Covenant. He declares that the words He spoke were Spirit and Life. I believe these words He spoke, fore example, “You are clean through the word I have spoken,” takes life in His divine presence by the Spirit of God. We come to know we are clean through Him as we know Him and see we are washed by the water of HIS WORD from the old man where we were filth, and we are renewed in His Life in the New Man where there is no filth or condemnation.
As we hear this Word, you are clean through the words he spoke, we begin to believe and see the cleansing of Christ. This is powerful to me. A church with no spot or wrinkle being cleansed by the Water of Life. Glory to God.
When Jesus makes the statement, "Heaven and Earth shall pass away, but my words shall abide forever," what is He speaking of? Is it the literal Heaven and Earth? Many believe the literal, physical earth will pass away, and new literal physical earth shall come.
However, if we look at the scripture when Jesus makes the statement, "Heaven and Earth shall pass away, but my words shall abide forever," what is He speaking of? Is it the literal Heaven and Earth? Many believe the literal, physical earth will pass away, and a new literal physical earth shall come. However, if we look at the scripture, there may be another answer.
Heaven is declared in the scripture as God’s throne. Does that just mean, God’s throne on a universal scale? I don’t think so. God’s throne or place of rule was established by the Law in Jerusalem, in the Temple. God dwelt in the Temple and the place of His feet was Jerusalem. I believe this is scripturally Heaven and Earth. The Bible declares in multiple place that God was enthroned between the Cherubim. The Cherubim were angelic figures over the Mercy Seat. The throne is a seat of rule and judgement. That seat was Israel’s rule and Judgement. There they found mercy for the sins.
Simply put, no longer do we come to the Old Testament Temple. No longer do we have a High Priest who goes into the Temple in physical Jerusalem and makes an offering for the sins of the People. That passed away. The one eternal, ever abiding sacrifice came and is continuously applied by the Holy Spirit of God. Jesus became the fulfillment of the Old Covenant’s ritualist offerings and temple. If we can hear it this is New Jerusalem. A people united to the one ever abiding sacrifice and Person of God Himself, all brought together in Jesus Christ. The Old Earth (Jerusalem) is gone, the new is established by the Spirit of the Lord in the Person of Jesus Christ. Glory to God!!!
What does Jesus mean when He says Heaven and Earth shall pass away, but my words shall not, Matthew 24:35? In my early years, walking with the Lord, I would have believed or understood this to mean some day the literal Heaven and Earth will pass and a new one will be established. Something to that effect. However, if that is what is true to this statement, does it mean the physical heavens or the ones our loved ones have gone to when they die? I believe we can look at the scripture and find the truth and significance of what Jesus said.
In Isaiah, it is written that God said, “66:1 Thus saith Jehovah, Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: what manner of house will ye build unto me? and what place shall be my rest?” By studying the scripture, we could see that God was enthroned in Jerusalem in the Temple between the Cherubim, Isaiah 37:16, which was in the Holy of Holies. Exodus 25:21 “And thou shalt put the mercy-seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. 22 And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.” Ezekiel 43:7 “And he said unto me, Son of man, this is the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever. And the house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoredom, and by the dead bodies of their kings in their high places;”
The Temple in Jerusalem was the place of God’s rest. Here was where He was enthroned. And He ruled Jerusalem according to the words of the Old Covenant. I believe with all my heart that this was what Jesus was talking about. Heaven and Earth shall pass away, but my Words shall not pass away. We no longer approach God in that Old Covenant Temple or relationship. We approach God through Jesus Christ and His Living Words. We come to God through and In Him. This is the place of worship (temple), we come to. His Words abide forever. Glory to God!!
Jesus said, as recorded in Matthew 24 the gospel shall be preached in all the world then the end shall come. If we consider this with the beginning questions the disciples asked, we may have a different view of the end of the world. When Jesus told them they there shall not be one stone left on another, the disciples asked when shall this be, what is the sign of your coming and the end of the age? This I believe is the same end we have been involved with in this study. Jesus went on to tell them when they see the abomination standing in the holy place spoken by Daniel the Prophet know that the end is near.
I believe that generation which was on the earth with Jesus saw the abomination of desolation. I believe they saw end come as Jesus predicated and that the gospel went forth across the earth as the Apostle Paul declared. Romans 10:18 "But I ask, did they not hear? Indeed they did: “Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” In Paul’s day the gospel went to the ends of the earth, and the end came to the Old Covenant and Jewish system upon the earth. In truth, Jesus was the end. When He died and rose from the death a New Covenant was set forth. No longer do men or women go to an Old Covenant Jesus Priest but our access is through Christ Himself to God! Glory to God!
Much of the time when we consider scriptures referring to the end of the world we think of the end of the physical earth and all the inhabitants within. It could be thought of as a complete cosmic destruction of planet earth and the physical heavens. However, many of the words in the scripture interpreted world are from a Greek word aion and means a period of time or an age. So when the disciples ask Jesus when the end of the world shall be, I believe they are referring to the end of the Old Covenant age.
Matthew 24:3 "And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?"
The time was held in place by the Covenant God had established in the earth, which was coming to its end or fulfillment when Jesus walked in the earth. In fact He was and is the fulfillment of it, and the fulfillment of all things.
In Matthew 24 there is another word used for world besides age. In fact, there are multiple Greek words used for the word world in our Bible, but let's concentrate on the one in Matthew 24:14, where Jesus says the gospel must be preached in all the world. The word here means land, the globe, or the Roman empire. If I consider it as the Roman Empire then the Apostles would have went forth into the entire world, preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom before the end came precisely forty years later at the destruction of Jerusalem.
Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
The Apostle Paul actually says the Gospel was preached in all the world in his day. If we trace his footsteps or journeys we may see that Paul, led of the Spirit of God, went forth into the Roman Empire and all the world preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God prior to the destruction of the Jerusalem. We can see that Paul and the other Apostles were the bearers of good news, and were heralding the arrival of the New Covenant in midst of the earth as the Old Covenant was physically dismantled before them. The Old Covenant was taken away in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the New Covenant was established in Him. However, that which was taken away was visibly manifest in their midst when the Old Temple was brought to its end, and the New Temple (The Church) was gathered to the LORD as His dwelling and house of worship in that day.
Romans 10:18 "But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world."
Colossians1:23 "if so be that ye continue in the faith, grounded and stedfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel which ye heard, which was preached in all creation under heaven; whereof I Paul was made a minister."
This NEW is that which every believer is a participant and partaker of. This NEW is that which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Glory to God in the Highest!
For many years many believers believe they are the generation declared in Matthew 24. "This generation shall not pass away until all these things be fulfilled." However, I would suggest that if you are in Christ, you are a different generation. In Psalms 22:30, the LORD spoke through the Psalmist that He would have a seed for a generation. The Apostle Peter calls the believer a Holy Generation.
I Peter 2:9 "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;"
The generation Jesus declared in Matthew 24, I believe passed 40 years (a generation), after Jesus declared they would not pass till all these things are fulfilled. It was 40 years after the declaration of Christ that the Old Covenant Temple came to its end, and the natural Jerusalem was overthrown by the Roman Army.
Blessings in Christ Jesus. May the Lord give us the light and understanding of Christ!
What is the End of the World that is declared in the Bible? How does it come? Jesus declared Himself to be the Sign of the End. Luke 11: 29As the crowds were increasing, He began to say, “This generation is a wicked generation; it seeks for a sign, and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah. 30“For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.
Hebrews 10:23Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; 25nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. 26Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 27And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, 28so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.
The KJV interprets Hebrews 10:26 as the end of the world. The NAS interprets it as the consummation of the ages. At the end of the Age, the Old Covenant Age, He appeared to put away sin by Himself. As He and He alone is the only one who can put away Sin. Glory to God! That age came to an end. In His resurrection a New Age Came. We are living in the Word of Jesus Christ and not the Old Covenant letter that spoke of Him.
There is no greater sign than Christ Himself. Jesus said there would be no sign given but Jonah the Prophet. He was three days in the belly of the whale signifying the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord. He was the sign who was given to Israel. All the other events were a result of THE SIGN. They were compassed with the Army of Rome, the sun did not give her light, and the earth was shaken.
However, in the midst of them Jesus was crucified, buried and raised from the dead! Glory to God in the Highest. Let's give His praise in the earth beneath. Amen!
Acts 2:16 "But this is that which hath been spoken through the prophet Joel: 17 And it shall be in the last days, saith God, I will pour forth of my Spirit upon all flesh: And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, And your young men shall see visions, And your old men shall dream dreams: 18 Yea and on my [b]servants and on my [c]handmaidens in those days Will I pour forth of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy."
The last days of what did the Holy Ghost signify? It was in the last days of the Old Covenant. Also, what did Jesus say would happen when the Holy Spirit came? In John 14, it is declared "At that day, you shall know I am in my Father, you are in me, and I am in you."
Now how do we know we are in Him? How do we know He is in us? He would give us His Spirit. The Spirit is the sign, Christ is in us and we are in Him. Paul states that if any man does not have the Spirit of Christ He is not His (Romans 8:9). The Apostle John states that hereby we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit (I John 4:13).
What is the sign of the Coming of the Lord? This is a question we should answer. Just a thought the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians that tongues was for a sign, which comes out of Isaiah. God saying, he would speak to them in other tongues. Is the Spirit dwelling in us the sign?
I know there may be natural signs, but we now have the in dwelling Christ. Glory to God.
1 Corinthians 14:22Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe.
Isaiah 28:11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
In the believer's hearts the NEW must be established. It is tragic that many today live after the Old Covenant and the Old House. Many believe, as I once did myself, when we come into a building we call the Church are coming in the House of God. We come in hoping that the power of God's presence and glory cloud may come down in our midst to see Him work among us.
Yes my heart yearns that God works in our midst, but we must understand that in the New we are part of the building. Peter calls us Living Stones, built up a Spiritual House. We are built up in the knowledge of Christ for the habitation of God by His Spirit. We are the House of His Rest and Glory, and when we come together there should be the expression of His Awesome Presence. Glory to God!
2 Corinthians 6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
We as believers are built up in the knowledge of Christ as the very Temple of the Living God! Glory to God.
Matthew 24:1 "And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down."
Jesus told Hs disciples not one stone would be left upon another that all would be thrown down. Approximately 40 years later the Temple was torn down and destroyed. Not one stone was left upon another. However, this system must not only be removed from the earth (literally) as it was in 70AD. It must be removed from our hearts, from the earthen vessels. Every stone must be torn down of the Old Covenant and we must come to worship God in the New by the Spirit!
I do not believe God has plans to establish another Temple as the one in the Old Covenant, a physical temple made of stone and wood. In fact I believe that God and the Lamb are the Temple of the New Covenant. Revelation 21:22 "And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it."
I believe that you and I and all the believers are established in this Temple, built up in Him for a Holy habitation of the Lord, and are made the temple of the Living God (II Corinthians 6:16). I believe we are swallowed in God and the Lamb and made one in Him in the New Covenant, as Jesus declared in John 17:23 "I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one;"
Ephesians 2:20 "And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; 21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: 22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
These sharing's are intended to build you up in Christ. It is my heart that we would come to the end of the old man, that Jesus put to death at Calvary, and be renewed in the Spirit of our mind. In the renewing, we would live in the New Man that is brought forth in His resurrection. From these renewing, we would view all things as it is in Christ. Glory to God!
If we consider the Old Covenant Temple, and the Glory. We had a house that was filled with God's Glory. Jesus is the Glory of God. We are His house. He is the Glory that fills the house! Glory to God!
Most of spend our time in some kind of labor. It can be success, having a great home, a super family or a successful business. All of these things can be good and noble and used for the Kingdom of God. However, Jesus said to labor for the meat that brings life. He then says that He is the Bread of Heaven. He is the meat of God. We are to eat of Christ. This is not a once a week event.
In the natural many of us eat three or four times a day. Jesus taught His disciples to pray, "give us this day our daily bread." In my understanding, let's paraphrase it, give us daily our portion of the Bread who is Christ. Let us daily eat of Him! Glory to God!
When we come to see that He is all in all, our hearts cry to be filled with Him. This should be the desire and mind of those in Ministry for themselves and for the Church. "That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection."
Ephesians 3:14 "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen."
To Abide in Him and in His Word. This is of the greater desire of my heart. That may come to a place in Christ where I abide. Where is my sunshine. He is my desire. He is my LIFE! Glory to God!
What is the law of life in Christ Jesus that Paul refers to in the Book of Romans? In the Person of Jesus Christ, we have life and have it abundantly. This life is in us and is made known through Him. As Christ is made known or revealed we begin to see and experience His life. It is His Life that is to be manifested into the earth! Glory to God!
We who are in the New Covenant, who are in Christ, and have come to an understanding that we are not under the Mosaic law may not fully comprehend what we are under. We who are married or joined to the Lord are One Spirit. We are in and under that of Him who lives in us. Glory to God!
From Sinai we have a word given that was the Law. From Christ we have a Word given that is Life. It is this Life and living Word that is now within us. The New Covenant is simply Christ Living in us, and the fullness He brings to our hearts! Glory to God!
What is the New Covenant? Can you find the words written in your Bible that spells out the Covenant like you do in the Old Covenant? I don't believe we can. Jesus said His blood is the blood of the New Covenant. He is the Covenant of God. Christ in you is the Word of Covenant. As He is revealed and known by you by the Spirit of God you come to understand and live in the New Covenant. Glory to God!
John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men."
Here it is. Out from this statement, I believe flows ALL THINGS! The thought, the intent, the purpose was in the WORD. All things came out of Him and all things are to Him. I believe He is the measurement of everything holy. If we we are in the thought of God, are to know the thought of God, it is measured by Christ.
God's plan and purpose is contained in a person. That Person is Jesus Christ! This was from the beginning and was manifest to us in the Person of Jesus. Now it is revealed in those who receive Him. Glory to God.
John 1:12 "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:"
1Jn 1:1 "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; 2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) 3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full."
Although John had walked with Jesus in the flesh and seen the demonstrations, miracles, and love pouring from the Man Jesus, this word of life that John declared was more than just seeing Jesus in the flesh. It was this life that John had seen as Jesus Christ walked with his disciples now filling their hearts by the Spirit of God.
This same life and fellowship is available to all Christians. This same life and fellowship is what Christianity is. Christianity is not simply doctrines, but is a fellowship of the Life that was with God from the beginning. Glory to God!
We find in Ephesians 1, God has gathered all things in Christ and in the administration of the fullness of time the Holy Spirit is showing us all things He has gathered. Glory to God!
In the beginning of creation God created the heavens and the earth. And God said let there be light. This was before he created the sun, moon and stars. What is the Light from the beginning? Jesus said I am the Light of the world. This is the answer.
When Jesus came into the world, He brought the Light of God's plan and purpose to man. This was God living in man. God was in Christ as we have looked at many times. This purpose in Christ was for God to reconcile man to His plan and purpose from the beginning. This Light who is Christ is the definition and defining of God's purpose. Glory to God.
Paul says in Corinthias we have been given the Ministry of Reconciliation. What is that? "That God was in Christ reconcilinig the world to Himself." What is the true nature of the Ministry Reconciliation. I believe Paul gives us the answer or a look into the answer in Romans 5.
Rom 5:10 "For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by his life; 11 and not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation."
At the cross, I believe Jesus brought mankind to himself. "If I be lifted up from the world I will draw all men to myself" However, that does not mean they automatically come to His Life. He said now is the time when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live. He is not just talking about the dead bodies in graves but the ALL the dead that are in Adam. Those that hear are those who hear and believe. Those who actively receive Him and COME TO HIS LIFE!
It is His Life that saves us, delivers us, makes us whole. His Life is what brings us into a brand new creation where sin and darkness does not rule us, but Christ Jesus the Lord is our Life. He is to me salvation. How much of the well of salvation I drink from is measured by how much of CHRIST I know by the Spirit of God.
Now this knowing is for every heart that will turn TO HIM! He will guide you into all TRUTH! Glory to God!
Jesus declared in John’s Gospel that “the Father in me doeth the works.” As a young Christian, my concept of the Father and Son was that God the Father was up in Heaven and Jesus the Son was on the earth, when Jesus walked the earth. However, looking at the scripture, Jesus declared the Father was in Him and that He was in the Father. This is plain in Christ’s declarations throughout the Book of John. Especially John 14.
In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul writes that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. Consider this in the light of the Lord’s nature. In Adam we lived as Adam or the world. In Christ we are to live in that which is Christ. Not only has He brought us through the cross to Himself, but in the knowing of the Person of Jesus Christ we are coming or being transformed into the nature and character that He is, Christ actively forming Himself in our hearts and minds!
The Victory of the Cross is what we have to come to. He won the victory of the cross? The Lord Jesus did! God did. God came into man and defeated every foe in the Person of Jesus Christ. Now we live in what He has done. Or He lives in us, and in His living we comprehend or realize Him and what He has done! Glory to God!
All Things in Christ, What a thought, consideration! This should abide in every Christian heart. WE should be setting our hearts and minds to KNOWING All Things in Christ. This is what I want to say is my heart. "That I may know Him." That I may know Him in all things! Glory to God!
In Hebrews 2:14, the writer tells the believer that Satan has been destroyed, disrobed, made void of power. However, many believers and teachers still give Satan place, although Jesus has conquered him mightily in His resurrection from among the dead. The word destroy means to be entirely useless. The word power hear means vigor, strength, might.
So if we look at Hebrews 2:14 we can understand through the Person of Christ that Satan's dominion of death has been destroyed. He no longer has the power of death over us who are Christ's. Why is that? CHRIST IS OUR LIFE! Glory to God!
Heb 2:14 "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. 17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. 18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted."
I AM COME. This statement, I AM Come that you might have life. This is the answer to all things pertaining to life. When we think on eternal life, we must understand that Eternal Life is Christ Himself. If we understand this we will begin to see and this life that is in us. He is the glorious life we have. As we know Him we know this life. Glory to God!
The voice crying in the wilderness. All the prophets until John prophesied of one to come. Jesus Comes and declares I AM Come that you might have life. I AM The Bread of Life. All of these declarations of the Old Covenant from the manna in the wilderness to the Temple of God come to the statement of Christ I AM COME to find their fulfillment.
Let hearts and minds look to Him for the fulfillment of all things. Glory to God!
How many times have we read the Arm of the Lord, or by His Right Hand? Have we considered it? In the Old Covenant the Arm and Hand of the Lord brought deliverance, brought salvation, brought victory. In Isaiah 53, the scripture starts out to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? And then it calls the arm an He, a Person.
It is in the Person of Jesus Christ that God's Arm and Power is revealed. That God's victory of all is made made manifest, perfect, and fully declared in the earth. This Arm Brings Healing, and Salvation. This Arm brings perfection. All of His Power and Authority is found in our Lord JESUS Christ! Glory to God in the Highest!
Isa 53:1 "Who hath believed our message? and to whom hath the arm of Jehovah been revealed? 2 For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He was despised, and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and as one from whom men hide their face he was despised; and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."
John the Baptist comes on the seen bringing the Law and the Prophets to its culmination. He comes preparing the way of the Lord. All of Jerusalem come out to John. With John is the announcement and declaration of THE CHRIST!
John 1:29 "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. 30 This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. 31 And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. 32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. 33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. 34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God."
John declared that his very purpose was that Christ would be made known to Israel. When Jess came down to be baptized, John declared this is he that was preferred before me. In fact, Jesus was who all the prophets had gave witness, and was now being manifest to Israel. Glory to God!
All the Age is fulfilled in Christ. All things are complete in Him. He is the completion of all things.
Ephesians 1:10 1That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
The Word Gospel has in its meaning Good News. All of the Good News is contained in a Person. Without the Person, our Lord Jesus Christ, there would be no Good News. So, when we read the scripture (Old Testament) we see the Person of the Scripture. We come to understand it is speaking of Coming One. This One came and brought Good News with Him, in Him, of Him, and through Him.
Now this same one who came and brought this Good News, has made His dwelling place, you and I. "The Church which is His Body." "Of His fulness we have received." We receive the Person of the Gospel. Glory to God!
Paul said in Galatians 2, "The life I live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God." This is where our living must be. We live by Him in the life of God. Christ is our life. The question is do we understand that. This is what Paul is saying. We live in the flesh according to Christ who is in us.
What we need is a greater comprehension of Christ who is in us that a fuller expression of Him may come forth within us and into the earth! Glory to God!
When we look in the scripture. What does God say? What is his thought? What is His purpose? Can it be found in a person?
Yes, it is Jesus. Everything God said, everything we can find in the Rhema of God, what God said is we can find in a person. Jesus Christ our Lord. God's Word declared!
Faith comes from hearing the WORD OF GOD. Let us hear this. What do we hear. We hear God speak. What do we hear Him say, the WORD of God. We hear Him declare Christ. We hear and have the Living Word, Christ Himself, revealed in us. The Faith of Christ is revealed in our hearts.
Paul writes in Galatians 2, "The life I live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me."
Paul is saying, the life I am living is out of that of Christ which he has comprehended or attained by the Spirit of God. Simply put, he is living out of Christ. He declares himself dead to the world and alive unto God IN CHRST JESUS. Paul would tell us that he has no ability in himself to be alive to God. It is in Christ Jesus. Glory to God!
Christ is our justification. In His resurrection, he was shown to be the justified one. God would not leave His soul in hell, neither did His flesh see corruption. Glory to God.
Christ is our righteousness. Let this sink in. This is the verdict of the cross. We are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Outside of Him we have no right standing with God, but in Him, we are in His right standing with God. Glory to God.
Our relationship with God as believers is according to the finished work of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. We comprehend the finished work of Jesus by faith. This is spiritual comprehension. As we see Him by the Spirit, we comprehend Him by the Spirit. This is measured out in our hearts by the Spirit of the Living God, "Christ in you the hope (expectation) of Glory."
2 Corinthians 1:20 "For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us."
What does it mean? The promises of God are Yes in Christ. Faith is the substance of what was hoped for. What was hoped for were the promises of God in the prophets. These are fulfilled in Christ. For example, "Thy sins and iniquities will I remember no more." Our sins were laid upon Him. He has been bruised and striped for us to be healed for all. We possess this by faith in Him.
Now if we walk in faith, we would walk in the consciousness that our sins and iniquities are gone. We would walk in the consciousness of a New Creation, where Christ is our Life. This is a faith walk. This is the comprehension of Him. Glory to God in the Highest!
Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
And faith. I like this one definition. I mean if you go out on Biblehub. You can look up this word and it'll give you definitions like this long and you can read through them and there's some really good stuff on it. But I like this simple thing. Faith is persuasion given of God. Ok, let that sink in for a minute. I wrote a note with this. That persuasion given of God is reality of the Person of Christ. The reality of the Person of Christ. So, so, what do you mean the reality of the Person of Christ? OK, that's a question mark. I'm gonna continue on with my notes. Or comprehension of the person of Christ who is in you. So, faith is the persuasion given of God. And again I wrote, the reality of the person of Christ or comprehension of the person of Christ who is in you. (Wayne Shelton)
We are to comprehend Him. We are to understand and live in the understanding of Him that is in us. We are to live in His reality, not what we may perceive of ourselves, but what we come to konw of Christ who is in us. "I live by the faith of the Son of God." Glory to God!
If I was a Jewish man or woman when Hebrews was written, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for." What would I have been hoping for? A New Cadillac? No, the prophets to be fulfilled in the promises declared to the nation of Israel. I would have been hoping for Messiah to come and the great restoration to come in the earth. I would have been hoping for my sins and iniquities to be remembered no. I would have been hoping for a New Mind and a New Spirit.
All of these things I would have been hoping for are found in THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST. He is where the things hoped for are found, realized and experienced. Glory to God!
These first two sharings of the Faith of the Son of God are intended to consider Hs faith and our faith in Him. Ultimately we are to come to His faith. This has been one of the most dynamic understandings I have personally witnessed in the Lord.
Blessings
The Apostle Paul declared in Galatians 2 that he lived by the faith of the Son of God. What is the difference in the faith of Christ and the faith we have in Christ? Is there a difference in His faith and our faith?
in this series we explore the faith of Christ. What His faith is and how it works in the believer.
Galatians 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
God said to Abraham, "Walk before me and be thou perfect." For us to be made perfect and complete we must walk in the seeing of the Lord. He is our perfection. He is our completion. Nothing else is!
The Apostle Paul said we are made complete in Christ. You and I can only find completion in Him. So many times, we are looking for perfection of our own. It is Christ in you that completes! Consider John writing in John 1, "of His fullness we have received, grace upon grace." His fullness in us to be made known. Glory to God!
Col 3:1 "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory."
If we could comprehend this and dwell right here. You are dead. You are dead to everything of you, including yourself! You are alive in Him, and only in Him to you have life. He is our life. This is the Resurrection and Life. We are raised up with Him to dwell in His Life and declare it to the earth! Amen.
The scripture tells us that The Church is His Body the fullness of Him that fills all in all. This is a remarkable statement. In the Church is the fullness or completion of Christ. May it actually be saying the is His completion? A thought I have is the work Jesus did resulted in the Church.
He completed the Church through His death, burial, and resurrection. We the Church are His new creation in the earth to give Him manifestation. We are His. He is our identity. Let us be found in Him! Glory to God!
I Corinthians 3:9 “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward.”
Oh, the wisdom of God. Only built upon Christ. God’s wisdom was to bring forth in the Lord Jesus Christ, and only in Him. In the old covenant we see a picture of the wisdom of God. God granting wisdom to the men who would construct his tabernacle and his temple. In one place it is said there was no hewn stone in the building of the altar. This is speaking that man will not add to it. Nothing of man. The wisdom and supply to build the altar and the house would come of God.
Let us here this. Moses went up unto God and saw the pattern. God showed him, revealed to him the house. Only in the revelation shown by God, even in type and shadow, did the house come forth. Christ the House we are made part of is not a type or shadow, but he is the divine wisdom of God that we build up the church in for the habitation of God by Spirt. Glory to God!
Solomon said there was no new thing under the sun. In other words, the things of man are the same. He said all is vanity and vexation of spirit. We could say that this is a sad state of affairs for the sons of men.
Now the Apostle Paul saw a light brighter than the new day son. He come to a greater light. He began to see the Wisdom and Power of God through this Light who is Christ. Here man finds purpose. Here is where God's love and intention is found. This light of God shining into our hearts to show the mind, will and purposes of God. Glory to God!
Christ is the power of God that takes us from Adam, a man laden in sin, into the life of the Spirit. We are moved from the humanity of the Old Man into the New Man, who is Christ. It is His Power in us that brings us there and transforms us to His Image. So much can be said to Christ the power of God. Glory to the Living God! May His Name be Exalted in ALL the earth!
How is Christ the Power of God? Simple, he moves us from a dead man into a Living expression of God. Christ in you is God's power in you. This power of God brings us into the image of God's dear Son! Glory to God!
Paul's prayer was that the heart would be enlightened in the knowledge of Christ. Consider for a moment the transition. As a man or woman we were born in Adam (natural creation). Our heart was in that knowledge. We lived in that knowledge. Now Paul's cry is that we come to the knowledge of another. We come there through Christ being revealed in us!
May God reveal His Son in Us. Glory to God
Jesus says, recorded in John 14, "if you have seen me you have seen the Father also." In Matthew's Gospel it is declared that Peter says, "thou art the Christ the Son of the living God." This declaration comes from a Revelation of the Spirit of God and not of Peter's own ability. In Galatians 1, The Apostle Paul declares that God revealed His Son IN him. And finally in II Corinthians Chapter III and IV, the Apostle Paul declares we are changed (transformed) by beholding the glory of the Lord.
Seeing Him is everything to our walk. We can only see Him by the Spirit. Seeing Him is the way unto transformation. To have a changed (transformed) mind and heart it takes the Lord. When our heart turns to Him, we will see. John turned and saw according to Revelation 1. Sometimes what we turn from is our own religious beliefs to see Him. He is the light to our souls. We are to come and walk in the Light that He is. Glory to God!
The Revelation of Jesus Christ VI – His Appearing Unto Expression
In John 16 it is written by the Apostle John that Jesus said, the Holy Spirit will take that of Him and show it unto us. This is how we express that of Christ. The Spirit of God reveals that of Him in us. He shows Christ to us to transform our hearts and minds to that of Him. We come to know by the Spirit that of Christ, to be the expression of Him in the earth. We are His body, and as His body we should be the expression of Him.
Look closely at John 16, Jesus saying, “12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. 13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. 14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. 15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.”
Jesus was received up into Glory. He went back unto the Father. As a thought, could these be the same thing? So, the things of Christ were received up into God who Spirit. Now the Holy Spirit comes and shows us the things of Christ. All things, including His death, including His burial, and including His resurrection. Now in His resurrection is His ascension into God. Here is how we bear the things of Christ. Jesus ascended back unto the Father with all the work He has done. God by His Spirit indwells us and reveals Christ in all His fullness, who transforms our souls. Glory to God!
Christ was revealed to all Israel at John's Baptism. The Jews were gathered to John at His Baptism. Here is where Christ was first revealed to them at the water, "Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world." Also, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."
If we can here it, John said he must decrease and Christ must increase. Here in this statement is taking away and establishing. No longer was there a prophet coming declaring the Christ. Jesus was now the fulfillment of what the prophets declared.
At the encounter of the woman of Samaria, Jesus sat on Jacob's well. The woman asked if He was greater than her father Jacob. No longer would they be able to drink from Jacob to be the family of God. They now had to drink from the fountain Himself, who is Christ. Jesus fulfilled what the wells of Jacob, Abraham or any other prophet spoke of. The well of living water is now in Christ. Glory to God!
This is a very important sharing of the Lord. I recommend any listeners spend some time with this recording and listen intently. I believe the Lord will speak clearly to the heart in regards to our union with Him, and all things of Christ which we have inherited.
In this study, we are looking at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Church. In 1 Corinthians 1, Paul says to the Corinthians that they are waiting for the Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, who will confirm you unto the end. The coming here may not be simply some future day, but the unveiling of Christ in you, who confirms to God’s end, His goal and purpose. This is the end we must come to. He confirms us to the purpose of God in Christ. He, Christ, is our end, our purpose!
1Corinthians 1:4 “ I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; 5 That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; 6 Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: 7 So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: 8 Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Look at the above closely. The grace of God give to you that in everything you are enriched by Him. Wow. In all utterance and knowledge. This wasn’t our beginning state of being, but it is our end state. So Paul, is telling them to wait for the coming (revelation) of our Lord Jesus Christ, who establishes us in the goal, plan, will, end of God. Our end is being enriched by Him in all things. Now this end is what we come to know in the Revealing of the Person of Jesus Christ our Lord! Glory to God!
1Corinthians "1:4 I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; 5 That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; 6 Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: 7 So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: 8 Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord."
I want you to look at the word coming here in this scripture. It is the word REVELATION if you look up the Greek word. Revelation is an unveiling. So Paul was saying that we wait (look for), expect the Revealing of Jesus Christ. In this revealing we are confirmed to the end, which could simply meat to come to the goal and purpose of God. What is intended of God. That would be his goal.
By the Revealing of Jesus Christ we come to the purpose of God. In Christ we are complete, and made whole. We could consider the Day of Christ, as walking in that which is His Light. For example, in the light of the Old Covenant, I would have been walking in condemnation, always desiring to be complete. In the New Covenant we are walking in the Light (Day) of Christ, which is no condemnation, completion, forgiveness, redemption, fullness of God and on and on. All that relates to Christ is to be known by us in this new day! Glory to God!
This series is dealing with Christ revealed in His Church. Paul said when it pleased God, who separated him from his mother's womb and called him by His Grace, to reveal his Son in Him. In Paul's writings, he is dealing with Christ revealed in the believer, Christ revealed in the Church.
Peter declared "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God." Jesus said to Him, "flesh and blood did not reveal this, but my Father who is in Heaven." He goes on to say, "Upon this rock I will build my church." The church, who is His Body, is built upon Him. We are built through Him being revealed in us. Glory to God.
In King Solomon's day all of the rest of God flowed unto all of the House of Israel. Solomon brought up the furniture into the House of God at the Feast of Tabernacles. All of the children of Israel was gathered to the offerings without measure, the greatness of the Temple, the filling of the House with the Glory Cloud. Israel was called up to God's Glory and rest which was known in the land in the days of Solomon.
Here is the Feast of Tabernacles. His rest flowing unto us. Rest from all of our enemies and God flowing to us in plenty. All that is done in Christ gathered up in our hearts that we would live and flow together in the knowledge of Him and His Glorious Throne. Just as Israel was gathered to Solomon's throne, we are gathered unto the Throne of Jesus Christ.
1Ch 22:9 Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about; for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days. 10 He shall build a house for my name; and he shall be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever.
Where is this fulfilled but in the Lord Jesus Christ. The peace of God flowing unto us as a river. The throne of peace peace established forever. Here in Christ our land is at peace. 2 Thessalonians 3:16 "Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways. The Lord be with you all."
We are a people dwelling in the peace and rest of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are a people that the throne of peace are established in. We are a people who manifest His peace and rest in the earth.
1Ki 8:1 "Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers' houses of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of Jehovah out of the city of David, which is Zion. 2 And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the feast, in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. 3 And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. 4 And they brought up the ark of Jehovah, and the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent; even these did the priests and the Levites bring up. 5 And king Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled unto him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be counted nor numbered for multitude. 6 And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of Jehovah unto its place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubim. 7 For the cherubim spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and the staves thereof above. 8 And the staves were so long that the ends of the staves were seen from the holy place before the oracle; but they were not seen without: and there they are unto this day. 9 There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, when Jehovah made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. 10 And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of Jehovah, 11 so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud; for the glory of Jehovah filled the house of Jehovah."
At the Feast of Tabernacles, Solomon brought in the furniture from the Tabernacle to the Temple. Here in type and shadow God found his rest. Here the Israelites also found rest. Consider with me the thought in I John as He is so are we in the earth. In type and shadow it is seen right here. This people was in divine rest as God's rest had come into the Temple.
Also, consider the abundance that was here. The sacrifices without number for example. Why so large? They are speaking of the greatness of our Lord's sacrifice. It is without measurement, and is only known by the Spirit of God. Solomon has wisdom unlike any other. Here again is the picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. Everything at rest and in abundance. Glory to God!
What would be greater than His fullness? Unfortunately, in our minds we may see many things greater than Him. Much of this is because of how we were taught. We have been taught that streets of gold, gates of pearl and so forth are the prize. We don't understand that all of these things are declaring the quality of Christ, the fullness of His life, which is now in us.
Jesus prayed in John 17 that we would be one, "I in them thou in me that they be made perfect in One." I see nothing greater than that period. What we are seeking is this which He prayed to be made sure in our hearts and minds, and to be expressed in the earth in our bodies. My desire is to be clothed in this, to live in this. Glory to God in the Highest.
This should be the thought and prayer of the entire Church that we would know and express His fullness. We would know and express Him as He is. Glory to God!
2Co 3:13 And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: 14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. 15 But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. 16 Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. 17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Not as Moses. What a statement. This entire Covenant is not like the Covenant with Moses. Don't get me wrong, Moses was a great man, an incredible man who loved God. But this is not as Moses who put a veil over his face.
Jesus is unveiled. Our hearts are unveiled when we turn to Him to see the Glory of the Lord in the face of Jesus Christ. To see Him and be changed. This is how we are changed by seeing His Glory. We are changed from the glory of the old to the glory of the new. The new is Christ.
Consider for a moment the old. It showed you your iniquity. It showed you your inability. You were lost. Now consider the new. You are in Christ. You are in the Glory of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. He reins over your weakness. The Lord is our strength. He is our righteousness. We could go on and on. The ever increasing glory of God revealed IN US in the Person of Jesus Christ who lives in us! Glory to God!
The Atonement - The Presence
Jesus ascended back unto the Father. In John 17 it is recorded that He prayed, Father glorify me with thyself with the glory I had with the before the world was. What is God's self? God is a Spirit. God is Light. God is Love. God is a consuming fire. Jesus went back into what God is.
In Hebrews 9, the Bible says that He appears in the Presence of God for us. If I consider this, I could potentially conclude that Jesus, all the work done in the man of Galilee appears in God's Presence for us. His death, His Burial, His Resurrection is in the Presence. It was received unto God. He was received unto God. Now this of Christ that is in the Presence of God appears unto us. "Those who look for Him, He shall appear the second unto salvation."
He appears in God's presence. What do we see in God's Presence? We see Jesus!. Amen!
The Book of Hebrews 9 says, Christ appears the second time unto salvation. Many look at this as a natural appearing of the Lord Jesus. However, the second appearing can be seen as the New Creation, Christ in you. He appears to our salvation. This appearing is in our hearts.
His appearing is our salvation. In His appearing we begin to see our salvation. For example, we see we are righteous. We see we are whole. We see we have life. All of this is in Him appearing in us. He is the substance of all of these things. He is made unto us these things. He is our salvation. Glory to God
Our concepts of Heaven can be expanded by the Spirit of God. If we look closely at Hebrews 9, we can see that the offering of Jesus Christ is a Heavenly thing. The Old Testament Tabernacle was a type of the Heavenly Ministry of Christ. All that was happening in the Tabernacle was speaking of the Heavenlies.
Heb 9:21 Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. 22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. 23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
Christ is entered into Heaven itself. He ascended to Heaven. John saw a lamb that had been slain standing in the midst of the throne, the elders, and the four beasts. Christ is the resurrected slain Lamb, who entered Heaven, the abode of God. In Isaiah, God said of heaven, “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool.” Christ the Lamb of God is in the midst of God’s throne. All that is in Heaven bows down to the Lamb. All that is in earth is to bow to the Lamb. Glory to God!
The word atonement means to appease or satisfy. It also means a covering. We are clothed upon with Christ. Here is where God is satisfied, our being clothed in Him.
Now in Hebrews 9, a scripture that has been quoted often, “He shall appear the second time unto salvation.” This scripture has been quoted pertaining to Jesus’ coming. Ok, how does He appear the second time? How is He coming? If we look closely at the scriptures in Hebrews, we will see that they are speaking of the High Priest who entered the Holy Holies. Our High Priest, Jesus Christ, fulfilled that by entering into God.
The Levitical High Priest entered the Holy of Holies and came out appearing the second time to the people in the acceptance of God, once every year. Here Israel was atoned for as a nation and a people. Here Israel appeared with the High Priest unto the Glory of God. Christ, our High Priest appears the second to us, in us, as one with us unto salvation. He doesn’t appear again to take away sin, but to our salvation.
In this appearing, we see we are dead with Him. We see we have been made one with Him. We see that He is alive from the dead. We see the New Creation. We come to the peace of God. We come to the righteousness of God in Christ. We come to understand that all things from being born again, being filled with Spirit, having the peace of God dwell within us are of Christ. All of these things are from heaven. They are heavenly, as Christ is heavenly. He appears unto salvation. We appear with Him in Glory.
This is not a futuristic appearing but is the appearing of the Great God and our Savior who now dwells within us. He who is within us is being made manifest to us, just as He said. “Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye se me: because I live, ye shall live also.” Glory to God!
If I could compel all the Body of Christ to hear the Ministry of the Lord that is in me, this would be one of the sharings I would have every born again believer hear. I believe it is one of the most important understandings that we come to. We do not live unto ourselves. Look closely at Hebrews 9:6 below with this in mind.
Hebrews 9:6 Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. 7 But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: Daily the Priest went into the Tabernacle doing the services of God.
The Priest went into the first tabernacle always doing the service of God. They operated continually, daily when the Tabernacle was set. Consider with me that their life was not their own. This Holy Place in the Tabernacle to me represents the place of burial. The Tabernacle starting at the Brazen Altar is a picture of death, burial and resurrection (the Holy of Holies). The Priests were living unto God in type and shadow. Not to themselves. They were buried. They were put away.
Israel as a people were called out, redeemed unto God Himself. They were not simply redeemed from sin, but they were redeemed to purpose. This picture painted in the nation of Israel represents the truth that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. We who are the Lord's Body are not an island unto ourselves. Me and Jesus do not have our own thing going here. I am called out and redeemed to live unto God Himself.
Here in this place of burial we are put away and we are looking for Him to come forth. We eat His flesh and drink his blood. Here on the table is the Body of Bread representing the eating of Him. The colors of the fabric used for the Tabernacle included fine woven linen (Righteousness), Blue (Heaven), Purple (Royalty), Scarlet (Blood). Upon these curtains were seal skins, and goat hair. "We have this treasure in earthen vessels." The colors of the covering speaks of Christ our Heavenly Covering in the earthen vessel, speaking of you and I.
As we look into this Tabernacle and our eyes are open we see Him. We see Jesus. In the seeing of Him our individual greatness is put away, and we want to see His Greatness brought forth in every member of the Body of Christ. Our desire for ourselves diminishes and our desire becomes that Christ may fill all the House. Yes the House of the Lord that we are in Him! Glory to God!
The Atonement IV - Atonement and the Tabernacle
Hebrews 9:11 “But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; 12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.”
Christ entered the Holy place with His Own blood obtaining eternal redemption. What does that mean? Where did he redeem us to? Does it simply mean that he redeemed us from sin? Does it mean that he brought us back to Adam? Or is it much greater?
I believe there was a greater redemption than just being redeemed from sin or to Adam. Now as I say this, being redeemed from sin is a great thing. What I believe we miss is what we are redeemed to. Israel, when they were brought out of Egypt were not just out of Egypt. God said to Israel that he carried them on Eagles wings and brought them to Himself. Israel coming to Canaan land, came to the LORD Himself, Exodus 19:14.
Jesus didn’t just free us from sin. He brought us to Himself. John 14:20 “At that day you shall know I am in the Father, the Father is in me, and I in you.” In fact, to truly be free from sin, I must be in Christ. His nature is other than sin or even other than man. As I know Him, I know being free from sin. If I do not know Him, I will not know being free from sin.
Many times, we see our salvation as us being saved without that being in Christ. It is a view of salvation where he empowers me, and I learn to overcome. However, salvation is so much greater than that. It is being in Christ. Any measure of salvation is a measure of knowing him. So to know a life free from sin, is a knowing of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
At the Brazen Altar the animal sacrifice was left. No animals came beyond the Altar, only the High Priest with the Blood of the sacrifice. What does this mean? Why was there an offering where the animal was completely put away?
In Revelation 1, John fell at the feet of Christ as dead. His feet were as burnished brass. Here is where John came to the brazen altar and found himself to be dead. From there Christ laid His right hand upon him. From here the power of life all resides in Christ.
"Christ as a Son of his own house, whose house we are." We are His. He is the measurement of our living unto God. We only live unto God in Him. He is the change that comes into our hearts and into our mortal bodies to live unto God. We have no power to live this life ourselves. It is Christ living in me! Hallelujah and Glory to God!
Israel lived in what their High Priest did. Their society centered around the High Priest. Everything as a nation centered in the Temple, the Feasts, The Priesthood, the Presence of God. And One Time a Year the High Priest entered the Holy Place with the Blood of the Offering for a path of acceptance to God. Not a God far away, but the God whose presence was in the Temple. Glory to God.
Now we are not like Israel of old. We have such a High Priest who has sat down in a finished, glorious work! He is a Minister of the True Tabernacle - you are the Temple of the Living God. He is the Minister of you and I. We partake of that HE MINISTERS! We are centered around HIM! All the offerings, all the Priesthood summed up in HIM! Jesus Christ our High Priest, has made atonement for our souls. We are made one, not just having access, but made ONE by HIM!. Glory to God!
The word atonement means a covering. Christ is our covering. We are clothed upon by Him. His Work, His Life, His Presence. The reality of all that is in Christ is upon us to be manifest to the earth. This folks is the Great Atonement of the Lord. "That they may be One, I in them thou in me that they may be made perfect in One!"
Hebrews 8:1 "Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; 2 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man."
WE have just looked at the Blowing of the Trumpets, and saw them as the announcement of the Day. The voice, what the Voice of the Trumpet declared. The Voice of Christ. What He declares, "That they may be One, I in them, thou in me, that they be made perfect in one."
What an atonement. We have been made one with Him in His Atonement for our souls. What a glorious day.
Numbers 10:1 "And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps. 3 And when they shall blow with them, all the assembly shall assemble themselves to thee at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation."
Here we see in the Book of Numbers that the Trumpets called the people TOGETHER (As One) to the Door of the Tabernacle. Hear this. We are called together, through the voice of the silver trumpets, the silver speaking of redemption, to the DOOR of the Congregation.
Jesus declared of Himself, that He is the door. Here is where we COME TOGETHER - At the DOOR, In Christ. We come together as ONE in THE DOOR, who is Christ. This is our coming together. This is our oneness.
All believers would most likely agree that the Trumpet Blast gathers us to the LORD. No matter if you believe this from a natural or spiritual perspective, it is unto the Lord. However, it is what The Trumpet is saying we must Hear. "We are called to the fellowship of God's Dear Son." Hear is the call! Hear is the Union! Glory to God in the Highest!
The purpose of the Trumpet is to assemble unto the Lord. In Revelation 1, John heard a voice as a Trumpet, and He turned to see the voice. What did John see? What was he gathered to? John was gathered up unto the Lord. This was the distinction of the voice he heard.
In the Feast of Trumpets the children of Israel were gathered to the blowing of the Trumpet. These Trumpets were made of silver, Numbers 10:2. The silver speaks of redemption. So, Israel was gathered at the door of the congregation of the Tabernacle unto the Lord in redemption. This was the blowing of the Trumpets unto the Day of Atonement where God would meet with us unto the redeeming unto Himself.
This is it. God redeemed us to Himself. Hear this by His Voice. We are not redeemed to live our own lives, but that the life of Christ would flow through us. Hear the distinction of the voice. We are redeemed that God’s Life, who is Christ Jesus our Lord, would flow through us.
All of this is made unto us in the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said we are called unto the Fellowship of God's dear Son in the book of 1 Corinthians. We need to hear that distinct sound. The voice of our calling and what it is we are called to in Him. Glory to God!
1Corinthians 1:4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— 6 even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— 7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1Co 1:9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
When we look at the Feasts of Trumpets, what comes to mind? Have we ever thought about it? The Trumpet blast makes a powerful sound. By the blast of the Trumpet, the walls of Jericho fell.
When we consider Jericho, the only sound coming from the seven priests was the sound of the Trumpet. The trumpets of RAMs horns, a male lamb. We could and should consider this voice to be the voice of the Lamb. When nothing comes out of the priesthood but the voice of the lamb walls crumble.
This is the voice that the Priesthood must hear. This is the voice that the Priesthood must declare. It must go through the Lord's Body, the Voice of the Lamb. What does the Lamb of God declare. What is declared in you by His Voice. Have you as John did, turned to see the Voice that is being declared? This voice is our gathering to the Atonement. This Voice is the Gathering to Feast of Tabernacles. Let us turn to see the voice! Glory to God!
"That your fruit may remain." These may be some of the most powerful words Jesus proclaimed as He walked upon the earth. If we hear this, it can have an upmost impact to understanding the desire of God for our lives. The fruit, remaining.
Jesus declared that, "I AM the Vine, you are the branches." The substance of the Vine flows through us the branches. The substance of the Tree, produces the fruit. The fruit remaining is that of Him. That of Christ, which has been revealed in us, remaining or staying. What does that mean? I would say, becoming par of our very being. The divine nature as our nature. His expression through His branches.
This to me is the hope of the Gospel. The Living Christ, who is in me, being revealed and that of Him gathered up in our souls, minds and beings for expression. I have seen what I can express of myself without Him, and I would say it is not very good. I want to see that of Him gathered up into me, who now dwells in the vine, and produce that which He is. Glory to God!!
Considering that all things are fulfilled in Christ, and gathered up in Him, as Ephesians 1 says, how then would we define Tabernacles? How was it fulfilled and how does it apply to us today? I sincerely believe this study will help you and I arrive to that understanding.
Looking back at the Feast of Tabernacles as it applied to the natural Israel, I want to bring to our attention that at this time the Israelites were gathering fruit up from the fields:
Lev 23:38 "besides the sabbath of Jehovah, and besides your gifts, and besides all your vows, and besides all your free-will offerings which you give to Jehovah. 39 Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep a feast to Jehovah seven days. On the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath. 40 And you shall take the fruit of majestic trees for yourselves on the first day, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the valley. And you shall rejoice before Jehovah your God seven days. 41 And you shall keep it a feast to Jehovah seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall keep it in the seventh month."
In John 15:16 as Jesus was speaking of his relationship of the Vine and the branches, he makes a statement, "Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain, that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in My name, He may give it to you." Here in relationship to the vine, we are to bear His fruit, and His fruit is to be gathered up and remain.
That of Christ that we have received, which has been revealed in us is to remain in us. This is I believe Tabernacles. When that we of Him is remaining, abiding in us, we are enjoying The Feast of Tabernacles. May all of Him be gathered up into us! Glory to God!
This is the reality of Pentecost that we must come to, CHRIST IN OUR MIDST! I grew up in Church as a Pentecostal. In the understanding I grew up with, I never connected Pentecost to the Feasts of the Lord, but to the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. This was my connection to Pentecost, that we would be Baptized in the Spirit, speak in tongues, and do the works of Jesus. While I believe this to be truth of Pentecost, I believe it goes much deeper. The deepness of it is Christ in our midst. Christ in you.
Jesus declared that when the Spirit comes we would KNOW! KNOW WHAT? "I am in my Father, you are in me, and I am in you." By the coming of the Holy Spirit, we know that Christ is in us. The Holy Spirit declares Him to us. Shews Him to us. Reveals the Living Christ, who is our very life to us. To me this is the Feast of Pentecost, the Spiritual Reality of Christ Jesus Living in His People, and His People coming to this realization that He is in us and we are in Him. Glory to God!
When we think on Pentecost, what was its ultimate purpose? The Spirit would come. This was the purpose of God in Pentecost. He would pour out His Spirit and we would partake of it.
Now what was the purpose of the Spirit? When the Spirit would come, he would show us Christ. "He shall take of mine and show it to us." He shall speak of Christ. Christ would be revealed in us. That is the purpose of the Spirit of God. Glory to God. Christ revealed, dwelling in His people.
We live by the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our Life. He is the Living Word. At Mt. Sinai, a Covenant came that the children of Israel were to live by unto God. This was all according to the flesh. However, it was speaking of a GREATER WORD to come. This GREATER WORD was a Person, who is our Lord Jesus Christ.
We are in Covenant with God in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Word we live by. Consider this closely. Christ Jesus is a quickening, life giving Word that has the power to bring us out of death and into life. The Old Covenant Word could not do that. It pointed to the quickening power of Christ, but could not bring it forth.
Christ has brought it forth. If we can hear it, the Covenant we live in is as He is. It pertains to His Work at Calvary, death, burial and resurrection. It pertains to His Glorification. This is the what or WHO we live unto God by. Christ Jesus is our Covenant Word. Glory to God.
At Mount Sinai, the Israelites received the word, the law. Through this Law, word of Covenant they were going to live unto God. This Word would be their medicine and deliverance. This Word would be on their mind and upon their heart all the days of the lives. In fact, this Word would dictate their life.
In Mount Zion, the High Place of the Lord, another WORD was given. This Word was Christ. He is the New Covenant Word. He is our medicine and deliverance. He is how we live unto God. He is not just upon our mind (thoughts), but is the transformation of our mind, and heart. He dwells within our soul.
We live unto God in the Person of Jesus Christ. We do not just live in mere Words, but the Word of God Himself! All things that He says is applied to us. Glory to God. If He says we are righteous, then we are righteous. If He says we are at peace with God. Then we are at peace with God. Let us with all our hearts and minds obtain this Word, and let Him fill our hearts in the Glory that He is. Hallelujah!
John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
The word Pentecost means fifty. Fifty days after Passover the children of Israel were again gathered unto the Lord at Mt. Sinai. Here they received the law. Here they received the Covenant. At Mount Sinai, Paul wrote in Galatians the Covenant gendered to bondage. In Mount Zion, the Covenant was unto the freedom of the Spirit.
We who are in Christ are free from sin and death, and its penalties In this Covenant of Life we stand in Christ is the Word we have received and we live in, In the New Covenant. Glory to God.
Joel 2:23 Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in Jehovah your God; for he giveth you the former rain in just measure, and he causeth to come down for you the rain, the former rain and the latter rain, in the first month. 24 And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil. 25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the canker-worm, and the caterpillar, and the palmer-worm, my great army which I sent among you. 26 And ye shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and shall praise the name of Jehovah your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you; and my people shall never be put to shame. 27 And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am Jehovah your God, and there is none else; and my people shall never be put to shame.
Read this closely. What were they to know in the former and latter rain, "I AM in your midst." As an Israelite, when this was written, they were thinking of days gone by when God dwelt in the Temple in their midst. Here they in type and shadow were not ashamed, were not in the captivity of the world. They were a great people to show forth the praise of their great God.
Where this finds its fulfillment is in the Lord Jesus Christ. "At that day you shall know, I AM in my Father, you are in me, and I AM in you." Here we are not ashamed. Here his greatness and victory is seen and declared. Here the I AM is made known in a people. Glory to God. He has come to us as the rain and the latter rain. He has filled His temple with Himself. "You are the Temple of the Living God. I will dwell in them and walk in them. I will be their God and they shall be my people."
God said in the Book of Acts, through the Apostle Peter, "In the last days I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh." What were the last days that were spoken of here? Was it dealing with the last days of planet earth? of the last days of humanity? or is there another idea in the heart of God?
Are the last days, referring to the last days of the Old Covenant? Was the pouring out of the Spirit unto us, the operation that gives us the ability to transition out of one Covenant into another? I believe the answer would be yes. The Spirit takes of Christ and shows or reveals to our hearts. Christ himself is the transition from the Old to the New.
He takes away and He brings forth. He makes all things New. To me and you that is done by the Spirit of God through Christ being in you, and the Spirit of God showing Him to you! Glory to God in the Highest! Peace on earth toward men. Christ has come and dwells in His many membered Body that is the Church. Again I say, Glory to God!
In the Book of Acts Chapter 2 is written the record of the coming of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
I would like us to pay particular attention to verse 1. "When the day of Pentecost had fully come." There had been many days of Pentecost in the history of the Israelites and Jewish people, but it had never fully come until the Spirit was poured out from on high. Pentecost could never come in completion until Passover had come in its completion. All of this is in connection to the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus came, died, was buried, arose from the dead, and ascended back unto the Father.
"He shed forth this," Peter declared in the Book of Acts. The Holy Spirit came at the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ to fill the believers with the reality of Christ. "He that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit." On the day of Pentecost the Church of Jesus Christ was born and joined to Him, to know Him in HIs fullness. Glory to God!
In this lesson Passover is broken down. Looking close at Leviticus 23:1-9 you can see that there are 3 Feasts contained in Passover. These speak of His death, His burial and His resurrection. These Feasts are Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits. Jesus Himself went into death, He was buried, and He was raised from the dead. This was done by Him and Him alone. We are partakers of His work. Without Him there is no fulfillment of the Feast.
This is very important. Christ and His Work stands alone. What I am saying His work stands with or without us. We are brought into His Work. When we believe into Christ we come into Him and His Work. God places us in Christ. This is the foundation of Christianity. “By One Spirit we are all Baptized into One Body.” Paul writes that we are baptized into His death in Romans 6 by the Spirit of God. I believe this is the start of our journey. We believe in Him, and in receiving Him the Old Man is dead, and our journey is coming into the New Man who is Christ.
I Pray this is edifying to your heart. May God richly reveal the Living Christ in you.
Leviticus 23:1 “The LORD spoke again to Moses, saying, 2 "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'The LORD'S appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy convocations—My appointed times are these: 3 'For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a sabbath to the LORD in all your dwellings. 4 'These are the appointed times of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at the times appointed for them. 5 'In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight is the LORD'S Passover. 6 'Then on the fifteenth day of the same month there is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. 7 'On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work. 8 'But for seven days you shall present an offering by fire to the LORD. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work.'" 9 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 10 "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. 11 'He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.”
In the Book of Exodus, it is declared that the Passover is the Lord's sacrifice when He passed over the Israelites in the land of Goshen. Before any Israelite was a partaker of the work of the Lord there was a slain lamb with the blood on the door lintel. The Israelites had to enter into the Blood of that Lamb and eat its flesh in order to come out of that house in the brightness of the new day.
Exo 12:25 And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the LORD will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service. 26 And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? 27 That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD'S passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped.
Before you or I could ever enter into Christ, He had to finish the work. He had to come as man and proceed into death, burial and resurrection. This was the Lord's work before we ever were partakers of it. Now we come into the Lord through His shed blood, and eat the Lamb until we see the Light of the new day. Then we come into the Light of Christ, which is the Light of the New Day that dawns in our hearts.
What I am concerned with at this time, is many of the Lord's Body do not close the door and eat the Lamb. They try to walk out in Christ by the religion they are taught. We must first eat the Lamb, which will bring us into the Light of New Day. Only by eating Him, can we come here. Let us go in and close the door with Jesus and eat until the Light Appears. Until we see Jesus. Glory to God!
In the Lord's death, He struck the death blow to the old man. The Israelites came out of Egypt through the striking of the Lord. We come out of Adam, religion, and every bondage through the striking of the Lord. I am so thankful to God's death blow. "For we are dead and our life is hid with Christ in God." Christ is our life and is appearing in us to God's Glory!. Amen.
The Israelites did not just have Three Feasts. They had a specific time, order and place of the Feasts. Everything in Israel centered around the Lord and the Tabernacle or Temple. The fulfillment is the same as the shadow. The time, place and order centers around the Lord and His House.
"You are the Temple of God, as God has said," II Corinthians 6:16. II Corithians 13:5 "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?"
The fulfillment of all Three Feasts are in Christ. He is the fulfillment of all things. We must look unto Jesus to find the completion to the Word of God. Nothing else will complete it but Him. Glory Be to God in the Highest!
In Exodus 3, Jehovah said to Moses that He had come down to deliver the people out of the bondage of Egypt. In His deliverance He told the children of Israel that they would be taking a 3 Day Journey. This 3 day journey is of utmost significance, as it is speaking of the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Exodus 3:7"And Jehovah said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people that are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; 8and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.:
Exodus 8:27 "We will go three days journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to Jehovah our God, as he shall command us."
It may have taken the Israelites many years to come to Canaan, which it did, but the entire time they were on a 3 day journey. That is same with us as believers. We are in a 3 day journey the entirety of our walk in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are observing a 3 Day Feast of the Lord as we observe Him, in His death, burial, and resurrection.
However, nothing could be observed unless He came down. Jesus said I AM COME that they might have life. His coming is the only way we have to Life. We receive, observe and know this Life in Him. Glory to God.
Over the next few months, I will be posting an in depth study of the Feasts of the Lord. In our Bible class we went through the Feasts in depth. Our aim and goal was to see how these are gathered up and fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ, and how we as believers partake of His fulfillment.
In this study, I came to more in depth understanding of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. There were areas in these Feasts that became evident which I never knew. I pray this study serves as an edification to your heart, a building up in Christ, and that He is seen and glorified. Blessings to you in Christ Jesus our Lord.
In the sculpture I did not see the correlation of what Jesus said, "I AM The True Vine to the Feast of Tabernacles until I was in the study of both. Part or much of the significance of the Feast of Tabernacles has to do with Ingathering's of the Fruit of the Field. So as to mention it, it also deals with the King, who we know is fulfilled in our Lord Jesus Christ. However, if we look at the Feast as pertaining to the Harvest Time, we have to find that fulfillment in Christ, and no where else. ALL The Scripture testifies of Him.
John 15:16 "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. New King James Version."
Jesus stated here that their fruit may remain. This is of heavy significance. Our fruit is that of Him, or defined in the scripture as the fruit of the Spirit. We could say that one aspect of the Feast of Tabernacles or Feast of Ingathering, is the gathering up of the Fruit of THE TRUE VINE, into the House. HALLELUJAH. Yes, and not just a gathering up of it, but that it may remain. That the effect of Christ is He would remain or His substance would be formed in us. Glory to God!
Leviticus 23:39 On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the produce of the land, you are to celebrate a feast to the LORD for seven days. There shall be complete rest on the first day and also on the eighth day.
Not only is Jesus the True Vine in relationship to the Israel of God, He is the True Vine in relationship to mankind Himself. From the beginning Christ was the Vine that God purposed in the earth. God’s plan toward mankind has always been Christ. His intent has been to bring forth the fruit of Christ in man. So, when God made man, His vision was Christ in the man, bringing forth the fruit of God.
When we look at mankind, the natural man to try and find purpose it becomes futile or as Solomon said, vanity of vanities. Man in himself could never complete the purpose of God. God Himself was always the only one who could get His purpose. He gets it in His person, Jesus Christ our Lord. When Christ came in the earth, speaking of Him coming both on planet earth and in man, purpose was finally seen. Christ was always God’s purpose in the earth. Christ was God’s purpose for planet earth, and for mankind. In Christ is where the true fruit of God is found. God was always after fruit.
In looking at mankind, God is like a farmer. A farmer looks at the land and doesn’t just see a nice piece of ground, but He sees the land filled with fruit. If he is a corn farmer, he sees corn. If the land does not bear corn, or cannot bear corn it is worthless. God looks at mankind, His earth, and sees Christ. The potential for the ground is Christ. The purpose for the ground is Christ. This is the purpose for man existing that Christ would be formed in them.
This only comes through the fulfillment of the Seed being planted in the earth to bring forth its own kind. Christ was planted in death, burial, and resurrection in the earth. God puts that seed in our hearts to bring forth its very own substance that was brought forth in the person of Jesus Christ when He came as man in our hearts. This is the work of the Spirit, to plant, cultivate and bring forth the Living Christ in you and I that are His husbandry or garden. Glory to God!
Unless a Seed of Wheat falls into the ground and dies it abides alone. The Seed of God, the planting of the Lord fell into the ground to bring forth in the ground (man made of the ground), His own substance. Jesus came forth to bring an increase of Himself in a New Creation. We who are His are that creation and are filled with the substance of Him. Glory to God.
Jesus declared of Himself that He is the True Vine. Consider that statement. In the Old Covenant, Israel was known as the planting of the Lord. Jesus was planted of God, the Seed of wheat that fell in the ground and died. We are planted in Him. All true planting of God is in Christ Jesus.
Paul states Christ, who is our life, shall appear and we shall appear with Him in Glory. Many doctrines have taught us this is a event that will happen someday. However, I want us to consider that Christ our Life is in us. Paul tells us that much in Colossians Chapter, "Christ in you the hope of Glory." Now if I consider He is in me, I could also consider that this appearing is from within. Christ appearing in me makes me aware of His Glory. Makes me aware of that which He is. Therefore, I become like Him when He appears. He is my life. As He is so am I. This is taught in Paul's, Peter's and John's epistles. We are like Him. If we simply consider we have been born of Him when we were born again, and the substance that He is is NOW our Life it would make this simpler to understand. You and I are not separate from Jesus. He is now our very Life. He now lives within us, and He is changing our hearts, souls and minds into the same image that He is. Glory to God.
Christ is our Life! If you have been born again you have Christ living in you. He is your Life! Glory to God!
Jesus said in John's Gospel that He had come that we may have life. Unless He came, mankind would abide in death. Unless Christ is in you, you are abiding in death. Christ who is our life dwells within our hearts to be made known. As we know Him we know Life! Glory to God!
When Jesus came and said, "I AM come that you might have life, and have it abundantly," did He simply mean we would have extraordinary natural lives? Did He mean we would have eternal life when we died? Was that His Mind toward life? In the Gospels Jesus declares Life to be Himself. We did not have Him. He is Life.
So, when He declared that His coming was unto Life, it meant that He the LIFE would come to be within us. It meant that we would come to know the only True God in an inward way through Jesus Christ our Lord. We would come out of death, and into His Life. He is THE LIFE. Glory to God!
I AM The Resurrection
John 11:25 "Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? 27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world."
Listen to this scripture! He, Jesus Christ our Lord, is THE RESURRECTION. We as believers are raised from the dead to the living. He is the Living One. When we receive Him, we come to the Resurrection? In fact, we are born into the resurrection. We are born in Christ. This is the resurrection of the dead.
Now the life we have is Christ. He is our life. In the Resurrection we come to Him. We come to that which pertains to Him, and begin to know His Life, not our own. This is what Paul says, Not I, but Christ, in Galatians 2. Think of this in connection with the Resurrection, “Not I But Christ.” What we are learning and knowing by His Spirit is Him, not a better me, but the Lord from Heaven. Our salvation is being built up in Him. He is our Life in the Resurrection from the dead.
We come in Him to the High Place. Jesus said, I am from above. In Isaiah, God declared my ways are higher than men. Connect with me that we are raised. We are raised to the HIGH WAYS of God, and the HIGH WAYS of God is a Person, Jesus Christ our Lord! Amen! Glory to God!
Who are the dead? What is God's definition of the dead? Is it simply dead bodies in a cemetery? In Apostle Paul's Revelation of Jesus Christ he came to a conclusion that Christ is Life. Anything outside of Him has not life.
So in his epistles he declared all in Adam are dead. The natural man is in death. "To be carnally minded is death." Putting off the old man, the carnal mind and its nature is the clothing of death. Putting on the New Man, who is Christ, is the clothing of Life. We are clothed upon with Christ. He is our Life. Glory to God.
"As the Father raises up the dead and quickenth, even so the Son quickeneth whom He will." The Father raised Christ from the dead. Even so we are raised from the dead. As Christ was raised from the dead, Paul writes in Romans 6, we walk in newness of life. Our quickening, our raising is as Christ. We are in union with Him. We have no quickening outside of HIm.
"As the Father quickentheth, the Son quickeneth also." Let us hear this. As the Father quickeneth. How does the Father quicken? Or better who does the Father quicken? He quickened or made alive Christ from the dead. As He made Christ alive, Christ makes alive those he will. We are made alive in this order, as Christ was quickened from the dead.
Our quickening is in Him. We have no quickening outside of Him. Paul goes unto to write that He is our Life. I am concerned very few believers HEAR This. CHRIST IS OUR LIFE. To Live is Christ. Life and living is that of Christ that is made alive or real within us. Glory to God!
In this series we are exploring the I AM’s of Jesus. Currently, being released on our podcast is Jesus declaring Himself to be the Resurrection and the Life. The question I hope these began to pose in you is How He is the Resurrection and how He is the Life. And I pray the Lord begins to answer by His Spirit in your heart that Christ IS THE Resurrection, and Christ is THE LIFE.
Our Latest Podcast – I AM The Resurrection – The Voice of the Son of God.
This is the Voice, Jesus declares will bring you to Life. A people move out of a Covenant with God that was the Law of Sin and Death, to a Covenant that is the Law of the Spirit of Life. “He that has the Son has Life.” Jesus says they that hear His Voice pass from death to LIFE. Get that PASS, move from the place or state of death into the place or state of LIFE.
You are Free in Christ. When you receive Him, you receive an entire different life. This life is FREE from bondage. Christ has no bondage in Himself. You are in Him. He is in you. This is the reality we are NOW in.
Freedom from sin, what a concept in the Church. Many cannot find freedom from its sting and pain. Many are forcibly trying to overcome in themselves what Christ has done for them. The Son has made us free. Yes, Christ is our freedom from sin.
In John's Gospel Chapter 8, it is recorded that Jesus told the Jews that they were slaves to sin. Many would not come to Him that they would be made free from sin. The reality that is in Him is we have forgiveness for our sins. He became sin for us, and sin is not held against us. The Apostle John tells us He is faithful and just to forgive us. This reality of Him fills our hearts. He took our sins. He became the missing of the mark to bring us to God in Himself. It was laid upon Jesus Christ.
What we have in the New Covenant is that of Christ. We do not simply have a good teaching of how to be better. We have the substance of how to be a New Creation. We have the substance of how to perform the Life of God within us. The substance we have is The Truth. The substance we have is Christ Jesus the Lord. His victory over sin reigns within us because HE REIGNS within us! Glory to God.
The Spirit of Truth
When the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well encountered Jesus, Jesus told her, “Now is the time when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth.” How I long to see true born-again believers embrace this which Jesus said. No longer worshiping in Samaria or Jerusalem, but in Spirit and Truth. “God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and Truth.”
We no longer gather at a Temple made with hands to worship God through Feasts and Offerings. We now come in Christ Jesus, who is all Feasts and all offerings to us. The Holy Spirit actively takes those of Christ and offers, shews, discloses to us that we can bear them. That we can know them and offer them unto God. This is an active place of worship we have come to by the Spirit of God, to know THE TRUTH. Jesus said I AM THE TRUTH. He is the truth of all things. All things in the scripture spoke of Him. He is Truth we know, which is revealed in us by the Spirit of God!
John 16:12 “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. 13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. 14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.”
I AM The Truth
Jesus declares of himself that He is the Truth. The question I want to pose is the truth of what? The answer I want us to consider is that He is the truth of all things in the scripture. Jesus is the truth of all things in the Old Covenant. Hebrews 8 declares that He is the minister of the True Tabernacle, which the Lord built and not man. The True Tabernacle comes into view only in Jesus Christ. “Christ as a Son over His own House, whose House we are.”
With this thought you could say True Sacrifice. All sacrifices spoke of Him. The priesthood spoke of Him. The feasts, and everything related spoke of Him. Even Old Covenant Israel finds its fulfillment in Him. He brings all things to truth. He is the Truth! He is the Truth of all things in the scripture. He defines all things. In this study, we are looking at the truth that is in Christ. Glory to God!
I AM The Way III – The Way into the Holiest
Jesus is not just a way to God. He is THE WAY. No man comes to the Father but by me. Let us hear this, no man comes. In ourselves we do not approach the Holiest of all. We approach the Holiest of all in THE WAY. We come in Him. Now this is a mouthful to say, we come in Him.
Hebrews 9:8 “The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:”
He that was with God, came out of God on our behalf’s to bring many sons unto Glory. We wholly and totally come to God by, through and in Him. We do not approach God in ourselves. This is the fallacy that resides in our hearts that we have an approach to the Father in ourselves. We read that we have access to the Father, and yes that is true. But what is the access? It is THE WAY.
Jesus’ approach to the Father was through death. He died to the old man, to put him to death. This has to become the reality within our souls. “You are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God.” His access to the Father is ours. It is the way of the cross. No man comes but by me. We are baptized into His death. That is the way, because through Him the old man is put to death. He died, and is buried, and they that come to God come forth in Christ Jesus our Lord. This is how we come to God in Him. We are born in Him. He is born in us.
Now we have access to the Father, and this access is in Christ Jesus. This access is not of ourselves, but it is in Him. Glory to God in the Highest!
I AM The Way II – The approach of God
In the book of Leviticus, we find a story of Aaron’s sons approaching God their own way. The result of that was death. In the pattern of the Old Covenant there was an approach unto God set forth. Only one day, one time, and one way could any come to the presence of the Lord. This was the way of the High Priest on the day of Atonement. This stood as an example until the time would come when THE WAY into the presence of God came.
The WAY into God’s presence is Jesus Christ. When we come unto God in Christ, that is what we do. We come IN CHRIST! No man comes but by Christ. We approach God in Christ. He is our approach unto the Father. We do not approach God by our own selves. Even when we are born again, it is not now Christ and me. It is Christ in me. The approach to God is in and through Him that lives in us.
“At that day you shall know that I AM in the Father, ye in me, and I in you,” John 14:20. Earlier in this Chapter, it is recorded that Jesus declared He would receive us to Himself. He did just that in our New Birth. He came into our hearts and received us to Himself. We were born again into Christ. It was a new birth. Now we must come into the presence and fullness of God through Him that dwells within us. In fact, the presence and fullness of God is in Him that dwells within us. Glory to God.
In John 14, Jesus makes a statement, “I AM the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father but by me.” In simplistic terms, coming to God is only through Christ. He is THE WAY. There are not ways to God, only THE WAY. In this podcast we are beginning to explore Christ as the Way. There is no other way and will never be another way. He alone can bring us to God.
In fact, we come to God by Him, through Him and in Him. We do not come to come God by ourselves, through our own self effort, or in ourselves. It is by and through the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Good Shepherd gave His life for the sheep. Jesus gave his life, or poured out His soul, to bring us into His Life. Through Him we move from the earth man to the heavenly man, from the old man to the new man, and we live in His Life. Glory to God!
He poured out His Soul unto Death In John’s Gospel Chapter 10, Jesus declared that He is the Good Shepherd, and the Good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep. If we look closely at the word life here, it means soul life. It is the word that is used for soul. Jesus, who was in the form of God, Philippians 2, lowered himself and took on Himself the form of man. What is the form of man, a living soul according to the Apostle Paul. “The first man Adam was made a living soul.” So, Christ became a living soul, and as a soul or living being, he poured out his life unto death.
This is prophesied in Isaiah 53 verse 10, “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.”
Then we can see this again in the book of Psalms 16 “10For thou wilt not leave my soul to Sheol; Neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption. 11Thou wilt show me the path of life: In thy presence is fulness of joy; In thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”
Christ did not see corruption. We are joined to His person; His being is our salvation. His soul was poured out to death for us. He became the offering for sin, not just His flesh that hung upon the tree, but the entirety of His person was offered for us. He then was raised from the dead, and in this resurrection, we have newness of life. We have His Life in us. This One, this Holy One Living in us. Glory to God.
I AM The Good Shepherd II – The Path of Righteousness
What is the path of righteousness? Many Christians have different ideas and doctrines of righteousness, and how to be righteous. In fact, there is much division among the Body of Christ over this subject and belief.
Now to answer the question, what is the path of righteousness? Christ Jesus the Lord is the answer. In Jeremiah 23:5,6, one of the names of Jehovah is JEHOVAH TSIDKENUA, The Lord our righteousness. We, in ourselves, never had the ability to meet the standard of God’s righteousness. God’s righteousness or God’s right standing can not be found in the natural man. We all become futile in ourselves as we work to achieve what God has provided for us in Christ.
I Corinthians 1:30 “But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,”
So, for me and you to live righteously in the earth, comes from God’s work in Christ. We are saved by grace. God’s glorious work applied to our hearts is how we walk righteously. The only way I come to the place where I walk in my heart as righteous is through comprehending Christ and His work at the cross. The only way I express righteous living is through the same. I must know Him that dwells within me. He is our righteousness. Without the knowing of Him, I do not have any ability to know in my heart I am righteous, or to live righteously with my Brothers and Sisters in Christ. It is impossible.
I must be found in Him. This is Paul’s cry for himself and the church to be found in Christ, Philippians 3. I must see by the Spirit that my very life is found in Christ. I have to learn this very life which can only be taught by the Spirit of God, as Christ is revealed in me. God reveals Christ in us, in whom we dwell, as our righteousness, and we express Him in the earth. Glory to God.
The Good Shepherd
In the Old Covenant we would have read of the Good Shepherd if we have read our Bibles. God as a Shepherd led the children of Israel out of Egypt to Canaan. He Shepherded the sheep into the land of promise, a land flowing with milk and honey. Their departure from Egypt was through a Blood-stained doorway. They had to go in and out that door to find pasture, the land flowing with Honey.
Now they were not led here by their own mind, but by God Himself. This is a picture of the leading of the Spirit of God into the fullness of Christ Jesus the Lord. He is our land flowing with milk and honey. In Him the fullness of God is revealed, and we are complete in Him. Let us turn our hearts toward His fullness. Let us be led by the Spirit of God into all the substance and life that is Christ Jesus Himself. Glory to God!
When the Heaven’s were opened in the scripture what was seen? Ezekiel said He saw visions of God, Ezekiel Chapter. Ultimately, he saw a whirlwind or cloud coming and in the cloud, he saw one like the Son of Man, sitting upon a throne.
Ezekiel 1:1 “Now it came about in the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was by the river Chebar among the exiles, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.”
Ezekiel 1:26 “Now above the expanse that was over their heads there was something resembling a throne, like lapis lazuli in appearance; and on that which resembled a throne, high up, was a figure with the appearance of a man. 27 Then I noticed from the appearance of His loins and upward something like glowing metal that looked like fire all around within it, and from the appearance of His loins and downward I saw something like fire; and there was a radiance around Him. 28 As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking.”
John the Apostle saw a throne as well, and a man in the midst of the throne, who was the Lord Jesus Christ. John declared Him to be as a Lamb that was slain, and was standing in the midst of the throne and the elders. His description of the man found in Revelation 1 is quiet astounding. His hair is white as snow, His eyes as a flame of fire, His feet is burning brass, and His face as the sun in brightness. Seeing this man John fell at His feet as dead and was raised by the right hand of Christ. This man filled the church in John’s Revelation. What kind of man is this who can fill the Heavens and the Earth?
The Apostle declared He saw a Heavenly Vision. He said to King Agrippa, “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.” In His epistles He wrote He was determined to know nothing among you but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Is Jesus Christ crucified the heavenly vision, the vision of God? Jesus said, “if you have seen me you have seen the Father also.” Certainly, seeing the Father is a heavenly vision. Seeing Christ by the Spirit is a heavenly vision.
At the Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist the heaven’s were open and God declared or revealed His Son to Israel. The Revelation of Jesus Christ is the heavenly vision of God. Here is where we see as in a mirror and are transformed into the same image by the Spirit of the Lord. Only by seeing Jesus can we be changed. There is nothing we can do but look to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith to see our change, transformation come. Glory to God.
I AM THE DOOR – Veil of God
In the Old Covenant God was veiled from the Israelites in the Tabernacle of Moses then again in the Temple. God was among them but was veiled away. They could not see Him or enter into His presence.
When Jesus began His ministry in the earth, he declared that the God of Glory was dwelling in Him. He declared that He that sent Him was with Him, even within Him. John 14:10 “Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works'” Jesus declared that this God who dwelled in Him was His witness. The witness was not just the words He was saying but were the miracles He was doing. Jesus declared to the roaring waves peace be still. The lame walked, the death heard, the blind saw. There was no miracle to hard for Jesus to perform. The witness of God was all in the earth.
However, from the minds of many Jewish people God was still veiled from them. They did not believe. In all the ministry of Jesus, expressing the Father, He spoke of another day. A day in which God would no longer be veiled. A day in which He would show them plainly of the Father. John 14:20 “At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.”
How would we know? The veil of flesh that separated us from God was going to the cross. The old man who could not know God was crucified and put away. In Christ, a new man would come forth, who knows God according to the Spirit. “At that day you will know.” That day is the Day of the Spirit. The Day Jesus shows us plainly of the Father. He that has seen the Son has seen the Father also. As Christ is revealed in this new Day of the Spirit we see plainly of the Father. There is no longer a veil separating us from His glory. All the separation was done way through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Glory to God!
I AM THE DOOR II – You Shall Go In and Be Saved
The Israelites entered the blood-stained door in Egypt. By entering in they would go in and out of that door unto salvation. They were leaving behind all that was in Egypt and coming to all that would be shown of God. We enter into Christ’s death and come forth in His life. This picture is throughout the Bible. We enter the door leaving behind all that was before and coming into that which is before us. What was behind us was Adam, what is before us is Christ.
What we do in Christ is we come out of all we have known in the old man into that which is shown to us of God. What He shows us is Christ. Christ is set before us by the Spirit of God. We enter into Christ. We enter that of Christ as it is revealed unto us by the Spirit of God. The door set before us, who is Christ, is the way out of what we were into what He is! Glory to God!
We enter in the Door and are saved. “You shall go in and be saved.” Jesus saved the Woman with the issue of Blood. She came to Jesus and He Saved her. The Bible says Healed her. The word healed and saved are often the same Greek word in the New Testament. She came to Jesus, as recorded in Luke 8, and was healed. She was saved. She moved out of one reality into another when she encountered Jesus. This is what we do. We leave behind what we were and come to what He is. This is salvation. Glory to God!
I AM The Door I - The I AM’s of Jesus
Jesus says in John’s Gospel that He is the door, and you shall go in and out and find pasture. The question I want us to reflect on is if we walk into the door who is Christ, why would I ever come out of that door? We should surely stay there, correct?
I used to think this meant we go into Christ, maybe into very deep places and then come out and distribute it to the earth or to the world. I used to think this! However, as I was before the Lord, He began to speak in my heart origin. So, I began to search out these words in John 10. When you dig into this set of scripture you will find that the word used for you shall go in and out has in its meaning to issue or come forth out. Now this is not all of its meaning, but it is in here. With that said, I believe what the Lord was showing me is that we go into the door by Christ and come out in His Life.
You could say we are baptized into His death. If we stopped right there we would just be dead. However, we are baptized into His death, and we come forth in life in Him. Our going forth, or new birth, is in Christ Jesus. We are baptized into Him, His death, dead to the old man, and we come forth (issue), or come out in His Life. Now we do issue out of Him to distribute or show Him. But we never leave the Door. We never leave our being in Christ.
This picture is seen in Noah. Noah entered the door of the ark. I believe it spoke of the baptism of death. Peter actually says it does. When Noah came out the Door, He came out in a New Creation. All was made new. This was a type and shadow to what we have in Christ. “As in the days of Noah, so it is in the days of the coming of the Son of Man.” We enter into His death, and come forth in Him in His Life. We issue from the Door of Christ into this New Creation in Christ in which we walk.
The I AM's of Jesus
I AM The Light of the World
The Apostle Paul writes in II Corinthians 4, that the light of the knowledge of the Glory of God shines in our hearts in the face of Jesus Christ. Here is where God’s light shines. It shines in the person of Jesus Christ. What does it mean that the light of the knowledge of the glory of God is shining in us? What does that mean? Do you and I understand what Paul is saying?
Paul prayed in Ephesians 1 that God would enlighten our heart, that He would give unto us the spirit of revelation in the knowledge of him that we would know the hope of His calling. That we would know the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. That we would know the power of God toward us that believe. All this knowing comes by seeing. In the natural we cannot see without light. It is the reality in God. Without light we do not see.
The light of the knowledge of the glory of God is Jesus Christ. Here is where we see, comprehend, and understand our calling. Here is where we comprehend the riches of His inheritance in the saints. Here is where understand God’s power toward us in Christ. Now where else do we see this but in the Light of Jesus Christ. We are called to the fellowship of the Son. We do not know this fellowship until we see and know it in Him. We are filled with the riches of His inheritance. We understand His inheritance as we see and understand Him. We are raised up in the power of His resurrection. We understand resurrection as we understand Him.
All our seeing and knowing is defined in the person, and reality of Jesus Christ. John 17 wraps this up. Jesus declares “that they may be one, I in them, thou in me that they may be made perfect in one.” Understanding our salvation is to understand Him. To be one with Him is to be in glory. There is no greater glory than Christ Himself. He is the glory of God. Let us come to the place where we say, “That I may know Him!” Father give me the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him that I might see and be changed! Glory to God!
I AM The Light of the World – The Light of the New Day
When Jesus came to earth as a man, he declared of Himself, “I AM The Light of the World,” and that those who follow him would have the light of life. In the Old Covenant there are scriptures and prophesies dealing with light. For example, Isaiah prophesies of a Day where the sun will not be the light. Isaiah 60:19 Thy sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. 20 Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.” The Lord shall be an everlasting Light. Let us hear this. Jesus said He is the Light. Isaiah said the Lord shall be an everlasting light. Jesus is the fulfillment of what Isaiah said.
He is the light we live by in the New Creation. Paul’s heart for the Church is that the Light of the knowledge of the Glory of God would shine unto us. He also declares that the light of God shines in our hearts to transform us to the Glory of God. See folks this is a new day and a new land. God Himself is the light and the glory of it.
In the old day and old land, we could not be transformed. The light of Christ was not shining in a people. The Old Covenant Tabernacle, Holy of Holies was speaking of this light. In this tabernacle was the light of God. No light of the sun or moon did lighten the Holy of Holies, but God Himself. However, the children of Israel could not approach it, only the High Priest once a year with the blood of atonement.
Now in Christ Jesus, this hidden light shines in our hearts to give us understanding of what we have in Christ. This light not only shines in us but transforms us. You may say, how can that be? Simple, Jesus said He is THE LIGHT! He is shining within us!
In John’s Gospel, John writes, “walk in the light as He is the light, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.” Now consider for a moment that the blood of the Old Covenant could not cleanse or take away sins. That day had a continual knowledge of sin in it, but not the solution for it. In this New Day that we are walking in, Christ cleanses us from sins and transforms us into His Life. This is a new, everlasting Day where the Lamb is the Light thereof. Glory to God!
The Bread of Life - We Being Many are One Loaf
Paul declares in I Corinthians, “we who partake of the offering of Christ are one Bread, one loaf,” 1 Corinthians 10:17. How powerful of a statement when manifested by the Body of Christ. We that are many are One. 1Corinthians 12:13 “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. “
In the Old Covenant, Israel ate of the offering and received the Word of Covenant. They were made one with that which they received and lived in. They lived in the (law)word, the ordinances, the feasts, the priesthood, and the Temple. All this was given of God through Moses and was God’s relationship with Israel. The who body of this was a type and shadow of what we have in Christ. The writer of Hebrews declared the law was a shadow of that which was to come.
We that are the One Loaf are walking in the reality of Christ and not in types or shadows. We eat of Him and are made ONE with Him. The priesthood, the temple, the feasts, and the Glory are all fulfilled in Christ. He is the reality of what they declared. We are in the Living Word, the Living Reality of what God declared in the Old Covenant. Christ is in us and we are in Christ. We are One Loaf in Him to minister Christ to one another and to the world. Glory to God.
Nuggets of Revelation – The I AM’s of Jesus I AM The Bread of Life - Beware the Leaven of the Pharisees
Matthew 16:6 “Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.” Matthew 16:12 “Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.”
When Jesus says to beware of their doctrine to His disciples, it is probably worth our time to understand what the doctrines of the Pharisees and Sadducees are. What were they? Part of the Sadducees doctrine is evident according to Luke 20:27 “Then came to him certain of the Sadducees, which deny that there is any resurrection; and they asked him.” They did not believe in the resurrection. This is a real issue, because if there is no resurrection you and I who are in Christ are still in our sin. We are still captive in Adam’s disobedience. We have not been raised from Adam’s death to partake of Christs life. We are still in the futility of the death of the old man. Jesus brought us forth out of death into life through His death, burial and resurrection. He is raised from the dead, and Paul declares that we are raised up with Him. Now our life is Christ in this New Creation we are part of.
Now to the doctrine of the Pharisee’s there is much the scripture declares about it, and much to be found. Much of Matthew 23 is spent with Jesus speaking harshly against the Pharisees and their teaching. He accuses them of being whited tombs, full of dead men’s bones. Jesus calls them blind guides, those who shut up the Kingdom of God, and neither enter nor allow those who follow them to enter. He says they make proselytes, children of hell and that they are killers of the prophets. He declares that on them will come all the righteous blood that had been shed upon the earth, speaking of those God had sent to Israel. The Pharisees sought to be justified through the law. They were forever accusing Jesus according to the law and the traditions of men, they had imposed upon the Israelites. This is significant to understand. Traditions of men has no place within God’s people.
Luke 6:7 And the scribes and Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the sabbath day; that they might find an accusation against him. 8 But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth.
Matthew 15:1-9 “Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat!" 3Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?”
Be careful of any doctrine or teaching that does not bring you to Jesus. He and He alone is our righteousness. He and He alone brings us into the Kingdom. All focus in the New Covenant moves to Christ. It is the Covenant in His blood and we do not seek our self-works to be made righteous, but we seek that His works would be done in us. We must be cautious of any teaching that shuts up the flow of God toward us. Jesus declares a flow of life and a flow of water in this New Covenant. We are like those among springs of Living Water and are not full of dead man’s bones but are full of His Life. Glory to God!
John 6:53 “Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
This is a bold statement that Jesus makes. This word except means unless, Strong’s 3362. It is without exception. The word comes from two Greek words, one of which is Strong’s number 1437 which is if, and is a particle showing the statement is conditional. Except is showing that to have His Life, or Eternal Life is conditional on eating Him. This Life does not reside in the natural man. It is an altogether different Life. Jesus is the Bread of Life that comes down from heaven. Unless we eat of this Bread, we do not have THIS LIFE, period!
The second Greek word that Except is made up from is Strong’s 3361, which is a particle of negation, meaning no, not, ruling out any implications. The statement is so strong that Jesus is making. Unless you eat of Him, you do not, in anyway, shape or form, have His Life. His Life is from another origin. It originates from Him, and not from the natural mankind. Christ Himself is the Bread of this Heavenly Life. If we are to dwell in this life it is imperative that we eat of Him. Otherwise, we do not have this Life.
How do we receive this Life? Jesus makes it clear, John 6:47 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” In another encounter with Him, He declared that out of your inner being would flow rivers of living water, speaking of the Spirit, that He would give to those that believe. He that believes in Him has everlasting life. I want to express this is not just a one time believing, but an ongoing relationship that we enter into. We receive what He has done. God’s grace saves us. It is nothing of ourselves. However, in this relationship with Christ we continue in Him by eating His Flesh and Drinking His Blood.
The peace and solidity of God can only be made known in the soul be eating Him. If I eat continuously of the world. Take in through my mind that of the world, whether its joy or its distress, I will not know the glorious peace that is in Christ even if I am in Him. When my heart turns to see that of Christ, unshakeable peace, joy, and righteousness will begin to be formed in me. I will begin to know His peace that passes understanding. I will begin to know His joy that the world does not know. This comes in eating Him.
As the Spirit of God declares that which He is in me, I receive of Him. I eat of Him. That which He is becomes alive or real in me. This is Eternal Life, that which He is! Glory to God!
In John’s Gospel, Jesus said that He is the bread of life. John 6:32 “Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. Joh 6:34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. 35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”
The Bread of God is He that comes down from Heaven and gives Life unto the world. Jesus said in John 10 that His purpose for coming was that we may have Life. He declares Himself to be Life. The Life of God is not men and women simply breathing oxygen. The Life of God is that which is Christ Himself. How we receive the Life of God is that we must eat of Him, “unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you have no Life in you.”
When I was younger, I was told that we are what we eat. It appears that is precise and correct. Unless we eat of Him, we do not have part in Him. As we eat of Him, that which He is becomes real or alive in us. This is receiving His Life. That which is in Christ becoming alive in me. This happens through eating His flesh and drinking His blood. If I could convince Christians to do anything at all, it would be to take time and come and eat of Christ. I believe in eating of Him we may find the answers to all we may be desiring, or to all we may need.
As an example, I can read in my Bible that we are the righteousness of God. This is the absolute truth through the work of Calvary and the Grace of God. We are made righteous in the Beloved. Nothing we could have ever done in ourselves could have accomplished righteousness. He, Jesus, is righteousness, and we are made righteous in Him. However, I may read this and agree with what the Bible says. This does not mean that I immediately feel and think that we are righteous. Many times, we do not believe or feel like we are righteous. However, as we eat and drink of Christ, receiving the work He completed in His death, burial, resurrection, we come to a place in Him where we know we are righteous. Through eating Him we know, what His work obtained, and that place in Christ becomes real or alive in our hearts and minds to be expressed in our bodies.
I could have used peace or joy for this example. We eat of Him, and His Life becomes real in us. His life is that which is in Him. Righteousness, peace, and joy are in Christ. We obtain these things in reality or living expression, as we obtain or comprehend that which is in Christ. This is an ongoing comprehension on our part. We do not arrive at all that is in Christ at one certain time. “Of His fullness we have received,” as John writes, but His fullness is comprehended and obtained as we know Him, and we know Him piece by piece as He is revealed and made real in our hearts and minds. I believe this to be an eternal knowing. In other words, I believe we will eternally be knowing the fullness of Christ Jesus. He has no end. Glory to God.
I AM
In Matthews Gospel, it is written that Jesus asked His disciples, who do men say I AM? Consider this closely. Who is He? We know He is the Christ, the anointed of God. But what does this mean?
In John’s Gospel’s Jesus begins to declare Himself, WHO HE IS. We know these as the I AM’s of JESUS. Listen to what He is saying, I AM. I AM the Bread of Life. Bread that we can live by is He Himself. This Bread originates out of Life. Unless I eat this bread, I have no life in me. I should immediately ask, how do I eat this bread. I receive that of Him. I believe it and take it unto myself, my heart, my soul. This is how I receive it. “He that believes on me has eternal life.” We receive from Him as we believe. Look at the illustration in John 17.
John 7:38 Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: ‘Streams of living water will flow from within him.’” 39 He was speaking about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. For the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.
We receive of Him as we believe on Him. This is a continued practice. While I receive Jesus as my Savior to become born again or saved as we call it, I must continue to eat His flesh and drink His Blood to grow up in Him in all things. As God shows me Christ by the Spirit, I must continue to eat of Him. This Bread that He is fills my soul, fills me. He is what I am hungry for. We who are hungry for righteousness must eat of Him.
Think of this for a moment. We who are His have no righteousness at all. Many of us may feel unclothed or naked from righteousness. However, as I eat what the word declares of Him, by seeing Him by the Spirit of God, I become clothed in righteousness. This reality of being righteous becomes part of my being. As He is righteous so are we. We are what we eat. If we eat and dine of Him, righteousness, peace, and joy will become real in our souls. Christ being our righteousness will fill us and become substance to our souls and minds. Glory to God.
The Church which is His Body X – The Church and the Glory of Christ
In Exodus, God declared His Name Jehovah to Moses. In the name of Jehovah God began to reveal Himself as the God of Deliverance, as the God of Covenant with His people, and as the God in the midst of Israel. Israel came to be known as His people, and Jehovah as their God. Throughout the wilderness journey and into Canaan Jehovah would make Himself known.
In this picture that God painted through Israel’s History, He was showing His hearts desire to be in relationship with a people, not just any people, but a people for His Name, for His Nature. God would reveal Himself that He would be known to the Israelites, and that through this knowing they would make Him known to one another and to the earth. This desire of God’s heart came to its culmination in Christ Jesus our Lord. Here God reveals Himself in a people. Here he is made known.
Let’s consider God’s Glory. God’s Glory was known in Israel as a Cloud and Fire. God led them forth from Egypt as a Cloud and Fire. This Cloud was protection to them when they came to Red Sea from the Egyptians. This Fire was warmth and light in their camps. This Cloud filled their tabernacle in the wilderness.
Exo 40:34 “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of Jehovah filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of meeting, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of Jehovah filled the tabernacle. 36 And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward, throughout all their journeys: 37 but if the cloud was not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up. 38 For the cloud of Jehovah was upon the tabernacle by day, and there was fire therein by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.”
In the wilderness, the earthen vessel erected by Moses and Israelites housed the Glory of God. God Himself had come to dwell with and among His people Israel who had been brought out of Egypt to a land of promise. A land where God Himself would be the provider and the provision provided. This was all speaking of the relationship that we have in Christ in the Church. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that we have this treasure in earthen vessels. Now God is not filling a tabernacle or temple made with hands but is filling the Church which is the Body of Jesus Christ. We are filled with the Glory of Jesus Christ. God Himself is in His House. You and I that are His are the very House that He has come to in His Glory to fill us within Himself.
John 17:20 “Neither for these only do I pray, but for them also that believe on me through their word; 21 that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us: that the world may believe that thou didst send me. 22 And the glory which thou hast given me I have given unto them; that they may be one, even as we are one; 23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that thou didst send me, and lovedst them, even as thou lovedst me. 24 Father, I desire that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.”
The Church which is His Body – Jehovah M-Kaddesh THE LORD WHO SANCTIFIES
God declared himself to Moses at the burning bush as the I AM THAT I AM. As He began to reveal Himself to Israel, He began to reveal Himself through the Jehovah names. One of which is Jehovah M-Kaddesh, which means the LORD who sanctifies. Let us hear this. The Church which is His Body. We are sanctified or set apart to Him. We are His Body.
God said to Israel, “I will be your God, you shall be my people.” God led them out of Egypt unto Himself. They were set apart to Him, to what He is. We could say being sanctified is what He is being made known in you. Exodus 19:4 “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings, and brought you to myself.” This was the reality God brought to Israel. God Himself was in their midst. He dwelled in the Tent of Meeting and the Temple. He filled the place with the Cloud of His presence. God came to Israel and brought Israel from cruel bondage unto the unlimited supply of Himself. Glory to God!
Now Jesus says in John 14:3 the same thing. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” In verse 10 of this same Chapter, it is declared that Jesus was IN the Father. Hear this. I will come again and receive you to myself that where I AM. Jesus declares I AM in the Father. Now He says, He is going to bring us to where HE IS. We are coming to where he is the I AM.
As we travel down through John 14, Jesus declares that the Father shall send another comforter. When this comforter comes, the Holy Spirit, we SHALL KNOW! Know what? “At that day you shall know I AM in the Father, you are in me, and I AM in you.” We shall know where He is. We shall be where He is. We have been set apart by the Holy Spirit, through the work of God in Christ, to where He is. The DAY the Holy Spirit came, we know we are in Him. We have been received to the place of where He is, IN THE FATHER. “I AM IN THE FATHER, You are in Me, and I AM IN YOU.”
Now we are set apart to what the I AM is. Jesus declares the I AM that He is in John’s Gospel. I AM The Bread of Life. I AM The Light of the World. I AM The Door of the Sheepfold. I AM The Good Shepherd of the Sheep. I AM The Resurrection and Life. I AM The Way, the Truth, and the Life. I AM the True Vine. He declares, I AM COME that you may have life. We are now the Body of the I AM. Jesus Christ our Lord is revealing Himself in all of these names or identities that He is, and we are the Body who Minister’s Him in the Earth! Glory to God!
The Church which is His Body VIII – Son of Man III
All men were dead in Adam. Jesus came as Adam. He came into man. He was God, but came into man. As a man He died to bring this mankind to death, the death of His cross. We could say, He executed death to death. He gave death the deathblow. This is the death that was in Adam. God becoming man, was to free man from the bondages of death.
In Romans 6 Paul writes, “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Hear this! As CHRIST WAS RAISED is how we walk in new life. Our new life is as Christ in His resurrection. We must get ahold of this.
Jesus was raised out from among the dead. The dead was in Adam or the natural man. We walked according to the course of this world, the dead. We had our conversation there. Jesus is out from it. We walk out from it, as we walk in Him. Our newness of life is comprehending Christ who is out from the dead, and walking in Him. “As we have received Christ Jesus the Lord walk in Him.”
The Church which is His Body – Son of Man II
“Matthew 16:13-18 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
Jesus was a very particular Son of Man. He was the Son of Man the scriptures declared. “Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son.” Jesus is this specific Son of Man. The Son of Man, declared by the Prophets, written of in the Scriptures, and revealed of the Spirit. This Son of Man was born of woman, and birthed of God. God was born into man.
His name is called Immanuel, God with us. Jesus is God in Man, or the Son of God and Son of Man. He was born into man to deal with the condition of man. The only way God could save man is to take upon Himself man. Through being birthed by Mary, God came into man. As a man he came for the purpose of dying the death of the cross. As God, He could not die. Therefore He fashioned Himself in a man, a perfect man to die the death of the cross.
Phillipians 2:6-11 “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
He was the form of God and made himself in the likeness of man through the Word of God. God spoke the Word and became what He spoke. Now being found in fashion as a man he became obedient to the death of the cross. This scripture says He took upon himself the form of servant. Jesus is God’s servant as the prophets declared. He came as the servant of God to open the blind eyes, to cause the lame to walk, and bring forth life in those who were dead in Adam. He did this by being put to death in fashion as a man, and being raised by the Spirit of God.
Isaiah 42:1 “Behold, my servant, whom I uphold; my chosen, in whom my soul delighteth: I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.”
Now through Him we are put to death in the flesh. We are brought into His death, that we may live through His life. We have been freed through the offering of His Body to death. In His Body of the flesh He put to death, death. He put to death the man of sin. We are free from all that is in the man, and we are brought to all that is in Christ. He is our righteousness. He is our comfort. He is our peace. We find all these things in Christ. Glory to God!
The Church which is His Body – Son of Man
“Matthew 16:13-18 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
Jesus wasn’t just any Son of Man. He was the Son of Man the scriptures declared. To understand this, we must go back to the Old Testament and read. For example, Daniel declares the Son of Man coming to the Ancient of Days and receiving of the Kingdom of God. This is one of the obvious examples of the Son of Man. However, if we search there may be many instances referencing the Son of Man.
In Isiah 7, the Bible declares that a virgin was going to bring forth a Son. Here we go, Son of Man. Jesus was the Son of Man that Isaiah 7 is declaring. This is a sign to the land of Judah. Go back and read closely what Isaiah declares of this child who is born, and what is coming upon Judah. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Son of Man and the Son of God according to the scriptures. Glory to God.
The Church which is His Body V – THE CHRIST
“Matthew 16:13-18 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
“Thou art THE CHRIST, the Son of the Living God.” Let us hear this. We are the Church which is His Body. Jesus called Peter Petra or a stone. Peter said in one of his epistles that we are lively stones built up for a spiritual habitation of God. The Apostle Paul said we are built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ for a habitation of God by the Spirit. He says we are built up in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. As we know Him, we are built for God to inhabit our hearts. In other words, the more knowledge, not brain knowledge, but knowing Jesus Christ, by the Spirit, the more of the reality of God that is within us.
Notice, I did not say the more of God that is in us. I said the reality of God. The reality of the one that dwells within. We are built in Him for God to inhabit us. As I see Jesus Christ by the Spirit, God fills my heart in that seeing of Christ. It is this building I yearn for, to be built up in Him! Glory to God!
Now Jesus was THE CHIRST for a purpose. Christ means the anointed one. If I search the scriptures, I will find in the Old Covenant that they were anointed for purpose. The Priest was anointed to offer the offerings unto the LORD. They did not just offer them. Moses didn’t simply say to Aaron you are a Priest. Aaron was anointed with an extremely specific oil to operate in the Priests office, Leviticus 8:12. This symbolized the anointing of Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit. He was anointed for the purpose of offering Himself unto God by the Spirit.
Jesus is our Great High Priest. As the Priest of God, He was anointed to offer Himself. He is the Anointed of God, The Christ. As our High Priest, He offered Himself. Therefore, He is highly exalted and given a name above every name. He was also anointed King. Jesus is the King Priest, and He reigns over death and hell. He conquered them, and He redeemed us to Himself. We live in His dominion. Glory to God!
The Church which is His Body IV – Son of God, Son of Man
“Matthew 16:13-18 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
In simplistic form, Son of God refers to Jesus being born of God. While Son of Man indicates He is born of man, or in man. In John’s Gospel Jesus said that He came forth of God and came into the world, and that He was leaving the world and going back to the Father. I believe He is speaking of His birth. The way He came into the world was as the Son of Man. He was born of Man, “a virgin shall conceive.” That which was born of Her was of God.
The reason Jesus was born of man goes back to the beginning of the creation of man. God gave dominion to man in the earth. Through man came sin, and death by sin, which passed upon every man. All mankind was bound to that which was in man. Jesus had to be made in the man to redeem us from the state of being of man, Galatians 4. Without His redemptive act, we would have no escape from the man that we were born into.
David illustrates this in Psalms 51. He cries that he was born in sin and shapen in iniquity. This was the state of being in the first man. He was a man of sin. As Son of Man, Jesus put this man to death. He took Him to the cross and crucified the first man. We were baptized into His death, that we may live in His Life. His death was to the Man of Sin. His Life is as Son of God, the Life out from God. Our salvation is in Jesus, Son of Man and Son of God. We die with Him in His death, and we Live as One of with Him in His Life.
Jesus as Son of Man paid the penalty for man. Sins and iniquities were placed upon Him. “He that knew no sin became sin for us, that we could be made the righteousness of God in Him.” We are made righteous in Him, who was raised out from the dead. In Acts 13:33, the writer quotes Psalms 2. “ 32And we bring you good tidings of the promise made unto the fathers, 33 that God hath fulfilled the same unto our children, in that he raised up Jesus; as also it is written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.” Notice this closely. Jesus is proclaimed the Son of God in the resurrection from the dead. Here is where we are made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, in that He raised Jesus from the dead, and we share in His eternal and incorruptible Life. Glory to God!
The Church Which is His Body III
God has a building program. Now, we get really excited when we begin to build a new building for the Church. Many of us call the building’s we build the church. However, as great of a building we may build it lacks expression of the Lord Jesus. Now, it may be built to express those who congregate in the building, but the building can never express the Lord. In fact, you can take that same building that is built for a congregation of believers, then sell it and use it for auto repair. The building is simply a building, and not the church of the Lord Jesus. God doesn’t dwell in buildings made with hands. We need to hear this folks.
With that said, GOD HAS a building program. In Exodus when Moses ascended into the Mount and received the pattern. Moses was told to build the Tabernacle according to the pattern shown in the Mount. The Tabernacle was not just thrown together by Moses and Aaron, and a bunch of Israelites. God revealed the pattern in explicit detail. Everything was in detail, and everything had to be according to what GOD SHOWED OR REVEALED to Moses. There could be no deviation, or it would be corrupted.
Peter declared of Jesus, as recorded in Matthew 16, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Jesus said The Father in Heaven revealed or showed this to Peter. Flesh and blood did not reveal it. Peter’s own intellect did not come to it. Even Jesus standing there in the flesh did not reveal it to Peter, but The Father revealed it unto Him. Jesus said, “Upon this rock (He is the Rock) I will build my Church.” Here is God’s BUILDING PROGRAM. Christ Jesus revealed in you and me. This is how we are the Church and as the Church how we express Him, Whose body we are. “When the Holy Spirit shall come, He will take of mine and shew it to You. The Holy Spirit takes Jesus Christ and reveals Him in our hearts in His death, burial, and resurrection. Glory to God.
This is the second sharing in the series of the Church which is His Body. In Exodus God delivered Israel to Bring them out of bondage to a land flowing with milk and honey. He brought them to himself. Over and over again He said He was bringing this people to himself.
Exodus 19:4-6 “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself. Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.
In John's Gospel Jesus said, "I will come again and receive you unto myself." Later in the same Chapter He said "At that day you will know I am in my Father, you are in me, and I am in you." Through His death, burial, and resurrection Jesus has brought a people out of Egypt and to Himself. He is our promised land. Glory to God.
The Kingdom of God Has Come Unto You II
How often do we associate the Kingdom of God with our own minds? Our own wills? Our own thoughts? Our own state of being? In the story of the demon possessed man in Matthew 12, who was blind and mute, the Kingdom of God coming to Him released him from the bondages of darkness, being possessed of the demon and being blind and mute. The scriptures declares the man spoke and saw when Jesus healed him. The man came to an entirely different state of being. The Kingdom of God had come unto him, and changed his being!
Matthew 12:22-31 “Then was brought unto him one possessed with a demon, blind and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the dumb man spake and saw. 23 And all the multitudes were amazed, and said, Can this be the son of David? 24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This man doth not cast out demons, but by Beelzebub the prince of the demons. 25 And knowing their thoughts he said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: 26 and if Satan casteth out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom stand? 27 And if I by Beelzebub cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges. 28 But if I by the Spirit of God cast out demons, then is the kingdom of God come upon you. 29 Or how can one enter into the house of the strong man, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house. 30 He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. 31 Therefore I say unto you, Every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.”
Do we consider that the Kingdom of God is personal to us, as well as corporate? Jesus reigns over His Kingdom! The reality is His Kingdom is not just a piece of real estate in the Middle East, but a people who are gathered unto Him. In Colossians 1:13 the Bible declares that God has translated us from the kingdom of darkness (where the blind and mute man was held), to the Kingdom of God’s dear Son. This is not a futuristic Kingdom, but one in which God’s Life and purposes reign inside of a people. It is a Kingdom where the motivation of the hearts is from God rather than from man. God has dominion in your person.
In the Book of Romans 5:17 the Word declares, “For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!” Hear what is being said! These are Kingdom words. You shall reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. This is a reigning over darkness in His Life, to be experienced in our hearts and minds, and to be manifested through our flesh or earthly bodies.
We have been released like the bound man in Matthew 12, and translated into God’s Kingdom. Now for Christ Jesus to rule within us! No longer darkness, but we have the Light of His Life. Yes, His Life rules in us! That is the Life we reign in, His Life. Glory to God in the Highest!
The Kingdom Has Come Unto You
For some weeks we have been looking at As it is in Heaven. “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” In Matthew 12, Jesus makes a statement that if He cast out devils by the Spirit of God then the Kingdom of God has come unto you. Here the Jews were accusing Him of casting out devils through Beelzebub. Jesus declares a Kingdom divided cannot stand.
Matthew 12:22-31 “Then was brought unto him one possessed with a demon, blind and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the dumb man spake and saw. 23 And all the multitudes were amazed, and said, Can this be the son of David? 24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This man doth not cast out demons, but by Beelzebub the prince of the demons. 25 And knowing their thoughts he said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: 26 and if Satan casteth out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom stand? 27 And if I by Beelzebub cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges. 28 But if I by the Spirit of God cast out demons, then is the kingdom of God come upon you. 29 Or how can one enter into the house of the strong man, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house. 30 He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. 31 Therefore I say unto you, Every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.”
Now look at this closely. Unless the strong man is bound, his house cannot be spoiled. Jesus bound the strong man! How did He do it? He entered into His house. “The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” Jesus became man. He entered the strong man’s house, and bound Him at the cross, crucified him, and put him away. He utterly spoiled the strong man’s goods.
You and I are no longer bound by Satan. We are no longer bound in Adam. Christ is our life. We live in Him. The strong man who bound us from God has been destroyed and put under the feet of Christ. We are in Him. His finished work has been applied to us and is being revealed in our hearts that we live in His fullness. Glory to God!
The Word of the Throne – As it is in Heaven
In the Old Covenant God communed with Israel from the Mercy Seat according to the Word He had given.
Exodus 25:20 “And the cherubim shall spread out their wings on high, covering the mercy-seat with their wings, with their faces one to another; toward the mercy-seat shall the faces of the cherubim be. 21 And thou shalt put the mercy-seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. 22 And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.”
In Isaiah, the Bible declares that this seat of Mercy was God’s Throne. Many of us as Christians do not get ahold or understand this. God’s throne was in Jerusalem. The Word He ruled by was the Law of Moses. It was God’s rule among His people Israel. He communed or fellowshipped with Israel according to the Word and Covenant He gave.
Isaiah 37:14 “And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD. 15 And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, saying, 16 O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth.”
Moses declared through the Lord that Israel was enjoined by the Blood of the Covenant to the Word spoken in Exodus Chapter 24. Now I want you to hear the New Covenant. In Revelation Chapter 5, John sees Jesus in the throne. “A Lamb as if it had been slain, standing in the midst of the throne.” Here is how God now communes with those that are His, according to the Lamb. Jesus is the Word of the Covenant. This Word is the Word of Covenant. We are in Covenant with God, according to THE CHRIST, who put off the Old Man, and brought forth the New Man in Himself.
In this Covenant we are learning The Word of God. I mean THE WORD OF GOD. “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God.” “The WORD was made flesh and dwelt among us.” This is the Word we are learning. This is the Word we live by. This Word is our communion with God who is our Father. Glory to God! What a Covenant we are in that we have the Living Word in the throne to direct us and cleanse us.
In Hebrews 12, the Bible speaks of God the Judge of all, and the spirits of just men made perfect, and the blood of sprinkling that speaks greater than Abel. One day reading this I saw what God is saying. Here in this judgement of Christ these men are made perfect. The judgement of the cross is unto perfection. Jesus mediates a New Covenant where the comers can come into the perfection or completion of God. It is not like the Old Covenant where they could never find completion, but it is new where you and I come to God through Jesus and find our perfection in Him. Glory to God!
The Throne of the Kingdom – As it is in Heaven
Whenever we view a Throne, the idea of dominion, of authority, of Government comes into view. Whenever we have a Throne, we have a rule or a Government that is established. “Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” Let us hear this in view of the Throne of God. His Kingdom is according to His rule. His rule is found in a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. The rule of Christ Jesus is to be established in our hearts and our minds.
In the Old Covenant Israel, God ruled His people through the Law. Israel was subject to the Law of God, which could never transform their minds. Israel was subjected to the Word of Covenant, to the Priesthood, to the Feasts, and to all that was spoken. This word could never make those who come to it perfect, Hebrews Chapters 9 and 10.
We are subject to the Word of God which can and does transform our souls and minds. We are subject to the perfect work of Jesus Christ, “by which He perfected forever those who are sanctified, Hebrews 10:14.” The Throne of God changed from a seat covered with the blood of animals to a Seat filled with the Living Christ. God rules us through Christ. His dominion and Throne are in Him. His blood has forever cleansed those who come to God by Him.
For me to understand God’s rule. I have to understand Christ. He is God’s rule of the Kingdom. It is not simply that Jesus is the King. He absolutely is THE KING, and there is no other. However, His Kingship is established upon His Work. How we rule with Him is through understanding His work in His death, burial and resurrection. This is how He rules and reigns in our lives. This is how He transforms our minds. Glory to God!
Thy Will be Done – As it is in Heaven VI
Jesus declared in the Lord’s prayer “Thy Kingdome Come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” We as believers have to ask ourselves what is God’s will? Not simply, what is God’s will for my life, but what is God’s will period! Do we know God’s will? Have we considered His will in creation? Have we asked for His will to be made known to us? Why did He make man? What was His purpose in forming a man from the dust of the earth, and blowing into him the breath of life? All of these questions we need to ask ourselves.
In Ephesians 1 God sets forth through Paul His will. That in the administration of the fullness of times He would gather together all things in Christ. All things in Heaven and on Earth in Him. This sounds a whole lot like Matthew 6 if we consider these scriptures together. Thy Kingdom Come Thy Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. That He would Gather together all things in Christ, all things in Heaven and on earth even in Him. This is what God purposed in Himself. He purposed to gather man into Christ. Here is the Heaven meeting the earth. Here is the divine image of God coming forth in Man, through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 1:7-14 “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” ESV
This is our salvation. To the praise of His Glory. Let this sink in. We are to be to the praise of His Glory. How could that ever be? God gathered us up into Christ. Here the Heavenly Jesus is filling man with Himself, Heaven meeting the earth, and a New Man Coming forth. This is it. That He might gather all things to Himself. Let us who are His lay down our lives to this, and as Paul said, counting all things but dung that I may win Christ. We are to leave the things behind, and press toward the prize of the High calling of God in Christ Jesus. Glory to God!
In Isaiah 66 God declares, through the prophet, Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. Where is the House you will build me? Where is the place of my rest, unto this man will I look. As we consider this scripture we know that the Living God fills the Heaven and the Earth. We know through the Psalmist David that there is no where we can go away from the presence of the Lord. David declared that if he ascended into Heaven, went into the deep, and even into Sheol, the omnipresent God would be there.
What we must ask ourselves as we consider this is what is God’s throne? What does it mean in Isaiah 37:16 that He is enthroned between the Cherubim? In this sharing some of this is answered. Pay particular attention to Heaven and Earth. God’s Heavenly government was represented in the Law of Israel that was given through Moses, and executed in the earth of Israel, with Jerusalem being the place chosen for the rest of God and the place of His feet. The Temple was in fact Israel’s place of Judgement. Here is where the High Priest came once a year with the blood of the offering to sprinkle the Mercy Seat, to sprinkle the seat of Government, to sprinkle the throne of God. God’s divine judgement and rulership was based on the words of the Law and the Blood of the Covenant. Here is where He reigned in Israel, according to the words (law) He had given.
Exodus 25:22 “And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.”
In the Old Covenant God met with Israel, His people according to the Law of Moses. Now in the New Covenant of Jesus Christ there is another blood applied to the Seat of Mercy, to the Seat of Government, to the Throne. It is the Blood of the Lamb. In this Covenant God no longer meets with us according to the Law of Moses but according to Christ. He is the word of the New Covenant. The words He spoke in the Body of His flesh are Spirit and are Life, and have been caught up in the Body of His resurrection.
In Hebrews 12:18-29, we see the transition of these Covenants. The writer declares we have not come to Mt. Sinai, but to Mt. Zion the Heavenly Jerusalem. In this passage of scripture it is declared that we have come to Jesus, the mediator of the New Covenant. We have come to the Blood that SPEAKS greater than Abel. It is declared we have come to God the Judge of All, and to the spirits of just men made perfect. Consider this closely. Here in this judgement, God is judging the spirits of just men perfect through the blood of Jesus Christ. Here like Revelation 5 is the Lamb in the Throne. Here in this Covenant we are made perfect or complete through Jesus Christ our Lord.
This is not as the Old where we could never be completed, but always found lacking, always found short of the Glory of God. Now in Christ Jesus we are complete in Him! Glory to God!
As it is in Heaven IV – John saw a Lamb
On Earth as it is in Heaven. We have been looking at Jesus telling the disciples to pray “thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” for the last few weeks. In the Book of Revelation 4 and 5, the Apostle John was caught up in the Spirit and he saw in heaven. John saw a throne and One on the throne. And He saw in the hand of the One on the throne a book sealed with seven seals. John wept that no man could open the Book. For us all to seek an answer from the Lord, why did John weep? Was it for redemption? For shortly, John is seeing twenty-four elders falling down before the Lamb and declaring the that the Lamb had redeemed them to God. The Lamb had opened the seals of the Book.
In this setting, in the midst of the throne, stood a Lamb as it had been slain. I believe this is the key to this entire setting. The resurrected Lamb, who was slain for the sins of the world, ruling in Heaven. This is where redemption comes from. The Lamb that was slain, raised into the Heavens, appearing in the presence of God for us. Now everything in Heaven is according to the Lamb.
The Kingdom coming from Heaven into the earth is according to the Lamb. Ruling and reigning is according to the Lamb. Even to consider the words to rule or to reign speaks of the Kingdom. “Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will be done.” Let us hear that. All in accordance with the Lamb. There is no way to understand God’s Kingdom or Will without seeing the Lamb. It is impossible. He is where God’s will is made known, in the Lamb, in Christ Jesus.
Paul wrote to the Ephesians that God had made known the mystery of His will. In this mystery, God would gather both Jew and Gentile together into One Body. In fact, in Chapter 1 it is written that God would gather all in the heavens and all on the earth in Christ Jesus. Here is where the fullness of God meets man, in Christ Jesus. Here is where judgement meets man. Here is where Life meets man. Here is where One New Man comes forth. All in Christ Jesus. The Kingdom coming in earth as it is in heaven, flowing from the Lamb! Glory to God!
As it is in Heaven III
In the Book of Acts there is a record of the encounter of Saul of Tarsus with the Lord from Heaven. Here was where Paul lost his sight. He physically lost his sight, and later his eyes were opened. To me this is speaking of Saul losing his earthly sight and seeing from the Lord from Heaven. He saw a Light from Heaven who was brighter than the sun. This speaks volumes to me.
From here Saul would change his name to Paul, speaking of a new creation. This is what Paul saw in the Light from Heaven, who is the Lord Jesus Christ. He saw a New Creation. Jesus said to Paul, “Saul, Saul why do you persecute me?” Who art thou LORD. I am Jesus whom thou persecutes.” Saul was carrying orders regarding the Church. He was persecuting the Church. He was persecuting the Lord’s Body.
The Lord’s Body, the Church is a Heavenly Vision. That is seeing from Heaven. Seeing that the Church is not an institution, not simply a gathering, a building or meeting, but the divine Body of the Lord Jesus Himself is seeing from Heaven. If we saw this, we would nourish one another in the knowledge of the Lord. There would be great unity, because we see through Him. We would not see Baptist and Pentecostal, Lutheran or Episcopal. We would see the Body of the Lord.
Hear this. The Church, His Body is a Heavenly position. You were not the Body of Christ by natural birth. You are His Body by the Spirit. Everything of the Spirit is Heavenly. Through Christ Jesus you and I who are His are living in the Heavenly Realm, above principalities and powers. We are living through Christ. We are to be the exhibiting of Christ in the earth. We are His Body. Glory to God!
As it is in Heaven II
We are considering scripture out of Matthew 6. Jesus said to His disciples to not be as the hypocrites when they pray, but when they pray to address God as their Father. “Our Father in Heaven. Hallowed be they name. Thy Kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” If I analyze this prayer, I can see Jesus relates to His Father as in Heaven. He then sets forth the coming of the Kingdom of God and the doing of the will of God. He sets these forth as coming on or in the earth AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.
I believe we see the picture of this in the children of Israel. When they moved from Egypt to Canaan. In their move was a whole different reality. In Deuteronomy 11 this picture is set forth.
Deuteronomy 11:10 “For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs; 11 but the land, whither ye go over to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven, 12 a land which Jehovah thy God careth for: the eyes of Jehovah thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.”
God set forth that the land the Israelites was going to possess was not like Egypt. It was not a land where they were going to toil their own labors. The land they were coming in to possess was a land that was drinking the water of Heaven. It was a land flowing with milk and honey, and the LORD’s eyes were upon it. They had come from a land that was full of work and effort. It was grueling to a land that was flowing with resources. They were coming to a life of abundance from a life of despair. They were coming to the place where the LORD would Himself dwell. In the natural this is a picture of Heaven on Earth.
Now this is a picture of the natural Israel. A people that God had taken to Himself to be His people that He would dwell among them. The picture of Canaan had to be of abundance. It had to flow of resources and fullness because it was a picture of where God is. Anytime God is there we will find abundance.
This picture comes to a reality in Christ. Jesus Himself is the place that God chose to dwell. He is where abundance dwells. He is where the flow of God is at. We find what Canaan was a picture of in Christ Jesus the Lord. God moved us from the problem, Adam or the natural man, to the solution who is Christ Jesus. If we could hear and view what Paul writes to the Corinthians and Romans. “In Adam all die.” Here is the picture of the Adamic man death. Now the greater picture. “In Christ all are made alive.”
Here is how Heaven comes to the earth. Here is where God’s will is done. Heaven comes in a man. God’s will is in a man. Ephesians 1:9&10 “making known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him 10 unto a dispensation of the fulness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens, and the things upon the earth; in him, I say.” Thy will be done. Thy Kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven. All things in the Heavens summed up in Christ. All things on the earth summed up in Heaven. Here is how Matthew 6 is fulfilled. Glory to God.
As it is in Heaven
We as believers make statements like, I wonder what Heaven will be like? Or I am sure they are having a good time in Heaven, speaking of a loved one who has passed on. But have we really stopped and considered what Jesus said in the prayer that we call the Lord’s prayer?
Matthew 6:9 "After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth."
Thy will be done on earth AS IT IS IN HEAVEN. If we do not know how it is in heaven, as we usually declare to one another, then how can His will be done on earth as it is in heaven? How would it be possible? Included in God’s will is that His Kingdom would come on earth or in the earth according to the translation you may read, as it is in heaven. Let’s look at God’s will by the scripture.
Ephesians 1:9 “making known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him 10 unto a dispensation of the fulness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens, and the things upon the earth; in him, I say,”
The mystery of God’s will is to sum up all things in Christ. ALL THINGS! That says it all, correct? We can spend eternity knowing this but let us consider it right now. All things in Heaven and in Earth even in Him. Now when we say this, consider first that Paul wrote this to the church. He makes a point of it in the first verse that this is written to the Church, the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus. With that said, all things according to the Church are to be as it is in Christ Jesus. This is how it is in Heaven upon the earth.
Let me be plain. How it is in Heaven is how it is in Christ Jesus. Heavenly places are defined by Him, not by our imaginations or how we think they are. I’m not talking about fruit trees here. I’m talking about the divine nature of the Lamb. There could be fruit trees. There could be green grass. You could have a body, but none of that would be as it is in Heaven. I’ve made a statement for years. If we live forever, but don’t have our minds and hearts changed is that Heaven? I would say it is not. If I do not take on the mind of Christ, if I do not take on His divine nature, it would not be as it is in Heaven.
So, as we know Him, we know what is Heavenly. When we live in Him in this present earth, we manifest that which is in Heaven in the earth. Our earthen vessels are given that we who are His may manifest Him in the earth. This is the Kingdom coming from Heaven upon Earth. This is it. Christ revealed and seen in you and me, and then that of Him which is revealed and seen made real that we live out of Him. This is God’s will coming on earth. Christ, the Heavenly One revealed, and manifest in the earth by the Church. Glory to God!
Living out of the Abundance of His Supply
In the beginning God made the man Adam and placed Him in the garden of Eden. God made the earth and rested. He placed man in His finished work, in His rest. The provision of God was before the man. The trees of the garden were for fruit to the man. A river ran through the Garden. A mist came up and watered the land. Adam was in God’s work. Adam was to care for God’s work. Of course, we know the rest of the story.
The picture of God’s provision is painted again with the children of Israel. Israel is brought out of Egypt. Through God’s mighty hand they are brought into Canaan. Israel did not earn or come to Canaan by their own strength. Israel did not leave Egypt by their own strength. They came out of Egypt by God, and when they entered Canaan it was though the LORD. God’s supply was before them. Canaan was a land flowing with milk and honey. A land that God was blessing. Israel was entering into God’s provision, and like Adam they were to keep it.
These two pictures that God painted are pictures of God’s supply. Isn’t grace living out of what God has provided? The Strong’s definition of grace is the divine influence on the heart and its reflection in the life. The Apostle John writes of Christ Jesus that of His fullness have we received and grace for grace. We receive of God and we walk in what He has supplied. His supply to us is that in Christ. He is what we live out of.
Colossians 2 says “As you have received Christ Jesus walk in Him.” Our promise, our Canaan is Christ Jesus the LORD. He is the land we have been planted in. We are to dwell in Him. I have considered this for years and feel that God has just begun to make it real. How do I dwell in Christ? How do I walk in Him? These are not religious statements that the Apostle Paul made but the reality He was captured in. His cry was to find Himself in Christ. That is the land we are planted in by the Spirit of the Lord.
We are baptized into His Death. All His death speaks and declares is to be real in yours and my heart. Everything declared in His burial is to be made known in us, and all that is in His resurrection is to be realized. Here in this land we live as dead to sin. We live as crucified to the world. This is part of our life, and we live unto God in Christ. All things of Christ are to be known, experienced and expressed. He is a flowing fountain, a river of life, manna from heaven, and a healing ointment to name a few.
This supply we have come to will never run dry. It will never become old. We are like the land that God said in Deuteronomy 11 that His eyes are on. We are the land that the rain of heaven is flowing unto to produce the crop of the Lord. To bring forth that of Christ Jesus. What a glorious place we have now come to. Let us turn our soul and realize all that is in Him! Glory to God.
The Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ
What is the Book of Revelation really about? Many suggest it is a book of end time events that we are now living in, with impending catastrophes coming upon the earth. Many who approach this book do so with that mind set already established. So, they are looking in these scriptures for the impending doom that we must surely face. The question, I want the Lord Jesus to answer is that the truth of the Book?
Notice where, I want us to go for the answer, to the truth Himself! “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of faith.” I am afraid if we look anywhere else for understanding in the scripture we will be void. He alone is understanding and the voice of reasoning. Everything that I look at must be embodied in Him.
The first verse of Revelation should kind of gives it away. “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show unto his servants, even the things which must shortly come to pass: and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John;” It is the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Now if we start from this understanding that the Book is Revealing Him, Jesus Christ, and the things that were to shortly come to pass in John’s day we can began to see what is at hand.
The Apostle Paul declared in Galatians 1 that he was separated from his mother’s womb and called by God’s grace to reveal Jesus Christ in him. Within Paul’s writing he is declaring the mystery that was hid, but now made manifest to the saints, Christ in you the hope of glory. He was declaring that the Jews and Gentiles were to be of one body, and to have access unto God through one Spirit. This was through the Revelation of Jesus Christ in Paul. Through Paul seeing Jesus Christ, and the work He had completed at Calvary this declaration was being made.
The Apostle John turned to see the VOICE that spoke with Him and saw seven golden candlesticks. In the midst of the candlesticks was one like the Son of Man with seven stars in His hand. Here in Revelation 1 imagery and symbolism take off. The candlesticks are seven churches, the stars are seven angels to the churches. Jesus is in the midst of the church and the stars are in His hand. The stars or ministers are declaring out of Jesus’ power. There is an impending crisis at hand.
The crisis was both external and internal. The crisis that had come was Jesus. He had fulfilled the law of Moses and had set forth the New Covenant in the earth. All the Old Covenant types, and shadows were coming to their end, and the reality of truth or the substance they had declared were at hand. Jesus was anointed as Isiah said to declare the favor of God and to declare God’s vengeance.
Isaiah 61:1 “The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon me; because Jehovah hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2 to proclaim the year of Jehovah's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;”
This book of Revelation is just that. Revelations 1:3 “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written therein: for the time is at hand.” God’s favor is at hand to those who read and understand. Christ in you is at hand. The Kingdom of God has come. But also at hand is a day of clouds and gloom. God’s vengeance as declared by Isaiah is coming upon the land, the land of Israel. The Old Covenant that had been fulfilled in Christ and done away was going to be taken off the land. As Jesus declared, not one stone was going to be left on that Old Temple. The new had come through Jesus Christ.
When we encounter Jesus in the way of Revelation a crisis is at hand to us today. It is both internal and external. It will affect the entire man. Our old things will be taken away, and the new life of Him set forth. He brings a shaking with Him, shaking away understanding, and bringing about truth and reality. He is the crisis we all need to face. Let us turn and see Him, Jesus the Christ in the midst of the church, and let us live out of an encounter with the Lord of Lords! Glory to God!
Greater Works V – Christ in You, Our perfection.
The Apostle Paul’s heart was to present to the believers the work that God has done in Christ. His heart was that there would be an effectual working of the Holy Spirit to show every man perfect in Christ.
Colossians 1:24-29 “Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church: 25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; 26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: 27 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: 28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: 29 Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.”
Let us carefully read the verses of scripture above. Paul is saying he is laboring for the Church. As I said, look closely. He is laboring according to the working of the Holy Spirit that is going on mightily in Paul. He is not just working in some religious way to get every man in a church. He is working that He may show every member of the Body of Christ their perfection in Christ Jesus. This word perfect means complete. We are complete in Christ. He is our completion.
Paul’s heart is that every man would see Christ by the Holy Spirit. That Christ would be revealed in them to see the full work that He did in the cross. This is Paul’s heart. This is his labor. This is why he would be shipwrecked. This is why he would be in wanting’s, in fasting’s, and do without. That all might see their perfection!
Much of the idea of perfection is simply that we would come to a place where we just did not sin. Even if we come there, we are still in need of perfection. Our perfection is in Christ Jesus. To be perfect is to have Christ living in me., and me living out of the reality of His life that is in me. He is my completion, and He is what I lacked. I am concerned that many in the Body of Christ do not see this. I am concerned that many, if not most, teachers do not declare this.
There is this idea in Christianity that hangs over us that we must become perfect. This may very well be designed of God that we would have this thought and idea before us. However, the tragedy is we usually try and find this of ourselves. Or we put it off to some other day. I used to make the statement over in glory land. I didn’t even know what that meant. I had grown up hearing it said, over in glory land, over there, when we all get to heaven. It was all about getting somewhere else, and somehow by getting there we would obtain perfection. God would give us a perfect body that does not die, and we would not sin.
What we miss in this idea is the truth that is in Christ. This other day. This perfection we are looking for is found in the person of Christ. In John’s Gospel in Chapter 16 Jesus tells His disciples that He has much to say to them, but they cannot bear what He would declare. Hear what He says! The Spirit of truth is going to come and take of that of Jesus Christ and show it to you. This is inwardly. The Spirit of truth inwardly shows us Christ Jesus. This is how we bear that of Him. Christ must be shown in our hearts and we then are transformed by HIM that is in us to bear HIM in the earth.
This is our perfection. Christ in you the Hope of Glory. That He may be revealed that we would see the Glory! We come by the Holy Spirit to know as Jesus said in John 14:20, “At that day you shall know I am in my Father, you are in me, and I am in you.” We come to know that He is in us by the Holy Spirit. We come to the Revealing of HIM that is in us by the Spirit. He must be revealed that He may appear that we see His Glory. This is how we are perfected. We see Him by the Spirit and come to understand that our life is Christ. Glory to God.
Greater Works IV – Living out of the Greater Work of God in Christ
As said in last weeks teaching, there is no greater picture of the deliverance and salvation of God than Israel. Israel was redeemed of Jehovah and brought to Him by His own right hand. His own power brought salvation unto Israel. Israel was then to live out of God’s provision and be a people unto God. God would be their God and they would be His people (Exodus 6:7).
With a stretched-out hand and mighty signs and wonders Israel came from Egypt into the wilderness. God had brought them out and was leading the way into the promise land. He was among them as Cloud by day and a Fire by night. However, with all God was doing among them, and all that He had done, Israel would not enter the land of Canaan. Twelve spies went into the land of Canaan. Ten came out and reported that the land was to hard to take. They saw through their own sight (Numbers 13).
Think on this. This was a people who saw God roll back the waters of the Red Sea. They saw the pestilence and plagues of Egypt. They heard God’s voice on Mount Sinai and saw the mountain shake with his presence and power. They were fed manna and quail in the wilderness and drank water from a rock. However, they would not enter the land that Jehovah had promised. Rather than proclaim the greatness of the LORD, who was among them. They looked through their own sight and declared there were giants in the land, and that they themselves were as grasshoppers.
In Numbers there is a stern warning for us all. Israel stayed in doubt, and God gave them what was in their OWN HEART. Numbers 14:28 “Say unto them, As I live, saith Jehovah, surely as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: 29 your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, that have murmured against me, 30 surely ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware that I would make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.”
As you have spoken so will I do to you. Rather than believe God’s word, Israel proclaimed OF THEMSELVES, it would be better to go back to Egypt. It would be better to die in the wilderness. They were seeing with their own sight. They would not believe the hand of the LORD. They would not believe the power of His might or the declaration of His Word. God had told them He would bring them unto Himself as a people He would plant them in the land of Canaan. In Canaan, they were to flourish and live in the supply of the LORD and be a people unto their God. However, they would not believe and enter in. They did not KNOW this God who was in their very midst.
I am concerned that we the Church are much like this picture. God has said we are His. We are a new creation. The old has passed away and all is new in Christ. He has told us of His fullness we have received. In Colossians 2, the Apostle Paul writes we are complete in Christ. Rather than hearing a voice of completion in the land much of the teaching and preaching is about some future day. Rather than seeing the work of God that has been done in Christ, His death, burial, and resurrection, we hear of a future work that must be done. We hear we are not there yet. It will be better after a while.
The message of God must shift. The provision of God, who is Christ, must be declared. We must hear and see by the Spirit of God and enter that which God has given. This land of Christ Jesus is flowing with milk and honey through the richness of Christ Himself. This land is full of His provision and power. Through Him we are more than able to live in the promised land and declare His fullness. “At that day you SHALL KNOW, I am in my Father, you are in me and I AM IN YOU.” This must become the declaration of our lips. This must become our sight, all the fullness of God in Christ Jesus, and we in this land. Glory to God!
Living out of the Greater Work of God in Christ
There is no better example in your Bible of a people living out of the Greater Work of God than the Israelites. Israel came out of Egypt by God’s mighty hand. God delivered them out of Egypt’s bondage and slavery by His own Hand. It was God who plagued Egypt, God who rolled back the Red Sea, God who led Israel through the wilderness as a Cloud and a Fire. He was light and warmth to them as Fire, and cool and shade to them as a Cloud. He fed them manna from heaven as they hungered, He gave them water when they were athirst. It was God who was their provider, and it was God’s work that they came out of Egypt from and not their own.
Typifying God’s greater work in Christ, Israel had to kill a Lamb and enter into the blood covered doorway, eat the Lamb and come out of the house in dawning light. This door speaks of Jesus Christ Himself, “I am the Door of the sheepfold.” Israel entered this door, speaking of entering into His death, eating all of the Lamb speaking of His burial, and came out in the dawning light speaking of living in the light of the New Day who is Christ himself. This house in Goshen speaks of a people entering into the work that God did in Christ. His death, His burial and His resurrection and originating and living out of that work.
Israel moved from this house across the wilderness by the mighty hand of God, destined for the promised land. A land flowing with milk and honey. A land where God would be their God and they would be His people. Through Moses God declared that He would take a people to Himself, and He would plant them in the place that His hands had made. He would take them to His sanctuary. Here through the work of God Israel was to enter into the door in Goshen and come out of the same door in newness of life walking in the provision that God provided. I see this as the very picture of what God has done in Christ. I see it as the very picture of Grace.
I see Grace as a much bigger picture than just God forgiving our sins and not counting them against us. I see it as a people receiving the full work of God in Christ Jesus, “of His fullness we have received, and Grace for Grace. (John 1)” Ephesians 2:5 “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” As Israel was to live out of the work of God done bringing them from Goshen into the land of promise flowing with milk and honey, we the Body of Christ are to live out of the work that God did in Christ.
“Greater works than these shall ye do because I go to the Father, John 14.” These greater works were done in Christ Jesus that we would be a people unto God and manifest His Glory in the earth. We have been made alive with him (quickened), raised with Him, and seated together in His dominion that He received from the Father through the cross. This is where we are destined to live. This is where we are destined to dwell. In His work, here in the earth. That we show our good works (living out of His work), and those in the earth are to see our good works and receive of our Father that He may have continuous glory through the Church of Jesus Christ.
However, rather than seeing all things done in Christ, I see much of the Church walking as Israel did, refusing to enter the land that is flowing with Christ Jesus the Lord. Much of the Church is living in a someday Gospel, it will get better by and by, rather than coming to NOW IN CHRIST JESUS. We are blessed with all the fullness of God in Christ according to Paul’s epistles. The fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him. In Him we have received all the spiritual blessings. We are full, complete, and rich through the work that God has done in Christ. Let us be as Joshua and Caleb, and declare that we are more than able through the work of the Lord, to enter into all that is done and complete in Christ Jesus, and become the very manifestation of it to the world. Blessings in Christ Jesus our Lord!
Greater Works Than These In the Book of John Chapter 5 Jesus declares that the Father will show Him greater works that you may marvel. For many years, the idea in my heart was that we the church would do greater works than Jesus did. Later as more understanding, light and illumination, began to fill my heart my thoughts became more connected to the idea that the works would be greater because Jesus was now in a many member body. I have even heard people say that now Jesus is not just in one place, so greater works are done through the church, because He is now in many members and throughout the world. This is true, but still mostly the greater works were attributed to the healing of the sick. Look closely at what Jesus says in John 5.
John 5:19-21 “Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. 20 For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel. 21 For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.”
As the Father raises the dead and makes the alive, the Son will make alive whom he will. Here is the greater work, being raised in Christ Jesus and made alive. This is the work that God was doing in Christ. He was bringing forth a people to LIFE in Christ. Through the Church who is His Body this bringing forth unto Life continues in the earth. The word of Life is in us and comes through us, as Christ Himself is in us.
Let us look in Joh 14:12 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.” Jesus is saying those that believe on Him will do the works he does. He told them to believe that he was in the Father and the Father was in Him, and to believe for the very works sake.
Accordingly, Jesus was doing the works that Isaiah the prophet had declared as recorded in Isaiah 35 and Isaiah 61. The lame was walking, and the blind was seeing. Men and women were being delivered from oppression, from devils, from all sorts of situations. The Kingdom of God was coming forth and loosing those that were bound. This is what Jesus was saying would be done through the church. The works I do you shall do also, and greater works. We who are His Body do the same works He did because He lives in us, but we also come to His greater works.
Let me be straight, I fully believe Jesus heals the sick, delivers the oppressed, casts out demons, and cleanses those who needs to be cleansed. There is no miracle or healing that He cannot do right now through His Body, the Church. This should be a normality among believers. However, Jesus said greater works than these shall you do because I go to the Father. This greater work that Jesus spoke of in John 14 is the same greater work that is spoken of in John 5. “As the Father raises the dead and quickeneth, the Son quickeneth whosoever He will.”
Through being quickened by the Son we are raised up and seated with Him, as one, in heavenly places, in Christ Jesus. Jesus is raised far above principalities and powers. We are raised with Him, seated with Him. He is seated above. We are seated above. This is the greater work that we must see and marvel. This the greater work that we must come to live out of, the work that God did in Christ Jesus. Glory to God!
The Judgment of the World – Because He is the Son of Man II
When we look at judgment, we must look at the death of Jesus Christ. Jesus said in John 12, "Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. 32 "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself. 33 But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die.” Here at the cross is our salvation. Here is the judgment we must come to.
Jesus died the death of the cross that we may be made the righteousness in Him. Jesus judged sin in the flesh and put to death sin by dying to sin. Jesus never died in sin. He died to it. It never gained dominion over Him. Paul writes in Romans 8 that Jesus condemned sin in the flesh. This word condemned is the same word used for judgment.
In John 6, John writes as the Father quickeneth the dead even so the Son quickeneth whom He will. Who did the Father quicken or make alive from the dead? He made alive Jesus Christ. He brought Him out from among the dead. Romans 6 says He died to sin once but now he ever lives unto God. Again, I say this is our salvation. This is our judgment that we must hear. In Him we are put to death in the flesh to live unto God by Christ.
“He that has the Son has life,” I John 5:12. John writes we have passed from death to life. Life is all based upon Christ Jesus. If I have Him, I have life. HE is LIFE. If I do not have Him, I do not have life. What a decision! What a judgment! Life is determined by the Son of God. It is determined by nothing but Him. To know Him is to know life.
God has given all judgment unto the Son of God, because He is the Son of Man. Another way we could say this is that everything is determined concerning you and I by Him. Everything! It is no longer determined by Adam’s death. It is determined by Jesus Christ and His life. He is the determination of the soul. He brought judgment upon the work of Adam and put it to its final death. We that come to Him have the finality of Life, and this life is out from Adam’s death.
What I mean by this is this life is in Christ. I must come to see myself put to death to Adam and raised in life in Christ. This is a major struggle within our hearts. This is how we walk by faith and not by sight. We walk in faith of the work of the Son of God, denouncing our very own lives in order to live out of His life. Luke 17:33 “Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.”
He has brought us to Himself. Let us see the separation and judgment of the cross. Let us walk in Him!
Now is the Judgment of the World – Because He is the Son of Man
We have been looking for several weeks at the Judgment of the cross, and Jesus saying, “Now is the Judgment of the World. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out,” John 12. He makes another profound statement concerning Judgment in John 5:27 “And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.”
The Father gave all judgment to the Son, because He is the Son of Man. Why did Jesus say this? The reason for this goes back to Adam in the garden. In Genesis 1, it is recorded that God gave dominion to Adam. Adam was to rule the earth. In the Book of Psalms 8:6 and 115:16 the Bible declares that man was given dominion in the earth. As Adam fell, He brought that whole creation of man under the authority of sin and death. “Through one man’s sin entered into the world and death through sin,” Romans 5:12.
So, Jesus had to come as the Son of Man to rescue us from death’s dominion. He came as a man to die the death of the cross. By becoming a man, He brought judgment upon the order of the old man and put it to death that He could bring us into His life. When He was raised from the dead, Jesus declared that all authority was given to Him in heaven and earth. This is a powerful statement, and a reality for us to come to in Christ.
The Old Man, and His order was put to death. This is the separation that is made at the cross. The old man is put to death. Jesus never died in disobedience. He died to it and was raised out from it. When we receive Him, we are Baptized by the Spirit into His death, and brought forth in His life. Everything is by Him and through Him.
He did this as the Son of Man, judging sin in the flesh. He came as a man to die the death of the cross and was raised out from that old creation. This is our salvation! We come to comprehend what He did, and live in it. His work is our provision. His dominion now rules over us.
We no longer have to fear the wages of sin or death. Jesus is our Lord. These are not our Lord. I love what the writer says in Hebrews 2, “He destroyed Him that had the power of death, that is the devil.” This is the power of the cross. Death is defeated we are living by Him. Glory to God!
The Judgment of the World
“Now is the judgment of the world. Now shall the prince of the world be cast out?”
Who was the prince of ruler of the world? By studying scripture, I would conclude that the ruler of the world was Adam or the natural man. In Genesis 1, the Bible says God gave dominion to man. In Psalms 8, the Bible asks what is man that God would visit him. Here in this Psalm, again the scripture speaks of man’s dominion.
Man had dominion of the world, or orderly arrangement of the earth and mankind. The order of the world was through mankind. This order became plagued with sin and death. Through his disobedience all died. All men came to abide in death and darkness under the realm and rule of Satan.
Death, darkness and decay was not of God’s nature, but came into man as Adam became disobedient to God’s word. “The day you eat you shall surely die.” This is the reality of the natural man. Job said that man born of woman are a few days and full of trouble. This again is the natural man.
However, the Apostle Paul said in I Corinthians 2, that we speak wisdom among those who are perfect. Paul was speaking of the wisdom of the cross. He goes on to say had the rulers of the world known the wisdom of the cross they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory. Through the cross of Jesus Christ, death, hell, Satan, and the old man lost their dominion. These have no dominion over the new creation in Christ Jesus.
Paul writes that Christ is the Head of the Body who is the church in Ephesians 1. This is a powerful statement. The head of the believer is not Satan. It is not the law or sin, and it is not death. Jesus Christ became Head. “He destroyed him that had the power of death that is the devil,” Hebrews 2. Jesus is our ruler. He is the Head of His Body, the church. This is what we must comprehend. As it is in Christ, so it is in the Body. Let this be our reality in the earth. Glory to God.
The Judgement of the World III
“I am crucified to the world and the world is crucified to.” This glorious judgment must ring in our hearts. I am crucified with Christ to live unto Him. This is the answer to all my problems. This is the answer to my frustrations. I am crucified with Him!
In Ephesian 2, Paul writes that we are quickened with Christ. This word means made alive. We have been made alive from the world. We are not made alive with the world but with Christ Jesus, who was raised alive out of the world. Jesus was quickened out from the dead. He was not just raised again, but He was raised out from the dead.
Paul says in Ephesians 2 that we were dead in trespasses and sins and walked according to the course of the world. The reality here is we WERE dead. We ARE made alive with Christ. Do you see the separation? In time past, we were of the world. We lived in the world. It held us. The world had its grips on us. Here is where we had our conversation.
Now through Jesus Christ, God’s great mercy appeared. We who have received Him are made alive with Him. Through God’s saving grace, Paul writes we are made alive with Him, raised with Him, and seated with Him. This reality is not set forth to be just some positional truth that we are waiting to be real some futuristick day. This has happened to us because how it happened to us is NOW in us. The how is a person, Christ Jesus the Lord.
We have received Christ Jesus the Lord to walk in Him, to be rooted and built in Him (Colossians 2). This separation or division of the cross is real, and it is made real through the person who performed the work being revealed in our hearts. Jesus did the work. He completed the work God gave Him to do. His work separated us from the world. We are in the world, but we are not of it. The world dos does not possess our souls, Christ does!
We are the church which is His body the fullness of Him who is far above all principality and power (Ephesians 1). I love this statement. He is above all powers, all authorities, all rulers, all laws, anything we can think or imagine, Christ Jesus is above. Or we can simply say He is Lord. Jesus is Lord, our Ruler, our King.
We are seated with Him in heavenly places in Christ. To get ahold of this is to understand He is above. He is seated above rulers and powers at the right hand (power and authority) of God. We that are His body are seated with Him in His glorious work to manifest Him and His completed work to the earth. This is the purpose of the church to manifest Him, whose body we are.
Let this become our hearts, let this become our identity, “the church which is His Body.” We are the Body of the Lord to express the Lord wherever we go in the earth. We are to be His expression. We are to bring His aroma into all situations. WE ARE HIS!
The Judgment of the World II
The primary scriptures we are dealing with is “John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. 32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” In this, we are looking at the judgement of the world as it relates to the Lord Jesus Christ. His judgement at the cross, must become a judgment that is real in our hearts as believers in Jesus Christ.
In Ephesians 1, Paul writes that Christ has been raised above all principality and power and might and dominion. Christ is the head of the church, who is His body the fullness of Him that fills. This statement must affect our deepest thought. Christ is the Head. He is above all principality, and the church is His Body. He fills the church with himself.
Now with this said, many in the church do not comprehend that Christ is Head. They do not see this judgment. He has all things under His feet, which includes the devil, sin and death. The devil does not have authority over the church, or the believer. As a young man, this was a predominant thought that the devil is continuously affecting us. The reason for this is the lack of the comprehension of Christ. If His work is not comprehended by me and real in me, I could be subject to many things, without the ability to rid myself of them.
The truth is, we are His Body, the fullness of Him. As His Body we are subject to Him, and not to the world. As we comprehend this, as HE becomes real in us, we can move forth and put things under our feet. Even this statement, our feet is loaded with understanding. We are His Body. As His Body we are subject to His feet. John saw His feet as burning brass in the Book of Revelation, speaking of the judgment of the cross.
Through the judgment of the cross we are to walk in the earth as the Body of Jesus Christ, subject unto Him and not ourselves. “As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk ye in Him.” This is the truth. This is His judgment. We are dead to the world. The prince of this world was cast out. We are seated with Christ in heavenly places. His dominion is in us, as we are His Body to be exercised in the earth.
This does not simply mean we walk around and continuously cast out devils and heal the sick. I absolutely believe we do those things, so don’t misunderstand me. We comprehend Him and live in that comprehension towards one another. If we comprehended Him, this would get rid of envy and strife in the Body of Christ. We would automatically be subject to one another. We would automatically respect, love, and be kind to each other, because we would see ourselves as His. We would understand that each of us are part of Him, and that we are not our own.
Comprehending Christ would bring oneness throughout the Body. We would minister Him to one another. This is the strength of the judgement of the cross. We are dead to the world to live unto Christ! Hallelujah!
The Judgement of the Cross – The Judgement of the World
In John Chapter 12, Jesus makes a statement that should challenge the hearts of all believers. “John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. 32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” NOW was now over two thousand years ago. In Christ it is still now to us who come to see Him and understand His judgement.
What does He mean Now is the Judgement of the World? If He be lifted up, He will draw all mankind to himself? This is the Judgement of the Cross. The Apostle Paul writes in Galatians 6, “I am crucified to the world and the world is crucified to me.” Catch what He says, I am crucified. He doesn’t say I was crucified as He did in Romans 6, when He declared we died with Christ at the cross. The judgement that had come in Paul’s heart was I am crucified to the world and the world is crucified to me.
What does that mean? It means I am dead to the world and the world is dead to me. However, is that our concept of life that the world has no hold on us? Now as I say this, I have to define the world. What is the world? It is not simply planet earth. This word used for world is kosmos, (2889 in the Strong’s), which means the orderly arrangement. The orderly arrangement of the world was sin and death, the law, the pride of life, the functions of the flesh, etc. The arrangement had to do with everything in the old man.
Paul is saying that He is crucified to the world, to its arrangement and order. Then He said it is crucified to Him. Now Paul was not crucified. Even those who were crucified literally, could not say what Paul did. Only one could make this statement true and real. The one who is the Lord Jesus Christ. In Paul’s knowing of Christ, he had come to the seeing and comprehending of being dead to the world and the world being dead to him through the work of Jesus Christ, and through the reality of Christ that was in him.
The only way this becomes real to us is through the knowing of Jesus Christ and His judgement upon the world at the cross. In His powerful work of the cross Jesus took me and you with Him and He died, pronouncing judgement on the world! In this judgement we are to come in our hearts to living unto Christ and not to the world.
Unfortunately, many of us have no concept of this. We have been taught that we live the best lives we can, and someday Jesus will take us away from the world. At the cross He did just that. He took us in His death, and brought us forth in His resurrection to be a people who manifest Him and not the world. If we do not understand this, and see this by the Spirit of God, we will not manifest Him. He must be revealed in our hearts. We must come forth unto Him. Glory to God!
The Judgement of the Cross – He Shall Bring Forth Judgement Unto Victory
In Matthew’s Gospel, Chapter 12:20 the scripture reads, “A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. With the idea of judgement in much of the Christian Church, what does this mean? How would Jesus send forth judgement to victory?
To understand this, we would need to comprehend the judgement of the cross, and we would have to understand the cross in the reality of the Person of Jesus Christ. At the cross much more happened than just Jesus dying for our sins. While this is a tremendous truth, that He died for our sins and they were laid upon Him, the fullness of this is not understood by most believers. At the cross Jesus died to sin. He judged sin in the flesh through His death (Romans 8:3). He brought us into His death to sin, freeing us from its penalty and bondage.
John writes in I John 3:5 “And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.” This is a powerful statement. Jesus was manifested to take away our sins. It is fitting that John also wrote in His Gospel, “Behold the lamb of God that taketh away our Sin.” In the seeing of this statement, Jesus not only died and forgave my sin, He took it away. I am no longer bound to sin through His glorious work.
Therefore, we must understand the judgement in the death of Christ and our union in His death. He that is dead to sin is freed from sin. The word judgement used often throughout the scripture is the Greek word Kreesis 2920 in the Strong’s dictionary. It has in its definition the meaning of a decision for or against, and to separate. The death of Christ is a separation from sin and its root. Through the work of Christ we are separated out of sin.
One of the words for sin (Strong’s 264), means to miss the mark. It is this word used in 1 John 3:6. John states that whoever abides in Christ does not sin. I could consider this as to mean, that we who abide in Christ do not miss the mark. In Romans 3, the scripture tells us that all sinned and fell short to the glory of God. We should consider the Glory of God as the mark or the goal for man.
He that abides in Christ shall not miss the mark of God’s Glory. In John Chapter 17, Jesus makes it clear that those who are His are to behold His Glory. Read this Chapter closely. Jesus prays to be glorified with the Glory He had before the world. He then declares that He will be glorified in the believer, and at the conclusion of the Chapter, Jesus states that the believer will be one with Him as He is one with the Father, that they may behold His Glory. This is through Christ being in you.
Much of our teaching has robbed us from the reality of God’s Glory in a people. The “some-day” mentality that we have been programed to believe has kept us from the reality that He is in us right now. All Christians who are truly born again say Jesus is in my heart, but many do not understand the power of that statement. When Paul writes “when Christ who is our life appears in Glory, then we shall appear with Him in Glory (Colossians 3),” many do not consider this as an inward appearing. This is what Jesus says in John 17. He declares that “they may be one as we are one, I IN them, thou IN ME, that they may be made perfect in one.”
Through the judgement of the cross we are dead to sin with Christ, and we are made alive with Him. Here in His life we are waiting, watching, expecting His glory to appear. This appearing is not on the outside, but it is inward, and in it we are transformed to the same image as Christ to be His expression. Now this is a glorious judgement that brings us to victory. Glory to God!
The Great High Priest - He Tasted Death For Every Man
One in the midst of the seven candlesticks clothed with a garment down to the feet and girt about the Paps with a golden girdle. Our Great High Priest. Seeing Jesus and His Priesthood is one of the most glorious realities I have ever began to see. In our relationship with God, He is our Priest.
In the simplicity of that understanding we do not come to the Priesthood of Aaron or to the Priesthood of man, period. We come to the Priesthood of Christ, and the summation of His Priesthood (Hebrews 8:1). This is what we must set our hearts on the sum of His Priesthood. What does it account for? What does it do?
By one offering He has completed forever, them who are sanctified (Hebrews 10:14). The offering is in Him. The completion is in Him. The sanctification is in Him. All these things pertain to Him and His Priesthood.
Under the law, none could come to completion. Year after year the comers to the atonement would have to wait for their sins to be covered by the Blood of an animal. They never could come to a clear conscience before God. They could never fully enjoy His presence. Those animals pointed to one who was going to bear our Sin and put it to death. Jesus did just that. He became sin, and died, making His grave with the wicked.
Jesus not only died on Calvary, He entered death. In Psalms 16:9 and Acts 2:27, it speaks of Christ and says He cried out thou shalt not leave my soul in hell. The word for hell in your Bible is a Greek word Hades, and means the unseen. In the Old Testament it is Sheol and means the place of the dead. Jesus entered into the unseen place of the dead and brought forth victory. His soul was not left in hell but came forth in the light of life.
In Revelation Chapter 1, it is recorded that Christ says to John, I am He that lives and was dead. He tasted DEATH for everyman. Then He continues I am alive forevermore. The entirety of our salvation rests with those words. The entirety of scripture points to those words. The cross of Christ. His death to Sin, His burial putting Sin away, and His resurrection in Newness of Life. To us this is the cross. Jesus died and rose again.
In that statement I find life. He died for me and as me and brought me to death. He rose in the power of the Spirit and brought from the tomb a New Man. This man is of Spirit and Life. This is our completion, and the completion of all those who believe. We must give our hearts to the knowing of this man. Glory to God!
A Lamb for a House III – Light of the New Day
When Israel departed Egypt heading to the promise land, they went out the blood-stained door in the light of a new day. For 430 years they had been kept in Egyptian bondage. This day was a new day for them. In regarding this day, natural daylight had not changed. Natural light had not changed but everything around the day had changed. The perception of their reality was new. No longer were they under the rule of Pharoah, but they had come out of Egypt to be under the rule of God, through the leadership of Moses, to be a people unto God in the earth.
This is the reality in which believers must come to in Christ. When we enter the Door, who is Christ and partake of the true Passover lamb our day immediately changes. Like the Israelites the natural day did not change but the Day we walk in changes. No longer are we under the rule of Sin and shame, but we have come out to the Light of Christ. We are to walk in the understanding as it is in Christ Jesus. No longer in the understanding as it is in the Old Man.
When the woman caught in adultery was brought before Jesus her accusers set her forth in accusation of the Old Covenant law. Jesus stated that he that is without sin should cast the first stone when He was questioned what should be done with the woman. The only one in the midst without sin was Jesus Himself. All had become guilty before God in His presence. Jesus stooped, wrote on the ground twice, and told the woman to go in sin no more.
The hand of God touched the earth, which we see in Jesus Christ being made a man. The empowerment to overcome sin is Christ Himself, and not our own abilities. God writes His Living Word, who is Christ, in our hearts. Paul declares the church to be the epistle of Christ written of God to be read of men. The Light of the New Day is how we understand the Word of God that has been written in our hearts. We do not understand this Word by the natural understanding, but by the Spirit of God.
At the completion of the encounter of Jesus with the woman caught in adultery, Jesus makes the statement, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12). This is light, whereby we can see and not walk in darkness. Through His light we see the power to overcome sin and death. Through His work on the cross they have already been overcome. This blood-stained Door we entered, brought us out in the power of His victory, and the Newness of His Life.
The prophet Isaiah prophesied of a Day where the sun would not be the light. Christ, Himself, is that day you will find being declared in the prophets. He is the Day star rising in our hearts to give the Light, understanding, of the New Day. He is the Day that when we see it approaching, we gather together in the knowledge of Him. We understand we are His, bought with a price, to be filled with the nature of God. Like Israel of old we come out from under the rule of bondage to be under the rule of God. We see the glorious freedom we have from sin, shame, and death, and the New Life to be grasped in Christ.
So many hearts are looking for a physical day to appear where there is righteousness, peace, and joy. This Day is seen NOW as we see by the light of the knowledge of Christ, who is the glory of God. This light is in us, even as many believer sings, “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine” I believe we should change the words to the song, “This great light of mine, I’m going to let Him shine. Shine in the brightness of the glorious New Day. I’m going to let Him Shine. Let Him Shine, Let Him Shine, Let Him Shine!” Glory to God!
The Revelation Series – The Son of Man in the Seven Golden Candlesticks, Girt about the Paps with a Golden Girdle
Have you ever noticed the detail in scripture? When you read through the Books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy vivid detail is given to the instructions of the building of the Tabernacle, the Priests Garments, the Feast Days, the Trumpets, etc. Why such detail? Remember, Jesus said the scripture spoke of Him. He is the fulfillment of the details.
Order, fullness, perfection had to be set forth in the type as a testimony of the reality. From Genesis to Malachi the testimony of Jesus Christ is set forth. We search the scripture to find its fullness or completion in Him. When Jesus is seen in the Seven Golden Candlesticks with the description that is set forth of John, we should have a heart and mind to search the scriptures to see what is being declared through His eyes being flames of fire and His feet being as burning brass. Our hearts should burn to see it in the scripture, and to find the reality of what is said in our own being in Christ Jesus.
In the description of Christ in Revelation Chapter 1 He is clothed with a garment down to the foot and He is girt about the Paps with a golden girdle. Why is the girdle golden? Why is it around His chest and not around His waist? These are questions we should ask ourselves, and the Father in the seeing of Christ. Why?
Gold in the scripture is speaking of divine nature of God. The ark of the covenant was covered inside and out with pure gold. Here was where the presence of God dwelled and appeared in the midst of the Israelites. God would appear above the ark. The gold in scripture is speaking of the purity of His nature. His nature has no shadow of turning from what God is. He does not change like man.
The golden girdle speaks of Christ’s garment of righteousness being held up or together by His own divine nature. He that knew no sin became sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). He was in the world but not of the world. He was not of the nature of man, but in nature was God. As a spotless lamb He died for us and died to the world. He is our separation from the world. He is how we are sanctified or separated from the world. As we comprehend in our hearts, His death, we comprehend our own sanctification and separation from the world.
The picture of the sinless spotless lamb is seen in the High Priest’s atonement for Israel. One time a year, the Priest would disrobe of his High Priest glorious garments, which are described in Exodus 28, and put on the simple white linen garment for the day of atonement (Leviticus 16:3). To me this speaks of Jesus, who was in the form of God, emptying Himself and taking upon Him the form of a servant to die the death of the cross (Philippians 2). Christ, being God, lowered himself, and as a spotless lamb offered Himself for all. He offered ONE cleansing sacrifice that could perfect forever those who come to God by Him.
This linen white robe speaks of the spotless lamb of God that was offered for our salvation. The girding around His chest of the golden girdle, is speaking of Christs own deity. When the devil came to Jesus he could find nothing in Him to tempt him. The nature of Christ was and is divine. His clothing of righteousness was held in place through the nature of God. Glory to God.
A Lamb for a House II
Many Christians want to know how to live right, or how to have a greater relationship with Jesus Christ. If I could tell any Christians what they should do, I would tell them to go in, close the door and eat the Lamb. This picture was painted in Israel. On the first Passover Israel was commanded to slay a Lamb, put the blood of the Lamb on the door post and eat it all, save nothing until the morning. They were to burn any remainder. All the Lamb had to be consumed and Israel would come out of the door in the light of the New Day.
This picture should be a reality in Christ. We enter the DOOR, who is Christ. “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” We come out of this DOOR in the Light of the New Day. We come out in the reality of Christ. This is the picture painted in Israel. A people coming out of the Door, leaving their old things behind, and pressing toward the prize, which was Canaan land for them. The prize we press toward is the fullness of God in Christ, our Canaan land.
Jesus says in John’s Gospel unless you eat His flesh and drink His Blood you have no life in you. He later says that the words He is speaking, are Spirit and Life. Much like the Israelites, we have to eat the fullness of the Lamb. We go through the Door and inside the Door we eat the Lamb, until we see the Light of the New Day. I believe this is said another way in the Book of Corinthians.
In Corinthians 11, Paul makes a statement referring back to the Last Passover Jesus ate with His Disciples. Here Jesus told his disciples He was giving His Body and Blood for the New Covenant. He told them the cup of Blessing they bless is New Covenant in His Blood. Paul says we are to eat this bread and drink this cup and show the Lord’s death until He come.
1Corinthians 11:23-26 “For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: 24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. 25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. 26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.”
Does this mean we are to take communion, eat bread and drink wine or grape juice until the Lord literally comes? I do not believe this is what is being said. We eat His flesh and drink His Blood until He comes forth in us. We actually do this over and over again in the views of Christ given by the Holy Spirit. We eat the word until the Lord appears. He appears where He is at. He is in the Church who is His Body.
This is what Jesus meant in John 6:54 “Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” We eat His flesh and drink His blood and He raises us up. We come from the reality of Adam, the old man, TO the reality of Christ. This is the resurrection, being raised up into the Newness of Life. Jesus said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the Life.” We are made alive with Him, raised with Him and seated with Him, Paul writes to the Ephesians. The LIGHT of the eternal Day of God is how we see this. We see this Day the Lord has made through the Light, who is Christ. We walk in the Light as He is in the Light.
Men and women have walked in the Light of this Day since the resurrection of Jesus Christ. “This is the Day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.” We walk in the Day of His Salvation. The Day that He is the Light of. Glory to God!
A Lamb for a House
In Exodus 12 we can read the story of the first Passover. The Children of Israel were instructed to kill a Lamb, place its blood on the door post and enter the House to eat the Lamb. This was a new beginning for Israel. Israel was coming out of Egyptian bondage. The bitter years of slavery and bondage were over.
That night death passed through Egypt taking the life of the firstborn. Those in Goshen with the blood on their door post, who had eaten the Lamb were not touched by this plague. Instead they had received the death of the Lamb, which represented the death of God’s firstborn Son, which would take place on Calvary many years ahead.
Everything we read in scripture is a picture of Christ. It is given for our admonition and participating in Him. When I see this picture, I see THE DOOR. Jesus said that He is THE DOOR that we enter and find life. In our entrance is the fulfillment of the picture, we enter into His death. The Apostle writes that we are baptized into His death. In Romans Chapter 6, Paul sets forth the reality that we have been crucified with Christ.
Our eating of the Lamb brings us face to face with His crucifixion. We come face to face with our death with Him. When He died all died with Him. This is a glorious death. The result of His death frees us from the bondages of Adam. We are freed through participation in His death from the conscience of sins, the power of sin, and even death itself. In Hebrews 2, it is written that Jesus destroyed Him that had the power of death that is the devil and delivered us who were subject to the bondage of the fear of death.
This door painted with the Blood of the LAMB is glorious. His death speaks volumes. The children of Israel entered the Door to eat the lamb of their salvation, which served as the type and shadow of our reality. We enter the DOOR to eat our LAMB that produces LIFE. This was the picture in Israel. In the evening they entered in to eat lamb, to come out in the newness of the new day. In that new day they were no longer slaves to Egypt but a free men. We in reality are no longer slaves to the Old Man, but through the DOOR of salvation, we enter into death to the Old man, and come forth in the Newness of His Life.
In Romans 6, Paul writes that we are raised together with Him in the likeness of His resurrection. We not only go into His death, but we come forth in His Life. He is the New Day to us. We come forth into a Life we have never had before, His Life. This is our salvation. His death produces death in us to the old man, the bondages of sin and the death in the old man. His Life produces a new way of living. Christ is in us. God’s glory is set forth to be revealed.
I see this picture in the Israelites going in to eat the Lamb, to come out of that House in the newness of life. This is what Jesus meant, you shall go in and out and find pasture. We enter into the DOOR, the old man is crucified, we come out of the DOOR in the newness of His life. We do not come out of Him. He is our place of origin. We come forth in Him. Glory to God.
The Revelation Series – The Son of Man in the Seven Golden Candlesticks The High Priest Garments
For months now, I have been caught up in John’s seeing of Christ in the Seven Golden Candlesticks (Revelation 1:9-20). Of His fullness and completion, we have received of His Grace. Here, the picture of Him in the Candlesticks speaks of His fullness. Walking, being revealed, and dwelling in the Church is the Son of Man in Glory. I do not know how we can approach the Book of Revelation and miss this reality that John turned to see, “JESUS CHRIST IN HIS CHURCH.”
In His description of Christ, John writes that he was clothed with a garment down to His feet. What I hear and see in this statement is the High Priest of our souls. I see the garment of praise and salvation. As our High Priest He has taken us with Himself into that within the veil, into the Presence of God to be presented whole, complete, righteous, and without lack. Oh, that we may know Him as our Great High Priest, and no longer look to the Priesthood of Aaron, which spoke of Christ.
There is no perfection there, only a continual remembrance of sins with every sacrifice and every offering made by that priesthood. Yes, Aaron’s priesthood was of God. It came to speak for the time that was present of what God would do in Christ. It was sanctioned and ordained of the Most High Himself, but could never take away the sin and guilt of the conscience in man. It was imperfect but ordained to speak of the PERFECT ONE.
Hebrews 8:1 “Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;”
This is the summation of the thought we have such a High Priest who has sat down in authority, the right hand of God. What does it mean He has sat down? Why not just say who is in Heaven? Who is with the Father? Because He has sat down in rest and has all power and authority. What His Priesthood speaks is what is true of the believer that has come to God by Him. The believer is not destined to live in a sin conscience life, but in a life empowered by the Holy Spirit. This High Priest cleared our conscience of sins (Hebrews 9:14), to present you holy and complete, perfect, before God our Father (Hebrews 10:10, 14).
This is what we can live in NOW, completion in Christ. No longer having to succumb to the fear of death. No longer having to succumb to whether God accepts me or not. We are made accepted in the beloved. We live through Christ in His Life. The work He did at Calvary is enough. It is this work that we must know and understand in our hearts. It is this Priesthood that frees us from the conscience of sin that we must turn to SEE. Going back to the old priesthood, to be told over and over you are not good enough, you do not measure up, will never complete your soul.
Unfortunately, this is where many in the Body of Christ are held, in the conscience of sin. Much of the teaching that we sit under is like we are still under the priesthood of Aaron, the Old Covenant, where man was incomplete. However, when our heart turns to the LORD, we see a New and living way, a NEW PRIEST, who has perfected forever them that come to God by Him. Who clothes those that He loves in His own robe of righteousness? Who fills those that are His in His own glorious life. This is the Sum. This is the Priesthood of Christ Jesus our Lord. Here is where we have come. Glory to God. “We have such a High Priest.” Who accomplished, fulfilled, completed all things in the body of His flesh and has made us complete in the Body of His Resurrection.
The Grace Series - Shall We Sin That Grace May Abound
Let me begin by saying I am a preacher and teacher of Grace. It is s God’s Grace that saves us, and not our own works. However, many seem to believe that God was simply satisfied with us like we were, and Grace came to show us that. This idea is not true. God created man for His Own reflection and Identity in the earth. Man, in himself, became everything but that. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”
Romans 6 starts with a question, and then the answer. “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” Is Grace abounding through our sins? Is Grace abounding through us at all? The answer to this is bound up in the Lord Jesus Christ. John writes of Him that He came full of Grace and Truth. So, Grace came through Christ, and Christ was full of God’s Grace. With this being true, we can conclude that to know Grace is to know Christ in His fullness. He was and is FULL of Grace and Truth (John 1:14).
Romans 6, continues on from Paul’s question to God’s answer of whether continuing in Sin manifests the abundance of Grace. “God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” God forbid that the idea even be in us that our continuing in sin is producing the fruits of Grace. However, when we look at ourselves and our inabilities, we might say it is impossible to live a sin free life. Our own nature from our natural birth is contrary to everything we are learning of God. How then can we who are filled with such lack walk in His Glory?
The answer to these questions, and our inabilities lies within the cross, Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Here is where the abundance Grace begins to be found. Do we not know, as Paul would say, that we that are Christs have died with Christ? He that dead is freed from sin. Sin’s penalties diminished when Jesus hung on the tree. Laid upon Him was the iniquities of us all. He died and we died with Him. That is God’s Grace in fullness.
God poured out Christ’s death as the death of us all, and we are baptized into this death by the Spirit of God. In this, we through Him, become dead to sin. We become dead to the elements of the world. This work of His Death MUST be realized in our hearts. It is where we find freedom from condemnation, from attitudes, from the world, and from sin. I am not saying you will never commit bad acts or sins again, but I am saying in His death the penalty of them was destroyed and they are not held against us. They were placed upon Him.
In the knowing of His death we come to a place of transition to be filled with His Life. In this same Grace that produces such death in me, comes abundance of NEW LIFE. This is not the old me made better. This is Christ living in me, and my eyes becoming WIDE OPEN to His Life within me. This is New. Like Joshua said to the children of Israel, you have never been this way before.
This is the new and living way by the Spirit of God. Therefore, we cannot say through our sins Grace abounds. Grace abounds through the knowing in our hearts of His death, burial, and resurrection. Grace abounds simply through us knowing Him, and Living in this understanding, which is Living in Christ. This is the abundance of God’s Grace and God’s provision to us, Christ living in our hearts, and we by and in Him. Glory to God in the Highest!
Grace Defined
What is the Grace of God and how do we define it? Strong’s defines grace as "Graciousness (as gratifying), of manner or act (abstract or concrete; literal, figurative or spiritual; especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude)". Some may like this definition some may not. I do as it deals with the divine influence on the heart and the reflection of that influence in the life. I believe that is a good definition as far as a book definition. However, let’s look at what the scripture says regarding grace and what it is.
Ephesians 2:4-9 “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” Grace is the gift of God. Where do we find God’s gift in the scripture. There are actually two places that comes to mind as I write this. John 3:16 and Galatians 3:14. I am going to concentrate on John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” What I want us to see here is that God gave. Here is the gift of God, packaged in the person of Jesus Christ. He is where Grace is found and defined. It is defined in Truth. Any other grace outside of Christ is not grace at all but just rubbish.
There are many declaring that Jesus just came from heaven to show you how God thought of you. In this statement there may be a truth, but to understand this truth it is only comprehend by Jesus Christ and Him crucified. If I see myself without the cross, I am a man undone with unclean lips and in an unholy land. I am as David declared, “conceived in sin and shaped in iniquity.” Many are declaring a grace that approves the natural man. This I believe is not grace at all but deception.
God loved and He gave His Son. In this statement the fullness of Grace may be seen. In the giving of His Son, you have the death of the cross which is attributed to us. You also have the resurrection of the dead, which also is attributed to us. The death side releases us where we were held in bondage and sin in the old man. The resurrection side brings us into New Life, the New Man who is Christ Jesus the Lord. By Grace we are saved. We are saved by His Life in us. Christ in you is your salvation. Now He is the divine influence that is upon the heart, literally. Hallelujah! This is Grace, Christ in you and you in Christ.
Two-Edged Sword V
Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
For the last few months we have been looking at the Son of Man in the seven golden candlesticks, declared of John in the Book of Revelation. Out of His mouth issues a sharp two-edges sword. The Book of Hebrews declares the Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of the soul and Spirit. This is where we have been concerning ourselves.
In the Book of Colossians 2:11, Paul writes, “and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. Does this actually mean our physical flesh body has been removed from us? We know the answer to that, as we are all moving around in a flesh body in the earth. So, what does Paul mean in the operation of circumcision here described?
To understand this, I suggest we look at the Book of Romans. In Chapter 6, Paul writes do we not know that we have been baptized into the death of Jesus Christ? He says we are buried with Christ in Baptism to walk in newness of life. Paul writes, our old man has been crucified with Christ that we should not serve sin. Here in the Book of Romans is the description of the removal of the body of flesh. This is the work of the cross which you and as believers are partakers of. This is the work of the Sword of the Spirit, removing the old man that the NEW MAN would come forth. This is the work the Holy Spirit is revealing in our hearts.
You and I all were born in sin and shaped in iniquity through the natural birth, as the Psalmist cries in Psalm 51. Every man born of woman comes forth in this order. Every seed brings forth of its own kind. The seed of man brings forth after Adam. Through one man’s disobedience sin and death came upon all men. We all lived in this man and were the embodiment of Him. As the embodiment of Adam, or the natural man, we did not know God. We did not know life. We were filled with the soul or natural life. Our minds and hearts were filled with that which is of the flesh. That was all we really knew. The Apostle Paul wrote in I Corinthians 2, that the spirit of man knows the things of man. He did not know God. This is the soulish life, the things of man.
The cross of Jesus Christ is our solution to know not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. It is our solution to come to the knowledge of the Lord. Through His cross we are circumcised. The circumcision is the removal of the flesh, or embodiment of the man of sin that was upon our heart. In the place of this man, the man of flesh and death, we are NOW being filled with the man of Spirit and Life. This is the circumcision, the removal of the old man from our hearts and minds and being filled with the New Man who is Christ.
In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul writes that the first man was made a living soul and is of the earth, earthy. He is the embodiment of the earth and that pertains to that realm. He writes the second man is the Lord from heaven and is a life-giving Spirit. This life-giving Spirit is the destination of you and me. We embodied the earth man in ourselves. We are to embody the Heavenly Man, who is Christ. This embodiment is right here right now as we know Him. As we have known the man of the flesh, we manifested Him, because we embodied Him. Now that man has been removed through the work of Jesus Christ that we may bear forth the fruit of another man.
Our soul, mind, and inner man must come to the awareness of this New Man. Christ must be revealed in our hearts that we bear Him. We are made knew to be the embodiment of Jesus Christ. “Now you are the Body of Christ and members in particular.” These words that Paul wrote are not just to be ink on a page, but words written in our hearts, our core, to bear about in our bodies the reality of Jesus Christ who we contain within. Glory to God in the Highest. Our salvation has come, the crucifixion of the first and the life of the second! Glory to God!
Two-Edged Sword IV
Revelation 1:16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
Out of His mouth proceeds the sharp two-edged sword which is the Word of God. In the Book of Hebrews, the writer says that the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. This has caught my attention. Why is this placed in Hebrews 4:12? It does not seem to go with the scriptures before it. Rather it appears to be just put in here. However, we should now that nothing that has come through the Spirit of God is perchance.
Hebrews 4:11 Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the hear.
In Chapters 3 and 4 leading up to this statement, “the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit,” the writer is dealing with the rest promised to Israel and today if we hear His voice we can enter into rest by hearing and receiving His Voice. In the days of Israel’s’ disobedience, they refused to hear and receive what God had said, so they did not enter the rest God had promised them. Instead they wondered 40 years in the wilderness. That generation passed and Joshua rose up to lead the new generation into the promises of God.
When I go back and read of this story, I find it in the first five books of Joshua. This is the account of the Israelites crossing the Jordan and coming in the promise land. There are several pictures to get a hold of in this story that are speaking of the reality we have in Christ. I want to draw our minds to the fact that they did not just come up to the Jordan and cross over they crossed over a VERY SPECIFIC WAY. They crossed in view of the Priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant of JEHOVAH (Joshua 2:3).
Above this ark was the place where God met with the Israelites (Exodus 25:22). This ark contained the Word of the Covenant, the Word of God, and was the place where God’s presence abided in the Tabernacle of Moses. It was the place of atonement for the sins of Israel. The place of God’s rest. What picture does it declare other than the Lord Jesus Christ, himself? He came filled with God’s word. God’s presence abided upon Him. He was the atonement for our sins. This is the view we must have to cross over from the wilderness into the rest of God. We must view the Lord Jesus Christ, our ark of the Covenant of the LORD, and cross over into God’s glorious life.
Now the second picture I want to bring to our minds is after they crossed the Jordan they came to Gilgal. This is in Joshua Chapter 5. Here they were circumcised. This circumcision in the flesh speaks of the sharp two-edged sword diving soul and spirit. Why did God give a covenant of circumcision to Abraham? This was circumcision of the flesh to the male child. Circumcision was to the most intimate part of the natural man. Why was that? It was speaking of the heart. The heart, core, mind, and center of man had to be circumcised. This was fulfilled through the living two-edged sword, the WORD of GOD, Jesus Christ Himself.
Colossians 2:10-13 “10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; 11 and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ.”
Here the body or covering of the flesh is removed, the flesh that is upon our hearts. This is the first man. The Adamic man is removed in the circumcision of Christ, and the New Man who is a life-giving Spirit comes forth (I Corinthians 15:35-49). We come forth in Him, the life-giving Spirit, who is the Lord from heaven. Our hearts are moved from the covering of flesh, the soul man, to being covered of Spirit, the heavenly man. Paul writes that this heavenly man is the Lord from heaven. Here is where our change comes, in the twinkle of an eye. We are quickened, raised, and made alive in this New Man, who is Christ Jesus our Lord. Glory to God in the Highest!
Two-Edged Sword III
John 6:53-63 “It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life.”
Out of His mouth comes a sharp two-edged sword, John writes in Revelation 1:16. This two-edged sword is the Word of God. This two-edged sword is Spirit and Life. When we say it is the Word of God, does it simply mean it is the written word? Does it mean it is the words of the Law of Moses? What do we actually mean? Maybe all the above but fulfilled and brought to life in Jesus Christ our Lord.
What I mean by this is He makes the Word alive. For example the prophet Joel writes, “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered:” While this was written in Joel’s time it was not in force until after Jesus raised from the dead. He made it alive. What was in the Book become personalized in the Person of Jesus Christ, and through His resurrection from the dead is made alive in the Spirit.
Jesus made the comment many times that Whosoever believes in me shall be saved, not perish, shall have the Spirit coming from their inner being, etc. Jesus said these things, and they are recorded in John’s Gospel. Now through the Spirit they are made alive. We can receive them, experience them, and even give them. We can go to our neighbor next door and declare that Whosoever calls on the name of Jesus Christ shall be saved. Our neighbor can receive this word, believer and take it into their heart, and it is so. Why is that, because it is Spirit and Life. The Word we declare from the truth of Christ, as He is made real in us, is filled with His Spirit and Life.
I believe that is what John saw in Revelation Chapter 1; the Son of Man in the Church, with the two-edged sword coming out of His Mouth declaring the Word of God in the Church. I believe this is the first order by the Spirit of God, the Word revealed in us by the Holy Spirit. “Hear what the Spirit saith to the Churches.” Then as He is revealed, He is declared through the Church. “The Spirit and the Bride say come.”
This is exciting! We can hear and know the Word of God, Christ Jesus the Lord, through the Spirit. Then we can declare Him. We can declare Him from a position of knowing, of having seen and experienced this Living Word in our hearts. This is ongoing in our walk in the Lord. We hear and see Him in our hearts by the Spirit. We handle the Word of God as John says in His Epistle and we make known this Word of Life that we are handling. Glory to God.
In the appearance of the Son of Man the Apostle John writes. Revelations 1:16 “And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.” To bring this into context the two-edged sword coming out of His mouth was in the seven golden candlesticks. In other words, the word of God that is sharper than any two-edged sword was and is in the church. John saw the Son of Man IN the candlesticks, the seven churches.
Here in the church is where the Word of God is taking affect. Here is where the Word of God is being spoken and ministered. First from Him who is in us, and then from Him through us. We are to sit at His feet and hear Him speak, as Mary did in the gospels when her sister Martha was busy with everything around (Luke 10:39). I believe we can find a picture of the Church in Mary and Martha. Both, we could say loved Jesus, but Mary chose that important thing. She SAT and HEARD His Word. We need to sit and Hear His word. Be still, be silent and HEAR HIM!
In John’s gospel, it is declared that Jesus said to the Jews that they had not God’s word abiding in them because whom he had sent, they did not believe. Read John 5:37-47. God had said through Moses in the Books of Moses, particularly in Deuteronomy that Israel was to cherish His word. Read Deuteronomy Chapter 6:1-10. They were to take it wear it, put it on their doorposts. It was to be forever in their mind and if so, God would lavishly bless them.
The picture of Jerusalem when Jesus came froth was one of captivity not lavish blessings from God. The Jews were in Roman captivity. They were not following the teaching of Moses. As Jesus said if they believed Moses, they would believe Him. He declared Moses wrote of Him. I believe the entirety of Moses speaks of Christ. The work God did in bringing Israel from the slavery and bondage of Egypt to their entrance into Canaan flowing with milk and honey speaks of Christ. Jesus has brought us from the Old Man, Adam, to dwelling in the presence of God, where out of us flows rivers of living water. We are lavishly blessed as we abide in Christ Jesus our Lord.
With that said, Moses declared God would raise up a prophet and Him they would be required the hear or hearken to (Deuteronomy 18:15-19). The word hearken here means to hear intelligently with implication of attention, obedience. Israel was required to hear and act on the WORDS of Jesus. His words are the WORDS OF LIFE. “The words I speak to you are Spirit and they are life.” Jesus declared that “Now is the time when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live.”
This word hear in John 5:25 carries the same weight as hearken. They and we are to hear and receive His word to come to life. In the definition of this word is comprehension. It is not simply hearing what is said in a passive way. It is dealing with those that hear and comprehend, attend to what He said. This attend to is acting upon the word. Eating it, receiving it in your heart and you come to life. This is the very action of our salvation, we EAT HIS WORD, and come to HIS LIFE. Glory to God.
The Jews were to eat this word. It was required of them. It is required of us. HIS WORDS ARE THE WORDS OF ETERNAL LIFE. No other will suffice. Glory to God!
Beware that you be not spoiled of man
Colossians 2:6-10 “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: 7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. 8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. 9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. 10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:”
This teaching is from one of our Tuesday night meetings. Here we are looking at Colossians 2. The Apostle Paul is declaring to the Colossians that all fullness is in Christ. As you have received Him, walk in Him. Rooted, built, abounding in Christ Jesus. In Him is the fullness of the Godhead bodily. In Him is your completion. This is such a beautiful set of scripture. In Him is the fullness and in His fullness we are complete.
I believe the vision of the Son of Man in the Book of Revelation Chapter 1 is a picture of the fullness of Christ Jesus in the Church. Here is where we are to abound. Here is where we are to grow, in the knowledge of Christ. In Him we have come to God’s fullness. In Him we have come to our perfection and completion. Let us abound in Him.
In the midst of Paul’s presentation to the Colossians of the believer being in Christ’s fullness he puts out a warning. “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” Here I am concerned is where many believer’s walk, after the traditions of man and not after Christ. I believe this is evident even in much of our speech, as we typically declare to one another I am a Pentecostal, or a Baptist, or a Kingdom preacher. We have, without meaning to, divided the Body of Christ. Paul told the Corinthians they were carnal and walked as men because of this very thing. (I Corinthians 3:3)
In Galatians 1, the Apostle Paul writes and tells the believers he is astonished with them. His astonishment is that they have moved away from Christ to finding perfection and completion in the law. This I am afraid is one of the strongest bonds that is upon Christians today. They come and receive Christ who frees us from the law, and then are immediately preached back up under its bonds.
Anything but Christ spoils us. The word spoil in Colossians 2 is defined as to carry off as booty or prey. I can see in my mind a pirate coming in and gaining booty from his conquest. We become the spoil anytime we are moved from the truth that is in Christ. We need to be vigilant in the Word of the Lord to understand the truth that He, Jesus Christ, is. Our hearts must always be turned to abound in Him. Set our minds to His Revelation. Set our thoughts to His course. Let Him be Master, Savior and King. Glory to God!
Two-Edged Sword
Revelation 1:16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
Most Christians would believe that the description of the sword coming out of the mouth of the Lord is the word of God. As recorded in Matthew 4, Jesus said “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” We live through God’s word, which is in us. As we have made note of many times in our fellowship, Christ is in us. His indwelling presence is to be the reality in the hearts of the believer. We must hear the Word of the Living Christ of God, who dwells within us and be transformed by His power.
Speaking in regards to hearing His Word as recorded in John 14:10 Jesus said, "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.” Examining His words closely should cause us to consider common Christian belief. Many believe Jesus was down on the earth while the Father was far away in heaven. Jesus words bring a stark contrast to that belief. He said the Father in me does His works. He said to His disciples that they were to believe that He was in the Father as He was speaking to them and that His Father was working out of Him. “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself.”
Now seeing that God was in Christ as Jesus said in verse 10. Let’s look at verse 3. Here Jesus says, “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” In verse 10 Jesus tells us where He is. He is in the Father. This is the place we must see that Jesus is declaring. Many have believed that Jesus was talking of some place far away that He must take us away too. I want to be clear He takes us away, but in an entirely different fashion. He does it through the cross.
Jesus said, I go to prepare a place for you. He was speaking of a place in the Father’s house. His preparation for us was made at the cross. At the cross Jesus made a way for us in the Father’s House. He took the old man in His flesh and put him away, and brought us forth in a new creation to dwell IN the very presence of God. In John 14:20 Jesus said, “In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” Jesus is speaking of the day the Holy Spirit comes. When the Spirit comes, we are to know that Jesus is IN the Father and we are IN Him and He is in us. This is the place He was coming to receive us unto, IN Christ!
“Now we are no more strangers, but we are of the household of God,” Paul writes in Ephesians 2. Paul goes on to say that we are here in God’s household and are built on the foundation of Jesus Christ. This foundation is Christ in us. Here we are built for a habitation of God by His Spirit. This is where Jesus brought us to. This is the way He made, and this is what His WORD declares. Glory to God!
Hair White as Wool II
In our continual pursuit of Christ Jesus our Lord, we are looking at His Hair White as Wool, as John describes in Revelation 1. Proverbs 20:29 “The glory of young men is their strength; and the splendor of elders is their gray hair.” The grey or white hair is said to be the splendor of the elder man. This word splendor speaks of beauty and majesty. Throughout scripture, God’s majesty and splendor is declared. Here in Revelation 1 we see Christ Jesus in the majesty of God, or we see the majesty of God through Christ Jesus our Lord.
In Him dwells all fullness. When we turn to see Him, we are turning toward the fullness of God. Paul writes that it pleased the Father that in Christ would all fullness dwell, or all His divine essence, Colossians 1:19. In Colossians 2:9 Paul writes that the fullness of the Godhead bodily dwells in Christ. In Christ we find all the glory, splendor and majesty of God that has been declared throughout scripture. Here in Christ this glory and majesty we read about becomes real to us. We are in Christ.
In the Old Covenant God’s glory, honor and majesty was on display outwardly. He showed His deliverance and power as the Egyptians (horse and riders) were cast into the sea. He showed His brilliance as Mount Sinai burned with fire and smoke. His Glory filled the Tabernacle and Temple in a Cloud and a Fire. The Israelites could physically see what God did, but could not touch it, or know it. They could not partake of His essence, His substance. They could just look at it outwardly and try to live in accordance to His law.
We have come to a new Mountain (Hebrews 12) that can be touched. We have come to the heavenly Jerusalem, Mount Zion. We have come to a place where his work can be touched. Not only is the Old Man crucified, horse and rider cast into the sea, but the old man can be put out of our hearts as we know Christ. Our consciousness is in a process of change as Christ is revealed. This mountain can be touched in our inner most being. We can be filled to the fullness of Him.
Consider that our conscience or sense of being can come to the awareness of Christ as our life. We can come to this. We can comprehend this. People say to me, but we can’t because we are in the flesh, and the answer is yes, we can. It is not through our ability to come to the awareness of Christ. It is through Him that lives within us. It is not by our might, nor by our power, but by His Spirit. It is through the Spirit of God revealing the work of the Lord Jesus Christ in me, in my heart. May we see the splendor and fullness of our Life, who is Christ Jesus our Lord!
Hair White as Wool
In Revelation Chapter 1, in the vision of the Son of Man in the Candlesticks, the scripture says His hair was white as wool and His eyes as a flame of fire. Why is His hair white like wool, as white as snow? Does this mean that Jesus simply aged and he had grey hair? No, not at all. We could say he is full aged, which would be a good start. His hair being white as wool is speaking of one full of wisdom, knowledge and understanding.
We approach Him who is of full age. The scripture actually says that all treasures of wisdom and knowledges are hid in Christ, Colossians 2:3. Do we spend our time searching for the hidden wisdom of God? Do we spend our time searching for the treasures of the wisdom and knowledge of God? Are we setting our hearts toward that idea? I made a comment in last week’s sharing and repeated it in this one that I wish I had understood the purposes of God in Christ after I was first saved. I wish this was what I had been taught and set my heart toward immediately after receiving the Lord.
Consider in your heart Ephesians Chapter 1. Look at verses 9 and 10. Ephesians 1:9 “Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: 10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:” How much time have we given to the mystery of His will? Have we even considered that God had a will and purpose? Much of our time in even coming before God it is to receive something for ourselves, correct?
For a moment let’s change that order. Let us approach our Father and say to Him what is the mystery of your will? Show me Father how you have gathered all things together in ONE even in Christ. All things in heaven and on earth in Him, “thy Kingdom come they will be done.” Gather my heart and mind up in the work of Christ. Let Him be my want and desire. That I might know Him. Let me set my affection toward Him that is above. Let me obtain that which Christ obtained for me.
For a moment consider that the word fullness actually could be interpreted completion according to the Strong’s Dictionary. Paul could be saying in the completion of time, God gathered up all things in Christ. What did he gather? He gathered the Temple. He gathered the City. He gathered the people of God. He gathered the Priesthood, circumcision, the forgiveness of sins. All things were gathered into Christ and completed. He is the completion of all things. I cannot know the true Temple of God unless I know the one that is built on the true foundation who is Christ. I can’t know the true Priesthood of God unless I know the one that is after the order of Melchizedek and speaks of an endless life. All of the things in the Old Covenant come to their completion in the person of Jesus Christ.
You and I find our very own completion in Him. I could spend all my days looking for purpose and it would flee from me until I come to the reality that the writer of Hebrews said, but we see Jesus. Here we find our purpose. Here in Him we find our completion. Here we find our belonging. Glory to God.
The Revelation Series - His Hair White as Wool and Eyes as a Flame of Fire II
Revelation 1:14 “And his head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;”
Over the last three weeks we have been looking at the description of the Son of Man as His Eyes as a Flame of Fire. We have seen in scripture that it is declared there were seven lamps of fire before His Throne, and these seven lamps of fire were are the seven Spirits of God. We saw that the seven Spirits of God were sent out into all the earth. We also see in Scripture and know in reality that there is only ONE SPIRIT of God, but in the Book of Revelation the One Spirit is described as seven or seven-fold. We have looked at the number seven and its relationship to Christ as our Sabbath Day. The seven-fold Spirit here speaks of completion and fullness and rest that are found in the Lord Jesus Christ.
On the Day of Pentecost, as written in Acts 2 the Holy Ghost sat upon the disciples with cloven tongues of fire. This fire began to transform those believers and consume all that was in them to refine them in the knowledge of Christ. This is the work of the Holy Ghost to refine us in Word and Deed into the Image of Jesus Christ. John 15 and 16 declares that the Holy Spirit will show you the things of Christ, “He shall take of mine and show it to you,” John 16:14. As the Holy Spirit shows you that of Christ you come to a seeing of Him. In this process of seeing you are refined in your heart to Image of Christ. Hallelujah!
In Ezekiel Chapter 1, the prophet of God sees a Cloud with Fire. In this Cloud are living creatures and above their heads is ONE on a throne. This one Ezekiel sees has fire from His waist downward and fire from His waist upward, our God is a consuming fire. When Ezekiel sees Him, he falls on his face as dead before him like John’s experience in Revelation Chapter one. The Prophet Isaiah says in Isaiah Chapter 6 I saw the Lord High and lifted up. When he saw Him, he said I am a man undone with unclean lips. The answer to Isaiah was fire from the altar to purify His Speech.
The answer to our hearts and to our speech is the Revealing of the Living Christ within us. As we see Him by the Spirit of God we are transformed inside and out. Our speech will begin to align with what we see in our hearts, “of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh,” Matthew 12:34. As he is revealed within our hearts, He becomes our abundance. We begin to speak of Him, or out of the understanding of Him. Let us see, as the Holy Spirit takes of Him and shows Him to us and declare Him that we see to one another! Praise God!
The Revelation Series - Eyes as a Flame of Fire II
Revelation 1:14 “And his head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;”
In Revelation Chapter 5 John sees the Lamb of God having seven horns and seven eyes. These seven horns and seven eyes are the seven Spirits of God. In Chapter 1 and Chapter 4 the seven Spirits of God are called seven lamps of fire. The scripture says the seven Spirits are sent forth into all the earth. Now we that search the Word know there is only one Spirit (Ephesians 4:4). So, the number seven is speaking of completion. God completed creation and rested on the seventh day. In Jesus Christ our Lord, God has finished a work that we dwell in.
We could say the Spirit of God is sent forth in the earth in the finished work of God in Christ. In Acts 2, the scripture says Jesus has shed forth the Holy Spirit in the earth. Malachi said the Lord shall come to His Temple and sit as a refiner’s fire. Paul says we are God’s Temple, we are the Temple of the Holy Spirit. So, God sits in His Temple to refine us. However, His refining is not making the best us we can be in and of ourselves. He is refining us in he Image of the ONE that is in us. We must come to see this.
God is not looking for the best Wayne or Bob or Andrew he can see. He is looking for Christ. The refiner is looking for His own image in the gold He is refining. Our salvation is much greater than us coming to the place to not sin anymore. Our salvation is Christ in us. We are to be conformed to His Image. II Corinthians Chapter 3 says we behold in a glass the Glory of the Lord to be changed into the same Image. The Image is the Glory of the Lord. The Image is Christ. We are to look in the mirror of God who is Christ to be changed.
Notice in Acts 2 when the Holy Ghost was given, the Spirit was described as sitting upon the disciples as cloven tongues of fire. The refiners fire came right upon their mouth, and they spoke with tongues as the Spirt gave them utterance. This heavenly language they received began to refine them. Even what they spoke was refined. That is what happens when the refiner begins to reveal the image. Our utterance begins to declare by this refining process. We do not speak by enticing words of men’s wisdom or knowledge. We begin to speak by the Revealing of Jesus Christ in us. We begin to utter His words.
This is so necessary in the Body of Christ today, that ministry would speak out of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, and not out of themselves. May He refine us to the very thought, person, and substance of Christ. May His glorious understanding come forth in our voice. May His nature come forth in our actions. May Christ be revealed in our hearts that He be manifested through His body in the earth!
The Revelation Series - His Hair White as Wool and Eyes as a Flame of Fire
Revelation 1:14 “And his head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;”
His eyes were as a flame of fire. If you explore the Greek words for flame and fire they mean just what they say. So how could his eyes be as fire and how can I understand that? We that are His should ask these questions? How do we understand John’s description of the Son of Man? There are many teachers who get into the Book of Revelation and seem to gloss over the fact that John says in the opening Chapter that he saw one like the Son of Man IN the churches. And He doesn’t just say he saw JESUS in the churches, John gives a description of How he saw HIM.
The Lord has drawn my mind to this description. Christ was appearing in the church in a very specific way. I believe His appearing here is our completion. “We are complete in Him.” Remember, the seven churches were seen as pure gold. Gold in the Bible is speaking of the divine nature and substance of the Lord. How the church comes to the divine nature is through the ONE who is seen in Him, who is the refiner’s fire. I believe this description is speaking of His fullness. Paul writes in His epistles that we are filled with the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:19). In Ephesians 1, Paul writes “the church which is His Body, the fullness of HIM, who fills all in all.” We could consider this as saying Christ fills all members of the church with all the fullness and substance of Himself, “all in all.”
His eyes were flames of fire. Where do we find these eyes as flames of fire in the scripture? In Revelation 1:4 we are introduced to seven Spirits of God before the throne. In Chapter 4:5 John sees these seven Spirits of God before the throne when he is caught up into the open door in heaven through the Voice as the Sound of a Trumpet. Here before the throne are “seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.” We connect the seven Spirits of God to the seven Lamps of Fire. We should understand that seven speaks throughout the scripture of the Day of Rest and Completion. Our completion is in Christ.
The seven Spirits and seven Eyes are gathered up into the Lamb of God. In Chapter 5, John sees a Book in the hand of the One on the throne that no man could open. But behold the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. John sees Him standing as a Lamb having seven horns and seven eyes, which I believe represents the fullness of God, all power (seven horns) and all knowing (seven eyes). Here we find these seven eyes in the Lamb who was able to Open the Book and release the seals thereof, which I believe represents the judgement of the cross which came upon natural Israel unto perdition and to the church as the grace of the New Covenant of God that we now stand within. Every believer through the ages stands within the work Christ has done, and the Covenant He has set forth within the earth.
Revelation 5:6 “And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.”
His eyes of fire are transforming and purifying fire. Malachi writes the LORD shall come to His Temple and sit as a refiner’s fire and purify the sons of Levi. Malachi is speaking of the purifying of silver and gold. Silver and gold are purified in the fire to remove unwanted substances. John the Baptist writes we shall be Baptized with the Holy Ghost and Fire. Jesus is seen standing in the Seven Churches which are pure gold. He is the refiner’s fire in the midst of the Church, which is His temple. We are to see through His Sight and in the vision of Him we are refined, purified. Our knowing moves from the earthy knowing of the Adamic man to the heavenly knowing of Christ. We see through the work Christ has done and are purified through His work.
As Paul writes to the Romans we are Baptized into His death. Jesus told James and John that He had a Baptism to be baptized with, and that they would participate in it. This is exactly what happens by the Spirit. We partake of the death of Christ. In this participation with Him by the Spirit we come to KNOW EXPERIANTIALLY in our heart that we are dead to the elements of the world, just as Paul writes in his epistles. We are dead to sin. We are dead to the law. We are crucified to the world. Why do we experience such a great death, that we may be filled with the Life and Substance of another, even Jesus Christ our Lord!
Revelation 3
Because you think you are rich and increased with goods, but you need to Buy of ME
Dr. Lynn Hiles
In Revelation Chapter 3 the Lord Jesus rebukes the church of Laodicea to buy of Him gold tried in the fire, and white raiment and be clothed that you would not dwell in shame. Dr. Hiles deals with a people moving from their own self righteousness to the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Many dear believers’ dwell in their own righteousness. They try to dwell in their own self works for righteousness. Even the message they set under brings them into view of a performance-based religion.
The problem of most performance-based teachings are they point to the wrong performance. They point to our performance. If we were looking at the performance of Christ, or His Work, we would be teaching the RIGHT works. Jesus counsels the Laodiceans to buy of Him gold tried in the fire that they may be rich. His work is the gold tried in the fire, and we are filled with riches of God in Christ Jesus.
He counsels them to buy white raiment that they may be clothed. In Revelation Chapter 7:14 and 22:14 the Bible declares that they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. This is how we are made pure and complete. We are made righteous through His work, being washed in His Blood. There is no other righteousness we can have but His. He is our righteousness. We need to see His Work, and rest in what He has completed, putting on what He is done. Paul writes to the Galatians that we are clothed upon with Christ. Through our works we can never become righteous and feel Holy.
Jesus counsels them to anoint their eyes with eye salve that they can see. Without the Spirit of God we cannot see the reality of Christ and our salvation. Many believers go to the Bible, and do not SEE clearly what Jesus did at Calvary. They do not SEE the transition from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant. They do not see the removal of the Old Temple and the Bringing Forth of New Temple. They do not see the New Creation created of God in Christ Jesus. Instead they go to the Word of God and look for these to come.
At Calvary Jesus removed the Old and through His resurrection He brought for the New. In Christ we dwell in a new heaven and a new earth. We are subject not to rules on rocks, but we are subject to the very Christ of God and His work. May we all see and believe what Jesus has done. I hope you enjoy this sharing by Brother Hiles. It is a tremendous word being released into the Body of Christ.
Revelation 3:14-19 "And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; 15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. 17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent."
His Countenance as the Sun III
In the third sharing on His Countenance as the sun from the Book of Revelation Chapter 1, we continued to look at the day where the sun and moon would not be the light. This day and the seeing in this day are found only in Christ. He is the light we see by here, not of the sun or the moon, but Christ Himself is the light. What do we see in His light?
In three of the Gospels there is a record of the Mount of Transfiguration, where Jesus took Peter, James and John up into the Mount and was transfigured before them. In this encounter on the Mount Jesus face did shine as the sun. In Mark’s gospel, it says in Chapter 9:8 “And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man any more, save Jesus only with themselves.”
Hear this, they saw no man but Jesus, and they found themselves in Him. He told them to tell no one of this encounter until after the resurrection. Why did He do that? Because when you and I find our lives in the resurrection we find no man except Jesus only. We find our lives in Him. The old man is dead, crucified and buried. We are alive in a new creation.
In this creation we have come to in Christ, He is the Life. We live by Him. “At that day you shall know I am in the Father, you are IN ME, and I AM in you.” Hallelujah. This is the day that no eye had seen and had never entered the heart of man. This is the day that no earthly sun or moon can light. This day is seen through Him. Here in His light we are righteous, holy, and pure. Here in this light we have been made complete in Christ. He is our completion.
Walking in the shadows of the Old Covenant will never complete you. And so many of God’s people want to walk there. They want to be told how to be righteous. How to be made complete. How to be perfect. No, no, no! All of this is in Him. He is my righteousness. He is my perfection. Let me know Him as righteousness. Let me know Him as perfection. Let me grow up into Him in all things!
This is what light shows. It shows His work on Calvary. It shows that His death truly fulfilled the Old Covenant. It shows His resurrection really brought life to those that believe and receive Him. It shows the power of His death, and the exceeding power of His resurrection. He raised out from Adam. In other words, He cannot be found there anymore. The beauty is we are united with Him in His resurrection.
I pray that the eyes of our hearts be enlightened in the knowing of Jesus Christ!
His Countenance as the Sun II
We are continuing our study of the Son of Man in the seven golden candlesticks. We are looking at His countenance as the sun. In the natural we see by sun light. Our eyes have no sight without light. Jesus is the sun we see by in the Spirit. Without Him there is no light.
John 1:4 “In him was life; and the life was the light of men.”
Isaiah 60:19 spoke of a day where the sun and the moon would not be the light. Men have tried to figure this out by their own minds. Remember, without Him we have no sight. Jesus was the light Isaiah was speaking of. When Christ came, he said “I am the light of the world.” In order to see in the spiritual realm, we must see by him. To have sight we must be born again of God’s Spirit, John 3:3. Otherwise, man is simply bound to natural sight, with no true spiritual light at all. Man may think he has spiritual sight, but he has NONE!
1Corinthians 2:9 “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”
The above is a very popular scriptures, quoted in many Christian circles. Many quote this in regard to what is prepared for them over in glory land or heaven after they die. However, the very next verse in this chapter says that God HAS revealed them to us by His Spirit. What was prepared for us that we did not see was prepared at the cross. Jesus said in John 14, “I go to prepare a place for you.” He said if he prepares a place for us that He would come again and receive us to himself. Where He was going was the cross. The place He was preparing was the Father’s House.
The Apostle Paul writes that we the church are the Temple of God (Father’s House). Before the death, burial, and resurrection the Temple of God was in the natural Jerusalem. According to the Old Testament scripture that Temple was God’s House. Jesus declared throughout John’s Gospel that God was in Him. In John 14:10 he says we are to believe that He is in the Father, and the Father is in Him. This is the glorious relationship that He was going to the cross to share with the church. Jesus had become the place that God dwelt.
Jesus said, recorded in John 2, “Destroy this Temple, speaking His Body, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Apostle Paul writes, I Corinthians 14 “Now you are the Body of Christ and members in particular.” This is what He prepared for us. This was never in man’s mind, that we would be His place of habitation, that the living Christ would fill us with ALL He is. The Glory of God has moved from an Old Temple built with hands to an altogether New Temple built through the cross – death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We see this glorious reality only through the light of Christ. Paul prayed that the eyes of our understanding would be enlightened through the knowledge of Christ. These are the eyes that did not see what God was preparing. Now we who SEE HIM by the Spirit, do understand (see) what God prepared, in order that we may declare Him to the Church.
Dead to Sin and the Old Man
Colossians 3:3&4 “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”
This is the understanding of the cross that we all must come to. Here we will find relief for our souls. Paul writes multiple times in his epistles that we died with Christ at the cross. To grasp His death is freedom. To grasp His life is salvation.
Jesus declares to the Jews in the Temple, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:36). Here He is speaking of being made free from sin. Christians all over the earth seek to get free from sins or bad deeds. Jesus said if the Son makes you free you are free. Read the Chapter. See the context.
How can it be that we have been made free from sin, but yet have so many issues with sins or bad deeds? Christians are caught in all kinds of bad situations, including divorce. Why is this? We do not KNOW HIM! We do not Know our salvation. If the Son has set us free, we are free indeed. How did he do this? He put us to death where we were held.
In Romans 6, the Apostle Paul declares we are baptized into the death of Christ. He writes in the Chapter that we are dead to sin. The word know or knowing is used 3 times between verse 3 through verse 11 alone. These words are three different Greek words. In verse three the word know mean is dealing with information. Paul is saying do you do not have the information of what happened when you were baptized into Jesus Christ. “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?”
In verse 6, Paul is dealing with an experiential knowing. “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” This word is the same word used when Mary says to the angel as recorded in the gospel of Luke, “I have not known a man.” We know our old man is crucified through our experience and knowing of Christ who is in us. This is the answer to our hearts. We must know Him, period!
Finally, in verse 9, “Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him,” this knowing means seeing or perceiving. I believe as we know Him we will see and perceive that death has no more dominion over Christ, and in that it has no dominion over Him it is true of His body also. Death has no dominion over you if you are members of His Body. He that is dead is free from sin and its domain.
Our dominion is in what Christ Jesus has accomplished. He died to the world and all that was in it, and was raised out from the dead to live unto God. We live unto God through Him. He is now our life. When He appears in us, as that is where He dwells, we appear in this glorious life of Christ. Glory to God!
The Revelation Series - His Countenance as the Sun
We have been in a study for months on Revelation Chapter 1. I expect to be here for some time, looking at the appearing of the Son of Man in the seven golden candlesticks. This has been one of the most impactful studies of my life. God is summing up the fullness of the Son of Man, in the candlesticks. All the descriptive language of Christ must be seen and declared by the Church. What does it mean that he has feet of brass, eyes of fire, hair white as wool, and a countenance as the sun? Through this series it is my heart to see, know, and declare this vision of Christ that John saw IN the church.
Many teachers pass right over this description of Christ in the Church to understand what the Book of Revelation is declaring to come. I believe we will get to that, and I believe it is in context to John’s day as earlier shared in the Revelation Series. However, I want us to turn our hearts to the one John SAW IN the Church and let that correspond to Jesus declaring to John that He IS and was and is to Come. Let us see the IS factor. In other words, John saw Him present in the Church. Now as we see Him present in the Church let our hearts turn to the Revealing of Him that has come to make His dwelling place in a people.
How could John see such a sight? I believe there are keys to understand this. First John was in the Spirit. When Peter received the Revelation of Christ, Jesus declared to him, that flesh and blood did not show this to you but my Father which is in heaven (Matthew 16:16&17). Jesus also declared as written by John in his gospel that the Holy Spirit was going to come and that the Holy Spirit would show or reveal Him (John 16). We can conclude this seeing of Christ in the Church is a work of the Spirit and not of flesh. Now let us focus on the LIGHT John sees by.
Revelation 1:16 “And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.” His countenance was as the sun. Here is the fulfillment of the prophets where God said a day is coming where the sun will not be the light, and at evening there will be light. A couple examples of this is found in Zechariah 14:6-9 and Isaiah 60:19. These scriptures of the glorious day that was coming where there would be a light greater than that of the sun was speaking of Christ. He is how we see, understand, and walk in this new day. Without the sight by Him and of Him we stumble around, not clearly SEEING in this NEW DAY!
Now as we see Him a new creation comes into view. One not born of man, nor the power of man, but of God (John 1:13). Here Light divides Darkness, and the darkness here is not absence of the sun, but absence of the SON. Our encounter and SEEING of Him brings us to understand the creation of man, and the division of the Old Man and the New Man. The more of Him that we see the clearer our vision will become, and we will see “that which is born of flesh is flesh and that which is born of Spirit is Spirit.” Look at this division. Without the Light of Christ, I do not comprehend or experimentally know this.
Now through Him I SEE this division. He divides the Night from the Day. Here in Him I find my life through the LIGHT of LIFE. He is our Life, and His Life is the Light! Hope you enjoy this sharing. Glory to God in the Highest!!!
Clothed with a Garment down to His Feet IV
“I turned to see the voice and I saw.” In the Book of Revelation John turned to see the voice and he saw ONE in the seven golden candlesticks. Our hearts must come to turn and to see One.
We have been looking at the Son of Man that is in the seven golden candlesticks in relationship to the Priest and priesthood. In the Apostle Peter’s epistles, he declares we are a holy priesthood. This is all predicated on the High Priest and His work. Our holiness is subject to Christ and not ourselves. The Ministry we have is through His Ministry. We do not have anything without Him.
In II Corinthians 3 the Apostle Paul contrasts two Ministry’s, the ministry of death, and the ministry of the Spirit. The ministry of death has a glory that fades. God showed this through the face of Moses. The children of Israel could not look upon the brightness of Moses’ face. It had to be veiled, but even while it was veiled it was fading away. This was speaking of the Covenant they were under. It was temporary, and was put in place until the one that excels came into place.
The ministry of the Spirit EXCEEDS that glory. The glory here does not fade away and is not veiled from our hearts. When our hearts turn to the Lord the veil is removed and we behold the Glory of the Lord and are changed. How we are changed is through BEHOLDING HIM! We are not changed through self-effort or even self-help programs. Through the Spirit we come to the SEEING of Christ Jesus our Lord. Here we come to be made righteous. He is righteous and is made our righteousness.
He then becomes the ministry we are of. We minister Him to His body. We do not declare ourselves, but we declare Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Here we are crucified to the world and the world is crucified to us. We do not find our life in the world or even in the Old Covenant. We come out to Jesus who is outside the gate of that Covenant.
I love the scripture in Hebrews 13 that speaks of Jesus being outside of the gate. Jesus is sacrificed outside the gate signifying that we must leave the Old Covenant of the law, its sacrifice and priesthood, and all that it was within it, and come out to Jesus. When we come to Him we come to a far greater Priesthood, a far greater offering. This one can make the comers perfect! Perfection came through Jesus Christ! This is what we minister. Glory to God!
Clothed with a Garment down to His Feet III
As we look into the Book of Revelation let us turn our hearts to the encounter of the Person of the Book, Jesus Christ our Lord. Often, I believe we want to simply understand what the Book means and not come to the encounter of Him. This is so impressed in my heart that we encounter Christ. This is what John saw when He TURNED to SEE the VOICE, He saw the encounter of ONE in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. In the seven golden candlesticks, the seven churches of Asia, is the Son of Man clothed with a garment down to His feet, with a golden girdle around His chest. His hair is white as wool. His feet as burning brass. His eyes as a flaming fire. A countenance bright as the sun, and a two-edged sword coming out of His mouth.
I believe every aspect of His description is to be encountered by the Church. This was not only for the seven churches that was in Asia, but for the church as a whole. This is an ongoing encounter of Him that we have as His body. And it is this encounter that we become the Minister’s of. We are not minister’s simply of the written word, but of the Person of the Word, who we encounter in our walk with God. This is my heart as a Minister of the Gospel, to bring a people to the encounter of Jesus Christ. Yes, I want to understand the Bible, every word of it, but not just be a great teacher or theologian, I want to be a minister of the Encounter of Him!
The Apostle Peter writes we are built up a spiritual house, a Holy Priesthood. This word holy means sacred, consecrated, or pure. Notice the church is called a priesthood. As we explore this, we have to explore Him. In Hebrews 7, the Bible declares that Jesus is a Priest after the order of Melchizedek, or the order of an endless life. This Chapter declares this Priesthood has been changed from the order of Aaron or the Old Covenant Priesthood. It also declares that if the Priesthood was changed it was necessary for the law to have been changed as well. Now as we are called a Holy Priesthood, the Holy Priesthood is after the order of Christ.
This Priesthood ministers a better hope where we come into the presence of God and live. Hebrews 7:19 “For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.” In this Hope that is ministered by our High Priest we find perfection or wholeness. The law could never bring us there, but this better hope in Christ does. “You are complete in Him.” Hebrews 10 declares one sacrifice perfected those who are sanctified. We are sanctified through the offering of the Body of Christ.
We as a Holy Priesthood come to an understanding of His work and are clothed upon of His work to minister the completion of His work to His Body the church. We offer up spiritual sacrifices through the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, through the understanding of His finished work and not through the Old Covenant. In Christ the Priesthood has changed and we are ministering from an understanding that brings His people into perfection and wholeness. The Law never could do this. It could only point to the presence of God, where the perfection or completing is at, but could never allow entrance.
Through the law and the Levitical Priesthood was continual remembrance of sins. This I am afraid is sounded in Christian gatherings every week, the continual remembrance of sins. There is a persistent declaration of a people who have not yet come to completion. However, this is not true. The Priesthood of Christ brings many sons to glory, and is declaring perfection, the perfection He brought forth through His death, burial, and resurrection. “You are a holy nation, a royal priesthood.” A Priesthood of Him that is holy and sacred through the work He did! Let us go out from the gate of the Old Covenant and Minister the work of Christ who was offered outside of the gate of the Law, who brought perfection and everlasting life to light! Glory to God!
Mystery of the Kingdom
Brother Del Grimm is sharing in this teaching out of Mark 4 and the message of the Seed and the Kingdom. There are major questions and answers given in Mark 4. First, how does the Kingdom come? How does this Kingdom increase? Finally, how does the Kingdom fill the whole earth? As we get into these questions and answers I want us to look closely at what Jesus says in verse 13.
Mar 4:13&14 “And he saith unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how shall ye know all the parables? 14 The sower soweth the word.”
Jesus says if you do not understand the parable of the Sower and the Seed how would you know all parables? Considering this, we may say without understanding the SEED we cannot understand any of His parables. We cannot understand the Kingdom of God, or its increase. Everything revolves around the SEED. This is the issue in the parable, THE SEED that is sown!
The sower comes to sow a SEED. While the idea of natural planting is in view, Jesus is speaking of the Kingdom of Heaven. The SEED being sown is the WORD of God Himself. “Unless a corn (seed) of wheat falls in the ground and dies it abides alone,” Jesus says in John. In the parable of the sower Jesus is speaking of Himself. The mystery of the Seed is Christ Jesus Himself.
The Kingdom of God comes through the Seed (Christ) being sown in the hearts of man. The increase of the 30, 60 and 100-fold is the increase of the Seed that is sown. The mustard seed increasing to fill and become greater than all seeds in the earth is also speaking of Christ Himself. Paul writes of Jesus in the Letter to the Ephesians that He ascended above all heavens to fill all things. The end of all things that we have to deal with and come to is the fullness of the SEED that is sown.
To consider the fullness of the SEED is beyond human comprehension. The Seed is revealed only by the Spirit of God. The Seed is planted by the Spirit, watered by the Spirit, and increased through being revealed by the Spirit. It is the Seed who is Christ increasing in us. He increases as He is revealed to fill us, His Kingdom, up with Himself. This is the mystery that we have come to! Glory to God. May Christ Jesus be revealed and seen in every heart in which He dwells!
Clothed with a Garment down to His Feet
Last week I recommended a close look at John’s description of the Son of Man in Revelation Chapter 1, focusing on His garment down to His feet. Considering John’s vision of the Son of Man, the Old Testament Tabernacle comes into view. I believe the garment and golden girdle that Jesus is clothed with speaks of the High Priest Ministry. This is being shown in the seven golden candlesticks. We need to get a hold on this. We need to comprehend this. The Ministry of our High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, is revealed in the candlesticks. I believe we could spend months looking at the Revelation of the Son of Man in the seven golden candlesticks. I believe this is overlooked often in the teaching of the Book of Revelation.
John sees Jesus Christ IN the seven golden candlesticks, being present in the Church. He is declared to be He that IS and was and is to come. In the churches John sees our Great High Priest. How we that are the church needs to see our Great High Priest and understand His Ministry. I am concerned that much of the time we still view the Ministry of the Old Covenant in our hearts. We still look at the type where there was a continual remembrance of sins made day by day and year by year. We do not see the greatness of our High Priest, and the salvation He Ministers.
The writer of Hebrews writes in Hebrews 8:1 “Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; 2 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.” This word such stood out to me as I read this text this past weekend. The word means truly this or of this sort and it denotes the character of the individual. We have SUCH a High Priest. In other words, our High Priest is of a different character and nature than that high priest of the Old Covenant. Our High Priest has a greater ministry and is the minister of a greater Tabernacle. Everything about our High Priest supersedes the old.
His Ministry does take away sins. His ministry does take away the conscious of sins. His Ministry does bring many Sons unto Glory. The old priesthood could not. The old had a continual remembrance of the participants falling short of God’s glory. In fact, they could approach the Temple and have their offerings made before the LORD but never enter into the Glory that was veiled away just a short distance from them. What is sad is that many believers do not understand even now that the Glory of God is in them. God doesn’t dwell in buildings made with hands. He dwells in the church which is His Body.
Christ is the Minister of this Tabernacle, the Church of the Living God. He is the Minister of this abode of God. This is where God has brought us through Christ, and this is the Ministry of Christ. He is the Minister of the true tabernacle made not of human hands. He is not the Minister of the types and shadows, but of the reality. Our hearts should cry, God reveal this Ministry and reality of Christ in me! Blessed by the name of the Living God!
Clothed with a Garment down to His Feet
In John’s description of the Son of Man in Revelation Chapter 1, John declared that Jesus had on a garment down to the foot. We should pay particular attention to every detail of John’s encounter of the Lord Jesus Christ? I believe if we look closely, the High Priest shall come into view. Just as we have seen in His feet of brass, the garment down to the foot is speaking from the Old Covenant Temple worship. The priesthood and high priest of the Old Covenant wore specific garments for Ministry. It is no coincidence that our High Priest should be clothed as well, but with a greater garment than them.
In Genesis 3, we read of Adam’s fall. After the fall, God clothes Adam and Eve with garments of flesh. I believe there is at a minimum a two-fold understanding coming from these garments. First and foremost, the garments were a foreshadowing of the clothing of the offering of our Lord Jesus Christ. We must be clothed upon with His offering to come into the presence of the Almighty. However, viewing what happened to Adam in this encounter, after his clothing of flesh, he was banished from the garden of Eden. He could not enter back in. From Adam to Jesus, man could not enter into the presence of God.
Through Moses, God gave the law and set forth a requirement for a continual sacrifice that could never take away sin. What does that mean, never take away sin? Does that mean, man will never commit sins or bad acts? This is something to delve into and consider before our God and Father. What I want to suggest to you is that these sacrifices could never take away a conscious or awareness of sins. Day after day, offerings were made. Year after year the Day of Atonement came and went. Still there remained for those who came a conscious of sins, and an inability to enter into the presence of the Almighty who was in their midst, but still hid from their view.
What we have come to in the New Covenant, and the clothing Christ is clothed in is MUCH BETTER. It far EXCEEDS the offerings of the Old. His sacrifice takes away from our hearts and minds the conscious of sins. “Thy sins and iniquities will I remember no more.” They have been cast upon Jesus and are ever forgiven. Now rather than having a conscious of the Law of Moses that can never take away sin we need to come to a consciousness or awareness of Christ and be clothed upon with Him.
Wow, CLOTHED IN CHRIST JESUS! This is an awareness of His work. This is a consciousness of Him. He took us from sin in Adam which produced death and brought us into Life in Himself. We are raised from the dead (Adamic man), and brought into the spiritual man. This is an internal comprehension of His work. Notice this. He brought us from the awareness of Adam and the sin that led to death to the awareness of Christ and the obedience that leads to life. Believe me, this is a better Covenant. This is a BETTER COVERING, covered in Him!
Eden - The Garden of God
Genesis 2:7-9 And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. 8 And Jehovah God planted a garden eastward in Eden. And there He put the man whom He had formed. 9 And out of the ground Jehovah God caused to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food. The tree of life also was in the middle of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden. And from there it was divided and became four heads.
Notice above that the LORD God planted a garden in Eden. He placed the man in the garden His hands had made. He gave the man orders to keep what He, God had done. This is what I want us to see. God planted the garden, and God placed the man into His work that He had finished, and he commanded the man to keep God’s work. Of course, we know in this story that Adam did not keep it, and that sin came through Adam and passed upon all of mankind.
Many people have asked where death, sickness and disease come from. God cursed the earth. Adam’s body was formed of the earth. Adam was robed in the cursed earth. Not only did the physical earth bring forth thorns and thistles, but the cursed earth that was wrapped around man as his body was bringing forth of the realm of death. In fact, God told the serpent that he would eat of the dust of the earth. We conclude here that the earth, which included the bodies of mankind was cursed.
Now to move forward. Adam is removed from this garden and cast out into the earth. In the nation of Israel God again brings a people into a garden. He calls Israel His garden, His vineyard. In Exodus it is recorded that He said he would bring them in and plant them in the land He had made to dwell in (Exodus 15:17). In Isaiah God calls Israel His vineyard. A vineyard is a planting or a garden. Of course, this vineyard gets in trouble for not bringing forth the expected fruit. In Joel the prophet writes that the land before the devourer is like Eden (Garden of God) and behind is like a desolate wilderness, again speaking of Israel.
God had taken this people to himself. He had gathered them out of Egypt by His own strength. He had led them, fed them, and clothed them. In fact, He had told the to just be obedient to His word, and they would be blessed coming and going. If you take a close look at the Jehovah names in scripture you will see that God is revealing himself as all aspects of a Provider. He is a Shepherd, a healer, a banner and so forth. Israel was surrounded with God’s goodness and was again told to keep it. Just like Adam in the beginning they did not and were banished from their land where God was the complete source.
Now as we look at this what does it all mean? Jesus said to the Jews (John 5) that they search the scripture and think they have life through them. However, the scripture was a testimony of Christ himself. Could it be that the great Garden of God, Eden, where the man was placed in the beginning was a testimony of Christ? I would say yes. He is the SEED that had to be planted into the earth to bring forth life (John 12:24). He is the SEED that had to die, and be formed in the earth, and bring forth the true fruit of God.
IN John 15 Jesus declares that He is the True Vine. Jesus Christ is the true planting of God. All other plantings were a testimony of Him. We that are His are planted into Him, into His death, in order that through us His life would come forth. Just like the picture in the Garden of Eden all of the source is through God. We simply have to keep or abide in what God has done. As God reveals this glorious WORD in us, we receive it and we abide in it. We keep it. As Jesus is revealed as our redeemer, we keep it. We couldn’t redeem ourselves. As He is revealed as our provider, we keep it, because we couldn’t provide the necessary garments to abide in the presence of God. We keep all things that are revealed and shown to us in Christ.
The Apostle Paul declared to the believers in Corinth that they were God’s husbandry or farm. Here is where the true planting of the LORD is done. Christ is planted in man’s hearts to bring forth in man the fruit of God. In His planting the Old carnal man is done away, and what springs forth comes from God. In this garden again is a river. However, this is the most powerful and glorious river there is. It is the River of the Water of life. Jesus said, out of your belly’s or innermost being shall flow rivers of life. Flowing through this garden is the Spirt of Life and the glorious river is bringing forth life wherever it goes. In Genesis the river was parted into 4 heads. I believe if we study the scripture, we will see that 4 signifies the whole. Israel was in 4 groups, there are 4 winds (N,S,E,W). The scripture speaks of 4 corners. The brazen altar had 4 horns. This water of life flows out to the 4 corners or to the entire earth from this garden, who are the people of God, that have been planted in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I hope you enjoy this sharing. It is short and was taken from one of our Saturday meetings where we gather and sit around a table. This atmosphere allows us to freely share the water, the bread, and the substance of Christ Jesus with one another. Pastor Henry Stanley began this many years ago in his home. It is a glorious time of breaking bread and strengthening the brethren. Praise God!
The Revelation Series – The Feet of Brass V
In the Book of Revelation Chapter 1 the appearing of the Son of Man in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks must capture our minds. I am concerned that as many have approached this Book this passed right over their heads. John saw the Son of Man in the golden candlesticks. Many approaches the Book with a pre-conceived idea of what the Book is about. The start of the Book should be the greatest hint, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.” This is what must capture our hearts. The heart of the Book is the revealing of Him. Maybe we should consider it as the removal of the Old Covenant that came forth through Moses and the establishment of the new that was sealed in the Blood of Jesus Christ Himself. Maybe this is what John is seeing unfold in his day, an Old Covenant being removed and a new glorious day coming forth.
When John sees Him, John falls at His feet as dead. This is significant. John describes His feet as if they were bass burning in a fire. As I have shared in the prior messages on His brass feet, the brass of the Old Testament Tabernacle was speaking of Him and His death. It was the altar with the fire that never goes out speaking of His eternal offering of Christ. In fact, all of the perpetual or continual offerings and works of the Levitical Priesthood were speaking of the eternal work of Christ. The Old Covenant was the picture and the type of what is real in Christ Jesus. In Him, this fire of understanding never goes out. What His feet speak of is eternal with no end. Here at the altar of the sacrifice sin was put to death.
Jesus died to sin. Unlike Adam, JESUS did not die in sin. This makes Paul’s statements take on grandiose meaning. Paul declares to the Romans as one man died and sin came through one man, MUCH MORE grace has surpassed what sin did to mankind. In Romans 5:20 of the Kings James Version, the scripture reads, “Moreover the law entered that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” This word much more means to abound beyond measure, super exceed. To understand this, I must understand Christ. He supersedes all that happened in Adam. He supersedes sin. He reigns over sin. When He died, we that have received Him died with Him (Romans Chapter 6). Glory to God!
The statemen by grace we are saved takes on a new meaning when we see His death. Through His death, my prison of death was annulled. Through His death, me being bound to sin was no more. Through His death the chains of sin cannot abound. As Paul declares to the Romans, when Jesus died our old man died, that we would be married to another, who is Christ. This is so POWERFUL, and goes back to Adam and Even in the garden. When sin abounded and he curse came, Eve was told by God that the man would rule over the woman. Hear this by the Spirit. The man is to rule over the woman. Christ is our Head. We have been married to another. He rules over us.
In this union we are joined to Him. His victory is our victory. His dominion is our dominion. “As He is so are we.” We have been married to another. He has rule over us, not sin, nor the devil! Glory to God! Hallelujah! He is our victory! He is our Life!
The Revelation Series - The Feet of Brass IV
This is the fourth teaching I have done on the feet of Brass of the Son of Man in the seven golden candlesticks. Again, I want to point out that John sees Him IN the seven golden candlesticks or the seven churches of Asia. I also want to point out that the churches are the believers that are gathered in the seven cities. The appearing of Christ in these churches is very specific.
To understand the feet of bass as if they burned in a fire, we need to search the scripture to see Him. Our focus in the written Word of God should be to see Jesus. He is the answer period. As we have seen before, brass is seen throughout the Old Testament Tabernacle and Temple. Brass is specifically related to the Altar of Sacrifice and the Laver of Washing. Here in this altar we see God’s judgement of sin. Here at the altar sin was laid upon the sacrifice. As an Israelite approached the house, he would bring the burnt offering to the Lord and lay his hands upon it, signifying the transference of his sins to the sacrifice.
We who have received Christ Jesus as our sacrifice have also laid our hands on the sacrifice, transferring our sin to His power over sin. He took our sin and He paid for all of its penalties. He is the answer for sin. Your sin, my sin, and all sin.
In John 3 Jesus says as the Moses lifted up a serpent on a pole the Son of Man must be lifted up that whoever believes on Him shall not perish but have eternal life. In Numbers 21 there is a story of the Israelites travels where they had begun to complain of God and walk in unbelief. The consequence was serpents in the midst. These serpents begin to bite them, and the Israelites began to die. As they turned and cried to the Lord, Moses was instructed of God to put a brass serpent on a pole. Whoever looked upon this serpent would live from the serpent’s bite. You could say that by looking at the brass serpent lifted up from the ground, there was no power in the bite of poisonous snakes on the ground.
In Paul’s writings He presents Jesus as who the Brass Serpent on the pole symbolized. Jesus, who took the sting and power of sin away. As we turn to Him, we see His judgement of Sin. In this judgement, Jesus, did not sin, but died for sin. Jesus, who did not know the nature of sin, being tempted as we are, died to sin. Here was the defeat of sin. Jesus overcame sins power in the body of His flesh, and judged sin on the cross by taking the man of sin in the body of His flesh to death. Yes, He judged sin dead or inoperative. It has no power on us who turn to Jesus. In fact, Paul writes that we are made dead to sin in Christ’s death. I don’t know that any have fully heard this.
“He that is dead is freed from sin.” Sin’s power, none effect. Sin’s strength, no ability. Sin’s death, never again. Through Jesus we are made free from all of its bite. We are made free to live unto God in the Heavenly Kingdom He has provided, shielding us from all the works of the devil. Never again do we have to be subject to sin, but can walk in the power of God, who overcame all things through the death of the cross!! Glory to God!
The Book of Revelation - His Feet of Brass III
The Brazen Altar was the first piece of furniture in the Israelites approach as they entered the gate into the Temple courts. If you consider Psalms 100:4 in relationship to the altar it may be eye opening. “I will enter His gates with thanksgiving in my mouth.” I will enter His courts with praise.” As an Israelite in the Old Covenant, once you entered the gate you would be face to face with the Priesthood and the Brazen Altar. Here at this altar would be as far as you could go. God would remain hidden within the Temple that you could see but not enter into. You could see His mighty works. You could see the cloud of His presence, but you could not access it. There was a continual remembrance of sin. There was a continual remembrance that you did not stack up or meet the requirement.
Now through our Lord Jesus Christ, we have access. This alone should cause believers to shout for joy. We have access into the divine presence of God through the offering of the body of our Lord Jesus and His resurrection from the dead. Jesus said, “I am the way the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me.” For just a moment think of this in relationship to the Temple. The offering the Israelite's came to could not give them access to the Temple of God and the presence of the Lord. They could see the building that Housed the presence of God, but they could not access it.
I am certain they may have imagined what His presence was like. Maybe they even asked a friend who was a priest what it was like serving in the Temple. However, even the priests could not access the Person and Glory behind the veil. Consider closely what Jesus says. I am the way. I am the access to the Father. Through the power of my offering you can enter all the way into that which was veiled away and access the very presence of God. Not only do we now access the building, the Apostle Paul writes we are the building built upon the foundation stone of Jesus Christ.
Now this glorious offering removed stains of guilt, sin, and shame that we can reside in the presence of God. Our very conscious of sin is taken away. Isaiah says he bore our griefs and carried our sorrows. Jesus was described as a man of grief and sorrow. The sorrow and sin and decay of mankind was what He carried in the Body of His Flesh, and He crucified it, freeing us from its bondages. We are now free to enter into the presence of God. We are now free to live and abide in Christ Jesus our Lord. We are now free to be called Sons of God. What an access this ONE OFFERING has made.
We should set our hearts to understand this ONE OFFERING for sin. We should set our hearts to know Him in His fullness. We should know Him from the glory of creation to His humanity and to His exaltation. We should know His depths, His heights, His Glory. I pray you enjoy!
For many years I have had the privilege of knowing James and Hazel Register. A saying I have is this is as good as it gets. These are two of the most beautiful people I have ever known. I love and respect them both tremendously. Both hearts are two know and walk before the Lord, and to love His people fervently. What a great witness of Christ they share!
In this sharing from Brother James, he brings into view the Open Heaven. At the Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist, Luke writes the Heaven was Opened and a voice spoke from Heaven.
“Luke 3:21&22 Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, 22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.”
From the open Heaven the voice declared This is my beloved Son. Here is God pleased. Similarly, there was a voice that came on the Mount of Transfiguration when Jesus took Peter, John and James with Him into the Mount. There Jesus was transfigured before them. The Glory Cloud covers the Mount, Moses and Elijah appears, and Jesus was declared of God. “This is my Son, hear Him.”
What I believe is being said is all the law and prophets are summed up here in Christ. No longer would the law be declared. No longer would the prophets of the Old Covenant declare one who is coming. He had come. Hear Him! Now before all was the Word of God that would shake the Heavens, being declared of God. This Word was THE WORD, Jesus Christ Himself. When we see the Heaven Opened we see The Word of God, Jesus Christ our Lord.
He is the Word we come to. He is the Word of the New Covenant. We do not come to the Law of Moses. We come to the Word of Christ. This Word that was given to us. When we hear this Word we are saved. Listen and hear the Word from Heaven speaking of the offering of the Blood and Body of the Lord Jesus. Hear what this Word speaks, all thy sins are forgiven thee. You have been crucified with Him. When He died you died.
Now listen to the Word of His Resurrection. When He was made alive from the dead you were made alive with Him. When He was raised you were raised with Him. You are a New Creation in Christ. God dwells in you. You have come to the living Temple of the living God. What a glorious place you have come to. The place that God now dwells. God dwells in you. Glory to God! Hear the WORD from Heaven!
The Book of Revelation - His Feet of Brass II
In John’s seeing of the Son of Man the sacrificial system is immediately brought into view. Jesus was described with a garment down to his foot, wearing a golden girdle, with feet of brass as they burned in the furnace. Immediately, our hearts should go to the Old Covenant and begin to look at the sacrificial system.
As Israel entered the Temple Courts the first piece of furniture to be encountered was the brass altar. Here was the sacrifice offered. Here the judgement took place. In a symbolic way the sins of the offeror were transferred to the sacrifice. Jesus our great lamb was where all sins of mankind was finally transferred. He offered himself once and for all, completing the requirements for the redemption of all mankind. Man would now simply have to respond to Christ’s offering. Whosoever calls on the name of the Lord is now saved through the work and effort of our Lord Jesus Christ who gave Himself for all men.
The Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans that if we confess with the mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in our hear that God raised Him from the dead we would be saved. I’ve heard it said many times that confession is good for the soul. Usually, that implies confessing our bad deeds. I want to preface this. I do believe you should confess to the Lord your sins. I do believe you need to believe unto Him for salvation. I do believe you must be born again. All of this I do strongly believe.
However, much of our confession after we are born again is not according to Christ’s work. Paul wrote in his epistles that we are the righteousness of God through Christ. Much of the time we do not confess this but confess our short comings. Consider with me that when we confess our short comings, we are not confessing the Lord Jesus. If I confess Him, I could say that through one offering for sin you have sanctified forever those who are saved (Hebrews 10). I could say that I have been made full or complete in Him (Colossians 2:10). I could confess I have been cleansed and made free through the blood of the Lamb, and that Jesus Christ now lives in me as He declared He would in John 14:20.
I could confess His work and reality in my life. That is what I could learn to confess and then boldly say that confession is good for my soul! Glory to God. I could say this is my judgement, the offering of the body of Jesus Christ and His resurrection. As God judged Israel’s sins through the offering of the animals. He has judged us in the offering of Christ, and through His resurrection He judges us complete in Him, having obtained the atonement.
The brass altar is a place of judgement, and is the entranceway into the Temple of God. No one comes to the Father but through the offering of Jesus. Jesus is now our entrance way and the only way to the Father. Here through his work, as we eat the lamb and come to know Him we will find that He has judged us righteous and complete. We will find that we now live in and through Him that loved us and saved us with His own precious life.
I hope you enjoy these podcasts as we follow the leading of the Spirit for the unraveling of the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. It is a privilege to share with you what the Lord is teaching and showing me. Glory to God in the Highest!!!
The Book of Revelation - His Feet of Brass - The Brazen Altar
John turned to see the voice that spoke with Him and being turned he saw. This is a powerful statement. John turned. Without turning He may have not seen. We as believers must turn to see the voice who is speaking, and when we turn and come into that state of being, as one turned, we will see Him who is IN the church. This turning will most likely be from all other voices. We will turn from our belief system. We will turn to only see Jesus.
Our state of being and our heart must come to this place that “I may know Him.” We must be willing to leave everything else behind. When the rich young ruler encountered Jesus, Jesus told him there is one thing lacking, “sell what you have and give to the poor.” The ruler possessed many material things and did not want to give them up. When we read this story in the Gospels, we may only attribute it to our natural goods. However, we ought to see our goods can be all those things we hold on to. Our goods can be our beliefs. They may be those things we set our hearts to whether we call them good or bad. From these we must to Him.
In John’s seeing of Christ in the candlestick He gives an extraordinary description one like the son of man. The Jesus he sees is unique. He does not say he saw his old friend in whom He had walked with in the earth, but the one in the midst of the candlestick has a powerful description that we plan to break down over the next few weeks. Get this! He has feet of brass, as if they burned in a fire. What does this mean?
Revelation 1:12 “And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. 14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; 15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. 16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.”
Every part of this description of Him must be broken down. What does God mean His feet are as brass? If I search this I must go back to the brazen or brass altar in the Old Covenant. I must search that altar out and see how it fits in Christ Jesus. What was the purpose of the Altar? It was the place of sacrifice. What did the sacrifice speak? The cleansing of sin, and the sweet aroma towards God.
What this brass altar is a picture of is our sacrificial lamb who is Jesus Himself. In the Old Covenant these sacrifices bore the sins of those who came to the Tabernacle or the Temple. There was a laying on of hands where the sins that was committed was transferred unto the sacrifice (Leviticus Chapter 1: 1-5). This is what was done in Jesus (Isaiah 53). He bore our sins. All we had done was transferred to Him.
Jesus was the fulfillment and sweet savor of the sacrificial system. He made one sacrifice for sins and set down in the authority of God. No other sacrifice can or will be made which can take away sins. If someone is pointing to another, please do not pursue it. Jesus has fulfilled it for all time. Glory to God in the Highest!
Behold He Cometh with Clouds V – The Destruction of Jerusalem
When Jesus was born and began to Minister in Judah and the surrounding countryside what Covenant was in force? It is imperative that we understand this. The law was in force. Jesus himself had to submit to its ordinances. After Mary’s purification according to the law Jesus was brought to the Temple that an offering to the Lord might be made.
Luke 2:22-24 “And when the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, they brought him up to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord. 23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord), 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”
My point in showing this in this study is to bring our attention to the fact that the Jewish people were still under the First Covenant when Jesus spoke. So, when Jesus spoke of the coming destruction as recorded in Luke 21 and Matthew 24, he was speaking in relationship to the what had been declared under the first Covenant. In Deuteronomy God spoke sharply to Israel in regard to not keeping his law, and having other God’s before Him. He set before them blessing and cursing and told them they would be blessed to the uttermost, but if they did not keep his law they would be under the curse. I challenge us all to read Deuteronomy 28 and to grasp that this Covenant was in force when Jesus came on the scene and when he declared the destruction of the Temple in Luke 21 and Matthew 24.
In Deuteronomy 28 we can see absolute parallels to what Jesus says in Luke 21 and Matthew 24, as well as what John writes in the Book of Revelation. For example, in verses 49 and 50 of Deuteronomy 28, it is declared that the Israelites will be destroyed by a fierce nation. When Jesus is born in Bethlehem, the fiercest of nations is in power in Jerusalem, with Rome having rule over them. Verse 52 is one of the most powerful parallels to Jesus saying, “But when ye see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that her desolation is at hand,” you will find in your Bible. This verse declares that a siege will be laid to the walls of Israel, and that they will come down. According to history Rome did this to Jerusalem.
The scriptures are so powerful when we see them line up in accordance with one another. Deuteronomy 28, also says that Israel will be destroyed with the sword, with famine, and pestilence. This sounds very familiar if I compare it with the four horses of Revelation, which John sees riding through the land. Deuteronomy 28 declares plagues upon Israel. The Book of Revelation is full of plagues. Deuteronomy 28 declares that their carcasses will be fed to the fowls of the air. Jesus speaks that where the carcass is there the fowls will be gathered together. There are so many similarities to what Jesus declares in Matthew 24 and Luke 21, what they Book of Revelation says, and what Deuteronomy says that it would be hard pressed to simply call them a coincidence. In fact, I believe we should rather take a closer look at what is said.
Now how does this relate to Coming in Clouds. In the Old Testament Cloud Comings speaks of the Glory Cloud filling the Temple as we have also seen, but also speaks of judgement to destruction. The Book of Joel makes this clear.
Joel 2:1-6 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand; 2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. 3. A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. 4 The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. 5 Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. 6 Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.
“A day of clouds and thick darkness, a people great and strong.” This is speaking of the looming destruction of Jerusalem. Blow the trumpet and tremble for what is coming upon the land. So, when Revelation speaks of great judgements, and plagues, and destruction, could it be that it goes along with the rest of the Bible and the First Covenant? Could it be that God does what He says He will do?
Israel as a nation rejected Him. They were not keeping Covenant. When Messiah came, they did not receive Him as a nation. As many as did became sons of God, but as a nation they turned from him and rather declared “Let His blood be upon us.” In other words, they were responsible for His death, and they did not receive it as the sacrifice. They did it from a vengeful heart. Had they known they would not have crucified the LORD of Glory, for their power and place in the land was taken. Jesus was glorified and raised from the dead with all power and glory. He was then and now is the King of Israel and the King of the whole earth.
Let all the earth declare His Glory!
Behold He Cometh with Clouds - Every Eye Shall See Him
In Zechariah 12 a prophecy of the coming of the Holy Spirit and the looking upon the LORD is given to Jerusalem. In this sharing, we are looking into some depth of this seeing of the LORD through the Spirit of Grace declared by Zechariah. Notice below what is said, the Spirit will be poured out on the house of Jacob and they will look upon me whom they pierced.
Zechariah 12:10 “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they shall look unto me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born.”
On the day of Pentecost this very thing happened. Gathered in Jerusalem in an upper room was 120 believers waiting for the promise of the Spirit. Upon them the Spirit was poured, and the wonderful works of God began to be proclaimed. When Peter preached the message on Pentecost to the multitude who was gathered to hear, what happened? They were pricked at the heart, or began to mourn for Him that was pierced, and cried out what do they do to be saved. Peter proclaimed, “Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
In the name of Jesus, all power now resided. No one could come anymore to repent through the offerings of heifers and turtle doves. Now in Jesus was all power and authority for the remission of sins. In His name had all authority been placed. No longer was salvation through the Law of Moses, or through the Priesthood of Aaron. All power had been gathered up in our Lord Jesus Christ. He is Lord of all. From here Jerusalem and Israel now had to bow to Him, and Him only! He was anointed King and Lord, and had raised from the dead, pouring out the gift of God to all who would receive!
Not only would Jerusalem and Israel mourn for the destruction that came upon them in 70 AD. Every eye of the heart that saw him would mourn or be convicted of sin and see their salvation in only Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit came to convict the world of sin and to show us Jesus. This seeing of Jesus causes the heart to turn from ourselves to him, and find salvation in no other name.
Jesus makes a profound statement in John 15 when He says, He is the true vine.
John 15:1-7 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
The vine related to Old Covenant Israel. They were known as God’s choices’ plant. They were known as God’s vine. God says to them through the prophet Isaiah, recorded in Chapter 5, “What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?” What more could be done? Jesus speaks to Jerusalem in Matthew 21 in the parable of the winepress and says the Kingdom will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits thereof.
Jesus himself is the answer to what more could be done. He came to Jerusalem to save them and was their answer to the fruit of the vine. Without Him they would be lost, which many were in that day because they would not receive Him. He that abides in Him bears fruit. Now you can no longer bear fruit unto God by being born a natural Jewish man or a natural Israelite. You must abide in the true vine. This is the nation that bears fruit unto God, those who are in Christ Jesus. We who are planted into His death and brought forth in His life are the holy nation unto God. This is also the word we must keep, the word that Jesus reveals.
He is the true vine. We cannot give this word away. We must keep it. His word is established in us by the revealing of Him by the Holy Spirit. We are the City on a hill whose light (JESUS) cannot be hid. We are the Temple of God, the House that God would build to fill with Himself. We are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. This is the Word we must keep. The Word He reveals and shows us in Himself! This is how we abide in Him, by keeping His Word! Glory to God!!
For us to become a Christian is not the final goal of the Lord. To become a believer is the starting point, where we begin our journey to know Christ. The end product is to be conformed to the image of God's dear Son. The Apostle Paul makes this known in the Book of Romans.
Romans 8:29 &30 For whom he foreknew, he also foreordained to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren: 30 and whom he foreordained, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
Yes, God foreknew a people. But the people he foreknew was a people in Christ. This is what is meant by "Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated." Jacob represented the holy SEED of God. The Holy SEED of God was revealed as the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. We are chosen in Him to bring forth fruit unto God. It is in Christ where God has his choosing not in the man of flesh, but in the Seed of Spirit who is Christ.
And in this SEED, God is after the image of Himself. Jesus was God manifest in the earth. He was also said to be the express image of the Father. This image was more than his physical characteristics. In fact, Isaiah declared in Isaiah 53 there was no special beauty of Christ that we would desire. When Peter declared Jesus to be the Christ, Jesus said "flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father which is in heaven." It was revealed unto Peter by the Spirit. This was a foreshadow of what God was to do in us.
God reveals Christ in us to transform us to the image of His Son. By the heart seeing Jesus we are changed into the same image He is. What happens is a new nature is formed within. This new nature that is within us is to be manifested without, or in the earth through our flesh. This is what was meant by God being manifest in the flesh. God's divine nature was seen in the earth in Jesus Christ. It is the heart of the Father that all men come to Him, and this image be made known.
Blessings and enjoy Pastor Henry Stanley.
Behold He Cometh with Clouds III
We have looked the last couple of weeks at Jesus coming in Clouds as the indwelling presence of the Lord. In the Old Covenant God filled the Tabernacle and Temple made with hands in a Glory Cloud. This association with Jesus coming in Clouds must be made in our hearts. Here in Revelation Chapter 1, John sees one like the Son of Man walking in the seven golden candlesticks. It is revealed to John that these seven golden candlesticks are the churches of Asia.
Furthermore, John sees the Son of Man, having seven stars in His hand. These seven stars are the seven angels or messengers of the churches. We could by this passage of scripture say that Jesus fulfilled coming in the Glory of His Father with His angels, as He declared to His disciples, recorded in Matthew 16. He appears in the Glory of the Father with hair white as wool, eyes of blazing fire, countenance as the sun, clothed with a garment to the foot, around His chest a golden girdle, and feet as burnished brass in a fire. His appearance here in the seven golden candlesticks is not the same appearance as the man of Galilee that John had known Him by. This is an entirely different view of our Lord Jesus, one like the Son of Man IN the seven golden candlesticks.
It also should not escape our attention the symbolic language that is used in John’s writing. Why didn’t John simply say the Son of Man was in the churches and addressing seven angels? John speaks the language of the Spirit. Also, it should not escape our sight that John is seeing a view of the Temple. The feet of Jesus were as brass. The Temple had the brass altar and the brass laver in its entranceway and court. The holy place housed the golden candlestick. Jesus is walking in seven golden candlesticks. We should make note of this in our hearts and seek to understand what is being said by the Spirit of God.
Throughout the Old Covenant symbolic language was used in God’s dealing with Israel. Cloud comings were prevalent in God’s dealing with Israel, both as His presence and as Judgement. On Mt. Sinai God came down in a cloud and gave the Law. The judgement of the Law went forth in all of Israel. When Jesus came born in a manger the inhabitants of Judah were still under this same law given by God in the Cloud at Mt. Sinai.
God had told them that if they keep the Law they would be blessed. The blessings are outlined throughout the book of Deuteronomy. However, He also told them that if they do not keep the Law they would be cursed. Look closely at the Book of Revelation. In Chapter 1 the book declares blessed is he that reads and understands this book. Throughout the Book cursing’s and woes are determined upon a people. Here in the book of Revelation is set forth blessings and cursings. Could these be the same curses God spoke of in the Old Covenant that would come upon Israel if they did not keep His Law? Certainly, they could!
As the prophet Joel prophesied of the pending judgement coming upon the land of Israel, could the phrase, “Behold He Cometh with Clouds” fulfill this judgement? In Joel’s writing and prophesy he prophesies of a day of clouds and a day of gloom. History tells us that Jerusalem was burned and the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD. Consider Joel’s and other of the prophets’ writings of the devastation that would befall Jerusalem.
Joel 2:1-6 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand; 2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. 3. A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. 4 The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. 5 Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. 6 Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.
I admonish us to dig deeply into the Word. Search out the depths of it. On the surface is a blessing. However, like the rich ore of the gold rush in California, the riches of the word lay buried underneath. These riches are not seen by the casual reader, but one who digs deep, and searches for the riches that only God Himself can reveal from His Holy written word.
Behold He Cometh With Clouds II
Revelation Chapter 1:7&8 “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. 8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”
Last week I made a statement if you were Jewish and living in the Apostle John’s day, how would you perceive Jesus coming in the clouds? Now taking this a step further, if you were the High Priest and Jesus told you He was coming in the glory of His Father what would you think? This is very important to answer. Would you automatically believe Jesus was talking about coming out of the literal sky in rain clouds or would you be aware of God coming in Clouds to fill the Tabernacle of Moses and the Temple of God according to the Scripture, or coming in Clouds to execute judgement upon His enemies?
To take this a step further would you consider Daniel’s writings that he, Daniel saw in the night visions one like a Son of Man come in the Clouds of to the Ancient of Days and given a Kingdom that all nations should serve Him, Daniel 7:13&14? I believe if we become scripturally minded, we would have to consider this. The LORD is the revealer of all mystery and He has all understanding and knowledge. In Matthew 16 Jesus declares the Son of Man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels.
Matthew 16:27&28 “For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will render to everyone according to his deeds.28Most certainly I tell you, there are some standing here who will in no way taste of death, until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom."
Look closely at Revelation Chapter 1. John hears a voice and turns to sees the Son of Man dressed in a garment down to His feet.
Revelation 1:12-16 “And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. 14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; 15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. 16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
Is this the picture of the Son of Man in the Glory of His Father here in Revelation Chapter 1? As we have considered before by searching the scriptures, we see the Glory of God filling the Temple in a CLOUD. In Ezekiel the prophet sees a cloud coming with fire. In that cloud Ezekiel sees a Man on a throne with fire from his loins upward and his loins downward. Ezekiel calls this sight the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Jehovah. Ezekiel fell upon his face. Is there any similarity with the encounter of Ezekiel to the encounter of John in Revelation Chapter 1? Yes, it absolutely is! John saw the appearance of the Son of Man and fell on His face as dead.
Ezekeiel 1:26-28 “And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone; and upon the likeness of the throne was a likeness as the appearance of a man upon it above. 27 And I saw as it were glowing metal, as the appearance of fire within it round about, from the appearance of his loins and upward; and from the appearance of his loins and downward I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness round about him. 28 As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Jehovah. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.
Now when the Glory Cloud of the Old Testament filled the Temple could it have been this appearance that Ezekiel sees in that Cloud? I absolutely believe it was. Multiple times the description of the Cloud was as of fire. The Cloud appeared as fire on Mt. Sinai. Moses, Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu see God in this Mountain with the seventy Elders and under His feet was a sapphire stone that was the appearance of Heaven, Exodus 24:9-11.
Now could it be that John is seeing the Glory of the LORD filling His Temple? You are the Temple of God. Jesus is walking in the seven golden candlesticks which are the seven churches of Asia. This I believe was seven literal churches and Asia but represents the Church as a whole. The Son of Man is in the Church in His Glory!
In Revelation 1 the LORD declare that HE IS and was and is to come in verse 8. I believe we get lost in the is to come, and do not see that HE declared Himself to be present. In fact, He shows Himself to have filled the church, seven golden candlesticks, and to have with Him seven angels or ministers of the church. Here may be a picture of Jesus coming in the glory of His Father with His angels, and this picture is in the very church of the Lord Jesus!
Revelation Chapter 1:7&8 “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. 8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”
If I had grown up through Judaism or under the law how would I look at the above verses related to Jesus coming in clouds? Would I believe all the scriptures referencing cloud comings were speaking of Jesus coming out of literal clouds in the sky? As we get into this study these are questions that we may want to ask ourselves. Also, we should consider cloud comings in the Bible. Were there cloud comings in the Old Testament? What were they and what did they represent?
Looking at the scripture God came to Israel in the clouds throughout the Old Testament writings. There are two main themes in these cloud comings of the Lord that I see. His coming in clouds represents His Glory and Presence, and His Coming in Clouds represents His Judgement. First, I see the cloud comings of the Lord representing His Glory, His Presence, and His Infilling. In Exodus 16:10, the scripture reads, “And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.”
“Behold the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.” If we look closely at the scripture, this becomes a common occurrence as God deals with the nation of Israel. God leads the nation of Israel out of Egypt by a pillar of a cloud and fire. God covers Mount Sinai, in a cloud and a fire when Israel comes to the Mountain. Moses goes into the cloud to receive the instructions for the Tabernacle, the Priesthood, the Law, and the Tablets of the Covenant. All of this happened in the cloud that covered Mount Sinai. Read closely Exodus 19 through Exodus 31.
Exodus 24:16-18 “And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. 17 And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel. 18 And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.”
Exodus 34:5 “And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.”
Somehow this vision of the cloud has gotten lost in much of our teaching in the church. Many do not associate the cloud comings of Jesus with the cloud comings of the Old Testament. In fact, many may not regard the Old Testament at all when they read the writings of the gospels. When Jesus came, He came to Israel. He was born of the tribe of Judah. He is “the Lion of the tribe of Judah.” He was born under the law. So, the law was still in motion when Jesus came.
The people of that time would have associated cloud comings with the writings of Moses and the prophets under the law. When Jesus declares, in Mathew 16, “the
Son of Man shall come in the glory of his Father,” what does this mean? Do we associate it all with the Old Testament? If we do not associate it with the Old Testament then how doe we understand it?
The prophet Ezekiel has an encounter with a Cloud Coming of the LORD. This is one of the most vivid pictures of the Glory of the LORD we may see in our Bible. If Jesus is the Son of God, and He is coming in the Glory of His Father. May He be referencing the Glory of the LORD that is throughout the Old Testament scripture. In the cloud coming in Ezekiel Chapter 1, a vision of a Son of Man with a body with the likeness of fire is seen. There is a strong parallel from Ezekiel Chapter 1 to Revelation Chapter 1.
Ezekiel 1:26-28 “And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. 27 And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. 28 As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.”
In this cloud was the vision of the Glory of the LORD. This cloud appeared throughout the Old Testament over and over and over again. This cloud filled the Tabernacle of Moses. This cloud filled the Temple of Solomon. This cloud was known by the Israelites as the very Presence and Glory of the living God. When Jesus said He was coming in the clouds, could He have been saying He would be coming in the very Presence and the Glory of God?
In Matthew 26 Jesus tells the High Priest that the Son of Man would be at His Father’s right hand and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the Bible says this the High Priest rent his garment. As the High Priest of the Temple of God, would he not have heard of the Glory of God covering the Temple and filling the Holy of Holies in the Glory Cloud of God? Certainly, he would. Then would it be possible that he perceived Jesus was saying He would come in this great Glory Cloud and Fill the Temple of Israel?
I believe that is what Jesus did. He came in the Glory Cloud of God, God’s presence and filled the Temple of the Living God. You are the Temple of the Living God, as God said, He would walk in us and live in us and we would be His people. This is part of the very vision the Apostle John is seeing in the Book of Revelation. The Son of Man walking in the midst of the church, the seven candlesticks. He is in you and I today who have received Him, ready to be revealed in His Coming to be glorified in the saints.
As we study the Book of Revelation, I want to draw our attention to the importance of Church History and timelines. When many teach of timelines, many position futuristic timelines. What is alarming is that many believers do not know the History of the church or the timeline that was in the Apostle Johns day. First from Daniel there was a 490 year timeline that had been determined upon JERUSALEM.
I want to draw our attention to Jerusalem, because after the reign of Solomon the Kingdom of Israel split in two. You had the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. I would suggest we study these Kingdom's out and come to some comprehension of their timeline. I would also suggest that the Apostle John was living in the fulfillment of what God had declared through the prophets concerning Judah and Jerusalem. Isaiah's visions according to Chapter 1 verse 1 were concerning Judah and Jerusalem. Daniel's prophecy's were also the same, concerning his people - the people of Judah.
Jesus came and declared in Luke 21 these are the days of vengeance of our God, when you see Jerusalem compassed with armies. This was fulfilled in the Jewish wars with Rome, and culminated in the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D. These timelines of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah are of utmost importance. We may think that this history is insignificant, but if we read our Bible we will see that God placed great emphasis in it by giving us the Books of Kings and Chronicles. In fact most of your Old Testament is concerning the Covenant with Israel and the types, shadows, and symbolism that is reflected from that to our Lord Jesus Christ!
Now I want to draw our attention to a very significant timeline that was announced by the Lord Jesus Christ, recorded in John 4:23 & 24, "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth: for such doth the Father seek to be his worshippers. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth. is the time." This engagement with the woman at the well starts with Jesus having to go to Samaria. Samaria according to history was part of the Northern Kingdom or Israel. The woman claimed to be a descendant of her father Jacob. So she claimed to be an Israelite by that.
When Jesus engaged her she declared our father's worshiped in this mountain. According to history when the Kingdom's split false God's were set up in Israel. King Jeroboam set up two golden calf's right after the split to keep Israel from going back to Jerusalem. Jesus told the woman that Samaria worshiped they knew not what or false God's. He declared that salvation was of the Jews and Jerusalem was the place of worship. The Temple in Jerusalem was where God had His dwelling between the Cherubim in the Holy of Holy's.
The woman of Samaria was also a harlot. She had five husbands and the man she was with was not her own. God had called Samaria and Jerusalem harlot women through the prophet Ezekiel 23:1-4. They were harlots by worshiping false God's. They were to love Jehovah their God and only serve him. Over and over if you read the stories of Israel and Judah you will see them drawn away after strange God's. Now Jesus had come to both Kingdom's and presented living water. His statement, "The hour cometh and now is," is a timeline ALL Christians need to come to. This is the Time of Salvation we are now in.
No longer would God be worshiped in the mountain of Jerusalem. The time was over. God would now be worshiped in Spirit and Truth. God is a Spirit and seeks worship in and through spiritual comprehension. No longer was a physical temple to be built to physically go to to offer sacrifices. The sacrifice of ALL TIME had come, JESUS CHRIST Himself! He was the door into Spirit and Truth, and the fullness we enter into. As we look at the Book of Revelation we must see the transition that was on the land in John's day. The Jewish Temple was getting ready to be removed, destroyed. Jesus had fulfilled all spoken of by the law and the prophets and the New Temple was to be manifest in the earth, God dwelling in you and I in Christ Jesus! You are the Temple of the Living God. Glory to God!!!!
The Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ II
As we explore the Book of Revelation, I believe it is very important to look at the time period the Apostle John was in. John and the Church were under persecution from the Jewish nation and the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire had command over the earth that the Christians new. In the Book of Luke 2, the Bible declares the whole world was taxed by Caesar Augustus.
Luke 2:1-3 “ And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. 2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) 3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.”
One translation says the entire world was enrolled. This gives me a picture of our current social security system. Joseph and Mary went to their home- town of Bethlehem to enroll for taxation. Remember Jesus said in one place give unto Caesar the things that are Caesars, and unto God the things that are God’s. Caesar had rule in the natural world of the Jews.
Now a question, I want to ask was Rome in control of the entire Globe? The Bible says all the world was taxed. From the research I have done, it does not appear that Rome had rule over the entire Globe. However, they had rule over the entire Jewish world, and the world the Jewish people had known.
Also, worth considering in this time period was the nation of Israel together? When we study our Bibles we will see that the nation of Israel split into two Kingdoms after Solomon’s reign. Israel was divided into the Kingdom of Israel, and the Kingdom of Judah. The Kingdom of Israel which formed worship in Samaria had been carried away by the Assyrians under King Hosea. I do not believe it was ever known as the Kingdom of Israel again.
When Jesus met the woman at the well in Samaria as recorded in John 4, she would have been of the tribes of Israel. She claimed she was a child of Jacob. She declared Jacob was her father. Jesus made a profound statement to her. One that we all need to hear. “Neither in this mountain (Samaria), nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.”
A time had come to worship not in the mountain of Samaria or in Jerusalem. The Lion of the Tribe of Judah had come and declared the place of worship. “Those that worship the Father shall worship in Spirit and truth.” God is a Spirit and seeketh such to worship him.” We that are in Christ are now in this place of worship – Spirit and truth!
This is a mighty shaking and transition that will take place through the Revelation of Jesus Christ. You will no longer look for a temple made with hands but see the divine House built by the Lord Himself, to be inhabited by God in the Spirit, as the place of worship. This is the mountain we have come to. A great High Mountain, higher than all in the earth, in the Spirit of Truth. Glory be to God in the Highest!!!
The Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ
What is the Book of Revelation really about? Many suggest it is a book of end time events that we are now living in, with impending catastrophes coming upon the earth. Many who approach this book do so with that mind set already established. So, they are looking in these scriptures for the impending doom that we must surely face. The question, I want the Lord Jesus to answer is that the truth of the Book?
Notice where, I want us to go for the answer, to the truth Himself! “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of faith.” I am afraid if we look anywhere else for understanding in the scripture we will be void. He alone is understanding and the voice of reasoning. Everything that I look at must be embodied in Him.
The first verse of Revelation should kind of gives it away. “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show unto his servants, even the things which must shortly come to pass: and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John;” It is the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Now if we start from this understanding that the Book is Revealing Him, Jesus Christ, and the things that were to shortly come to pass in John’s day we can began to see what is at hand.
The Apostle Paul declared in Galatians 1 that he was separated from his mother’s womb and called by God’s grace to reveal Jesus Christ in him. Within Paul’s writing he is declaring the mystery that was hid, but now made manifest to the saints, Christ in you the hope of glory. He was declaring that the Jews and Gentiles were to be of one body, and to have access unto God through one Spirit. This was through the Revelation of Jesus Christ in Paul. Through Paul seeing Jesus Christ, and the work He had completed at Calvary this declaration was being made.
The Apostle John turned to see the VOICE that spoke with Him and saw seven golden candlesticks. In the midst of the candlesticks was one like the Son of Man with seven stars in His hand. Here in Revelation 1 imagery and symbolism take off. The candlesticks are seven churches, the stars are seven angels to the churches. Jesus is in the midst of the church and the stars are in His hand. The stars or ministers are declaring out of Jesus’ power. There is an impending crisis at hand.
The crisis was both external and internal. The crisis that had come was Jesus. He had fulfilled the law of Moses and had set forth the New Covenant in the earth. All the Old Covenant types, and shadows were coming to their end, and the reality of truth or the substance they had declared were at hand. Jesus was anointed as Isiah said to declare the favor of God and to declare God’s vengeance.
Isaiah 61:1 “The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon me; because Jehovah hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2 to proclaim the year of Jehovah's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;”
This book of Revelation is just that. Revelations 1:3 “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written therein: for the time is at hand.” God’s favor is at hand to those who read and understand. Christ in you is at hand. The Kingdom of God has come. But also at hand is a day of clouds and gloom. God’s vengeance as declared by Isaiah is coming upon the land, the land of Israel. The Old Covenant that had been fulfilled in Christ and done away was going to be taken off the land. As Jesus declared, not one stone was going to be left on that Old Temple. The new had come through Jesus Christ.
When we encounter Jesus in the way of Revelation a crisis is at hand to us today. It is both internal and external. It will affect the entire man. Our old things will be taken away, and the new life of Him set forth. He brings a shaking with Him, shaking away understanding, and bringing about truth and reality. He is the crisis we all need to face. Let us turn and see Him, Jesus the Christ in the midst of the church, and let us live out of an encounter with the Lord of Lords! Glory to God!
The Revelation of Jesus Christ His Feet – The Brazen Altar
In Chapter 1 of the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, the Apostle John sees one in the midst of the seven candlesticks like the Son of Man. Here we can begin to see the symbolic language that is used throughout the Book. First, look at the description of the Son of Man, hair white as wool, eyes as flame of fire, a two-edged sword coming out of His mouth, and feet as burnished brass as if they burned in a fire. The emphasis of the Book must be Him. For it is the Revelation of Him!
Revelations 1:12 - 20 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. 14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; 15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. 16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. 17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: 18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. 19 Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter; 20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.
Now how do we understand this? Jesus tells us that the seven candlesticks are the seven churches of Asia, and the stars are the angels or ministers of the churches. What would be His feet that looked like brass as it burned in a furnace. Would the description of Jesus be symbolic as well, or would this be how he physically looked when John saw Him? Does He look like this now?
If His description is symbolic then what does the brass feet stand for? What is being declared by feet of brass. I believe the answer would be judgement, and not just any judgement but the judgement of the cross. Where do we find brass in the scripture? Is there a picture of brass, burning with fire? The answer would be yes. When we come into the Tabernacle of Moses, what is the first piece of furniture we are met with as we enter in through the door? A brazen altar, and not just a brass altar, but one filled with a continuous fire, where continual offerings and sacrifices were made.
We know that Jesus was the fulfillment of the offerings made unto God at this altar. What He did on the cross fulfilled all offerings of the Old Covenant, from the offerings for sin to the offering for atonement, all was fulfilled by Him. The next brass furniture we find in the Tabernacle is the washing laver. If we consider this laver, where the priests washed in it would be a brass basin filled with water, mingled with blood. The blood of the offering would be in this water, as the Priests washed in this water. I firmly believe it speaks of water baptism, but I also believe it speaks of being washed by the water of the word. As we look into this basin, we are looking into the death of the lamb, and being washed with all that speaks of His death.
This sacrifice is our judgement. We are being judged through His sacrifice. We are seeing this judgement or decision as we are washed with His word. This is active within us, as the Holy Spirit makes known the work of the Living Christ within. His cross is our salvation. Here our sins are washed away. Here is a sweet aroma unto God. Here the Old Man is dead and put away. Here the Living God is satisfied with the sacrifices. Here we find peace with God. This cross and judgement is multifaceted and has so much to say the believer. May this judgement fill our hearts! Glory to God!
Jehovah-Raah, The Lord is My Shepherd
John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd layeth down his life for the sheep”
In John 10, Jesus declares Himself to be the Shepherd of the sheep. One of the most quoted scriptures in our Bibles is Psalms 23, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. Verse 1 of this Psalm actually declares a Jehovah name, Jehovah-Raah or Jehovah my Shepherd. As a Shepherd of the sheep of Israel, God shepherded the children of Israel from the bondages of Egypt into the land of Canaan. They were led by God through Moses, with the presence of God in their midst as a cloud by day and a fire by night, from Egyptian slavery into a land of milk and honey, God’s provision. Israel was given the land that God provided for them.
In John 10 Jesus makes many profound statements in regards to being the Shepherd of the sheep. In verse 10 He declares that He is the door, and if an many enter the door they shall go in and out and find pasture. The question I want pose, is if I go into the door who is Christ, why would I ever come out? In the past I had ideas that we would go in and gain understanding, revelation, or knowledge and come out into the earth and share or minister what we gained.
However, I believe I have seen by the Spirit of the Lord a much deeper and clearer understanding to what Jesus is saying. In Egypt when the Israelites celebrated the first Passover, they killed the lamb and put the blood around the door frame, and entered the door. They did not come out of the door until the breaking of the new day. This is a picture of what Jesus is saying. He is the door that we enter into. We enter into the door of Jesus Christ through His Blood, and eat the lamb until the breaking of the new day. When we come out of the door we come out in a new origin. We come out as a new creation created of God in Christ Jesus.
In other words, I believe Jesus to be saying we would go into his death and burial, and originate out of His life. We go into Him, and our old man is put away as we eat His flesh and drink His Blood. We now come out of Him as a new creation man. Our life is no longer found in the earth, but in Christ. The pasture we find as His sheep is His abundant life. He leads us into rest as the Shepherd of our souls. He restores our souls from the man of earth and into the man of Spirit through the renewing of our minds.
Jesus is the fulfillment of the Jehovah my Shepherd. He is the good shepherd that takes us out of the Egyptian slavery of our flesh, and leads us into the life of the Spirit of God. Blessings to All!
Jehovah-Jireh – Hearing God’s Provision
Hearing God’s voice has been part of the focus within our local fellowship the last few weeks. In the story of Abraham and Isaac, God’s purpose for mankind is set forth. Isaac is a promised Son. Israel becomes God’s holy nation coming out of the promised Son. In type and shadow this nation was brought forth through Isaac’s resurrection from the dead, which is declared in Hebrews 11.
Hebrews 11:17-19 “By faith Abraham, being tried, offered up Isaac: yea, he that had gladly received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; 18 even he to whom it was said, In Isaac shall thy seed be called: 19 accounting that God is able to raise up, even from the dead; from whence he did also in a figure receive him back.”
We who are in Christ are not in figure, but in reality. Our new birth is in and through His resurrection. Through Christ Jesus we are raised out from the dead (dead in Adam) and brought forth to be a people unto God. Peter calls us a chosen generation, a royal priesthood. The priesthood that we are is of the Lord Jesus Christ. We minister Him, His death, burial and resurrection. Our living in the earth is to be unto God in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have life. Our new life is Christ Himself. This is the glorious relationship we have come to.
Now when I look back at Genesis and the story of Abraham and Isaac, I want us to consider that Abraham heard God. Now he did not just hear God within the confines of Abrahams wants and wishes, but Abraham heard God according to His purpose, “In Isaac shall thy seed be called.” I believe many believers struggle to hear God because they are simply trying to hear Him only as it relates to themselves. For example, generally when we pray “thy will be done,” we are still praying about something concerning us. We are not necessarily asking God what His will is, His will period. What we are usually asking is God’s will for our situations, circumstances, etc. Once we turn our hearts to hear God’s will and purpose, I believe it opens the door to a continuous hearing and seeing of the Spirit of God.
What is God’s will and purpose is where we must turn our hearts, minds, and focus to. Notice I did not say what is His will and purpose for our lives. I mean what is His will and purpose period! This is exciting folks, because it is here that I believe God wants to speak within the core of or being. Ephesians 1 declares that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. Here, I believe is where we find His will and purpose, in His Only Son Jesus Christ. Here is where we must be found, just as Paul wrote to the Philippians, “that I may be found in Him.” I believe when God made the earth, and ultimately mankind He was looking into Christ and what He was going to do in and through Him.
All of God’s movement and declarations upon the earth were according to Christ, from the time He said, “Let there be light,” to the birth of Jesus Christ in the manger. God was moving and speaking toward His purpose. Jesus profoundly declared that the scripture speaks of Him. Now God is revealing the very light he was speaking of, in our hearts as He reveals Christ in us. Christ who is the light. Even the natural light that gave light to mankind upon the earth was speaking and declaring the coming light of the Lord Jesus Christ. We who are in Him, can now walk in God’s glorious light. We can walk and see by Him, and no longer be in the shadows, but declare the Eternal Light to the earth. We can make known God’s purposes as we see Jesus in the Light of understanding given of God! Blessing to all!
Jehovhah-jireh – Thine Only Son
John 10:27 “My sheep hear my voice.” Many of us may spend a lot of time seeking to hear the voice of God. Jesus said clearly that His sheep would hear His voice. Many may deduce His statement to only the written word of God, but that would not be the case. We who are in union with Him should hear His voice. I believe the challenge we may have is what is His voice is saying? Much of our time may be spent in asking God to tell us what to do regarding things, or situations. As a young Minister I did just that. I spent many hours in prayer seeking God’s voice, primarily about where to Minister and seeking the Ministry of the Lord. I do not want to tell you there was no benefit to this because it was of much benefit. I also, do not want to tell you that God does not speak in regard to natural things or our requests because He absolutely does. He will direct you and speak to you in specific things in your life.
However, what we do not consider much of the time is what God wants to speak about. We are often too busy trying to get Him to speak with us about our situations. The story of Mary and Martha in the Bible is great illustration to this. Martha is busy about in preparation that Jesus has come to their house. Mary sits at His feet to HEAR HIM, and what He has to say. This I believe is the key to hearing God. Turn to hear what He has to say. When we turn to Him, He is going to speak within us and reveal His Word. He is going to reveal the living Christ in us. This speaking will transform our being, our mind, our heart, and our soul. God wants to tell us His desires, His thoughts, and His vision towards creation. He is interested in His plan, and wants to move us from our own to His.
In the study we have been in of Genesis 22, The LORD says to Abraham to take his son, “Thine Only Son and offer Him. This is a powerful statement, rich and full of the mind and plan of the Lord. This statement was clearly speaking of our Lord Jesus Christ. The entirety of the story of Isaac is speaking of Christ. The chosen SEED of Abraham being Isaac, is speaking of Jesus our Lord, who is the chosen Seed of God. Just as Isaac was promised, Jesus was promised, Isaiah 9:6 “Unto us a child is born and a Son is given.” Jesus is the fulfillment of all things promised and spoken.
Isaac was the son of promise. God promised Abraham a son. Abraham and Sara could not have children. Sara was barren. So they could not produce the seed promised. The LORD had to move upon Sara to bring Isaac forth. Can we hear this? This is speaking of Mary and the babe Jesus. Isaac was brought forth of God. Sure, he was Abrahams son, fathered by Abraham, but he was a clear type or representation of Jesus Christ. However, unlike the type, Jesus’ had no earthly Father. He was not only brought forth of God, but was the very SEED of God, the Word made flesh. Just as all of Israel would be of Isaac, the promise seed of Abraham. All of God’s children, the Church would be of Christ God’s very own Seed. He is our salvation. All who are in Christ, are born of ONE SEED.
This is what is hidden in the story of Isaac, the picture of the Lord Jesus himself. However, not only Him, but we who belong to Him. All of Israel came through the promised Seed of Abraham. In fact, if we study the scriptures, we will see Jacob’s name was changed to Israel, and all of Israel was from Him. Now, we, the true Israel of God come through the TRUE promised Seed. Jesus fulfills all God spoke of when He said, “In Isaac shall thy seed be called.” Paul writes in the Book of Galatians Chapter 3 that the Seed of Abraham was Christ. Jesus was the fulfillment of everything said through Abraham and Isaac. In fact, all of Israel was speaking of Him. Finally consider, that Paul wrote later in the book of Galatians 3 that they who are of faith are Abraham’s seed. All of Christ belong to this ONE SEED, which is CHRIST.
We are born of none other but Him. The Apostle Peter writes in 1 Peter 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy begat us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” Read this carefully. We are born again through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The surge of life that comes in us at the new birth is His resurrection out from the dead (dead in Adam, dead in Sin). We are made dead to the old creation of sin and death through His death, and whisked up into new life through His Resurrection. We that are His are all born of this one glorious SEED of God, who lives and abides forever! We are now the SEED of God through our Lord Jesus Christ and are destined to grow up into Him in all things. These ALL THINGS are all that is of Him. This is a totally new life full of purpose of God! Blessings to all!
Jehovah-Jireh
In the last lesson, we looked at Jehovah and this name of God in relationship to Israel’s salvation, and how it spoke of God’s fulfillment of salvation in Christ Jesus our Lord. As God appeared to Moses, He declared His name Jehovah to him and God declared that He had appeared to Abraham as God Almighty but by the name of Jehovah was not made known unto him. This I believe, the Lord to have shown me, was speaking that God would come and appear to Abraham and leave. When He came as Jehovah to Moses and the children of Israel He did not leave, but became a God in their midst, leading them out of Egypt as a Cloud by day and Fire by night. After that filling the tabernacle of Moses with Himself, and later the Temple. He became a God to them, and they became a people unto Him.
However, by studying the scripture we can clearly see that Abraham called him Jehovah. Here in this less we begin to dig a little deeper in the name of Jehovah as declared by Abraham, which was specifically tied to God’s provision, Jehovah-Jireh.
Genesis 22:9 -14 “And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. 11 And the angel of Jehovah called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. 12 And he said, Lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him; for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me. 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt-offering in the stead of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of Jehovah it shall be provided.”
Here we come to Mount Moriah, which means seen of Jah, Jah is the short form of Jehovah. This was God’s seeing. God spoke to Abraham to bring Isaac to Mount Moriah and offer Him. Later this became the Temple Mount, and was speaking of the Mount where God would lay the sacrifice, and the chief cornerstone. “Behold I lay in Zion a stone a tried stone.” It is no coincidence that the House of God is founded upon a sacrifice. All this was speaking of Christ Jesus our Lord. He is God’s true provision.
In Mount Moriah a sacrifice provided of God was revealed, a Ram caught in a thicket. Here the great provision for all mankind begins to be unfolded, “Jehovah shall provide Himself a sacrifice.” “God so loved the world that He gave His Son.” This is the provision seen of Jah. This is God’s provision. This provision not only saves me from my sin but delivers me completely out of the man of sin and takes me into my promised land, the land of rest in Christ Jesus. We are a new creation created of God in Christ Jesus.
Here with Abraham the thought of the Only Son comes into view. “Take thine son, thine only son.” Abraham also had Ishmael who had been cast out. Ishmael was speaking of the man of the flesh, or the Adamic man. Jesus himself is also called the Only Begotten. In Jesus we begin to see the fulfillment of what God is saying through Abraham and Isaac. The Only Begotten is God’s seed, kind, and man. The Old Man is Gone. Our salvation is not in Adam, but in the Only Begotten of God. This is a New Man coming out of God.
We in, through, and by Him, come out of God. Our origin is no more in Adam. The Old Man is dead, buried and gone. The New Man has NOW become my life. This is my promised land – “that they may have life, and have it more abundantly.” In us is a land flowing with milk and honey. Out of our inner being flows the River of Life Himself. Glory to God!!!
The Spirit of the Lord is Upon Me II
Isaiah 61:1-3 “The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon me; because Jehovah hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2 to proclaim the year of Jehovah's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; 3 to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of Jehovah, that he may be glorified.”
In the American Standard Version Isaiah 61 is translated Lord Jehovah. The King James translates this Lord God. The American Standard is the proper translation as it is dealing with God’s name Jehovah. The word Lord here is Adonay, used only for God, and meaning Lord or my Lord. As we consider the names of the God, each name serves a purpose, showing and declaring our Lord’s nature, attributes, and character, and ultimately speaking of Christ Jesus.
As noted last time the Spirit of Jehovah in the book of Judges came upon the Judges to deliver Israel out from under bondage. This is seen through Othniel, Gideon, and Samson to name a few. The Spirit of the Jehovah was the empowerment for deliverance. God’s name Jehovah is used emphatically for that very purpose. I believe through the Jehovah name is where the Almighty God reveals himself to a people. I actually believe the Jehovah names are in direct relationship to God declaring himself as I am that I am. Jehovah is the revelation or the knowing of the I AM, or the I AM made known to a people
Exodus 6:1-8 “And Jehovah said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for by a strong hand shall he let them go, and by a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land. 2 And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am Jehovah: 3 and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as God Almighty; but by my name Jehovah I was not known to them. 4 And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their sojournings, wherein they sojourned. 5 And moreover I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant. :6 Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am Jehovah, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments: 7 and I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah your God, who bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 And I will bring you in unto the land which I sware to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for a heritage: I am Jehovah.”
Here the Lord says that by his name Jehovah he was not made known to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Theologians have tried to explain this, as Abraham clearly called him Jehovah, Jehovah-Jireh (in the mount of the Lord it shall be seen). So, what is God saying here? I believe if we search our Bibles we will see that it is in the name of Jehovah where God comes to dwell among Israel. When He had come to Abraham, God would come and leave. So, Abraham did not know him as the abiding God, or Jehovah. Here in this name Jehovah, God would be made known among a people, His people. He would be their God. Here God Himself would come down to Moses to deliver His People Israel out of bondage and INTO the Land of Canaan, flowing with milk and honey. As I have said in other teachings this land represents God Himself. He was the reason for the milk and honey.
Jesus clearly fulfills Jehovah as the savior, deliver, and redeemer who is seen throughout Exodus. Matthew 1 starts off with a picture of Jesus as the ONE who would SAVE (deliver, rescue, heal, restore) His people from their sins. Notice that in Matthew 1:21, “He shall save His people.” We that have been saved ARE His people. As stated long ago of Jehovah, they shall be my people because Jehovah saved them and brought them to Himself. This is speaking of JESUS. Through the cross – death, burial, and resurrection, we are brought from sin, its sickness and decay to the very self of Jesus.John 14:20, “At that day you shall know I am in my Father, you are in me, and I am in you.”
Through His glorious work, Jesus has brought us out, and it is not just that He has brought us out, but He has brought us into His very own self. Glory to God! This is salvation. Not just coming out of sin or Adam, but coming out and coming into Christ Jesus. As I prepared for this teaching the Lord profoundly showed me in several of Jesus miracles that Jesus not only healed and delivered, but He brought those who He healed and delivered into a whole different state of being.
When the disciples were in the ship with storm Jesus rebuked the wind and brought the disciples from the tempest of the storm to His calm., the rest of Jesus. When the woman came to Him with the issue of blood, He healed here issue and made Her whole. It is said of the demon filled man of the Gerasenes after He encountered Jesus that He was in His right mind. What I want us to see is the end state. The Word used for save is used in all of these accounts. It is translated, save, I shall be made whole, and had been made well.
In fact, when John and Peter encounter the man at the gate of beautiful and the man is healed this word is used, dealing with the man being made whole. What a change of being, a crippled man to leaping and praising God.
Our salvation is coming from one man (a man of sin) to the new man in Christ. Salvation is so much bigger than we consider. It is God’s provision. God’s provision at the cross is Jesus for my sins. God’s provision in His resurrection is Jesus as my life. We are saved by His life. Christ is our resurrection out from Adam and into Christ Himself. Glory to God!!!
The Spirit of the Lord is Upon Me
What a powerful and common scripture that is found in Isaiah 61 and Luke 4. The Spirit of the Lord
Isaiah 61:1-7 The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is on Me, because Jehovah has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the meek. He has sent Me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, and complete opening to the bound ones; 2 to proclaim the acceptable year of Jehovah, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; 3 to appoint to those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of the spirit of infirmity, so that one calls them trees of righteousness, the planting of Jehovah, in order to beautify Himself. 4 And they shall build old ruins; they shall raise up former desolations; and they shall restore the waste cities, ruins of generations and generations. 5 And foreigners shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of strangers shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. 6 But you shall be called, Priests of Jehovah; it will be said of you, Ministers of our God. You shall eat the wealth of the nations, and you shall revel in their glory. 7 Instead of your shame and disgrace, double. They rejoice in their portion; for they shall possess a second time in their land; everlasting joy shall be theirs.
When I began to think on this the thought came to me, where is the first place this is found? My thoughts shifted to Genesis 1 "and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." While this is similar. It is not the same context. In Genesis the Bible is dealing with the Spirit of Elohim, the word for God in this place and many places throughout your Bible. Elohim actually is dealing with plurality of God. Here He is seen as the creator, and His Spirit moves upon the waters of creation, and His voice speaks and things begin to appear and be formed. "Let there be light." From this voice and word light came into being. Both natural and spiritual light has its existence through Him. Jesus would later say, I am the light!
Now as I considered this, I began to search for the first place the actual place in your Bible the phrase, "the Spirit of the Lord was used. The word Lord is the word Jehovah. It means the self existing one. He is exists through and by himself. He is unique and there is known like Him. He is only made known to us through and by Himself. Glory to God. The first place I found this phrase, the Spirit of JEHOVAH, was in Judges 3.
Judges 3:7-11 “And the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and forgat Jehovah their God, and served the Baalim and the Asheroth. 8 Therefore the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years. 9 And when the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah, Jehovah raised up a saviour to the children of Israel, who saved them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. 10 And the Spirit of Jehovah came upon him, and he judged Israel; and he went out to war, and Jehovah delivered Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand: and his hand prevailed against Cushan-rishathaim. 11 And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died.”
Notice verse 9, "Jehovah raised up a Savior." In connection with the phrase the Spirit of the Lord comes into view a Savior. Now we should clearly see this is speaking of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is our Savior. Matthew 1 declares, "He shall SAVE His people from their sins." In Luke 4, where again we are met with the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, Jesus closes the book and tells those present that at that day the word is fulfilled in their ears. Jesus is the Savior that the Spirit of the Lord comes to rest upon in fullness. He is sent to deliver God's people from the bondages of sin. The internal bondage that none of the Judges from Othniel to Gideon to Samson could deliver from.
In John 8, Jesus declares if the Son makes you free you shall be free indeed.
John 8:31-35 Jesus therefore said to those Jews that had believed him, If ye abide in my word, then are ye truly my disciples; 32 and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. 33 They answered unto him, We are Abraham's seed, and have never yet been in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? 34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Every one that committeth sin is the bondservant of sin. 35 And the bondservant abideth not in the house for ever: the son abideth for ever. 36 If therefore the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
What does the Jewish people say to Jesus here. We are Abraham's offspring. We have never been in bondage. Consider for a moment that they were under Roman rule. Their very natural existence was in bondage to Rome when Jesus shows up in their midst. Now He tells them if they were Abraham's see they would do Abraham's work. What work was that? Abraham believed God!
Here is where the Son makes us free. We believe God by believing in Jesus Christ, and God counts it to us as righteousness. God lays all sin on Him (Jesus) taking away the bondage of sin from us, and places His righteousness upon us. This work is not done through us, but through Him. We have faith in Him, and His faith is applied to us. The Son has made us free from sin. Its penalties. Its hardships. He has done that. We are free indeed! Glory to God.
Not only does God want us to realize this, but He has made a way for us to come from out under its bondage. We no longer have to live in sins nature or domain. We are not yoked with sin or the law to bear the fruit of sin. We have been yoked to Jesus and his domain to bear the fruit of Christ. His divine nature is our reward and is to be made known to us! This is really good news. His work has healed us! Glory to God!!!
His Words Abide Forever 2 – Spirit and Life
Isaiah 66:1 “Thus saith Jehovah, Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: what manner of house will ye build unto me? and what place shall be my rest?”
For a long period of time the Lord dealt with my heart in Isaiah 66:1. These words rolled over and over within my heart and mind, “Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool.” In the Old Covenant God was enthroned between the cherubim above the Mercy Seat, according to the scriptures of Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Psalms. God’s throne, rule, or government was through the law of Moses. He executed that law within the natural Israel. Israel was ruled by the law of Moses, and the Blood of animals.
For a moment let’s consider this throne, rule, and dominion as God’s Heaven. God’s throne, rule, and dominion was in Israel. To advance this further let’s consider that God dwelled in the Tabernacle of Moses, and later in the Temple that Solomon built. The scripture also teaches us that Heaven is God’s dwelling place. In the Old Covenant God dwelled in Old Israel in the Temple. If the Temple was God’s dwelling place would it not make sense that it was Heaven or a Heaven, as God was there. With that thought in mind. The Temple was in Jerusalem. So,, we could also consider that Jerusalem could represent the earth. Heaven is my throne – the temple. The earth is my footstool – Jerusalem.
Now as recorded in Matthew 24:35, Jesus declared Heaven and earth would pass away. Most of us apply that to the natural earth. Let’s consider that he was speaking of the Old Testament Covenant and Temple, and all that it pertained to. When he died at the cross the Old was over. Jesus was its fulfillment, completion, and end. Now with that said, the second part of Matthew 24 is, “but my words shall not pass away.” This is a powerful statement.
Consider that the words Jesus spoke went into force. What do I mean by this? Over and over Jesus said “He that believes on Him would be saved.” He declared that those that believe would be one in John 17. Much of Paul’s epistles is given to the oneness of the believers in and with Christ. These are the words that are in force. No longer do we come to God through an Old Covenant or even the words of the Old Covenant, but we come through Christ, Him and His Words.
John 17:23 “I in them, thou, in me, that they may be made perfect in One!” What a thought. The Old Covenant could never bring this forth. It was hidden in there. It was written as testimony to Christ, but the reality was only brought forth in Him. The law, the prophets, the scriptures all testified of Him. He was the prophet Moses declared that would speak God’s word. He was the Redeemer Isaiah declared that would come to Zion. All testified of Him – the Law and the prophets were His testimony.
In the Book of Revelation Chapter John saw a lamb that had been slain, standing in the midst of the throne. Remember Heaven is my throne. This throne that John saw had a slain lamb. The rule of this Government is the slain lamb that is risen from the dead. John saw Him, JESUS, standing, having the seven spirits of God (God’s fullness). All execution of Government had come to Him, and is administered through Him.
Revelation 5:6 “And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, having seven horns, and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth.”
This is the throne, or Heaven we approach. We are ruled and governed through the slain Lamb and His resurrection. This is the New Government. This is the New Covenant. This is a New Heaven and a New Earth, where there is righteousness! We are made the righteousness of Him. We are now the place of His feet, not real estate in the middle east but a people in whom He dwells! Glory to God in the Highest!!!!
He is our righteousness! How many believers have awakened to righteousness? When we come to our Father in prayer do we thank Him for the righteousness that we have in Christ Jesus? I am afraid the answer to this question for many is no. I am afraid that we struggle with sin consciousness. We are aware so often of our inabilities, but NOT AWARE of HIS ABILITIES!
Just as our sin was laid on Jesus Christ, He was also made our righteousness. I believe many of struggle to live righteously and try to measure this though the law of Moses. I want us to fully hear what the law of Moses does. It shows us our sin. Look at the following two scriptures closely.
Romans 3:20 "Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin." niv
Romans 7:7 "What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "You shall not covet.""
Through the law is the awareness of sin. Not only is it an awareness of sin, but an awareness that sin is at work in me. I am concerned that every time I look to myself to overcome sin or unrighteousness I find failure and disappointment. That is because my salvation is not in myself. It is in Christ Jesus. He became my sin offering. He took my iniquities. My inabilities were laid on him. Jesus died for the ungodly. Glory to God!
Now not only is He the answer to my sin. He is also the answer to my righteousness. We are made righteous through Him, and we live righteously as we know HIM. He is the solution to all! Not I but Christ! Glory to God!
Romans 3:21-27 "But now apart from the law a righteousness of God hath been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ unto all them that believe; for there is no distinction; 23 for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; 24 being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 26 for the showing, I say, of his righteousness at this present season: that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus. 27 Where then is the glorying? It is excluded. By what manner of law? of works? Nay: but by a law of faith."
1Corinthians 1:30-31 "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who was made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption: 31 that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.:
Jesus has been made our righteousness. Now as I say this I am sure it rises up in many that are we saying you can live anyway you want and be saved? I would say no! As Paul said, "Shall we sin that Grace may abound?" The answer then was no. It is still no. Read Romans 6 and notice what else Paul says. He brings US into union with HIM, Jesus Christ - His death, His burial, His resurrection. Ultimately that we live unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord! In this living, we live there through Him.
WE come to union with HIM. In the seeing of this union this is where we begin to love our brother as ourselves. We see our Brother in this same Christ that we see our self in. We begin to see the Church as HIS BODY. This is where the empowerment of righteous living comes from. It comes from Him, and the seeing and knowing of Him by the Holy Spirit He has given us. This does not abound from ourselves but through the relationship we have with Christ. Through the knowing of Him we will want to bring no harm to our brother or sister or anyone else for that matter. Rather we will want to build up and edify in Christ Jesus our Lord!
The beauty of seeing our relationship with Christ is that if we do fall or make mistakes He is faithful and just to forgive us! We are in a relationship of Love, not condemnation. This LOVE of God is shed abroad in our hearts and ministers one to another through the Holy Spirit of the Lord. God does not leave us in the shape we were in. He has made us a New Creation in Christ Jesus. This is where we need to find ourselves, IN HIM, and not only ourselves but the entire Body of Christ! Blessings!
One of the most controversial subjects within the Body of Christ is the Holy Spirit Baptism. John the Baptist declared there was one mightier than him, who was coming, as he was baptizing in the Jordan river for the remission of sins. He declared the COMING ONE, would baptize you with the Holy Spirit and Fire. Before Jesus ascension on High He told His disciples to gather in Jerusalem and wait for the promise of the Father. This coming promise was the Holy Spirit that John the Baptist began to declare at his baptism.
Luke 24:46-48 “And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: 47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And ye are witnesses of these things. 49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.” kjv
This experience was described by Jesus in Luke as being endued with power from on High, KJV version. The word endued means to clothe. Jesus was saying that the believers would be clothed with power from on high. This is Heavenly power or the power of Jesus Christ himself that is clothing the believer. The word power is means force, specifically miraculous power. There are teachings in the Church that somehow this power left after the Apostles. However, notice closely what Peter declares as recorded in the Book of Acts.
Acts 2:38&39 “And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For to you is the promise, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call unto him.”
This promise of the Holy Spirit was not only for the Apostles and those of that day, but for ALL that are called. God our Father delights to give us His Spirit. The miraculous of God should not be a once and a while occurrence. The miraculous of God should operate in our midst, as He is in our midst. While Jesus walked the earth there was the manifest presence of God in operation. What we must hear is that the same Spirit that was in Christ is NOW in operation within the Church His Body. Jesus even declared that the same works He had done would be also done through the believers, and greater works. This is what Jesus said, John 14:12.
The Spirit is the enablement of these works. In fact, it is the works of the Spirit. When the lame man was healed at the gate of Beautiful, Peter asked why do you look on us as if we healed the man? It was through faith in the name of Jesus Christ that this lame man was healed. The miraculous was manifested by the Holy Spirit of God through the believers.
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit was of utmost importance of the Apostles. When those in Samaria who received the word of God, and were baptized in water, the Apostles Peter and John went down among them that they might also receive the Holy Spirit.
Acts 8:12-14 “But when they believed Philip preaching good tidings concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 And Simon also himself believed: and being baptized, he continued with Philip; and beholding signs and great miracles wrought, he was amazed. 14 Now when the apostles that were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: 15 who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit:”
This in like manner should be of utmost importance to us. We should desire that all who believe and receive the word of God, should be baptized in the Spirit. All should be clothed with God’s miraculous power to be a witness of Jesus Christ our Lord. Please enjoy this teaching on the Holy Spirit by Pastor Henry Stanley. May it touch your hearts and cause you to seek a greater relationship with the Lord Jesus.
Jesus destroyed him that had the power of death, the devil.
Hebrews 2:14-15 “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.”
Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the law, becoming the curse for us.
Galatians 3:10-14 “For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one who continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law, to do them. 11 Now that no man is justified by the law before God, is evident: for, The righteous shall live by faith; 12 and the law is not of faith; but, He that doeth them shall live in them. 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14 that upon the Gentiles might come the blessing of Abraham in Christ Jesus; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”
Reading these two passages of scriptures alone would suggest that the believers should take a long look at the work of the cross and their Victory they already have in Jesus! Jesus is victorious over death, hell, and the grave. What applies to Jesus already applies to the believer as we are made one with Him in His death and raised with Him in His resurrection. This is the absolute key to spiritual life, being made one – a sharer of what Jesus has already done! This is what GRACE really is – the unearned favor of what Jesus has done applied to you and me and the results that Grace brings forth in the believers’ lives!
How do we get this unmerited favor? We believe unto Him and gain access into this Grace through faith in Christ Jesus! We access His work, not our own works. His work is our GREAT SALVATION that is being revealed in this last time. This last time is HIS TIME. We have come to His Time, or His Day! Glory to God! What we see here is through Him, seeing His work as it is revealed in our hearts and minds by His Holy Spirit! Glory to God!
NOW here in the Spirit there is no condemnation to the believers!!! God has taken what He completed in Christ and brought it into the Spirit and He applies that to you and me through the Revealing of Jesus Christ within us!
Romans 8:1-9 “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.”
Think on this. No condemnation to those in Christ Jesus. Why then do we so often think we are condemned or not justified by God? Why? Because we walk by the flesh or the carnal mind. Romans 5 says death passed upon all men, speaking of when Adam ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Romans 8 says death is the carnal mind, or the mind of the flesh. So, the carnal mind passed upon all mankind!
Jesus already condemned or judged our sin in the flesh. He took our sins and brought them to death, the death of His cross. Glory to God. He then was raised for our justification, raised out from the dead in sin. However, we do not see this most of the time. We look toward our flesh or walk toward the flesh, and not toward the Spirit! Paul said to the Galatia believers Do you think you can be perfected by the flesh, having begun in the Spirit? What was he talking about in Galatians 3? He was dealing with a people who had gone back to the law of Moses to find their perfection. They were walking after the flesh, or the carnal mind, looking at the good and evil of themselves, and not toward the cross and perfection in Christ Jesus.
This is flesh walking. It is not simply the bad but also the good that we find in ourselves. Salvation is nothing of us, but of Christ. We are made righteous in Him. We are made holy in Him. These descriptions of salvation are made real to us as we find our salvation in Him. They will never be realized looking unto ourselves. See this is the carnal mind, our selves, good and evil. The escape from it is the divine favor upon our heart, which is what we call Grace – The Work God did in Christ Jesus! Walking toward this work is walking in the Spirit. Glory to God!
Continuing in our study of the King and His Kingdom, we are continually looking at Psalms 2, "Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten you." and Acts 13 regarding Psalms 2. In Acts 13 it shows Jesus to be begotten from the dead. This statement, "this day have I begotten you," is speaking directly of His Resurrection. This is a prominent statement in scripture, and is also found in Hebrews 1.
Hebrews 1:5-8 "For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, This day have I begotten thee? and again, I will be to him a Father, And he shall be to me a Son? 6 And when he again bringeth in the firstborn into the world he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. 7 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels winds, And his ministers a flame of fire: 8 but of the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever; And the sceptre of uprightness is the sceptre of thy kingdom."
Here the Son is Set as King, and brought forth to be worshiped. Here the idea of firstborn is brought into view.
What is mean by firstborn? This in and of itself should be a study. Jesus is the firstborn from among the dead. This is what our salvation is wrapped up in, Him being raised out from among the dead. Now, as we consider this, yes it speaks of Jesus' physical resurrection. His physical body was raised up to not see corruption. However, this is speaking of more than being physically dead.
Ephesians 2:1-8 "And you did he make alive, when ye were dead through your trespasses and sins, 2 wherein ye once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the powers of the air, of the spirit that now worketh in the sons of disobedience; 3 among whom we also all once lived in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest:-- 4 but God, being rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace have ye been saved), 6 and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus:"
We were dead in trespass and sin. Although we were breathing air we were dead to God in our sin. Jesus was born out from this realm. He became the firstborn from the dead, not only dead bodies, but dead in trespass and sin. Our salvation is here out from the dead. When we are born again our sins roll away, and we experience a surge of new glorious life. This in itself is an experience of the work done in Christ. Our sins were laid on him and taken away. He came out from the dead in newness of life. This is our born again experience.
Here in this new man is where our life starts, out from the dead. We see and comprehend this in seeing and comprehending Him. This is great salvation to be laid a hold of.
Colossians 1:18-22 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. 19 For it was the good pleasure of the Father that in him should all the fulness dwell; 20 and through him to reconcile all things unto himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross; through him, I say, whether things upon the earth, or things in the heavens. 21 And you, being in time past alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil works, 22 yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without blemish and unreproveable before him:
Blessings to All!
A Common thought among many believers is Jesus is a soon coming King, and the view is what will happen when He comes. The question I have is if He is not King RIGHT NOW, then who's authority are you under?
Colossians 1:11-14 May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
The scripture in Colossians sets forth a kingdom of darkness and a Kingdom of Light. Remember Jesus said His Kingdom is not of this world. With that said, what is His Kingdom? What does He reign over? Colossians gives us good insight into God's Kingdom. It is a Kingdom of Light. This Kingdom is set forth through the resurrection from the dead. It it reigns over all the works of darkness. This is the Kingdom that you and I as believers come to, "the Kingdom of God's dear Son."
Act 13:32-39 "And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, 33 this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, "'You are my Son, today I have begotten you.' 34 And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way, "'I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.' 35 Therefore he says also in another psalm, "'You will not let your Holy One see corruption.' 36 For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, 37 but he whom God raised up did not see corruption. 38 Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses."
In Acts 13 the writer brings into view Psalms 2 is brought into view concerning Jesus. It is declared that the promise made to the Father's of Israel is fulfilled in Jesus Christ being raised from the dead. God's King is set on God's Holy Hill. My suggestion is this is through the resurrection from the dead. Look closely at Acts 13 below. It is declared, "You are my Son, today I have begotten you," is speaking of Christ Jesus being raised from the dead.
If I think on this thought with the natural mind, I will most likely simply see Jesus as the begotten Son in his natural birth. However, through the scripture and divine influence of the Holy Spirit I see this in relation to Him being birthed from the dead. In fact Jesus is the first born from the dead, or out from the dead. What I mean by this is He came out from the dead.
All in Adam are dead, Paul writes. Jesus was born into Adam, but when He was raised from the dead, He not only was raised out physically from the dead, but He was raised out from all that was in Adam. This raising was all through the Spirit. Nothing in man was on display, simply God. This my friends is our new birth. We are birthed IN HIS Resurrection. We are birthed through the power of God out from the dead.
In this sharing we are looking at what JESUS overcome. He overcome death, hell, and the grave. We are beginning to explore hell, death, and the grave, and Jesus dominion over the works of darkness. Please enjoy and share with other believers.
Blessings to you in Jesus name!
In this sharing we are looking at the dominion of the King. What is the King's Dominion? What does Jesus reign over? Have you ever considered it? He reigns over sin. He reigns over death, hell, and the grave. He declared as recorded in Matthew 28 that all authority is given to Him in heaven and earth.
In the beginning when God created man He gave man dominion over the earth. However, when Jesus raised from the dead He declared that all authority in both heaven and earth. Matthew 28:18 "Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." Have you really considered this? Why did He say both? Could it be that the heaven is to invade the earth? "Thy Kingdom Come Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
Much of our mind is set upon the conditions of the earth, which we see with the natural eyes and understand with the natural mind. We must rather set our mind upon Him and what He has done, and manifest it in the earth. Look unto Jesus. Look unto the work that He has completed. In Acts 13:33 the Bible declares "that God hath fulfilled the same unto our children, in that he raised up Jesus; as also it is written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee."
Have you thought on this? The scripture says that it speaking of the resurrection from the dead. In other words Jesus is begotten from among the dead. Death has no more sting on Him. Death could not hold him. The strength of sin was broken through His death and resurrection. Now we declare His resurrection, and ourselves being raised together with Him. Our life is now bound up in what He has done. When He was made alive - We were quickened. When He was raised we were raised. When He was seated, the Apostle Paul writes we are seated in Heavenly places with Him.
The question is where is He seated? Would it not be the Right Hand of God or the throne on high? Would this then be our seating with Him. In the Psalms 132 the Bible declares "11 Jehovah hath sworn unto David in truth; He will not turn from it: Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne. 12 If thy children will keep my covenant And my testimony that I shall teach them, Their children also shall sit upon thy throne for evermore." Notice it is the desire of the LORD to sit upon David's throne, and He declared the children would sit upon the throne. This is fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is seated with all power and dominion, and He has brought us victoriously into His dominion. We are seated with Him, to manifest His dominion in the earth, and declare his victory of death, hell, and the grave.
Blessings in Christ Jesus our Lord!
Psalms 2:6 "Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion."
When I look at this what comes to my heart is God's King and God's Mountain. This naturally speaking of King David, of who the Lord said was after His own heart. Spiritually it is speaking of Christ Jesus our Lord and King. David as God's King had a heart after God. His story is quite significant for us to understand God's work in Christ, and how it applies to us. David was God's King, and through obedience David cut off many of the enemies of Israel, speaking of Jesus cutting off the enemies of our soul.
David taking the fortress of Zion and placing the Ark of the Covenant there has tremendous implications to what Jesus says in John 4 in regards to God's place of Worship.
John 4:21-24 "Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."
"You shall worship the Father in spirit and truth." This is the embodiment of Zion, the High Place of God! Zion is a place of the Spirit, and where we come to know Him in spirit and truth. Here we move from our mind to God's mind. We come in abandonment to ourselves which is clearly seen in David. David's dancing unashamed before the Ark speaks of self-abandonment. He being King of Israel was lowering himself in humility before the Lord. How this speaks of Jesus, who being the Lord of Glory and lowered himself to buy our salvation.
Ultimately, David's heart was to build a house for God, which naturally came through Solomon. This has tremendous spiritual significance. "Christ as a Son over His own House, whose House you are." God desired Zion as His rest forevermore. The writer of Hebrews said we have come to Mt. Zion. God's rest is forever settled in Christ Jesus where we now dwell. We are stones of the building, built up in Christ for a Holy Habitation of the LORD! This is why Zion is the joy of the whole earth. God is there! God's presence is in Zion. Brethren let us comprehend this great truth and reality in Christ Jesus our Lord!
Jesus said in John 4 that the "true worshipers shall worship the Father in Spirit and truth." He goes on to say that God seeks such worship. God is Spirit and is seeking a people to worship Him in spirit and truth. Jesus says in John 14 that He is the truth. The word truth, Strong's 225, comes from a word Strong's 227 words that mean the reality of something revealed. According to Thayer's Lexicon this word means not hidden, unconcealed. This word comes from two other words, one being Strong's 1 Alpha and the other being Strong's 2990, which means someting hidden. Jesus was hidden in the Old Testament. He said all scripture speaks of Him recorded in John 5.
I have a strong thought that even the words used for truth show this. God hid what he was planning to do in Christ in throughout the scripture. From the beginning of the creation, of man, to the faith of Abraham, the deliverance of Moses, the establishment of the Kingdom with David, and the building of the Temple in Solomon, God was speaking in types in shadows or through symbolism of what He was going to do through Jesus Christ. All of these spoke of Him. I am afraid this truth escapes many believers. For example, many still want to worship God in an Old Testament understanding. When they look at the scripture pertaining to God building a House of Worship, and establishing His people they still regard this according to the natural and flesh, and do not see it after the Spirit. According to the Apostle Paul and the Apostle Peter, God has laid the stone for His House, Ephesians 2:13-22 and 1 Peter 2:4-10, which He prophesied of through Isaiah, Isaiah 28:16.
The believer is now the dwelling place of God. He dwells in you as Jesus said would happen in John 14. Read that Chapter carefully, "my Father and I shall make our abode with you." "I in you." Jesus is in the Father, you are in Him, and He is in you if in fact He has come to dwell in you. This was the heart of God throughout the Old Covenant, shown through the types. For example God lived in the tabernacle. God lived in the Temple. Now He has taken up residence in the House He built through Christ Jesus. Christ is the Son of His own house who we are, according to Hebrews 3. This is truth, which is in Christ. Instead of comprehending by the Spirit this truth, and worshiping God from this understanding, many still walk in the types and shadows. This is what Jesus said the Father was after to worship Him in Spirit and Truth.
Consider, how much of your Bible is given to the Temple of God. Coming to the reality of the Temple must be of great significance if we see how much in the Old and New Testament are given to it. This reality can only be found in Christ Jesus. Let us see through Him this great House God has built, and declare it to the earth.
In this podcast we are looking at text in John 4 - John 4:2-24 "Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."
Much of the teaching we may hear today speaks of a new House of Worship or Temple in the Middle East. Jesus said "Believe ME!" not in Jerusalem or in Samaria will be the place of worship. God is a Spirit and is looking for a people to worship through the knowledge and understanding of the Spirit of God. The Apostle Paul write that we the believers are the House of God, or His place of worship. The writer of Hebrews writes that We have come to Mount Zion the City of the Living God, the Heavenly Jerusalem. This is in fact what I believe Jesus is referring to in John 4. This high Heavenly place in Christ where we come to a spiritual understand of our Father's House,, and worship out of the understanding of God.
Isaiah 2 speaks of the House of God being established in the top of the hills and the mountains, and the law coming from Zion, and the word from Jerusalem. This great Mt. Zion is where it is established. The rock it is built upon is Christ. The word that is given is the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. It moved from Him to His disciples that were with, and from His disciples into the Church, and this word is still moving through the earth today, enlightening minds and hearts to the knowledge of the Lord and our King.
Blessings!
In John 18 it is recorded that Jesus said, "My Kingdom is not of this World." The rule and transforming power of Jesus is not simply him telling us to do things, and we go and do them. It is the Holy Spirit bringing us, the believer, into the Vision of Christ, and us living out of that Vision in the earth. In John 17, Jesus declared concerning the church "that they may be one, I in them thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one." This is a very significant statement in regards to the Church - One Body.
While we all have an individual relationship with the Lord Jesus, it is His heart that we see His Body as One, as Himself. When Saul of Tarsus had the encounter with Jesus on the way to Damascus. Jesus said to Paul, "Why do you persecute me?" Saul was persecuting the Church. Jesus' regards for the Church is ONE - HIS BODY, or Himself as is shown here (Acts 9). When we rail and have dissensions with other believers, we are effecting the Church.
Our minds and hearts must be transformed. We must see the Body of Christ as One. Too long we have allowed man to keep us bound into Baptist, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, and many other denominational names. We must come to a Vision of the Lord and His Body, regardless of any name we are labeled with. We must begin to minister our Oneness with Him throughout the Body of Christ. If I am one with the Lord, and you are one with the Lord, we must see we are One with each other.
In the Book of Acts, we see the power and the move of the Spirit in great might. I believe there are some keys to why this great move was upon the land. It is recorded in the Book of Acts that they had all things in common. It is recorded that they had one mind. This is more significant than at first glance. They were regarding the Body as ONE! The Body of CHRIST JESUS our LORD!
In John 18 it is recorded that Jesus declared to Pilot that “my Kingdom is not of this world.” If we can hear it, Jesus was taken by the Kingdoms of the World to be crucified. He was taken by the Jewish nation and crucified by Rome. The Kingdom of Judah operated to physically overthrow Jesus as it was threatened by His teaching, and demonstration of power through the Holy Ghost. Consider that during the taking of Jesus by the High Priest and the Jewish soldiers that He did a notable miracle. Peter cut off the High Priest servants’ ear, Jesus healed the ear. Can we for a moment consider this. As they were taking Jesus to kill Him, a man’s ear was cut off and Jesus healed him. You would think that with a miracle like this that they would have turned their hearts to receive Him, but they refused Him.
In the taking a Jesus, as recorded in John 18 and other gospels, we can see the Kingdom of the world in operation, and the Kingdom of God in operation. The hardness of the Jews hearts when they took Jesus, and He healed the man in front of them expressed the kingdom of the world. Peter taking out his sword and cutting off the High Priest servants’ ear expressed the kingdom of the world. Jesus healing Malchus’ ear expressed the Kingdom of God. While they were going to kill Jesus, He was expressing the nature of love and mercy in the healing of Malchus. Also, He gave Himself up to them that had come to take Him, in order that the disciples with Him could go free. The expression of the Kingdom is laying down our lives, that the nature of God comes through. This is the nature Jesus had, He gave His life as a ransom for the world.
In Isaiah 2, the Prophet speaks of a day when men would beat their swords into plows. Many are looking for that day to come somewhere out in the future. If we look closely by the Spirit of God, we will see that both Peter and Paul beat their swords into plows. As we considered Peter above in John 18, He was a man of the sword. When He was filled with the Holy Ghost, as recorded in Acts 2 He became a man who began to sow the SEED of God into men’s hearts, taking the plow of God and God’s pruning knife to bring forth fruit unto the Father. The same can be said of the Apostle Paul. Paul is transformed from Saul of Tarsus, where he was murdering Christians to a man who is harvesting with the Lord. Paul writes in I Corinthians that he is a fellow worker with God in God’s field.
I Corinthians 3:5-9 “What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.”
Let us allow the Spirit of God to beat our swords into plows and pruning knives to work in God’s field to bring forth fruit unto our Father. Let the Word and Spirit of God work within us that we are would become transformed and seek the production of God’s fruit in ourselves and in our neighbor. God’s Kingdom is simply the rule and reign of Christ Jesus our Lord IN our hearts and minds. This rule and reign will put down everything in us that exalts itself against the power and authority of the Lord. May it fully come and be manifested through the saints of the Most High!
In the last teaching we looked at how the Kingdom of God came, and understood through the Parable of the Sower and the seed that the Kingdom of God was sown into our hearts through the word of God, and expands as that word increases. In this teaching we are exploring the furtherance of the Kingdom. The Kingdom moves through us as we share this word. Christ gave his word to the disciples, and the disciples began to proclaim it on the day of Pentecost. As that word is sown the Kingdom advances.
The media of the Kingdom is the Lord Jesus Christ. As he is revealed, this media of Him is proclaimed in the earth. From his work as he did as he walked the shores of Galilee to the cross, and to the fullness of God in Christ. This media or Word is declared throughout the earth. May God fill the earth with His Glory!
In Luke 17:20-21 Jesus declares to the Pharisees the Kingdom of God is within you. He declares it does not come with observation, but behold it is within you. The question we should ask and seek from our Father, is how does the Kingdom of God come? Many of us have looked for the Kingdom of God to physically appear before us, whatever our concept may be.
To understand the coming of the Kingdom let us consider the very powerful words of Jesus in the Parable of the Sower and the Seed. You can find the parable of the sower and seed in Matthew 13, Mark 4, and Luke 8. Jesus says within this parable that He is speaking of the "Mystery of the Kingdom of God."
Mark 4:10"And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable. 11And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: 12That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them."
We could come to the conclusion through here that the seed of the parable produces Gods Kingdom. Remember Jesus said the Kingdom of God is within you to the Pharisees. How it gets within us is that that a seed is sown in our hearts, according to the parable of the Sower and the Seed. The seed that is sown is the Word of God.
Luke 8: 11"Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God."
Jesus also shows the Kingdom through the parable of the Mustard seed, which is the smallest of seeds when it is sown. This mustard seed starts out as least of all seeds, but when it grows up it becomes greater than all the herbs. Through these parables He is showing that a seed (the Word of God) is sown in our hearts to grow up, or produce from the seed within us. If we can hear it, the Kingdom comes through this sown seed that is sown into the hearts of men, and as it grows the man it is sown in begins to be influenced by the Kingdom of God and brings forth the fruit of the Kingdom within them.
Hebrews 12 says we receiving a Kingdom. Again this shows we receive. It comes within us as we receive that of Christ Jesus our Lord. From the scriptures it appears not to simply be God's mind that we receive the Seed, but that we bring forth fruit (fruit of the Spirit). Prayerfully look at the scripture concerning the parables before the Lord. Blessings!
At the end of Ephesians 1 is a very powerful introduction of the King of the Kingdom of God. Jesus has all dominion, authority, and power and desires to express that through His Body, which is the church. In this sharing we are beginning to explore the Kingdom of God, and the King we that are His have to do with.
This sharing is a more in depth look at Matthew 24:35 "His word shall not pass away." In this sharing we look at the New Covenant set forth in the words of Jesus, along with the out pouring of the Holy Spirit. In Isaiah 59 it was declared that the Lord's Covenant would be His Spirit and His Words. He had placed His Spirit and His words within a Seed and this Covenant would flow throughout the Seed to the Seed's Seed, and onward. This Covenant came to pass in Jesus Christ, who had the Spirit without measure, and poured out the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. The Words of Christ flowed from Him to His disciples, and are flowing through the believers today. "Whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Jesus declared that whoever believes on Him shall not perish but have everlasting life throughout the gospels.
What did Jesus mean in Matthew 24:35, when He said "35Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away" In this sharing I am considering His Word shall not pass away. I believe His Words are the Words of the New Covenant that was put in force through His death, burial and resurrection. This is a powerful understanding that the Lord began to show me over the last couple of years. I pray this is a blessings to His Body!
In this sharing we are looking at the scripture in Matthew 24:35 "Heaven and Earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." What does Jesus mean by this? What Heaven is passing? Have you considered that in the Bible it speaks of more than one Heaven? Also, have you considered that God said through Isaiah Heaven is my throne? As a throne it would be necessary to have a King and a rule of Government. In the Old Covenant God ruled through the law of Moses given on Sinai. Through Christ he made a New Covenant, and brought forth a Word of Covenant upon the earth.
Thisis the 5th teaching on Heaven. As I have asked early on in these tachings. In your view of Heaven, How many have a view of a slain lamb in the midst of the throne? Could this be the view of the Government of God, and how God now Governs His people? The slain lamb - The Lord Jesus Christ!
The Apostle Paul said in his writings, "I have determined to know nothing among you but Christ and Him crucified." Paul had a Heavenly Vision! Paul declared a Heavenly Vision!
This is the fourth teaching on the series of Heaven. We are taking a deeper look at Heaven and the Heavenlies, and its relationship to our God and His people. I pray you enjoy and are increased in the Lord Jesus Christ!
Heaven 3 - His Fullness. Attached is the third teaching on Heaven. I am continuing to look at the Heavenly Vision seen by both the Apostle Paul, and the Apostle John. As you consider this review what Paul declared to King Agrippa in Acts 26 and look at what John saw in Revelation Chapter 5. Both saw a slain lamb in the midst of the throne. The Apostle Paul's teaching was from the view of slain lamb, or Jesus Christ and Him crucified! This should be the view of all Ministry, seeing the lamb having been slain. From this view comes forth the New Creation. From this view comes forth the completed work. From this view comes forth our salvation, and from this view is God satisfied or pleased.
Heaven 2 - The Heavenly Vision. The Apostle Paul had a Heavenly Vision as he declared to King Agrippa in Acts 26. If you have read His Epistles Closely you will see he declares Jesus Christ and Him crucified throughout, and what that means to the Body of Christ. The Apostle John saw a Lamb having been slain in the Throne of God. (God declared by Isaiah "Heaven is my throne.") Have you ever considered a the crucified lamb in your view of Heaven?
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This is a study of Heaven. The Study centers around the Lord's declaration that Heaven is My Throne.