The Matrix of the World - Daniel Yordy

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it . . . Genesis 1:27-28

Let us face the crucible head on. As sons of God there is no other way to face it. This earth is our inheritance; it belongs to us. Right now it is being destroyed by the folly of mankind.

God's first directive to the man of His image was to subdue the earth. "Be fruitful and multiply" cannot be seen as any outer "command," just recognition of the obvious.

Here is God's original vision of man's role: Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. Genesis 2:15

We have established that Adam was not finished; he was not yet completed as God's image.

God intended from the beginning for man to eat of the tree of life and by eating enter into an intimate and complete union with God. But God cannot command anyone to eat of Life; it is by invitation only.

Adam rejected Life because choosing Life meant an eternity of remaining weak. Adam despised weakness.

The relationship God intends between Himself and man is a relationship that requires man to be utterly weak in himself, yet having the capacity to contain all the fullness of God. At the center of that capacity to contain all the fullness of God is a shared heart of daring boldness.

Man weak - God strong - the same heart. Thus God reveals Himself through man.

Man is God revealed.

But Adam failed to become a man, thus we turn immediately from him to Jesus, the first real Man, the first One of our kind.

Jesus revealed the Father, not just to earth but to all heaven as well.

God wants many sons just like Jesus.

There is a curious belief in American Christianity. I saw it in the Christian school in which I taught for a couple of years. This belief states that, when God said, "Subdue the earth," He meant for us to use science and technology to employ the resources of the earth for man's benefit.

But when God created man, He created man as a heavenly being with a full heavenly spirit equal to man being an earthly being with a full physical body. That human spirit died in Adam and became the "old man," degenerate, hard, and beyond redemption. More than that, God clothed man with the skin of a beast, and placed a barrier between this degenerate man and the tree of Life.

God cut man off from knowing anything about spirit and the realms of heaven. Man still has a spirit and still lives in heaven as much as earth, but knows nothing of that because man is blind and ignorant.

There is nothing wrong with true science and useful technology; both are of God. But Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is the most important book on man and science in the present age. Man, still possessing God's creative nature, yet warped and darkened by his own ignorance and separation from God, creates what is fascinating to him and what he thinks gives him an advantage. Yet the creation of man comes back to haunt and destroy that man, killing everyone he loves.

Please stay with me because I am very, very interested in the manifestation of the sons of God and the birthing of the Kingdom of God in all fullness upon this earth.

Man creates; but in creating, man creates monsters that destroy.

Two monsters have arisen from man's creation upon the earth in our lifetimes. These monsters are fully created and fully loosed; they cannot be contained by man; they cannot be stopped, nor even slowed down. These two monsters will destroy all life on earth, soon. The die-off has begun; it cannot be stopped.

The two monsters are nuclear radiation and genetically engineered plants.

The Fukishima nuclear disaster means we are at the end of the age. Most everyone in the northern hemisphere has been breathing deadly nuclear particles into their lungs most every day for 13 months now. There is no plan or possibility to end that. The flow of radioactive particles, including plutonium, across the northern hemisphere has been increasing steadily. If Fukishima Building 4 collapses, and it is presently shattered and teetering, then we have entered a world never envisioned by the most horrific nightmare of human science, many believe it will end all life in the northern hemisphere.

Fukishama Disaster

Here are the present facts. Having studied Fukishima since it happened, I can attest to the reasonable accuracy of this article. http://theintelhub.com/2012/04/22/fukushima-is-falling-apart-are-you-ready/ 

Now, before continuing, I want to put something out here in black and white.

First, I refer back to what I have taught concerning the billions of different human personas and giftings God has given man. You are different from me and I from you, yet God reveals Himself as He is through each, no matter how different we might be. Your gift is not mine, though it belongs to me because we are one body in Christ. My gift is not yours, though it belongs to you because we are one body in Christ. I never, ever take my gift and impose it on you as some external requirement, nor vice versa. That practice is an abomination.

There are many dear saints who are not gifted by God to deal openly with human disaster. There are gifts of nurturing and kindness, gifts of optimism and cheerfulness, gifts of encouragement and lifting up.

And then there is war.

Please, do not feel one ounce of condemnation if God has not gifted you with the capacity to face the disaster and folly of man upon this earth head on. God created you just the way He wants you that He might reveal Himself through you just as you are.

In like manner, I reject all condemnation that comes against the gift God gave to me to consider the state and condition of this world out of the belly of God. God created me just the way He wants me that He might reveal Himself through me just as I am.

There are only four possible responses to the Fukishima disaster. Fixing it is not one of the four.

The first response is the most popular right now. Deny it. Smile, be happy, think positive. No problem here. This is almost entirely how the Japanese people and those living on the west coast and down through the diagonal center of North America are dealing with it at present.

The second response is the one that will become prevalent when the horror can no longer be ignored. That response is fear, panic, raving terror, and the loss of all civilizational virtues, in that order.

The third response is the "Christian" response that comes out of separated theology. That response says, "God has everything under control; it's all in His hands. Get right with God now so that you can go to heaven when you die."

Here is where I want to deal plainly. I reject absolutely all three of those responses. In reality, the third response is nearly as a-theistic as the first two. I will explain why as clearly as I can in a bit.

The fourth response is the manifestation of the sons of God. It is the only response I will consider. We have an earth to save from those who are destroying it and billions of people to set free from the bondage of corruption and there is no place for any form of a-theism in our minds or in our response.

Listen, we're dead anyway. Let's just go for broke. Let's go for all the fullness of God inside of us; let's go for rivers of living water flowing out of our bellies; let's go for casting down everything that opposes the knowledge of God.

I faced recently the insinuation that I am a deceiver leading people to destruction. I have always taken Jesus' words, "Depart from Me, I never knew you," very seriously. Partly by those words I have risen up and followed after to know Him all my days (but mostly by a deep love and desire to know God).

I certainly looked again at what I teach, vulnerable and in tears. "God," I said, "I don't know what else is true. I say only what You say in the New Covenant. If that be wrong, then I must be wrong." Then came to me this word, not as a correction, but as the challenge of my heart: "My soul has no pleasure in those who draw back." And I saw again inside of me the heart of daring boldness, the heart that takes God at His word fully and without limit, the heart of God.

By that heart, I turn and face all the folly of man and all the ruin of darkness head on.

This earth is my inheritance; the bride of Christ is facing her hour of greatest trial. I am a son of God; I will not run!

And if I do die, I will die in faith, with my boots on, sword in hand, facing my enemy. I am ready and willing and able in the day of His power.

For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Romans 8:19-21

We cannot understand anything unless we begin, always, with purpose.

1. God, invisible and unknowable, wants to reveal Himself to His creation, to both heaven and earth. For that purpose God created man in His image and likeness. However, Adam was not complete. Before man can be the full and express image of God, he must partake of the tree of life.

2. God did not intend Adam's fall, but He, knowing Adam would reject weakness and union in favor of knowledge and separation, purposed from the beginning to place you and me under the wreckage of Adam's defeat. God subjected us to vanity.

3. Inside this matrix of a world subjected to vanity, as it exists, is the place of God's design wherein He forms the original purpose and desire of His heart - many sons, just like Jesus, who reveal the mani-faceted and corporate nature of Almighty God to all creation forever.

4. Those sons God forms under vanity come into God's full purpose by casting down the curse and all elements of darkness that hold this world under bondage. This victory begins with the full defeat of the accuser so that he no longer finds anything in them. "Christ is my life; I have no other life" is the foundation of that victory.

5. When God said, "Subdue the earth," in the beginning, He meant the river of life flowing out of our bellies originating out from the fullness of the tree of life. That is, God Himself, flowing out of us who are filled with all the fullness of God - and in complete oneness with us. God and we and we and God together making all things good. The river of life and glorious liberty are the same thing.

I look at present reality upon this earth entirely out from these five points.

Fukishima is 100% indicative of the times in which we live. Fukishima is, first, simply the physical earthly side of a spiritual heavenly reality. Everything that takes place in the earth is also happening in the heavens. Although the two sides happen simultaneously, the heavenly reality always leads.

Remember that sin and rebellion and all hostility against God begins in heaven first. We do not fight against the flesh, but against the wicked powers of heaven, as Paul said.

HOWEVER - the darkness is NOT the lead. The lead of all things happening right now IS the Daystar arising in our hearts. Understand that as you and I cast the accuser out of our heavens, we are the cause of the fullness of disaster appearing upon the earth. Everything comes to fullness at the same time. If we wish to know the fullness of God inside of us, then we must also face the fullness of that which opposes God on the outside of us.

To remove the cover that keeps Christ in us hidden from our eyesight is to shine the light fully upon the darkness. There is much in the darkness that simply does not want to be seen.

And so the invisible death flowing out from Fukishima upon all mankind right now is simply indicative of the darkness spreading out to its fullness in the heavens.

This storm of darkness is bent entirely to God's purpose inside of us.

The fullness of God in us rises up to set all creation free.

Now, please, in spite of my strong tone, I am not speaking anything other than Christ revealing Himself as He is through all of our bumbling humanity. Yet God has crafted some of us to face the Beast, and thus we find ourselves unable not to do so. Don't get me wrong, I am a silly, weak, tired, vulnerable, and often frightened man, filled with all the fullness of God, with a heart of daring boldness, and unable to do anything of myself.

Do you see how silly God is? This is His formula for the revelation of God! He's quite a remarkable fellow. Adam didn't like Him, but we do.

We are not afraid. But we do not find the Peace of God Himself by running from calamity, by hiding, by sticking our heads into the sand. On the contrary, we face the storm head on, spread our wings wide, and rise into all the revelation of the Almighty.

We are sons of God; we do not run.

After my family and I left the move communities, I was so frozen and hurting inside, so confused - trusting fully in God, yes, but just not knowing what was in or what was out. I have always caved in, backed off, kept my mouth shut, withdrawn. I have always gotten up again and headed back into the fray, only to be knocked back out again soon, stars whirling, no idea of what just happened. Yet, for some crazy reason, I always got up again.

Then God set me aside to a quiet place called Maple, Texas. If you Google it, you won't find much. The school and house where we lived are completely gone now. My wife and children spent several days in Lubbock for a ballet performance while I returned alone to our home in Maple. I carried two things with me. One was the first of John Eldredge's books that I read, of which I have shared elsewhere. The other was a DVD of The Knight's Tale with Heath Ledger.

I watched The Knight's Tale on the edge of my seat. It caught me in its story. Then the movie came to the critical scene when William hears, "Run, William, run," from all who love him. Then his immortal words:

"I am a knight; I will not run!"

Those words went through me like St. Elmo's fire, like lightning that sizzled and crackled from top to bottom over and over. I was on my face before God with great gulping tears. I, whose story seemed to me to be one who caved in, who bailed out, who ran!

Why am I sharing this? I don't know. Christ is always personal in us. My story is His revelation - as is yours.

We are sons of God; we do not run.

The answer to all the problems and horror and death in this world is right inside our bellies. As we know God, we know the river.

Fukishima forces us to look at this further reality. The bomb dropped on Hiroshima contained ten pounds of uranium. Fukishima contains 1,700 tons, including several pounds of plutonium, which is 2,000,000 times as potent as uranium. America has 75000 tons of the stuff sitting in our back yards, including hundreds of pounds of plutonium at such sites as Amarillo, Texas, and near Augusta, Georgia. Nuclear waste, as it is piling up around America's nuclear reactors, requires the constant, moment by moment intervention of three things: trained humans, electrical power, and high technology. If any one of those three is removed for just 2-3 days then those hundreds of tons of nuclear waste turn into a monster capable of eliminating all life on the planet. Those three things must be maintained for thousands of years without a break long after the nuclear power plants are no longer in use.

In other words, man has created a monster so huge, so humanly unfixable, that it is hard to conceive how it will be resolved. (When I say "humanly unfixable," there are simple, well-known things that can be done to greatly reduce the threat in America, but those things are NOT being done and have NOT been attempted for two decades. The "unfixable" part is as things are right now - should electricity cease for a few hours at any site.)

And this is only one of Frankenstein's monsters.

Now, I view the world as we find it to be entirely inside of God's intention and purpose. God crafts everything - not as a reaction to any moral rebellion, but as the matrix inside of which He is forming His sons. I wrote this elsewhere:

God is not responsible for any evil actions. He does not know them. Everything is personal. "Evil" is not a thing in itself. Individual persons, whether human or angelic both, who are morally responsible agents commit willful acts that harm others and benefit themselves. Those actions, coming out of conscious decision, are evil. The extent of the evil is the extent of the harm versus self-benefit. The moral actions of fallen angels are not one wit different from the moral actions of fallen men in definition. They may appear outwardly in differing kinds of effects, but that's all.

God did not create evil actions, they are not "the other side of God." That is Hinduism, it is gross darkness, it is not the Oneness of our Father. Rather, God bends all evil actions to result in His ultimate and intended good. God does not "use" evil actions for good, He, working together with us, bends their outcomes away from the intent of the committer and to His intent. There is no shadow of darkness in our Father, no evil intent. If evil is just a "force" or a "mind-set" then God is responsible for it and it is part of Him. Hogwash. God gave us the clear picture of a man, Adam, and an angel, Lucifer, making their own personal decisions to exalt themselves by hurting others. God knew they would do it, yes, but that does not make it His intention. God bends all that they did to His purposes, but that does not make their wickedness His purpose.

The reason I don't follow most of those who teach "oneness" is that they erase many things God says in the New Testament. I do not do that. I'm not wise enough to "re-create" my own god. 

Nevertheless, God, knowing exactly what this earth is, placed you and me into it with the full intention that here, inside this matrix, He is forming us as the revelation of Jesus Christ.

The matrix is our chrysalis; God has purposed us to cast it off. As we cast that matrix off of ourselves, the skin of the beast, so we cast the curse and all evil off this whole planet.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory. 1 Cor. 15:53-54

Let me return to the "Christian" response to the horrors man has created upon this earth, and to the spiritual floods of evil in the heavens that they represent. "God has everything under control; it's all in His hands. Get right with God now so that you can go to heaven when you die."

This way of thinking is gross unbelief, bordering on a-theism.

I am filled with all the fullness of God. The God who has everything under control fills me with Himself. He and I walk together as one, He inside of me and I inside of Him. I am His "hands."

It is God's full intention to meet the evil upon this planet head-on, He in me and I in Him. I can no longer see myself as separate from the Father Himself. I am not the Father; the Father is Himself, yet all the fullness of the Father fills all of me.

But radioactive particles are insidious and invisible. People, especially children, in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia are still being murdered by Americans today. Hardly a day goes by when someone is not blown to bits by a mine or bomb hidden and quiet after all these years, planted by some individual person who to this day is fully responsible for the death caused by his actions - or the Agent Orange sprayed by American pilots still killing people, inflicting great cruelty and suffering upon the lives of many. Radioactive particles are like that, but much, much worse. The soil and rivers and mountain slopes of the Pacific Northwest, my homeland, are now dusted with radioactive particles that will kill people for thousands of years. Portland, Oregon is one of three American cities with the highest levels of radioactive particle contamination on the ground.

Let's get real. Fear rules all mankind today. People deny, deny, deny, only because of fear. It is those who deny reality who are ruled by fear; when they can no longer deny, they will go mad. We are filled with all the fullness of God. Love neither fears nor hides (except in God); love certainly does not hide from that which will be hurting so many, many people.

How will God in us and we in God search out and nullify the death lurking in the air and soil and oceans (Fukishima pours a constant flood of deadly radioactive particles into the Pacific Ocean) across this planet, death put there by the willful actions and folly of modern man? I do not know - except that it is by the rivers of living water flowing out of our bellies. Those rivers do not flow except out of our immediate union with and interaction with the God who fills us full. Those rivers flow out of hearts of faith.

Fukishima is not the enemy we face to defeat; death is.

Death, the world system, and fallen angels are the matrix we find ourselves in. It was God who placed all mankind under that vanity. He did so because of Adam's willful rebellion. He did so, not because He wanted to, but because God is filled with hope.

The curse is NOT God's will; the matrix of vanity is NOT God's will; Death, the world system, and the rule of fallen angels are NOT God's will.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

God's will is many sons just like Jesus coming out from under that matrix of darkness, setting all creation free into the glorious liberty, the rivers of living water flowing out of our bellies. These sons manifested in glory fills all the expectation of our Father. He expects it with all expectation, that's what "in hope" means. God expects Himself in us and through us; we expect God.

We expect God showing up out from us in every relationship with others and in every circumstance coming our way. We expect God showing up out from us in provision, in wisdom, in power. We expect God showing up out from us doing wonderful and glorious things in the lives of those around us. We expect God showing up out from us redeeming and healing and setting free.

We expect God here and now! Today is the DAY of Salvation!

I find in the "Oneness" movement and teaching and in the "Christ consciousness" "Spirit-only" streams, even in much teaching on grace, as much distraction and turning away from that pin-point, that "singularity" that will alone set creation free as there is to be found in the "word only," "back then, up there, someday," realms of traditional Christianity.

Look at the three enemies God placed before us that we might know God by defeating those enemies out from our union with God: fallen angels and their torment, the lying, thieving, murdering nature of the world system, and Death itself. The Oneness, "Christ is spirit-only, not a person" streams eliminate all three from the fabric of reality simply by imaginative human pronouncement. Sin is no longer a moral act of the will of a created person, whether human or angelic, it is now just a mental state. Change your minds and sin disappears. There are no fallen angels, no angel was ever given "free choice" by God and thus no angel ever turned their back on Him, regardless of what God says. Everything is of God including all evil. Every tormented little child, raped and brutalized, their bodies ripped apart by wicked men in order to satiate their sexual - occultic pleasure and to work their power over others, all of it is just "part of God." And death? Why, we are spiritual beings having a temporary "human" experience; death is nothing more than that wonderful release that sends us back to who we really are!

I read things from "Christ-Oneness" people that absolutely make me sick: hideous accusations against our Father. Demon spirits speak "grace" and "Christ" and "oneness," just as much as they speak "the Bible says," and law and separation from God. And many of our brethren are more than willing to let those demons speak through them.

Removing the concept of "the enemy" from our reality as believers in Jesus is one of the stupidest attacks against the word God speaks, the Lord Jesus Christ, that I have ever seen. It allows the gleeful cutters of the Word God speaks to hack out at least a third of the entire Bible - more than a third. The incredible thing is they find two or three verses here and there that they imagine gives them the license to hack and whack at Jesus, at all that God speaks. If they cut out so much of Christ, why on earth do they imagine that the two or three verses they use are of any value either?

BUT - not to worry. All things ARE in the most capable hands of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and He does all things well.

But to understand the only hope offered to all of those caught in the hopeless swamps of Spirit-only on the one hand and in the hopeless swamps of Word-only on the other, we simply go back to the patterns God gives us in the story and journey of Israel, the story of Gideon and his 300.

You and I are their hope.

Israel was overrun by enemies. More than 100,000 Midianites and their allies, savage and brutal persons, all, sat upon the land, stealing and killing at will. The children of Israel lived in fear, hiding everything they did, never knowing who would disappear next.

God found a frightened little man to lead His victorious armies against the enemies. He found you and me. God then proceeded to divide Israel into four parts. First were all those who did not come to Gideon's call - almost all of Israel. Yet 32,000 did come to Gideon. The second group numbered 22,000. These were the fearful and uncertain, the "word-only" people who never really believe that God is trustworthy, not for right now. They all went home. The third group numbered 9,700. This group was all willing to enter into God's "testing place" - the river of the Spirit. But the entirety of 9,700 got all caught up in Spirit-only, grace only, "no enemies exist here," just change the way you think!

Then, there were the 300; that's you and me. The 300 ate of the Word; the 300 drank of the Spirit; but the 300 kept their eyes focused on the whole point of everything, the battle ahead, the reality that 100,000 thieving, lying, killing bastards were inflicting endless pain on their loved ones.

People who claim there are no demons are more than willing to allow dear people to be endlessly tormented by horrors those deniers of reality cannot comprehend. Oh, it's "all in your head," just stop being so "negative" is all the help they offer, help that cannot ever do anything beyond heaping even more pain upon people's lives - because it doesn't work. The affliction of demons is broken ONLY by the blood, by the power of the Holy Ghost, and by the ministration of power coming out of the faith of the God who fills us full; it is broken only by taking all that we are and placing ourselves fully into the light of Almighty God and that only through the ATONEMENT OF JESUS.

People can deny the reality of the curse of death, of the lying, thieving, and killing committed by all human governments against their own people, especially the American government, and even the existence of the torment coming from the nastiness of fallen angels, they can deny it all they want. But they themselves WILL die, and the bastards who are inflicting endless pain on our loved ones will go on right on.

UNTIL WE STOP THEM.

What did Gideon's 300 do?

They spoke the truth, they shined their little lights, and all the enemies of Israel ran in fear. Then, and only then, did the 9,700 come out to the killing fields. Then and only then, did the 22,000 come out to the killing fields. Then and only then did all of Israel come out to the killing fields. Then and only then was all the purpose of God fulfilled. All fallen angels, all the wickedness of this world, and DEATH itself didn't stand a chance.

God wins through us. This is the knowing of God.

Moving into a New Mansion - Ole Henrik Skjelstad

Posted on May 1, 2012

When God called Abram to Canaan He commanded Abram to leave behind his country, people and relatives. Come empty handed when you enter the kingdom of God and don’t bring with you your human beliefs and convictions. As we all so well know we bring with us our Lots into our new life. It seems inevitable. However, there comes a day when the Lord separates us from this consciousness (the old man) that we have brought with us into our personal Canaan just like Abraham’s and Lot’s ways parted. There will be strife between the two consciousnesses (the herdsmen) until they are separated by the Spirit. The Bible relates that Lot and his family settled in Sodom and Gomorrah.
It was God who destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. It wasn’t a work of man. What He actually destroyed was a state of consciousness, that is, the two-power, good and evil and sin-conscious consciousness. The righteous, that is, Lot and his family are by the Spirit shown a better land (consciousness), that is, the land of faith where Abraham dwells. However, for reasons that we know little about not everyone takes it or takes the leap as represented by Lot’s wife. The rigidity of living by the letter is cleverly visualized by the Spirit in how she turned into a pillar of salt. Sodom and Gomorrah is further the city or land or consciousness of appearances where we believe and live by what we see with our five natural senses
The world is violently and aggressively pressing in on us from many sides wanting to enter our house (consciousness) to make it pregnant with its ideas and beliefs. It is the Spirit who locks the door so that no one can enter, and it is He who protects our minds from being defiled by the world. Next He woos us to leave this house because it will be destroyed. He has a far grander and glorious mansion in mind for us.
The angel that appeared to Lot entreated him to go to the mountains, that is, to an elevated consciousness. But, Lot settled for a city (Zoar) which name means small. The Spirit caused so much turmoil in Lot that he more or less was forced to scale the mountains. Zoar is nothing else but our own separated consciousness, and alone with a God apart from us we perceive ourselves as small, insignificant and powerless. The Christ consciousness is freely given us and the desire to scale the mountain and possess it is an inner drive engineered by the Spirit awaiting our faith response and recognition.
The abundance we find in the consciousness (land) of Abraham is the domain of the spirit/Spirit. It is the land of spirits made perfect and where we know it is so. It is the land in which we recognize that everything is done, and by our words call the things that are not as if they were. It is the land where we learn how God fulfill His promises and our personal Isaac is conceived, and we learn that God is our life, our patience, our faith and the doer as us.
To a God who is too pure to behold iniquity the Sodom and Gomorrah consciousness must by a mighty sweep of the Spirit be extinguished as if it never existed. “Behold, the former things are gone!” Enter the new land and possess it and watch how the Lord fights for you.
The Father’s overarching desire to be the Son manifested in flesh means that He also beholds the world through our eyes. He therefore continually tempts us upwards to see as He sees. When Jesus says that we are to worship in truth and spirit it is because the Father beholds His creation in truth and spirit only, and thus He sees only one power, only one tree and sin is as far from His consciousness as east is away from west.

FOT 21 - The Secret - Christ In You

 This section concludes this blogpost series taken from George Warnock's book.

 
 The Feast Of Tabernacles by George Warnock
THE SECRET-CHRIST IN YOU

It is significant, therefore, that on the occasion of the Feast of Tabernacles the Lord went up to the Feast "not openly, but as it were in secret." For it is in this very manner that He shall first reveal Himself to the saints. Says Paul, "Even the mystery (secret) which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery (secret) among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Col. 1:26,27.) Wonderful secret! That Christ should visit the saints in the last great Feast, and minister His life "in secret" before He is openly manifested!

Christians think it a horrible thing that Christ’s second Coming should be spoken of in this manner. To so many, there is no real Coming of the Lord until He comes visibly, openly, and physically. Why is this? Because to them the only things that are real are the things that they can see. Whereas Paul declares that the things which are most real are eternal, invisible, and spiritual. "While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Cor. 4:18.) When a Christian comes to that place where he really appreciates and understands and enjoys Spiritual things, then he can truly rejoice in the fact that Christ is coming back again to be manifested within.

Speaking of this glorious intimacy which He would have with His own, and which the world would not understand, we are told that "Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight." (Lk. 10:21.)

This does not seem good to orthodox religion; but it seemed good to the Father. Paul tells us that God "was pleased to make known" the glory of this mystery, this secret. For it is a secret that is shared by Christ and His intimate friends. "All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him." (Lk. 10:22.) Here is a knowledge of the Father and the Son such as no man can acquire except by revelation. Theology will unveil before the student all manner of facts relative to the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, But here is a knowledge which defies any attempt of man to unravel. It is a knowledge, not about God and about Christ and about doctrines, but it is a genuine knowledge of God and an intimate acquaintanceship with Him.

UNION WITH FATHER AND SON

In John 14 we have a beautiful description of Christ’s Coming unto His own by the Spirit. Let it apply to the rapture, or to Heaven, if you will, for it is our heavenly heritage, even the "heavenlies" that God has placed us in by His grace. But those who will reach out and appropriate this new life, and are initiated into this "secret" of which we have been speaking--theirs shall be the joy and delight of exploring the heavenlies long before they get there.

"Let not your heart be troubled," said Jesus, "Ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you." (Jn. 14:1,2.) Then after much perplexity on the part of His disciples, the Lord explained fully what He meant by Father’s house of "many mansions," and the place which He was going to prepare for them. First of all He shows that it is a spiritual place of union with the Father and the Son, a union so blessed and intimate that, if the Son whom they thought they knew was really apprehended and really known--then they would be in vital union with the Father also. "No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should (would) have known my Father also . . ." In consequence of this glorious union, therefore, it would come to pass that the beloved disciples would do "greater works" than Christ Himself performed when on earth, because He was returning to the Father; and the vital power and life and union which was His with the Father would then be transmitted to the disciples, and it would become their heritage. So positive and so real and so genuine is this secret life in union with the Father and the Son that Jesus promised without any qualifications whatsoever, "if ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it." In our carnal minds we reason that God could not mean exactly that, because if He did, then men would be asking for all manner of earthly and selfish things, and God would be dishonored, and still duty-bound to grant the request. But the fact is this: Christ has made this promise only to such as know the "secret of the Lord," and are in vital union with the Father through Him. Such a man in such a spiritual condition could ask nothing except what would please the Father, and God would have to hear his prayer. In fact, the believer’s prayer would be the very prayer of the Spirit of God within him. For in this blessed condition we have "the mind of Christ," and we could only think and pray in the Spirit.

Then the matter is solved, for the Lord goes on to explain how all this shall come to pass. When He went away He would ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit to "abide" with them for ever. And it is this abiding experience in the Holy Spirit that constitutes this new life of which we speak. "I will not leave you comfortless (orphans)," said Jesus. "I will come to you." (Vs. 18.)

Jesus said, let us notice, "I will come"--and He was referring to the coming of the Holy Spirit in the fulness of His abiding presence. The Appearing of the Lord in secret in the hearts of His disciples! "Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more, but ye see me . . ." (Vs. 19.)

Notice this also: "Ye see me . . ." Let us remember, as we pointed out before, that the real things of God are not seen with the natural eye, but are seen by the eye of the Spirit. This Coming of the Lord, therefore, is genuine and real to those who can see Him after this manner: in fact, far more real than His physical and bodily appearance to the world. "Ye see me . . . " See Him not in the flesh, for henceforth we are to know no man after the flesh, not even Christ. (2 Cor. 5;16); but see him with the eyes of the Spirit, like Moses of old beholding Him "who is invisible," That Christ is not speaking here of a literal and physical appearance it is evident, for He says, "The world seeth me no more; but ye see me." And why? "Because I live, ye shall live also."

Then notice once again how vital and how glorious this union becomes when we enter into the fulness of this experience. "At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you." What day? The day of which He has been speaking all through this chapter, the day of this abiding experience in the Holy Spirit. "I am in my Father," He said. We cannot doubt that; we know that the Son is genuinely one with the Father, completely immersed in the celestial glory. But in the same breath He continues, "And ye in me, and I in you." Therefore, if the union of the Father and Son is genuine and exquisite and real and vital and powerful, then the union of the Son and the many brethren is to be just as real and just as glorious.

THE SECRET OF THIS MYSTERY

What is the secret of being initiated into this secret experience? It is very, very, simple; and therefore at the same time very difficult for man to appropriate: because he must simply cast away his life in the natural, that he might find it in the more abundant life of the Spirit. He must lose his life in order that he might find it. He must consecrate Himself absolutely and entirely unto the will of God. "If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and We will come unto him . . ." The Coming of the Father and the Son! "We will come . . ." A secret visitation of Christ in the hearts of His people. "And make our abode with him. . ."

MANY MANSIONS

When Jesus said, "We come unto him, and make our abode with him." He used the very same word for abode as He used back in vs. 2 when He said, "In my Father’s house are many mansions." The word "mansion" and "abode" is one and the same Greek word. This, then, is the real mansion that Christ has gone to prepare for His own. Some might prefer a house of gold or of glistening white marble or pearl. But those things are corruptible; even gold and silver are described by the apostle as being "corruptible things." They are not real. The real things are the spiritual counterparts of gold, and pearls, and sapphires, and emeralds, and jasper. In our finite and limited understanding these natural and earthly things are used to describe our heavenly heritage--because that is the only language that we can understand. But in reality, the glorious realm of the Spirit far transcends and outshines any such earthly glory.

One glorious thing about the realm of the Spirit is that here there is nothing stagnant or monotonous. Immediately one is introduced into this glorious realm there is ceaseless progression and activity. Then you are linked up with the infinite and eternal God, whose ways are past finding out, whose depths are unsearchable, and whose heights are unattainable.

Therefore the Lord tells us there are many abodes in Father’s House, depending on the level of one’s Christian experience, and his spiritual attainment through faith and obedience. "In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honor, and some to dishonour." (2 Tim. 2:20.) There is a resting-place, an abiding-place; but in God the true rest is found in the midst of outward strife and warfare: and the true abiding-place is the one that is ceaselessly moving forward and upward into a closer and more vital union with the Father. Israel’s rest in Canaan consisted in conquering the enemy and marching forward to possess their possessions. It did not consist of crossing Jordan, and then settling down on the banks of the river and singing the victory song. Nor is it so with the abiding experience in the Holy Spirit. If we are abiding in Christ, we are abiding in a River, a River that flows on for ever.

THE KINGDOM IS WITHIN

"And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say Lo here! or lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. (Lk. 17:20,21.) A common explanation of this passage is this: the kingdom of God in the Church is invisible and "cometh not" with observation; but when the earthly Kingdom Age begins, then it will come with observation. As a matter of fact, there is nothing intimated here about two kingdoms; nor is it stated that the Kingdom of God cannot, or will not, be observed. Of course it will be observed and made manifest in the earth in due course; and "of His Kingdom there shall be no end." But this passage is very clear as to how and in what manner the Kingdom shall be brought into being.

Not with a great burst of glory from Heaven, for it "cometh not" with observation. Rather shall it come "in secret," in the hearts of God’s people.

"So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; and should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself: first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear." (Mk. 4:26-28.) The full corn is wonderful to see; so is the ear: and even the blade is visible. But it all started under the ground through the mysterious, secret, invisible processes of nature, we know not how.

"Again the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field. . ." Matt. 13:44.) The hidden kingdom! And Christ is the One who sold all that He had, and purchased us unto Himself. To do so He redeemed the whole world through His Blood. Soon will He remove the treasure from its hiding place, and manifest it!

LOOKING FOR THAT BLESSED HOPE

In Christ’s day the Jews were constantly looking forward to the day when their Messiah would suddenly manifest Himself in great power, deliver them from the Roman yoke, and set up the Kingdom. No wonder the Lord was so unpopular with them, for He told them plainly that the Kingdom would not come with "intense watching" (as the word ‘observation’ means). It is strange that one generation will not learn from the mistakes of their predecessors. For practically the whole body of evangelical churches today is looking forward with that same "intense watching" for a rapture or a kingdom that will deliver them from earth’s bondage, and establish them on thrones of power and authority in the earth. True, there shall come a day when the glory of the Lord shall cover the earth "as the waters cover the sea"; when every eye shall see Him; when the same Jesus that was taken up into Heaven, shall come in like manner as they saw Him go. But first there is the Appearing of Christ in the midst of His people by the Spirit, to establish the Kingdom of God within, and that is the hope of the Church.

Says Paul, "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." (Titus 2:13) Literally, it reads: "Looking for that blessed hope, and the appearing of the glory of the great God . . ." When Solomon’s temple had been constructed, the priests and Levites set in their place, the singers and the musicians in theirs, and the vessels and furniture all properly arranged--then, "It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord . . . that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord; so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God." (2 Chron. 5:13,14.) That is the Hope of the Church!

CHRIST TEACHES AT THE FEAST

So it was that the Lord visited the Feast of Tabernacles "as it were in secret" before He revealed Himself openly. But little by little He manifested Himself to the multitudes, began teaching in the temple, and causing them to marvel at His wisdom and knowledge. Even then they did not know that this man was the one called Jesus; for He had gone there in secret, and had not revealed His identity even when He taught. They tried to take Him, but His hour had not come and they had no power against Him. They sent officers to arrest Him, and they returned without Him, and with closed mouths. "Never a man spake like this man," they testified. Dear child of God; when the power and glory of the Feast of Tabernacles begins to dawn upon the Church, God’s people are going to be clothed upon with such power and authority that the very nations themselves will have to bow in submission. Never did any king or dictator or president speak as the Sons of God shall speak. For they shall be literally clothed upon with His Divine majesty and authority, and they shall be the very living oracles of God to the Church as well as to the nations. Then shall they do God’s will as God Himself shall direct, and no earthly power will have any power against them. When the Lord’s hour of crucifixion drew nigh, then were they able to arrest Him; for His hour had come. But it was not because He was powerless to do anything about it. There was a great work of Redemption which He had to perform, and a great baptism of death which He must accomplish.

In the Lord’s discourse with the Jews at the Feast we have a glorious promise of that hidden life. He told them, "Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come." (Jn. 7:34.) Where He was, the world could not come; but in this very hidden place the disciples would come. Did Jesus not promise the disciples concerning the coming of the Spirit, Whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you?" (Jn. 14:17.) They knew that the Lord was referring to that hidden life, and the manifestation of Christ within them, for they said: "Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?" (vs. 22.) They were beginning to see and to understand that there was to be a real manifestation of Christ in them, where they would be in vital union with the Father and the Son, a place which the world could not invade. And so this hidden place could not be found by the Jews; whereas His beloved disciples would enter into it. "Where I am, thither ye cannot come," He said to the Jews. But to the disciples, "I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also." (Jn. 14:3).

Where is it? Jesus said, "Where I am," That is sufficient. It is a place in the Spirit which no man can invade. A hidden place for those who are in world, but not of it, in the very sanctuary of the Spirit of God. "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." There shall the Sons of God be hidden as they work the works of Christ in the midst of a world of wrath and judgment. And then, in God’s good time, they shall be manifested openly. "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." (Col. 3:4.)

THE SECRET PLACE OF THE MOST HIGH

As we write these words we are very conscious of our inability to comprehend, much less to attempt to explain, this glorious mystery. Of necessity this must be so, inasmuch as we write concerning things not seen as yet. We are confident, therefore, that the glory of this heritage, when revealed, shall far surpass our feeble attempt to explain or imagine what it shall be like.

This secret place shall be to those who fear Him. It is a place in which we are shut away from the world, even though dwelling right in the midst of its turmoil and its dangers. A place where we can see the countenance of the Bride-groom, and hear His voice. "O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely" (Song 2:14). Not only shall our conference with the Lord be sweet and our communion unbroken by the ravages of the Great Tribulation, but the overcomer shall know a protection and a shelter as real as, but far more wonderful than, that enjoyed by Noah’s family in the ark.

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust; his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday . . ." (Ps. 91:1-6).

This is the secret place of the Most High. It is His dwelling place, and it shall be ours. It is not in Heaven, nor is it by way of rapture. But it is that place of vital union with God by the Holy Spirit, which constitutes one an overcomer even in the place of death and desolation and judgment. "Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. We shall be right in the very midst of earth’s calamities, but in a place of rest and shelter, in this abiding experience that Jesus told His disciples about. God said, "I will set him on high, because he hath known my name" (vs. 14). "The heavenlies in Christ Jesus" which we have long talked about and admired and boasted about having, are going to be appropriated by the Spirit even now in the midst of this crooked and perverse generation.

The Overcomer, therefore, will live the very same life of the only begotten Son of God. When the authorities tried to take Him, they could not. He was right there in their very midst, walking about in a visible, physical, tangible, earthly body; but they had no power to touch Him. They sent officers to arrest Him, but they were dumb-founded and returned without Him. Why? It was during the Feast of Tabernacles, and Jesus would teach us by His presence at this Feast some of the great spiritual truths which are yet to transpire at the Real Feast of Tabernacles.

We can easily understand, therefore, how the Glorious Gospel of Christ shall be proclaimed throughout the whole earth, regardless of the opposition that shall be raised. There will not be a country on earth that will be closed to this Gospel of the Kingdom. It will be just as simple to proclaim the Truth in Communist Russia as anywhere else on earth. The authorities will send the police to arrest this strange personage that is so boldly preaching Christ, and working the works of God, and he will have disappeared; for he shall have been caught away in the Spirit like Philip the evangelist. Or perhaps they will reach forth their hands to take him, and he will disappear from their view. They may rush upon him with sword or bayonet, and their weapon will be blunted as truly as if they had charged an armored tank; for no weapon that is formed against him shall prosper. They might fire a shot, and the bullet will glance off his brow, as it would from a heavy plate of steel. They shall poison his food, but it will be like adding vitamins to his diet. They shall put the over-comer in prison, and by night the Angel of the Lord will unlock the prison doors, bring the captive forth, set him free, and then promptly lock the prison doors again--leaving the guard in a very awkward situation. They shall seek to prevent the Gospel from being proclaimed over the air; and yet even without the aid of radio or transmitter the voice of the overcomer shall be heard in the streets or in the homes, as it penetrates the atmosphere at God’s command and in God’s place. He shall be cast to the lions, or to fierce beasts, and the beasts themselves shall become his best friends. He shall be tossed into fiery flames of fire, and yet shall feel as comfortable as he would in a warm living room on a cold day. If there is no food, he shall call manna down from Heaven. If there is a river to cross, he shall raise his hand, and the waters shall roll back before him that he might walk over on dry land. And "nothing shall be impossible" unto the man who believes! The most powerful atom or hydrogen bombs ever invented shall be perfectly harmless to the man who is hid away in the secret place of the Most High.

Can we not see, then, how simple a matter it will be for the overcomer to administer help and comfort and deliverance to a persecuted and suffering Church? For he shall be an overcomer in the fulness of Christ’s victory over the world, the flesh, and the Devil. Sin, sickness, or death shall have no claim on him. He will be even as his Lord and Master as He walked upon earth and ministered among men. No man could take His life from Him. But He testified, "I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again" (Jn. 10:18). So shall it be with His "many brethren," If they lay down their life, it shall be for the sake of the brethren and for the Truth; and as surely as they lay it down, they shall take it again in greater glory and fulness, nevermore to see corruption. No man could lay their finger on Christ until His hour had come; and then He gave Himself willingly that He might finish the work which God had given Him to do. So it shall be with His many brethren. They shall be completely triumphant over all the powers of darkness that are arrayed against them--and shall in no wise partake of the world’s coming Tribulation, except to fulfill the works of God on behalf of the Church. If they suffer or die, it shall be for the brethren’s sake, and according to the plan of God and the power of Christ that worketh in them.

These things may sound fantastic to many Christians; but if so it is only because God’s people in this modern age are so earthly-minded that they cannot appreciate nor understand the realities of the Spirit. Many, many more miracles than we have mentioned--or even imagined possible-shall be performed by the Sons of God in the day of their manifestation. They will not even require a glorified body in order to do these things. This, of course, will become their heritage when their work on earth is finished, just as in the case of Christ. But they will not require a glorified body to work the works of Christ. Daniel was human, even in the lions’ den. The three Hebrew children had flesh and blood the same as we all have--and yet the fire meant nothing to them, except release from their bondage and a visitation of One like unto the Son of Man. Philip was a natural human being, with a natural body--and yet was caught away in the Spirit without the aid of any human means of transportation. Peter likewise, and yet the locked doors flew open and forth he went out of the prison by the hand of the Angel of the Lord.

These things are really all quite simple and small, compared to some of the unseen, unheard-of things that God has prepared for those that love him. Jesus meant exactly what He said when He promised: "Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove: and nothing shall be impossible unto you" (Matt. 17:20).

THE LAST GREAT DAY OF THE FEAST

Perhaps we should describe in some detail the order of events which transpired during the Feast of Tabernacles in the days of Christ. This was the culminating festival of the year. The Feast began, as we mentioned, with the Blowing of Trumpets, followed by the Day of Atonement, and then culminated with the Feast of Tabernacles. It was a time of great joy and hilarity and gladness, for it was really a great Thanksgiving Festival for all Israel, when the fruit of the land had been gathered in. Hence it was called the Feast of Ingathering. The harvest was over, and now they assembled in the streets and open places of Jerusalem to observe the ordinances of the Lord, praising and thanking Him for His goodness, singing the Psalms of David, and keeping all the rituals connected with the Feast.

In the days of Christ, other ceremonies were observed in addition to those commanded in the Law. We are told that the people, at the time of the morning sacrifice, would take palm-branches and myrtle branches and willows, and with a citron or some other fruit in their hands would make their way to the temple, and march around the altar of burnt offering after the manner of the children of Israel when they encompassed Jericho. They would do this once daily, and then seven times on the seventh day of the Feast.

Then there was the ceremony known as "The Pouring Out of Water," which in all probability was in vogue in the time of Christ. In the fulfillment of this ordinances, the priest would take a golden vessel to the pool of Siloam at the time of sacrifice, fill it with water and carry it back to the temple amidst the blowing of trumpets and shouts of joy. Then the water would be mixed with the wine of the sacrifices and poured out beside the altar, and from there conducted by a sewer into the valley of Kidron. As this took place, there would be a quotation from Isa. 12:3, "With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation."

Truly it was a festival of great hilarity and gladness. If there was any cause for sorrow in Israel, this was no day to make it known. If there was disappointment, hunger, thirst--it was to be forgotten on the occasion of this great Feast: the Feast of joy, and unity, and rest, and prosperity, and gladness. But Jesus was there, beholding all their demonstrations, and knowing full well that these natural, earthly celebrations were but empty and vain so far as Israel was concerned. He knew, too, that soon they would pass away, and would find their fulfillment in a new, and living Feast which He himself had come to earth in order to bring into being. He realized that their joy was only outward, and that within the hearts of every true Israelite there was that empty void which He alone could fill. He realized, also, that the hour had now come when He must give the real meaning of their festivities; and so we read these beautiful words:

"In the last day, that great day of the Feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified.") (Jn. 7:37-39).

On that day, we are told, it was customary for the priest to quote this verse from Isaiah: "Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation (Isa. 12:3). Do you see, then, what the Lord would teach us? That the time would come when men would no longer draw their experience from wells of Divine provision, but an artesian fountain of living water would rise up in the soul, and flow forth unto humanity in mighty rivers of blessing and life. It is the healing, life-giving stream that we read about in Ezekiel: "These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed. And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and everything shall live whither the river cometh" (Ezek. 47:8, 9). Jesus said, "I will make you fishers of men." The coming revival shall utterly eclipse anything we have ever read about in the Bible or in Church history! This River of Life has been flowing ever since Pentecost: we realize that; but soon it shall empty into the mighty oceans of humanity, bringing life and blessing to a dry and parched wilderness.

As the water was poured out on the altar, it was customary for the priest to quote a portion from Isaiah twelve. In fact, it is quite possible that he would have read the whole chapter. If he did so, then he would have concluded with the words: "Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee." What irony there would be in those words!

He knew nothing of the true Messiah who stood right before him; and yet there it was written, and he may have spoken forth these words in utter ignorance of the truth they conveyed: "Great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee!" There He stood, the Holy One of Israel, the very Fountain of Life, and the Substance of all their ceremonies and festivities. He does the same today. He stands in secret in our very midst, waiting for admittance. "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" (Rev. 3:20).

RIVERS OF LIVING WATER

Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert" (Isa. 43:19). We thank God for the taste we have had from the Fountain of living water. But Jesus has promised, "The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life" (Jn. 4:14). Sad to say, we have been like the fountain in the Song of Songs. "A spring shut up, a fountain sealed" (Song 4:12).

A fountain! But shut up, sealed, frozen over. Abraham digged many good wells in his day; but after his death we are told that the Philistines had filled them in. Isaac found he had to dig them again before he could take advantage of the refreshing waters that lay buried under the rocks and dirt and filth which the enemy had tossed into the wells. So it is with the Church of Christ, and the fountain which Christ has created in the hearts of His people. All the potentialities of this new life and this new experience are right in our heart, locked up like the germ-life in the seed. And therefore we profit nothing.

THE CORN OF WHEAT MUST DIE

Is it not written, "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit" (Jn. 12:24)? Notice the setting of this beautiful statement. Andrew and Philip had just come and told the Lord that "certain Greeks" had requested to "see Jesus." And this was the Lord’s astonishing reply: "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and, die, it abideth alone . . ." Strange reply! But not hard to understand, when we begin to realize that Jesus shall appear and shall be seen in His people through His Cross and Resurrection. "We would see Jesus," said the Greeks. Then they must see Him in the harvest which His death would bring into being. They must see Him in the grain that would be reproduced after His very likeness, in His very image. They would see Him in His people! And the only way that we, as the people of God, are going to manifest the life and resurrection power of Christ is by becoming identified with Him in His cross. It is not sufficient that we merely accept Christ and His finished work for us. Doing that we are saved; but "abide alone." We must share His sufferings, identify ourselves with His Cross, so that it actually becomes our very own--and then we shall rise in resurrection life to bring forth much fruit unto the Kingdom. "For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection" (Rom. 6:5).

No wonder the apostle Paul who knew Christ, had personally seen His Lord on the Damascus road, had talked with Him and heard Him reply in an audible voice--yearned in the travail of his spirit for this great manifestation: "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead - Or "the out-resurrection from among the dead." (Phil. 3:10,11.)

THE SCRIPTURE CANNOT BE BROKEN

Any true Christian would immediately rise up in arms if one were to suggest that the Old Testament was not fulfilled, or needed not to be fulfilled, in Christ. Jesus promised so definitely: "All things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me" (Lk. 24:44). And yet it seems a most reasonable and plausible thing to the whole body of evangelical Christianity that the New Testament need not be fulfilled in Christ’s Church. Let us assure the saints everywhere that the New Testament is now a part of the verbally-inspired Word of God; and Jesus has declared emphatically "The Scripture cannot be broken," and again, "The Scriptures must be fulfilled" (Jn. 10:35; Mk. 14:49). And if this is true of the Old Testament, how much more is it true of the New Testament? Because the glory of the Old was to pass away, but the glory of the New is to remain. (2 Cor. 3:9-11).

We are confident, therefore, that if Christ must minister faithfully for many years amidst the scoffing and ridicule of men, suffer the anguish of Gethsemane, die on a Roman cross, and rise again from the dead, in order to fulfill the Old Covenant; then it is positively essential that the Body of Christ rise from the dust and desolation of her captivity, become identified with the Death of Christ the Head, and rise again with Him to manifest His glory and His power,--in order to fulfill the New Covenant.

Men will argue, What about the falling-away? What about the apostasy? Is this not to be the condition of the Church in the last days? Of course there is to be apostasy, as the apostle prophesied. And it has certainly come to pass. But we are speaking of the true Church, the Body of Christ, the Sons of God, the Overcomer, the Bride--the people of whom it was said: "To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God" (Eph. 3:10). And this must be fulfilled if the Scriptures cannot be broken.

The apostle said, "To him be the glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus unto all the generations of the age of the ages. Amen" (Eph. 3:21, Literal). And the Scriptures must be fulfilled.

The New Covenant is destined to make of God’s people, ". . . the epistle of Christ . . . written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God" (2 Cor. 3:3). And the Scriptures must be fulfilled.

The New Covenant has decreed that its holy precepts shall be written upon the hearts and upon the minds of God’s people. (Heb. 8:10). And the Scriptures must be fulfilled.

The New Covenant has provided a glory that abides, and grows ever more illustrious, in contrast to the fading glory of the Law of Moses. (2 Cor. 3:7,8). And the Scriptures must be fulfilled.

The New Covenant has prepared a panoply, a complete armour, by which the saints are to be enabled to topple Satan and his wicked hosts from their heavenly strongholds. (Eph. 6:11-18). And the Scriptures must be fulfilled.

The New Covenant has commanded the saints of God to have the same love, to be of one accord, to be of one mind, and to be perfectly joined together in the same judgment. (1 Cor. 1:10; Phil. 2:2). And the Scriptures must be fulfilled.

The New Covenant has established the Church as a Body, functioning as genuinely and as perfectly as the members of the human body, with Christ as the Head. (1 Cor. 12 to 14). And the Scriptures must be fulfilled.

The New Covenant has ordained that the saints of God shall grow into maturity and unto the knowledge of the Son of God, and unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. (Eph. 4:12,13). And the Scriptures must be fulfilled.

The New Covenant has decreed that after the successful ministration of the gifts and ministries of the Spirit, the love of God shall be manifest in the saints, taking the place of the gifts. (1 Cor. 13). And the Scriptures must be fulfilled.

The New Covenant has ordained a place in Christ and a birth by the Spirit, which shall completely banish sin from the heart, and bring to pass a victory which knows no defeat. (1 Jn. 3:7-9). And the Scriptures must be fulfilled.

The New Covenant has declared that the earnest expectation of the Creation, and that the groans and travails of a world under the curse of sin and death--shall find glorious release and liberty in "the manifestation of the Sons of God" (Rom. 8:19-23). And the Scriptures must be fulfilled.

Then, saints of God, let us not be like Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not behold the glory on his countenance. And well he might! For that glory was doomed to pass away! But ours is destined to become ever more brilliant, and to shine even more and more unto the Perfect Day. Let us therefore go forth ministering the Word of Life with all boldness, prepared even to die the death of the Cross in this hour of His betrayal, and knowing that as surely as God raised Christ from the dead in the power of an endless life, so surely shall we rise also with Him to walk in newness of life.

If men choose to remain where they are in their Christian experience, then this message is not for them. Thank God that they may eat of the manna that falls from Heaven, and drink of the water that flows out of the rock, and receive healing and strength for their journey. But sorry to say, they shall die in the wilderness, and shall not see this good heritage of the Spirit.

On the other hand, if some would arise and cross over Jordan there shall be tremendous obstacles to overcome, there shall be unseen dangers lurking in their pathway, and there shall be powerful enemies to subdue. Nevertheless, theirs is a good spirit which the Lord shall honor, and His Presence shall be their protection. To them God would speak words of great encouragement:

"This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." (Josh. 1:8,9).

OURS IS A LEAPING FOUNTAIN

"A well of water leaping up into everlasting life (Jn. 4:14). This is Christ’s promise to His people. We do not write for the purpose of settling any doctrinal disputes: but simply for those whose souls are thirsting for this living stream. If men are content with their Passover experience, this is not for them. If they are satisfied with their Pentecost experience, this is not for them. Such contentment only proves that the Rivers of Living Water have ceased to flow from their souls; for this Fountain that Christ places within, if not cluttered up with the mire of the Philistines, is a Fountain that is constantly leaping up into everlasting life. Thank God for every measure of truth and power and glory that God has restored to the Church from the Reformation until now. But let it flow, child of God,--let it surge forward until it becomes a mighty Amazon in this desert-world of sin, sickness, and sorrow.

Said Jesus, "Out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water." We are not looking forward, then, to some strange, foreign power . . . some glory or some experience that does not really belong to us. But we are awaiting the release of the Divine flow which is now locked up in the hearts of God’s people. We are "A spring shut up, a fountain sealed . . ." The Church has passed through a long, cold, arduous, and barren winter. But the All-wise God has been the author of the winter; for He is working out a great and a mighty plan:

"He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoar frost like ashes. He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold?" (Ps. 147:16,17).

Yes, the winter has been upon the Church for centuries. We could not understand it; but God has intended it for the glory and the triumph of those who shall be living in the day of Spring! Already we can see the firstfruits of Spring and the banishment of winter: "He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow . . . He hath not dealt so with any nation" (Ps. 147: 18,20).

The breezes of the Spirit are gently sweeping through the Church; and with the winds of the Spirit, and the illumination of the Sun of Righteousness, there is a melting. The ice and the snow and the frost are melting, and dissolving, and flowing together--to form this living stream from Lebanon. Therefore, let us even now begin to rejoice in the New Day of Spring, as the first rays of hope arise on the Eastern horizon:

"Lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land; The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away" (Song 2:11-13).

I go to prepare a Place For You

From a private conversation on Facebook. A Greater Vision of the Temple.

"I go to prepare a place for you."
 Sometimes the "how" of God's build project seems random.This has a good and a bad aspect.From a leftbraiin understanding point of view it often leaves us frustrated. See,in the West we are used to courses. But the positive is that it shows God is the Builder not us. Unless the Lord builds the house those who labour do so in vain.
Take the Bible. 66 random seeming books with some sort of progression to do with salvation. Abraham,it says,saw the city that was to come. David did likwise ps 48 the joy of the whole Earth....and think of the excitement because he of all people was seeing an early manifestation built before his very eyes, with awesome worship down here in a time space world. But ofcourse Jesus in a way throws a spanner in the works talking about His own body.. Tear this Temple down and I will build it again in 3 days. The City, you see it turns out is at first inward before it was ever to be ouutward. Union. God in His own Tabernacle of flesh. You and me. Now this would have been difficult to explain in detail straight off to Abraham who saw some sort of glorious outer form for which he was prepared to sojourn all the days of his life without ever seeing anything with his eyes. So you see God has been building perfectly logically with human material from the start...it's Only to the carnal mind it appears random and disjointed. Now move from the random seeming 66 books of the Word to our own lives. Here a Word, there a revelation...but the Builder of all things is God. He even calls what we call rubbish and waste, building. God impressed on my heart again that even that portion of Galations bewitching all of us go through....this too is Him building. How so Chris? He is giving us a healthy taste of religious hell so that we will be quick to discern the voice of the genuine Beloved. If we were building our Christian life we'd do things so differently...but HE IS building the genuine Christ into us. This is the seeming random way in which He does it...which turns out not to be random at all...just as the Bible from Eden right through to Revelation 21 is not random...but in fact...to use the old photographical language....the "developing and fixing" in the Dark Room of God's first image He had inside Him of a Temple made not with hands...of Himself within flesh, within Man.